❁tagline: She's a flower, and he's a butterfly. She's learning to fly, and he's trying to see what life is like when one feels grounded - stable.
❁genre: strangers to lovers, coming-of-age, romance, fluff, smut, angst, cross-posted on Wattpad and ao3
❁current wc: 484.58k+
❁date: 30/03/2024
❁notes: strangers-to-lovers, lots of fluff, smut, a lil angst, taehyung is head over heels for oc, nature lovers (oc loves flowers, taehyung loves butterflies), countryside (looks like Italy because that is the only type of countryside I know and love), oc has a lovely family, taehyung has daddy issues, jimin and jungkook are taehyung's besties (they also have other two girls as best friends); oc has a girl best friend (childhood best friend) and three boys as best friends); oc is so fucking prettyyy, like girl pretty; cross-posted on wattpad and ao3
❁chapters (status - ongoing) ⇀ updates on Fridays, midnight
latest — 12/06
❁pinterest board // main m.list // moodboards & worldbuilding // comment to be added to the TAGLIST❁
❀ ❛intro + tws + a/n❜
meet the cast and take a stroll through the spaces
❀ ❛prologue❜ - 1.57k
Rewriting the story of Daphne and Apollo
⇀ «A love that drives me crazy, a lovely crazy, a sexy crazy, an amazing crazy»
❀ 01 ❛love is all around❜ - 4.47k
On a chilly summer morning, a bouncy curly-haired sun rose up and shone above the flower
❀ 02 ❛ying yang❜ - 4.32k
Photosynthesis: the sun shines bright above the flower providing it with energy which will be transformed into nutrients
❀ 03 ❛the exploratory stage❜ - 5.56k
As the sun shines in its might, it brightens the way for a little flower to see over the horizon
❀ 04 ❛just like old times❜ - 6.72k
The bright rays of the sun show the way to the flower, introducing it to an innocent little bear, a ferret and a little wasp
❀ 05 ❛a monarch butterfly❜ - 4.16k
There, going back home, was an unusual combination of subjects: a cricket, a wing-man, a monarch butterfly, a little pika and a puppy
❀ 06 ❛venus❜ - 4.86k
Who could have ever thought that a flower could grow in space? Who? No one surely and yet... there it was, standing upright in its beauty
❀ 07 ❛a laurel❜ - 4.92k
He knew he wasn't meant to fly to space because he physically couldn't but this thought wouldn't stop him. Was he being pretentious? Trying to exceed his limits?
❀ 08 ❛fuck you!❜ - 6.10k
Normally, flowers are in people's gardens or on a bed of green grass so... what the hell is one singular one doing in the middle of the ocean. Does it know, does anyone know, that too much water will cause it harm... especially when the water is salty?
❀ 09 ❛en route❜ - 5.07k
With its six tiny feet into proper boots, a good protective shield over his wings and an astronaut helmet on, the monarch butterfly embarks on a life-threatening journey, one believed to be a one-way ticket travel
❀ 10 ❛who we are, what we do❜ - 6.01k
Flowers don't have eyes, yeah, and neither does a pika glow even during the day. The flower is used to seeing only the sun shine during the day. The little pika walking by is unusual.
Cleopatra is the modern definition of the term "femme fatale"; she's known for ruling in ancient Egypt but also for her relationship with Ceaser and Mark Antony
❀ 12 ❛the butterfly, the cricket and the wing-man❜ - 4.49k
A butterfly, a cricket and a wing-man all have wings somewhat. The first does fly, the second mostly leaps and the last doesn't fly unless the first two do.
❀ 13 ❛the Titanic❜ - 7.31k
Between the night of the 14th and the 15th, in 1912, one of the biggest ships of its time sank, going against the expectations but did it? At the time, there was a little competition between countries so when it sank it wasn't so surprising: something so big with very few resources would have never made it across the ocean.
❀ 14 ❛from five to ten❜ - 11.44k
Brighten the mood. Increase the energy. Make a downturned flower rise high and flunt its beautiful petals for others to see.
❀ 15 ❛bold, red and underlined❜ - 14.70k
“You know? That party I wanted to host at mine? You’re so invited. In fact, you’re the first one on my guest list and I’ll underline your name in red as in ‘in great and urgent need of pussy’—”
❀ 16 ❛«it's Daphne»❜ - 11.30k
A monarch butterfly sees a lot of flowers in its short span of life but never has this one, nor its ancestors, seen a flower as pretty as the one ahead. The flower was there, living beautifully in space.
❀ 17 ❛hesperiidae❜ - 6.41k
Right when the sun faded away and the dark clouds took over, the little butterfly's wings fluttered less as it lost hope until something caught his eye, a gleam slicing through the gloom and focusing on a flower.
❀ 18❛opposites attract❜ - 5.59k
Winter and the Wind of the West come to destroy but nothing can touch a flower when it's under a shelter, something that will prevent it from dying in the cold or losing its beautiful petals.
❀ 19 ❛peek-a-boo (boo boo)❜ - 5.66k
Things have been too unusual for this butterfly. Wasn't it trying to embark on an impossible journey? To space? How did it end up in a shiny sea? it's floating and his pupils are swelling. The beauty is indeed out of this world
❀ 20 ❛lifejacket❜ - 6.97k
The wings grew with each flutter. There was a glowing dot on the ocean and it was slowly fading out into the darkness so the butterfly cradled it and protected the leur
❀ 21 ❛monarch and blue morpho butterflies❜ - 4.13k
The weather was chilly and slightly windy. Despite the discomfort it caused everyone, the flower stood out like a thumb as it danced and waved with the soft patterns of the breeze. The butterfly couldn't do anything other than admire with widened orbs
❀ 22 ❛rosy cheeks❜ - 3.91k
Did it see it? Did the flower see the butterfly? Because the butterfly has already seen the flower. Had already memorised every curve, every line, and every dot that brought the flower to life.
❀ 23 ❛caramel macchiato❜ - 4.23k
There was no way he could ever get lost: one look at those eyes and he'd see all the constellations, the map leading him to Venus
❀ 24 ❛butterflies, flowers... and butterflies❜ - 6.03k
«I mean, it's also an evergreen plant like the Laurel but it doesn't sound as special. Lauri does though.»
❀ 25 ❛bittersweet❜ - 4.10k
There were seven lanes, each welcoming an athlete, for a total of seven athletes. Yet, as the contestants got ready for the lace, some chose to acknowledge the presence of only a few athletes, the ones they were marking. Their true competition.
❀ 26 ❛open stage❜ - 9.78k
Floating and hovering around his spaceship, the butterfly moved closer to the round window giving to the dark glittered expanse. There was Venus and standing proudly in its infinite beauty was the flower.
❀ 27 ❛approach, round out, flare❜ - 8.08k
Poor Cinderella. She cried and cried. Then a small woman appeared in a cloud. It was Cinderella’s fairy godmother. “Biddidi, bobbidi, noo!” sang the fairy godmother as she waved her magic wand, but she gasped, hand coming to cover her mouth in bewilderment. Cinderella had turned into a tomato!
❀ 28 ❛a lighthouse❜ - 6.47k
Water flowed through the clothes, the hair strands, and around the body as the flower held onto a wide piece of wood. The water was chilling, the night was silent, and the ambience was dark, but right through the blackness slid the rotating rays of a lighthouse. Blinking to adapt to the brightness, the flower called for help.
❀ 29 ❛sus or sos?❜ - 7.12k
The rotating and flashing lighthouse lights shone upon a cricket, which floated barely a foot away from the flower. Yet, as the butterfly came to rescue, it didn’t see it, leaving the cricket trying to swim for its life, screaming and choking on water.
❀ 30 ❛a coup d'état❜ - 5.95k
Standing on a tower, two neurons patrolled the area, binoculars to their eyes. Suddenly, they sighted something. They squinted their eyes despite the instrument in their hands and tried to make sense of what they saw. "Hey, send in the alarm. Prepare the defensive barrier. Do something. Hurry up!" As this one darted away, the other remained still, binoculars back to its eyes. Confusion bubbled in its head. What had happened for the heart to be heading towards the body's headquarters? And what was that army of hormones behind it?
