I Love This Sm, Angst With No Comfort 🔛🔝

NIKI??

WHAT’S UP ?

📄 ◜ ────𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗴; 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗯𝗼𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲...

ʬʬʬ. 2024 pairing. nishimura riki x femoc!member req. nk getting jealous of ml with other 05-liners cw. jealousy, kabedon, teasing ( LIBRARY )

RIKI NEVER THOUGHT HE WOULD SEE THE DAY WHERE he would be third-wheeling on his own date, but that was before he and Mila bumped into Harua and Taki while they were out and about on what was supposed to be a romantic outing with just the two of them.

Make no mistake, Riki was good friends with the two of them and had nothing against them personally. He was even glad to see them, happy to be reunited with his fellow 05’-liners. But somehow, it seemed they were a lot happier to see Mila than they were to see him — and that Mila was unusually happy to see them, too.

Since when were they close? Riki thought with a pout as he watched Mila reach up to ruffle Harua’s hair.

“How have you been?” Mila asked in a sweet tone, mirroring how one would speak to a baby or a cute puppy they come across on the road. It was one that was usually reserved for her boyfriends — the younger ones, especially — and so Riki was astounded to hear her use it on the Japanese male. Even more so when she cooed as Harua nodded happily. “Ah, what even? Why are you so cute?”

Cute? Cute? Riki clenched his jaw the slightest bit as he watched Mila smile at him with those eyes of hers, laughing at something he had said. Riki continued to stare at her, as if it would magically make her look his way. But the woman was none the wiser.

Now, Riki was not the possessive type, nor was he the type to be jealous of his girlfriend having male friends. But he couldn’t deny the twist in his gut as Mila continued to pay attention to the other two males while he stood right there, waiting for her to tell him that she was ready to resume their date.

Riki licked the insides of his cheek. He crossed his arms and looked down at the floor, nodding along to whatever the three were talking about so as not to seem rude. But his foot was tapping subconsciously, his eyes flickering to the time displayed on the face of his watch.

“By the way, were you two heading somewhere?” Taki asked, looking between the couple. “We’ll leave you to it, if that’s the case.”

“Huh? That’s okay! We don’t mind, right Ni-ki?” Mila blinked up at Riki, reminding the tall male of how small she looked in comparison to him. But while he would usually smirk at their height difference, he found himself noticing something else.

Ni-ki? Ever since they started dating, Mila never called him by anything other than his first name and a choice collection of pet names. He looked at Taki and he realised why. But still… It wasn’t like they would be confused— Taki would already know by default who Mila was talking about. She was only one of very few people who ever called him by his birth name these days, it felt too distancing for her to refer to him by his stage name— that was what everyone else called him, after all.

“Still,” Taki said, cutting through Riki’s thoughts like a blade, “we shouldn’t hold you back for too long— we have somewhere to be as well, so we’ll let you go now.”

Mila hummed. She nodded understandingly thought it was obvious she wasn’t too eager to let the duo go, given how she patted Harua’s arm, giving it a gentle squeeze as he bowed and departed. She sighed, waving at the duo as they walked away. “He’s just so cute…”

“I know,” Riki deadpanned, the smile he offered Taki and Harua as they left skipping form his face. “You only mentioned it like three times already.” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket, before turning on his heels. “Come on.”

Mila blinked before trialing after the young man like a puppy nipping at his heels, her wide eyes looking up at him in question. “Hey,” she called softly, her hand tugging on the sleeve of her jacket. “Are you okay?”

Riki scoffed under his breath. Who would be okay after they had to watch their girlfriend fawn over another man, even going as far as to call him ‘cute’? And when they were supposed to be going out as a couple, at that. He clocked his tongue as he pettily ignored her calls, instead speeding up his steps.

“Oh… Wait a minute, are you jealous?” When Riki didn’t respond, Mila giggled. “Really? I didn’t think you’d be that jealous, considering you hate being called cute… But you know, the way you’re acting right now is really cute too.” Mila smiled as she skipped alongside his long strides. He still refused to look at her, causing her to become even more endeared by his behaviour. “Hey, Ni-ki—!”

Riki clicked his tongue. In one smooth movement, he seized Mila’s wrist, pulling her into the emergency staircase that they happened to pass as they walked towards the exit of the Hybe building. Mila gasped at the sudden movement. She momentarily lost her balance, flailing forward at the sudden force. But before she could fall over, Riki trapped her between his body and the firm wall against her back — one hand on the wall above her and the other on her waist.

Mila froze, eyes wide as she stared up at him, breath caught in her throat at the sudden proximity. She swallowed thickly. “W-what are you doing…?”

It was meant to come to stern, scolding even. Yet under the heat of his gaze and his towering figure, the words came out breathless — just like what she felt in that moment. “It’s Riki.”

Mila gasped like a fish. “What?”

Riki smirked slightly at her flustered expression, taking on the redness of her cheeks and her avoidant gaze. But he schooled his expression before she could notice his amusement. “Call my name,” he said lowly, his deep voice causing Mila to melt on the spot. “You keep calling me ‘Ni-ki,’ earlier. But that’s not what you usually call me.”

Mila licked her lips, feeling that they had gotten dry. Riki subconsciously followed the action with his eyes, watching the way her pink lips parted to enunciate the syllables of his name. “Riki—”

His name barely left her lips before Riki’s were pressed against hers. The hand on her waist flitted to her jaw, tilting it upwards to allow him more access, his plump lips covering his in a kiss that could only be described as a stamp of longing— too firm to be tender, but too soft to be passionate. Just his mouth on hers filling her tummy with butterflies and making her knees buckle.

By the time Riki separated from her, she was reduced to a blushing mess under his smug smile. “That’s better,” he said. He raised a hand to stroke to stroke top of her head. “Noona’s a good girl.”

“What?” Mila stammered. He never called her Noona, but when he did, it was always intentional. Mila pushed his chest, but Riki noticed she didn’t use any force, instead resting her hands there helplessly — as if he had kissed all the strength out of her. “You spend too much time with Jake,” Mila muttered, avoiding his gaze.

Jake was right when he said that Riki seemed to only learn strange things from his hyungs — flirting, included. The man winked, a charming smile crossing his face, ironically proving Mila’s point. She sighed resting her head against her chest, her heart racing wildly against her own.

Riki was no bad boy, but with the way things were going, he definitely could turn out to be… Bad for Mila’s heart, that is.

TAGLIST @em1ejiee @menichoi @dracoslovergirl @rosas-in-the-garden @blossominghunnie @lovelypham @cornenhapovs

for well and for good | park sunghoon

pairing: sunghoon x gn!reader

genre: angst

wc: 1k

warnings: allusions to a toxic past relationship (sunghoon and unnamed ex), crying (a lot), hurt-no-comfort fic, heartbreak; sunghoon realises his feelings for you too late

a/n: all i want is to break hearts <3

a/n pt 2: umm, not a solid plot but more so like a scene building concept?

there wasn’t a more heartbreaking moment than this, not for sunghoon; not even when the consequences of his actions that led him here had played out exactly as you had warned him it would.

now it was too late, and beg as he might, a heavy feeling in his chest slowly settled against his favour, a premonition turning true and cry as much as he wanted, everything was spiralling out of control so fast, he wasn’t sure who he should save first.

“(y/n)...(y/n) please, i can’t do this, i can’t live without you. i’m sorry, i’m so sorry, please don’t leave, i need you…i love you.”

the more he weeped for a lost cause, the more it hurt your chest and ripped you apart piece by piece but you made no attempts at stopping the pain.

everyone had always assumed that you and sunghoon would be the endgame. it was so obvious! you both were head over heels for each other, but of course, of course the heart wavers ever so often now and then. sunghoon let himself ignore all the signs, pretend that the affection and sweet words weren’t another ploy for his wealth, his looks, his popularity, the safety and love he was so willing to provide someone, because he was always so very generous. generous and ridiculously naive; always looking to give away a piece of himself to anyone who so much as asked for it.

and a man in love is hard to sway again, especially when the man is sunghoon, with his giving nature and so much love that filled his heart that he couldn’t contain it any longer.

words were said – spit almost venomously at the cost of saving face and pride, and how dare you question his love and hers, when you had no business? how dare you make assumptions about this beautiful woman who loved him – at least he hoped she did – as much as he did?

and then…and then everything you said came true. your warnings carefully etched themselves like knife carvings on a paper – vehemently and so very stubbornly irreversible. now he’s here, after months of grieving not just the loss of his trust in love, but also you. and he had to make things right, but how does one convince a person they've broken and trampled upon so mercilessly, that they are indeed in love with them?

how does sunghoon convince you that he’s so utterly in love with you that he could physically feel the pain of your pointed ignoring and cold looks? how does he even begin to express how sorry he was when the unsaid apology squeezed the breath out of him in aggrieved pants? how does sunghoon not lose you again?

“”i’m sorry hoon, i can’t do this anymore. i can’t love you anymore, i don’t want to love you anymore…you’ve hurt me too much.”

“(y/n) please, please i beg you,”

and beg he did; getting down on his knees on the cold tile floors of your living room, he wrapped his arms around your waist and dampened your shirt with his hot tears. neither he nor you were making much sense of this conversation anymore.

he felt you shake in his embrace, your own tears and gasps of air breaking his chants of an apology, his hands tightening around you to physically feel your touch after months.

“hoon stop it,” a wretched sob, ugly as it sounded when it tumbled out of your lips in pain, like a helpless rotten fruit falling off its branches, makes you whimper and clutch onto the clinging man's hand who refused to let you go.

in a hurried motion sunghoon is up on his feet, holding you by the shoulder that shakes with the cries staining your cheeks.

“i can’t live without you, please give me another chance,” he shakes his head frantically, mumbling out his words in a frenzy as he is yet again painfully reminded of exactly how weighted his words were and how much truth they held in them. it weighed him down, your refusal to look past this, like a sack of cotton drowning in water, and yet he could not bring himself to blame you, hoping against hope that his words would make a change.

his lips find your forehead, pressing down on them in a hot kiss; the trembling of his lips breaks you, you wish would stop – but he doesn’t. he’s kissing your shoulder, your arms, your wrists, your palms and he’s kissing your forehead – again and again and again and again – until you push yourself away, your eyes closed, shaking your head.

“don’t, it’s time we stopped this. we can’t hope for things that were never meant to be.”

sunghoon was standing on the edge of a cliff, and you just pushed him off into a bottomless pit that made his insides curl into themselves, his hands shooting in the air for something to grasp but there’s only air that passes through his fingers like bullets.

in his last attempt he kisses you on the lips. he holds your face so gently and kisses you so deeply and for a moment you feel yourself swaying. you let him kiss you, because you know this would be the last time you would let this happen. you whimper into his mouth and he lets a broken sob tumble on your lips where it stays as a reminder of this very moment, searing you both apart. you don’t kiss back.

“stop it, please. you’re hurting me.” it’s a whispered plea, but to sunghoon it’s a huge boulder that blocks his way from you. you’ve planted it there for once and for all, and he knows that there’s nothing he can do to make you move it.

“i’m sorry, i love you, but i don't want to anymore. i’m sorry.” 

sunghoon rests his forehead against yours, your tears mingled and continuous and he knows he’s lost you now, for well and for good.

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ

CHAPTER FOUR - HELL'S GATE.

WORDS - 3,725.

RATING - G+. [canon-typical violence and somewhat fluff].

SUMMARY - suiren finally meets the entity that had been haunting her dreams.

feedback would be appreciated!

previous chapter - chapter three.

Not understanding where she was, Suiren had woke up, perplexed to her surroundings, she had turned around and quickly comprehended that wherever she was, was not the physical life she had needed to return to. Apprehensive, the girl pinched herself to reassure that she wasn’t dreaming, and the moment she could feel the pinch a deep laugh had hastily shaken her.

