Expect The Unexpected | 23

jimin, probably: yes i like to show skin, yes i’m shy about it, yes we exist

older brother touya au, endeavor is still an asshole, shouto interacts w his siblings lol, bby shouto, hyper active kinda rough reader (you tackle shouto), shouto and touya have an unspecified age gap but i was thinkin like 10 years (so touya is 17 and shou is 7), just a liiiil bit angsty but mostly fluffy, lemme know if i missed sum else !

touya knows his little brother shouto is kinda weird.

he rarely ever sees him happy, or with any sort of emotion on his face for that matter. he has little habits that he hates not being able to follow and he's incredibly nit picky about them. he doesn't outwardly emote but that doesn't mean he couldn't be bratty when he wanted to be, cus he is but that's also about super specific weird stuff like what he wants to have for dinner (which always ends up being cold soba anyways).

he's also not much of a talker. he's a little shy, but he also just doesn't like talking. it's impossible to miss the huge red scar around his eye, he doesn't like to play outside and roughhouse like touya did when he was his age and he still doesn't have any friends at school. shouto never seemed to be bothered by it, though touya assumes that his peers might find him weird too.

except they better not, because touya's the only one who can call his brother weird. and deep down, he worries a little for him.

until he comes back home from school, his sweater is tucked out and there's a dirt stain on it. his hair is messy and his backpack is haphazardly closed, his little notebooks propped inside and his pencil case threatening to fall out.

natsuo, the one charged to pick him up that day, sheepishly scratches at his neck "he won't tell me what happened to him." he explains as touya practically charges towards shouto, he doesn't look hurt, so his older brother roughly turns him around to check his bag.

" but i told you what happened, natsu-nii."

"you don't have to lie, shouto--"

"what happened to you ?" touya cuts in, looking inside his brothers bag to check if nothing was missing, it looks intact from what he can tell.

"i played with my friend." shouto says simply, like that explains why he looked like he'd just walked through a hurricane. touya already knows he's gonna get an earful about this from his father. he inwardly groans.

"you sure your friend didn't just mug you ?" he flips his brother around and shouto's little arms flail as he does, unbothered by his brother's rough treatment. he tilts his head, touya sighs.

"bully you, i mean."

shouto's eyes widen, then he hurriedly shakes his head, denying him ever getting bullied and simply claiming he was playing. touya shares a look with natsuo, who looks just as unconvinced as him at his brothers words.

"who's this friend of yours, shou ?"

"yn."

"yn ?" both brothers say at the same time. shouto nods and touya catches a small little glint in his eyes as he looks back at him "she's really nice."

"this doesn't seem nice. you look like you got robbed." touya furrows his brows, sneering at his brothers dirty shirt. he starts dragging the youngest toward the bathroom. hopefully he'd be fully clean before their father got home and he wouldn't have to get in trouble. for god knows what reason. enji todoroki would probably find a way to place the blame on him, something about how he should've been the one to pick him up or gotten there earlier he guesses.

"yn likes to play games where you move around a lot." is what he offers as explanation. touya hums absentmindedly as he ushers his brother into the bathroom, deciding on how he should deal with his youngest brother's first ever bully. because of the age gap he doubts the kid is any smaller than his brother is, so he thinks he'll probably just try to scare off whoever this yn is.

"how 'bout i pick you up from school tomorrow and i can meet yn. that sound good ?" and shouto excitedly nods at the idea, gushing about how funny and nice you are and that you share your snacks with him. it's weird how fondly he talks about his bully, but touya knows his brother's always been a little weird, he probably has no idea what's happening to him. the thought makes him frown just a bit harder.

the next day after school, touya is already at the gates before they've even opened ready to scare the pants off of his brothers harasser. he sees shouto walking out of the gates with a few other kids, alone. the little boy perks up once he sees him and sends him a high wave, which touya returns with one of his own lazier one's.

"where's your friend ?" he tries his best not the spit the word too venomously, shouto doesn't seem to notice.

"yn is coming. her bag isn't closing well, so she told me to go ahead without her." he explains, reaching for his brother's hand absentmindedly.

touya is about to respond when he hears yelling. yelling that gets closer and closer to them until he notices too late that a little person is rushing towards his brother. before he can pull him out of the way the person has jumped onto shouto and knocked the both of them onto the ground. and touya watches flabbergasted as his younger brother does not look surprised at all, like shit like this just happened every tuesday. his mouth falls open when the little girl that had charged into his brother excitedly starts hopping slightly on top of him.

"shouto !"

"hi, yn."

touya is going to fucking lose his mind.

you get closer to shouto's face still sitting on him, touya assumes to make sure he could hear you even thought he doubts he couldn't before. " i thought ya left without me, i couldn't see you !"

shouto shakes his head, still on the floor "i said i would wait for you." he says seriously. and you practically beam, nudging your cheek to his and rubbing it against his affectionately. shouto doesn't seem fazed by it, but he definitely doesn't seem angry.

you don't seem like a bully, at least.

you finally realise you're not alone, looking up at touya strangely "who're you ?" you ask bluntly. shouto responds before he could. "touya- nii's my older brother, he's the one i wanted to show you."

you don't seem like a bully, especially not when you immediately turn to shouto the moment he opens his mouth, holding onto every word you hear. your eyes widen looking between touya and him, "that's your brother ?!" shouto nods proudly. you finally get off of him allowing shouto to get up too.

"coool !" you exclaim, but then you quickly turn towards shouto " but you're cooler, shouto !" shouto's eyes widen, before he almost bashfully looks away, claiming that his touya-nii is was way cooler than him. touya has never seen his brother this expressive before. it might not be much for others, and if he were anybody else he'd think so too. but even the fact his brows raise when you speak and he actually engages in conversation with you, as short as he keeps it, is surprising.

but from that small interaction, he can assume that you're not a bully. and he understands why his brother looked like he got jumped yesterday.

you're so much more different then him though, it's weird. you're hyper and giggly and chatty. you jump around and you can't seem to pull yourself away from shouto, who really doesn't seem unhappy although you're a bit rough about it. it’s like you’re glued to him.

shouto who barely even talks to his family talks to easily with you, even though you start the conversation all the time. shouto who only ever eats cold soba gleams at your promise to bring more snacks to share with him, like you apparently do every day. and shouto who touya barely ever sees emote, smiles when you tell him something funny. he can't tell wether his little brother smiles because he actually finds what you said funny or because you do. but whatever it is, it's making him happy.

touya is so shocked simply staring at his brother interact with another human being that he fails to use the little 'leave my brother alone if you know what's good for you.' speech he'd practiced the night before and suddenly you have to go. waving at him and shouto (not before hugging him with all your might first), who sadly waves back as he watches you leave. though he cheers up just a bit when with a last wave you tell him that you'll see him tomorrow.

touya, despite not having said a word feels incredibly tired, so he starts pulling his brother along home with him.

"so..that was your friend."

shouto nods "yn." he says.

"yn." touya parrots, eyes drifting from his brother to the road ahead of him. "she's kinda weird, huh ?"

at that, shouto's eyebrows furrow hard and he furiously shakes his head, tugging at his brother’s hand "no. she's nice." he corrects adamantly. touya stares at his brother, before looking away again "right.." he sighs "well, she seems to like you a lot."

his little brother nods again, a faint smile forms on his face "cus the people in class are mean to her. cus she's new and they say she's weird, but i don't think she is." he rambles, he actually rambles, touya blinks. he doesn't think he's ever been more surprised than he's been today. "yeah ?" is all he utters.

"yeah. people think i'm weird too, but yn says she thinks i'm cool." touya's eyes soften at his brothers words. he raises his arm up so his little brother is slightly lifted in the air. "course you're cool, you're my little brother." smiling softly to himself when shouto giggles.

touya knows that his little brother is weird, but he doesn't have to be worried anymore. cus it seems you like him, that you think he's cool and that you're weird too, in your own way. shouto keeps coming back home with dirty clothes and messy hair after that, but with happy and satisfied eyes and little candies he shares with his siblings that he made them promise to keep a secret. and he thinks his little brother will be fine, as weird as he is.

young one | finale

(images at the end)

“Wakey wakey,” Jungkook says, about an inch away from your face. You slowly open your eyes, leaning in to give him a peck on the lips.