❀ 31 ❛the sun on the horizon❜ - 10.75k
The butterfly had finally found the flower. After travelling across space, it landed on Venus, where a singular ethereal natural being stood erect in its almighty beauty. After the coup d’etat, the heart realised that the situation was bigger than expected. The heat rose up to every part of the body. Butterflies increased and with that the flutters of their wings, which fanned the fire, expanding instead of quenching it. Infatuation at its peak.
❀ 32 ❛the lily family❜ - 7.09k
A new member of the Liliaceae.
“You like butterflies, and she’s named after a flower.”
❀ 33 ❛twinkle, twinkle little star!❜ - 12.75k
1905. Annus mirabilis. Three important elements: Einstein, the relativity of time, Planck, quantum mechanics, and Quantum entanglement.
❀ 34 ❛on the highway to Forever❜ - 11.76k
Livin' easy, lovin' free. No stop signs, speed limit. Hey, mumma, look at me.
I'm on the way to the promised land.
❀ 35 ❛collywobbles❜ - 11.57k
Collywobbles: queasiness, intense nervousness… or butterflies in the stomach.
❀ 36 ❛the Daphne odora❜ - 7.65k
A pure white bed. Snow. Then a bundle of grace. Pink petals gathered into a flower. Green leaves held the masterpiece, all in a pure white bed of snow.
❀ 37 ❛«Uno, nessuno, centomila» Love❜ - 18k
Love has many faces, many identities. It depends on the situation, the receiver and the giver. It’s similar to Pirandello’s theory of masks. Eros, Storge, Philia, but no Philautia. Romantic and passionate love, familial love, goodwill and platonic love, but no self-love… yet.
❀ 38 ❛the casus belli❜ - 21.43k
Goddess, sing the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes to the Achaeans and sent the souls of many brave heroes to Hades, their bodies made into a feast for dogs and crows, all to carry out the unfathomable will of Zeus.
❀ 39 ❛panem❜ - 8.73k
The name "Panem" derives from the Latin phrase Panem et circenses, which translates into "bread and circuses". This phrase describes entertainment used to distract the public's attention from more important matters.
❀ 40 ❛et circenses❜ - 19.79k
The name "Panem" derives from the Latin phrase Panem et circenses, which translates into "bread and circuses". This phrase describes entertainment used to distract the public's attention from more important matters.
❀ 41 ❛the Lucia to his Renzo❜ - 16.26k
She was a humble girl whose simplicity was combined with a modest and reserved nature. He was a good-natured boy with strength of affection but a fiery temperament, prone to sudden outbursts and rebellions. She, on the other hand, carrying herself unobtrusively with a discreet yet calm beauty, had a cathartic effect on him, calming him and halting his vengeful thoughts.
❀ 42 ❛house of cards❜ - 16.73k
As time passes, it only breaks more. Right now, everything in front of my eyes except for you is pitch black, darkness for me. But as long as I’m with you in the end, I’m okay.
❀ 43 ❛like in 1989❜ - 19.9k
“I felt one ought not only hear about them but see them because you see the joy on people's faces and you see what freedom means to them; it makes you realise that you cannot stifle or suppress people's desire for liberty, and so I watched with the same joy as everyone else.” - Margaret Thatcher, 1989
❀ 44 ❛like in 1961❜ - 14.07k
"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe." - Winston Churchill, 1946
❀ 45 ❛like in 1939❜ - 15k
It was like a pact: don’t attack me, and I won’t attack you—no aggression. But it doesn’t mean I can’t attack someone else or that someone else can’t attack me. Are we clear? Or not?
❀ 46 ❛like in the 1920s❜ - 24.5k
It’s a very familiar feeling, the one that settles within you when a moment is feeling too good, the type that leaves a tingly feeling on your tongue, uncomfortable, irritating. It’s a reminder that everything will eventually come to an end. The same happens when you know that, to every good in the world, there is a bad counterpart.
❀ 47 ❛like in 1945❜ - 12.85k
At the fall of one system begins the rise of another, one that is yet to be deemed bad or good, just ‘better’ than the previous one, or so everyone believes. What matters is how long it’d take for anyone to tell if it is good, bad from the get-go or bad in the long run.
❀ 48 ❛a falling hyperbola❜ - 17.3k
When T is high, and V is low, P has to shoot up.
As the volume increases, the pressure rises—claustrophobic energy even.
❀ 49 ❛sympathy❜ - 5.8k
A leotard, tights and a romantic tutu, fluttering with every movement, spreading as the leg rose high, blooming like a lotus flower. Another leotard, tights, and a ballet tank top, stretching to follow every ridge of the body, every flinch of the muscle. They both wore ballet shoes, ribbons tied around the ankles, shanks dirty from long wear, and vamps stained with blood from swaying to a deadly dance.
❀ 50 ❛I love you so❜ - 17.7k
Burn it to the point you burn your hands, crossing the unknown boundaries and spread it out to the end. It's quite beautiful on a free day. As long as it burns, I can't stop my desire
❀ 51 ❛Toothless & Toothpaste❜ - 16.3k
The flower did see the butterfly. The flower always saw the butterfly. It stood tall and idle in the field of grass, spending its day waving in the wind, so how could it not see the butterfly? He was looking right at her: the butterfly was looking at the flower.
❀ 52 ❛the bermuda triangle❜ - 8.17k
Those weren't stars. Looked like it, but it wasn't the case. The distance, the safety gap, makes everything deformed, void of shape and definition, almost safe in a way. It disguises the mistakes, hides, blurs, and keeps them in the back of your mind. You can't see through my skull, but certainly through my eyes. But the gap has to close, and I don't want that.
mdi // index // playlist // moodboard chp.52 // main masterlist // taglist
zy's corner. Okayyyyy, let's start right away because this chapter is actually juicyyy.
First section...oh my god! Adrielle and Taehyung's friendship has clearly changed since he's gotten with Daphne, and whether it's for the better or worse depends on your standpoint.
Both characters have clear justifications behind each word they utter and action they take.
Focusing on Adrielle, from an objective point of view, she's clearly jealous because she'd give anything to be in Daphne's shoes and on the receiving end of that specific set of affection from Taehyung (the non-platonic type).
But when we get inside her head, things aren't that simple.
Yes, she's jealous, but she'll never label all those emotions under that name because it feels scary and also scarring to the ego, because with jealousy comes a level of envy that she also wishes Daphne has for her, meaning that she still wants to come off as threatening to Daphne.
This ties back to chapter 42, when she decided to fuck up the plan she'd made with Jimin and go over to Taehyung's by herself, especially when Daphne was the one who opened up for her.
So she's living in a limbo stage where one moment she's wishing to be Daphne, and the next she's wishing Daphne would want to be her.
Secondly, there's a level of desperation that she also refuses to address, and that's tied to how she now behaves around Taehyung, since his new relationship is clearly different from the other ones he's been in.
Because he clearly doesn't like her back, at least not like she'd want him to, she needs to grip onto slim threads, onto that little that can remain between them without wording it.
Let me explain better.
Since he won't be romantic with her, which is clearly what she dreams of, she has to settle for less, which is the platonic and friendly side of Taehyung, rid of anything and everything he displays with Daphne.
And because of this, in this first section, his cold and sharp tone hurts more than it normally would, especially considering that they'd spent most of their winter break ignoring each other after they'd fought.
Now, this has always been a part of Adrielle because Taehyung always was in some kind of romantic relationship with someone, and therefore, she always was just a friend in his eyes.
Also, remember that she's still in that crushing stage where, as soon as Taehyung steps into the room, everything she does is for him, as if he's monitoring her and she has to impress him. Essentially, how you behave when you see your crush walk down the hallway in school. She experiences that kind of exilarating distress but when you pair it with the hurt of seeing him with someone else, it's rather she tries to sabotage the relationship (which she mostly likely wouldn't because she's too scared to come off as jealous and also scared of his rejection) or she fantasises of being in one with him, the same way she did during that school conference in chapter 49.
Since she's scared to let her jealousy slip through the cracks, she settles for the friendship, the one and only way she knows she'll always remain in his orbit and still have a little bit of importance in his eyes.
Again, going back to his birthday, her crashing the plan and hoping to meet Taehyung alone in his house was because she was reaching out for that special friendship, that connection they shared and which is her only source of affirmation.
When they fight, this connection feels severed in her mind because now he doesn't have a reason to speak to her, and since the connection is built solely on platonic feelings, he probably won't be as worried as he'd be if they were actually dating and he had romantic feelings for her.
