Valkyrie

Knowing Gavin, he probably would try to clear up his whole day to focus on you and your Valentine’s Day date.

Since early in the morning, he’d wake you up with breakfast; your favorite foods accompanied by a glass of orange juice and a bunch of forehead kisses ready to go.

He whispers “Good morning, babe. Happy Valentine’s Day”.

Throughout the day all your plans would consist of Gavin trying to spoil you.

Even when you told him you wanted to do something for him too, he didn’t let you with the excuse that it wasn’t every day that he could be a bit more romantic.

You gladly accepted, acknowledging that even though Gavin was a very sweet and attentive boyfriend, he wasn’t the romantic kind.

In the afternoon he took you to the cinema, a new romance movie was premiering that day and he tried very hard not to cringe at the cheesy lines from the male lead.

He was about to give in and make a remark about how unrealistic the fight scene to protect the female lead was, when he turned his face around and caught your eyes sparkling wide, excitement filling them.

Pursing his lips, he only smiled and paid more attention to what was making you so excited.

When the sky was finally getting darker and the stars were shining brighter in the sky, he took you to a spot he recently found while scouting the area.

The place had the most wonderful view you had ever seen; with the city far enough to forget about the night hustle, a big and flat rock with enough space to lay a blanket and sit there, staring the stars, and the wind being a little bit chilly, only enough to be covered with Gavin’s jacket.

The brilliant moon gave the final stage of your date that special feeling that made you think back on the great effort Gavin was taking to make that day perfect.

“You didn’t like that movie, did you?” You asked smiling sympathetically.

He looked ashamed, his cheeks with a slight pink tint.

“It’s not exactly my type… Sorry.”

“You don’t have to force yourself to watch things you don’t like, Gav”.

He stared at you, the far city lights reflecting on his eyes, giving them the spark that made him look even more stunning than he already was.

“I wanted to focus on doing only things that make you happy.” He said looking down from the big rock you both were sitting at.

You chuckled, happiness overwhelming you seeing what a wonderful boyfriend you had.

You placed a hand on top of his and replied:

“Every day with you is a happy and special day. You don’t have to overwork yourself.”

He sighed; half relieved half ashamed by your words.

“That’s exactly what I think when I’m with you.” He leaned towards you and placed a soft kiss on your cheek.

You blushed and turned your face around to look at the night sky.

“The stars look beautiful.”

Even though that was just you trying to hide your shyness, Gavin saw that comment as an opportunity to imitate those male leads from the romance movies you like so much.

He cleared his throat and replied: “Not as beautiful as you.”

You opened wide your eyes, surprised by his sudden boldness. That was something you never expected him to say.

You laughed out loud when you noticed his cringing face.

That comment was not something he would say, but working so hard to make you happy; that indeed was something he would do for you.

“Thank you, Gavin”. Your words implied that you weren’t only referring to his compliment, but to everything else.

You stared at him, your gaze conveying all the love you felt from him.

Gavin stared back at you. Seeing you sitting under the moonlight, wind gently blowing your hair and your warm hand holding his; he felt how head over heels he was for you.

“Y/N.” He whispered your name with love. “I promise I’ll work harder next year to show you my feelings.”

“There’s no need for that.” You spoke. “I only need you by my side.”

He leaned again towards you, brushing his warm lips against yours.

Bakugo grunted in frustration, looking away from the girl standing in front of him, crying.

Anyone who watched them without knowing what was happening would think he was bullying the girl. With that annoyed and angered appearance of his, what else could be happening?

But you actually knew exactly what was happening, something that would take aback a lot of people if they knew, but a lot of girls would understand at the same time. However, knowing what the situation was didn’t prevent you from feeling your chest get heavier with anxiety.

That was the third time in a month someone confessed their feelings to Bakugo; it was the third time in a month that you both were walking to your next class together and then some random girl appeared and asked him to meet her in an empty classroom.

And it was the second time you decided to sneak in and eavesdrop, curiosity killing your rationality and getting you to stand once again behind a corner to know what he was responding to the girl in front of him. You knew it wasn’t something good, given the loud cries the girl didn’t even try to suppress, and Bakugo’s annoyed expression, but you wanted to know his exact words. You had to know.

“You should’ve known better.” He said, still looking anywhere else except the crying girl. “I thought the other two girls had spread word that I’m not interested at all in spending Valentine’s Day with… Anyone else.”

The little pause he made between words surprised you a bit, but deciding not to think too much about it, you brushed it off your mind, focusing instead in the sudden pain in your heart.

He’s not interested in Valentine’s Day… You thought, pursing your lips. You didn’t know if you should feel relieved that he rejected that girl, or feel sad because that meant he probably wasn’t interested in you either.

That was the reason why you were eavesdropping. The first time, it was because of curiosity, he didn’t tell you what that previous girl talked about and acted as if nothing ever happened; this time it was because you were eager to know what was his reason to reject them, to know what was expecting you in the future when you confessed to him too.

You weren’t any more different than those girls who were crazy about Bakugo; you were crazy for him too. The only difference was that you were head over hills for him ever since the beginning, when you met him and before he had that sudden change in attitude.

During your first year in UA, despite Bakugo’s amazing academic backgrounds, great abilities and use of his quirk, he was the most unpopular guy in school thanks to his violent attitude and negative mindset. Of course, that didn’t matter to you, because you admired him a lot, and you were able to see the real Bakugo Katsuki.

One of the hidden tricks of your quirk was the ability to see people’s real-self. You often referred to it as their soul, since it was the only way you could describe it. It was a small thing that resides in people’s core, emanating an aura that transmits their truest self. You could know if someone was actually a good or a bad person, and understand their feelings and intentions a little better.

No one, except professor Aizawa who was secretly helping you train that ability, knew about this. It was just another part of your mind-controlling quirk that you kept hidden in case it was useful as a secret weapon at some point.

When you first met Bakugo, you were stunned at his aggressive behavior, you thought he surely had the soul of a villain or some sort of crazy psychotic person. And when you activated your quirk to see his soul, oh boy, how wrong you were.

It was a mix of a bunch of feelings and contradicting thoughts. He had a pure and selfless core, his nature, but the aura it was emanating was menacing, strong and out of control. What you could assume from your previous experience studying other people, was that he was born with the traits of a true and amazing hero, but the world, the environment he grew up in, and his perception of the world tainted the core, as if protecting it from leaking out.

From that day on, you paid more attention to him, trying to understand him now knowing he wasn’t really a bad person. You even started approaching him with the intention of befriending him and failing many, many times. You didn’t give up for your first whole year in the UA, it was a matter of time until he accepted you, just like he accepted Kirishima.

Then your second year of school began, you didn’t even notice when Bakugo stopped telling you to “fuck off”, and started telling you to “stop bothering him”, and then to “go away”, then simply telling you to “be less loud”. One day he was suddenly letting you sit beside him during lunch, or letting you talk while you both walked to your next class, or working together during training.

There even was a time when he asked you out of nowhere why were you always trying to be closer to him. And you replied:

“Because I know you’re a good person, and I admire you as a hero.”

The genuine smile never left your lips, even after seeing his stunned reaction, as if he just saw you grow a third arm.

From that day on he experienced a 360° change in attitude; he tried to be less aggressive towards other people and took more seriously his performance during training and team work.

That sudden change obviously engrossed the attention of lots of girls who were already interested in the strongest student of second year, now seeing how attractive he was when he wasn’t yelling at them.

Did he change after I said I admire him…? No, impossible.

You shook your head, unconvinced with the thought, and then kept waiting for your friend to keep talking.

“Didn’t they teach you not to spy on others?”

The raspy voice took you by surprise when it spoke from behind you. You jumped around, barely keeping yourself from shouting, just to find your favorite vermillion eyes in front of you.

You smiled shyly, acting as if your heart wasn’t suddenly beating faster when you noticed it was him.

“Ah, Bakugo, sorry. I… I heard the girl cry and I was worried.” The excuse you came up with didn’t seem convincing but you went with it anyway. He arched an eyebrow staring at you for a moment, scanning your features before talking:

“You were worried I did something to her?”

“No!” You hurried to clarify. “Of course not, it’s not that I thought you did something. It’s just normal to worry when you hear someone cry, don’t you think?”

“If you say so.” Bakugo looked away with no interest, then pointed somewhere with his chin. “Let’s go, I’m done here.”

You nodded, and rushed to stand beside him to walk together.

You weren’t walking with a specific direction, it looked like he just wanted to get away from there. The silence between you made you even more nervous, because you couldn’t help but think about what happened before.

If you confessed him that you liked him… Would he reject you just like those girls?

Chills traveled through your spine.

No, if he rejects you, that means losing his friendship. You worked hard the past year to befriend him just to throw it all away.

You sneaked a glance at him, trying to analyze his face. He had very handsome and mature features, despite his young age. His gaze was piercing and intimidating even when he didn’t intend it; his vermillion eyes were hypnotizing to you, with their strong and aggressive color that fitted perfectly with his exterior and his attitude. However, you knew his fierceness was just a part of him, the one he allowed himself to show, or maybe the only one he knows.

