ugh, i need to find a beta but i'm like the worst writer to beta read for because i tend to go a bit cuckoo and i edit best when we're both online and talking it through in real time and i get to have a meltdown about verb tenses and prepositions TT
like i process my way through "this phrasing feels iffy" by just ranting about it and i need someone who has time and patience to listen.
wait. so do we actually believe pete sat down in his typewriter room to plot of a new identity and (somewhat) safe ways to smuggle kenta into cambodia or cargo ship him overseas oooooor do you think he went the unethical rescue route and was like "it's just a short term foster! he already has a forever home waiting for him, they just need to finish fencing the yard!"
let me just giggle and kick my feet here too because my sister is getting married next month and for the first time in my life, i actually bought myself a really nice dress that makes me feel like a princess TT
pls ignore the fact i went dress shopping with the wrong kind of underwear and focus on the fact the print is dandelions and clovers, two of the flowers i am the most allergic to :D
kim and kenta aren't together when kim leaves for korea, mostly because kenta has a lot of shit to unpack. and guess who's also feeling all unwell and dumped? pete, who had to watch chris happily sashay through security to board his plane back to the states.
and it's doomed from the start because kenta goes into it to prove something to himself and pete goes into it because he's a lonely woob and kenta's always been there and the more kenta distances himself, the harder pete tries.
and when kenta does call kim, they inevitably start to argue and kenta ends up telling kim all about the lackluster sex he's having with pete, in graphic detail. it becomes their twisted form of foreplay because even when pete is getting it, he's cucking it.
when kim finally flies back to thailand to see kenta in person, they're both so riled up they end up fucking in the airport bathroom. later, kim will also absolutely engineer pete walking in on him and kenta. both kenta and pete are lowkey into it - kenta finds kim being a possessive lil freak hot and well, pete likes to wallow in the tragedy that is his life.
and even after kenta stops having sad rebound sex with pete because he got what he wanted out of it, he keeps dangling the possibility of doing it again to rile kim up.
i'm talking kim is busy with race preparations and kenta, feeling neglected, texts him "going to meet with pete today" and then puts his phone on airplane mode for the next five hours. when he turns it back on, he has 40 increasingly unhinged messages and kim is calling him, MAD.
kenta let's the first few calls go unanswered, taking a long, hot shower and pouring himself a nice glass of wine because he knows it's going to be a loooong night. they might be separated by an ocean, but kenta doesn't doubt kim's ability to absolutely wreck him nonetheless.
afterwards, when kenta is thoroughly sated, kim tells him he really is like a puppy. turn your back for five minutes and he's up to no good. kenta sleepily tells him "don't leave me alone for so long then" and kim confesses that he did buy plane tickets during the five hours he spent steeping in jealous rage and he'll be there next weekend. kenta smiles smugly.
(he's somewhat less smug when kim spends the entire weekend edging him ruthlessly. on his way out the door, he makes a throwaway comment about getting kenta a cock cage for his peace of mind and kenta spends the next two weeks absolutely obsessing over it. he eventually writes kim "was it a joke or did you actually mean it" and kim's like "i'd have to do some research" and kenta sends him a meticulously crafted document with "already done")
i want a scent marking fic where omega kim keeps scent marking kenta because kenta is an alpha that lives in his home and kim's omega is a territorial lil gremlin.
kenta, who is on industrial strength scent blockers himself and was not raised with any kind of secondary sex etiquette, has no idea and just skulks through life as usual but everyone else definitely notices.
it gets to the point where kenta walks to pete's house and pete, not looking up from his papers goes "kim, if you want to talk about kenta we can - oh. kenta?" and kenta's like "what."
kenta comes home confused and a lil disgruntled and confronts kim in the kitchen all "i have been informed you've been 'marking your territory'" and kim has the decency to look sheepish when he answers "ah. that"
tmi but every time i'm about to get my period, i get an overwhelming urge to give my favorite male blorbo a vagina. works better than any tracking app. like this morning i woke up and i was like CUNTY KENTA CUNT and realized
as a society we don't talk enough about kenta and way and how much it makes sense that the two of them carried a decade long toxic situationship.
like both of them are hung up on other people and they take their misery out on each other because in the end, they understand each others' suffering better than anyone else. but they also resent each other. kenta because way has the freedom to exist outside of the foundation yet acts so ungrateful. way because kenta is normal and doesn't see how much better it is to be used as a tool instead of being forced into being the weapon.
