Always. In. My. Feels.

Let's all crush on characters who don't exist together!

[prettycopperpennies]

Hello! How are you? (sorry if you got this twice my internet was laggy and I wanted to make sure my request went through lol)

I have a request for the Triple Frontier boys, where they find out that they have a child with their ex (the reader ofc) and how they would react to it.

You don't have to do this, but x's and o's if you do want to ;)

Have a wonderful day! 🌹💞

No worries at all! Here's the request! I hope it's what you had in mind! Thanks so much for such fun request!! You have a wonderful day too!

[prettycopperpennies]

Triple Frontier - They React To Their Ex Having A Child

Anonymous asked: I have a request for the Triple Frontier boys, where they find out that they have a child with their ex (the reader ofc) and how they would react to it.

This reaction includes Santiago Garcia x Reader, Will Miller x Reader, Ben x Reader, and Frankie Morales x Reader

Some angst, each reaction ends with fluff

Santiago Garcia

- When you broke up with Santiago you had no idea you were pregnant. As soon as you saw the positive pregnancy test a few weeks after the break up, your first thought was him. You tortured yourself over telling him or not. While the only reason why you wanted to tell him was because of all these indescribable feelings like love and wanting, but you knew the exact reason why you were terrified to tell him; he might only stick around because he felt like he had to.

- In the end, whatever the reason, you didn’t tell him. Which you thought was a good choice till you unexpectedly ran into him. You were waiting for the bus when a familiar car pulled up on the curb. An even more familiar smiling face leaned out the window to greet you.

- “Need a ride?”

- Before you could answer, his eyes finally spotted the stroller beside you. For a moment, you hoped maybe he wouldn’t be able to do the math necessary to put two and two together but as his jaw dropped you realized how impractical that hope was. His eyes flicked back and forth between you and the stroller, his mouth slightly agape in shock. Finally you couldn't stand it and decided to be the one to break the silence despite not knowing at all what to say in the moment. You cringed at yourself when you heard yourself say “The bus will be here in a bit”. 

- That wasn’t exactly true, and if you weren’t terrified of putting some undeserved pressure on him you would have actually taken him up on the offer. Santiago seemed to read your mind, something he had always had a knack for, and got out of his car.

- “Come on, it’s no big deal.”

- You let him help you fold up the stroller and buckle the carrier into the back seat. You pretended not to notice as his gaze lingered on the peacefully sleeping bundled up baby as he did. As you two took off in the direction of your old place, you had to speak up and tell him you had to move.

- He asked why, and when you told him you had to downsize he nodded in understanding, but didn’t say much more about it. There were much more pressing matters at hand for Santiago. He was driving for a few minutes in an awkward silence before speaking up and saying, “So… I think we have something to talk about.”

- You had no idea where to start, but luckily for you he could once again sense how you were feeling without you needing to verbalize it.

- "I guess I should ask if it’s mine.”

- You gave him a “really?” look as he chuckled and said, “Just checking.”

- It seemed like all you needed was the license to really talk though, because in that short car ride you let every thought and feeling spill out. How he was obviously the father, but that terrified you more than anything. Not because you wou;]dve thought, for instance, that he would be a bad dad, but because you were terrified he would feel obligated to stick around. Like he would be stuck in some way. The constant oscillation between if telling him was the right or absolutely wrong thing to do. How you still didn't want him to feel any kind of pressure. Every. Thought.

- He took a moment to speak once you were finished, and for every single one of those silent seconds you were holding your breath. When he spoke up he didn’t really mention anything you brought up, instead he simply told you he wanted to spend time with his kid.

- Once the two of you made it to your home he helped you carry everything up to your place. It only took one look around your apartment for him to realize you needed to downsize. It was after that one look that he decided to offer back up a room at the place you two shared. You told him no, insisting you didn’t want him to feel like was on the hook for anything.

- He took your answer in the moment, but every time he came by to visit his child or take them and you to doctors appointments he was offering to help you find a better place, help out with groceries, give you rides to wherever, and whatever else you needed. 

- You would always turn him down. No matter how helpful it would have been, your guilt kept you from accepting anything. One day Santiago finally had enough. He spoke his mind after your one millionth rejection of his help.

 - “I want to help you! I don’t feel like I have to, or that you want me to, I want to. Because I want to help my child and the mother of my child.”

- After that, you would finally let him start to help out on occasion. That was how it went for a while. But there was always a tension between the two of you. Or maybe a few different types of tension. Whether or not you wanted to admit it, you had feelings for him. And although he couldn’t find the right words to tell you, he definitely still had feelings for you.

- But there was a different kind of tension as well. A much more anxious tension. Despite you both having had your moment where you finally opened up to the other, you could both tell there was still something hidden. That there was still something that needed to be said.

- You knew that you weren’t imagining the tension when one day with the baby asleep in the backseat on the way back from the doctors, Santiago told you he needed to talk. You both had been back in each other's lives for long enough that at this point you didn’t need to hold your breath every time you spoke to one another. The nerves that had washed over you when you first had seen him at the bus stop were long gone. But suddenly, with that one phrase, it was like you were back there. Nerves and all.

- “I just… I need to talk about what you told me that night. The reasons why you didn’t tell me about our kid. It just… it feels like you didn’t trust me, you know? Like, you couldn't tell me because you weren’t sure if I would be honest with you.”

- The nerves were replaced with guilt when you heard what he had to say. You couldn’t believe he’d been carrying that inside himself for so long. You had no doubt why he hadn’t spoken up till then. He didn’t want to hurt you. He had always been so careful around you. That’s why you were terrified to tell him you were pregnant so many months ago. But now you realized you weren’t protecting him, you were hurting him.

- As you admitted to him there wasn’t a single person in the world you trusted more than him, you could see his tense demeanour melt. As often as you thought how kind he was with you, and how he seemed to always know how to make you feel better or more comfortable, you had no idea you did the very same thing for him.

- At least, you didn’t know until he reached one hand off the wheel to hold your own. Finally, those months of tension had finally melted away. What was left was a quiet comfortability as you two held onto the other with your child sleeping just feet away from you.

- That was how to describe your little family that formed over the next days, weeks, and months. Quit, comfortable, and never too far from one another.

Will Miller

- When Will broke up with you he had no idea you were pregnant. As he ended things you almost wanted to say something, but you resisted. You didn’t know how to break the news without making him feel like you were only saying it to keep him on the hook. So instead you left with a massive secret weighing on your soul.

- That weight lessened as time passed. Taking care of a child was time consuming business, and on top of that you had loved them more than anyone else on the planet. Raising a child was somehow the most rewarding and exhausting thing you had ever done. But you were more than happy to do it. 

- And you found that as years passed, you were more and more reassured that you were right not to tell Will. Not when you had a perfectly happy life without him. You would often internally insist you absolutely did not need him.

- You would double down on that insistence when you saw him at the movie theater. He was just a few people ahead of you and your child. You turned on your heels, planning to leave before he could see you. But your child quickly started to protest as you tried to step out of line, insisting that you promised you would see the new kids’ movie.

- As Will heard your kid yelling out he turned to look at the minor competition and was shocked to see it was you holding the child’s hand. He let a few people cut in front of him in line as he worked his way back towards you. He always hated how things had ended between the two of you, and even though he thought it may be a bad idea he couldn’t stop himself from heading over to you the moment he saw you.

- “I don’t mind getting your guys’ tickets.”

- As soon as you heard the voice you knew it belonged to Will and you had been spotted. You looked over to him, trying not to look embarrassed or sheepish as if you had been caught. Once again you were reminding yourself you had always been better off without him. It was like a mantra going round in round in your head as your broken heart faltered in resolve when you looked into his eyes and gentle smile.

- “Please, mom! Can we stay? We’ll get free tickets!”

- Will felt himself freeze when he heard the child call you mom. He had assumed you two were family. After all, the two of you looked incredibly similar, but he had assumed you were their aunt or maybe an older cousin. He couldn't believe you were a mother.

- But as he kicked himself for not noticing just how similar you looked to the other he started to see something else in the details of the child’s face. There was a similarity to another familiar face. His own. As you saw him putting two and two together, you decided you;d better speak up. You tried your best to reach out an olive branch without actually saying those words out loud. You didn't want to rehash anything in front of your kid.

- “Hey! Guess what buddy, this is actually an old friend of mine. Do you want to see the movie with us?”

- It was a simple question but your face was begging him not to say too much in the moment. Will thankfully got the message. But you didn’t expect him to actually accept the offer. 

- At every joke, thrilling beat, and terrifying moment Will was glancing over to look at his child. He couldn't help it. Every laugh, cheer, or gasp was unendingly enduring. He may not have known his child existed until a few hours ago, but that didn't matter. He swore he would be in his child’s life, no matter what.

- That’s exactly what he was telling you, quietly, as you sent your kid to pick out some candy for the ride home as a special treat. You remembered the hurt he caused you when he had needed things for seemingly no reason. You knew that wasn’t a good enough reason to keep him away from his son, but deep down you were worried that one way or another he’d end up hurting you again. Or worse, breaking your child’s heart in some way.

- But despite your worries you agreed to let him take his kid for visits on the weekend. You soon realized you were worried about nothing when it came to Will and your kid. He basically spoiled them rotten. They were always coming back home with new toys or stories about the amazing things they did all weekend. You always smiled and asked them about their weekend when they sang Will’s praises, no matter how much you were still nursing your own wound. Even though he was your ex, he was still your kid’s father.

- One weekend when Will invited you to come along you were more than a little shocked. “You want me to come with you?” That was the question that had left your mouth before you even had a chance to realize what you were asking. All he said was “of course”. When you turned his offer down, you were surprised to feel a twinge of guilt when you noticed him deflate a little.

- At the end of that weekend when he dropped off your child, he stayed standing in the doorway. He shuffled from one foot to another before he finally got up the courage to ask you to talk. You made sure your kid was playing with another new toy in his room before you agreed to let Will share whatever was bothering him. You internally wondered what he could possibly be upset about, considering the history between the two of you.

- “Look, I know.” That was all he said before fixing you with a look that you had no idea what it meant.

- “What?”

- “I know, but I don’t care any more. We have a kid together. So we should make this work. And really I want to make this work. Because I care about you… alot. Actually I lo-”

- “Wait, what do you mean ‘I know’?” That was the question you finally had to interrupt him with before he got any further. You had no idea what he was talking about. After a deep breath he finally put it all into words. He knew you had been cheating on him. There was only one problem with that; you definitely had never cheated on Will.

- You told him as much, and for a moment it was him who was looking lost. He shook his head in disagreement, citing how distant and odd you had been acting for weeks before he decided to end things. Will said he knew you too well, that you had definitely been keeping something from him.

- “Yeah, I was hiding something from you, you said, and waved around to the house with toys scattered about the floor. Will’s eyes doubled in size as he realized that the secret had never been you cheating. He lunged forward to wrap your hands in his as his heart sunk over the news. You continued on, “I wanted to tell you- I was going to tell you, but then you ended things and. Well. It would’ve felt manipulative to te-”

- This time it was him cutting you off. But not because he was confused. For the first time he had all the answers and it was breaking his heart. The only reason he cut you off was because he couldn't stand letting you feel like you had to explain anything to him. Not when this was his fault.

- When he asked you for one more shot you couldn't help but answer him with a long embrace. No matter for how long and how often you told yourself you didn’t need Will, the truth was you had never gotten over him. And as it turned out he had never gotten over you.

- So slowly the two of you built back the trust you both once had while building up your little family. Pretty soon Will was staying for the weekend, then staying past the weekend, then just staying. And you often would internally tell yourself you didn't need Will, but you were so happy to have him.

Ben Miller

- You don’t know how your tiny little child heard of MMA. You tried everything you could to get them interested in absolutely anything else, but there was no rerouting their obsession into anything else. They were dead-set on being the biggest MMA fan.

- Everyone just assumed you wanted your kid to find a different interest because of how rough the sport was, and you were more than happy to let everyone think that. It was easier than explaining your ex, who was actually the father of your child, was actually a professional MMA fighter.

- But your child was just as stubborn as you were, and when their birthday rolled around they only asked for one thing: to go see an MMA fight. You felt like everyone had to be judging your parenting skills when you showed up at an MMA night with a kid, but you had hoped against hope maybe giving in might mean they might actually move on from their obsession. But as the night went on, and the last fight of the night came, you began to question your own choices. You had a sinking feeling as you heard your ex’s name announced over the sound system.

- You tried to calm yourself down, reasoning he wouldn't be able to spot you in the raucous crowd. The only thing that distracted you from all your anxious thoughts was your child cheering loudly for Ben. Somehow, without even knowing a thing, they had immediately become a fast fan as they turned to tell you how good Ben was. You swallowed the lump in your throat and smiled at them with a nod.

- All your hoping and reasoning was for nought, though. When Ben won the fight, and he was grinning back at the cheering crowd, his eyes almost immediately locked on yours. He felt his heart skip a beat. Even after years he was still hung up on you. As soon as he was out of the octagon he was heading through the locker room doors and looking for you amongst the crowd.

- You knew he had spotted you, and once the crowd started to filter out you tried your best to get out of there as fast as you could before he saw who was with you. But you weren’t fast enough, and you ran into him at the doors. He met your eyes with a smile, but before he could say even a word your child was excitedly introducing themselves and telling him everything on their long list of favorite moments of the night.

- Ben didn’t clock the heaviness of the situation at first, instead he listened and talked with them with a smile. He was making your child’s day while yours, ironically, seemed to quickly becoming the worst day of your life. 

- He glanced at you in between your child’s excited rapid fire questions, and his eyebrows furrowed for a moment as he saw your worried expression. But when the child referred to you as mom, he thought he had finally puzzled the situation together. He tried not to show it, but his heart broke at the idea of you moving on with someone and starting a family.

- “Oh, is this your…”

- He started to bring you into the conversation, but his sentence trailed off as he started to actually take in how old this kid in front of him was and all the similarities between the two of them. Ben looked back to you, mouth slightly agape, as the lightbulb went off. 

- Luckily, your child was so excited they did not not notice the shift between the two of you as they happily filled the silence with more chatting. Ben tried his best to not ask you the millions of questions bouncing around his head, and instead turned his attention back on your kid.

- Ben’s heart broke for a second time that night as he looked into the face of his kid who he didn’t know the first thing about. That’s why he offered to bring your kid around his gym, telling them they could see where he trains and try out the boxing mitts or the punching bag. 

- Your kid was practically pulling you straight to the ground as they pulled on your hand, begging you to let them go. You looked between the two people in front of you, and you knew it wouldn’t be fair to say no. This was your kid’s dream, and as far as Ben went… it wasn’t like you could tell him not to get to know his own child.

- After a few weeks of dropping by to take your kid to the gym, then to park, and anywhere else they asked him to take them Ben was around quite a bit. Which is why when he told you he needed to talk, you weren’t exactly surprised. He was clearly planning on sticking around, and he had every right to know why he wasn’t given that chance to start out with.

- You admitted to him the only reason why you hadn’t told him was because you were terrified he would feel a pressure to stick around. You knew his mma career was important to him, and on top of that sometimes that meant he had to travel. But worst of all, you just didn’t want you or your child to be the reason why he had to slow down on or stop something he loved doing. Which is why you never told him, and why you decided it was best to leave him.

- His response was one you never expected. Not only did he forgive you with an immediacy you didn’t see coming, but then he admitted something he had been feeling since you left him years ago. 

- He still loved you. And he wanted you and your two children to be in his life, promising it would never feel like the two of you were holding him back.

- Which is how the three of you started to figure out what it meant to be in this new family. Of course, you quickly realized how ridiculous all your worries had been. Not only did Ben love to take you two along with him when he had to travel, but it was your kid’s dream come true. And you were quickly realizing having Ben in your kid’s life, and yours, was your own dream come true.

Frankie Morales

- The reason why you left Frankie was because you had gotten pregnant. He was a sweet guy, and at first glance he seemed very level headed. But as you dated him you realized how much of a loose cannon he could be. Somehow he was always getting into trouble whether it was himself to blame or one of his wild friends. He was not cut out to be a father, and you told yourself he probably would never even want to be a dad in the first place.

- You undeniably loved your child more than anything on earth, but what else was undeniable was the fact they had definitely inherited their dad’s wild side. Despite having never met him. They definitely kept you on your toes, which was why it was no surprise when they ended up with a broken arm at the e.r.

- What was a surprise was seeing Frankie there. When he saw you he would give you a sheepish look, thinking about how unperturbed you’d be that he was currently waiting for one of his friends (that you definitely thought was a bad influence) in the e.r. What would surprise him was how your expression seemed to mirror his as you looked back at him abashedly.

- However when he saw the kid holding your hand, and after some quick math, he realized exactly why you looked so worried/embarrassed. He would think about coming up to you and pointing out that he had eyes and wasn’t an idiot, but instead when he saw you stressing out over a dead phone he decided to offer some help instead of confronting you.

- When he realized you were going to use your phone to distract your kid from the pain, and after a quick check in with you as he shot you “this okay with you?” look, he sat down next to his kid and started to watch some of their favorite youtube videos.

- You couldn’t believe that in the e.r. with your kid who has a broken arm and your ex who you kept a massive secret from you were actually having a moment of relief, but you were. Somehow Frankie seemed to obtain the magical ability you had never figured out, and he was actually able to calm your kid down. This living, breathing tornado was more than happy to just sit and talk with him.

- That’s why you were willing to agree to let Frankie come around and hang out with his kid. You normally would’ve argued with him, telling him his wild streak is way too impressive to voluntarily let him around your child, but after that moment in the e.r. you couldn't help but wonder if something in Frankie had changed over the years. It also helped that the two of them would be meeting up at your place, under your watchful eye where neither of them could manage to convince the other to do anything too crazy.

- When it turned out the hospital wasn’t actually a fluke, that he actually was able to entertain your wild child without getting the other arm broken, he was over all the time. You would have never guessed in a million years that your ex would’ve been your respite, but he undeniably was. 

- As you watched the two of them grow closer and closer you realized maybe it wasn’t so surprising. As irresponsible as he could seem, he had always been the sweetest person you knew. And you knew that your child, who had definitely inherited that trademark chaotic energy from their dad, had also gotten the naturally kind personality their father had too.

- Which is why when he was asking you for one more chance you said yes. You always knew he was sweet, there was no doubt about that. But when he started to bring you back into his wild life and fun nights, you realized you not only didn’t mind it, you loved it. 

- Now that you had him to help with your child, and you actually had some semblance of a calm life, the excitement Frankie had always brought along with him was actually something you welcomed. It sort of reminded you of when the two of you were younger and running around wild and free together.

- That’s how the three of you became a family. As soon as Frankie entered you and your child’s life he brought along balance, knowing exactly how to bring fun chaos and comforting peace. It didn't take long for you to begin to wonder how you ever did anything without him.

[prettycopperpennies]

I have an idea for how the triple frontier boys (not including t0m) would react to the reader getting engaged to someone else, and they eventually object at the readers wedding. 1. I watched a TV show that got me hooked to this idea. 2. I love drama. 3. I loved your last triple frontier post where you wrote about the boys reacting to their soulmate not liking them. It's TOTALLY okay if you don't take my suggestion/don't take suggestions, love your work <3

have a nice day 🩵

Thank you for all the kind words!!! Totally made my day! I loved the suggestion, here it is!! Hopefully it's the vibe you were looking for! Thanks so much for such a fun suggestion!

[prettycopperpennies]

Triple Frontier - Their Crush Get's Engaged To Someone Else, And They Object At The Wedding

This is a reaction for this request from in-my-zone: I have an idea for how the triple frontier boys (not including t0m) would react to the reader getting engaged to someone else, and they eventually object at the readers wedding.

Includes Santiago Garcia x Reader, Ben Miller x Reader, Will Miller x Reader, and Frankie Morales x Reader

Some angst, lots of fluff

Santiago Garcia

When you made your best friend your maid of honor you had no idea her brother was suddenly going to drop in for the few months before your wedding. 

Of course, you wouldn’t put it past Santiago to find out when you were getting married and come poking around. He always managed to pick the worst time to do anything. That was part of the reason why he was your ex.

That timing was why you were currently sitting in your best friend’s apartment, and trying your best to ignore the man leaning on the kitchen counter.

“So, you sure you love love this guy?” he asked.

“Are you almost ready?” you called for your friend, ignoring his question.

“Because I heard he’s a bit of a wet blanket,” he continued on.

“I’m ready whenever you are, so-” you were busy trying to yell over Santiago when you finally looked at him to say, “Wet blanket? No he isn’t!”

“That’s definitely not what I heard,” he said with a shrug.

“From who? And no one even says wet blanket anymore. Or ever, really,” you said, already getting exasperated by him. You quickly resumed yelling down the hall, "What's taking you so long?”

“Sorry! Sorry!” your best friend said, finally coming out, “I lost my wallet.”

“Are you telling him my finance’s a wet blanket?” you asked.

“What? No! He’s sooo fun,” she said.

“Thank you,” you said, shooting Santiago a cocky look.

“I remember you saying he was-”

“Oh my god, shut up,” she said, shushing her brother.

You looked between the two of them before saying, “Hang on, what did you tell him?”

“I just said… he’s, you know, a different kind of fun,” she said with a shrug.

“That’s some serious paraphrasing,” Santiago said with a scoff.

Before you could pry further your best friend was grabbing your shoulders and escorting you out the door to the car, and saying, “Ignore him. Just ignore him.”

As you stood in the boutique, wearing the dress you had picked the week before, you could feel your heart starting to sink. You had been so sure this was the dress, but in this moment you were suddenly second guessing yourself.

Your best friend and maid of honor was noticing the frown on your face and asked, "Everything okay?”

“What do you think of this dress?” you asked.

“I mean, you said you thought your fiance would love it,” she pointed out.

“Right,” you sighed.

She noticed your frown deepening as you spoke, and decided to mention something.

“I think if you want to try some other things on you totally could,” she said.

“I mean… I really thought this was the one,” you said with a defeated feeling, “And I really liked that everyone was here to look at everything with me…”

You thought back for a moment to your bridesmaids cheering you on as you tried on dress after dress. Suddenly, the very same boutique was feeling very depressing.

“I know someone who is free, and they’re pretty good at changing the mood for the better,” she said, sounding hesitant.

“No.”

You already knew who she was thinking of, and there was no way Santiago was about to have a say on your wedding dress.

“We don’t have to call him!” she said, throwing her hands up, “I’m just saying he has a knack for turning shitty days into a fun time.”

“No way!” you said as you made your way to the dressing room.

“Alright, fine,” she said.

You thought she was on your page, but about half an hour later and five dresses later, Santiago was walking through the front doors of the boutique. You gave your best friend a withering look which was met with a sheepish shrug.

“You are totally freaking out!” she said.

“Oh, but this is going to calm me down,” you said sarcastically, gesturing his way.

“Hi to you too,” he said.

“Hi.”

“What’s going on?” he asked, looking around at the many dresses draped around the few couches, rack, and floor.

“She hates her dress,” your friend explained.

“Whats wrong with that one?” he asked, gesturing to the one you were wearing.

“It just isn’t right,” you said.

“It’s gorgeous,” he said, looking at your frowning expression.

“You’re not even looking at the dress,” you said with an eyeroll as you headed off to the dressing room.

You picked dress after dress, but nothing seemed right. Santiago did a good job of bearing the brunt of your frustrations, managing to keep in a good mood as you went through all the dresses.

“We’re starting to run out of clothes here,” your best fries said, looking at the rack of rejected dresses.

“Who needs a dress? Just grab the guy and head off to Las Vegas,” Santiago said with a shrug and smile.

You slumped beside them onto the couch as you spoke, “That’s definitely not an option.”

“What, are you kidding me? Elopement sounds like something you would totally-”

“It’s not his style,” you added, “And it is not my thing either.”

“Sure, sure,” Santiago said, but you could hear the knowing tone in his voice as he spoke.