“Who’s there?” Suiren called out, alert and ready to fight whoever tried to stand in her way.

The area she had been in, had contrasted the white abyss she was usually used to, the atmosphere was dark and the coldness had sent chills down her spine. Though, the moment the girl had called out into the open and heard the laughter, she had immediately turned around to face where the laughter had come from.

The moment she finished her rotation, she stood to face to face to a large dragon behind black gates. Aside from the vast size of the animal, it had appeared intimidatingly beautiful. Intrigued, Suiren’s arms dropped to her sides as she viewed what had been displayed in front of her with an open mouth, however, the moment she gathered her consciousness, Suiren took a closer step towards the black gates. 

“Who are you?” Suiren curiously whispered, and the intrigued emotions she had felt trampled over her fear, her eyes slightly wide with anticipation.

“Sora,” the Dragon responded and unsure to continue speaking, Suiren had remained silent to the beast’s response.

Howbeit, the girl had quickly understood that the only way to get out of this situation was to speak to Sora.

“How can I get out of this place?” Suiren questioned, eager to leave the area she had been in currently, she understood that she had left Raiden in a vulnerable position and she hadn’t been in the mood to stay and have a conversation.

“You need my entire spirit,” Sora forwardly answered, and confused, Suiren knitted down her dark eyebrows.

As she had tried to think of ways for her to have his spirit, Suiren shook her head, mixed up. “What do you mean?” Baffled, Suiren had stared up at the Dragon, whose blazing eyes stared back at her, nonetheless, swiftly, Suiren eyes lit up in conclusion. “Were you the Fire?” Suiren inquired, her voice light as she had easily figured out Sora’s other form.

“The Fire is a part of me,” Sora truthfully answered, “when you finally allowed the Fire to take you, it had caused everything to become easier, for example, talking like this.”

Impatient, Suiren actively spread her arms open, longing to return to Raiden. “Enough chit-chat!” Suiren exclaimed, “how do I let you in?”

“That was quick,” Sora sneered and quickly, Suiren threw eye darts at the beast that stood before her.

“My friend, Raiden is in trouble and so am I, I need to get out of here as quick as possible,” Suiren earnestly explained, her voice actively discordant as she had begun to fear what must’ve happened to the both of them now.

Reticent, Sora moved his large figure closer to the black gates, the bright colour of his eyes was the main source of aglow Suiren had in this dark realm, and anxious, Suiren mouth shuddered as she gently took in the cold air. “You need to open the gate.”

“How can I open the gate?” Suiren asked.

“All you need to do is think about it, your mind is powerful enough to grant whatever you need, believe in yourself, have faith,” Sora gently responded and unsure, Suiren moved her sight to the square golden lock that had trapped in Sora.

Desperate, Suiren had walked towards the gates and wrapped her hands around one of the metal black bars of the prison, and realised that there had been words embedded into the bar, curious, Suiren examined the writing and noticed it had said, “Hell’s Gate,” and the moment she understood the two words, the dark-haired girl looked up at the Dragon, furtherly unsure.

“You’re not going to do anything I’ll be against?” Suiren anxiously questioned and the beast had tilted its head to reassure her.

“Without your permission I cannot do anything to you,” Sora responded and assured, Suiren beckoned her head. “The power you have is too much for your body, it’s already killing you especially with the help of the poison that’s running through your blood, you’ll need to get healed immediately, or your body will become worse to the point you can die.”

Nervous, Suiren gripped her hands around the bars of the gates, yet, the girl had pushed her fear away and focused to get out. “I need to hurry up,” Suiren lowly muttered, and before she had allowed herself to appoint Sora to escape, she pressed her lips into a thin line. “How would I be able to escape from the Prism Tower?”

“A portal,” Sora candidly answered.

Confused, Suiren shook her head. “I don’t know how to create a portal.”

“You will be able to, only if you believe yourself,” Sora responded and with not wanting to waste any more time, Suiren had focused on the golden squared lock.

Silent, she gently inhaled deeply as she had directed and concentrated on making the lock disappear and when the girl had been able to accomplish the task, the lock had disappeared into a puff of smoke and not too long after, the black gates turned into fog and there was no longer anything that had separated Suiren and Sora from each other.

Moreover, without second thought, Sora had formed into one of his appearances, a black cloudy spirit that had glowed red flakes and had stunned the young girl who stood opposite him, briskly, her mouth had opened and the dark coloured mist entered her body.

Scared, Raiden had dragged Suiren’s body away from the crowd as much as he could, tired, and in need to be healed, Raiden held Suiren’s body tightly against his chest, her back against his front while the heels of her sandals dragged against the cold ground.

As much as he tried to keep his cool, the dark-haired boy had panicked the moment he heard the shout from the Prism Members get louder; and with his cheek against Suiren’s cheek, the boy had breathed heavily. “Suiren wake up!” Raiden desperately pleaded as the figures of the enemies had become closer, as his back had fudded against the brick walls, the boy had realised that he was at a dead end, and beaten, the body had slid his back down the cold solid.

“Suiren please wake up!’ Raiden cried out, his eyes wide with fright while they began to close in on them, and when Suiren had not moved a muscle, the Nakamura boy had accepted both of their fates.

Disheartened, Raiden had kept Suiren close to his body and closed his eyes while the free palm of his right hand had covered Suiren’s, ready for the Prism members to end them, but suddenly, the girl had eventually woken from her slumber, while deep red flames had seeped out of her mouth like an angered Dragon.

Her flame had burned the men into crisp just as the blaze had taken over everything in front of her. Amidst the Water Stone still in her hand, the piece radiantly glowed while the Fire Suiren had breathed out had created a portal for the two to get into, Suiren had used all her strength to help herself and Raiden get to their feet and enter the ingress.

Dejected and distressed, the two had fell into the office of Suiren’s mother, Sakura; and grateful, Raiden had once more stood to his feet while the long-haired girl had struggled to use her limbs to get up, as she had felt all muscles in her body eternally burn, she had taken one glance at her disturbed mother and reached out for the pink-haired lady before she had fell flat.

It had been a day since Suiren had collapsed in her mother’s office and she had been in a private hospital room ever since, she had been asleep but had been able to feel the soothing energy of her mother’s chakra healing her. When word got out that Raiden and Suiren returned back to Konoha, the rest of Team Thirteen had to rebound back to their Village.

Raiden was always found by Suiren’s side, along with Sarada who had been surprised to see the dark-haired boy due to the fact that Suiren never really spoken about the connection she shared with him, but, Sarada understood that the two were team-mates who had suffered a commodity very traumatising.

The moment Sakura had tucked Suiren into the hospital bed, she eventually noticed the Water Stone her unconscious body protectively gripped, fortunately Ren had explained what he knew about the Water Stone and astonished, Sakura had immediately given the stone to Naruto.

When the object had been discussed by the two adults, they agreed that this was undeniably a conversation to have with Suiren, who Naruto believed had more information about the object, though the two adults had remained silent, they believed it was best to have the youngest Uchiha speak about it when she felt better.

Currently, Suiren had much flowers in her hospital room, and had tubes that had entered her so she had remained healthy, the aid was accessible, and the young girl’s closed mind had begun to wake up.

The flowers in her room had come from the many male admirers she had in the Academy and Raiden had wished he could throw them all away, but for Suiren he didn’t. The second Sarada and Raiden noticed Suiren had woken up, Sarada had instantly brought her twin sister into a hug. “We were so worried!” Sarada passionately cried out, within the embrace, Sarada could feel her tears threaten to leave.

“I’m fine now,” Suiren smiled.

“I stopped all my missions to be by your side,” the older twin sniffled, as she pulled herself away from the tight embrace, moreover, grateful, Suiren had rubbed the knuckles of her older sister, who had then nudged Suiren and gestured towards Raiden who had sat at the other side of the hospital bed.

“Raiden,” Suiren responsively breathed out, ere she pulled herself to bring the green-eyed boy into a tight hug.

Confused, Sarada crossed her arms as she had watched the display in front of her. “I didn’t know the two of you were a thing.”

Quickly, Suiren pulled away from Raiden and sent her sister a look, humorously defensive, Sarada took a step back. “I’ll tell mum that you’ve woken up,” Sarada commented and left the hospital room so the two could have time to themselves.

Gently, Suiren had held Raiden’s hands, her eyes filled with complete gratefulness. “Thank you for protecting me.”

“I did the best I could, I was pretty weak, the mission made me realise how better I have to become for something like that not happen again,” Raiden thoughtfully responded and slowly the Uchiha had beamed at him. Thankful, Suiren had hugged him once more, “it was you that did the big stuff, you were like a fire breathing Dragon, the fire was so big I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of me, and then you created a portal with the fire, it looked like it was straight from a movie.”

“You sound crazy,” Suiren laughed as she had leaned back on her hospital bed, then she randomly remembered the conversation she shared with Sora in the dark realm she woke up in.

“I’m not crazy,” Raiden joked, “I’m serious, you’re magic Suiren.”

Complimented, Suiren turned her head to him. “You’re so sweet,” Suiren thanked, “but how are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine,” Raiden shrugged, not bothered to speak about himself, “Today’s all about you,” he pushed, and confidently, he placed his hand on top of hers, the kind touch they had shared had quickly become interrupted by a familiar blond loud mouth, the Hokage’s eldest child and only son, Boruto.

Sharply, Suiren had sucked in her breath just as she readied herself to converse with the whiskered boy. As much as annoying the boy could be, it was genuinely nice to see his face and have his presence around. “Here comes Mr. Lame,” Suiren proudly smiled and enthusiastically, Boruto winked at Suiren and gave her a thumb’s up.

“Sarada told me what happened to you,” Boruto spoke, and humorously, Suiren looked at herself up and down before she pointed her gaze towards back to the blond boy.

“Well as you can see,” Suiren smiled as Boruto curiously walked closer to her, intrigued to hear what had happened, but Sakura had quickly entered the hospital room with Sarada who trailed behind her.

“The two of you boys need to get out,” Sakura hastily ordered and without hesitation, Raiden and Boruto exited the hospital room which had caused Sarada to close the door behind her once the two boys were out.

Happy, Sakura had hugged her youngest child, relieved that she had woken with no complication. “Mum can you please take out the tubes?” Suiren begged and without second thought, the pink-haired lady obeyed her daughter’s plead and placed plasters to where the holes were in, relieved, Suiren laid her back against the comfortable cot.

“Uncle Naruto is going to come soon, he wants to know what happened when you were separated with the rest of the group,” Sakura informed, and reticent, Suiren nodded her head.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, mum,” Suiren remorsefully apologised and reserved, Sakura shook her head.

“It’s not your fault,” Sakura replied, “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

Content, Suiren smiled at her mother, Suiren knew how Sakura could be about her, their mother was protective of Suiren and Sarada equally, although, there would always be some type of fear Sakura would have in her eyes whenever something would happen when it came to Suiren. Moreover, truthfully, any caring mother would be like that, but, for her mother, she would always behave like something she had feared would happen would always occur whenever Suiren had the slightest bruise.

“Imagine my surprise when a portal was created in my office,” Sakura gently joked, “I never knew you could do that.”

“I never knew I could either,” Suiren replied, “it just happened.”

“You make me so proud,” Sakura emotionally whispered, and emotive, Sakura placed her hand against the top of Suiren’s head, fervent, Sakura pulled a chair to sit beside Suiren while Sarada walked to the other side of Suiren’s hospital bed and leaned against it.

Amused with a knowing look on her face, Sarada poked her sister’s upper arm which had caused the longer-haired Uchiha to twist her gaze to her sister. “I heard Raiden say you’re made out of magic,” Sarada brought up, “are you two dating?”

“We’re not a thing,” Suiren blushed, “I’m not a ready for a relationship anyways,” she shyly muttered and as kick-back, Sakura and Sarada knowingly shared looks before they continued their lists of inquiries.

