I use the app especially for reading so my profile will essentially be a repost of things I've liked in no particular order and will probably look a bit ugly
sometimes (when I have the time and inclination) I also write to feed the fandoms I belong to, although the intensity of the fanship depends on the moment
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I write mostly female reader or gender neutral, depends on the ideas I have and how I feel, and I'm sorry about that
Currently only doing SFW BUT I I'm open to suggestive themes! (old friend lime) However, I am open to NSFW on occasions
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⟢ summary: the heart pirates’ uniforms are meant to encourage productivity, efficiency, and a unified identity, but maybe he’ll change his mind after a couple of days with the straw hats (alternatively: law sees you out of uniform and doesn't know how to handle it)
⟢ content/warnings: fem! reader, fluff, general descriptions of clothing (tops, skirts, etc. but nothing super detailed), changing POVs (reader’s and law’s)
⟢ word count: 3.76k
⟢ author’s note: guys i love law but i would not survive wearing the boiler suits. also, this was supposed to be 1k words at most and it somehow gained over 2.7k words more so i hope it’s as much fun as i had writing it
You would never tell Law this, but you kind of hate the uniforms the crew has to wear. While you understand their purposes, you can’t help but feel envious when you read about other crews and see they don’t have to be zipped in drab boiler suits and sensible shoes.
You try to put your own flair where you can, like how Shachi, Penguin, and Ikkaku wear their hats and Bepo’s suit is a different color. You like to switch our different pieces of jewelry and headwear, but it makes you sad to peer into your closet and see all your beautiful clothes, pieces meant to be seen and flaunted and admired, not hanging limp in the armoire or folded in dark drawers.
Still, you’ll never complain to Law about it, given that it’s so low on a list of priorities and you don’t think you’d get anywhere with it. Plus, you don’t want to open any chance of hurting his feelings in some way.
The Polar Tang has stopped on a bright, temperate island to restock supplies and as you’re emerging from the submarine, you soon hear cries of, “Traffy!” and “It’s the Heart Pirates!” Luffy waves wildly from the Thousand Sunny, and Nami leans over the railing to call out your name.
Luffy flings himself over to land in front of your captain, who looks like he’s already getting a headache, and Bepo asks if they’re here for resupplying too. “Yep! And for some fun too!” Luffy chirps, hands on his hips and grinning. “We should all hangout!”
A long, tired exhale escapes from Law’s mouth but he knows better than to turn down Luffy’s invitation as it will just invite more pestering. It’s how your crews wind up mingling and chatting like old friends as you make your way through town. You can’t help but look enviously at Nami and Robin, in their pretty dresses and cute shoes. You feel frumpy beside them in your white boiler suit and you try not to let it sour your mood.
It isn’t very hot today but under the suit, you feel uncomfortably toasty. You tugs the zipper down to your sternum, relishing the cool air that filters in. Nami glances over and she asks, “Are you guys allowed to… not wear those out?”
“Not usually,” you reply. You make sure Law is well ahead of you as you continue in a lower voice, “I wish we were though. These are good when we’re under the water since it’s colder there but on islands like this, they get pretty stuffy.”
You pause and then sigh, “It’s a shame, because I have so many cute clothes sitting in my closet, wasted.”
Nami gasps theatrically, “That’s literally a crime!” Robin stays quiet but she nods along in agreement. Peering around, Nami says, “I don’t think they need all of us to resupply. Come one, let’s do some fun shopping.”
She points to her right, where there’s a long stretch of streets lined with clothing and accessory stores. “Come on!”
You venture another quick peek at Law, who’s just turning his head. Your eyes meet and he raises an eyebrow, mouth opening to say something but Nami’s already dragging you and Robin in the direction of the shops.
The time passes by fast as the three of you slip in and out of stores, more and more bags clutched in your hands. Nami really gives a new definition to the phrase, “Shop ‘til you drop,” but you can’t say you’re not having an absolute blast.
It’s a whir of soft cottons, sturdy denims, and buttery silks until you’re all headed back for the port where your ships are docked. The sun has started to dip below the horizon, casting a burnished golden hue on everything it touches. You spot your crew on the Straw Hats’ ship and Shachi’s yelling to you that you’re having dinner with them for the time you’re all on the island together, courtesy of Sanji.
You’re about to head into the Polar Tang to drop your bags off when Nami asks if they can come with you and see your room and the clothes you had hidden away. You agree and they climb into the submarine with you, following you down the halls and into your room. Nami looks around and says, “It’s so cozy in here!”
Robin nods. “It’s very you,” she says with a warm smile. They set down their own bags as you open up the armoire and let them sift around inside.
Nami grabs a blouse and holds it out. “This is so pretty, I almost wish I could steal it from you.”
You laugh as you pull out another top, something sleeveless and chic, and Robin says, “You should wear it tonight.”
“I wish,” you sigh wistfully, about to hang it back up but Nami stops you.
“Why not?” she asks. “You’ll be on our ship, not here! And we don’t have any dress code, so why not?”
You hesitate, weighing your options. You don’t think Law will be mad — you’re actually not sure what his reaction will be — and you suppose for a night, you could forego to strict boiler suit and let your clothes see the light of day.
“Alright,” you concede as Robin fishes around in your shopping bags before handing you a skirt you just purchased.
“I think this goes well,” she says, handing it to you.
Nami claps eagerly. “I’m so excited to see everyone’s reactions!” She and Robin share a meaningful look that you can’t decipher but you shrug it off as they turn away to let you get dressed.
Law’s unraveling, unsurprisingly, starts with the Straw Hats. He had been hoping for a quick supply trip before heading off on whatever next step the crew needed to take, but instead, he’s gotten tangled up in something far more recreational. He can’t say it’s the worst thing — all of your deserve time off for your constant hard work — but he would have enjoyed this free time more if had gotten to spend more of it with you. Instead, Luffy winds up snagging him in a conversation that only gives Law a headache while Nami and Robin split off from the rest of them and whisk you away for the rest of the day.
It’s sunset and you still haven’t returned. Law’s foot taps impatiently on the wooden deck of the Thousand Sunny and he tries not to let his imagination get the better of him. Are you guys just dawdling or are you in trouble? Are you hurt? Has someone taken you? Are you still on the island? He’d never forgive himself if those worst case scenarios actually played out, here or anywhere else.
The anxiety abates when Law hears Shachi yelling your name and the plan to dine with the Straw Hats. He spies you in between Nami and Robin, burdened under the weight of many, many bags. To his dismay, you don’t immediately board the Sunny, instead disappearing into the Tang with the two women on your heels. Law frowns as he watches and Shachi snorts, “Don’t worry, Captain, your girl will be here in a few.”
Penguin snickers and Law shoots a glare at both of them, prompting the pair to raise their hands in surrender while trying to suppress their laughter. He’s glad that none of the Straw Hats picked up on their teasing, he’d never hear the end of it.
Law likes to think he treats everyone on his crew equally and fairly, but he’s sure his crush on your slips through the cracks. He assigns you tasks that keep you close and consults you on many important decisions and strategies. It’s not just because he likes you — you’re absolutely brilliant, everyone know it, and he wouldn’t have recruited you if that wasn’t true — but he knows his affection impacts his decisions. Still, he does his best to not let it show.
You, Nami, and Robin appear as everyone sits down to dinner outside on the deck. Nami and Robin step on first, almost in a ceremonious way, and they make their ways to their seats, revealing you. There’s a beat of silence and then the response. Bepo’s jaw drops, Shachi lets out a low whistle, Penguin freezes, and Ikkaku smirks approvingly.
Law, mid-sip of water, nearly chokes. Because you stroll aboard, moving so casually and confidently that you seem to glide, and in a top and skirt that fit you in all the right ways and places. Law can’t recall the last time he’s seen you in something other than the boiler suit, outside of your baggy pajamas and the one time he caught you in the hallway after a shower and only wrapped in a towel. He’d had to lock himself in his room for a good thirty minutes to calm down.
But here you are, haloed by the golden orange glow of the setting sun, and Law can’t decide if he should continue staring or tear his eyes away, the vision too much for his heart to handle. You’re beautiful, you always have been, but when you enhance it like this, it’s a whole other level.
Law is snapped from his trance by a loud, fawning yell of your name. Sanji’s made his way over to you, sinking to his knees and clasping your hands in his. He calls your name again, words of devotion pouring from his mouth. “You’re a goddess! I am unworthy of you, of being in your very presence! You put angels to shame, my beloved—”
“Oi, love-cook, leave her alone and let us all eat in peace. No one wants to hear your yammering, especially her,” Zoro sneers and Law finds himself thankful for the interruption.
“She can speak for herself, stupid moss-head!” Sanji fires back before returning his attention to you. “What do you say, my love?” Law feels his eye twitch, hands balling into fists.
You offer a gentle but firm smile. “You’re very sweet, but we should get to the meal you so generously cooked.” Law can’t stop the scowl forming on his face; he would have preferred you punch the Straw Hat cook.
Hearts practically pop from Sanji’s eyes as he nods fervently. “Of course, anything for you!” He trails after you as you take your seat in between Law and Shachi. Law tries his best to look anywhere else but you for the rest of the night.
You finish shopping for supplies and other necessary items by the next morning, though you and Bepo manage to convince Law to stay until tomorrow evening, when you’ll depart from the isle. You all take advantage of the locals’ friendliness towards your crew and spend the afternoon on the sandy shores of the beach.
You and Nami emerge from your room after Nami persuades you into your newly-bought bikini to lounge with her on beach towels while Sanji waits on you hand-and-foot. As you disembark, you see that Ikkaku, Shachi, and Penguin have shed their uniforms for comfortable t-shirts and shorts, engaged in a rather spirited volleyball game with Luffy, Usopp, and Franky. Not too far from them, Zoro naps in the shade of a leafy palm tree, Chopper snoozing on his lap.
You scan the beach for Law, who you find resting under a shady tree with Robin. Law’s foregone his usual coat or sweatshirt, opting for a white tank and shorts, so you can see his toned muscles and dark, swirling tattoos easily. You’ve seen him like this before but it still flusters you. He and Robin are talking, and there’s something he says that makes him huff out a small chuckle. Your stomach twists at the sight. He always seems to somehow gravitate towards Robin when your crews meet.
You know you’ve been watching them too long because Law pauses and looks over. Your gazes meet, and Law stares, eyes shifting down your body then up again. A second passes, maybe it’s three, and then he turns away again. Your feet won’t move and your mind moves a mile a minute trying to process what that was.
You don’t have long to dwell on your feelings as Nami tugs you to a spot on the beach. You lay out your towels and it’s not long until Sanji skips over to the two of you with sugary praises and glasses of hibiscus-lemon tea. You’re grateful for the cool drink, relishing the way the tangy and sweet flavor melt on your tongue. You smile up at Sanji, who is making a valiant but failing effort not to stare at your chest. “Thanks for this, it’s really good.”
It sends the cook spinning, nearly fainting, and Nami rolls her eyes. “He’s an idiot, ignore him,” she huffs as she lays back down. You join her, setting your drink in the sand, and closing your eyes. The sunbeams lull you into a half-sleep as you bask in the heat until a shadow falls over you. You crack an eye open to see Law standing beside you, pointedly looking out towards the sea and not at you. “You’re going to burn,” he says. “Or worse. Put on some sunscreen.”
He already has some in hand and you can’t help but giggle a little. Your captain’s always prepared, huh? He gives you the bottle and you disperse the lotion across your arms, legs, and torso. You turn back to Law through, who is still next to you, and ask, “Could you get my back? I can’t reach it.”
Law hesitates and Sanji’s jumps in, saying, “My goddess, it would be my pleasure to—”
Law snatches the bottle from you, squeezing some into his hand and lowering himself to kneel. His touch is cautious, careful about being respectful as his fingers slide over the open expanse of your back, working the lotion in. His hands brush the back of your neck before skimming down to your lower back. You shiver slightly, a bolt of pleasure shooting through you. It’s all too soon that Law finishes, rising silently with little ceremony as Sanji stews over the missed opportunity.
You swear you catch Law smirking at Sanji, though it’s quickly wiped away when Ikkaku shouts, “Hey, Captain, you’re looking a little red!” Penguin and Shachi roar with laughter. He snaps back with some cutting remark but the effect is lost with how flushed his face has become. You don’t know if you’re much better off with heat crawling up your spine but it’s far less noticeable since you’ve been laying out in the sun.
As Law storms towards your crewmates, you attempt to calm your racing heart as you shift onto your stomach and rest your head on your arms. Nami pokes you in the side. “So?”
“So what?” you ask.
“So… are you ever going to tell him?”
You decide to play dumb. “Tell him what?”
Nami deadpans at you, and you sigh heavily. “Never, probably.”
“Really? Because it’s pretty obvious that he likes you too. I mean, he’s beet-red after the sunscreen stuff.”
“He’s probably just embarrassed because the crew teased him,” you say.
Nami snorts, “Yeah, right.” She leans back down and you think it’s the end of it but Nami adds, “He was red the moment he touched you, just so you know.”
Law’s mind is still filled with you in that outfit from last night, the way you seemed to shine when you spoke, when you laughed. He couldn’t look at you the whole night, too afraid he wouldn’t be able to look away. Afraid his feelings would bubble over, that the wine that was served would loosen his tongue just enough to let them spill out. He thought that was the worst of it.
Oh, how wrong he was.
Law sits with Robin under a tree, the two of them discussing and debating the virtue of free will. While Law isn’t particularly interested in philosophical debates, he’s willing to talk about this in order to distract him from mental images of you. Then, he feels as if someone is watching, observing. He looks up to see you on the back deck of the Polar Tang with Nami, a beach towel tucked under one arm and sunglasses perched on your head. Law’s gaze dips lower and his brain short-circuits when he sees your bikini. All at once, his mind is both devoid of thoughts and filled with too many. He can’t stop how his eyes rake over you — the expanse of your legs, the curve of your body, and the way the color of the bathing suit compliments your skin and makes the hues of your eyes stand out. His mouth is dry, tongue heavy, and he feels a primal electricity set his entire being alight.
Law is still buffering and it takes a quiet but significant hum from Robin to make him realize he’s been gazing for way too long. He hastily looks away, trying his best to resume their previous conversation, but the archaeologist in front of him says, “You should tell her.”
“Tell her what?”
Robin exhales a laugh. “I know you know what I’m talking about.”
Law purses his lips. “I… she doesn’t see me like that.”
Robin’s lips raise in a small smile. “I beg to differ.”
“You don’t know her like I do.”
“Maybe not, but I know how she looks at you, smiles at you, talks with and about you.”
Law doesn’t respond and Robin hums again. “It’s your decision, but you should know that women like her don’t stay single forever.”
The words hit Law harder than he would ever admit but it’s obvious from the way he immediately gets to his feet, grabs the bottle of sunscreen that he had brought out, and marches over to you.
You’re going to miss the Straw Hats when you part company, but you’re going to make the most of the last night with them. It seems that everyone has that in mind as dinner winds down. Plates are cleared and washed thanks to a combined effort, and soon, there’s good music playing and strong alcohol flowing.
You’d slipped into a dress, long and backless, for the last night — it seemed right for the occasion. It lets you move easily, which you’re grateful for as Nami pulls you onto a rather large crate to dance. The two of you twist together, shaking your shoulders and hips while dissolving into fits of laughter.
Sanji gushes over the two of you below as you run your fingers through your hair. The night air is cool against your warming skin as you dance. You’re perfectly tipsy, buzzed but still in control of your body and mind. You like this feeling, this night — it’s effervescent and joyful. That’s always what the Straw Hats bring — joy.
You accidentally move back a step too far, and you would have tumbled off the crate had it not been for someone catching you. Their hand brushes the bare skin of your back and you expect it to be Sanji, since he’s right there. But when you glance up, you’re met with Zoro’s face instead. “You should be more careful,” he grumbles, setting you down with a surprising gentleness. You guess you shouldn’t be surprised — you saw him with Chopper yesterday, letting the little reindeer rest on him as they dozed together.
If looks could kill, Zoro would be dead two-times over with how Sanji glowers in front of him and Law glares from the far end of the ship. Not that the swordsman notices or cares. He says to you, “You should sit. I think that was enough excitement for tonight for you.”
“Okay, Dad, whatever you say.” You give Zoro a playful shove and he rolls his eyes but the corner of his mouth quirks up into a cross between a smile and a smirk. You’re about to make another quip, but the Sunny is enveloped in a familiar blue light. Before you know it, you’re at Law’s side, swapped for the drink Law had been holding.
The doctor doesn’t speak immediately and you look at him expectantly. Then, Law asks, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, just misjudged a step.” He’s silent again and you nudge him. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” Law considers you, examining your figure like he had yesterday. You feel suddenly too exposed, and you cross your arms to ease the feeling. Law’s eyes trail back to your face and there’s another beat of silence before he says, “I never, uh, I never told you how nice you look.”
“Huh?”
He motions towards you. “You look nice. You’ve looked… nice these past few days.”
Heat floods your cheeks. Law says it in his straightforward way, one that leaves no room for you to question his sincerity. Still, you push out your bottom lip in an exaggerated pout and ask, “Just these past few days? Not normally?”
Law’s eyes go wide. “No! I didn’t— I didn’t mean it like that. You look nice every day. Better than nice, actually. But just… especially nice recently.” His eyes rake over you again and he adds, “I’ve never seen this dress.”
“Not a lot of occasions to wear it on the Tang,” you say, your tone light. Law pauses, his head tilting in contemplation.
Then, he says, “I suppose we don’t need these uniforms all the time.”
You raise your eyebrows and you’re quick to say, “I don’t want to you think that I don’t appreciate why we wear them—”
“I don’t think that,” he says. His eyes drift back to you and, softly, he adds, “I just think I could get used to seeing you… not in uniform.” Even in the dim light, you can see the pink that burns on his ears. It makes more heat shoot through your body, curling and spreading into every vein.
You don’t know how to reply, so instead, you shift from standing in front of Law to beside him. Gingerly, you let your arms brush, your hands bumping together. Law doesn’t move, peering at you from the corner of his eye. Then, tentatively, you rest your head against his shoulder. He tenses for a second before relaxing into your weight. His hand cautiously winds around your back to sit on your waist, right above your hip. The silence that falls between you is comfortable but charged, filled with unspoken feelings that deserve a proper conversation. But for now, you both sink into each other’s touch and savor the warmth and peace that radiates in the night.
you two acts like a loving couple all the time, so what happens when someone points it out?
gn!reader
characters: zoro, sanji, law, ace and sabo
(luffy, kidd, katakuri, shanks and mihawk)
words count: around 0.8k - 1.3k each
masterlist || ao3 || ko-fi
── .✦ Zoro:
You do a lot of things for Zoro without thinking.
You wake him up when it’s time to eat. You stop him from training too much. You make sure he doesn’t get lost whenever the crew visits a new island.
It’s normal for you. Someone has to do it.
But one day, the others start teasing you about it.
It happens at lunch. You are eating with the crew when Usopp laughs and nudges your arm.
“Hey, aren’t you gonna get your boyfriend?”
You blink. “What?”
Sanji, cleaning his hands with a towel, nods toward the deck “That moss-brained idiot. You always bring him to meals. It’s like a little routine between you two now. Like a couple…”
“We’re not—” You nearly choke on your drink “We’re not a couple!”
Usopp grins “Then why do you always take so much care of him?”
“Because he’s stupid and forgets to eat!” you say, standing up “I’ll go get him, but not because of whatever weird ideas you guys have.”
You walk away while they laugh behind you.
You find Zoro exactly where you expect, napping against the ship’s railing, his swords next to him.
You roll your eyes and shake his shoulder “Oi, wake up. Lunch is ready.”
Nothing.
You shake him harder “Zoro. If you don’t get up, I’ll eat your food.”
He grumbles and waves his hand, like he’s trying to swat away a fly.
Sighing, you do what you always do. You grab his wrist and pull him up with both hands. He lets you. He always does, like it’s natural.
Zoro blinks at you, still half-asleep “Huh. You again.”
“Yeah, me again,” you say “Come eat before Sanji ‘forgets’ to save you anything.”
You’re still holding his wrist, making sure he doesn’t fall back asleep. That’s when you notice Nami and Robin watching from across the deck, smiling.
“What?” you ask, feeling awkward.
Nami smirks “You two are cute.”
Your face heats up “We’re not—he’s not—we’re not together!”
Robin chuckles “You do take care of him a lot.”
Zoro frowns, confused “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” you mutterl “Come eat.”
You let go of his wrist too fast and walk away, ignoring the warm feeling in your chest.
You think it’s over, but now you notice things.
Zoro always sits next to you at meals, even when there are other seats. You always save food for him without realizing. And during fights, he always protects you first, like it’s a habit.
And, worst of all, people keep pointing it out.
“y/n,” Chopper asks one day, tilting his head “Are you and Zoro dating?”
You almost trip “What?! No!”
“Oh...” He looks confused “But you act like it”
You groan “Not you too”
After that, you can’t stop thinking about it.
The next time you wake Zoro up, your fingers stay on his wrist a second too long. The next time he pulls you behind him in a fight, your heart beats faster.
And then one evening, when you catch him watching you with a thoughtful look, you realize you might be in trouble.
That night, Zoro speaks first.
“Oi”
You look up from your seat on the deck “What?”
He leans against the railing, arms crossed “Does it bother you?”
You frown “Does what bother me?”
“What people are saying” His eyes stay on you “About us.”
You swallow “Why? Does it bother you?”
He doesn’t answer right away “No” his voice is quieter than usual.
Your stomach flips and you look at the ocean “I mean… it’s just dumb teasing, right?”
Zoro doesn’t reply. Instead, he watches you for a long time. Then, finally, he smirks.
“Doesn’t really matter what they say” he says, voice calm but sure “I’d still stick with you either way.”
Your breath catches and suddenly, your heart won’t let you ignore this anymore.
For the next days you try to brush off what the crew said.
You really do, but it’s impossible to ignore when Zoro keeps acting the same way.
Like when you’re on lookout duty together, and he hands you his jacket without a word.
Or when you spar with him, and he pulls his hits just enough so you don’t get hurt.
Or when you fall asleep on the Sunny’s deck, and you wake up covered with a blanket, one you know you didn’t grab.
And every time it happens, you catch the crew watching. Smirking.
It’s driving you insane.
One afternoon, you finally decide to do something about it.
You find Zoro by the training room, lifting weights. His shirt is half undone, sweat glistening on his skin, but you shove that thought aside.
You cross your arms “Hey, Zoro.”
He grunts in acknowledgment, not stopping his reps.
You hesitate “…Why do you treat me differently?”
He finally sets the weight down, wiping his face with a towel “What?”
“You heard me...” You shift uncomfortably “You do things for me that you don’t do for anyone else.”
Zoro leans back against the wall, looking at you like you just asked a stupid question “So?”
“So?” You huff “That means something, doesn’t it?”
He shrugs “I guess.”
You blink “That’s it? You guess?”
Zoro sighs, scratching his head “Look, I don’t really think about it. I just—” He pauses, then shrugs again “I want to.”
Your heart skips a beat “…What?”
“I want to do those things for you,” he says simply “it’s not a big deal”
You stare at him “Not a... Zoro, are you serious?”
He frowns “What, you don’t like it?”
“That’s not the point!” Your face feels hot “You don’t do this for Nami or Robin or anyone else!”
Zoro looks at you, unimpressed “Yeah. Because it’s you.”
You freeze.
The way he says it, so blunt, so obvious, it makes your stomach flip.
He isn’t flustered. He isn’t overthinking it. He’s just stating a fact.
“…Oh.”
Zoro crosses his arms, watching you carefully “Is that a problem?”
You swallow “No. It’s just…”
It’s everything. It’s him always being there, always looking out for you, always treating you like someone important.
It’s a realization you should have had ages ago.
You let out a breathless laugh “I’m an idiot.”
Zoro raises an eyebrow “Well, yeah.”
You smack his arm. He smirks.
But when your hand lingers just a little too long, he doesn’t pull away.
And suddenly, you both understand... this isn’t just a habit.
It never was.
Ever since that conversation in the training room, things between you and Zoro have… shifted, but not in a bad way.
He still trains for hours. Still naps in random spots. Still bickers with Sanji.
But now, when you sit beside him, his arm naturally rests along the back of your chair.
Now, when you fight, he doesn’t just watch your back, he makes sure you’re never out of reach.
Now, when you look at him for a second too long, he looks right back.
Like he’s waiting.
Like he’s giving you the choice.
One evening, you find him on the Sunny’s deck, looking out at the ocean.
“…Can’t sleep?” he asks.
You shake your head, stepping closer “Thinking too much.”
Zoro smirks “Dangerous habit...”
You huff a laugh but don’t argue.
Instead, you stand beside him, silent for a moment before you finally ask...
“Do you regret telling me?”
Zoro frowns “Telling you what?”
“That you… actually treat me differently. That you want to.”
His jaw tightens slightly “No.”
Your heart does something strange “Good.”
You don’t give yourself time to hesitate.
Before doubt can creep in, you grab him and pull him down.
Zoro freezes.
For half a second, he doesn’t move. Doesn’t even breathe.
Then a quiet growl rumbles from his chest, and his hand cups the back of your neck as he kisses you back.
It’s firm. Solid. Like he’s been holding back for too long and refuses to anymore.
When you finally break apart, Zoro leans his forehead against yours, exhaling through his nose.
“…Finally” he mutters.
You grin “You were waiting for me?”
“Wasn’t gonna rush you” His fingers brush your jaw “You get there when you get there.”
You hum, leaning into him “And now?”
Zoro smirks “Now, you’re stuck with me.”
You kiss him again, just to make sure he knows you wouldn’t want it any other way.
── .✦ Sanji:
Sanji has always been a flirt. That’s just how he is.
He calls Nami and Robin “my love” and “my dear”. He spins around the kitchen whenever they compliment him. He offers to carry their bags when the crew goes shopping.
But when it comes to you, it’s different.
It starts when the crew is eating dinner together.
“Sanji, can you pass the salt?” you ask.
Instead of handing you the salt shaker, Sanji grabs it, twists off the lid, and sprinkles just the right amount onto your plate.
You blink “Uh. Thanks?”
“Of course, my dear” he says smoothly. Then, as if nothing happened, he turns back to his own plate.
You think nothing of it... until you notice the way the others are watching.
Usopp raises an eyebrow “Did he just season your food for you?”
“Yeah?” You shrug “What's new about it? He's a chef and he’s just being nice.”
Luffy grins “He doesn’t do that for anyone else.”
“That’s not true,” you argue “Sanji treats everyone like this.”
Nami hums “Not exactly like this. If we wanted more salt he would start a lecture about how it would ruin his masterpiece.”
Before you can ask what she means, Sanji stands up to grab dessert. He places a plate in front of you first. It’s your favorite.
The crew stares.
You stare too “Sanji…”
He smiles “What? I made extra for you.”
Usopp coughs “Yeah. Okay. Totally normal.”
Robin chuckles behind her hand.
You shake your head and go back to eating. It’s nothing. Sanji is just being Sanji.
…Right?
But then, you start noticing other things.
When you’re cold, Sanji drapes his jacket over your shoulders without you asking.
When you need something from a high shelf, Sanji wordlessly reaches up and hands it to you.