“Morning,” you mumbled, Jungkook scrunches his nose and pulls away, standing above you.

“You know, I was going to make this morning perfect since it’s our first day dropping off Sian at school together, as an ~engaged~ couple, and our first day of work… but you ruined it with that morning breath of yours,” he says, pinching his nose and closing his eyes. Dramatic much?

“I love you too,” you say sarcastically, ripping the duvet off of your body. “Did you make breakfast?” You say, sniffing the air. “It smells like… burnt pancakes.” He tilts his head at you and suddenly his eyes grow wide. 

“S-SIAN,” he yells, running out of your room and to the kitchen. “I TOLD YOU TO WATCH IT.” You hear him yell.

“I DID!” You hear your son yell back.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME IT WAS BURNING?” Jungkook yells back.

“YOU JUST SAID TO WATCH IT.” You stay there, at the edge of your bed, laughing at their conversation.

“BABE,” Jungkook yells from the kitchen, “THERE’S ONE GOOD PANCAKE. DO YOU WANT IT?” You shake your head, standing up and walking to where your boys were at. 

“No it’s okay, you guys can share it,” you say, sitting with Sian at the counter. 

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Sian says, smirking at his dad. Jungkook squints his eyes at him, quirking up an eyebrow. 

“RockpaperscissorssHOOT,” Jungkook mumbles quickly, shooting up ‘scissors’. Sian laughs as he holds up ‘rock’.

“Thank youu~” your son says, taking the pancake from Jungkook. 

“Ah.. that’s my boy,” you say, petting your son’s head. You look up at Jungkook and see him pouting. 

“Go ahead and get ready,” you tell him. “I’ll make more pancakes.” Jungkook’s face lights up immediately.

“Ugh YES, best wifey ever!” He yells with joy, running around to give you a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll pay you back with something special later,” he whispers in your ear, flashing you with a little wink.

-

“Who’s picking me up later?” Sian asks you two as you and Jungkook stand in front of him by his classroom door. 

“Both of us,” Jungkook answers. Sian’s face lights.

“You and Mommy?!” he yells.

“Yeah of course,” you say. “Since mommy works with Auntie Sohyun now and daddy works with Uncle Jin, we’re able to take enough time off to spend with you together.” 

“But mommy what about your college?” Sian asks you, concerned about your own education. You let out a small laugh as you thought it was cute that he knew and cared about that.

“Remember when we went to live with grandma and grandpa? I did school at home right?” Sian nods. “Well I’m still doing that, so I’m doing online schooling.”

“YAY! We get to be together all the time!” Sian yells, raising his arms. You laugh, pulling him into a hug.

“We do. But for now, you’re going to class and we’re going to work,” you say. Jungkook kneels down to give him a hug next. 

“Love you buddy, we’ll see you in a few hours okay?”

“Okay!”

-

You and Jungkook had an hour to spare before you had to start your first shift and before Jungkook had to meet up with Jin at his building. The two of you decided to stop by the convenient store to kill some time, and buy some snacks. 

It was pretty cold out. You two had your hands in your pockets, but Jungkook didn’t let go of your hand and held your right hand in his pocket instead. He’s been super clingy lately. 

You liked it. 

“Is that Sungjae?” you ask. The two of you were walking to the front of the store when you saw Sungjae sitting on the tables at the front, drinking. “It’s seven in the morning..” you whisper to Jungkook. 

Jungkook lets go of your hand and walked up to his old friend.

“Hey.. are you okay?” he asks. Sungjae, still holding onto his drink, turns and looks up to Jungkook. He laughs.

“Did you come here to rub it in my face?” he responds. You frown, standing behind Jungkook. 

“No, we came here to buy snacks..” you say quietly.

“Well you were wrong about everything. A kid may change your life but I doubt it’s for the better,” he says, taking a big swig of his drink. You frown, you were confused. You turn to Jungkook to see if he knew what Sungjae was talking about and you watch his face turn from confused to a big smile. 

“You and Yuri?” Jungkook says. “I would have never seen that coming.” 

“What?” You ask, turning to Jungkook. 

“Yuri is pregnant,” he says. Your eyes grow wide.

“Shut up.”

Sungjae rolls his eyes. “Go ahead and rub it in my face–”

“Oh.. um, Sungjae,” you say, “I know how you all feel about me.. But just know.. That this sounds sucky right now because it wasn’t in your plan, but it’s going to be the best thing eve–”

“Shut up,” he groans. Your eyes widen in surprise. “I don’t want to hear all that dramatic stuff okay? It’s my life, don’t butt in.”

Your face drops and you turn away, Jungkook notices and he felt his face heating up.

“Look, Yn is just trying to help you feel better. We went through this too. You know that. You know, we’re willing to help you and Yuri start out if you need it just like how our friends helped us,” Jungkook tells him. “But if you’re going to despise my family no matter what, we won’t bother you again. My family does nothing to make you hate them but you continue to hurt them with your words and push them away without a second thought.” Jungkook sighs, taking his hand out of his pocket to grab yours. “Maybe this baby will give you the love you’re clearly lacking. Good luck with your life.” Jungkook turns away to walk inside the store, dragging you behind him when Sungjae laughs.

“Before you think about mines, worry about yours,” he says. “Keep calling yourselves the perfect family. I don’t see a ring on her finger.” You smirk to yourself, taking your left hand out of your pocket and showing him your gorgeous ring. Sungjae furrows his brows at the sight of your diamond.

“Don’t expect a wedding invitation,” you say, making Jungkook laugh as you two finally make your way into the store.

-

“So Yuri and Sungjae huh,” you say, before biting into your kimbap. “Would have never seen that coming.” Jungkook nods, chewing on his. The two of you were in the car, in the bakery parking lot. There was still 15 minutes to spare.

“I didn’t either. But I could care less about them,” he says, taking another bite. You turn to him.

“So you’re really over them this time?” You ask, he nods. “What if we bump into them a few years from now?” Jungkook laughs.

“If I hit Yuri with my cart again, I’ll say ‘sorry ma’am I didn’t see you there’ and go about my way,” he answers. “They were good friends when we were younger, but I have to move on. If I want a good future for my family, I have to keep moving forward. I can’t do that with my friends that’s stuck in the past.” You smile at his answer.

“Wow, you sound… really mature.. It’s kind of weird,” you say, making Jungkook laugh.

“I have a son, a lovely fiancée, and I work for a big company now,” he answers. “I’m a big boy, I should act like one.”

“I like that,” you say, smiling up at him, “but I also like the child at heart Jungkook so don’t go changing too much.” 

“Hey I’m the same JK, just more responsible,” he says, with a little wink. He leans into you and you think he’s going in for a kiss, but he passes your lips and leans into your ear instead.

“Make sure you sneak out some cookies for me and Sian,” he whispers. You roll your eyes, pushing him away.

“Whatever Jeon, I don’t think your Yoongi hyung will like that,” you say. 

“Maybe he won’t, but I’m sure noona will be okay with it.”

You shake your head, smiling, this is really going to be the man you marry. 

young one

♛ finale ♛

pairings: photographer, dad!jungkook x hostess, mom!reader

a/n: the end keep a look out for jin’s masterlist that should be dropped soon! i’ll open up the taglist for that once it’s posted <3

taglist: @kookietsukkie @brinnalaine @chocobetterknot @silentlyimpractical @aianloveseven @jayhope88 @preciouschimine @noelitaaaa @butterflylion @yogugui @jikachoo @samros95 @yoongis-cumsock @strwberry-jam @sope-and-shine @cosmicdaylight @eatjeanjin @rjsmochii @i-swear-im-a-soft-stan @peoplejustcanthandlemywierdness @prdshobi @marmaribelarova @ramyagovindraj @casspirit0705 @ssyubb @smauslut @taexmichi @codeinebelle @cecedrake2217 @hellotherehoneybee @ddofa @winterwidow27 @ephyra1230 @heartfeltscribblings @nightapple4jk @applejuice5000 @salty-for-suga @lemonteacyst @princessjazzyjazz @bamboozled-jaykay @bigimpression @dammit-jjk @kookie-sun0097 @kookoo-kachoo @waddlebby @taekookcaneatme @jikooksgirl19 @tanumiki @strawberryforever25 @hobiismyhopeu

TAGLIST IS CLOSED!!

