⤸magic shop.ᐟ⋆

Class disparity is so bad that the wealthy refuse to live alongside the poor. They refer to your home simply as ‘The Ground,’ because, to them, the ground itself is beneath them both literally and socially. Above you, the elite live in a vast elevated city suspended high in the atmosphere made up of towering skyscrapers, in levelling aerial infrastructure, and monorail systems that weave between cities like veins of light that you dream to see. It’s kept clean free from pollution, and advanced beyond anything seen below. The higher one goes, the wealthier and more important they are considered, which is funny because they’re already so far up their own asses they think rules of reality stop at their floor.

Below, The Ground is populated and neglected with outdated technology and infrastructure except in the main districts filled with corporate advertisements and exploitative job offers, and giant displays of elite’s assets. Some robotic assistants still operate in some areas, but they are obsolete, glitch prone, and poorly maintained. Dirt poor is literal here. Those at the top have never seen the literal ground because they’re so up in the sky, and many have no interest in acknowledging its existence at all, living so out of touch with it that even the concept feels abstract to them.

But of course, anyone on the ground who managed to dig a little deep when playing in the net den (internet cafe), knew the megacorporations were fully aware of its existence. Their clean paradise above only stayed standing because millions of people below kept choking on the dirt for it. 

So, anyway, your father was suddenly fired after being linked to a ‘system irregularity and fraud,’ which immediately blacklists him from medical care and employment. 

You walk through the dim corridors of your home as the damp wooden floor makes sound under your foot. The light from the rationed power barely holds back the dark that’s in every corner of the room. Your thoughts keep circling the same point, unable to think of anything else. 

You look at him where he sits, the look of him is less lively than the man you remember, his smile taken away feels so wrong even when you try to accept it. “You should have told me earlier,” you say.

His voice comes after a delay with the exhaustion that does not seem to leave him anymore,  “I didn’t want you to be worried,” he replies. “You weren’t supposed to know.”

You sigh as you look around with a pathetic scoff before returning to him. Your fingers curl at your side, “it already reached me, dad” you reply. “Nothing stays a secret in this place anymore.”

He looks down, sad, as the silence that follows stretches. “I thought… I could do something about it before they made any final decision,” he replies eventually. “I thought I had time, sweetie.”

Your glassy eyes of unshed tears contradicts the rigid set of your jaw. Forcing your face into empty blankness again as you swallow the stingy lump in your throat, you keep your voice entirely level, “there’s no time there… for people like us.”

He looks at you and for a short moment, the past of what he used to be and what he is now becomes even more impossible to ignore to both you and him. His shoulders slump. Seeing him broken, stripped of his strength, and drowning in his own disappointment, hurts you harder than any blow from the elite above ever could.

The composure you fought so hard to maintain instantly breaks. Your breath gets stuck painfully in your throat as the reality of his defeat crashes over you. For all your hardening against the cruelties of ‘The Ground,’ seeing your father completely lose faith in himself is the one thing you cannot withstand. He’s getting sick… The tears you tried so desperately to hide finally well up, blurring your vision as your entire defense system collapses from the inside out.

“It’s okay, d-dad, we’ll be okay,” you step into his space and pull him into a tight hug, “I got a small job above, hm?”

His body goes rigid in your arms at first. His voice comes out strained with disbelief and worry, “above?” the weary, defeated look from moments before vanishes, replaced by a wide eyed fear that forces him awake, “you mean… up there? With them?” You don’t answer but instead, you tighten your grip around his shoulder to reassure him. But he pulls back further to look at your face. “You shouldn’t be there… You— you don’t belong in that system. They don’t let people like us just… walk in and out easily.”

You wipe at your face quickly with the back of your hand even though more tears keep coming anyway. Your breath stutters, but your voice forces itself to sound coherent. “It’s temporary,” you offer a brave smile, “it’s just work, I can handle it.”

His fingers dig in your shoulders, trying to convince you this time instead of the other way around, “nothing up there is just anything,” he says with worried eyes, “they don’t do ‘temporary’ with people from The Ground. You don’t know them.”

You shake your head, fighting back the wave of intimidation his fear is drumming up in your own chest, “we need it, it’s okay,” you force yourself to look him dead in the eye as you lock your expression down, tightening your jaw so he can’t read the anxiety swirling beneath your surface.

The wall you put up makes him go quiet again and the worry freezes into a sickening dread. His eyes drop to the floor, his throat bobbing as he swallows something bitter and suffocating, “no, I can’t let you pay for their decision with your own future.”

Taking a deep breath, you refuse to let the argument slip away. Moving closer, you slide your hands down his arms until your fingers are woven into his calloused weak hands, squeezing tightly. “Dad, listen to me,” you sound insistent. “I’m already in it. I already said yes, it’s done.”

The ambient warmth in his eyes vanishes, replaced by a flash of alarm that turns his entire expression strict again and terrifyingly alert, “you said yes? Already?” he asks strictly without any bluff, “to who? Okay tell me what kind of job is it?”

You were expecting at least this much from him but seeing the level of the fear in his eyes catches you off guard even though you should’ve also expected this. For a split second, your mind goes entirely blank as the cover story evaporates from your tongue.

His expression comes back to normal by just a fraction when he senses your hesitation, but the urgency pulsing through him is deafening. He squeezes your hands back, pleading, “sweetie, tell me,” he calms but no less urgent. “Tell me exactly what you agreed to.”

You force yourself to recover before he becomes suspicious. Your fingers tighten around his hands before the panic on your face can sabotage you completely, “uh so like I said, it’s a small job, so it’s not a big position or mainstream or anything,” you explain. “There was a contract block running on one of the main district billboards for low tier maintenance staff.  They needed people willing to work long shifts above and I just... applied.” You shrug one shoulder, trying to make it sound less important than it is, “I didn’t even think a Sky corp would take a Ground ID.”

“Maintenance staff? Doing what exactly?”

“I don’t know all the details yet. They kept talking about confidentiality policies and restricted access levels.” You scoff, “you already know how corporations are. They act stupidly serious and mysterious about everything.”

The tension in his face doesn’t disappear immediately, though his grip loosens from your hands only slightly while he studies every inch of your expression, trying to decide whether to trust your words or the fear he still feels crawling under his skin. The room falls quiet even though you can still very clearly hear the dying power supply overhead and the noise bleeding in from the streets below.

You hate doing this. It’s in your chest while you hold his eyes and force yourself not to look away first. Everything inside you screams to tell him what you want and let him stop you before things go too far, but the image of the medical notices sitting untouched on the table flashes through your mind. You think about the empty kitchen cabinets, empty fridge, the unpaid bills, barely any drinkable water, and the faded smile of your dad. You cannot let him deal another thing.

“It’s just cleaning systems and fixing old wiring,” you continue for more reassurance. “Nothing important. Honestly, they probably just wanted cheap workers from here again.”

Your father’s expression twists at that. Pain flashes across his face before exhaustion overcomes him again, “I still don’t like it,” He lifts one hand and drags it tiredly over his mouth while his eyes lower to the floor, “people above don’t look at us and see human beings. To them we’re replaceable before we even arrive.”

“I know,” you hold his hand.

His shoulders sag again and for the first time since the conversation started, some of the panic leaves his face… even though not fully, but enough for the fear in his eyes to stop cutting through you so crazy. He squeezes your hands once more before letting go. “Just... be careful, okay? Don’t trust them too quickly. If something feels wrong, you leave immediately. I don’t care about the money.”

Your throat tightens and you nod before he can notice the guilt rising all over your face again, “I will,” you promise, “I’ll be safe.”

He reaches up and brushes his hand against the side of your head gently, his hands feel weak on your head but familiar enough to nearly break you all over again, “you’re still my little girl,” he whispers lovingly, “no job up there changes that.”

The tears threaten to return instantly and you force yourself to smile anyway, leaning down just a bit to press your forehead briefly against his shoulder while trying to ignore the sick feeling twisting deeper inside your chest.

—

A few months back,

Outside, the 45 minutes public power ration was already ticking away, but inside this suffocating basement, the alert of stolen corporate bandwidth was deafening.

Your fingers flew across the mechanical keys in a frantic race against the automated trace programs of the Sky Grid.

On the screen, your real biometric profile— linked to your father’s blacklisted corporate ID— glowed an angry definitive red. 

result:

{

  "status": "TERMINATED",

  "access": "DENIED",

  "reason": "BLACKLIST",

  "flag": "PERMANENT_BLACKLIST",

  "source": "CORP_GLOBAL_REGISTRY"

}

You can’t even try to apply under your own name as the security grid flags you before you even enter your hobbies. Why would you even want to add your real identity to the fucked up system and get into trouble? It’s not your plan. You just wanted to see what shows up on your screen, and you’ve seen it now.

You took a breath as you pulled a black data shard from your pocket and jammed it into the console’s rusted drive. A new screen initialized, blooming into a vivid glowing magenta overlay. Lines of raw code began overriding the corporate restriction blocks. You weren’t just faking a resume; you were reconstructing your entire existence. 

