⋆. 𐙚 ̊ 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆 ̊۶ৎ ⋆.
˖ ࣪⊹ Hello, I just wanna give a short introduction.
You can call me Suna, I'm a 02 liner and have ADHD. ⊹ ࣪ ˖
Certain work can contain 18+ content so MDNI.
Not today Justin
Mike Driver
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let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open

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@yujisabs
⋆. 𐙚 ̊ 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆 ̊۶ৎ ⋆.
˖ ࣪⊹ Hello, I just wanna give a short introduction.
You can call me Suna, I'm a 02 liner and have ADHD. ⊹ ࣪ ˖
Certain work can contain 18+ content so MDNI.
࣪ ִֶָ☾. Yuji Itadori (Jujutsu Kaisen) :
Swim (2,4k) Call out my name (1,3k)
࣪ ִֶָ☾. Lee Jeno (NCT Dream) :
Eden (ongoing) (200k+)
Unknown (40k)
High stakes (7.5k)
࣪ ִֶָ☾. Na Jaemin (NCT Dream) :
Winter Blues (1,7k)
࣪ ִֶָ☾. Mark Lee (NCT) :
Never Goodbye (1,7k)
☁︎ Ideas others can use: ☁︎
Qimir (the Acolyte)
It might be a depressive episode. I've lost most of my appetite and I kind of refuse to eat. Can't get shit done whatsoever. I've not written anything in 6 weeks and I don't feel an interest in anything at all. I'm tired 24/7 and feel stressed out over nothing. I kind of want to leave the earth behind for like a few weeks and simply relax while floating around in nothingness if anyone gets what I mean. Like I don't wanna not exist anymore. I just don't wanna feel anything besides neutrality and contentness. I feel pretty numb over all but also anxious and bothered. It's kind of annoying.
I wanna write but I just can't. It's like dead weight is holding me down
chapter twenty-two:
a letter
summary: A letter reaches Linnea, which prompts her to pack some things and go on an adventue of her own. However, the boys don´t enjoy her rash decision and bring her back, resuting in her explaining a few things and introducing some of her best friends.
warnings: mentions and descriptions of sexual assault/ sexual abuse/ sexual violence, description of traumatic experiences, implications of rape (if you are sensitive to these topics, I advise you to skip the part)
wordcount: ~9k
author's note: I´m not feeling well mentally. But I felt guilty about not posting. So here is this chapter without me proofreading it. I´m sorry if I missed any warnings and for any spelling errors. Supporting me by commenting, liking, and reblogging is appreciated Disclaimer: anything mentioned in the context of the warnings is a serious topic. If anyone has experienced similar things, I am so sorry for you, and I hope you are getting the help or have gotten the help you needed. In case anyone is thinking “god there is so much unnecessary trauma in this story” please keep in mind that this is supposed to be a dystopian universe in which lots of bad things happen to a lot of people. Linnea having so many tragic stories to tell, is just highlighting this fact. Of course the topics are to be taken seriously in any case.
taglist: @multifandomania, @blxberry01
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“You are up early”, Linnea notes the moment she enters the kitchen and dining area of the house complex they live in.
“You are up early, too”, Jeno says, not turning around while handling a pot full of cooked rice.
The girl walks up to him to see what he is doing. “Couldn’t sleep much?” she asks, innocently. There is no play of words. At least not intentionally. Jeno perks up anyway and side-eyes her shortly.
“Are you making fun of me?” he asks, teasing her lightly. Her immediate reaction of denial makes him chuckle.
“What? No,” she immediately defends, almost feeling the heat creep up her neck. “Look, yesterday was hella awkward, but it’s seriously not that big of a deal, okay?”
“Oh, please don’t mention it. The memories are too fresh. I can’t even look you in the eyes,” he jokes, half-saying the truth, though. He is really giving his all to stay focused on the task.
Linnea´s fist gently bumps into his upper arm. “Stop saying such shit. It’s really not that big of a deal. I guess for the common guy, that’s even something that has to happen.” She leans into the counter after saying that and looks into the room, crossing her arms. “I swear if you guys start treating me differently because of this, I will scold all of you.”
The pout in her tone tears another chuckle from him. When he is done with the rice, he dries his hands and turns his body, mimicking her stance near the counter. “Don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine.” His hand comes up to pat her head before he can stop himself. He worries it might put off the girl, but she stays calm and quiet.
“Wanna help with breakfast?” he eventually asks.
The short question makes Linnea look at him. “Since when do you cook?”
“What´s that supposed to mean? You think I can´t cook?” Jeno asks in mock offense and looks at her with big eyes, questioning her.
“Have you ever proved you can?” she challenges, looking at him, too.
“Okay. I will show you that I can cook. Just because I don´t do it often doesn´t mean I´m bad at it,” he says and turns around again. Since the rice is already done, he thinks of things to add to it, as main and side dishes.
“Do you still want me to help?” the girl asks, amused by the sudden determination to prove her wrong.
The boy pauses for a second and thinks it over. “If I tell you what to do, it still counts as my way of cooking, right?” He looks at her for an answer, and when he sees her nod, he smiles. “Then, sure. Help me make breakfast.”
With a chuckle, Linnea turns to face the counter and asks, “Alright. What do you want me to do, chef?”
Her evident smirk while she teasingly calls him that doesn´t go past him. But he chooses to ignore it, and instead tells her the first steps to help him, by cutting up some vegetables. The overall cooking process to make breakfast for the whole group of boys goes by fairly fast after that. The duo communicates a lot. Jeno´s instructions on how to do things are clear and easy to understand, which results in Linnea following them efficiently.
Eventually, she has to get something from one of the upper shelves, so she takes a chair and climbs on it for better reach. The girl rummages through the cabinet, wondering where this mysterious gadget is that Jeno is looking for. She even stands on her tiptoes to try to see into it even better. But much to her dismay, she loses her balance and slips.
The sudden shriek that leaves her mouth while she tries to save herself in a last effort doesn´t go past the boy busy at the stove. He reacts fast and moves to catch her before she can even get close to the floor, and before Linnea knows it, she´s held by strong arms.
Recovering from the shock, the girl opens her eyes—the ones she closed out of reflex—and looks at her savior, who returns her gaze with big eyes. “Weren´t you supposed to get something, and not climb into the shelf?” he jokes, clearly downplaying his own surprise about the fall.
The girl, however, blinks a few times to steady herself. She realizes her position and can´t help but feel the heat rush to her cheeks and neck. Looking away, she simply scoffs and says in a pout, “Not my fault the shelf is up so damn high.”
Thinking that she looks absolutely adorable, he lets her down slowly and climbs the chair himself to look for whatever he wanted in the first place. Linnea watches him, still dealing with the aftermath of this almost accident, and can´t believe how quickly he finds it. “This has to be a joke. Why do you find it so easily, while I struggle so much?”
Jeno shrugs as his feet touch the ground again and gets back to work. “I don´t know. Maybe because I have been in this kitchen before, while you haven´t? Naturally, I know where things are a bit better than you do, don´t you think?”
“Hmph, maybe,” she admits and crosses her arms. And while Jeno simply gets back to work, the girl keeps watching from the sidelines for a few minutes, looking at his silhouette, as he cuts a few more ingredients to the right size, tosses them into a pot, and makes use of the stupid gadget.
There is something really domestic about this whole situation. It feels oddly normal, and she thinks, this could become a daily thing if it were for her. But then she gets reminded about the fact that they are here temporarily and that they have a goal to achieve, which makes her sigh. But before she lets herself dwell on it more, she finally moves and gets back to her task of helping the guy cook.
༺.༻
Later that day, after addressing the elephant in the room and making sure there is nothing weird standing between the boys and Linnea, she´s happily dancing with her brother to some tune playing on the radio that Yuta brought outside. It´s finally a moment in which she can bond with Hyuck, carefree of any thoughts about the ongoing things. And even if the past days have been fairly light and easy, the threat of reality looms over them. They know they can´t stay here forever, so they are enjoying every free minute.
Hyuck swirls the girl around like a princess and keeps his steps light as he dances over the grassy floor. Linnea is laughing at his playful antics, unable to keep the happiness from shining through. Near them, Jaemin stands with the camera in hand, snapping pictures of the siblings to keep the memory stored. On his face, a smile graces his features. There is nothing more beautiful to him than the love of people.
While Jaemin is busy capturing the moment, Renjun and Jeno are sitting on a log near the fire pit. They´ve been talking for a while, but now it´s quiet between them. They are too focused on the pair dancing a little further away. It brings a smile to Renjun´s face as well, seeing his friend enjoy the time with his long-lost sister. He wouldn´t ever tell Hyuck that, but it´s evident by his soft expression. Jeno, while also happy for his friend and the girl, can´t help but feel this pit deep in his stomach. There is just something about seeing her laugh like this and not being the reason for it. He knows the thought is pathetic, but he can´t help it.
“What´s that face you´re making?” Chenle´s voice suddenly rings in the black-haired boy’s ears, causing his head to snap around to face him.
“What do you mean?” he asks, innocently and unaware of the suspicions from the younger.
“You know what I mean. You look like three days of constant rain, even though the weather´s been nice,” Chenle retorts and sits down next to his Hyung.
Taking a short break from twirling around in circles, Donghyuck hears bits and pieces of their conversation while grabbing something to drink. He decides to stay quiet for now, however, unsure of what to think just yet. He´s noticed the way his friend has been acting around his sister, and given the stark contrast to the time of her first few weeks with them, he´s sure something is up.
“I don´t look like three days of rain. I look perfectly normal,” Jeno protests, uncharacteristically defensive about the harmless statement.
“Hmm, sure,” Chenle´s voice drips with sarcasm. “Perhaps I will name it jealousy then.”
“Jealousy? And who am I jealous of?” The vice leader rolls his eyes, trying to ignore the growing intensity in his stomach.
Before Chenle can say more, Renjun taps his arm to divert his attention. “Stop teasing him. You will only get on his nerves to the point he will teach you a lesson.”
At that, the younger Chinese boy shudders slightly. There has only been one instance where Jeno had felt the need to teach him a lesson. And he remembers never wanting another, so he bites his lip and actually shuts up.
Jaemin side-eyes the boys having the conversation. He knows what Chenle is hinting at, and he is actually proud of his best friend for staying fairly composed. But he also noticed Hyuck´s suspicious look at them. He can´t help but gulp, hoping there won´t be a fight about a certain topic.
When Donghyuck returns to Linnea, he doesn´t show any signs of the tension that has built inside of him. He, however, knows that he will have to ask Jeno about this later. His intuition is telling him too much to let it slide.
༺.༻
“Jeno, can I talk to you?” The lack of honorifics tells the captain that whatever Hyuck wants to talk about is serious. He looks around shortly, then gets up and nods. The younger boy doesn´t say more and instead just leads the way.
Done with the fun dancing and Linnea needing a snack break, Hyuck is free to finally calm his intuition. He needs to know what´s going on. And he won´t back down until he has all the details. He doesn´t care if it´s Jeno he is talking to. In this conversation, age and honorifics don´t matter.
When they reach a place that´s hidden from the view of the others, and with no chance for anyone to eavesdrop, Donghyuck comes to a sudden stand, turning around to face the black-haired boy.
Jeno stops in his tracks as well and looks expectantly at him, waiting for him to speak his mind. He can already guess what he wants to talk about.
“So what´s it with you these days?” he gets straight to the point, face all serious and kind of threatening even. “And don´t try to tell me nothing is up. I´m not stupid, Jeno.”
“What do you want to hear, Hyuck? Everything is fine,” Jeno dismisses at first. Unless the boy directly asks him, he won´t just willingly spill his feelings to him.
The scoff from the brown-haired boy is loud and disbelieving. He rolls his eyes in annoyance before recollecting himself to not burst with anger. “Don´t fuck with me. You know what you´ve been pulling is weird and contradictory.”
“What exactly have I been pulling, huh? Stop beating around the bush and straight up tell me what you want from me,” the captain retorts, getting annoyed himself because he´s not in the mood for these games.
“You´ve been acting like the biggest dick on earth when my sister first joined. Then it seems like y´all are getting along, but suddenly you treat her like shit again, just for her to wake up from that stupid coma, and everything is fine again? Make it make sense, Lee Jeno,” the boy explodes in a collected but cold tone.
Jeno keeps quiet when he finally reveals the topic of this conversation. He already knew what his friend was hinting at, but that´s besides the point. If he wants answers, he´s better ask properly.
“What´s your deal with her? What´s with the contradictory act? Make up your damn mind. I´m not in the mood for you to switch up on her again,” Hyuck spits, his protective side clearly coming out.
Listening to his rant, Jeno can´t help but chuckle in disbelief. The sound makes the boy opposite him clench his fists in annoyance. “Calm down. I won´t. No need to get all defensive in her stead,” he says bluntly before facing him again.
Donghyuck eyes him for a few seconds. He doesn´t like the nonchalance in his tone at all, but clearly, there is a message. In a long pause in which both just stare at each other with serious expressions, the sun starts to lower in the sky, indicating the start of sunset.
It´s with a sudden exhale to calm himself down, when something clicks in his brain. And then he asks, “Do you have feelings for my sister?”
With the cat out of the bag, Jeno´s shoulders relax a little. He sighs, averting his gaze for a bit, then speaks. “Yes.” There is another pause. Hyuck takes in the simple word before Jeno speaks again,” You going to try and kill me now?” That´s when he finally faces him again and is met with an unreadable expression.
It takes a few moments for Donghyuck to fully grasp that he so easily admitted to it. It kind of pisses him off, but at the same time, he´s glad he doesn´t have to fight the answer out of him. Still, the tension that forms in his body isn´t pleasant. On one side, he hates the fact that one of his friends started to see his sister like this. On the other side, he can totally understand why anyone would fall for the girl. He knows she´s amazing, and he´s honestly surprised there aren´t more in the group—even though he secretly thinks Jisung has a crush on her, too. But he´s so young and clueless, it doesn´t count.
The boy takes a few steps forward until he´s face-to-face with the vice leader. He looks him in the eyes, trying to find any malicious intent. He knows Jeno wouldn´t ever do anything bad intentionally. He´s still his friend after all. But then again, it´s his sister they are talking about. And he doesn´t know if he´s in the mood to compete with another man when it comes to her attention.
“Look, if you´re worried that I will be dismissive towards her again, you don´t need to be. I was in denial about these feelings. That´s the only reason why I started distancing myself. Now that I´ve come to terms with it, I will just accept whatever she gives. So you won´t need to fear that I will try anything weird, either. We both know I´m not like that,” Jeno says calmly, very much seeing the conflict in his friend’s eyes.
“Since when?” The question takes him off guard, but the seriousness in Hyuck´s voice makes him answer properly.
“I can´t tell you an exact date. It´s probably been a few weeks already, though.” The words are simple, yet somewhat satisfying.
Suddenly, the brown-haired´s hands clench the collar of Jeno´s t-shirt. “If she reciprocates… and you hurt her feelings…be sure to know I´m the first one you will have to deal with,” he threatens.
Giving him a reassuring grin, the captain grabs his wrists and answers,” If she doesn´t rip me to shreds first, I will personally turn up on your doorstep so you can deal with me.”
With that, Hyuck releases the boy and pushes him backwards slightly. There is nothing more to deal with for him. At least for now. Jeno understands the seriousness behind his threat and the intent of this conversation. Having settled the topic, there is nothing more he has to say to him. So with mutual respect for the other, both boys start to retreat to the others.
༺.༻
While the boys have their personal conversation, the girl sits busy with a glass of water in hand on one of the benches in front of the main house of the complex. She´s in her thoughts, totally oblivious to what´s going on between her brother and his friend when, suddenly, a raven sits down next to her. At first, she doesn´t pay it any mind, but when it persistently tries to get her attention, she finally looks at it.
To her surprise, the animal is carrying an envelope in its beak. A weird sight for sure, but then she´s reminded of what kind of world she lives in, and so she stops questioning the universe. Holding out her hand in curiosity, she waits for the bird to react. Seeing how it places the envelope in it and then seemingly bows to her before jumping off the bench to fly away, she stays frozen for a few seconds, totally confused by the behavior.
Only when she no longer sees it does she look at the piece of paper. It´s plain, worn at the edges, and a bit dusty. But when she sees the handwriting that spells her name neatly, a sense of familiarity floods through her.
Slowly, she opens it, taking out the folded paper that´s inside. She unfolds it carefully, takes in the handwriting, and a smile forms on her lips as she´s met with a surge of nostalgia and memories. Warmth creeps up her spine as she reminisces about the good times while simultaneously pushing away anything bad that could spoil them.
Once the names read in her mind, Linnea can´t help but chuckle. The back of her palm moves to brush over her cheek, and with it she brushes away some wetness. She didn´t realize she teared up while reading the letter from her friends. But with all the emotions it unlocked, she can´t help it.
She thinks about the words her friends chose, and that´s when she notices something. Dawn. That name sounds familiar. Suddenly, determination overcomes her. Her feet are moving before the idea fully settles inside her mind. It´s not that far from here. If she moves efficiently, she might get there within a few days.
The glass of water she´s been drinking earlier rests long forgotten on the bench as the girl starts to move in accordance to a plan already set inside her mind. As she starts gathering useful things, the sun sinks deeper in the sky. Its orange hue starts to embrace the surroundings while playful chatter fills the air in the distance.
༺.༻
“Oi, so what did you two talk about?” Chenle asks, a teasing grin already on his lips as he watches the two boys return from their little private talk.
“None of your business,” Donghyuck retorts, making Jeno chuckle. He didn´t expect him to answer like that. Instead, he thought he might just blurt out to everyone what he revealed to him a few minutes ago.
Hearing the response, Jaemin smiles, knowing his worries were for nothing. After all, his friends are mature enough to talk like proper adults.
Renjun watches them as they sit down close to them. The radio is still playing some random song in the background when he observes them for any signs of a fight. To his relief, he only finds the smallest smile on Jeno´s face while Hyuck feigns nonchalance.
“Damn, not Chenle-Hyng getting shut down like that,” Jisung, who´s joined them while the other two were away, says, trying not to laugh out of fear the Chinese boy may make him his next target.
“Shut it, Ji,” the boy curses, but laughs a few seconds later, amused by the absurdity of the situation. “Alright, when´s dinner ready? I´m hungry,” he then deflects, changing the topic completely.
“On it,” Doyoung´s voice suddenly rings inside his mind. Perplexed, Chenle looks around just to spot Johnny waving at him with a knowing smile and pointing inside with his index finger the next second.
“Doyoung-Hyung´s telepathy is something when you´re not used to it, right?” Mark chuckles. The leader is carrying some drinks in his hands when he arrives at the place where everyone else is sitting.
“If dinner is ready soon and we’re eating outside, I will go and get the others,” Jaemin says. This way, he can put away the camera, too, so it won´t get damaged. The others nod at his volunteering, and quickly, the boy is up and about, collecting the other guys.
Minutes later, when everyone has gathered near the fire that has yet to be lit, and most dishes are somewhere around the logs wherever they found space to stay, the chatter is as loud as one can expect with roughly 20 people around. The atmosphere is as alive as ever; it takes far too long for one of them to realize someone is missing.
“Where did Lini go?” Ten asks once he notices her absence.
“Huh? I thought she went to you guys when we stopped dancing,” Hyuck answers, confused by the older guy´s question.
“She got a glass of water earlier. But that´s the last time I saw her,” Doyoung remembers, not looking up from his task of cutting up a roll of Bibimbap.
“Where is she then?” Renjun asks, his tone more serious now. Given how the past few weeks have been going, the girl missing once again can´t mean anything good.
The boys all look at each other, puzzled looks meeting question marks above their heads. Then Taeyong breaks the growing panicked silence. “I saw her grab a backpack earlier and head out. I thought you knew she was on her way to go on a longer walk.”
Hearing his words, the younger boys in the group suddenly jump up from their spots on the logs. All of them know the girl once again has something stupid in mind. Or at least they assume that, given their history of experiences.
“This girl. I swear, if she does something dumb again, I will chain her to something,” Donghyuck curses. The others don´t waste anytime. They quickly decide to stray in all directions in hopes of finding her. After all, it can´t have been long since she left.
