FAME IS A GUN - ADDISON RAE

Love is a drug that I can't deny (Deny) I'm your dream girl, but you're not my type

IN YOUR FANTASY - ATEEZ

Read between the lines, look here, Lucifer Devil in disguise, we know how this works

TEETH - ENHYPEN

놀자, 같이 you make me so thirsty Feel the bite between my jaw, so tasty

SMART - LE SSERAFIM

I'm a smarter, baby, smarter, smarter, baby, smarter Wanna be a winner, wanna be a winner

GAMEBOY - KATSEYE

Lovin' you's a game, boy I should throw it away, boy

TAMED-DASHED - ENHYPEN

He absolutely would have you test out some of his stuff, if you get hurt he'd probably feel bad for the next month

he loves you very much!! he has a reserved seat for you to watch all the WxS shows !

if you two go to the same school.. oh no.

You'll be in the hallways and you'll hear Rui going up to you screaming, "LOOK AT MY LOVELY S/O!! :}", and everyone just stares, you're never living your tomato face down

DEFINITELY has you personally meet the rest of WxS, they all adore you

I like to believe Rui gives really nice hugs, very warm and sweet, "just like you!" he says, he is nice.

you both play pranks on tsukasa, you both almost broke his skull though when you got rid of the "CAUTION" sign for spilled water, nice going guys!

all in all, he loves you very much, he wants to be with you forever and ever! he just hopes you want to as well.

“It’s like a camp,” your mother says, standing at the kitchen counter with an ever-present aura of exhaustion, being busy, being everywhere but home and anything but your mother. Her perfectly manicured nails tap at the marble, frazzled voice in contrast with her sleek, collected appearance. “A summer camp. It’s what you want, your…creative interests.” 

Oh, how you loathe the way she degrades your writing. Still, this is the most your parents have indicated their acceptance of your passions. If not, the summer camp would clearly be a bought internship at some hospital or law firm to force you into a field you find miserable. And maybe, just maybe, your shit grades contributed to that. 

“Your cousin, Kazuha, goes there,” Mother continues. “She’s doing her ballet there, and apparently there’s more too. I’m told that her arts school–” this is delivered with a vaguely disgusted curl of her lips “–has the most students there.” She slides the pamphlet she’s been keeping across the counter. “If you like it, you’ll leave in a week.” 

With that, Mother leaves the room. She’s off to her own thing, now, and you’re standing alone and silent. You pick up the pamphlet, scanning over the block lettering at the top and the view of the luxury accommodations that it looms over. 

HYBE: THE RETREAT

For talented individuals aged 16-20, an unforgettable and one-of-a-kind experience.

You flip through it, scanning over the dance, vocals, and fine arts. At the end, tucked in as a sort of last minute thought, is the creative writing. 

Explore poetry, songwriting, fiction and more with our intimate and purpose-driven classes. Taught by our mentor, the one and only Yoongi Min. 

Your heart skips a beat. What is there that Yoongi Min hasn’t written? From poetry to songs, heartbreaking essays and fictional narratives that could be movies but he just posted them on social media then disappeared. It would be a dream to learn from him, and an opportunity you may never have again. 

Sayo is a kind girlfriend! or atleast she tries to be

She'll go to hold your hand and then instantly put her hand back and she doesn't know how to ask

she cant hold your hand but she just likes to casually pick you up bridal style like okay

she'll play guitar for you!! you love it and shes glad, shes totally written a song for you

if you go to the Roselia shows, shes very happy !

she likes to just be in the same room as you, even if you arent talking or doing anything, she likes the company

she loves you !! she may be learning slowly, but in due time, she's the best girlfriend you could ever ask for.

Levi often wondered if expressing himself through appearances was actually worth it, especially how… loud his clothing choices were.

It wasn’t the color that people had an issue with (black was a staple color for everyday wear after all), nor was it because of the material (though, people would raise their eyebrows when they see him strut down the hallways in his leather pants), definitely not. Maybe it was the combination of the two paired along with more than the standard amount of piercings all over his face and his extreme side shave hairstyle that made him look like a walking ’70s fashion show.

Or maybe it was because of his naturally stoic expression that screamed, “Fight me” to every person who passed by. Who knew? He looked great and anyone who thought otherwise could fuck off for all he cared.

He was used to it, though, the staring anyway. He was comfortable in his attire choices and wore them with confidence. People’s gazes naturally gravitate to him and admittedly, it felt oddly satisfying having that kind of power over someone, intentionally or not.

But all that attention came with a price.

See, because of the way he looked, rumors started circulating around the school about how much of a ‘bad boy’ he was, and that he could beat the shit out anybody. And while the last part may be true (with all the training he received from his uncle, high school brats had nothing on him), those rumors earned him the reputation of being the strongest student in the school.

And with that kind of reputation, came with many challenges. Literally.

Not too long after those rumors started spreading through the student population (he had suspected that Hange was to blame for it), guys came flocking to him left and right, challenging him to a fight. ‘Asserting dominance’ or some shit. Levi didn’t know and didn’t care, but it got annoying real fast. It was funny the first few times back when he was a freshman – the look on the seniors’ faces when he was able to pin them down in a few seconds were delightful – but now being a junior (and undefeated), he didn’t have time to play games anymore.