SYS_OVERRIDE_INITOVERRIDE: #D60076

MODE: IDENTITY_REWRITE

[BIOHASH]

status: OVERRIDE... COMPLETE

[HISTORY_RECORDS]

status: ERASING... COMPLETE

You watched as your digital fingerprints were pixelated and rewoven into an entirely untraceable ghost profile. The system needed a clean history who had never choked on the dirt of your district. Basically someone the automated hiring algorithms would pull without a second thought. It was a complete identity erase. If you failed, the trace would loop straight back to this basement and lock you in a corporate detention block. If you succeeded, you would be stepping directly into the lion’s den— the exact same megacorporation that had done your father wrong and cost him everything including his health and sanity.

The progress bar hit 100% and the terminal chimed.

new_identity:

{

  "name": "SILV",

  "origin": "UNREGISTERED",

  "clearance": "LEVEL_GRAY",

  "biometric_state": "UNLINKED"

}

route: SEC_17_MAINTENANCE_DIVISION

location: ATMOSPHERE_LEVEL_13

status: QUEUED

applicant_id: NULL

tracking: DISABLED

You ripped the data shard out, plunging the screen back into darkness just as the illegal power splice sputtered and died. You sat in the pitch black and waited for your racing heart to catch up to the reality of what you had just done.

A buzz from your cracked wrist comm goes off at ass o’clock (04:15).

You kill the alarm instantly as the glow of the screen fades back into the pitch black of your room. The public power isn’t due to turn on for another hour, leaving the apartment freezing and suffocatingly quiet. You don’t turn on a flashlight. You know the layout of the warped, damp wooden floors by heart and step over the boards you know would groan under your weight. 

You creep toward your father’s room, pushing the rusted metal door frame open a little bit to just go through.

The sound of his breathing immediately made your chest ache. It was shallow and broken; broken by a wet, rattling wheeze that seemed to take every ounce of his remaining strength. In the faint gray light filtering through the grime of the window, he looks terrifyingly fragile to the point that his shoulders are hunched even in sleep. He is slipping away, and the bitter reality of it presses down on you like an actual physical weight. There’s no time left.

Heading into the tiny kitchen corner, you get to work. You fire up the portable burner, making the blue flame hiss as you throw together whatever rations you had left— a simple, warm broth and some stale bread. By the time the water was boiling, you heard a cough from the doorway.

Your dad was leaning his weak shoulder heavily against the frame, eyes blinking tiresomely against the faint light of the stove. “You’re up too early,” his voice hoarse like gravel.

“Look who’s talking,” you counter smoothly, forcing your voice into a lighthearted nag as you pour the broth into a chipped ceramic bowl. You didn’t let your hands shake, “sit down. You’re supposed to be resting, why are you awake so early?”

He let out a weak huff that was supposed to be a laugh, guiding himself slowly into the rickety chair, “I wanted to see you off little bird… and spend as much time as I possibly can— with you.”

“You’re seeing me off by sitting right there and eating every drop of this,” you set the bowl down in front of him along with three small, faded pills you have carefully counted out from their near empty blister packs. “The rest of the meds are on the top shelf behind the synthetic tea. I set a reminder on the wall clock to alert you when it’s time for the afternoon dose. Don’t ignore it because you’re distracted playing with those dead circuit boards, okay? And don’t try to ration them. I’ll send credits down the moment my first shift clearance processes.”

He looked at the pills with a suffocating guilt clouding his eyes, “sweetie, you—”

“Eat, dad,” you interrupt gently, leaning down to press a kiss against his temple. His skin felt warm; a fever threatening to take hold. You squeeze his shoulder and prepare yourself to the warmth of him one last time. “I have to catch the early transit before the crowds build up. I’ll comm you when I reach the worker bunks.”

He caught your hand with his weak but desperate calloused fingers, “be careful up there. Remember what I told you. They don’t see us as human.”

“I know,” you offer a reassuring smile, slowly pulling your hand away before the lump in your throat swallows your voice entirely. “I love you, dad.”

“Love you too, little bird.”

And just like that, you didn’t look back as you grabbed your heavy tool belt and stepped out into the damp, freezing corridor, locking the door behind you. There was only one way forward.

—

The air outside was choking with the sulfurous smog over the lower districts. As you walked, the silence of your alleyways bled into a vibrating roar. The Atmospheric Transit Hub was an absolute mess.

Even at this hour, thousands of Ground workers were jammed into the concrete plaza with their rusted toolboxes. Above them, the massive steel pillars of the structural supports stretched up into the smog as it disappeared entirely into the clouds. Somewhere way up there, hidden by the pollution, was The Sky gleaming and completely oblivious to the misery keeping it afloat.

You joined the slow moving line leading to the high velocity elevators. Up ahead, massive corporate security checkpoints going through the crowd. Enormous holographic displays pulsed with advertisements, casting a harsh blinding magenta glow over the exhausted faces of the workers. What a show off.

The line crawls forward toward the bright neon teeth of the checkpoint.

Your heart drums against your ribs as you finally step into the scanning pod. A halo of cold white lasers drops from the ceiling, washing over your face, your hands, your clothes. Your breath catches. For a very long second, you’re certain the alarms are going to scream and that the ghost profile you coded in that dark basement is going to shatter.

Instead, a synthesized chime echoes through the pod.

[ID_VERIFIED]: WELCOME, SILV.[ASSIGNMENT]: SEC_17_MAINTENANCE_DIVISION.

And a metal gate slides open. You swallow the lump of anxiety in your throat and step through, blending into the crowd shoved into the high velocity elevator. When the doors seal, the ascent begins. It doesn’t feel like a normal elevator; it feels like being shot into the stratosphere. The gravity pulls heavily at your boots and your ears pop, and through the glass flooring you watch, The Ground shrink into a dark sprawling smudge beneath a blanket of toxic clouds.

And then, the smog clears, and The Sky hits you.

Wow.

It is blinding. Towering skyscrapers wrapped in rivers of moving light and monorails like veins. It’s exactly what you dreamed to see but the obnoxious wealth of it makes your stomach turn.

The elevator doors hiss open at Atmosphere Level 13, and the corporate chill hits your skin.

Standing at the terminal dock is a man who looks like he was carved out of the elite infrastructure itself. He wears a stark, pristine navy suit, a silver security badge gleaming on his lapel. Officer S.Coups.

His eyes sweep over the line of arriving Ground workers, his posture showing an absolute authority that makes everyone automatically look down. He doesn’t look at any of you like you’re human when checking credentials and others— just assets to be sorted. When his gaze lands on you, your jaw locks to maintain that empty oblivious blankness.

He checks his digital ledger and a machine you’ve never seen before, before his deep voice comes through. You weren’t expecting his voice to sound this… anyway. “Silv,” he reads, “Sector 17. Move to the main grid corridor. Your shift starts immediately, no delays.”

You give a stiff nod and keep your head down as you’re guided past him and routed deep into the metallic underbelly of the maintenance deck.

The work area is a massive chamber of exposed conduits and filtration systems. It’s crowded with other Ground workers, all clad in the same gray jumpsuits and silently scrubbing panels and rewiring auxiliary grids. You slide into a station and immediately blend into the momentum of the team, working obliviously as if you’ve done this a thousand times before. Passing by a heavy surveillance camera blinking its red optical lens at you, you low key tilt your head to the opposite side and block your face from the lens’s line of sight. Hidden in the blind spot, you flash a wink at the tall figure standing across the room before dropping your eyes back to the wires. But all the system sees is a perfect, harmless employee.

An hour drags by before the overhead chime signals a brief, ten minute rotation break.

You step away from your station and wipe oil from your hands, and head toward the hydration units. A tall figure steps up to the dispenser next to you. Sharp, cat-like eyes blink behind a pair of standard issue safety glasses.

Wonwoo.

A wave of relief rushes through you when he’s finally near you but you don’t let a single ripple of it show on your face. In a place like this, the higher ups are always listening; every vent and terminal has an ear.

“So what do you think?”

You turn to him, keeping your posture entirely natural as you take the hand he extended, “good to have a functional grid here,” you do a perfectly mundane, non suspicious small talk.

Wonwoo takes your hand in his reassuring grip. His thumb presses into your palm— a silent, private acknowledgment that can’t be read by anyone but you. He smiled just a bit with hints of warmth in his eyes that matched yours. Even though you took all the risks, faked the credentials, and hacked the system yourself, Wonwoo was the one who risked himself and had mapped out the Sky’s blind spots for you from the inside, giving you the blueprint you needed to survive up here and hack the system.

“The atmospheric pressure takes some getting used to though since you’re new,” Wonwoo replies casually, his deep voice completely level for the hidden microphones. “Just follow the standard protocols and you’ll run smooth.”

“Good to know,” you offer a smile as you pull your hand back. You glance toward the structural windows when your thoughts instantly drift past the monorails, straight down through the heavy clouds to your place in The Ground.

Your hand slips toward your wrist-comm. You need to keep your promise… so finish your shift as soon as possible. “Uh, I’m Silv, it was nice meeting you but I think I’ll have to go now,” you try to end the conversation here.