If you remember, in chapter 45, I added a flashback to their New Year's Eve gala, and she didn't really hold back from showing how much she disliked his constant remarks about having to talk to Daphne and make peace with her.
That just strengthened her conviction that having romantic feelings almost excuses everything, is a reason he certainly runs back to her and never allows the connection to be severed.
In this section, paired with all the stress and the apparent disregard from her friends, Daphne's indirect intrusion still is bothersome, specifically because it's her, his girlfriend, Taehyung's girlfriend, a role Adrielle dreams of occupying.
We can compare her reaction with how she handled Jimin's attention to his phone and his cousin's social media updates. She wasn't as distressed.
Now, you could say 'Oh, Taehyung's just added to it because it happened later', but you could also firmly state that had the interruption come from someone else, Adrielle wouldn't have intervened with as much firmness as she eventually did.
Now, we move to Taehyung's perspective. Objectively, it seems like his reaction was exaggerated, going from 0 to 100 in a split second, but we are also in Adrielle's mind as she tries to come up with a reason that isn't entirely tied to his possible dislike of her regard.
So his reactions are completely open to interpretation and can vary from person to person. Just put yourself in his shoes and imagine how you'd react if a friend of yours shunned you as sternly as Adrielle shunned Taehyung.
Before moving to the scene I posted in the teaser, we have to talk about Malakai.
Now, it's clear as day that Adrielle isn't interested in him, at least not as much as she is in Taehyung, and this is clearly a reason why she shouldn't entertain the boy any longer.
But we have context around her character, and therefore, we can't take things at face value.
Just as it had been during the sleepover, Malakai works as an escape from Adrielle's everyday life. In chapter 49, she describes Malakai as a control, not in a creepy way, but in a grounding sense, something more reassuring, the person she can run to when everything else falls and she loses control.
It sounds almost romantic, but we've seen how it really is with them, and she's basically just using him the same way you take aspirin when you have a headache.
But focusing on Malakai as a character, I'm not going to spoil it yet, but there are a few things about him that I want y'all to notice on your own first, and later I'll break them down, or else you'll simply predict how the story goes.
In this chapter, he's seen as pushy and annoying by Adrielle's friends for reasons tied not just to the present but also to past events.
I always describe most of the characters within the confines of school because they are high schoolers, so in that lens, Malakai is similar to Valerie (Daphne's classmate and class president), meaning that they play the part of the annoying teacher, but since they're students, they seem like try-hards and people who correct you at any given chance even when it's clearly not needed and just a way to impress others.
This is the impression he left on Adrielle's friends, and therefore, they don't really fuck with him, and if y'all didn't notice, back during the stay at Taehyung's cabin, when he came over, he wasn't welcomed as warmly as Daphne and her friends, despite being someone they work with, since he's also the representative in his own school (the same one that collabed with Daphne's to host the winter prom).
Now, we can move on to the kitchen scene and dissect the whole gossip session between Jungkook and Avyanna.
Through their jokes and slightly backhanded compliments, we get a lot of insight and bits of truth regarding their personalities and their past.
One thing I want y'all to realise is that, in a sense, Avyanna and Cleo are two faces of the same coin, despite seemingly competing for the same man.
Avyanna, though, tries to embody the epitome of TV teen drama, seemingly using the layer of immaturity that comes with her age as an excuse for everything she says and does. And this is why some of her remarks sound like hate in disguise, because truly, her boldness cannot always be appreciated
She and Jungkook are also very similar because they don't like labels, don't like restrictions and want to live a carefree life, which they can do very easily given their wealthy origins. But this logic they follow is one only their close friends understand, and that is something that Jungkook will also mention as they talk about Avyanna's developing relationship with James.
We'll focus on Cleo in the next chapter, so don't worry.
But we also have frequent mentions of Willow throughout the chapter, and about her, I'm still not going to say anything because her character might be invisible right now, but her influence is heavy and hard to delete. She came in and out like a fucking storm, and that leaves traces.
I feel like the last sections of the chapter will be memorable without me having to mention it because of what happens and what some characters say, but I'm still going to remind you to remember specifically the last section, because future events will take place exactly because of it and what happened.
That should be all for this one. The next chapter will contain just as much drama, although since the focus will be on Daphne's friend group, the drama will never be on the same level as Taehyung's friend group, which is essentially a gathering of rich teenagers with little to no parental guidance, a lot of free time and money at their reach.
Keep that in mind, and see y'all on the next one. Bye<3.
─zy<3
─Now playing: Crush by Jennifer Paige ✫
Staying in Adrielle's house in winter felt like living in a bubble. The windows were lined by white rims, almost simulating a cage. But it did everything but imprison.
The dining room floor was covered in wide, square tiles, beige in colour and with dark stains meant to resemble marble.
The vaulted wooden ceiling above their heads was clad in honey-coloured timber planks, and the dark beams helped separate rooms where walls were missing.
The interior was almost soft, warmer in winter for some reason. Could blame it simply on the colour scheme, or the fireplace sitting at the heart of the room in front of the dining area, like a throne.
At the centre of the room was the rectangular wooden dining table surrounded by eight upholstered chairs with curved backs.
The usual floral arrangements and vases were set aside for books and electronic devices.
Adrielle could hear Avyanna and Jungkook rustling around in the kitchen, doing only God-knows-what. Giséle and Yvette had cleaned everywhere, and she hated imagining her friends messing everything up—one thing was when they were children, a whole other thing was now that they were of age.
Taehyung was sitting by her right, and Jimin by her left, along the shorter side of the table.
He barely had any books in front of him, just electronic devices: his iPad and his MacBook.
The goal for the day was to work on the school clubs, sort them out before February and come up with a concise announcement to post the following day—on Monday.
But as of right now, she and Taehyung were the only ones focused on the task: Jungkook and Avyanna offered to prepare snacks even though they'd arrived not even half an hour ago, and Jimin was sorting out his agenda and creating a study planner that would help him survive the next five months of school and eventually graduate.
Right next to her own iPad, Adrielle had opened her diary to the page where, back in September, she'd listed the clubs she intended to launch once they won the elections.
"Anna is yet to tell me how shit's going with the cheerleading team."
She'd mumbled mostly to herself, but Taehyung was close enough to catch the words. He'd crossed both his legs on the chair, and she could tell from the slouched angle of his back that he was tethering closer to that silent madness that comes with boredom.
He didn't reply to her words, at least not verbally. He did tilt his head very briefly, which meant he was agreeing with her, understanding her frustration. But that was where it stopped.
Adrielle didn't know if Jimin had heard her words or not. She hoped not, because he resumed his chain of laments anyway.
"I mean, I'm excited to finally graduate high school, but does it have to come with a can of worms this big?"
He tapped on his MacBook, waking up the screen to browse. Adrielle could only try guessing what he was looking at, but she strongly believed it was their official timetable.
But clearly, she didn't spend even a split second thinking about his activity because they had a collective one to be focusing on, yet she was the only one complying.
The first idea she'd written on her agenda after cheerleading was 'book club'. Many schools had it, theirs did too for a very short span of time, but she was bent on succeeding.
"So about the book—"
"Ugh, every day I miss Chelly more," Jimin whined. Maybe three seconds had passed from when Adrielle last glanced in his direction, yet they had been enough for him to forget his laptop and return to his phone.
She frowned, confused, and leaned closer. Looking down at the device he'd just scooted closer to her, she saw that he'd been scrolling on Instagram, and his cousin had posted a new story of her private account.
He continued. "This year's winter break came and went away in a flash, what the fuck?"
Shaking his head, he returned the phone under his nose and continued scrolling. Yes, it was Chelsea. Yes, they were cousins. Yes, they were basically biological best friends, and yes, Chelsea was also a friend to Adrielle—in fact, a better friend to her than Avyanna ever could—but at the moment, all she could think of was Jimin's complete disregard for the task at hand.
He continued, utterly oblivious to the holes she was metaphorically searing into his skull. Adrielle just watched in shock as he tapped on the screen of his phone a couple more times before turning it off to switch to his Mac.
Again, complete disregard.
While the laptop came to life, he turned his iPad on, inserting the pin code to show the blank page he'd opened on Good Notes. A couple more taps, and he'd turned it into a makeshift calendar.