Contrary to his appearance, he was a bright student, taking AP classes with all those high expectations and stress that came along with it. He was halfway through his third, and critical, year in high school and had scholarships to apply for and test preparations to attend to. Top that with having a part-time job and participating in club activities and sports teams, he had a lot of responsibilities to juggle and not keel over from exhaustion. He literally had no time for bullshit.

Which was exactly why he clocked the guy in the face.

Thinking back on it, he really shouldn’t have retaliated the way he did. It wasn’t a proud moment in his life, but he was stressed out and tired from a long and grueling day of classes and studying. He just wanted to go home and sleep until the next year. Suddenly being ambushed by a stranger once he stepped out of school grounds didn’t help his situation at all.

Especially when the guy was sprawled on the ground, not moving.

Shit. He didn’t kill him with one punch, did he? He didn’t use that much strength.

He bent down and gingerly poked the side of the stranger’s face.

No response.

Levi didn’t even bother to hide his groan of annoyance. Great. Just fucking great. This was exactly why Kenny kept lecturing him about thinking before acting: because of shit like this.

He examined the listless person’s face and didn’t recognize him. From a rival school maybe? He wouldn’t be surprised if his reputation spread to Maria High and St. Rose as well since the schools were only separated by mere fences.

Levi sighed. What should he do? Should he bring him into the nurse’s office? But the nurse was probably long gone by now. Besides, he didn’t want to get reported and go sit in the principal’s office for causing a disturbance despite the incident happening off school grounds; it would hurt his chances of getting into his top college choices if it was on his record. Maybe he should-

“HEY!”

Levi raised his head at the new voice to see another stranger storming towards him, eyes blazing, teeth baring and- wait… was that a pink leather jacket?

Not making the same mistake again, Levi calmly stood up as the other person approached. He put his hands in front of him in a defensive stance and stepped away from the guy who was still on the ground, motionless. “He started it.”

All those years of writing brilliantly-worded essays and assignments to pass his English classes didn’t help him in real life when it came to his preferred method of speaking abruptly. He briefly wondered why he even bothered taking AP English Literature and Composition in the first place if he didn’t actually benefit from it.

Even the new guy seem confused by the childish response that came out of his mouth, stopping a few feet away from him and gave him an odd look. “Uh…?”

Levi took the chance to clear his throat. “He ambushed me and I punched him.” Still need to work on speaking better, but at least he got the main point across.

To his luck, the new guy seemed to accept his answer and visibly deflate from the angry expression he had worn seconds ago. “Why am I not surprised?”

Levi barely caught what he mumbled under his breath and crossed his arms. “You friends with this guy?” He nudged his chin to the sprawled body.

He was puzzled when he received a snort from the new stranger. “Kind of, but not really. We just tolerate each other’s existence but we back each other up from time to time when we’re not fighting ourselves.”

“Right.” That sounded like a weird and complicated relationship but the same could be said with him and Hange (well, he might interpret it that way but they probably didn’t).

The new guy (fuck it, he would call him ‘Pinkie’ until he got a proper name) dropped down and placed his hand over his kind-of-but-not-really-friend’s wrist and then checked his breathing. Whistling lowly, Pinkie said in astonishment, “Wow, you knocked him out cold.”

“I can see that.” Levi checked his phone and sighed in frustration when he realized how late it was getting. “Look, I’m really sorry that I retaliated the way I did to your not-really-friend. Do you mind if we take him to my place until he wakes up? I only live a few blocks away from here.”

He honestly expected Pinkie to decline and call an ambulance or something but received a nod instead.

“Okay. I’ll grab this side and you grab on the other. I can’t wait to see his face when he wakes up from getting the shit beat out of him from a single punch.”

*****

It was a long walk to his house.

Normally it would take him a few minutes to get back home from school, but lugging a lifeless body (he decided to call him ‘Horsie’ since the guy was pretty lean and sturdy despite his frame) along wasn’t easy. At least Pinkie was good support and was relatively silent the whole way to his house except for the occasional remarks about how dumb Horsie was to attack without thinking. Hah, he heard that one before.

They finally made it to their destination but before Pinkie reached for the door, Levi stopped him. “Hey, can you hold onto your kind-of-friend for a moment?”

Before Pinkie could protest, he pushed Horsie onto him, watching him stumble from the extra weight before regaining his balance. “Hey!”

Levi ignored him and eyed the door with an intense gaze. He outlined the door frame before he zeroed in on the doorknob. Checking underneath and the sides of it, he finally nodded in approval and carefully opened the door.

He heard Pinkie shift behind him and blocked the entrance with his arms. “Wait.”

Pinkie started to get irritated. “What now, man? Are you going to let us in or not?”

“Hold on for a second. My sister’s not home yet so I have to do it.”

Confused, Pinkie asked, “Do what exactly?”

Not entertaining him with a reply, Levi scanned the wooden floorboards and the walls with the same intensity he did for the door. “Guess he was in a rush this morning,” he mumbled.

Looking at his options, he sighed before he took off one his shoes and the scarf around his neck. He looped one end of the fabric with his hand while the other one tied between the shoelaces. Once secured with a knot, he twirled his makeshift lasso and threw the shoe to the furthest side of a framed picture on the wall and tugged on the scarf.