After seeing his “soul”¸ you paid attention to the smaller details, for example the way he tried to protect his teammates during training, how he preferred to get injured himself before anyone else; the way he took very seriously his path to become a hero, how he wanted to be the best, but he also wanted to be a very reliable one.

He had the essence of a true hero, and he was still learning and discovering his own path to become that hero he has always aspired to be. That is why you admired him, why you fell in love with Bakugo.

He caught you looking at him, eyeing you through the corner of his eyes. You blushed and looked away, ashamed. You could swear you even heard a small chuckle coming from him, but by the time you turned to confirm, any trace of what could betray his feelings, was gone.

“Sooo…” You suddenly spoke, searching through your brain to find any topic of conversation. “What are you doing on Valentine’s Day?”

Bakugo stopped walking, frozen on his place with his eyes locked on yours.

“Why?” He looked anxious when he asked, only making you nervous about his reaction.

Could it be that he knows about my feelings? Maybe he thinks I’ll try to ask him out? Is he mad?

Billion thoughts flooded your mind, rushing for one of them to get an answer. But you ignored them and simply smiled.

“Just because. It’s an important day, isn’t it?”

“… Why would it be?” Bakugo asked, slightly confused and expectant.

Oh, damn, I think he knows…

“Well, you’ve been getting lots of confessions lately. You probably will get ten thousand more that day, and not to mention the chocolates and gifts.”

You faked a pensative expression, as if wondering what would expect him that day. Wondering wasn’t even necessary, you were 100% sure he would get many chocolates and confessions. Until just a few minutes ago, yours was included on that pile.

But seeing his reaction, you were getting more and more convinced that confessing wasn’t a good idea.

“I… I don’t care about any of that…” The blonde stared at the floor, with a hint of disappointment.

You pursed your lips, repressing yourself from letting any sadness or disappointment come out of your voice.

“Then does that mean you’re not planning to accept any confessions?” You finally asked the one question burning in your mind to come out. If he knew your feelings, it would probably give out your intentions and he would stop you without the need to directly reject you.

It was the best course of action, or so you thought.

He stared at you, dumbfounded, with a puzzled expression. Completely confused, Bakugo didn’t know how to reply to that. He swallowed hard, thinking for the safest reply possible.

“Does that matter?” He said, then instantly regretting the second he opened his mouth, when he looked at your dejected and surprised eyes.

“Oh…” You replied, not knowing what else to say.

“It’s not a big deal.” Bakugo added trying to look unfazed, walking past you to avoid eye contact. “But I won’t be accepting confessions or gifts from any randomgirl who says she likes me… I’m telling you this just so you don’t get the wrong idea! Ok?”

He hoped his words would give you enough information to understand what he meant.

From your standing, you could barely see his red ears, though you didn’t know how to interpret that, nor his words.

A few days went by, and finally Valentine’s Day was here. That previous conversation was never mentioned by neither Bakugo or you again, in hopes to not stir any misunderstandings or getting false hopes from each other.

Still unsure about what to do, you prepared a small box of dark chocolates that you were sure would fit his palate, since he wasn’t very fond of sweet things. You hadn’t decided on what to do, but worst-case scenario you could just share the chocolates with your friends and forget about this whole situation.

But your last traces of courage quickly faded as soon as you saw the first wave of girls being rejected by him, and their gifts being discarded with annoyance.

“I told you all already that I’m not interested! I don’t even like chocolates!” Bakugo shouted at the small female crowd standing on his way to class.

You tightened your grip on the small box in your hands.

I should’ve known better…

You walked to the crowd, slightly pushing the girls to make your way through and excusing yourself towards the classroom. When you were almost by Bakugo’s side, he locked his eyes with yours, then sliding them towards the box in your hands. He looked surprised, and… Happy, maybe?

You didn’t think too much about it, as you quickly hid the chocolates behind you and kept walking without sparing him another glance. You could almost feel his heavy gaze on your back as you walked to your first class, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling on your chest.

The rest of the day you spent it trying to avoid your friend as much as you could, fearing that your dejected feelings would come out any time if you talked to him. Meanwhile, he seemed to want to say something every time you were alone, but soon enough another girl would get to him and interrupt whatever he was about to say to you, and by the time he was done rejecting her, you weren’t there anymore.

His patience was getting shorter and shorter with every interruption he faced as he was gathering the courage to go to you. The obvious fact that you were avoiding him the whole day wasn’t helping him either. He was closer and closer to just shout at the whole school to die and leave him alone, but he quickly brushed off that idea when he thought of you.

Surely, that wasn’t the impression he wanted to give you.

While thinking about that, he soon decided what exactly was the impression he wanted you to have of him. A courageous and honest one, just like a hero.

He smiled, and as the last bell rang indicating the end of classes for that day, he quickly got up and left the room to put his plan into action.

If you had any lingering hope of confessing to him, by the time Bakugo was gone, that feeling had completely turned into disappointment.

Is he that eager to leave? You thought, feeling hurt.

Well, taking into consideration YOU were the one avoiding him the whole day, it didn’t seem reasonable to feel disappointed.

Sighing, you gathered your belongings with laziness, waiting for everyone else to leave first since you didn’t want to get stuck in the large crowd that probably would pack the halls.

The sadness was washing you all over as you thought your last chance of confessing him your feelings was over. And you weren’t sure if it was your fault, because you were the coward who ignored him even when he approached you first.

But what if I would’ve got rejected? At least now I still have his friendship… Don’t I?

A few minutes went by as you took your sweet time preparing to leave, still hearing a buzzing crowd laughing and talking outside, when suddenly the business became more noticeable than before.

You tried to ignore it until you heard a very familiar voice shouting:

“MOVE! I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS BULLSHIT!”

With eyes wide open, you turned your face around towards the door, instantly spotting that known silhouette standing right outside, with a small group of girls on his way. He lifted his eyes when he felt your stare, and quickly regained his composure, with newly found patience. He pushed through the crowd to walk in, stopping right under the doorframe, and spoke:

“Today, many seemed surprised I took my time to ‘properly’ reject every girl that came to me.” His eyes weren’t leaving yours as he kept talking. You laughed at the way he said “properly”, admitting he probably did his best to not make any girls cry despite being annoyed.

“The reason for that is because there is someone I want to look proudly at me. This someone has always seen the best in me, even at my worst, so I want to live up to her expectations.”

Bakugo resumed his way towards your place. His words caught you off guard, but his piercing gaze kept you hypnotized, so you couldn’t properly react.

“The whole day I was waiting for this certain someone to make a move, if she was even slightly interested in me. I was disappointed when that didn’t happen.” Your heart was filling with warmth and excitement with every word coming of those lips you dreamt of kissing lots of times before. “Then I thought, ‘Does she have to be the one making the first move?’”

Taking the last step, he finally stood before you, with his hands hidden behind him.

“A true hero is courageous and honest. She was both when she took the first step and approached me a year ago, even though I pushed her away many times. Now it’s my turn.”

He stayed silent for a brief moment, you were about to open your mouth and say something when he spoke once again:

“Y/N!” He startled you with his loud voice. “I like you! I don’t care about any other extra and their gifts, I only want you! So… Would you be my Valentine?”

He displayed to you the sweet chocolates box he was previously hiding behind, and silence reined the room once again, however this time it stayed for longer. You didn’t know how to reply, the words were stuck in your throat, still taken aback by his sudden and loud confession.

For some reason, the idea of Bakugo confessing first never crossed your mind, and it felt extremely impossible. But now not only did he confess he liked you, but he did it in front of a whole audience! And with chocolates and all!

“I…“ You finally could open your mouth, trying to form a coherent sentence in your mind first. “I like you too.”

You shyly smiled at him, being those the only words that could come out. Then you suddenly remembered the chocolate box in your bag and you hurried to bring it out and offer it to him. Bakugo looked down and stared at the chocolates you were offering him, with a something strange in his gaze. You quickly added:

“I wanted to give this to you, but I thought you wouldn’t want them when I heard you say you don’t like chocolates…”

His expression faded from the first awkward confusion to an understanding one, the memories of him shouting that same morning finally sinking in.

With his left hand he slowly accepted the box you were offering him, freeing yours to accept the one he was giving you.

“You surely impressed me.” You laughed nervously. “This is why I admire you. While I was here doubting, you set the example for me.”

Even when he tried to hide it, you noticed for a second how he puffed his chest with pride, making you smile wider.

“Now your courage inspired me to do this.” As soon as you said those words, you leaned forward and stood on your tiptoes, reaching to place your lips on his. He jumped surprised for a bit, before closing his eyes and corresponding your kiss gently.

His scent of caramel flooded your senses as you focused only on him. His soft lips caressing yours showed you an undoubtful yearning for you. He slowly placed his hand on your cheek, and you instinctively leaned closer to it.