“You too, Silv. I’m Wonwoo by the way.”

“See you later!” you wave bye as you walk away.

“See you.”

You spend the next twelve hours losing yourself in the grind of the maintenance deck. You purge atmospheric filters, solder fried power lines and motors and keep your head down, executing the potential of Silv flawlessly. By the time the shift supervisor dismisses your sector, every muscle in your back is already aching.

You’re routed along with the rest of the Ground crew down into the worker bunks. It’s exactly the kind of crowded hive you expected— rows of metal capsule pods stacked top to bottom.

You crawl into your assigned pod and slide the metal door shut with a pressurized hiss that locks out the chitchat of the barracks. The space is tiny and barely wide enough to turn over, illuminated only by an indicator light on the ceiling.

You pull the blanket all the way up over your head, plunging yourself into absolute darkness.

Inside your makeshift tent, you wait a few long minutes and listen to the sound of the ventilation, ensuring no automated audio sweep is flagging your pod. Slowly, you bring your wrist-comm close to your face. The screen boots up, casting a reflection across your eyes.

You navigate past the monitored system logs to the encrypted partition you built back in the basement.

You tap the interface and release the untraceable, pre-coded data ping you promised your father. It bypasses the Sky’s outgoing walls and drops right into the rusted wall clock of your place on The Ground. I’m in, Dad. I’m safe.

You kill the screen and let the dark swallow you whole as you finally let out the breath you’ve been holding since ass o’clock this morning. Phase one is completed.

The metal housing of the auxiliary coolant valve is freezing against your calloused fingers. Underneath your gray maintenance jumpsuit, your shirt is plastered to your spine with greasy sweat. Above you, thirty feet up in the shadows of the vaulted ceiling, the optical lens of an automated Sec-Eye sweeps the corridor. A mechanical click-click-click traces its movement. You have exactly four seconds between its rotations where the blind spot sags over your station.

Your fingers slip into your tool belt around the micro spanner Wonwoo passed you during yesterday’s break. The automated logistics algorithm doesn’t look at human performance reports, his deep calm voice echoes in your memory as a ghost from the brief ten minute window by the water dispensers. It tracks fluid dynamics. If a deck’s pressure drops by 0.4 percent three weeks in a row, it flags the assigned personnel as a logistical drag. It moves them out to balance the line.

Click. The camera turns away. Your jaw locks and you jam the spanner into the valve’s regulator nut and twist. The metal groans a terrifyingly loud sound in the thrumming silence of the corridor. You strip the thread a little as a nearly invisible hiss of pressurized Freon escapes, biting into the skin of your thumb with a chemical freeze. You yank the tool back and shove it into your pocket just as the red light of the lens sweeps back over your face.

Your heart is hitting your ribs so hard you’re sure the acoustic sensors in the walls will pick it up. You force your features into a dull eyed stare while dragging a dirty rag across the casing of the pipe. Your hands are shaking as the adrenaline turns your blood to ice water. If the grid detects the intentional tool marks on that nut, you aren’t getting reassigned. You’re getting deleted… probably from the world as well when they find out more dirt about you.

Survival up here isn’t just running; it’s a grueling game of chess against a machine that records everything. You don’t just get assigned to an executive penthouse on your second day. An invisible nobody from The Ground doesn’t walk onto the top floors without triggering a thousand alarms. You have to let the system itself funnel you there.

By noon, the legal power ration on the Tech Deck is fluctuating, causing the overhead tube-lights to hum a sickening brown-out frequency. Your break chime rings.

You walk toward the hydration units. Every muscle in your shoulders is locked tight while your thumb is still numb from the Freon burn. You press your palm against the dirty dispenser pad and a stream of lukewarm water trickles into your plastic cup, but a shadow falls over the dispenser next to you.

Behind the thick scratched plastic of his safety glasses, Wonwoo’s eyes don’t look at you yet. You already know that he’s tracking the digital readout on the water machine.

“Pressure on Sub-Sector 4 is dropping,” Wonwoo says. His deep voice is perfectly flat, completely conversational and devoid of any inflection that would trigger an AI audio sweep. “Looks like a faulty valve seal. They’ll probably run an optimization update by Friday.”

You take a swallow of the metallic water, your eyes staring straight ahead at the rust stained wall. “Old pipes,” you casually reply but it’s your voice forcing itself through the lump of nerves in your throat. “Everything up here breaks eventually.”

Beneath the metal counter, out of the line of sight of the camera mounting behind the ventilation shaft, Wonwoo’s fingers slide across the cold casing of the housing unit, leaving something flat but small, and warm from his pocket resting right on the side of the metal ledge between your machines. It’s another micro data chit.

“The standard protocol for Level 9 Residential says they need replacements with clean bio scents,” Wonwoo continues his, ‘can be important to you but also unnecessary for the detectors,’ small talk, but you notice the slight tremor in his fingers as he takes his hand back from you. He isn’t looking at you but his shoulder is less than an inch from yours. You can feel the heat radiating off him in the freezing room.

He knows what you’re doing. He knows that every step you take up that ladder brings you closer to the executive board and closer to the wolves who tore your father apart. And he knows that once you reach those floors, his technical expertise can’t shield you anymore. He is building the ladder for your escape even if it means watching you climb into the fire. “Thanks for the tip,” you murmur while your fingers slide over the data chit with your street smart dexterity, tucking it into the secret seam of your cuff. Before you pull away, Wonwoo’s hand hesitates on his water cup, and so for a split second, his thumb presses against the back of your knuckles— a sudden pressure that feels completely different from his usual self. But you track it for what it is; it’s a silent desperate plea. Don’t get caught. Don’t leave me behind.

You don’t… you can’t squeeze back. The hatred inside your chest is too much as it suffocates black weight that leaves no room for anything else. You will do your best and leave the rest to fate, fate is all you can trust in moments like this. You don’t think you’re even qualified for detention but rather just taking your life away. You drop your cup into the recycling chute and walk away without looking back, leaving him standing alone under the flickering brown lights.

—

The notification arrives on your wrist-comm at 04:00, twenty minutes before your alarm is even set to go off.

[LOGISTICS_NOTIFICATION]: REASSIGNMENT EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.

You sit up in your metal capsule bunk. You did it. The algorithm took the bait. But the triumph in your chest is instantly replaced by dread. Level 9 is where things should be changing.

Three hours later, you emerge from the high velocity transit elevator onto the residential concourse, and the contrast nearly knocks you off your feet. There are no exposed pipes here or rusted grates or flickering brown out lights. The walls are clad in high gloss white composite that reflects the ambient glow of hidden LED tracks.

It feels fake. It feels like a beautiful, expensive coffin.

As you walk down the corridor with your cleaning cart, your gray jumpsuit feels like a brand of filth. The residents pass you by— elite women dressed in flowing silks or corporate men and women in fitted suits that cost more than your father’s entire lifetime medical pension. They don’t look at you. Their eyes skip over your form as if you are nothing more than a mobile garbage unit, a temporary blemish on their perfect visual landscape.

The hatred inside you changes. Down on the tech decks, it was a hot, raging fire. Up here, surrounded by their obnoxious luxury, it turns into a cold diamond sharp focus. Every time you scrub a pristine chrome baseboard, you think of the damp, rotting wooden floors of your kitchen below. Every time you empty a disposal unit filled with discarded, half eaten real food, you think of the empty cabinets and the pills you had to count out so carefully for your dad.

They think they are safe up here because they are high. They think the rules of reality don’t apply to their floor. 

It takes another two months of grinding through the residential sectors before you finally see him.

You are cleaning the panoramic viewing deck on Level 11, working a buffer machine over the reinforced glass flooring that looks down into the white sea of clouds. A sudden silence ripples through the corridor. Already here?

You keep your head down and fit your posture into that of the clumsy, easily intimidated Ground girl you’ve been practicing in the mirror of your bunk pod.

Through the reflection in the glass, you see him approach. Kwon Soonyoung.

To the rest of the elevated metropolis, he was Hoshi, the untouchable corporate heir linked to the very executive board who signed the permanent blacklist order for your father. But to you, he was the target.

He doesn’t walk like the other corporate executives. There is a different energy to his movement… a lethal charisma that makes him look like a predator going through a cage. He is wearing a tailored grey coat with his hair stark and perfectly styled against the soft lighting of the deck. Two personal assistants walk three paces behind him, tablets in hand, murmuring something between them that he dismisses with an impatient flick of his fingers.

This is the target. The man whose executive division signed the permanent blacklist order for your father.

Your fingers tighten on the buffer handle but you recover before it’s noticeable on the million hidden and not hidden cameras around you. Your mind is screaming at you to drop the machine and use the steel wrench in your belt to crack that arrogant jaw. The venom in your veins is so potent it makes your vision blur… but you force it down. You lock it deep into the dark basement of your mind where you keep your real identity. You, as in, Y/N.

Instead, as his security detail draws level with your station, you intentionally catch the cord of your buffer machine with the toe of your boot. You stumble, letting out a sharp but soft cry of ‘genuine’ panic as the machine skitters out of control and clatters loudly against the base of a pillar.