Pinkie yelped in surprise behind him when the ground beneath them rumbled before it stopped just as quickly as it suddenly came. He pulled back his scarf and shoe and stepped through the door. “Okay, it’s safe now.”

“Safe? Safe from what? What exactly did you do?” Pinkie asked, wearily eyeing the place as he slowly stepped inside the house with Horsie’s arm slung around his shoulders. “We’re not going to die, are we?”

“No, not this time at least,” Levi pressed a few buttons on the control panel that was hidden behind the picture frame before positive beeping sounds came from it. Putting the frame back to how it was before, he turned to see the incredulous look on Pinkie’s face. “What?”

“‘Not this time’?”

Levi stepped towards the living room as Pinkie followed. “My uncle’s in charge of security control for the house and likes to set up different traps depending on his mood. It was just simple floor movement triggers today so it was easy to disarm. ”

“Diff- Are you serious? He does this every day?” At Levi’s nod, Pinkie was even more flabbergasted. “You’re shitting me.”

“My uncle does use some… unorthodox methods for securing the place, but we’ve never been robbed so it gets the job done.” Nodding to the couch he said, “Put your not-friend there. I’ll go get the first aid kit and some water in case he wakes up.” Leaving Pinkie to take care of Horsie for now, Levi stalked off to the washroom and grabbed the kit located in the medicine cabinet before heading off to the kitchen.

When he got back to the living room, Horsie was laying on the couch and Pinkie was checking for any additional injuries. “How is he?”

“Nothing’s broken from what I can tell, just a swollen cheek.” Pinkie accepted the ice pack Levi passed to him and pressed it against the swelling as he turned Horsie to his side. “You sure know to hit clean, though. Not even a broken nose from the force of the punch.”

Levi rubbed the back of his neck at the compliment. “Thanks, I guess. I had lots of practice.”

Pinkie chuckled. “I bet.” Seeing that Horsie wasn’t going to move anytime soon, Pinkie left the ice pack and sat down on the floor, back against the couch. “You’re quite the legend at our school.”

“Really? What school do you attend?”

“Maria High. I’m a freshman and same goes for this idiot here,” Pinkie jabbed a thumb behind him, “He heard about how you were undefeated from one of the seniors and wanted to fight you himself. Didn’t expect him to take off immediately, but it didn’t take long for the victor to be settled, huh?”

Levi plopped on a nearby armchair and rested his chin on his hand. “It’s not the first time something like this happened. The fights slowed down in the middle of my sophomore year, but there are the occasional freshmen who don’t know better and want to see for themselves.”

“You a senior?”

“Junior.”

Pinkie visibly grimaced. “Sorry. You must be doing lots of studying and test prep stuff, huh?”

“Yeah. It’s partially the reason why I hit your not-friend there in the first place. I was stressed out and lashed it out on him. Not that what I did was right or anything, but I didn’t expect to be ambushed after school either so it took me by surprise.”

Pinkie offhandedly waved it off. “It’s fine; he’s used to it. And his name’s Jean. ‘Not-friend’ and ‘kind-of-friend’ sounds really weird in a regular conversation.”

“Are you going to give me your name too, or do I still have to refer you as Pinkie in my head?”

“Pinkie? Why that name?”

“Because it’s the color of your jacket.”

Pinkie looked down to what he was wearing and laughed. “You sure you’re not in elementary school? You’re about creative as one.”

Levi huffed in irritation. “Art was never my strongest subject. So are you going to tell me your name or what, Pinkie?”

Pinkie rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. “I’m Eren. It’s nice to meet you, Captain Levi.”

“Seriously? That’s what they call me?” Though he shouldn’t really care, he expected a title that was at least more fearsome than that.

“It’s that or the Savage of Sina.”

Ah, that was better.

Levi got more comfortable in his chair now that the fiasco was settled (more or less anyway, Jean still needed to wake up). He eyed Eren who was distracted with his phone and took a good look at him.

The pink leather jacket was what caught his attention first, but underneath was a pale yellow shirt with broken heart prints. He raised a brow at that but then he saw the ripped, mint jeans and the pair of white converse that were absentmindedly tapping on the carpet.

Trying not to be as creepy as possible, his gaze traveled up to Eren’s face and caught the multiple piercings along the ears and eyebrows. Hell, the kid even had anti-eyebrow piercings on each side of his face, too.

He had never met anyone like Eren before – someone who was the same yet different from him, in terms of clothing choices anyway. It was though he took the clothes from his wardrobe and did a pastel color swap and it would be just like Eren’s. He appreciated punk aesthetics but Eren, on the other hand, looked like a cutesy badass if he had to categorize it. A special breed of punk that he has never heard of before.

“It’s rude to stare, ya know?”

Levi blinked when he got caught staring but Eren didn’t even look up from his phone as he continued, “You’re wondering about my clothes, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, sorry. Just wondering where you got them from.” He was curious where one would be able to get mint green ripped jeans plus that leather jacket. No department store or mall nearby would carry that kind of style.

“Isn’t it a bit ironic for you to be asking me that?” There was mirth in Eren’s voice as he put his phone away, giving Levi his undivided attention. Eren gestured a hand to him and Levi looked down to his black leather pants that had zippers in various spots and multiple chains hanging off the loops.

Levi offered him a lopsided smirk. “Heh. I guess so, but black is a common color for us punks, no?”

