bulletproof writing

1. Describe yourself how you would describe a character you’re introducing

2. Is there any specific ritual you go through while/before/after your writing?

3. What is your absolute favorite kind of fic to write?

4. Are there any other fic writers you admire? If so, who and why?

5. How many words can you write if you sit down and concentrate intensely for an hour?

6. First fic/pairing you wrote for? (If no pairing, describe the plot)

7. Inspiration, time, or motivation. Choose two.

8. Why do you choose to write?

9. Do you ever have plans to write anything other than fic?

10. What inspires you the most?

11. Weirdest thing you’ve ever written/thought about writing/etc.?

12. A fix you wish you had written better, and why?

13. Favorite fic from another author?

14. Your favorite side pairings to put in?

15. Your guilty writing pleasure?

16. Do you have structured ideas of how your story is supposed to go, or make it up as you write?

17. Would yo describe yourself as a fast writer?

18. How old were you when you started writing?

19. Why did you start writing?

title:a little special summary: at five, jungkook is first told that he’s not allowed to bring his friends over.

the reason? his brother is a little special.

Crossposted on AO3.

jeon jungkook is five when he first gets told that he can’t bring his friends over to his house to play.

“why?” a petulant jungkook demands to know, eyes watering and cheeks puffed out in anger. he’s upset at the idea of not being able to play with taehyungie- the new friend that he had just made during daycare that day. three hours of playtime with taehyungie isn’t enough- he wants more. he would spend all day playing with taehyungie if he could.

“your brother… yoongi… is a little special. people won’t understand that,” his parents brush his demands off, not even bothering to consider jungkook’s feelings. he fails to understand why yoongi-hyung being ‘special’ means that he can’t bring a friend home. it’s not like his brother will speak to his friends, anyway. yoongi-hyung keeps himself locked in his room every day. he hardly comes out to play with jungkook, unless jungkook gives up his share of his beloved candy to him that day. then he’ll willingly come out, just for a few hours, to play.

at six years old, jungkook finally understands a little of what his parents mean. it’s not taehyungie’s fault, but he understands what they mean now.

he brings taehyungie home one day, without telling his mum or dad- because he knows that they will never allow him to do that. but he tells his brother since he’s always home. he makes yoongi-hyung promise to keep it a secret. yoongi-hyung agrees. jungkook can’t wait to have fun with taehyungie. he does. even if his parents come home angry with him and he’s banned from watching tv or getting his share of his beloved sweets for that entire week, jungkook regrets nothing.

but he can’t help the way his heart breaks a little bit, when taehyungie talks about how ‘strange’ his brother is to the entire class the next day. he feels like the trust he had in taehyungie is broken. taehyungie means no harm, he’s just curious- but the words spread like a wildfire. soon enough, the whole school knows about jungkook’s ‘weird’ older brother who talks to himself and locks himself in his room. they speak about it in hushed whispers when they think jungkookie isn’t hearing, but the words sting, the way they speak of yoongi-hyung. he never knew it could hurt so much. that day, jungkook learns how it is like to feel hurt for your loved ones being badmouthed in front of you.

taehyungie never comes to his house again. in fact, no one is ever allowed into his house again. he doesn’t talk to taehyungie ever again, either.

at eight, jungkook learns the word ‘crazy’.

his brother takes him out one day. he doesn’t want to, but jungkook begs him until yoongi-hyung agrees- jungkook’s sick of being cooped up at home, he wants to go out and explore but his parents will never let him go out without the supervision of an ‘adult’. his brother is 22, so that makes him an adult, right? right.

they’re on their way back, about to take the lift up to their home when a child around jungkook’s age turns to his mum, “isn’t that the crazy man you told me about, mummy?”

his mum shushes him, face flushing red from embarrassment as she denies it. jungkook flushes red too, because that’s his yoongi-hyung the kid is talking about.

“i said no such thing. don’t talk about others like that, honey.”

