thinking about fellow soldier!reader coming back to ghost after having been mistaken for kia
gn!reader x simon "ghost" riley
-maybe he's back in your shared apartment, holding the last photo he took with you.
-it was taken the day of your birthday, with your arms around simon's waist and a gleeful smile permanently etched on your face.
-you were looking directly at the camera with your eyes crinkled at the corners. simon, however, was looking at you and only you with an expression only a lovestruck fool could manage.
-he had long since stopped crying about what he believed was your death. when price came to him with a somber expression and the news that you were on the wrong end of an explosion, the only thing he could do was cry or be angry.
-now, he felt nothing.
-you could imagine his surprise when he hears the front door open. did he forget to lock it? was someone breaking in? he didn't care enough to prepare himself for a potential attack.
-but, no, you walked in with an ungodly amount of bandaged wounds and a tired look on your face.
-you expected him to stand from his place on the sofa to meet you, but he didn't. he thought he was imagining things, again, so he said nothing.
-"simon," you said softly, not bothering to take off your shoes and throwing you things onto the ground next to you.
-still, he said nothing.
-"i'm sorry. i'm so, so sorry. price said he tried to contact you but that you never answered," you continued. nobody knew where you and ghost lived, and simon's grief took the form of self-isolation.
-he still didn't answer you at this point, and it was becoming unsettling.
-"simon, can you hear me?"
-"you're not real," was all he could muster. he didn't have the heart to tell "fake" you to go away or beg himself to wake up from his supposed dream. "i can't do this again. you're not real."
-you realized just how hard your false death had hit him.
-"i'm real. i promise. i was able to take cover last second and-"
-"no. you're dead with not even a body to recover because i wasn't there to protect you. god, i..." the words got stuck in his throat as he leaned forward on the sofa, holding his head in his hands and near trembling.
-you dropped to your knees in front of him like a follower worshipping their god. taking his hands, you held them tight as you could in a silent attempt at convincing him you were alive.
-there was a moment of silence between the two of you before he drew his hands away from yours. it made your heart hurt.
-"simon..." you were grasping at straws, now, trying to figure out how to convince him of what was true. maybe there was something in your luggage that might help.
-as soon as you turned your body to your bags by the front door, you were pulled right back in by a pair of strong arms.
-he was hugging you like the moment he let go, you'd disappear into thin air (and, in a way, he believed it to be a possibility). after being pulled from your shock, you immediately brought your own arms to reciprocate the embrace.
-"(y/n)," he said, trying to keep his voice stable. there was still a part of him that couldn't believe he had you with him. if he weren't so thankful, he'd be lecturing you about acting wreckless on missions and convincing you to quit your job so nothing like this happened again.
SYNOPSIS : you finally break out of the hellish lab that turned you into what you are today, only to stumble upon Sunghoon, a fellow runaway who survived the same torture. Recognising the fear in your eyes and the rotten clothes that you wear, Sunghoon chooses to offer you his protection and shelter. Together you both fight against the perils of the facility and find ways to free your fellows undetected.
ALTERNATIVELY: in which you are a run away experiment who stumbles across Sunghoon - a defect- and together you both fight against the evils of the facility.
PAIRING: 𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃 defect!sunghoon x runaway-experiment! reader
TAGS: 𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃 vampire!au , thriller, gore, heavy angst, fluff (if you squint), apocolypse!au (somewhat), crime, action, romance, dystopian kind of
WARNINGS: This story contains... heavy gore, blood, mention of assault, unethical experiments, obscene ways of torture, somewhat of an age gap (they both are stuck in age but sunghoon was converted years before reader), violence, morally grey characters ( I think), dead dove do not eat, chapters will be in different perspectives, lowk ass writing, english is not my first language, tell me if I missed something.
This chapter is from narrators pov
notes: chapter 3 is finally out yippeee. I lowk hate this one but yolo. Sorry for any grammatical mistakes!!!
hope you enjoy!! comments and reblogs are appreciated.
Comment or ask to be added to the taglist
the playlist i listened to while writing it
WORD COUNT: 2.7K
prev m.list next
⋆ ALL THAT GLITTERS ISN'T GOLD ⋆
The doors to Claire's office would not have proved so daunting to the boy usually. But right now he wasn’t just submitting a report or getting an evaluation – Whatever he was getting into was much worse. Nothing can prepare him for what's to come.