“That’s true. It’s a bit easier to find our kind of style in black or red.” Eren bent his knees and pulled them close to his chest. “Getting piercings isn’t a problem since many accessory stores have stuff I like, but for clothes, I have to order them online and sometimes it can be a hit or miss since most of it comes from overseas.”

“Yeah, that can be a problem,” Levi supplied, “But why the pastel colors though?”

“Why punk in general?” Eren retorted, “I just like the colors, that’s all. They’re soft and nice to look at. And when it’s matched with clothing that’s the complete opposite of what people expect, it’s fun and unique.”

Levi nodded thoughtfully. “I think I understand. It feels good to break out of a stereotypical mold and be whatever the hell you want to be.”

Eren broke out into a grin at that. “I’m glad you get me. My sister says I should be one or the other, but I like mixing the two styles to have them both.”

“Tell me about it. My sister also tells me that I should tone my style down so I don’t look like a try-hard rock band leader.”

The two laughed about how eerily similar they were and the rest conversation flowed easily. Levi learned that Eren was on his school’s rugby team already despite being a freshman. He said it was because last year’s team composed of many seniors who had graduated so the positions were opened to freshmen as well. Levi still commended him for a job well done by making it on the team, earning his spot because of his dedication to the sport. It was endearing to see the pastel punk boy flush from the compliment.

Levi also answered any questions Eren had about preparing for his junior year – “Enjoy the little time you have left, Eren, before everything turns into shit” – and what his plans were after high school. It was actually nice to vent to an almost-stranger about the ridiculous amount of schoolwork he had to do before his last year of high school and telling shitty customer stories that he had to go through from his part-time job.

He didn’t realize how much time had passed until he heard the front door open and there was a pause of silence.

“It’s safe,” Levi called out.

Shortly after, he saw Mikasa poking her head into the living room. She was about to greet her brother but stopped short when she saw they had guests over. “Eren?”

Levi watched as Eren’s eyes flashed with recognition before breaking into a smile. “Hey, Mikasa. I didn’t know you lived here.”

“You two know each other?” Levi asked.

“His sister’s the female rugby captain for Maria High. Our schools always have mock matches and practices together,” Mikasa explained. Stepping closer, she looked at Jean, who was still unconscious on the couch and whipped her head to her brother. “What did you do to him?”

“My friend started it first, don’t worry about it,” Eren said, “We’re just waiting for him to wake up before leaving.”

Mikasa looked doubtful but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. “If you’re sure. Did you start on dinner yet?”

Levi shook his head. “No, I haven’t. Kenny’s working late and Mom’s out with friends so it’ll be just us tonight.”

“Do you want to stay for dinner, Eren?” Mikasa asked.

Eren perked up at the offer, but sheepishly asked, “Would I be imposing?”

Mikasa smiled at his childish behavior. “No, I don’t mind. And I don’t think Levi will mind either. Besides, I’m sure your friend will be hungry when he wakes up and I’m used to making meals for four anyway. I’ll call you guys when it’s ready.”

When Mikasa left the room, Eren turned to Levi. “Man, your sister’s nice. Isabel usually makes me do the cooking at home,” he said with a pout.

“Is Isabel the rugby captain sister of yours?”

“Yeah. She can be intense but she’s a good person. You should meet her sometime.” Digging for his phone, he added, “Which reminds me, I should call home that I’ll be having dinner here. I should also call Jean’s mom, too. She’s very kind but a total worrywart.”

Once Eren made his calls (and reassuring Jean’s mom that her ‘darling baby boy’ was safe), Levi invited Eren to his room to play video games.

Levi let out a bark of laughter when Eren saw his room with a bewildered look on his face. “Not what you were expecting?”

Eren looked around the industrial-level clean room and the off-white walls that weren’t decorated with posters or pictures. “Not exactly, no.” There was a faint smell of lemon and Eren was willing to bet that Levi cleaned up his room before going to school. The only mess he could see was the stuff in the trash bin, and even then, it somehow managed to look cleaner than his own room.

“I guess we’re both full of surprises, then. Go sit on the bed while I get the console set up. Do you have a preference of what game to play?”

“I’m pretty good at shooters if you have any.”

Nodding, Levi set to work booting up the game system and passed Eren a controller as he seated next to him. They played a quick campaign run to see what the other’s skills were like and then quickly moved on to the 1v1 mode.

“First to five wins?” Levi asked.

“Sure. Winner gets the loser’s share of dessert.”

Levi shook his head but agreed to it nonetheless. He wasn’t really big on desserts anyway, so it wouldn’t be much of a loss if he did actually lose.

Eren took the first two games but then Levi quickly tied the score. Their skill level was nearly on par with each other’s, winning and losing every other game, but Levi was lucky to catch Eren while he was reloading his gun to seal his victory in the end.

“Aw, man!” Eren flopped back on the bed and covered his face with the controller. “I was so looking forward to eating your share in front of your face.”

Levi rolled his eyes and poked the side of Eren’s stomach. “Rude. And to think I was going to offer you my share regardless of the outcome, too.”

Eren suddenly sat up and wrapped his arms around Levi. “Did I also forget to mention that you’re the best? Because you are. So strong and undefeated,” he gushed, nuzzling his cheek against Levi’s shoulder, careful not to rub his piercings on the leather.