“What does that mean?” you asked, eyebrows raising as you did.

“I’m agreeing with you,” he said, throwing his hands up.

“Sure, sure,” you said, mocking him. This time he let himself fully laugh, and in spite of yourself you found yourself smiling too.

“Let’s take a break from all this,” your friend suggested, “Let’s go get a drink or something.”

“That actually is a good idea,” you said.

“Why did you say that like it was surprising?” she asked with mock offense.

“Probably because you invited her ex to help her try on wedding dresses,” Santiago pointed out.

A month, and multiple dress fittings, had passed and you still hadn’t found the right dress. Santiago tagging along had become a commonality without you even realizing it. There was just something about him being there, letting you freak out as he smiled through it, that actually somehow helped you feel a little more sane.

After another disastrous fitting the three of you ended up where you always did at the end of the whole ordeal; at a bar down the street.

“All I’m saying is, getting married should be fun,” Santiago said, finishing another one of his whole anti-wedding speeches.

“You don’t get married for yourself,” you scoffed.

“That’s weird, I thought it was supposed to be about you and the love of your life,” he said.

“Nope,” you said, “It’s for everybody else. All those family and friends who only want the best for you.”

“Fuck that. You do what you want to do,” he said.

“Some of us aren’t totally selfish,” you said pointedly.

“You got me,” he said with a cocky smile, easily bearing your dig, “If I get married, it’s cuz I want to.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to-”

“Sure, sure.”

“Why are you always saying that? And I do want to… It’s just, weddings are complicated, and marriage is complicated, and love is complicated,” you said, your words spilling out faster than you could filter them.

“Love isn’t complicated,” he said.

“Oh, really?” you asked, thinking of your fiance.  You knew he was the right choice, the safe choice, but sometimes you couldn't help but second guess it all. No matter how safe it was, “I mean, even just getting a wedding dress is already seeming impossible.”

“Hey,” he said, noticing your worried expression, “Forget the dress.”

“Easy for you to say,” you mumbled.

“I’m serious. If he’s the right guy, the dress won't even matter,” he said.

He meant it as a comfort, but suddenly you could feel your heart unexpectedly begin to break. You realized he was right, and you also realized exactly why no dress was ever going to be the right one. You nodded, fighting back tears. Santiago’s eyebrows furrowed as he leaned in towards you, “Woah, are you okay? I only meant-”

“I know what you meant,” you said, quickly wiping tears away.

“Are you sure? Cuz I definitely didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said, making you laugh a little.

“I’m fine, really,” you said.

He nodded, and you didn’t notice as you tried to stop yourself from crying that he momentarily seemed to struggle with his own wants and your own needs. He stood up and gave you a hug. You leaned into it instinctively, glad to have some comfort.

“Look, even though you know how I meant it, I’m sorry anyways. Everything is going to be fine, yeah?” he said.

“Yeah,” you said with a deep breath. He gave you one last gentle squeeze before leaving you and his sister to talk.

The next day your maid of honor called to let you know Santiago had left.

“What do you mean?” you asked, the news shocking you enough to keep it from truly sinking in.

“I think he felt like… maybe him being around was…”

“What?” you asked.

“Well, I mean, I sorta agree,” she said.

“I don’t even know what you agree with!” you said, the devastation slowly beginning to dawn on you.

“I think him being around was sort of confusing for you,” she admitted.

“What does that mean?” you asked, despite knowing exactly what she meant (and knowing she was one hundred percent correct).

“You and Santiago have a lot of history. No one could blame you for…”

“Whatever you, or Santiago, think I was feeling, I wasn’t,” you said, denying what your heart was telling you at that very moment.

“Okay, you’re right. Either way, he had to go.”

“Okay… Do you want to come over?” you asked.

“Sure. Should I pick up some ice cream?” she asked.

“Yeah,” you said. That day was spent with the two of you binging movies and eating all the junk food you wanted. You had never been so grateful to have her as a best friend. Anybody else would look at that whole situation and say it seemed like you were getting over a break up. But she knew that was totally not the situation. You absolutely, completely, had zero feelings for Santiago.

A few weeks later you were at the altar, in a dress you hated, getting married to a man you loved. Definitely. Maybe. The way you scanned the crowd as you walked down the aisle was just excitement to see all your friends and family there. You definitely weren’t looking for one person in particular. And your heart definitely wasn’t breaking when you realized he had truly decided to stay away.

As the officiant asked you two to exchange vows, the chapel doors swung open. You looked to see Santiago standing there in the doorway.

“Did I miss it?” he asked, walking down the aisle and stirring up many mutterings and gasps.

“We’re in the middle of it,” your fiance said, gesturing between you, him, and the officiator.

“Not the wedding,” Santiago said with a wave of his hand.

“They already asked if anyone objects,” you heard your maid of honor say from over your shoulder.

“Shit, really?” he asked with furrowed brows.

“Wait, what do you want to do here, exactly?” your nearly husband asked with a scoff.

Santiago turned his eyes to your fiance, looked him up and down, and then looked to you. There was a miniscule tilt of his head, as if he was asking “this guy? Really?”. You didn’t have any sort of reaction though. You were too busy oscillating between shock and something that felt suspiciously like relief. 

It seemed Santiago could read your thoughts as he broke into a grin and said, “Fuck it. I OBJECT!”

“Excuse me?” your fiance spluttered.

“You do?” you asked, and instead of surprise your tone only sounded relieved.

He held his hand out to you as he asked, “How does a Vegas wedding sound?”

“Perfect,” you said, and you let him lead the way as the two of you raced down the aisle. You couldn't explain it, but suddenly the dress you hated minutes ago suddenly seemed perfect for the occasion as the two of you ran off for whatever future was coming your way.

Ben Miller

You could have sworn your fiance’s best man, Ben, hated you. He seemed like a naturally outgoing and charismatic guy from what your future husband told you, but every time you came into the room he went silent and sullen. Anytime you brought up wedding plans he would scoff or roll his eyes. And even before you two were engaged, Ben always found a reason not to come out whenever you were hanging out too.

But you were determined to get him to warm up to you. He was your fiance’s best man! Having your husband’s closest friend hate you would not be a great start to any marriage, so one way or another you were winning Ben over.

That’s why, at your co- Bachelor and Bachelorette party you found your way over to Ben. He was busy standing on your maid of honor’s back porch, drinking a beer and practically sulking as he looked through the window at the house party.

“Hey, you!” you said with some forced cheer.

“Hi,” he said with a cocked eyebrow, clearly picking up on your ingenuine greeting. You internally flinched, wishing you were better at masking your nerves. You held up your hands, both holding shot glasses filled with cheap whiskey.

“I come bearing gifts,” you said.

He looked you up and down, weighing the pros and cons, before finally shrugging and taking one of the glasses. You hadn't noticed, but a smile passed over his face for a moment as your own expression became scrunched as you threw back the drink.

“So… enjoying yourself?” you asked, looking across the very quiet backyard.

“Having a blast,” he said with a dry tone, his eyes also looking away from you and to the night sky.

“Could’ve fooled me,” you whispered.

“What was that?” he asked, his eyes back on you as he leaned in just a smidge.

“Nothing!” you said, not quick enough on your feet to think of a good answer.

“Does the bride to be secretly have a backbone?” he asked, giving away that he definitely heard what you said. 

To your surprise, he seemed less annoyed and more amused. He was openly grinning at you, for maybe the first time ever, as he waited for your answer. You rolled your shoulders back as you prepared an answer, ready to rise to the challenge.

“It’s not so secret, actually,” you said with what you were hoping was a confident-looking cock of your head.

“Could’ve fooled me,” he teased, quoting you from moments before. 

“You know what?” you asked.

“What?” he asked. You were trying your best to be intimidating, which seemed to amuse Ben to no end. You couldn't explain why, but in that moment you found this conversation between the two of you much more engaging than the party happening inside that was meant for you.

“I didn’t just come out here to give you a shot,” you admitted.

“Okay,” he said, clearly intrigued by what you were going to say next.

“I came out here to talk,” you said.

“Wow. You’re completely off the rails,” he said, and you almost laughed. For a moment you were actually seeing the charm everyone had been telling you about.

“And to tell you-” and this time you were the one leaning towards him as the two of you spoke, “I’m going to get you to like me, one way or another.”

“How do you know I don’t already?” he asked with an easy confidence you wished you had, mirroring your movement as his body shifted closer to you.

You felt your breath hitch as you finally began to realize just how close the two of you had gotten during this backyard conversation. You had both leaned in bit by bit till you were mere inches away from the other.

“There you are!”

The voice of your future husband broke the tension, and you jumped back. The frown you had grown accustomed to seeing came back onto Ben’s face as you moved away and turned to your fiance. Before you were dragged back inside you turned back to Ben for one last comment.

“You should join the party, Ben,” you said.

He looked over for a moment, clocking how you were already arm in arm with your fiance about to head inside, before he said, “Yeah, maybe.”

You felt frustration at the failure to become his friend bubble up along with another emotion… Relief? Like you weren’t quite sure how you would act around him. He brought out something in you that you were not at all expecting or used to.

Ben managed to dodge you for the next few days, but he knew on the day of the wedding he would have no choice but to see you. That situation came up sooner than he expected when the wedding photographer was suddenly grabbing a few photos ahead of the ceremony. 

“Let’s just get a few of these out of the way.” was the excuse he was given. The groomsmen and bridesmaids were pulled out onto a green lawn to take photos. After a few moments the groom joined them, but when he went inside you were called down to the lawn. Ben tried to compose himself, but every effort was immediately brushed to the side as soon as he saw you in your dress.

You looked gorgeous as you floated across the grass in white. Ben felt a pang in his heart that was etched on his face in the fashion of a frown as he watched you and the bridesmaids taking photos.

“Alright, now the groomsmen! Get in there!” the photographer instructed.

Ben put himself as far away from you as possible. You felt your heart pang a little. Sure, you two had a good conversation a few nights ago, but he seemed to go right back to hating your guts. With the tension between the two of you becoming a distant memory, you found yourself once again wishing you could crack the tough exterior of your fiance’s best friend.

“Let’s get one with the bride and best man!”

You and Ben both looked wide eyed at the suggestion from the photographer. You glanced at Ben, who was practically glowering. You half expected him to take off across the lawn and down the road, but after a few moments he came to stand beside you. You both waited for the photographer to set up the camera in the right spot. It was quickly becoming an awkward silence. You took a breath, ready to say anything to break the uncomfortable tension when Ben spoke up.

“Congrats.”

“What?” you asked.

“You’re getting married,” he said.

“Oh, right. Yes. Thank you,” you said, once again finding yourself forcing an overly friendly smile.

He cocked an eyebrow before saying, “You forget?”

“Ha. Ha.” you said, your smile slowly becoming genuine, “I was just… I don’t know, I guess I’m nervous.”

“I make you nervous?” he asked, sounding just the slightest bit cocky.

“No,” you scoffed, even though he absolutely did.

“Suuuure,” he said with a slight drawl in the word.

“I’m the bride, nobody’s making me nervous. I’m the star of the show,” you said, acting way more confident then you ever would usually act as you immediately went back on what you had said moments ago.

He smiled at you, and for a moment you could have sworn he was considering something before he said, “Yeah, you look good.”

A blush started to creep onto your cheeks, and before you knew what was happening the photographer was speaking up and telling you to smile.

“It’s looking a bit stiff. Can you two try some sort of pose?”

The heat in your face increased as Ben wrapped an arm around your waist.

“Perfect!” the photographer said before snapping away with their camera. You weren’t sure what to do with the information that was currently flowing around your head. Ben’s arm holding you close felt so natural.

“I can hear your heartbeat from here,” Ben said quietly, the two of you still holding the pose and looking at the camera.

“I’m not nervous,” you restated, sounding considerably less bold than before. There was something about him in this moment that was making you more nervous than anyone ever had.

He looked away from the camera to give you a confidence inspiring grin and said, “You’re the star of the show, right?”

With a relieved sigh you looked back, saying, “Right.”

“Got it!” the photographer exclaimed, “Just lovely.”

You felt your heart sink when his arms dropped away from you and back to his side. You felt yourself wanting to say something but you had no idea what. Just as before, Ben was the one to speak up first.

“See you in the chapel,” he said.

“Can’t wait,” you said, the words leaving your mouth before you even thought of what that could mean. You couldn't wait to see him in the chapel? You both seemed surprised by the response, silently looking at the other. Before you could try to explain it away, the bridesmaids were rushing you away to finish preparing for the ceremony.

Ben watched over your fiance’s shoulder as the officiate began to speak. He began to think back to a few years ago, when he first met you. He had fallen in love with you on sight. After that he had avoided you at any cost. He couldn’t be in love with his best friend’s girlfriend, and when you became his best friend’s fiance his resolve only doubled. But over these past few months, you had slowly but surely cracked away at that resolve till he barely had any left. Which is why, when he heard the words “...if anyone here objects to this marriage speak now…” he was suddenly speaking up.

“Yeah,” Ben said.

Everyone in the chapel watched with shock as the best man suddenly spoke up.

“Sorry, but I object, or whatever,” Ben said.

“What is going on?” your fiance asked, not sure what was happening.

“It’s just-” Ben looked straight at you as he spoke, “I can’t let you get married without saying this.”

“Saying what?” you asked, your heart pounding once again.

“I’m in love with you,” he said.

“I thought you hated me,” you admitted.

“Yeah, I know,” he said with a nod, “I thought… I thought that was for the best, you know? Keep you at arms length and let everything I feel for you just disappear. But it never did. I’ve tried to hate you. Really tried. But I can only love you.”

Before you could respond, Ben was turning towards everyone gathered for the wedding.

“Sorry for the interruption,” he said simply, then turned back to you, “I just…needed to get that off my chest. I hope you two have the best life. Really. I want you to be happy.”

Everyone was stunned into silence as he walked down the aisle and out the chapel. You looked back to your fiance, who sported a ‘that was interesting’ look on his face, and after a few moments the ceremony carried on. But as soon as you were asked if you would take the man standing across from you to be your husband, you found yourself tongue tied. You couldn't bring yourself to say those two simple words. You were practically willing yourself to say a simple “I do”, but your heart wouldn’t let you. 

Like Ben had minutes earlier, you were suddenly going down the aisle and out the doors (although you were hurrying much faster than him). That night, after your ex-bridemaids had left, you found yourself alone. Your head was reeling, wondering if you had made a mistake.

But then you heard a knock on the door. As you got up to answer it, you somehow already knew who was on the other side.

“Hi,” Ben said.

“Hey,” you answered. Just like the rest of this day, week, and every moment you had spent knowing Ben, you knew whatever this was between the two of you was going to be very interesting.

Will Miller

When Will had met his cousin’s future wife, he didn’t expect you to throw him for a loop like you did. But he considered himself to be a smart guy. He didn’t believe in love at first sight. Whatever he was feeling was just surface level, and he knew he could bury them far enough down that eventually they would disappear. He’d carry out his role as a groomsman; be polite and friendly enough, and then go home and forget you. At least, that was the plan, but unfortunately for him his irresponsible cousin was putting him in your vicinity much more often than he anticipated. The first favour was when Will was suddenly being sent to help iron out some issues with the cake.

“Hey,” he greeted as he walked into the bakery.

“Hi,” you said, trying not to let your stress show as you forced a smile.

“My cousin wanted to be here but-”

“Don’t worry. He let me know he’s got work,” you said with a nod.

He thought back to when his cousin facetimed him, clearly hungover and on the couch, that morning. He furrowed his brows with annoyance before saying, “Right.”

“Um, so I guess our order somehow slipped through the cracks,” you explained.

“We are so sorry about that!” the baker said.

“But, they’ve got a few options that are less custom and more just basic-”

“They’re staples! Not at all basic!” the employee said, trying to paint the situation in a better light.

Soon the two of you were trying bites of their “staple” cake options. You couldn’t hide how frazzled you felt as you quickly tasted each bite. You looked over to see Will watching you, clearly amused.

“What?” you asked.

“I’ve just never seen anyone look so frustrated while eating desert,” he said.

The tension released from your shoulders as you finally let a smile slip onto your face, “Sorry, I’m just… With my fiance being so busy it gets a bit stressful.”

Will bit back the admission of how his cousin was not actually all that busy, and instead made an effort to comfort you, “This is just a bump, you know? And there’s some pretty good options here.”

You took a deep breath before forcing yourself to agree, “Yes, you’re right. And the lemon’s pretty good.”

Just as you said ‘the lemon’s pretty good’ he said, “Except the lemon.”

“What? Are you crazy?” you asked.

“I take it all back, you were right. This is going to be a super stressful day. I didn’t know you were an amateur cake tester,” he teased, finally getting you to laugh.

“Me?” you asked with fake shock.

“Okay, here’s the official test. What did you think of their red velvet?” he asked.

“Hated it,” you admitted.

“What!” he asked before waving over the baker, “Excuse me, we’re actually gonna get two tiers with chocolate and the other is gonna be red velvet-”

You tried to shush and shove him to the side, but his broad shouldered figure didn’t even budge. You talked over him saying, “Don’t listen to him. We’ll take the lemon. Actually do you have something that’s extra lemony? Like, lemon on steroids.”

Somehow Will had managed to turn what could have been a disaster into a fun day. That’s why you didn’t mind it when your fiance was texting you, letting you know he’d be giving you a ride from the bridal shop.

You were trying on the dress in front of a set of mirrors, looking over the last little tweeks that had been made. It had turned out just how you had imagined.

When Will saw you his jaw dropped. He watched your eyes drift across the reflection, looking at the dress. He wasn’t sure what you were thinking, but he wanted to tell you not to change a thing. You looked perfect.

“Oh no! Don’t come in! It’s bad luck!”

The seamstress was suddenly shouting at someone who had come into the dressing room, but you saw Will in the reflection and smiled.

“Oh, don’t worry. That’s my fiance’s cousin,” you assured them, “Hi, Will.”

“Don’t scare me like that,” the seamstress said with a huff, and the two of you exchanged amused glances.

“So, what do you think?” you asked, presenting your dress to Will, “Do you think he’ll like it?”

“For sure,” he said, and after a pause he realized that answer may have been too quick. He tried to save it by simply saying, “Do you like it?”

“I love it,” you said, beaming at him with excitement before looking back down to the dress, “It’s just beautiful, isn’t it?”

You were too busy looking at the garment that you didn’t notice how his gaze was focused on you as he answered, “Yeah, beautiful.”

On the drive back to your place you apologized for needing a ride, explaining how your car had broken down just two days before. Will didn’t mind, and if he was honest with himself he was desperate to spend as much time with you as he could. The only time he felt any annoyance was when you started explaining why your fiance couldn’t pick you up. Apparently his boss had offered to take him to lunch, and he just couldn't miss it. But Will tended to doubt it.

Over the next week and a half Will was sent on task after task. He found himself battling between potentially upsetting you with the truth, that his cousin was an absolute asshole, and keeping you happy. Plus, there was the fact that he was not yet willing to admit to himself, which was that he was more than happy to spend every minute he could with you.

It all came to head for him on the night of the rehearsal dinner. He was standing outside the venue when he got a text from his cousin. Apparently your fiance had drank too much at the bachelor party the night before, which Will had left early, and had drunkenly fell down a set of stairs that morning. He was still at the hospital and was getting his arm put into a cast.

You, of course, got a very different text. As Will came in you crossed over to him. Over the past week and a half he had become your confidant. You gave him a hug hello, which lingered as you breathed in the comfort his presence naturally gave you, and you said, “Can you believe someone hit my fiance with a car?”

“What?” he asked.

“You didn’t hear? It broke his arm,” you explained.

“Oh, did it?” he said through clenched teeth.

You broke the hug with a sigh and said, “I’m just glad he’s okay.”

“Yeah, thank god,” he said, trying his best not to sound sarcastic.

The night went smoothly, but Will could tell you were hiding disappointment. It was the first time he saw it since he’d been there. He tried to nonchalantly walk over to the empty chair beside you as everyone milled about.

“Hey, you good?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you said with a half hearted smile.

“Come on, y/n,” he said, with a comforting nudge of his knee against your own.

“I know he’s busy, and whatever else. I’m pretty used to it at this point, but I really thought he was going to be here tonight,” you admitted.

“He should’ve been here,” Will said, his true feelings slipping out for just a moment.

“Yeah,” you said, and suddenly you felt tears pricking the corner of your eyes. You felt your cheeks get hot with embarrassment.

“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked. You nodded with a relieved sigh, not at all surprised Will was once again saving the day.

The two of you slipped out, somehow managing to let the joyful energy of the night be your cover. The two of you ended up being the two best dressed at a hamburger joint a block down the road.

“Thanks for being here,” you said as the two of you ate hamburgers and split an order of large fries.

“I think it might be weird for a groomsman to miss the rehearsal dinner,” he said.

“No, I mean these past couple weeks,” you said with a light laugh.

“It was nothing,” Will shrugged.

“Really, thank you. I think I would have died of a stress induced heart attack at this point,” you said.

“You’re not giving yourself enough credit,” he said.

“No, Will, I really could have never-”

‘Y/n,” he interrupted, resting his arms on the table as he leaned in towards you, “I liked doing it. Really.”

“Okay,” you said with a smile, “But still. Thanks.”

The next day Will drove with his cousin down to the wedding venue. He made a joke to his cousin he half expected to get a call asking him to fill in at the altar for his cousin (and in the back of his mind a thought popped up that he wouldn’t have hated to trade places with his cousin today). His grip tightened on the wheel as his cousin let out a groan, saying he barely got any sleep thanks to the pains in his arm, and how he might’ve asked Will to fill in if he could’ve.

Will’s heart pounded as he watched you walk down the aisle. For one, you were easily the most beautiful person he had ever seen. For another, he could feel his heart and his head working together for once in his life to form a certain resolve he wished he could ignore.

As the officiator talked through the speech Will saw how his cousin was impatiently shifting from one foot to another. Just that little movement seemed to cement the thoughts that had been bouncing around Will’s head since he saw you walk down the aisle, and if he was really honest those thoughts had been there since he first met you. When the officiant asked if anyone objected, Will stepped forward.

“I object,” Will said.

“What the hell are you doing?” your fiance asked, but somehow even though you knew you should feel as equally surprised, you did not.

“I’m sorry, y/n, but you can’t marry him,” Will said, basically ignoring his cousin as he stepped over to you, “He’s not for you.”

“Hey man! What the hell?” your fiance stepped over to him, ready to go toe to toe. 

Will finally gave him his full attention, not flinching as he seemed to tower over your fiance, “She deserves better than you. I know it, and you know it.”

Your fiance almost immediately regretted stepping to Will, and turned his attention back to you, “Don’t listen to him, baby.”

You could feel tears pushing at the back of your eyes as you replayed, first, these past couple weeks and then the past years, “He’s right. I… I can’t marry you.”

And with that you walked back down the aisle, leaving your now ex, Will, and everyone else behind. Twenty minutes later you were at the hamburger joint from the night before. You tried to ignore the whispers and stares as you sat in a wedding dress, drinking a lemon icee.

“Please tell me that isn’t lemon,” a voice said. You looked up to see Will in his tux standing by your table.

“How did you know I was going to be here?” you asked.

“I didn’t. I just needed a place to take a break, and I came here,” he said.

“Why here?” you asked.

“I spent an evening with a pretty chill girl here, actually,” he said with a smile pulling at the edges of his mouth, “What about you?”

“Same,” you said, and he let himself openly grin. It was strange, you weren’t feeling quite as heartbroken as you thought you would. In fact, sitting here and smiling back at Will, you felt more hopeful than you had in years.

Frankie (Francisco) Morales

Frankie’s mouth went dry as his eyes locked on your ringed finger currently being held up for him. Of course, as one of your closest friends you had to share the news of your engagement with him first. Little did you know that good news broke Frankie’s heart.

“Beautiful,” was the one word he managed.