Anxious is an understatement for how he's feeling. The boy barely had anything to eat. It's not that he didn’t want to, rather he couldn’t swallow anything that touched his lips. He couldn't put his mind to anything except the consequences of messing up. He was overthinking every exchange after the incident in the laboratory.
As difficult as it was, the boy shook his thoughts away and slowly pulled his wrist up to knock against the wooden door. His knuckles finally coming in contact with the material. A loud sound detonates from the door followed by a sharp ‘come in’ from behind it.
The boy shyly opens the door and enters the room. The office isn't really huge but it isn’t congested either. just enough space to breathe. With white walls and windows built in Victorian architecture. It looks like a warden office from an orphanage. A huge desk situated on the side with a bookshelf right behind it. The floor was tiled black – maybe to symbolize Claire's heart.
The scientist doesn't dare to look up – finding himself too afraid – as he cranes his neck down, doing anything but locking eyes. Claire looks up at the boy and slightly smirks to herself upon seeing him so frightened. Of course she finds joy in this. What a sadistic bitch.
The tension in the room is palpable as it always is when one of the devils is present. Her eyes wander over his form in scrutiny – judging everything he does from the slight fidgeting of his fingers to the shakiness of his breath. The smug smirk doesn't leave her face basking in the power. Not until she finally decides to break the silence.
“I would appreciate that you look up, Mr. Yang”. The scientist – hesitant as ever– looks up yet he doesn't dare to meet eyes instead choosing to point his vision below her eyes. He notices a strained smile stretching against the skin of her cheeks. The boy stares at it not knowing what to perceive of it. Should he take it as a sign and delude himself that all will be good? Or, should he remain cautious? Should he let down his guard? Maybe she is not as bad and evil as he thought she’d be.
Claire's confident and polished voice seems to pull him out of his daze, as he straightens up and tenses once again, “Please do take a seat, I wouldn't want you fainting in my office”, a slight chuckle follows her words. Presumably to lighten up the mood and prompt an engaging and less chaotic conversation. Mr. Yang takes up her offer to sit down against the cushioned chairs.
Upon taking note of it, the woman pushes her upper body forward from the chair towards the mahogany wood, with her elbows now pressed on the table and her chin resting on her hands.
“I do not wish to beat around the bush so I'll get straight to the point.” A sigh from her and a shaky breath from him is all it takes to fuel the tension. He truly doesn't know what her next words would be. They could quite literally be life changing for him. Is he going to lose his job for making a trivial yet drastic mistake? He hopes, no prays that isn't the case.
The woman only raises her brow slightly at his anxious reaction. To her, this is the best thing she's seen all week – better than all the soap operas on the television. She wishes she could do this more often; play with her prey before she brutally attacks them. Oh the little joys of life.
But right now she doesn't have time to spend on the lowlife present before her. She needs to rip the bandage fast even though it means little fun for her.
“Mistakes should have consequences and just because it was your first doesn't mean it should be let go of.” the creepy and weird smile returns on her face – fitting for a devil like her – before she continued.
“You are a scientist, you know how these things work? Right?
“For something to be made you must do something, am I correct?” A slight nod comes from the boy who still doesn't understand where the conversation is headed to. The blonde woman chuckles deeming the reaction from the round-faced boy ‘cute’. Before restoring her reaction to a stoic face – too tired from keeping that obnoxious smile.
“Mr. Yang, this shouldn't be so hard for you to handle,” A slight pause between her words just so she can assess his panicked reaction. “after all, we aren't really firing you.”
She doesn't wait to acknowledge his delight before moving forward with the very one sided conversation she was having. The woman leans back in her chair and crosses her legs behind the desk.
“You should be glad, really,” She sighs, sounding exhausted with the talking. “we are only taking away your access to labs and removing you from working on the formulae.”
His smile vanished. The delight he was feeling before snatched right from his grasp. If that wasn't what he was supposed to do then what else? But Claire wasn't done yet because she still went on, torturing the not so poor and pitiful boy sitting in front of her.