The junior stiffened at the contact, unused to this amount of affection from anyone (besides Hange… but Hange was Hange and one must learn how to get used to Hange, fast) let alone an acquaintance. An acquaintance that shared a lot of common interests as him. And if he was being completely honest with himself, an acquaintance who was cute in appearance and in personality.

Ah, fuck.

Levi held his breath, hoping that the embrace would only last for a few more seconds, but it didn’t. If anything, Eren made himself more comfortable and engulfed Levi in a cuddly position. What the hell was he doing? He barely knew the kid.

But if honesty hour was still going, he would say that he didn’t mind the position at all. It was a tad uncomfortable (leather and more leather, what did you expect?), but Eren was pleasantly warm behind him and he felt oddly safe in his arms.

After a few minutes just sitting and being held, Levi couldn’t take it anymore and turned his head to look at Eren. “Are you flirting with me?” Tact. That, he had none of.

Eren didn’t seem bothered by the accusation. In fact, he batted his lashes and lowered his eyelids. “I don’t know. Is it working?”

Levi’s heart pressed against his chest and he could feel his body ran hot and cold at the same time. He hoped that he wasn’t shaking as badly as he thought he was.

Taking his chance, he gently pressed their foreheads together. The tips of their noses touching, and he could feel Eren’s breath fan over his lips. “Cute.”

Eren’s mouth curled up into a smile before he closed his eyes, waiting.

Oh, wow. Eren really was cute.

Levi mentally slapped himself out of it and slowly closed the space between them, pressing his lips against Eren’s softly before pulling away.

It was chaste and it was sweet. Not punk at all.

Eren opened his eyes and chuckled at Levi’s shyness. Taking charge, he held Levi’s chin and kissed him more firmly than their first, holding onto Levi’s waist as their mouths moved against each other’s.

Levi was surprised by Eren’s forcefulness, but he welcomed it just the same. Eren was full of many surprises and Levi enjoyed discovering something that he didn’t expect.

“DINNER’S READY!”

They abruptly pulled apart at the loud voice, faces flushed and mouths parted open. First to scramble off the bed, Levi straightened his jacket and offered his hand to Eren. “Let’s continue another time.”

Accepting the offered hand, Eren replied, “You bet your leather-clad ass we are. And I expect a new number in my contacts list by the end of the night.”

“Wow. Not even our first date and you’re already so demanding.”

Eren tugged on one of the chains on Levi’s pants on his way out and Levi smirked behind him as he followed him down.

Mikasa was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs and to their surprise, Jean finally woke up. Eren slapped his hand over his mouth to prevent laughing at the dopey expression on Jean’s face with the ice pack still miraculously stuck to his cheek. Levi’s eye twitched from the way Jean was blatantly ogling at his sister while she was on her phone.

Noticing their presence, she looked at the two for a moment before smirking. “Hope I wasn’t interrupting something,” she said teasingly.

Levi flipped her off. “You said that dinner’s ready, sis?”

Mikasa rolled her eyes but decided to let the topic drop, for now. She needed something to talk to Isabel about next time they have their meet. “It has for a while. Go wash your hands and help me set up the table.” She turned her heel and walked back to the kitchen.

Jean let out a low whistle once she was out of ear-shot and shot Levi an appreciative look.

“Dude, your sister’s hot.”

Levi curled his hand into a fist, but Eren turned to Levi to help diffuse the situation.

“Want me to punch him out instead?”

Or not. He and Eren were way too much alike.

Grabbing the front of Eren’s shirt, he pulled the boy down and kissed him right under his anti-eyebrow piercing.

Winter break was finally over and it was the start of the New Year. Eren was already busy from the beginning of the new semester due to Headmaster Smith assigning him to teach Enchantment 102 at the last minute. He saw some of the students he taught previously amongst the faces of his new class and it helped him be put at ease as he got back into the rhythm of teaching.

He was also in charge of teaching Summoning Etiquette and Scripture Basics this semester which meant a lot more testing and much more paperwork since neither of those were field classes. It kept him busy and for that, he was grateful for it. It was enough of a distraction so he wouldn’t focus on the fact that he hadn’t seen Levi for a month.

Eren paused his marking. He sighed heavily as he put his quill down and put his head on his hands. A whole month. A whole month since he had last seen the ghost. He hadn’t heard from him ever since the blatant rejection and it hurt Eren more than anything to know that his feelings weren’t even worth a properly reply. Did their relationship up to that point really meant nothing?

He looked at his pocket watch to see that it was going to be sunrise soon. He hadn’t finished grading the papers, but he could do it just before class after the sunset. One of the things he loved about winter was the longer period of time that he could be active due to less daylight.

Locking his office with a protection spell, he slowly made his way back to his room. He passed by some of the zombie night guards and greeted them as he passed by. His room was on the other side of the building, and while it would be faster to transform into his bat form to get there, he enjoyed taking leisurely walks. It was nice, quiet, and a good way to sort out his thoughts, just like what he was doing right now.

He paused when he reached the corridor that was lined with large windows. Approaching to the one closest to him, he could see that the skies were slowly turning orange, indicating the arrival of the sun. He always loved sunrise; it blended beautifully with the night sky until it turned blue, and he enjoyed watching the skies turn into darkness and filled with stars when the sun had set. One could never appreciate this kind of natural magic enough. The world was so vast and there was so much to discover. If he wasn’t a vampire, he would have loved to travel to every country and discover the magic that was the Earth. Sometimes he envied the warlocks who lived in isolation with nothing but nature around them.