When you’re about to trip, his hand is always there to steady you.
And every time, every single time, he does it so naturally that you don’t even think about it.
Until one day, Franky whistles and says, “You two sure act like a couple.”
You nearly drop the drink in your hands “What?!”
Sanji, who was stirring a pot at the stove, pauses.
Franky leans against the counter, grinning “You two do all that coupley stuff. He gives you the best food, takes care of you, treats you differently from everyone else—”
“That’s not true,” you say quickly “Sanji’s like this with everyone.”
Franky snorts “Nah. He does flirt with everyone. But this?” He gestures between you and Sanji “This is different.”
You glance at Sanji. He’s staring into the pot, silent.
Your face feels hot now “You guys are reading too much into things.”
“Sure we are...” Franky says, smirking. Then he leaves.
The kitchen is quiet now. You swallow and turn to Sanji.
“…Is it true?”
He looks at you. His usual confident smile is gone. Instead, there’s something softer in his eyes.
“I don’t know” he says “is it?”
Your heartbeat quickens.
Suddenly, every touch, every sweet gesture, it all feels different.
Maybe it wasn’t just a habit.
Maybe it was something else all along.
After all this the teasing has only gotten worse.
Ever since Nami and Usopp pointed out how Sanji treats you, they will not let it go.
“Here comes Sanji’s beloveeeed~” Usopp sings when you walk into the kitchen.
“I should start charging you for all the extra food Sanji makes only for you” Nami smirks.
Even Luffy, who usually doesn’t care about these things, grins at Sanji one afternoon and says “Oi, cook, when are you gonna marry y/n?”
Sanji chokes on his cigarette so hard he has to brace himself on the counter.
You groan and drag a hand down your face.
But what really drives you insane?
Sanji never denies it.
He stutters, blushes, waves his hands, but he never says “That’s not true.”
Because it is true.
And it’s starting to drive you crazy.
You try to ignore it. But then you start noticing things, even the smallest ones.
Sanji never lets you carry anything heavy.
He always pours you tea first, even before Nami and Robin.
He adjusts your chair at dinner like it’s second nature.
And the worst part? He doesn’t even realize he’s doing it.
But you do.
And now, every time he gives you that look—the one that’s soft, full of admiration, like you hung the damn sun in the sky—your heart stumbles over itself.
This has to stop.
Or something has to change.
It happens one evening after dinner.
You’re in the kitchen, helping Sanji clean up. He hums as he washes the dishes, sleeves rolled up, golden hair falling over his forehead.
You watch him for a second, then take a deep breath.
“Sanji.”
He glances at you, smiling “Yes, my love?”
You grip the counter “Why do you act like we’re together?”
Sanji freezes.
The faucet keeps running. The kitchen is warm with the smell of spices. But Sanji is frozen.
Slowly, he turns his head toward you “…P-Pardon?”
You cross your arms “You treat me differently. Even the crew notices. You never do this stuff for anyone else.”
Sanji swallows hard “I—”
“You never deny it,” you press “and honestly? I’m tired of waiting for you to finally say something.”
Sanji stares at you like you’ve just flipped his entire world upside down.
His hands shake. His lips part like he wants to speak, but nothing comes out.
“…Sanji.” Your voice softens “Do you want this to be real?”
A shuddering breath leaves him. He looks at you, eyes wide, vulnerable.
“More than anything...” he whispers.
Your heartbeat stutters.
That’s it. That’s all you need to hear.
You step forward, grab the front of his shirt, and kiss him.
Sanji malfunctions.
His entire body locks up, like his brain has completely short-circuited.
For a solid two seconds, he does not move.
Then a noise escapes him, something between a whimper and a desperate sigh, and his hands come up to cup your face, pulling you closer.
The kiss is warm, overwhelming, but soft, like he’s afraid you’ll disappear if he holds on too tight.
When you finally pull away, he’s redder than his own suit.
“…M-Mon amour,” he breathes, voice shaking “You...you actually...”
You smirk “Took us long enough, cook.”
Sanji makes a strangled sound and immediately buries his face in your shoulder, arms wrapped tight around you.
Outside, the crew is losing their minds.
“TOLD YOU!” Usopp shouts.
“I WON THE BET!” Nami cheers.
“Oi, Sanji, you alive in there?” Zoro snickers.
Sanji doesn’t answer. He’s too busy melting against you, whispering sweet nothings into your skin.
And honestly?
You think you’ll let him.
── .✦ Law:
Law is not the kind of person who likes physical contact. He doesn’t let most people touch him. He keeps his distance, always standing at the edge of conversations with his arms crossed. If someone bumps into him, they get a glare.
But for some reason, you are different.
It starts when Bepo hands you a coat one evening.
“Here,” he says, tail flicking “you left this in the lounge.”
You blink at it. It’s black, long, and definitely not yours.
“This isn’t mine” you say, confused.
Bepo tilts his head “Oh. But you always wear the captain’s coat, so I thought it was yours now...”
You freeze.
“Wait. What?”
Shachi walks by and hears the conversation. He grins “Yeah, you totally do. Every time you’re cold, you steal his coat.”
Penguin nods “And Law never complains.”
You open your mouth. Close it. Try to remember.
…Okay, maybe you have borrowed Law’s coat a few times. But that’s just because it’s warm! And because it’s there! And because...
Oh no.
Your stomach twists “I... I do not...”
“Sure you don’t...” Shachi teases “What’s next? Calling him ‘dear’?”
You groan and shove the coat at Bepo before walking away.
But now, you can’t stop thinking about it.
After this, you start noticing other things. Like how Law always lets you into his personal space.
How you can tug his hat down over his eyes without him pushing you away.
How he casually rests his hand on your shoulder when he stands next to you.
One day, you trip over a loose crate. Before you even hit the ground, a familiar blue glow surrounds you... Law’s Room.
In an instant, you’re back on your feet, completely unharmed.
The Heart Pirates snicker.
“Captain didn’t even think” Penguin whispers.
“He never uses Room for anyone else’s clumsiness” Shachi adds.
You glare at them “I heard that.”
They just smirk.
Law doesn’t say anything. He just sighs and keeps walking, like saving you without thinking is the most natural thing in the world.
Your heart does something weird. You ignore it.
Later, you sit on a crate, arms crossed. Law stands next to you, reading a medical book.
You glance at him “Your crew keeps calling me ‘Captain’s partner.’”
He doesn’t look up “So?”
“So, why?”
He flips a page “Probably because you act like one.”
Your brain short-circuits.
You stare “Excuse me?”
Law finally looks at you, raising an eyebrow “You’re always in my quarters, you steal my coat, and you act like you belong next to me. They’re not wrong.”
Your face burns “I... You let me do all that!”
He smirks “I know.”
You open your mouth, but no words come out.
Because suddenly, you realize... he has let you. And he still is.
Ever since Bepo and the others pointed out how Law treats you differently, it’s been impossible to ignore.
The extra care during missions. The way he always stands just a little closer than necessary. The way he lets you touch him, his arm, his shoulder, even his hand, when no one else would dare.
But what really gives him away?
The way his ears burn red every time you get too close.
And yet he never says anything.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was running an experiment to see how long he could keep this up before you lost your mind.
So tonight you’re calling him out.
You find him in his quarters, buried in medical books.
“Hey, Law.” You lean against the desk, arms crossed “Can I ask you something?”
His eyes flick up “What?”
You tilt your head “Do you like me?”
Law chokes.
Not just a little cough... he full-on chokes on air, slamming his book shut as if that’ll somehow save him.
“What—?!” He coughs into his fist “Where the hell did that come from?”
You raise an eyebrow “You tell me.”
Law scowls, shifting uncomfortably “You’re being ridiculous.”
“Oh? Am I?” You step closer.
He stiffens “What are you...?”
You place your hands on the arms of his chair and lean in, caging him in.
His breath hitches.
Oh. Oh.
He is not prepared for this.
“Law,” you murmur, watching his face closely “you never let anyone touch you, but you let me.”
His jaw clenches “That doesn’t—”
“You always make sure I rest. You check my injuries before anyone else’s.”
“Because you’re reckless—”
“And...” you lean even closer “your ears are red right now.”
Law swallows.
You smirk “So, wanna try again?”
For a long moment, he just stares at you, lips parted, golden eyes darting between yours.
Then, in a last-ditch effort, he growls... “You’re annoying.”
You hum “Maybe.”
And then you kiss him.
Law goes still.
For the first time since you’ve known him, he is completely speechless.
But then a quiet sound escapes him, and his hand suddenly grips your wrist, holding you there.
You almost pull back, unsure, until his other hand slides around the back of your neck, fingers threading into your hair, and he kisses you back.
It’s hesitant at first, but when you don’t pull away, something shifts.
The kiss deepens, his grip tightens, and the heat radiating off of him is enough to make you dizzy.
When you finally part, Law exhales sharply, pressing his forehead against yours.
“…You’re gonna be a problem” he mutters, voice rough.
You grin “Yeah?”
His fingers tighten in your hair “Yeah.”
And then, despite everything, he kisses you again.
Because for once in his life he’s done running.
── .✦ Ace:
Ace is naturally affectionate.
He throws an arm around people’s shoulders, laughs loudly, and grins like the world is a joke he’s in on. He’s warm but also because he makes people feel welcome.
So it’s not weird that he touches you a lot.
Right?
It starts when Marco sits down next to you, smirking.
“You and Ace finally together, yoi?”
You look at him confused “what do you mean?”
“A couple… are you two a couple?”
You almost drop your drink “What? No!”
Marco raises an eyebrow “You sure? He always saves you a seat at meals. Always gives you his food if you ask. Always keeps an eye on you during fights.”
You roll your eyes “That doesn’t mean anything. He’s just like that.”
“Not with everyone” Marco takes a sip of his drink “Just you.”
You open your mouth to argue, but then you don’t know what to say, because now, you’re thinking about it.
The next time Ace sits beside you at dinner, you notice how he slides his plate a little closer to yours, letting you steal his food.
The next time the crew docks at an island, you notice how he instinctively waits for you before walking off together.
The next time you’re about to trip, you don’t even get the chance to fall, Ace grabs your wrist and steadies you like it’s second nature.
And maybe it is second nature.
“Careful, Ace,” one of the division commanders teases “If you keep acting like that, y/n might actually think you’re in love.”
Ace laughs, scratching the back of his head “Yeah, yeah.”
You laugh too. Because it’s just a joke… Right?
One night, you sit together on the deck, watching the ocean.
You fidget for a second before saying “The crew keeps calling us a couple”
Ace hums “Yeah?”
You glance at him “Why do you think that is?”
He leans back, arms behind his head, and grins “Probably because we act like one.”
You choke on your own breath “Excuse me?!”
Ace tilts his head “I mean, we do everything together. You always take my food, and I always let you. You always pull me out of trouble, and I always let you. Feels natural, doesn’t it?”
Your brain short-circuits.
Because now that you think about it... yeah, it does feel natural.
“…Ace,” you say slowly “Are we...?”
He looks at you, amusement flickering in his eyes “What do you think?”
Your stomach flips.
Because suddenly, you’re not sure where the habit ends and the feelings begin.
After this, Ace keeps flirting with you all the time.
It’s just who he is.
Winks across the deck. Throwing an arm around your shoulders. Calling you hot stuff like it’s your actual name.
You’re used to it.
But after the teasing from Marco and Thatch, after realizing that Ace treats you differently, you start to wonder.
Is he just playing around? Or is there something real underneath?
There’s only one way to find out.
The perfect opportunity comes one afternoon, when Ace flops down next to you on the Moby Dick’s deck, grinning.
“Hey,” he drawls, resting an arm behind his head “Miss me?”
You smirk “I saw you literally two hours ago.”
“That’s two hours too long.” He winks “Bet you were thinking about me the whole time.”
You hum, tilting your head “You really think that, huh?”
Ace chuckles “C’mon, you love me.”
You raise an eyebrow “Prove it.”
He blinks “Huh?”
You shift, leaning closer with a sly smile “You say all this stuff, Ace. You flirt, you tease... but are you actually serious?”
For the first time, he hesitates.
Just for a second, but it’s enough.
“…Of course I am,” he says, but his usual confidence isn’t all there.
You smirk “Then show me.”
Before he can react, you grab his hat, his precious hat, and plop it onto your own head.
Ace short-circuits.
“Oi! That’s...!” He reaches for it instinctively but stops mid-motion, staring at you.
You tilt the brim with a smirk “What? You said you liked me, right?”
Ace swallows “Y-Yeah?”
“Then just take it back.”
You expect him to snatch it back playfully.
What you don’t expect is for Ace to grin, eyes flickering with mischief, and suddenly tackle you onto the deck.
You yelp as he hovers over you, forearms braced on either side of your head.
The crew whoops in the background, but neither of you pay them any attention.
Ace smirks down at you “You think you’re funny, huh?”
You grin “A little.”
Ace shakes his head, chuckling, but then his expression softens.
He reaches up, tilts the hat back just enough to see your face properly.
And then without thinking he leans down and kisses you.
It’s grinning into the kiss kind of playful. It’s warm and teasing but full of something deeper.
And when he pulls back, face way too close, he murmurs “Now you gotta prove it.”
Your heart races.
You don’t back down. Instead, you tug him down by his necklace and kiss him again.
This time, Ace melts.
When you finally break apart, Ace huffs out a breathless laugh.
“Well,” he grins “Guess you do love me.”
You roll your eyes “Shut up.”
But you don’t stop him when he kisses you one more time.
Because, honestly?
He’s right.
── .✦ Sabo:
Sabo is easy to be around.
He’s kind, smart, and always ready to listen. He laughs at your jokes, never forgets your favorite things, and somehow always knows when you need him.
So it’s no surprise that you spend a lot of time together.
But apparently, the way you act around him is a little… suspicious.
It starts when you’re walking through the Revolutionary Army base with Koala.
“So,” she says casually “when are you and Sabo going to make it official?”
You nearly trip over your own feet “What?!”
Koala grins “Come on, don’t play dumb. You two already act like a couple.”
You scoff “No, we don’t.”
She raises an eyebrow “Oh really? Who’s the first person Sabo looks for when he gets back from a mission?”
“…Me.”
“Who’s the only person he lets borrow his gloves?”
“…Me.”
“And who’s the only one he lets fall asleep on his shoulder without complaining?”
You open your mouth, but nothing comes out.
Because—oh.
Oh.
Koala smirks “See what I mean?”
You shake your head “That doesn’t mean anything. We’re just close.”
She shrugs “If you say so.”
But now, you can’t stop thinking about it. You start noticing things, like how Sabo always finds a reason to sit next to you during meals, or how he reaches out to fix your collar or tuck your hair behind your ear like it’s normal, or how he always makes sure you have a blanket when you fall asleep at your desk, even though no one else gets that treatment.
And the worst part?
Now that you’re paying attention, everyone else is too.
“I swear, it’s like they’re married” one soldier mutters.
“They finish each other’s sentences” another whispers.
“Bet they don’t even realize” someone else chuckles.
You groan and drop your head onto the table.
Sabo, sitting beside you, blinks “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing” you mumble.
He frowns, then wordlessly slides his drink toward you.
You stare at it “…Did you just give me your drink?”
He shrugs “You like it more than I do.”
You glance around. Several soldiers are watching now, smirking.
Slowly, you push the drink back to him.
Sabo looks confused “You don’t want it?”
Your face burns “Nope. I’m fine.”
He tilts his head, then shrugs and takes a sip.
The others snicker.
You sigh.
Later that night, you sit beside him on the rooftop, watching the stars.
“Sabo,” you say carefully “do we… act like a couple?”
He hums “Why?”
“People keep saying we do.”
Sabo leans back on his hands, thinking. Then he smiles “I guess I can see why.”
Your heart skips a beat “You can?”
“Well, we’re always together,” he says easily “I trust you more than anyone. You take care of me, I take care of you. Feels normal.”
You stare at him “That’s… kind of a couple thing, don’t you think?”
Sabo looks at you for a long moment. Then he smirks.
“Well,” he says, voice teasing but gentle “do you want it to be?”
Your breath catches.
And suddenly, the answer seems obvious.
Sabo has always been easy to be around.
You never have to force a conversation. Never have to second-guess his presence.
He’s just there, a steady warmth beside you, the hand that always steadies your back when you walk through the Revolutionary camp, the person you find yourself naturally leaning against when you’re tired.
And the thing is?
He never pulls away.
Even now, sitting beside you near the fire after a long day, his arm rests lightly along the back of your seat. Close enough to feel, but not demanding.
It’s natural.
But tonight, something’s different.
There’s a quiet between you, not uncomfortable, but charged with something unsaid.
You don’t know who moves first, but suddenly your head is resting against his shoulder, and instead of shifting away, Sabo just exhales softly, tilting his head against yours.
You close your eyes, feeling the warmth of him, the steady rise and fall of his breathing.
“…I like this” you murmur, barely thinking.
Sabo hums “Me too” A pause. Then... “I always have.”
Your heart stutters.
Slowly, you lift your head, turning just enough to meet his gaze.
His expression is calm, too calm, like he’s waiting for you to understand something he’s known for a long time.
And you do.
Because of course it was always him.
You don’t say anything. You don’t need to.
Instead, you reach up, gently tracing your fingers along his jaw.
Sabo closes his eyes briefly at the touch before opening them again, watching you with something unreadable, something deep.
Then, without hesitation, he leans in.
The kiss is slow, certain.
It’s not rushed, not desperate because this was never a question.
It was always going to be this.
When you part, Sabo lingers, his forehead resting against yours.
His hand finds yours, fingers lacing together easily.
“…Feels like we should’ve done that a long time ago” he murmurs, lips brushing against yours.
You smile “Maybe. But I think we got here at the right time.”
Sabo chuckles softly, squeezing your hand “Yeah. I think so too.”
And when he kisses you again, it feels like something that was simply meant to be.
Summary: Reincarnated in the body of a demon from the last film you saw before you died, you have decided to change the script of the story in your favour. But you didn't count on your presence in the story changing everything.
Warnings: slow burn, swearing, men that don't want to accept their feelings, Jinu being an asshole, angst, scolding, ooc (probably), cringe (surely), no proofread (oopsie)
Word count: 4k+
A/N: hey there dear readers!! First of all I have to apologize because I disappeared for a long time without notice (and no update, boo me!) but I was kinda overwhelmed with lots of things :/ I'm going again on a little vacation-ish this week so it might take me some extra time to write from now on, BUT keep in mind that I didn't forget about this story at all!!! It's just that I need both time and inspo to write and sometimes it's imposible to have both :S
I'm not sure if this chapter is good enough but I hope you like it like the previous ones!!
There was a lot of commotion backstage at ‘Play Games With Us.’ Everyone wanted to be close to the Saja Boys, to assist them and help them. They just smiled and said thank you every time someone came over to see if they needed anything before filming started. Dressed in pink from head to toe, they even looked like good guys.
After the scary incident that day, after Minjun helped you compose yourself, you argued about whether to tell the others what had happened or keep it a secret. You didn't want to tell them, you didn't want to worry them or make them think you couldn't defend yourself, but Minjun insisted so much that the others deserved to know the danger you had been in, that Rumi knew about you and that they would have to watch out for what might happen, that in the end he convinced you.
So when you got home, you told them.
They reacted worse than you expected.
Sang had lunged at you to give you a bear hug and look for any open wounds, bruises or anything that needed medical attention (even though you were both demons and could regenerate, although you did it slowly). He stroked your hair and swore he wouldn't leave your side, not even to go to the bathroom, just to make you feel safe. He even wanted to sign a statement insisting that he was your new bodyguard. Ironic that a member of the group you produce music for wants to be your bodyguard. Shouldn't he be the one with a bodyguard?
Dasom kept asking about Rumi, swearing revenge to the four winds. He didn't want to think that if it weren't for Minjun, you might not be with them anymore... that simple thought broke his heart, and it was a feeling he didn't like at all.
Byeol turned pale and thanked Minjun for finding you. As Sang was circling you like a spinning top in search of wounds, you couldn't see the pain in his eyes at the thought of losing you, and the longing on his face to be the one hugging you at that moment.
Jinu said nothing. He hung his head, lost in thought. He would have left you behind. He would have let you die at the hands of the hunter just for his own goal. And he knew you would never have done that. You would never leave any of them behind for your own benefit. He didn't deserve to be near you, let alone talk to you.
He was a monster.
‘We'll start filming in 10 minutes. Are you ready?’
The boys nodded as they were given bibs with their names on them.
‘If you need anything, just give us a sign. We'll be watching,’ Minjun whispered.
Jinu had told them that the HUNTR/X would probably take the bait and show up while they were filming. They would be safe in front of the cameras, but you wouldn't. And none of you found the situation funny.
You just nodded gratefully, unable to tell them that they could stop worrying because Rumi and you had come to a kind of tacit agreement.
When they got into position to start filming and announced the hot sauce drinking challenge, you had to stifle the laugh that wanted to escape when you saw the look of panic on Sang and Dasom's faces and the look of joy on Byeol's.
Truly, you didn't know what you would do without those guys anymore. They had saved you from a loneliness you didn't know was consuming you, and they made you happy. Truly happy.
Just then, someone grabbed your wrist and pulled you back forcefully, away from the view of the set where they were filming, away from the gaze of both the television crew and the boys. You felt your back hit the wall and a hand slam against your mouth.
As if by reflex, you brought out your claws and fangs, ready to defend yourself tooth and nail against your attacker. You weren't willing to give up and panic. You'd rather tear down your human cover than need a third rescue.
Imagine your surprise when you saw that it was Rumi, dressed in leather from head to toe, looking worried.
‘Calm down, it's me,’ she said when she heard you growl and felt your sharp teeth on the hand covering your mouth.
Seeing that you were relaxing and returning to your human form, she let go of you. But she didn't move away.
'You were right,' she said. 'Mira and Zoey… they got it. They forgave me. In fact, they told me there was nothing to forgive,' she added, her eyes shining with tears.
You gave her a gentle smile.
'They’re your family. I knew they would understand.'
Rumi smiled at you and brushed a strand of hair from your face, gently touching your cheek with her fingers.
'I let fear and shame drive me away from them. But thanks to you, I feel whole again.'
You stood there in silence, looking into each other's eyes, letting your hearts return to their natural rhythm.
‘By the way, where are they?’
‘Behind the stage. I know you said you wanted to give the Saja Boys their souls back, but…’ Rumi took a deep breath, searching for the words to explain. ‘I haven't told them about you. I haven't told them your secret. It's not my place to do so.' She sought your gaze with hers, and raising a hand to take yours, she intertwined your fingers. 'I don't want to kill them. I just want to make sure they don't have any bad intentions… and that it's really possible for them to get their souls back.'
Then she pulled away from you.
“I have to go with them. Don't worry, I'll try to make sure no one dies today. But… it would be better if they didn't see you. You're an easy target. And I know that Mira particularly likes to go for the easy ones first and leave the challenges for last,” he added before leaving with the others.
You sighed.
Was it really possible for all the Saja Boys to regain their souls?
In the film, only Jinu did it… and just as he was about to sacrifice himself. He did it thanks to Rumi, in fact. You had to do everything you could to let him know the secret of the purple-haired singer, and to bring them closer together little by little. It shouldn't be too difficult, should it?
You were already thinking of some ideas to help the others regain their souls… But you had to take it slowly. Too many things had happened in too short a time (like you almost dying not once, but twice).
Lucky you.
¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸
Baby was eating hot sauce as if it were his last day on earth, but his mind was elsewhere. You had disappeared from his sight a few minutes ago, and after what had happened, anxiety was eating him alive.
Were you okay?
He couldn't just get up and go looking for you right then, could he? That wouldn't be professional. In fact, you'd probably get angry if he did… Although the others were probably in a similar position…
Just as he made up his mind to go and look for you, you reappeared, next to the cameraman, with your thumbs up to indicate that everything was fine.
You had arrived just in time to see him win that contest for newbies.
‘Googoo gaga,’ he said in his unmistakable deep voice.
He saw how you had to bite your lip to keep from laughing, and a voice in his head, something old and hungry, a feeling he thought was extinct, told him to be the next one to bite your lips.
He decided it was best not to think about it, because nothing good would come of it. Accepting those feelings meant opening his heart, and that usually ended badly. He didn't want to get hurt, and he didn't want you to suffer either. So he decided not to think about those feelings, to hide them, because ignoring them would prevent them from growing and going any further.
‘Why say goodbye when we have extra special guests coming up?’ said Jinu, pulling Baby out of his thoughts. ‘Please, welcome HUNTR/X!’
Just then, spotlights pointed to the top of the stage set, where the three girls appeared, looking terrified at being discovered.
The audience went wild.
You knew what was going to happen next. You knew what would happen after that.
You knew they were going to fight.
But now something had changed: Rumi's confidence in her patterns.
You hoped that meant a change for the better, but you couldn't tell.
A lot had changed since you showed up, some planned, some unplanned, and some you weren't even aware of… It was starting to be hard to guess what would happen next with any certainty.
When Jinu shouted ‘Play games with us’ and the slides appeared, you decided to try to get out of it. There were things you couldn't change, like the fight that would follow, but you could get out of the way. Because Rumi was right about one thing: you were an easy target. And you didn't want the boys to get distracted because of you… nor did you want to die, for that matter. For whatever reason.
You had started to back away, scanning the place and looking for the exit, when one of the show's writers approached you to thank you for letting the Saja Boys participate and for the incredible surprise of bringing HUNTR/X along as well. It was a bit of a meaningless conversation, and you didn't want to look bad, but you didn't want to stay there either. You had to leave if you didn't want to get caught up in the fight…
‘It's nothing,’ you replied with a smile. ‘Don't hesitate to contact us for another collaboration in the future…’ You turned to look at the stage, which was now covered by a heavy curtain.
The show was over.
The boys had already left.
Right?
Someone pinched your hips, making you jump and making the set worker smile.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to take her,” Abby said playfully. Then he grabbed you by the legs, lifted you up and slung you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Let's go!” he exclaimed, running off with you kicking your legs to get him to put you down.
You tried to stand up so that the blood wouldn't rush to your head, resting your hands on his back and trying to wriggle free.
‘Put me down, Abby!’
He just laughed in response, speeding up a little and catching up with the others at the emergency exit door of the set.
‘The HUNTR/X are here, in case you hadn't noticed, so we have to get out of here. We don't want anything to happen to you this time, so you're not leaving my side,’ he said.
Shit.
This didn't look like it was going to end well.
Once inside the men's bathhouse, the boys stopped dead in their tracks, waiting for the HUNTR/X to take the bait again and follow them there. You kept wriggling like a worm to get Abby to put you down, threatening to bite his kidney out and assuring him that you could defend yourself now that you knew they were coming (even though it was a horrible lie).
When Abby gave up and went to put you down, Romance appeared and lifted you up this time, not allowing you to put your feet on the floor.
‘No, princess. Your hands aren't made for fighting. Leave it to us.’
‘I'm a demon too, for God's sake!’
Why couldn't they take you seriously for even a minute?
The HUNTR/X came in like a whirlwind, analysing the situation at high speed, and took up positions facing the boys.
The image was somewhat curious: the girls on alert, armed, ready to jump at their throats, and the boys, haughty, leaning on each other, and you... shaking Romance by the collar of his shirt to get him to put you down, even though he didn't flinch at your shaking and complaints.