“Dont worry, Mr. Yang!! It's only for a few weeks,” she chirped with faux sympathy. The gloom must have been very noticeable on his face. A hand reached forward to pat his shoulder, he could barely register it, until it touched him. He flinched upon the contact as the hand retracted. Seemingly satisfied with gaining his attention, Claire continued with her words of torture. Eyes staring at the very hands she touched him with. Her mouth contorting into that of disgust.
“In the meanwhile,” her tone was laced with boredom and silver linings of disgust. As if she was worth more than sitting here talking to a peasant like him. A cold expression spread on her face. “You will perform as a caretaker for patient 4652.”
“She's a valuable asset to our research and we need her in the best conditions.” She looks up from her hand and searches the boy for any expression that would uplift her mood. When she finds none, annoyance seeps into her once cold expressions. Dismissing him for the better of both of them.
As soon as the door closed behind him, he let his mind lose. He knew something bad would happen. He thought of at least 465 scenarios on what could possibly happen. But this was not part of any of them. He didn't think he would be reduced to some baby sitter – getting fired was better than whatever this was. He was petrified, this wasn't what he deserved. But then again, in this world of devils no one gets what they think they truly deserve.
He knew he couldn't just stand around her office door all day, and mope about the punishment he had received for doing something so small as messing up. He was expected to meet the patient right now. He can't waste more time. So he plucks up the courage to go on with his day.
He should be grateful like she said, not all get a lenient response like he did. He pushes himself forward, his thoughts running in a toy train around his head. Making unsteady steps away, he creates distance between himself and the she-devil's office. Each one more agonizing than the last. The blue and white striped walls of the corridor blend into one in his periphery. Resorting to a bigger, more grounding stride – to keep him steady and calm. He stumbles to the end of the corridor, reaching the stairs.
He tries to calm himself, but it proves of no use. His breath fastens and he grips on the railing besides the stairs. Gripping on for dear life. It's a shame. If he is losing it all on a minor punishment like this, who knows how he would react once he actually gets fired.
The man spends a few minutes leaning on the railing of the stairs and questioning all that is. Coming to the conclusion that the sooner he gets done with it the better. He should go ahead and introduce himself and get on the patient's good side. That way he can show them that he isn't as incompetent as they think he is. With the new found motivation he manages to balance himself on his two legs and takes slow steps down the staircase.
With nowhere you can escape to, you sit on the rough white floor. Your back against the wall. There's nothing for you to anticipate, Claire hadn't visited you for a long time. The only time you saw her was when she brought 2 of them to take you for testing. A true friend doesn't leave you alone like this. Maybe she isn't the one you were starting to believe she was. You stare at the blue door in front of you – on the other side of the enclosed space. Lost in thought. The silver chains biting into your undead flesh. When suddenly the sound of the lock turning echoes in the small space. Your ears instantly perk up, picking it up. Slightly jumping at the sight of the door opening. Maybe Claire is finally here to meet you.
It's not Claire. It's not who you expected. Not who you wanted. Instead of the blonde woman stands a young boy with his hands behind his back – seemingly hiding something. light catching on his face, at a perpendicular angle. You instantly close your light sensitive eyes, not wanting to harm them. The boy steps inside – closing the door behind – and shoots you a huge smile, exposing his dimples. It's almost Cheshire-like. looks evil to you, or maybe it's just how you perceive all of them that's affecting you.
“Good evening miss,” You watch him open his mouth, focusing on how it moves, assessing how much of a threat the man is. A sweet and slightly nasal sound comes out of his open lips. “I'm Yang Jungwon and I'll be your caretaker from this moment forward.”
Your eyes move towards his cat-like ones, studying them. Watching how one of them twitches. A pregnant pause sits between the small space awkwardly. Before you ever so slightly nod – so slight it's barely noticeable. But he's watching you so intently he doesn't miss the small tipping of your chin.
“Dr. Claire put me on the job,” at the mention of her name, your eyes immediately lit up. Jungwon notices it and the surprise at this reaction shows on his face. Tell this to anyone else – in this facility – and they would have the reaction opposite of what you gave. “If you need or want to ask something I'll be right here.”
The silence presumes and you turn your head away, staring into space in lieu of the boy. Jungwon compares your behavior to that of a small puppy in his mind. Deciding to test how far you'd go in acting like one, he puts up the bowl that he had brought with himself – half-full of blood – in front of you.