He blinked in surprise when flecks of white gently gliding down his vision. Looking up, he saw more puffs of snow fall down but there wasn’t a cloud in sight. Snow with clear skies? The world truly was magical in its own way.

Eren rested his head on the window pane and sighed, fogging up the window where he his breath was. The snow painfully reminded him of that night. So cruel, yet he still couldn’t help but think it was beautiful. Levi was still beautiful in his heart. The heart that had never beat once since the day he was born, yet Levi stirred something within his chest, like as though his heart would resurrect just by being with him.

The snow continued to drift down and Eren closed his eyes.

“I’m hopeless,” he chuckled humorlessly.

A cold breeze went by him.

His eyes snapped open and he spun around in the empty corridor. He felt it. The familiar chill that shook his entire body, one that was unmistakable. “Levi?”

He received no response, but he had a feeling that Levi was still around. Taking a chance, he pleaded, “Levi? Please, I want to talk to you.”

There was no response, but Eren didn’t expect one. Instead, he just continued, “I’m not going to apologize for confessing. Those are my true feelings for you and I won’t take it back. I just wanted to know why you’ve been avoiding me. I know our relationship could never go back to what it was before, but I don’t want us to stop all communication altogether. If you’re going to reject me, I would rather you do it to my face. Yes, it’s going to hurt like hell for me, but it’ll be better than having you disappear from my life completely.”

“So please…”

Still no response. Maybe he was crazy, pleading into the empty air, but he just knew Levi was somewhere near him. He couldn’t see him, but he could feel his presence, even when he was invisible.

Time ticked by and any hope Eren had, died. Shaking his head, he was about to make his way back to his room until frost started to form on the window in an unnatural way. His eyes it up and stepped closer to the window.

There was a handprint that was frosted over and that was enough for Eren. “Levi, please show yourself, or are you going to scare me again?”

“It’s not as fun when you’re expecting it, Eren.”

Eren turned around and almost cried in relief. It felt too long since he had heard his voice and couldn’t hide the smile on his face. “That’s true. I was actually starting to miss –ack!” Eren winced as the sun peeked over the horizon and the rays penetrated through the window. It didn’t truly hurt, but it was unexpected and threw him by surprise.

Levi frowned with concern. “I think we should go somewhere safe to talk. Quickly.”

Eren nodded and without further prompting transformed into a bat. He flew through the hallways with Levi beside him until they reached the door to his bedroom. Transforming back to his normal body, Eren muttered a chant under his breath and the door swung open.

Levi made his way in while Eren closed the door behind him before heading over to the lone window in his room and pulled the curtains together. Feeling much better in the dark, he lit up the candles with precise taps to his palm to have some light in the room without making it overbearing for him.

Eren watched as Levi hover around the edge of his bed with an amused look on his face.

“Nice bed sheets you got there.”

Eren spared the red silk sheets a glance. “Thanks, Headmaster Smith picked it out.”

Levi snorted. “Figured as much. Even though he reads a fuck ton of tomes, he’s a sucker for trashy romance novels.”

Eren chuckled as he took a spot on his bed near Levi. “So, you ready to tell me why you’ve been avoiding me for the past month?”

“I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“That’s a load of bull,” the vampire retorted, “We practically saw each other every day last semester and then you cut off all communication with me since that night.”

Levi tensed up at the mention of that night and Eren sighed. “Sorry for the accusation. You must have your reasons, but you can’t blame me for reaching that conclusion.”

Levi shook his head. “No, you have every right to think that. While I have been busy the last few weeks since we saw each other, but as you said, I’ve also been avoiding you. But not in the way you’re thinking,” Levi added, “I needed some time to think about what you said.”

He took a spot next to Eren and looked up at the ceiling. “I’ll be honest with you; I had suspected that you were harboring feelings for me when you were a student but didn’t act upon it.”

“Was I that obvious?”

“Not exactly. You just had this strange, lost look in your eyes sometimes whenever I’m around. And…”

Levi nervously scratched his cheek, an unusual action of hesitation that Eren hadn’t seen before.

“I was still outside the classroom when I heard your declaration.”

Pale cheeks turned pink. Eren buried his face in his hands to hide from the ghost. “Oh my stars, that’s so embarrassing.”

“Really? I thought it was endearing. It’s not every day that you hear a vampire make such a strong proclamation.”

Eren peeked through his fingers as Levi continued, “I didn’t give it much thought, that our last meeting would just be that. But then you came back.

“I wasn’t sure what you were going to do. You’ve become… different, much more mature from when I last saw you. I was surprised that you weren’t as rash as you were before, half-expecting you to confess right then and there but you held back, taking it slow so our relationship would build.”

“If you knew all that, then why did you let it continue?” Levi wasn’t the type of person to lead someone on, so then why couldn’t he just confront him about it earlier on?

Levi sighed. “That was why I needed time to think. I was wondering the same thing myself, why I kept seeing you even though I knew about your feelings.”

“And did you come to a conclusion?” Eren asked tentatively.

“I like you, too,” Levi said, “I may not feel as strongly towards you as you do to me, but I know my feelings for you are slowly growing.”