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Chapter Eight... Home, Again.

Has no one ever told you not to rifle through old attics? Has no one ever told you that if you find old vintage rings that seem to have a mind of their own, the one thing you should definitely not do is to wear them? Well maybe they have, but it’s October 31st and you’re in desperate need of good accessories. And as such the next thing you know, there is a man named Yoongi in your bedroom and he insists that you’ve just married the King of the Otherworld.

▶ t/w: murder, fighting, cannibalism, vomiting just gross stuff cause there's mermaids involved, angst, drowning, burning someone to death, mature audiences that are not squeamish advised

▶ word count: 5.0k

▶ Interested in this story?

▶ Interested in reading something else?

You grow vaguely aware of someone’s comforting caresses on your back as the world teeters from left to right and you can’t. Stop. Projecting. Everything out. The calming patter encourages not to keep anything down, says it’s going to make it worse but how could it possibly get any worse after everything you just saw.

When you finally slump, having given it all with some discontent you see not Yoongi by your side but Jimin and it’s not the world that’s swaying but just the boat. You groan wincing at the dour taste in your mouth, letting your damp forehead rest on the wooden edge. At this rate you’ll develop aquaphobia. Jimin scrunches the sleeve of his silk shirt, wiping away the cold sweat.

“It’s not long until the palace,” he mutters meant to comfort you but if anything it has the opposite effect.

Yoongi is there, you know he is and you don’t have the slightest clue of how to react anymore. You feel everything. All and every emotion humanity has vollectively ever felt rages through you and you want to baw like a child at the face of such monumental anguish. You hate him and you love him, you want to kill him, strangle him to repay at least some of the pain he put you through and you want to cradle him in your arms, whispering how you forgive him because it’s Yoongi and if souls were true then you were made of one.

You gasp for breath when your lungs begin to burn. No matter how much oxygen you pull in, it’s not enough. The sense of asphyxiation puts you in a chokehold of primal fear and you begin to trash around, clawing at your throat.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Jimin tries to pacify your panic but doing so he puts his hands on both sides of your cheeks and it reminds you so starkly of how Yoongi held you both in his madness and health, that you choke even harder. Quickly, Jimin unhands you, timidly resting his fingers instead on your knees - a relatively safe zone.

“Is this okay?” he asks nervously, echoing your panic. Slowly you climb down from the terror, gasping in and out with your eyes closed. If only you would see darkness and not Yoongi passed out on the floor with his face mauled open. Tentatively still trembling but no longer fearing that you would die (again that is), you open your eyes. The air is cold and damp, fog rolling over the surface of the canal. Jimin is there, eyebrows scrunched up in worry, searching for any signs of distress on your face of which there was plenty. At least, he’s no longer blue meaning whatever drug had coursed through you had been successfully exorcised.

“Why would you ever use such a thing,” you mutter, running a clammy hand through your hair. They’re all knotted.

“I don’t feel the effects as harshly as you. It seems your prolonged residence in human work has distanced you from certain fae benefits.”

You hadn’t even thought of how technically you weren’t even human. Humans after all didn’t revert to infancy after dying. But that’s not what causes you to pull your head up from the safe haven of your thighs, to nail Jimin down with an astonished glare.

“You know? How much do you know?!”

He looks guiltily to the side, wetting his dry lips.

“Uh… sort of everything? It’s a bit awkward to explain, I’m your - ” he blushes bright pink, reminding you of his hair when he came to the orphanage all those years ago.

“What?” you push on and if possible he flushes even more.

“I guess you could say I’m your fan,” he mumbles, drumming his fingers energetically against your kneecap. “You probably don’t recall it but I come from Nyavena, nymph faction, and you’re quite popular there.”

Maybe if you rattled your brain enough, you could faintly remember some bits of fragments about a certain food shortage that you once helped to fix but that was also the time your brother was sent to dungeons, so Nyavena and its problems had escaped your viewing focus.

“I also did my dissertation on you, so I had to dig up a lot of old documents and court stories that Yoongi probably wouldn’t like to know about.”

At the mention of his name, you recoil, feeling that crushing hold, grip around your heart once more.

“Nymphs have universities?...” you quietly wonder, desperate to distract yourself from the imminent descent.

“Gotta get our education somewhere,” Jimin remarks with a light chuckle. You can’t produce your own.

“Is that why you didn’t tell me when I was little?” you ask and he falls sombre

“I...” he stammers, running through his dishevelled hair. “Well, how was I supposed to tell you all this?” he gestures vaguely around and you notice that the boat is in fact steering on its own.

“You were only eight years old then, it’s not a story you tell a kid. But mostly and please, please, do not relay this to Yoongi,” you gaze at him blankly while Jimin struggles to get the words out, his tapping increasing in speed.

“I love Yoongi like a brother, I really do but what you both had or have is just too damn tragic.”

“Who is he to presume on such things?” a sharp voice hisses in your ear though you can’t tell who does it belong to - the King, Yoongi or you.

“If I would tell you who you were or what that ring is, it… it would haunt you. Even if you wouldn’t take it, I don’t think one could ever forget about it. When I read about your...death,” he grimaced, “ I felt really sorry for you and I didn’t want for the history to repeat itself.”

“So the story about Vegas?”

Jimin chuckled self-consciously.

“Oh, a complete lie. I popped by your school’s party and trust me I had enough. I went home pretty soon after that, mulled around my parents' house and then returned back to Yoongi.”

“What did you say to him?”

“Said that I found you as promised and left you a note to read when you’re old enough.”

“That’s why when Yoongi came - ” you begin and Jimin finishes.

“- he thought that you’d forgiven him and I guess were ready to get hitched after the world’s longest engagement.”

You sink deep in thought, recalling that Halloween night.

“I’ve come to take you home, Your Majesty.”

Not a disinterested title but a childhood nickname, a very Yoongi way of saying -

“Let’s get married, baby” or whatever went through his mind that moment.

“Last time I saw him,” you start with a croak in your throat.

A quick cough. Continue.

You don’t want to but what choice there really was.

“He was not in a good...state.”

“A soft way of saying he was five miles out of his mind.”

Could you comprehend what amusement was right now, you’d at least smirk at Jimin’s honesty but the wound was still too raw to be covered up with humour.

“Is he...alright now?”

Jimin ponders for a long time, so long it makes you worried.

“He’s not... he doesn’t throw fits anymore, he doesn’t abuse his power. After you...left, Joon made him seek counselling.”

“Joon?”

“Namjoon, current Court Secretary.”

Oh, you remember him. The bespectacled man by the well.

“He’s trying. He’s been trying so hard. I don’t make any excuses for his behaviour in the past but I have nothing bad to say about him now.”

“Hmm…” is all you can reply.

“Jin and I were most worried about your return,” Jimin admits quietly, “your...departure shocked him so much, I guess it forced him to revert back to some sanity but we were worried that if you were around, he’d fall back into old habits.”

“You’re saying I make him crazy?” you don’t ask out of defensiveness or insult but out of genuine curiosity. No matter how hard you toss or turn, every decision seems wrong. Leaving Yoongi is similar to trying to cut out your liver using a nail file but you couldn't just run up to him like an eager puppy, yapping “of course I forgive you, I don’t care that I died and was made an orphan because of you.”

That’s not how this worked, did it? You had your hurt and he had his.