“It's fresh,” you pay half a mind to what he's saying, too busy following the path of the exposed veins on his arms with your eyes. “drink up.”
You barely acknowledge his words, tensing up. eyes falling upon the bowl and then lifting up to the smile that seems to be glued on his face. Your vision returns in the bowl, this time looking at the red thick liquid in it. Nothing he says further registers properly in your brain. The sense of smell dominating all the others. You don't question anything. All you do is lean your head towards it and sniff the air.
You crawl towards the bowl, unsteadily, before taking a lick of the liquid spilling from the sides. The metallic taste powers through you and your canines sharpen. The greed takes upon you, as you push your head in the hollow opening – your movements restrained because of the chains – and you lick up all that he brought for you. It doesn't satisfy you, how could it, it's too little.
Your soul chants for more and more. Your eyes that had turned a dark red look up at the boy, snarling at him. Ready to attack. You're about to pounce on the boy, but the silver biting into your skin pulls you back. The boy flinches at your sudden movements, staggering backwards. His widened eyes reflect all the fear he feels in the moment. A shaky breath comes from his mouth. He hesitates, before sitting on his knee in front of you at a safe distance.
“H-hey it's alright,” your eyes –still blood-red like before– follow the source of the noise, and land on his kneeling figure. Jungwon, who looks to be scared of you, slowly puts a small nervous smile on his face this time, replacing the cold and cynical one. “dont worry, I've got you.”
Rather than giving him the smallest nod, like before, you glare at him. It's so intense it seems deadly. His breath hitches and his shoulders tense up. It seems to be the right response in such a situation. His eyes run over your chained figure and the realization dawns that you can’t do much. So he relaxes and waits for your next move. You watch him do so, and take it as a sign to confide in him. You shake your head as fast and hard as you can, for him. With how hard it is, the boy watching fears it might fall off.
Your hands behind your back, stretching the chain to all it can be, while you sit on your knees, the posture looks as painful as it is. Tears fall down from your still crimson eyes. The boy can do nothing but watch it all. Watch as you cry. Watch you sob while you shake your head vigorously. To anyone it would look mad and psychotic. But to him it looks exactly how you feel. You don't have to utter a word for him to hear it all. For him to feel the pain.
He feels as helpless as you do. But he isn't. He knew exactly what is making you like this. He knew how to get you out of this mess. But he'd never tell. All he can do right now is pull back. So that's what he does. He cannot afford to sympathize with you. It would cost him so much more than you are worth.
He can't show you sympathy. It would ruin all that he built up. Seeing you cry like that made him realize just how wrong it all is. But it's not enough to keep him up at night. It's not enough to stop him coming back or the day after. It's not enough to make him not want his position as a scientist back anymore. It would never be.
“Get some rest,” Jungwon whispers in the distance between you both, light and assuring yet laced with coldness. Proceeding to stand up from the kneeling position and clear the dust off of his white jumpsuit with his hands – swatting at the fabric. “I'll check up on you in the morning.”
He turns around and exits the room, locking the door behind him, leaving you sobbing in pain.
The reality is, he lost a version of himself whilst working here. A version so pure it can never co-exist with who he is now. He is no different from them. He never will be.
In the end, the truth comes out in ugly colours. It's hard to find real gold in this flipped world. Gold doesn't chip away or rust to show a dirty brown. It should say through. It should be strong and resilient.
Jungwon isn't what he prided himself to be. He isn't the sweet all knowing boy now. He's just a messed up human, who slips up, and wouldn't benefit others if it doesn't benefit him. But he'll never admit to it. Admit to being evil. Because in his eyes, he's only helping humanity exist. Humanity that died long, long ago.
GO AWAY (wip)
pairing: guitarist ex! heeseung x reader
JAKE
FORBIDDEN FRUIT (wip)
pairing: jester! jake x princess!reader
JAY
nothing yet
SUNGHOON
PROJECT X ( ongoing )
pairing: runaway experiment! reader x defect! sunghoon.
synopsis: you finally break out of the hellish lab that turned you into what you are today, only to stumble upon Sunghoon, a fellow runaway who survived the same torture. Recognising the fear in your eyes and the rotten clothes that you wear, Sunghoon chooses to offer you his protection and shelter. Together you both fight against the perils of the facility and find ways to free your fellows undetected.