After ending the kiss, you smiled broadly while feeling the blush kick in, rushing to your face.

“Those fuc… Freaking extras are still standing there, aren’t they?” Bakugo grumpily asked you, though the gentleness in his eyes and his touch gave away his true feelings.

You laughed, nodding as you paid more attention to the students standing outside staring at you two.

“Don’t mind them, at least that will serve to stop girls from approaching you.”

“And to let them know you’re the only one for me.”

“You’re so cheesy now!” You cringed covering your face with your palms with shyness.

“Would you prefer me to yell at you and call you extra, then?” He raised a brow jokingly.

You both laughed forgetting about the audience outside, not letting them ruin the special moment you both were building. Finally, being honest made you very happy, but the fact that it all happened during Valentine’s Day made it all even more amazing.

It was over.

There no longer was something Yoosung had to protect or to fight for. It was completely over now that MC was no longer here.

Yoosung was shocked and out of himself, his breathing speeding up every time he read Seven’s message in the chatroom:

707: There… There was an explosion in Rika’s apartment… And it seems that MC was there when it happened.

Yoosung stopped reading there. The chatroom flooded with a thousand messages more; maybe Jaehee and Zen asking what happened, maybe Jumin assessing the situation and giving instructions. He didn’t know. He stopped reading after that.

Everyone was anxiously waiting for Yoosung’s message blaming V, insulting him and desperately asking for the apartment’s address so he could go himself and see with his own eyes. That was what everyone, was expecting from him, but that never came; instead, a very worrying calmness showered Yoosung’s mind.

No, no, no. This is not happening. Were the only words crossing his mind.

After they noticed Yoosung wasn’t in the right condition to do anything, Zen decided to drop by his dorm and take care of him, ready for the blond to snap at any minute and start blaming whoever was in his way.

Soon enough, V entered the chatroom and explained he was on his way to the apartment. Since the cameras went out of service just before the explosion, Seven had no way to check the place.

V: I’m arriving right now at the apartment. Please wait a bit more until I see what happened.

V: The explosion was rather small and only affected Rika’s apartment, so it looks like the bomb was modified to on—

His messages stopped then, not answering to Jaehee’s or Jumin’s, then he finally said:

V: I know this may sound imprudent, and I hope you all understand the reason I will ask you all this… But I think it’s best if we carry on with the party. I will take responsibility for MC from now on. I don’t want her efforts to go to waste.

V’s words stunned the rest of the RFA members, and then he stopped responding to their messages saying he had to take care of the situation.

A long discussion took place in the chatroom, everyone complained about how they would be able to continue with the party despite the horrible situation, even Jumin admitted it was a bit too much. But they finally came to agree that the party could be a way to honor MC’s efforts and let everyone know her sweet heart.

Yoosung, however, was still under a spell, not allowing him to asses whatever was happening around him, it took him hours to finally react, and when he did, he screamed, shouted and cried, blaming V, blaming Seven, blaming everyone that supported the decision of letting MC stay in that apartment.

Eventually he had to calm down and understand that there was nothing else to be done, and that continuing with MC’s job was the best thing to do in that situation.

As the days passed, V reassured the rest of the members that he was taking care of MC’s situation very carefully, and that he didn’t want to overwhelm Yoosung, so he tried to handle everything himself.

Everyone was kind of thrown aback by V’s behavior before such disturbing situation, but decided to give him the last drops of trust they had towards him, refusing to believe their long-time friend would be as cold as to not treat the matter with the seriousness it deserves.

While the RFA was mourning the loss of their beloved member, two people were recovering in the hospital for minor injuries caused by the impact of an explosion. MC was certainly anxious and unsure if hiding her status was the best thing to do in that moment, but she made sure to follow V’s instructions of staying in the hospital until the party, and watch Saeran until he wakes up.

A few days had passed ever since she met the bleached-hair boy in person at her apartment, he had entered through the window using only God knows what methods to get there. He tried to take her outside using force, but MC fought with all her might to escape the boy’s grip.

She only remembers him saying “Stop fighting, we don’t have time before—“.

And then an explosion took place.

When she woke up, she had some minor scars and a strong headache, but she put aside her pain when she heard what seemed to be V’s voice talking with who she recognized to be the boy from before.

“Saeran, please let me explain—”

“NO! I don’t want to hear anything from you, go away!”

Not long after, V noticed MC had woken up. He hurried to ask for her forgiveness and explain the situation as best as he could and, as expected, he only released as much information as it was needed for MC to grasp what had happened, and who the boy was.

MC accepted V’s request to stay by Saeran, the boy’s, side to watch him and protect him until the party was over, just as she recovered from her condition. However, MC’s heart weighed at the thought of Yoosung being alone during such hard times, and having to deceive him even if it was for his and her own well-being, only for a few days, enough time for V to take care of Rika and the Mint Eye. She prayed that soon the horrible situation would pass and she would finally be by her love’s side.

Yoosung, on the other side, was completely destroyed. He skipped classes and always asked Jaehee to give him tasks related to the party to keep himself busy; as soon as he finished one, he asked for another, desperate to avoid the thoughts hunting him of how he could have done much more, how he could have protected the only person that motivated him to grow as a man and as a person.

The rest of the members didn’t even try to convince him to go to school, as they knew he would only get mad saying that the only thing that mattered now was to carry on with his love’s hard work.

The days passed and now the eleventh day had arrived, and the day everyone had been expecting for a long time, now was just a gloomy ceremony they knew they had to go on with.

Yoosung took his time to prepare himself, his hair and his clothes were spotless as he did his best to look less depressed, imagining how MC would wait for him at the party’s hall and compliment him about his looks.

Even though he was calmer than what everyone expected, deep down he had been only waiting patiently for the party his love had organized with all her effort, to finish and then focus all his might to uncover all the RFA’s hidden secrets and understand what really happened to MC, not caring anymore what he will have to go through and who he will have to go against, as long as the truth was uncovered.

Contrary to Yoosung’s negative thoughts filled with anger, MC was feeling delighted thanks to the news V had brought for her, telling her how now almost everything was solved and both Saeran and her were safe, so there was no need for MC to stay there anymore.

“Then… Is it possible for me to go to the party?” She asked with a voice full of hope, eager to finally see in person her lovely blond boy.

V smiled and nodded, replying: “Yes, if that is what you wish. Though…” He rushed to ask her one more thing. “Please don’t tell them about Saeran, I… I will take care of that soon.”

MC couldn’t help but feel regretful and saddened by the secrets the leader of the RFA was keeping with him, but then came to the conclusion that things could only be resolved if V accepted to share the weight of the secrets with the members.

Those thoughts only stopped her for a few seconds, forgetting about them as soon as V offered to take her in his car to the venue the party was taking place at. MC didn’t even stutter when accepting his offer, and not caring about not being properly dressed, they hurried to meet their friends.

Yoosung was behind the main stage of the party hall, getting a thorough explanation by Jaehee about how things would unfold during the rest of the event, though he was not hearing a single thing, immersed in his own thoughts.

As he looked down at his formal clothes, the reality was slowly sinking in; all the plans he previously had to uncover the truth, all his plans about the party and what he would do after it, they all disappeared. Only her name still in his thoughts, and her eyes remaining bright.

A single tear fell down, and without acknowledging it he kept staring down. Jaehee couldn’t help noticing that, so she stopped her words and stayed silent for a few seconds, before sending him to Seven.

“Oh, buddy.” Was the only thing Seven could say, as he too was silently suffering the guilt of not being able to protect his friends.

Jaehee and Jumin observed from the distance, doubting their decision of continuing with the party, even if it was meant to be in MC’s honor, they had to admit it was a difficult situation.

The party had a gloomy vibe despite their efforts to make everything as professional as possible. Yoosung was one step away from crying out loud an exploding with emotions. Seven was barely holding back his plead for forgiveness, not needing his friend to say a single word to know he blamed him for his incompetence, while Zen was just trying to deal with both of them and holding back his own emotions.

“Mr. Han, maybe I underestimated the severity of the matter.” Jaehee spoke, observing their friends from afar. “Will we be okay…?”

As Jumin was about to reply, his phone rang with the call identifier showing his best friend’s name.

“V? What’s wrong?”

He stayed silent for a few seconds, as a confused expression crossed his face.

“So, you’ll be attending the party, then?” Jumin restrained all the doubts that wanted to burst out and stopped himself from questioning his old friend.

“Alright, then.”

He hung up and turned around to walk towards the party entrance, but not even a moment later the doors suddenly opened. The quiet entrance of a woman did not attract much attention, however, it managed to shock the hosts of the party.

“Y-Yoosung…” Zen, who was comforting his younger friend in a tight embrace preventing him from causing too much of a scene, pointed to the person standing at the entrance with his face showing nothing but surprise and disbelief.

MC was just standing there looking around trying to track down the blond boy she was eagerly waiting for. When she spotted a handsome silver-haired guy staring shocked at her as if he had seen a ghost, she noticed the small figure leaning against him.