“I’m not saying that! You’re both very complicated people who love each other very much, any idiot can see that,” Jimin replies, shrugging, “but the baggage you both have is quite heavy and the whole idea of soulmates -”

Every hair on the back of your neck stands up at once.

“What is that?” rips out of you before your natural senses actually received the message of danger.

The water that previously had been smooth is boiling now, but it’s not really boiling. Something is just swimming very fast after your boat. Chasing it down.

A pair of white, lidless eyes poke through the water surface, narrowing you down with a contemptuous glare. Suddenly a smell of rotting fish overclouds your mind.

“Jimin!”

Yoongi felt sick coming back here, to the throne room. These four walls held his grief, his pain and madness. He used to think that if he shut the doors tight enough, he’d be able to seal it away, finally control the poison that seeped from him. It was but a naive hope. He still feels sick when he leaves the room and when he closes his eyes he still sees you disappearing down the well and it didn’t matter whether he was here or at the end of the world. That moment ran deeper than the scar carved on his face.

He shook his head and let the blaring bells of the court grip him into a new alarm. Below him, the first defence line was already caught in a vicious struggle. The problem with the city canals was that they ran everywhere, forcing the soldiers to divert their attention to at least three other places. Merfolk couldn’t get far on the ground, the ability to briefly grow limbs had been bred out for most of them since their exile to Western waters but they could jump. Flinching, Yoongi saw how one of them propelled herself out of the water, unhinging her jaw making her head go backwards with a speed that no one around had even the inkling to run. The unlucky guard was thrown on the pavement and dragged in water before being mauled to pieces all in the span of a second. The court was gripped with wet, squelching sounds as merfolk ate their comrades, occasionally gurgling back undigested parts and hurling them at the remaining fighters.

“Where’s Hoseok?” he growled at Taehyung who was readying a spear.

“I don’t know, I can't find him anywhere.”

That’s just what Yoongi needed.

Your hands stink from the force with which you wack the merman off the boat. Despite Jimin pushing your boat along, using his own created breeze, they are fast. You clutch the oar with a peculiar mix of horrendous rage and paralyzing dread, whipping around the small circle of the boat, trying to somehow predict where they will spring next.

But the space is small and unbalanced. One careless step and you’re dead. A sharp hacking pulls you to the left. Claws gripping the wooden edge, a mermaid hauls their body through the water surface, mouth spread wide open so hard their eyes literally move back and you’re forced to stare down a row of rotting jagged teeth. With no hesitation whatsoever you force your screaming muscles to work and bash the head of the attacker. Black blood spills over your oar as their webbed hands grow limp and release the boat.

“Just a little bit,” Jimin shouts, keeping his eyes on the approaching palace.

There are lights and screams coming from there but it’s still better than being crowded by clawing monsters on a single plank of wood. Seeing the approach to relative safety, they start ramming into the boat, swaying it dangerously close to tipping over. You push to poke one of them but they rip the oar away from your hands. No weapon left and judging from how hard Jimin was panting he would run out of energy any time soon.

You sink underneath the slab of stone that guides the water canal into the inner court. Your feet can barely find the balance anymore. When you came out, you had to jump or risk being dragged into the water. The jump is awkward, not leaping simply away but also somehow upwards. Jimin jumps first almost gracefully and you follow after him, the boat immediately being turned upside down. You already land on your chest against the floor when you’re sharply hauled backwards, claws tearing off the skin at your ankle.

Jimin shouts after you as your nails scrape against the smooth stone trying to hold onto something, anything. The merman who has your leg unhinges his jaw, intending to make you a quick meal. You can see someone’s fingers stuck in his teeth. Then you suddenly slip free and the merman is impaled straight down his mouth with a silver spear. Shivering and distantly screaming you haul yourself backwards and Jimin helps you up.

The court is faring no better and while you’re out of the lion's den you’re now facing a wolf. All around there are mermaids springing like sharks out the water, picking off the Imperial knights at a rapid pace. Sometimes they miscalculate the jump and writhe on the ground where they are slaughtered but even you can see that the tide was in their favour.

“Hello again,” Taehyung greets you pleasantly, loading an arrow into a crossbow and shooting into the eye of a nearby attacker. “Had a good walk?”

He smiles at you nicely, as a classmate would in a hallway, but the side of his face is smeared with black blood and his eyes have double brown pupils.

You don’t reply to anything and he continues just as gently even when he lodges an arrow into the hand of the mermaid and kicks her straight off the ground and into the water.

“Jimin, would you be so kind as to escort her to a more civil place? Our Majesty, really shouldn’t be seeing this.”

Jimin nods grimly, dragging you quickly away as you haphazardly dodge bows and stray attacks. You look back at Taehyung and he waves cheerfully at you and without looking, pulls an arrow from his quiver and stabs a sneaking mermaid through their ear. You retch.

The scent of rot is everywhere and remembering all the horrible things that happened here makes you think that this place is more than just cursed, it’s hell.

“I need to find Yoongi,” you shout over the battle noises and Jimin curses as one mermaid glides over your head, nearly missing the target. “I just want to know he’s alive.”

“Of course, he’s fine ________,” Jimin yells back, not unkindly but you can see that he’s worried you both won’t make it to the palace. And even if you do, the outlook right now was grim. “He’s the King, we all protect him with our lives.”

But those lives are running out, swallowed whole down the throats of the mermaids and then vomited back. You can barely stand.

Jimin does manage to haul you right to the Imperial doors but he is tripped down a flight of stairs. A mermaid, choking as she is out of the water and injured, hisses and starts dragging Jimin closer to her, unsheathing her long teeth to bite his head off. The palace is illuminated by a few torches and you, wavering underneath its weight, push the flame against the mermaid's spine. The tortured scream it lets out is horrifying and crying you have to remind yourself that if you let go Jimin could die, when it stops screaming you let go of the torch and unceremoniously vomit all over the stairs. The scent of the burnt corpse invades your nostrils.

As you look up, through the many spears and weapons you notice a man on a black horse. He’s wielding a longsword and on his head sits the imperial crown, the same one that was used to carve up his face. Yoongi looks like Death itself, clad in black armour, it’s glistening as it catches the roaring flame of the Imperial torches nestled against the palace walls. He slashes and hacks with wild abandon and the knights follow him suit, inspired to fight for their lives, inspired to give their lives for their Emperor. Their (perhaps) Mad King. Yoongi’s horse, Holly, the one you fed many apples trudging away from Brary, turns around to kick the attackers with his hind legs and doing so puts you and Yoongi directly in each other’s sight.

He knows you know.

You can see it from the way he closes his eyes in pain and regret.

And because of it he doesn’t see the biggest mermaid yet launching in a murderous rage and knocking him off Holly, his sword clanging against the ground as it falls from his hand.

You run.

You just run.

You don’t feel fear or anything. It’s like what you see is not even real. You yourself are not even real. Just a body moving without its mind. You drop down and slide right between Yoongi and the mermaid at just the exact moment when she lets her claws fall down, slashing towards Yoongi’s neck.

You close your eyes, hoping that this time he won’t mourn you to another suicide attempt.

You can hear him breathe beneath you and you focus on that sound, wanting to hear it when you die. You don’t want to end up like her, the other you that had died alone, atop of a strange world, broken and abandoned. But the pain doesn’t come and neither does death, what comes are Yoongi’s arms wrapped around your stomach in a tight hug. You crack open one of your eyes and see the mermaid struggling on the ground, a few meters away.

In your mind, you’re back in your kitchen. With Yoongi’s hand around yours as the large knife sways in your birch wallpaper. You look down on the ring and it glistens as it hadn’t even before, ferociously like a protective beacon.

You and Yoongi scramble up as the large mermaid crawls forward, clamping her jaws shut like you’ve seen alligators do. You both grasp around Yoongi’s sword, the one that you now know your brother had gifted him for good luck when the previous Emperor was usurped. You allow yourself the weakness of looking at him only to find that he is looking back at you. Tears are running down his face as he tugs your fingers tightly against the sword hilt. You know he knows you know. Neither of you know the answer of how to fix this, of how to live with the trauma you caused each other, or how you could learn to love again, anew. But you decide you’ll learn, you’ll find the answers because this was your life and all that mattered was that you and Yoongi were happy, not how happy it might make others.