‘Wow. Did you really follow us in here?’ Jinu asked them sarcastically.
‘I knew they would. That one's always looking at me,’ added Abby, an invisible gust of wind lifting his shirt and revealing part of his abs.
The girls went crazy with rage, and you realised that perhaps enraging them wasn't the best idea. Why hadn't they discussed this plan with you?
‘You think we're just gonna let you steal our fans? You'll have to fight us for them!’ exclaimed Rumi, sword raised, on guard.
You saw how she glanced slightly at you, concern in her black-lined eyes. You hadn't followed her advice. You were in danger.
‘Yeah. Keep your hands off our Honmoon,’ added Zoey.
‘Look. She's a demon too,’ Mira whispered, pointing at you with her chin. Her look of absolute hatred froze your blood.
You stopped hitting Romance and grabbed his shoulders with your hands. Maybe, just maybe, not separating yourself from them wasn't such a bad idea.
‘We're not here to fight. They are,’ said Jinu, giving the signal for a huge number of water demons to appear in the bathhouse.
The boys took advantage of the distraction to escape, and without quite knowing how, you were now in Mystery's arms, who was carrying you bridal style, with one arm around your legs and the other holding your back so you wouldn't fall. You hugged his shoulders, trying to steady yourself, and were able to enjoy the sight of Jinu slipping and sliding as he showed off with the hunters.
Loser.
Even if he was a very attractive one.
But this time. Rumi didn't follow him.
Why hadn't Rumi followed Jinu?
Instead, Mira suddenly appeared. When you made eye contact, you realised what her target was: you. The weakest link. Once again, Rumi was right.
Maybe, Rumi wasn't fighting Jinu because she was worried about you...
Now that the HUNTR/X were united, now that they knew Rumi's secret, nothing could stop them. And that was your fault. The unity, the power you had given them... it was your fault.
Shit...
‘You!’ she exclaimed, pointing the tip of her spear at you. ‘Why won't they let you fight with us, huh?’ She threw the weapon like a javelin, which whistled past your head. Thank goodness for Mystery's reflexes, because if it weren't for him, you'd be impaled right now, stuck to the wall like a picture.
Then Zoey appeared, her eyes fixed on Mystery. It was normal for her to be attracted to him, really… Who in their right mind wouldn't be? But when she saw you in his arms, something must have set off alarm bells, because now she was throwing daggers at him with great accuracy.
“Watch out, Myst!” you exclaimed as he jumped and zigzagged to avoid being hit by any of the weapons.
She had tried to delay Mira, but she had rushed after you when she couldn't find you in the room, and when Zoey didn't see Mira, she went after her.
You saw Mira quicken her pace towards her weapon, stuck in the wall, preparing to attack again.
At this rate, if you didn't die, Myst would.
And you couldn't let that happen.
“Minjun,” you called, your voice a whisper. “You have to put me down. We have to split up. We're too easy a target with me in your arms.”
He shook his head quickly and growled. You could feel his pulse racing, feel the tension in his muscles.
“Minjun, I can run. I may not be able to fight, but here, in the bathhouse, I can hide. I promise. I'll be fine.” One of Zoey's daggers grazed your ear, making you jump.
Then Jinu appeared at your side, trotting.
‘There's no way they could have killed all the water demons,’ he said.
‘Yeah, well, maybe they just changed their priorities,’ you said.
‘So they'd rather leave the water demons out there and come straight for us?’
You bit your tongue. Admitting out loud that they were (at least Mira) specifically after you wasn't going to go down well with them, and there were incidents you'd rather avoid.
Jinu snapped his fingers, and more demons appeared in the hallway.
‘You have my permission to devour any souls you want, take advantage of the fact that the hunters are distracted!’ he exclaimed.
That alerted both the HUNTR/X and you. It wasn't part of your plan to allow the demons to harvest souls, but at that moment, it was either harvest or your life.
The demons split up, crawling and running in all directions, with the approval that it was no longer necessary to eliminate the hunters in order to eat. They could feast without worry.
One of Zoey's daggers whistled past your head, causing Jinu to jump aside to avoid it. But after throwing it, she turned around and began throwing the rest of the daggers at the demons returning to the baths, the sauna, and God knows where else in search of humans. She managed to eliminate a few, but there were too many for her alone. They would escape her.
“Girls! They're going after the humans! If we let them escape, they'll die!”
Rumi took advantage of the distraction to make one last lunge at Abby, who dodged it by a hair, and turn to run alongside Zoey after the water demons. Mira, who was a little more stubborn, still wanted to get you out of the way first.
“Manager!” Abby shouted when he saw Myst finally hear your pleas and put you down, now that only one of the three enemies was chasing you.
Perhaps it would be easier to distract her and let you hide and try to escape, since fighting with you in his arms would not be an easy task. And even if it was just one of them, they didn't think they could win so quickly. They hadn't stolen all their fans yet, and the tragedy of losing one of the HUNTR/X could tip the scales in the girls' favour.
Something changed in Mira's gaze when she heard them call you. Now she knew you were their manager (although you weren't really, you were their music producer, but that didn't matter anymore). That meant you were an important part of their plan to steal their fans, right?
She threw her weapon at you again, and you managed to dodge it by throwing yourself to the ground. You heard it cut through the air above your head, too close. She accelerated, ready to use the weapon stuck in the wall as a foothold to hit you while you were on the ground.
Jinu wrapped his arms around your waist and lifted you up as fast as he could. He looked at Myst, they both nodded, and Myst lunged at Mira before she could reach her weapon, waving his claws and growling like a rabid dog.
Jinu, still holding you, quickly turned the next corner, getting closer and closer to the exit. You heard a loud “plop!” and Mira growl in frustration at losing Myst, who had teleported away, now that he didn't have to carry you (apparently, transporting himself with another person consumed a lot of energy, and they weren't in the mood for fireworks after such a tremendous chase) and also at losing sight of you. She must have turned back to help Rumi and Zoey, because the sound of her footsteps faded away down the corridor.
Jinu and you managed to get out. You were both breathing heavily from exhaustion and nerves. Jinu let go of your wrist, which you hadn't realised he was holding onto to pull you along and keep you from falling behind.
You doubled over, dizzy from the effort, feeling your lungs about to explode, and heard Jinu gasping for air. Your face was beaded with sweat and your heart was racing.
‘Why didn't you fight back?’ you asked, your voice breaking.
“Why?” he exclaimed, putting his hands to his head, completely enraged. “Because they were coming straight for you! Why were they coming for you?”
You opened and closed your mouth like a fish out of water, not quite sure what to say. You were still trying to compose yourself. Rumi had assured you that she hadn't said anything to them, so…
And... it was only Mira who was after you...
‘Because they think I'm weak,’ you whispered. ‘Because they saw how you treat me, as if I were fragile. You didn't even let me try to run away or defend myself.’
‘Because you can't!’ he exclaimed, making the Honmoon vibrate.
You took a step back, frightened. Jinu had never spoken to you like that before. He had never shouted at you like that.
‘You've been close to death twice in two days, (y/n).’
You lowered your gaze, slightly ashamed. He was right. Maybe you just wanted a second or even a third chance to redeem yourself and prove that you could stand on your own two feet, but in reality, you didn't even know if it was just a lie to boost your morale or if you were really capable of doing it.
Maybe, on your own, you were worthless.
What were you without Jinu? What were you without the Saja Boys?
A third-rate demon with almost no power, with big ideas but no means. A soul occupying a body with plans too big for her abilities.
‘If one of the hunters has targeted you because she thinks you're weak, what do we do with you? Do we have to be your bodyguards now?’
The words stabbed you like knives in the heart.
He didn't say it like Abby did. He meant it... in a bad way. As an insult.
You had never had the opportunity to really get close to Jinu like you had with the others. You had argued before, yes, but never like this.
You felt that, since you had met, he had been the most distant towards you. He was the one who distrusted you the most, and the one who spoke to you the least when it wasn't strictly necessary.
You understood that his attention had never been yours, but that didn't justify him being so hurtful to you.
‘I'm trying!’ you exclaimed back. "I'm doing the best I can! But it's exhausting having to babysit a boy band and then take the blame for absolutely everything.
Your heart was racing. It hurt to look into his kind brown eyes, which looked back at you without any warmth or affection.
You clearly weren't Rumi. He was never going to be as nice as he was supposed to be with her with you, right? You were a pawn. A tool. And right now, an encumbrance.
You never hated Jinu. You thought he was handsome, yes, but also responsible, intelligent and kind. Sometimes he acted only for his own benefit, but that behaviour was indeed very human. You liked to draw him, especially when he was distracted. When his gaze lost its hardness because he forgot his worries, the plan, and his past. When he was that person who had made bad decisions and was unable to climb out of the pit of regret that they had led him to.
Jinu was no monster.
But he never got close enough to you to tell him that.
You wanted to be closer to him, you wanted to befriend him too... but he hated you. The way he was looking at you, with disdain, wrath, shame, was more than enough to know. He didn't want you there. He didn't want to listen to your excuses.
He had enough.
‘Then maybe you should stop trying. And leave us alone.’
With those frivolous words that hit you like a bucket of cold water, he turned around and walked away without you, through the dark streets of Seoul.
Without letting you speak.
Without ever knowing Rumi's secret.
Without letting you know that he didn't mean it.
Without letting you know how he really felt.
And when Gwi-ma summoned him to hell, flashing his patterns and pulling him down against his will, he couldn't see that you weren't going down to hell with him.
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A/N: Hope you liked it! It's a little bit angsty at the end, but it's plot needed hahahaha Can't help it tho.
Also I think a lot about it, because of you asked me to make a polylove ending too.... but, at least right now, it's not going to be an option. I want to write first individual endings for each of the love interests, and then maybe I can add it to the list!! I hope it is okay with you 👉👈 I feel more confortable this way :)
Again, sorry for the delay :/ And... some of you asked me to upload it to AO3! .... should I? hahahah let me know please!
Like always, thank you for reading, for all your support and kind words. Remember that those comments, likes and reblogs help me a lot as motivation! 🥹🩷 I'm trying to replay to all of you!
Summary: Reincarnated in the body of a demon from the last film you saw before you died, you have decided to change the script of the story in your favour. But you didn't count on your presence in the story changing everything.
Warnings: slow burn, swearing, a little bit of angst, near death situation, ooc (probably), cringe (surely), no proofread (oopsie)
Word count: 2700+
A/N: First of all: thank you. Thank you all for all the love and support that you are giving me through your likes, reblogs and comments. I really appreciate them. I'm trying to answer to all of you, at least to show you how much it means to me ;^;
Also, I'm really sorry this chapter took this long. Work is crazy and I had a little vacation planed, so I didn't have time to write :( I'll try to update the story in a few days to try and feed you like you deserve!
This chapter is a little bit special. It's the Soda Pop debut!! And... it something else. I hope that you enjoy it as much as the previous chapters!
Soda Pop was a hit. A huge crowd, even bigger than you had expected, had gathered in the square to enjoy the Saja Boys' debut.
Everything was going perfectly, just as planned.
You decided to let yourself go, moving your shoulders to the beat of the music, like everyone else. From what you remembered from the events in the movie, everything was going smoothly. Even those lovely old ladies who you found so funny in the movie were there… you had to make sure they didn't lose their souls.
In fact, you had to make sure no one did.
Some flying hearts snapped you out of your thoughts.
Those… special effects had been entirely their idea.
You couldn't help but smile when you saw them. You managed to catch one in mid-flight before it smacked you in the face. As you did so, you caught a glimpse of HUNTR/X, who were arguing, probably about whether or not to attack the boys at that very moment. You crossed your fingers mentally that that part of the plot wouldn't change.
The truth is, the song was really catchy, and you were afraid you wouldn't be able to get it out of your head all day.
The guys ‘helped’ some people in the audience (just before HUNTR/X sabotaged it, convinced that they were doing it with bad intentions) and then rose up on a magical platform (how convenient to be demons so you can pull a stage out of thin air).
You couldn't stop smiling.
All around you, everyone seemed so happy…
Then you felt someone staring at you intensely. VERY intensely.
You turned around to look for the person in question and saw that it was… Rumi. How she had found you in the crowd was surprising, to say the least. And the coldness and hatred in her gaze made your blood run cold. Your patterns glowed a little against your will.
Busted.
You swallowed hard. The boys could teleport, but you couldn't. When the performance was over, they would leave…
How would you hide now that you had been discovered?
The best thing to do was to stay in the crowd, hide among other people, so they couldn't attack you.
A foolproof plan.
So, even though you didn't like the idea of missing the end of the performance, you lowered your head a little and decided to leave slowly and discreetly, heading home. You had to start putting the pieces in place for that same night, when the boys would be on TV.
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Rumi felt her blood boil when she saw those demons dancing. What were they trying to do? Were they a demon K-pop boy band?
What's more, as if that weren't suspicious enough, several of them kept glancing in the same direction, even though they were trying to disguise it. And when she looked there, she saw only a... girl. You.
Why would they want to attack you, of all people? Because they wanted to attack you, right?
Then you turned towards her, as if you had felt her gaze. And you turned pale.
Did you recognise her?
Rumi wanted to hide further in her hoodie, to get out of there so no one else would recognise her, but then she saw it.
Your patterns.
You had patterns all over your body, cold golden eyes that shined through you disguise… you were a demon.
You were a demon too.
The boy band didn't want to attack you… you were friends. Demon friends? Did demons have friends?
You shrank a little, turned around and started walking away from the stage, away from the other demons.
Away from her and the other hunters.
Rumi glanced sideways at her friends. Mira was seething with anger and Zoey… was dancing lightly to the rhythm of the music.
She could handle it herself. You were just one demon, and you didn't look particularly strong.
It was during the day, she shouldn't caught attention.
‘I'll be right back,’ she said to the other hunters, pulling her hood a little tighter and walking after you, keeping an eye on you.
She would do it quickly.
One quick move, and you'd be dead.
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Someone was following you, you had no doubt about it.
You started to get nervous. The end of the song was approaching, and then the crowd would disperse and it would be harder to hide.
You decided to run, even if it meant pushing people aside. You had to get out of there fast. You had to call one of the boys, ask for help.
You had to escape. You couldn't die again.
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
You turned around without stopping and saw Rumi, her head hidden by the hood of her sweatshirt, coming straight towards you.
She was the one who was following you.
Well, it was always better that it was just Rumi and not all three of them, right?
You swallowed hard. You were reaching the end of the square. You prepared to speed up even more.
You didn't know if you were faster than Rumi, but you could try to run through the alleys, hide, and call one of the guys to get you out of this mess.
Not only did you not want to die, you were also afraid that if one of the boys helped you, Rumi would take them down too. Your plan was to avoid any casualties, on either side.
But at the same time… Was this a sign from above to bring forward the meeting between Jinu and Rumi?
You slapped your face while continuing to run.
This was no time to think about that.
Survival mode: activated.
At the first intersection you saw, you quickened your pace and turned. You could feel Rumi speeding up too, and you felt a change in the Honmoon… Rumi had just drawn his sword.
You ran as fast as your demonic abilities would allow. You took out your mobile phone, breathing heavily, and phoned Jinu.
He didn't answer.
'Shit.'
You turned into an alley, not realising it was a dead end… and Rumi was behind you, blocking your way.
You tried to dial another number, but when she saw you move, Rumi was quick and lunged at you. You managed to dodge her, but your mobile phone slipped out of your hand.
Goodbye rescue plan.
You were alone.
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‘Where's the manager?’ asked Abby. ‘I didn't see her at the end of the performance… but she's not at home either.’
Romance shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head.
‘She can't teleport, but she shouldn't be long, should she?’
Mystery had seen you leave. During the performance, he felt something weird... and couldn't help but check on you now and then. And for some reason, you seemed worried, as if you needed to get out of there right away.
‘I'm going to go look for her,’ said Mystery. ‘She's always on time, she should be here by now.’
‘But we have to get ready… she'll be angry if we're not ready when she gets here…’ Abby felt uncomfortable. He felt a strange tingling sensation, as if something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Soda Pop's performance had been a success, and that same night they were going to be on the most popular TV show of the moment… but where were you? He felt a terrible urge to hug you, to lift you up in the air and spin you around in his arms… He needed to thank you.
Where the hell were you?
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The fight against Rumi was brief. Even though you were a demon, and your survival instincts kicked in to help you fight, you were like a newborn deer against a lion. Your mind tried to find a way out, but you couldn't find one. Rumi lunged to kill, without any doubt in her eyes. Only hatred. Anger. Contempt.
You were agile and violent, but Rumi had been trained specifically to kill. And no matter how good you were at biting and slapping, that fight was lost.
You tried to feint, but she kicked you and you ended up falling to the ground. You tried to crawl backwards until your back hit a wall.
You were helpless. Terrified. Powerless.
You had no way out.
You couldn't call for help.
You were going to die.
Again.
Seeing that you were no longer struggling to get up, Rumi slowly approached you, sword raised, pointing directly at your chest.
But you weren't going to die, were you? That wasn't part of your plan.
Rumi twisted her wrist, ready to deliver the fatal blow, when a light bulb went off in your head.
How had Jinu convinced her that he wasn't evil, other than being disgustingly handsome?
Through dialogue!
‘Wait!’ you shouted.
But Rumi was already in motion, her sword whistling through the air. Destination: your chest.
You threw yourself to the ground, dodging it by a hair's breadth.
You sat back down, pressing yourself against the wall as hard as you could, your hands up, palms out, showing that you had surrendered.
'Please wait. I'm not a demon, I swear,' you said. It was clearly not your finest moment, but you didn't have much time to think.
'Yeah, right,' Rumi raised her sword again, ready to strike you down once more.
Duck it.
If you had to spill your secret (one of them, at least), this was the moment.
'I have a soul!' you exclaimed just before she turned you into a kebab. 'I'm on your side!'
Rumi stopped her attack just inches from your neck. Something in your voice… perhaps your tangible terror… had made her decide to listen to you. She left the tip of her sword there, resting casually on your neck, reminding you that one false move would mean death.
Why did the plot have to change like that? Why did Rumi have to come after you instead of approaching the stage menacingly?
Why did she chase you, not Jinu?
Why did only bad things happen to you lately?
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Mystery didn't find you in the square, or at the beauty salon, or in the bathhouse, or at your favourite bubble tea shop.
You were nowhere to be found.
And he wasn't happy about it.
Jinu had announced that he had a missed call from you, but that you weren't answering your phone…
All the Saja Boys were on edge.
It was almost time to go on the show, but you weren't there.
And Abby and Romance had announced that if you weren't there, they wouldn't go to that ridiculous show, no matter how much Jinu insisted that they had to.
Although he was also worried, he knew better than to think that something really bad had happened to you, even though the mere image of your unconscious body the day before gave him nightmares, even though the idea that you were hurt made his heart ache… He couldn't throw it all away like that.
Baby had gone looking for you in hell, even if it was unlikely to find you there.
Where the hell were you?
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When you told Rumi that you knew her story, that you knew she was a halfblood and that she was trying to turn the Honmoon golden so she could be ‘normal,’ she tensed up. She pressed the blade of the sword harder against your neck, making you bleed, but not fatally.
‘No one else knows,’ you added, your voice broken with panic.
You had to choose your words carefully if you didn't want her to impale you right there.
‘You see…’ You weren't quite sure how to explain it to her, because surely, if you told her you had been reincarnated into a MOVIE, she would kill you instead of letting you explain. ‘I managed to… get my soul back… and now I'm trying to get the Saja Boys to get theirs back… I don't want souls, I promise. I don't need them. I already have mine.’
You then asked her to sing, even if just a little, so you could prove it to her. And when she sang the first verses of Golden, and you put all your willpower into how wonderful that song sounded… Rumi could see that recognisable blue light in your chest.
You weren't lying.
‘How…?’
You shook your head nervously, but you cheered up when you saw that Rumi was finally lowering his weapon.
‘I'm on your side, Rumi. I don't want… I don't want anyone to die.’ You looked down at the ground, slightly embarrassed. It wasn't your plan to reveal your secret like that, right off the bat, to Rumi. But now that she knew, there was no turning back.
‘But the Saja Boys are demons…’
‘Yes. And I want them to get their souls back too. It's just that… they don't know it yet.’
Rumi frowned and made a move to raise his weapon towards you again.
‘Hey!’ you exclaimed. ‘You're in no position to judge when you haven't told your best friends your secret.’
That comment seemed to hurt her, so you decided to add some sincere advice that you'd been thinking about since you first saw the movie:
'Why don't you tell them the truth? They're your family, they'll understand.'
She looked into your eyes with a mixture of fear and hope.
'Sometimes you have to face up to those risks, Rumi. But… you have to know that the longer you wait to tell them, the more you're going to hurt them.'
Wow.
The pot calling the kettle black.
Why didn't you tell the Saja Boys that you had a soul?
Because you were afraid, just like Rumi.
Because you weren't sure if they would accept it, or if… they would want to take theirs back.
You were afraid that, after getting to know them, befriending them... you were going to be alone all over again.
You heard an angry bark, and when you looked down the alley, you saw Mystery. He was leaning forward, claws out, ready to attack Rumi and rip her throat out with his teeth if necessary.
'Go away,' you whispered to the hunter, fear in your eyes. You didn't want them to fight, not now. 'And take my advice. You're not a mistake.'
Rumi looked into your eyes one last time, feeling something warm in his chest.
Maybe you were right.
She'd give you the benefit of the doubt.
And, just this once, she'd leave you and your dog alone.
She ran off, jumped over Mystery and disappeared into the city.
Myst, instead of running after her, practically threw himself at you.
Your neck wasn't bleeding anymore, but you still had the mark from the cut, which hadn't completely closed yet.
What shitty powers.
‘I'm fine,’ you said, sensing his concern.
He let himself fall beside you into his knees and hugged you tightly, resting your head on his chest. He stroked your hair with one hand, while the other held you close against him from your back.
You listened as his pulse slowly slowed and his growling stopped.
'I thought...' he murmured hoarsely. 'That the hunter was going to... and you...'
At that moment, you felt yourself relax, not fully aware that you were still tense.
You had been on the verge of death.
Rumi had almost killed you.
You hugged Mystery back, trembling a little.
You were processing everything that had just happened, and what had almost happened.
You hated seeing yourself weak. You hated feeling weak. But you had been terrified. You couldn't defend yourself. You had realised how alone you were without them...
A sob escaped you, and you felt a tear roll down your cheek.
You didn't want to die. You didn't want to die. You didn't want to die again.
You didn't want to be alone.
Mystery pulled you closer to him. He didn't say anything, but his company was comforting. His warmth, his embrace, the rhythmic sound of his pulse...
You controlled your breathing, gathered your thoughts as best you could, and tried to pull yourself together.
You felt Myst's lips on your forehead, placing a small kiss there.
'Don't worry. You're not alone anymore. I'm here.'
You felt your heart shrink at his words.
It was just what you needed to hear.
'Thank you.'
And with that, you returned to the comfortable silence of before, hugging each other, listening to each other's heartbeats, and aware that you were both alive, and that none of you were alone. Never again.
And that the Saja Boys still had their music producer.
And that you still had your soul... and the Saja Boys.
︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿
Ch. 8
A/N: hey there! Hope you liked it! It's a little bit agnsty at the end, but I have to say that next chapter is probably going to be worse hahahaha
And... Rumi! Is she another love interest? .... would you like to have her as a love interest? 👀
Also, as many of you have asked me for an ending with all the boys, I've been thinking about doing something like a multiple ending. That is, an ending for each of the Saja Boys. The order in which I would write them would be up to you, but that way you could all have an ending with your favourite character. They would probably be between one and three chapters each, but I haven't decided anything yet. Do you like the idea?
Thank you all for all the love! Let me know what you think about this one.
Again, thank you for reading, for all your support and kind words. Remember that those comments, likes and reblogs help me a lot as motivation! 🥹🩷
༺ synopis: You had to live through your childhood tragedy once more. The ship was sinking and you braced yourself for the inevitable - surely the sea won't show mercy twice.
༺ character: Siren!Rafayel
༺ reader: female | AFAB
༺ wc: 2338
༺ cw: sinking of a ship, descriptions of drowning, mentions of death & dying, injuries, blood, the ugly side of sirens.
༺ notes: I'm a widdol nervous about this so feedback would be appreciated :))
What are the odds of sinking on a boat once?
The statistic floats in your mind like debris, as if knowledge might anchor you to reason in the middle of screaming wind and breaking wood. You'd read it once, years ago on some bored midnight internet search. One in a million, maybe. The sort of once in a lifetime thing that scars your childhood and becomes a strange, isolating footnote you carry forever.
But twice? Twice felt personal.
Twice screamed that the sea gods were angry.
Rain blurred the world into grey streaks, cold and relentless as it drove into your skin. The world became nothing but noise - snapping sails, splintering beams, someone's voice yelling your name before it was swallowed by thunder, yet your body couldn't move, couldn't even scream. The cold has always done that to you, paralyzed your lungs and shrunk your world down to the roar of blood and memories.
You stood near the railing, shoes soaked and hands curled uselessly at your sides. Around you the ship cracked and screamed, groaning like something alive and dying. The wedding decorations - white silk streamers and fairy lights - were in shreds, flapping wildly and trailing across the ruined deck like ghosts.
It all started so gently with your friend's wedding. That's the only reason why you had come, the only reason you were on this doomed celebration cruise. Your friend had begged you “Just one night on the water,” she said. “The ocean’s calm this time of year. It'll help you let go of the past.”
Let go... And now the sea took everything once again.
The deck heaved beneath you, sharp and sudden and you stumbled hard against the railing. Somewhere behind you, a mast cracked in two, the sound deafening and haunting. The panic on ship grew louder now, screams, feet pounding, someone was crying - but none of it touched you. You felt like you were sinking already, before your body had even left the ship.
The cold spray of saltwater hit your eyes and then something else, hard and fast, maybe something metallic based on the sound. A burst of pain immediately bloomed behind your temple, sharp and electric. You didn't even know what it was and couldn't bring yourself to care as you braced for the inevitable. The sea would swallow you whole. It had spared you as a child, but it wouldn't show mercy a second time as your world started to spin.
And then - Nothing.
There was no memory of the fall, no gasp as you hit the water. Just a blur of darkness and the cold, the kind that swallowed breath and thought alike. You surfaced some time later, not knowing how long it had been. Seconds, maybe even minutes? All you could do was to clutch onto a piece of the ship, torn wood slick with seawater and blood. One of your legs hung heavy in the water, as if someone - or something - tried to drag you under. The other stung sharp with every kick while your arms shook with the effort of holding on, of staying afloat. A pulsing ache throbbed from one of your thighs and when you tried to lift your head from the wooden piece, you could taste blood on your tongue.
Above, the sky was a shattered bruise of lightning and smoke, the clouds bleeding violet light. Bits of the ship bobbed in the water like the scattered bones of some fallen creature. You didn't know where the others had gone - whether anyone had survived, whether they were screaming for help or were already at the bottom of the ocean.
All you could do was float, adrift and half awake with your lips turning violet-blue from the cold, heart pounding too loud in your chest and no strength left to call for help. Yet, your fingers refused to let go of the broken plank that held you above water. Splinters began to dig into your skin, but you only held on tighter, as if letting go would mean surrendering entirely. Saltwater lapped at your lips, turning them dry and letting the delicate skin crack as your vision blurred.