The sound echoes like a gunshot through the quiet deck. “Hey! Watch it, Grounder!” one of the assistants snaps as he steps forward with an angry scowl.

You instantly drop to your knees and pull your sleeves over your hands, your shoulders hunched as you mimic a terrified animal.

You don’t even know if this pathetic act is gonna work but you’d rather stay delusional and see how it plays out because it always played out perfectly in the fictional books you have read, “I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, sir!” you stammer as you make your voice tremble perfectly, your eyes wide and glassy as you stare at the floor right in front of Soonyoung’s leather boots. “The voltage fluctuated, I lost my grip— I didn’t mean to—”

The assistant is about to call security, but Soonyoung raises a single hand and they stop immediately.

Soonyoung lowers his head down as his  eyes study your trembling form. To a man surrounded by corporate sharks, elegant elite women who speak in poetic flirty riddles, and bowing subordinates, your unfiltered terror is an anomaly. Even if terror is expected from Ground workers, they usually just shut up and accept their fate instead of blabbering about why the accident/mistake happened.

It’s a glitch to him… and that catches his attention. You aren’t a threat; you’re entirely too pathetic, a small, fragile thing from the dirt that has probably accidentally flown into his pristine sky. Because the management won’t send such a fragile worker like you, here. 

A slight faint smug smirk touches the corner of his lips. The arrogant pity of the elite, you wanna scoff real bad.

“Leave it,” Soonyoung says as it cuts through the tension. “She’s just a child from below— practically shaking out of her skin.”

“Thank you, sir... thank you,” you whisper, letting a tear slip down your cheek right on cue, looking up at him with an expression of pure, star struck worship.

He looks at you for one more long second— captivated by the novelty of someone who views him like a god, before he turns and continues down the concourse, his detail falling into step behind him.

You stay on your knees until the sound of his footsteps completely fades. Slowly and consciously, you wipe the fake tear from your face with the back of your hand. Your eyes are completely now devoid of the fear you just put on display.

The hook is set. The chess game has officially begun. Phase 2 is completed; now slowly bait him into being soft for you.

Six months. It had taken six grueling months of you scrubbing pristine corridors as a low tier maintenance worker as you kept your head down, and kept playing the part of a star struck, clumsy girl from below before you finally managed to cross paths with him.

By him you mean, Kwon Soonyoung.

“You’re taking dirt onto the terrace,” his voice cut through the penthouse.

You jump as you drop your cleaning cloth to the floor with intentional clumsiness. You spun around, your eyes wide like a saucer, perfectly mimicking the fragile easily rattled persona you had spent half a year perfecting, “I-I’m so sorry, sir! The filtration units on the lower terrace were acting up, and I didn't realize my boots—”

“Breathe,” Soonyoung interrupts. He wasn’t looking at you; he was looking past you out the floor-to-ceiling glass where the monorails wove between skyscrapers like veins of pretty light. He looked effortlessly casual but lethal, a product of a world where the rules of reality supposedly stopped at his floor. “I’m not going to have you executed for a bit of dust.” Oh fuck off.

“Right. Of course. Thank you,” you stammer, biting your lip and looking down while letting a flush of faux embarrassment heat your cheeks.

This was the hook. For weeks, you had played the part of the infatuated emotionally fragile and clueless about the horrors of the hierarchy of the rich world, maintenance girl who couldn’t keep her eyes off him. You had let yourself be caught staying around outside his private office, sniffing the expensive ambient scents and crying like a pretty doll when a security guard reprimanded you, pretending to be utterly overwhelmed by his mere presence. You still can’t believe you weren’t kicked out by other people or his several personal ‘assistants.’

To a man surrounded by corporate sharks and lusty beautiful elite women, a fragile unstable girl from The Ground who looked at him like he was a god was a novelty. An easy distraction; someone entirely too pathetic to be considered a threat.

When he walked closer and tilted your chin up with a gloved finger, you let your breath stutter… but it wasn’t entirely out of acting but because the proximity of the man who held your father’s life in his hands was terrifying.

“You look at me like you’re terrified I’ll do something to you,” his eyes scan your face to search for a depth you have carefully buried under layers of manufactured vulnerability, “or like you want me to.”

… The fuck you mean?

“I just…” you swallowed the blob in your throat while letting your eyes glass over with those well rehearsed tears. “I shouldn’t be up here. People like me... we don’t belong in a place this bright.” 

To this day, you’re scared that one day he’ll finally get tired of your bullshit and throw you out for the audacity of standing there with tears in your eyes and talking about things like this as if you deserve sympathy. Because clearly that would be your manipulative master plan.

A faint, amused smile touched his lips— the arrogant pity of the elite, “then let me keep you here where you can see the light.”

Suddenly, his lips meet yours, and you react a second late before you lean into him as you pull him closer by the collar of his shirt. This, this is what you wanted. This is your well planned innocent seduction, but it wasn’t a sweeping romance; it was a desperate way of your motives. It’s messy as neither of you have the patience to be careful. His hand slides to your waist and you step back with him without breaking it while guiding him toward the bedroom without looking like you’re guiding anything at all. You only pretend to give the illusion of letting the man do it.

You wrap your arms around his neck and stay close, letting him think it’s a need. He kisses you harder when you don’t pull away, a hoarse sound caught in his throat, and you answer him with the same amount of force to keep him from questioning the heat of it. Your mind remains entirely detached and crystal clear, even as your heart thumps wildly against your ribs as it tracks the room behind him, the distance to his private terminal, and the angle of the security panels along the wall.

He’s walking you back until the back of your knees hit the edge of the bed. You fall onto it with him leaning over you with one hand already at your jaw, the other braced beside your head. The silk sheets are so soft and nothing like anything you’ve ever slept on in your own house, and it makes your skin feel more weird instead of relaxed. But you can't let yourself freeze. Before he can pull back or think, you hook your arms around his shoulders as you drag him down with you when he attempts to straighten.

His breath chokes slightly at the rush of need as his hands move from your jaw to the zipper of your uniform jumpsuit. You decide to use that exact second of that little bit of hesitation to keep him completely focused on you instead of anything else in the room. He slides it down with an impatient tug as the heavy fabric parts and pushes it off your shoulders to expose your skin to the cool air of the room. Now, you don’t let your hesitation slow you down.

As his chest presses flush against yours, your hands slide down past his waist while your fingers find the metallic snap of his trousers. You unzip it completely bypassing his defenses while keeping his mouth locked against yours so he doesn't see the cold focus in your eyes. You pull every bit of his attention onto yourself the way you need it to; the rest of the penthouse completely ceases to exist for him. His lips move from yours to your cheek and then your neck, and you let your head tilt back to make it easy for him. Your hands stay on his back as you map the hard muscle beneath his shirt the entire time to never let there be space for his thoughts to wander. When he moves you again, and you go with him immediately to keep his entire world to the limits of the bed and your body until there is nothing else.

The breathing of the both of you keeps getting slower as time passes. His grip on you loosens slightly for comfort. He has stopped thinking about anything beyond the touch of your skin. You stay exactly where you are, still making sure there is no reason for him to look away or stand up or reach for anything else. 

The penthouse was dead silent except for the breathing of Kwon Soonyoung tangled in the sheets with you.

You slid out from under the heavy comforter entirely devoid of the clumsiness you showed during the day and the past six months. Eyes cold as you scanned the dimly lit room.

Your fingers didn’t tremble as you reached for his tailored jacket draped over the chair. Slipping your hand into the interior pocket, your cold fingertips brushed against the gold rimmed biometric passkey.  Six months of playing the fool and letting him believe he held all the power, boiled down to this single plastic chip.

Moving like a shadow, you slid the passkey into your maintenance jumpsuit that was on the floor when he took it off you an hour ago. You didn’t dare access his terminal here— the internal anomalies would flag security immediately. But with this key, the restricted medical robotics archive on the sub level was completely open to you. The neural stabilization formula— the proprietary algorithm that could restore your father’s deteriorating mind and could 100% ruin their reputation for hiding this from the elites for whatever reasons— was within your reach.

You walked toward the door of the penthouse and for a split daunting second, your hand hovered over the release sensor. You looked back at the silhouette of the man on the bed who had given you access to The Sky, and kept you on your toes while still treating you like a human unlike other elites. But no, you didn’t feel guilty when you came back to your senses and thought about the damp wooden floors of your home below. You thought about the empty kitchen cabinets with unpaid bills on the broken table and the sad smile of your dad that he hid under his ‘everything is okay,’ smile.

They don’t do ‘temporary’ with people from the Ground, your father’s voice echoed in your head. You don’t know them.

I know them now, dad, you thought. And I’m getting back at them. You turned your back on that man and the clean house, stepping through the threshold and into a lit corridor. You didn’t look back as you slipped past the final security checkpoint with the stolen passkey burning a hole in your pocket. There was no guarantee the grid wouldn’t flag his credentials before you reached the sub levels, and no guarantee you’d ever make it back down to the toxic smog below.