After a dutiful moment of time the blonde haired Hokage had eventually made his way to the hospital room the Uchiha women stayed in, his aura bright and enthusiastic as he opened the door, his excited son behind him who had attempted to enter the room to hear what had happened in the mission, apologetically, Naruto had apologised for his son’s peering behaviour and closed the door behind him.

“Uncle Naruto is here!” The man kindly cheered on and happily the three women beamed at his entrance. “It’s good to see you healthy Suiren.”

“Thank you, Hokage-Sama,—”

Quickly, Naruto waved his hand, “no, not Hokage-Sama from you, just uncle Naruto,” he kindly clarified to Suiren, and honourably, Naruto had always been a good uncle to her, he’d usually tell the girl stories of younger Team Seven and how annoying and arrogant her father could be. Suiren had never forgotten that uncle Naruto had told her that Suiren had shared similar traits to her father but also a mix of her mother, while Sarada was the opposite, Sarada had more similar traits to their mother with a mix of their father.

Howbeit, when Naruto had entered the hospital room, she had felt the Water Stone with him, she hadn’t commented on it. “The mission has been half-completed,” Naruto commented, “the Water Stone has been retrieved but not given to the Land of Water.”

“It’s best for the Water Stone to stay in Konoha,” Suiren shrugged, “where there’ll be better and proper protection for it.”

“The Prism members must be gone,” Naruto candidly brought up, “Raiden said that you burned them.”

Thoughtful, Suiren twisted her sight to her fingers. “Yes, I did,” she whispered slightly surprised of how she was able to do that.

Sympathetic, Naruto brought himself closer to her. “Do not feel guilty, it was a last resort.”   Thankful, Suiren turned to look at him before she nodded her head. “Do you remember anything that had happened in the Tower?” Naruto questioned and Suiren gave them a signal that she did.

“I remember waking up against the table, feeling paralysed but they didn’t know I was awake, they were speaking to each other,” Suiren began to explain, and she could feel her mother’s hand reach for her, for support and grateful, Suiren gently glanced towards her mother and sent her a thankful smile. “They said I was some sort of amplifier for the Water Stone,” Suiren continued to explain just as she returned her vision to the man; and the long-haired girl then turned her sight to the pocket where the stone must’ve been and saw how it gently flickered its light blue colour in his pocket.

Intrigued, Naruto quickly took out the object from his pocket and the light blue glow weakly gleamed in his hand, in an assured manner, Naruto had passed the Water Stone to Suiren and the weak glowing of the object has briskly transformed into a heavenly luminosity; in response to the stone being near her, objects in the room began to slowly levitate along with strands of Suiren’s hair, shocked, the rest of the people in the room watched the situation while Suiren quickly passed the Water Stone back to him.

As a consequence, everything that had levitated in the room had quickly dropped back down to their places. “Do you know why you might be an amplifier?” Naruto curiously questioned as he put the stone back into his pocket, and genuinely Suiren shook her head.

As much as she had been genuine about her lack of knowledge to why she was the amplifier. Suiren had intentionally left out the information about Sora.

“Thankfully, the Prism are gone,” Naruto said again, and yet there was an underlining feeling that made Suiren feel opposite of what the Hokage had thought.

“I don’t think they’re all gone,” Suiren replied and confused, Naruto knitted down his eyebrows and silently gestured for her to explain why, “I don’t know why I feel this way, but I just don’t believe they’re all gone, that’s why I think it’s best for the Water Stone to stay in Konoha.”

“The Water Stone gives people unlimited Water Powers, the Prism wanted to use it to take over lands and villages,” Suiren explained and appreciative to the knowledge Suiren had given him, Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll do my best to give the Water Stone the best protection it needs,” Naruto said and relieved, Suiren gestured with her head with acknowledgement. “Continue to rest, Suiren,” he finally said before he bid his goodbye to her then to her mother and her twin sister.

“This is something Sasuke needs to know,” Sakura emotionally cried out, currently, the two adults had stood in Naruto’s office, Naruto hadn’t sat on his chair but stood in front of the pink-haired woman who had hugged herself while her head had hung low, her light green eyes against her feet as she had held herself back from crying.

Empathetic, Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder before he spoke, “are you talking about the Water Stone?”

Annoyed, Sakura looked up at the Uzumaki man. “No! About the fact that she almost died!” She hissed. “I don’t want Suiren to go on any missions for now.”

“That’s quite harsh,” Naruto frankly commented.

“For now,” Sakura muttered, “you should’ve saw the condition she was in when she arrived into my office,” Sakura sadly explained, “she looked dead.”

Responsive, Naruto pulled his hand from her shoulder as he understood how Sakura must’ve felt. “To almost lose a child,” Naruto affectionately whispered, his eyes wide with supportive sadness.

“The feeling was unbearable,” Sakura responded, “it’ll make me feel better if I know she’s safe for a couple of weeks,” she had then explained with her hand on her hips, sympathetic, Naruto had stared back at the pink-haired woman who had her mind already made up.

“The Chunin Exams are coming, she’ll need to train, Suiren wants to become a Chunin,” Naruto candidly responded, moreover, it wasn’t like Naruto was against Sakura’s plead, but he hadn’t wanted this situation to block Suiren’s path to become the excelling Ninja she showed to be.

Desperate, Sakura sighed as she impatiently tapped her foot. “A small break then,” she decided, “I just want to make sure Suiren will never be in that situation again, Naruto, she looked grey and was bloody, her blood was black and her veins were turning blue. I want to do research on the poison and create a proper medicine for it.”

Agreeable, Naruto gestured with his head. “I’ll have a conversation with Sasuke about it,” and thankful, Sakura thanked him, “but about the Water Stone, I can’t think of any connection between Suiren and the object.”

“It might’ve been the time I was pregnant with both Sarada and Suiren,” Sakura thoughtfully concepted out loud while she gently placed her hand against her stomach.

Responsive, Naruto watched her short display of action. “Suiren will be okay, Sakura.”

Wistfully, Sakura looked back at him with a doleful smile. “I hope so.”

thank you so much for the support! + wanted to show the dynamic suiren and boruto have, this is a glimpse of it.

masterlist

♆

went to find the brocedes cap throw clip for a friend. Got the jumpscare of my LIFE

BITTERSWEET

( a jay drabble )

A look through of Jay’s diary expressing how things ended up between you two. ┆ star’s note . Sorry for the messy writing i just wanted to post angst

I hate you.

I remember the first time I saw you. It was at this crazy party, with music blasting and people dancing everywhere. In the middle of the crowd, I spotted you chatting with a girl, and your smile lit up the whole room. That smile got stuck in my head, and I just wanted to see it every day.

I never thought that I’d ever fall in love, to me everyone was just a blur but you changed that. You were bright, like a star shining in the sky. You were the light of my life.

I hate how much power you had over me. I couldn't go a moment without thinking about you. Every little thing reminded me of you.

I was so in love with you, to the point I wish it never happened. Would it have been better if we never met?

My life feels empty all because of you. I hate the amount of nights you made me cry myself to sleep, I hate how you made me unable to love anyone else.

Nobody could make me forget you, it was like you were haunting my mind.

I know you can’t read this but remember when you said I was talented enough to be a guitarist? I know you’ll kill me for this but I got an offer from a big company and I rejected them.

I just couldn't pick up my guitar again after you left, every time I looked at my guitar it reminded me of you and that stupid voice of yours cheering me on.

Why did you have to leave? We were so happy. I hate myself for not fixing the messy fate we have. I wish I could have turned back time and fixed everything.

I feel so selfish for letting you leave without a fight. I despise myself for watching you slip away from my grasp so effortlessly.

I’m sorry, my love. I hope one day I can meet you again.

I’m sorry for not noticing what you were going through, I still talk to you through the sky. You look gorgeous even tho I can't physically see you.

I love you, it's a bittersweet feeling.

I’m sorry for not answering your final call when you were about to leave, I still hate myself for it.

This is my final note before I meet you again. I hope I can meet you again in the skies, I can't wait. Maybe we can finally have our happy ending, see you soon, my love.

—

As Jay finished writing his letter on the small sheet of paper, he gripped the letter in his hand with tears falling down his eyes before swallowing the final pills.

Jay falls to the ground slowly losing his consciousness, before finishing his last breath.

Maybe you two will finally have your happy endings.

"I would kill for you. I would die for you" would you take a break for me? Would you sit down and rest? For a day, a week, a year? Would you let others take care of your needs for me? Would you let yourself be held for me? By me?

wanna be yours 2.0 // ln4 social media au // part two

part one

pairing: lando norris X american!reader / mclaren photographer!reader and slight pato o'ward X reader

warnings: swearing

summary: a remix of my fic wanna be yours in social media au form. or basically lando and the reader both being in love with each other but being too stubborn and scared to say anything so they suffer in silence until one finally crumbles.

contains: best friends to slight strangers to lovers, pining, angst, jealous!lando, asshole!lando, clueless!lando, and perhaps a little lando or pato? situation.

masterlist

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

may 21st, 2024

y/n.jpg added to their story @4:19 p.m.

patriciooward replied to your story

↳ UBER DRIVER???

y/bsf replied to your story

↳  he picked you up from the airport and got you frozen yogurt.. girl 🤭🤭

may 22nd, 2024

may 23rd, 2024

liked by patriciooward, y/bsf, logansargeant and 104,000 others

y/n.jpg: a perfect day

patriciooward: with the perfect girl ❤️ -liked by author

y/bsf: 😏😏

↳ y/n.jpg: do you to be want blocked?

patriciooward: wait my eyes are closed in the last pic… you're a photographer and couldn't get one with my eyes open??

↳ y/n.jpg: you wouldn't stop squinting 😣

logansargeant: gonna miss you this weekend. be sure to consume enough red 40 and ranch for the both of us.

↳ y/n.jpg: i may or may not have a couple bottles of ranch already in my suitcase to bring back...

↳ logansargeant: I LOVE YOU -liked by author

user1: HELLO??? HOW CAN I BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS???

user2: oh this is practically a hard launch

user3: lando y/n truthers stay strong

landonorris: so this is why you can’t respond to my texts

↳ this comment has been deleted

may 24th, 2024

y/n.jpg added to their story

liked by patriciooward, y/bsf, landonorris and 120,000 others

y/n.jpg: carb day you are always so much fun. how do i convince the fia to create their own carb day?

y/bsf: EVERYONE IF YOU END UP EVER GOING WEAR SUNSCREEN!!! i'm miserable 😣

↳ y/n.jpg: i told you to wear sunscreen

patriciooward: how did you sneak off to the snake pit??

↳ y/n.jpg: don't even act like you weren't there with me

↳ patriciooward: 🧍

martingarrix: i'll get the ball rolling by nominating myself to be the dj.

↳ y/n.jpg: well good because i only had you in mind.

user1: lando in the likes?!?! is my family done fighting?

user2: is this us finding out that y/n and martin know each other and that means lando introduced them and that they are close enough for him to comment on her stuff?? oh the y/n lando lore goes deeper than we thought.

user3: isn't it like 2 in the morning in monaco.. lando go to bed... she's mine.

user9: the way you guys talk about lando and y/n is ridiculous. he literally has a girlfriend or did everyone forget??

may 25th, 2024

Sky Sports F1 Post Qualifying Interview

y/n.jpg added to their story at 7:10 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

y/bsf replied to your story

↳ WHAT????!!!?! THE HELL????

taglist: @coff33andb00ks @daisyfreecs @mel164 @hurtblossom @the-untamed-soul @ameliaalvarez06 @ahnneyong @landotd @spideylovin @wobblymug @vizzzashley @urfavsgf @lunamelona @sunflowervol18 @kiwi43-81 @horneybeach1 @czennieszn @dontworryboutitokie @weekendlusting @deamus-liv @lexiecamposv @nikki1dxx @eggingamazinglove

MOVING ON ; LEE HEESEUNG

lee heeseung x reader, angst no comfort, ooc heeseung?? maybe

notes: first fic heyy hope you guys liked it :3

The first time you and Heeseung got together, you already knew something was wrong. It’s not like you didn’t love him, and vice versa, but the timing of you both getting together was... suspicious.