While most of them are on their way by foot, Jeno didn´t hesitate to run to his all beloved Mazda. It takes too long to go by foot, and given the main road nearby, he has a good chance of seeing her if she chose a smart and easy-to-follow route to wherever she was planning on going.
Hitting the gas, he quickly speeds over the grass up to the dust road that leads them to the hideout, a few days ago. Deciding on a hunch that there is no way she would wanna go their way back to Dusk, he decides to go in the other direction.
His heart is racing, and he is gripping the steering wheel with more force than necessary while his eyes are trained on the road. He has to find her. Who knows if something will happen. To him, she somewhat resembles a magnet for trouble. And he can´t have that. Not after the situation with Riki, and it only having been less than two weeks since that happened.
The speedometer is showing that he´s almost going 100 km/h when he sees a figure near the side of the road. Quickly realizing that it´s in fact Linnea, he wonders how the girl has managed to come this far in such a short time. Seeing the speed she´s walking at, he senses something urgent is leading her to her destination, even though he has no idea what that destination is.
When he finally catches up to her, he hits the brakes, coming to a slow besides her. His window is down instantly. “What the hell are you doing?” he questions, kind of out of breath.
The girl doesn´t even glance at him and simply keeps her pace while walking straight ahead. Something feels off, and Jeno definitely hates how she is ignoring him all of a sudden.
With an annoyed hiss, he looks at her with a stern expression. “Get in. Now.” He demands, voice not leaving any room for protest. This catches her attention as she finally faces him, a determined look on her face.
“No. Leave me alone.” Her voice isn´t sharp, and she certainly doesn´t mean her protest in a mean way. But she can´t stop. She has to keep going.
Jeno´s jaw tenses. His knuckles turn a little whiter as he grips the steering wheel hard. Annoyed by her resistance, he steps on the gas just to brake a few meters ahead of her. The engine dies a second later, and then he steps out of the vehicle to face her.
When the girl reaches him and wants to go around him, choosing to ignore him once more, he steps in front of her, blocking her way. Frustrated, she looks at him with an annoyed expression. “What do you want?”
Feeling his own annoyance bubble up inside of him, he groans before grabbing her shoulders. “Look, I don´t know where you want to go at this hour all of a sudden. I´m not here to stop you on your little adventure,” he starts, voice turning a bit softer while he speaks.
His words have her confused, and she raises an eyebrow at his statement, seemingly questioning why he´s stopping her then.
“What I know is that you sure as hell aren´t going alone. Why don´t you speak to us when you have something in mind? We are friends, are we not? You can trust us. If you have any reason to go wherever, just tell us, and we will make a plan to get there as fast as possible together,” Jeno elaborates. And while he talks, he can feel the tension drop from her shoulders.
Linnea sighs, realizing that he is right and that she totally went on impulse here. She kind of wants to facepalm herself. “Right, you are definitely not wrong. I just-”
“Hey, it´s okay. You don´t have to explain anything now. Just let me take you back so we can discuss this and plan properly. No one´s gonna say no if you have a destination in mind,” he stops her and nods to the car that’s waiting behind him.
Relenting, the girl nods and starts to move towards the car, a little defeated. Once inside and comfortably sitting on the passenger seat, she stares out of the window as the boy turns the vehicle around and speeds back to the hideout. The wind that sweeps in through the open window gives Linnea a sense of relaxation as she watches the sunset glow.
༺.༻
(triggering memories ahead)
In a matter of minutes, Jeno is parking the Mazda in the same spot as before he took it to speed off. He gets out of the car and opens the door for the girl. With her backpack slung over her shoulder, she starts walking towards the fire pit where everyone else is gathered. While doing so, she doesn´t really look up, too embarrassed to face any of them.
“Byul!” Donghyuck´s voice rings through to her the moment she comes into view and earshot of the group of guys. The boy is on his feet, immediately walking over to her to examine her. “Where were you?! What were you thinking?!”
“Hyuck, calm down,” Mark interrupts, watching as the girl looks to the side with a face full of shame and awareness of disappointing them. She is playing with her fingers while actively avoiding eye contact because she knows she can´t handle it.
“Everything is fine. She was just walking along the road,” Jeno explains as well, feeling the tension rise even though he knows there is no need for that. He sits down on one of the logs after o not escalating anything with his friend.
Hyuck exhales heavily. It takes a lot of energy for him to stay calm and not freak out any further. He knows the others were as anxious as he was, but now, they are just holding back. “At least tell me why you suddenly thought going away on your own was a good thing,” he says, voice a lot softer now. “And look at me. Please.”
Swallowing hard, the girl finally looks up and into his eyes. She recognizes the worry and fear immediately, so with a shaky voice, she starts, ”Look, I´m sorry. I know I should have said something, but my brain wasn´t thinking. I just went ahead on my own. I´m sorry for giving everyone a scare.” With that, she also looks at the others apologetically.
“It´s okay. Just never ever do that again,” Renjun speaks, clearly trying not to scold her for her reckless actions. He already had a deja vu because of her sudden disappearance.
“Lini, what made you spring into such actions? Usually, you aren´t that careless,” Kun jumps in, also a little worried because he knows it must be something serious.
Swallowing another time, Linnea grabs her backpack and opens it. Then she takes out the letter. Hyuck´s eyes follow the piece of paper as she gives it to Kun without any words.
The leader opens it and starts reading the words. Ten, all too curious, looks over his shoulder to do the same while the others look between Linnea and Kun, waiting for the revelation to calm their own curiosity.
Once the blue-haired boy is done reading, a warm smile shows on his face. “I see. Now I understand.”
“Stop talking in riddles. What´s the deal?” Chenle interrupts, too nosy to wait any longer.
“This is a letter from Linnea´s friends,” he says, looking back at the girl. “Do you want to talk about it yourself?” he then directs the question at her.
“I thought you guys are her friends,” Mark wonders aloud, obviously confused.
“My girl friends,” Linnea says and finally takes a seat with her brother, as she knows she might be in for a little story time.
“Ah, is this about the girls from the second camp you were in?” Jaemin asks, already guessing he´s right. When the girl nods in confirmation, a light bulb starts glowing over some of the others´ heads.
“What does one thing have to do with the other, though?” Jisung ends up asking after the information has settled in for everyone.
“They are in Dawn. And as we found out, that´s not so far away from here. Linnea probably only thought about that, and then her body started moving on its own,” Ten explains, knowing the girl well enough to understand how her mind works.
Linnea eagerly nods at that. “I miss them quite a lot. And since I haven´t seen them for so long, I really just wanted to go and do exactly that.”
“Well, very rash decision to go on your own,” Renjun starts, lowkey shading her for the stupid decision to go alone.
“Hyung, I already told her that she could´ve just told us, and we would have made up a plan to go together,” Jeno interrupts before the Chinese boy can continue.
“Alright, alright. We´ve settled this somewhat, but I still don´t fully understand how you are suddenly so rash with the decision to go there. You didn´t have that kind of urge to find Kun-Hyng and the others when you first stranded with us,” Donghyuck then suddenly bursts. He´s still full of emotions from the anxiety earlier, and he doesn´t fully understand just why she reacted the way she did just yet.
Mark hits the boy´s arm in protest and looks at him with a dissatisfied expression. He did not like the way his friend just said this.
Linnea, on the other hand, just sighs. She looks at the dirty floor before looking back at the piece of paper that Kun is folding neatly into its original shape. “Yeah, you are right. I think I need to explain why these girls mean so much to me. Given that Kun and the others are like family to me.”
“Linnea,” The full use of her name is a rare thing coming from Kun, “You don´t need to explain the details, okay? It´s fine if you just stick with the relevant information.” To the leader, it is important that she knows this, given that he knows what she went through in the second camp.
The girl nods in understanding, and Hyuck is about to protest again when Mark stops him with a head shake. “Your sister or not, it´s up to her how much she tells us,” he scolds, making the boy back up.
“Okay, so, my 3 best friends were already at the camp when I first got captured. At first, they were a bit wary of me because of my level, but we quickly became friends,” she starts explaining, thinking back on how the girls first kept their distance from her before Talia eventually approached her.
“For context, this camp wasn´t like any of the others. This was a special research lab. I don´t know the details, but there were mostly girls in there. It was small, and the routine was different from the other one,” she continues, the smile fading from her lips.
The boys, all aware of how camp was for them, take a few seconds to throw this image of camp out the window.
“In my first camp, I was kept in isolation. In the second, I had a room to myself but had to do certain tasks each day. The workers there used us for household chores like washing laundry, cleaning, and so on. Nothing bad per se, like I learned a lot of stuff there. Not having to fight for the sake of training and becoming a weapon was a great change of scenery,” Linnea goes on. “The four of us became friends through these shared activities, next to the meetings we had in our little free time.”
“Where is the but?” Renjun asks carefully. He knows the tone in which she is speaking. This sounds too good to be the whole story. And knowing that Kun and Ten mentioned having broken them out of that prison, there is no way it was just a facility robbing girls of their freedom.
Linnea chuckles, even though her shoulders slightly jerk at the question. She´s not looking at anyone when she continues speaking. “Well, there was a reason why they kept mostly girls. The guards there…were horrible. Lonely men, watching young girls do domestic things.”
The mention of horrible guards and men watching young women already has a pit form in some of the boys´stomach. There is a dark assumption growing in them, but they don´t want to face it yet.
“At first, I only witnessed how some of them would touch other girls inappropriately while we did our daily chores. But then, one of them felt the need to touch Kida, too. Talli didn´t like that one bit, so she used her ability to punish the man. But that only escalated things.” There is a heavy pause before she keeps speaking. “You know, Kida is the youngest in our group. So Talli is naturally more protective of her. And because she went out of line, they had to make sure she didn´t step over the boundaries again.”
Marks, Johnny´s, and Jaehyun´s eyebrows raise at the implication. They don´t know what exactly to expect next, so they keep listening.
“I only found her crying that same night. She looked…horrible. Her clothes were torn up…and she had bruises everywhere. I don´t know what exactly happened, but it was very obvious to me. It made me so angry, but she stopped me from doing anything.”
With the very obvious hint at what went down, the boys can´t help but tense up. Some of their knuckles turn white as they grab onto the log, while some of the others´jaws are tensing up. No one is smiling anymore as the topic turns very serious.
“After that, things went downhill. The guards became a lot more aggressive. They would touch us…make us wear shorter clothes…watch us intently. Everything felt so disgusting to do because no matter what we did, someone´s eyes were on us.” There is a heavy inhale on the girl´s part before she keeps going.
“It came to a point where Noah and Kida also had their bad experiences with the guard…” Feeling the heavy pit in her stomach, Linnea swallows as it becomes harder for her to talk about these things.
There is a pause, and she´s playing with her fingers again, obviously trying to calm her nerves. “They didn´t look as bad as Talli that night. But still…it was obvious how traumatized they were. I mean, there was no way for us to escape. We had to guess when the next time comes where they would do something.”
Knowing the story, Kun and Ten keep an eye on her, closely watching her body language to intervene if necessary.
“Until that point, I was still lucky…I had a reputation because they had a hard time capturing me. But some newer guard was very bold. He felt the need to prove a point to the others……So a few weeks after he got stationed there, he started looming. I…could feel his weak presence close by.”
Pausing again, her arms start to sneak around her stomach in an attempt to soothe herself. It doesn´t go unnoticed by any of them, especially Hyuck, Jeno, and Jaemin.
“Then, one evening, I…finally learned…how it feels to lose all dignity…He-” Her voice breaks when she starts the sentence. Her vision is getting a little blurry as well, but she really doesn´t want to give the memory the satisfaction of shaking her up like that, so she blinks it away.
“He made me strip… and then he wanted me to clean his office…There wasn´t much I could do, so I just…did exactly that. It felt so humiliating and disgusting t-the whole time he kept watching me….” Feeling a slight shaking in her limbs, she grabs her t-shirt a bit harder to try and ground herself. “Eventually, h-he started touching himself…and then watching wasn´t enough anymore…”
Getting sucked into revisiting the memory, she stops talking unintentionally and just stares ahead into the flame that´s been burning in the fire pit since dinner started.
Sensing what´s going on, Kun nudges Ten´s side, and a second later, the mind manipulator activates his ability to guide Linnea out of that memory.
There isn´t anything else she needs to say. Regardless of what actually happened, they can all safely assume that this guy did something to her.
Only imagining some random guy exploiting his power and assaulting her makes Hyuck´s blood boil. He has a very hard time just staying seated because the urge to rise to his feet and look for this guy just so he can kill him in the most cruel and painful way possible grows inside him very rapidly.
Her brother isn´t the only one who´s ready to end someone´s life, because Jeno, while obviously not having any special position in her life, feels the knawing urge for revenge as well. His affection for her makes these feelings ten times stronger. And with the anger that´s slowly gathering, the log may need to fear for its life.
Even Jaemin has a hard time just swallowing the words and letting them sink in. He feels for his friend and her friends, condemning any human being who took part in such a disgusting project, all under the name of research. His face is an obvious sign of it as he looks as serious as ever.
Finally snapping out of the memory itself, Linnea comes back to her senses and lets her eyes fly over the crowd of boys surrounding the fire before she quickly looks back to the floor. She feels a bit cold all of a sudden, but ignores the feeling. “Fact is, we bonded over our experiences in there. No one understands us the way we do each other. That´s why they are very dear to me. We tried to protect and console each other while enduring similar fates.”
“And then Ten-Hyung and the others came, infiltrated, and broke you out,” Jisung mumbles, putting all the pieces together.
“Exactly,” said boy confirms, still monitoring his friend´s mind so she wouldn´t slip back into the abyss of those memories. He knows that right now, she definitely wants to avoid any type of touch, so he also refrains from getting up to comfort her just yet.
“What happened to the guards?” Chenle carefully asks, hoping he´s not insensitive.
Linnea looks up at him, eyes still distant and too calm for what she´s saying next.
“I killed some.” The words sit in the air. There is no flourish, no apology. Just the truth.
The fire crackles, and the boys stay quiet as they take them in.
Ten doesn´t shy away from the blatant truth. He simply adds, “And I took care of the rest of them,” his tone staying neutral.
It´s not pride. But with how many things they´ve experienced, it´s just nothing special anymore, either.
“You really say this as if it´s some achievement,” Hendery mutters, voice low, not angry, just disturbed.
Ten doesn´t argue, and Linnea´s gaze drops again. For a moment, she looks smaller. “It´s not like we had a choice,” she says, as if to remind herself.
The words hang heavy. Final. The implication strong.
༺.༻
The heavy atmosphere from the things Linnea has told them still lingers in the air as the boys slowly regain the courage to talk. Even the Hyungs are speechless and don´t really feel like they have the right to say anything about it. They just silently deal with their thoughts, not wanting to overstep boundaries.
It´s clear to everyone that they definitely have a reason to move to Dawn next. Linnea´s friends reside in that city, and it´s also in the direction they expect Eden to be. So going there is the obvious move.
Taeyong returns with the map in his hands from a short kitchen break. He sits down next to Mark to discuss a few things with him before he finally speaks up. “Given the situation and the indirect invitation of Linnea´s friends, it´s decided that the Dreamies will continue towards Dawn. Now, since Dawn is no small town and has its own system of hierarchy, I will have to call a friend of ours to confirm a few things so all of you have somewhere safe to stay.”
“Ooooh, are we calling our hidden contact?” Jungwoo asks, excited all of a sudden. He doesn´t know the boy as well as the others, and calls with him are a rare sight, so he always gets excited when they happen.
“You guys have a hidden contact, too?” Dejun asks, thinking about their own friend in Soul City.
“Yup. An old friend who decided to pursue his own way of living while supporting us from afar,” Jaehyun confirms and looks at Yuta, who brings the device they always use to contact the guy.
While Taeyong and Johnny get busy preparing their call, the others watch with curiosity. They don´t know what to expect. Except for Mark and Hyuck, none of the others, from the younger ones, know how the holographic device works. They´ve never seen it be used because they rarely stay at N-city.
When it´s finally ready and set up, Taeyong sits down again. He focuses on the hologram loading, then rings up his friend. There is silence as everyone watches the blue hue in the air. And then, after a few moments of quiet vibration from the machine, a figure finally appears.
“Hey, Hyung, what´s up?” A boy asks, sitting on an armchair in some seemingly fancy building.
Kun, Ten, Yang Yang, Hendery, Dejun, and Linnea all stop breathing for a second when they see him. They can´t believe their eyes when they see him and realize who he is.
“Hey, Win Win, I have a favor to ask,” Taeyong starts, but gets interrupted by Yang Yang, Hendery, and Dejun.
The three boys all yell in unison, as their disbelief is very evident to everyone else. “Sir Eagle, Win Win, Dong Sicheng?!”
The sudden voicing of the three names startles some of the boys who weren´t ready for the explosion of voices. The guy in the hologram chuckles as the depictions of the boys come into view on his part of the holographic call. “I see you´ve met each other.”
“Hold on, what does that mean?” Linnea questions now, stands up, and walks into view as well. “You mean to tell me you knew these guys all along?! I don´t understand.”
“Yeah, please elaborate on this,” Kun also adds. He´s as speechless as the rest. Because even though Sicheng is a very close friend to him, the fact that he never told him about knowing Taeyong feels a bit weird to him.
“I don´t get it either? Do you know Win Win Hyung?” Mark asks, a puzzled expression displayed on his face.
“Yes, we do. He´s been our provider ever since we found our hideout a while ago,” Ten explains.
“He´s the one I called when we were at that Lake house, and he´s the one who told me he would send us food to Dusk. That´s the only reason why we even ended up there. And now you mean to tell me, you guys knew him all along?!” Linnea´s voice gets louder at the end of her last sentence as the disbelief resurfaces.
“I mean, besides Mark Hyung and me, the others barely know him. It´s more that the Hyungs know him better than we do, and we happened to be here more often than the others,” Donghyuck explains. He has yet to fully grasp the fact that his sister knows the guy, too.
Linnea is about to ask more questions as they flood into her mind, but Sicheng finally speaks up to clarify a few things, ”Okay, calm down. I couldn´t tell either of you that I am helping you guys. It would have been too dangerous if an unwanted person found out. But I´m glad you guys found each other. I was secretly hoping this would eventually happen.”
“Did you lure us to Dusk specifically because you knew the hideout from the other guys was close by and we might stumble upon them?” Kun asks straight out.
Sicheng, however, shakes his head. “I chose Dusk because it was the closest spot nearby that worked out with a delivery. The fact that you guys chose to go North-west of all directions was a pure coincidence.”
“Well, we found a clue to Eden, so we had to consult with Taeyong-Hyung,” Mark says.
“Still crazy to think that of all groups Linnea found, it was you guys. Almost sounds like fate if you ask me,” Win Win says and chuckles as he leans back in his armchair.
“Did you know that Hyuck is my brother, too, by any chance?” Linnea asks a bit bluntly. In her mind, she questions what else her friend has been hiding from them.
The expression of the boy´s holographic image changes to one of surprise when he hears that. “He is what? I thought your brother died?”
“Well, we are both alive as you can see,” Hyuck butts in drily. He´s talked about his dead sister once before, when they had a call with the man residing in Soul City.
“That´s great to hear. I´m really happy for you guys… but that´s not why Taeyong-Hyung called me, right?” Sicheng asks, and while he´s happy about the news, he´s aware that the group needs him for something other than private updates.
“Exactly. Linnea´s friends have sent her a letter. And now we are planning our trip to Dawn,” Taeyong speaks again.
“Wah, Talia and the other two reached out to you? That´s great. Can´t believe they chose to go to Dawn, though. But yeah, if that´s your next destination, I will have to find somewhere safe for you to stay,” Win Win says. His figure moves as he starts to type something on a keyboard. Then he looks up somewhere unknown to all the boys and the girl watching him.
“He knows Lini´s friends, too?” Jisung asks Renjun and the others close to him.
“Well, of course. If he´s been a longtime friend of hers, it´s likely he helped break them out,” the older boy answers. With all the information that´s been revealed tonight, he put two and two together and guessed that when Kun and the others talked about how they got to know each other, he was also mentioning Win Win without actually naming him.
“Can you find a residence that will house all seven Dreamies and Kun´s group?” Taeyong asks.