And somewhere, far beneath the surface, the sea stirred.
At first, it was only a feeling, a weight, invisible and unspoken that settled over your skin like a change in pressure. You opened your eyes slowly, vision clouded by salt and rain and the plank you clung onto creaked faintly beneath you, the water lapping violently against the sides. Across from you, half submerged in the dark water, something watched.
Only the top of a head was visible - pale strands of long, lavender hair drifting around it like smoke, fanning out in a halo. The water cradled it, eerily still despite the storm. It just floated there with unnatural calm and just above the surface, a pair of glowing violet eyes stared directly into yours. They didn't blink - neither did you.
Your heart should have seized. You should have cried out, kicked or let go to flee. But none of these things happened. Your body was too tired, your mind too disoriented to recognize if this was someone alive or perhaps one of the wedding guests simply...floating. As your vision cleared up, you could tell that this wasn't human, at least not entirely.
On the other side of the wood, Rafayel lingered just beneath the surface, his head barely visible to you and his breath slowed to match the pulse of the sea. He simply watched you drift closer to unconsciousness, each blink slower than the last and your lips were entirely blue with deep cracks. A thin smear of blood still trickled from the cut at your brow - You were fading. Quietly and without protest.
Most of them screamed or tried to put up a fight, it made their panic easier to ignore, and made the line between predator and prey clear. But you weren't screaming, simply staring back at him like you had nothing left to give, least of all to him. No fear, no defiance. Only quiet exhaustion and acceptance.
He should have disappeared by now, not be enamored by your lack of reaction. Observe, lure, drag down, devour. He knew how it goes, it was an automated process that ensured his survival.
Your body slowly sagged lower and the piece of wreckage creaked once more, your weight shifting. Rafayel's eyes followed you with cool precision, noticing the weakness in your limbs, the slack curve of your fingers and the hollow shadows beneath your eyes. You wouldn't last much longer.
You saw him enough to know what he was and what he wasn't and yet, your gaze softened. Not in recognition, but in surrender... Until they closed completely.
Your head lulled forward and with a small splash, you began to slide off the wood. The gravity finally tipped you into the black of the water as your unconscious body couldn't help but to accept its fate - your lungs taking their last breath of air before they would fill with water, slowly, until all of you succumbed to the ruthlessness of the ocean.
He moved before he thought.
One hand shot up from the water and caught you just beneath the shoulders, guiding you back with startling gentleness. Your head rolled against his arm in the process but he simply cradled it above the ocean's surface in a way that the water had no chance to reach your lungs. His instincts told him to devour you whole while you couldn't put up a fight, while you had no choice but to give in to the predator who caught you - but he ignored them, forcing himself to remain calm.
Rafayel held you a moment longer, your weight slight and delicate in his arms, reminding him of a situation oh so many years ago. Then, without a word, he turned and began to swim. Each movement was smooth, powerful, as if the current bent itself around him. He held you cradled in his arms, body limp and not a single muscle stirred. Your breath was faint, but present - like seafoam against his skin.
He had watched you long before you even saw him - only surfaced when he sensed the panic blooming across the wreck. The scent of blood trailed like ribbons through the dark and led him straight to you, and when your eyes locked with his, it wasn't mercy that stilled him. It was thrill. The anticipation of taking a bite, of tearing you limb by limb, of hearing your screams turn into gargles as he mercilessly dragged you beneath water.
Fear always fascinated him. There was something raw and so honest in it that nothing could quite compare. A primal urge, he had seen it in your eyes, in the way your pupils dilated, how your jaw tensed despite the exhaustion weighing your body down. He saw the flicker of knowing inside your eyes, knowing that something wasn't right - that he wasn't safe. You couldn't run or scream, but your fear was ever present. And oh how he enjoyed it.
He shouldn't have lingered, knowing the rules all too well: Do not play with your food or you will end up on their plate. But where was the pleasure in mindlessly devouring? Where was the thrill in dragging something down that didn't even know it was dying? A little fear made the flavor richer, a little dread gave the ending a meaning. But somehow you just… accepted it - and that unnerved him more than he would like to admit.
Your warmth slowly started to bleed into his cold skin which only aided to dull the instinct to feed and be done. Rafayel tried convincing himself that it was pity, a passing whim, but still, his grip on you tightened ever so slightly as if he's scared to risk seeing you drift off with the tide.
The jagged silhouette of a rock formation loomed ahead, slick with the salty water and painted silver by each pulse of lightning that bloomed across the raging skies. It wasn't much, but it was enough for you to breathe, enough to make you believe that you survived by chance alone. At least that was the initial plan - to leave you with salt in your mouth and dread in your bones. To let you believe that the sea had spared you once more.
But as he eased you from the water and laid you onto the stone, his fingertips ghosted across the blood slick gash on your leg. His eyes lingered on the curve of your face, the fragile rise and fall of your chest. And somewhere deep within, something stirred. A sense of familiarity bloomed inside his chest and made him realize that he wasn't sure if he would want to let you go, which somehow frightened him more than the thought of starving ever could.
The world ebbed in and out like the sea itself, each wave of consciousness pulling you further from shore. You weren't even sure when your body was moved onto something solid - cold beneath your skin but still drenched by the sea. But you could feel the jagged stone pressing into your back, anchoring you in your place. Your limbs were far too heavy to lift, skin numb with cold and you weren't sure why the ocean decided to spare you once more.
Your thoughts wanted to form, to try and find a way out of the water and back to land but the voice that came from just below the waves made it impossible to think straight. The voice was low and rich, smooth in a way that felt unnatural, too perfect to belong to anything human. The melody curled through the air like mist, sweet and gentle, almost like a lullaby - but the cadence was strange, the language foreign and laced with sounds that rolled like foam off a reef. You couldn't place it, couldn't tell if this was truly a voice or something your mind conjured in exhaustion to make leaving this life easier, but it wound itself around your senses and refused to let you go.
A soft chill crept over your skin, but something deep inside of you was recoiling, even as your body relaxed. The voice made you feel calm, yes - but not safe. The calmness it brought felt borrowed and false, as though something beneath that melody tugged at the strings of your mind with too much ease. You tried to lift your head and open your eyes fully, but the effort only made them flutter and fall shut completely. Your breathing became more shallow while your consciousness slipped like sand through broken fingers.
The memory of those violet eyes surfaced behind your lids, how they were just watching you with a subtle glow to them and it made your chest tighten. Even though you could no longer see him, you could still feel his presence near, just out of reach.
You didn't want to sleep, not ready to fade yet, but your body was already letting go. Your thoughts were scattered like driftwood as darkness gathered at the edges of your mind, soft and irresistible. The cold, the blood loss, the song - it all wove together too seamlessly. Your last conscious thought wasn't of the wreck, it was that a voice so beautiful could lead you so gently into oblivion.
You didn't see him rise from the water, didn't feel the gentle droplets land on you as Rafayel emerged to settle beside you. His gaze swept over you deliberately, as if he was trying to understand what exactly he had just saved. One hand moved with reverent care to brush the tangled and damp hair from your face, his fingers lingering for a moment too long against your cheek. A moment later, the smallest smile formed on his lips, not cruel, but indulgent.
“Twice now,” he mumbled and looked out at the open waters. “You really don't have luck on your side, little thing.”
Summary: Reincarnated in the body of a demon from the last film you saw before you died, you have decided to change the script of the story in your favour. But you didn't count on your presence in the story changing everything.
Warnings: slow burn, swearing, men, jealousy (subtle but there it is), Abby being smelly, ooc (probably), cringe (surely), no proofread (oopsie)
Word count: 2600+
A/N: First of all: thank you. Thank you all for all the love and support that you are giving me through your likes, reblogs and comments. I really appreciate them. I'm trying to answer to all of you, at least to show you how much it means to me ;^;
You slowly opened your eyes. Your head hurt like hell and was still spinning. For a demon, your healing abilities were a bit pathetic.
Where were you…?
Was that your room?
Yes… you were in your room.
You were in bed, in fact, covered up to your neck with sheets and a cold towel on your forehead. You tried to sit up slowly, pressing your temples to ease the pain and causing the towel to fall to one side.
How had you got there?
The last thing you remembered was feeling like you were being cooked alive in the sauna, like a giant shrimp...
The sheet slipped off your body when you sat up, and you realised that you were still only covered by the towel you had used in the bathhouse.
Something didn't add up.
You couldn't teleport.
And you didn't remember waking up, getting up and walking home.
So, although you were grateful to be alive, you weren't quite sure how you got home.
Had someone found you and contacted the others somehow?
Or...
Had one of the guys done it?
At least you still had the towel.
Then you realised something: what would happen if you died? What would happen if you died again?
You weren't quite sure what happened when a demon died. When its body died, did it disappear forever? Was it sent back to hell, with another chance to return to the world of the living? But what would happen if you died? What would happen if a demon with a soul died? Because in fact, the body you occupied wasn't yours, so if it disappeared forever, well… but what about your soul? Where would your soul go? Would that be the final form of death?
The more you thought about it, the more your head throbbed.
Just then, as if to signal you to stop thinking about it, someone knocked on the door.
‘Come in,’ you managed to say. Your voice sounded slightly hoarse.
How long had you been out of action?
The door opened a crack and Baby poked his head in, as if he needed permission to come in. He looked surprised to see you awake.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked softly.
His efforts not to disturb you touched you. After making sure you were still covered, you motioned for him to come in and sit down.
‘Honestly, I feel terrible.’
'It's normal. You fainted in the sauna.'
So, was it Baby who…?
You saw him look down, embarrassed.
'I want to apologise,' he said as he finally came in and sat down slowly at the foot of your bed. 'You left me in charge, and even so… I almost let you die.'
What?
He looked up briefly to look at you, but was unable to hold your gaze and looked back down at his hands.
'You insisted so much that we shouldn't go into the women's bathhouse… even when I sensed something was wrong because you were taking so long, even when Mystery insisted so much on going to look for you because you were taking too long… you left me in charge and… I did nothing. We almost lost you.'
Oh, no. You already understood what had happened.
Trying not to let him see that you were still wearing only the towel, you sat up a little straighter on the bed and raised your hand to his face. You forced him to look up at you. His green eyes looked tormented.
Why did he look so devastated?
You caressed his face with your hand, and he leaned towards you, seeking more contact. Seeking to be closer to you.
‘I'm fine,’ you assured him, partly for his sake, but also for your own. ‘I'm still here, everything's fine.’
But for Baby, nothing was fine. They didn't know exactly when you had fainted, but they knew that if it weren't for Jinu, you would be dead.
Yes, that's right.
Jinu.
When they returned home without you and explained that you were taking it easy and would come home when you were ready, he let the alarm bells ring in his head.
With a “poof”, he disappeared, and less than ten minutes later he reappeared in the flat, carrying you in his arms, unconscious. You looked like a doll, your head tilted back, your hair loose, the towel that had been holding it back long gone. But you barely had a pulse, your body was radiating heat and you were very pale.
As soon as Jinu reappeared in the living room, looking very serious and carrying you unconscious in his arms, chaos broke out in the living room.
Abby exclaimed your name, running towards Jinu; Romance wanted to lift you up in his arms himself to see what was wrong with you, but Jinu wouldn't let him; Myst was speechless, afraid to come closer and discover that you were no longer... alive; and Baby felt his heart break into a thousand pieces as he felt guilty for what he was seeing.
Jinu held you against his chest, with one arm under your legs and the other around your back. Your body was covered by the towel you had brought into the sauna, and on top of that, Jinu's shirt, as if he was trying to give you some... privacy.
‘Is she alive?’ Romance managed to ask amid the commotion of seeing you like that.
‘Yes,’ Jinu replied without looking at you. ‘She fainted in the sauna from heatstroke.’
None of the others were sure how likely or unlikely it was for a demon to get heatstroke, but at least you were okay.
‘How could you leave her there, even if she was taking a long time to come out? Didn't you think something might have happened to her? What if she had run into the hunters?’
The others hung their heads in shame. Jinu sounded angry, but that was normal. Abby and Romance were convinced that since you always took so long in the bathhouse, it would be the same in public bathhouse, and even though Myst had said that something must have happened to you, they dismissed it and...
And now you were like this.
'I'm going to let her rest in her bed. I'll put a damp towel on her to bring her temperature down, and we'll take turns to check if she wakes up.'
Without waiting for a reply, he disappeared down the corridor with you in his arms.
‘How long have I been… unconscious?’ you asked, pulling Baby out of a turbulent cloud of recent memories.
‘Several hours. It's getting dark. Are you hungry?’
You shook your head.
Did demons take ibuprofen when they had migraines?
You lowered your hand to your lap, not seeing the pain that gesture caused in Baby's eyes. You took a deep breath through your nose and let it out slowly through your mouth.
‘Thank you,’ you said, smiling at him. ‘For taking care of me and worrying about me while I was in that state. I'm sure I just need to hydrate a little and rest for tomorrow.’
Baby couldn't bring himself to tell you that you were there thanks to Jinu, preferring to keep to himself the fact that he wasn't the only one who was completely freaked out by the accident… there was no need to stress you out any more.
‘Got it. I'll go get some water then,’ he said, heading for the door. ‘By the way,’ he added before leaving the room. ‘We printed the posters for tomorrow's presentation.’
You smiled at him, grateful. And as soon as he left and closed the door behind him, you hurried to put some clothes on.
You weren't an exhibitionist.
¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸
Everyone loved hearing that you were awake and as grumpy as ever. But one of the boys was particularly lost in thought.
Lying on his bed with his legs propped up against the wall and his head hanging over the short side of the bed, Minjun was trying to sort through both his thoughts and his feelings.
The last few days had been a rollercoaster ride, and he felt… confused.
Especially about your relationship with Jinu.
He wanted to bite his nails, but remembered that he had gotten a manicure (with you) and decided to avoid doing it.
The day before, when he went out to run errands with Byeol, he had seen you, as radiant and full of energy as ever.
You reminded him of a little animal, so expressive and cheerful, but who would fight tooth and nail to defend yourself at the slightest provocation.
And just as he saw you, he also saw Jinu appear. He saw him lean towards you, so close to your face that he felt his hands burning, eager to push him away, and he clearly heard him say:
'You're beautiful when you blush.'
Mystery was absolutely certain that you hadn't heard him, because if you had, you would have thrown your drink at him and he would now have a black eye.
He also saw how he drank from your drink, how he looked at you, how he smiled at you. Something inside him twisted, as if he wanted to be in Jinu's place, with that confidence to talk to you and touch you without an excuse.
‘If you listen to that music at that volume, you're going to go deaf,’ he had added before leaving.
Mystery also saw him trip over his own feet while leaving you behind, although you hadn't noticed.
Next to him, Baby had tensed up like a cat about to pounce, and he knew that he hadn't liked what had just happened either. But neither of them said anything about it. They both kept their thoughts and opinions to themselves. They felt it would be less real if they didn't vocalise it.
But Mystery didn't know if that bothered him more, or seeing Jinu carry you home in his arms, unconscious, half-naked, your wet hair stuck to your face and cascading down your back, pale as a corpse. He didn't know what exactly bothered him about the scene: seeing you in that state, being aware that he should have trusted his instincts a little more, or that it was Jinu, the one who rejected you the most, both your intelligence and your company, who had saved your life. Or all of the above. Whatever it was, he didn't like feeling his chest so tight.
He didn't like feeling anything, in general, and even less so the emptiness that grew every time he felt you were far away, or sensed that you were upset.
He hadn't been lost in his thoughts for long when Byeol opened the door, entered the room and threw himself face first down on his bed.
Clearly, your accident had everyone on edge.
And to make matters worse, they were making their debut the next day.
¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸
You hadn't slept much, but you had rested.
You had dreamed that you were falling into an endless void, and that strong arms were helping you and lifting you up. You had dreamed that someone was hugging you, and many voices were repeating your name softly, as if saying it too loudly might hurt you. You had dreamed of green eyes, cascades of icy water, and someone who smelled really good…
But when your alarm went off, you jumped out of bed.
The day of their debut had finally arrived.
You rushed to shower and get ready, and when you came out of the bathhouse with a towel wrapped around your wet hair, you were greeted by the smell of freshly brewed coffee coming from the kitchen.
‘Good morning,’ you said to Romance, who returned your greeting with a smile.
He was wearing an adorable pink lace apron and sipping coffee from a steaming mug.
'Are you feeling better?' he asked, carefully placing the mug on the table. It was a mug he had stolen (just before you gave him a lecture on how honourable demons don't steal) with “best dad in the world” written on it.
You nodded and licked your lips as he took a jar of jam out of the fridge and a couple of slices of bread out of the toaster just for you.
You loved breakfast. And you loved that Romance always made sure there was coffee, orange juice, cereal, and toast. You didn't know that Romance loved watching you eat breakfast, getting your face all messy, and licking your fingers just thinking about what to put on your toast every morning, and that was the only reason he made breakfast.
Shortly afterwards, Abby appeared, who must have just come back from the gym, smelling like pure sweaty armpits.
‘Ugh! Don't come into the kitchen when you smell like a sweaty monkey, Abby,’ Romance scolded him, throwing an apple at his head, which Abby skilfully caught.
‘I'm starving. I'll shower later, I promise.’
You wrinkled your nose and tried to focus on the smell of coffee and not on Abby.
‘By the way, manager,’ you were called. You had grown tired of correcting them and telling them not to call you that, so you let it go. ‘A girl gave me this in the gym, what is it? Is it rubbish?’ he said as he handed you a piece of paper.
‘Abby! It's a phone number! She even drew a heart at the end!’
'How was I supposed to know that?!'
'Humans know what a phone number is!!'
'And why did she give me a phone number?'
'Because it's not 'a' number, Abby, it's HER phone number. She gave it to you so you can call her.'
You slapped yourself in the face. For a heartbreaker, he was a bit clumsy.
Abby shrugged in response.
‘Well, I don't feel like calling her,’ he added with a pout.
Then Baby came in, practically throwing himself on the coffee pot, followed by Mystery, who usually only had a glass of juice or water and a couple of pieces of fruit for breakfast.
‘Jinu has gone out to hand out flyers for the debut,’ said Romance, getting everyone's attention. 'So as soon as you finish breakfast, we're leaving. Today we have to start with the “Steal the fans from the hunters” plan.'
When they were ready, you looked them over from head to toe, looking for any mistakes, anything to correct.
And the only one who hadn't changed their outfit against your judgement and orders was Baby.
Abby had somehow shrunk his floral shirt, which now looked like it was about to burst at any moment.
Mystery had ripped the sleeves off his jumper.
And Romance had painted hearts on the back pockets of his trousers (when you told him, he accused you of clearly looking at his ass, and Myst had to hold you back to stop you from biting his eyebrow.)
Although… wasn't that how you remembered it from the film? Whatever.
You sighed.
It's not like you could change it now, right? And it's not like the new look didn't suit them.
Myst approached you and, with a gesture, asked your permission to hold your hand. You just nodded with a smile.
He took your hand in one of his and wrapped his other arm around your waist. And with a “poof”, he teleported you both to the city centre, the place of the debut.
You split up to hand out flyers, and the scene from the film where the boys first met HUNTR/X kept replaying in your head. It was time to start plotting how to get their souls and will back.
When the agreed time came, the boys got into position. It was time to make their debut.
Everything was going according to plan.
But then, why, just a moment later, did you find yourself cornered against the wall, with the edge of Rumi's sword digging into your throat?
︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿
Ch. 7
A/N: and I oop! What was that??? A cliffhanger attempt??? Next chapter is already in the oven guys, be patient! It's going to be a little tiny bit angsty, but not too much xD I hope you liked this one too!
And, NOW YOU KNOW WHAT JINU SAID!!!! 🤭 Omg they're all SO into you... helpless 🤭
Also, remind you I'm also publishing this in Wattpad!! If any of you want to drop there, be my guest! My user name is Nunibunn :)
Again, thank you all for all the love! Let me know what you think about this one.
Thank you for reading, for all your support and kind words. Remember that those comments, likes and reblogs help me a lot as motivation! 🥹🩷
Summary: Reincarnated in the body of a demon from the last film you saw before you died, you have decided to change the script of the story in your favour. But you didn't count on your presence in the story changing everything.
Warnings: slow burn, swearing, men, kind of a description of fainting, ooc (probably), cringe (surely), no proofread (oopsie)
Word count: 3200+
A/N: hey there! long time no see! I'm sorry, I got kinda busy and from now on it will take me some extra time to post :( (I have to look like a responsible adult, and as I started a new job I've got less free time to write). BUT I will definitely keep updating, don't worry about that! So, for my lovely and hungry readers, here you go, chapter 5!!
And again thank you for your comments, likes, reblogs and specially for those few who hit me in the directs, I love you guys! Let me know what do you think about how the story is going so far :)
ALSO: as some of you asked for, here is a reminder of the Saja Boys Korean names!
Well, that day you learned that the only way to keep the boys quiet, entertained, and pretending to be good people was to take them to a beauty salon. Which wasn't part of your plan, because you had never offered to take them to one before.
But since you were planning on going, and Romance had found out (and was apparently incapable of keeping a secret), now you were all going together as a happy family.
At first, the idea horrified you. It was exactly what you wanted to avoid. All you needed was a little time alone, relaxed, ALONE… but apparently that was impossible.
Your plan was to get your nails, maybe have a treatment to soften your skin… A gift from you to you.
Out of all the Saja Boys, the only one who hadn't insisted on accompanying you, and who had even argued that you deserved to make plans on your own, was Minjun. But, as the rest decided to turn a deaf ear, you decided that Minjun was the one who deserved to go the most (and the only one you would pay for whatever he wanted to do).
On the way there, you explained the possible treatments and services they could choose from. Abby had heard the term ‘laser hair removal’ and couldn't think of anything else (probably because of the word ‘laser’, because you knew he had no idea what 'hair removal' really involved), while Romance wanted a moisturising treatment on his face and hands to, according to him, rejuvenate himself by 200 years. Baby wasn't very interested in any of it, but he wouldn't say no to a massage, and neither would Jinu. Minjun, on the other hand, had decided that he wanted to do whatever you were going to do.
… so now you were sitting in a chair with your feet soaking and Minjun sitting silently in the chair next to you doing God knows what on his mobile phone.
At least you were at ease.
Across from Minjun was an elderly lady also getting a pedicure who kept glancing at the boy out of the corner of her eye.
"Excuse me, young man," she said suddenly, getting your attention and making him look up from his mobile phone and turn towards her. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
.... what
WHAT DID YOU SAY, MADAM?
Minjun slowly shook his head and turned his attention back to his mobile phone. You managed to see the screen for a split second and discovered that he was playing Subway Surfers.
"You see," continued the old woman, as if the demon hadn't just turned away and clearly given up on the conversation. "My granddaughter must be about your age and she's single too… and you're so handsome… would you like me to introduce you?"
This time, Minjun turned to you. He tilted his head to one side, and then you understood exactly what was going on: he had no idea how to respond to the gossipy old woman without being rude.
"He's gay," you replied bluntly. "He's my best gay friend. Please leave him alone. Not only is he gay, but he also has social anxiety," you said as you scribbled something in your notebook.
Minjun opened his mouth to complain, but seeing that the woman had turned redder than a strawberry and had decided not to get involved with them any further and to stop talking to them, he decided to let it go. You had already explained to him what little white lies were, and he understood perfectly that this situation must be one of them.
Because you knew he wasn't gay, right?
As soon as you both finished your pedicures, you moved on to the manicure: your favourite part. You chose a pastel shade to match what they would be wearing for their debut, and Minjun opted for a design with pastel pink and lilac nails, without any decorations.
You thought it was adorable how he watched the whole procedure in complete silence, his mouth slightly open. You had learned the hard way that there were no beauty salons in hell, so you were pretty sure Minjun had never seen a place like this before, neither experienced a cute manipedi.
While you were getting your manicures in silence, Baby had decided it was time to confront Jinu… in the massage room.
"I didn't know you and (Y/N) got along so well, Jinu," he began. His voice sounded slightly muffled as he lay face down on a massage table.
"That's because we don't," replied Jinu, lying on the table next to him.
The masseuses had left them to rest and let their skin absorb the oils used during the massage, so they were alone there.
"So, what were you doing with her on the street yesterday?" he asked, clenching his hands tightly. "It's not for nothing, but you looked like a couple."
Byeol didn't quite understand, or didn't want to understand, why it bothered him so much. But when he saw you on the street the previous afternoon, on his way back from shopping… and then he saw Jinu… something inside his chest tightened.
And he didn't like how he felt at all.
When he saw you, happy, listening to music and drinking something that looked like real junk, he had thought about crossing the street with Minjun and saying hello. After all, you were more than just partners, weren't you? You were his personal critic and proofreader.
But then, you bumped into Jinu… and…
Just thinking about it made his hands sweat.
How Jinu grabbed your wrist and pulled you towards him. How he came close to you as if he was going to smash his face into yours. How he drank from your drink…
And how you stood there completely still, maybe even terrified.
If that was Jinu's way of teasing you, Byeol didn't find it funny at all. It wasn't the same when Dasom did it as when he did. It was completely different.
He felt Jinu tense up beside him.
"Nothing. We ran into each other by chance and I wanted to tease her a little. Nothing new, right?"
"Jinu…" Byeol had so many questions. He had so many things he wanted to say, but at the same time, he didn't dare to. "You should stop teasing her like that."
That comment hit Jinu like a bucket of cold water.
Why should he stop teasing her when everyone else did? Besides, it wasn't teasing in a mean way… just jokes. You did it too, back to them. Why was it wrong now?
"Tomorrow we'll become public figures, Jinu. And (Y/N) has explained to us a hundred times that we can't be seen in public with girls in that… way. It could cause a stir and ruin our reputation. I'm not going to let you throw away all the effort we've put in so far."
"But you know she doesn't count. She's our manager."
"No," Baby denied, rising slightly from the table to get a better look at Jinu, whose back was tense. "She's our producer. And rumours are rumours, Jinu. You should know that by now."
He got up from the table, holding the towel that covered him from the waist down tightly, and ruffling his hair in frustration, he left the room and headed for the dressing room.
He didn't want to argue with his friend, but he didn't want him to hurt you. You were his… friend? You were something. Something to him… and he didn't want you to get hurt. You were responsible, strong and independent, but no one is made of stone. And he was aware of how Jinu looked at you when you weren't paying attention… and he didn't like it.
He didn't like that it could change the course of the plan. It was a distraction.
He didn't like that he treated you like a toy, like a joke, even after spending so much time with you. He couldn't deny that teasing you was fun, but… he was starting to see that playing with you like that could end badly.
And he didn't want to lose you.
Abby limped out of the waxing salon. Although he had loved the futuristic glasses he had been given to wear during the laser treatment, from then on it had been a bit of a nightmare. At what point had he decided he wanted to have the damn laser done all over his body? Even the soles of his feet were stinging.
When he got to the reception area, only Baby and Romance were there. Jinu didn't take long to arrive, but instead of waiting for Mystery and you, he paid what he owed and left. He didn't look relaxed at all, if we are being honest.
Shortly after, Myst and you showed up. You were talking to him very animatedly and gesturing a lot to show off your new nails, and he just listened to you and nodded occasionally, his full attention on you.