Heeseung had broken up with his ex, Minjun, around two weeks before you and him got together, and you obviously knew that the timing was weird.

It wasn’t until the third week of dating that you knew your suspicions were correct.

Heeseung wasn’t over his ex yet.

Every date he has taken you out on was similar to the dates he would take his ex-girlfriend out on. It was true that you had some similarities in interests with Heeseung’s ex, but not all of them were the same!

“Hey, Hee?” you called out to him softly. Heeseung stops typing and turns to look at you, giving you a soft smile that hurts your heart.

“Hm? What is it, love?” he replies.

You opened your mouth, wanting to say, “Do you still love me?” yet you couldn’t bring yourself to actually say it. “Um, do you want to order something for dinner later? I don’t feel like cooking today.” That was a lie. You loved cooking. It was almost like an escape from reality when you were cooking.

“Oh, that’s okay. Are you okay? You usually love to cook.” Heeseung asks, and you can’t help the feeling of happiness flowing through your body knowing that Heeseung at least remembers your hobby.

“Mm, I’m fine. I’m just a little tired from work today.” You gave him a small smile, and Heeseung turned his head back to his laptop to continue working.

The next day, you woke up earlier than usual. You turned around to see Heeseung still fast asleep, and you couldn’t help but stare at his features. This was honestly the only time you were able to look at Heeseung without your heart hurting because you knew that he was going to wake up next to you and only you.

You scanned his face, letting a small smile show on your face. You quickly snapped back into reality, going out of bed slowly to get breakfast ready.

As you were making some pancakes, you hummed along to a slow song, eventually doing a little dance. Turning around to place the pancakes on the plate, you let out a small yelp, seeing Heeseung leaning against the doorway and staring at you.

“H-Hee! How long have you been there?” You asked nervously, placing the pancakes on a plate.

“Long enough to see you dancing,” he replies so casually, making your face burn. “Hey, don’t turn around! You never get embarrassed when I see you dancing. In fact, you always ask me to dance with you! Also, why are you making pancakes? I thought you preferred waffles over them.”

Your smile dropped. 

You loved pancakes. They were probably one of your top three favorite foods.

He’s still thinking about Minjun, isn’t he? You thought to yourself with a frown on your face.

“I just... felt like eating pancakes today,” you replied, giving him a small smile. “Now, sit! Let’s eat before it gets cold.” Pushing Heeseung into his seat, you grabbed two cups of water, taking a deep breath to not cry in front of him.

A few weeks had passed since that incident, and to be very honest, you were slowly giving up on your relationship with Heeseung.

Not only was he giving you stuff Minjun likes, but he also ended up forgetting to turn up to an important presentation of yours when he had already promised you.

His reason? The boys' basketball game was on the same day, and who was there watching the game? Minjun. Of course, he reasoned that he promised the rest of the boys that he would come to the game to watch them, but you knew better.

“Y/N, do you want to watch a movie? I have your favorite~” You turned around, surprised to see your favorite movie on the TV.

“Heeseung, I don’t feel like watching that today.” You say to him, returning to the laundry you were folding on the table. You didn’t hear Heeseung say anything else, so you thought that he was back on his phone, but instead, when you turned around, Heeseung was already standing behind you.

“Did I do something?” He asks you, fiddling with his fingers — a sign you recognize his nervousness. “You... just feel so distant these days, and you rarely call me by nicknames or pet names anymore.”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” you avoided making eye contact with him because you knew you'd cry when you met his gaze. “Why? I thought you didn’t like it when I gave you nicknames.”

Minjun rarely uses nicknames on Heeseung, so maybe he would love it when you stopped using them.

He places both of his hands on your shoulder, shaking you lightly, obviously making you look at him. “See?! This is what I’m talking about. You’re so… distant from me! I can’t even persuade you to eat your favorite food! Can you tell me what I did wrong already? I hate seeing you this quiet!”

Something snapped inside you. “You want to know so badly, do you? Fine, I’ll tell you!” you exclaimed, placing the basket of clothes back on the table. “You went to see Minjun during the basketball game, didn’t you? You only went there because you knew Minjun was going to be there,” Heeseung looks shocked. “I remember overhearing you tell Jungwon over the phone that you were too lazy to go to the basketball game, but when Jungwon mentioned Minjun coming, I just knew that you weren’t going to go to my presentation.”

“That’s-”

“I'm not done,” you said, interrupting him. “For the past few weeks, all you have been giving me is stuff that Minjun loves, not me. You even forgot what my favorite ice cream flavor was and only remembered what Minjun's was. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I remember you calling me Minjun as I was leaving for work last week.”

His eyes widened.

Heeseung grabbed his bag from the dining table and quickly walked up to you to kiss you. “Bye, Junnie! I’ll call you when I’m going back home.”

“I’m tired, Heeseung. I hate that I don’t live up to your expectations. I hate that I will never be as good as Minjun. I hate that you’re always thinking about her when you’re dating me. Why did you date me when you actually still love Minjun?” You asked, your eyes welling up with tears.

Heeseung was quiet, as you had expected. One thing you learned from dating Heeseung was the fact that he was never one to admit to something, and yet he would never lie either. He would just stay quiet. That was one of his weaknesses.

You quickly wiped away your tears. “I’ll go pack my bags…”

“Huh—?” Heeseung quickly held onto your wrist tightly. “Wh-Where are you going?”

“Home, Hee…” you replied almost too weakly. The face Heeseung was making almost made you stay, but you stood your ground. “I love you, Hee, I really do, but this relationship... it just won’t work unless you actually do love me for me and not Minju.”

“B-But I do love you!” Heeseung exclaimed, and you watched him wrack his brain to make an excuse for you to stay. “I just- I just can’t let go of the habit from when I was with Minju, that’s all! I love you, Y/N… Please stay…”

He looked pitiful, really.

“I’m sorry, Heeseung.” That was the last thing you said before pulling your wrist back and grabbing a bag to pack your clothes. Heeseung could only watch silently as you slowly emptied out your side of the closet.

As soon as you were finished, you walked towards him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for the past month, Heeseung. I had tons of fun dating you!” You smiled at him, unable to stop a tear from slipping out. “I hope that in our next life, we will be able to meet and date each other once again.”

And then you left, leaving Heeseung and the place you once called home.

THE HORRORS OF TEMPTATION ✦ P.JS & S.JY

PAIRING. demon!jay x fem!reader x baker!jake

GENRE. mdni, explicit content, supernatural au, demon au

SYNOPSIS. you recently bought a new house at an insanely cheap price in the middle of nowhere, moving into it almost immediately, despite your mother's warnings about it being dangerous. you come across a strange article related to the house, dismissing its content by calling it utter bs. it was only when strange happenings began to occur in that house, was when you realized that the article wasn't completely based on lies. but now you were intrigued, choosing to stay in your new house, despite all the dangers it posed, wanting– no, needing to unravel it's secrets– with the help of the cute baker that visits you, of course. will you succeed, or will you fall into the clutches of what's haunting the strange house?

WARNINGS. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. all parts will contain smut, some parts will contain gore, explicitly detailed murder, yandere themes, major character death, and other mature themes. individual parts will have individual warnings.

WORD COUNT. tba after the series is complete. individual parts will have individual wcs.

'THE HORRORS OF TEMPTATION' M.LIST:

ch 1. sprinkles of death ⇆ here!

word count: tba.

release date: tbd.

ch 2. devil's playground ⇆ here!

word count: tba.

release date: tbd.

ch 3. hide and seek ⇆ here!

word count: tba.

release date: tbd.

►DANCING WITH THE DEVIL #002 [Sunghoon.]

Part 1 of this can be found here ‣ #001

Abstract: As you had foreseen, Sunghoon and you were back to being strangers. While it was all you had initially wished for, the suddenness and extremity of it was gnawing you from inside as it made you feel as if the past few months had been nothing —that you, too, were in fact nothing. All the while, cases around town continued to rise and in tandem, your recurring night terrors intensified, increasingly blurring the lines between dreams, memories and reality. In the midst of it all, you realised that happenings around town and around you did not add up. The more you dig however, the more you realised how close real danger had always been. How deeply entangled you actually were in the whole web with Sunghoon seemingly being connected to. But is he merely connected to it or has he been the one spinning the web intricately all these while?   ‣ [ do check out Part 1 first ]

Genre: vampire!sunghoon | horror | thriller | fantasy | romance // wc: ~10.8k

Warnings: blood; violence; injuries; slight suggestiveness (forced); mentions of crimes (missing persons, murder, serial killings); manipulation; toxicity; trauma.

i : back to square one

To say that the past few months had been a whirlwind would be an understatement. With the amount of unprecedented things happening around you and to you, it all felt kind of like a fever dream. It didn’t help that since you’ve submitted your assignment, Park Sunghoon, the campus heartthrob who somehow couldn’t leave you alone even for a second last semester, has suddenly gone cold on you. Let alone just simply greeting you, he had never even casted you a single glance since the last day you guys worked together. In fact, you could be right in front of him or beside him and his eyes and attention would just always be on anyone and anywhere but you. While you had foreseen this, even being the one to have told him that the assignment was the only thing binding you two together, the way it all shifted just overnight made it impossible to quell the distaste you feel within — that you were used. That all those months, labouring over the assignment, sharing jokes and stories, were nothing — that you were nothing. 

And just like that, you guys were strangers again.

“Are you sure nothing happened that night?” Sunoo elbowed you, bringing you back to reality. Deja vu, you thought, remembering how Sunoo had asked a similar question just months ago when Sunghoon started pestering you. You were going to answer him but got immediately distracted by whatever he was shooting daggers at. You followed his gaze, regretting it almost immediately, as you saw that it was at Sunghoon and his little clique who were walking from the opposite direction. As usual, while the rest of the clique were being rowdy and playful with one another, Sunghoon, at the back, stayed unperturbed, hands in his pockets, eyes straight ahead — always looking so disengaged and aloof. You don’t even have to worry about him catching you staring because he wouldn’t. It is literally as if you had turned invisible since your last day together.

"What a prick," Sunoo scoffed, somehow feeling victimised on behalf of you as Sunghoon just passed you by without as much as a glance, “Something must have happened to have turned him so cold all of a sudden y/n — I mean he can’t just shift like that overnight. Did you not remember the way he stared at you before this so-called Cold War happen? it was disgustingly dripping with attraction and obsession, you’d have to be blind to miss it. Seriously, tell me the truth, did you guys fight or disagree or—”

“Sunoo, first things first. He was never obsessed with me. You were the one making that assumption. While we did work well together, at best we were just groupmates — not even friends probably. So it makes sense for it all to just revert to square one now that the assignment is over,” you sighed exasperatedly as you pressed the button of the elevator in front of you, “and for the umpteenth time Sunoo, no, nothing happened.”

At least that’s what I think, you thought to yourself as you reminisced about that night you last worked with Sunghoon together. You remembered working until dawn with him. You remembered leaning back against his sofa. You remembered him staring. You remembered packing up. Then you remembered waking up in your own bed, apparently having chronically overslept. You couldn’t exactly remember how you got home though, to be honest. You remembered snippets of it — city lights, sound of cars passing by, the sound of the door, certain warmth and pressure — but it was all a blur. When you woke up, you felt so lightheaded and groggy with your body aching and sore in some places. Then there was this unexplained level of hunger which made you dawn a whole 16” box of pizza to yourself that day — it was as if you had been fasting for days.