He really was setting up his study schedule, and clearly, nothing could stop him, not even a meeting they'd planned before winter break came to an end.
She turned to see if Taehyung shared the same type of bewilderment, but this time, her jaw did drop. Not dramatically, not drastically, not in a way that you could see. You could just tell that her flabbers had been gasted at least a little bit.
Taehyung was also on his phone. He was yet to unlock it, but given the proximity, she could see and read exactly what he was doing.
Daphiee_ had just sent him a snap.
She checked the time. Three-forty-six in the afternoon. Sunday.
She wasn't stupid enough to believe that just because they'd gone on a date the previous day, they wouldn't communicate until Monday. In fact, she could actually swear that they probably went even later to bed because their good night texts got lost in a conversation.
She knew all this, had it as context, premise, a prologue.
But he also had reasons he couldn't open the snap. He was technically at work, on duty as one of the representatives at their school.
His finger moved almost on its own accord, tapping on the notification and waiting for the face recognition system to unlock the phone without him doing anything else.
The lock screen rolled up, and the app quickly loaded the picture.
She couldn't really read the caption, but the length meant that Daphne wasn't just wishing him a good afternoon. The picture itself was communicating on its own: it was a close-up of her lips, gathered in a pout while her finger pulled on the corners.
His chuckle was very soft, faint even, inaudible when placed next to Jimin's relentless sighs of frustration.
Again, he tapped on the screen, and the hand that he'd been using as a support for his head moved to hold the phone so he could type a reply.
Yes, she was jealous, infinitely so. But she was yet to admit it with that word, despite having experienced every emotion adjacent to it. Because one thing was knowing it herself, another was letting others catch on, and the sleepover at his cabin, Avyanna's words and Jungkook's doubtful questions meant that her act was starting to slack—a huge red flag.
"Can you not?" she asked, the question falling off her lips faster than her brain could process the words.
As if he'd been awakened from a slumber, he looked up at her, eyebrow raised and a short hum requesting her to repeat the question.
"I said," she insisted, hanging tightly onto this one excuse to rally against his relationship, "can you not?"
His eyebrow moved again. This time, it wasn't for curiosity, but rather confusion, the kind that also had an underlying hint of annoyance.
"Pardon?" He replied, and it wasn't out of politeness because he hadn't heard her. He did, loud and clear. The tone of her voice just felt like a slow pull on the hair on his arms, one that you don't feel yet is storing pain for you—annoyance, a test on your patience.
"I said—"
"I heard what you said. This won't take even twenty seconds."
There it was, the voice he had as soon as someone stepped on his toes at the right angle and with the right pressure.
Adrielle hated that voice. She liked—loved—his naturally deep tone, but when she could catch the hints of annoyance, tsks and sarcastic chuckles lying underneath like whispers, her skin would feel like prickling, and not because she was also put off by his attitude, no. She just never wanted to hear that tone used against her.
She didn't insist, not only to avoid an unnecessary escalation, but also because she wanted to remain on good terms with him. Now that he was dating Daphne, fighting felt scarier, as if he was slamming the door on her and locking it to prevent her from coming back.
But he also hadn't spared her an extra second, turning to his phone again to finish typing before placing it back down.
"See?" He looked at her, and she thinned her lips, internally recoiling at the tone. "Didn't take even fifteen seconds—"
"Yeah, okay. I get it. I just—"
It wouldn't be the first time she'd been faced with such an attitude by all her friends, really. She couldn't help it, but her voice would occasionally morph into that of a mother, of someone who believes they know it all, and she doesn't, but she could imagine how it'd sound to them.
But one thing was Jungkook, Avyanna, Nathan, Chelsea or Jimin. A whole other thing was Taehyung.
"I just feel like I'm the only one who cares about this—"
"No, you're not. We've decided what clubs we want to launch, and now we're waiting for the students to come over. You're just stressing over nothing, because that's what you do."
She slowly started nodding, not in agreement, but rather in defeat, one stemmed from shock at his words and tone, because why did he sound so on edge?
"Okay, what's going on?"
Somewhere in between, Jimin had noticed their interaction and listened enough to know how both felt but not why.
"Nothing serious," Taehyung began first.
Nothing serious? Didn't sound like it. Hadn't Adrielle watched him chuckle at a snap from his girlfriend, she'd be thinking that he had issues with Daphne and was irritable because of that.
"Elle is just a little nervous as always."
She didn't smile. That wasn't a smile. It was brief, incredibly so, and didn't reach her eyes. It was the kind that looked like resignation more than joy, the kind that comes when you accept defeat in a fight you're too tired to get back up for.
Wasn't he attacking her just moments ago? How could he just downplay everything right now? Or was she being dramatic and still couldn't understand him after all these years? Who else could if not her?
─Now playing: Everybody Hates Me by The Japanese House ✫
"Yeah, Ellie. Saw you glaring at me the whole time. You've gotta chill—"
"Yeah, chill!" Jungkook's loud voice entered the dining area with him. Tailing behind was Avyanna with a glass of drink in her hand. From the colour and knowing her as a person, Adrielle could swear it was alcoholic. On a Sunday? Really?
Jungkook didn't hold any kind of malice in his voice, and neither did Jimin. Taehyung's was similar, as if he'd come down from the previous annoyance.
Maybe she'd truly been too nervous the whole time. Or maybe he'd caught the sharpness in her tone when she'd told him off, a glimpse at the true reason she even spoke up in the first place.
Or maybe he was just a teenager who didn't like having others order him around like a child.
Could be one of them, two, or all of the above.
"I mean…" She began with a soft chuckle, not because she wanted to sound kind—the softness still held traces of the previous resignation. "You guys ain't really helping out on that part. It literally feels like I'm the only one who cares."
"I mean…" Avyanna snorted. "You might be—"
"Okay, okay, let's not go there," Taehyung spoke up in her defence.
Avyanna laughed out loud, sitting across from her friend. "I'm just kidding. I love my role as the chief cheerleader."
Jimin heavily sighed, rolling his eyes, before turning to Adrielle with a look that meant she shouldn't take Avyanna's words to heart.
She wouldn't, hadn't she been thinking about the same thing the whole time, fearing it.
"Are you saying that just because I was the one to propose the idea or—"
"Elle—" Taehyung tried butting in, but Jungkook interrupted him.
"Ellie, you still take to heart what this bitchy girl says—"
"Hey!" Avyanna whined, looking for something to throw his way so that stupid smirk would leave his face.
"I'm serious. Ignore her. She deserves it." He concluded, walking around the table to sit next to her.
Taehyung turned to Adrielle with a look that made her insides soften. Maybe he truly just didn't like the tone of her voice, and now they were back to being good.
She flashed him another smile, this one was less of resignation and more of understanding, and he nodded, glancing behind her to Jimin.
"Yeah, so Ellie. We just wait, no?" Jimin closed his laptop to try to repair his misgivings.
"I—" She hesitated, clearing her voice and crossing her legs under the table. "I was thinking about, like, creating a speech, or maybe a simple guide, so we don't forget anything and—"
"Okay, okay." He agreed, placing his iPad on the Mac. "Yeah, you're right. Makes sense."
She bit the inner corners of her lips and nodded, satisfied with their compliance, but just as they were scooting closer to her, she heard Avyanna's giggles bubbling underneath the chaos like a soundtrack.
She wasn't laughing at her or anything. She was laughing with Jungkook, but something about the tone regretfully reminded her of Willow, and Adrielle absolutely didn't like it.
"You've been working with Nana about the whole gardening thing, no?" Taehyung's voice slithered through her thoughts.
She blinked back to consciousness and hummed in agreement. "The bigger work is still yet to come, but Nana's being awesome with this."
"I bet," Jimin chuckled, "this is her field, and she loves it. Chels and I were thinking about getting some crazy exotic thing for her birthday."
"Jimin, her birthday's in April." Adrielle smiled, opening a blank page on Good Notes to proceed with the task at hand.
"Yeah, but it's exotic, so we've gotta be prepared—" he gasped "—talking about birthdays, Tae, what do you think I should get Daphne for hers? Chelly also wants to know."
And suddenly, all that progress vanished like powder blown to the wind.
Adrielle was setting up the page, choosing the design, picking lines over squares, and deciding whether to keep the page in landscape or portrait.