and they fight and fuck and patch each other up. sometimes it's nice. sometimes kenta is taking too long and way tells him to come and kenta punches way in the face.
bonus:
pete: i am so sorry for subverting you. i never apologized but it's weighed on me heavily over the years
kenta: ...
pete: i feel guilty for altering your biology without your consent.
kenta: ...
pete: i was young and lacked control over my enigma and we were always so close that i -
kenta: it was way.
pete: what
kenta: did you really think you turned me into an omega by sitting next to me?
oh god, I need to come up with a better title than "norta's friendship quest"
pg-13, north/ sonic
537 words
The thing is, North believes in karma.
His family is religious and although he isn't as devoutly Buddhist as his mother and grandparents would prefer, North visits temples to make merit every few months and tries to live his life the best he can. He's not perfect - he's restless, often impatient, prone to gossip and tends to delight in the misfortune of people he doesn't like - but he considers himself to be fundamentally good.
He loves his family and friends. He's loyal and has proven himself to be the kind of person who’d walk into a literal hail of bullets for those who he cares about. He doesn't litter, helps the elderly carry their groceries and shares his lunch with the stray cats behind the garage. He doesn't expect to be rewarded for any of it - his kindness isn't transactional - but trusts that the universe has his back and it will work out for him in the end.
Take Sonic, for example! North fell in love with the soft, pretty Alpha when he was sixteen and never wavered, even when things got difficult. And look at them now! Sure, it took them nearly a decade and technically they aren't together together because Sonic still has two years of studies to finish in France and only wants to commit properly once he's back for good but he finally loves North the way North loves him. What's waiting a few more years when they have promised to spend the rest of their lives together?
So yeah, North is on good terms with karma. Probably on even better terms than he thought because the day after paying a visit to Kenta, the stars align for him once again.
He's just picked up his customary morning milk tea on his way to the garage and is busy texting Alan to tell he might be a few minutes late when he walks directly into an older lady. Admittedly it's not his finest moment and he apologizes profusely, offering his free hand in support and frantically making sure he didn't spill any of his tea on her white dress.
“I'm fine,” she tells him, pursing her lips. “You young people and your phones. You should pay more attention to your surroundings.”
“I’ll be more mindful in the future, auntie,” North answers, suitably scolded. “Again, I'm so sorry.”
He crouches down to pick up the flyer she dropped and freezes. Above a low resolution image of a sparsely furnished room, big, bold letters spell out FOR RENT. North’s eyes skim across the rest of the information. It's perfect. A 51 square meter, one bedroom apartment with a small balcony, located on the second floor. She's only asking for 7500 baht a month which is an unbelievable deal for the area they're in.
“Actually, can I take this?” he asks. “I have a friend who is looking for a place to stay. Early thirties, super neat and quiet.”
The lady hesitates for a moment but eventually hands the flyer over. “I suppose so. Have him call me today or I’ll put the ad back up.”
“Thank you so much!” North beams, offering her the most respectful wai. “I promise you won't regret this!”
fuck it. it's a whole thing now and this is chapter 1 of the unbetaed mess that will be an ode to kenta and north becoming unexpected besties
rating: pg-13
word count: 1727
chapter 1/?
-
Despite Kim’s reassurances, North is pretty sure he is about to get filleted like a fish. It's not that he doesn't trust Kim because Kim is a very trustworthy person but he has also seen Kim go full Call Of Duty Urban Warfare on a warehouse full of Tony’s goons so… Kim might have a skewed idea of what “fine” actually means. He probably knows how to filet people himself. Do they teach that in the Korean military? Also why does North now crave sushi?
Ugh, anyway. Imminent death. Yay!
North takes a deep breath, raises his hand and knocks. He has time to count to five before the door’s yanked open and… wow. Did Kenta grow? Because he certainly looks a lot bigger, standing in the doorway in a pair of baggy sweats and a compression shirt so tight he’s giving Babe a run for his money in the slutty work out wear category. North finds himself stuck staring at Kenta’s chest. Kenta’s chest stares right back at him.
“What.”
It's not even a question. North is quickly de-perved and back to being on the brink of shitting his pants.
“Kim borrowed some games from me and forgot to give them back. He said I could stop by and grab them?”
