"Anh bỏ bùa gì mà lại làm em yêu vậy" What Spell Did You Cast to Make Me Fall In Love With You?
pairing – hangman x f!reader, jake seresin x f!reader, wife!reader, pilot!reader
summary – the marriage between the cocky blonde texan who thinks he's too good for everybody and the soft vietnamese girl
warnings – fluff, no smut, safe for minor readers, PG-13 language so be warned, like three mentions of alcohol, VERY slight angst, also no usage of y/n | 1.59k
word count – 1,587
notes – based on my desired reality (DR) vietnamese oc born in the united states, callsign is "dragon" and name is nicole. also, the title is a line in a vietnamese song called see tình by hoàng thùy linh, it's a good song! also, this is the first fic i've ever written in full so please enjoy!
ACT 1, SCENE 1 - THE HARD DECK
Nicole walks back to the pool table from the bar, drinks in hand. She hands a beer to Jake.
"Mrs. Seresin, what on earth are you drinking?" says Jake "Hangman" Seresin, reminding her of her soon-to-be married name. He gestures to her glass, a rosy-colored concoction of various fruit juices and seltzer.
"Have you got a single thought behind those green marble eyes of yours? Asian flush, genius!" she responds, the tone jokingly mocking.
Phoenix and Coyote almost choked on their drinks laughing at the exchange. Phoenix puts a hand on her chest and clears her throat.
"You know, when you guys told us about the engagement thing, I almost didn't believe you. Cowboy marrying a city girl. Now that's funny." said Phoenix.
Jake sashayed over to Nicole, wrapping his big arms around her. His way of showing her love was through physical touch. Hugging, kissing, holding hands.
"You know I'm only teasing you, baby." he said. Nicole giggled and wrapped her hands around his arms. Eye-rolling and further snickers ensue from Natasha and Javy.
Nicole understood this familiar plea for attention. They best enjoyed moments where it was just the two of them. No snickers, no glances, no doubts of their relationship. "Well, guess we better be on our way, it's.." Nicole glanced at her watch. "5:54!" she exclaimed, breaking out of Jake's grip.
Jake and Nicole set down their drinks down on a table. "Take care of our tab!" Jake said hurriedly, as he and Nicole frantically get ready to leave the Hard Deck. Nicole reached into her pocket and grabbed her keys, organized by size. "We'll see you guys at the ceremony," she said, grabbing Jake's hand and speed-walking with him out to the car.
Phoenix looked at Coyote in disbelief and scoffed, "Those two never pay their bill."
"Good thing I brought my credit card.." said Coyote.
ACT 1, SCENE 2 – THE CAR RIDE HOME
Nicole grasped the steering wheel as she breathed deeply. Music was softly playing through the speakers.
As "Glue Song" by beabeedoobee came on, Nicole glanced out of her window at the orange-red sunset, a common sight since moving to San Diego five years ago.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, which was 1,082 miles away, she enjoyed and preferred the sweltering heat of Southern California rather than Oregon's aqueous, blinding rains and windswept squalls.
She turned the music volume down using the button on the dashboard.
"Is something wrong?" Jake said, looking over at her. Placing his fingers in her hair, he started to run them through the ends of her slightly wavy, brown hair.
"Jake, you know my family."
"Well, of course I do, we've had dinner with them at your parents' restaurant so many times."
"That's sort of the problem." Nicole sighed, shifting a little bit in the leather driver's seat.
"What do you mean?" Jake said, returning his hand to his side.
"It's just that.. you know. I'm Asian and you're white. I'm really nervous on how our wedding is going to look."
"Oh, Nicky. You're worried about nothing. It can be disorganized as hell and I'd still be happy because I'm marrying you."
She felt more eased. Nicole loved it when he comforted her. The feeling was like an ocean wave had swept over her feet. Calming yet so comforting.
"Thanks babe." She said, turning her head to smile at him, replied to with a bright pearly white smile from her husband.
ACT 2, SCENE 1 – FLASHBACK, FIRST PERSON JOURNAL, NICOLE
I had just gotten to North Island yesterday afternoon. My god, the warm air and sun makes me feel like I'm on vacation or something.
"Looks like we have ourselves another lady pilot!"
I turned my head. There's a 6'1 man coming towards me. Who could this be? Is he talking to me? Surely, he is.
He extended his hand to me. Do I shake it? Reluctantly, I did.
"Nicole. Callsign's Dragon. And you?"
"The name's Hangman, but you can call me yours."