They were waiting for her, certainly, but choosing Daphne as the topic of their short conversation would automatically make them wait even longer, because Adrielle's focus was now all over the place.
"She likes vintage stuff, like little trinkets. Also likes vintage objects that you could use as an unconventional piece of furniture."
"Oh my god, what?"
"I'm getting her a vinyl player and some songs to go with it. You could grab a few vinyls too, but yeah, something else also."
"A vinyl— Dude, how are we supposed to beat that?"
"Easy," Taehyung shrugged, chuckling with disbelief. "She's not like Anna or Diana, who have every goddamn thing in the world. You can get her anything… that she likes, but yeah, anything."
The page was ready, but Adrielle was now spending an unnecessary amount of time creating the title.
"What about clothes? I think I get her fashion style, but I feel like shopping for it is more difficult than putting together a full outfit—"
"Then get her a full outfit." He shrugged again. "Chelsea likes styling strangers, let alone her friends. She'll have the time of her life while she's at it."
Adrielle heard Jimin hum, the tone hinting at full agreement with Taehyung. "You're right. 26th, you said?"
"Yeah, but we're at the resort then. She'll be having the party on Sunday—"
"Party?" Avyanna's neck snapped in their direction, and Adrielle had to consciously tell herself, stop herself from rolling her eyes and groaning.
"Yeah, Daphne's 18th."
"Oh, fuck." Jungkook leaned closer. "Her 18th is coming up? Why am I hearing about this only now?"
"How are you hearing about it just now, while Chels is asking for tips and ideas for a birthday gift?" Jimin narrowed his eyes.
The title was finished, but Adrielle continued retracing the letters, writing it in cursive, which was dramatic, to say the least, because it had to contain just a brief.
"When's her birthday?" Avyanna asked after downing what was left in her glass.
"The 26th, which is a Thursday, and we're skiing. The party is on Sunday, and she hasn't decided if she's having it at her place or her grandparents'."
Adrielle felt so stupid for even feeling an ounce of annoyance at how well-versed Taehyung was in the matter. Who else would know it this well if not him?
"Tae, what does she like? What do you think we should get her for her birthday? A sex toy?"
Taehyung slowly closed his eyes, Jungkook snorted out, Adrielle, whose eyes were still trained on her iPad, went wide-eyed, and Jimin just groaned. Avyanna, in all this, was grinning like an idiot.
"What?" She laughed. "Willow made me the same gift for my 18th—"
"It's fun, it's hilarious, plus she's turning eighteen—"
"So what?" Jimin frowned. "You get her a room at a strip club?"
Avyanna didn't take any offence, still smiling and giggling like a kid who'd just heard the word 'penis'. "I still think it's hilarious."
"It is—"
"Kind of uncalled for?" Taehyung's interruption wasn't a question. It was a rhetorical statement. "She has parents and grandparents there, and you think that a sex toy will make the perfect gift."
Jimin snapping his fingers meant he was in full agreement with his friend again, while Jungkook and Avyanna still giggled like idiots.
"She won't get it." Adrielle butted in. "There wasn't any parental figure at hers, so that wasn't a problem—not like that would've stopped Willow anyway—"
"There she goes," Avyanna exclaimed a bit too loudly. "I'm still trying to understand why you hate Willow so much—"
"Bitch, how the fuck did you get that from her words?" Jungkook burst out laughing, hitting his hand on the table and shaking his head.
Jimin, on the other hand, had a different input. "She isn't lying, first, and secondly, the issue is truly understanding why the fuck you love Willow so much. You idolise her—"
Avyanna tried hitting back, but Jimin was relentless. Jungkook wouldn't stop laughing, and Taehyung was only sighing, turning to look at Adrielle with resignation written on his face.
"Let's just get this over with, no?" He nodded toward her iPad. She sighed and agreed, turning the device on and resuming the work.
"Chim?" She heard Taehyung call from beside her. "Chim? Jimin?!"
His friend finally backed down, slouching against the chair in defeat and exhaustion because clearly whatever he'd said didn't register in Avyanna's chronically unserious brain.
"I think she's drunk. Let's just get back to work."
The look Jimin gave him was rich with annoyance addressed not to him, but the giggling girl on the other side of the table.
Taehyung didn't care, though. Avyanna was notoriously chaotic, preferred disorder over responsibilities, and he always hoped for her best, that it was just a phase she'd overlook as she grew into an adult. But at the moment, all Taehyung could think of was getting the task over with.
Adrielle began talking next to him, mentioning names of clubs he was already aware of, but the simple fact that he couldn't hear her despite having her less than thirty centimetres away made him groan.
"Can you two fucks go somewhere else?"
Jungkook and Avyanna froze, turning to their friend with amusement pulling at their lips like balloons close to explosion.
Taehyung narrowed his eyes at them, challenging them to actually let out even a small puff, while Jimin just watched like an exhausted mother of three. Adrielle, between them, observed the scene with the kind of indifference that replaces years of defeat, pen hovering over the screen of her iPad.
Clearly outnumbered, Avyanna and Jungkook slowly nodded, and whilst keeping their mouths shut and trying not to laugh even at the screeching sounds of the chairs, they returned to the kitchen, where their noise would live rent-free, but at least, far away from their friends.
"Big babies." Jimin's comment gained a little snort from Adrielle. Taehyung, on the other hand, found it hard to be amused by all of it at all.
She couldn't think of a reason, but Jimin knew that last night he hadn't met his usual weekend eight-hour-long sleep, also knew why.
"Seriously," he began, shaking his head and pushing his hair back, "let's get this over with—"
Adrielle's phone screen lit up, a notification popping up. It took Taehyung a single fleeting glance for him to know exactly who'd texted her. He didn't even need to read, knowing just the length of the contact.
Malakai Ashford | 03:58 PM
hey, wanna hop on ft?
With the same hand she held her pen with, she reached for the device, but as soon as she unlocked it, Jimin grabbed it first.
"Hey, Min. What are you—"
"Can't…" he typed, "right now… busy. Voilà."
Clearly, from the sound of Taehyung's exhale, both boys were in agreement. Jimin turned the device off and returned it to its original spot before lifting the chair a bit to move closer to Adrielle without scraping it on the floor.
The girl didn't complain, actually, she was slightly relieved, because the last person she wanted to handle that day was Malakai, too. But he clearly couldn't take no for an answer.
Her screen lit up again, and this time it wasn't the lock screen and the notification bar. At the centre was a big M, and it was clear as day that he'd taken the text as approval.
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Is he slow—"
But before the boys were done complaining, Adrielle reached for the phone, answering the call.
They dove out of the camera frame with annoyance now evaporating from their bodies like sweat. Jimin placed his head on the table, straightening his back and pushing the chair. Taehyung rubbed his face so roughly before gripping his chin pensively as if he couldn't believe that she'd actually answered the call.
"Hey, Kai."
The nickname made both the boys grunt and hide their faces. Jimin looked down at his lap, and Taehyung turned in the general direction of the kitchen.
"Hey, Elle. How are you doing?"
"Fine."
Taehyung's lips went thin because why receive a call you're not even ready to entertain? He knew that if he'd asked Daphne to hop onto FaceTime, she first told him that she was busy, and he called her nonetheless—which was unlikely because who does that?—having her say that she was just fine would be the last warning sign for him to let her be.
But Malakai was clearly a man of his own kind.
"Nice. Good to hear." Jimin glanced at Taehyung with mild disgust on his face because the response was even worse than Adrielle's.
"I'm busy right now." She reiterated, and her friends looked at her, waiting to hear his reply.
"Yeah, saw your text."
"Then why the fuck—" Jimin grunted in a whisper. Taehyung sharply exhaled and closed his eyes.
"But I wanted to see your face." Now the boys shared a look of amusement that didn't mean Malakai had cracked the joke of the year; they were feeling embarrassed for him.
Adrielle's chuckle was soft, but they couldn't miss the awkwardness bubbling underneath like stew in a pot.
"I'm here with Taehyung," she panned the camera toward him, giving him two seconds flat to put up a nice look, "and Jimin".
He, on the other hand, didn't give two fucks, casually waving at the camera with a smile that seemed to beg the boy to just stop and end the call.
He didn't.
"We're working on the school clubs. Told you yesterday."
"Yeah."
Taehyung grimaced again, moving away from the camera to silently communicate with Jimin.