The ache eventually subsided and your appetite eventually returned to normal but now and then, you'd get dizzy spells. To make matters weirder, when you went for blood donation not long after, the Nurse deemed you ineligible as a donor as your Haemoglobin count was abnormally low — a drop that was quite alarming given how you have never had such histories and considering how you have not donated nor lost massive amounts of blood recently. It was all very weird but in the absence of any rational explanations, you attempted to make sense of it all by attributing it to how bad your sleeping and dietary habits have become weeks following up to the deadline as you only fuelled yourself daily with 2-hours of sleep and an inordinate amount of coffee.

Then of course there was Park Sunghoon, who went from suddenly having perfect attendance during the last semester to suddenly missing most of his classes this semester. During the few times when you do see him on campus grounds, his attention would always be on anywhere and anyone but you. It eventually got pretty obvious to you that with the assignment submitted, whatever you two had, if it was even worth labelling as friendship, must have ended with it.

“Are you going to just stand there?” Sunoo snapped his fingers, bringing you back to reality, as he continued pressing the elevator button to keep the door open.

“Right sorry, I was just—"

“Spacing out?” he cut you mid-sentence, "you have been spacing out a little bit too much lately, do you know that?"

"This semester's schedule is pretty crazy, I'm probably still trying to acclimatise to it," you lied, plastering a smile when Sunoo suddenly took out a yellow file from his bag, beckoning you to take it. It has the word 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamped across the cover. Absentmindedly, you flipped it open, almost cussing out loudly as grisly shots of dead bodies greeted you, “Sunoo, what the f-” you glared at him beside you, shutting the file close almost immediately when the elevator door opened to the 7th floor of the library.

“Right sorry, should've warned you beforehand —” Sunoo smiled sheepishly, "they’re some shots of the latest victims of our town’s serial killings — hey, stop glaring at me, I didn’t steal them from somewhere — I just, you know happen to beat the police to it—”

“Happened to be?” you stressed, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Fine,” Sunoo grunted, “that genius Ni-Ki somehow managed to intercept the police radio station so we receive all these reports at the same time as the police and well, lucky for us, since they are massively incompetent in responding in a timely manner, we got the privilege of seeing the body and the place first before they do. We’re not that stupid though — of course we kept our distance. Otherwise, we’d be mistaken as suspects instead.” 

“You look and sound inappropriately ecstatic about something so grim,” you grumbled, finally opening the file again, grimacing at the grisly shots, “Aren’t you two being too serious about this? I mean, the press and the police are already on it, why meddle further? I get the curiousity but isn't this too much effort and risk?"

“Well, I happen to be serious about getting that scholarship to New York and this, oh boy, this piece, would just throw everyone else's applications down the drain," Sunoo enthused, "and well as for Ni-Ki, that boy loves danger and adventure, he wouldn’t even care about the risks.”

You shook your head dismissively as you flipped through the pages, “but didn’t you say the bodies were drained of blood last time? These are all pretty bloodied. Do you think they might have been done by a different perpetrator?“

Sunoo stopped pacing around and hurried over, peeking over your shoulders, "oh yeah, I almost forgot about that report-"

“Or they could be the same killer actually, just changing up his tactics to throw the police off the trails...” you suggested, seeing Sunoo’s forehead scrunching in deep thoughts as he pored over the idea. You continued, “or a badly-done copycat killing—”

“Oh shit,” Sunoo gasped, snatching the pictures from you, “You are so smart, I didn’t even — I should make a proper timeline, connecting coroner's reports and pictures, maybe—”

“Don’t get too excited though. I’m no criminal profiler, I could be completely off— hey!” you yelped, rubbing your cheek in disgust as Sunoo had just absentmindedly planted a kiss on your cheek.

“Sunoo, stop that! people will get the wrong idea—” you grumbled, trailing off as you looked around the library cautiously. You stopped short when you noticed how, in the midst of people being busy in their own world, someone just across the floor, by the railings overlooking the atrium, was staring right at you. Hands against the railings with gaze so intense, unflinching and unnerving, it was Park Sunghoon. You realised that this had been the first time he had given you any slightest attention since you guys had submitted your work. You scoffed then, remembering all the times he could've been cordial to you before but instead chose to act as if you never existed. You broke the eye contact, walking away towards the side of the floor which would have been out of his field of vision, thinking to yourself, "well, two can play the game."

ii : nightly terrors

It was just supposed to be a quick power nap — one to quench your exhaustion and also to kill time as you wait for Sunoo to finish transcribing his interviews. As your mind flitted through a series of vivid hypnogogic hallucinations however, it all gradually warp into a familiar foreboding scene: a long dark hallway — eerily quiet and hauntingly cold, both ends of which just seemingly leading to a dark abyss. Every time you see this exact scene materialising in your dreams, you were hit with a wave of familiarity — as if you’ve seen the place, as if you’ve been in it. But never could you dwell longer on it because within seconds, you’d always find yourself sprinting towards the darkness, fumbling clumsily to open the door that apparently lay at the end of it, only for it to be slammed close the moment you succeed.

You would then feel yourself harshly spun around, your back slammed against the door. You swallowed thickly as the dark figure loom closer before you, knowing full well what would happen next and bracing yourself for the fate. It was after all the same nightmare that has been plaguing you on most nights since a few weeks ago. Despite the recurrence however, the feeling of terror and dread never subsided — striking you anew each time as you helplessly and passively relive each one of them. You realised however, something was different this time.

For starters, you realised you could feel: the pain on your back, the fabric of the man's sleeves under your grasp, his sharp nails digging onto the skin of your arm — you could feel them all. Then, as you furl and unfurl your fingers as you willed, you were hit by the realisation that unlike in the previous nightmares where you had no control over your body, this time, you were awake — you were lucid.

You wasted no time then, attempting to spin the nightmare around this time. Staring back up boldly at the figure in front of you, you grabbed a fistful of his collar, pulling his face closer to you, "you... I know you don't I?”. You weren’t exactly sure why you said that to him but as the moonlight that had streamed through a nearby window casted a slight glow on the lower part of his face, you realised that that man might really be someone you were familiar with — the paleness, the angular jaw, the plump rosy lips — you had seen it before. Suddenly the smirk on his face widened into a toothy grin, his tongue making a quick swipe across his teeth — the canines of which were abnormally elongated and sharp, they looked almost like fangs.

The next thing you knew he had dipped his head onto the crook of your neck, paralysing you with the vividness of it all: his lips ghosting over your bare neck, his tongue gliding over a particular spot, followed by, you winced, a prick of pain at the exact same spot. Suddenly, the ability to feel felt more like a curse, as you feel him sucking on your neck. While you already expected the move, it had always been painless and sensationless — so with the ability to feel taking the vividness of the dream to new heights, you found real panic and terror rising within you. You lifted your hand and as expected, blood had trickled down your arm but you didn’t expect that it had been dripping down onto the ground, pooling by your feet. You gasped, feeling truly aghast and terrified for your life. You begin thrashing wildly against him, hitting, pushing and screaming for him to get off of you, but alas he was stronger and with every effort and strength you take, the weaker you grew.

You feel yourself slowly giving up when you started hearing someone calling your name faintly, "y/n... y/n!"

The voice grew louder and with each calls, you feel increasingly disconnected from your body with the scene before you slowly getting hazy and blurry. 

“Y/N!”

You suddenly jolted awake, gasping and disoriented as the scene moments ago crumbled into something else. Instead of the faceless tall man from moments ago, you found yourself being held by Sunoo. His brows were furrowed in a mixture of worry and fear, his hands tightly grabbing onto your wrists as if trying to restrain you, “Y/N! Are you alright???!”

“I- uh” you croaked as you looked around the room, trying to acclimatised to the environment and confirm that this is indeed the reality, not whatever bloody terror you had just witnessed earlier. 

“You were screaming and I tried to wake you up but instead you just thrashed around, almost hitting me and I just had to hold you down like this—" he rambled as he loosened his grip and held your face up, as if to further confirm if you were okay. You mustered a weak smile as you started to calm down a little bit, “I’m sorry. It was a nightmare. I’m fine… it’s just — just a nightmare.”

You lied. You did not feel fine at all and it was not just a nightmare — not when it had been plaguing you almost every night since weeks ago, never ceasing to strike so much dread and terror despite the repetitions. You realised that they had gotten increasingly more detailed and vivid as of late — often revealing something new each time but never had you been awake and lucid in it as you just had. It all felt so real — as if it had been a memory that you unlocked, replayed and relived — rather than just some a trickery of the mind once one falls asleep.

“But, I’ve never seen you so—"

“Hey, it’s just a nightmare… I'm okay, really...” you reassured him, though it kind of felt as if you were trying to reassure yourself too, "I'll just get myself some water. Go continue with your work Sunoo..."

You got up, groggily making your way to the pantry near the big board. As you were dawning a glass of water, your eyes darted cautiously across the clippings of the serial killer news on Sunoo’s cork board, wondering if all the morbidity you have exposed yourself to almost on the daily had wormed themselves deep inside your brain that they end up seeping into your dreams as well. Probably the only plausible explanation, you reasoned with yourself when your eyes keep on zeroing in onto the odd marks on the neck of the victims. In the midst of all the cuts and gashes, some of the bodies featured odd puncture wounds: some double, some single. Like a snakebite or something. 

Subconsciously, your finger had travelled up to your neck, grazing a spot where a cut had mysteriously appeared just a few weeks ago. You realised just then that it was around the same spot where that man in your dream had punctured, or rather, bitten into. You winced at the memory, still somehow able to feel the pain despite the fact that it had happened in a dream.

The first time you noticed the cut was the day after the assignment deadline as you were rushing to get ready after having overslept. When you first saw it, it was still red — indicating that it was likely not even 1-2 days old — and about 8 cm long. You remembered being weirded out as you could not remember nor imagined how you could ever accidentally hurt yourself on such a spot, in a such a way. On the elbow or on the knee? sure. But on the crook of your neck? debatable. The more you assessed the cut in the following days however, the more you noticed something odd about it. The cut somehow slightly curved outwards at two points, as if it had run over another wound. Eventually you got busier and forgot about the cut altogether.

Tonight however, you found yourself thinking about the cut again, which by now had fully healed fading closer to the colour of your skin, as you looked at each of the pictures before you, trying to scrutinise the injuries on their neck. Suddenly Sunoo snatched the pictures off the board, “alright, no more dead bodies for you y/n. It was my fault — I didn't even consider how you feel. Perhaps its been too much for you and —”

But you weren't listening anymore. You just watched silently, your mind on overdrive, your finger still rubbing the scar on your neck. “Wait,” you finally said something, grabbing Sunoo’s hand to stop him, “do you have clearer pictures… of the neck perhaps?”

“Well, Ni-Ki is developing the rest so there should be some—" Sunoo mumbled when the door opened.

“Ni-Ki!” you called out, as he emerged out of the photo studio, asking if he has any other pictures. He nodded excitedly as he handed you the bundle of pictures. You grabbed a few clearer ones, trying to confirm your allegations. 

“Guys… what if…-“ you mumbled, “I mean, I dont know for sure, these pictures aren't the clearest but... if you look at the neck, some of them have what looked like puncture wounds — some had like two punctures, just like a snakebite, though some only had one. But,” you continued, pushing some of the pictures forward, “wherever there’s only one, there is always another cut either above or under and look over here, wherever there's none, the necks are mostly covered by frenzied slash wounds—” you swallowed thickly, reminded of your own scar, the possible wound underneath, and the dream, "I mean it could just be nothing... but I can't help but think that what if, what if, the haphazard wounds over the neck is meant to mask the puncture wounds?”

"Okay," Ni-ki scrunched his brows as he considered the possibilities, "but why though?"