You clasp his fingers back, trying to mutely express your new foundings.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” the mermaid snarls, advancing further but you and Yoongi, hands entwined on the sword, strike her down before she can fulfil her threat. As you near their face, you can recognize that stench.

“Stupid thing,” she had hissed, “you should have stayed away."

But how can one mermaid know who you were, where you came from and where you were originally from?...

You look into the white eyes and the snarls and you finally grasp that one detail that was mulled in the backdrop of your mind.

Bodies don’t fall without jumping. You had stood here, in this palace courtyard, atop of the well, meaning to jump but you hadn't jumped didn’t you. You fell backwards, tugged by an unknown force that had sprung up and was hidden from the sight of the approaching court.

With that notion, you drive the sword through her heart without any straying remorse.

The mermaids howl all around, trashing in the water. Their dead comrade had been a bigger and better fighter than any of them, undoubtedly you had just executed their leader but it doesn’t make them lose their spirits, it enrages them to a degree they abandon all preservation. Heedlessly, they leap out of the water, push themselves against blades, scream until the ears of the bystanders start bleeding.

Yoongi grips your elbow and drags you to the safety of the palace where the burnt mermaid lay. There’s no Jimin around and you pray that he is safe. Your exit is cut off by a dripping man, his hair is red and he has a distinct, kind face despite the fact that he was drenched in black blood.

“They’ve taken the palace,” he screams, “they used the plumbing to get inside, it’s not safe, Yoongi.

“Hoseok, gather Taehyung and the rest, push back, away from the canals,” Yoongi orders. His grip on your arms is so strong, it starts tingling. You don’t mind, in fact, you relish this small reminder that you’re both still alive.

Yoongi looks around in panic. There was no exit. Wherever the sight landed, there were intruders and falling knights. He whimpered, desperately trying to seek some escape and then his gaze landed on the well.

You understood him the moment the thought nestled in his head.

“No, no, please, I don’t want to go!”

You plead but Yoongi turns a deaf ear, dragging you towards it, across the bodies of his subjects and of his enemies.

“Please Yoongi, I don’t want to go, please, I love you, you idiot, I don’t want to leave you!”

His expression wrenches in torment as he mutely sobs yet he doesn’t stop and when you come next to the mouth of the water well, you feel a cold dread crawl through your skin. You capture his dirtied face in your palms, mimicking his favourite gesture and even through his misery he nuzzles into your hands, almost on an instinct.

“Please, I love you, don’t abandon me,” you beg and press a kiss on his lips. He responds gently, not clawing, not tearing, not demanding anything, just echoing the movement of your lips so tenderly as though he thought it was a dream.

“I love you,” he says, voice barely above a whisper, “I’ll love you forever and after that.”

You hook your hand around his neck and the chain that was hidden underneath his armour plops out of their confines, revealing the same golden ring, glowing bright on your hand.

He presses his forehead onto yours, breathing deep and before you can beg anymore pushes you right down the well.

You fall, down, down and down, seeing Yoongi’s ghastly, tortured grimace watch after you until you breach the surface of the worlds and he disappears. The void between separate realities is filled with many things. None of them make any sense, they’re nightmarish and sick, but even so you feel alone. You fall and fall and fall until it finally breaks and you hit the hard, cold ground, rolling through the Hell Mouth.

You pant.

There is only silence.

The air is cold and the night is dark and there are stars twinkling above you.

No screams, no slaughter, no Yoongi.

You become still, unable to move or do anything as the horrid realization of your whereabouts settle in.

You were back home.

You look down on the ground. Your hand is empty.

The ring that had hugged your finger so tight, you thought no one could ever remove it, is laying away, partially hidden underneath brown leaves.

You reach towards it and the glimmer in its searing brown stone that reminds you of the colour of Yoongi’s eyes begins to shudder until it dies down entirely

“Was this uh… decoration?” Maeve asks kindly as she wretches the lodged kitchen knife from your wall. You don’t respond, choosing to pick up the Galadriel dress that was still on your floor.

Time ran differently in the Otherworld as you realized and the week that you spent with Yoongi was but one hour in the human world.

You returned back home the same night you left, as if you hadn’t just lived two different lives as two different and yet somehow the same women. You had stumbled and fainted in Bill Sandyman’s yard, the one whose daughter was still probably gasping underneath some vampire’s warm mouth. The intoxicated horde that you had partied with was admitted into the one hospital that Sallington had and bucking underneath the weight of many drunken students, no one paid any attention to the nature of your injuries.

When Maeve came to collect you with her green Moskvitch she had joked that of course only you could stumble upon more trouble in the comfort of your own home, but you hadn’t listened to her, merely wrapping around your arms around her neck, trying to delude your brain into thinking that it was Yoongi who you held onto.

She grew suspicious but seeing the morose, heartbroken expression she didn’t press further on it.

The week that followed wasn’t even the worst. Neither the week after that. Maeve stayed with you, trying to comfort you to the best of her abilities while remaining completely oblivious. The week after that you saw Lucia stray home and so you could corner her for some answers. She didn’t know that there even was an attack, she had been sleeping for the most part of it, recovering after the Long Ball.

The worst came in the summer as you began to lose hope that Yoongi will find a way back to you. You had tried, numerous times in a single day and those days after another, you had tried to crawl back to the Otherworld but the Hell Mouth remained a simple tree, and its carving revealed only moist, dark soil and not a bridge between the worlds.

The ring didn’t glow for a single day and no matter how hard you tried it slipped away from your finger. You resolved to wear it around your neck, like Yoongi had. And time moved forward.

Maeve was offered a job outside of Sallington and you encouraged her to go. You were wallowing, sinking in depression that no one could understand and you feared to explain, feared to confine her because of your own selfishness. So you let her go, towards a better life and she left like a beautiful bird, migrating to a better weather. She lived her life as she should.

No other resident of Sallington of which there were far more than you presumed, could open the gateway either. It was entirely shut and you were all left to maroon on top of your own world of normalcy.

The spring came and the summer came and then finally Halloween of the next year came. You were excited. You thought, he had come for you the last Halloween, maybe he would this time. He loved you, he would come.

Yoongi didn’t come.

But he still loved you, right?

He was still alive.

Right?

Halloween came and left. Just a single memory of you sitting soulless in your lonely kitchen watching a single, orange candle in the shape of the pumpkin melting away. You had made dinner for two that night. Yoongi could be hungry when he came to see you.

He didn’t come.

And then there came winter. Christmas. Coating Sallington in white blanket of comfort. Of course it being Sallington it resembled a Swedish crime drama and one would expect more to see Krampus on the roof rather than Santa nevertheless the people made it lovely. Carols, eggnog, family.

You sitting alone, on a snow covered porch, breath etching white clouds into the night air.

You had learned to fake cheer quite well for Maeve who couldn’t make it back home this year. You thanked for her gifts and received a happy thank you for the ones you’d given her. The phone call ended and you let the smile slip away from your face as you stared blankly into the outskirt of the forest.

Quietly you entered Ms Witterman’s children’s home and lay in your bed, the Christmas lights twinkling softly behind your closed eyes.

CREEEEEEEEEK.

Unmistakable.

The creek of your bedroom floor underneath the sole of an unknown intruder.

You didn’t open your eyes. This could be a dream and your heart would shatter if and when you woke up. You better hoped it was a robber, you’d know how to deal with that.

Your bed dipped behind you as cold arms wrapped tentatively around your waist, someone's nose nuzzling softly in your neck. You swallowed your tears, heart pounding in exhilaration and in fear that this was just another one of your delusions, conjuring a happy ending where there wasn’t one.

You reach to touch his hands and eagerly he intertwines your fingers in his.

This was real.