"We got, like, a few couple of students who offered to direct the various clubs, and we'll be meeting like an hour and a half—"
"Yeah, and we were just about to start gathering our ideas on what to say exactly," Taehyung abruptly butted in.
Jimin snorted and finally sat up to peech in. "Just trynna make sure we don't miss important details and such."
"Oh, yeah. That's very smart. We did the same."
The intention was to send a message, a dismissive one to any normal person, but clearly not to Malakai, because he took it as an invitation to start talking about his experience, which no one inquired about.
─Now playing: Is There Someone Else by The Weeknd ✫
Leaving Jungkook and Avyanna alone always meant chaos; a little form of disorder was underway, waiting for the right moment to light the fuse.
Unlike in the past years, they hadn't messed up the kitchen. Everything was intact, minus the bottle of wine and the couple of glasses on the counter.
Avyanna was on the counter as well, watching her feet dangle off the surface while her glass of wine sat nicely next to her, fully replenished for her enjoyment.
Jungkook was back-facing her, working on the counter by the sink as he chopped a stick of salame for the sandwiches they intended to make.
There was nothing extraordinary about his outfit that day. The colour scheme was as dark as she could remember: a graphic T-shirt, hoodie left on the couch in the living room, shoes by the front door, and oversized jeans pooling around his waist in a way that always made him look even better.
He'd gotten a haircut across the winter holidays, and now they didn't fall over his neck and eyes in the same way, but he still kept the mullet, probably wouldn't let it go for some more time.
What impressed Avyanna, or did it really, because it wasn't a new thing, was being able to visually trace the lines of his back muscles through the shirt.
"You're getting more buff day by day." She mused with no shame, glass to her lips and a small smirk tugging at the corners.
Jungkook glanced at her, quickly returning to the cutting board, and chuckled.
"Gotta make use of my natural ability to bulk faster."
She tilted her head, the smirk unwavering. "Is that a dig at women?"
"A dig?" He sharply exhaled, turning around as he pushed a slice of salame in his mouth. "It's true. Ain't a dig."
She narrowed her eyes, mood still playful. Leaving the glass at a safe distance, she hopped off the counter and slowly closed the gap between them.
"How much did you have to drink?" He murmured, catching the smell of wine off her.
"Not much." She pouted and shook her head. Using his bicep as support, she turned around and pointed at her glass. "It's like the third one, and I haven't even finished it."
Predicting her next move, his left hand went up to hold the wrist of the same hand she was pointing with, the same one he knew she'd place flat on his chest before dragging it down south.
"Anna," he began warningly, and she giggled, tipsy but also suggestively. "Let's not."
"Let's not what?" She pulled away, hands behind her to brace herself against the counter.
"Let's not what?" She repeated in a whisper.
He just rolled his eyes and turned to the cutting board again. She intended it as a silent invitation, mistakenly so.
Right before her hands could reach his body, he grabbed her wrists again, keeping them along her sides as if she'd touched shit and wanted to stain him.
"Anna, no—"
"Oh, come on. We did it on New Year's. Why can't we now?"
"Because we're at Adrielle's, first, secondly, I was drunk as fuck—"
"We fuck even when you're not—"
"Yeah, when I don't have—"
"What? Your eyes on Cleo? You've always had your eyes on her. It never seemed to stop you."
At this, he frowned, letting go of her wrists to slide out from between her and the counter.
"Damn, that hit home?" She joked, chuckling.
He didn't say anything for a few beats, moving around the kitchen looking for where Adrielle stored the bread.
"I guess so," Avyanna finally muttered under her breath as she returned to her glass of wine.
"You know…" He began softly as if he'd been checking his words the entire time. "You know it's different this year—"
"What's different this year is that Taehyung has a new girlfriend, and she happens to be the best friend of your all-time crush, whom you're so scared to talk to and would rather hook up with anyone else than her. You sure you like her that much?"
He cussed under his breath, rubbing his face and continuing his bread hunt.
If anyone besides Avyanna got their hands on the CCTV footage of his home, they'd also doubt that he liked Cleo as much as he prophesied every time.
That night, he'd had way too many drinks for his own good, too many given his family's presence, but Avyanna was there to be just as messy, and everything was more fun with her because for a moment, he could escape the dark glare of his dad and the looks his mum would send his way, looks that remained in his mind as if he'd stared at the sun for a beat too long.
They'd scurried away to the top floors, where the crowd was scarce—in fact, nonexistent—and amidst giggles, jokes and jabs, they ended up in one of the bathrooms along the hallway.
Everything moved like a drunken dancer on a show of flashing lights. Nothing was clear, nothing was defined, and it was that exact uncertainty and confusion that Jungkook thrived on. The absence of a promise made him feel more secure, like nothing could disappoint him.
And Avyanna was the living proof of that because she never wanted more than he already offered, never wanted a label, a tie, an oath. Nothing like that. Just fun, just relaxation, the kind of ecstasy that comes with drugs.
They had the literal definition of a quickie in the guest bathroom of his house, away from the jazz music on the ground floor, the constant fighting between their friends, and the disapproving eyes of their parents.
But the following day, the memory replayed in his mind and hammered harder than the hangover, just like coming down from the high of a drug.
"I don't know if I have what she wants, what she deserves. I-I don't think I'm good for her."
"Then why bother?"
He paused, slightly annoyed. "Are you just horny or do you usually suck this much at giving advice?"
She coughed out a laugh, reaching for a slice of salame on the cutting board.
"Both?" she asked, giggling like an idiot. "I'm just kidding, dude. Loosen up, gosh. What's with all of you today?"
"Cleo's just…" he paused again, rubbing his head. "She's not like any other girl I've met."
"Not even me?" Avyanna teased, cackling. He rolled his eyes, smiling.
"You know we've been doing this shit for some time now—"
"Some time now?" She went wide-eyed. "How many years do you define 'just some time now', Kook?"
"I mean…" He finally found the basket of bread. "It does go back years—"
"Duh!" She sharply exhaled. "Too bad Willow left."
"Willow wasn't single, though."
"She and Taehyung were on and off the whole goddamn time, but I personally don't think that would've stopped her. She's wild. Gosh, I miss the drama she brought to the group."
"It was too much sometimes, though. Can't lie." He walked back to the cutting board.
"It was entertaining as long as you weren't under the spotlight."
"These days are still entertaining, though. The sleepover? Gosh, I never knew I'd been starving for some action the whole time."
She swallowed the last bite of salame, pushing it down with some wine.
"It's a bit tamer than Willow days, but…"
"What are you referring to exactly?" He queried, pouring the salame slices into a bowl.
"The Bermuda Triangle."
"The what?" he scoffed, turning to look at her.
"Adrielle, Taehyung, and Daphne. The Bermuda Triangle."
"Bahaha! Bermuda Triangle. You came up with this term yourself?"
"They did. It was just like seeing a red apple and calling it a fucking red apple."
He laughed a little more at that, cleaning the knife to start slicing the loaves of bread.
"Yeah, but you're kinda right—"
"Just kinda?"
"Jimin won't believe it when I say that she's got a massive crush on Tae. She always did, since we were kids. I think it was the reason Willow always saw her as a threat—"
"A threat?" Avyanna scoffed. "Adrielle? A threat to Willow? Bah! Feed me some more bullshit."
"No, no, no," he laughed and left the bread, "I'm serious. Lollie had a personal vendetta against Elle for that reason—"
"If anything, really," she cut him off, "Willow was a threat to Adrielle, not the way round—"
"Absofuckinglutely the other way round. She was always threatened by Adrielle—"
"Oh my fucking god." Avyanna covered her ears as if she were standing right next to a flight taking off. "It sounds blasphemous."
"Yeah, it would to the ears of a freaking worshipper like you."
"Oh, Lord. Can you guys stop already? First, Jimin, and now you? Besides, you sound an awful lot like Nate."
"Nate's right—"
"Nate's biased—"
"So are you, you clearly like Willow too much. Weren't you so into dicks, I'd think you have a crush on her."
Avyanna went wide-eyed, covering her mouth as she gasped.
"What the fuck are you saying?" she laughed with him. He was full-on cackling.
"I said what I said—"
"No, you the fuck didn't! She's my fucking best friend."