To him, specially today, you looked extremely cute.
On the way back to the flat, the boys walked ahead, chatting animatedly about their experiences at the salon (and traumas, according to Abby), while you, lagging a little behind, checked the notifications on your mobile phone. You already had the website for the Saja Boys fanbase ready, a lightstick designed… all that was left was for tomorrow to arrive without too many ups and downs.
Which you should have known was asking too much.
"Excuse me," said a voice next to you that you didn't recognise.
When you looked up from your phone, you found yourself face to face with a stranger. He was young and quite handsome, but nothing compared to the five Greek gods you unfortunately lived with and who tested your patience every day.
"Do you need anything?"
"Yes," he said with a smirk, "your number."
Mentally, you short-circuited. What was this idiot thinking? You couldn't hit him, that was wrong… (even if it was the solution you had come up with for your problems with the Saja Boys).
"I'm sorry, I'm not interested right now…"
"Are you sure? I think we could… get along really well." He finished his remark with a wink and stood in front of you, abruptly blocking your way.
The boys realised something was going on when they saw you weren't walking behind them anymore, and their suspicions were confirmed when they saw the look of disgust on your face as some unknown guy was talking to you. Was he… hitting on you?
"Look…" you began, searching for a valid excuse. The two best ones were always that you were interested in women or that you already had a boyfriend. "I have a boyfriend… and…"
"And…?" asked the boy as he raised his hand towards your face.
Shit. You should have chosen the lesbian option.
Baby and Romance tensed up, ready to jump at his throat in your defence (he was clearly breaking the first rule), and Abby stepped forward with his fists clenched, ready to land a right hook on his jaw… but before the stranger could lay a hand on you, Mystery appeared at your side, quick as a flash, and stepped between you and the stranger, wrapping an arm protectively around your shoulders.
"Sorry, mate. But I AM her boyfriend, and I'd appreciate it if you left her alone."
The stalker's eyes widened when he saw him so close to you, hugging you without you doing anything to stop him.
"Oh," was all he said, slowly taking his hand away.
"I do not share, sorry" said Myst, hugging you a little harder.
Your heart was racing. Without using violence, defending yourself wasn't that easy as you thought… You were grateful to Myst for helping you, but standing there, so close to him, with his arm around you, holding you steady and safe (making you feel safe and sound even though you knew perfectly that he was indeed a DEMON)… you could feel the warmth radiating from his body, and you felt an overwhelming urge to hug him back.
He had never been so close to you, and he had done it to defend you from a jerk… (although you could have quickly settled the matter with a right hook to the jaw, Abby style). You were grateful.
Seeing that the stranger was still standing there, looking back and forth between the two of you, Mystery… barked at him. Like an angry dog.
Startled, the stranger turned and ran down the street, embarrassed and frightened, away from you.
You couldn't help but laugh as you patted him on the back.
"It's over, it's over," you said, "the bad guy's gone, shhh," you stroked his head to stop him from barking, growling and wriggling "good boy, good boy. You deserve a treat."
"Hey, I want some love on my hair too!" Abby shouted with her arms crossed. "And I want a treat too!"
You gave them a smile. A sincere one.
Even though they drove you crazy… even though they were ruthless little devils… they were all you had in this new life. And you were grateful for that.
"You know what? Let's finish relaxing in the best place in the world, the bathhouse! A treat for all of us!"
You had to explain what a bathhouse was and why they were so amazing… and you also had to make it very clear that you would have to bathe separately, and that they had to behave while you weren't watching them. You made them swear that under no circumstances would they enter the women's bathhouse. Not to snoop around, not to steal souls, not to look for potential fans, not for any excuse they could come up with.
You left Baby in charge, because you trusted him to be the one who could most easily keep the rest under control.
"By the way, guys, where's Jinu?"
Baby shrugged, briefly recalling their conversation.
"He took off, who knows where," said Romance.
"But… can we go to the bathhouse without him? We don't even know if he'll be back," added Abby playing with his fingers.
You nodded with a smile.
"Sure, let's go."
As you entered the women's bathhouse, your hair tied up and wrapped in a towel, your torso covered by another, you instantly relaxed. The warmth, the scent of essential oils… That was probably one of the things you missed most about the human world.
You cleansed yourself, washing away the sweat of the day, and then proceeded to step into a bath when…
…why did those two girls sound so familiar?
Your heart sank and your head began to spin as you tried to understand where you had gone wrong.
This couldn't be happening.
Mira and Zoey were up to their necks in one of the bathtubs, talking in low voices about how disastrous Golden's presentation had been because Rumi had left. They were worried about her, they didn't know where she had gone… but what were they doing there?
Then you understood.
Since Rumi was the main character, you never knew what Zoey and Mira had been doing since Rumi disappeared until she returned to the HUNTR/X tower. And how lucky you were to discover that they had decided to go relax in the baths… the same ones you had decided to go to.
You looked down at your arms, where some of your patterns glistened from time to time. It was imposible to hide them.
Right there, with them, you were like a walking target. It wouldn't be difficult for them to recognise you as a demon (because technically you were one), you wouldn't have time to explain yourself (and you didn't really know how to), and as much as you liked to solve things with violence, you weren't the one to defend them. They were too strong for you. You turned away discreetly, trying to avoid them at all costs. You didn't know when they would come out, so running to the changing room was out of the question…
If only your demonic power was as strong as the boys' and you could teleport…
Suddenly, you had a revolutionary idea. A good way to hide was to use steam. And what better place for that than the sauna? Even if they came in, it would be difficult for them to make out your patterns in all the steam… so you decided to get into the sauna, even if it was just to stall for time until they left the bathhouse.
You were dying to talk to them, but it wasn't the right time or place. And you didn't want to end up dead (again) because of something as silly as making new friends.
So you opened the sauna door and decided that, even if you had to wait for them to leave before you could take a bath, at least you could relax in the humid heat…
The minutes passed, and you couldn't tell if they were still in the bathhouse or had already left. The temperature in the room rose, and you sweated more and more. A couple of stray strands of hair that had escaped from your towel now stuck to your face, the back of your neck and your back. You tried to take a deep breath, to calm down and think.
You were afraid to go out and run into them.
You were afraid of screwing up in such a stupid way after all your effort… besides, you weren't ready to abandon the Saja Boys like this. You hadn't solved anything yet, damn it. You hadn't changed anything yet. You needed time.
You just had to hold on a little longer. You tried to control your breathing and your heartbeat, which was slowing down. Dangerously.
A little longer… just a little longer…
Your head was starting to hurt from the heat and dehydration. Black spots swirled around the edges of your vision, clouding your sight slightly.
Just a little longer…
When you get out, you'd dive into the bath, drink two litres of water… Cold, cold water...
But if you held on a little longer… would you be able to stand up? To walk to the exit?
You threw your head back, trying to find the air that was missing from your lungs. Everything was burning. You were very hot, thirsty, tired… your vision began to blur. Your head was spinning…
You couldn't faint. If you fainted and HUNTR/X was still there, you'd be finished. And it would all have been for nothing.
You tried to rub your eyes with your hands, but you were starting to lose the strength to lift them.
You had to get out of there.
Right now.
If you didn't, the result would be the same as if Zoey or Mira saw your patterns.
How long had you been in there?
You had been there too long… too long…
Your head was spinning round and round and round…
Everything became blurry… and slowly your vision darkened.
You tried to get up, but your body tilted to one side, falling onto the bench, as you lost consciousness.
That had clearly been a terrible idea.
︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿
Ch. 6
A/N: SO! WHAT DO YOU THINK? HOW IS READER GOING TO GET OUT? IS SHE GOING TO GET FOUND OUT? We'll find out in the next chapter!! (already working on it btw). Is she going to save herself or... is somebody... going to help her? 👀 What do you think is going to happen? hehehehe
Hope you like it as much as the previous chapters! Can't wait to read you back my dear readers <3
Thank you for reading, for all your support and kind words. Remember that those comments, likes and reblogs help me a lot as motivation! :)
FratBoy Ryusui Nanami x GN Reader x Nerd Senku Ishigami
Previous Chapter
Chapter 3: The Perfect Titration with a 1 Billion % Error.
Chapter Summary: What are the chances that the stranger who walked you back to your dorm happens to be the TA for your chemistry lab? Even more so, what are the chances that your lab group will start a fire during a titration lab? What will Senku, the lab TA, do?
You were beyond tired. Your alarm is blaring in the background, ringing painfully in your ears as you try to wake your body. Bones and joints popping as you stretch. Your mouth feels dry, and you can feel the heavy drag of your eyelids as you try to open your eyes. Your vision is blurred as you try to feel for your phone to turn off the alarm. Your fingers clumsily tapping against the screen, in hopes that the blind taps will turn off the alarm. You sit up on your bed, slowly trying to blink away the sleep as your brain tries to catch up to the fact that you are no longer sleeping.
You didn’t even have any alcohol to drink, yet your body and mind move as if you had. Your mind begins to wander how Ryusui is doing — you can’t even imagine the amount of alcohol he consumed after you left the party — the cruel self-induced hangover waiting for him. The thought of him bailing on your morning meetings flashes in your mind, but you shake it off — he promised.
Even so, with a deep groan, you leave the comfort of your bed and start getting ready for the long day ahead.
‘Are you running late?’ - 7:15 A.M
Your fingers twitch nervously over the keyboard- your attention flickering between the message you sent Ryusui and the students walking past the bench where you were sitting, desperately hoping it was Ryusui approaching. You’ve been waiting for over ten minutes- a minute longer with no reply from him- every passing second further fueling the pessimistic voice in your mind. Your teeth tug at your lower lip as you debate whether to leave or wait a bit longer.
How long are you going to wait for him?
Your fingers frantically type out another message- cursing yourself for being foolish- of course, Ryusui wasn’t going to show. Probably passed out in a frat house to sleep off the hangover, ignoring all responsibilities. As your fingers hover over the send button, contemplating whether you should wait, a vaguely familiar voice interrupts your spiral.
“You look like shit.”
You snap your attention to who you hoped was Ryusui, but instead it was Senku, the stranger who walked you home last night. He’s standing before you with tired eyes matching yours and an energy drink in one hand- no doubt from the many he purchased the night before.
“You look like shit squared.” You attempt to joke back, a poor joke, unsure if it will land- that is, until you hear a chuckle from Senku.
“That was so lame.” Senku laughs as he takes a seat in the empty spot beside you, making sure he leaves enough space between the two of you. “What are you doing up so early?” he asks you, snapping the top of the energy drink open.
“I’m waiting for a friend,” you spill to him, not realizing your tone reveals a layer of disappointment you’ve been trying to bury and hide. “I don’t think he’s going to show. Probably experiencing his first hangover.”
Senku hums, acknowledging your words. He thinks about what to say. He’s never been fond of drama, opting to stay far from it, but he can’t help but feel pity for you- he’s been there before.
This is the second encounter he’s had with you, and it’s just as the first- alone, except for the lack of crying this time. He takes a long sip of his drink. Maybe you need a push- he thinks. “Is this friend the reason you were walking alone at night?”
You hesitate to answer, toying with the ring on your finger as you consider your response.
“No?” Your voice is unsure, your answer comes out as a question, which earns you a puzzled look from Senku, prompting you to elaborate further. “I mean, he would’ve walked me home if I asked, but I didn’t want to ruin his fun.”
“Sure,” Senku answers in a flat tone. He finishes the last of his drink before glancing down at his watch. “Don’t you have a class to get to, or do you like to be kept waiting?”
His question hits a nerve - you glance down at your phone, checking the time: 7:39 A.M.
“I have a class at 8, it’s a lab…” You glance at the message you sent to Ryusui—no response.
“Do you need me to walk there with you?” Senku asks, his hands in his hoodie as he waits in front of you, looking at you as if he were testing something, watching how you would react.
Before you can answer for yourself, your phone pings with a message sent by Ryusui- answering Senku’s question for you.
‘SORRY’
‘OMW’ -7:40 A.M.
“I’m going to wait a bit longer.” You send Senku a shy smile, which he doesn’t reciprocate. No, he looks at you as if disappointed by your choice to stay.
“If it’s a lab class, you’re going to want to get there early.” He advises you. He’s been a TA for the chemistry lab for three semesters now, and he’s seen it all. “Get there last, and you’ll end up with a bunch that doesn’t know what they’re doing.”
You bite your lip, nervously contemplating, and just as before, Ryusui answers for you.
‘Wait for me’
At times when you should watch out for yourself and put yourself first in your friendship, you don’t. Those feelings that lay dormant in your brain crawl out selfishly to please him.
Wasting all of our time again.
“I think I’ll be fine,” you tell Senku. Senku knows it’s not fine—he can see the worry in your eyes and the way your fingers fidget with your ring—he notices, but doesn’t say anything about it.
“Have it your way.” He stands up from the seat beside you and readjusts the bag on his shoulder. “Guess I’ll be seeing you around.”
“I guess so.”
You watch as Senku walks away, and once again, you’re left waiting all alone.
All you do is wait for him.
Whether it’s from impatience or anxiety, your foot taps against the ground rapidly as you watch the time on your phone.
7:50 A.M
The tapping of your foot increases as you frantically type on your phone, worried that you will be more than just late for your class. Just as you are about to hit send, you hear heavy panting coming towards you- it’s Ryusui.
He’s jogging up to where you are sitting, and he’s towering over you, his hands on either side of you, as he attempts to catch his breath. Your eyes run over him. He looks like he jolted up from bed, putting his shoes on before he dashed out the door. His hair was a mess, tangled and pointing in all directions. Sweat drips down his chest, no shirt hiding his well-sculpted torso, pairing perfectly with the obnoxious gold chain hanging from his neck. Your nose scrunches at the smell invading your nose—a mix of his musk and alcohol.
“You’re late,” you tell Ryusui, as much as you wanted to sound upset at him, it comes out weak and shaky- angry at yourself for putting up with his tardiness. “I’m going to be late…”
“I know, I know, I know,” Ryusui repeats, flopping down to the empty seat beside you, tilting his head back as he rests on your shoulder. He grabs onto your hand, lifting it and pressing the back of your palm against his forehead, groaning as if he were dying- the throbbing pain in his head comes creeping back. “Give it to me straight, am I going to make it, doctor?” He asks with a cheesy smile.
Your uneasy expression flickers until a soft smile replaces it. The cheesy grin reminds you of the childish Ryusui you grew up with, always unserious despite the family name he bears. You could never stay mad at Ryusui for long, not when he uses his charm against you. Not when your heart aches and yearns for him even after years of nothing evolving beyond friendship.
“Hmmm~” you hum as you feel the heat from him transfer to your palm, slowly moving your palm to the side of his neck, pressing two fingers lightly against the skin. “Based on my non-existent medical degree, only a true love’s kiss can save you.” Playing along with his antics.
You make a move to pull back your hand, but Ryusui grabs your wrist, stopping you from leaving him. “Are you going to kiss it better?” Ryusui coos, his eyes flickering between your dilated pupils and lips- you notice it, a blush creeping onto your face. Your mouth opens and shuts, failing to find the words you’re desperately searching for.
“I-it,” Your mouth opens and shuts, failing to find words, stuttering as you’re desperately searching for what to say. “It- you will only spread the infection to me.”
Ryusui lets go of your wrist, pouting at you. “You wouldn’t even kiss me if it saved my life,” Ryusui whines, clutching his chest — you don’t budge. Ryusui notices you glancing at your phone again — the sparkle from your ring flashing him, reminding him of something he wanted to ask you — a selfish question, one that he doesn’t get the chance to ask. ‘Where did you go last night?’
“Ryusui, I have to go.” There’s urgency in your voice as you get up, frantically looking at your phone and back at him. You were late, and every second you waited, the worse it was going to be.
“I have nothing going on today after my classes,” Ryusui says, holding onto your hand, stopping you from rushing off. “Wanna explore what this tiny college town has to offer?”
Exploring the college town with Ryusui? It wasn’t a bad idea. If anything, it was more of your pace—just you and him. “I’ll do whatever you want, as long as you’re with me.”
“A promise is a promise.”
Senku hated being a TA. If he had a choice, he wouldn’t have even signed up for it. He wouldn't have done it for three semesters in a row, especially for the freshman class. It was just going to be another long, agonizing semester's worth of students' questions that should have gotten them kicked out of the lab. Another semester of resisting the urge to bang his head against the counters when he sees another student without their safety goggles on. Still, he needs those letters of recommendation from the Chemistry department — he needs to kiss up to every faculty member there. He needs to build a reputation for himself — his research and academic standing weren’t enough.
Senku’s eyes scan the crowd of students entering the lab, noticing the same patterns each semester. There’s always a system—every semester, students obsessed with their GPA rush to the tables near the TAs. Those he suspects of flunking or dropping tend to choose seats at the back of the lab, out of sight from prying eyes. This year was no different. Sometimes he wishes it were, maybe then he could be entertained by the slackers and their antics and not have to deal with the kiss-ups who ask question after question.
Senku ignores the hundreds of curious eyes watching him, keeping his focus on the pencil he’s tapping on the lab table out of boredom. He knows why the attention is on him — he’s the head of the lab TAs, and everyone is waiting for him to start the class — but Senku waits instead. His eyes flicker away from the pencil for a second, scanning the few empty seats in the lab — latecomers who got lost looking for the lab.
His mind drifts back to his first day. Everything that could go wrong for him did. Painful memories that he wishes would stop haunting him keep resurfacing. Alarms that never went off, causing him to arrive late to his classes. Difficulty finding the classrooms to the point of even entering the wrong room. Worst of all, what ruined his first semester—his first year—was showing up late to lab and being stuck with a group with no ambition. While other groups struggled together, he struggled alone.
Senku shakes the horrible memories from his mind, glancing at the time on his watch. It's ten minutes past the start of class. He was being overly gracious with the time he spent waiting for anyone who might be experiencing the predicament he had experienced a long time ago. Senku stands up from his seat, and the chatter among the students instantly silences.
Senku has always disliked giving introductions. In his mind, they’re pointless because no one truly cares about his personal life—the random facts he’s forced to share to follow a social norm he despises. No one even listens to the parts that matter, the crucial information he ends up repeating over and over until the semester ends.
“The name is Senku Ishigami. I am one of the three TAs in charge of this lab section.” His words are monotone, void of personality, stating rather than sharing. He announces useless information about himself, including his major, year in school, hometown, and hobbies. Then he gets to the information that everyone should listen to, but don’t. “Our office hours are listed in the syllabus and can be found in the lab module. If you’re having trouble finding it, please ask around. There’s a billion percent chance that someone in here knows it.”
Senku pauses, waiting to see if anyone, for any reason, has questions about his introduction, but all he hears are hushed whispers. Senku steps back, nodding to one of the other TAs to introduce themselves. His eyes stay on the lab floor, the introductions lost to his ears, waiting for them to finish so the lab can get started.
As the last TA begins their introduction, Senku hears the lab door open. The hinges on the door squeal loudly as it opens, interrupting the introductions and drawing attention to the latecomer.
You walk in, panting heavily from the jog that you forced on yourself, despite your disheveled appearance, Senku recognizes you right away.
“You’re late.” He tells you, with an emotion you can’t quite discern.
“Sorry.” Your apology sounds weak as you’re still catching your breath. Surprised to have crossed paths with Senku again so soon. Even more, you're shocked that Senku is your lab TA. He notices your eyes darting around the lab, searching for an empty seat.
“Lab groups are groups of four. There are open spots in the back,” he speaks to you in the same bored and indifferent tone he introduced himself to the class, different from the interactions you had with him. He watches as you thank him in a hurried tone, rushing to the back, shaking under the many nosy eyes of your peers.
As you settle down with the first open group you see, the last TA finishes their introduction, giving back the attention to Senku. Senku goes over the details of the lab. Knowing that the objective of the lab would fall on uncaring ears.
“…and due before the start of the next lab is your lab report. I will not repeat this, so listen up. Please ensure that you record both your initial volume and final volume of the titrant. You’re going to need this information when answering questions in the lab report. And with that, you can begin the lab.”
As soon as he finishes his spiel, the chatter among the groups picks up, and Senku leaves everyone to their own devices, knowing that eventually there will be groups that will ask for his help.
The titration lab typically takes between one and one and a half hours to complete, which is more than enough time for a three-hour lab block. Yet there were only fifteen minutes left in the lab, and you were the only one left. The rest of the lab groups had already completed their experiments and were dismissed.
Senku had already dismissed the other TAs when you were the only person still trying to complete a titration. Senku usually advises working within your group to speed up the process, but in your unfortunate case, it was your group that slowed you down. Mistake after mistake, the size of your group slowly dwindled until you were the only one left.
The first mistake was a near miracle that he was about to catch it before panic spread throughout the lab—maybe not a pure miracle, but more like Senku couldn’t help but be curious about what kind of group you ended up being after ignoring his very helpful advice.
It had been only twenty minutes since he let go of the reins, and the class started their lab. His eyes roamed the classroom, gauging the pace of the class. From what he could tell, everything seemed to be moving as expected. From what he could see, everyone appeared to have prepared the analyte solution and was now working on setting up the titration.
There was no logical reason for Senku's curious eyes to wander to your lab group, but they did. Luckily for him, you weren’t too far in the back, so he could keep an eye on you. But once he sees the lack of analyte prepared, he wishes he hadn’t seen you. He pitied you. However, he did warn you - come in late, and you’re stuck with the short end of the stick.
He can hear the members within your group bickering with each other while you stand behind them as they fight over who should prepare the solution. You were the only one in the group with goggles covering your eyes and gloves on your hands.
Senku normally doesn’t walk around the lab to oversee everyone, but he can’t help the nosy side of him from showing. He gets up from his seat in the front of the lab and begins to walk around, lingering over your group.
“I said, let me do it. I have retaken this lab twice now. I know what I’m doing,” a member in your group argues. What might’ve sounded like a convincing argument in their head wasn’t as reassuring to those in your group.
Senku has seen just about every mistake or error someone can make in a lab, at least he thought he had. He doubts himself, thinking it might be his imagination. He does a double-take — one second it’s there, and the next it’s gone. But from your group’s reactions, there was definitely fire. He looks around the lab and notices that nobody but him has seen the small flame from your group.
The fire was more than sufficient to kick your entire group out of the lab, not to mention the lack of protection. Perhaps it was your presence, but he decides to be merciful —except for the idiot who caused the fire.
“Move.” His voice is assertive, his actions deliberate as he turns off the hot plate, removing the analyte from the heat. He takes the solution to the waste beaker and brings it back to your group. “Goggles and gloves now.” He speaks as if scolding a child.
The members of your group scramble, except for the one who started the fire. He doesn’t get far when Senku pulls him by the collar of his lab coat. “This is your third time taking this lab, right?”
The student hesitantly nods their head at Senku’s question. “Well, this is your last time because I’m kicking you out of this lab.” The student tries to argue, but Senku quickly dismisses them. “Out.”
You watch wide-eyed at Senku’s display of leadership, not once wavering, even when the student shouts curses as they leave the lab. The rest of your lab group quickly moves to your side, tense and cautious now that they've gotten Senku’s attention. “If I catch anyone without their goggles and gloves, I’ll be kicking you out of the lab.”
As his final warning, Senku leaves your group alone once more but keeps a close eye out for any other mishaps your group might cause.
The second mistake was the one that wasted valuable time for your group. At this point, Senku hadn’t noticed that your group had nearly emptied the titrant from the burette, a slow and painstaking long mistake. The analyte in the flask was almost filled to the brim with solution and had yet to turn pink until you awkwardly asked for his help. Senku already knew what mistake your group made when you described the situation to him, and with a single sentence, your group understood as well.
“Did you add the indicator to the analyte?”
Frustrated and embarrassed, the group member who had taken charge of this lab run removed their lab coat and goggles and exited the lab. “Fuck this shit, I’m done.”
The third mistake was entirely egotistical. You had taken charge of every part of the lab until the point of the drip. The remaining group member who hadn’t left or been kicked out had demanded control of the stopcock. Their reasoning?
“I got steady hands.”
Senku let out a deep sigh filled with disappointment when he watched you step back from the setup and let your partner attempt to finish off the experiment.
Everything seemed to be going well until the analyte finally turned a light pink. It was the color you were waiting for after two failed attempts, and what was supposed to be the perfect titration quickly became another failed attempt. Your partner with ‘steady hands’ turned the stopcock the wrong way. Instead of turning the stopcock to shut off the flow of the titrant, they turned it so that the titrant poured rapidly into the analyte, changing the light pink to a dark magenta.
Senku could see the frustration in your eyes, your fingers fidgeting again as you try to find the words to say. He can see you trying to reassure your partner that it was fine, that you could redo the experiment and still have plenty of time left over, but he can see the blank expression on your partner's face- they didn’t care. Your partner doesn’t apologize; the only words he gives you are, “I’m dropping out.”
And now, here you were on your fourth attempt at the perfect titration, with Senku sitting on the lab chair beside you, observing you yet amused.
“I think you’re the only group that has taken this long to complete a titration lab,” Senku snickers as he watches you resting your chin on the lab table, eyes focused on each drip that falls into the analyte. “And the only group that had three dropouts within the first day...”
“That’s just my bad luck following me around.” You mumble.
“Or just the consequences of your poor choices.” His words sink into your mind- a quiet 'maybe' slipping past your lips.
It’s quiet except for the small drip that echoes softly throughout the lab until you lean back in the lab chair, stretching with a soft groan. The bottom of your shirt rises, exposing your skin to Senku, and he doesn’t realize he was staring until your words cut through.
“Did you hear me?” you ask, waving your hand at his face. Senku shakes his head, muttering a quick no. “I asked what I missed at the beginning of the lab.”
“Just my introduction—useless information about myself.” Senku dismisses his words, pushing them aside, but you lean attentively toward him.
“Like what?” you ask, shifting your eyes away from the titration to his.
“You don’t have to pretend to care.” He tries to push you away with his words, but you don’t budge.
“I do care.” You protest, and before you can nudge more words from him, your analyte turned a light pink. “I did it!” you cheer, your smile contagious as you look back at Senku.
“Only took you four attempts.” Senku snickers as he holds up your product—the faintest of pink swirling inside the beaker. “But it’s got to be the most beautiful titration I’ve seen.” Before more praise can slip through his lips, he hears you curse under your breath.
Senku looks away from the beaker and notices your demeanor has changed. Your bright smile turned into a stoic expression, lips slightly turned downward into a slight frown. Your eyes didn’t sparkle with joy, staring blankly at your lab notebook. He walks over and glances at your lab notebook. It takes him a second before he notices your big mistake.
“You didn’t write the initial volume…”
“Yup.” You groan as you press your face against the cool surface of the lab table. He watches you scribble down a random number in your notebook, calculating the percentage of error in his head until he bursts out laughing. “That means you have a billion percent error.” His words draw a deep sigh from you.
Senku knows he shouldn’t —it wouldn’t be fair to the other students —but he gently pulls your notebook away from you, taking your pencil away from your fingertips. The words he says out loud contradict what he writes in your lab notebook.
“I’m a TA, I can’t give out answers, but I’m here to guide you in your journey of learning.” His voice trembles slightly as he does something he knows he shouldn’t—reciting the words in the job description that outline his responsibilities, the very ones he is currently breaking for you. He moves the pencil against the blank space you left, writing a range of acceptable values for your initial amount, all of which would produce an error percentage lower than that of the other students.