But you still stepped into the elevator terminal and pressed your back again but this time against the cold glass as it prepared for its long, dizzying descent, you locked your expression down. There was only one way forward.

burn for the win [22.1k] @mylovesstuffs - being the engineer who knows too much and the sister who’s had enough means standing at the eye of the storm while two men she cares about tear each other apart. jun’s pride could still cost him everything, and yet he refuses to fight to fix what’s broken; neither will minghao. she’s tired of the fallout, but no one listens. a crash was only the beginning. now, can anything bring them back?

finding spring [22k] @joshujin - Tale tells of a water spirit bound to the Elysian River, destined to guard the very magic her human body once sought after. She lives where the animals come to drink, where the children wade in the water, where the river empties into the sea. And she is waiting for the chance to be freed.

pulse points [15.9k] @wheeboo - Being the TA for your anatomy class has always been really rewarding, especially stemming in your passion for the medical field. But as it’s approaching the peak of the school semester and labs have gotten more intense, you aren’t surprised to be dedicating your time to tutoring your strangely handsome, dorky, yet enigmatic classmate during after school hours — and reassuring him how to not be afraid of dissections.

free love [13.8k] @gam3bo17 - The first time you saw him you didn’t know his name, only that he didn’t look at you the way everyone else did. The countryside air felt different: cleaner, lighter, like it didn’t matter who you were. No chauffeurs. No bodyguards hovering nearby. No people trailing behind you like shadows. For the first time in your life you felt normal. Not the child of the family that owned Pledis Industries. Not the face plastered across city billboards and magazine covers. Not someone people bowed to before they spoke. Just you.

for the love of the game [13k] @yoongihan - you've accepted your place in the world of baseball; you know what you're good at. outside of the dugout and locker room, certain university classes are NOT what you're good at. asking for help feels weak, especially from the perpetually smiley cheerleader who you're sure is just as dumb as he is pretty.

psycho [12.8k] @wheeboo - in which a new patient is assigned for treatment under your care, and you begin to put the puzzles and pieces together to a past case that you thought to have ceased away from your mind.

who's your worm guy? [11.3k] @imnotshua - your final project is due far too soon and you’re stumped for ideas. that is until you pick up a part time job in the ticket booth at your local water park and you meet the most– uh– interesting employees. this includes a wen junhui, food and beverage supervisor, whose creativity sparks most when he’s hazy and slacking off.

anonymously yours [11.3k] @wheeboo - When the world falls asleep, a certain radio broadcast goes live—one hosted by none other than you and your best friend Wen Junhui. The two of you host an anonymous love confession segment, where listeners submit their deepest feelings, secrets, and late-night loves they can’t say aloud for you to unravel live on air. However, when a recurring submission starts to feel too familiar, a certain someone finds themselves wondering how long they can stay anonymous… before they are finally heard.

most ardently [10.7k] @chanheescafe - you find a sense of familiarity in your sworn rival, jun, while exchanging anonymous letters with a stranger .

Pendulum [9k] @gyuswhore - There are many things your father never told you when he left you his flower shop; the ever creaky door hinges, the delivery man who can never seem to tell the orchids from the gardenias, and the headquarters of the biggest mafia in New York operating in the employee break room. Of course you're used to it now, the familiar faces passing in and out of the shop while you pretend nothing is amiss. Until a new face appears, disappearing into the backrooms without a word, bloodied knuckles and a poorly strapped revolver on his hips. Suddenly, it's very hard to pretend.

sixth times the charm [8.8k] @planetkiimchi - your coworker jun is naturally friendly and a little chaotic, but he also mistakenly thinks you like his crush. this love rivalry persists despite the two of you being friends, at least until he realises that the one he likes is you.

pink stationary [7.9k] @haologram - everything with junhui has been a step towards something, but neither of you are very clear on what when it comes to the other.

i like you feeling like this [7.7k] @minnnliz - overwhelmed by her case load at work, reader's friend recommends she visit the cat café that just opened downtown, since she claims she's too busy to get a cat of her own. but is it the cute cats that keep her coming back... or the cute guy who makes the mandatory uniform cat ears look endearing?

meow or never [6.9k] @supi-wupi - Jun adopts a cat who turns out to be a cursed human. You’re the only other person who knows the secret—and Jun might be falling for both the cat (platonically) and you (romantically).

Gemini  [6.7k] @caratchronicles - As the saying goes, "History repeats itself". Eons after the Second Titan War, the world is left in a similar state of despair. Good prevails, but so does the imbalance and injustice. Now standing on opposite sides, the Gods and Demigods don't think that the damage done by The Aegean War can ever truly be repaired. When yet another prophecy pushes you to fight for your friends, you must decide for yourself: Are you worth fighting for too?

happy ending [6.6k] @junkissed - a pointless argument escalates until both of you need some space, but it couldn't come at a worse time.

kiss me it's for science [4k] @supi-wupi - Jun and Y/N are both psychology majors. For their thesis, they must observe the chemical reactions of romantic attraction... using themselves as test subjects. Bonus, Their “experiment” is being live-blogged by classmates on a fan account.

unread messages [3.5k] @supi-wupi - Jun moved back to China. You still write to him every day, though you never hit send. Until one day, he replies—to a message you never sent.

do i wanna know [3.3k] @belovedgyu - mob boss! junhui x detective! femreader

tears [3.3k] @acphengene - soulmate au, angst, fluff, selfdoubt and a lot of insecurities

memory lane [3.1k] @orbitondgtl - On your first wedding anniversary, Jun has something special planned for the two of you. In turn, you have something special planned for him.

secret life of wen junhui [3k] @wheeboo - in which jun gets set up on a blind date by his best friend.

how to cancel your faustian bargain [22k] @100vern - as the devil, you’re more than happy to grant favors in exchange for someone’s soul, and you’re known for having the most iron-clad contracts around. which is why wen junhui—the scene’s newest contract attorney hell-bent on returning all those souls you’ve acquired—is really starting to piss you off.

open channel [17k] @sknyuz - stepping into the haas f1 garage means more than just being good at what you do—you’ve inherited the headset once worn by your father, now the vital voice guiding their first seat driver, wen junhui, on track. junhui is sharp and distant, but your clear calls cut through the noise in a way that unsettles his perfect composure. between late-night debriefs, testing laps, and the chaos of race weekends, a quiet rhythm starts to build—something that feels dangerously close to something more.

deadlock [15.6k] @sailorsoons - You and Junhui have the perfect life together. Sure, you’ve failed to mention you’re a spy for Clockwork and he never mentioned being a hitman for Protocol, but what couple doesn’t lie? The lies work - until Junhui is tasked with killing you, his perfect wife who has secrets he never dreamed of.

chains of love [14k] @straylightdream - He’s always been a fighter and a protector in every lifetime. No matter how hard he tries evil always follows you in one way or another. You have no clue who he is until you come face to face with the man, warding off the evil from your dreams. You find him in an abandoned warehouse fighting in an illegal boxing match. The man in the ring winning instantly captures your attention in every way possible.

in limine [12.5k] @eoieopda - you think that by remaining single this year, you’ve found a loophole in your string of shitty valentine’s days. the universe thinks you should lose your paralegal on the eve of a major trial and see if you wouldn’t rather have all of those untimely breakups and missed dates instead.

nights bride [12.8k] - @nightshao - When you inherits an estate, you expects creaking floors and dust — not a ghost who swears you’re his wife. The house breathes with memories that aren’t yours, and every night, a soft voice whispers your name. Jun isn’t frightening; he’s heartbreakingly gentle, waiting for a love you've forgotten.

when love kills [12k] @thedensworld - Love is a double-edged sword—one for a kiss and one for a kill. Jun was meant to do one thing: uphold his family’s ruthless legacy. But everything changed when he met the woman he loves.

Company Benefits [12k] @studioeisa - you can’t really call wen junhui your ex-boyfriend. it was more of a friends with benefits situation—except you only got ghosted, while he got an internship at your recommendation. people always say to not bite the hand that feeds you; it looks like jun didn’t get the memo.

strategize my heart [9.8k] @yourfavtangerine - She’s a warrior, he’s a strategist. She calls him a nerd, he calls her reckless. But battles have a way of proving that brains and brawn are stronger side by side.

ocean view [8.8k] @junkissed - an all expenses paid trip to greece for your friend's wedding seems too good to be true, but it gets even better when you meet a handsome stranger on the beach. with the help of a mysterious old lady, her magic deck of tarot cards, and one too many coincidences, you're starting to believe things really do happen for a reason.

amateur hour [8.6k] @junkissed - the most awkward encounter of your life might just end up being the best thing you and your best friend have ever done together.

official business [8.5k] @lovetaroandtaemin - When your best friend shows up on your doorstep to tell you that she's pregnant with your husband's baby, you decide to get revenge with the one man you know he doesn't want you talking to.