Oh my god. Did I just get hit on within my first HOUR of being here? Yes, I did. I just decided to forget about it.
Later that evening, my new friends Natasha and Callie took me to a bar. It was called The Hard Deck, I think? Really funny name. Fitting for a Navy bar, I guess.
But what do you know it, when I walk in, guess who I see? That blonde man from earlier.
For the first fifteen minutes, I tried my best to bury my head in conversation with Natasha and Callie. Their callsigns were Phoenix and Halo, which I thought was super cool. Dragon, Phoenix, Halo, the best female pilots in the nation, damn right.
I couldn't get him off of my mind though. So I told them what happened earlier, and they told me to go strike up a conversation with him. I don't regret it at all.
I walked up to the bar where he was sitting, pulled out the stool next to him, and sat down. He looked up.
"Well, who do we have here? You're that lady pilot from earlier today. Dragon, right?"
"How did you even remember all of that?"
"I'm magic, darling."
I couldn't help but blush. Darling? Please, this sounded like a cheesy romance novel that I would be forced to read for junior high English class.
"Whatever. But uh, yeah. I thought about what you said earlier. I respect you for having the guts to be that outgoing."
He chuckled. His teeth were perfect. I really can't lie, he's gorgeous.
"You, uh, never really told me your name either. You just told me your callsign. So.. yeah.."
"The name's Jake. Jake Seresin."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Jake Seresin."
And that is the start of how I got a date for this Friday. For the second only time in my life, I'm dating somebody. Maybe someday, I'll marry somebody too.
Nicole, August 24, 2019
ACT 3, SCENE 1 – 3 DAYS LATER, WEDDING DAY
Nicole closed the journal and set it on the table of the vanity. She re-read the entry from her first day at Naval Air Station North Island, reminiscing on her first encounters with her soon-to-be husband.
"I can't believe the last line became reality. It's like it was just yesterday." she said to her sister, Josephine, who was curling her hair with a hot curling iron.
Nicole was wearing a white Áo dài with a white headpiece too, as per the Vietnamese tradition.
Josephine turned off the curling iron and helped Nicole get up from her chair.
"You're looking so beautiful, all dolled up like this, Nicky. You're a big, strong woman now." She said, giving her sister a bear hug.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, Joey. It's like yesterday we were just playing dollhouse in the basement, and now I'm getting married."
Both smiled at each other. "Go on out there girl. He's waiting."
Nicole walked out of the dressing room, and moved in between the arms of her parents, Uyen Kim and Han Hoang. They were so moved by the sight of their daughter marrying a man that makes her happy and content with life.
Nicole couldn't help but tear up when she looked out into the room and crowd. The wedding hall was clearly decorated with Vietnamese and western influence, paying homage to both families.
And there in the distance, she saw Jake waiting for her at the altar. Dressed in his Navy whites, he looked like the most handsome man in the world in Nicole's eyes.
When they reached the altar, her parents let go of her arms, and returned to their pew, as Nicole walked up to Jake, holding a bouquet of flowers. She saw the tears coming out of his eyes too.
In the congregation as Hangman's groomsmen were Rooster, Coyote, Payback, Fritz, Harvard, and Omaha. Nicole's bridespeople were Phoenix, Halo, and disregarding the traditional gender binaries, she also had Bob, Fanboy, and Yale. Also in the congregation was Penny and her daughter, Amelia.
"You look good, baby." said Jake, smiling at her and wiping her tears with his fingers.
"You look good too, baby." said Nicole.
When the time came to place rings on each other's fingers, Jake started to see all of their happiest memories together.
When he used his umbrella to cover her during a rainstorm, sacrificing his own uniform for her own comfort, and when he carried her back home on his back after an exhausting work day.
And as the minister had them recite their vows, Nicole started to see all of their memories flash before her eyes too.
The sunset drives where they sung along to Taylor Swift's "Our Song", the bar games where he always won, and the hugs that he would give her in front of their friends, not having a single worry in the world about embarrassing themselves.
"And now, you may kiss the bride." the minister said.
Jake leaned in to kiss her, finally landing a loving, gentle kiss on her lips. So moved, so loved, and so now married.
The congregation erupted in clapping and cheering.
"I can't believe they actually worked out." said Rooster, who was seconded by Phoenix and Coyote.
After a few full seconds, Nicole and Jake finally let go of each other's lips.
Looking each other in the eye, Nicole said,
"What spell did you cast on me to make me fall in love with you?" she said, smiling through tears and at this point, full sobbing.
"You know me. I'm magic, darling." he said, smiling back at her.