“Are you not going with them?” Sicheng asks while still typing away on his computer.
“Someone has to stay and keep the hideout safe. If necessary, we will come, too, though,” Johnny says with a smile. He knows the others are capable enough to navigate through Dawn.
“Right, of course. Ten and Kun alone should be intimidating enough to keep any weirdos away,” the holographic image says while chuckling.
“What´s that supposed to mean?” Hendery asks, partly offended for his Hyungs.
“Have you forgotten how scary Ten Hyung´s lunatic stare is or how scary Kun Hyung can look when he´s mad?” With the question, Hendery is quiet again. He knows what his friend is talking about.
There is a short silence while Win Win looks through his data on his PC. His face flashes with the reflecting light here and there, and his eyes dart around while he scans the information he´s getting. Then, when he´s sure he´s found something good, he smiles and looks at his friends.
“I got something for you. The district should be one of the safer ones. So as long as you stay away from trouble, you will be tolerated. The residents in Dawn don´t really like new faces, so you might run into some people who are looking for fights. But as long as you stay mostly within your own group and don´t trust anyone too quickly, you should be fine,” he announces. “Oh, but before I forget it, don´t make yourselves an enemy of the big five. They have too much of a say in Dawn. So it´s best to stay away from them altogether.”
“Who are the big five?” Jaemin asks, a little confused. He can´t believe that Dawn is actually such a scary place to be wary of others that much.
“Let the girls explain all the lore about Dawn. They know more about it than I do. I only know surface-level things. But be warned. I will repeat myself: stay out of trouble,” Win Win says a little more seriously now. “I will send the route over to you. If you start in the early morning, you should arrive when night falls.”
“Thank you, Win Win.” Taeyong smiles at his friend. He knows he can always count on him when they need things like this.
“No need to thank me, Hyung. You know I will do everything in my power to support you guys,” the Chinese boy says and returns his smile.
The boys talk a little longer with Sicheng while they still have the chance. There is a lot to catch up on, so why not use the chance? Only late in the night do they actually end the call. The younger ones have left for bed earlier already, since they have a long trip ahead. But the older ones, including Kun and Ten, wait until the last moment to say goodbye.
The talk with their secret link was something they deemed necessary, especially given the fact that he knew the boys around Taeyong. There are lots of questions the two still have, but they will have to wait to ask them until they finally see Win Win in person again. A goal they will keep after finding Eden.
Y'all I'm so sorry for not updating Eden yet. I have chapters ready but May has not been kind to me and ever since I'm back from my vacation I feel extremely exhausted. I will update eventually, I promise 🥹
How the hell did I manage to write unknown??? It's like my brain is unable to go back to that creative outlet and just write like I did back then.
I am probably stressing myself too much. But God I just wanna drop a long fic. But like, I have to write it first 🫠
She says, acting as if she doesn't write a 200k+ word fic at the same time
Y'all I have so many ideas I wanna write, but right now I feel like my writing sucks and is declining. What do I do about this? 😫 It's so discouraging
Decided to post unknown on ao3 too, oop
is jeno an omega.
Most definitely. A dominant one. But still a bottom.
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Nct 127
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WayV
chapter twenty-one:
discovery
summary: After practice fighting and getting to know each other some more, the boys and girl decide to have a few days of relaxation. In their search for things to do in their free time, the Dreamies discover a certain thing they probably shouldn´t have.
warnings: 18+ Porn containing: fingering, penetrative sex, loud moans, derogatory nickname; sexual education about the following themes: periods, penetrative sex, fingering, consent, female anatomy, pleasure, hygiene, contraception, flirting, foreplay, oral sex, aftercare
wordcount: ~9.7k
author's note: So another chapter. It's not that spicy tbh but the theme of sex is very strong regardless 😅 Y'all can thank @withlovemark for this whole chapter bc she brought the idea to my mind a few months ago and now it's actually part of the fic hehe. I hope everyone had fun reading. Likes, comments and reblogs are appreciated. WayV character profiles and 127 profiles will be out too
taglist: @multifandomania, @blxberry01
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“So, what’s everyone else’s ability?” Linnea asks while munching on a piece of chicken.
“That’s a good question. Since you didn’t get to see everyone fight or use their abilities,” Jaehyun says.
“Let me spoil it for you. I manipulate gravity. Jaehyun controls time. Jungwoo manipulates water,” Johnny bluntly reveals, not minding the nonchalance at all since this topic was nothing special to him.
“Yuta manipulates fire, as you know, but he can also do it with ice. I am a telepath, have seismic sense, and can heal,” Doyoung states. “That’s why I am everything but lethal. Hence the green eyes.”
“Oh, but I think your abilities are really cool. That seismic sense is very useful if you ask me,” Linnea responds, full of interest in what the guys tell her.
“You know my ability already. But to phrase it properly, I will say it openly for the others,” Taeyong starts. His voice is as calm and soft as ever. “My ability is called bond weaving because I can manipulate the relationships of others freely. I can also manipulate emotions.”
Near him, someone gasps. Hendery almost drops his chopsticks, too. “Whoa, that’s crazy scary. Now I get why Lini was so wary of you. Doesn’t matter that it’s not the strongest ability. But altering the way people feel about each other is insane,” he says with a bit too much emotion.
“Yeah, yeah. We get it. But hey, we wanna know about your abilities, too. We already know the Dreamies. But what about you newbies?” Johnny downplays and curves the question right back at the mostly Chinese group.
“Well, okay, so Kun regulates anything that has to do with Biochemistry. So he controls the functions of living beings like humans,” Linnea starts.
“Ten is a mind controller. He will make you do whatever he wants against your will simply by speaking. I don’t know what else he can do with his ability, but he is crazy strong,” Chenle interrupts before the girl gets to continue her speech.
“Hendery-Hyung can create things, which is also pretty cool and very useful. I don’t know if he has limits, though,” Renjun says, his admiration for the ability very obvious in his tone.
“Dejun’s…,” Mark wants to start, but realizes he has no idea what his ability is. “Wait, what is your ability? I don’t think we ever came to that topic. Same for Yang Yang.”
Dejun chuckles. “Well, let me reveal it then. For me, it’s that I´m a tracker. I can find you anywhere. So if anyone ever goes missing, I will track them down. It’s what I would have done if Ten hadn’t found Linnea. I can also cause hallucinations. But they aren’t as strong as Lini’s perception manipulation,” he says very proudly of himself and his capabilities.
“And Yang Yang can create shields and barriers. He is a great defender thanks to it and knows how strong they need to be and everything,” Linnea concludes. “Oh, and if you wonder about me still, I manipulate perception as mentioned and also aura.”
Taeyong claps his hands together once the girl is done talking. “Perfect. Now that we know how well-rounded the team is, I can rest assured.”
“Did we officially join?” Yang Yang asks, confused, and looks at Kun for confirmation.
The leader pauses his actions and considers the question for a second. “Does anyone have anything against it?” He asks instead of answering, looking at his longtime friends.
When he sees how everyone shakes their head and looks at him, waiting for his words, he smiles. “Then I say we are officially part of this big group.”
Cheers erupt once he says this, and clapping echoes through the room. Linnea’s gaze wanders to the guys she met a few weeks ago. Her smile greets their happy expressions.
“Welcome to the team,” Jaemin says and smiles.
“Now that we are an official team,” Mark starts, his face turning a bit more serious again, “How about we finally discuss what we discovered inside that cave? The arrows.”
“You are right. So you said the direction the arrows pointed to was North-east?” Taeyong gets serious, again. This is the whole reason why his younger friends are visiting them in the first place.
“Yup. North-east of the caves’ location. We tried looking at the map, but honestly, the arrows could mean anything,” Ten concludes.
“Hmmm, do we have a map here?” Taeyong asks and looks at his friends.
“I think we should have one on the shelf in the room next door. Let me look for it quickly,” Doyoung says and gets up. He walks out of the room to retrieve said map and returns with it shortly after. “I was right. Here it is,” he announces and lays it out on the table after making some space.
The boys quickly gather a bit to look at the piece of paper more easily. Mark points at Dusk a second later. “This is the town we stayed at for the past month. And the cave was somewhere over there,” he explains and points his finger at a spot south of Dusk.
“Okay, so if the cave is there, and the arrows point North-east, then that would mean they point in this direction,” Kun voices his thoughts. His fingers point to the cave and then the compass. Then they draw a line in the direction.
“Is there anything on the map that looks like Eden could be there?” Jaehyun asks and skims it. His eyes glide over the piece of paper. But there seems to be nothing. “All I see is forests and more forests, and then there is Dawn, but Dawn is not Eden.”
“What´s Dawn?” Chenle asks, his curiosity piqued by the foreign name.
“Dawn is an outlaw city not too far away from here. It´s huge, but really nothing close to what the rumors say about Eden,” Johnny explains. The boys had been there before, but the place really isn´t for the weak.
“Hmm, this clue really doesn´t do much for us. We only know a rough direction, but that still means Eden could be anywhere,” Doyoung says, a little defeated.
“A direction is still better than nothing. Even though we don’t know exactly where it is, we can still narrow it down that way until we find more clues. Surely, this isn´t the only clue to it,” Linnea says, trying to lift the spirit.
“She´s right. Maybe there are other caves or structures out there that act like way points. We just haven´t found them yet,” Jaemin supports her words with his own, which prompts the girl to give him a thankful smile.
“Do we have the time and capacities to look for way points that might not exist? I want to be optimistic, but we are just speculating. What if trying to find structures like that is a waste of time?” Jeno asks. He doesn´t intend to go against Linnea´s positive words, but he wants to stay realistic and not base their efforts on a guess. If they are going to look for more clues, it should be a strategic approach.
“Thanks to Renjun´s psychometry, we at least know that Eden definitely exists. Or was planned to be built,” Mark butts in. “So while I do agree to go with a strategy, we have to think of something that makes sense for us as a group.”
“You are right. We´ve never really had a pattern in our travels. The fact that we found that clue was simply luck. So maybe we should figure out how to proceed in general instead of just focusing on clues,” Renjun says.
“Now that our group is bigger, we have better resources, which is great. So I would say, maybe instead of focusing on finding clues, you guys just keep going your way. If fate wants us to find Eden, we will. So I am sure that at some point we will find the next clue,” Taeyong states. “With you guys being out there on adventures, and us as support for resources and other things, we have good chances.”
“That sounds reasonable. But then, where are we going next? If Dawn is such a dangerous place, I don´t know if we should go there,” Hyuck wonders aloud. He doesn´t want his friends and sister to face danger again so soon.
“Maybe we should take our time and decide on that when we’ve all had some more rest?” Renjun suggests.
“True. This is the safest place for us compared to any other place. If the Entity ever ambushes, we have enough manpower to hold our ground. And it´s secluded enough for other groups to not find us so easily, either,” Jisung adds to Renjun’s suggestion.
“Alright. Let´s end this discussion for now. You guys go and rest for a few days, and then we will try to decide again. There is no rush to find Eden. So why stress ourselves when we can relax a bit and have some fun in this cruel world?” Taeyong concludes and closes the map.
The others nod in agreement and get back to eating lunch slowly. Some of them are still exhausted from practice fighting earlier, and having some fun while relaxing also sounds like a good deal to them. So, without any complaints, the discussion ends. The day keeps going once stomachs are filled to the brim, and everyone resumes individual activities.
༺.༻
The next few days don´t look any different. Most of the boys either explore the place because it´s still very unknown to them, or they take their time to do individual activities like playing basketball, drawing, reading, and whatever else comes to mind. Luckily, the weather is good, too, which prompts them to stay outside a lot and do outdoor activities rather than staying inside their little houses.
This particular day started as uninteresting as ever. At least for Linnea. She got up and ready, went to eat breakfast with most of the older guys, decided to inspect the lounge area, found some books, read half of them, and now she is stuck being bored. She has no idea what the boys are up to. But if she´s honest, she kind of wants to have a day to herself, too. It´s a rare occurrence for her to have time fully to herself. So when determination creeps in, she quickly moves to tell Kun about her plans and then jogs off for a casual run through the nearby woods.
Kun, who thought her idea was great, only smiles when she tells him everything. He watches happily as she speeds off into the distance. Then he minds his own business and dives into some medical books he found yesterday evening. While reviewing the piece of literature, he feels he can learn a lot from Doyoung, too, since the boy is a healer, similar to how he fixes injuries and the like. So why not chat with him?
Ten, Yang Yang, Hendery, and Dejun are busy playing Monopoly in the lounge area. They greeted Linnea earlier that day, already busy setting up properties and earning money. To their surprise, the game takes longer than expected, so they are still busy playing it.
“It´s a great feeling to see Ten-Hyung fail so miserably. If he ends up on my property again, he will lose his last bit of money,” Dejun says, amused and happy about his success.
Hendery looks at him with mischief, also enjoying the way the oldest among them fails to play the game well.
“You just wait. I can still change everything and win back my money,” Ten argues, trying not to lose hope.
“Only if you don´t end up in jail again,” Yang Yang juts in, trying not to laugh.
The oldest in the round glares at him, but resumes the game as confidently as possible anyway.
And while the four of them keep playing, seemingly not finding an end any time soon, the seven Dream boys, who have been busy relaxing in their own little rooms, doing whatever, gather to watch some movies.
They had discovered a TV in one of the rooms of the main house yesterday and are determined to find some DVDs to watch today. It´s finally time for them to accomplish this goal, so when all seven of them are finally in one spot, they start to move through the corridor of the main house.
“I didn´t know it was this dusty and grey in here. Last time we came, everything looked a lot more homey,” Chenle complains, trying not to walk through another spiderweb on their way through the house.
“Well, you really expect those Hyungs to keep everything squeaky clean?” Donghyuck asks ironically, while taking hurried steps.
“You think we will find some good movies in the room with the TV? It´s very old,” Jisung questions, not addressing anyone in particular.
“Oh, I´m sure of it. It´s an old TV, but I saw lots of bags in that room, and I`m sure it at least has to contain some movies,” Mark reassures. And when they finally reach the room they found yesterday, they unlock the door smoothly and enter.
“The air is so damn stuffy,” Jaemin mutters and walks up to the TV. “Jisung, you gotta give this thing the necessary juice if the outlets don´t work in this room,” he prompts and brushes the dust off the TV screen.
The others start roaming around and open the plastic bags lying around. Some of them, as they discover, contain scrapped pieces of electronic devices. Others have old clothes in them.
“Yo, is this some sort of storage room? All of these things seem useless,” Mark mumbles to himself as he inspects one of the bags.
The others keep looking around, moving away anything that looks useless for a movie afternoon, not giving up.
When rustling has filled the room for over 15 minutes, a voice finally echoes through the room with a triumphant tone. “Hyung, I think I found something,” Jisung says and holds a disc up into the air to show it to the others.
“Damn, nice Ji, you found something that could work with the TV,” Mark praises and hurries over to the youngest to inspect the bag full of discs.
“What if those are for listening only, though?” Jeno questions, unable to enjoy the happiness of finding what they were looking for just yet.
“We will have to find out, then,” Renjun says and takes the bag from Jisung’s hands to carry it over to the device.
Jaemin, who took the time to lift the TV to the floor with his ability, looks into the bag, too, once it reaches him. “Which one should we try first?” he asks, seeing how none of them have any labels that indicate what movie it could be.
“Let´s just take the first one we grab,” Renjun suggests and lowers his arm into the bag to grab one. When he pulls out a plain, grey disc, he gives it to Jaemin so the boy can insert it into the device.
“Jisung, give it some juice,” Chenle demands and points at the TV with the DVD attachment.
The youngest doesn´t take long to follow the demand. With a swift move of his ability, the TV lights up, much to everyone’s delight. Jaemin inserts the disc while all of the others sit down, waiting in anticipation for the movie to play.
The screen flickers with vibrant pixels for a few seconds. The DVD attachment makes a few concerning sounds. Then, the screen turns a dark grey before it lights up with a scene a moment later.
There’s a girl with blonde hair running through the woods. She looks scared, as if something is chasing her. Her hurried breathing and her alert expression are proof enough. A few moments later, she finds a house and runs inside, closing the door hurriedly.
“Oh god, is this a horror movie?” Jisung asks, already a little uneasy about what´s to come.
“Shh,” Chenle shushes him, not in the mood for any interruptions since the plot already starts very intensely.
The girl rushes through the few rooms of the house. When she finds a closet, she quickly hides inside and tries to calm her breathing, afraid it will give her location away. In the next second, a loud thud sounds, making her flinch. Out of instinct, her hand covers her mouth to try to keep herself from being loud.
Heavy steps echo inside the wooden cabin. The legs and big shoes of someone suddenly show up on screen. They slowly move through the rooms, directly going for the one the girl is hiding in, ignoring the others.
Jisung, afraid of a jump scare, tries to cover his eyes subtly. The others tense up, too, ready for something scary to happen.
The female protagonist is shown again. Her eyes are closed, and she is still holding her mouth to keep her breathing quiet. The steps come closer and closer. Then, they stop. There is a moment of silence. Then, the door is torn open. The girl screams. A big hand grabs her throat and pulls her outside. She flails, trying to free herself, but the man—his face masked—pushes her onto the bed.
Jisung tries not to scream, too, when the man pulls her out of the closet. Jeno and Jaemin seem as unfazed as ever, totally having expected this. Mark and Chenle maybe flinch a tiny bit. Renjun tries not to flinch but fails.
The girl tries to scramble to the head of the bed, but before she really gets the chance to, the guy pulls her to the front by her ankles. Another yelp leaves her mouth. Out of panic, she starts hitting his arms and chest.
“Hey, hey, hey, calm down. It´s me,” The man suddenly says, almost laughing as he pulls off the mask. A handsome guy with brown hair looks at the girl, whose expression slowly goes from scared to relieved.
She hits his shoulder one more time before she visibly relaxes. “You are such an asshole. I thought someone actually was chasing me,” she complains, but eventually also chuckles.
“You found yourself a nice cabin here,” the guy comments and looks around a bit. “Seems cozy.” As an answer, the blonde rolls her eyes in annoyance. Seeing this, the guy talks again. “Don´t roll your eyes at me, you naughty girl.” Then, he starts tickling her to tease her.
The tickling quickly turns into both of them being fairly close to each other. And when the guy ends up hovering on top of her, he stares into her eyes with a fairly loving gaze. The woman returns his gaze. The silence stretches. And then, they lean in, and their lips touch.
“Is it a romance movie after all?” Renjun wonders in a mumble, a bit confused by what´s going on.
“I don´t fully get the plot,” Jaemin also comments, but keeps watching on while the others keep quiet.
The kisses between the protagonists turn heavier. Normal pecks transform into full-on making out. Hands start to roam. And before anyone knows it, they start undressing. First the tops, then the jeans. The girl giggles because of the wandering kisses. Clearly, the atmosphere has changed severely.
None of the seven boys dares to say anything now. Their eyes are fixed on the screen. Somehow, this scene starts to do something to them. They don´t know why, but the air suddenly feels hot. Someone gulps audibly, trying to process what´s happening while the movie keeps going.
The man´s hand travels over her body. She is visibly enjoying the attention he is giving her. His kisses move to her chest. The other hand shoves away the bra and exposes her nipples. His mouth immediately wraps around one of them, coaxing a moan from her. While she is distracted by the feeling of his lips around her breast, his other hand descends further until he finally reaches her underwear.
The scene progresses. Neither of them wears any clothes anymore. The girl is already breathing heavily again as her partner pushes another finger into her cunt. “You like that, don´t you? You little slut,” he spits at her with a teasing tone and watches how her back arches.
A few moments later, he pulls out his fingers and licks them while intensely staring into her eyes. The girl can´t even catch her breath properly when the guy suddenly pulls her closer to her and wraps her legs around his hips. He doesn´t say anything. Doesn´t ask anything. He just gives her a grin before he lines himself up and pushes into her.
The loud moan that escapes her mouth upon the bold move travels right through everyone’s ears. Seeing so much skin. Seeing a naked woman make those faces. And hearing the pleasure from her has the air even thicker. No one dares to say anything. They all try to process what´s happening. Their own skin feels like it´s on fire. And they can´t help but each realize just how tight all of their clothes suddenly feel.