中秋节 [6.1k] @pajarinwrites - idol!au, established relationship

two worlds apart [6k] - @neocrias - After having some strange dreams about other dimensions, you take off on a journey to explore the nearby forest. What you hadn't expected was falling asleep next to a fairy circle and waking up to a very peculiar - and handsome - nymph close to you.

so it goes... [5.6k] @straylightdream - Getting caught up in a moment. Lipstick on your face, so it goes. I'm yours to keep and I'm yours to lose.

purple lace bra [5.3k] @cherrys-teas - you seem to have an addictive personality, but you would never do drugs, and you dont like to get drunk. your drug of choice? your asshole ex who you cant seem to get over. the worst part is that he seems to be equally as addicted to you.

too far [4.7k] @lovetaroandtaemin - When your friend suggested letting the new intern in your company's legal department move in with you, you had your doubts. As time went on, though, the two of you grew closer than you ever could have anticipated. The only problem was that you were certain that he didn't see you the same way you saw him.

midnight motel [4.7k] @seungkw1 - It’s late at night, you’re lost in the middle of nowhere, and the gas tank is dangerously close to empty. So when you and your new boyfriend finally stumble upon a motel, you’re relieved to know you’ll at least be safe here overnight – or will you?

starlight secrets [4.1k] @gyuhao5 - On the 12 year anniversary of the hit teen series you and Jun starred in, nostalgia fills the air as fans reminisce the show. During an interview, a burning question emerges: Was there ever more than friendship behind the scenes?

bedroom exclusive [3.9k] @junkissed - seeing your boyfriend on tv kissing another girl definitely doesn't feel good, but he's got plenty of time to make it up to you. and he plans on letting you know that you're the only one on his mind.

enemies with benefits [3.8k] @sluttyminghao - choreographer!junhui x choreographer!afab!reader ♡ enemies to lovers, smut, angst, fluff

private folder [3.5k] @junhuiscent - Jun has been your best friend for years but you never knew that he’s actually been obsessed with you this whole time. Until he sends you a sudden nude whilst away in China which changes the dynamic.

the bachelor [3.5k] @sluttywonwoo - it's a bachelor party, but no one's getting married. at least, not anymore.

SCOUPS | SEUNGCHEOL

A Seat Across From You - @nerdycheol

This fic holds a special place in my heart. Several elements introduced in the fic come together really well - the use of technology, the telling of time, even the way the reader thinks of Seungcheol. Everything felt like it had a reason for being there and each location mattered. It was truly "A seat across from you" until they became so ingrained in the other's life. I really loved reading how Seungcheol and the reader slowly became a part of each others lives, how the reader's thinking of Seungcheol and his life developed, how she tried to impress him. I think, in my opinion, the best way to describe it is akin to the feeling Ghibli movies? Romanticizing the every day - the morning commute, waking up, grabbing coffee, etc. You could really see how both of the characters appreciated the days in which they interacted with one another - the days had meaning. Getting glimpses into character's lives and not straying outside of those boundaries (the train) is an interesting way to handle it and it shines here.

Game Over [Play Again] - @cheers-to-you-th

Reading this fic was akin to expecting the unexpected. It felt like there was a twist at every corner and my own expectations on how situations would go never matched up. My favorite part of the entire fic was the reader coming to terms with everything around her and continuing to live on with her life. Its such a heartbreaking ordeal to endure - someone you grow close to, separated by a wall but emotionally kept away by miles. Writing the reader's experience - her attempts with making peace of her situation AND foreshadowing it at the very beginning of the fic was a completely insane thing to do. Such a great way to foreshadow future tension between the two characters without showing the hand. Watching Seungcheol and the reader interact - not completely understanding Seungcheol's side of the situation until its brought to light (truly because she didn't understand how much it would affect him) was fascinating to read. How each of them reacted to everything was to heart-wrenching.

JEONGHAN

liquorice - @gyuhao5

Jeonghan was so natural in this fic, it felt like he walked off the page. Every time he spoke, it felt like I was in a trance. He felt unattainable, untouchable and completely out of our reach, whether its the Liquorice!Reader or the reader(me) themselves. Jeonghan's personality shines, from his teasing and playful nature to his more caring and cautious side. On the reader's note - she truly felt like she was someone who has never experienced love. She was struggling trying to figure out all the nuances of love, trying to fall in love with Soonyoung while looking at someone else. Her insecurities, her shy nature - everything - felt like a young woman experiencing love for the first time. Its genuinely an embarrassing experience to go so long without a first kiss and it felt like every decision she made was in result of that deep insecurity. The character writing in this feels so natural and that you had an idea of exactly you wanted to bring across with these two characters. It was delivered excellently.

Candy - @wheeboo

This was a couple that was destined to be together, but too scared for the 'what ifs'. Honestly, it was a heartbreaking ride about the hesitance of opening your heart again - experiencing love from someone who betrayed you in such a manner. The hesitancy of the reader and the regret Jeonghan held was fantastic, my heart ached with every interaction between the two of them. You, most importantly, could experience the love that still remained. The use of penpals and letters throughout the fic was a genuinely interesting way to see inside of Jeonghan's head (as the reader) and understand where exactly he was coming from. These letters were probably the first time Candy!Reader could understand where Jeonghan was coming from - why he was reacting the way he was (despite not even knowing its him). The letter reveal was also excellent - I love how they subconsciously knew it was one another, it was just obvious because they knew each other so well. It only made sense the people who could give the perfect advice would be the other.

JOSHUA

Not according to plan - @starlightkyeom

Truly, you one of the kindest people I've ever had the honor of chatting with. I can feel your enthusiasm for writing through the page and how much you love it, your passion is evident. On this particular fic, I really loved it. I enjoyed how you were able to balance the relationships and how Joshua / the reader reacted to everything. Joshua was as charming as ever, you honestly made him so easy to fall in love with. The way Joshua treated the reader throughout felt like it was his way of showing how she should be loved (he naturally does such an amazing job at it. I'm sure through his actions, he was trying to show the reader she deserved someone who gives a shit). I love how the reader's struggles and her acceptance of Joshua's affections were of a direct result of Johnny - how the cheating affected her. All the struggles the reader was facing really felt as if it was someone learning how to love and trust again after the blatant disregard of the reader and her life being absolutely destroyed. I think about this fic often...

Dude, Nice Try! - @joshujin

WOW! What a fun ride! Truly such a wild time out here with those two characters. I adored the difference between the reader and Joshua - their difference responses to the entire situation that's been presented before them. I find both of them to be incredibly realistic but polar opposite ways to respond to a cheating situation this deep. Joshua and the reader were in incredibly different situations, Joshua was coming out of a relationship, his first long term one, in which he thought he was going to marry her. It was the first relationship he thought was going to work out. Whereas the reader was in a relationship actively looking to destroy her life inside out. Joshua reacting with indifference and numbness. You can never expect how a betrayal like this could go. Watching these two dole out their revenge and how well they understood each other just from 24 hours of knowing each other was amazing. I loved their chemistry and everything they had going with one another. I'm glad I decided to read these spaced out - it gave me time to digest everything.,

JUN

How to cancel your faustian bargain - @100vern

I know you said I made you out smarter than you are, but I wouldn't sell yourself so short. You have an amazing capacity to integrate meaningful ideas, and you really showed it off in this fic. The best way I can sum, up my feelings on this idea was through your ask game and specific this quote - "i want them to feel human and maybe remind you of someone you know". Honestly, despite being a Faustian bargain AU, I constantly saw myself in Jun in how he was handling life, trying to navigate it to his best abilities. Seeing Jun find his own path gave me some hope for my own path I'm on. I loved how both of the sides - the Devil and God were not black and white, there were actually negatives and trickery on both sides - its an interesting thing to consider (i wont go into rn). Jun was so relatable, from his strong moments to his embarrassing ones. The humor was effortless and I enjoyed the balance of seriousness and humor. It's hard to have such unserious moments be followed by extremely tense ones, you did a fantastic job with it .

ocean view - @junkissed

Soulmates are difficult - finding a way to write soulmates in a way where everything feels natural and fits perfectly into one another is no easy task. I'm astounded by the way you handled it in this fic. The context behind the reader and Jun's connection, who they are as people - watching them connect over a small moment of peace together. The idea of Jun and reader being soulmates didn't feel forced. It's difficult to say anything other than 'It was naturally supposed to happen'. I loved the inevitability of it all... I remember you mentioning that you wanted to capture the vibes of spell, and you did a fantastic job. When reading this fic, I had the same feeling when I watched Spell - both were so enchanting and captivating. i didn't even register the yeogi ocean view of the title. The ending of the fic leaves a perfectly ambiguous ending, it gave the reader and Jun space to explore their connection, however, we know that they are together and most likely will be in the future. It gives the reader the perfect 'what happens next?' and the two characters the privacy of exploring a connection only they know

HOSHI | SOONYOUNG

Crash Course in Romance - @etherealyoungk

Soonyoung in this was so sweet and innocent, I feel like I got the sweet Soonyoung you see in interviews whenever he's drunk (i know he plays it up. I still melt over him though). Its such an endearing personality 'thing' he does and I truly felt it in this fic (albeit his innocent and sweet side were unintentional on his end. I love how the confidence of the reader and Soonyoung switched between the two - when one of the characters were not confident we switched perspectives so we could be "outsider" when watching the more confident one. This also lends to falling in love - both of them got to see one another at their most confident and least confidence and they guided one another to success. It was such an easy read, 40k words honestly never passed faster. Soonyoung's efforts and hard work really made the fic go by so fast. I adored it. Happy late anniversary (i saw your post a few days ago)

Eight Count - @naniwatig3r

The way this fic was written was incredible. I'm honestly in shock on how everything rounded out and called back to the beginning of the fic, whether it was the final match between the two boxers or the trials and tribulations of the relationship between Soonyoung and the reader. Watching the both of them grow and develop, how they grew closer to one another and then abruptly closed everything off was fantastic. I loved seeing the weight in their interactions and what life was like between the two of them. The way the story naturally transistioned out the backstory into present day was fascinating. It was such a subtle shift - you couldn't tell what was present day and what was backstory due to the way the fic started. How the reader was incredibly fond of Soonyoung and wanted him to win, because you were in her POV the entire fic, her caring for him throughout the fic made sense - it was natural. She never hated him. All these little things in the fic, the relationship, the structure, etc. make this a masterpiece. I'm officially obsessed with this fic now.