“but you told me to stay away from him- and that he’s a ‘failure’ in life because he failed his classes. and that he’s worthless-” the child continues, parroting his mum’s words without knowing the real intention behind it. the biting pain that it causes.

the lift door opens and the woman quickly chases her son into the lift. she doesn’t make an attempt at apologising to jungkook’s brother, only continues to scold her son as she closes the lift door in front of their faces.

but the damage is done. jungkook wants to yell at the child and his mother, they don’t know his brother- so how can they call him crazy? he’s ashamed he didn’t step in earlier, didn’t protect his brother from having to hear such hurtful words like this. his brother is not crazy. he’s just special. but even more than that, he’s angry with himself.

because for a moment- he also felt shame that yoongi-hyung is his brother. why couldn’t his brother be normal like everyone else’s brothers? why does his brother have to be ‘strange’ and talk to himself when no one was listening? why couldn’t he have a brother he could show off, just like other children in his school do, when they speak about their older siblings who could do cool stuff like skateboard or play basketball?

at ten, he begins to blame his yoongi-hyung. his brother has robbed him of a normal life style, because of his special needs. jungkook can never know the joy of having a friend come over, much less stay over- because their parents fear that jungkook will end up being badmouthed and bullied if he does. just because his hyung is a little weird, a little special- a little different from all the others.

he can never have the joy of properly hanging out with his brother outside the confines of his house, out of fear that someone will know about it and tease him endlessly for having a strange older brother. yoongi-hyung will never be that cool older brother he has always wanted. he’s ashamed of his older brother. why couldn’t yoongi-hyung be normal? he asks himself repeatedly for the nth time.

but jungkook is even angrier at himself for thinking this way. his brother is his brother, even if he’s special. jungkook still loves yoongi-hyung no matter what, just like how yoongi-hyung loves him back, even when he doodled all over yoongi-hyung’s favourite notebook without knowing how important it was to yoongi-hyung back when he was eight. or when he accidentally dropped his brother’s laptop and the screen cracked.

at thirteen, he learns that yoongi-hyung wasn’t always this way. he had been like jungkook once upon a time- or just like any other normal older brothers that jungkook’s classmates had. he had played basketball, he was the class monitor- trusted by everyone around him, and he knew how to write songs. yoongi-hyung was the ideal, cool hyung that jungkook had always wanted since he was a kid. the hyung that could do anything perfectly.

up till the day he turned sixteen. but it hadn’t happened instantly. it happened gradually, with little to no changes in yoongi-hyung’s behaviour until he finally lost it. caved in to the stress of studying and the pressure of society’s expectations that he finally cracked.

he learns this not through his parents, but from his relatives who shoot worried questions year after year about how yoongi-hyung is doing at his parents as they fail to see him turn up for yet another new year celebration.

his aunt doesn’t mean to let him overhear, but jungkook does anyway. the matter about yoongi-hyung is kept a secret in the family, and it saddens jungkook to know that his yoongi-hyung is treated this way. like a dirty secret that would shame their family’s name if the skeletons in the closet are ever exposed. he feels angry at them for treating yoongi-hyung this way but then jungkook is reminded of all the times when he felt ashamed of his yoongi-hyung too. he feels even angrier at himself.

at fifteen, jungkook wonders if he’ll grow to be like yoongi-hyung next year. he’s tearing his hair out from the stress as the final exams for the year roll about. his parents telling him constantly that he needs to study hard so that he can get into a good university doesn’t help matters either.

even dance club, the one thing he used to take solace in, and used as a stress reliever, has only begun to act as a source of stress instead. he’s team leader of his group- which is great news initially, except the national competition is drawing nearer just like his exams and his team members are not pulling it together, behaving like they’re little kids in a daycare centre and he’s their caretaker instead. he grows more agitated, more impatient as he barks out instructions each practice. it’s not difficult to see why jungkook is starting to be unable to find joy in the one thing he truly loves.