The movie continues. The guy drills into her, gradually picking up speed as her moans increase. She tries to grab the headboard to steady herself, but the guy takes her wrists and holds them up above her head with one hand. His other slaps her thigh with a loud sound. “You do whatever I want you to, got it?” the guy asks with a groan slipping right from his throat. The girl nods, unable to give a proper answer.
Her moans keep echoing through the room. No one realizes just how loud the TV is. But since they are all in some sort of freeze, unable to really comprehend anything else while watching the obscene act, they don´t care to lower the volume.
So when Linnea comes out of the bathroom, done taking the shower she took after her run, and she walks past the hallway that leads to the room currently occupied by the seven boys, she can´t help but notice the weird sounds of pleasure. Curiosity keeps her steps going. She clutches the towel around her body tightly, having forgotten her change of clothes in her room.
When she reaches the room and hears the sounds even louder, while the door teases her with the small gap, she can´t help but let her curiosity win. She opens the door a little wider and looks inside. There they sit, all focused on whatever is going on on the TV.
She is no stranger to the material playing; however, she didn´t expect to ever get confronted with it. Especially not when her friends sit in front of it like stray dogs ready to pounce the only bone that´s left to feed them.
“What the hell are you guys doing?” Her voice sounds strong, giving away the impression that she just arrived and looked inside.
All seven heads whip around in surprise, big eyes facing her. Mark hurries to cover the screen, scared the girl will see any of what they just witnessed over the past 30 minutes. Donghyuck tries to find words that could explain any of this, but no sound comes out of his mouth. He is too shocked to see his damn sister here. Jisung tries to cover his face, too embarrassed to say anything. He only feels the prominent heat on his face and wishes to be swallowed by the floor.
Renjun is too stunned to speak, too. His eyes dart around the room, trying to avoid landing on her at all costs. Chenle grabs a bag next to him, instinctively covering his legs with it, just in case. They all know what this kind of movie does to them, and there is no need to show any of it to Linnea.
“N-nothing. Call it education. I don´t know,” Jaemin stammers, keeping his eyes closed as he tries to cover for them all. He knows there is no way any of his words sound convincing, given the way the girl in the movie still moans every second while the slapping of hips echoes through the room, too.
Jeno, who only got a short glimpse of Linnea standing in the doorway with her towel around her body, fixes his gaze on that one stain on the opposite wall. He can´t really hear anything his friend tries to say, because his mind is occupied by involuntary thoughts. He is only a guy after all.
“Ahh~ fuck! Don´t stop!” The moan sounds filthily hot. His hand grabs her hips to keep her steady as he keeps going, thrusting into her with precise movements. His eyes watch her come undone beneath him. Eyes closed, mouth open, back arched. Breasts that move in accordance with the rhythm he set.
The image is fleeting, but it does so much. Knowing exactly what is playing in his head, he really tries his best to keep his eyes on the stain. It takes so much willpower; his knuckles turn white from gripping his pants so strongly.
“Whatever. Just turn it down. It´s so fucking loud,” Linnea finally says, only taking in their reactions for a few seconds before she moves to leave. She doesn´t pay too much mind to their activities, only shaking her head in disbelief about their boldness.
༺.༻
The second the girl is out of sight, everyone scrambles to shut off the TV. They hurry, take out the disc, and throw it away in shock, unable to grasp the situation fully.
“This did not just happen,” Renjun mumbles, white as a ghost. He feels like he can start digging his own grave.
“Y´all better not think about my sister in this kind of context! I will kill you if I get to know you do!” Hyuck bursts out, finally having realized the way his sister was dressed.
“Why would you mention her?!” Jaemin asks, scandalized. “We are men! What do you think happens if you ask someone not to think of something?! ESPECIALLY IN THIS CONTEXT?!”
“Woah, calm down, everyone,” Mark tries to save the situation before it can escalate.
“Calm down, my ass,” Chenle argues and looks at the leader in disbelief. “Try to calm down after this. Watching this shit is one thing. Getting caught doing it is so much worse! Fuck I´m so hard, it hurts,” he complains, making the situation very clear.
“I want the floor to open up and swallow me whole,” Jisung mumbles. “I won´t be able to ever look her in the eyes ever again.”
“That´s a bit dramatic, don´t you think?” Renjun tries, but gets met with the most horrified expression from the Maknae he´s ever seen.
“Hyung, she´s my teacher. If I ever need help with my ability again, I won´t be able to ask her anything because of this,” he says in a fitting tone.
“Who suggested watching this shit in the first place?” Jeno finally speaks up, too. His face looks tense. But that´s only because he is now haunted by the same thought over and over, and god, he won´t be able to live normally if his body doesn´t calm down already. He hates this so much.
“Yah, don´t look at us like that. How could we have known it would be this kind of movie?” Mark defends, a little scared by the tense stare from his vice.
“We are never watching movies here, again,” Jaemin says, a little defeated. And it all even started so normally.
“Why do the Hyungs own this stuff?” Renjun whines, looking at the bag with the other discs inside.
“Doesn´t matter. How do I explain that we aren´t weird creeps to my sister?” Donghyuck chimes in, already trying to think of plausible explanations to justify this mess.
“We are so over,” Mark says, defeated as his shoulders slump down.
༺.༻
Still amused and somewhat disturbed, Linnea makes her way outside to the Hyungs and the Monopoly gang. She is still drying her hair with a towel when she plops down on one of the logs around the pit that´s usually filled with burning fire. On her face, a disbelieving smile presents her thoughts.
“What has you smiling like that?” Ten asks, surprised by her expression.
“Wanna share the fun with us so we can smile too?” Johnny asks, slightly teasing because he recognizes the disbelief.
The girl can´t help but chuckle as she puts the towel down and holds it loosely. “Oh, you know, I´m still trying to wrap my head around the events of the past 15 minutes. That´s all,” she shares vaguely, not yet sure if she wants to actually say what she witnessed.
“Huh? What happened?” Dejun wonders and lifts an eyebrow. The amused expression on her face doesn´t go away, which has him even more curious.
“Come on, tell us. Now we are curious,” Hendery whines, ready to make a move and tickle it out of her if she doesn´t relent anytime soon.
A chuckle escapes her. Her hand covers her face for a second before she exhales audibly, trying to keep herself from breaking out in a fit of laughter. “Ah, you know. I was just taking a shower, because I got dirty while exploring the woods,” she starts and looks at her feet. The grin is still there as she continues. “And well, I forgot my change of clothes. And while I wanted to head back to my room to get dressed real quick, I passed by the hallway in the main building.”
“Sounds boring so far,” Jungwoo comments, but Jaehyun holds him back from saying more.
“Shh, she´s clearly building something up,” he says and looks back at her to not miss anything.
“And guess what. There are very obvious, very weird, and very loud sounds. So, I go to explore, because why not? I expected everything. Really. But opening a door and seeing seven boys sit in front of a TV, watching very obvious porn, was not on my list of things I wanted to see. And now here I am, trying to erase the image of those idiots trying to explain themselves.” Another laugh escapes her due to the absurdity of the situation. She knows there is nothing about it. She doesn´t really care that much, either. They can do whatever they want, and she is sure they didn´t intentionally look for this kind of stuff. But seeing that still took her off guard.
“Damn, didn´t know the youngest had it in them to be so… sexual,” Johnny comments, a wide grin now plastered on his face.
“I didn´t know we had porn to begin with,” Taeyong says, slightly confused.
“Ah, maybe that´s what´s on those discs we found half a year ago. Always wondered what they had stored. Good to know it´s filthy stuff,” Yuta guesses.
“Anyway, I gotta cleanse my mind. I don´t want the nice image I have of them to be tainted by this, even if it´s not that big of a deal. But this was too unexpected, so I need to process it a bit more,” Linnea rambles on. She doesn´t look at any of them. Her cheeks feel a little warm, too. This flustered her a bit. Not too much, but still enough to bother her.
The guys chuckle when they hear her words. It´s lowkey adorable to see her react like this, but the fact that their younger friends got caught watching porn is still too funny for them to let the topic go.
So when Linnea gets up again, to go on another walk to clear her head, the guys remain seated and start discussing the incident.
“Y´all think we should educate those guys on some things?” Jaehyun asks.
“Do any of them have any experience?” Doyoung wonders, genuine interest evident in his question, because he knows if the answer is no, they will have to explain a lot of things. After all, the boys aren´t teens anymore.
“I doubt any of them even know how to really talk to a girl romantically. And given our group’s history, the answer is a definite no,” Johnny says and claps his hands onto his thighs. “Sex Ed it is tonight. Get the books ready. We gotta talk about the birds and the bees.”
“You guys have to tell Kun so he can keep Linnea and us away, though. We already went through the whole medical aspects of how intimacy works, so no need for a repeat,” Ten interrupts the chuckles from the others.
“Oh god, please not those kinds of talks again. Kun kept it so dry and medically termed, it was so hard to go through,” Yang Yang starts, his face mirroring an expression of playful horror.
“Remember when he started explaining periods, too?” Hendery joins in, looking at his friends with big eyes.
“Please don´t remind me. He had Linnea repeat everything necessary because she´s a girl and directly involved with the topic,” Dejun says, trying to keep the memories from popping up in his head.
“Well, have fun doing whatever then, while we explain how the biology works behind those things. Better late than never,” Jaehyun chuckles and looks at his friends, already thinking of the first topics.
“I can´t believe it´s finally time for this kind of talk,” Taeyong mumbles in disbelief. “They grow up so fast,” he adds, overly dramatic and well aware of the fact that they haven´t known the Dream boys since they were kids.
༺.༻
Later that day, when the sun slowly dips below the horizon, and a fire has started burning in the fire pit again, the boys gather one after the other. Most of them at least. Because while the Hyungs are about to lecture the younger ones, Kun and Ten made sure to take Linnea, Yang Yang, Dejun, and Hendery for a small game night.
“Kun, why exactly are you keeping us inside while the evening is this nice? I wanna go outside,” Linnea complains with a pout on her lips.
“Request declined. We are staying inside and playing some games like the good old times,” Kun counters, leaving no room for more arguments.
“You make it sound like we´ve been together for over a decade,” Hendery remarks, but snickers. In the meantime, Ten throws Dejun and Yang Yang a knowing glance, while he tries not to start laughing.
Linnea scrunches her eyes together a little, suspicious of their behavior. Something is definitely going on. She can feel it.
And while Kun´s persistence keeps Linnea and the others inside, the seven youngest of the group slowly come outside, one by one. Some of them still have wet hair from a previous, long shower. Others wear fresh sets of clothing as if they had done some heavy exercise earlier and needed to change. When they see the knowing grins on their older friend´s faces, they already feel this sense of doom, knowing fully well that something teasing and embarrassing is about to happen.
“Oh no. They know,” Donghyuck curses under his breath, dreading the conversation that´s about to happen.
“Your sister is such a snitch,” Chenle says. Not in a mean way, but simply because that´s the first term that came to his mind.
“Zhong Chenle, watch your mouth,” Hyuck immediately answers to his choice of words and glares at him.
“Guys, relax. It´s not that big of a deal. I hope,” Mark tries to break up the tension and mumbles the last words in hopes no one hears him.
“Hyung, we are fucked. Admit it to yourself,” Jaemin remarks and puts his hand on the leader´s shoulder to comfort him a bit. “They are so going to give us a lecture on decency and whatnot. So let´s simply endure it before they get another chance to embarrass us.”
“How can you be so optimistic?” Renjun asks.
“Well, I don´t know,” Jaemin says and shrugs. He just knows there is no getting out of it, so he has accepted his fate and wants to get it over with.
“Wah, I´m so scared of what they will say,” Jisung mumbles, already uncomfortable by only thinking about the possibilities.
“You are overreacting a bit,” Jeno says while looking at the Maknae with soft eyes that try to give him some reassurance.
“Says the one who took forever to take a damn shower. There is no way you aren´t dreading this talk,” Chenle teases and grins when the captain´s glare hits him. “The hell did you even do for that long? There is no way it took you that long to-mph!” The boy doesn´t even manage to end his sentence because the hand of his Hyung is covering his mouth with a force that speaks loud and clear. Shut the fuck up.
Jeno´s glare pierces into the Chinese boy to the point Renjun has to tap his shoulder to get him to stop. “Stop making a drama out of it. We are all men. It´s very obvious what the hell we all did,” he scolds and keeps walking.
Only after waiting and glaring for a few more seconds does the black-haired guy let go of his friend. His eyes still warn him to keep quiet with the comments before he follows the others. Chenle can only exhale in relief and chuckle afterwards, knowing fully well what he was hinting at just now.
As the group reaches the campfire, a voice chimes happily with a teasing undertone, “Ah, there they are. Had fun?” Jungwoo looks at them, a knowing grin plastered on his face as he waits for each of them to take in his words and sit down.
“Hyung, please. Spare us. This is embarrassing enough as it is,” Mark tries to lessen the blow, but the other guys are grinning just as much as they stare them down in this teasing way that couldn´t mean anything good.
“You know, we have to label those discs. Maybe someone needs to watch each and every movie we have so we can filter them by kinks and stuff,” Johnny suggests, enjoying the way all of them start to cringe the more he speaks.
“Why the fuck do we have this kind of thing here to begin with?! This is all your fault!” Hyuck explodes.
“We didn´t know. We got those bags six months ago and had no clue. You did the job for us in finding out what it is,” Jaehyun clarifies with an amused smile.
“What was the mission that led you to that storage room anyway?” Doyoung questions in return.
“We wanted to watch a movie. Nothing more. But not this kind of movie!” Hyuck explains simply. He is still mad about the whole incident and the teasing that they have to endure now.
“Well, in the end, it doesn´t matter. What matters, however, is the fact that we have to fill you guys in on some important facts when it comes to this kind of activity. And I don´t mean watching movies,” Taeyong starts and earns himself a handful of groans.
“Urgh, god no,” Chenle groans and covers his face with both of his hands. “This can´t be happening.”
“But it is. Y´all are of that age now where this shit becomes a topic, and I would rather you wouldn´t embarrass yourselves the moment a girl decides to undress in front of you. We gotta prep you for the real deal,” Johnny counters, his grin audible in his voice.
“Wait, what? The real deal? What are you talking about?” Renjun asks, scandalized, not sure he understood correctly.
“Oh, come on. You are adults. There is no way any of you will stay a virgin until you die of old age,” Jungwoo says.
“When would we even meet any girls? It´s not like we travel with anyone but Linnea, who identifies as one,” Jisung asks with this young innocence that´s fairly adorable.
“Oh, don´t mention my sister, for fucks sake. I don´t want any of you perverts to look at her in that kind of way. She is off limits!” Donghyuck declares and glares at his friends.
“Well, Dawn isn´t that far away. And even though it´s a messy place, there are still many hot women who live there. Same goes for other cities. So if you meet someone when the time comes, and you are down to fuck, you gotta know how you go about it to not make it the worst and most awkward experience to exist,” Johnny answers Jisung´s question and ignores Hyuck´s little declaration.
“Oh god,” Renjun mumbles. The thought about this talk, and the filthy choice of words from his Hyung, makes him feel a little dizzy.
“So let´s start with the basics. Anatomy. I hope y´all know what a dick is because I am not telling you much about that. Focus will be on pussy,” Johnny says and claps his hands together.
“Don´t forget boobs,” Jaehyun adds proudly.
The way the younger ones react to the more vulgar choice of words is the source of entertainment for Jungwoo, Doyoung, and Yuta. But they keep quiet about it, only chuckling to themselves and exchanging knowing looks.
Johnny starts explaining how a vagina is structured and what parts are necessary for pleasure. He emphasizes the importance of pleasure for women in that same small speech, making sure all of them understood that sex isn´t something that´s only enjoyable for men. “So yeah, hitting inside might be the best for you guys, but don´t ever abandon the clit. That little button of pleasure is the key to an orgasm a lot of times.”
Taeyong even whips out an illustration from a book to showcase whatever Johnny is explaining to them, so they have a visual in front of them. Whenever the oldest mentions an important term, he points his finger to the part that fits.
The talk hasn´t even been going on for more than five minutes, yet most of the younger ones sit there, a blush on their cheeks, while they try not to sink into the floor. Jisung covers his face with his hands, only leaving space for his eyes to look in between his fingers. Mark is fidgeting with the hem of his t-shirt. Hyuck is bouncing his leg due to the adrenaline in his body. Jaemin and Jeno stare at their Hyung with the most serious expression ever, while their nerves go crazy on the inside. Chenle bites his bottom lip in hopes of not laughing away the tension that rises inside his body. And Renjun sits there, cheeks hot and red while trying to look serious too, because after all, this is an important topic, all jokes aside.
“Okay, moving on. Hygiene is the most important thing next to consent. Wash your hands, shower, and wash everything. And I mean everything. Infections can happen fast. We don´t want that. And keep in mind, hygiene is attractive. No girl wants a dirty man,” Johnny keeps going. He makes sure to be serious about this because he, in fact, wants them to understand just how important this all is. “Okay, Jaehyun. Consent. Explain it to them,” he then adds, and looks at his friend.
Jaehyun chuckles and looks at the seven boys intently. “Right. Consent. I hope you guys know the meaning of that word. Because, in this world, a real gentleman cares about consent over everything else. Anything that´s not a sure yes is a no. Got that? If you have to convince her to do something, it´s a no. If she is unsure about it, it´s a no. If she says yes at first and changes her mind later? It´s a no. I don´t want any of you to ever make a woman uncomfortable because your dick feels too hard to accept a simple no!”
The boys nod. The concept of consent made sense to all of them. Even without much experience, they would never want anyone to feel uncomfortable because of them. The seriousness that settles on their faces is proof enough of their agreement with the sentiment.
“Alright. Next up, contraception. We all know how babies are made. And I can reassure you that pulling out in time ends with unwanted pregnancy. So always, and I mean this when I say it, always use a damn condom. Any other contraceptives are very hard to get as an Amplified. So this is the only way to keep both you and her safe from pregnancy and illnesses,” Johnny continues. He even takes out a wrapped condom to show it to them.
“This little thing is your life´s savior. You gotta take it out,” he says and demonstrates his words,” pinch the top because the sperm has to go somewhere, right? And then you wrap it around your dick. And don´t come at me with it doesn´t fit. These things will fit.” The moment those words leave his mouth, he makes sure to show them by shoving his whole hand into the condom.
The eyes of each boy grow wide upon seeing their Hyung shove his damn hand into the latex. On one side, they are impressed with the fact that it actually fits so well and still has so much space for moving around. On the other side, they are a bit weirded out by the fact that he just shoves it inside without a second thought. But now, because of the way the conversation progresses, they slowly let go of the embarrassment from earlier and accept the information they are getting.
When Johnny pulls the condom off his hand, Taeyong takes the time to mention another topic. “Since we mentioned pregnancies. Contraception is one thing. But part of what´s necessary for pregnancy is to know the cycle.”
“What cycle?” Chenle interrupts, confused, and lifts one eyebrow.
“Women usually get their period once a month. That period is part of the menstrual cycle. It has 4 phases and lasts roughly 28 days, plus or minus. It´s different for every woman. But what´s important is that in this cycle, the hormones fluctuate,” Doyoung explains. “You have the period, which is the phase of monthly bleeding where the uterus sheds its lining. It can last up to a week, if not longer, for unlucky individuals. It can be painful and involve cramps, so being supportive is always welcomed,” he keeps going, and explains the rest of the phases and the importance of how it can affect chances for pregnancies if one keeps track of the cycle.
“Damn, women have it hard,” Mark remarks after taking in all of the medical information provided by his Hyung.
“And the fact they have to deal with all that while still stuck in camps or a cruel, exploiting world like ours,” Renjun adds, his voice full of respect for them while also dripping with sympathy since it´s already hard enough as it is.
While his friends stay silent or open up about their short thoughts on the topic, Jeno´s gaze wanders to the house he suspects Kun, Linnea, and the others are in. He starts wondering how hard life must have been for Linnea if she has to go through this every month. He also wonders how she manages to deal with this while traveling with them. He has not once noticed any signs that might imply any care of this cycle every woman usually has. Either way, he respects her for holding out so long and partly feels even more guilty about his harsh treatment at the very start.