MC smiled brightly and waved her hand as high as she could to attract their attention, as if she needed to do so.

“Yoosung!” She shouted not caring to startle the guests around her.

The boy froze in his place, not wanting to turn around afraid of losing the small drop of hope left in his heart by mistaking what he had just heard.

A moment passed by and Zen said:

“H-Hey, Yoosung, she’s waiting for you, you should turn around and see.”

He couldn’t decipher if what he heard in Zen’s voice was happiness, mixed with astonishment, or what. The whole situation was so weird, he couldn’t afford to fool himself anymore like he did with Rika, when he convinced himself she was still alive.

His thoughts kept drifting away and coming back to the same place as he heard what seemed to be a pair of heels running towards their direction. As the sound approached more and more, his heart was beating faster and faster. Then he felt a small hand lay on his shoulder carefully.

“… Yoosung?”

He immediately turned around and stared at the woman in front of him. MC looked at him with a big smile and a spark of excitement in his eyes.

“I’m… I’m sorry for appearing out of nowhere, I just couldn’t help myself since I really wanted to have a dance with you tonight.”

MC shyly looked down, now understanding how frightened they must have been when they saw her show up after days of probably thinking her dead. Her rose cheeks and lips trembling in fear of Yoosung’s rejection.

He probably will be very mad, right…?

As if he read her mind and to prove her wrong, he hurried and embraced her tightly. His heart was now feeling lighter after what had been the worst days of his life.

“It’s really you.” He whispered in her ears, with a gentle and relieved tone.

MC sighed, glad of not being rejected.

“Yes, it’s me.” She let a shy laugh come out of her lips. “Then, wanna dance?” Taking a step back, she offered her right hand towards him.

Yoosung looked down at her hand and nodded, placing his shaking hand onto hers, the expectation of feeling her touch now flooding him along with happiness and love.

“I’m glad you asked.” He replied, then walked with her towards the center of the hall where other couples were dancing to a waltz.

Yoosung didn’t care or pay any attention to the fact that MC was underdressed for the event, or that the rest of the RFA was probably having a mental breakdown after seeing MC walk in as if nothing ever happened.

He was just happy to be lucky enough to see the woman, who he was sure was the love of his life, and be able to share a small and simple but very special moment like that one, where he held her in his caring embrace and she whispered sweet words of love in his ear.

Her face was slightly flushed due to all the laughter and excitement from her conversation. Her eyes closed as a smile crossed her face when she noticed Tamaki’s presence a few meters away, staring at her.

He hurriedly looked away, trying to hide how much he enjoyed just admiring her doing something so trivial but so beautiful like smiling and talking.

Maybe it started the first time she smiled at me, though I’m pretty sure it was just because she was trying to be nice… The shy boy kept trying to recall when the butterflies in his stomach appeared for the first time.

The first time she smiled at Tamaki was when their class organized an outing to the cinema. Of course, Tamaki wasn’t even considering attending, but Mirio and Nejire dragged him without allowing him to even protest.

Maybe it was because he got to see the cheerful and beautiful girl with casual clothes instead of her school uniform, but he thought it wouldn’t be so bad to spend time with other people.

That time, he remembered, she was wearing a beautiful yellow dress that fell just a little bit under her knees. It made her look like the sun, as if she was just as bright and warm, and Tamaki couldn’t help being attracted to that light coming from her.

At first, he thought he admired her just as he admired Mirio. But when he noticed he couldn’t stop looking at her and wishing he could grab her hand; he knew it had to be much more than just admiration.

A beautiful voice brought him back to present, instantly attracting all his attention back to her as she spoke with a trembling voice:

“N—No! I hate the darkness! I vote No for camping!”

The group of friends around her accepted her excuse as they continued searching for something to do the next weekend. However, her words were still being recalled in Tamaki’s mind over and over, as he remembered when the class had to go camping for training during summer vacations.

Could it have started back then?

It was during the first night of camping that the whole class had to split up into couples and go through various obstacles hidden in the dark and quiet forest. For some reason, Mirio decided to pair Tamaki up with a certain girl, being perfectly aware of the situation he was getting his friend into.

Tamaki couldn’t help being extremely nervous just by walking beside her, his mind was too busy being self-aware that he paid no attention to the scary noises and the obstacles in their way. Meanwhile the girl was struggling to keep a serious face, as her hands wouldn’t stop trembling at her sides.

The instant he noticed it, suddenly all his worries disappeared as protecting and comforting the girl became his top priority.

“A—Are you scared?” He quietly asked, shyly looking at her.

The girl gulped and nodded slowly, not sure where her voice went to.

Tamaki was surprised, he had never seen the girl afraid of something, she was always so brave and bright that she inspired him to become a better hero.

“I’m afraid of a lot of things.” The girl suddenly spoke, as if she could read the boy’s thoughts. “I always try hide it, but I guess I can’t fool you.” She forced a smile.

Tamaki stayed silent for a few seconds, just staring at her and memorizing every single detail about her expression. He admired her but he liked a lot this side of her, a more human, fragile and real one.

“It’s fine… Y—You don’t need to pretend, this time I will be the one protecting you, okay?”

The girl, a little amazed but grateful, nodded and stared at Tamaki before stepping a bit closer to him and said:

“Let’s walk together!”

He tried to hide the smile appearing on his lips, as he remembered her words, now coming back to reality.

“Hey, Tama! Are you coming this weekend with us?”

The black-haired boy looked up at the girl calling him a few meters away. A light flush on his cheeks almost gave him away about how excited he was to spend time out of the school with her.

“I t—think so…” He replied almost like a whisper, before he nodded when he noticed she was too far away to hear him.

She smiled widely satisfied with the response she got from him, and went back to the conversation with her friends.

She’s the only one that calls me “Tama”… When did she start calling me like that…?

“Tama”, the name she started calling him when they first studied together. An important test was just around the corner and the girl was worried sick about failing it, she was desperate to find someone to help her study.

“Mmm, Tamaki is pretty good with that subject, he could easily help you. Right, Mirio?”

Nejire showed a big grin, not even trying to hide the fact that she perfectly knew what she was doing compromising her friend with the girl he wouldn’t stop looking at. Mirio wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation, he was busy reading a magazine, but when he looked up it was enough for him to see Tamaki blushing intensely to grasp the situation.

“Of course!” He answered, still not sure what Nejire had said but knowing he had to agree.

And just like that, out of nowhere, Tamaki and the girl started spending lots of time together with the excuse of helping her to study. They both started growing closer and closer, although he was still pretty anxious being around the girl he liked.

I already liked her back then?

He interrupted himself, realizing the important detail that he had already fell for her at that time.

Tamaki flushed at how easily he admitted to himself his feelings, showing how used he got to think about it. Just as he was about to cover his face with his hands to hide the blush, a cold hand was already pressing against his left cheek.

“Do you have a fever?” A quiet but recognizable whisper surprised him.

The girl was just a few inches away from his face with a worried look on his face. Tamaki stepped back flustered for a moment.

“N—No! I’m okay…!”

“Sorry, I scared you.” She laughed and relaxed her expression.

“It’s my fault, I was not paying attention…” Tamaki murmured, with his eyes going back and forth between hers and the floor, not resisting the temptation of staring at her bright eyes.

She tilted her head lightly and asked with curiosity:

“What were you thinking about? You’ve been distracted the whole day.”

He pursed his lips, ashamed to answer but not wanting to lie.

“I—I was just trying to remember… Trying to remember when did I start feeling like this” He shyly asked, staring at the floor. “When I started to like you.”

He felt the girl sigh, her breath reaching his skin and caressing it softly.

“Mmm, our first date, maybe?” She guessed.

Tamaki left a small laughter come out of his lips.

“I wouldn’t have asked you out on a date if I hadn’t liked you before that, b—bunny.”

Y/N couldn’t help but laugh with him, still amused at how her boyfriend came up with that cute name.

“You? Ask me on a date? It was Mirio who had to set us up because you never confessed me your feelings!” She protested, pouting. “I knew you liked me back then but I wanted you to take the first step.”

Tamaki blushed once again –something not surprising in him-, processing her girlfriend’s words.

“You knew…?”

“Of course, everyone knew! You think I didn’t notice every time Mirio and Nejire planned something to get us together? They were pretty obvious.”

The black-haired boy whimpered and covered his face ashamed.

“But I was pretty obvious too! I always looked for an excuse so they could pair me up with you.” Y/N laughed unashamed, in contrast with her boyfriend’s reaction.

He peeked through his fingers to stare at her as she spoke, caught off guard at her sudden confession.

“You mean y—you liked me too back then…?”

“Mmm, I’m not sure.” She said with a thoughtful look, before smiling. “Maybe I’ve loved you since we first met.”

Tamaki was taken aback by her words. The previous question that was roaming around his mind disappeared, making things a bit clearer for him.