“Isn’t it?” you said, looking back at the ring with a pleasant smile while his eyes stayed locked on you.

“And that isn’t the only good news,” you said with a grin.

“Oh yeah?” he asked, not sure how much more ‘good news’ he could handle.

It turned out his instincts were correct. You explained how your fiance would love to get to know him, and he was invited to join the group of groomsmen 

He wanted to turn down the offer, there was a very good reason why he had been avoiding your fiance, but one look at your bright, glowing face and he found himself saying yes. He could never seem to tell you no.

Of course, it would have broken your heart if he had said no. That line about your fiance was complete bullshit. You had begged your fiance to let Frankie be a groomsman. You couldn’t imagine getting married without him being in the wedding party. 

Your face broke into a glowing smile as soon as he said yes. Despite his innate want to immediately turn down the offer, seeing your bright expression meant he couldn't stop himself from grinning back at you. No matter how screwed he knew he was.

That was how Frankie found himself at a bachelor’s party for the man he was most jealous of in the entire world. It was only an hour and a half in and the group was already toeing the line between drunk and blackout wasted. Every single one of the other best men were busy crowing about your fiance’s ‘last night of freedom’, but with every shot Frankie’s thoughts seemed to hazily drift to you more and more.

It was nearing midnight when all logic had left the group as a whole. For everyone else this meant singing along loudly to the bar’s music, teasing your fiance endlessly, and flexing their own bachelor conquests. But for Frankie he found himself in the chilly night air at the front of the bar, dialing your number.

“Hello?”

Frankie found your voice shooting nerves through him, sobering him up for a moment. What was he doing?

“Hey. Sorry, were you sleeping?” he said.

“It’s alright. What’s the call for?” you asked, but before he could come up with some sort of reason for the call you spoke up once more, “Wait, aren’t you at the bachelor’s party?”

“Hm? Oh yeah. Yeah, I am,” he admitted. He unknowingly smiled as he heard you start to laugh.

“It must not be very good if you’ve got time to make random phone calls,” you joked.

“Totally sucks,” he said, going with the joke.

“You’re not one for parties and drinking?” you asked.

“Oh, I can get down with the best of them,” he said, once again making you laugh, “I guess it’s the company.”

“Hey! That’s my fiance,” you fake scolded, assuming he was still messing around.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m one of his groomsmen, remember?” he asked.

“I’m lucky to have you,” you said.

His heart pounded to hear you speak about him like that. He cursed himself at that moment for getting so drunk throughout the night that he might forget what you said by the morning.

“Oh yeah, why’s that?” he asked, holding his breath.

“It’s great to have a man on the inside,” you said, and he felt his stomach sink as he realized you were still joking around. You continued on, “You can make sure my fiance has fun, but not too much fun.”

“Right, right,” he muttered. Even though he was drunk he was able to keep the pain out of his voice. It was almost second nature for him at this point.

“Well,” you said, yawning, “I guess you can’t be a very good spy if you’re stuck away from the party. Was there anything you needed to say?”

“Nah… Just hi, I guess,” he said.

“Hi, Frankie,” you giggled. This time, that light laugh made his heart break. He would give anything to make you laugh as someone who was more than just a friend, “And bye, Frankie.”

“Hi… and bye,” he said.

When you hung up you found yourself unable to fall back asleep for quite a few hours. For some reason, getting that call from Frankie in the middle of the night had sort of seemed to set you on a strange train of thoughts. 

Not about him, but about your fiance. You tried to recall a time he called you randomly just to say hi. You couldn’t. And the more you thought about it, you realized you had never done the same for him either.

After you hung up he couldn’t stand going inside and help your fiance celebrate the life he desperately wanted for himself. Instead, he walked home, his thoughts so focused on you he didn’t notice the bite of the late night cold.

When the day of your wedding rolled around, it would have been hard to guess who had more nerves; you or him. 

Frankie had laid in bed on that fateful morning, wondering if it was too late to remove himself from the wedding party. But then he pictured the disappointment on your face if he decided to pull out of the wedding, and that guilt is what finally got him out of bed.

That guilt is what got him into his tuxedo, into the church, and down the aisle. But it was the love he had for you for years that kept his eyes on you the second you appeared at the end of the aisle.

As soon as the chapel doors opened your nerves peeked as you felt all eyes on you. You had thought you would feel excited, but here you were, inexplicably terrified. It was when you met eyes with Frankie that you finally found the strength to begin your walk down the aisle.

As you walked, the two of you kept steady eye contact with the other. For a moment, Frankie almost convinced himself you were meeting him at the altar, but when you began the vows he could no longer deny you weren’t here for him. 

However, when the priest asked if anyone objected to this marriage he suddenly found himself speaking up. 

“I object,” he said, his voice ringing out louder than he expected it would in the church.

“What?” your fiance asked, shocked. But you weren’t paying any attention to him. Your eyes were locked on Frankie, just as his were on you.

“I love you. I have for… I think forever, actually,” he admitted.

“I love you too, but-”

“What?” your fiance asked again, this time to you.

“I’m in love with you,” Frankie said, waiting with bated breath for your answer.

“I’m… I… I’ve-”

“Tell him you’re not in love with him,” your fiance said.

“I… can’t,” you said.

“What?” your fiance said, but this time Frankie asked the same question along with him.

“I can’t do this,” you said, adding to your previous statement, and soon you were fleeing back down the aisle. As you sat in the bridal sweet by yourself, in shock, a soft knock on the door broke your daze.

“Who is it?” you asked.

You found yourself breathing a sigh of relief when you saw who was on the other side of the door. It was the same person who seemed to always be able to calm your nerves, the same person who could always make you laugh, the same person you couldn’t picture getting married without.

“Hey, are you okay?” Frankie asked, coming into the room.

“That was…”

“I know. I’m sorry,” he said with a shake of his head, “I had no idea I was going to… do that.”

“Are you taking it back?” you asked with a small laugh.

He smiled at you, and you expected him to play along with the bit. But instead he leaned closer to you, and for the first time you saw how his smiling expression was tinged with sadness.

“I wish I could. But I can’t really seem to stop myself from loving you.”

“I love you too-”

“Not just as a friend. I meant what I said. I’ve been in love with you for a long time. I hated the idea of being involved in a wedding where you were getting married to a guy who wasn’t me. But I had to say yes. Because it was you asking me,” he admitted.

“You hated it?” you asked.

“Yeah,” he said, and despite himself a disbelieving chuckle slipped from his heartbroken smile, “Why the hell did you even ask me?”

You found yourself being just as honest as he had been all day when you said, “Because I needed you.”

That declaration shocked Frankie to his core. He knew exactly how he felt about you, but for the first time he was questioning how you felt about him. He could have sworn you only saw him as a friend, but in this moment he was unsure of everything. 

That glimmer of a chance is what gave him the bravery to finally do what he had been dreaming of for years. Frankie wrapped a hand around the nape of your neck, closing the gap between the two of you with a kiss. 

His heart stopped then soared as he felt you kiss him back. It had taken what felt like ages, but finally you two were together in the way you two were always meant to be.

[prettycopperpennies]

Triple Frontier Headcanons - their soulmate doesn't like them

Triple Frontier x F!reader

This headcanon includes Santiago Garcia, Will Miller, Ben Miller, and Frankie Morales

Description: What happens when that first meeting with their soulmate doesn't go quite as planned, and suddenly they find the one person their supposed to be in love with wanting nothing to do with them? Obviously some angst, but also lots of cute flirting and enemies to lovers!

Santiago Garcia

When the two of you first met it was absolutely understandable you two missed the other’s tattoo that matched perfectly with your own. It was a dark club that was so full you were basically being bounced off bodies with every step. So when Santiago made his way towards you, it made perfect sense that neither of you realized just who the other person was.

“Can I get you a drink?” Santiago asked. You were a little taken aback by how attractive this stranger was. And there was something about the way he so confidently locked eyes with you that made your heart pound.

Santiago saw you through a massive crowd. It would’ve been hard to miss you. You were gorgeous. He had gone out that night looking for someone, and he knew you were definitely that person the moment he spotted you. He quickly, or as quickly as he could with all the people, made his way to you. As he began to speak to you he found it incredibly hard not to stare at you in awe. He could only hope you didn’t notice.

You shook your half full glass and said, “Thanks for the offer but…”

“How about shots then?” he asked, and his cocky smile somehow seemed to simultaneously make your head reel and your eyes roll.

“For all of us?” your friend asked.

Santiago glanced around the tiny little table you stood at. He was so enraptured by you he had somehow missed the fact that you were with a group of friends.

“Yeah, sure,” he said, earning a couple cheers from your friends.

After a few minutes he was back with a round of shots, and before you realized it someone in your group had invited him to stick around and he was standing next to you. You were trying your best to play it cool, praying it was dark enough for him not to notice the red tint to your cheeks. Something about him was leaving you flustered.

“So you guys celebrating something?” he asked, nodding to the little plastic tiara half hidden in your friend's wildly done up hair.

“I’m getting married!” she yelled out.

“To your soulmate?” he asked, surprising you.

“Who else?” she asked with another cheer, and your friends quickly joined in.

Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the inexplicable attraction you felt towards him, but you suddenly felt entirely comfortable prying, “You would marry someone who wasn’t your soulmate?”

Maybe it was the couple of shots paired with the no food he had that night, or the fact that he couldn’t seem to think straight around you, but suddenly Santiago couldn't seem to lie to you, “Of course, are you kidding?”

“Are you kidding?” you puppetted back.

“So, if a knockout walks by me I just… what? Let her keep walking away for the one in a billion chance that my soulmate might walk by next?” he said, leaning towards you just a smidge as he did.

You were too annoyed to pick up what he was putting down and continued on, “Or you could see if she’s your soulmate.”

“And if she isn’t? I tell her to fuck off?” he asked.

“No, but-”

“But what? Why is it only a soulmate could add value to my life, hm?” he asked, trying to outlogic you before you even had a chance to speak.

“We’re talking about marriage! That’s a lot of… value,” you said.

“Okay, fine,” he said, but with the cocky grin he flashed you you had a feeling he wasn’t admitting defeat, “Let’s say I ask you out.”

“Alright.”

“And you say yes,” he continued on.

You had to physically stop yourself from scoffing right there and then. This guy, no matter how cute or “charming” he was, was quickly getting on your last nerve.

“But then we start this whole life together, fall in love, the whole thing. Wouldn’t you be pissed if I refused to marry you just on the basis that you weren’t my soulmate,” he said.

“Hang on, who said anything about love?” you asked.

“Its not exactly something you can choose, babe,” Santiago said, thinking about how he’d seemed to fall in love at first sight that very night.

“I disagree,” you said.

“What are you talking about? Love is love! It’s not like deciding to eat that extra fry or not. You can’t fight it, it’s fate,” he said.

“Soulmates are fate,” you said.

“Meeting your soulmate is a rarity. Instead of waiting around for my soulmate, I’m going to find love wherever I can,” he argued.

“So you’d be just ‘waiting around’ for your soulmate to come to you, but you’d be more than happy to get up and find love yourself?” you asked, and this time your frustration was evident in your expression.

Santiago couldn’t believe that this stranger was annoying him to no end, but somehow every point you made and every point of his you shot down seemed to only make him fall for you more and more. But when he saw just how angry you were, with a look that screamed ‘I’m about to walk away’, he tried his best to back track, “Hang on, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just-”

“Who wants to dance?” you asked your friend group, not even waiting to see who followed you as you turned on your heels and headed into the crowd.

He knew it. It was definitely an ‘I’m about to walk away’ look. But if you had been looking at him instead of turning around and walking away you would have seen the look on his face was undeniably a ‘I’d follow you to the ends of the earth’ kind of look. Santiago found himself once again fighting the crowd to get to you. Normally he’d walk away, but there was something about you that pulled him to you like a magnet.

You had severely underestimated how thick the crowd was, and soon you and your friends were being jostled back and forth. It didn’t take long for you to get bumped especially hard and find yourself on the ground amongst the throng of people. Santiago stopped maneuvering politely when you dipped from view. He somehow found you within moments, reaching down to help you up.

As his hand wrapped around yours, and he began to pull you up, you both saw the tattoo on the other’s wrist.

You couldn’t believe it. The guy who had been driving you crazy all night was your soulmate. The guy who had been basically telling you all night that he didn’t need soulmates. The guy who had been practically bragging all night that he didn’t care if someone was his soulmate or not.

“Holy shit, it’s you,” he said. Everything from that evening started to finally click in Santiago’s head as he realized he had been falling for his soulmate all night. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“Yes,” you said, “but not with you.”

Santiago’s heart broke as you once again disappeared into the crowd. This time you were gone so fast he didn’t have a chance to keep you in his line of sight. He quickly went for the next best thing, locating your friends as fast as he could. He had to try and convince them to help him fix his massive fuck up. For the first time, he was going to work for a chance to be with his soulmate.

Will Miller

When you felt a tap on your shoulder in line at your local coffee shop, you did not expect one of the most attractive men you’d ever seen in your life behind you. But somehow that was less surprising then when he told you he had seen the tattoo below your ear and showed you his matching one.

Will was trying to play it cool as he asked if you wanted to stick around the coffee shop and chat. But the whole ‘playing it cool’ went out the window as soon as you agreed. The two of you sat towards the back of a shop at a little table, and through the whole conversation he hadn’t stopped grinning once.

You felt an uneasy feeling as the two of you chatted. You waited for a natural moment in the conversation to come up so you could say the one thing that had been on your mind since you saw his tattoo, but it was seeming less and less likely.

“So, what do you do?” you asked,

“I’m a motivational speaker,” he said.

“What sort of life led you to that?” you asked, hoping one of these questions would somehow lead you to the moment you were looking for.

“Special Forces.”

His answer momentarily made you forget about your previous goal, and your genuine curiosity took over, “Wait, what?”

“Don’t think I look like I could be Special Forces?” he asked with a smile that was dangerously close to cocky. You laughed a little, guessing he knew he looked more than fit.

He continued on, saying, “I’m a motivational speaker for soldiers. It’s sort of meant to push them away from the private sector. I think.”

“You think?” you asked, not able to stop your curiosity from pushing for more.

Will paused for a moment, not sure how to answer that. You were both in this odd situation where you were both strangers but still soulmates. It didn’t help that every time he looked at you he wanted to tell you every little thing about himself. Even though the two of you had been chatting for just over an hour, he already knew lying to you would be impossible. He settled for part of the truth.

“I mean, I give the same speech in the same way multiple times a day. It stops feeling genuine after a while,” he explained.

“What do you want to tell them?” you asked.

“Leaving the army isn’t easy, and it’s only going to get harder from here,” he said. 

You could see the frustration in his eyes, and for the first time his grin had left his face. You felt yourself start to fold for a moment. You almost reached out to grab his hand as he sat back with a sigh, but you just barely managed to stop yourself. 

This type of thing is exactly why I needed to figure out how to say what I need to say, was the thought once again circling your mind.

Will noticed the shift in your expression. He was worried he had said too much. It was odd though, you didn’t seem like you were pulling away. In fact for a moment he swore you literally leaned in. But he had a gut feeling there was something distracting you in that moment.

“Sorry. That was… heavier than I meant it to be,” he said.

You felt a twinge of guilt as you shook your head no and this time you couldn't stop yourself as you reached across the table to momentarily put your hand on his.

“No, it wasn’t too much. I get it. I mean, I’m not a motivational speaker or anything, but I think I get it,” you said.

Will was once again smiling at you, and shifted his hand to hold yours. Just that little action seemed to send a jolt straight to your heart, but you ignored the feeling and pulled your hand away.

As soon as your hand left his, Will was the one leaning forward this time. He had been feeling this entire time that there was something going on with you, and now he knew it.

“Y/n?” he asked.

You hated how him saying your name tugged at you. You decided you had to get out of there otherwise you’d make a mistake. It was now or never to come clean.

“I should let you know something,” you said.

“You can tell me anything,” he said.

“What?”

“I mean, we’re soulmates, right?” he asked while mentally remembering his ‘half-truth’ and feeling like a total hypocrite.

“It’s actually about the whole ‘soulmate’ thing,” you said.

“Okay,” he said, and once again you felt a pang of guilt as his tone started to shift to worry. Once again, you wanted to do something to comfort him but you ignored the impulse.

“It’s not that I don’t believe in it, per se,” you said.

“Wait, what?” he asked.

“It’s just-I don’t want to be told how to- the whole idea of soulmates just takes chance or fate or whatever out of the equation entirely,” you sputtered, losing confidence as you went.

“Hang on,” he said, eyebrows furrowing, “Soulmates isn’t a form of fate?”

“In a way, yeah. It’s basically some outside force telling us who we have to love,” you said.

“That’s the definition of fate,” he said.

“I just don’t want to force anything,” you said.

“You felt like this was-”

“Hang on, I’m not explaining this well.”

He stood up and simply said, “If you felt like any of this was forced then that’s my bad.”

“I mean, you literally said I should tell you anything and everything just because we’re soulmates,” you said, getting a little annoyed despite yourself.

“That’s not what I said,” he argued back.

“It basically was!”

Before he could answer you two were interrupted by a barista. 

“I’m so sorry, but you're disrupting the other customers.”

Will ran a hand over his head as he took a breath and said, “Sorry about that.”

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“Already headed out,” he said, walking out with an apologetic nod to the barista. You grabbed your coffee, awkwardly following suit a few feet behind. When you stepped out of the coffee shop you were almost immediately soaked in the downpour outside. You internally wondered if your day could get any worse as you started to walk in the direction of your place.

“What are you doing?” You heard Will’s voice call after you.

“I’m walking home,” you said.

“In this?” he asked, pointing up at the skies currently dumping sheets of rain.

“I live right around the block,” you said.

“Just… get in. I can give you a ride,” he said with a sigh.

You shifted your weight from foot to foot, unsure of what your next move should be. He rubbed the bridge of his nose before saying, “It’s not a soulmate thing. It’s a pouring rain like it’s the end of the world thing.”

You bit back the smile that pulled at the edges of your mouth at the comment before hopping in the car. Will was wildly uncomfortable in the car with you, but he could tell by how you were fidgeting with a loose threat on your shirt you were just as uncomfortable as he was. You refused to say anything more than the required occasional direction, despite the want to end the torturous silence. It almost became a little competition, who would break first? It ended up being you, practically jumping out of your seat to turn on the radio.

He bit back a smile that slipped onto his face completely as you both said “I love this song.”

Your eyes grew wide, and an angry blush heated the tips of your ears and cheeks when you heard his chuckle.

“Jesus christ,” he muttered to himself.

“What?” you asked sharply.

“Nothing,” he said with a shrug.

“Just say it,” you said.

“Nah, wouldn’t want to force anything,” he said. Even though his tone was easy, it was definitely a dig. You were trying to think of something to say when the car stopped, “This is you right? The blue one?”

You nodded and got out of the car to run to your house. You were about to close the door when, against your better judgment, you turned back around. You locked eyes with Will, who gave you the cockiest smile yet. That smile was definitely a "you couldn't help it, you had to look back" type of smile. You could only slam the door behind you, hoping to god he didn’t see your face go red.

Ben Miller

When you and Ben had bumped into each other at the grocery store, you hadn’t expected it to lead you to a bar basement with a makeshift octagon cage set up in the middle of the large room.

When Ben saw you at the grocery store he thought you were cute. When he saw you standing in front of him at the line in the register he thought maybe it was fate. When he noticed the tattoo on your shoulder he knew it was fate. The only bad thing about that moment was the fact that he only had a few hours before his fight, and his brother was already texting him telling him to hurry up. He did the only thing he could think of at the moment: inviting you to the fight and promising to take you out after (as long as you didn’t mind late night dates).

You were so head over heels for the handsome stranger who turned out to be your soulmate you would have said yes to anything. And you basically did. Showing up to some random bar to watch a random fight so you could go on a date that would begin in the middle of the night.

You quickly realized two minutes into the first fight, this was absolutely not the sport for you. You made your way up to the bar. You needed to splash some water on your face, hoping a little cold water would somehow add some logic to today's wild events. You walked through a door you thought would lead you to the bathroom and instead put you in an employee break room with Benny sitting on a bench and a man wrapping his hands.

“Oh!” you exclaimed.

“Sorry, you can’t be in here,” the stranger said.

“Nah, she’s alright,” Ben said, smiling a little as he did.

“Just because there’s a pretty girl in front of you doesn’t mean you get to take a break. You need to keep your focus for the fight, alr-

“This is y/n,” Ben said.

As soon as Ben saw his brother earlier that day he told him everything about you. Will had to practically fight him himself to get him to calm down and focus for the fight he was supposed to be having that night. 

“Okay, nice to meet you, but Benny needs to-”

“It’s fine, Will,” Ben said. His brother was about to say something when Ben said, “It’s fine. The only thing I need is some water.”

Ben shot you a sly smile as he used his foot to quickly nudge a water bottle behind the chair he was sitting in. Will glanced around for the water bottle to no avail, and finally admitted defeat. He said he would be right back after getting a water bottle out of the trunk of his car.

“He’s usually a pretty chill guy,” Ben said, standing up for his brother the second he left the room.

“But if he’s right, and I need to leave so you can-”

“Not you too,” he said with a sigh, making you smile, “It’s fine. I promise.”

“Alright,” you answered. You weren’t sure if it was a soulmate thing, but the second that ‘I promise’ left his lips you believed him one hundred percent. He nodded with his head for you to sit next to him on the bench.

As you sat next to him he grabbed something that looked sort of like gauze and asked, “You don’t know how to wrap up someone for a fight do you?”

You could only shake your head no, having no idea what he was talking about, and cringing a little as you said, “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a shrug, finishing wrapping his hands himself, “So you don’t really watch much MMA, do you?”

You felt embarrassed for a moment, but the smile he sported put you at ease. It didn’t seem like he was judging you or making fun of you in any way. It was more like genuine curiosity. The flash of worry in your mind, then ease, had meant you completely missed the moment where he asked you if you could wrap his hands then did it himself. If you hadn’t been so distracted you would have realized he was trying to come up with any reason to touch you.

Ben wasn’t bothered by you not knowing anything about MMA. He honestly would’ve been more surprised if you did. You just didn’t seem like the type. If anything, he was pumped to be the one who gets to show you what this world was all about. The only thing that had him worried was he had officially decided he absolutely couldn’t lose tonight, not in front of you.

“Did you see the other fights?” he asked.

“A little but… I decided to take a break,” you said, not willing to admit to him you didn’t seem to have a stomach for it. You felt heat come up your neck and to your cheeks when he stopped looking at his hands and met your gaze.

“Take a break?”

“I just, you know, wanted fresh air- there’s a lot of people down there actually- so yeah, I guess I took a break and-”

“You didn’t like it,” he guessed. You were glad he stopped the mess of words falling out of your mouth, but you wished he hadn’t hit the nail on the head so easily. You could already tell this was something important to him, to your soulmate, and you couldn't stomach it.

“I mean, I only saw a few minutes,” you said, trying to convince him and yourself that maybe you didn't dislike it so much.

“It’s okay. It’ll be different when it’s me,” he said confidently.

“You think so?” you asked.

“We’re soulmates, aren’t we?”

He tapped his shoulder where his tattoo was, then reached a hand to brush his fingers along your own tattoo. You couldn't believe how hard your heart pounded over someone just touching your shoulder, but there was something Ben did to you that was unexplainable.

With the butterflies in your stomach, the only thing you could think to say was, “Good luck.”

“You know, there’s a better way to give me some luck,” he said, and his hand left your shoulder to wrap around the back of your neck. You leaned in towards each other when the door flew open and Will barged in with a water bottle. You jumped up off the bench, feeling like someone caught committing a crime. If he thought you were distracting Benny by just walking in the room, then whatever that almost was would definitely constitute a distraction.

“Hey, it’s time,” Will announced, looking suspiciously between the two of you as he did. 

Ben nodded and got up. He started to bounce on his feet, rolling his head back and forth as he took a few deep breaths. 