Eren felt like crying. His soul shook from happiness and his body thrummed from the overwhelming feeling. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. “Thank the Moon. I’m so glad that I don’t have to part with you,” his voice was trembling, but he didn’t care. He was so damn relieved that he was able to stay by Levi’s side.

Levi smiled as he patted the bed. “Now that your inner turmoil is over, you need to get some rest.”

The vampire pouted as much as he could with his fangs in the way. “You’re so lucky that you can be out in the sunlight.”

“Yeah, being eternally awake is such a great thing,” Levi said sarcastically. “Now be a good bat and go to sleep.”

“Yes, Levi,” Eren yawned. Tucking himself under the covers, he had one more thing he needed to ask. “Hey, Levi?”

“Hm?”

“Does this mean I get to call you my boo?” Eren laughed when a pillow was thrown at him.

“Shut the fuck up and go to sleep. I’ll see you later tonight.”

Eren hummed as he snuggled into the pillows, his body and soul feeling lighter than it has for years. Closing his eyes, he said, “Have a good morning, Levi.”

He heard the door open just before falling asleep. “Good night, Eren. Sweet dreams.”

*****

Eren groaned as he fluttered his eyes open, waking up from his slumber.

“You make stupid faces when you’re asleep. It’s a wonder how you didn’t bite yourself.”

Eren bolted right up to see Levi sitting on the end of his bed, a book levitated right in front of him.

Seeing Eren wide awake, the book closed shut before floating back to the shelf it was on originally. Levi chuckled at the dumb look on Eren’s face. “Yes, I’m here. And no, it’s not a dream.”

“That’s exactly something dream-Levi would say.”

“Oh? So you’ve been having dreams about me?” At the panicked expression, he smirked. “Care to share?”

“Nope. I think I’m good.” Getting out of the bed, Eren stretched but then looked down with a frown. “I didn’t change out of my clothes or brushed my teeth before falling asleep.”

Levi wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

“Sorry for being distracted with something important this morning.” Rifling through his drawers, he headed to the bathroom that was connected to his room. “I’m going to take a shower. I’ll be back in a second.”

“Go for it. I’ll go grab you a blood pack in the meantime.”

Eren didn’t hide his elation. That sounded so domestic and sweet coming from Levi.

Stepping into the shower, he let his mind go blank as hot water sprayed his body. Thinking about what has happened in the last few hours made him feel hopeful. Levi accepted his feelings and though he wasn’t able to fully return it (yet), he was letting Eren be by his side once again. He couldn’t have asked for anything better than to be with Levi and it seemed that the ghost was more willing to accept his advances.

Finally feeling clean, he reached for a towel but then felt a sudden chill. He quickly grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist before stepping out of the shower. “Levi?”

No response.

“Levi, I know you’re in here.”

There was silence again but then the mirror started spelling out letters in frost.

“How did you know it was me?”

“Because of the sudden cold air. No other ghost in this school would come into my bathroom.”

“Fair enough.”

Eren sighed. “Why’re you in here, Levi?”

“I’m bored.”

“Couldn’t you have read a book?”

“No.”

“Can you at least make yourself appear so it doesn’t look like I’m speaking to nothing?” Eren turned on the faucet to start brushing his teeth. Might as well humor the ghost while he was getting ready for the night.

“No.”

“Why not?” His question was muffled from him brushing, but Levi seemed to understand what he was trying to say.

“Because.”

He spat out the foam in his mouth. “Were you just creeping around to see me naked?”

“Maybe. ;)”

Eren spat out the water he had in his mouth and started coughing. Once he finally regained his breath, he glared at the mirror. “Where did you learn how to use smileys?”

“Picked it up from the human world. Seems popular with the young folk. xD”

“Stars… please stop doing that.”

“Why? Do you not like it? :(“

“It’s just a very uncharacteristic thing for you to do.” Never in his life would he have expected Levi to do something like this.

“Then I’m going to keep using it. o3o”

There has to be a way to turn this around. “Making faces like that is like asking me to kiss you.”

There was no response that time and Eren took the chance to change into his clothes undisturbed. He felt self-conscious about changing in front of Levi, but the ghost probably has seen many things in his life that a naked body was not the most unusual thing he has ever seen.

Just as he put on his shirt, he felt something cold touch his lips. His eyes widened as Levi started materializing in front of him and he was… pink?

“Levi?”

Levi looked away and scowled. “Damn. I guess it’s permanent after all.”

“What’s permanent?”

Levi heaved out a deep sigh. “I was in Hange’s lab a few weeks ago as they were working on creating a mood solvent but something happened and it exploded on us. Now I have this weird condition that whenever I get embarrassed, I turn pink and can’t go back to my invisible form. Hange deals with something similar, but their hair turns blue when they’re sad.”

Eren mentally added that information for later. “But you’re pink now. Why’re you embarrassed?”

Levi turned a deeper shade of pink. “Take a guess, you bat.”

Flushing, he touched his lips. So that meant… “Hey, do it again.”

“No.”

Eren frowned. It seemed that he needed to be cheeky to get what he wanted. Thinking of different ways that he could get Levi to kiss him again, he thought of one that would get the ghost to shut him up. “Hey, Levi.”

“What?”

Time to see if it would work. “Do you know that you’re dead sexy?”