She’s right, maybe I’ve always liked her. I’ve loved her from the beginning.

“EEEK! HOW—? I—I mean, no! I didn’t hear anything, my sweet!”

Saeran is smart and all, but he still sucks at lying to you.

“Don’t worry, babe, I’m not ashamed that you heard it.” You laugh.

“Should I fart again until you get used to it?”

If his blush was gone at least for a little bit, it was back again and brighter than before.

Saeran covered his face with both his hands ashamed.

“Oh, sorry, babe, did I make you uncomfortable? I’m so sorry.”

He shook his head in denial, with his face still flushed and covered.

“It just sounded too cute coming from you, MC.”

Wait, what?

You laughed out loud at his words.

What kind of person thinks that farting is cute? Only Saeran, for sure.

“Why is it cute?” You asked between laughs, the scene being too comical for you.

“I don’t know, I just find it adorable coming from you for some reason…” He mumbled through his hands.

You laughed again and leaned towards him to place your head on his shoulder.

Just a few seconds passed with only you laughing at the sight of his extremely pale hands covering his totally flushed and red face.

You didn’t notice how he was slowly removing his hands, only to allow his sight to be placed onto you.

A lovely smiled appeared crossed his lips as he murmured:

“I’m so happy we can have trivial moments like this one… We can finally enjoy even the smallest and dumbest things from a normal life…”

You stopped laughing when you heard him say that. You looked up at him and nodded.

“I love you, Saeran.”

“I love you even more, my farting girl.”

“SAERAN, DON’T CALL ME THAAAT!”

 V

The first time you fart in front of Jihyun you don’t do it very much on purpose, you actually feel ashamed of doing it.

He heard you clearly, and noticed how you covered your face and you squatted to hide your head between your legs.

Jihyun thought you were sick or somethings like that.

“MC, are you okay? Does your stomach hurt? You farted pretty loudly just now…” He was so worried about you he didn’t noticed how his words made it worse for you.

You grumbled, feeling even more ashamed now that he was beside you trying to “comfort you from your pain”.

“I’m not sick! I just farted, as normal people do…” You admitted.

Your boyfriend stayed silent for a moment, now understanding why your face was completely red and you didn’t look him in the eyes.

“Have you heard that when you fart in front of your partner that means you actually trust him?” Jihyun said trying to lighten the situation.

“But I didn’t do it on purpose! It was an accident!”

“Oh, so you don’t trust me?” He made puppy eyes at you.

That managed to make you laugh, because he rarely acted childish and playful.

“Of course I trust you, darling.”

“Then should we take our time to fart in front of each other and like that protest our love and trust?”

“WHAT THE HECK, JIHYUN?!” You actually fell backwards because of the laughter.

“You don’t want to?”

“You’re starting to sound like Seven, you know? I think I know now why he sees you as a father.”

He laughed with you until both of you felt more relaxed and the awkward situation was over.

“Are you feeling better now?” He asked with a kind smile.

You nodded, thankful for your caring boyfriend.

 Vanderwood

“WHAT THE FUCK?! DID YOU JUST FART?!”

You burst out laughing at how annoyed your boyfriend looked.

Vanderwood was like an old grandma sometimes, he always nagged you and told you to clean.

“Does anyone have at least an ounce of respect for me…?” He asked to himself.

“Oh, come one, babe. I love you!”

He fell silent, with cheeks flushing while staring into nothing.

“I was just trying to play with you! The other day I heard that if you fart around your SO, the relationship will be stronger!”

“How stupid is that? Why would I want to hear you fart?” He protested, trying to dissimulate the redness in his cheeks.

“Why don’t you fart too? That way we’re even!”

“Are you crazy? I don’t fart in front of other people? Why would I do so? It’s disgusting.”

You pouted and made puppy eyes at him, sighing and giving a disappointed look.

“I’ve never heard of anyone forcing their boyfriend to fart…”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything! Now do it!”

He growled slightly annoyed at your request.

Vanderwood took a deep breath and stirred in his seat nervously preparing himself, until you heard a super small and almost silent fart coming from him.

“Eh? That’s all?” You asked confused.

“Of course that’s all, what were you expecting? And I hope you paid attention because I will never do it again.” He replied.

“And what if I want to fart again? We need to be fair and do it both!”

“Stop speaking nonsense, MC, you can fart whenever you want…” He mumbled looking anywhere else but you.

“Really?”

“Yeah… You know I love you no matter what… Even if your farts are smelly.”

While running down the street, both your hands were busy tying up your hair in a bun, sniffling and trying to regain your composure. You didn’t want Saeyoung or Saeran asking why you looked like that when you were “just buying groceries”.

You had to admit going to therapy wasn’t an easy thing to do, but what made it much worse was the fact that no one knew about it and you had to keep it a secret from your closest friends and even your boyfriend.

It wasn’t something you were ashamed of, in fact you always tried to encourage everyone around you to reach out for help when they needed it. And, of course you wouldn’t be ashamed of getting professional help when Saeran, the love of your life and the most important person to you, was going through the same thing.

You always tried to show him all the love and support he needed throughout his process of recovery, you were happy to be by his side and help him. But that was exactly why you hadn’t told anyone about your own problem; you didn’t want to be a burden to him or the rest of the RFA, you felt that it was not necessary.

Since you were younger, you were used to take care of yourself and be responsible of your own health –physical and mental health—. That’s why it wasn’t something new for you to go through difficult processes alone.

After another 15 minutes of bus ride, you were finally a few meters away from the home you shared with the Choi twins.

You stopped for a moment in front of the door trying to catch your breath and act as if nothing ever happened, but the moment you extended your hand to reach the front door you stood frozen.

I forgot the groceries! You screamed internally, realizing you had no excuse to why you arrived home so late and empty handed.

Usually, you got out of your session early enough to go to the supermarket and buy some things to prepare a special dinner. Every week you did Saeran’s favorite dish knowing it must have been a rough day for him.

Even if you two were going through the same process of recovery, you wouldn’t dare to compare your own trauma to his. You were convinced he had it much worse. Sure, you had a mentally abusive mom and a frustrated childhood due to your parent´s negligence, but at least you could go out of your house without gangsters hired by an important politician going after you every second.

Saeran didn’t have to deal with your problems, he already had enough by himself.

The moment you were back into your senses, you thought of walking to the nearest supermarket and buy at least frozen food and some ice cream, you could invent some sort of excuse on your way back home. But your plans were ruined by the motion sensor camera, that had already alerted Saeyoung of your presence in front of the house.

The door opened suddenly showing a confused red head looking at you with expectation.

“MC, why are you so late? You should have called me to pick you up.” Saeyoung asked, leaning his head lightly in confusion.

“Ah… I—I forgot my purse, and I…” Your eyes suddenly lit up when the perfect lie crossed your mind. “And I thought I left it at the store, but then after a long time looking for it, I realized I forgot it at home.”

With your head nodding fervently trying to look convinced, you pursed your lips to avoid any more words to come out of it and ruin your excuse.

Saeyoung looked even more confused, and with furrowed brows he pointed at something below you:

“Your purse is on your right hand.”

You looked down and, once again in less 5 minutes you froze in your place, amazed by your stupidity.

“Well… I…“ With your eyes still locked on your right hand, you searched in our head looking for any explanation, before being interrupted by a calmer voice.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t you getting in?” Saeran asked, walking passed his brother and reaching out to take your hand and guide you inside.

Saeyoung locked the door behind you still looking cautiously at you.

“MC… You didn’t even go to the supermarket, did you?” He asked kindly.

You avoided his gaze with your hands still holding firmly Saeran’s, when you felt your boyfriend stop abruptly in front of you. He turned around and looked at you, noticing how you had brought nothing, and then looked at his brother.

“I did! It’s just that… Ummm, it’s just…” Your voice started getting smaller and smaller as you spoke, no excuse arrived on time to your mind to get you out of the current situation.

“MC…” A soft and cold hand took your chin and gently made you look at the loving eyes in front of you. Saeran was analyzing your face with a calm expression on his. “I can tell you’re lying. If there’s something going on, you can tell me.”

Looking at his noble expression, you started feeling bad for hiding something from him. Even though you thought it was better this way, you didn’t like it a single bit.

Since there was no believable excuse for you to tell them, you resigned and considered telling the truth.

“You know if there’s something you need to tell us we’ll help you with anything you need.” Saeran spoke once again, giving you the reassurance you needed to take the final step and tell them the truth.

“Uh, I feel like this is something you need to talk just the two of you, so I’ll be in my room until you need me…” Saeyoung said switching his stare between you and his twin, sensing his time to step out of the conversation, and then walked out slowly.

You witnessed as he left and then looked back at the expecting eyes before you. Clearing your throat, you prepared yourself mentally to talk about the truth:

“Ummm… You know I don’t have a good relationship with my parents…”

“Yes, I do remember that…” He raised slightly a brow with confusion.