"Mh-hmm." He paused, raising his eyebrow. "Is that what you always tell yourself before bed? When was the last time you texted?"
"Oh, 'cause that's the friendship metre now?"
"Answer my question." He laughed in premature victory. "When did you guys text last?"
"You know what, Kook? You're going to shut up, and I'm going to leave—"
"When last did Lollie text you?"
─Now playing: Reflections by The Neighbourhood ✫
Avyanna rolled her eyes, chuckling under her breath as she made it out of the kitchen, but just as she was about to approach her friends at the table, she heard an unfamiliar voice.
"Fucking hell, Kook!" She whispered, running back into the kitchen as if she'd seen a spider.
He reacted as a consequence, eyes wide and monitoring his surroundings. "What? What!?"
"Elle's got Malakai on the phone."
"Mala— What? Malakai?"
She nodded, her expression a mix of shock, dislike, and amusement.
"Oh, god," he sighed. "She's using that boy as a fucking rebound, I'm telling you."
"I don't even know what she sees in him. Nick is way better and at closer reach."
That made Jungkook chuckle and tilt his head. "Okay, Ellie's nothing like you. She doesn't strike me as the type that would like keeping trouble at arm's reach."
"Trouble? Jeez, you hook up a couple of times, and that equates to trouble?"
"I honestly don't even know why you're fucking a close friend of Daphne's. Like that's… They don't get you like I do, like we do."
"Yeah, I know. But James's hot, and Taehyung and Daphne just brought him my way like water to the shore, hon."
"Oh, shit, don't ever call me that."
"Else what?" She teased, scooting all up in his personal space. "Else what, Kookie?"
"Also, don't call me that—"
"I said, else what?" She bumped her chest against him. "Come on. Show me what you can do, boy."
"Oh, Lord. Gotta call Chels for an exorcism, quick."
She laughed at that, putting an end to her brief display of power.
"You think she'll have a solution regarding Malakai and Elle?"
"Mh? Chels?"
"Yeah." She finally joined him, grabbing another cutting board and knife. "Back at the cabin, she did express surprise at their relationship, if you can call it that. And she also said that James's hot, like wildfire level."
"Word-for-word?" He chuckled with a raised brow.
"Okay, not word-for-word, but metaphorically, those were her opinion."
"I still remember when she called him to the cabin that day," he said messily as he chewed on a piece of bread he sliced wrongly.
"Oh, yeah, that was… that was wild, honestly. Didn't know she had it in her to, like, bluntly use someone like that—"
"But you know what?" He turned, leaning against the counter. "I don't give a flying fuck if she plays that condescending and honestly controlling douchebag. Hate his guts, fuck."
"Oh, my god, yes. He'd evaluated our presentation worse than teachers do—"
"Mh, asking questions every two words you said, like, dude, what the fuck are you even basing the questions on?"
"Nothing." She shrugged. "He just wanted to show off, as if it were a dick competition."
"He thought that it'd impress Adrielle, because he didn't pester her as much as he pestered us."
"And I think it worked because she's responding at all—"
"I mean," He laughed, "I mean… after the little stunt she pulled at the sleepover, constantly calling him over like he was invited at all… She's built the cross and now has to carry it."
─Now playing: Art Deco by Lana Del Rey ✫
Taehyung believed that his right leg now had stronger quads than his left one from how vehemently he'd been shaking it under the table.
The page opened on Adrielle's iPad was maybe halfway full, stagnant once you took a look at the amount of time it cost.
The options were two: Malakai was either completely clueless when it came to social cues, or he was just the kind of insistent person that made your skin crawl.
Taehyung hoped for the first.
He was still there on FaceTime. From the looks of it, he was in his bedroom or his study, sitting at the desk doing homework.
In his sick mind, he probably thought that it felt and looked cosy and cute to be working on school together virtually. But truly, everything just seemed forced, a bit too forced for Taehyung to confidently speculate that he was just innocently clueless.
Adrielle's attention was visibly all over the place, not the kind that Taehyung was used to, not the kind that he'd grown to envy, especially around finals season.
She'd be down to write on her iPad, and Malakai would intervene somehow, be it a comment, a cough, a sneeze, anything. It was fine once, twice, but the third time, Taehyung had to crane his neck the other way because he'd become tired of masking his emotions.
Whenever either him or Jimin tried giving some input, to somehow contribute and not just watch, he'd butt in, to either compliment their idea or go on a tangent about it, both things no one was interested in.
It had to happen just once for Taehyung's patience to dry off like a drop of water on a hot pan.
His body was angled toward Adrielle, one elbow on the chair and the other on the table, but when Malakai gave his not-requested two-piece on the matter, he slowly blinked and craned his head to the phone with an expression he probably didn't notice he was sporting.
Even when the boy would sigh, Taehyung would constantly ask himself again why he was still online, why he hadn't ended the call; in fact, why did Adrielle entertain him for so long?
Couldn't she have left it at the party? Couldn't she have done whatever she wanted with him then? Why drag it on when she clearly didn't seem interested in matching his vibe?
While Adrielle's pen softly tapped on the screen of the device, his mind went on a detour, thinking about how to kill time and go through the agonisingly awkward call he was forced to participate in.
Just the fact that Adrielle had moved the vase on the table to prop the phone against it made annoyance recoil in his body with an intensity he'd never experienced before.
He tapped on his phone screen. No new notifications, at least those that could be important.
Daphne hadn't replied to his text yet. Wished she would suddenly. In fact, he thought about excusing himself to the bathroom and FaceTiming her, but not having received any response from her in the last hour meant she was busy.
Probably studying, he thought. She'd be sorting out her study planner just like Jimin, marking up pages in her agenda to remember test dates. Or she could just be reading, a hobby of hers, but once she was in, she didn't reach for her phone unless her attention had already been wavering.
The Secret History of Donna Tartt was the book she'd mentioned reading. That Josh boy had also mentioned it, and she'd promised herself to try finishing it by February. She was probably reading that.
Maybe she could be in her bed. The classic position would be lying on her stomach, cheek in hand and feet waving in the air. She'd be wearing her glasses since she was at home, and from what he could tell from her snaps, she'd be dressed in an off-shoulder top or something large enough to just fall loosely to one side with her movements.
Maybe she was lying on her back, head on the pillow, and legs arranged comfortably.
Her house was warm, and she always made sure to keep her room the warmest, incredibly sensitive to cold and chronically scared of catching a cold. So she could've chosen to stay in a pair of shorts, matching them with wool socks, the chunky types that almost look like boots.
If she wasn't on the bed, she'd be at her desk, placing a foot on the chair to rest her cheek on her knee while the other mindlessly wheeled the chair around.
Or she could be in the nook by the stairs, sitting in the soft armchair by the window that faced the entrance to her neighbourhood. She always journaled there, but reading wasn't excluded.
Or she could be downstairs, on the couch or at the dining table just like him. She'd have one of the dogs, if not both, lying on the floor, silently keeping her company.
Or she could just be journaling. It was just around five in the afternoon, but maybe it wasn't too early to drop a few notes down.
Or she could go over to Cleo's, spending some quality time together, probably briefing her on their date yesterday.
He would love to hear her opinions on it, see what details struck her the most, and how she'd admit that she'd finally said it back.
And in all this, she'd have her hair up in a messy bun, one that was actually beyond messy because her hair was getting very long, and therefore, buns were getting bigger.
Or she could also be thinking about her birthday or skiing, or both.
─Now playing: Hate That I Made You Love Me by Ariana Grande ✫
He didn't have the time to further think about that when Avyanna's voice bellowed from behind him, animalistically announcing that their snacks were ready. Jungkook was right back at her, mood matching, and a trail with mugs in hand.
Taehyung let himself be utterly distracted, instantly forgetting Malakai and the depressing time they were having.
His eyes went for the mugs first, a bit disappointed that it was tea, but he remained appreciative. Jimin, on the other hand, gasped and sighed in relief at their presence, as if he'd seen a divine apparition.
"Oh my god, guys," he muttered, probably hoping that their loud voices were covering his, "thank you."
He was clearly thanking them not just for the food.
"Hey, Malakai!" Jungkook redirected his attention to the phone. Didn't take much because it was right there at the centre of the table.
He waved at the camera while Malakai enthusiastically greeted him back. "Hi!"