“You should go get to your seat,” Will told you.

“Oh, sure, of course,” you said.

“Hey,” Ben said, grabbing your hand before you could leave, “We’re still on for that date after, right?”

“Mhm,” you said with a nod and smile.

“Good. Then you can tell me I was totally right and how you love MMA,” he joked. His easy smile put you at ease. Once again, you found yourself inexplicably trusting him completely.

“Alright, alright,” Will said, “Time to go.”

You found your way back to the basement, and somehow lucked out to miss the last few moments of the current fight. Instead they were giving the winner his cash prize and a pat on the back. After a few minutes of cheering and chatting a voice started to announce Ben’s name and stats. You felt your shoulders stiffen as everyone began to yell around you. You hoped against hope Ben was right, and you wouldn’t hate whatever was about to come next.

As soon as Ben stepped into the cage he somehow lucked out and saw you in the throng. When you two locked eyes he couldn't help but smile. Will could yell at him for letting you distract him all he wanted, but something about you ignited something in him. He was more than ready to get this fight going.

Once the referee started the round, they only shuffled for a few moments before Ben was already landing punches. You didn’t notice that you had begun to hold your breath as the two of them moved around the ring. It wasn’t as bad as that other fight. It wasn’t exactly something you were used to, but you weren’t feeling the need to run straight out of the room. Until Ben got hit.

When the other guy landed a punch of his own, your stomach dropped to the floor. It wasn’t even five minutes into the fight before the two were fighting to put the other in a headlock. Benny was right about watching him fight feeling different. It was so much worse. But instead of running, it was like a horrible car crash you couldn't take your eyes off of.

Ben knocked the other guy out in the second round. It was over in seven minutes. And it was easily the longest seven minutes of your life.

As soon as the bell rang and the cheers erupted Benny was looking for you. This time when his eyes met your eyes his smile didn’t grow. You looked… The smile was wiped from his face as he saw the tears in your eyes.

You couldn’t bear the weight of it all as his gaze held yours, and you were finally able to actually move since the fight started. You beelined for the stairs, not able to stay a second longer.

You were rushing out the bar when you ran into Ben, who was coming around the back. He grabbed your shoulders, leaning in to meet your eyes.

“Hey, what’s up?” Ben asked.

You felt your heart sink as you saw him this close. Each cut, bruise, and bit of blood seemed to cut and bruise your own heart.

“I… can’t watch that again. Ever. I can’t be with someone who’s going to get hurt all the ti-”

“What? Y/n, trust me it’s not that bad. He never even landed a serious punch,” he said, trying to assure you.

Ben was talking faster than he meant to thanks to the adrenaline coursing through his body. It made him sound desperate. But to be fair, he was desperate. He was trying to fix whatever this situation was, but it only seemed to make it worse.

“Clearly this matters to you,” you started to explain, but couldn't bring yourself to say what that meant.

“My career? Yeah, it does.”

He didn’t mean for that to come out sounding angry, but there was an edge to his voice and you both heard it. Before he could apologize, take anything back, or assure you it was all fine you spoke up. “I’m sorry Ben.”

And with that you stepped out of his grasp and down the street, leaving him heart broken and stunned. But you both knew deep down, this absolutely wasn’t over.

Francisco Frankie Morales

You and Frankie had ended up closing out the restaurant you two had met at and were now sitting on the curb in front of a drive thru drinking smoothies. 

You two had met earlier that day, by chance, at the park. He had somehow spotted the tattoo all the way at your ankle, and promptly asked you to go to lunch with him, which turned into dinner, which turned into late night smoothies.

When Frankie saw you at the park he was momentarily stunned. But once his heart stopped pounding and his brain checked back in, the first thing he did was zero in on your ankle while begging the universe he would see a tattoo matching his own. It only took him moments to walk up and introduce himself when he spotted the very thing he was hoping to see.

You internally wondered why you had gotten a smoothie when the night air was starting to get a chill to it. Frankie noticed the tiniest of shivers in your shoulder and without thinking he tossed his jacket over your shoulders.

“You don’t have to-”

“I saw your shaking,” he told you with a smile, “Besides, I’m not cold.”

“Shaking is a bit of an overstatement," you said with a performative scoff.

“Honestly, I thought you were about to get frostbite,” he said, still continuing to mess with you.

It had been like this within minutes of meeting each other. You two just seemed to click. It was like you had known each other for years instead of half a day.

“Happy tomorrow, by the way,” he said.

“What?”

Frankie held up his phone where 12:04 was glowing on the screen.

“Oh my god, is it really that late?” you asked, eyes going wide, “So we’ve been going on this date for…”

“Eleven hours,” he said.

“Huh,” you said. It just hadn’t felt like eleven hours. 

“I know. Weird,” he said with a smile.

Your eyes widened as the fact that it was midnight truly set in.

“Oh no!” you exclaimed.

“What?”

“Work! You’ve got work,” you said, standing up and worriedly pulling at his hand to get up with you.

“It’ll be fine,” he said with a shrug, pulling you back down to sit next to him.

“It’s not like you can show up to work exhausted,” you said.

“First of all pilots do that all the time,” he started, but your surprised expression made him quickly add, “Other pilots. Obviously I show up incredibly well rested.”

“So what are you going to do tomorrow?” you asked.

“Call in sick,” he said with a smile.

“Can pilots even do that?” you asked.

He laughed at the question, but his heart was pounding as he watched you smile at him with his jacket around your shoulders. He knew why he wasn’t ready to go, he couldn’t let this date end. Not yet. It might’ve been eleven hours, but he could keep it going for days. You were intoxicating to him.

“Sorry, you’re asking if pilots get sick?” he asked, making you join in his laughter.

“Okay, fine. So you're not a pilot who shows up tired, just one who lies,” you teased.

“Who’s lying?” he said before punctuating his question with a staged cough, “I’m really coming down with something.”

“Oh, then you should probably have this back,” you said, moving to take his jacket off.

“Don’t you dare,” he said, throwing an arm around your shoulder to keep it firmly in place.

You jumped when a car pulled up a little quicker than what would’ve been safe. The window rolled down and you felt Frankie tense beside you as he saw who it was.

“Hey Frankie!” the stranger said.

“Hey,” he answered, and his arm dropped from around you as he got up and walked to the car. Your eyebrows furrowed as you watched the two of them chat. It was a quiet conversation, but Frankie seemed massively uncomfortable. Your curiosity had you standing and walking over to join the two of them.

“Hey, it’s just an unexpected vacation,” the man said.

“You’re going on vacation?” you asked.

“In a way. Right, man?” the stranger said with a laugh.

“What?” you asked Frankie, but before he could say anything the man was answering for him.

“He’s grounded,” he said.

“Wait, what? Like from flying?” you asked.

“Oh, uh, I mean-”

“Just shut up for a minute,” Frankie told the man in the car.

“Why are you grounded?” you asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said with a shrug, but the laughter coming from inside the car set you on edge. Frankie could see the shift in your expression and he quickly leaned down to tell the guy to go home.

“Alright, alright. Sorry for blowing up your spot,” he said before he peeled away, making you jump up onto the curb.

“What’s going on Frankie?” you asked. Suddenly every good feeling from the day was sinking in your stomach like cement.

“Look, that guy’s an idiot,” he started, but you weren’t about to let him talk himself out of this.

“Yeah, he is, but I don’t think he was lying either.”

“It’s complicated,” he said.

“Lying usually is,” you said with a nod.

“Hang on. I am a pilot-”

“Right, but you were literally making jokes about calling in tomorrow less than five minutes ago,” you said.

“Okay, that part was-”

“Oh my god,” you said, replaying the day.

You realized how quickly you two warmed up to each other. Everything, from acting so lovey dovey to joking around like you’ve known each other for ages, had happened so quickly. Because you two were soulmates you thought all that was supposed to happen, but you were realizing this man was a stranger. You had met him that day. You didn't really know him, and he didn’t really know you.

Frankie saw your shoulders that still had his jacket draped around them start to rise and drop quicker and quicker. Your breaths were short and gasping as your eyes grew wider. Guilt dug away at him as he saw the anxiety wash over you.

“Hey,” he said, taking a step towards you, “Let’s just take a beat.”

“Don’t do that,” you said.

“Look, you’re getting stressed-”

“Stop that. Stop saying stuff like you know me,” you said, your thoughts racing.

“It’s not that I know you. I don’t know what it is. It’s because you’re my soulmate, I gue-”

“No, don’t,” you said, cutting him off. You took his jacket off and tried to hand it back to him, but he wouldn't take it.

“Can’t we talk about this?” he asked.

“We don’t need to. You don’t know me, so you don’t owe me the truth. And I don’t know you, so I don’t need to stay here and talk it out or whatever,” you said.

He held up his hands, still refusing to take his jacket. You scoffed, tossing it onto the curb next to his abandoned smoothie. You turned on your heel, making a beeline for your car.

“We’re soulmates, y/n,” Frankie said, calling after you.

“I don’t give a shit,” you said.

As you got in your car you drove just a few minutes before pulling over to try and calm down. It was a wild feeling, meeting your soulmate, falling for your soulmate, and knowing you never wanted to see your soulmate again all in one day.

Frankie let you go, knowing you were right about one thing. You didn't have to stay and talk it out. He fucked up, and it wasn’t up to you to fix it. It was up to him, and he was going to do everything he could to fix it. As he drove home he was telling himself one thing over and over, being your soulmate the one thing he wasn’t going to fuck up.

[prettycopperpennies]

Peaky Blinders Headcanon - They Are With Someone Weathly

Peaky Blinders x Reader

(This has Tommy, Arthur, and Alfie headcanons)

Tommy Shelby

- He loved having you by his side. It made him feel… legitimate. He was all too aware of how people of the upper classes viewed him. It didn’t matter that he had just as much money as them, or more even. Because he was born with nothing, he might as well have nothing now.

- But if someone like you could love someone like him, then they had no choice but to take him seriously. Or at least act like they did. Which in many ways was good enough for Tommy. So he’d always have an arm around your waist, or grab your hand to bring you right by him. That way there would be no denying it, no way not to see it. You were his girl.

- The ego boost was the reason he’d give his brothers for being with such an uppity girl. But that wasn’t really the reason. More of a plus than anything else.

- He was absolutely enthralled with your easy elegance. You could have been wearing rags, and he would have still lost his heart to you within moments.

- He wasn’t really someone to “put on airs” or act in any way that wasn’t true to himself, and he was often worried that meant he wasn’t quite well matched with you. That’s something he would never admit. You’d have to discern that for yourself.

- The first time you told him you respected him, that he carried himself with a certain amount of dignity, that was almost as good as the first time you told him you loved him. He would suddenly stand a little taller and look even prouder (if that was possible). He enjoyed garnering the respect of the upper crust people you had lived around, but your respect. That was something he needed.

- When it came to his work, he never let that intersect with the life the two of you had. Never. He’d clean up any cuts and bruises before coming in, adjust bloody cuffs to be hidden underneath his suit jacket sleeves, and any guns would absolutely be tucked and hidden away. 

- Even in your own house, everything was tucked away into his desk drawers when he was away from his office. You could’ve looked if you wanted to, it wasn’t as if it was under lock and key, but for some reason you couldn’t bring yourself to be the one to break the charade.

- You kept waiting for him to open up to you. It wasn’t that you were blood thirsty or found gruesome stories all that interesting, but you always felt like he was keeping you at an arms length as long as he was keeping so much from you.

- He could see you wanting him to open up, but he found it hard to do. It wasn’t exactly civilized work, and you were the pinnacle of pomp and civility. Whenever he noticed that look of worry on your face he couldn’t speak a word. All he could do was wrap his arms around you, holding you tight enough you could feel his heart beat. You knew he was worried with how fast his heart would be pounding against your own chest, but it only made you afraid yourself.

- After enough time (according to you, more than enough) he was finally able to open up. A little. He wouldn’t be able to talk to you about anything, and he’d still try to hide any blood stained spots on his suit, but he’d started to let you tend to an occasional cut or bruise. He was still quiet, wouldn’t say how he got scraped up, but you could feel the way the tension would leave him under your touch. He’d be practically melting into your hands by the time you finished stitching him up.

- That’s how it was between the two of you. In the public eye, he held you beside him, parading about the fact he got a girl like you. And in private he’d let you be the one to hold him, hands running through his hair or brushing over his jaw, as he sat and admired you.

Arthur Shelby

- Arthur didn’t mind how different the two of you were. If anything he almost seemed to find it funny.

- Sometimes he’d ask you, with a teasing smile, about all those high society rules. “Show me that little curtsey you do at all the fancy dances”, “tell me how many forks and spoons the uppity folks need around their plates before they even take a bite”, “what’s the difference between a glass for champagne and one for wine? They think with all those glasses that means they know how to drink. But let me tell you darling, we’re the ones who know how to drink. And we don’t need a fancy glass to do it.”

- He’d tease you about it all, but you knew there must be something he liked about it. Everytime he took you to some raucous club or even pub he’d be bothering you to put on one of your more expensive dresses. “That elegant shit,” he’d say. At first you’d feel a little out of place and definitely overdressed, but then Arthur would begin his fawning. Telling everyone to look at his gorgeous girl, spin you around whether there was music playing or not, and keeping an arm around your waist or holding your hand in his. You couldn’t stay embarrassed when he was clearly so proud to have a girl like you.

- You weren’t the only thing Arthur seemed to always be showing off. You had seen more than your fair share of scrapes, bruises, and bullet wounds. And he didn’t shy away from the details as he told you exactly how he got each one.

- You would’ve sworn it was some sort of test he was putting you through when you first started dating. Maybe, in a way, it was, but Arthur didn’t realize that’s what he was doing. He knew he couldn’t spend his life pretending to be something he wasn’t. One day he would break and everything could come spilling out. He also knew every minute he spent with you was a minute he spent falling deeper in love. So instead of playing games, and risking his heart, he decided to let it all go from the jump.

- And just how he didn’t hide anything from you, you wouldn’t hide from him how worried you got over every drop of blood, wouldn’t stop the gasps that came at every recounted story, and even chastise him for being so reckless. But you never ran off, no matter how wild his life got. You couldn’t help it, you were just as in love with him as he was with you.

- Once he realized you weren’t going to run off, he started to change his tone as he recounted exactly why he showed up with a gash in his lips once again. Instead of bragging to you he slowly started to look for comfort. The way you cared for him made the usual coarse veneer seem to fade away into something else. He used to boisterously come in and plant at the table to recount the day while you tried to get to work. Now he sat in a chair in front of the fireplace, silently watching you closely as you cleaned him up, almost indescribably leaning into each of your delicate touches.

- Although one of those quiet evenings you made the mistake of jokingly telling Arthur he was the only one who could make bloody knuckles look good with a suit. You could’ve sworn for a month after that he was picking fights just to scrape up his hands.

- And as quiet as those evenings were, he didn’t get any quieter when you two were out and about. You were not used to seeing brawls breaking out in your high society life, but since you were going with Arthur you were definitely encountering them much more often. He seemed addicted to fighting for your ‘honor’. If anyone stepped out of line or said anything he didn’t deem respectable enough (which was ironic considering he had never curtailed how he talked around you once), he was rolling up his sleeves and preparing to go toe to toe with the offender.

- “Take a look at her and tell me she’s the type of girl you should just stumble up to and start making passes at. Now look at me and tell me I’m the kind of man who would let that go.”

- After knocking whatever poor idiot decided to try to flirt with you to the floor, Arthur would be back beside you with an arm around your shoulder. He’d apologize for the lack of class in whatever establishment he’d brought to you, but would make no effort to leave.

- If you tried to check if he was alright, simply brushing your finger across the scrape on his cheek and asking if he got hurt, he’d only smile and chuckle. “I’m not one of those fancy boys you grew up with, I can take a punch or two, sweetheart.” But he wouldn’t brush your hand away. He loved how the rich girl on his arm didn’t flinch away from his rougher side, it seemed to only make you care for him even more.

Alfie Solomons

- Alfie did not need to look past your wealthy pomp and frills. He absolutely reveled in it. He was never worried your tastes would be too refined for him and his line of work. He encouraged it in many ways.

- One of those ways were gifts. You were given many dresses, jewelry, and any other finery he could think of. He gave you so much you were starting to run out of room, but even though you insisted you had more than enough there would always end up being another gift finding its way into your hands.

- He was especially proud of the jewelry he would gift you. “I know my gems, angel.” He’d find whatever necklace you had as some family heirloom or had in your possession for years and soon he’d buy an almost exact replica of the piece of jewelry, but the gem in the pendant would be undeniably more valuable. 

- There were some pieces that were truly indiscernible, like your pearl bracelets. But if you pointed that out he would quickly follow up with “No, love, there’s a difference. You just gotta use your heart and not your head. See, that piece of junk was given to you by some poor sod that doesn’t matter even a little bit, and this one right here was given to yours truly. Tell me that doesn’t make it your favorite, hm? No difference? C’mon, poppet.”

- He was right. If it was given to you by him it mattered quite a bit to you. Of course, he could’ve given you costume jewelry and it still would’ve meant everything to you. Every gift was your favorite, and only because it came from Alfie. That was admittedly why he kept giving you gifts, he loved that you’d already be wearing that dress he’d given you the next day or keeping your new necklace on for a week.

- He knew you had been raised and taught to have taste, whereas he garnered it with his shady dealings around the world. But he never felt inadequate or unequal in that way with you. In fact, there was one very specific aspect where he felt he was the one who needed to teach you about taste. Rum.

- It wasn’t champagne, wine, or whiskey, but he insisted to you it was absolutely a drink to be respected. He knew it wasn’t the type of drink that would be given to you by a well dressed butler as you sat in a large mansion, but he couldn’t be convinced it was anything but the height of elegance when he was the one making it.

- “Listen, darling, it may not have been served to you in one of your crystal glasses, but if I made it then you know it’s the best. C’mere pet, taste this and tell me it doesn’t belong in one of your fancy little restaurants. The richest men in the city would guzzle this down, don’t tell me they wouldn’t.”

- Speaking of rum, he would let you come with him to the bakery. It was his castle, and he knew nothing would happen to you there. Not under his watchful eye. You’d often end up sitting on his desk, right next to whatever papers and deals he’d be reading through. His eyes would be moving over the words, but his hand would be resting on your thigh. Having you near relaxed him. His works used to irritate him at worst and drive him mad with boredom at best. But with you there, in all your finery that his hard work had afforded for you, it was more than doable.

- Of course, no matter how hard working he was, you could always convince him to take some time off of work if it was time spent with you. It seemed Alfie was never able to say no to you.

- You could drag him away for a few hours for a long lunch out or to leave early just so the two of you could go see a show somewhere in the city. He loved walking into whatever high end establishment you chose that day, watching everyone’s eyebrows raised as they realized the two of you were together. He would often aggravate the situation by insisting you take his arm or grasping your hand in his own. 

- All the uppity attendees would try to pass him over and turn to you to compliment your dress, shoes, purse, jewelry, or whatever else you were wearing. But his shoulders would roll back and his chin would lift as you would lean towards him and simply say, “He has wonderful taste, doesn’t he?”

- He would assure you there’s one thing that was definitive proof of his quality taste, and that was you. You were his treasure, and he would never hide that. So of course, he never stopped buying you all sorts of finery to drape yourselves in. It let everyone know just how valuable you were, and who you were valuable to.

[prettycopperpennies]

Could I request a Squid Game preference (with the usual characters) where the reader has a cold/fever or something and they take care of them, or vice versa?

Of course! Your my first request by the way! Let me know if I missed any characters you really want me to include (and I really want to do the opposite with them being the one with a cold too at some point soon)! Anyways, here you go!

[prettycopperpennies]

They Take Care Of/Comfort You When You're Sick

Anonymous asked:

Could I request a Squid Game preference (with the usual characters) where the reader has a cold/fever or something and they take care of them, or vice versa?

Squid Games x GN!Reader

Including: The Frontman/Player 001/Hwang In-ho | Player 230/Thanos/ Choi Su-bong | Player 388/Kang Dae-ho | Player 333/Lee Myung-gi | The Recruiter

The Frontman/Player 001/Hwang In-ho

~Hwang In-ho would hear the sniffles when you called asking for a favor and he would immediately check in on you

~”Darling are you alright?”

~Even over the phone he would be able to clock you were sick before you asked him to bring you cold medicine

~You could tell him all you wanted not to worry, to just bring it whenever he was free, but he would drop everything to come over. As he showed up within half an hour you would know he had done just that

~You could try to apologize or insist he didn’t need to go out of his way for you. You could have waited till he was free

~But as he tucked a hair behind your ear, your guilty resolve would quickly melt away

~He would mean every word, and wouldn’t hear anything against it. You can’t keep him away when you need help. Even if the situation is as lowkey as a simple cold

~”How do you expect me to get anything done when I know you’re here suffering?”

~If you warned him you might get him sick, he would still keep the same attitude: insisting he wanted to be there for you

~Every soothing smile and gentle hand on your back, arm, shoulder would weaken your argument. You both knew you wanted him to stay

~You would end up asleep in his arms, your head resting on his shoulder

~And he would be happy to pamper you through your cold

Player 333/Lee Myung-gi

~He would notice your red nose and fever flushed cheeks and would immediately feel a little tug on his heart

~No matter how much you insisted he should stay away because you didn’t want to get him sick, he would be able to tell you really didn’t mean it. He knew you well enough to be able to clock when you didn’t want to be left alone

~You two would end up on opposite ends of the couch, as a feeble attempt to keep himself healthy, playing video games

~But thanks to your cold your mind would be too foggy to really focus, and after the millionth time losing at Mario Kart you would finally quit

~You’d make him change the video game over and over again, not liking how much energy each took. He’d go along with it, not complaining. 

~You had no idea the amount of power you had on him at that moment. He wouldn't be able to say no to anything you wanted, feeling too bad for how miserable you seemed thanks to your cold

~It would be awhile before you admitted you actually wanted to sit and watch him play something instead

~As time would go on, he wouldn’t be able to ignore your sad, sick state from the other side of the couch. You would finally notice his state when he sighed loudly. You could ask him what was wrong, but he would only answer by pulling you onto his lap.

~”You’ll get sick.” “Yeah, I know.”

~You’d smile as he rested his head atop your own and wrapped his arms around you to keep playing the video game.

~If he noticed you getting at all amused by him finally caving, he would of course have to defend himself

~”You were sitting there looking miserable! It’s emotional blackmail.”

Player 230/Thanos/ Choi Su-bong

~Choi Su-Bong would come and get you the second you called, no matter where you were or what he was doing.

~He couldn’t be able to stop himself from getting anxious when you first called; sniffling, telling him you feel awful, and you need a ride

~He would show up in a matter of minutes. It would be so quick you could only presume he had sped to get to you. Of course, you’d already be feeling better as he smiled at you from the driver’s seat through the front window

~If you apologized, explaining you didn’t feel good enough to drive or didn’t want to take the bus, but he would shut that down immediately

~”Baby, I’ll come get you whenever.”

~He’d hold your hand the whole ride. It didn’t matter if he was driving with one hand or two, he wouldn’t ever signal (it was an argument you two had a million times). So you would let him intertwine his fingers with your own as you two would make it home

~He would of course make a pit stop along the drive at your guilty pleasure bakery. He would keep the car running after noticing your shivering so you could keep the heat going as you waited for him to come back

~Within minutes you would have a bag of baked goods on your lap as the two of you went home

~If you want medicine you’d have to remind him to grab that along the way too. Su-bong wanted to help you feel better, but the logical approach is not necessarily at the front of his mind

~If your cold got to you, and suddenly you were tearing up over how nice he would find it amusing. You would be met with a large smile and a laugh

~”You’re weepy when your sick”

~After some lighthearted teasing he’d wrap a hand around the base of your neck to bring you in for a kiss. You’d try to warn him, but he’d of course say he didn’t care

~And you both would spend the next few days getting over a cold together

Player 388/Kang Dae-ho

.