“Well, I think the situation with the is a bit more serious than just ‘not getting along’… You could say I was abused by my mother and neglected by my father…” You explained yourself the best you could with all the nervousness flowing inside you. “Oh! But I was not abused physically! They rarely touched me…”

Saeran closed his eyes and made a disgusted grin, showing how he was getting angry about what you were telling him, so you hurried and kept explaining the rest:

“That was a long time ago! I mean, my mom is still as shit as ever but since I don’t talk to her anymore it’s all in the past… That’s why I decided to go to therapy…”

Saeran was listening with his eyes still closed, until you said that last part. It took him by surprise and he wasn’t sure how to react.

“I’ve been going to therapy since we started dating, I wanted to be in my best condition so I could help you too, you know? When I met you, I wanted to be a strong and reliable person for you, but I wasn’t, I had too many things inside me that were holding me back…”

You took a step closer to him and grabbed both his hands, as if that would help you share your emotions and thoughts better.

“I didn’t tell anyone about it because I thought it would be a burden for you, you had enough things to deal with already.” A wave of regret invaded you now that the truth was coming out of your mouth finally. “I’m so sorry for lying and inventing such stupid excuses, but I was convinced it was better this way.”

You stood silent for a few minutes, just holding Saeran’s hands tightly while he looked at you scrutinizing ever word you said.

Finally, after what felt like hours, he opened his mouth to respond with honesty and a bit of hurt in his tone:

“I’m a bit disappointed, MC.” Saeran looked down at your hands holding his, and then looked up at you again, his words taking you by surprise but at the same time, you knew it was a normal reaction.

“I’m slightly disappointed because all this time I’ve been sharing the deepest and darkest parts of myself with you, and I chose to be honest and talk about my past. But you’re still hiding from me.”

His words made sense. He always talked with you about the progress he made every week, even if it was difficult or painful, he wanted you to hear how he was slowly becoming a better and stronger person. That meant a lot to him.

That’s why it saddened him hearing you say you were “a burden to him”, he didn’t expect you to tell him every single detail about your past, but he expected the same level of confidence and honesty from you.

“I know we didn’t go through the same experiences, MC, but please don’t belittle your struggles like that. The reason why I’m trying so hard to get better is because of you. I want to protect you and be with you the rest of my life, making you happy. But I can’t do that if you’re not ready to share things like that with me…”

The weight of his words pierced through your heart. A small part of your chest started burning due to the arousal of emotions waking up inside you. You were speechless to his sincerity and his pained voice, and could tell he was really hurt because of your choices.

“Saeran, I’m so sorry…” Was the only thing you could say in that moment, instead you decided to step forward and pull him into you for a tight embrace, being that the only way you could show him how much you cared for him and how sorry you felt.

He was noticeably surprised by your actions at first, but after a few seconds he raised both his arms and wrapped them around you with gentleness. The moment his hands were placed on your back, all the emotions and tears you had been trying to hide came out suddenly, and between tears you spoke once again:

“I love you so much, I just wanted you to only see the good side of me…! I wanted you to think of me as someone strong enough to help you, but how can I do so if I can’t even deal with my own issues…?”

Your boyfriend sighed at your words.

“MC, I can’t tell you how much I disagree with you.” He replied, taking a small step back just enough to have you two face to face, so you could see the seriousness in his eyes. “You’re the strongest person I know, not because of how much you endure your pain, but because no matter what happens or how much you go through, you always manage to stay bright and see the good things in the world.

“Despite everything, you still smile cheerfully and laugh, you are a loving and caring person and I admire you so much because of that. And now that you tell me about your past and the way you’ve been dealing with that on your own, I admire you even more.

Look at me, I needed your help and my brother’s to realize how wrong and how damaged I was in the past. But you only had yourself to rely on, and still made it through and reached out for help.”

His feelings and thoughts were calming the deepest fears buried in your heart, making you feel thankful for having the most awesome boyfriend ever and being able to be beside him no matter what. Your tears wouldn’t stop falling across your face as he kept talking:

“I don’t need you to only show me ‘your good side’, I need you to show me all of you so we can grow together and become the best of ourselves for each other. I want to know the darkest parts of you so I can light them up and help you through them, just as you are doing with me.”

With his right thumb he gently brushed your tears off, caressing your skin as a silent message of support. Everything he said was leaving a huge impact on you, but his last words sealed any doubt that could be left:

“I love you more than anything else; I love every single thing about you. I want to keep discovering more and more of you, so I can love you even more.” Saeran leaned his face towards yours slowly, his breath warming your wet cheeks as every word left his mouth. “MC, will you let me love you even more from now on?”

Only two seconds passed before you nodded with shyness to his question, giving him the confirmation he so much wanted just before he closed any space left between the two of you to kiss you deeply.

It was as if that kiss erased the fears even you didn’t notice were there, letting you finally be at peace with yourself and be able to admit you needed his help too to go through the journey of recovery. You even felt relieved for finally talking the truth.

This was a new step in your relationship, you were ready now to ask for his help and support from now on, and show him your deepest struggles and fears knowing he would be by your side until you find your own answers.

You sighed in relief after separating your lips from his, and cleared your throat before speaking:

Although the situation is not at all romantic, he just thinks about it as a proof that he makes you feel comfortable enough to show him the most embarrassing sides of you.

“I would fart too, but even my body is too perfect, I don’t do it very often.”

Yoosung

Yoosung for sure would feel overwhelmed the first time you fart in front of him.

“W-What was t-that, MC? Are you okay? Does your stomach ache?”

You burst out laughing at his cuteness.

“Of course I’m okay, I just farted.”

He’s a blushing mess after that but makes no comment since he doesn’t want to embarrass you or something.

After that one time, farting in front of Yoosung became something common for you to do.

Especially when you two are playing LOLOL together and you’ve eaten too much ramyeon and drank too much soda.

The trust between you two has grown exponentially since then, and he even starts farting in front of you too.

It’s not in a gross or annoying way, he still tries to hide it to respect you, but he knows you’ll just laugh and fart too.

“I’m glad you farted first, I’ve been holding one for too long” You say, causing him to blush and chuckle, covering his ashamed face with both his hands.

Jaehee

As serious as Jaehee is, I think she wouldn’t mind that much if you farted in front of her.

The first time she would actually pretend she didn’t notice it to avoid embarrassing you.

“Oh, I hope I didn’t bother you, Jaehee.”

“B—Bother me? Why, MC?”

“Didn’t you just hear me fart?”

“N—No!”

If you do it again, she will just laugh and blush lightly.

“It’s okay, it’s something natural we all do.”

After hearing her say those words, you actually start growing more comfortable and do it more often.

You always apologize to her but she keeps telling you it’s okay, until one day:

“…Jaehee, did you just fart?”

“… No…”

“It’s okay, Jaehee.” You smile at her with tenderness and with a hint of playfulness. “It’s something natural we all do.”

She looked at you with a completely flushed face, ashamed by the same words she told you first.

Jumin

Jumin for sure won’t take it as chill as the rest of the RFA.

He may be a devoted and loving husband but we all know he wants you to be a “correct lady”.

“That is not very proper for a lady, MC.”

“I know is normal in all human beings, but please make sure you don’t do it in front of other people.”

“No, MC, I’m not mad.”

“O—Of course I fart too. What do you think I am? A robot?”

You would convince him that among commoners, it’s a way of showing a deep bond and trust.

“Is that so…? Mmm… Commoners are so weird these days…”

“Should I fart in front of you too?”

You burst out laughing just at the idea of your rich and elegant husband farting on purpose with you.

“No! Please don’t, Jumin! I’m satisfied with just the idea!”

“No, MC, please allow me to.”

*Proceeds to fart*.

“OH MY GOD, JUMIN!”

The most elegant and sophisticated farting you will ever hear.

707

Ok, this will not be very surprising but let me introduce you to the king of farting, Seven Zero Seven!

The first time you fart in front of him he will LAUGH AT YOU.

At first you would think he laughs because of your lack of manners, but then you hear him say:

“You call THAT a fart?!”

In fact, he likes to mock you because of your “farting skills”.

After that, every time one of you does it, a competition of the loudest farts begins.

“How dare you challenge THE Seven Zero Seven?!”

“Ok, Seven, that’s all. I can’t keep up with you.” You admit laughing after a while.

“The king keeps his crown, then.” He stands proudly.

“Such a romantic boyfriend, huh.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t like competing with me…” He made puppy eyes, sticking out his lower lip.

“Of course I love a good fart competition with my boyfriend! Such a wholesome date.” You chuckle, pulling him towards you and hugging him.

“And I love having fun with the love of my life!” He placed his arms around your neck pulling you to kiss you endearingly.

“Am I really the love of your life?” You ask moved.

“Obviously! Who else would understand my humor and have fun with me, if not you?” He placed a gentle kiss on your cheek.