"Beats me," you shrugged, sinking onto a nearby stool, "it's just the few common denominators that seem to stick to me. Maybe it's the real weapon? Not sure what kind of tool would have inflicted those kind of wounds though—"

"No you're actually right," Sunoo nodded, rubbing his chin as he pored over all the reports of past serial killings that he had read and researched on, "with that kind of mark, it might have been easier for the police to track the killer through the weapon so maybe his game plan was actually to cover it up hence why most of the bodies have slash wounds haphazardly inflicted around their neck. And then perhaps due to timing, carelessness or just pure laziness, he would end up slashing less than usual, making the puncture mark visible on some of the bodies."

"Do you think it could be a syringe or something? maybe to poison or incapacitate them beforehand," Ni-ki wondered aloud, "or I don't know a modified bat with nails at the end—"

"Wait, since y/n mentioned that it kind of looked like a snakebite... what if it isn't a weapon?" Sunoo gasped, gesticulating wildly, "what if it's actually a snake? like maybe the killer, being sick enough in the head, unleashed a snake on the victims first to torture them or something before —"

"What are the odds of a snake biting someone at the same exact spot though?" Ni-ki raised his brows.

"You're right," Sunoo pondered, "unless they put a bait on that exact spot — wait, what if..." he gulped, lowering his voice to a whisper, "vampires?"

"Get out of here Kim Sunoo," Ni-Ki scoffed, shaking his head dismissively.

What Sunoo said definitely sounded sillier but somehow instead of shooting the idea down immediately, like you would have, the scene from your recurring nightmare flashed across your mind, sending shivers down your spine: the abnormally long canines; the bite on your neck; and the blood dripping. You furrow your brows, trying to quell feeling of dread rising within as you touched the scar on your neck, while your eyes travelled from one pictures to the other, looking at the puncture marks on their necks.

"Vampires are stuff of fables but," you murmured, "there might be some relevancy there. What if it's a fetish or a quirk? maybe he's obsessed with vampire lores or maybe is psychologically ill and believe that he is one — either way, what I'm trying to say is that maybe he's trying to mimic it. But," you sighed, frustrated with your own train of thoughts and deduction, "why cover it then? if you're obsessed with the thought that you are a vampire or something, wouldn't you want to leave it as it is? rather than cover it?"

Sunoo and Ni-Ki nodded in agreement, debating it further, but you weren't listening to any of it anymore as your mind became increasingly preoccupied with more questions — all of which were now directing towards yourself: the cut, the dream, the maniac from before.

"— let's stake at the harbour next," you hear Ni-Ki said and Sunoo agreeing almost immediately. Without missing a beat and without any further thought, you interrupted, "I want in."

“Really?” Sunoo’s face lit up momentarily before suddenly schooling his expressions, “- wait no, you’ve already brushed with a potential serial killer like two months ago. I am not going to put your life in danger.”

“Sunoo, you know how I feel about unsolicited paternalism,” you grumbled, arms folding, “like you said last time, I’m smart — I would be a great asset to you both. Like just now.”

“You’re in,” Ni-Ki pushed Sunoo aside and extended his hands to you, “if we are serious about this, we need her intelligence. I mean even both of our brains can’t analyse and observe the pictures with such insight even though we have been on this case for months.”

You grinned triumphantly, taking in Ni-Ki’s hands proudly before sticking your tongue out at Sunoo. Sunoo opened his mouth to protest but closed it immediately, finding himself wrought in a mental dilemma. He groaned, throwing his hands in the air, “Fine. But you must stick to us whenever we go to the field okay? Must. I know you always go off alone and slip away but not this time.”

“Geez, okay mum,” you mocked, before offering your hand to him, beckoning him to shake it.

You weren't exactly certain what you wanted to gain from this, if not just further troubles. But something about the case and whatever has happened around you seemed to have a link. It might just be something psychological — maybe the fear from the serial killings has insidiously seeped into your mind, making you dream and hallucinate to the point of connecting dots that weren't there in the first place. Still, sitting around and letting yourself be haunted by your own nightmares and news headlines wouldn't do any good, you thought. If anything, at least by tagging along with them, you can either confirm or dispel whatever nagging presumptions you had about whatever has happened around you and to you.

Little did you know just how messy the whole thing was. How true the saying 'ignorance is bliss' is.

iii : confronting the elephant in the room

When results for the last semester was finally released one fine afternoon, all eyes were on you. After all, the assignment that you and Sunghoon had laboriously worked on for Macroeconomics was awarded the only ‘A’ in the module — in fact, the only A awarded ever under the module after like two years.

“Well, that’s what happens when you ask two of the brightest in the faculty to work together,” Sunoo elbowed you, smiling sheepishly as you stared agape at the screen, still in disbelief at the grades displayed on your dashboard.

The joy was however short-lived as you were called to the Professor’s room not soon after. Apparently he was so impressed by the paper, he had invited you and Sunghoon to co-author a paper with him for an upcoming annual conference. As Sunghoon did not show up to his office, the professor had instead asked you to pass the message to him — the task of which you wished you could have outsourced given how Sunghoon does not seem so keen to engage with you anymore. And you, too, weren't exactly ecstatic to engage with him again either.

Hence why you were fiddling nervously with your pen the next morning in lecture as your eyes darted back and forth from Sunghoon, who was seated at the other end of the lecture theatre, to the brochure about the upcoming conference in your hand — your mind set ablaze with dilemma. You really did not want to talk to him again that you even considered turning down the professor’s offer altogether — but that would be irrational, you thought. It was after all an opportunity like no other that could embellish your resumé further, making you more attractive to prospective employers. Then alternatively, you had also considered to just not pass on the message and tell the professor that you haven't seen him or something. But you thought that would be selfish of you. After all, it was a joint paper so he deserves the credit and opportunity as much as you do. Hence, setting your ego aside, you decided to run after him after the lecture ended. 

You didn’t really have any expectations. At worse, you pictured him scoffing and saying “no thanks”. But well, he exceeded your expectations in the worse way possible. The moment you caught up to him, he did not even bother to act friendly or civil. There were no ‘hi’, no smile — nothing, just an expression of disinterest if not, annoyance, as he took his EarPods off. You begun explaining about the Professor's offer and the upcoming paper as you handed the brochure to him, though the lack of interest which was apparent on his face, and the lack of response were making you feel increasingly unnerved and embarrassed. As if that wasn't enough, he further made you feel worse as he interrupted mid-way, handing the brochure back, “and? am I supposed to be happy for you? or interested in this? what?”

“Uh—" you were rendered speechless for a moment, “I mean, the professor is inviting us to both co-author a paper together again. It was after all our work. You deserve the credit as much as-" 

“I couldn’t care less,” he exhaled sharply, “about this or about you taking the credit. Do whatever you want. I’ve done my job as your partner last time.”

You swallowed thickly, his words searing more than you expected, “Well, that’s fine then. I was just passing the message on.”

“Anything else?” he asked with an eyebrow raised, looking as if you had just wasted his time. You never felt so much anger and embarrassment both at the same time. “Okay then,” he shrugged, taking your lack of responses as a 'no' and walking past you.

You scoffed. You weren’t really confrontational as a person but the way this all spun was really bothering you more than you wanted to admit — like a nagging sensation at the back of your neck. The way he acted was almost as if you had done something wrong. But what? You thought to yourself. Suddenly Sunoo’s question and your memory lapse rang in your mind.

“Wait-" you called out, “Did something happen that night?”

You can see him heaving a huge sigh before turning around to answer you, “Unless you mistook or misunderstood something, nothing happened. We finished our work and you went home alone. I didn’t bother sending you. That’s it. You didn’t expect-”

“I don’t. I just-“

“Look, this happens all the time,” Sunghoon said icily, biting his lower lip in annoyance as he took a few steps towards you, “I show any slight attention and people just mistake it as interest, expecting it to bloom into something,” the corner of his lips lifted into a conceited grin, “don’t tell me the Great Wall is buckling too? Let me spell it out to you then —“

“Park Sunghoon,” you cut him off, the anger starting to rise within, “let me spell it out to you because you seem to be blind with narcissism and conceit. I have my suspicions about you from the very start — that you were attempting to toy me around, for whatever reasons. I guess it must have failed since you are mistaking any slight cordiality from me now for attraction when I am just passing on the message and being nice to you for old time's sake. Get off your high horse.”

With that you turned on your heel and walked away, the anger growing with every step you took, the crumpled paper in your grasp being the only evidence of it. That being said, you couldn't help but shake the feeling of familiarity of it all — the way your words rolled so effortlessly out your mouth made it feel as if you had spoken something similar before. But that’s impossible, you thought, no one would have riled you up so much to the point where you had to deliver such a scathing remark.

Most importantly, even if someone had, you should have remembered it.

iv: entanglement

It was not supposed to drag on this long and this deep, Sunghoon thought to himself as he watched you over from their hangout room on the 5th floor of the North Wing. You were sitting by the fountain, rambling animatedly to your ‘guard dog’, making big gestures in between coffee sips while occasionally doubling-over in a fit of laughter with him. Sunghoon hated how he knew exactly what coffee you had ordered and how he could hear your laughter clearly in his mind as if he was right there next to you.

Despite the crowds forming and dispersing around you, his eyes have not left you for even a fraction of a second and if looks could kill, you'd have long been dead. Most frustrating of all to him was how with every smile you flashed, he could feel his heart raced and throbbed — though he wasn’t certain if it had been due to attraction or annoyance because both had indeed been what he had been feeling towards you as of late.

Sunghoon has always been at the top of things. That is, until you came along and become a prominent part of his daily life since the start of the project. While he may have orchestrated the whole thing to turn the way it did: for you to become partners with him; for him to save you; for you to spend inordinate amount of time alone with him; and so on — you were unexpectedly like a force of nature, somehow managing to hold on your own and throw everything into disarray. It always left him feeling so confused, vexed and intrigued — conflicting emotions of which he hadn't felt in a long time — always making him torn over his next moves as he could never know if he wanted you or if he wanted to end you.

He exhaled sharply as he turned around, leaning against the large stained windows and recounting the events from that night. He didn't really plan on biting you that night but everything was indeed unfolding perfectly: you were alone with him, in his own house, with your guards down. For someone like you, who to him, has been unnecessarily a handful to deal with compared to his other victims — this was perfect as he could just quickly and cleanly sink his fangs into you and then have your body disposed somewhere. That was how simple he pictured it to be when he first set sights on you, visions red with contempt. But little did he know, in spending too much time trying to orchestrate everything perfectly from the beginning just to get back at you in the worst way possible, he was getting caught in the intricate web that he himself had spun for you.

And that night, things definitely went awry. Or rather, I went awry, he corrected himself as he threw his head back against the stained windows, suddenly reminded of the way his lips locked with yours in a drunken stupor.

The thing about Park Sunghoon is that he does not kiss — not initiating it, at least. After all, the guy love mind games and power. He relishes in the way people get so easily enchanted and manipulated by him, eventually buckling into submission without him having to lift a finger, begging for him no matter the cost. It was such a pathetic yet satisfying sight, he always thought, the way they beg for him not realising that they were basically begging for their death. Besides, as he always told Jay and Jake, both of whom never tire from indulging in such carnal pleasures, he was getting too old to be beating around the bush so he’d just cut the bullshit and go straight for the neck. As if you’re any older than us, Jake would mock.

That is not to say he would reject it completely though. His being aren’t completely deprived of carnal desires so when someone does initiate it, he wouldn't protest nor reject it, letting himself just enjoy it, treating it like an appetiser before the main course. Though again, unlike Jay and Jake, he wouldn’t drag it on. 

That is, until you happened. You were supposed to be just another pawn — something to fuel his desire for mind games and power. Instead however, you were able to hold on your own, engaging him so effortlessly in a field that he had always trounced in, keeping him on edge and making him wanting more. He found himself obsessed with you and he sought to entrap you further in his games but little did he know that in digging a trench so deep for you to fall into, he himself might end up getting stuck in it. He can now see just how far he had miscalculated his steps and underestimated you, for when the opportunity to get back at you, like he always wanted, materialised that night, he did the stupidest thing he could have ever done — he went for your lips.