He hands you back your belongings, and you stare at him wide-eyed as you realize what he did for you.
“I’ll clean up, you can start heading to your next class.” He looks away from you, hands shaky, as he starts to disassemble your setup. He expects you to run away; you have all you need, but you don’t —you linger behind him.
“You never told me your introduction.”
He stops whatever he was doing, looks at you, and your eyes are waiting patiently for him to answer you. He tries to push you away again. “If you really want to know, you can attend my office hours and I’ll tell you then.”
“What are your office hours?”
“If you have gotten here on time, you would know where to find them.” He teases. Words that usually would carry a tone of annoyance are void of it. And just as before, he makes an exception for you. “They’re from 6:30-7:30 A.M.”
“What? What kind of office hours are those?” you gasp, which makes Senku laugh.
“The type that was designed to keep students from coming.” He snickers as he watches your face fall into an exasperated look.
“Well…I guess you’ll be seeing me at your office hours.” You say this with determination, oblivious to how your words sound, unaware that you are walking a fine line between friendly and flirty, catching Senku off guard- wondering if it’s intentional. “So that I can know more about you.”
Senku snaps his attention back to the flask in his hand, avoiding your gaze. "Damn, you’re irritating.”
TAG LIST: @rebeccawinters @rhemiar @anajellyc @rinchanisasimp @creatorbiaze @the-wild-tomato
I believe I tagged everyone that wanted to be tagged. If I missed you, please let me know! If you want to be tagged as well, just leave a comment!
A/n: AHHH! I'm such a liar. I was initially going to have some ANGST! in this chapter, but then at some point I got stuck and realized the pace was moving too fast if I included it in this chapter.
I also wanted to focus on developing the relationship between Senku and Reader, and not so much on Ryusui, in this chapter. Unless I change my mind again, next chapter will be all angst and centered around Ryusui and his relationship with reader.
Possible special appearance from Moz, Tsukasa, and Hyoga? :0
I will also be posting an update regarding my blog later today! So keep an eye out!
Fratboy Ryusui Nanami x GN Reader X Nerd Senku Ishigami
Previous Chapter
Chapter 2: I’m Anxious and Nothing Can Help
Synopsis: Alcohol, weed, and soon-to-be empty promises. What a great way to start your first day in college.
“Why are you even majoring in science?” Ryusui asks in disbelief. He doesn’t understand why you chose something so obscure- a major that doesn’t correlate to the success of your family business. “Why not switch to business like me?”
“Business majors get clowned on for how easy their major is…” You mutter as you search for a gap in your schedule that aligns with his. “…besides, I’m not a fan of eating crayons.”
“Haven’t even attended my first class and I’m already getting clowned on…” Ryusui mocks being hurt by your joke. He falls dramatically onto your lap, his head resting on your thighs, and snatches his schedule back from you. “…you should try the green crayon, my personal favorite.”
“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.” You deadpan. Ryusui sends you a crooked smile, leaving his answer as a mystery.
“Sooooo?” Ryusui sings, his fingers playing with yours. You allow yourself to succumb to the calming effect of his touch. You can feel him spreading your fingers apart, rubbing his thumb against your palm, and even toying with the ring on your finger—his mark on you. “Do I get to see you during my day?”
“… Are you willing to get up at 7 am to see me?” you ask shyly. Ryusui lets out a dramatic groan, flailing his arms. He burrows his face further into your lap, his nose digging into your stomach.
“I guess…anything for you.” He mumbles.
“We can also see each other after our last classes in the afternoon, but depending on whatever frat and club activities you've got going on, we would have to schedule those in advance.”
“Ugh!” Ryusui groans. He doesn’t like the idea of seeing you less; he’s not used to it, and he doesn't want to get used to it. “How much money do I have to pay you to switch majors?”
“You can’t change my mind.” Your voice is weak as you say it. The reality of your misaligned schedules dawns on you. If Ryusui stays committed to waking up early, despite the predicted hangovers you expect him to have and the all-nighters he’ll pull due to his poor planning, even then, your time with him will be limited.
“What about the weekends?” Ryusui asks, and he perks up at his idea. His eyes shimmered brightly at you.
“Weekends work.” The words slip out unconfidently. You’re apprehensive about the idea; you don’t want to get your hopes up. It isn’t that you didn’t account for weekends, but you didn’t plan for them. You know Ryusui better than he knows himself, and you know he’ll likely find himself partying on the weekends. And then there’s you, doing the opposite of what Ryusui does. You’ll likely spend your time studying.
“Are you scared…” He asks in a solemn tone, his usual playful tone is gone.
“Of what?” you ask. You were scared of many things, Ryusui being the root of many. But that was something you could never tell him, you don’t want another weight for him to feel burdened with. You don’t think you’ll ever tell him of the fear of losing him.
You have a vague sense of what he’s asking about, but you’ll never know for sure. He remains silent, and so do you. His gaze is vulnerable; it’s unusual for him. Loud, rambunctious, prideful, and greedy, those were the words you’ll use to describe him. Not vulnerable.
He’s staring at you softly, despite his furrowed brows. You can feel your heart quicken. He’s searching for something in your expression. You don’t know what. You want to escape, but you can’t. He’s still resting on your lap, but you can feel him shifting. The position he puts himself in is awkward; it looks uncomfortable, but even so, it has you leaning back, shifting your weight on your arms. He’s leaning closer to you, and you don’t know how much further you can lean back before you're flat on your back with him hovering over you. You’ve always been close with him, but this felt different. It’s as if he’s trying to tell you something without needing words.
“UGH!” A voice shouts, disgusted. “It’s fucking move in day and y’all already fucking!”
It’s almost comical how you send Ryusui flying off the twin bed and onto the floor.
“NO IT’S NOT LIKE THAT!” You’re frantically waving your hands around. You wanted to make a good impression on your dorm room partner, but your luck is sparse. “He’s just a friend!”
Ryusui doesn’t know what stings more. The sharp sting of the floor pressed against his face, or your choice of words.
Just a friend…
“Coffee?”
At the sound of his voice, you snap your attention towards Ryusui. You’ve been waiting for him for the past few minutes, watching other students walk around campus. The morning autumn air wasn’t freezing, but it sure wasn’t warm. You watch as he takes the open seat beside you on the bench. He shoves the cup of coffee in your direction, his fingers brushing against yours as you take the cup from his hands.
“Thank you.” The warmth of the cup warms your freezing hands. You take a sip of the drink, and the taste is bitter. With your nerves, you can feel the caffeine further fueling the rapid beating of your heart. You take small sips from it, not having the stomach to drink it all, not when you’re filled with a sick feeling of dread.
“Don’t like it?” he asks, gulping down the last bit of his coffee.
“No, it’s not that…” Your voice is wavering. “It just feels like my heart is going to jump out of my chest.”
“Nervous?” His voice is groggy. You can see him trying to blink away the sleep in his eyes. You nod your head up and down at his question, “I have to get used to seeing less of your greedy face.”
“Don’t get too used to it.” His voice is low and raspy, unhappy at the thought of seeing you less. His shoulder brushes against you, his gaze concentrated on the rising sun. You hear him yawn before he shifts beside you on the bench, resting his forehead on your shoulder.
“Sleepy?” you ask, trying to push down the feeling of guilt that keeps arising.
“Just need more coffee…” he mumbles. You can feel his fingers finding yours, gently prying the cup from your hands. He pulls away from you, raising the cup to his lips and taking a sip right where your lips were seconds prior.
You watch as he downs the cup of coffee- a small amount escapes from his lips and trails down the side of his mouth. Instinctively, after years of being friends, you reach out with your thumb and wipe away the droplet. An action that never felt intimate until now. His hand grips your wrist, moving your thumb toward his lips. You don’t understand the sensation that runs through you at the feeling of his tongue licking the trace of coffee.
“Down to the very last drop.” He mutters against your fingertips.
“You need more sleep.” You scold him, yanking your hand away from his hold. You turn away in a futile attempt to hide the blush creeping onto your skin.
“Nah! If I sleep, that means less time with you! I won’t have it!” The grogginess in his voice is fading, slowly revealing the obnoxiously loud tone. “How much time until your first class?”
You glance down at your phone.
7:45 am.
“I should be heading out now…it’s like a ten-minute walk.”
“Switch majors! Name your price!” Ryusui tries to persuade you once again- a poor attempt to keep you by his side. Unsurprisingly, you decline his offer once again.
It feels weird to leave him. Even stranger not to have his hand holding yours. But it was something you had to get used to for the next few months until the next semester comes peeking around the corner. Maybe then you’ll be fortunate enough to see Ryusui more.
You’re not even inside the room, and your first class is already a nightmare. Your heart is pounding rapidly as you near the room that you believe is the one you're searching for. It’s hard to tell when there’s a badly formed line surrounding the entrance of the auditorium. You’re trying to find a spot to stand without getting in the way of others.
You feel out of place. Your eyes dart around the hall, and it feels like everyone already knows each other. And for the few that stand alone, it doesn’t look like they are open to talking to others, with earbuds covering their ears and their face burrowed in their phone. Nervously, you glance down at your phone, anxiously waiting for the doors to let you in.
You feel like throwing up.
7:59 AM
The moment the doors open, there's a stampede. You don’t have a choice; you feel yourself shoved against the other students as they rush to the room. Your first class is general chemistry, a course many majors tend to have as a prerequisite, explaining the need for an auditorium-sized classroom. You don’t have time to think when you’re still being pushed forward. You take the first open seat you see.
Not even 15 minutes can pass before you think about Ryusui. If he were here, you would not doubt that he would be pushing his way to be the first to enter the room—the first to claim the seat in the auditorium that he insists is the best. Ryusui was a man with no shame, claiming whatever he wanted. But you weren’t him. With your luck, you got a seat near the back of a ridiculously large auditorium.
The words on the projector are blurry due to the professor's poor choice of font size. Even if you tried to follow along with his lecture, you could barely hear it. You physically cringe when their microphone gives off weird feedback.
The rest of your classes followed the same pattern. It felt as if everyone was pushing and tossing you around. After three back-to-back classes, you finally have a moment of peace—a chance to collect your thoughts. You’re scrolling through the spam of text notifications Ryusui sent you while you were in your classes. Various selfies of him in his classes. The most notable was the most recent one he sent. It’s him posing with a green crayon between his teeth, captioned:
‘Got invited to a party tonight? You in?’
It’s okay to say no—you remind yourself. Ryusui wouldn’t pressure you into doing anything you didn’t want to, but a pessimistic thought lingers.
What if this was the start of your friendship drifting apart?
Your mind won’t stop thinking you'll lose him. What if this is the last chance to hold onto him? The last time you’ll be at his side? You text back.
‘Sure’
If there was an opportunity to have his hand in yours for a while longer, even for a day more, you were going to take it. Maybe you just needed to put yourself out there more. Perhaps you’ll surprise yourself and end up being a partygoer….
Or maybe not….-You think to yourself.
You don’t know how you got separated from Ryusui. One second, you were entering the party with Ryusui’s hand in yours, and the next, you’re in a corner by yourself with a cat on your lap. You don’t even know where the cat came from- maybe it sensed your distress.
I look like a loser-You think to yourself.
The house is packed with bodies pressing against each other - surely there must be some maximum capacity, not that you knew what it was, but you were sure the limit had been passed. The music is turned up so loud that you have a feeling that you are going to leave with some form of tinnitus. It didn’t help that the music was like a domino effect for even more noise. Blasting loudly, causing others to shout to each other to carry on their conversation.
Slowly but surely, everything begins to overstimulate you—the blaring music. The smell of alcohol mixed with what you assume is weed and cotton candy flavor vape overwhelms your nose. Your insecure thoughts are plaguing your mind…
You glance down at your phone, hoping that Ryusui has finally had a chance to check his phone and see the messages you sent him nearly twenty minutes ago.
Ryusui, I lost you! - 12:08 a.m.
Where are you?- 12:43 a.m
I think I’m going to head out- 12:58 am.
You stand up from your small corner, apologizing profusely to the cat that is now glaring at you. You push past the crowd, being pushed or knocked over by others, just like you were hours earlier. You frantically look around for Ryusui, coughing when a puff of smoke blows into your face.
It’s a miracle that, despite the noise, you can hear a chorus of Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! It’s light, yet it catches your attention. You walk to the front yard toward the chants and see a crowd gathering around someone. There’s no doubt in your mind that it’s Ryusui — he always has a knack for grabbing attention.
From what little you can see from the back of the crowd, you notice him in the center, surrounded by strangers holding onto his arms, and another person pouring an alarmingly large amount of alcohol down a tube that goes straight to Ryusui’s mouth. More alcohol is pouring down the side of his mouth than into it.
“I want more!” Ryusui shouts as the last drop of alcohol touches his tongue. He removes his alcohol-soaked shirt and throws it into the crowd, shouting, “Give me more!”
His shouts are met with even louder chanting from the crowd: 'Give him more!' Give him more! Give him more!
You see glimpses of his face, but there was no denying it- Ryusui was thriving.
The walk back to your dorm is depressing. You try to console yourself, rubbing the ring on your finger as you try to stop the negative thoughts from consuming you, but you can’t. It’s acting as a cruel reminder of a promise that isn’t being kept.
You know that Ryusui would never entirely leave you, not when your families are business partners, but you were losing the Ryusui that you grew up with. It was clear to you, even if it isn’t for him, that you’ve outgrown each other. You may stay as friends, but nothing would be the same. He’s found his crowd that fits the new him better than you could.
I would only hold him back…
You didn’t realize you were crying until a voice behind you startled you.
“Are you okay?” His voice is raspy, matching the tired look on his face. There's a frown on his lips, but you can see the concern in his eyes, that flicker from you to the sidewalk. He walks toward you as if you were an unstable bomb, ready to detonate on him if he makes a wrong move.
You pull away from his gaze and wipe the tears from your eyes. Your throat feels raw from the tears you didn’t realize you were holding back but couldn’t stop. “I’m fine…”
“Nobody cries because they're fine.” He digs into the plastic bag that he’s holding in his hand. He rummages through cans of energy drinks to pull out the singular bottle of water he purchased at the gas station. He hands you the water and asks, “You’re heading back to the dorms, right?”
“Why do you ask?” you ask, suspicious of his intentions. He looks at you with an unimpressed look, almost as if he is offended by the implications of your question.
“That’s where I’m heading. Figured you wouldn’t want to walk alone.” He turns his back towards you, waits for a second, almost as if he's waiting for you to make up your mind. You take a step beside him, and he takes it as a sign to start walking again. There’s a moment of silence as you walk beside him, until he speaks again. “What is it that you’re missing?”
The question catches you off guard, leaving you unsure where it came from or how to respond. You look at him with a puzzled expression, which he responds to with a deep sigh.
“Just speculation, but I’m guessing this is your first year in college?”
“Yeah…”
“College life can be an adjustment for people," he explains as he looks up to the sky. “Some miss their home, miss their family and friends, miss the normalcy of their lives, and others just feel a piece of themselves missing. Lost and wandering in space. Which is it?”
Your mind goes back to Ryusui. You didn’t think it was possible to miss someone who is still close to you- someone walking the same campus as you, but it is. You miss the normalcy of the life you had with him, but now that you’re alone, walking with a stranger, you feel like maybe you are missing a piece of yourself. But you weren’t going to trauma dump to someone you don’t even know.
“I don’t know.” You lie, rubbing at the ring on your finger. He looks at you as if trying to dissect you, but doesn’t say what first came to his mind.
“Well, figure it out. The sooner you do, the better you’ll succeed.”
Before you can continue the conversation, you notice that you’ve reached the dorm buildings. You stop, and he notices, he looks at the building you’re looking at, and lets out a drawn-out whistle. The building your dorm was located in was the most expensive and luxurious, with rumors suggesting that the dorm fees you pay are more than the tuition itself.
“Treasure Dorms…you got money.” He comments. “I should’ve charged you for the water.” He jokes, but notices you reaching for your wallet. He waves off the cash you try to hand him and turns his back to you to continue his walk back to his dorm.
“I won’t charge you this time, but if I see you walking alone in the middle of the night again, I will.”
“Thank you-?” you draw out the last syllable in the word, hoping the stranger would get the hint to tell you his name.
A/n: I was initially going to have this chapter as the titrations chapter, but I started to build up more of the angst and felt like the titrations scene needed its own chapter...
Next Chapter (WIP): The Perfect Titration with a 1B% Error
Sneak Peek: Senku and you cross paths again, but under different circumstances. Your luck is just as bad as Senku's when your lab group ends up having to redo the lab five times, and one of them started a small fire that nobody but Senku noticed.
Fratboy Ryusui Nanami x GN Reader X Nerd Senku Ishigami
Synopsis: Ryusui Nanami, son of the Nanami Conglomerate, has always been loud, rambunctious, prideful, but most of all greedy. A man who desires everything didn't believe he had to keep an eye on someone whom he thought innately belonged to him. It was an unwritten law, something he didn't have to say for it to be true. It was your family's meddling that brought you together! You were to be his and only his.
Distracted by his doing, indulging in the liberating freedom of college, Ryusui realizes too late that you were slipping away from his grasp and falling into the gloved hands of a chemistry lab TA, Senku Ishigami. How you created a fire in a titrations lab was a mystery to Senku, but now that you've caught his interest, he isn't willing to let you go.
Chapter 1: Promise?
“Deshire.” A voice shouts confidently, despite the lack of articulation. He snaps his fingers, pointing them directly at your face, disregarding your personal space.
You whimper, clutching your mother's hands harder as you hide behind her leg. The boy’s manners are drastically different from what you are used to. You are accustomed to your family’s estate, having grown up in a prim and proper environment. Your ears are used to your family's quiet and mindful manners, but they’re ringing under his shouts.
“You are going to be my friend!” he continues to shout, earning snide remarks from his parents. The feeling of your mother pushing you toward the rambunctious kid reminds you why you were at the Nanami estate.
“Befriend their son. We must establish a good relationship with the Nanami conglomerate to strengthen our bond as business partners.”
You’re hesitant to pull away from your mother, nervously playing with your fingers as you take small strides toward the blonde boy. You weren’t sure if you would be able to get along well with someone as polar as you.
“You will learn from each other.”
You extend your hand, intending to shake and introduce yourself, but he has different plans. He grasps your hands in his and begins to pull you away. He ignores the reprimands from his parents, and you ignore the shocked gasps from yours. As he races down the hall with you, you surprise yourself. You begin to giggle with him, and he’s laughing back. The shared laughter is the only thing either of you can focus on.
In the years that followed, this became routine. Despite your interactions being meant to be purely transactional for the benefit of both families, they had transformed into an unbreakable bond between the two heirs. Your interactions with the Nanami boy grew more frequent, to the point that their staff recognized you as one of their own and directed you to Ryusui's location in the estate upon arrival.
As your mother had said, you would learn from each other. Ryusui was more direct with his approach, often clasping his hands with yours and pulling you into his antics, diving straight in without a care. He doesn’t allow you to think; his style is reckless and spontaneous. He’d drag you, but he wouldn’t ever think of leaving you. His hand would always be clutching yours.
“I can desire anything in this world, but I only need you!” Just as his actions were spontaneous, so were his words. Whether he meant it the way you perceived or some other way, they sparked something inside you that you would carry and keep to yourself for years.
“Don’t say it like that…it’s just Super Mario.” Your voice betrays you, coming off weak despite trying to scold him.
“Super Mario or not, you’re mine!” he grins, his attention never wavering from the game.
“No, I’m not!” you yell back at him, but deep down, you knew you wanted to be his. ‘Francois! Tell him!”
“It is true, Master Ryusui.” Their tone is neutral as they deliver the news to him. “The only way the young heir could be yours is if they adopted the Nanami name.”
“How do I do that?” he drops the console on the floor and speeds to Francois, eager to make you his.
“Marriage.”
“I’m going to marry you!” Ryusui doesn’t hesitate to express his desire. He grasps your hand, ready to pull you along with him. You feel a rush of warmth creeping to your face, your mind racing as his words sink in. You glance down at your hand and then back at him, his grin making you swoon. However, you know better. “Then you’ll be mine!”
“Mother!” You yell, barging from the room, Ryusui's hand still intertwined with yours as you run towards your family. Trying to undo the mess you found yourself in. There’s a commotion when you begin to tell your parents everything, the Nanami family pulling Ryusui from you.
The Nanami family profusely apologized for their son’s mess, but your family appears indifferent. They are trying to take advantage of it. They receive the family’s apologies with a smile.
“I will hold it to you, young Nanami.” Your father whispers to Ryusui when the commotion has died down and the families are mingling. “In the future, when the time is appropriate, you may ask for my blessing.”
“When would it be appropriate?” Ryusui asks, his brows furrowed, confused why he couldn’t marry you.
“Getting married at eight is unheard of, not to mention unconventional.”
“But I want them to be mine.” Ryusui groans, unhappy at the idea of waiting.
“How about a compromise?”
“Compromise?”
“A promise ring.”
…
“I got you a gift,” Ryusui announces when you walk through the estate’s entrance. As usual, you extend your hand toward his and intertwine your fingers with his; not a second later, he drags you to wherever he desires.
He doesn’t have to ask for your hand when he already has it. He digs into his pocket, pulling out a small box.
“Ryusui!” you gasp. You attempt to pull away, but his hold on you is strong.
“It’s a promise ring!” he opens the box, a small, dainty ring. It’s not as extravagant as you expected, especially from Ryusui, but you love it even more. “Your father said it was okay!”
“What does it mean?” you ask while he slips the ring on your finger.
“A promise that you’ll stay by my side and I’ll stay by yours!”
You’re looking out the car's windows; you catch glimpses of the campus here and there between the trees. You can feel a sense of dread as you see groups of people walking down the street, no doubt students walking towards the campus you were heading to.
You look over at Ryusui; his demeanor is drastically different from yours. There are no signs of worry, anxiety, or fear from him, nor did you expect any. You can see the excitement radiating from him, the greed in his eyes, ready to make this campus his.
You don’t want to worry him. Your fingers instinctively run across the cold material of the ring he had given to you as kids, but it does little to calm you. Not when the leading cause of your dread was the ring itself. You’re afraid that what once was a cute promise felt more like a weight holding him down.
It never crossed your mind that you were possibly holding him back until you overheard a group of students talking about it, the day of your high school graduation. Now it’s a thought that has been plaguing your mind.
“You got lucky…” he announces to you, not once breaking his gaze from outside the windows. “You’re rocking with the best! We’re going to get into any fraternity or sorority we desire!”
“I’ve known you my whole life, and I will never not be appalled by your ego.” You roll your eyes at him. You don’t tell him you weren’t interested in joining Greek Life, the thought only fueling your worst fear.
“I can’t wait to get wasted!” you bite your lip, holding back your frown at his words. “How many parties do you think we’ll go to?”
“All of them.” You answer him honestly. Knowing Ryusui, he’ll want to attend all of them, and he will.
It’s silent. Ryusui is too enthralled by the life ahead, while you drown in your worries. It’s a new chapter in each other’s lives, and you don’t want to be the reason neither of you enjoys it to the fullest. You don’t want your worries to build and bite you in the future. Before it’s too late, you voice your fears.
“Have I been holding you back?” Your voice is soft as you gaze at your lap, the glint of the ring flashing in your direction. For the first time since the ride began, Ryusui pulls away from the window and turns to look at you.
“What?” His voice is deep and raspy; you don’t know whether he’s upset at you for suggesting it or how long it took you to realize it.
“What if I said I didn’t want to get wasted…” your voice trails off. “or that I don’t want to be part of Greek life?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.” He reassures you. “I’m not going to pressure you. We don’t have to do everything together.”
“College is all about freedom..." You recite the words you’ve heard throughout your senior year in high school.
“Exactly!” he snaps his fingers in agreement. “I haven’t forgotten our promise.” He grins at you, flashing his matching ring.
‘A promise that you’ll stay by my side and I’ll stay by yours!’
“Promise?” you ask optimistically, raising your hand to tangle your fingers with his. For a moment, it feels like the weight you’ve been carrying has lifted from your shoulders, but that feeling lasts only briefly. Ryusui is silent, distracted by the view outside the windows. The line of booths at the campus entrance, the swarm of students entering, and the loud music spilling into the car. For the first time, he doesn’t reciprocate your touch.
Your words don’t reach him.
You see it in his eyes.
You had a feeling that you had already lost him.
Sneak Peek for next chapter:
Chapter 2: The Perfect Titration with a 1B% Error.
Synopsis: Alcohol, weed, fires, and empty promises. What a great way to start your first week in college!
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Tags: @anajellyc @rinchanisasimp
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A/n: I'm excited for this series. I have everything planned out in a doc, hehehe. Hopefully I can pull this off!
Song Inspo:
You belong With Me-Taylor Swift: Inspired the concept of the fic.
I Want It All- High School Musical: Inspired the title.
Summary: Reincarnated in the body of a demon from the last film you saw before you died, you have decided to change the script of the story in your favour. But you didn't count on your presence in the story changing everything.
Warnings: slow burn, swearing, Romance being flirty, kinda suggestive if you read between lines, Jinu being annoying, ooc (probably), cringe (surely), no proofread (oopsie)
Word count: 2100+
A/N: hello there my little lovely readers! Again I want to thank you all for all the kind words and the support on these series. I'm really happy seeing that it's loved and appreciated! I'm trying to answer to everything you send me :)
This chapter is a little filler but is needed for the relationship building (relationship building being the reader collecting hearts like Pokemon apparently) but I hope you still find it funny and interesting. Next chapter is already in the oven and nearly finished (hope I can post it this weekend) and AT LAST the real real plot (the movie related one) it's starting to bloom there!
Again thank you for your comments, likes, reblogs and specially for those few who hit me in the directs, I love you guys! Let me know what do you think about how the story is going so far :)
Ch. 3
︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿
You were in your room, lying on your bed, sketching possible costumes for the boys, when a high-pitched, blood-curdling scream made you jump up.
Why did it seem impossible to be calm and relaxed in that madhouse?
There were less than forty-eight hours to go before their debut. Couldn't they enjoy some peace and quiet before they became famous?
You opened the door as fast as you could and ran towards the source of the scream.
Sang and Dasom's room.
Another scream, even higher-pitched than the last one.
Who were they torturing? You opened the door without even knocking and found Romance alone inside, perched on top of the wardrobe, pale and terrified.
"Dasom? What's going on?"
He was curled up in a ball in the space between the top of the wardrobe and the ceiling, and simply pointed down at the floor in the middle of the bedroom. But there was nothing there, was there?
"Dasom…?"
"A SPIDER!! IT'S HUGE, MONSTROUS, DISGUSTING… THERE'S A HAIRY SPIDER RIGHT THERE. PLEASE KILL IT. KILL IT, KILL IT, KILL IT!"
You opened and closed your mouth a couple of times, not quite sure what to say. You approached the approximate spot he was pointing at, and there you saw the ‘huge, monstrous, disgusting hairy spider,’ which was about the size of your little toenail.
You let out a sigh.
Well, it was better than someone being tortured, wasn't it? Although you never imagined that Dasom could reach such high notes under pressure.