~Kang Dae-ho would come over the second you called asking for his company while you tried to get over your cold

~”I think I’m getting sick. Maybe… Do you think you could come over? I don’t want to be alone.”

~He would be at your place even before you hung up, which wouldn't surprise you even a little. What would surprise you even less is the arm fulls of cough drops and the tea he brought with him

~You wouldn’t have a chance to get out of bed before he was wrapping his arms around you in a hug. You would be lifted up a little bit as he tightened his grip around you and dropped his head into the crook of your neck

~”You definitely have a fever”

~Your close proximity would let him feel the fever radiating off you. He wouldn’t care though, immediately following up the hug by telling you to scoot over

~He would wrap an arm around your shoulder, telling you that you were stuck with him all day

~And he would stay true to his word. He would be hanging around, making you warm/good for you food, watching popcorn movies, and whatever else he could think might make you feel better/distract you

~Every time you reacted to his sweet gestures with even the most miniscule of happiness, he would feel immensely pleased with his efforts and how it was making you feel at least a little better

~And by the time night rolled around you wouldn’t really need to convince him. He’d stay over, more than happy to appease you in your clingy state

The Recruiter

~As soon as he finds out your sick he’d be showing up to bring you to his house

~He’d find it very amusing if you warned him you would definitely get germs all over his house. He would point out you did get in his car, so how worried could you really be?

~Either way, warnings or not, you would end up on his couch buried under blankets with your guilty pleasure tv show playing

~He would be lounging on the other side of the couch, his arm resting across the back, and biting back a smile as he pretending not to notice how often your gaze wandered over to him

~He knew how clingy you could get when you were sick, but he couldn't help but wonder if you would admit it yourself if he was patient enough

~And eventually you would mention you were cold, and he would offer more blankets or to turn up the heat. You’d give excuses for every offer till he would finally ask you flat out if you had anything specific in mind

~As you refused to cave with a sniffle and a “I guess not”, he would be the one to fold. He couldn't watch you suffer through a cold and pout on the other side of the couch

~He’d be pulling you over to cuddle, letting you bury him in your blankets as well, with an amused chuckle over how you absolutely did not fight it

~”But you don’t want me to get sick, right?”

~If you feigned innocence or pretended not to hear him over the tv show, he wouldn’t call you out further. He wouldn't’ have it in him to argue with you (even playfully) when you feel so under the weather

[the-nameless-human200]

I couldn’t reboot it for some reason

[prettycopperpennies]

How They React When They Find Out Their One Night Stand Had A Child

Headcannon/Oneshot hybrid 😵😅

Squid Games x F!Reader

Including: The Frontman/Player 001/Hwang In-ho | Player 230/Thanos/ Choi Su-bong | Player 388/Kang Dae-ho | Player 333/Lee Myung-gi | The Recruiter

Description: Years later they bump into you, a past one night stand. But they were not expecting to see a toddler who looks suspiciously like them by your side. Takes place after the squid games.

The Frontman/Player 001/Hwang In-ho

~ He would still recognize you after your one night stand a handful of years ago. He would approach you with a charming smile, but his entire expression would change when he saw a little toddler pop up at your side. He would deftly notice the similarities between him and this little child almost immediately. Especially in the dark hair and eyes.

~ Your awkwardness would also be noted by him, although he wouldn’t necessarily call it out. Instead, he’d be focused on bringing the unusual situation to light.

~ “Well… Is there anything you’d like to tell me, darling?”

~ Within minutes he would feel a responsibility to his child and the mother of that child, despite just learning of said child’s existence. He wouldn’t need to hear your explanations as to why you didn’t reach out to him. Instead, he would be focused on you and your child’s life.

~ What is your living situation? How are you supporting the both of you? Who watches your child when you go to work?

~ And he’d quickly offer solutions to the “obvious problems”. You clearly needed a bigger place to live. And you couldn’t be working full time. He could easily be supporting the two of you financially.

~ You would insist you didn’t need any help. The only thing you would be beholden to accept is the ask to allow him back into his own child’s life.

~ The first time he picks up his child for a day is also the first time he would see your cramped apartment. You could see the slight disapproval on his face, despite his efforts to veil his feelings. It wouldn’t surprise you though. Even from just that one shared night years ago you could tell he was a man of a particular taste.

~ He had curbed talking about taking care of you both, but every time you tried to pay your rent your landlord would insist it was already paid. And he was always offering to watch your child as you went to work.

~ But everytime you came back home, exhausted from a day of working, he would start up again. “Why not take me up on my offer? Wouldn’t you like to spend your days going shopping, sleeping in, and playing with our child? Hm? Doesn’t that sound so much better?”

~ If you ever caved and started letting him fund your simple lifestyle, your willingness to let him in more and more would only serve to bolster his confidence. Soon you would be having people show up who insist they were hired to clean your apartment, private chiefs who have been prepaid to cook your meals for the next month, and even a nanny. Your child would become so spoiled as he bought them intricate, expensive toys and designer clothes they would grow out of within a week.

~ You could try to insist to In-ho you didn’t need any of those things, but he would insist that you do.

~ “Darling, if you don’t have a nanny then who will watch our child while we’re away on our date?”

~ He would eventually start to ask you out nearly every weekend, and soon his gifts started to skew more romantic. Ever since he saw the two of you all those months ago he was working towards this exact outcome; to have the both of you in his life.

Player 230/Thanos/ Choi Su-bong

~ You wouldn’t believe your toddler was fascinated with the very rapper you had hooked up with that resulted in them even existing. And that’s ignoring the fact you definitely had not allowed your toddler to listen to his music. You seriously had no idea who told them about him, but one day after daycare they suddenly had a new obsession.

~ So one day when you were walking down the street it was no surprise when your child spotted the celebrity they were slipping out of your grasp and running in their obsession’s direction. You chased after them, but of course they had an easy time slipping through the many people on the crowded street while you were struggling to make it through the throngs.

~ Thanos was busy signing autographs and taking selfies for the mass of fans surrounding him, but he looked up in interest as the group broke into a chorus of ‘aw’s and ‘so cute’s. Soon he spotted the source of the crowd’s affection. There was a toddler looking up at him with starstruck eyes. He leaned down, waving to them and jokingly asking if they were a fan. 

~ Someone in the crowd joked how similar the two looked, and a few others agreed. He asked the crowd whose child this was, but when no one responded he got a little worried.

~ “Hey kid, where’s your mom?”

~ It was as if you were summoned by the rapper, suddenly popping up in the midst of the crowd to grab your kid. You were out of breath as you picked them up and told them not to run off again. Thanos decided to speak up on his little fan’s behalf, saying “Don’t worry. I kept an eye on them.”

~ As soon as the two of you locked eyes, he finally realized who you were. And who the kid was too. Suddenly the crowd seemed a little claustrophobic for him. And, apparently, for you. You suddenly were ducking through the throngs, trying to leave the awkward situation as quickly as possible. But Thanos followed you easily, just keeping an ear out for the yells of his kid.

~ He managed to shake his fans and find you almost a block over. You were tiredly asking your kid to breathe as they threw a tantrum. He felt a wave of guilt, wondering how exhausted you must be from raising this kid on your own.

~ “Listen to your mom,” he told your kid as he approached the two of you, “You're about to run out of oxygen, kid.”

~ Your kids' eyes lit up as soon as they realized their hero was nearby. But as excited as your kid was, you were equally as nervous by the appearance of Su-bong (or “Thanos” as your kid knew him as). You eyed the tall figure anxiously, waiting to hear what he had to say to you. Somehow you were still unprepared for the very obvious question of why you didn't tell him.

~ You quickly listed off a litany of answers that would often run through your head as you tried to justify your decision. You didn’t really know each other, but even then he didn’t come off as the type of person who wanted kids. He was a celebrity, and you didn't want your kid growing up in the limelight. You didn’t want him to think you were trying to trap him into raising a kid.

~ As soon as you ran out of excuses, Su-bong spoke up and simply asked when would be a good time for him to visit his child. You were a bit taken back. You honestly had always doubted he would want anything to do with his kid, but here he was asking you when he can see them. You told him that weekend should be fine. The two of you exchanged numbers, you gave him your address, and he gave a promise to drop by.

~ Every weekend he would drop by to pick up your kid, and then drop them off by the end of the day. You would listen as they told you all the fun things they did that day. Su-bong obviously immediately spoiled them rotten.

~ One day you were surprised to have Su-bong invite you along. You hesitated at first, but as your child begged you to come you found yourself agreeing to the proposition. Soon, when Su-bong was coming by he was taking you both on some sort of adventure for the day. 

~ Eventually, there was at least one evening a week where Su-bong would come by to take you out to dinner. And he wouldn’t just come by to pick your kid up. Soon you let him stick around your house instead, and the visits expanded well past the weekends. Before either of you realized it, you had become a little family of three.

Player 388/Kang Dae-ho

~ Dae-ho wouldn’t quite believe what he was seeing when there was a little toddler sitting on your hip. He had originally come up to you to say hi, of course remembering you despite it being one fleeting night years ago, but when you turned around and the child came into view he was floored.

~ For a moment he had thought you had simply gotten married and started a family of your own, but as he looked at the child he started to see how much it looked like him. He would be standing in open mouthed shock that you would have to be the one to break the silence, asking him to say something.

~ He would gather his composure after that, introducing himself with a smile and a wave to the child. Your heart would twist a little with guilt as you noticed how easily he could get them to laugh.

~ That laughter is what got you to ask if he wanted to join the two of you for ice cream. He would, of course, immediately accept. It seems the two of them were utterly fascinated by each other, which both broke and mended your heart as you watched the pair.

~ He would scoop on as many gummy bears and m&ms that your kid asked for till the toppings were piled so high they seemed to outweigh the ice cream. You went to pay for the three ice creams, but Dae-ho would quickly pull out his own wallet and cover the costs. You would insist he didn’t have to do that, but he would assure you it wasn’t a problem.

~ Dae-ho had a million questions for you, namely why you hadn’t come to him when you found out you were pregnant, but he knew he could ask those questions eventually. He was currently trying to cram years of missed out interactions into one desert filled outing.

~ You were less than surprised as the sugar high hit them both seemingly at the same time. Soon your child was dragging you both towards the little arcade in the back of the cafe. Dae-ho spent nearly ten dollars in quarters as he attempted time and again to get your child’s choice of stuffed animal out of the claw machine. You momentarily allowed yourself to get swooped up in the fun, trying and failing to beat Dae-ho on one of those strength testers.

~ You both had a shock of awkward reality when your child asked if all three of you could use the photo booth. Of course, there was one thing that would inevitably get you both into the booth: neither of you could say no to your kid.

~ As soon as Dae-ho saw the photos of the three of you crammed into one booth his heart felt as if someone was reaching into his chest and squeezing tight. His child sitting between the two of you with an ice cream stained face and laughing, or the photo of him pulling a face while you and your child laughed, or the smile of his child that looked nearly identical to his own: every tiny photo confirmed one thing for him.

~ He wanted nothing more than to have you both be in his life from this moment onward.

~ You spent longer in the ice cream cafe than you had meant to, and soon the sun was beginning to set and your kid needed to go home to sleep. Dae-ho carried them out to your car, and once again you felt a pang as you noticed how natural all this was for him.

~ When you suggested the three of you hang out again this weekend, he immediately agreed. You thought that was the end of the conversation, but after Dae-ho settled the toddler into their booster he was turning back to you.

~ “So… why didn’t you tell me?”

~ You explained how you didn’t want to pressure him into anything, how you were nervous how he’d react, and after a few years you decided it had been too long. He listened to your explanations, and apologies, with much appreciated patience. You knew it wasn’t a perfect reason, but it was enough for him for now.

~ After that, he was dropping by nearly four or five times a week, and soon enough he was basically a mainstay at your place. The three of you seemed to fall into a new domestic situation with such ease that when Dae-ho asked you out it wasn’t hard to say yes. You seemed to fit perfectly into each other's lives.

Player 333/Lee Myung-gi

~ Myung-gi had spotted you, and your toddler, at the same bookstore he was currently inhabiting. It would take him a moment to realize where he recognized you from, but as soon as he realized it was from a one night stand he re-evaluated the child holding your hand.

~ After some quick math in his head he would realize he could very easily be the father of this child. But why wouldn’t you tell him? At least, he thought, you would contact him for child support. So obviously, it couldn’t be his kid, right?

~ But there was no denying it. The kid was a spitting image of him. As the reality dawned on him, he found his feet unable to move. It was like he was glued to the carpet as shock set in. He was so in his own head he didn’t notice the toddler approaching him.

~ He looked down when he felt a small hand tug on the edge of his shirt. Myung-gi’s mouth went dry as he looked face to face with his own kid. They were looking back with tear soaked cheeks, asking for help. They had somehow lost track of their mom and needed someone to help find her.

~ “Oh… Uh, sure kid.”

~ Myung-gi paused for a moment as the kid reached a pudgy hand up, but he eventually took it in his own. He glanced in the direction he had last seen you, but you were gone. He had the kid walk him back to where they could remember you were last, but of course you weren’t there either.

~ He stifled a sigh as his kid started to cry again, sniffling every few seconds. “It’s alright, we’ll find your mom.” But soon they started to bawl, unable to quell the worry the longer it took. Myung-gi reached down, picking them up with ease. He patted their back awkwardly, not sure at all how to handle this situation, but somehow it worked.

~ He felt some sort of unfamiliar feeling of protectiveness as the child calmed in his arms. He decided to head to the cashier and see if they could make an announcement over the intercom. As he made his way over he would every so often assure the toddler in his arms everything would turn out just fine.

~ As he headed to the front he spotted you already talking with a manager. He could see you were clearly very worried. As soon as he pointed you out your child would immediately start calling for you. The relief flooding your face as you spotted your kid was evident to everyone around you. You rushed over and Myung-gi handed his child over with an unexpected pang of pain. He watched as you wiped away your child’s tears before holding them in a tight hug.

~ “I cannot thank you enough. Thank you so-”

~ As you turned to thank the helpful stranger you would come face to face with the last person you were expecting to see at that moment. Myung-gi cocked an eyebrow at your shocked expression, a move that informed you he knew exactly who’s child that was.

~ “I think we need to talk.”

The Recruiter

~ He spotted you, holding the hands of a child, while he was in the middle of “work”. He normally would go on with his job, but he didn’t want to risk you noticing as he slapped a stranger straight across the face. Even though it was a one night stand you had managed to make quite the impact on him.  Instead, he hurriedly ended the unfinished transaction as the child started to notice the game being played.

~ Your child would be tugging at your hand, and once you glanced in the direction they pointed to you saw the person you least expected to. He waved in your direction, but instead of returning the gesture you picked up your child and hurried up the subway steps.

~ He noticed your odd reaction to seeing him. It made him reevaluate the situation. As he looked closer at the two of you, he started to notice the similarities between him and the child who was currently looking at him over your shoulder as you rushed up the stairs.

~ He would quickly follow you, not letting you get far before he stepped in front of you. He glanced between you and the child, openly putting two and two together. You would feel a tinge of guilt as he finally kept his eyes on you. He waited silently for you to speak up.

~ His tactic would inevitably work, and soon you’d be trying to explain away why you hadn’t gone to find him and tell him. He would notice you trying to keep everything generalized, and would once again glance in the direction of the child in your arms. With an annoyed sigh he would tell you that the two of you could talk about this later. Then he would go on his way and let the two of you go on yours.

~ But later you would receive a text from your old one night stand. “Are you free to talk yet?”. You would stare at the text, debating whether or not to answer. But eventually the guilt would take over and you would respond with a yes.

~ Moments later you would be getting a phone call. You were prepared to explain yourself once more, but instead he wanted to discuss when he could start to see his kid. You were a little surprised. You really weren’t sure if he would be interested or not.

~ Within a few days he was dropping by as your “friend” who was going to hang out for a bit and get to know your child. You tried to give them some space, but you couldn’t stop peaking your head in to see how it was going. You couldn't believe just how similar they looked.

~ Within moments he was feeling a swelling need to protect this little bundle of joy in front of him. As they bobbed around the room, showing him every book and toy in their possession he could feel himself getting more and more attached. Those few hours flew by, and he was already asking you when he could come by again.

~ After a few weeks you got the usual text, expecting it to be asking when he could come see his child. But instead it was asking when you would be free. Between coming by to pick you up for a date or dropping in to visit your kid, he was around quite a bit. Once he started spending nights there he never really left, and without noticing it the three of you became a family.

[prettycopperpennies]

How They Act When They're Jealous

Including: Frontman/Player 001/Hwang In-ho | Player 333/Lee Myung-gi | Player 388/Kang Dae-ho | Player 230/Thanos/Choi Su-bong | Player 124/ Nam-gyu | The Recruiter

Squid Games x gn! Reader

Frontman/Player 001/Oh Young-il/Hwang In-ho

~ In-ho would not be very obvious about it

~The only real difference in his demeanor is his lingering gaze on you and whoever was chatting with you

~ He wouldn’t step in between the two of you. Not even as you noticeably got more bored or awkward

~ He would simply wait...

~ And let you come to him instead

~ He would, of course, welcome you with open arms and feigned unawareness

~ He’d wrap an arm around your waist with a small smile

~ And ask you where you went

~ “There you are, darling. I’ve been wondering where you are”

~ If you answered honestly or not, he wouldn’t press you for an explanation

~ But he’d feel much more at ease as you stuck close to him for the rest of the night

~ Occasionally glancing over to the person you left behind, making sure they kept their distance

~ And if he ever caught them looking in your direction he would give you quick, chaste kiss

~ Or brush a strand of hair from your face

~ Subtly showing them, and everyone else, who you are with

Player 333/Lee Myung-gi

~ At first you may not realize when Myung-gi was jealous

~ But over time you started to recognize the signs

~ Usually it was just him inserting himself in to whatever conversation you were having with the person who was the cause of his jealousy

~ He’d walk right over and plop himself down next to you

~ But he wouldn’t participate in the conversation

~ Just sit sullenly

~ Glaring down the person across from you

~ And if he was feeling especially jealous he might take your hand in his

~ Making sure the other person saw that move

~ He’d simply sit back and let his awkwardness kill the conversation

~ As soon as they left the two of you alone he’d immediately tell you how much he did not like them

~ You can try to tell him to stop

~ But he would insist he wasn’t trying to be rude, that person was simply very off putting

~ He would need a lot of assurances from you for the next couple days

~ Despite him consistently insisting he wasn’t jealous at all, he just really didn’t like that person

~ “Don’t laugh, I’m serious. There was something sketchy about them.”

Player 388/Kang Dae-ho

~ Dae-ho wouldn’t come over to you

~ Instead he would try to get you to come over to him

~ Immediately calling for you from across the room

~ Acting as if he has something interesting to show you

~ And fully not acknowledging the person you were having a conversation with

~ If you brushed him off he’d only insist harder

~ “Give me a second”

~ “Baby, c’mon, it’ll only take a second! I swear!”

~ And as soon as you inevitably fold and head over he’d be all smiles.

~ Wrapping you in a tight hug as he buried his head in the crook of your neck

~ If you asked him what he wanted to show you he’d admit he just missed you

~ And would be 100% clingier than usual for the rest of the time

~ But he absolutely wouldn’t admit to being jealous

~ Though as he leaned over to rest his head on your shoulder or reach out to intertwine your fingers with his own you knew the truth

Player 230/Thanos/Choi Su-bong

~ “Hey, pretty. Who’s this?”

~ Su-bong would be immediately by your side

~ And looking the other person up and down with a snide expression

~ He would “feign” interest as you introduced the two of them

~ His thinly veiled sarcastic attentiveness would be obvious to all three of you

~ He’d throw an arm around your shoulders, pulling you close

~ And just barely acknowledge the other person with a “huh” or “very interesting”

~ He’d almost exclusively be looking to you

~ But whenever he did glance over to the other person it would be with an expression of barely hidden disgust

~ It is when he openly rolls his eyes you finally give in and excuse the two of you

~ It doesn’t matter how much you chastise him, he is grinning widely

~ He’d let you get all your complaints out, not stopping you or denying anything 

~ Although it is questionable if he is listening

~ It also doesn’t help that he keeps pulling you in for a kiss or wrapping an arm around you as you tell him off

~ As long as he gets you away from the other person, and back to being the two of you, he is on cloud nine

Player 124/ Nam-gyu

~ Nam-gyu would watch you from afar

~ But his staring would be very obvious

~ Even the first time you didn’t know he was jealous, but you definitely felt his eyes on you

~ As soon as you come back to him he would lean in towards you, whispering in your ear

~ “Are you trying to make me jealous?”

~ It doesn’t matter how much you assure him you were not

~ He would be pouty for the rest of the night

~ Despite his upset disposition he’d still keep you close

~ Your hands would constantly be intertwined for the rest of the night

~ And somehow, even though you were right by his side, he’d manage to not look at you the entire time

~ The physical contact would be the only acknowledgment he’d give you

~ But as you let him carry out his antics his ego would slowly bolster

~ By the time you two are going home he would no longer be upset with you

~ And would be taking advantage of the fact you two were finally alone

The Recruiter

~ There is no politeness or following of societal expectations

~ The second he feels a tinge of jealousy he is dragging you away

~ “We were just talking”

~ “You were just talking. They were…”

~ He would be too angry to finish the thought

~ He trusts you, sure, but he doesn’t trust anyone else

~ He is low-key obsessed in love with you

~ And he is convinced anyone else who encounters you would feel the exact same way

~ He wouldn’t make any kind of move or say anything that would suggest he needs reassuring or comforting

~ But if you gave it to him anyways he would immediately melt for you

~ Letting you fawn over him and tell him how you only have eyes for him

~ If you didn’t say anything it would just make him more jealous

~ He would even be looking warily at the poor guy bagging your groceries at the store

~ But you’d have to be the one to come to him

~ Because he’d never admit to being jealous

[prettycopperpennies]

Angel On His Shoulder | Thanos/Choi Su-bong/Player 230 x F!Reader

Description: Demon Thanos x Angel Reader, Supernatural au, enemies to lovers

Warnings: no descriptions of gore but the setting is squid games

Part 2

Previous

Angel On His Shoulder

You felt it in your bones: everyone was going home. You absolutely believed and trusted every single one of the players as soon as the guards announced the vote. You knew they’d want to keep themselves and their fellow players safe. You glanced around the crowd gathering on the floor, preemptively proud of the decision you were sure they would make.

“What’s with the smile, angel?” you heard a deep voice ask. You turned around to see a tall, purple haired figure behind you.

“No reason,” you answered, not trying to encourage small talk between you and a demon. You turned back around, but he was not so easily discouraged.

“I think,” he continued on, walking up next to you, “you believe everyone’s about to head out of this place.”

You were more than a little frustrated he seemed to be able to read you so well. It also didn’t help that the heat of his aura always quelled the coldness you were used to feeling from your own aura. You were finding it difficult to literally keep your cool around him.

“So what if I do?” you asked with a small huff.

Su-bong couldn’t stop the smile that came to his face at your persistence. He didn’t know what you saw in mortals, but it amused him to no end.

“And what if it doesn't turn out how you think?” he asked. He felt frustrated as you didn't answer and kept looking ahead. He tried not to let it show as your action unintentionally took a dig at his ego, and continued on, “Or have you not thought of that?”

He felt a smidge of satisfaction when you once again turned towards him. You glared in his direction before saying, “I believe in them.”

“Right. Doubt isn’t really an option for angels, is it?” he asked.

“That’s not- We can- I simply don’t need,” you sputtered through a jumbled mass of words. He tilted his head as he listened to your failed attempts of excuses, openly grinning at your frowning face.

“Wow, I’ve never been proven so wrong,” he teased.

“You know what? You are going to be eating your words once these people vote,” you said, only doubling down in what you believed. You couldn't help but notice how right he was; doubt did not seem to be a skill you possessed.