The moment his lips enveloped yours, he completely lost all sense and rationality. Like on a drunken stupor, he was so intoxicated by the softness of your lips, the warmth emanating from your body, and the way you struggled against him — it was sickly electrifying and intoxicating and as if karma was getting back at him, he remembered feeling how he was the one getting lulled this time. Then there was the smell and taste of your blood on your lips that sent him delirious but somehow, instead of triggering his predatory feeding mode, it fuelled his hunger for something else.

He remembered then hungrily pressing his lips onto yours, his hands roaming up your body, making you gasp, providing him the perfect opportunity to deepen the kiss, as he slipped his tongue in. He remembered how the harder you protested and rejected him, the more it riled him up, finding himself trailing sloppy kisses down your neck — something he’d hardly have to nor want to do to another human. As he grabbed a fistful of your shirt, tugging it just slightly just off your shoulder, he could feel the desire to sink his fangs into you morphing into something different: it was no longer just to simply satisfy his thirst and get back at you — he wanted to mark you; to own you. That was probably why he was able to stop himself from depriving you completely off of your life source that night despite how much you had riled him — because it wasn’t just hunger alone.  

He could feel his throat now constricting and his gums tingling — an indication of the hunger rising within and his canines extending into its full length — as the memory reawaken his thirst for your blood, for your lips, for you in its entirety. “Fuck,” he cussed breathily, burying his face in his palm, suddenly seeing red again. He hated the hold you seemingly have on him. He had been all over the place the past few weeks trying to prove otherwise: meeting other girls; drinking other blood; and most importantly, avoiding and being an arse towards you. He was afterall, no slave to emotions nor desires — he could overcome this easily, he thought to himself. Yet, here he was, tormented from just mere memories of you. Oh, he wanted you so bad.

“You have got to nip this in the bud,” he suddenly remembered Heeseung cautioning him one night, “otherwise, it will grow into an Achilles Heel Sunghoon.”

He turned back around, dizzy, as he propped his hand against the window, letting his head rest against it as his eyes, which were growing luminescent by the second, zeroed in on you. "I shouldn't have let you live..." Sunghoon breathed, feeling the gravity of Heeseung's words.

v: minefield

With cases rising and no leads, your campus had started to impose a curfew, threatening punishments for those found to be out and about in campus grounds beyond 8 PM. Though you found the newly-imposed curfew ridiculous, given how there had been no cases in campus, you still abide it nevertheless. Except for tonight that is, as you had left your iPad at Sunoo’s club room. Since it had all the important notes from today’s lecture for an upcoming pop quiz, you decided to risk it — breaking into the South Wing and quickly retrieving it before the Student Union members, who would’ve usually be out patrolling by then, could catch you. 

Having quickly retrieved your iPad, your were just about to climb out the window which you had used earlier when you heard a bloodcurdling scream from the upper floors, followed by what sounded like furnitures getting knocked over. For any normal person, that should have been the queue to run off. But then again, you had always been an outlier with a sense of curiousity and fearlessness that is bound to get you into trouble one day — at least that was what Sunoo had always said about you.

“Screw it,” you muttered to yourself, walking away from the window towards the staircase. As you climbed up, you can start to hear the cacophony of noises more clearly: scuffles; furnitures dragged; and some sort whimper or cry. Then it all stopped and suddenly, all the courage left you. In the dark and stillness of the night, all you could hear was your quickening heartbeat and all you could see was either empty corridors with your own reflection on the windows.

You backed away, feeling deeply unsettled by the sudden stillness when suddenly, before you could descend down the stairs to go back, you felt yourself getting yanked back by a bony arm that has wrapped itself around your neck, putting you on a chokehold. You thrashed wildly, clawing on the person's arm, as your croaked, "le-let me go-go. I will scre-scream. There are people down the-there—"

You could hear the person scoff, seeing through your lie easily. You feel the person's other hand coming up to your head, stroking your hair tauntingly, while whispering menacingly close to your ears, “dead people can’t scream though.”

The next thing you knew, you had been pushed down the stairs, tumbling down several flights of stairs, twisting your hand in the process and hitting your head a few times against either the cold ground or the foot of the railing, before coming to a stop by the next landing. You groaned in pain as the back of your head hit the hard cement. Despite the pain, you forced yourself to sit up, panicking as the figure walked down the stairs at a glacial pace. Silhouetted, you can see that the person was a lanky man, with rather wide, yet bony shoulders. Terror-stricken, you were ready to take off again but to your horror, you couldn't feel your legs. You looked back up, horrified, when the man's lower face got momentarily illuminated as he passed by a window, his thin lips curving into a wry, malevolant grin, his tongue then making a quick slow swipe over his bloodied lips. You were immediately reminded of your nightmare.

You mustered every bit of strength left to back away, powering through the pain through gritted teeth but it was futile as he soon loomed over your body. Grabbing a fistful of your collar, he dragged you towards the end of the landing, letting you hover over the next flight of stairs, giving you a slight swing before letting go. You squeezed your eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

It never came.

You felt nothing and saw nothing for a prolonged period of time, before it all suddenly warp into a convoluted mess of dreams, nightmares and bad memories — like an acid trip — then abruptly ending when your eyes flew open.

Still in an almost fight and flight state from both the experience and the dream, you immediately sat bolt upright — panicking as you looked around the room, thinking you were still at the mercy of the murderous man. Instead of the darkness however, the room you were in was so brightly-lit and brightly-painted. Instead of the cold hard tile underneath you, you were sitting on a soft white bed. Instead of a murderous man holding you by the collar, Lee Heeseung, the Student Union President, was the one next to you, eyes lit up in relief as he exclaimed, “Finally! You’re awake!”

You stared at him blankly, confused. Is this a dream, you ruminated, was last night a dream?. After all, the Student Union President, who is also part of Sunghoon’s clique, would be the last person you would ever expect to be by your bedside.

“Where am I- why are y-" you stuttered, trying to fight through the pain that you felt all over. Heeseung quickly reached over, gently grasping both of your shoulders to prevent you from toppling over, “careful, you took a really hard tumble—"

Instinctively, you recoiled away from his touch, still traumatised over whatever you had experienced earlier. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, “I didn’t mean to - you just, you look like you were about to faint...”

You swallowed thickly, still eyeing him in suspicion, “what... what happened?”

“Well, we were patrolling and found you passed out cold at the base of the stairs,” he answered, his gaze remaining soft as if trying to reassure you that he meant no harm and that you are safe now, “brought you here immediately. Thankfully, the doctor said you suffered no major injuries, just a lot of bruises, a twisted wrist, and a small cut by the side of your head. You might have knocked it against the railing or something. But fortunately, they’re just some superficial cuts. Not sure how lon-“

“the girl —" you interjected as the memories from just now, or last night, or whenever the incident actually was, came rushing through, “what about the girl?”

Heeseung stared blankly at you, “what girl? you were alone.”

“No I wasn’t,” you replied adamantly, “there— there should have been someone else-"

"There were no one else, we-"

"No, there was a girl somewhere in the building. She- she screamed! I heard it!" you protested, "I followed the voice and then suddenly," you croaked, losing your voice, "suddenly there was this man and he-" you swallowed thickly, struggling, as your head begin to spin, "he pushed- he pushed me!"

"y/n, but there-"

"No listen, he pushed me!" you insisted, looking up at Heeseung, almost pleading, "I didn't tumble down. I was pushed. He- ouch-"

“Hey hey, take it easy,” Heeseung quickly rose up, looking worried as he beckoned you to lay back. You shook your head, insistent, "there should be someone else. Maybe he ran way and— and maybe he took her with him. Did you guys ev- "

"Look y/n, you did hit your head so maybe-"

“Are you seriously suggesting that my mind is playing tricks on me?” you scoffed, your tone more aggressive than you had intended, “just because I hit my head?”

"Look y/n, the fact is that we found you alone. I promise you, we scoured the whole building, the compound, the adjacent wings and even the nearby woods — no one was out there except for the ones patrolling and you," Heeseung sighed, rubbing his forehead before exhaling sharply, looking stern, "and frankly, no one should. It was curfew hours. You, of all people, should know the implication of it."

You opened your mouth, wanting to protest further but immediately stopped yourself as you now belatedly realised just how much trouble you are possibly in for being out during curfew hours. You sank back onto your propped pillows behind you, defeated.

"y/n... just rest up for now okay? I will keep you posted in case I uncovered anything that might relate to your sightings last night," Heeseung gave you a tight-lipped smile as he drew the cubicle curtains around your bed to lend you some privacy though he stopped short before closing it completely.

"y/n," he called out softly. When you looked up, the warm gaze and smile had disappeared as he cautioned, "I would advise you to not tell anyone about last night unless you want to get in trouble for loitering around during curfew hours. I covered for you last night saying that your body was freezing when I found you which meant you must have passed out before curfew hours. I can assure you however no one else, especially the staffs, would be as lenient if they knew the truth. Not even if you tell them about what you had allegedly see or hear, because without any physical evidence, it just sounds like excuses.”

With that he excused himself, leaving you alone, dejected and defeated, questioning your own memory, "what the hell is going on with me?"

vi: the lifesaver

Its been a few weeks and still, there had been no new updates about that night. No woman, no man, no body — just you, your memories and some fading bruises, which you’ve been diligently covering with turtlenecks and long sleeves. As days passed, the memory melded perfectly with your recurring nightmares, leaving you questioning your own memory and mind — all the while, the feeling of looming terror felt as if it was increasingly gnawing you from within, haunting you. Hence, you’ve sought solace in overworking yourself, staying cooped up in the library, head buried in books — all so you can distract yourself. 

Tonight however, your body was paying the price for having been overworking the past few days, pulling you into a deep sleep when you had only intended the nap to last for 15 minutes. You awoke, panic-stricken, seeing the floor you were on completely desolated. You quickly packed up, your mind on overdrive thinking of what excuses to give the guard or library staff when you pass them by in the lobby.

“Oh you’re awake?”

You screamed, backing against your table and knocking some books off the edge. It's been weeks, but you were still skittish from your last incident. Fortunately, it wasn't yet another maniac. You recognised the vest he was wearing — it was the one that the library guards always wore. You immediately apologised, “Sorry, really - I thought-"

“No, no,” the man quickly rushed over, bending down to help you pick your books up, “I should be the one apologising since I was the one who startled you.”

“No, I’m the one here during curfew hours...“ you sighed, bending down to also pick the books up when it suddenly dawned on you who the man was, “Yang Jungwon?”

His eyes lit up as he nodded excitedly, “for a second there I thought you had completely forgotten about me. Wouldn’t blame you though, I was gone for a long time.”

“Of course I remember you!” you assured him, “It’s just that… your hair. It’s black now. The red hair was pretty much your signature, wasn't it? it earned you that nickname 'The Flaming Tiger the Taekwando Club', right?"

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck shyly, “yeah, I dyed it back to black. Kind of preferring to keep a low profile now.”

“Well, I mean, with all the medals you’ve raked especially after you have gotten out of the hospital, I’m pretty sure you don't need the red hair to make yourself memorable in the Taekwando scene any more,” you concurred, “You’re really amazing you know that? Kicking back stronger after like a 3-week hospitalisation — how is that even possible? And now you're like part-timing as a guard here too.”

"Well, I've been having a hard time sleeping at night so part-timing during graveyard hours actually keeps me sane —anyway enough about me," Jungwon diverted, leaning against your table, "I heard so much about you as well. Heard you got straight A's last semester and is now co-authoring a paper with one of the University's highly-cited professor — come on now, your achievements are more worth praising then mine."