The idea of missing such an important date had you depressed the entire day, you were doing your best effort not to burst out crying in front of all the production crew. But no matter how hard you tried, the weight on your chest would not go away, and the constant need to cry your eyes out was too much to handle. So, you decided to take five minutes alone and do what you needed to do to continue the filming without feeling like crap.

That’s how you ended up with your eyes full of tears, your right hand covering your mouth so not a single sound would come out of it and give you away. But your cries were interrupted by the sound of a known cheerful voice calling you:

“Miss Chips! Where are you? Let’s grab lunch together!”

You could hear Kiro from the other side of the door with his usual excited tone, and decided to ignore him not wanting to worry him. But your plans failed as your phone started ringing showing his name and photo on the screen, just loudly enough for him to hear it from where he was standing outside.

Calm steps started approaching the office you locked yourself in; you sighed knowing it was too late to create some sort of excuse. Besides, you didn’t want to lie to him, so you just waited for him to knock the door.

“Y/N, what’s wrong?”

You ignored his question and instead opened the door to show yourself -a completely mess by now, with your face all red and wet with tears-, and you dragged him inside the office.

“Why are you crying? Did something happen?”

Not intending to lie to him, you started explaining as you walked towards the couch, still dragging him beside you before taking a sit:

“Do you remember what I told you a couple days ago? I was excited and sad at the same time for something…”

Kiro tried to remember your recent conversations and what that had to do with your current state, until something clicked inside his mind. He opened his eyes in realization as he gave you a comprehensive look.

“Oh, it’s that day… I´m sorry, Y/N, you have to be here instead of spending some time with your dad…” His usually happy voice turned into a saddened one, as he knew how important was that date to you.

Kiro’s heart sank at the view, he started feeling guilty for not remembering what you talked about just a few days ago. Until now he noticed you weren’t acting as usual during the shooting, but he thought maybe you were just nervous since it was a bigger production than what you usually work with.

“I feel so bad that I can’t prepare something for my dad, Kiro. This is the only time I can feel as if he was still with me, and I’m stuck here… I miss him so much…” You covered your face with both hands as your cries resumed.

Kiro closed the space between you two and embraced you softly.

You thought it was a nice gesture to comfort you from just a close friend as Kiro. But in reality, it was meant much more than that to him; it was the only time he could keep you into his arms without it being awkward.

He felt guilty for thinking of something else when you were crying in his chest, but he couldn’t ignore the warm feeling growing inside him, opposite to the coldness of your tears wetting his shirt. He imagined how would it feel like if he was hugging you to show you his love; just because he wanted to hold you and keep you close to him, without the need of an excuse and not only as a way of comforting you.

Kiro imagined what would it be like if he could act without fear or worry, and be sincere with his true feelings. If he could be with you and ask you out on dates, to make you laugh, make you blush and make you smile.

Just as he was about to tighten his embrace, lost in his thoughts and with a small spark of hope growing in his chest, you carefully leaned back abandoning the warm of his arms wrapped you.

“I’m sorry, I think I ruined your shirt. I’ll ask an assistant to get you a new one right now…” You were about to get up and walk out of the room, clueless of the thoughts your blond friend was having just a second ago, ready to go back to work; instead Kiro interrupted you.

“Miss chips, there’s something I want to tell you…” He looked down, not brave enough to stare directly into your eyes, and softly grabbed one of your hands to prevent you from walking away.

“What is it?”

He sighed and, as he filled his chest with courage to speak his true feelings, the door opened suddenly drawing your attention.

Kiro looked up at you, and saw how your face brightened up showing a gentle smile. For a second he wished that expression was because of him, and he was ready to talk out loud, that until he noticed the man standing under the doorframe.

“Gavin!” You dropped Kiro’s hand and without hesitating you stood up to greet the honey eyed man that made your heart beat faster. “What are you doing here?”

Kiro froze at his place for a moment, before turning his head around to place his gaze at Gavin, who was standing nervously with both his hands hidden behind him.

“When you texted me saying you were getting home late, I knew you probably wouldn’t have enough time to buy something for your father…” Gavin stepped inside slowly showing what his hands were holding. “So I bought this.”

In front of you, he was holding a bouquet of beautiful flowers and a bento box. Your eyes, previously full of tears, now were open wide in surprise and happiness.

“I remember you once mentioned you liked to get flowers and prepare your dad’s favorite food for his anniversary. And though I’m pretty sure this is not the same, I thought maybe it would cheer you up a bit…”

Kiro could only stay quiet as he listened to Gavin’s explanation, already feeling something burning up inside him, something he could only recognize as jealousy.

It’s him, it’s always him. Does he not have a job or what…? Kiro thought, frowning.

He was about to get up and say something, slightly annoyed that Gavin had interrupted the moment he decided to confess his feelings to you, when you spoke:

“That is…” Your cheeks were now flushing, obviously moved by his surprise. “This is so sweet, thank you, Gav.”

You stood on your toes and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Gavin’s lips in gratitude; such an innocent gesture to you, and such a welcomed reaction to Gavin, but you ignored the pain provoked by that surprising action on your friend, sitting behind you with a broken heart.

As the couple standing before Kiro embraced each other happily, he could only witness in silence, reality sinking slowly and painfully in his mind and heart.

So, he talked through this with you and convinced you to make a deal.

You two would cheer and help each other so you could build more confidence.

He always praised you and every day he would tell you how beautiful you are.

And when I say every day, I mean EVERY DAY.

Even those days when you couldn’t be bothered to change your clothes or brush your hair and you looked like a mess.

Without a single doubt he would smile at you, cup your cheeks and tell you:

“What did I do in my past life to have such a cute and gorgeous girlfriend as you?”

He would instantly blush after that, but that was a part of his effort to become more confident too.

Since Yoosung loves cooking all your favorite foods and would spoil you ALL the time, sometimes you would get worried about gaining more weight.

So you decided to tell him not to cook for you anymore.

That definitely made our cute boy pretty sad.

“Am I that bad at cooking? What if she’s tired of my food?” He thinks.

You had to explain everything to him when you noticed how down he was.

“If you’re worried about that, I can learn some healthy recipes instead!”

You two agreed to go on a diet together -he insisted he wanted to be fit for you-.

Cooking lots of healthy dishes with him became a regular date routine.

If someone ever made fun of you, that would be one of the few times you see Yoosung act truly manly without even trying.

“Listen here! She’s the most beautiful, stunning and kind person I’ve ever met. She’s much more than what you see! And if you dare to treat my girl like that ever again, I will not stay put!”

You could just stare silently at the scene before you, amazed at how your usually shy and cute boyfriend was standing up for you.

After that he would make sure you weren’t feeling bad about the whole situation.

“Don’t listen to them, MC! They’re a horrible person, I’m pretty sure they only know how to judge other people…”

Your face gets all red and you ask:

“Yoosung, do you really think I’m beautiful…?”

He freezes out of surprise in his place for a second, but then a gentle smile appears on his face as he steps towards you and hugs you.

“I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, MC… Only then you would see the true beauty you hold…”

The beauty I hold…? You ask yourself, smiling into his warm chest to hide your face.

“I-I think I’m starting to understand that beauty you talk about…” You murmured.

You started fidgeting with the bag of ice creams in your hands, walking up the stairs directly to his office, but you were frozen by the sight of a beautiful, tall, and well-dressed woman walking down the hallway at the same time as Lucien opened his office’s door and stepped out with a graceful smile to welcome the woman, without noticing your presence just a few meters behind him.

“Professor Lucien! I’m so excited to work with you today!” The woman curved her red velvet lips forming a wide smile, placing her left hand on your boyfriend’s shoulder with a delicate movement.

You only stood there for a few seconds as they greeted each other, but you could only notice how she batted her lashes with hints of nervousness, and she wouldn’t stop smiling and leaning her body towards Lucien, in a clear sign of attraction.

Lucien was acting just as eloquent and professional as ever, but he was obviously smart enough to notice the woman’s behavior.

“Should we continue talking inside? There’s a lot of work waiting for us.” The calm and sophisticated voice of your boyfriend interrupted your analysis over her, and you could react just after the door was shut behind them, leaving you expectant at the last stair step.

Slightly confused you looked around you not knowing what to do, when you spotted one of Lucien’s coworkers you sometimes talked to, and approached him.

“Excuse me, sir.” You smiled lightly as a polite salute, as he turned around and smiled back at you. “I’m sorry, is professor Lucien busy right now? I came by surprise and wanted to say hi to him.”

“Oh, dear, what a sweet girlfriend you must be.” The man chuckled, making you blush slightly. “But unfortunately, yes. Professor Lucien just received an important guest today! We were all in the building so eager to meet her, she is Maria Irwin!”

The old man in front of you seemed pretty excited just by telling you her name, as if you obviously knew who she was. But looking at your confused expression, he laughed and shook his hand in the air.

“Ah, sorry, sorry! I suppose you’re not well aware of the scientific community!” He kept explaining. “She is just as known and respected as professor Lucien in our community, as smart as she is beautiful, if I dare to say. Maria came here to work in an important project with him, so this was a long-awaited visit; they will probably be busy for a while.”