“You sure about that?” he leaned in and asked as his eyes moved to a few of the players in front of you. Both seemed to be discussing the possibilities of voting O. You felt your assuredness falter for a moment, but soon you regained your confidence.

“Yes, I’m sure!” you said, choosing to assume those two players were in the minority. Surely, most of these players would want to help themselves and each other and go home.

Su-bong noticed the little hesitation in your voice, and decided to take advantage of the small opportunity.

“Alright,” he said, “So X wins and you win, but if it’s O…”

“What, like a bet?” you said, repulsed by the idea of betting on something so serious.

As your nose crinkled once again Su-bong felt his confident demeanor falter for a moment when faced with your very endearing expression. But he quickly regained his footing as he held out a hand towards you.

“Let’s call it a deal,” he said.

“I’m not doing that,” you said, not buying into what he was selling.

“Why not?” he asked.

“I’m not about to make a deal with a devil,” you said with a flat tone.

“Okay, fine,” he said with a casual shrug, but somewhere in the back of his head he felt oddly pleased you hadn’t fallen for it.

The both of you turned away from one another as a pink guard spoke up, announcing the beginning of the vote. Player 456 walked across the room, and you breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the tally ticked upwards for the X’s.

As soon as number 444 was called you hurried to the other side of the room to cast your vote. You turned to give Thanos a smug look before joining the other X’s. He simply rolled his eyes at your display, waiting for his turn. 

As the vote continued on though you felt your confidence start to falter. The group was split closer down the middle than you had expected. But you wouldn’t give up until the vote was officially done. You wouldn’t stop believing in them. You huffed with unsurprised annoyance as Thanos voted O. He turned to you, mocking your earlier move as he returned the smug expression before joining the other O voters.

Apparently you weren’t the only one who believed in these players. Player 456 pushed to the front of the crowd df X’s to give a stirring speech. You nodded your head in agreement, hoping the remaining players would listen to his warning. Thanos was easy to spot thanks to his brightly colored hair, and you made sure to give him a know-it-all look as the player spoke up in favor of ending the games. He held up one ringed finger as if to say “wait and see”. 

Moments later Player 100 was suddenly yelling back at 456. Su-bong looked back over to you, ready to rub it in your face as an argument broke out. But you weren’t looking at him. You refused to give him even more of your attention, and instead you watched the others worriedly as they started to yell. Annoyance, and maybe a tinge of disappointment, at your rejection bubbled up inside him. He was determined to get you to pay attention.

You were trying to calm the players around you, reasoning that fighting was not the answer, when you heard a deep voice cut through the crowd. You abandoned your conversation, moving through the other X’s to get a better view. You almost didn't believe it until you saw the familiar purple hair.

“If you really won, it actually works better for us,” he said, and you watched with a sinking feeling as players nodded their heads in agreement, “You can give us some tips on how to survive these games.”

You watched in shock as he hyped up the crowd, cheering them on to vote O. As he turned around he already knew exactly who’s reaction he was looking for, and as soon as he spotted you he was not disappointed. You started disbelievingly at him as he smirked and swaggered past you back to the O’s. You both looked back at the other with determination, literal lines drawn between the two of you as the voting continued on.

As the voting concluded you felt your heart sink into the ground. You were wrong. The players had voted to keep playing. But you didn't blame them. You put all the responsibility on Player 230.

Speak of the devil, you thought glumly to yourself as he approached your bunk.

“Hey,” he said, sounding frustratingly casual. You did not answer, instead focusing all your attention on a loose thread on your sheet. He sighed, leaning against your bed frame.

“C’mon, you can’t really be upset about this. Or even surprised,” he said, then paused to hear your response. But it never came, “I came over to rub my victory in your face, but it’s not nearly as fun if you keep ignoring me.”

You finally broke the silence as you said, “Victory? You cheated!”

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

“That little speech you made! You interfered with the players’ decision making,” you explained.

His expression changed to mock shock as he spoke, “I can’t believe you would accuse me of such a thing as cheating.”

“I’m not counting it as a victory,” you said.

“You can’t act so surprised. Tempting humans is kind of my thing,” he pointed out. He glanced around, making sure no one was within earshot before whispering, “But just so you know, demons aren’t above cheating either.”

“Just so you know, angels don’t give up without a fight,” you said, trying to out-intimidate him. But it clearly didn’t work as he started to laugh.

“Please. That’s all you angels do,” he snickered. You gasped in indignation, but that only added fuel to his fire, “Listen, since you think I cheated then let me offer you an olive branch.”

“I’m not going to take a deal so stop offering,” you said, but he held up his hands in mock defeat.

“This isn't a deal. Think of it as an invitation,” he explained. 

You listened, curious about his “invitation”. He reached a hand out to tap a ringed finger against your X patch. A small spot of your skin, exactly where his fingertip tapped, tingled under your clothes as he did. The heat that always surrounded him seemed to cut through the fabric.

“If you ever get sick of losing, you’re always welcome to join my side,” he said.

“No chance,” you said before waving away his hand, getting up, and stomping over to a few X players. Su-bong watched you as you walked away, finding himself once again pulled in by your insistent personality.

[prettycopperpennies]

Angel On His Shoulder | Thanos/Choi Su-bong/Player 230 x F!Reader

Description: Demon Thanos x Angel Reader, Supernatural au, enemies to lovers

Warnings: Cursing, no descriptions of gore but the setting is squid games

Part 1 | Next

Angel On His Shoulder

Su-bong walked into the arena of the first game, and he soaked in the setting quickly. The players were spread out across the field just before the starting line. He could finally survey them all with ease. His eyes moved across all the future wayward souls when a light started to glimmer in the corner of his eye. He turned in its direction, assuming it must be something reflecting the sun that was currently shining in from a temporary massive skylight above the field.

But it wasn’t a glint from the sun or a reflection of any kind. Instead it was coming from one of the players. Player 444 had a warmth aura surrounding her, and as Su-bong looked at the light he noticed the occasional sparkle move through the air as if glitter was literally floating around her. No one else seemed to notice the glow emitting from their fellow player, but that didn’t surprise Su-bong.

You’ve got to be kidding me, he thought to himself, Not a fucking angel.

You walked into the arena of the first game, and you surveyed the area around you adeptly. You could gaze across the mass of players with ease for the first time. Your eyes moved across the people who you knew had the potential to be truly good hearted people if they had the chance when a wave of smoke passed through the air from the corner of your eye. You turned in its direction, worried something had caught on fire.

But it wasn’t smoke from a fire. Instead it was coming from one of the players. Player 230 had a black and grey aura surrounding him, and as you looked at the smoke you noticed the occasional flicker move through the air as if fiery embers were literally floating around him. No one else seemed to notice the haze emitting from their fellow player, but that didn’t surprise you.

Oh, please, no, you thought to yourself, Not a literal demon.

Su-bong was subtly keeping an eye on you, so he most definitely saw it when you realized exactly what he was. He nearly gave away the game, smirking when he momentarily caught your wide eyed expression out of the corner of his eye. As much as he hated having an actual mortal enemy around at least you weren’t expecting to see him either. You weren’t exactly subtle yourself as you looked in his direction. The shock of seeing him was evident on your face. However, with the help of his carefully crafted celebrity persona no one would see this as odd. They would just assume you were a fan. You, an angel, being perceived as one of his devout followers amused him to no end.

This might actually be fun, he thought to himself.

In the middle of the game you instinctively reached out and grabbed the player in front of you. Moments later the song ended and the first gunshot rang out. You tightened your grip when you felt the person in front of you start to move. You kept them in place, heaving a sigh of grateful relief your intuition had not come even a second later.

Time to even the odds, Su-bong thought as he saw you just barely save the person in front of you in time.

As soon as the chaos ended and the song started again the player in front of you turned back to face you.

“Thank you,” they said breathlessly.

“No need to thank me. Let’s just get across that finish line,” you said. You remembered what player 456 had told the group a few seconds ago and added on, “Why don’t you get behind me.”

They nodded, gratefully moving to use you as a shield (admittedly, it wasn't the easiest task considering your frame was smaller than theirs). You encouraged an older player beside you to do the same. Soon you had a small line forming behind you, and you were ready to take them all the way to the end of the game.

You passed through a few rounds when smoke once again entered your eye line. You glanced around to see that demon standing just a few steps to the side of you. He was grinning widely and raised his eyebrows excitedly in your direction. As the song abruptly stopped you were not prepared to see him shove three players to the ground, looking directly at you as he did.

“Hey, angel,” he greeted, then waited for the gunshots.

But they never came.

He finally broke eye contact with you to glance around. His three targets were somehow perfectly covered by a few players in front of them, and the doll’s eyes moved past them. Thanos knew those players weren’t there before. 

“A miracle? Really?” he asked you with a growl. He somehow found it even more annoying that you didn’t answer as if he wasn’t even worth your time. He wasn’t so easily beaten, and he would have to find some way to prove that to you.

The second the song started you were trying your best to move your line away from Player 230, but it proved to be pointless. He suddenly was snaking through another line clearly hoping to wreak havoc somewhere else.

You made it over the line one round later, and cheered on the rest of your line as they rushed over into the safe zone. You glanced back behind you, trying to gauge how many people had made it across so far. But in your direct eyeline, leaning against the wall, was Player 230. He gave you a sarcastically friendly wave, but that was all you saw before you snapped your head back towards the field watching carefully and cheering on the last few players. You felt your feet moving back over the line and you rammed straight into a player, stopping them mid free fall. They grabbed onto you as you stabilized them just in time to freeze. After the song, the two of you crossed the finish line together with mere seconds to spare.

Su-bong watched you dive across the finish line in the nick of time. His fingers subconsciously came to adjust the cross necklace around his neck as he did, thinking spitefully about your seemingly impossibly good instincts. He scoffed to himself as he heard the player thanking you for saving his life.

“It’s alright,” you assured the player, pretending you couldn’t hear the demon just a few feet away from you, “We all have to help each other, right?”

“Right!” they said with a nod.

“Riiiight,” a deep voice said behind you, their tone dripping with sarcasm. You already knew who it was. The heat that was suddenly enveloping you was a major clue you hardly even needed. You disliked the feeling, not even used to slightly warm temperatures. You liked your cold aura, but his own aura seemed to outbalance your own.

You turned and came face to face with the tall stature of Player 230. He smiled as you glared at him. There was something about you finally giving him your full attention that gave him some kind of satisfaction he couldn’t put his finger on just yet.

“You really think he’s going to believe that sentiment by the third game? Fourth? Shit, maybe it’ll be out the window by round two,” he taunted. He noticed how you flinched at his use of a curse word, and made a note of it to torment you with as often as possible.

“You don’t know that he won't. I choose to hope that he will,” you said.

“Ugh, that’s such an angel answer,” he said with a groan.

Your eyes darted around quickly, but it seemed no one had heard him or cared, “Don’t call me-”

“Relax. They’ll just think it’s a nickname. It’s all part of the Thanos vibe,” he said, leaning back into a performative “cool” pose.

“Thanos?” you asked, your nose crinkling a little.

Damn it, why does she have to be cute, he thought to himself as he looked at your confused expression. It didn't help that he hadn’t at all expected your angel aura to be so cold. He was used to letting his heat encompass him and everyone around him, but your cool aura seemed to combat it easily.

“It’s my name,” he said, not giving away the thought that just flashed through his head in the slightest. Lies and deception came to him with ease.

You sighed and just barely resisted rolling your eyes. He cocked an eyebrow at your response before asking, “What?”

“It’s just… such a demon nickname,” you told him.

He was taken aback by your little quip, not expecting an angel to have it in them.

I never told her it was a nickname, he thought to himself, wondering if that was part of your stupidly good instincts. You left him feeling shocked, heading towards the now open doors, checking over the players (and going right back to ignoring Thanos) as you walked.

[prettycopperpennies]

Falling Walls | Kang Dae-ho (Player 388) x F!Reader Oneshot

Description: If Dae-ho thought you would be an easy ally he had another think coming. (golden retreiver x black cat type shit. Slow burn)

Warning: Cursing, Toxic Ex (not Dae-ho), no gore but the setting is squid games.

Dae-ho x Female Reader

Player 456 was telling the truth. You were in shock as you saw people falling to the ground out of the corner of your eyes. You listened much closer the second time Player 456 ran to the front of the group and yelled out instructions.

“Get behind someone bigger than you,” he said, his last command before the massive doll turned its back to the rest of you.

Suddenly you were being maneuvered. Player 388 had stuck out a strong arm and swooped you behind him. You were surprised by how quickly he jumped into action, but your incredulity only lasted a few moments. With a huff you stepped out of his shadow. You made it a few steps before you had to freeze again right beside Player 388.

“Didn’t you hear what he said? ‘Get behind someone bigger’,” he said, clearly surprised by you overtaking him. You glared ahead, not daring to move. 

Dae-ho was completely lost. He had moved out of his way to help you, and it’s not like he expected you to be worshiping the ground he walked on for it, but he definitely did not think you would be annoyed. 

As soon as the song began again you turned your head in his direction and said, “Didn’t you hear what he said? If you’re going to talk when we’re not supposed to move then you had better cover your mouth.”

Dae-ho’s mouth was agape, not sure how to respond. Lucky for him he didn’t have to think up something to say; you were already moving far past him. He could have easily kept up with you, but an older player had taken your place behind him. He couldn’t leave a defenseless old woman behind so his only option was to watch you as you made your way across the field.

You turned around when you crossed the finish line watching with bated breath as the other players tried to cross in time. You exhaled when Player 456 and Player 120 just barely dragged an injured man across the line, but as soon as they crossed over the hurt player was “eliminated”.

You jumped when you heard the gunshot ring out, and jumped a second time when you felt a hand on your shoulder.

“It’s because that player was supposed to be taken out of the game earlier. I don’t think they’re just attacking random players now, it’s okay,” a voice said.

You turned your head to see it was Player 388.

What is his deal? you asked yourself as you shrugged off his shoulder.

“I know that,” you said curtly, turning on your heel and walking towards the opening doors. You wanted to get away from the now blood soaked playing field, creepy doll, and the annoyingly friendly Player 388 as soon as possible.

What’s her deal? Dae-ho asked himself as he watched you walk away. He couldn't figure you out, but unfortunately for you he was determined to.

1 YEAR EARLIER

You were sitting on the couch, surrounded by tons of papers. Receipts, debt notices, loan statements, threatening letters, and an eviction notice. The lines of letters and numbers (way, way, way too many numbers) started to blur as you began to well up with tears. 

You heard the door open but never close, and you looked up to find your boyfriend frozen in the door frame. You grabbed fistfuls of paper; not even making a dent in the haphazard stacks around you. Your boyfriend flinched as you held them up for him to see.

“When were you going to tell me about… all this?” you asked.

He didn’t answer and instead took a few tentative steps towards you.

“Don’t,” you warned, trying to sound intimidated as your voice quivered.

He didn’t listen to your one word warning as he slowly closed the space between you with each step.

“I’m so serious. I’m not just going to forgive you,” you said.

He was close enough to reach out a hand, cupping your tear stained cheek with his palm before saying, “I don’t expect you to. I fucked up-”

“Yeah, you did,” you said. Your tone was stern and unforgiving, but you still hadn’t brushed away his hand.

“I know. I’m sorry,” he said.

“We’re getting evicted,” you said, tears now freely running down your face. He sat down next to you pulling you into a tight hug. You folded into it. Even though it was all his fault, he had always been the one to comfort you.

“I’m going to fix this, okay?” he said, “You don’t need to worry. It’s my fault. I’ll fix it.”

“No,” you said with a shake of your head, “This is a partnership. I don’t care who’s fault it is. We get through this together.”

“Really?” he said with relief as he pulled out of the hug to hold your cheek in his hand once again.

“You would do the same for me,” you said.

“Of course I would,” he said. 

You sighed, feeling a glimmer of hope. You could always count on him to help you feel better about anything, no matter how hopeless it seemed before.

PRESENT DAY

Everyone in your vicinity started to cheer, but you stayed stoic. Yes, you had just won the vote, but you weren’t elated. It was simply a pragmatic decision on your part. It was not like you wanted to stay. You simply had no other choice.

As you walked back towards your bunk you saw the player who kept trying to help you during the first game. You were surprised to see he had voted O. You figured he would want to end the games immediately before anyone else got hurt. His own eyes went over the crowd and landed on you. You quickly looked away, hoping against hope he hadn’t noticed your staring.

“There is no way we both showed up wearing the same thing,” a familiar voice said. You rolled your eyes before turning to face Player 388. He was sporting a sarcastically shocked expression, looking between your outfit and his.

He pointed to your blue O patch and his before saying, “I mean, it’s down to the accessories and everything. What are the chances?”

You bit the inside of your cheek. There was no way in hell you were about to crack a smile over such a cheesy joke. You scoffed before heading in the direction of your bed.

“What I was trying to point out was we both voted O. Let’s be allies,” he said, easily keeping up with your quick pace.

“I don’t need an ally,” you said curtly. You were suddenly stopped in your tracks as he stepped in front of you.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked before gesturing with a nod to the other players.

You looked around realizing a lot of people were already forming groups. This did not bode well for you. You had meant what you said: you didn’t need an ally… Or, maybe it was more like you didn’t want an ally.

As you looked around the room Dae-ho noticed your nervous expression. He felt guilty when he saw how his point had stressed you out. He mentally kicked himself for inadvertently freaking you out.

He leaned towards you, dipping down a little to bring you closer to eye level.

“I don’t think it’s actually a big deal,” he said in a much quieter tone, attempting to make up for his comment moments earlier, “It’s more like I need an ally, you know? I’m sure you’d be fine on your own.”

You were taken back by how gentle this seemingly boisterously energized player seemed. You turned back to face him only to realize how close the two of you were.

“I know I’ll be fine,” you said, but this time you couldn’t quite manage to sound as vexed as usual.

“No, I totally agree. You seem like a badass,” he said. If jokes didn’t work in breaking down your apathetic facade maybe compliments would.

Or maybe not, Dae-ho thought to himself as you openly rolled your eyes. You side stepped around him. This time Dae-ho stayed back as you stalked off to your bed.

“I’m around if you change your mind,” he called after you.

“I won’t,” you said over your shoulder, determined to figure out a way to make your way out of this on your own.

You ate by yourself. You were one of the few people who had not seemed to find their own group of people to buddy up with. Player 388 was talking across the room to a group of men that included Player 456. He seemed completely at ease, and you found yourself almost jealous of his outgoing personality. He caught your eye once again, giving you a small wave. You did not return the gesture instead moving your eyes off him as quickly as you could.

I’ll be fine, you said to yourself, repeating the phrase once again. This time though you struggled to believe it.

SEVENTH MONTHS AGO

You were packing as fast as you could trying your best to ignore the many excuses your boyfriend was telling you.

“She’s just a friend,” he insisted for the millionth time.

“Very good friends apparently,” you spat back, wrestling with yourself to keep your tears back. This asshole was not about to make you cry.

“Y/n, it didn’t mean anything,” he said.

“To you, maybe!” you said.

“I don’t care what it meant to her. Really, I don’t. You matter so much more tha-”

“Shut up! What do you think seeing her and you together meant to me? How it felt?” you asked.

“Babe, I’m so sorry,” he said.

“Don’t call me babe. And don’t apologize. I don’t want to hear it,” you said. It wasn’t exactly true though. You couldn't help it. You still found yourself caring about him a little, and hearing him say sorry sent a squeeze to your heart no matter how much you wished it didn’t.

“I really am sorry,” he said as he reached out his hand.

He used his classic move, gently cupping your cheek as he apologized for whatever new fuck up he did. You paused for a moment, shaken by how close it was to working, before you shoved his hand away.

“I’m leaving,” you said, grabbing your bag.

“Wait, don’t go. Let’s talk, please,” he said, the words coming out quickly as he followed down the hall. You quickened your pace knowing any second now he could break your resolve. It didn’t matter how bad he hurt you, you always seemed to forgive him. But not this time.

PRESENT DAY

Your mouth went dry as soon as the voice announced over the loudspeaker to form groups of five. It was as if the universe was hell bent on proving you wrong and Player 388 right. It seemed like everyone else was making groups with ease, basically already having a group already made thanks to the previously forged friendships.

Dae-ho was giving you the space you wanted, but he couldn’t help but notice the nervous expression you wore when he spotted you in the crowd. He wanted nothing more than to go over and offer you a place on his team, but he stopped himself from going over and giving you a helping hand. It didn’t matter how much he wanted to help you; it wasn’t what you wanted. His shoulder relaxed, which he hadn’t even realized he had been tensing, when you found a group just in the nick of time.

You ended up with a group of men led by Player 100. He was surly off the bat and not at all interested in making friends which was fine by you. It wasn’t a problem till it came to choosing who would play which game. 

“And you can play Jegi,” Player 100 said, assigning you a game.

“I’ve never played Jegi,” you told him.

“Then you had better find a way to practice! If you mess up, we’re all dead,” he said with a huff like it was somehow your fault for never playing.

“How would I practice?” you asked.

This is exactly why I don’t need an ally, you thought spitefully to yourself.

“There’s pebbles all over,” he said, pointing at the dirt ground you all stood at, “Pick some up. And. Practice.”

“Is everything okay over here?”

Player 388 was walking up to your team. His expression was one you hadn’t seen before, and it was surprisingly intimidating. But he wasn’t looking at you. Instead he was glaring down Player 100.

“Go back to your own team. We’re fine here,” Player 100, waving him off.

But Player 388 didn’t seem so easily scared off. He stepped between you and the old man, clearly not planning on leaving any time soon.

“Look, it’s not my fault she’s refusing to play Jegi,” Player 100 said, not backing down either.

“Are any of you good at Jegi?” Player 388 asked the rest of your group.

One member timidly raised their hand, trying their best to avoid the glares from Payer 100. Suddenly another member spoke up saying they much preferred Djaki over Spinning Top. That opened up the floodgates, and all three players on your team quickly started to admit they’d like to switch games. Player 388 looked at you with a much kinder expression (one you were used to seeing him sport).

“Which do you want to play?” he asked.

“I’m alright at Biseokchigi,” you admitted. You couldn’t tell if he was actually starting to wear you down or it was thanks to his earlier moment of intimidation, but your usual cold shouldering demeanor was momentarily dismantled.

 He nodded before looking over to your other group members, one of whom was happy to switch spots with you. Player 100 openly scoffed at his team's betrayal, but his attitude was somewhat quelled with Player 388 gave him another look.

“What game is left over?” he asked the team without ever taking his eyes off the old man.

“Spinning top,” you said.

“Alright, then you’ll have spinning top,” he said, assigning Player 100 a game in a very similar fashion the man had assigned your game to you. You waited a moment for Player 100 to disagree, but he knew when he was beat. Without argument he took a seat on the ground, and your other teammates followed suit.

Player 388 turned to you and asked, “Are you good? You know, maybe they’ll let you switch teams.”

“I’m good,” you said, moving towards the end of your team’s line to take a seat.

“Let me help you,” he asked. You were taken aback by the earnest desperation in his voice, but you managed to shake it off before responding.

“I don’t need your help,” you answered curtly.

He groaned in frustration, but left you to your own devices as he went back to his own team. You had gotten your way, and yet there was a part of you that was a little sad to see him go.

“Lucky you know Dae-ho. I would kill to have a marine as an ally,” your team member sitting next to you said.

“Who’s Dae-ho?” you asked.

“Player 388. I thought you two had formed a pact or something,” they said, their eyebrows raising with surprise.

“Oh. No, we haven’t,” you said.

Dae-ho managed to cheer louder than anyone else for your team, which wasn’t an easy feat considering how loudly everyone was yelling. As soon as you crossed that line relief flooded through you. Of course, there was one person in particular who caught your eye mid celebration.