“Sorry for being late, Your Majesty,” Yoongi whispered in your ear.

← previous

Waaaahhhhh thanks to everyone for reading it, it flourished from a small idea to a big world that I've grown very fond of. Please don't be a silent reader and I hope you enjoyed this roller coaster of emotions.

- Sora.

jung hoseok....the man you are...today...

yoongi making this year the bestest by having long, black hair 5.0 {5th gif cr. pm5_twt}

cw. worker!reader, prohero!katsuki, aged-up (25), pining (we're getting there, dw), a lot of cussing (bkg-typical), it's time to meet the bakusquad!, mentions of alcohol, a tiny ass mention of smth nsfw

words. 4.3k (this is getting out of hand. this was way too fun to write, tho!)

masterlist | part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 7, part 8, part 9

You check your reflection through your phone’s front camera for the umpteenth time, lurching a bit forward and almost smashing your face with the device when the bus you’re riding drives over a bump.

With a sigh, you glance through the window to your right, spotting the familiar landmark that Kirishima mentioned in passing a few days ago.

A few days ago when he waltzed into the conference room in the middle of your heated conversation with Bakugou.

Right when he dropped that nonsensical one-liner, Bakugou was on him in a flash, shoving your other boss so hard that the man stumbled a few steps back in surprise. You watched as they had what seemed to be a wordless exchange, before all the blood appeared to drain from Kirishima’s face, leaving him so pale that you thought the redhead was about to pass out any second.

“Freaking finally—” you recall Kirishima repeating, voice wobbly, “Y-you finally have a g-girlfriend!”

Bakugou didn’t seem too pleased at the shade, encasing his co-founder in a headlock, eventually releasing him after the latter cried out his pleas and apology.

After the man managed to catch his breath, he came up with the suggestion that you hang out with the rest of their friend group.

“It’ll be fun!” he said. “We’d love to get to know you.”

“Tch.” Bakugou merely replied, seemingly not too keen on the idea.

“I don’t know…”

“I can ask PR about it,” Kirishima ignored you, “I bet you being seen with us is good for your image!”

Which leads you to the present moment.

The mechanical voice announces your arrival at the nearest station to the trendy, new, upscale restaurant that Mina specifically picked out for today’s get-together. Kirishima assured you when you, again, showed reluctance when he ran down the details yesterday, saying Kaminari and Sero vouched for it, that it had a built-in arcade or something.

Deep in your thoughts and on autopilot, you hop off the bus and begin your slow but steady trek toward the venue. By the time you reach it, it’s already 6:37 PM, a bit later than your agreed-upon meeting time.

Pushing the glass doors open, you enter the space and swiftly scan the area. Bakugou’s friends, who you just remember also happened to be top pro-heroes, are already packed in a booth near the back of the restaurant. As you walk towards them, you see that Mina, Kirishima, and Sero are seated beside each other while Kaminari is looking a bit lonely on the extra chair at the tail-end of the table. You’re guessing the empty seats in front of the aforementioned three have been reserved for their close friend and you, the fake girlfriend.

Right, you say to yourself. Time to put on a show.

Kirishima is the first one to spot you, and you can’t help the squeeze your heart makes as he visibly brightens up when he does. “Bro, over here!”

At that, you plaster on the friendliest smile you can muster and trudge towards where they are.

“Sorry I’m late, you guys,” you say as you slide into your seat, “I had to call an emergency meeting at work. I came as fast as I could…”

You look at the three, (not really) new faces (because you see them on TV all the time), suddenly feeling nervous and singled out.

Desperate for something familiar to have near you, you ask: “Uh, where’s Bakugou?”

The moment you stutter the question out, you find yourself immediately wanting to take it back, because the air in the room suddenly changes. Sero smirks, Kaminari guffaws, and a devilish grin exponentially grows on Mina’s face.

“Awww, it hasn’t even been ten seconds since you got here and you’re already looking for your mans!” Mina winks at you, “He’s just in the restroom.”

“Bro, it’s about goddamn time Bakugou finally got a girlfriend,” Sero adds.

The girl nods enthusiastically in agreement, “It’s been a long time coming, indeed. Do you have any idea how long he’s been pining for you?”

Negative thirteen days, you think to yourself. But you settle for a hesitant shake of your head.

“Dudes—” Kirishima tries to interject, although his voice is drowned out in the chatter and the marginally too-loud pop music playing in the background.

Sero snorts, “She probably doesn’t, knowing Bakugou. Though—” a look of pure mischief takes over the tape hero’s face as he turns to face you, “—wouldn’t you want to know?”

“I, uh—”

“Remember the first time Bakugou got a text message from her when we were out getting drinks for Ei’s birthday two years ago?” Mina asks the guys, although the question seems more rhetorical than not. “He choked on his beer so hard I was surprised he didn’t cough his freaking lungs out.”

“Mina—” Kirishima tries again.

Sero barks out a laugh at the memory, “That’s nothing compared to when he got so red in the face when I first insinuated he might have a crush that one time he helped me move into my current place. The big guy didn’t even think twice about hurling a box of clothes at me.”

“Sero—”

“Please!” Kaminari finally pipes in, before gesturing the group to get close with a cheesy, ‘come-wither’ gesture. From the corner of your eye, you see Kirishima mouthing something to the blonde but you don’t quite catch it, eyes drifting back to the latter, more curious than you’d like to admit, even if you’re 99% sure they’re making all of this up to humor you.

The electric hero smirks to himself before prolonging the suspenseful air. “Don’t tell him this, but I sneaked into his bedroom during that sleepover we forced him to host during Thanksgiving last year, supposedly to play a harmless prank on him. And get this—I heard him mumble your name in his sleep.”

“Guys!”

Startled, everyone looks at Kirishima, who’s doing the ‘slicing his neck with his hand’ gesture before sheepishly bringing it to rub at his nape when he feels the group’s attention on him. You scan their faces one by one, not knowing how to react yourself, and you notice what you think is realization dawn on everyone’s faces.

Well, everyone except Kaminari.

You look at the guy who’s apparently been looking at you this entire time, and your reaction to his made-up, albeit intriguing story must be priceless because he puffs up with pride before blurting out: “And it sounded like a moan, too!”

Before you can even choke at your spit in response, you see Sero’s long arm appear behind the blonde a split second before he smacks him on the back of the head.

“Hey!” Kaminari cries out, clutching his head in pain, and you can only stare at the situation in front of you, bug-eyed. “What was that for?!”

“That’s for not knowing when to shut up,” Sero hisses, before shifting to face you, a blinding smile now having replaced the chastising look that was on his face just a brief moment ago. “Now, where were we?”

“Aren’t you shitheads going to order?”

You jump at the gruff voice on your left, and you look up to see Bakugou, decked out in his usual black tee and joggers, frowning at you before his eyes dart to study his friends. Wordlessly, he slides into the booth beside you, and you automatically scoot over to make room for him. Suddenly it makes sense to you why his friends designated this entire side to only the two of you—you sometimes forget that their grumpy friend is abnormally huge—a fact that you get reminded of as he brings his arm around to rest on top of the back of your seat, his wingspan covering almost the entire length of it.

It takes a few seconds for everyone to gather their bearings and faithfully decide that no, he probably didn’t hear all of that—he couldn’t, if they wanted to keep their heads attached to the rest of their bodies—but when they do, they all scramble for the menus and act too innocently like they weren’t just making ridiculous shit up behind Bakugou’s back.

You give the man a hesitant smile yourself when he peers at you, before simply passing you the menu Kirishima handed over your direction.

“Hurry up and choose,” he huffs, voice uncharacteristically quiet. “We ain’t got all day.”

Since your boss arrived at your table, the squad hasn’t said a single thing about Bakugou from the past, particularly stories involving you, which further supports your robust theory that they were just trying to embarrass the guy in front of his alleged girlfriend.

No one brings up what has been said, too, and you take that as your cue to follow suit and keep your mouth shut.