he begins to take comfort in hiding in his closet. literally. he makes a hasty grab at his clothes upon reaching home, tossing the stacks of white and black shirts, hoodies and ripped jeans onto the ground until there’s a big enough space for his fifteen year old body to fit inside the cramped closet. he closes the doors of the closet, taking in deep breaths and exhaling as if he has to remind himself of how to breathe. he talks to himself, assuring himself of his own capabilities; to lull himself into a false state of calmness when everything threatens to wash him away.

his mother finds him in his room with all his clothes strewn around on the floor later, when she comes back from the market. she gets angry and scolds him for having wasted her efforts to fold the clothes. he bites on his lips and ignores her, saying that he’d just fold them neatly again later.

crossposted on AO3

Title: Kumamon

Pairing: YoonMin

Characters: Min Yoongi, Park Jimin

Rating: Teen for cursing (?)

Summary: Jimin thinks he can grow to like Kumamon and Kumamon themed dates if it means getting to kiss Yoongi over and over again like this.

  Jimin curses from underneath the heavy mascot costume suit he’s currently wearing. It’s in the middle of summer and the black fur of his costume eagerly absorbs up the burning sun rays as all black material do per the laws of conduction. Hence, it’s to no one’s surprise that he’s sweating up a storm. The black-haired male grumbles, regretting ever having agreed to take over Jungkook’s shift- the other’s excuse of having to rush back for his anniversary celebration with Taehyung be damned.

 He swears he’s close to dehydration and even closer to collapsing from a heat stroke. His assigned escort isn’t of much help either- preferring to spend his time skiving work under the parasol of an outdoor café nearby, sipping at his americano while engrossed in texting Seokjin-hyung and simultaneously philosophizing the meaning of life and one’s existence. Jerk.

 Jimin’s about to pull the headgear off just so he can take a breather when he feels the sudden added weight of someone on his back and arms reaching out to wrap around him. He tries to turn around to figure out the identity of the offender behind the hug, only to be met with an almost heart attack.

 The perpetrator, as he can see through his (sadly) limited field of vision, is someone he least expected. Min Yoongi greets him on the other side- looking the happiest he’s ever seen him in the entire three years of knowing him (and pining after him). Jimin freezes, face quickly heating up and turning red. Yoongi’s still holding on tightly, refusing to let go of him with a bright, uncharacteristic of him, gummy smile plastered to his face. Jimin feels his face redden even more, if possible. His breathing speeds up- thankfully muffled by the suit of fur. He feels breathless and the colours that he can see from behind the eye holes swirl together.

 Park Jimin promptly faints then and there, overwhelmed by hundred watt grin he’s sure he’d never have the pleasure of witnessing once again. Thank Jeon Jungkook for having ditched his part time job today in favour of spending time with his boyfriend is his last thought before everything fades to black. He misses the way Yoongi’s face turns from happy to alarmed upon the lack of response from the person underneath the Kumamon mascot suit and Jimin’s subsequent fall, landing on top of Yoongi who is dragged down with him to cushion his fall.

  When asked later on about the reason for his fainting, Jimin will deny that it has anything to do with a certain lazy blond producer, choosing it to blame on a heatstroke and dehydration instead, puffy cheeks red with embarrassment at having fainted. Right in front of his long time crush of three years, at that. He just wants to hide himself in a hole forever. Jimin groans, burying his face against the leather surface of the couch they had brought him to rest on. The surface of the couch is, thankfully, spared from the summer heat by the air conditioner in the room. And Jimin has been stripped of his mascot suit, leaving him in a simple pair of basketball shorts and plain, white cotton round crewneck T-shirt instead. (He never gets to know the identity of the person who lugged him all the way over to the staff office and got him out of the mascot suit.)

 Namjoon apologises after work, blaming himself for not having kept a proper watch on Jimin and indirectly letting him faint. Jimin takes pleasure in causing Namjoon to feel guilty, cackling evilly inside as he asks Namjoon to run some errands for him in order to ‘make up’ for having abandoned him. He toes against the line of the age hiearchy but Namjoon grits his teeth and sucks in the irritation at being treated this way, plotting to take revenge another day instead.