“Now then. Since the important topics are done, let´s move on to the actual act. Sex. Sounds simple and easy if you know what it is. But there is more to it. First of all, I want you to learn how to flirt at least a little bit if you want to land a fling. Be natural but confident, too. No need to be stiff and awkward. Y´all look good, so you can definitely pull someone. Just don´t embarrass yourselves with weird sayings and the like. Give honest compliments, be charming, play into what they give you if you feel the vibe,” Johnny says, switching to the next topic.
“But don´t overdo it and be weird,” Jungwoo adds, warning them. “Things can go south very fast.” He knows this from experience.
Yuta claps his hands and stands up to take the spotlight. “Foreplay is very important. If you don´t focus on it at least a little bit, there is nothing to go for either of you. She has to be wet for it to feel really good. For her and you. And to get there, you have foreplay,” he starts with a proud grin on his face.
“Kissing, caressing, gentle touches on sensitive areas. There are so many things you can do to get that pussy wet and her in the mood. You just need to find the things that turn her on and then keep going at a good pace with a nice rhythm that´s not too much or too little. It´s as simple as that,” Yuta explains. “It doesn´t have to be long, but it can also be fun if you take your time. It´s up to preference, but don´t skip that part unless she already is wet as fuck and really wants you to get to it right away.”
“Exactly. You can also use foreplay for prep. Not every girl will be able to take that cock fully right away. You gotta stretch her out and let her adjust to your size. The best way to do that is by fingering her at least a little,” Johnny supports and adds the next topic. “Okay, if you´ve done it every day for the past week, chances are there is no real need for prep. But if it´s the first time, this can save the experience. Pussies are individual. Some girls will take you more easily than others.”
“But yeah, to prep her, you can finger her. You simply, gently insert a finger and explore. Gotta watch for any reaction you get because it will tell you a lot. What she likes, dislikes, and so on. If it gets wetter, you are definitely doing something right,” He speaks as if he is talking about the morning news, demonstrating certain motions to do with the fingers, and keeps explaining how fingering can go and look like.
The whole talk about women getting wet, fingering them, and making them feel good immediately lets that red heat reappear on each of the younger ones´ faces. They can´t help but imagine what their Hyungs are saying in their heads. The visual certainly doesn´t help any of them stay calm. And while each of them may not have a defined image of a woman in their mind, Jeno definitely struggles to keep Linnea´s face out of his head. It´s so hard for him to keep his mind decent; his knuckles turn white once again today, due to the force of his fingers pressing into his palms.
“So listen. There are two main ways to get a woman to orgasm. Okay, maybe three if we count fingering. But you can either go oral and use your mouth on her, or you can penetrate, and hit one damn good rhythm, it makes her scream your name,” Johnny goes on, ignoring the bushing messes in front of him.
“You are forgetting about all those other ways to get a woman to cum. Clit stim, dry humping, toys-” Jungwoo interrupts but doesn´t get to finish.
“I said the main ways. Obviously, there are hundreds of ways to get her off. Let´s stay with the basics here, okay? It´s not my part to get creative for them once they know how it´s done,” Johnny sassily retorts before he returns his gaze to the crowd in front of him. “So for oral, you gotta use your tongue. You can lick, swirl, whatever comes to mind, test it out. Don´t ignore the clit. But really, just test things out. You can suck on it, or go in with your tongue. It´s all so different for everyone. So simply focus on the response you get, and hey, if she tells you what she wants and likes, listen. Do exactly that. No need to switch up anything,” he keeps his speech going.
“Same for penetration. Set a rhythm, maybe switch it up a few times. But if you get her close, and she likes what you are doing, you gotta continue. No switching that up right before because you think it will be better. Her body already tells you everything you need to know. So if she responds well to your actions, you have to keep doing them,” He says.
“While we are on the topic of penetration. If she´s not used to you, you have to be careful at the first dip. It can hurt, so go slowly and wait for her to give you the go-ahead to continue. Give her a few minutes to breathe and adjust. Especially if she´s really tight,” Jaehyun adds, emphasizing the importance of patience.
The Hyungs keep talking about many ways to fuck well. How to move hips and find the right rhythm, what to look for, and so on. Jungwoo even mentions a few positions that do wonders and change depth, and reach a lot. In the meantime, Yuta is sure that at least one of the younger ones has a hard-on again. But he gets it. They all start somewhere.
“Right, don´t skip communication either. But yeah. Now, the last important thing. Aftercare.” Johnny does a hand motion to emphasize the word. “Aftercare is very important and not to be skipped. People can experience a low after a high. Besides cleaning up and cuddling, you gotta make sure that you two feel comfortable. Have a nice talk, take care of each other, and do loving things. Whatever it is that fits the mood. Just don´t ignore them and make them feel bad for anything.”
The silence after his last few sentences is loud. Taeyong claps, praising his friend’s expertise and patience in telling them all of this. Yuta, Jungwoo, and Jaehyun look at the younger ones, though, and start chuckling to themselves. Their expressions are heavenly. The biggest amusement that evening.
“I think you fried their brains,” Doyoung remarks, fairly seriously.
“Doesn´t matter. I need you to remember every word I said. You will fail miserably if you do any of this wrong,” Johnny says, a little overly dramatic.
“Don´t say it like that,” Doyoung scolds, however. “Listen, since none of you has experience in that department. Let me say this: Being nervous and cautious is okay. It´s a process of learning each other. So don´t worry about anything. Even if you don’t last long. That´s normal. Especially at the start.”
“Yeah, there is no way any of them will last long once that dick dips in. I bet you, one of them will cum the second they are fully inside,” Jungwoo jokes with Jaehyun.
“I will give you a tip to keep that from happening: Imagine something totally unrelated to sex. It can stall the release a bit,” Jaehyun recommends and earns a glare from Doyoung.
“Or you can just be honest and tell her you are about to burst because it feels that good. There is no shame in that. We just established other ways to make a woman come even if you are the first and can´t bring her to an orgasm first,” he says, fairly seriously.
The Hyungs keep arguing a bit more. But while they do, Taeyong tells the younger ones that they are free to go. So without wasting much time and needing to process everything, they get up one after the other, say good night, and leave for their rooms. On their way, they notice how dark it has gotten. Renjun even notices the lights that are off in the other hut, so he assumes the others have gone to bed already.
“I am serious when I say this, but I think I need another shower,” Chenle reveals without a care in the world. Jisung, almost choking on his own spit, thinks the boy seriously has no shame in this world. It´s impressive but scary at the same time.
“Fuck, I´m so tired. That was information overload,” Jaemin groans and stretches.
“Let´s go to bed then,” Jeno comments and starts walking to his room with his best friend.
“Wet dreams, y´all,” Chenle says before taking off to his own room. His comments make the rest stop in their tracks for a second, before they keep going.
“That guy, Karma will get him one day, I am sure of it,” Donghyuck curses.
Without much more to say, the boys divide and leave to get some rest, as they said. So with the distant laughter from the Hyungs and the moonlight illuminating their short paths to bed, the night goes on, and seven boys fall asleep, much smarter about intimacy than before. All because they wanted to watch a movie.
Another Eden chapter is gonna drop in the next 24h
Moots get over here
make a frend!! ☆☆ creds kor3ku (tt) please stop tracing this and turning it into your own picrew. draw your own originally, edit the image
@sam-yow @anomymous2 @zaustavitezemlju @ziggy-stardust-is-in-love @rainystarssx @teaboot @urmumsfan @ingydarz @iamgoldteeth @onlygirlaliveinnyc @omnipotentnothing @peachpitter @deaddogmotif @drybonesinamericantowns @dessycanwait @gloomymelody @hippie4l @happylian @jasperthenewt @kris29301 @led-the-bastard @maraudersmaketea @melhks @cigarettes-after-s @chameleonsd1sh @veilandvapour @velvetwrappedashes @baffledbirdbandit @northwxrds @noelsbf @noelsbambii @4damhatesyou @17yearoldghost @snoopingbeesting @stargazinghorror @frogzilla3983 @prettyboyaz @mackonfire @raskoln1kovsaxe @ameliascreampuffs
+ anyone i forgot SORRY
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This is SO cute I love 3d art
@hueysamo @anjalfc @the-jovial-jester @qatarsprint2023 @hmxoxomadferit
everyone is welcome 💝
AWWW THANKS FOR THE TAG QUEEN THIS IS SO CUTE
@okaycuteness 💋💋 @natoncd @adrenalineangle02 @caff1end @ainthebyline @hueysamo @definit3lymayb3 💋💋 @aceofspadeszszs ❤️ @igotherautcgraph @softiecakesy @tracedfingertips @softgirlnovels @brxwneyes1 @overcaffinatedmiri @satinwisp @miugato 💋 @l1vvypoo @akechidaskechi ❤️ @depeachy @kaihasmoreswagthanyou3 @noelgallagh3r ❤️ @witchh09 @vermelho-sangue @britpopgirly💋 @disastrouschoices @ciclicos @z-ko @ainthebyline @adoringyouhxney @starshapedoasis @foryourgreen ♡ @priestessbetty @invisiblegirl211 @blursbeetlebum @i-actually-hate-everthing @ghostinyourhome @hernamewasavaline ♡ @jellyfish-enthousiast @oneofmanyisas @sally2033 @annamationartist99 @urfavvsel @hercindoll @rebelatnight @notakeyring @ju5tl1k34w0m4n @velveteenswan @ladyrindt ♡ @axeedoll @chemicalword @cryingliam @sidviciousssidk
YAAYYY IVE BEEN TAGGED!!!! my cat Picrew is kinda based of me and britpop fashion :D
@toastchoo @nroha @ruthlessrogeroverhere @vexinghearts @soggybread77 @tracyjacks @moronnnnn @lord-of-bad-art @league-of-viktorians
@xd3ardiaryxx @vio-demon @pickledkittycat @keely-456 @manicallyydepressedpsychopath @moonlit-moss-blanket @jinxsmandalorianmalewife @star-girl34 @the-ivoryyx @r3d-h4ir3d-r4gd0ll-333 @little-bean-dude @supercutsceo @percabethmatters @seaweedbrain12 @thexie-and-stars @abductedhiko @shattered-starry-pages @mmira-d @number1wifemisser @larattey+ tags open <3
Thank you for the tag @aceofspadeszszs sorry that I did this months later/srs
@league-of-viktoriansthank u for the tag yippie<3
@st4rry-l4vender-sk1es and @ongangstashit plsplsplsdothisaaaaaaaaa
(i would give away my hard earned money i.e chocolates to mireya if @ongangstashit actually replies)
YOU BETTER NOT GO BACK ON YOUR WORD :D
npt @localburntoutkid @dearest-aceofhearts @written-by-music @whoslug @bambii-bin @catinabin @momhwa1117 @xngelsthesis @lunardew22 @coathanger-for-pasta @kinda-wanna-kiss-your-gf @your-average-toast-enjoyer @just-a-silly-jellyfish @felix-going-insane @sheilakijawaanii @the-desi-barbie @kalejachashniaurbhejafullfry @sunkissed-melodies @peapea-0405 @blackcherriestxox @cceanvvaves @coconhovr
OMGG STAWP THIS IS SO CUTTTEEE THENKK UU FOR THE TAGG
here's mine hehehhe
tagging tagging: @tunguszka20 @moonlightunderthehaze @one-selective-bitch @dokjas-lostselfpreservation @oh-no-nana @tehmam @rikisfein @yoshit-he-dinosaur @amajudgymama @suno8sxki @gilnge @violetvelvette @vixenvispers @hellincarnation @lila-77 @shimmerytimbers @spideyuyu2 @just-a-silly-jellyfish @jellyfishsurvivor @itzursafespace @darjeelinglemontea @siobhanbooks @vivaciousmessypixie @luckiest-angel-around @gudbud @ikkkudi @mujhekyamaitosojaaungi @ashombie @ilovetwinkshehe
The glasses make it look like a mustache lmao
@leejenoenthusiast @dibidibidismynameisleeknow @spacejip
AAAWE THANK YOU FOR THE TAG :3 btw that’s such an accurate cat to represent you 🥹 !! link
pls yeorobun tag me in more of these, i miss them so much
tags: @ohmytyong @pjsteroid @nanaxwii @meylovesmusic @bamjjwi @cinneorolls @lelezip @jae10velies @antoncore @daeyoungism + anyone who wants to join!!
VICKY OMG THIS IS SO CUTE TY FOR TAGGING ME !!! :33 i haven’t done one of these in agesssss oml 🙈 link!
me bc it is #cold in aus atm
🏷️ @bridgertonletsgo @82sim @remtrack @withlovemark @jjvngv @daeyoungism @csilla-star @polarisjisung @caramiuu @skyefiles @lyvhie + anyone who wants to join!
♥️ the way i did this but forgot to post it >.< || thank u for the tag, gem! this was sooo cute <3
link!
tagging: @reallybigproblem @yujisabs @nesryn @neogotmycookie @sincerelyneo @lovelacedty @peonyjoo @lovesuhng + anyone else who wants to do it!
Thanks for tagging me 🫶
Now idk who else to tag, bc I don't know anyone else besides C 😅
Anyway, here is mine
Whoever wants to do it, go ahead and tag me so I can see it ♥
Have fun link!
Y'all I've finally found a psychiatrist and am back on meds.
Let's hope they fix my focus so I can manage to write more again 🙏
“girl talk”
word count: 3k+ | genre: fluff, smut | featured couple: 🐾🐰
synopsis: girl talk with jeno except he loves how cute you are so much that he can't help but sabotage it.
→ takes place during loverboy hendery's — call me
jeno hums in quiet amusement, leaning back in his computer chair, one arm hooked loosely around your waist while the other rests against the armrest.
his game sits forgotten on the screen, abandoned the second you climbed onto his lap.
you’re straddling him, knees on either side of his thighs, leaning forward slightly as you talk, completely unaware of how close you are. his gaze fixed entirely on you.
“jeno, you have nooo idea,” you whisper dramatically, leaning in like you’re about to reveal classified information.
his eyebrows lift immediately, playing along without hesitation.
“should i be worried?”
“no,” you say quickly, shaking your head before lowering your voice again, more serious now, “but honey told me something today.”
and here it is.
he’ll never admit it out loud.
but he loves girl talk with you.
not necessarily for the stories — though those can be entertaining too — half the time he barely knows who the people you’re talking about even are. the names blur together sometimes.
but…the way your eyes light up when you tell them?
that part he never misses.
jeno hums again, softer this time, his hand sliding absentmindedly along your back before settling at your waist, fingers resting there like they’ve memorized the shape of you.
“honey? that’s xiaojun’s girl, right?” he murmurs, piecing it together just enough.
you nod immediately, serious, like this is important.
“okay so apparently — and don’t! tell anyone because this is a top tier secret—” you pause, letting the suspense build, leaning even closer without realizing it, “—the leader of the pinks sorority,” your voice drops, “…and hendery.”
jeno’s head tilts slightly at the mention of his friend, “hendery? like wayv frat leader hendery?”
“yes,” you whisper urgently, eyes wide.
his mouth pulls into a quiet grin, clearly amused — not at the story, but at how invested you are.
“okayy,” he says slowly, dragging it out just a little, “continue.”
you lean in even closer, practically conspiratorial now, your hands coming up to rest on his shoulders without thinking.
“they’ve been secretly hooking up since sophomore year.”
jeno blinks, a bit of shock actually plastered on his face, “what?”
“crazy, right!” you gasp, hands lifting for emphasis before settling back on him, your energy spilling over into every movement.
jeno lets out a quiet breath of a laugh, shaking his head as he leans back slightly, the chair creaking under the shift.
“aren’t their houses like… rivals or something?”
you point at him instantly, eyes lighting up, “i know! that’s exactly what i said!”
he watches you for a moment. the way you lean forward every time you make a point, like the story pulls you closer. the way your lips move too fast for your thoughts, like you’re trying to get everything out at once before you forget.
his hand squeezes just slightly at your waist, grounding, steady.
“and nobody knew this?” he asks, quieter now, still playing along, still following, even if his focus is slipping back to you.
“apparently not,” you say, eyes wide, completely invested, “honey said they’ve been sneaking around for years. like secret meetups, late night stuff, the whole thing.”
jeno lets out a low whistle, head tipping back against the chair for a second before his gaze finds you again, “that’s kinda impressive.”
you stare at him, “jeno.”
“i’m just saying,” he laughs, lifting one hand in mock defense while the other stays right where it is on your waist, keeping you close without even thinking about it, “keeping a secret that long on a campus like this?” he shakes his head, amused, “that takes skill.”
you roll your eyes, but you’re smiling.
and jeno…he’s just focused on you.
because the truth is, he’s only half following the story now. the other half of his attention is on the way your eyes shine when you’re excited, the warmth of you sitting comfortably in his lap like it’s the most natural place in the world. like you belong there.
his thumb traces slow, lazy circles at your waist.
“so what else did she say?” he asks quietly, voice softer now, like he’s easing you right back into it.
your eyes light up immediately again, “okay wait…it gets juicier.”
jeno’s grin spreads, fond and a little amused, “oh, does it?”
you nod enthusiastically, already leaning in again — and he lets himself sink a little deeper into the chair, arms tightening loosely around you like he’s settling in, like he’s not going anywhere.
and he doesn’t want to.
because he could sit here all night listening to you ramble about campus gossip if it meant you stayed exactly where you are — straddling his lap, smiling like this, looking at him like he’s the only person you want to tell your secrets to.
“so apparently,” you continue, fully pulled back into the story now, your hands resting on his shoulders, fingers curling slightly into his shirt, “hendery is like… actually in love with her.”
jeno’s brows lift, playing along, “in love?”
“yes,” you say emphatically, “he’s been obsessed with her since sophomore year. apparently all the boys in wayv house know it too.”
jeno lets out a quiet hum, his hand resting comfortably at your waist, “that’s rough.”
“exactly,” you say, nodding rapidly, “because the problem is she refuses to commit.”
jeno tilts his head slightly, eyes still on you, “refuses?”
“yeah,” you sigh dramatically. “like they’ve been secretly hooking up for years but every time he tries to make it official she shuts it down.”
jeno’s mouth twitches, a quiet hint of a smile, “poor guy.”
“right?” you lean forward again, more animated now, pulled deeper into it, “honey said he literally tried to ask her to define the relationship and she told him—”
you stop.
just for half a second. because you feel something warm brush your skin. jeno’s lips. soft. barely there. against your collarbone.
you blink, momentarily thrown off — your words catching for just a beat before you push through it anyway.
“—she told him she didn’t want their houses involved in drama and—”
another kiss.
just as soft. just as distracting.
jeno hums quietly against your skin like he’s still listening, like nothing’s changed, his thumb still tracing slow circles at your waist.
you narrow your eyes slightly, glancing down at him.
“…jeno.”
his lips pause for a second, lingering just above your skin, but his hands don’t move from your waist — if anything, they tighten just a little, like he doesn’t want you shifting away.
“hmm?” he murmurs, voice low, innocent in a way that’s definitely not convincing.
“are you paying attention?”
“mhm,” he answers easily, lips brushing your collarbone again, soft and absentminded, like he’s doing it without thinking, “i am.”
you squint at him, clearly unconvinced, but you push forward anyway.
“anyway,” you continue, trying to gather your thoughts again, “so he’s been waiting for her to change her mind this whole time.”
jeno presses another kiss just below the first, slower this time, like he’s lingering on purpose.
“that’s dedication,” he murmurs against your skin.
your sentence stumbles into a warning, “…jeno.”
“what?” he asks, tone light, but his lips are still hovering there, barely pulling away.
you inhale quietly, trying to refocus.
“as i was saying,” you continue, stubborn now, determined to get through it, “honey said the boys think she keeps him around because she likes him but she doesn’t want the responsibility of actually dating him.”
jeno hums in response, drawing you in closer without asking. another kiss. this one slower. warmer. you inhale a little sharper this time before forcing yourself to keep going.
“and apparently he still drives her home every time they meet up and—”
kiss.
“jeno.”
“yeah?” he replies softly.
you try to glare at him but it’s difficult when he looks so relaxed, so completely at ease — chin dipped slightly, eyes half-lidded as he presses another gentle kiss along your collarbone like he has all the time in the world. completely innocent. and completely distracting.