After an agonizingly long moment, Kenta finally steps aside, motioning for North to enter. He’s only been to Kim’s condo once, back when he was still part of the team and everyone helped him move his stuff in. Considering the place came fully furnished and most of Kim’s stuff was lost when Tony ransacked his place, it had barely taken them an hour. Afterwards they'd ordered pizza and demolished the beer Babe brought. North misses those days, before Tony rose back from the dead to fuck everything up and the pack he considers his second family splintered.
At this point Kim’s living room is the only thing that hasn't changed. It looks the same it did over a year ago from the spotless kitchen - seriously, there isn't as much as a spoon in the sink - to the number of faded, decorative pillows on the sofa. North tries to subtly spy anything that distinguishes the space as Kenta’s but finds nothing.
“Wow, you really keep things clean,” he says just to say something. “And the view! I would kill for a balcony that big. Mine’s like… a litter box. Literally. The neighbor's cat keeps hopping from theirs to mine.”
“Hmm.”
“Do you like cats? You look like a cat person. Unless you like dogs. Or parrots!”
“The games?” Kenta asks.
“Oh yeah, right. The games! That Kim borrowed. From me.”
As North spins towards the TV he thinks he hears Kenta murmur “cats are nice” and while that is probably revolutionary social development on his end, the words barely register. Because underneath the TV sits a shiny, whitePS5. It looks practically untouched. His hand reaches towards the stack of games on autopilot because that's what he's supposed to be doing but really, he's salivating a little. He's making better money now that he's driving for the big leagues but half of his paycheck still goes to support his family in Saraburi and can't exactly justify spontaneous purchases like game consoles.
Kim couldn't have forgotten something as big as a PS5 and Kenta’s clearly not using it. The controllers have been pushed to the back and are probably the only two things in this place covered by a fine layer of dust. His fingers twitch. It'd be such a shame for a beauty like that to just sit there untouched.
“Found it?”
Kenta’s voice startles North back to the moment. “Yep, I got it!” he grins and straightens up with a stack of games in hand. “And you should totally get a cat. This place is pretty big for one person to be all alone in.”
“I'm moving.”
“Oh. That's… great?”
“Are you done?”
He absolutely is. He scurries towards the front door and toes on his sandals, clutching the games against his chest. Kenta remains standing at the end of the hall, unmoving like some kind of a sexy gargoyle. North never understood what a guy like Kim saw in a guy like Kenta but now? He kinda gets it. Sure, Kenta has that whole ‘murder rawr’ face thing down and his biceps look about as thick as North’s thighs, but he's also a bit pouty and if North squints, Kenta could pass as Sonic’s cousin.
And Sonic, of course, is the most beautiful, perfect, amazing angel to ever walk the earth. Sonic is also anxiously waiting for North to come back online and send proof of life so he should spend less time focusing on the Sonic-ness of Kenta’s big sad brown eyes and more time getting the hell out.
“Bye,” he says, grabbing the doorhandle. “I’ll see you around!”
Kenta doesn't even blink as he makes his escape.
-
-
In the aftermath of North’s spontaneous and extremely suspicious visit, the silence in the apartment feels even more pronounced.
Kenta collapses onto the couch and closes his eyes, feeling his heart rate slowly return to normal as his muscles relax. He hasn't had any visitors since Alan showed up to have a go at their punching bag weeks before Kim moved out. Now that he thinks of it, the only people he has interacted face to face with for the past two weeks have been the market aunties and the college kid that works the late shift at the 7/11 down the road. None of them ask invasive questions about his living situation, a topic he has been consciously avoiding for a few weeks now.
Initially, he planned to renew the lease. After spending practically his entire life living in the Foundation and then at prison, Kim’s condo was the first place that felt… warm. Of course he now understands that warmth had nothing to do with the place and everything to do with Kim’s presence in it. Things were fine until one morning he woke up and felt like something had shifted overnight. After almost a full day of wandering through the apartment, haunted by a sense of uncanny, he finally realized what it was; Kim’s scent had finally faded completely. He hasn't been able to truly settle down here since then.
He needs a fresh start, something to call his own.
Money isn't the issue. Even if Pete didn't have the habit of trying to fix their fractured relationship by throwing money at it, Kenta’s own account has a hefty balance. Technically that is also thanks to Pete who, after Tony’s first death, took control of the UAC assets, dissolving or selling most of them. A lot of the proceeds went into building a new Foundation to support the children whose lives Tony destroyed but there was enough leftover to be split between the more grown up survivors. Kenta has enough to live comfortably for quite a few years without lifting a finger.