  The next time Jimin sees Yoongi, Jimin’s working in a Kumamon themed shop. He tries to ignore his first instinct to duck under the counter and pretend that no one is manning the store, choosing to smile instead as the doorbell jingles, signaling the arrival of a customer. He hopes that Yoongi doesn’t notice his quickly reddening cheeks. It is a coincidence, really. Hoseok’s uncle had asked Hoseok to help look after his shop for one day as he had some stuff to settle out of town and Jung Hoseok had readily agreed. At least, until he saw the theme of the shop and promptly let out a piercing shriek, throwing the keys at poor old Jimin who was merely accompanying Hoseok to the shop.

 He had begged Jimin to take the ‘demon shop’, as he dubbed it, off of his hands. Hoseok had even promised that he’d owe him one, despite the fact that everyone knew it was a bad idea to owe Jimin something (although everyone agreed that it was even worse to owe Hoseok something- he had a mean, vindictive streak hidden behind bright, seemingly harmless grins- you just didn’t want to cross him ever).

 Of course, Jimin agreed readily- it was a rare opportunity for him to have Hoseok owe him something. Apparently Hoseok had been traumatized by one too many nightmares as a child featuring black mutant bears that looked eerily similar to Kumamon.

 So here Jimin was. Manning the store for the day in exchange of a favour from Hoseok and currently trying not to have a nervous breakdown at the sight of his crush standing just about 10 metres away from him, walking around the store and checking the merchandise out. Yoongi picks up a fluffy, Kumamon shaped cap and turns it around in his hands. Jimin promptly chokes at the mental image that immediately appears in his head. Yoongi wearing the hat would make for an absolutely adorable sight- though one that Jimin has long thought uncharacteristic of the other in the three years of knowing each other. (Or maybe Jimin has just never seen this side of him before- just like how he had not seen Yoongi suddenly rush up and hug him. Jimin chooses to conveniently ignore the fact that Yoongi had not known it was Jimin and only hugged him because he was in a Kumamoto mascot suit.)

 Yoongi looks over to the cashier and catches Jimin’s eye. Jimin takes a deep breath. He’s noticed. The soft smile that was previously on Yoongi’s face quickly turns into a frown- as if he was trying to hide his fondness for the mascot. Jimin gulps. He’s coming here, oh no- he’s coming here- Yoongi’s in front of him now, arms crossed against each other.

 Jimin swears he lets out a pitiful squeak that he would definitely deny ever making, lest his pride gets thrown out of the window. Exactly like how his heart is threatening to jump out of his chest right now.

 “I won’t tell anyone about your love for Kumamon, I swear!” he babbles out, sweating even more as the other’s frown seems to deepen, eyebrows furrowing.

Jimin curses, why does he seem to make a fool of himself every time they meet, like he’s a high school girl with a crush.

  Lost in thought, he doesn’t notice Yoongi’s frown lighten up into amusement, mirth dancing in his eyes at the panic shown by the other.

 “Your outfit fits you.”

 “No one will ever know, I’ll take this a secret to my gr— Huh?” Jimin stutters to a stop as Yoongi’s words registered in his mind. He looks down to the staff uniform he had been forced to adorn, it is a black polo shirt with an apron featuring a smiling Kumamon.

 “Uh…thank you, Yoongi-hyung.”

 “You’re welcome. How much is this?” Yoongi gestures to the cap still in his hands, passing it over for Jimin to scan.

 “Ah…that’d be 14,000 won please.”

 Yoongi passes him the money and Jimin tries to busy himself with the cash register, cheeks still red. He absolutely refuses to look at Yoongi in the eye lest he embarrasses himself even further.

  “Have a nice day!” Jimin calls out as Yoongi’s about to leave the shop, the redness in his cheeks having finally receded.

 “What time do you clock off? Do you wanna get some coffee?”