“you’re ruining our girl talk.”
jeno smiles faintly against your skin, the corner of his lips brushing you, “am i?”
“yes,” you say, firmer this time, even if your voice wavers just a little.
he finally pulls back, just enough to look up at you, expression calm, unreadable — but there’s something playful sitting right behind his eyes.
he knows exactly what he’s doing.
“finish the story,” he says, like nothing happened, thumb still tracing slow circles at your waist, grounding, steady. “i’m listening.”
you stare at him for a second, trying to decide if you believe that. then you sigh dramatically.
“ok so,” you continue, though your voice is a little less steady now, “so honey thinks hendery is eventually going to snap and demand she either commits or—”
your words falter.
because jeno’s not even pretending anymore. his gaze flickers from your eyes to your lips for just a second, then back up again — slow, deliberate, like he’s weighing something. like he’s deciding. his hand shifts slightly at your waist, thumb pressing a little more firmly this time.
“or…what?” he asks quietly, a teasing glint in his eye.
he doesn’t sound all that interested in hendery anymore. and it’s getting harder to focus on words when his lips brush your skin like that.
screw the girl talk.
you lean in, capturing his lips with yours, with absolutely no warning. jeno’s eyes widen for a split second in surprise, then flutter shut as he responds eagerly, his mouth parting to deepen the kiss, tongue slipping past your lips.
“bunny,” he chuckles against your lips, the sound vibrating through you as his hands grips your hip, pulling you flush against him.
“—or what?” he teases, again.
“it can wait,” you say breathlessly, your fingers threading through his soft hair to tug him back in.
his lips meets yours again, soft at first, but the heat builds quickly as you sink deeper into it.
he parts from the kiss for a second, fingers gently reaching up, careful and tender, hooking the arms of your glasses and sliding them off your face, setting them aside on the desk. his touch lingers on your cheek for a moment before returning to pull you closer, tilting his head and connecting your mouths fully, tongue sliding in, slow, exploratory, tasting you with languid strokes that curl against yours.
his hands roam slowly up your sides, fingers tracing the hem of your t-shirt before slipping beneath it to graze your bare skin. his touch igniting sparks.
you follow his lead, the rhythm he’s set unhurried but intense. the kiss turns wet and thorough, saliva mixing as he sucks gently on your tongue, drawing a soft moan from your throat.
“mmm,” he hums into your mouth, breaking only for air, nipping at your lower lip, then diving back in.
your fingers curl into his hair, pulling him even closer as you tilt your head to give him better access, the kiss turning sloppy, tongues sliding insistently.
the chair creaks faintly as you shift your hips, grinding down against the growing bulge in his sweats. his thick cock hardening beneath you, pressing up through the layers — your leggings and his sweats creating just enough friction to make your pussy throb.
jeno groans low, the sound muffled against your lips and he bucks up lazily, matching your roll with a deliberate thrust.
you pull back a fraction, panting, your lips glistening from the thorough attention.
“this better be worth ruining girl talk,” you tease, voice breathy.
his eyes are dark, hooded with desire, but a playful smirk tugs at his swollen lips.
“oh, it will be,” he murmurs, capturing your lips once more in a slow, sucking kiss that leaves you dizzy.
one hand slides down to your ass, squeezing, guiding your movements, urging you to hump against him harder.
the dry friction builds heat fast — his dick grinding right against your clit with each pass, your wetness soaking into your panties.
you rock steadily now, the pace still teasing, playful pushes and pulls that have him breathing raggedly into the kiss. his tongue laps at yours in mirroring slowness, hot and wet, while his free hand cups your neck, thumb stroking your jaw to keep you locked in the makeout.
every grind sends jolts of pleasure through you, his cock so rigid it outlines perfectly against your pussy.
“fuck,” he whispers, parting from your lips and trailing kisses down your jaw, nipping at the sensitive skin there, “want more of you,” he murmurs against your neck, voice rough and low.
his fingers hook into the waistband of your leggings, tugging them down quickly. you lift your ass slightly to help, the fabric peeling away from your skin, exposing the damp spot on your panties where your arousal has already soaked through.
he slides the leggings off your legs completely, letting them pool on the floor. the air feels cool against your heated skin but jeno’s warmth presses right back in as he pulls you flush against him again.
his hands immediately return to your ass, palms cupping the full cheeks, squeezing hard enough to make you gasp. his grip is firm, possessive, thumbs pressing into the crease where your thighs meet your ass, spreading you open just a bit as he guides your hips down to his clothed bulge.
you grind against him immediately, the friction now more direct, your panty covered pussy rubbing along the length of his cock through his sweats. he’s so hard. the outline thick and throbbing. you’re so wet. the fabric of your panties growing slicker, you can feel it leaking out — dampening his sweats, leaving a visible wet patch on the grey material.
jeno’s gaze drops, fixated on the sight of you grinding slowly on his lap. he can’t look away, eyes glued to the way your soaked panties cling to your folds, the dark stain spreading wider as you bounce a little faster.
“shit,” he breathes out, voice strained, one hand sliding up to grip your hip tighter, urging you to keep that rhythm.
you moan in response, the direct pressure on your clit sending sparks up your spine, making your thighs tremble as you grind down harder.
“neno,” you whimper, nails scraping over his shoulders through his t-shirt, your body arching into the friction, your pussy throbbing, clenching at the tease of his hardness so close yet not inside.
“you’re killing me, bunny,” he groans deep in his throat, fingers digging deeper into your ass, spreading you wider so your clit catches perfectly on his tip with each bounce.
his breaths come ragged, chest heaving, and you feel him twitch violently beneath you, the heat of his arousal seeping through.
the sight of him so entranced, eyes dark and hooded, lips parted as he watches your body work him over — it pushes you further. you let out a breathy moan, picking up the pace just a touch, bouncing with more intent, your panties so drenched they slide slickly against his sweats.
“feels so good,” you gasp, head falling forward to rest against his shoulder for a moment, but you don’t stop, hips rolling in tight circles. your core tightens, pleasure coiling hot and insistent, but jeno’s reactions hit you harder — his grip bruising your ass, pulling you down forcefully now, like he’s chasing something urgent.
“fuck—can’t... hold it,” he grunts suddenly. his cock jerks hard against you, and then he’s cumming, hot spurts soaking into his sweats as his hips buck up uncontrollably — head thrown back against the chair, lips parted in a silent groan that turns into a low, guttural moan. his face twists in ecstasy, eyebrows furrowed, cheeks flushed, completely fucked out and lost in it.
the wet warmth spreads under you, mixing with your own slickness, making the friction even messier as you keep moving through his release.
you smirk down at him, satisfied, slowing your bounces to a teasing grind, savoring the vision of jeno unraveling beneath you — his chest rising and falling harshly, a sheen of sweat on his neck, that dazed look in his eyes as he finally blinks up at you.
“have i ever told you how pretty you look like that?” you say, pulling a low chuckle from his chest.
“you’re prettier,” he murmurs, voice thick and gravelly, one hand sliding from your ass up to your lower back, holding you steady as the other dips between your bodies, and into your soaked panties.
his thumb presses directly against your clit, starting a slow, firm rub that tightens that coil in your stomach again.
“oh god, jeno,” you gasp, the direct pressure igniting every nerve, your hips snapping forward on instinct.
you cling to him tighter, arms wrapping around his neck, fingers threading into his hair as you bury your face against his shoulder as you grind down desperately, rolling your hips in urgent, needy circles, chasing that building fire while his thumb continues circling your swollen nub.
you can’t hold back, the moans spilling from your lips right by his ear — soft, breathless whimpers.
his favorite sounds. right next to you yapping his ear off.
your pussy clenches around nothing, thighs trembling as you hump against him faster, the chair groaning under the frantic pace.
“yes, right there,” you plead, voice breaking into a whine, nails scraping lightly at his scalp as your hips buck wildly.
he doesn’t let up, thumb flicking side to side now, then rubbing broad and fast, his free arm tightening around your waist to keep you pinned close, absorbing every desperate roll of your body.
“you’re gonna soak me, aren’t you?,” he growls low, breath hot against your skin.
you nod frantically, moans spilling hot and ragged against his neck, until you break with a breathless whine, body seizing as your orgasm rips through you, pussy pulsing wildly, gushing wetness over his hand, clinging to him as he holds you steady.
your body hums with the aftershocks, chest heaving as you slump against jeno's shoulder, the world fuzzy around the edges from that shattering release. he doesn't rush you, just wraps both arms around your body, tracing gentle, soothing circles along your spine beneath the rumpled t-shirt.
you feel his lips brush feather-light kisses against the exposed skin of your neck, then your collarbone, warm and tender pecks that make your eyelids flutter in contentment.
minutes slip by like that, your breaths syncing up as the haze clears, his steady heartbeat thumping under your cheek.
finally, you push yourself up a little, propping on his chest, the sticky evidence of your combined messes cooling between you.
jeno's eyes meet yours, a teasing glint sparking in them as he tilts his head, voice low and playful.
“so…you were saying? what does honey think hendery is gonna do?”
you blink at him, the post-orgasm glow fading into a sudden wave of annoyance.
your cheeks heat — not from arousal this time, but from the sheer audacity of him circling back to that gossip like nothing happened.
glaring at him, you huff, crossing your arms over your chest.
“ugh, see—this is why i prefer girls’ talk with the girls,” you pout, lips pursing in exaggerated frustration, “you’re too distracting.”
that earns a wide, amused grin from him, his hands sliding down to grip under your thighs, fingers digging into the soft flesh there.
“let me distract you some more,” he teases, voice husky with renewed intent, before he lifts you effortlessly off his lap.
a surprised squeal escapes your lips as he stands, your legs wrapping instinctively around his waist.
he carries you the short distance to his bed and drops you onto the rumpled sheets with a playful bounce, hovering over you immediately, bracing on his forearms to cage you in, his body heat enveloping you.
“and you wonder why no boys are allowed in girl talk,” you joke, reaching up to trace a finger along his jaw, your voice light but laced with challenge.
both of you are smiling now, breaths mingling in the close space, the air thick with that easy, flirtatious energy before his lips press onto yours again
🐰
an: i finished this earlier when i thought was doing okay. i unfortunately am so so sad again so this is probably my last fic for a while. i will try to get orgasm donor johnny out before april ends but i’m gonna be honest chiefs, writing smut is really hard rn 😔💔😣anyways, i hope the loverboys and lovergirls are able to cheer everyone up a bit! ♥️ captain jeno is back with his freaky ass panty kink in this one heheheh
btw if you want a specific scenario with a specific couple, you can always leave the idea in my ask box! (i can’t promise i’ll write it, but if the idea really speaks to me, i might)
love tags: @dearlyminhyung @hyuckluvr-com @fancypeacepersona @chvngminz @hyunkaluv @iluvgnabnahc @n-jules @haesunlover2 @nottkwiwin @alexameliamg @ihatefrvits @amazinggraxia @karleereadssmut @drunkhee @bamjjwi @mahae @ncityswrid @jaeminiwrld @httpsxnox @blubb0 @pocketyoun @multifandomania @mey-archive @zuzu-the-simp @markiepoo4eva @jungwooie @kkyeoji @withapairofwings @cookydream @meowieshibal @remgeolli @yutasputa @kyungsooislifeu @dior-15 @hyucksnctzen @bridgertonletsgo @leleszn @hijjjjku7 9999 @afterhvours @mangoescrazy @vantxx95 @nctubatu
TAGLIST: CLOSED.
My favorite couple 💕
Member profiles for WayV and Nct127 will drop with the next chapter.
I'm sorry the WayV one is so late, but I didnt wanna post it without all of them being completely mentioned in the story.
There will be updated versions to the Dream one in a few chapters too, and then again the WayV one 🙈
I'm sorry if the profiles are confusing a bit, but the new arc brings a change of appearance with it so I felt it was a fun thing to do.
As you've noticed there is no specific fixed era from the units. It's just all the hairs I like on the the most. Ooop 🙈🙈
chapter twenty:
practice makes perfect
summary: Getting to know the seniors of the group is a fun thing to do. Especially when Linnea even gets to practice with them.
warnings: light swearing, physical fights, showcasing of possible torture (in the sense of: they experience severe pain)
wordcount: ~10.1k
author's note: I´m so sorry it took me so long to simply proofread this chapter. I wanted to upload more often, but life keeps me busy as hell, and it bothers me. I´m afraid this year will slow down my pace a lot more. I´m trying to write as much as possible in my free time, but I also kind of wanna write two more one shots, too. And yeah, finding the time is hard when you have 50 hobbies going on at the same time, plus work. It really sucks. But what can I do? I´m trying my best. Anyway, I hope you guys like the chapter. Likes, reblogs, and comments are all appreciated. Let´s hope the next chapter doesn´t take me as long.
taglist: @multifandomania, @blxberry01
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Evening arrives, and the sun only emits a faint sunset glow in the sky as the dark slowly takes over. The trees sway in a gentle breeze that cools down the early summer air only slightly. In the middle of the houses, a grassy plaza is lit by a campfire that illuminates the space around it with a warm, flickering flame.
On a log near the fire sits Yuta. His hand is outstretched towards the embers and burning logs to fuel the flames. Next to him sits another boy. He peacefully sips on a glass of water while enjoying the little spectacle his friend creates.
“You really are a walking lighter. It’s so practical,” he says, not sparing his friend a glance.
Yuta, on the other hand, gives him a glance with a raised eyebrow. The comment ain’t new, but hearing it for the tenth time is just annoying. “Jungwoo, you can stop saying the same thing over and over. I got it the first time.” A chuckle leaves his mouth after his words.
“It just comes to mind again and again,” Jungwoo comments. There is a small pause, then he continues. “What do you think of the new guys?”
This earns him Yuta’s full attention. There are quite a lot of newcomers. They already knew Mark’s subgroup well, even if they didn’t see them that often. But another handful of people isn’t always easy to take care of.
“I don’t know. So far, they seem normal. Like us. And if there was any danger coming from them, I’m sure Taeyong-Hyung would have already said or done something,” he says, calmly continuing his play with the flames until he is satisfied by the size of the fire.
“Are you two gossiping about the newbies?” a third voice suddenly sounds behind them. Their heads turn around to look at the all too familiar figure. Then they chuckle.
“It’s not gossip. Yet,” Jungwoo answers and crosses his arms. He is grinning from ear to ear because of the teasing tone of his Hyung. “Wanna join in on the likely soon-to-be gossip?” he then asks.
“Sure.” With that, the tall guy sits down next to them. His face is dripping with bits of sweat from the basketball session with Chenle and Jaehyun, so he uses his t-shirt to wipe them away. “Any first impressions?”
“I am surprised Hyuckie found his sister. I thought she was dead,” Yuta starts, finally retracting his arm.
“We all did. But I guess surprises can happen,” Johnny says, leaning his elbows on his knees.
“Why was she so wary of us?” Jungwoo asks, not directing his gaze at anyone in particular.
“I mean, if we look at it from her perspective, who would enjoy arriving at a den full of lions. As the only girl, I would also be careful. Besides, she probably has to assume we are all strong,” Johnny explains his thoughts.
“Makes sense,” Jungwoo mumbles.
Then a thudding sound is audible. And moments later, Chenle and Jaehyun join the three by the campfire, basketball in hand.
“What’s the gossip about? I wanna join,” Chenle declares and sits down on one of the thick logs to listen in on their conversation. Jaehyun laughs at his enthusiasm and sits down next to Yuta.
“Why is everyone so into gossip?” Yuta wonders more to himself than asking any of the guys surrounding the campfire.
“It’s fun to know random things about other people,” Chenle explains with a grin. “I can tell you lots of stories from our past weeks and months of traveling. I just need to watch out because someone might try to murder me for it.”
“What? Who?” another voice chimes in, grabbing everyone’s attention. Doyoung is only a few meters away from them. Jeno and Jaemin are following right behind.
“I think he knows it himself,” Chenle says and looks at Jeno with a teasing look. The black-haired captain returns it with a deadly frown.
“Nah, Chenle better just mind his business if he wants to sleep in a warm and cozy bed tonight,” Jaemin answers and sits down next to the Chinese boy, ruffling his hair with more force than necessary. Doyoung and Jeno sit down, too. The latter giving his friend a thankful look.
“Damn, I am so curious to hear whatever it is that has y’all so defensive,” Johnny chuckles, ready to be in on the secrets.
“It’s nothing. He is just being dramatic,” Jeno says, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. None of them needed to know his change in attitude towards Linnea. The way he started on a high base of mistrust, only to become so normal with her.
“If you say so,” Johnny teases, smirking. He can already sense the way he is hiding something.
“What has all of you in such a great mood?” Mark then asks out of nowhere. Behind him, the rest of the missing people are following, ready to sit down. In the far back, Hyuck is holding Linnea’s hand for support.
“Oh, we are just teasing some people,” Chenle says, still grinning.
“Well, how about you continue this later so we can do a short introduction round?” Mark suggests. This quiets down the group that’s already sitting while the rest sit down on the free spaces around the campfire. Taeyong is the last to join, gaining everyone’s attention.
“It’s great to get to know all of you. Let me start by introducing myself. I’m Taeyong, the leader of the group. I am welcoming you with open arms since we need every help we can get,” he starts friendly. And after he starts his little speech, everyone else introduces themselves as well.
It’s half an hour that passes until the last person is done saying their name and age, and a few interesting facts.
“So who do you wanna room with Linnea? You are the only girl here, so you get to choose, obviously,” Doyoung asks and looks at her.
The others stare at her as well, only having caught glimpses of her here and there because the girl is uncharacteristically quiet. She swallows before she answers the older boy. “I’m fine with staying with Haechan. Renjun asked me earlier, too, so I don’t mind him either. I saw you guys only have 1 to 3-person rooms. And I don’t wanna stay alone,” she says, her voice a little fragile and shy.
“Sounds like a plan then. Everyone else will figure something out. You don’t need us to assign you any rooms, right?” Taeyong asks and looks around. The boys who arrived today nod. The others already have a room, so they don’t need to arrange anything.
“Haechan. What a name,” Jaehyun repeats once Taeyong is done with the important first conversation topics. “Didn´t know that was your name.”
“Don´t try to tease me about it. My sister and I had to use fake names our whole childhood, and that one´s mine,” Hyuck explains before anyone can say anything about it. “By the way, none of you get to call me that. It´s Linnea´s privilege only,” he adds, giving them a serious look.
“Damn, no need to get so defensive,” Johnny says, noticing the seriousness. “What´s her fake name, then? We don´t know much about your family, so care to spill the beans?”
Donghyuck sighs in fake annoyance. “Fine. It´s Byul. Simple as that. I came up with that after she went on a parade about how my personality fits that of the sun. But not just the sun. The full sun. So I had to come up with something that complemented it,” he explains casually.
“And a star was a good fit. Since the sun is also a star in the galaxy,” Linnea adds to end the explanation of their nickname origins. “I have to say, it feels odd using the name sometimes, since I got to know you as Hyuck now. But I try to use it from time to time to keep the memories connected.” A smile forms on her face as she thinks of old and new memories alike.
“That´s cute. Really. Didn´t expect our menace of a Maknae to be this creative with names,” Jaehyun says and smiles, kind of glad that the girl feels like she can talk at least a little bit about herself.
“Wait, but I thought Jisung is the youngest? Why are you calling Hyuckie the Maknae?” Linnea asks, confused.
“When it´s our group doing things, and I mean Hyuck, Mark, and the ones who live here in N-City, not the others, then he is the youngest. So that´s why,” Johnny enlightens her.
“Your structures are a bit confusing, not gonna lie. I know Hyuck got to know his friends through the camp and all, and I know Jaemin and Jeno joined the five of them. But how exactly did they find you?” Linnea asks, now curious about their origins and the creation of the big unit.
“Phew, tough question. It´s been a messy process to join forces, you know. I´m pretty sure Taeyong had his hands in it, too. But yeah, who wants to explain the story?” Johnny asks and looks at Yuta, Jungwoo, Jaehyun, and Doyoung. He leaves out his leader on purpose but sees his growing smile.
“I can do it. But it will take some time. Maybe. Probably.” Doyoung volunteers, ready to start talking right away.