When Dae-ho saw you smiling at him he felt his knees start to go weak. For the past few days he’d only been getting eye rolls and frowns, but he hadn’t expected you to look so beautiful when you smiled. As soon as you looked in his direction he started to whoop even louder, giving you a grin. He swore he could see your demeanour brighten even more as the two of you locked eyes. But, as much as he wished the moment would last, you and your team were soon swooped out of the room.

Your eyes shot to the doors every time you heard them open to let in a new celebrating group. A tinge of disappointment jabbed at you as each group passed and it was missing one familiar face. You tried to distract yourself, making and remaking your bed countless times.

Why is there literally nothing to do here, you thought to yourself.

You were trying to convince yourself you were bored, not worried for one very specific player who had somehow started to worm his way into your heart. Whether you were willing to admit it or not, the fact that he stood up for you meant something to you.

Your bed was in the midst of being made for the hundredth time when the doors opened once again. You had almost given up hope, but still you chanced a look. Against all odds you saw a familiar ponytailed tall frame. Without thinking you rushed down the steps with relief fueled adrenaline.

Dae-ho stopped mid conversation with his team as soon as he saw you standing just a few feet from him, breathing heavily. He bit back a smile at the uncharacteristic situation you were in. It wasn’t until you were face to face with him that you realized exactly what you were doing. You were so happy he had made it, fully terrified for the past half hour he wasn’t coming back through those doors, that the second you saw him your brain turned off. But now, with Dae-ho’s eyes looking into yours, the switch had been flipped and your mind was racing once again.

What am I doing? you internally screamed at yourself. You thought about just turning around and walking away, but he had already seen you (of course he did, you had ran directly up to him).

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“What? Yes,” you said, trying and failing to sound apathetic, “I ran down the steps just now.”

“Any reason why?” he asked.

“I… really have to go to the bathroom,” you said.

It was a shitty lie. You both knew it. You internally cringed, but Dae-ho was all grins. At a feeble attempt to prove your claim was true you started to head in the direction of the restrooms.

“I’m not letting you off that easy,” Dae-ho said.

“What are you even talking about?” you asked, feigning confusion.

“That’s actually so weird,” he said.

“What’s so weird? Me having to pee? I hate to break it to you Dae-ho, but everyone does it,” you said.

“Nah, I’m talking about you being a terrible liar. I wouldn’t have guessed that in a million years,” he said.

“I’m not lying,” you said, stopping to glare him down. Your attempt at intimidation was completely undermined by the “I’ve totally been caught” blush blooming on your cheeks.

“Relax. That just means you're a good person,” he said.

Somehow that comment had shot through a crack in your walls and hit your heart straight on. You didn’t want to admit how much it meant for this absolute golden retriever of a person to think of you as a good person.

Dae-ho noticed your silence and it stung. He didn’t like how simply telling you you were a good person totally knocked you off your feet. He knew what he said was true, and it hurt him to think hearing it was something special. He didn’t think a compliment like that should be something foreign to someone like you.

“You really are a good person, you know,” he said, repeating what he had said before.

You were surprised to feel a burning behind your eyes. The earnest tone in his voice, what he was telling you, it was all about to bring you to tears. The walls you so carefully crafted weren’t cracking, they were crashing down. You couldn’t stand feeling so vulnerable and instead of shooting back some quippy comment you took off before he could see a single tear slide down your cheek.

Dae-ho watched you rush off to the bathroom, leaving him feeling heartbroken for the distant girl he had undeniably fallen for.

3 MONTHS AGO

You rubbed your forehead in frustration as the elevator music played from your phone. You had been on hold for three hours and were about to lose your mind.

“Hello Miss y/n,” a voice said, finally bringing an end to that cursed generic tune.

Your fist clenched tightly around the phone, more than a little relieved to finally hear a human voice, “Yes, hello! I’m here!”

“So we looked through your records, and it seems like the best course of action for now is to suspend your account and get a new card,” the voice said.

“But I’ve already done that,” you said with a sinking feeling.

“Oh… Ah, yes I see that,” they said.

“So, you see why, right?” you checked, hoping for some sort of solution in the midst of the worst storm you had ever found yourself in.

“Um…” the voice trailed off, clearly trying to find what you were alluding to in some sort of file.

“It’s my ex. He had my credit card info and used it to pay off his loans, but I can’t pay any of it back. I’ll be put into debt,” you explained, running a hand through your hair in stress.

“I see. Well, perhaps we can cover some of that. I believe if you report him-”

“I tried, but that…” you bit your tongue, stopping the “asshole” just on the tip of it from falling out, “He’s currently seeing someone pretty high up the ladder in the force, so...”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, it really didn’t seem like a productive phone call,” you admitted.

You quickly brushed away the frustrated tears falling down your face as if this person was standing in front of you. Of course, they had no idea, but even now you couldn't even stand the thought of someone simply being on the phone with you while you were like this.

“Listen, he stole my identity, took out credit cards in my name, paid off loans with my money, took out more loans in my name, and I need to figure out a way to fix this,” you said, praying they couldn’t notice the quivering in your voice.

PRESENT DAY

You were standing on the raised circular level a little nauseated by the hypocritically cheerful carousel motif. You tried to focus your head, but it was admittedly hazy. You had spent the last twenty four hours trying desperately to tamp down thoughts of two men in your life. Once from the past and one you were all too aware was very much in your present. You were completely unsuccessful in your attempts, and instead you had been tossing and turning all night and completely unable to eat at mealtimes.

Dae-ho glanced in your direction, knowing he wouldn’t catch your eyes no matter how much he hoped. He hated seeing you the other day leave the bathroom with red rimmed eyes. Clearly you had been crying. All he wanted to do was give you a hug and tell you it was okay. It was okay to cry, to be sad, or mad, any of it was okay. But if he thought you were distant before then this was a whole other level. Ever since your conversation after the last game you were avoiding him even more than before, which was saying something. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from watching out for you as the horribly familiar voice echoed across the room as it explained the rules.

You had managed to stumble across some much deserved luck. You choosing to stay ally-less seemed to be an advantage for Mingle. Everyone had their previously forged groups, but as the numbers called out by the voice fluctuated there was always people needing just one more person to join their group.

You and Dae-ho seemed to be playing your own separate game: how to look at each other without the other person noticing. Despite your resolve to completely forget him you could not stop yourself from scanning the crowd after every round. You would always feel relieved every time you saw his tall figure among the crowd. Dae-ho was doing the same, making sure you always had a group before he went into his own room. He was starting to worry as the game went on. You had seemed tired before the game even started, and as it continued he could see the exhaustion start to set in.

As soon as the voice said “Two” you tried to keep your head in the game, but the rush of bodies around you already had you stumbling. You couldn't even find someone to pair up with, and the rooms were quickly filling up. With a deep breath you accepted the failure that was approaching. But then a hand grabbed your own and pulled you towards one of the few empty rooms. You saw the number 388 on the back of your savior’s shirt.

Of course, you thought to yourself. Despite being so sure of your fate just moments ago you were hardly surprised Dae-ho saved you just in time.

He closed the door behind the two of you, and suddenly the hectic world was shut out. You both stood, frozen, looking at the other. You couldn’t find what to say. You had kept yourself closed off for so long, and so severely, opening up was suddenly an impossible task. Dae-ho was of course the first one to break the silence.

“Sorry. I know you’ve been keeping your distance for a reason, but-”

“Did you just apologize for saving my life? God, that is so…you,” you said, and despite everything you felt an exasperated smile pulling at the corner of your lips.

He paused for a moment before giving you a feeble laugh. You bit at your lip in nervousness, knowing what you were about to ask and it terrified you. Dae-ho noticed your stress and assumed the game, and how close you both just came to losing, had really shaken you up. He wanted desperately to offer you some sort of comfort; to say something or just hold you. But before he could do anything you were speaking up once again.

“Want to be allies?” you asked.

He gave you a soft smile as he took a step towards you with a nod, “Of course.”

“Okay,” you said, trying not to sound so overly relieved.

“I mean, I had never even thought about it before, but it seems great for a totally random idea,” he said, and you let yourself laugh at his little joke.

Dae-ho’s chest puffed up a little as you giggled, practically on cloud nine to not only get you to smile but actually laugh. He wanted to do it over and over again for as long as you would let him.

1 WEEK AGO

You turned the card over and over again in your hand. Your cheek was still stinging from the odd interaction in the subway. But at the end of it all you were given the very card you were holding now. You hadn’t been able to crawl out of the hole your ex made for you. You had no other answers.

With a deep breath you dialed the number on the back of the card.

PRESENT DAY

You waited nervously on your bed as gunshots rang out from floors above you. You thought about going too and helping them, but when you admitted you didn’t know how to use a gun they told you it might be best for you to stay behind. You still felt bad. Dae-ho and you were officially allies now, and you couldn’t help but feel you were letting that partnership down.

When Dae-ho stumbled into the room, you sat straight up. Something about him didn’t seem right. He seemed totally out of it as he rifled through pockets of jumpsuits. You quickly crossed over to him, kneeling down next to him.

“Dae-ho, is everything okay? Are you okay?” you asked.

Your voice pulled him out of the barrage of intense thoughts and images flashing through his mind. He was shutting down, but hearing you suddenly brought him back. He looked at you; a buoy in the storm.

Your heart broke for him as you saw his eyes start to well with tears. Instinctually you reached out and pulled him into a hug. He buried his head into the crook of your neck, and you could feel his shoulders start to relax. Neither of you had been that physically close till this point, but even in this heightened situation it seemed so natural.

“I… I can’t go back. It’s too much like…” he couldn’t finish his train of thought, but you recalled what another player had told you during the second game about Dae-ho being a marine.

“It’s okay,” you said, rubbing calming circles on his back before helping him get on his feet. He grabbed your hand in his, interlacing your fingers with his, needing to stay close to you in this moment. You let him pull you to sit next to him as he sat on his bed, and you wrapped a protective arm around him.

“I don’t know what to do, y/n. They need help, but I…” he started, struggling to finish his sentence once again.

“You stay here, okay?” you told him. You moved to get up, but he wouldn't drop your hand from his. Instead, he looked at you with wide-worrying eyes.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“It’ll be alright. I’ll take them the ammunition,” you assured him, once again attempting to get up. He stopped you once again, pulling you close. Your breath hitched in your throat as he brought his hand to your cheek. It was a feeling that should seem so familiar, but somehow as Dae-ho gently held your cheek in his hand it couldn't feel further from your ex. Just like everything else Dae-ho did, this was real and not some “move” to get you to do something for him.

“I can’t be the reason you are put in danger, y/n,” he said, proving you right. He was not trying to make you forget any mistakes or to fix anything for him. He just wanted to hold you close.

You subconsciously leaned in, and it only took a half of a moment for Dae-ho to meet you in the middle. The kiss was gentle and full of care. You naturally leaned into his palm as he cupped your cheek.

“I’ll be alright,” you said, breaking the kiss.

He moved his hand from your cheek to the nape of your neck, guiding you so your forehead rested against his.

“I’m not going to let you risk everything for me, okay?,” he assured you.

Player 120 entered the room, and the both of you moved away from each other. He tried over and over again to apologize while she grabbed the ammunition he had gathered, but then she was stopped by one of her own allies. All of you snapped your heads to the sliding doors as guards entered the room. Player 120 and her friend quickly and quietly hid the ammunition she was currently holding.

Dae-ho grabbed your hand and gave it a squeeze. Neither of you knew what was coming, but it seemed like it would be alright as long as you had each other.

[prettycopperpennies]

They React To You Voting X

GN! Reader Oneshots including

x Thanos/Choi Su Bong/Player 230, x Lee Myung-gi/Player 333, x Kang Dae-ho/Player 388

Description: After making an ally in the first game it is now time to vote, but how will your ally think of you voting X? (this can either be read as a stand alone oneshot or as a second part to this previous post).

Warnings: None

Thanos/Choi Su Bong/Player 230

As the significantly smaller group of people walked back to the room after the first game Thanos, seemingly officially an ally, stuck by your side. His lips moved silently as he rapped to himself, not noticing how shell shocked you were. As soon as you sat on one of the metal steps, you could feel your body fold into yourself. You could not believe what just happened out there.

“I think we were one of the first across,” Thanos bragged to you as he sat down next to you.

You didn’t answer, not really hearing him as he spoke to you. He noticed your wide eyes fixed on the ground in front of you with a far off look. He leaned over towards you, his shoulder bumping against yours.

“Hey, are you good?” he asked, dipping his head in an attempt to meet your eyes with his own.

His close proximity pulled you out of your own world, but it did nothing to ease the worries rushing through you. He couldn’t stop his expression from mirroring your own as your head turned towards him. He frowned when he realized how upset you were. 

His finger went to his cross as he said, “You know, if you’re nervous one of these could help yo-”

He was interrupted by pink guards entering the room and everyone gasping and ducking away from the armed triangle workers, you among them. Thanos leaned forward in interest, simultaneously blocking you from the eyeline of the guards as you shrunk back further in fear. They assured the players they weren’t here to “eliminate” anyone else at that moment, nor were they the ones collecting on everyone’s debt. Instead they were here to announce the results of the game.

Thanos’ eyes doubled in size as he watched the stacks of money drop into the piggy bank. You felt your stomach doing somersaults, not nearly as enraptured by the view as the lanky, purple-haired man beside you.

“See? Don’t stress. We didn’t do that game for nothing,” Thanos said in a futile attempt to comfort you.

“That’s not the problem, Thanos,” you said quietly.

He shook his head, not willing to understand what you were trying to get across.

“But I’m watching out for you,” he assured you, “So there is nothing to worry about. You don’t need to worry about them-”

He pointed a ringed finger towards the guards before continuing.

“Or any of them.”

He pointed towards the group of players looking up at the piggy bank.

“And now we don’t have to worry-”

His eyes drifted back up to the ceiling where the piles of cash were suspended.

“About money either.”

The guards started to speak, explaining a vote was going to be held between the players. They were offering a choice: stay or go. As the two of you stood up and waited for your number to be called you knew exactly what you wanted, and with a sinking feeling you knew what the player next to you wanted too.

“We should vote the same, yeah? Since we’re allies?” Thanos said, turning to you. Apparently, he was thinking the very same thing as you.

“Um,” you said, your shyness overpowering you.

You felt a blush creep up on your cheeks as he flung an arm around your shoulders and pulled you in a little.

“Vote O and I’ll tell you a secret,” he said with a smile, trying to tempt you over to his side.

“A secret?” you asked, doubting someone this outgoing and seemingly open really had that many secrets. Less than an hour ago he was openly taking drugs right in front of you.

“It’s a good one,” he whispered, ducking down close to you so you could hear him over the din of people moving around. His number was called and he gave your shoulder a squeeze before leaving you to vote O. He turned back, giving you a cocky wink, before joining the other O’s.

You felt your heart pound as your own number was called. You knew how Thanos wanted you to vote, and he wasn’t the only one. There were a lot of players voting O, but you hoped maybe the tides would turn. One game was enough for you.

Thanos gave a defeated huff as you voted X. He watched you walk to the other side of the room, waiting for you to glance over to him. But you avoided his eyes, instead watching the votes slowly grow on the board. He desperately tried to catch your gaze, wanting to talk to you. But unfortunately for him, you two had to keep to your sides as the vote crept on.

The vote was over and the O’s had won. You walked over to the bed you had woken up in earlier this day. You had a sinking feeling you would be stuck here longer than you thought, and unfortunately you had just gotten rid of your one ally. You were just laying down when someone spoke up in the bed next to you.

“So do you not care about any of us?” the player asked, glaring at you from the mattress they sat on.

“What?” you asked worriedly as you sat back up.

“Some of us have some serious debt, you know. And here all you X’s are,  not really caring what kind of world you are putting us back into if these games end and we don’t make enough money,” they snarled.

“No I- I didn’t mean to put anyone in danger. I just think place this isn’t safe either, and I don’t want anyone getting hu-”

“It gets a little hard and you just run away, is that it?” they asked.

“Back off,” a deep voice said, and soon Thanos was walking up the steps, getting between you and the player accusing you. They took in his tall stature and decided to listen, getting up with a scoff before walking away. Thanos watched with a glare as they retreated. As soon as they left he placed his hand on the top of the bed frame before leaning down to your eye level.

“They’re right, you know,” he told you, his signature cocky smirk absent from his face.

“What do you mean?” you asked.

“The life waiting for me out there isn’t exactly a happy one,” he explained.

“We could die in here. Any life is better than none,” you said, desperately hoping your one ally could see your side.

He shook his head with a sigh before speaking up again, “Agree to disagree.”

“Is that your secret?” you asked, your voice quiet.

Thanos felt his heart thud as you looked at him with worry. Nobody cared about him quite like this before, and you were basically a stranger. He decided he couldn’t leave someone as sweet as you to the wolves, no matter how you voted.

“Nah,” he said, a small smirk turning a corner of his mouth.

You noticed that half smile, hoping against hope maybe the two of you could still stick together for the games even though you didn’t agree.

“So, what is your secret?” you asked.

 You absentmindedly leaned forward, your curiosity taking over. Thanos felt his heartbeat quicken once again as you shrunk the distance between the two of you. He wasn’t used to being so nervous around a girl like this. He found the nerves somehow bolstered his ego and he decided to mirror you, leaning towards you till the two of you were only inches apart. As he moved, you finally realized just how close the two of you had become. You blushed as his lips broke into a full smile.

“Don’t you wish you knew,” he said, then with a click of his tongue continued on, “Too bad you won’t hear it. At least this time.”

With that he reached a hand out, tapping a finger twice against the red patch on your jacket. Clearly, he was not above bribery.

Lee Myung-gi/Player 333

As everyone filtered back into the main room after the first game you finally realized just how exhausted all the stress had left you feeling. You were ready to lay down and just crash, but as you approached your bed you realized all your “neighbors” hadn’t made it through. You felt tears start to prick at your eyes as you looked at your singular state. 

Myung-gi hadn’t walked in with you, but he had kept an eye out for you since the first game ended. He watched you crawl into your bed, also noticing the emptiness of the other beds around you just as you had. He saw you suddenly ducking your head to your chest. He subconsciously leaned forward from where he sat, watching your hand occasionally wipe across your cheek. 

He sighed to himself, as if he should have expected this. It didn't help that even before the first game he had decided you were one of the more fragile players. 

You were cursing the lack of privacy in this place, trying to hide the tears slipping down your cheeks the best you could. Apparently, you weren’t doing a very good job of it because soon someone was standing beside your bed. You looked up, spotting Myung-gi looking down at you.

He felt a little twinge of worry as your red rimmed eyes looked back into his, “Are you okay, y/n?”

“Of course,” you said, hurriedly trying to wipe the tears that wouldn’t stop coming. 

Myung-gi glanced around the room, trying to gauge if anyone else was noticing your crying. He was a little paranoid that someone might think of you as vulnerable if they saw and would come after you in the next game (ignoring the fact it was the very reason he decided to offer himself as your ally). You noticed him looking around and did the same. You tried to quell the tears, but you just couldn't seem to calm down.

“I’m sorry, I just-”

“You don’t need to apologize,” he said. 

He offered his hand towards you. You took it, and he gently pulled you off the bed and onto the step beside it. He stepped in front of you, blocking you from the view of the rest of the room.

“Just take a beat,’ he suggested.

You nodded, taking a few deep breaths. You felt your nerves start to calm, although you weren’t sure it was the calm breathing. Your anxiety quieted as Myung-gi kept you away from prying eyes. 

After a few moments those damned tears finally stopped. Myung-gi sat down beside you, smiling to himself when he heard you try to steady your breath; it was still hitching in your throat every so often after all the crying.

“Sorry. It was all those empty beds, and then I started to feel all alone, and-”

As you tried to explain, your voice wavered. You were just about to start crying again when Myung-gi spoke up, “You know, there’s an empty space below my bunk.”

You gave him a hopeful look, not confident enough to invite yourself to take up the bed (even though it was clearly what he had been insinuating).

He waited a few moments for you to say something, but he realized after a bit you weren’t going to speak up, and so he continued, “It might be better for you to hang out there instead of by yourself here.”

“Thanks,” you said, feeling a flood of relief.

“We’re allies, we’ve got to stick together,” he said with a casual shrug, but he couldn’t stop his chest from puffing up a little when you gave him a smile.

A group of pink guards entered the room, putting an end to your conversation. Myung-gi stood up once again, keeping you behind him as the jumpsuited group approached people. Soon people were begging the guards to give them a chance to pay off their debts, getting in front of them on their knees.

 Your own anxiety took over, and you moved to join them. Begging for forgiveness seemed better to you than just waiting for them to end you instead. As soon as you stood up Myung-gi grabbed your wrist, stopping you.

“Hang on,” he said, his focus on the guards who seemed to be trying to talk over the crying players.

Soon they explained they were simply here to share the effects of the game, and to conduct a vote. You were watching the money fall into the piggy bank, but Myung-gi was thinking about the aforementioned vote. He knew as he watched those bills fill up the clear container it would not be enough.

You made a move to stand and join everyone else gathering to vote when Myung-gi took a knee in front of where you sat, stopping you from getting up just yet. He grabbed both your hands in his, keeping steady eye contact with you.

“How are you going to vote?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“What do you mean? Don’t you want to go home?” you asked, surprised he even needed to ask.

“Of course I do, but…” he said, trailing off as he tried to find a way to put it. He gave your hands a squeeze as he spoke up again, trying to convey how serious he was, “Listen, I know that looks like a lot of money, but when it’s divided among everyone it won’t amount to barely anything.”

“I don’t care,” you said, tears once again pricking at the corner of your eyes.

“We’ve got each other, right? With an ally we’ve got an advantage compared to everyone else. We can easily make it through one more game,” he said to you, trying to convince you. 

You nervously chewed the inside of your cheek, now feeling much more unsure of what you should do in this next moment. He noticed you starting to waver and spoke up one more time, pulling you in slightly as he did.

“I’ve got you. I promise,” he said, speaking much quieter as if what he said was only meant for you to hear, despite there not being anyone else by you.

“All players please come onto the floor,” a guard said from their spot in the front of the room, looking over in the direction of the two of you.

Myung-gi let go of your hands with a tense sigh before letting you start down the steps in front of him. As the two of you waited for your own numbers to be called his eyes continued to flick over to you, trying to read your expression.

You were called up first, and you couldn’t bear to look over at Myung-gi before walking down the path between the small groupings of O voters and X voters. Myung-gi felt his shoulders drop a little as the tally changed. You had voted X. Your own shoulders dropped just the same as his when just a few minutes later he voted O. You both somehow managed to disappoint the other.

As the voting concluded, you fell into a quiet despair. You couldn't believe the O’s had won. You walked dejectedly to your empty bunk, wanting to just sleep your sinking feeling off. You were stopped in your tracks by your previous ally.

“I thought you might change your mind,” Myung-gi admitted.

“I thought you’d change yours too,” you said. Once again, those stupid waterworks started up and a few tears leaked out of the corners of your eyes.

Myung-gi felt a wave of guilt as he watched you start to cry. He knew this time it was partly his fault, and he found himself hating being the reason you were upset. He had to stop himself from reaching out and wiping the tears off your cheek. Instead, he just stood in front of you, desperately trying to think of some way to make it all better.

“I just want to go home, Myung-gi,” you said, your voice cracking a little as you tried to keep your composure.

“I’ll make sure you get home,” he said without thinking, making promises he couldn't keep. Anything to get you to stop hurting.

“Then why did you vote X?” you asked helplessly.

“I told you, I can’t go just yet. That’s not enough,” he said, pointing up to the barely filled piggy bank.

“Fine,” you said with a sniff, side stepping around him.

He followed you like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs, wracked with guilt.

“It’s not like I want to stay here,” he said, trying to explain.

You stopped and turned on your heels, coming face to face with him. You fixed him with a glare, but with your tear stained cheeks and naturally soft demeanor you couldn’t quite pull off being intimidating.

“But apparently you don’t want to leave either,” you said.