WONWOO

A Comprehensive List of Why You Can't Stand Jeon Wonwoo - @tomodachiii

Seeing how the reader's and wonwoo's relationship evolved throughout their lives was so satisfying? Everything felt like Wonwoo stepped out of the page and reacted as he should. He wordlessly became confused on why she was so angry at him all the time. He wordlessly protected the reader from the weird high school boys. He wordlessly left the reader when their goals vanished. Wonwoo catching the attention of the reader, ultimately failing to win her heart and the reader desperately trying to beat him. Despite Wonwoo and the reader never speaking on certain moments between them, there were never times where I felt things needed to be laid out and discussed. Their relationship developed naturally and it was so much fun to read how the reader just reacted to Wonwoo all the time. I love how the list kept on going as she fell in love with him. All the things that irritate you about a person become endearing and the reason WHY you love them. Sure the descriptions became more fond, but he never changed.

Slacking Off - @goldenhourology

A messy messy relationship, and I loved how the topic of control was the center piece of the fic. It felt like the reader's decisions and the big moments in the fic - Wonwoo and Reader's confrontation, the first kiss, the presentation (getting drunk together), Wonwoo asking the reader to let him take care of her, even the apology - it was all about her need to control the situation. Her pride was hurt about how she had no control over technology and felt inept at it - felt embarrassed by Wonwoo's comments. The first time she relinquished control (and pulled away somewhat by suggesting a friendship) allowing Wonwoo to kiss her and not pulling away. How she literally controlled the movement of her presentation ( consistently underplaying the important of her role 'i just pressed the buttons') and the reason why the presentation succeeded. The way Wonwoo asked for control and how the sex between the two of them tied into it. It was the second time she gave away control and she became scared of what that meant to her. It was no longer just a FWB situation, it was starting to mean more to her - which meant she would be giving control away. Then her deciding, after avoiding the topic (unlike all the other times she been faced with being in control), she deliberately chooses to go out of her way and relinquish control when apologizing to Wonwoo, giving him the power to do what he willed with the information. It was such a strong through-line of the fic, I really enjoyed the reader's struggles with control and how she dealt with it.

WOOZI | JIHOON

tour date - @ppyopulii

Truly an amazing fic. This was stress incarnate for me. Every moment I was thinking 'where is this going', 'what is woozi doing', 'why is the reader saying this'. The developing tension of the reader and Woozi felt so natural - how it got so awkward over an almost nothing comment and how it was so difficult to get on the same page again. I love love love the incorporation of tour dates, how the title revolved around "Tour Dates", how bands mark their existence by it. With every stop we could feel the reader and Woozi get closer and then further away and then closer, such a push and pull relationship between the two of them. The title of the fic carried a lot of weight, from the story set up to the payoff of Woozi and the reader's entire relationship. Going back and seeing how all the details in the fic all connected to the themes of 'touring' felt so satisfying. I was genuinely so impressed with how everything connected. (Im someone who LOVES connecting titles to a deeper meaning - so the way it was executed in this fic was phenomenal.)

Korigatachi - @shinysobi

Wow, the amount I could say about this fic is endless. Truly such a ride from beginning to end. I loved seeing the reader and Jihoon interact - how their circumstances mixed with one another (them being more similar in their pasts than I originally thought). I loved the slow reveal of everything they've been going through - why the reader acts the way she does. Why she has such a hatred of Go and a distaste for people using her / her manager position for money. The reveal of information was handled wonderfully. It truly was a masterclass of letting the audience sit with information and giving them the payoff with the continuation of the story. You could understand why the reader acts the way she did - why she has such a narrow worldview, however waiting for this information allowed the audience to form an opinion on the reader, before having that opinion shattered. I find that both Jihoon and the reader would understand one another's plights but because their backgrounds are so different - its been difficult to see eye to eye. Both of them have been / are being used for their money. Both of them just exist in drastically different situations, therefore the ability to see eye to eye hasn't existed yet. I'm excited to see where they go as a couple in the part two of this fic.

DOKYEOM | SEOKMIN

red wine nights - @hannieoftheyear

This was a tough read as a lover of Seokmin. Seokmin in this fic really just crushed my heart in two and the reader really just had me so frustrated. Seokmin never really changed in this fic, and that was one of the best parts. He was frustratingly Seokmin, the ever happy, bright and open Seokmin that we know. My heart broke for him every time the reader closed him out because of her own insecurities. I'm unsure if your goal was to write an unreliable narrator, but you really pull it off beautifully. Seeing her close herself in and not contact anyone, how our perception of events was based on her sole view point of the world. The fact that the true events of the fic and her perception of those events were glaringly different. I really adored seeing how the reader was pushed out of her shell and faced her insecurities (even if she didn't want to). I think the lying to her was the important part - her love and care for Seokmin overpowered any feelings of inadequacy. I love the use of distance through technology, TV broadcasts and the absence of face times, how they only called one another to speak. It was a manufactured distance that the reader created out of fear (a distance that brought her worse fears into reality). A fantastic read.

the subtle art of stirring the pot - @miniseokminnies

Seokmin LOVES a mean girl in this fic, oh my god, and i LOVE THAT. I find that mean and abrasive reader and cheerful Seokmin to be such a fun pairing. I loved the contrast between the two and how both of them were so affected by one another in different ways. I love how the first part of the fic capitalizes on the reader's stress due to her environment, how most of her relationships were colored by a place that didn't appreciate her properly. Why the presence of Seokmin was so disarming and extremely annoying - someone replacing her and he was happy 100% of the time. I would be so annoyed and frustrated with someone like that asking myself 'why is he happy? he literally took my future here away'. The way Seokmin and the reader connect - over food, is such a meaningful way to go about it. Both of them have obvious passions for food, therefore, connecting over something like that seemed obvious. They could finally be on the same page and understand one another in a way but not be in the environment that triggered so much bad blood and stress between the two. Connecting over food helped them understand the other and ultimately fall in love. I love food as a narrative device...

MINGYU

Statisically Speaking - @gyuswhore

I'm shocked I picked up on the statistical models meaning something in the fic. It was such a subtle reference, and I had to read that section maybe 3 times over when I was making the connection. Its such a smart way to utilize the subject the reader and Mingyu were suffering over. It made the reader (myself) really understand their pain LOL. The way you incorporated absence into this was stunning, I loved how the days felt as if they blended together, as if time didn't hold any particular meaning. I feel as if the credit of the 'passing of time' should go to the use of days as well as Mingyu's presence within the fic. Each day signaled a new day of class and the endless droning of professors. Each day she was with Mingyu was long and complicated (just like her feelings and relationship with him) and the days she went without were short and in quick succession. The difference between the two made time blend and you don't understand how much time has past until they speak to one another again. I loved Mingyu in this and I really felt that he was the stressed out, dopey man that we know and adore.

The Admirer Was Right in Front of You - @mylovesstuffs

I always feel like you capture the members of Seventeen so well. Whether it's in your reaction or your long fics, every time I sit down to read something of yours, I'm awstruck. I'm so impressed with your capacity to be able to write everyone so well. You understand their nuances, this fic and Mingyu are no different. The obliviousness of the reader and Mingyu as well as the length of their relationship is what sold the tension. As a third party, walking straight into their relationship and watching it unfold was frustrating because neither of them could see of other side. Both blinded by a singular goal that kept them from connecting to one another. However, we as the reader got to see and understand both. The way they look at one another - lovesick as all be - which goes unnoticed because they've ALWAYS looked at one another like that. The friends of the two never really guessed Mingyu because its ALWAYS been like that between the two of them. The easiest answer is always the hardest to find. This entire fic was written so beautifully. The confession was honestly perfect and I would do NOTHING to change it.