"Oh please stop being humble. Also the A was for a joint assignment so it's not really—" you trailed off, "shoot — they're coming," you gasped, hurriedly packing up as you saw two Student Union members in the compound, making their way towards the library, "well, it was nice catching up with you Jungwon but it's curfew hours and I've got to run. Can you do me a favour and pretend you didn't see me? Thanks!"

“No wait,” he suddenly called out ,grabbing your wrist and stopping you in your tracks, "you’ll get caught if you head that way. Come with me, I know a better way.”

You took the offer almost immediately — trusting Jungwon, who then led you skilfully through a maze of corridors and stairs, explaining how there is a secret passage in the basement — a tunnel — which leads you straight out to the backstreet, "so not only could you evade the 'Cerberus Knock-Offs' of campus, aka the Student Patrols, but if they find you, they can't really do anything since you're technically 'outside' of the campus grounds."

"Wow, it's like THE Yang Jungwon has gone rouge — where did the old uptight and stickler Jungwon go?" you remarked sarcastically as he pushed the heavy door, revealing a brightly-lit yet eerie-looking tunnel.

"Gone with the old shell," Jungwon quipped as he turned around, beckoning you to follow him. You hesitantly did, cautiously looking around the narrow passageway — feeling increasingly unnerved by the stillness, remoteness and desolation of it all, "why does the university need a tunnel any way? I mean, have you heard of how certain sanatoriums would wheel bodies discretely through tunnels back then? what if the same is happening here?"

"Why would the university be wheeling bodies though?" Jungwon gave you a quick glance before tinkering with the locks of the door at the end of the tunnel.

"I'm not saying it's the university," you clarified, suddenly reminded of your incident and the lack of evidence, "but what if the serial killer that's on the loose in town right now made it to campus — these passageways would just help him finish half the job don't you think?"

"You've always been so smart and sharp," Jungwon muttered as he rose up, his body turned towards you as he placed his hand on the crash bar of the door, his eyes narrowing, "but you should be careful with the accusations though, the staffs here are incredibly sensitive to it, fearing that such rumours would incite panic and paranoia, potentially jeopardising the university's reputation."

"But I'm not accusing," you retorted, "I actually he-" you stopped short, reminded of Heeseung's warning.

"Just saying y/n, you don't want to fly too close to the sun for you will get burnt," Jungwon cautioned as he pushed the crash bar with his elbow, his eyes still on you. Your brows knit in confusion at his cryptic words which you couldn't discern whether is a warning to you, or an advice. You can also see now, underneath the harsh lighting of the tunnel, how it wasn't just the hair that made him look and feel different. Particularly, he was skinnier and paler than you last remembered which, together with his sharp feline eyes and arched brows, made him look more intimidating. Feeling the weight of his gaze, you cleared you throat, breaking the eye contact, "I-uh should probably leave now."

"I've ordered a cab for you by the way," he beamed as you slipped outside, "it should be by the bend."

"You shouldn't have- but thanks Jungwon, I owe you twice tonight," you waved at him, "stay safe."

"you should be careful and stay safe too y/n," he replied back, waving at you.

Though thankful for his help, throughout your journey back home, you couldn't help but feel like Jungwon was hiding something.

vii: an ultimatum

“Hey Sunoo, did you remember that one case—" you stopped mid-sentence as you looked up from your phone, realising belatedly that the figure you saw from your periphery vision as you entered the Press Society Club Room was not Sunoo. You knew who it was almost instantaneously though even when he had his back against you: the tall stature; broad shoulders; thick black hair; dark get-up and of course, the air of arrogance. It was none other than Park Sunghoon.

As if hearing his name just being said aloud in your mind, he turned around, lips already curved into a conceited grin as he gestured towards Sunoo's board, “you guys have some interesting collage right here.”

“You have no business being here,” you said curtly. 

Scoffing, he cocked his head in the direction of the photo studio, “nope, but he does.”

Just then, Heeseung emerged out of the studio, carrying a bunch of pictures. Trailing closely behind him, was Sunoo, fuming, “give them back! they are ours!"

“Not anymore," Heeseung sighed, handing the pictures to Sunghoon instead, who clicked his tongue tauntingly as he look through the pictures, “listen, I'm actually doing you guys a favour here. If anyone else finds out about these morbid collections, you and Ni-Ki could become suspects immediately. Trust me, in the absence of any convincing leads — they'd lap it up. Even if they don’t, you guys will still get into trouble, for intercepting and for potentially tempering the scene.”

“But they never went close to the scene!” you quickly defended.

“And who can vouch for that?” Sunghoon derided, looking amused.

"This could put the university's reputation in jeopardy so I am putting a stop to it," Heeseung said adamantly.

“If you really care about the campus and its people, you’d know how important our work and progress is,” Sunoo snapped.

“Look, just because you are able to take a bunch of grotesque pictures and connect them with strings against a map on a board doesn’t mean you guys are making any important discovery,” Sunghoon scoffed, looking down condescendingly at Sunoo, "Just stick to Cluedo, kids."

“What the fuck is your problem,” Sunoo exploded, grabbing Sunghoon by the collar, looking as if he was ready to throw punches. Sunoo had always been the personafication of sunshine and peace but right then you can see how riled up he was from the way he glowered at Sunghoon, the way his fist clenched hard and the way his voice dropped a few octaves lower. He seemed almost like a different person. You couldn't help but quickly rush over, grabbing his arm, fearing that he would really let emotions get the best of him, "Sunoo, don't—"

"Aww," Sunghoon mocked, straightening up the crumpled lapel of his blazer, before turning to you, "you should've let him punch me. It might relieve his anger."

"I'm not stupid to let him get easily framed like that. Not by the likes of you," you snapped back. Sunghoon scoffed, chuckling, "I know you're not. But your blockhead of a friend definitely is. Not so bad for a guard dog though — at least he isn't all bark and no bite. Shame that he has never been around to run to your aid when you need it the most."

Your brows knit in confusion at his words, somehow picking up something in the way he said it.

"Sunghoon, cut it out," Heeseung said authoritatively as he grabbed the main door open before turning his attention back to you and Sunoo, "I'll send someone to confiscate everything as discreetly as possible and turn a blind eye to this just this once but if I found out that you guys are meddling in this case again, or even loitering during curfew hours for whatever reason — I'll report you guys straight to the dean. This applies to you too, y/n — I've already let you go once, remember that."

With that, they excused themselves, and as soon as the door closed, Sunoo sunk onto a nearby couch. While he covered his face with his arm, you could tell he angry and dejected he was — his chest heaving in anger, ears red, "this is fucking unfair," he croaked.

You couldn't help but feel some sort of guilt in the matter. The suddenness of it all and the way Sunghoon seemed to specifically rile him felt rather personal. As if it was done simply out of spite to you not for whatever noble reason that Heeseung just sprouted. "I'll be back, okay?" you assured Sunoo before you ran out the door, frantically looking around to find Sunghoon. Thankfully he hadn't gone far, just by the bend of the corridor,

"Park Sunghoon!" you called out, marching towards him. Again, as if expecting you, he already had that distasteful smirk on his face.

“Look, if you have a problem with me, then you should take it out on me not on the people around me,” you argued, seething, “Sunoo doesn’t deserve this. He worked hard on it.”

“Didn’t we tell you that it was for the best?” he repeated flamboyantly, his grin getting wider with every step he took towards you, “the efforts you guys are putting in are useless anyway and even if, say, you guys somehow solved it — you think the authorities will believe you guys? if anything, you guys will get into trouble for potentially disrupting their work and the scene. Even if you guys actually don't temper around, they will make it seem as if you guys did just to discredit you guys. Because come on, otherwise, they'd become the punching bag of town: authorities beaten by a bunch of campus kids."

“Cut that bullshit Sunghoon, I'm pretty sure you'd rather see us scapegoated and humiliated," you retorted, "What exactly do you want from stopping this?"

"Do you..." he drawled, taking slow steps towards you, biting his lips to suppress the grin that was blooming on his lips, " really want to know what I want?". You opened your mouth, ready to protest, but find yourself frozen as he brought his hand up to your neck, his cold fingers grazing the spot where your scar was. Your brows knit in confusion at his sudden touch — the familiarity of which was threatening to evoke something in your mind. It felt like those moments when you stopped short in doing whatever you were doing because a sensation reminded you of certain memory or a dream. You could feel your mind going on overdrive as it raked through you mind palace for a specific memory but failing, making you feel more disgruntled at the mystery of it all. As if noticing the effect he had on you internally, the corner of his lips tip up, forming a devilish grin, "you left your scarf didn't you? well, since your scar is healing pretty fast, I doubt you'd need it anymore—"

Alarmed at how he noticed the scar which you had so diligently covered all these while, you snapped out of it, shoving his hand away, "how did- mind your own business Sunghoon."

"you should be the one minding your own business y/n," he muttered icily, the smile faltering as he took steps closer towards you, his gaze darkening, "stop knocking on death's door, you're not invincible, just lucky. With your predisposition towards danger however, you're going to run out of them soon."

"What's it to you?" you remarked sarcastically, "thought we're strangers."

He bit lower lips as if restraining the smirk that was blooming on his lips, "you'd wish we were."

The next thing you knew, Sunghoon’s gaze darkened and almost instantaneously, you could feel your heart sink, as if knowing exactly what would follow. Within split seconds, he had cupped your face, his thumb caressing your lips, eyes boring into yours, the intensity searing. “Sunghoon, what are yo-“ you protested, palming his chest, trying to push him off, but it all somehow evoked a strong feeling of familiarity, just like earlier. Except, it had gotten too intense that you find yourself immobilised. All of a sudden, your vision went haywire, fading back and forth between reality and fragments of yourself in a similar setting – it was as if your hallucinations or nightmares were being superimposed into reality. The Sunghoon before you kept on fading into someone else — someone you couldn't properly identify as that man pressed his lips onto yours, devouring it with so much ferocity and hunger, that you find yourself struggling for air. When you were finally able to wedge a space in between, to your horror, it was Sunghoon all along. His tongue making a quick swipe over his lipstick-stained lips, eyes glazed with lust. Within split seconds, he was dipping his head closer to yours again, seeking to reattach his lips to yours. "No- get off!" you protested, blindly hitting him. When he caught your hands in his, the whole scene revert to normal, to the Sunghoon that was caressing your lips at the campus corridor.

You stared at him in a mix of horror and disbelief, disoriented and dizzy. Feeling your self-awareness and will back, you quickly shoved him away. "What was-" you panted, stammering, "that? what was that? what did you do?"

"What was what?" he smirked, backing away at a glacial pace, "I didn't even do anything. You're the one who froze up on me." Just like that, he just turned around and walked away, leaving you rooted on spot, still at loss. It all felt so vivid just now — like remembering a dream or a nightmare but instead of it simply being confined in your mind, it was superimposed into reality, taking over visually and emotionally, rendering you completely struck and helpless.

"y/n!"

You suddenly feel yourself wheeled around, it was Sunoo, looking concerned, "why aren't you responding? I was getting worried since you were gone for too lo-" he paused, noticing how pale you've became, your hands trembling, "hey, are you okay? did he do something to you?"

"Sunoo..." you muttered weakly, forlorn, "I think... I think something is wrong with me."

► Part 003

A/N: Hello everyone! thank you for reading hehe. In case the ending stumps you, fret not, there is a continuation to this. It was getting longer and I thought it would more coherent for it to be ended right here, the rest saved for the next part. That would also be more efficient for me too because as someone who is too perfectionist to a fault, the proofreading bit is taking almost as much effort and time as the initial drafting. Apologies if there are any incoherence and errors. English is after all not my first language. With that said, I hope you like this one as much as the 1st part and hope you'll still stick around for part #003 of Dancing with the Devil — I can assure you that there would be more revelations and more things developing there ;)

Taglist: @axartia | @my5colors | @elinushka-ka ((sorry if I missed out anyone!))