Instead, and to your chagrin, they’ve resorted to buzzing around you, asking all sorts of questions about your life like how long you’ve been working at Bakugou and Kirishima’s agency, what kind of work you do, what you like to do for fun, how many siblings you have, and so on. But they’ve especially enjoyed asking you about Bakugou and your budding relationship, dropping a teasing remark or joke every now and then.

Every now and then as in every other sentence.

You’ve been trying to play it off cooly, lying out of your ass while seeming as natural as you can, but Bakugou isn’t taking it as well as you.

Apparently, and you know now, that the man detests being teased—it’s almost comical how red he gets at the slightest taunt, and you failing to repress a chuckle at the sight nearly grants you a shove from the hotheaded blonde. You look at the sole other girl for help, but Mina only grins at you while wiggling her eyebrows playfully as she sits back to witness the exchange.

But aside from all that, you find yourself quickly bringing down your guard and joining in on the conversation every once in a while, eventually coming to the realization that you’re actually having fun.

It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that Bakugou’s friends are great people, and seeing the man in a different environment than the one you usually find him in is interesting, to say the least.

In the midst of great conversation and in the blink of an eye, dinner is served and devoured, and before you know it, it’s 9 PM and everyone except Bakugou and you are around two to three drinks in.

“Come on, man!” Kaminari thrusts a glass of whiskey in Bakugou’s direction. “Let loose a little!”

The man in question merely lets out a ‘Tch’ before swatting the hero’s hand away.

“Don’t worry about him, bestie,” Mina calls out to you reassuringly, noticing you’ve been watching the two as you sipped on your own iced tea. “He just gets cranky when he’s not in bed by 9 PM sharp.”

“How ‘bout you, bro?” Kirishima asks you, this time a glass of gin and tonic in hand. “Are you sure you don’t want a drink?”

You muster the most polite and grateful smile you can. “No thanks, Kirishima-san. I kind of have plans early tomorrow morning.”

Yeah, right, you think to yourself. You just don’t want to risk making a fool of yourself in front of your two bosses and their closest friends.

“Ooooh, is that why Bakugou isn’t drinking as well?” Mina chirps excitedly, “Are you guys doing something tomorrow?”

“Uh, no,” you say, hesitant and irrationally guilty, which swells when Mina’s face drops in palpable disappointment. You scramble to pull out a palatable lie from your ass, “I’m going out of town to meet a good old friend of mine who just got back from the States.”

A chorus of oohs and aahs erupt from the table at your answer; luckily, they don’t press for more details, which you’re grateful for, because you’re running out of lies for the evening.

You feel Bakugou eyeing you at the side, as if trying to figure out if what you just said is true when Sero suddenly speaks up, pointing to the far end of the restaurant.

“Hey, they have a photo booth! Whaddya say we give it a go?”

Everyone cheers in agreement and you find yourself getting ushered into the said photo booth. Kaminari, Kirishima, and Mina plant themselves on the front while you get smushed between Bakugou and Sero at the back. You try not to let the close proximity with your boss get to you as Mina starts handing out the props, which you readily accept with a thanks. You look down at the ‘I’m awesome’ signage and rainbow-colored wig you’re holding, weighing your options, before ultimately deciding to make the sacrifice and give Bakugou the former. His crimson eyes trail to you when you tap his shoulder lightly, and down to the sign when you make the gesture of offering it towards him. He wordlessly takes it off your hands, and you can’t help but snort at how out of place he looks with it. He tosses you a glare, although it seems harmless enough.

“Ready?” Mina shouts, and the rest of you say your affirmation. You go through the motions, everyone changing up their poses and swapping props shot after shot, and you find yourself laughing along with the group as the ruckus unfolds around you. After the last click of the camera, you finally move to return the paraphernalia to the front with Bakugou shadowing you, and follow the rest as they hurriedly pile out of the small space when the sliding door suddenly slams shut.

“What the—” you reach for the indented groove and pull it open, but the door refuses to budge.

“Hey,” Bakugou’s booming voice ricochets within the small space, making you jump. “Quit fucking around, you guys.”

A chorus of laughter erupts from the outside, and only then does it dawn on you that you didn’t get locked in because of some stupid gust of wind.

Kaminari, who’s probably the one holding the door shut sounds positively evil when he pipes up with: “You’re not getting out of there until you do a round with just the two of you.”

“Yeah!” Mina adds excitedly. “And y’all better do those cute poses, you hear me? We’re not going home unless you do the classic kiss on the cheek!”

“Just the cheek?” Sero asks, “You should just go all out, Bakugou!”

“This is their idea, bros. I’m not involved here,” you hear Kirishima say in the background.

Oh motherfucking god.

Refusing to accept what’s happening, you try to pry the door open again, but Kaminari’s not letting up by the slightest. You stare at the door, unable to look at Bakugou and what feels like five minutes pass before the man finally speaks up.

“…Let’s just fucking do it.”

You turn around to gape at him, “E-excuse me?”

He sighs, looking as defeated as you’ve ever seen him, a tinge of pink tinting his cheeks in what you think is irritation. “They’re not gonna back down unless we fucking do what they say. Trust me,” he says as he plops down on one of the seats in front of the camera, “I know them.”

Hesitantly, you take the seat to his left, the feeling of resignation blooming in your stomach at his words. “O-okay, then. We can just quickly take the pictures like normal and we’ll be on our way.”

“No—” he starts, and he looks like it pains him to argue with you, “—if we don’t do this as they instructed, the shitheads are just going to make us do it again and again until we do.”

You flush at the implications of his words, “But—what—surely they’ll be reprimanded for hogging the photo booth?”

Bakugou shakes his head, seeming like he’s already surrendered his soul to the antics of his friends. “They don’t normally abuse their power as heroes, but they will for stupid shit like this.”

You can only blink at him, at a loss for words. If you think about it, it’s unnerving how calm and level-headed he’s being right now when you’re getting close to having a major freakout yourself.

“Well?” The man has the audacity to ask.

You shift awkwardly in your seat, choosing to look at the monitor in front of you instead of the pro-hero who you now realize is way too dangerously close for your comfort. “Okay, so the least number of shots we can go for is four.”

Bakugou grunts in what you think is approval.

You continue, “We can do one where we just sit and smile, another where we form a small heart with our hands to appease Mina, and—fuck, two more…”

You expected you’d be the one to do the agonizing task of directing your poses, so you’re surprised when Bakugou chimes in.

“That’s not enough for bug-eyes,” he says as a matter-of-factly, and you find yourself gulping in nervousness despite yourself. “We’ll have to get closer…”

Closer than this?

Bakugou seems like he’s debating something in his head before he gives you a firm nod. “The third one we can place your head on my fucking shoulder or something, and for the last—” he shakes his head in defeat, “just go and fucking kiss me on the cheek.”

“What?”

He shoots you an appalled look as if you jolting away from him at the mere suggestion is a criminal offense committed against him. “Don’t sound so fucking disgusted, idiot.”

You’re not about to tell him you’re the farthest from being disgusted and rather veering dangerously close to flustered. Instead, you croak: “Are you sure about this?”

Bakugou scoffs, “Does it look like we have a choice?” He pauses, before shaking his head rather adamantly, “It’s not like I want to do this…”

You frown, itching to argue that you, in fact, have a choice, but the man is so evidently resigned that any rebuttal dies down in your throat. He does know his friends better than you do. Obviously. You can’t accurately gauge how far they’re willing to go for you just to take these photos with the grump.

Heaving a heavy sigh, you mumble an ‘okay’ before standing to press the Start button.

And so you, once again, go through the motions.

Only this time you’re not laughing.

You can feel your smile straining as you pose for the first photo, and you’re guessing Bakugou is looking like he’s being forced to smile at gunpoint beside you.

Click.

At the tell-tale sound, you lift your left hand, forming half a heart, and bring it next to Bakugou’s right. Beside his, your hand is significantly smaller, and you’re staring at the shape you’ve formed together when the camera goes off again, catching you off guard.

Click.