“Get to the important points right away, though. I don´t wanna fall asleep,” Donghyuck interrupts before his Hyung can continue.
Linnea gasps at his sudden naughty behavior towards the boy, who is clearly older than him. “Oh my god, Hyuck, have some respect,” she scolds and slaps his upper arm, which has him and the others laugh in amusement.
“This is how he usually acts when he is here,” Jungwoo says with a grin. “We are all used to his disrespect.”
“Haechannie, we will have to work on that. That´s not what Mom and Dad taught us,” the girl lectures before her eyes move to Doyoung, ready to listen to him now. “I´m all ears. Enlighten me, please.”
Doyoung chuckles, but starts talking regardless. “So long story short, before we settled in N-City, as we named it, we were roaming around like any other group to find shelter and supplies, and such. At one location, we encountered the Dreamies. They were also supply hunting.”
“Wait, wait, wait. The Dreamies?” Linnea cuts in, confused about the nickname.
“You know, the seven guys you met. The Dreamies,” Doyoung explains roughly, amused by her reaction.
“How did that name come to be?” she asks, not willing to continue the story until she knows all the details to make it make sense.
“Well, they are younger than we are. They had this energy about them. The Youth was basically radiating off of them. And since they dream big, we gave them that group name,” Johnny says, helping his friend so he can keep talking about how they met.
Linnea moves her head in a long nod, finally understanding the meaning behind it. It´s fitting, and cute, she thinks.
“Okay, so we had the same goal. We wanted the same supplies. But you know, with their inexperience, and Jaemin, Jeno, and Hyuck as their only real contenders to fight against us, they had no chance,” Doyoung says, keeping it as short as possible. Before he can continue, though, he gets interrupted again.
“Yah, we had a chance. What are you saying? We almost had you guys in a corner,” Chenle complains, not satisfied with how they are portrayed in the story.
“You guys were reckless as fuck, and you had zero teamwork. Once I had you pinned to the ground, you had no idea how to escape, even though you had Hyuck and Jeno on the team, who are at a higher level than we are. That speaks for itself,” Johnny shuts him up with his argument. It has the other boys chuckle.
Linnea´s expression goes back to confused because they just keep interrupting each other. Seeing this, Jeno moves closer to her and leans near her ear to explain properly.
“We didn´t know each other that well back then, so our teamwork sucked. The Hyungs had more experience in fights, so they overwhelmed us, even though we technically had higher manpower,” he half-whispers, making sure she catches his words. He ignores the way his ears feel very hot all of a sudden upon realizing just what he is doing.
The girl takes in the information and then faces him. They are fairly close to each other, but she swallows and focuses on what she wants to say. “So you eventually stumbled upon each other, tried to fight over the same resources, but because Johnny used his ability efficiently, you guys lost?”
“Exactly. I pinned them down with my gravity manipulation. But unlike other groups, Taeyong saw potential in them and asked them if they wanted to join us,” Johnny says, his gaze focused on the closeness between the two, but he keeps any comments about it to himself, only speculating.
“Hey, I am the one telling the story!” Doyoung scolds because everyone keeps talking over him and adding to the story he was going to tell the girl.
“That´s because you don´t get to the point,” Donghyuck says, which makes the others laugh. Linnea, however, hits his arm a second time.
“Lee Donghyuck. Behave yourself,” she scolds. Her brother can´t help but chuckle at how adorable her sudden tone was, even if she used his full name, which clearly indicates a serious warning.
“Buyllie, please. You are being too cute. You start to sound like Mom when she scolds me about stealing a piece of cake,” the boy says, and looks at her with warm eyes.
“Last warning. Or I will also punish you the same way Mom did,” she adds, trying to stay serious.
“Okay, okay. Doyoung-Hyung, I´m sorry. Keep going, please.” His hand reaches out to signal him to continue his talk.
“Where were we? A right. So Taeyong-Hyung asked them to join, which they obviously denied at first. They kept trying to fight us. Eventually, we came to the topic of Eden, and when we finally understood we had the same goal, we had a good talk with Mark, which eventually ended up with them joining us after all.” The black-haired boy finally finishes his speech. “It took a while for us to warm up to each other, and we established a few rules after we found our current hideout, but now we are all friends.”
“Oh, well, that sounds nice. I guess it took a while to gain each other´s trust,” Linnea concludes, earning herself a few nods from the older boys.
“I saw our future at some point as well, which made everything easier. Trusting each other became less of a hassle after my vision,” Renjun adds.
There is a short moment of silence between all of them. The crackle of the burning wood in the middle of them is the only audible thing. Until the girl breaks the silence. “So no manipulation of bonds happened?”
Her question seems odd to them. At least until they realize how intently she is looking at their leader. Taeyong just smiles at her, however.
“How do you-” Jungwoo wants to start, but gets stopped by Taeyong´s words.
“I don´t use my ability unless it´s necessary,” he explains in the most friendly tone ever.
“And a possible alliance with strong individuals who have similar goals doesn´t count as such?” she digs deeper, challenging him.
“I considered it, but seeing how reasonable Mark was and how much they already instinctively trusted each other, it was reassuring enough for me not to use my ability. They are aware of that as well. But I can assure you, I prefer relationships to build naturally,” he says truthfully. “I am impressed by your keen eye and how easily you read my ability,” he adds, however, confusing the others.
“Hyung, what are you talking about?” Jaehyun asks curiously, already understanding that the leader knows more than any of them.
“I have heard about Linnea before. When Mark and Donghyuck mentioned her to me, I was surprised. But seeing her in flesh and bone, sitting with us, and knowing she is Hyuck´s sister, is very reassuring,” Taeyong speaks.
“How do you know Byul? Have you met before?” Hyuck asks, slightly getting defensive over his sister, feeling the need to protect her if necessary, even though he knows his Hyung means no harm.
“I haven´t met her. I have read about her, though. We sometimes steal data from camps, right? I´ve gotten my hands on her data before. I know you got captured twice. There is no evidence for the first, but the second kept some of their files hidden very well,” he reveals, which leaves even the girl stunned.
“So you know everything about me already, right?” she asks, not exactly sure how she should feel about this revelation. What exactly does he know? she wonders.
“Not everything. But I know what you are capable of, and I´m happy to welcome you to our group specifically. It calms me down, knowing we have another strong individual with us,” he concludes.
“I can´t follow. What exactly is going on? What level are you? None of us got this kind of treatment from him,” Yuta says, ruffling his hair while trying to make sense of everything.
“She´s a level 10. But Hyung, Ten, and Kun are also level 10, so I don´t know why exactly you praise only Linnea, even if it´s deserved,” Renjun throws in, also a little confused by this weird conversation.
“Maybe, but Linnea is the only one who can directly manipulate aura, which is a key element in our society,” Taeyong says as casually as ever.
“Whoa, what? She´s a level 10? Doesn´t look like it at all,” Jungwoo comments, earning a glare from the girl.
“And you don´t look like you can defend yourself against a tree. I don´t wanna hear you say this with an aura level that weak,” she snaps just because, even though she knows he isn´t that weak, either. But trying to assert some dominance may be necessary after all, in this hole of men.
Offended by her words, Jungwoo clasps his chest with his hand while he looks at her in total shock. “That was so mean for what?” The other boys can´t help but laugh.
“Don´t mess with Linnea. She is Hyuck´s sister after all. And I can guarantee you, she is as petty as he is. Should have seen how she ignored Jeno for a week just to teach him a lesson,” Chenle quips, amusement evident on his face as he tells them a bit of the drama that went on. He fully ignores the glare Jeno throws his way when he reveals this unnecessary detail.
“Yah, I am not petty,” Donghyuck protests, but gets shut down by the others.
“Yes, you are,” they say in unison.
“But hey, so, did I understand this right? You can read our abilities as a result of yours?” Doyoung asks.
“Basically, yes. I can see the strength of your aura and sense what kind of ability you guys have. It´s not an exact read, but my guesses based on your aura flow tell me enough to know what to look for. I can also guess your levels fairly accurately because of it. Sneaking up on me is impossible as well because I sense you before I see you,” she explains.
“That is so scary,” the older guy says.
“Don´t worry, Hyung, she is super nice. If you piss her off, you will know. And if you treat her nicely, she will protect you in cases of emergencies,” Renjun reassures his fellow green-leveled. The girl nods in confirmation.
“I am well aware of how hard it is to live in this world when you have a lower level and no ability to defend yourself,” she adds.
“Ay, but if Linnea is similar to Hyuck, that means we have Hyuck twice now. What a nightmare,” Johnny teases. The deadly stare he receives from the boy adds to the amusement, as the comment was aimed to annoy him a little.
“Y´all suck,” Hyuck grits through his teeth.
Then, a loud yawn catches everyone´s attention. Jaemin, who stretches while yawning really loudly, looks at them after. “How about some rest? I am hungry, too, but seriously, I think I need some sleep first. Can we go?” he asks.
“Sure. I think the important matters are talked about,” Taeyong says.
“Great. Neno, let´s go,” Jaemin then says and gets up.
Perplexed, the captain looks at his friend with big eyes when he suddenly hears his nickname. His index finger points at himself while waiting for some answer that´s never coming. Out of obligation, he gets up and starts to follow the brown-haired boy, though.
When they are out of earshot, the others return their focus to the remaining people.
“Neno? How cute. I didn´t know he had any nicknames,” Linnea remarks and looks at Chenle and the others.
“Oh, he has a lot. He just doesn´t always like to hear them from us. Samoyed is one, or Neno, Nono, Jen. But I think he hates the last one because of some memory or something. It´s fun to tease him about it, though,” Chenle confirms, grinning from ear to ear.
“We use Samoyed a lot, because sometimes Jeno-Hyung kind of acts like a dog. But he also has the face of a Samoyed, so it just fits,” Jisung adds.
“Well, if there isn´t more to talk about, then I will excuse myself as well,” Kun eventually says and stretches while holding his lower back.
“Rest well,” Linnea tells him. Her eyes also look like she is very tired. So soon after, Renjun excuses himself and drags her along, making sure she doesn´t stay up too long.
In the end, all of the boys who had the whole day filled with a long car drive head to bed, leaving behind the residents of N-City by the fire. Their chatter fills the air while the flames slowly die down. And the crackle of the wood accompanies their whispers and mumbles as the evening comes to an end.
༺.༻
The next morning, when the sun is already above the horizon and illuminating the small, make-shift town, N-City, Linnea is already up on her feet. The fresh morning air fuels her with energy she didn´t know she had in her after a long travel day like yesterday. So she is out on the clearing, stretching her muscles and getting ready to release that energy.
The others are still only getting ready. Some of the older boys are up and walking around from house to house to brush their teeth and do other things for their morning routine. The girl watches them a little, curious about their everyday life. She notices the way they notice her presence, but keep minding their business. Only when Mark and Hyuck come out of the hut they share, the two rooms they use being in there, housing Renjun, Hyuck, and her in one, and Mark in the other, does she wave at them in a friendly manner to get their attention.
“You are up early. And you look like you have some business. What´s gotten you all ready and about to jump into action?” the leader with the undercut asks, still rubbing his eyes.
“I wanna practice. Do some exercises and so on,” the girl explains with few words.
“The hell do you wanna practice?” Hyuck mumbles before he yawns.
“Fighting,” his sister answers simply, giving him a bright smile. The one word has him wide awake.
“You wanna practice fighting? Why? You are just out of a coma and wanna go right into the next? Are you crazy?” he parades her with questions that display his disbelief.
The girl can´t help but roll her eyes. “You are overreacting. Besides, who says I´m the one who ends up in a coma, huh? Are you forgetting who you´re talking to?”
“No. But seriously, those guys are brutal. Why would you wanna fight them?” Hyuck asks and points in the direction of one of the houses he knows is occupied by his Hyungs.
“I am not the nicest fighter either. You´ve never seen me fight seriously. So how can you judge the situation?” she challenges.
“The last time you had a serious fight, you literally collapsed and didn´t wake up until a week later. Do I have to say more?” her brother counters, still not convinced.
“That only happened because I made a small mistake. That´s why I wanna practice that in the first place,” the girl retorts, not backing down. “Mark would be a perfect candidate to help me with my practice as well.”
“I… what?” the leader asks, not getting where she´s hinting at.
“Look, I fumbled a block. That´s the only reason why that guy hit me head-on, which resulted in the heavy injuries. If I practice my ability to block attacks, it won´t happen again,” Linnea argues, explaining her point of view.
Hyuck sighs in defeat, unable to counter with any other argument. His sister is just too stubborn to try to convince her otherwise. Mark, standing next to him, still doesn´t fully understand what she means.
“I take your silence as compliance, Haechi, so thanks.” She grins at him, happy that she won this short argument. “Sooo, Markie, will you practice with me?” she then asks, fluttering her eyelashes in the cutest way she can to hopefully get the answer she wants.
“M-Markie? What is going on? Why the sudden nickname?” he stammers, unable to answer right away. “I guess I can? I don´t know how you think I will be of any help, though? Am I not too weak? I mean, I am almost half your level.”
“Levels don´t matter. You possess an elemental ability. And those are the easiest to block. Probably the only ones for me as well. I will have to experiment a bit and see where my limits are. But all you basically need to do is attack me with wind over and over,” Linnea explains.
“Excuse me, what?” Hyuck interrupts when he hears her say that. “Seriously, Linnea, are you insane?”
The girl only holds her hand up, blocking his face from her view. “How do you expect me to improve if I can´t practice? This is the safest environment to do it in, because it´s controlled. If something happens, we have Kun to fix it. In a real fight, an opponent wouldn´t stop until I´m dead. That´s just how it is.”
With that, she shuts him up again. “Okay, so if you are ready, just meet me here. I will be waiting and warming up in the meantime,” she then says, not giving Mark the chance to actually say no to her request.
༺.༻
Exactly 40 minutes later, Mark meets her at the exact same spot. He´s a bit unsure of what to expect, but training surely can´t hurt. After all, he feels a bit like he´s not much of help to his friends. And he´s the leader, so it should be his responsibility to protect his friends, at least in his mind.
“Ready?” Linnea asks, too enthusiastically for his taste. He can only nod as he follows her to a wider part of the clearing where fewer houses stand.
“Okay, so all you gotta do is hit me with the strongest bursts of wind you can manage. If it makes you more comfortable, you can gradually strengthen them, too. I don´t mind,” the girl yells in his direction.
The boy simply nods and shakes out his hands to loosen them. Then he gets into a stance that feels comfortable. He looks at the girl intently before he exhales once. Then, when he feels ready, he activates his ability and, in an instant, moves to create a burst of wind that flies straight at her.
The wind comes fast. Linnea barely reacts in time to shield herself against it. The force of it pushes her back half a meter. Obviously noticing the failure of blocking his attack, Mark looks at her with concern and asks, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I fucked up the timing. Sorry,” she answers and grits her teeth. This shouldn´t be too hard. Why is she struggling? Come on, concentrate, she tells herself.
“What the hell are they doing?” Yuta asks on the sidelines when he sees what´s going on.
Donghyuck and Johnny, who joined him a minute ago, are standing nearby to watch. They don´t answer right away. But then Hyuck takes over and explains it to his Hyungs. “My sister wants to practice blocking,” he says bluntly, still dissatisfied with her decision.
“Can she even do that?” Yuta asks, not believing his ears.
“Apparently, yes. But I have yet to see her do it,” Hyuck answers.
“This was the first try. Give her a chance, damn. Where is the support for your sister?” Johnny buts in, lightly teasing the younger boy.
“You don´t get it. That girl was still in a coma a few days ago, and now she is set on practicing fighting as if that never happened,” he answers, clearly still displeased.
While the three of them keep talking, Mark gets ready to throw another burst of wind towards the girl. He jumps up and down a few times and loosens his shoulders now, before he gets back into a stance. When he faces Linnea, she is in a stance herself, ready to receive his next blow.
He exhales again and then moves, pushing a gust of wind out of his fist. Or at least it seems like that. It doesn´t actually come out of his hand, but rather he focuses all his aura into the space of his fist and materializes the wind right in front of it.
Linnea also understands this concept of elemental abilities. It´s the whole reason why she knows she can block the attacks. The element isn´t 100% the same as the real thing because it’s solely made of aura. And her ability is to manipulate aura, which means she can definitely redirect the course of the materialized wind.
Knowing this is the whole reason why she is even more frustrated when she has to dodge the next blow of wind as well. The second hit and the second failure. Why is she struggling with this? Is she nervous? What´s holding her back?
“Come on, Linnea, you gotta relax your shoulders!” Jaemin´s voice suddenly rings through to her. Surprised, she looks in the direction it came from. There, the sight of Jeno and Jaemin greets her. They are seemingly on their way to eat something in the main building.
She takes in his words and exhales. He´s right. She isn´t relaxing her shoulders at all. With this much tension in her muscles, there is no way she can manage the timing right. So she lets go. Her arms slacking a bit, and she inhales deeply before exhaling the excess air. Then she stands straighter, as if she´s just normally waiting for something. No stance, no unnecessary getting ready before the hit.
“Mark, again!” she commands, and then waits. Her eyes don´t leave his figure as he gets ready to throw another burst her way. Her ability activates the second he moves his arm. In the next moment, she sees the exact track of each tiny particle of moving air. She keeps her breathing steady and her body relaxed. And then, when it´s close enough, almost too close, she moves, guiding her arm in front of her and disrupting the flow of the wind so it redirects right around her. As the wind passes, she doesn´t move an inch from her spot. There is no impact at all as the gust hits the surrounding trees and shakes them up as if a tornado just passed through.
“There you go!” Jaemin shouts, happy that she succeeded with whatever she is doing. Then he keeps going on his way. It takes Jeno a second to register that his friend started moving again. The boy is too mesmerized by the thing the girl just did. He doesn´t comment on it as he resumes his walk, but the impression stays in his mind.
“Wow, I did not expect that,” Yuta says. He watches as Linnea keeps blocking the next few attacks from Mark. Even when the leader hits her with his strongest force, she doesn´t budge. It prompts the Japanese guy to catch her attention.
“Hey, can I try, too?” he asks as he starts to walk towards her.
“What? You wanna try blocking, too?” Mark asks, confused, as his Hyung comes closer.
“Huh? No. I wanna fire my ability at her, too. See if she can block it,” the older boy responds, amused by Mark´s assumption. “Did the time away make you forget what my abilities are?”
Mark scratches the back of his head, a little embarrassed. “What are your abilities?” Linnea interrupts, too enthusiastic about the opportunity.
“That stays a surprise. Besides, shouldn´t you know?” Yuta answers, grinning at her.
“Touché.” She smirks and looks at him with a challenging gaze. “Alright. Hit me with your elements. I`m ready.”
Yuta moves his neck to crack the bones a bit, then moves into Mark´s spot. The leader quickly leaves the two and saves himself at a distance, joining Johnny and Donghyuck.
The Japanese boy doesn´t give her much room to breathe as he immediately moves and directs a burst of fire in her direction. Luckily, Linnea reacts fast. Having the trust in herself now that she figured it out, she easily moves with her countermeasure. It wasn´t as visible with Mark´s ability, but because Yuta manipulates fire, it´s a lot easier to see just how she redirects the course of the flames.
She feels the heat on her hand and around her body. But because she doesn´t directly touch it, she doesn´t get burned. Even as Yuta hits her with two more bursts, she easily redirects them.
“You gotta attack, too!” A voice chimes in from afar again. This time, it´s Chenle, all in for the action as he cheers. “Go and show the Hyungs how dangerous you are!”
His words paint a smile on her face, so not to disappoint, she uses the momentum of the hits of fire and gets closer to her opponent. Yuta doesn´t notice it at first, but when she suddenly breaks through a wall of fire, he takes a surprised step back while feeling like his space is getting invaded.
He wants to blow another flame in her face, but with a swift movement, she encases his aura around his fist, stopping the fire from fully materializing. Then, with quick hits to his upper arms and shoulder points, she blocks his aura channels. Only after that does she let go of him.
Yuta wants to hit her with fire once more, but is surprised when nothing happens. “Huh? What the fuck?” He looks at his fists and tries again. Nothing.
“Sucks to suck, huh?” Linnea asks smugly, smirking at him.