THE8 | MINGHAO

Rain Room - @sailorsoons

There's a lot I could say, however it wouldn't be a short note, so I'll be brief. I'm in awe in your ability to build environments and set the tone of your fics. From the calm of the Rain Room to the broken-down chaos of the Syndicate Collection, the world building feels so natural and impressive. Building upon a world slowly, with each new installment of the Syndicate Collection, is never easy and I'm so intrigued by it - I really admire how you go about it (it makes me excited to when I finally get around to Bite). Another thing I find absolutely impressive is how completely different your reader characters are from one another. I love seeing what personality we'll get for each fic, how their traits lend to the overall story. I love how in The Rain Room, any time Minghao was near (and by extension the rain room), everything felt at peace. He was a moment of rest in a stressful day, and all the conflict that was happening in the fic wasn't due to him - it was everything else around her. He offered a soft and careful reprieve from life. I found Minghao to be written so well and soft in this fic. The reader was endlessly relatable with the daily struggles. I hold a soft spot for the Rain Room and Minghao in this. One of my favorite Minghao fic..

Lost in Translation - @studioeisa + bonus

If soulmates but not really were ever a thing - I feel like this fic would be a perfect presentation of it. I have so many thoughts about the reader and the relationship, everything that the two of them go through. I find Minghao to be characterized so so well in this fic, his quiet and appreciative nature. The way he loves people, and the way he accepts love in return. I love the way language and touch is used in this fic - how touch was used when language couldn't do the speaking for them. Funnily enough, touch was used most of the time between the two because they were so bad at vocalizing their thoughts, using language to communicate. I love how they spoke so many languages but the connection between the two of them went unspoken and was simply understood by everyone around them. It's really a fic that captures a Minghao in love - from the moment he meets her to the moment he actually confesses. He felt like he was understood by her on so many levels because of her grasp of Mandarin (they had already met half way when she first meets him). Whereas the reader had to work and build something (her Mandarin) to get to the point where she connect on the level she did with him. I'm not doing justice to my feelings on this fic, I adore it. Its the fic that got me attached to Minghao forever. So obviously, I had to do this one. I wish I had more to say but my love for this fic existed since November 2024.

SEUNGKWAN

argodolce - @amourcheol

The tension and relationship between these two are what make the fic tick. I'm astonished how easily both of them flowed onto the page, how their conflict feels so natural, how its a product of their jobs. Their fights are on a whole other level, each argument feels natural and funny to watch. It difficult to write bickering - make them fight over the most pointless things and still make it seem its a daily occurrence. This fic executed it perfectly. I'm unsure if it was the topics bickered about, seeing how their personalities conflict or even if it were both things mixed together. However, Argodolce Seungkwan and Reader really just bounced off one another, whether its in their bickering or the romantic tension between the two of them. I love how the you utilize food and the emotion 'hate' to your advantage, asking questions both the characters have to consider. Using creating a dish together as a starting point for bettering their relationship was interesting - how food brings people closer together. Food is a shared experience, I'm sure creating a dish would be an intimate experience as well. With the progress in this fic, every step feels like a reward, whether it was 5 steps backwards or a half step forward.

Tales from Camp Holiday Special 06 - @kwanisms

From the beginning of this fic, you could really feel the tension between the reader and Seungkwan. How much Seungkwan regretted how things ended, not being able to fully heal from the wound the reader left on him. I adore how the fic began in Seungkwan's perspective, both the character and myself have no understanding why the reader just ended things, didn't even try and repair it. The mysteriousness of the reader and trying to attempt to unravel this fic make it such a fun read. I'm also obsessed with the switching of POVs in this - using POVs to keep the reader in suspense and not understand the motivations of the characters at any given time. From the re-introduction of the reader and not understanding WHY the reader 'reached out first' to the mysteriousness of Seungkwan's motivations with the reader post-concert THEN switching back to Seungkwan after he kisses her . Watching the two of them react to the things the other does was so much fun - we got to see how both Seungkwan and the reader overthought every interaction (just like we were). I just loved the dynamic between these two and their mysterious ways.

VERNON | HANSOL

Stupid, Cupid - @aeristudios

Hansol and the reader are fantastic in this, I feel like they make very grown up and natural decisions with the situation they are in. I honestly found the reader's struggle really unfortunate, trying to move on with her life but living in the same house with Hansol. Whereas Hansol was just in this shitty holding place the last three years of his life, too lovesick to notice what was happening. Hansol was amazing in this. I LOVE how the character's developments were on their own terms, that the reader and Hansol made choices independent of the other. Hansol breaking things off on his own terms and the reader trying to grow on her own, moving past Hansol and her feelings for him. I love how Hansol made the conscious decision to run after the reader - chase her after the years she chased after him. It felt like it encapsulates "Right person wrong time" all the way until the end of the fic - when the both of them looked at the world a bit differently than before. I truly have no notes, I just adore how they grew as people on their own and naturally found one another again. It was executed so well.

yeoubi - @fairyhaos

Yeoubi. I truly love everything this fic has to offer, the characters, the worldbuilding, the conflict. Everything about it is perfect. Hansol in this is so endearing, I ADORE him. He's honest and straight forward from the moment he first speaks to the last words he utters in this fic. Which I find so completely perfect. I feel like Hansol's honesty is what sells the villagers easy trust in him, how easily he communicates with the reader and how his personality comes off with those around him. I find the way magic is incorporated in this fic so natural and I love all the moments where its used. The main conflict being Seungcheol's personal struggle of accepting "magic" and the reader's reluctance of letting magic seep into the village was brilliant. Both the reader and Seungcheol wanted to protect something special to them, and thought the worse would happened. However, when everything came down to it - they were proven wrong in every way. I just LOVE this fic, its truly phenomenal.

DINO | CHAN

Not so Loud - @daechwitatamic

One of two Dino fics that made him a part of my bias line. He was so endearingly sweet to the reader and killing me at the same time. Every moment he was vexing the reader from the grocery store to the beach scene to the bar - I WAS BEING VEXED AS WELL. He really destroyed me in this fic, completely and truly The reader truly killed me in this, but she truly won me back with her determination and drive. Seeing her struggle with her feelings for Chan and then dealing with being WRONG about his so called rejection was an interesting struggle. In my opinion, this is probably one of the best first kisses ever? In any fic I've ever read. There was something so intimate and sweet about it, something for later. Every time I read this, I'm so excited to get to that part. Its such a sweet payoff for everything that came to this point. All of their one on one conversations were so sweet and intimate, the connection was so natural. Truly one of the best Dino fics there is.

Between Me and You - @haologram

Man, this is the other Dino fic that made him a part of my official bias line. Genuinely, everything in this fic is perfect to me and I hope you know that. The tension and relationship between the reader and Chan, how they obviously care for one another. I could write a million things on this fic and i Already have (you know this). The sex scenes happen in just the right places - it really gave off desperate and horny and in love. I love the casual and unspoken nature of their relationship - it just fits the both of them so well. I adore Dino in this, down bad Dino is my favorite Dino to read and hes SO DOWN BAD. This lives in my brain 24/7. I could list a million and five reasons why I love this fic. Expect another note Christmas time I dont know if you'll laugh at this, but you inspired the 26 authors of this entire thing. I was originally going to do 13 (one for each member) but I went 'it's a crime not to include this fic. I NEED to. And I really can't do just two for just one member.

williamsburg, new york ⌁ j.ww [m]

synopsis: rendered utterly penniless after the biggest scheme of the decade is uncovered (and apparently, traced right back to the hefty pockets of your father) — you're stuck waiting tables in a frumpy mustard yellow uniform with no one other than wonwoo jeon...who just so happens to be the mastermind behind the perfectly frosted cupcakes in the carousel. genre: 2 broke girls au ; idiots to ??? ; angst, fluff, suggestive/smut. rating: 18+. minors do not interact.

ground zero ⌁ b.sk [m]

synopsis: after four gruesome years, you're officially out of undergrad. however, with graduation comes vacation — unless you're, well, you, and get asked by your best friend to house sit for the summer. a three-month-long staycation can't be that bad — until boo seungkwan is at the door, and making horrid jokes about it turning into a bae-cation. ugh, as if. genre: best friend's brother's best friend (that's a mouthful, isn't it?) au ; suggestive/smut. rating: 18+ minors do not interact.

parachute ⌁ c.sc [m]

synopsis: three years ago, your life changed in many drastic ways. you got married too fast, you quit pursuing your dreams, and you left your life in the bustling city to the too quiet, too serene suburbs. another thing that happened three years ago? you made choi seungcheol a father, and now you're constantly relying on him to save you from your bad decisions. genre: baby daddy!choi seungcheol ; exes to ??? ; angst, suggestive/smut, fluff ; there will be mentions of infidelity. rating: 18+. minors do not interact.

scorpius ⌁ c.sc [m]

synopsis: looking for peace of mind after years of leading a semi-incompetent nightly patrol crew, you venture out into the deep forests that surround your village. not only do you not find peace of mind, but you also find yourself falling down a rabbit hole of identity crisis and the idea of falling in love with the supernatural. genre: vampire au ; strangers to ??? ; angst, suggestive/smut, fluff. there will be darker themes to this: murder, blood, etc. rating: 18+. minors do not interact.