His biggest issue is the burden of choice. Bangkok is a sprawling city with seemingly endless offerings and he has no idea where to start. He doesn't know which districts would suit him the best. He hates the idea of living in some upper-class high rise yet wants something quiet and private. What if he finds a nice apartment but his neighbors turn out to be college kids who throw wild parties or new parents with a screaming baby that never quiets down? Eventually he’ll have to find a job and what if there's nothing available close by? He doesn't want to move more than once and commuting through the city is a nightmare.
With a sigh, he picks up his phone and opens social media, logged into the same dummy account he opened years ago to digitally stalk Babe. Babe’s account hasn't posted anything since Charlie fell into a coma, the last picture on it being of the two alphas posing side by side in their matching racing suits. Kenta’s tuned in enough to know Babe is still on the roster for next season but doubts he’ll actually make it to the track.
It weighs on Kenta for two reasons.
For one, he can't help but feel personally responsible. When the lab started experimenting with samples of his blood and spinal fluid, everyone was so sure they'd have Charlie back on his feet by the end of the week. They did transfusions and injections but nothing worked. They're still trying and tweaking the formulas, but the optimistic enthusiasm has all but vanished. Kenta’s miraculous healing powers appear to be wasted solely on himself.
The other one is selfish. Charlie’s coma and Babe’ devotion to being his caretaker means X-Hunter is desperately lacking in the driver department. Kim could have stayed and taken Babe’s spot as number one. Sometimes Kenta lays in bed and thinks about how much better everything would be if Alan had fought for it and given Kim a reason to stay. It's an ugly thing to fantasize about. Babe’s grief isn't something he should personally benefit from and Kim already stayed far longer than he wanted to. He's better off in Korea, as evidenced by the post that pops up when Kenta’s feed refreshes.
In it, Kim's smiling like someone managed to capture him mid-laughter. He looks… happy. Joyous in a way he never was in Thailand. He's back where he belongs, safe with his family, friends and a team willing to invest enormous amounts of money into making him their star.
Kenta’s finger hovers over the little heart symbol, then retracts. He wants to - fuck, he really does - but it would be disingenuous to interact with Kim like this. He meant it when he told Kim he’d call but he's not ready yet. His head is still a mess and he's stuck, unsure of what he wants and waiting for something to happen to force him forward. Kim deserves better.
Kenta’s head falls back with a dull thud and he stares blankly at the ceiling. Seven weeks until Kim’s lease on the condo runs out, three before the landlord needs his final decision on renewing it.
so i wanted to write some semi social media, semi written chaos fun for the Year Apart where kim is patiently waiting for kenta to reach out but because the world is a dark and dangerous place, he can't help but meddle and north is the most friend shaped person he knows
Despite Kim’s reassurances, North is pretty sure he is about to get filleted like a fish. It's not that he doesn't trust Kim because Kim is a very trustworthy person but he has seen Kim go full Call Of Duty Urban Warfare on a warehouse full of Tony’s goons so… Kim might have a skewed idea of what “fine” actually means. He probably knows how to filet people himself. Do they teach that in the Korean military? Also why does North now crave sushi?
Ugh, anyway. Imminent death. Yay!
North takes a deep breath, raises his hand and knocks. He has time to count to five before the door’s yanked open and… wow. Did Kenta grow? Because he certainly looks a lot bigger, standing in the doorway in a pair of baggy sweats and a compression shirt so tight he’s giving Babe a run for his money in the slutty work out wear category. North finds himself stuck staring at Kenta’s chest. Kenta’s chest stares right back at him.
“What.”
It's not even a question. North is quickly de-perved and back to being on the brink of shitting his pants.
“Kim borrowed some games from me and forgot to give them back. He said I could stop by and grab them?”
I feel like one of the reasons Willy is particularly challenging to like for so many people is because his role is this weird cross between both Winner and Way. Like he's this cocktail of awful traits and also there's a bomb in his head and he hates everyone and has zero interest in making himself likeable and he doesn't even want to be a racer in the first place. And somehow Charlie looked at all that and said "I'm adopting him."
oddly enough, everything's stated above made him very likable to me. like he's an atrocious little shit gremlin and i want to give him some strawberry milk and pat his head.