Taehyung couldn't see it, but Avyanna had forced a smile as she waved at the boy, too, before rushing to the seat she'd taken before.
"Hey man, no hard feelings, but we've got an important meeting with a few students in, like, less than half an hour, so we gotta leave you."
Ugh, Taehyung wanted to kiss Jungkook on the lips for this.
"Oh," Malakai began, and Taehyung moved out of the frame to roll the fuck out of his eyes. Oh? He and Adrielle had repeated it a hundred times when he first called.
"Oh, okay. But you guys are eating right now?"
Taehyung looked up from his slouched position, and his eyes found Avyanna's, who was also confused and annoyed at his stubbornness.
"Yeah, and that's why we've gotta hurry up. You know, chewing in front of an audience isn't exactly respectful. Wouldn't be for you either, so…"
Jungkook leaned over between Adrielle and Taehyung, finger itching to press on that red button.
"Yeah, Kai. I'll text you later, yeah?"
"I really don't mind—" Jungkook gave in to the temptation.
"Fucking hell, man!"
"Jesus fucking Christ!"
"What's his fucking deal?!"
"He was making me consider self-harming—"
"Listening to him was already a form of self-harm."
They collectively sighed in exhaustion, acting like they'd found the way out of an underwater tunnel.
"There's no way you fuck with that." Jimin rasped, face flat on the table. "Like… no way."
"Is he always like that?" Jungkook frowned, dragging the chair to sit next to Avyanna. "Like… so pushy?"
"Oh, I don't tell you guys, but he bombards Elle with messages even during class—"
"No way," Jimin gasped. Jungkook went wide-eyed, and Avyanna just slowly shook her head.
"Seriously?"
"There's no way you're into that guy," Avyanna confidently said, reaching for a sandwich. "Like, how does that shit even turn you on?"
"Anna," Adrielle rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, "I won't outdo you in your own field, so you're fine."
Jungkook almost choked on his sandwich, Jimin emitted a single cackle, and Taehyung went wide-eyed, making sure he wasn't laughing over his food.
"Oh, my god, girlie. Okay…" Avyanna nodded. "Okay, okay. I see. I'll get you for this."
Adrielle softly laughed, leaning over to grab her food.
"No, seriously—"
"Oof," Jungkook shook his hand, acting as if he'd burned it, "sounds like you hurt her ego."
"Ego?" Avyanna scoffed. "At least James turns me the fuck on. Malakai sounds like chronic pussy dehydration, what the fuck? He could make me consider becoming a fucking nun. Like, just his attitude distorts your pussy's pH balance. His voice sounds like a combination of HIV and chlamydia, and Kai? You even gave him a nickname! Fuck, Elle! This isn't what I taught you."
Everybody burst into laughter. Taehyung and Jungkook simultaneously scooted back with their chairs, keening over while Jimin rhythmically hit his hand on the table.
Adrielle pretended to pick up her hanging jaw and clicked her tongue. "Yeah, I'm gonna get you for that."
"Mh-hm," Avyanna giggled as she bit into her sandwich. "I'm waiting. Call me when you need some lube, even sex toys. Got loads of both, and you're gonna need both and more."
Jungkook and Taehyung were still laughing. The latter looked up, and his red face made Jimin laugh harder, voice thinning into silence.
The girls looked around, seeing the boys in disarray and rolled their eyes, reaching for their mugs of tea at the same time.
"You guys done?"
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Hold on a lil minute^^
I love posting a reposting little moodboards to give my works dimension and give life to the characters.
For Amor Tam Pulcher, I arranged them with tags which you can find on this post. - tag navigation!
On Notion, there's so much more such a the mock pages of their Instagram profiles, their character profile, and more moodboards per chapter:
general moodboard - here!
characters' portfolio - here!
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AMOR TAM PULCHER
⋆. 𐙚 ̊ Chp. 52: The Bermuda Triangle - moodboard
❁pairing: taehyung x oc
❁tagline: She's a flower, and he's a butterfly. She's learning to fly, and he's trying to see what life is like when one feels grounded - stable.
❁genre/tropes: strangers to lovers, coming-of-age, romance, fluff, smut, angst, cross-posted on Wattpad and ao3
main story: Amor Tam Pulcher
pairing: kth x oc
current wc: 454.33k+
teaser wc: 411
date: 13/05/2026
mdi // index // main masterlist // pinterest board // notion page // community // taglist // playlist
"Can you not?" she asked, the question falling off her lips faster than her brain could process the words.
As if he'd been awakened from a slumber, he looked up at her, eyebrow raised and a short hum requesting her to repeat the question.
"I said," she insisted, hanging tightly onto this one excuse to rally against his relationship, "can you not?"
His eyebrow moved again. This time, it wasn't for curiosity, but rather confusion, the kind that also had an underlying hint of annoyance.
"Pardon?" He replied, and it wasn't out of politeness because he hadn't heard her. He did, loud and clear. The tone of her voice just felt like a slow pull on the hair on his arms, one that you don't feel yet is storing pain for you—annoyance, a test on your patience.
"I said—"
"I heard what you said. This won't take even twenty seconds."
There it was, the voice he had as soon as someone stepped on his toes at the right angle and with the right pressure.
Adrielle hated that voice. She liked—loved—his naturally deep tone, but when she could catch the hints of annoyance, tsks and sarcastic chuckles lying underneath like whispers, her skin would feel like prickling, and not because she was also put off by his attitude, no. She just never wanted to hear that tone used against her.
She didn't insist, not only to avoid an unnecessary escalation, but also because she wanted to remain on good terms with him. Now that he was dating Daphne, fighting felt scarier, as if he was slamming the door on her and locking it to prevent her from coming back.
But he also hadn't spared her an extra second, turning to his phone again to finish typing before placing it back down.
"See?" He looked at her, and she thinned her lips, internally recoiling at the tone. "Didn't take even fifteen seconds—"
"Yeah, okay. I get it. I just—"
It wouldn't be the first time she'd been faced with such an attitude by all her friends, really. She couldn't help it, but her voice would occasionally morph into that of a mother, of someone who believes they know it all, and she doesn't, but she could imagine how it'd sound to them.
But one thing was Jungkook, Avyanna, Nathan, Chelsea or Jimin. A whole other thing was Taehyung.
"I just feel like I'm the only one who cares about this—"
COMING SOON
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Want some more? All in my Notion page. Check it out!
(Notion page guide for better experience -> here!)
characters' portfolio -> here!
general moodboard -> here!
writing progress -> here!
the setting -> here!
TAGS NAVIGATION (where all the moodboards are organised)
More works from me? You can find my inventory on my Notion page c:
(I publish my works on Wattpad, here and ao3 specifically)
PUBLISHED
Demouvoir - 528 Hz (kth)
Arthemis (kth x oc x jjk)
(Love) (jjk)
COMING SOON
nothing for now
STILL IN THE DRAFTS
Between paper cuts and blue ink (jjk)
The albedo effect (jjk)
Hecho para ti (kth)
Permanentia (kth)
AMOR TAM PULCHER WEEK!! Teaser will be up in a matter of hours. and the full chapter will be up on Friday.
I haven't begun writing the following chapter because I still haven't found the right music to write it to. I'm intending to struggle harder today.
I'm sorry regarding ARTHEMIS because I didn't touch it for like the past two weeks, and I'm awful for it. I'm sorry.
I will look in its direction this week (I hope).
(LOVE) is still there, it's going to be there still. I don't know for how long (not long I assume, because I've been working on another JJK ff, a oneshot for (d)emouvoir, so... hihihi.
Let me jus talk about this oneshot. I titled it 'ONE LAST MISTAKE' and it features jjk and the reader, whose name I won't be mentioning much if not at all because I have a literal visceral reaction to actually adding y/n to my stories.
Just so you guys know, it's about ex lovers going at it one last time I don't if I can post it on Wattpad because it's essentially smut with a little plot. Wattpad does allow you to gather various works under a specific collection, and I'd love to gather all the works for (d)emouvoir, but we'll see about that.
All the other works are stalling for now. Yesterday, I revisited an old draft of mine, LUPUS IN FABULA (book one: Selene), and I asked myself why the fuck I stopped writing it because I'd already planned like 20+ chapters of it. Let's see how that goes now.
That's all for this week. Sorry for the late weekly WIP update. I went to bed late last night, writing One last mistake.