“What did you do?” he asks, confused. When he tries to breathe fire, the flames suddenly appear again. Then, with the swing of his left fist, nothing happens once more.
“I blocked your aura channels. There is no flow for the time being,” she says, explaining herself.
“That´s so scary. Not gonna lie, I didn´t expect that,” he chuckles, still looking at his hands. He tries something else with them, but to no avail. “Not even my ice works. Can you reverse the effects, too?” he then asks.
“Sure,” is the only word that leaves her mouth before she hits the same points from before. A second later, flames spring from Yuta´s fingers as if nothing ever stopped them.
Claps echo in the clearing. It catches her and Yuta´s attention, so both look in the direction of the source.
“I will never get bored of watching Linnea disable people with abilities. I swear, this is cinema,” Ten cheers, overly enthusiastic about the whole ordeal.
“You are crazy for always emphasizing this, you know?” Kun scolds him as they walk closer to the crowd that has formed to watch the practice.
“But he is right. It never gets boring to see her do it. Especially if you know how it works and feels,” Dejun says behind the two.
“I wanna see her fight more people,” Hendery adds, ready to watch more matches.
“You guys have no hobbies. I swear. This shouldn´t be such big entertainment for you.” Kun shakes his head in disbelief. They never change, he thinks, not even trying to argue more.
༺.༻
“Say, Jisung, how is it going with your ability?” Taeyong asks while munching on a piece of kimbap. He is sitting with the youngest and some of the other boys who are up already, when Jaemin and Jeno enter the room.
“I have improved,” the Maknae says, awkwardly picking some ramen from his bowl.
When the two boys who have just entered the room sit down, Jaemin feels the need to add his opinion to the conversation. “Oh, I think he mastered it. He improved so much that he can use it freely now.”
“Hyung, please. You are making it sound like I have no fear left in me,” Jisung tries to correct him because it sounded like he never had any problems to begin with, when that´s not the case.
“But you wield lightning now. And you know how to control your ability. That´s basically all you need,” Jaemin argues.
“All that´s missing is some more confidence, maybe,” Jeno mumbles while filling his bowl with some food.
“What´s with the commotion outside?” Jungwoo then asks groggily. He is still a bit sleepy even while eating breakfast.
“Oh, Linnea is just practicing some ability stuff,” Jaemin enlightens him. “Maybe Jisung should join so he can practice, too,” he then suggests, shocking the youngest.
“Oh, I think you fried his brain with that suggestion,” Renjun says, trying to keep a straight face because the wide eyes and the shocked expression of the youngest are too funny.
“Come on, Jisung, think about it. What can go wrong? She taught you, and there is nothing that can go wrong. If you want, I can even support you in your match-up, so you don´t feel as scared,” Jaemin tries to convince him, already feeling some excitement stir inside his body.
“That way you can also show the Hyungs how much you improved,” Jeno adds, obviously supporting his friend in his bribe to make the Maknae practice a bit.
When Jungwoo and Taeyong nod in confirmation to Jeno´s words, Jisung can´t help but sigh in defeat. “Alright. But only if Jaemin-Hyung actually competes with me on my side. I don´t wanna face Linnea alone. She is scary when she gets serious.”
Happy that he got what he wanted to achieve, Jaemin claps his hands. “Great. Let´s eat and warm up after, okay?”
Jisung nods and focuses back on his ramen. His mind is already a mess, trying to think of ways to fight and not get hurt himself when facing the girl.
༺.༻
After breakfast, the boys all gather near the clearing. Even the last ones who were still asleep earlier have joined to witness the spectacle. Jaemin is getting ready with Jisung, making sure he stretches all the muscles and warms up his aura core. Renjun stands close to Linnea and explains what they concluded while eating. The girl can´t help but laugh at their antics. It´s so to be expected when she thinks about it, but it doesn´t take away from the amusement that comes out of it.
“Are we sure Jisung really wants this?” she asks, still chuckling.
“He agreed to it. Besides, I also think it´s great practice. He has Jaemin with him, so he doesn´t feel too powerless against you.” The Chinese boy shares his thoughts openly and looks at the two boys getting ready. “I don´t wanna tell you what to do, but please don´t kill his confidence. He needs to learn that he has power he can actively use to his advantage in fights.”
“Junnie, I will make sure he feels the strength he possesses. However, I won´t go easy on them. Especially because I know that Jaemin knows how to fight,” Linnea says. And with Renjun´s accepting nod, she moves over to her two sparring buddies.
“Are you ready?” she asks, meeting her friend’s challenging gaze while the youngest looks everywhere but at her.
“Of course,” Jaemin answers, ready to jump into action.
“What about you?” she reverts her gaze to Jisung and sees his nervous demeanor. “Are you scared?”
“W-what? No. I am totally ready,” he stammers.
Amused, Linnea rolls her eyes. “Ji, just focus on what I taught you. Nothing can go wrong, okay? I will interfere if needed, and I also won´t attack you with the intent of killing,” she reassures, even though the second part of her speech doesn´t feel as positive as it was supposed to, at least to Jisung.
“Enough talking! Let´s get to fighting!” Johnny yells at them. He wants to see a proper fight and is tired of waiting.
With chuckles echoing, the three of them move to the place that was previously used for the blocking exercise. They move into a stance, Jaemin and Linnea activate their abilities. And when Doyoung, who took on the mission of a referee, gives them the go, Jaemin immediately uses his ability to try and bring Linnea off balance.
The girl is quick to dodge his telekinetic move, but feels the pull close to her. She focuses on his movements and carefully observes his aura flow. Since Jisung is holding back a little, she doesn´t pay him too much attention just yet.
“Yo, Ji, you gotta use your ability! Or else you are a liability,” Chenle yells to try to encourage his friend with tough love.
The words reach his ears, and when he understands them, he snaps out of his freeze state. This isn´t a real fight. There is no real threat. It´s just practice. He knows what he is capable of, and he also knows how to use his ability securely. So what is he scared of?
The realization hits him hard. And when he finally snaps out of his insecure state of mind, he activates his ability too, feeling the surge of energy flow through his body. Be creative, he tells himself, and does a simple, random motion with his arm to generate lightning. Before he can tap into the territory of uncontrollable power, he releases it right in the direction of the girl.
Right when he releases his powerful attack, the girl takes note of it, sensing the manifestation of his aura before it can fully materialize. She dodges by jumping to the side and watches as the electricity hits the tree behind her, making it explode into lots of small fragments of wood. Jaemin uses her short, distracted state to his advantage and hurls a powerful surge of his telekinetic powers towards her. It pushes her back by a few meters, and she barely comes to a stand after that, having to reorient herself to come back into focus.
Having had enough of only dodging and being a target, she switches strategies. Holding back and not using her abilities to their fullest was a mistake in past fights, so she will not repeat them. With determination, she moves forward and picks up the pace to reduce the distance. Both Jaemin and Jisung are long-distance fighters, so closing in on them will restrict their movements. That´s what Linnea thinks of when she runs towards them.
Thinking that there is an opening, Jaemin tries to push her away again, but before he manages to do so, she suddenly vanishes right in front of his eyes. His movements falter in confusion while his brain tries to catch up with the trick. He knows she technically can´t disappear, but experiencing the manipulation of his senses still fucks with his mind. He has to rely on something he knows may not be accurate to reality, which makes it extremely hard for him to adapt.
Jisung, who also lost Linnea visually, tries to keep electricity charged up. He looks around, feeling the way his heartbeat quickens as he can´t predict anything that’s going on. His most logical solution at that moment would be to release the energy in all directions, but that would mean he hurts Jaemin, so he can´t do it.
“Linnea, stop messing with our senses. It´s not fair,” Jaemin says, more to provoke than actually meaning it.
“Why? Can´t handle someone stronger than you?” her voice sounds right behind him. Surprised, he turns around, wanting to create distance with his ability, but before he gets the chance, a fist hits his inner arm. In the next moment, the girl grabs it and turns to throw him over her shoulder by using the momentum.
With a thud, Jaemin lands on his back on the floor. A groan leaves his mouth as he tries to get back up. “Fuck, that hurt,” he mumbles, trying to shake the tingling in his arm from the hit before he got tossed.
Jisung, who sees Linnea reappear in the corner of his eyes, sees how she throws his Hyung to the ground. Feeling like there is no other option, he fuels his charged energy and releases it in her direction. His movements are clean and not too frantic. But because Linnea simply knows how to handle her ability better, she is quick to touch his hand right when he releases the energy. Through effort and with much concentration, she opens her channels to let his aura flow through her body. Then she redirects the lightning into the sky with a loud, cracking rumble.
The youngest is shocked by her sudden closeness and wants to release more electricity. But before he gets the chance, the knuckles of fingers hit his arms and sides, and in the next moment, he is unable to even create a single slizzle of electricity inside his veins. He can´t feel any flow anymore, so panic floods his face.
“Ji, calm down. There is nothing wrong with you. I just blocked your channels. That´s all,” Linnea explains quickly, eyes softening as she comes to a halt with her movements.
Having gotten back up, Jaemin uses the chance to attack her some more. Renouncing his ability, he decides to stick to a classic fist fight. Sensing his approach, the girl quickly turns around and dodges the first throw of his fist. The boy keeps going, precisely aiming for certain points he knows will hurt or disable her shortly, but with quick reflexes, Linnea keeps evading his attacks.
Eventually, having had enough of dodging once again, she uses a small opening to switch up and tries to punch him right in the face instead.
Luckily, Jaemin reacts fast and evades the hit with a deep inhale. He can practically see the time slow down as her fist barely misses his face. When time feels normal again, he sees the next punch coming his way, so he ducks down and tries to approach her.
Seeing the change in tactics on his side, and sensing his movement before it actually happens, she steps back and uses the momentum to try to kick his way. The boy, once again, barely misses getting hurt but moves forward to attack her regardless.
This time, more on instinct than actually reading his attack, the girl turns around and uses his momentum against him by grabbing his arm the moment he stretches it out. In the next second, she uses all of her body weight and throws him over her shoulder once again, making him land on his back with a groan.
“Fuck, Linnea. I´m not some sandbag to throw around,” he groans after landing uncomfortably.
Chuckling, the girl turns to grab his hand and help him up. “I´m sorry. That last one was a reflex.”
Accepting his defeat, he brushes off some dirt from his pants and says, “Gotta say, you are a nightmare of an opponent. I know my level is decent, but it feels like I have no chance at all when facing you.”
“Thank you,” She says. “Are you okay? Did I throw you too hard?”
The brown-haired boy shakes his head and smiles. “Don´t worry. I´m fine,” he laughs.
“Damn, that was a nice and quick watch. I didn´t think your ability would affect us, too, but then you suddenly disappeared,” Jungwoo comments as he reaches the trio in the clearing, the others following him.
“I mean, it was cool, but I can´t fully judge your capabilities yet. Seems like anyone who can counter you disappearing would have an easier fight,” Johnny voices his thoughts. He isn´t too serious about actually critiquing her, but knowing she is a level 10, which equals highly lethal, he thought she would act a bit more brutally.
“Hyung, you try and fight her. It´s not as easy as it seems,” Jaemin counters.
“Let´s not insult my sister here, yeah? She is strong. I know that, even if I didn´t fight her yet,” Hyuck buts in as well.
“Yeah, well, I don´t exactly wanna hurt any of you seriously, so I´m still holding back the painful attacks,” the girl argues as well.
“Oh, you don´t need to worry with us. We can handle some pain,” Jaehyun says, confidence glowing on him as he looks at Johnny and the other Hyungs.
“Keep me out of your bold statement. I´m not in the mood to get hurt,” Doyoung contradicts Jaehyun´s statement. Unlike him, he is a lower level and not in the mood to fight.
“By the way, this blocking thing, is this what you did with Jungwon?” Jeno then asks, seriously interested in her answers. He wants to piece the last bits of his past together before he fully leaves it behind him. He doesn´t care that he interrupts the enthusiastic confidence talk of the older guys.
The girl looks at him, surprised that he brings up that name. “I did something similar. I shattered his core. Usually, I only block the channels that free up eventually if I intend for the effect to stay temporary. But that wasn´t an option for him in his situation,” she explains simply, not giving more words than necessary, and not sugar coating her actions. After all, she still feels guilty about it.
Jeno nods in understanding. He can see the hint of guilt in her eyes and immediately feels the need to comfort her, but he holds back. Before he can say or react further, the others chip in again.
“Okay, so, are we doing another fight? Because I wanna see what you do when you don´t hold back,” Johnny challenges, which brings Linnea back to the topic at hand.
“Are you sure you can handle it? Because you might pass out and your heart could stop in shock,” she declares, still not fully sure.
“Kun will handle it if that happens,” Ten says. The one mentioned lifts his eyebrows in question, because why is he suddenly part of the discussion?
“Will I?” he asks in a fairly sarcastic way. He knows he will, but still, why is his friend bargaining on his behalf?
“Yup, you will. And to make it more interesting, I want Linnea to do it blindfolded. I will also join in and go for physical combat to showcase that no matter what you try, she will know what´s coming. Jeno, you wanna join in? I am sure you have those muscles for a reason and not just for show. A bit of physical combat won’t hurt,” Ten goes on, talking way too enthusiastically. It has everyone perplexed by the sudden suggestions.
“Ten, are you crazy? Isn´t this enough?” Yang Yang tries to reason. Even the young boy can see how that´s maybe too much.
“Oh, come on. We all know Linnea is going to manage us easily, even if she is blindfolded. Also, let´s not ignore the fact that these overconfident guys think they can withstand the pain. There is nothing to worry about,” The Thai boy argues, totally seeing his vision.
The boys face each other and share a few looks, then they look at the girl.
“I mean, if you are up for it, I don´t mind. I will use my ability, though,” Jaehyun says, not finding any reason to say no to the idea.
“Jeno, will you join the fight?” Chenle asks and looks at his Hyung with a grin.
The captain stays silent for a second. He looks at his friend and the girl, trying to read anything from their gazes. Then he exhales in defeat. “Do I really have a choice?”
That makes Chenle cheer. He is happy to see his friend in action. Not just because he sees him fight, but because he wants to know how he will go about it, since it involves Linnea. And since he has a hunch about something, it´s going to be really interesting for him.
“Someone is a bit overly happy about this,” Renjun remarks and lets out an unsure chuckle. In what direction is this practice fight going?
“Alright, then. Let´s get moving. I wanna see this,” Jungwoo ends the debate. Of course, he would stay out of it. There is no way he wants to feel the pain. But it´s going to be fun to witness the others go through it.
While the boys who don´t fight leave the space and the others get ready, Donghyuck feels the need to ask his sister one last time, ”Is it really okay for you to fight like this? I know their levels may not be the highest on the scale, but Jaehyun and Johnny are still very strong and experienced. And even I recognize how strong Ten is. I don´t wanna talk down Jeno´s capabilities, either.”
Linnea smiles at his caring demeanor, but reassures him regardless. “Haechan, trust me. It´s going to be fine. Ten won´t use his ability on me unless he really wants to fuck around and find out. And I will handle those other two just fine. I don´t think Jeno is really going to go all in either, so there is nothing to worry about.”
Haechan looks at his sister for a few more seconds, trying to find any micro expressions that tell him otherwise, but when he sees nothing, he gives in. “Alright then. Beat their asses, okay? I don´t wanna see you lose.”
With that, Linnea chuckles and watches as her brother leaves for the edge of the clearing, too. She takes the piece of fabric that Hendery created on the spot and puts it around her eyes, tightening it in the back. Then she loosens her shoulders and exhales away the stress from the messy discussion they had a moment ago. Her ability activates immediately, knowing they won´t wait a second to attack once Doyoung gives them the go.
Her opponents loosen their limbs as well, ready to attack and devour like wild hyenas. Or at least three of them. Jeno still isn´t so sure if he even wants to do this. He doesn´t want to hurt her. And he also doubts he even can at this point, which is why he also fears for himself. He is in no mood for medical assistance.
When Doyoung finally gives them the sign to start, Jaehyun and Johnny want to use their abilities right away. Linnea can feel the lingering pressure of the gravity Johnny wants to manipulate, while Jaehyun speeds up time around him to try and move in on her with maximum speed. But before they can even get the chance to do much, Linnea actually lets go of her self-restraint and uses her perception manipulation in ways she doesn´t usually.
Jeno watches as his Hyungs suddenly fall to their knees as they writhe in pain and try to breathe through it. Their groans and heavy breathing are paired with the most disturbing expressions anyone has ever seen. It´s unbearable to watch, so he can´t even imagine what the pain must feel like. It´s even scarier to acknowledge when he realizes that Linnea hasn´t moved at all. He can sense the danger that radiates from her.
Ten, unlike Jeno, charges right in. He is fairly quick with his movements, ignoring the other three as he swiftly closes the distance. He wants to punch her in the face, but she dodges his attack without much effort. He is well aware of the fact that she is reading his aura even if he doesn´t use his ability. So he just keeps his physical attacks going.
Their altercation quickly moves into one of throwing punches and dodging. Linnea withholds the torment she keeps on Johnny and Jaehyun, not giving them any chance to interfere or move away from their spot. She does level the pain to give them room to breathe and not pass out on the spot, but goes in again when she feels like they have had enough of a break.
Ten wants to hit her again. His leg tries to kick her in the back of her knee to get her to the ground, but she dodges and tries to hit him instead. A grin forms on his face as he sees that this rhythm brings them nowhere. “It´s boring like this, Lini,” he whines, but the chuckle that follows tells her he has mischief written all over him.
When she feels how he activates his ability, and wants to creep into her mind to switch things up, her hand reaches out and grabs his shoulder. In the next instance, Ten feels a piercing pain run from his shoulder all through his body. “Oh no, I am not dealing with your cheating ass,” her voice rings in his ears as he sinks to the ground, trying not to cough through his fit of laughter that he still manages with the pain.
“Alright, alright. I will give up. You can release me,” Ten says and lifts one of his hands in surrender while the other clasps his chest.
With those words, Linnea lets go of the hold she has on all three of them. “Do you guys want more? I can keep this up if you want me to seriously kill you,” she says and looks at Jaehyun and Johnny.
The two guys, who talked full of confidence minutes ago, lift their hands and shake their heads in surrender. They don´t need more of her torture to see exactly how they underestimated her. So when the pain finally stops, and they feel like nothing happened, they cough and try to breathe normally to recover from the experience.
With only Jeno left on the field, Linnea looks at him. “So, are we going to spar in a friendly way or?”
“Honestly, I don´t think I even need to try. I can see that you know how to defend yourself even without your abilities,” he answers, seriously not in the mood to get thrown around.
“Boooo, how boring!” Chenle chimes in from the sidelines.
“Chenle, please, you go and fight her if you want more of this,” Mark finally speaks up, having seen enough. He is too concerned about his Hyungs to want more fights.
Sensing that there is no continuation of this, Linnea takes off her blindfold. She stretches her neck muscles shortly, then moves to the two boys still on the ground. “Sorry. I hope I didn´t overdo it.”
Kun and Taeyong rush over to them, the former inspecting their well-being with his ability right away, while the latter looks at his friends with concern in his eyes. “Are you guys okay?”
“We are fine. After all, this is what we asked for, didn´t we?” Johnny answers and looks at Jaehyun, who nods at him with a smirk.
“Gotta give it to you, Linnea. There is no way I want you as an opponent in a real fight,” Jaehyun says.
The two slowly recover from the pain they just went through and get up. And Taeyong leads them to their usual spot of hanging out. The others gathering there, too.
“Okay, I guess this is enough fighting for today. What do we want for lunch?” Doyoung asks the important questions.
“I want Kimchi jjigae!” Donghyuck immediately answers.
“I want fried chicken,” Dejun says.
“I don´t care, but I need it as fast as possible. I´m so hungry from all the fighting,” Jaemin voices, and in that exact moment, his stomach growls. “See. This is what I´m talking about.”
Linnea and the others chuckle at the comedic moment. Their chatter fills the air as they choose who is going to be responsible for the cooking and the dishes. There is a short debate, lots of arguments about who should do it, and who shouldn´t or can´t. And while they discuss the topic further to conclude it, the sun stands high in the sky, granting them the warmth of June.