 The request takes Jimin by surprise, cheeks quickly heating up once again as he nods frantically. He hopes he doesn’t come off as too enthusiastic- though it is probably a lost cause for him to maintain composure at whatever Yoongi does.

 “Uh…ah… I end in an hour’s time!”

 “Okay, great. Meet you at the bus stop outside, then?”

 “Okay! See you, Yoongi-hyung!” Jimin swears his voice cracks a little in excitement. He’s too overwhelmed to care, feeling like he’s on cloud nine. He’s just been asked out on a date. A date! A. Date. With. Min. Yoongi. The store could even be robbed right now and he wouldn’t pay much attention, too lost in his daydreams- aside from the trouble he knows he’d get into with Hoseok and his uncle.

  The café that Yoongi brings Jimin to after work is, unsurprisingly, a Kumamon themed café that Yoongi swears he had ‘stumbled’ upon a while ago. Jimin does not question Yoongi’s statement, despite doubting the truth of it. No one needs to know that Yoongi had actually searched for the location of the café on Naver for hours before he finally found it.

 Jimin wonders why he’s even surprised at this point. He should have gotten the memo about Yoongi’s obsession with the black bear mascot originating from Japan ever since Yoongi hugged him that one time he was substituting for Jungkook’s shift. Though, Jimin briefly questions at the back of his head, why was there so much Kumamon merchandise around- wasn’t there supposed to be some kind of copyright law or something preventing the use of selling Kumamon based products? Jimin prods at the half-eaten western styled pancake with a Kumamon printed on top, while Yoongi himself stares at the Kumamon latte art on his own cup of cappuccino in fascination. Or at least, the remains of it- considering half of the cup’s contents are gone inside of Yoongi’s stomach.

 “…So…” Jimin starts off in an attempt to break the silence that has been looming over them for the past 15 minutes since they got their food (or drink, in Yoongi’s case).

 “…Why did you invite me out on a date, Yoongi-hyung?” the words tumble out of his mouth before he even knows it.

 “Ah? You’re cute.”

 Jimin sputters at this, his cheeks redder than ever. He’s not sure whether to retort that he’s not cute or be flattered that Min Yoongi had just complimented him of all people. Perhaps his crush is not as unrequited as he thought- or at least, Jimin tries to think positively and have faith. As positively as Park Jimin can- considering the role he usually plays as the “sane, realistic” best friend to Taehyung’s similarly insane, impractical ideas (such as marathoning One Piece overnight without sleep despite the fact that they both have an 8AM to 6PM class the next day). Taehyung would be proud of his achievements with a capital ‘P’ in ‘proud’, Jimin thinks.

 “You kinda remind me of Kumamon, actually.” Yoongi continues on, unaware of Jimin’s own mental breakdown occurring right in front of his eyes at his words.

 “Like your cheeks are red all the time, just like Kumamon’s blush-”

 Jimin feels like he’s blushing so hard he might faint again. That would be embarrassing. He wants very much for Yoongi to stop. So he stops him.

Or at least, his brain seems to have short-circuited on him because suddenly he finds his lips on Yoongi’s own.

 He quickly pulls back- apology on his lips when Yoongi grabs the back of his head and pulls him back in for a kiss again, lips eagerly responding this time once the initial shock wears off.

 Yoongi’s lips are chapped against his- not soft at all, but that’s okay. Yoongi’s kissing him back and he’s the one who initiated that second round and that’s all that matters.

 They pull away after awhile, gasping for breath. The shop is thankfully not crowded, considering the late hour. There are only two other patrons beside Yoongi and Jimin, both engrossed in a book that they’re reading or doing work on their laptop. Jimin’s cheeks are still flushed a dark shade of red. Except this time, Yoongi looks just as flustered as him for once, cheeks tinted with red as well. Jimin licks his lips instinctively. Yoongi tastes bitter, just like the cappuccino he just drank. And that’s okay too, Jimin decides.

 “Do you wanna go elsewhere and continue this?” Yoongi proposes.

 “…Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”