You sighed and nodded slowly, understanding how important that meeting must be, so it was better for you not to interrupt them.

You thanked the man and started walking back home again with the bag in your hands still full of all the ice creams and sweets you brought, which you probably would have to eat alone back at home.

It was sort of a long walk from Lucien’s office to your apartment, and since it was a sunny and warm day you would better hurry up and get home fast. But you were too busy immerse in your thoughts to force the pace.

She was definitely the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen… And she must be pretty smart if she was compared to Lucien…

Those were innocent thoughts about how a beautiful woman walked into your boyfriend’s office, but then you remembered the way she looked at him and the way she clearly was flirting with him.

You weren’t the jealous type of girlfriend, but you surely knew how to recognize when a beautiful and smart woman was on another whole level from you.

They kind of looked good together, actually…

You stopped in your tracks suddenly overwhelmed by the thought that just crossed your mind. You knew you shouldn’t be saying -or thinking- that kind of stuff. Lucien was your boyfriend, for the love of God! You knew he loved you and he was such a gentleman and a decent person, of course he would never look at another woman.

But the unwelcomed feeling that was growing in your chest was not because you were afraid of him cheating on you, it was because you knew that Maria Irwin -whoever she was- was much better than you and that maybe she would be a better partner for Lucien.

A smart woman for a smart man; a beautiful woman for a handsome man; an elegant and sophisticated woman for an equally elegant and sophisticated man. They were the perfect match, without a doubt.

Why would Lucien be with me, when he can be with any other woman…? What does he even see in me…?

You could feel the anxiety and insecurities crawling out from the darkest places of your mind, leaving negative thoughts on their way. All the horrible feelings you had not encountered in a long time were coming back at once; you were feeling so overwhelmed by them you could not hear anything outside from your breathing, and your eyes were focused on the ground.

I’m not even that pretty, and I’m nowhere near as smart as them…

Heavy panting replaced your soft breathing as your chest tightened and you felt your eyes getting filled with tears.

He should be with someone at his level, why would he be with me…? Am I even worth it…?

Your trembling hands wouldn’t stop until you felt something dripping in your right shoe. Your eyes moved only a little to then be placed over the bag you were carrying in your hands, now soaked in colorful liquids; the ice cream was almost completely melted by now.

As if something switched in your mind out of nowhere, your tears suddenly stopped falling from your eyes, and your hands were no more shaking.

Now you were just an empty shell.

You stood there quiet for a moment, just assimilating what was happening with you. You could not feel anything else other than the heaviness trapped in your chest, but all the physical symptoms of your anxiety attack were gone, and that was better than nothing because now at least you could get home as quick as possible.

A few hours later you were now in sitting in your couch with your head thrown back, and your eyes stuck on the ceiling. You weren’t thinking any more of what happened before with Lucien and that other woman, your mind was almost completely blank, but every now and then small thoughts invaded you:

Should I just break up with him…?

He is just wasting his time with me; he could be with someone else…

Look at me pitying myself… If Lucien saw me like this, he would know how pathetic I am…

Your train of thought was interrupted by a familiar sound, letting you know you received a text from your boyfriend. Without even noticing it, your hand was already slowly reaching your phone, in an almost automated movement.

“I heard that you were here earlier, did you need something?” The shinning screen in your hands was showing a text waiting for your response, which you weren’t sure to give; you didn’t intend to ignore him but at the same time you wanted to avoid any contact with him because that would only make you feel worse.

“Yeah, I dropped by just to say hi.” You forced yourself to write.

“Sorry for not receiving you. I’ll get you dinner tonight.”

“No need to. I’m about to sleep anyway.”

After that last message you didn’t even bother to check if there was any response from him. You said that just as an excuse but you actually thought it was better to sleep and try to forget everything that happened today.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t even do that. After two hours of laying in your bed looking at the ceiling you weren’t able to fall asleep; the emptiness inside you would not let you relax at all, it started to get annoying at this point, you could feel how your temperament was getting worse with any second that passed by.

The next morning, after you only slept 2 hours, when your alarm rang your automated movements came back and you started getting ready for work without even paying any attention whatsoever. The rest of the day was just like that: a memorized daily routine effected with the least possible effort just to get through the day without getting to think too much.

You made an effort to ignore any message in your phone that was left from Lucien; more than trying to ignore him, it was a defense mechanism to try and forget those previous feelings that had put you in that state in the first place. It was not fair for Lucien but you just weren´t ready to confront him, not when all these negative things were swirling around your mind. You wanted to get better so he would never get to see that side of you.

Later that day, you were arriving home later than usual because you tried to keep yourself busy until the very end. Maybe it was an unconscious decision so you would not bump into Lucien that night, since you two usually got home at the same time.

Apparently, destiny was working against you, because just as you were walking out of the elevator you saw a tall man standing in front of your door looking at something in his phone, distracted.

Then your phone started ringing, causing the tall man to turn around and see you. You looked down to your home screen and the name Lucien was shining.

“Aren’t you picking up?” The man’s voice brought you out of your auto-pilot mode, and only then you noticed that man -Lucien- standing there with his phone dialing you in his left hand while looking at you with expectation.

“Oh, sorry…” You blinked slowly still not completely out of trance, and you passed by him walking to your door to enter your home.

“Are you okay, Y/N?” His soft voice showing hints of worry pierced your ears, causing you to slowly process what the situation was, throwing reality at your face.

Instead of answering his question, you accidentally dropped your keys when your hands started trembling. All the feelings your unconscious was trying to avoid since the previous day, piling up inside you, came out at once.

“You weren’t answering my texts since last night. I got worried and decided to…” Your ears stopped working in that moment; you body could not take anything more.

You stepped back stunned, your mind was completely blank for a second and you felt yourself trapped in a little cage inside your mind. You were there, but at the same time you weren’t in charge of your body any more.

You only felt a strong grip holding your arms from behind you, stopping you from crashing into the floor. The dizziness stopped for a second only to hear your boyfriend’s voice:

“Y/N! Can you hear me? Are you okay?”

Tears started streaming down your face, with loud cries bursting from your mouth without you even intending to. At that moment, his voice full of love and worry had already broken whatever that was containing all your feelings.

Everything was getting blurry at that point; you only heard yourself crying out loud with Lucien speaking slowly in your ear trying to comfort you. And then you noticed you were being carried in his arms into his apartment, and placing you in the couch.

By now, you regained conscience of what was happing again, but you didn’t care and kept crying and getting everything out of you; maybe that would make you feel better.

“Whenever you feel ready to talk, darling…” Lucien’s calm voice as ever, worked as a sedative and helped you quiet your loud sobs.

He hugged you tightly and held you against him with gentleness, not caring how your tears were ruining his white shirt, just showing you how much he cared and that he would be patient with you until you wanted to open up to him.

It took you almost an hour to completely calm down; an hour in which he held you close, whispered sweet nothings in your ear, and placed small kisses on your forehead.

“Lucien…” You suddenly spoke with a scratchy voice, from your tired throat.

“Mmm?” He mumbled gently.

“Why…? Why are you with me…?” You pushed yourself to ask him what was bothering you.

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, with obvious confusion about your question, but then he sighed in relief that you were talking again to him.

“Haven’t I mentioned you already why I love you so much?” He grinned.

You shook your head slowly in response.

“You are the sweetest person I know. You are what kids these days would call a young and cheerful soul.” Lucien laughed.

You blushed and hid your face in his chest, not sure how to absorb his words.

“Because I’m more of a science man, I love how you can see the magic in the world and how you always manage to make everything brighter, Y/N.” He continued talking.

“I love everything about you; the way you speak about things you like or dislike, the way you react when I bring you your favorite food, I love how you’re so curious about my work and projects even though you’re not even a science major.” Lucien’s chuckles caused you to shake into his arms surrounding you.

You bit you lip while hearing all the things he had to say about you, slowly cheering up and forgetting the heaviness in your chest.

“Y/N… I’m not sure what caused you to feel like this but… Let me remind you just how much I love you and how much you mean to me… I know I’m not able to solve all the things happening inside that little head of yours,” he bumped lightly your forehead with his index finger in a playful tone. “but I want to be beside you through all the process, from the beginning and until the very end, I want to be with you.”

You raised your face from his chest with shyness, getting your eyes up until they were on his. You could not ignore all the love his eyes were spilling, you felt almost hypnotized by looking at them.

“…So… Will you let me love you until the very end…?”

His face leaned closer to yours as he spoke, waiting for a response from you -either physical or verbal-, so he could finally give in and close the space between you two.

You nodded, not sure if your voice would be ready to talk again, but you knew it was better if you externalized your feelings with words:

“Yes… I want to love you too until the very end… Lucien. Thank you.”

The black-haired man with his face still just a few inches away from yours, smiled with relief and love as he leaned forward and, instead of placing the kiss in your lips you were expecting, he landed his lips softly on your cheek.