You’re disoriented and barely registering the pace at which everything’s going when you feel a hand gently tug your head to the right, placing it firmly on top of a firm shoulder.

“Smile, you dumbass,” Bakugou says through gritted teeth. You obey.

Click.

You chance a glance at the man, whose eyes are downcast—staring at the floor. You hesitate, wary of the countdown, “…Can I?”

Bakugou merely closes his eyes in what you think is dreadful anticipation before opening them again, choosing to look straight into the camera instead of meeting your gaze. “Just do it.”

You’re not about to waste any more time and risk missing the timing and having to do this all over again, so you do.

It takes everything in you not to cringe the second your lips touch Bakugou’s cheek, suddenly becoming very aware of how chapped they are. But the thought is almost instantly replaced by the realization of how deceivingly soft his skin is, and you have to fight yourself from jerking away at the ridiculous observation.

The seconds go by so agonizingly slow, and as you wait for the shutter to go off, you notice how tense Bakugou is, whose eyes are now closed again. It occurs to you belatedly how weird it would come out in the photos if you had your eyes wide open this close to the guy, so you immediately slam them shut.

You do it just in time before you hear the all-too-familiar click, at the sound of which you promptly pull away and stand up.

“Great,” you chirp, too cheerily.

“Good,” he grunts at the same time as you.

You look at each other in surprise, and you can’t help the chuckle that bubbles out of you. The corners of Bakugou’s mouth twitch ever so minutely, and you could’ve sworn a smile is fighting to take over his lips.

You’re about to say something remotely embarrassing—just anything to fill the air, really—like ‘thanks’ or worse, when the door suddenly opens, startling the both of you.

Mina pokes her head through the small opening, squealing as her eyes dart back and forth between the two of you. “Well, come on, you two! They turned out amazing!”

You didn’t have to be told twice.

It’s about half past 10 when you finally decide as a group that it’s time to wrap things up and go home. Of course, you had to first sit through roughly thirty minutes of Mina gushing on and on about how cute your photos turned out, with Kaminari and Sero at the side teasing Bakugou about how uncharacteristically shy he looks. As you expected, Bakugou turned almost as red as a beet at the teasing, and you couldn’t help but laugh along with the group before getting silenced with a sharp glare from the man.

Despite the plethora of dirty looks he’s tossed your way the entire evening, Bakugou still went out of his way to offer you a ride home as you walked with the group to the exit. You were about to politely decline when you realized everyone else was watching and that it would be weird for you to turn down your boyfriend’s proposal this late into the night.

And so you reluctantly accepted.

Which is how you find yourself waiting by the restaurant’s front door with Mina while Bakugou fetches his car. The other three guys already hit the dirt and carpooled home together, not one of them having bothered to drive here in the first place knowing they’d get drunk, or at the very least, tipsy.

The silence is comfortable as you breathe in the cool, evening breeze, while Mina sways side to side beside you.

“If you ask me, Bakugou didn’t drink tonight because he wanted to drive you home safely.”

You whip around to look at the pink-skinned hero, “Huh?”

Mina only shrugs in response, not bothering to repeat herself. Instead, she reaches for something in her purse, digs through it for a couple of seconds, before pulling out a strip of film that you instantly recognize is that of you and Bakugou from a while ago.

“Sorry, but I’m keeping the one of us as a group,” she sing-songs, not sounding the slightest bit apologetic, before thrusting the string of photos towards you. “But you get to keep the one of you and Bakugou.”

Not knowing what else to do, you gingerly accept it from the girl.

She grins at you, “Keep it safe for him, ‘kay?”

You refrain from telling her that he most definitely doesn’t care about whether or not you keep these photos safe, and instead give her an affirmative nod. Looking down at the object in your hands, you study the images one by one.

Your smile does look a bit strained in the first, and you’re not even smiling in the second, dumbly staring at the heart instead, but you’d say you appear decent enough in the third yet downright foolish in the last. It’s Bakugou that leaves you dumbfounded, though.

He’s not smiling in the first one—at least, not really—but he still managed to look handsome and exude a boyish charm that’s always been characteristic of him. To your surprise, he’s also not looking at the camera in the second; instead, his eyes are directed towards you, a solemn expression on his face. Against your will, you feel yourself warm at the thought of being the object of his attention without your knowledge. In stark contrast, he comes off stiff as hell in the third photo with your head on his shoulder, and in the last one…

His eyes are closed, eyebrows slightly furrowed. And if you didn’t know any better, you’d think his cheeks are tinged the lightest shade of pink.

Huh.

“You really like him, don’t you?” Mina pipes up out of nowhere, snapping you out of your train of thought.

You flush at her words. “Sorry?”

The girl merely smirks, a knowing expression etched across her beautiful features. “It’s written all over your face.”

Your free hand absentmindedly shoots up to feel your face, and it doesn’t elude you that you’re heating up.

To your relief, Mina doesn’t say anything else. She shrugs again, checking something on her phone before turning to face you once more, “Well, my Uber’s here! Tell Bakugou to drive safely and make sure you get home in one piece, okay, bestie?”

You smile at her concern and the adorable term of endearment she’s assigned to you, “I will.”

Mina seems to hesitate for a second before decidedly stepping closer and bringing you into a warm hug, which you return as best as you can.

You eventually pull away from each other after a moment, and she walks down the stairs and towards the dark maroon car that’s just arrived.

Leaving you with nothing but the space to mull over the ramifications of what has just been said.

tagging. @kitthepurplepotato @chelbyisbord @lovra974 @katsukis1wife @brunnetteiwik @bunnysaursushii @beab19 @yawnzzzzzzzz @cholios @kashee-h @k0z3me @meeeepsworld @asura-rose @dragonscribble @moonz33 @citrustsuki @deadhands69 @lemuhr @rosemarygalaxy @iluv-ace @eyesforbkg @carpe000diem @shushbruv @matchat3a @ttalgi @bakunianadecorazon

˖⁺‧₊ as always, reblogs, replies, and tags are appreciated <3 they really do make a difference! have a lovely day ( ˘ ³˘)♥

summary: in which it’s jungkook turn to steal your clothes.

> fluff / wc: 2.4k

note: helloooo if you’ve already read this it’s because i had to repost :DD but i also changed it up just a bit !

—

jungkook is aware of his nickname as the laundry fairy. undeniably, doing the laundry is one of his favorite activities to do at home. separating the whites from the colors. smelling his favorite fabric softener. watching the clothes slosh around inside the circle in pure fascination. sitting in a corner scrolling through his phone while waiting for the washing machine and dryer to finish their jobs. while there is the satisfaction from finishing chores as an adult, he just simply loves fresh laundry. it makes him feel at home. at peace, even.

the household chores were already discussed and divided when you were still at the planning stage of moving in together. you were both afraid of them becoming a reason of constant arguments, so you made an effort to avoid that as much as possible. he quickly volunteered to do the laundry and the cooking, the fields in which he is already an expert in. on the other hand, you’re in charge of washing the dishes and cleaning. so far, this has been working well for you. even more, you help each other when you’re not busy.

if there is one thing he has come to love the most about doing the laundry in your shared home for the past year, it’s learning what your favorite pieces of clothing are. living together doesn’t mean seeing each other 24/7. of course, you have your own endeavors to attend to. he doesn’t see every outfit you change into. and so, he develops a deeper familiarity with you in this way.

moreover, by doing the laundry, he can see what kind of week you’ve been having. you’ve been staying at home for the past four days, only going out once the other day to restock groceries. therefore, your dirty laundry consists mostly of shorts and his oversized shirts. the simple outfit you wore outside stands out in the sea of neutral colors, and a random idea pops in his mind as he takes out the load of clothes from the dryer.

jungkook enters the living room casually, plopping down on the couch next to you with a small smirk visible on his lips. however, his presence goes unnoticed when you spare him not even a glance. your fingers dance around the keyboard, moving to a fast-paced beat of drums rolling in your head.

Keep reading

go and come back safely 💜 라뷰 💜