You took off a slipper and squashed the poor little spider with some regret, then approached the wardrobe and, with your face completely tilted upwards, began gesturing for Dasom to come down.
"Come on, it's over. There's no spider anymore. You can come down from there."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I squashed it. I didn't know you were afraid of spiders."
Dasom pouted.
You still couldn't understand how he had managed, at his height and size, to hide in that space.
"How do I get down?"
"Damn it, Romance, I don't know. You're the one who climbed up on the wardrobe."
Dasom didn't seem very sure, but he decided that, knowing there was no longer an army of arachnids waiting for him on the carpet, he could let himself fall.
And that's what he did.
But he did it… on top of you, who was right underneath him.
Both of you fell to the floor, a tangle of arms and legs, and you, who was on the bottom, hit your bum and hip hard.
Romance, semi-conscious of the blow, managed to get a hand under your head so that at least you didn't hit it.
"Ouch… why the hell did you drop? You're a ducking demon, you can teleport!"
Romance's eyes widened, remembering that detail. Fear had blinded his reasoning… or so he told himself.
You both remained silent, finally understanding what had just happened… and the strange (and uncomfortable, especially for you) position you were in. You were lying on the carpet, your hair tousled around your head, and he was on top of you. One of his legs was between your thighs, keeping him more or less upright; one of his hands was still under your head, acting as a pillow and keeping it off the cold floor, while the other was on one side of your head, supporting him so he wouldn't fall face-first onto you again. Your chests were almost touching, and your faces were definetely too close.
His heart-shaped fringe fell on either side of his angular face, framing it exquisitely, and the rest of his hair tickled your neck.
"Romance…?" you whispered as you watched him remain very still and silent, just staring at you.
But the things is… you had never been so close to him before. You were always on the defensive, especially with him, and you tried to keep your distance from all of them, as if they had the plague or something.
From that position, so close to you, he could see things he had never seen before: the flecks in your eyes, the length of your eyelashes… You were completely still, your mouth slightly open, not quite sure what to do. In his eyes, you looked like a frightened little animal, although he knew you well enough to know that this was far from the truth, and that if he tried anything, you would punch him.
But why didn't you push him away? Why didn't you move him away?
He tilted his face slightly, just a few millimetres closer to yours. Now his fringe brushed against your cheek.
He shifted his weight from his hand to his elbow, so he could gently stroke your hair, brushing a strand away from your face. He had always found you attractive… so charming… he liked it when you got violent when he did something you didn't like, he loved that you had no qualms about speaking your mind, saying what you thought, and he was fascinated by your tough act. But now, beneath his body, looking that small, with your eyes wide open and your ears red as tomatoes, not quite sure what to do… you were driving him crazy.
He didn't understand why you didn't want to play with them and flirt. He didn't understand why you couldn't be this close all the time, or why he couldn't lean down a little closer and bite your lower lip, just to see how it felt. Just thinking about it made his heart skip a beat. You'd probably kill him if he did it, but it would have been worth it.
Besides, what harm could a little flirting and some affection without any commitment do?
Romance ran his tongue over his lips. The heat coming from your body was exquisite, and he found it hard not to bury his nose in the hollow of your neck to smell you and bite you. But just then, you reacted. You put your hands on his chest… was that an invitation?
…and you pushed him. Hard. To one side.
Romance fell onto his side, to one side.
Your heart was about to jump out of your chest.
What had just happened…?
You took a deep breath, counted to ten, and stood up as best as you could, trying to calm your racing heart. This was wrong, very wrong. It couldn't happen again. You couldn't let it happen again. Not with Romance, not with anyone. You weren't there to play at love, you were there to change the course of history. You had to give them back their souls, not… that. Whatever it was.
It's not like you had a lot of time to play around, considering you hadn't made any progress at all towards your goal.
"There are no spiders anymore. I'm going to check on the others," you managed to say, turning your back on Dasom, who was still on the floor.
"The others aren't here," he replied, sitting on the floor and avoiding looking at you at all costs. "Sang has gone to the gym, Byeol and Minjun have gone to buy some groceries, and I have no idea where Jinu is, but he's not at home."
What had he been about to do…?
"Well, anyway, there's no need for me to be here anymore. I'm going to go for a walk."
And with that, you left the bedroom, closing the door behind you. The best thing to do would be to go out for a walk, breathe some fresh air, and maybe touch some grass. Anything but stay alone there with Romance.
¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸.*☆*.¸
You were walking along peacefully, bubble tea in hand and headphones on, humming to yourself and trying not to think about anything after the events of the last few days. You were exhausted, both physically and mentally. And you still weren't quite sure how to change the course of history. How could you get all the Saja Boys to regain their souls without Gwi-ma finding out?
Suddenly, you bumped into something hard and lost your balance for a moment.
Goodbye my dear bubble tea, you thought.
But an arm wrapped around your waist and held you firmly in place before you could fall face first. You looked up and took off your headphones with your free hand (thankfully, your bubble tea had survived) and found yourself face to face with Jinu.
You were about to apologise for bumping into him because you were distracted, but it was Jinu, and since he was a bit insufferable (especially with you), you decided not to.
"Watch where you're going, Manager," he said without letting go of your waist.
"Hey, sorry, but you're the one walking in the middle of the pavement. The street isn't yours."
He raised his eyebrows. How fun (and easy) it was to tease you. Besides, you always had something to say back.
He took the opportunity to look you up and down, studying you.
Heart-shaped sunglasses? How tacky.
But that tight top, however...
Nuh-huh, he would never admit it.
You were carrying something strange in your hand. It was like a large plastic cup with a straw sticking through the lid, and inside was a lilac-coloured liquid... Was that hamster eyes at the bottom of the cup?
Ew. Disgusting.
"Hey!" you shouted, taking a step back when you realised that not only was he still hugging your waist, but he was also giving you a look of genuine disgust. "Is this a staring contest?" you asked with a half-smile as you brought the straw to your lips and sipped, enjoying the fresh taste of the tapioca tea.
Jinu opened and closed his mouth several times, like a fish out of water.
Did you just...?
You raised an eyebrow, still sipping your drink slowly. You put your headphones back on and decided to continue on your way. You didn't feel like verbally abusing Jinu; the accident with Dasom that morning had drained all your energy. You just wanted to enjoy your music and your bubble tea, alone if possible.
You had managed to recover the account you used to use on your favourite music app, with all the K-pop playlists you listened to before you died.
Those were the days.
So, with iKON's Dive blaring through your headphones, you walked past Jinu, brushing your shoulder against his side (because you knew it would be impossible to shove him away).
You had already taken a couple of steps when someone grabbed your free wrist and pulled you around.
Ducking Jinu again.
"Can you let me enjoy the day in peace...?" you had started to say, with your headphones still blasting music, when you witnessed Jinu leaning towards you.
He held your wrist tightly but not painfully with one hand, while the other rested on his hip. He leaned closer and closer, impossibly close to your face. Your breath caught in your lungs, your heart beating faster and faster.
He was too close.
His eyes had turned golden, like in his demon form, and he was smiling sideways, showing his fangs.
Damn, he was so handsome.
He moved his lips, saying something that you couldn't hear because of the music. Your noses were so close that if he leaned a little closer to you, they would touch.
He let go of your wrist and ran his hand up your arm in a caress to your shoulder. Then he took your other hand, raised it to his mouth, put the straw from the drink you were holding between his lips, and sipped. All this without breaking eye contact and without losing that stupid smirk.
You couldn't react. You couldn't do anything. You just watched as he took a sip, let go of you, and stood up straight, moving away from your now flushed face.
He said something else, which you didn't hear, turned around, and left.
You swallowed hard. What had just happened? Your heart was still racing.
You bit your lip hard, frustrated. Why did it have to be like this? Why did he have to make everything so difficult? You felt your face burning with embarrassment. You glanced sideways at the bubble tea cup, which still had some left in it, and frowned. There were traces of Jinu's chapstick on the straw.
You turned around and threw the cup into the nearest bin, frustrated.
Because of Jinu, you couldn't even finish your bubble tea or listen to Dive again without imagining his attractive, idiotic face.
You hoped he would meet Rumi soon and leave you alone.
Because that was really what you wanted to happen, wasn't it?
For him to stay away from you for good...
You slapped your face. You took a deep breath and decided to continue on your way.
And you didn't see that on the other side of the street, watching everything that had just happened, were Baby and Mystery.
Flabbergasted.
︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿
Ch. 5
A/N: First of all, aracnophobia is NO joke... but Romance cowering on top of a wardrobe kinda is. AND! For you, all the Jinu starving readers... here you go! More content! This chapter is a little slower and shorter than the rest (I'm sorry), BUT this is a slow burn and sometimes you have to be patient :)
Hope you like it as much as the previous ones and you want to continue reading this series! 'Cause I have lots of things planned up my sleeve and I can't wait for you to read!
Also: who is your favorite Saja Boy up until now? haha
Thank you for reading, for all your support and kind words. Remember that those comments, likes and reblogs help me a lot as motivation! :)
Imagine Being Isekai'ed into KPOP DEMON HUNTERS. (part 6)
SO, IIDEK WHAT TO PUT AS SUMMARY BUT LOWKEY HUNTR/X X Y/N! Also, we get some Mystery backstory here! (Also if you wanna hear some bad covering of Your Idol here it is
IDOl
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5. Part 7
‘Technically we didn't follow you, we overheard you. We just happened to be in the vicinity of the conversation.’ Beom looked up to the left, refusing to meet Y/N’s eyes.
‘Y’know you can’t always get out of things by being cute. It doesn’t work that way.’ Y/N rolled her eyes, slumping onto the sofa face first. Watching their debut stage had really taken it out of her. Especially that walk back from the Huntr/x tower.
‘I’m cute?’ Beom’s eyes lit up, as if he were a puppy that had just been given a treat. Y/N could swear she saw a tail wagging behind Beom.
Was this what was known as the natural charm of a youngest group member? Even so, this man was over two huundred years old… Did demons mature in the underworld? Was it even possible to grow? Were they like vampires, just stuck mentally at their age forever? Y/N's mind whirled with unanswered questions.
‘I’m not repeating it.’ Y/N rolled her eyes, unlocking her phone. ‘Well, what's the plan? You have that variety show in about an hour.’
‘Well, seeing as the demon hunters know we have a shooting tonight, they’re probably gonna try to kill us after we finish.’ Jinu shrugged, he twisted the cap off an energy drink and passed it to Y/N.
‘Thanks.’ She smiled, sipping the drink.
‘Would you be upset if we killed them?’ Min tilted his head, seated in Y/N’s gaming chair. Although the man's light purple hair was obscuring his eyes, Y/N could tell he was looking at her.
‘Yes, very.’ Y/N answered quickly, taking another swig of her drink.
‘Hm, okay.’ Min turned his head to Rae. ‘Looks like it’ll be a change of plans then.’
‘YOU GUYS WERE PLANNING ON KILLING THEM?’ Y/N stood up, pointing her fingers at the plotting boys.
‘Well they were planning to kill us too.’ Abel shrugged, handing out pink clothing to the group.
‘Aw man, not pink again.’ Jinu groaned, holding his shirt as far away from himself as he could possibly.
‘You said you looked good in any colour.’ Y/N laughed, pointing her drink bottle at him.
‘Ugh, that doesn't mean I have to like the colour.’ Jinu grumbled, lifting his shirt over his head.
‘HEY, I’M STILL IN THE ROOM.’ Y/N squawked, turning around, only to be met with the four other shirtless men in the middle of changing. The girl quickly covered her eyes with her hands, squatting down in embarrassment.
‘Oh, sorry. Bad habit.’ Jinu said from behind her. ‘I’m decent now.’
Y/N peeked out of her fingers up at the voice, seeing a guilty looking Jinu.
‘I should have warned you. My bad.’ He stuck out his hand to which Y/N grasped.
Y/N let herself be tugged up, as the rest of the boys finished changing their shirts.
‘Okay, time for pants.’ Rae handed out jeans, each in a different shade of pink.
‘I’M GOING TO MY ROOM, TELL ME WHEN YOU GUYS ARE DONE.’ Y/N sprinted into her bedroom door, slamming it shut behind her.
‘She’s so cute, I could just eat her.’ Min remarked, zipping himself up.
‘Huh.’ Beom turned around.
‘Isn’t that what the young people say about cute things? I could eat it?’ Min sat back down in the chair, shrugging his shoulders.
‘No you old man, I could just eat her up. You need to add the ‘up’ or it just sounds like you wanna take her soul.’ Beom shook his head, brushing off the lint on his jumper.
‘Huh, alright, noted.’ Min gave a quiet laugh, leaning back in the chair with his arms raised.
–
They boys had insisted on bringing Y/N along with them, saying that they needed a fake manager.
They somehow had no manager but they had a typical van that Idols would use to travel. Y/N could see that someone was driving the car but she had never seen the man before today.
The boys were jabbering about how they would introduce themselves at the variety show and what they would do. They were sat in pairs, Jinu and Beom and Abel with Rae, leaving Min to sit next to Y/N.
‘If you don’t have a manager, how in the world are you pulling all of this off?’ Y/N blanched, ‘And if you don’t even have a manager, do you have a company? How did you even release Soda Pop?’
‘Hypnosis, we can make anyone do our bidding. Why do you think this person’s driving the car?’ Min leaned down whispering in her ear, his face close to Y/N’s.
‘I’ve been meaning to ask. Can you even see?’ Y/N reached up, fingertips just brushing Min’s purple hair-
‘Not really.’ Min abruptly grasped Y/N’s hand, gripping it tightly.
‘Ow.’
‘Sorry.’ Min released Y/N’s wrist in an instant. ‘I…’
‘It’s ok. I shouldn’t have-’
‘No. It’s my fault. I’m just… I have a thing about my face.’ Min sighed, turning away as the rest of the boys continued their conversations, unaware as to the situation in the back seat.
‘Does it have something to do with your deal with Gwi-ma?’ Y/N slid her hands underneath her legs, kicking her feet slightly.
‘Yeah. It does.’ Min said, resting his chin on his fist. Y/N looked down at her feet, waiting for the man next to her to elaborate.
‘I had leprosy.’ Min said in a hushed whisper. ‘It was bad. It started with my hands and feet but it spread. The disease always spreads until eventually… I became blind.’
‘Oh…’
‘It was the fourteenth century so there was no cure and I had no family.’ Min sighed, turning to look at Y/N, hair still obscuring his face. ‘I was begging in the street, stumbling around blind when a group of men beat me with sticks, telling me to do them a favour and just die.’
‘Assholes.’ Y/N grumbled, crossing her arms.
‘Yes, they were.’ Min chuckled at her reaction, putting a reassuring hand on Y/N’s shoulder before continuing. ‘And that was when I first heard Gwi-ma, whispering in my ear.’
‘What did he offer you?’ Y/N blinked, not noticing that the entire car had gone quiet.
‘He said he could take away my scars and help me get revenge on those who had wronged me.’ Min laughed, resting his head against his seat. ‘Now that I think about it, it was such a shallow deal. I barely got anything from it.’
‘You were hurting. Vulnerable.’
‘I was weak.’ Min shook his head, seemingly disappointed in himself.
‘Men have killed for less.’ Y/N noted, as the car slowed to a stop.
‘You’re right about that one I guess.’ Min chuckled, unbuckling Y/N from her seat before doing his own.
‘I honestly thought you were just hiding a big ass forehead.’ Y/N shrugged, stepping out of the car, following the rest of the boys into the studio.
‘HAH! I’ll have you know I was quite handsome before I got that stupid disease.’ Y/N could practically hear Min rolling his eyes.
‘Yeah yeah… Wait, fourteenth century… You have to be the oldest!’ Y/N bounced along, passing through the doors leading into the set.
‘Such a smart girl.’ Min hummed, leaning down.
‘Uh…’
Min smirked, combing back his bangs with one hand, revealing his face for a second. Y/N was stunned, eyes lingering on Min’s own ones.
He really was beautiful.
Hell, people would go to war for a face like that, regardless of Min being a man.
‘Wow.’ Y/N blinked, eyes bugged wide.
‘Hm, maybe Gwi-ma really did do me a favour.’ Min continued to smirk, letting his hair fall back into place, turning to walk onto the stage where the rest of the boys were filing onto.
‘Um-’
‘We’ll talk after the show.’ Min lifted Y/N’s chin gently, looking down at her through his hair.
‘Okay…’
‘That’s our girl.’ Min smiled, releasing her chin before walking onto stage with the rest of the boys.
‘Holy crap…’ Y/N gaped.
Min’s face was like nothing she’d ever seen. Imagine the most handsome man you knew, married the most beautiful woman on earth and had a baby. Not even then would that child compare to Min.
‘Huh, no wonder Zoey said he was just her type.’ Y/N mused, watching the hosts introduce the boys.
‘Who’s my type?’ A voice chimed in, merging into Y/N’s thoughts.
‘Zoey?’ Y/N spun around to face the three Hunt/x girls.
‘Twice in one day, aren’t we lucky.’ Mira smiled, wrapping an arm around Y/N’s shoulder.
‘Why are you here? Are you scouting out the competition?’ Rumi gave the ghost writer a tight hug, her leather outfit squeaking quietly.
‘Uh, actually I’m-’
‘Oh, OH! Maybe Y/N can watch us take out these demons! She’s never gone with us on a mission before!’ Zoey interrupted, her eyes wide and pleading.
Holy crap Zoey was good at puppy dog eyes. Y/N flickered her gaze between the boys who were now chugging hot sauce, for some reason, to Zoey’s begging eyes.
‘Okay, I’ll watch.’ Y/N agreed, unsure of how this would go down. In the original story this was where Jinu would see Rumi's patterns but... He already knew and so did the rest of the girls.
Rumi cheered quietly, ‘Great! Once they come off the stage, we’ll jump down for the attack!’
‘These boys will be-
‘Done, done, done!’ Zoey finished, as the girls let out evil giggles, as they climbed the steps behind the set, peeking over the set.
Y/N watched on nervously as Beom let out the most sarcastic ‘Goo goo, ga ga’ She’d ever heard in her life.
‘Oh boy…’ Y/N mumbled, glancing between the girls and her demon boyband.
‘Hard to goodbye when we’re having so much fun!’ One of the hosts said into the mic.
‘So hard! So hard…’ The other said, shaking his head in mock sadness.
Jinu took the mic, sending a little smirk to the side wings where Y/N was watching.
Oh no.
What was this man planning?
‘Then why say goodbye when we have an extra special guest coming up?’ He addressed the audience, guesting backstage.
‘What is he up to?’ Y/N mumbled, watching him walk towards her.
‘Oh HELL NO.’ She said, turning to run as Jinu grabbed the back of her collar.
‘Say hello to our writer and producer, Y/N!!’ Jinu cried out, practically dragging her on stage.
‘Ah haha- hi!’ Y/N waved awkwardly as the spotlights partially blinded her. The cheering from the crowd surprised her, as she squinted under the lights.
‘We have her to thank for writing our debut song!’ Abel smiled, as the rest of the boys came to stand around her.
‘Yeah! Thanks Y/N!’ Beom called out, as the group began to bow at her.
‘Wow so hot and respectful!’ The audience cheered, as the boys bowed.
‘Oh no… It was my pleasure.’ Y/N bowed back.
‘No really it was ours!’ The boys folded completely in half as Y/N gaped, shifting her eyes to see an angry looking Huntr/x on the side.
‘Well! That's all we have time for today!’ The hosts called, as the curtains began to close. ‘See you next time! Play Games With Us!’
‘What the hell was that?!'
‘Sorry Y/N, hold on tight!’ Abel smiled, lifting Y/N over his shoulder as the Saja Boys began to run out the back exit.
‘Y/N!’ The girls called, chasing after them, concern etched on the girl’s faces.
‘Girls!’ Y/N called out, stretching her hand out as the door swung shut in front of her.
The boys ran into the bathhouse, Y/N slumped over Abel's shoulder as the girls spotted Y/N still being carried off.
‘Over there! Let’s get our Y/N back!’
‘Aw man, we were just in a bathhouse this morning.’ Mira groaned, running along with the girls.
The girls opened the bathhouse door, peeking out one by one.
‘Wow, did you guys really follow us in here?’ Jinu rolled his eyes, knowing damn well Huntr/x followed because they had taken Y/N with them.
‘Of course they did, that one’s always looking at our Y/N.’ Abel snarked, jumping slightly to bounce Y/N on his shoulder, receiving an oomf from the flopped over girl.
‘Give us back our Y/N!’ Zoey brandished her throwing knives.
‘You think we’re just gonna let you steal our Y/N and our fans?’ Rumi snarled, gripping her sword tightly. ‘You’re gonna have to fight us for both!’
‘Yeah, keep your hands off our girl.’ Mira backed Rumi up, lifting her moon blade.
‘Heh, we’re not here to fight.’ Jinu shrugged, splaying his arms, as demons rose from the hot baths. ‘They are.’
‘Water demons.’ Rumi narrowed her eyes.
‘Oh great. My favourite.’ Mira cheered sarcastically, eyes darting to count how many were now slowly surrounding the group.
‘Get rid of the hunters. Then, you can eat all the souls you want.’ Jinu smirked, placing a hand on the water demon in front of him.
‘Rumi!’ Y/N called out, as the rest of the boys ran through the bathhouse, leaving Huntr/x behind.
‘Have fun!’ Jinu ran out, almost slipping on a puddle of water. 'Ah crap.'
Zoey and Mira were slashing through the demons, killing several each second.
‘GO get back Y/N!’ Mira called out to Rumi, slicing through a group of demons.
‘But there's so many!’ Rumi protested, twisting away from a pair of demon claws.
‘Y/N’s alone with them, we need to go get her!’ Zoey threw her daggers, hitting two in the face.
‘GO rumi! We’ll catch up.’ Mira called out, flipping through the air and slamming her blade into the ground, causing a wave of the demons to be vaporised.
‘Okay!’ Rumi flipped over a demon, rushing toward the door that she had seen the boys run through.
‘You promised you wouldn’t kill them. Y/N protested, still being carried by Abel.
‘Gimmie back my Y/N!’ Rumi slashed at the man with her sword, catching his shirt slightly as Jinu ducked almost too late.
‘‘She’s mine.’ Jinu snarled, throwing a bucket at Rumi. He jumped as he slashed at Rumi’s arm with his claws, cutting a piece of her clothing off her arm, drawing blood.
‘AH.’ Rumi cried out, clutching at her arm.
The wall burst open, Mira and Zoey had kicked a demon straight through.
‘Rumi!’ Y/N called out, reaching toward her, as she was carried further away. Jinu turned at the sound of Y/N’s voice, snapping him out of his violent haze.
'DON'T HURT HER.' Y/N cried out, her frustration leaking into her voice.
‘Better help your friends. They look like they need it.’ Jinu smirked, running towards the exit without a second glance.
‘Y/N!’ Rumi shouted desperately as she slashed through the demons that were still emerging from the bathhouse pools.
‘I’ve never seen the Honmoon like this before! There are tears everywhere!’ Zoey threw her knives, each finding their mark.
‘I think it’s because the Saja Boys are stealing the fans! It’s weakening the Honmoon!’ Mira grunted as she stuck her spear into the ground, allowing Rumi to swing on it to gain momentum.
The girls panted with exertion as they finally cleared out the room.
‘What are you doing here! This is the men's bathhouse!’ An elderly man grouched, shooing the girls away as they apologised profusely.
‘Hmph.’ The man sat down on his stool, going back to scrubbing his arms.
‘My little soda pop.’ The man hummed, as a water demon arose silently from the waterbucket, inhaling the mans soul.
–
Y/N groaned, as Abel finally let her down as the elevator doors opened.
‘I think I'm carsick.’
‘I’m not a car…’
‘Whatever, Y/N shook her head, steadying herself. ‘Jinu you hurt Rumi!’
‘She literally tried to take my head off Y/N.’ Jinu rolled his eyes, crossing his arms defiantly.
‘But she didn’t.’ Y/N protested, gesturing wildly before stumbling, putting her hand on her head.
Jinu was at her side in an instant, clutching at the arms gently.
‘Tired?’ Jinu’s tone changed from annoyance to worrisome in a flash. ‘If you want, I can whip up something quick. Or you can go to sleep now.’
‘Just a headache, I think the all-nighters are catching up with me.’ Y/N slowly sat down on the couch with Jinu’s help.
“Can we get you anything Y/N?’ Rae kneeled down next to her, checking her forehead temperature. ‘Your forehead is a little warm Do you have any medication at home?'
'It'd all probably be out of date.' Y/N shook her head, laying down on her side, face against the couch cushions as the boys fussed over her.
‘Did she eat lunch?’
‘No I don’t think so.’
‘Should we-’
‘Mm, need to shower…’ Y/N whined, burying her face further into the couch cushion.
‘Okay, come on. Up we get.’ Abel heaved Y/N into his arms bridal style. Y/N grouched, her eyes closed as she shifted in the demon’s well built arms, smushing her face into his chest.
Jinu raised his eyebrows, watching his biggest friend turn slowly bright pink in the face.
‘Heh, look at Abel, he’s blushing.’ Beom jeered, pointing.
‘Shut up. Don’t act like you wouldn’t be the exact same way if she was doing it to you.’ Abel spat out quietly. Beom in return, held up his hands in mock surrender.
‘You slipped in before I could!’
‘You snooze, you lose.’ Abel stuck out his tongue, walking towards the bathroom, separate from her ensuite. ‘Hey, are you sure you’ll be able to stay awake while you shower?’
‘Can I just sleep?’ Y/N groaned, shifting into a more comfortable position in Abel’s arms.
‘You said you wanted to shower.’ Abel hummed, finding his way to Y/N’s room instead.
‘Here, lay her down and I’ll wipe her face.’ Min appeared behind, holding a wet towel, doused in warm water.
As Abel slowly (and reluctantly) detangled Y/N’s limbs from his own, Min gently rubbed Y/N’s cheeks with the towel. Abel turned to go turn off the bedroom light so Y/N wouldn’t squint.
‘Y’know, I think-’ Suddenly Min disappeared in a puff of smoke.
‘Wot?’ Abel blinked, looking at the empty space where Min was, now replaced by the wet towel on the floor.
‘Uhh, Abel?’ Beom came into the room, looking confused. ‘Jinu 형 (hyung) and all the others just poofed.’
‘Wait, did Gwi-ma just take them back?’ Abel blinked, looking at Y/N who was now out cold in her bed.
‘I think so… their patterns were glowing.’ Beom mumbled from behind his fist, looking confused. But, we didn’t get taken. Why?’
‘Could it be?..’
Both boys turned to look at the sleeping girl, who was now drooling slightly.
‘Mm, ramen…’ Y/N mumbled, before turning over in the bed.
‘Did she-’
‘It couldn’t be..’
–
Meanwhile the boys had been pulled back, slamming into the ground as they landed.
'Saja Boys! Saja Boys!’ The demons chanted, looking at the group, waving lightsticks around.
The boys looked around, slightly irritated that they were no longer in Y/N’s apartment.
‘Wait where’s-’ Jinu began, before being interrupted by a loud shout from a demon in the crowd.
‘Look! Souls incoming!’
And they were. Streaking across the sky were blue lights, finding their place in the fire behind three of Saja Boys.
‘My little soda pop.’ The flames hummed, ‘It’s catchy.’