As unintimidating as you were, Myung-gi still felt a wave of shame. He couldn’t bear to keep looking into your red-rimmed eyes and instead let you walk away. As you both went to your separate sides of the room, he couldn’t stop his gaze from drifting over to you.

You had laid down, pulling the covers over your head at a futile attempt of some privacy. Anxiety poked at him as you laid there, not even bothering to get up to eat. At lights out Myung-gi stayed up, his nerves not letting him sleep knowing you were by yourself, completely vulnerable. Instead, he stayed up all night, watching over you from across the room, making sure nothing happened to you. He meant what he said, he was getting you home.

Kang Dae-ho/Player 388

Dae-ho clearly wanted you as an ally, sticking beside you since the first game. The two of you were more than a little shocked with the events that had just played out. The two of you were sitting on one of the many steps among the bunk beds, trying to process everything. Dae-ho glanced over to you, noticing you subconsciously pulling at a loose thread on your sleeve. He reached out, his fingers just barely grazing across your hand.

The gesture managed to focus the anxious thoughts clouding your brain, and finally you stopped picking at the thread. You looked over to Dae-ho, who was giving you a comforting smile.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

You were silent for a moment, not sure how to answer that. You found yourself getting pulled back into your mind, terrifying images flashing through your brain. Dae-ho noticed your eyes start to glaze over. He shifted his foot, nudging at your own foot. You blinked, once again finding yourself having to be pulled out of your own thoughts.

“Sorry. I just… I don’t know. I guess I’m okay. Or maybe… Not?” you asked, trying so hard to find the words.

“Yeah,” he agreed with a solemn nod.

The two of you fell into another silence, unsure of what to say to each other. Dae-ho noticed Player 456 sitting and talking to another player. He sat up a little straighter, trying to get a better look.

“That’s the player who knew what was going to happen, right?” he asked, nodding with his head in the player’s direction.

“Yeah, I think so,” you said.

Dae-ho seemed lost in thought for a few moments before speaking up again.

“What if we join him and his friend?” he said, sounding a little excited at the prospect of growing your group of two.

You felt your nerves rise up at the suggestion. It wasn’t a bad idea. Actually, you knew it was a really good one. But you were never good at making friends. Your shy nature always seemed to ruin every social interaction you had ever tried for, not including the interaction between you and the man sitting next to you at that very moment (but that was only thanks to him). You thought of all the ways you could mess up when talking to possible new allies, fidgeting once again with the new string as you did.

Dae-ho watched you attentively, easily reading the stress in your expression. He moved a little closer, his shoulder gently bumping into yours. As soon as you turned towards him, he gave you a reassuring smile. You tried your best to smile back, but in truth you were worried about ruining his shot at getting more allies.

“Maybe, you should go by yourself,” you said.

As soon as he heard your suggestion his smile fell. You couldn’t stand to see him look so dejected, and you cast your eyes to the ground.

“Yeah, sure,” he said with a little nod. He moved back away from you, giving you space. He chastised himself in his head, thinking he must have clearly misread the situation.

“I will just mess it up for you,” you admitted.

Talking so frankly about your shortcomings left you feeling so embarrassed. You were glad you had already turned your head to keep your eyes facing the ground. That meant, at the very least, he couldn’t see the blush painting your cheeks. 

Dae-ho took a moment, letting your admission sink in. He started to laugh a little, in spite of himself. You looked up with confusion, and he cut his laughter short after seeing how red your cheeks were.

“Wait, oh, I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” he said, and without thinking he reached his hand out and brushed it across your flushed cheeks.

That gesture did calm your nerves a little, but did nothing to quell your blush.

“I just thought… I thought you were just trying to get rid of me,” he admitted with another laugh.

Your eyes widened as you spoke up, “No! I didn’t want to get rid of you! Honestly, I was giving you the choice to get rid of me, because I- Oh, god.”

You covered your face with your hands out of frustration with yourself.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m definitely not planning on taking you up on that offer,” he said.

“I’m just going to mess everything up for you, trust me,” you muttered through your fingers.

“No, you’re not,” he said with a light hearted scoff.

“No, really. You need allies, and I-”

“I’m not leaving you behind! Besides, I’m not sure how you think you come off, but you’re actually pretty,” he just barely stopped himself from saying cute and instead said, “uh, charming.”

“Really?” you said, finally removing your hands from your face.

His breath hitched in his throat as he looked into your eyes, your cheeks still a little pink as your embarrassment slowly eased up. He could swear kindness was literally radiating off of you. To him, you glowed.

He was barely able to find his voice, taken completely by both the beauty on the inside and out. He was only able to answer with a quiet, simple, “Yeah.”

“Thanks,” you said with a grateful smile, “That’s really sweet of you.”

Before either of you could say another word the pink guards filtered into the rooms. Dae-ho instinctively put his arm out across you, protecting you just like he had in that first game. But soon you both realized they weren’t here to hurt you. They were only here to announce the results of the first game. 

You both turned your heads upwards to watch the money fall into the empty piggy bank. You couldn’t keep watching the money fall, knowing exactly what it represented. It was stomach churning, so when the guards announced a vote you knew exactly what vote you were casting.

“A vote?” Dae-ho said, sounding as hopeful as you felt. You both were practically sprinting down to the floor, not able to get the vote started soon enough.

Dae-ho leaned over to you as everyone chattered, milling around as they discussed what they were going to vote, “Let’s go home.”

You both pressed X, and Dae-ho found you among the group after he voted. He stood beside you, smiling once again. But it was a little more nervous than before. You felt your own anxiety peaking as the tally ticked up and up. You held your breath, so nervous to admit the X’s may not win.

“Why are people voting O?” you asked, not comprehending why anyone wanted to stay.

“I don’t know, but it’ll be okay,” Dae-ho answered, trying his best to reassure you.

“You sure?” you asked, more than willing to believe him despite the very real dangers you and him were both stuck in.

“Absolutely,” he told you with a definitive nod.

You both turned back to watch the vote continue on. As another player voted O, your hand subconsciously shot out and grabbed Dae-ho’s. He immediately gave your hand a gentle squeeze, knowing just how you felt. He held your hand through the entire vote, occasionally rubbing his thumb in a comforting circle whenever another O vote was cast.

You were crestfallen when you lost the vote, not at all sure what to do. Dae-ho was about to say something when you spoke up first.

“We need to talk to those other players,” you said, trying to muster a determination you never had when making friends.

You were filled with nerves, not at all giving a vibe of confidence, but Dae-ho was still impressed with you. He simply nodded, and not wanting to throw you off, he silently followed as you headed towards Player 456’s corner. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw you square your shoulders as you got closer. Despite not being able to see your expression, he knew you were trying to keep up your momentary confidence.

He also followed you, although with some confusion, when you suddenly made a hard right turn a few steps away from Player 456 and his friend. Instead you quickly climbed up to the bunk bed above them.

You cast your eyes down a little as Dae-ho followed suit. You both ended up sitting on a high up bed, you with very hot cheeks and him patiently for you to explain what had happened.

“I chickened out,” you admitted.

“Yeah, a little bit,” he agreed. 

You looked up to see him grinning at you, and a wave of relief washed over you when you realized he wasn’t upset.

“It’s okay. I’ll talk to them,” he said with an untroubled shrug. Suddenly the guards were entering again, this time with food. Dae-ho’s eyebrows raised and he spoke again, “Right after lunch.”

[prettycopperpennies]

They help you in the first games

GN Reader x Thanos/Choi Su-Bong/Player 230, Lee Myung-gi/Player 333, Kang Dae-ho/Player 388

Description: You didn't expect to find any allies, at least this early in the game, but you seem to have gained one.

Warnings: No descriptions of g0re or anything, but the setting is squid games so, you know.

Next

Thanos/Choi Su-Bong/Player 230

You watched curiously as the crowd of people swarmed player 230 (Thanos, you heard him and others say) as they tried to take a picture. You didn’t know who he was, but apparently this “Thanos” was a pretty famous guy. He noticed you in the line behind him, and he simply gestured for you to join the group.

“Come on, there’s room for one more,” he said.

You started to shake your head no, your naturally kind nature keeping you from knowing how to admit you had no idea who he was, when a guard poke up.

“That is not allowed. Only one player per picture,” the pink jumpsuited guard said. 

Thanos shrugged it off, but your rejection at his offer was a bit harder for him to shake off. After he flipped off the camera, he subtly looked for your reaction at his antics. He found himself feeling frustrated with your lack of interest as you simply waited for your turn. As you all filtered into the large yard with a strange statue of a girl on the other side, Thanos ducked around people to get closer to you.

“So, you don’t know who I am,” he accurately guessed.

“Oh, I… I’m sure you’re very talented,” you said, trying to side step saying anything that might be deemed as rude.

Cute, he thought to himself, noticing your somewhat shy politeness.

“That’s okay. Once you get to know me you’ll be a fan. I promise,” he said with a cocky grin. You simply nodded yes, barely giving an audible “mhm” as your eyes drifted off him and towards the statue of the girl. Thanos felt a little ding to his ego at your lack of fascination. He would have to show you he meant what he said. You closely listened to the disembodied voice explaining the rules of this game. The statue started to turn, and you realized it was some sort of massive animatronic.

You were both taken by surprise as Player 456 jumped in front of everyone and began to give an odd warning. Thanos and Player 196 start talking to each other and make fun of Player 456. Thanos once again found his eyes drifting over to you, wondering if you find his comments funny. But just as before, you were not even paying attention to him. Instead you were actually listening to Player 456. You weren’t sure if you believed him, but you couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling creeping up on you as he spoke. Thanos noticed the worried look in your eyes, and leaned over to your direction.

“Trust me, you don’t have to worry about what this guy is saying,” he assured you before mouthing the word “crazy”.

That didn’t do much to settle your nerves, and instead you felt a spike of worried adrenaline as the game suddenly started. You moved quickly, but Thanos moved quicker. Just before he froze he glanced behind him to see if you were at all impressed, but your eyes weren’t even on him. Instead you were looking at the animatronic girl at the finish line.

It only took a few rounds for Player 456’s warning to be proven true. Suddenly you were hearing shots and watching the bodies drop. Your mouth went dry as that foreboding feeling was proved correct. You prayed over and over again for no one to knock you down as masses of people started to run for the doors. You somehow stayed standing till the chaotic scene calmed. You tried not to flinch as you heard the voice repeat the rules once again.

As the game started back up you were surprised to see Thanos in front of you. He managed to find you frozen among the running people, and as soon as he had a chance he was back at your side.

You watched as he froze in front of you. A cross, that you had previously assumed was just a necklace, was open and his fingers were frozen just inside. As soon as the song played you watched as he took a pill out and chewed it quickly.

“Interested?” he asked, offering you his drugs.

“No,” you said, a little breathless from the shock of his calm demeanor and the idea of getting high at a time like this.

He noticed your nerves and smiled; partly because of you and partly because the drugs were already starting to kick in.

“Don’t worry. Just stick with me and you’ll be fine,” he said.

“Um,” you muttered, not sure you trusted him.

“Trust me. I swear to god, I’m invincible on this shit,” he said.

Before you could react the girl was turned back around and the two of you were frozen, looking into each other's eyes. Thanos was grinning at you and slightly raised his eyebrows in anticipation. Your expression was only one of fear, frozen partly from necessity thanks to the game’s rules and partly because you were in shock.

As the girl faced the tree and started the song Thanos spun around, practically skipping as he went. He was careful not to go too fast, making sure he was sticking by your side.

“Careful,” you said, warning him as he moved much less strategically than everyone else. Your naturally kind personality was fully to blame as your concern grew for this stranger.

He loved to hear you worry for him. Finally, he was getting your attention, and he wanted more. He gave you a dimpled smile before jumping up into a haphazard heel click. You gasped as you watched him, hearing the nursery rhyme coming to an end. You grabbed his hand, yanking him onto the solid ground just in time.

You were frozen, watching the animatronic worriedly, hoping the eyes didn’t land on either of you. Thanos’ gaze was fixed on you. He gave your hand an excited squeeze, careful not to make it too visibly noticeable. It was almost like his hand was on your heart instead of your own hand; that squeeze suddenly causing your heart to pound a little quicker (even though the stress was already making your heart beat fast and erratic).

As soon as the singing resumed you were suddenly being pulled along by the lanky, purple haired player. You stumbled as you ran a few times, but he didn’t go so fast as to make you fall completely. His mind was up in the clouds, not really noticing your struggling to keep up with him. He was just focused on getting you and him across the line.

The two of you managed to be pretty early among the survivors who crossed the finish line, but Thanos reacted like you guys had barely made it across as he pulled you into a hug with a cheer.

“I told you,” he said, his dilated pupils boring into your own eyes, “Just stick with me.”

Lee Myung-gi/Player 333

You looked around nervously at the hallways and staircases full of strangers. A few seemed to know each other, and a sizable group knew of player 230, but you didn’t know anybody. You felt your worry rise a little, thinking of how you were never good at coming out of your shell enough to make some friends.

“Excuse me, you’re next,” a voice behind you said, pulling you from your thoughts.

You glanced behind you to see a man pointing in front of you towards the cameras. His expression was pretty unreadable, seemingly stuck in neutral as he waited for you to continue on. You were too busy stressing to realize the line had moved along enough that it was now your turn to pose for a photo.

“Oh! Sorry about that,” you said, quickly stepping up. Your eyes flicked towards the screen, and you quickly tried to make your hair look a little more presentable. 

Myung-gi watched you tuck your hair behind your ears before trying to smile for the camera, but your nerves kept it from feeling genuine. He noted this, thinking to himself that you probably wouldn’t make it far in these games. You seemed too soft for any kind of competition. He found himself sticking close to you as you were all herded through the halls. For some reason your perceived weakness made him feel a sort of obligation to keep an eye on you.

You blinked up at the sky along with everyone else, but Myung-gi was busy surveying the field. You both listened to a voice explaining the rules, but your attention was quickly diverted when Player 456 started speaking to the group.

You felt yourself getting nervous at his warnings. You were so worried your anxiety overtook your shyness, and you found yourself speaking to the player next to you.

“Do you think what he’s saying is true?” you asked.

Myung-gi felt a little pang, despite himself, at your scared expression as you looked at him. Once again, that feeling of a need to watch out for you bubbled up in him.

“No. It’s probably a tactic,” he said with a shrug.

“Tactic?” you asked, not following his train of thought.

“To throw everyone off once the game starts,” he said, but you still seemed a little nervous, “It’s just red light, green light.”

You nodded at his reassuring statement, trying to convince yourself this player was right. You would much rather what he said be correct than what Player 456 was saying. You tried to ignore your anxious feelings, preparing yourself for the games. Myung-gi was doing the same, but as soon as the game started he found himself sticking pretty close to your side instead of crossing the field as fast as he could.

As soon as the first player moved during the silent pause between singing a loud bang rang through the air. As the yells erupted from players around the two of you, people running around you, Myung-gi looked at you from the corner of his eye.

He thought, given your scared state, you might take off too. He was impressed, and for some reason relieved, to see you were keeping frozen in place. Once everything stopped the rules once again rang out over the sound system. Myung-gi didn’t listen closely to the voice, and instead his eyes were fixed on Player 456. You couldn’t hear the words the player was saying, your pounding heart bringing a loud ringing to your ears.

As soon as it was safe to move, Myung-gi moved you behind him, like Player 456 had instructed everyone to do, as he gave you a simple warning.

“Stick close,” he said. 

He turned back to face the finish line as soon as you nodded in understanding. You kept your eyes on the back in front of you, not wanting to look around as people dropped to the ground. Someone near you suddenly fell to the ground, and you couldn’t stop yourself from jumping. Luckily, Myung-gi blocked you from the view of the doll’s eyes.

When he heard your gasp, he waited for the voice to start singing before reaching a hand back behind him. He felt a sense of relief when he felt your own hand grasp his, glad you weren’t giving up yet.

“You’ll be fine. Just keep going,” he called to you from over his shoulder, his eyes on the clock.

Your chest was tight, not from running but from fear, and you could only manage a one word reply.

“Okay.”

He found himself a little more at ease (or at ease as he could be in this situation) as he held your hand in his, now able to know he wasn’t leaving you behind. You couldn’t help as you squeezed his hand at every sound of the gunshot to keep yourself from flinching once again. You knew you wouldn’t be so lucky the second time you moved when you weren’t supposed to. With every squeeze of your hand, he felt himself tightening his own grip, that protective feeling not shrinking away. Instead, it seemed to grow with every step he took and you shadowed.

His gaze was fixed on the quickly approaching finish line. He was determined to get you both across. You held your breath as the two of you froze, so close to crossing the line.

As soon as you two crossed the line you could finally breathe freely. If you weren’t so shy you would be giving the player who saved you a massive hug, more than grateful for his help. Instead, he let go of your hand, putting his own in his pocket before turning to look at you.

“You good?” he asked, now more able to freely talk to you. His eyes quickly scanned over you, noting that you seemed to make it across the field unscathed.

You nodded, taking a few deep breaths before saying, “Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

The thought of you trying to navigate the game by yourself gave you some sort of residual anxiety, and you started to feel a few tears prick at your eyes. It didn’t help that adrenaline seemed to be crashing through your body. Before you could start crying Myung-gi spoke up.

“Want to be allies?” he asked, trying to distract you from whatever thoughts you were beginning to stress yourself out with.

“Really?” you asked, feeling like he was saving you all over again. You knew you weren’t the best at connecting with people, but here he was, easily offering a friendship.

“I’m Myung-gi,” he said, introducing himself.

“I’m y/n,” you said.

“Okay, y/n, want to be allies?” he said, asking again.

“Yes,” you said, relief washing over you.

Your genuine smile charmed him within moments, and despite himself his cooled facade broke as he smiled back at you.

“So we stay close to each other then,” he said.

You nodded in agreement, happy to have his help.

Kang Dae-ho/Player 388

You and the group trekked along the halls and stairs, headed towards some unknown destination. The player in front of you, Player 388, turned around as you all waited to get your photo taken.

“What do you think the game will be?” he asked, striking up a conversation with ease.

“Oh, um…” you started, a little surprised by the sudden question.

Dae-ho patiently waited for you to answer, but he took note of how you did take a beat before speaking. He wondered to himself if you were always this shy or if it was maybe nerves for the competition.

“Well, there are a lot of people here who gamble, right?” you asked, “So maybe it’s something like that.”

“Good guess,” he said with a friendly grin, attempting to crack through your unintentionally distant demeanour.

You felt bad that you couldn’t think of something else to say, and you felt the conversation die off just as quickly as it started. Dae-ho only kept quiet for a few moments before speaking up again.

“So how are you going to take your photo?” he asked, turning back to you once again.

“What do you mean?” you asked.

He gestured with a nod towards the people passing in front of the cameras.

“Some people are smiling while some are doing a more serious vibe,” he pointed out.

You looked in the direction of the cameras, noticing he was right. You even saw some people holding up hearts with their fingers.

“I’m not sure,” you admitted.

“I think I’m just going to go for a smile,” he said, before flashing a demonstrative grin at you. His genuinity pulled your own smile onto your face. He felt something swell inside him. He assumed it was a bit of pride at finally getting you to come a little out of your shell.

When it came to your turn in front of the camera, your gaze flicked over to the person in front of you. Dae-ho grinned once again, giving you a thumbs up, and you decided to smile for the photo. Dae-ho once again felt that wave of pride as you decided to take his silent suggestion to smile for the photo.

The two of you got separated as people spilled out onto the crowd. You felt a little disappointment creep up when you didn’t find him next to you, thinking you might have found a friend. But you quickly assured yourself he was being friendly because he was looking for allies, and if he really wanted you on his side he would simply find you after the game.

Dae-ho started to speak, but stopped short when he realized you weren’t by him anymore. He started to move through the crowd, looking for you as the rules were spoken over the sound system. He wasn’t sure why he was so set on finding you, but he figured it might have to do with your shy nature. He would feel a little guilty leaving you behind, and he thought you seemed sweet. A lot of people at the start seemed to be a little too surly for him, like that angry business man or the cocky rapper, but not you.

He froze when he heard a player starting to call out to the rest of the group, listening to what he said. A bit further down you found your own attention also being pulled towards Player 456 and what he had to say. You felt your stomach do a somersault as he talked. Even if what he was saying wasn’t true, it was still unsettling to hear.

You both took off as the game started, Dae-ho moving a little quicker than you from across the field. But as soon as the shots started, you both froze in place. You froze longer than necessary, not able to move until Player 456 was back again at the front, telling you all you had to keep going otherwise you’d be eliminated.

Dae-ho carefully moved his eyes, looking for you amongst the frozen crowd. He spotted you not too far to the side, and as the giant animatronic girl turned back around he made a beeline towards you. He knew you were a stranger, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if you ended up dying. He felt like it wouldn’t be right to go out of his way not to help you (completely ignoring the fact that he was instead going out of his way to help you), especially now that he knew these “games” were so much more sinister than anyone had realized.

You were doing fairly well, despite your nerves. That was until a player behind you decided to go on the offense. You gasped when you felt two hands shove you from the side just as the nursery rhyme was coming to an end. You tried to catch yourself, but it was too late. You were mid fall, sure you were about to be eliminated, when you felt a pair of strong arms wrap around you and pull you back into their chest.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” a voice said. You recognized it as Player 388’s voice.

As soon as Dae-ho pulled you against him, he could feel your heart pounding, just like his. As soon as the girl turned back to the tree, he swooped you behind him with his arm. The two of you made your way across the field, him occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure you were still behind him. When you both crossed the line, you found yourself trying and failing to get the words out to thank him.

“I almost- I could have- thank you!” you said, constantly interrupting yourself as the adrenaline that had been coursing through your body was sudden;y starting to crash.

He placed a hand on each side of you, grasping your arms, as he looked closely at you. You were a little taken aback by how worried he was looking at you. You realized his friendliness from before must have been completely genuine.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and you nodded. Your voice, which moments ago was spitting out a mass of discombobulated words, was suddenly stuck in your throat as his eyes met yours with such intensity.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could smile he saw the player who had pushed you sitting on the ground a few steps away.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, stepping around you. 

You turned to watch him, and were shocked by how easily he picked the player up by their shirt collar and push them up against the wall.

“What the hell was that?” he asked, his tone much more intimidating in this moment than how he sounded when he talked to you.

“Hey, calm down!” the player said, trying to push him off. But his sturdy build was completely unaffected by the shoving. The player shrunk a little when they realized just how strong he was, “Relax! They survived, didn’t they?”

“No thanks to you,” Dae-ho stated, tightening the grip on the player’s shirt. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his upper arm, and he looked over to see you standing next to him.

“It’s okay,” you told him.

“See? It’s fine-” the player started, but quickly stopped when Dae-ho went back to glaring him down.

“Shut it,” he warned.

You wrapped your other hand around his arm too, gently pulling at him.

“Just ignore him,” you told him. The softness of your voice pulled at him much more than the anger he felt towards the player currently in his grasp, and he decided to listen to you.

Dae-ho sighed, dropping his hands, and the player, before following you as you walked away from the person who had shoved you. He had surprised himself by getting so angry with that player. Normally he avoided conflict, but he couldn’t stand that someone had purposely hurt someone else… Purposefully hurt you. 

“What would you have done to him? Hit him?” you asked, a little worried at what he might say. You were not the type of person who enjoyed conflict.

He shrugged, looking a little bashful, “No, probably not. I just… What kind of jerk purposefully puts someone in danger like that?”

“I don’t know, but… But I wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for you. So thank you,” you said, relieved by his answer.

“We should all be helping each other when we can, right?” he asked.

You smiled at his question, totally won over by how genuinely kind he was. Dae-ho saw your small smile, and he couldn't stop the grin that came to his own face.

[prettycopperpennies]

Fanfic suggestions

Does anyone have any suggestions for squid games season 2 fics? I'm down for fic recs but I reaaallly want some recs for blogs/writers who post squid games 2 content!