‘Surprisingly your little plan is working.’ Gwi-ma said, almost as a challenge.
‘I know. So lemme get back to work and you’ll be feasting in no time.’ Jinu plastered a fake smile, a charming one nonetheless.
‘Except, two of your friends. I can no longer see them. Are they dead?’
‘Yes.’ Jinu answered, thinking quickly, ‘But we’ll kill all of the hunters before they get the rest of us.’
Gwi-ma was wrong about them being dead, but he was right about not controlling the boys. Abel and Beom had not been dragged back to the underworld with the rest of the group. Jinu knew they weren’t dead but… How come they weren’t here? How had they escaped Gwi-ma’s control?
‘I’ve taught you well Jinu.’ The giant flame chuckled as the Saja Boys disappeared again, into a puff of pink smoke.
–
As the boys reappeared in Y/N’s apartment, the doorbell began to ring. Jinu frowned, turn around to see that the Huntr/x girls were covered in scratches, waiting to be buzzed up on the monitor.
‘Go wakeup Y/N.’ Jinu said, ‘Tell her the hunters are here. Abel and Beom, we need to talk.’
As the boys slinked into one of Y/N’s spare rooms. Rae knocked on Y/N’s door before opening, knowing that the girl would sleep through the knocking.
‘Y/N? The Huntr/x girls are here, they’re waiting to be buzzed in.’ He gently shook the shoulder of the sleeping girl.
‘Wha?’ Y/N rasped, turning over to face Rae.
‘Huntr/x is down stairs.’
‘Oh my gosh!’ Y/N sat up immediately, flinging her covers back and slipping her flip flip’s on. She rushed to buzz them in, before looking around her apartment.
‘Where’d the boys go? Doesn’t matter, you guys have to hide! Go in-’ Y/N opened her spare room to see the rest of the Saja Boys, already hiding in the room.
‘Uh, we’ll be in here as you guys talk.’ Beom gave a hopeful smile.
‘Do you guys ever go back to your own apartment?’ Y/N slapped a hand to her forehead.
‘No not really.’ Min shook his head.
‘We only got it because-’
‘We’ll talk later. The room is soundproofed but still be quiet!’ Y/N closed the door, just as the elevator began to beep happily.
‘Y/N!’ Rumi rushed forward checking Y/N all over, a teddy bear band aid covering her cheek.
‘Y/N you’re safe!’ Zoey rushed forward, pulling Y/N into a hug.
‘We were so worried.’ Mira sighed, walking forward, holding a bag.
‘Girls, I’m sorry. I really am the writer of their music.’
‘It’s okay. They must have forced you into it.’ Rumi shook her head, guiding Y/N to the kitchen island. ‘Come on, sit. You probably haven’t eaten all day!’
Y/N’s stomach gurgled loudly in reply.
Traitor.
‘Erm.’ Y/N rubbed her neck in embarrassment. ‘How did you guys know?’
‘You never eat if you’re working and today was…’ Zoey trailed off.
‘Y/N, are you okay?’ Mira set down the bag of kimbap before rummaging through the cupboard to find a plate.
‘Yeah, you must have been so scared.’ Rumi touched a hand to Y/N’s shoulder.
‘No, Rumi are you okay? Your arm, did you disinfect it before you bandaged it?’ Y/N hurriedly lifted Rumi’s shirt sleeve, relieved to see a bandage wrapped around it. The purple haired girl had been wearing shorter sleeves since she had told the rest of the girls about her patterns.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve had worse.’ Rumi smiled, looking content. ‘We’ve all had a lot worse.’
‘Still…’ Y/N frowned, putting her head in her hands. ‘I don’t want you guys getting hurt. I don’t want the Saja Boys to take souls either-’
‘Y/N calm down, we know you have your reasons, whatever they may be.’ Mira hushed Y/N, sliding a plate of kimbap toward her.
‘But-’
‘We trust you.’
‘But we do need to get our fans back. Have you seen the Honmoon? I’ve never seen it so bad.’ Zoey sighed, resting her head on her arms face down.
‘We could record What It Sounds Like! That’ll be-
‘No, I have a better song!’ Y/N dashed toward her gaming set up, snatching up her book. ‘It’s called Takedown!’
‘Oh?’ Rumi hummed, giving the rest of Huntr/x a knowing smile. ‘Our Y/N’s a musical genius isn’t she.’
‘No. It’s you guys, you inspire me so much!’ Y/N flipped the pages to Takedown. ‘Let me know what you think!’
The girls gathered around the notebook, scanning the lyrics.
‘Break you into pieces in a world of pain, cause you’re all the same?’ Mira muttered, flipping through the pages.
‘Wow, Y/N, if you wrote a love song for me, I think I’d fall in love with you.’ Rumi cocked her head, giving Y/N a smile that she couldn’t place.
‘Rumi, focus.’ Mira laughed, patting the purple haired girl on the shoulder. ‘You can flirt with our girl when we grind these Saja Boys into the dust.’
A thump came from inside the spare bedroom.
The huntr/x girls didn’t hear it but, Y/N swear she heard someone make a noise of protest.
‘This is exactly what we need.’ Rumi nodded in approval, flicking through the lyrics. ‘We have two weeks until the Idol Awards. We’ll release the song then! Is that enough time? I don’t want you to overwork yourself Y/N.’
‘I’ll be fine! I just have to do Takedown and What It Sounds Like.’ Y/N nodded enthusiastically.
‘You don’t have to do both Y/N.’ Zoey fretted, as Y/N moved to go boot up her PC.
‘But if you release both, you can do it as a joint stage! You could make the Honmoon golden! Fix all the cracks!’ Y/N bounced in her seat, pulling up her digital audio station.
‘Y/N, if you overwork yourself you’ll get sick. If you think you can do it, go ahead, but make sure you’re getting enough rest.’ Rumi laid a hand on Y/N’s shoulder, her tone was akin to an owner scolding their puppy.
‘I can do it!’ Y/N pouted, looking up at Rumi.
‘Alright then.’ Rumi sighed, laughing quietly. ‘You’re so cute when you’re excited, it’s hard to say no to you.’
‘Right? I could just keep her in my pocket!’ Zoey sat down gazing at Y/N while she slid on her headphones, testing out her midi controller.
She had since forgotten the Saja Boys in her spare room, now focusing on replicating the beat in her head, using a thick bass sound to replicate the electro punk sound.
'Hey, can you guys stay so I can get a few recordings?' Y/N stared into the computer, frowning as she adjusted her mic settings for the girls.
˚⟡˖ ࣪ SOUL INTERTWINED SERIES | part 2 of familiar!
summary: jinu doesn’t know what to do when you look at him like he’s worthy of something.
content: little bit more angsty, ~980 words
a/n: thank you so much for all the love in the first part 🫶 i do plan on making this a series so stay tuned!
masterlist | navi
★☆★
You didn’t know how the meet and greet went from 3 people to 8, with two tables connected. But you had to give credit where credit is due because this is amazing publicity.
Huntrix AND Saja Boys Fan Event.
What a headline.
It surprised you that it is going pretty smoothly— ignoring the fact that some of them were fighting and shoving each other, they were quite mature about the whole ordeal.
You assumed that Rumi planned this with Jinu the night you bumped into them. The bunch was doing an amazing job, signing merch, posters, answering questions, being… friends.
If you would even call it that.
At the table, Jinu was craning his neck up, his head moving from side to side to look for one particular person.
“She’s over there.” Rumi teasingly said to Jinu, nudging her head to gesture to where you and Bobby were standing discussing.
His movements weren’t really unnoticeable.
Jinu coughed, turning his head downwards. He didn’t think he was that obvious. “What do you mean?”
Rumi smirked. “You’re too obvious, dude.”
“No, I’m not!” he exclaimed, sending the fan a weird smile when he noticed his little outburst.
“Are we whispering?” the fan asked.
Jinu and Rumi quickly signed the poster, handing it to the fan with an awkward smile.
“Your secret’s safe with me.” she pointed to the t-shirt, a doodle of the two with wings on Jinu and Rumi riding on him, the text reads Rujinu. Making the pair laugh dryly, not really sure how to react. “Oh, so cute.” the fan said, walking away.
Jinu kept his eyes on the fan, making sure that you didn’t see her— the t-shirt specifically. He didn’t want you to get any false ideas.
The man sighs when he notices the fan leaving the building without bumping into you. Rumi noticed his behaviour and chuckled. “Idiot.”
“Who are you calling idiot?” Jinu scoffs as they continue to bicker.
From afar, you were staring at the pair with a heavy chest. You didn’t know why. They matched each other so well and you don’t know why that forms a pit in your stomach.
Jinu could feel a pair of eyes on him, and when he turned his head, his eyes met yours.
His heart stutters. Yours did too.
You swallowed thickly before giving him a small wave and timid smile. He practically beams with happiness.
You noticed him!
He raises his hand, fingers moving in a greeting motion. A small voice took his attention away, the kid giving him a small paper with a drawing. His eyes softens as he takes the gift in.
Suddenly Rumi stood up, “Isn’t he great? Woo! Jinu, everybody! Yeah, Jinu!” everyone clapped, as bouquets were thrown to the table for the Saja Boys.
Jinu abruptly stood up, “Unfortunately, the Saja Boys have to run. Thank you everyone.” the other members followed as well, walking to the back exit.
You furrow your eyebrows at the sudden change, feet moving you could even think as you tried to catch up to Jinu before he left.
“Jinu!” you yell.
Goosebumps appeared all over his body as he turned around, “Hi.” he stopped in front of you, wide eyes staring as his whole body goes warm.
You chuckled, “Hi, Jinu.”
He will never get used to how you say his name.
“You did well, out there.” your head nudges to the meet and greet area, “They love you.” you smirk, exaggerating the words.
He mirrors your smile, “Yeah, well, I’m good at what I do.”
You scoff, “Hold your horses, cowboy.” before your voice softens, “The kid loves you.” you gestured to the paper
Jinu hides the card behind his back, cheeks pink and warm from embarrassment and the fact that you are in his vicinity. “She just likes my voice and dances.” his eyes casted downwards, at the paper.
YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL SOUL.
You furrow your eyebrows, “I don’t know you,” you shrug. Jinu’s heart fell, “but I know you’re a good person. I can see it. Even just now, Rumi doesn’t just let anyone around her.”
Jinu catches your eyes and melts immediately, staring at you is like staring at art in a museum. Valuable, one of a kind but out of touch.
He doesn’t deserve any of this.
He coughs out his nerves, “You don’t know me.” He didn't mean for it to come off as rude, but the crushing reality will never soothe away. Not while you’re standing right in front of him. Eyes shining, looking at him like he’s someone worth your attention, voice sweet, and kind smiles.
You don’t even remember him.
You don’t take offence at his sharp tone, “Yeah, but,” you shrugged, “weirdly it feels like I do and I believe that you are good.”
You might as well rip his soul out.
Feels like I do.
What is he supposed to do with that?
When you looked up to meet his eyes again, you couldn’t explain the gnawing feeling in your stomach. at the sight of his face. He looks so broken. So hurt.
You never want to see him like that.
“Thanks.” he mumbled out, crumpling the poor paper from how hard he is balling his fists. His heart thumped in his chest.
You both stared at each other for a moment, the air tense but familiar.
Familiar?
“Well, I better get going.” Jinu mumbled, pointing his thumb to his back, “The others are probably waiting.”
You took a step back, “Yeah! Yeah, of course. Sorry, didn’t mean to hog you.” you chuckled.
He shrugs, “I don’t mind. I like talking to you.” softly smiling before walking away, leaving you dumbfounded and blushing.
As he turns, Jinu’s smile drops, his shoulders sagging as the weight of your presence trickles away. Everytime he’s around you, his stomach twists into weird ways, nerves, excitement, grief.
And he isn’t really sure what to do with it.
reblog for a kiss 🥰🥰🥰 lmk what yall think i really hope u enjoy 🫶
summary: you look exactly like the girl he fell in love with 300 years ago.
a/n: im officially obsessed with KDH & jinu’s perfect face and eyes <33 this is just a small blurb, 700 words, more works coming soon if this goes well!
check out my other works <3
★☆.
“Rumi? Is that you?”
Said girl turned around so fast you could hear her neck crack as she yells your name in shock. “Wha- what are you doing here?” her feet fidgeting, eyes moving everywhere, almost like she’s looking for something.
Being Bobby's assistant was not an easy task to say the least, so the chilling cold air nipping at your skin was very much needed.
You furrowed your eyebrows at her off behaviour, “I’m getting some air.” hands engulfed in the pockets of your hoodie, “What about you?”
She stutters, sending you an awkward smile, “Nothing! I mean- not nothing I’m just- “
“Thought you would come alone.”
Your eyebrows shoot up in shock when you see one member of Saja Boys walking towards you two. A tall figure taking slow and long strides, his frame not entirely clear to your vision because of the night sky.
“Is that Jinu?” you whisper, standing beside Rumi.
The purple haired girl stood frozen, eyes wide, mouth opening and closing but nothing coherent coming out. “Um, yeah- we were just- “
Jinu stopped in front of you both, his calm demeanor suddenly shifted the moment his eyes landed on you.
You.
He must be dreaming.
His eyes went wide, fingers twitching at his sides as he swallowed hard. Countless of memories replayed in his mind, all of them plagued with you. Your pretty face, soft smile and sweet voice. All directed to him.
What kind of sick play does Gwi-Ma have in store for him now?
You furrow your eyebrows at his panicked gaze to you.
Jinu blinks awkwardly, hand scratching the back of his neck, suddenly feeling shy under your gaze, “Hi.” he softly said.
Rumi stares at him weirdly, he hasn’t known him for long, but this is far from how he usually acts. Where did the ego go?
You smiled politely, not really sure how to react to the way he is acting, “Hello, Jinu,”
He bodily shuddered at how you said his name. It was familiar. His stomach flips at your soft voice. “You know my name.”
You chuckled. His hair stood up. “Of course, half of Korea knows who you are by now.” crossing your arms in defense, “What business do you have with Rumi?”
Rumi softly touches the top of your arm, “Don’t worry about me.”
You turn to give her a pointed look before smirking, “Do you guys meet up often?” gesturing to the pair.
“No!”
“Absolutely not!”
You raised your hands in surrender at their little outburst, “I'm joking.” you chuckled, “I won’t tell, promise.” winking at Rumi, making her roll her eyes.
“Sorry, I didn't get your name.” Jinu asked, wanting your attention back on him again.
You were shocked that he even wanted to know who you were, “Y/N. Huntrix’s assistant.” looking up to meet his eyes, unconsciously backing your head away when you notice how fondly he was looking at you.
“Pretty.” he absentmindedly said, before replicating your actions when he realised how creepy he sounded, “I mean- pretty name!”
You chuckled at his awkward behaviour that was weirdly charming to you.
The interaction weirded Rumi out, eyes shifting between you both. Jinu to you, you to Jinu, Jinu to you-
Oh, shit.
Before any more flirting can happen from the demon she jumped in, “You should probably go back. I heard Bobby wanted to have a little meeting to talk about the tour, hiatus and such.” she rambles.
You nodded, not buying her excuse but accepted either way, “Alright, then. Call me if you need anything, okay?”
She nodded. But before you leave you lean into Jinu’s personal space, “Anything happens to her, and I will make your life hell. Do you understand me?”
The corner of his lips turned up at your threat, feeling awestruck instead of scared, “Yes, ma’am.”
You leave the two, walking towards the apartment. Feeling a pair of eyes burning on the backside of your head but not daring to turn around.
Rumi gasped when you were out of range, “You like her!”
Jinu shrugged, “Shut up. She just reminds me of someone.” he mumbles, still staring at your retreating figure.
Summary: Reincarnated in the body of a demon from the last film you saw before you died, you have decided to change the script of the story in your favour. But you didn't count on your presence in the story changing everything.
Warnings: slow burn, swearing, Abby being Abby (aka really silly), Jinu being kinda self-depressed and also a trespasser, ooc (probably), cringe (surely), no proofread (oopsie)
Word count: 2400+
A/N: so! we are so back! I had soooo much fun writing this one. It's kind of a roller coaster of jokes and feelings, but I hope you like it! Also, I want to let you know that I also started to publish this in Wattpad, but I want to update here first (hehe). Last, I really want to thank you all for your support, your kind words, likes, reblogs and comments. It means a lot!
Ch. 2
︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿︿
What a horrible day.
Someone (probably Abby) had eaten the last yoghurt in the fridge that you were saving for yourself, someone else (Romance, no doubt) had finished your shampoo, your pillow had magically disappeared (and now Mystery had two) and for some reason Baby smelled like your favourite candies.
Living with men was worse than you had imagined.
You had no privacy, no personal space, and no time to even think.
Since it was their first time back in the human world after centuries (in most cases), they didn't really know how some things worked, but at the expense of your mental health, they were modernising at breakneck speed.
Now they had the latest smartphones.
Romance had discovered TikTok, Mystery was now addicted to cat videos, and if you heard Abby say ‘tralalero tralalá’ one more time, you'd gouge his eyes out with spoons. The only one who seemed to be behaving more or less normally was Jinu, who was convinced that mobile phones were something akin to witchcraft and only used his phone for real emergencies (like when he ran out of toilet paper and had to ask for some in the group chat where everyone was).
Thanks to Gwi-ma, you had moved into a fairly large flat in the human world, where the boys shared rooms… except for Jinu and you, who had your own (separately). It had a fairly spacious living room with a large television that you had used to give them master classes on current K-pop, a fully equipped kitchen that you would probably never use, and two bathrooms, which you had learned in a single day were not enough when living with five demons.
At least they were more or less clean. They left the toilet seat down (sometimes), didn't make much noise (when they were asleep) and if they ate something, they left everything clean afterwards (even though what they had eaten was actually yours).
Baby was the most responsible and the only one you didn't want to smack on the head with a chair every ten minutes. He tried to act disinterested, but you had caught him several times enthralled by everyday things: he got up early just to watch the sun rise, he loved staring out the window just to see people coming and going on the street, and he had discovered how wonderful the smell of freshly baked bread was.
But you had to admit that, overall, having them around in such a routine and mundane environment was kind of fun. At least you knew you weren't alone… like you had felt before you died.
No pillow, no shampoo, no candies, and no yoghurt, but you weren't alone.
Someone knocked softly on your door.
"Come in."
"Sorry to bother you…" It was Baby, with his hands hidden behind his back. "But I wanted to thank you for joining us in the human world, and for the plan and everything… And for teaching us how to use the microwave, and…"
"Baby," you interrupted with a smile. You thought it was adorable when he rambled on just because he wasn't quite sure how to put what he wanted to say into words. "Did you want something?"
"I've written something," he said then. It caught you a little off guard. It had been a while since he'd written anything, or at least since he'd told you… You figured with all the debut stuff, rehearsals and everything, he wouldn't have had time. "And I'd like your opinion."
He had his notebook hidden behind his back. He took a couple of steps towards you, as if hesitating, until he finally decided to stretch out his arm and hand it to you. Your fingers brushed against each other when you took it, and something you couldn't quite identify crossed his gaze in that brief moment.
Surely it was just your imagination.
Too much caffeine.
You opened the notebook and turned the pages to the end, to the last thing he had written. As you turned the pages, you were surprised to see that there were many pages full of scribbles and smudges.
"I've been having trouble finding inspiration," he admitted, looking down.
"That's okay," you said with a smile, trying to make him feel better. "Do you want to stay here with me while I read it?"
He nodded with a small smile and finished entering your room. As you sat down in the chair next to the desk, he flopped down on the bed. He just sat there, and as you began to read and sink into the magic of his words, he decided to look around your room.
You had hung one of the Soda Pop posters you had just printed on the wall above your desk, and you had placed a lion stuffed animal on your bed that Byeol didn't know where you had gotten. Your desk was covered with papers, and the bin was full of candy wrappers, your addiction when you lacked inspiration. There were traces of you here and there: a pair of jeans crumpled up on the floor, a pair of trainers in the corner, a calendar full of scribbles hanging behind the door… The most notable thing there was a note, marking two days later, underlined with brightly coloured markers that read ‘DEBUT’, surrounded by little stars.
Then he focused all his attention on you.
You were slightly hunched over (even though he had told you hundreds of times not to) over his notebook, lost in the story, unable to notice the soft smile on his face as he gazed at you without you realising.
He thought it was adorable how you imitated the expressions of the characters in the story, as if that helped you embody it better, and how your eyes sparkled when you read something you liked. Heck, he even liked it when you frowned because you found a mistake. At first, when you met, he thought you were an interesting person, a clear contradiction to everything Jinu had told him about you.
You were talkative, but you also knew how to listen, and you weren't afraid to give your opinion. When you read his writings in hell, you used to drum your claws on your legs, lost in the reading.
How would it feel to hold your hand and intertwine his fingers with yours?
He didn't want to do it romantically, of course not… just as friends. That's right, intertwining your fingers like friends. And caressing your face, running a finger across your lips (for scientific reasons: he just wanted to know if they were as soft as they looked).
"Wow…" you started to say as soon as you finished reading. Your eyes were slightly glinting with tears. You were… excited. "It's… beautiful, Byeol. It's the most beautiful thing I've read in years." You closed the notebook slowly, carefully. You got up from the chair and sat down on the bed next to him, and gave him back the notebook.
"Thank you… Actually, it's kind of strange. It's been a long time since I've been able to find something new that motivates me to write. But everything here is so different compared to down there… It's colourful and alive, you know?"
That's it!
That was exactly what you wanted them to learn about the human world. How beautiful it was. Now you just had to allow him to gradually redeem himself and realise that all was not lost, that he was not alone, that he could have a second chance, and most importantly, that he could regain his soul.
You felt his hand on your leg, trying to get your attention. You turned your face towards him, and found him staring absorbedly into your eyes. You were closer than you should have been, but for some reason, it didn't bother either of you. You trusted him. And he felt drawn to you.
What he had told you was a lie, though. It was true that he had gone through a creative block, but it wasn't exactly travelling to the human world that brought back his inspiration: it was you. You teaching them how to live there, being patient when they did something wrong even though you had explained it many times, you getting angry when they took your things without permission, or when they tried to snoop on what you were reading on your mobile phone.
He tried to deny it, but it was getting harder and harder. Being around you felt soothing; in fact, it felt too good to be true. He didn't want to get too close, because he knew that if he let his guard down, something bad would happen. It had been that way for as long as he could remember.
Besides, what he felt was surely just curiosity, right? It had been a long time since someone so interesting had come into his life. Someone who made him see the reality he was living with new eyes.
Because of you, he was going to call himself "Baby," for goodness' sake.
But at the same time, he was aware that whatever he felt, you were too much. Too good, too cheerful, too… too bright for the shell he had become in the underworld. Haunted by the shame of his past decisions, the decisions that had led him to become just another servant of Gwi-ma.
He had literally sold his soul to the devil.
He was unable to see that, technically, so had you.
Why had you sold your soul to Gwi-ma? How bad had your life been to reach that point?
Someone knocked on the door, and you both jumped. You stood up instinctively, moving away from him.
"Come in," you said after clearing your throat.
Why did Byeol's eyes have to be so beautiful? Shit.
Why did he have to look at you like that after writing something like that?
Why was your heart beating so erratically?
"It's me," said Jinu, opening the door just enough to stick his head in. "I need help. Abby has discovered that Alexa can fart, and he's drinking all the soda in the flat so he can do the backing vocals burping."
"Oh, shit…" Baby slapped his forehead with his hand. "I knew getting that junk was a mistake."
You had already run out to the living room, pushing Jinu aside so you could get to Abby, who was gulping down soda like a pelican while Romance cheered him on, "Chug, chug, chug!"
Indeed, it was turning out to be a horrible day.
The quickest solution was to disconnect the artificial intelligence (forever) and put a lock on the fridge. And explaining to Abby what kidney stones were.
Baby had been on your tail, your moment of intimacy buried in his mind. There were two days left before their first public appearance, and he couldn't be distracted. None of them could.
Being in the human world was fun, yes, and learning everything they were learning (how useful Google was, for example) was incredible. But he had to focus on the fact that all of this, the adventures, living with the boys (and with you), was temporary. He couldn't stray from his goal: defeating the hunters. Giving Gwi-ma a real feast.
So why couldn't he forget the way you looked into his eyes, or the way you said his name?
But while you were solving the soda problem and Byeol was lost in his thoughts, Jinu had entered your room. Without permission.
Oh, how hard you would hit him in the face if you found out…
But you weren't there. You were busy helping Abby with his stomach ache from drinking two litres of soda in one go without stopping to breathe.
Jinu felt miserable. Partly because of everything he had done and regretted (which Gwi-ma reminded him of all the time to keep him in check), and partly because he felt he was still making bad decisions. He was still selfish. He was still… a monster.
Why had he wanted to yell at you when he saw Byeol sitting on your bed?
Why wasn't he the one sitting on your bed?
He let out a sigh.
He didn't understand why you attracted him so much. He didn't understand what you did to exasperate him all the time, but at the same time keep him close to you. Why did you have to be everything he wasn't?
He walked over to your desk, which was covered in papers and completely messy. There were recipes, song lyrics, and even a poem.
Then he realised you had left your notebook there when you left in such a hurry, buried in your mess.
You never, ever forgot that notebook. It was like your second heart or your third lung. You kept it like gold dust and never let any of them look at it.
Unconsciously, Jinu traced the cover, and before he knew it, he had it open in his hands, slowly turning the pages.
And heavens!
Of all the things he could have imagined you hiding in that notebook, he never imagined what he found.
There were not only song lyrics, ideas and concepts for the band, and even notes on how to lead them to the top.
There were also drawings. Portraits.
Jinu didn't know you were such a good artist. But then, he couldn't have known, since you never talked to him about anything personal or unrelated to the plan or the boys.
And most of those portraits were of them. Of the five boys who lived with you.
Jinu was surprised to see them, yes. But above all, he was surprised to find portraits of himself.
Did that mean you didn't hate him?
There were a few...
In one portrait, he was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper, lost in thought.
When had you painted that? You had only just moved in…
And in another, this one just of his face, he appeared in his demon form, with his patterns across his face… but with a sweet look, smiling and showing his fangs.
He ran his fingers carefully over the image.
Then, he heard a noise in the hallway.
He had to leave, and fast.
He tried to leave the notebook as he had found it, and with his heart pounding against his ribs, he remembered that he was actually a demon and could teleport. And that's what he did.
To avoid you.
Because now, if he found himself face to face with you, he didn't know what he would do. Or what he couldn't help doing.
But he did know that if you caught him rummaging through your room, you would smash his face in.
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Ch. 4
A/N: so! what a ride, huh? Some Baby time here! And kind of Jinu time too, if you squint your eyes a little... I know some of you want Jinu out of the game BUT I really want to get him the opportunity! Keep in mind that the idea of this story is that a new character can change drastically the plot... and the relationships of it! This means that also the plot may change... hehehehe
Btw next chapter is nearly finished and... I'm sorry to say that it's kind of a filler! But a fanservice one! Can't wait to post it hehe.
Again, thank you for reading. All of your words of support and love mean a lot to me and help me to write a lot (it's puuuure motivation!). Your likes, reblogs and comments help me a lot to write faster (kind of... ) ღゝ◡╹ )ノ♡