Levi glared. Bingo.

He continued, “You’re definitely a ghost because you’ve been haunting my dreams.”

“Eren-”

“You’re the most boo-tiful ghost I’ve ever seen.”

Levi let out a painful sigh while Eren cackled in amusement. “I fucking hate you.”

“Aw, come on. That one was funny, admit it.”

“No.”

“So it was funny, but you won’t admit it.”

“It wasn’t.”

“It totally was.”

“Was not.”

“Was s-”

He got his kiss.

Eren sighed in content of how right it felt. It wasn’t warm like kissing another living being, it was so much better than that. It was like kissing snow, leaving a chill on his lips that he couldn’t get enough of. He only wished that he was physically able to hold onto Levi, but that was an issue that they would discuss another time. For now, he was happy with the kiss that sent shivers down his spine.

When Levi pulled away, Eren was pleased how bright of a pink Levi was, border lining a magenta shade. He briefly wondered how long the effect lasted for but Levi interrupted his thoughts by tapping his nose. “It’s time for you to get to work. Your class starts in few minutes.”

“Oh, shit!”

Eren flew out of his room and grabbed all the necessary course materials he needed. He didn’t end up finishing grading the tests like he planned to, but he would just explain it to his students that he would have it ready for tomorrow. Hopefully they would understand. It was a teacher-like thing to do after all. He would just have to figure out a way to get back at Levi for it later.

*****

Eren was in the middle of reading a text when he heard muffled giggling. He looked up to see a few students covering their mouths but didn’t think much of it and went back to reading out loud. Again, there was more giggling but it was louder this time. He looked around and saw that his students weren’t looking at him, but what was behind him.

He groaned and braced himself for the worst as he turned around. “Levi!”

The floating chalk piece stopped and Levi appeared. The ghost had the audacity to look innocent. “Yes?”

“Please stop distracting my class.” He crossed his arms, trying to scowl but the blush that made its way to his cheeks ebbed off his annoyance.

Levi shrugged and the class continued to giggle. “I’m hurt. I thought I would help with your lesson by providing an example of a scripture to decipher.”

Right. Because a scripture that read, ‘Eren Yeager is a cuddler. ♥’ in the most basic language was so helpful.

Eren pinched the space between his brows. “Levi, thank you for your help but I’ll have to ask you to leave while I’m still teaching.”

“Hmph. Fine. But one more thing.”

Levi disappeared and Eren wondered what he had meant but then felt a cold kiss before seeing Levi’s neck. He heard whistling and howling around him and had a dazed look when Levi pulled away. Levi was smirking, but it was weird to see it upside down.

“Levi!” He couldn’t believe he got a spider kiss from Levi, right in front of his students!

On the other hand, Levi looked unperturbed. “Hm, maybe I should have saved that for your lesson about love enchantments in the other class,” Levi pondered, still floating upside down. “Oh well. I’ll see you later. Don’t be too harsh on the young ones.”

This time, he actually left, giving Eren a wink before he did.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Eren muttered as he repeatedly hit his head with the book.

“I thought the gesture was really sweet, Professor Yeager,” a sylph spoke up.

Other students nodded in agreement with her and the orc in the back bellowed in laughter. “It’s always amusing to see Professor Ackerman messing you up.” The class laughed again and Eren had enough teasing for the night.

“Okay, that’s it.” Eren threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Everyone’s getting extra homework tonight.”

The whole class simultaneously groaned and started to object but Eren raised a hand to stop them. “If you want to complain, take it up with Professor Ackerman.” Seeing their pouting faces, he smiled cheerfully as he opened his book. “Okay, now that we’re settled, let’s get back to the lesson.”

*****

“Your class hates me.”

Eren chuckled as he got ready for bed. “You were the one who was distracting them. I was just being a good teacher and punished them when needed.”

Levi rolled his eyes as he drifted over to the vampire, placing a hand on the back of his neck and had a smug grin on his face when Eren jumped from the cold contact. Eren turned around and stuck his tongue but then he started laughing along.

Whenever Levi got playful like this, Eren found it impossible to get mad. The last few months was a slow development of their relationship. In fact, it was almost like how it was before, but with more kisses and being in each other’s presence more often.

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the full picture. Not once did Eren expect Levi to be so… flirty. After the initial embarrassment, Levi became bolder with his approaches which sometimes left Eren confused, aroused, and happy at the same time. He welcomed this new change in Levi but there was a time and a place for these things.

For instance, one time while he was in a council meeting with Headmaster Smith about his monthly performance in the academy, he felt something cold press up against his back before trails of ice went down his chest and rested on his hips. He had to grit his teeth through the meeting and almost bit himself when he felt familiar wisps of air concentrate on his crotch area. The councilmen didn’t notice anything too unusual but Headmaster Smith was clearly amused by if the hitch of his brows and not concealing the all-knowing smirk on his face meant something.

He couldn’t look at the wizard in the eye for weeks.

That was only one example of how mischievous Levi could be, and the classroom incident was one of the many times Levi liked to bother Eren in class. His students seemed to enjoy watching them, though, using the random classroom encounters as a small break from their lectures. There were more questions about his personal life and relationship with Levi coming from curious students, but that was a given after they went public to the school. Oh boy, he remembered how Hange screeched like a banshee when they heard the news and immediately created a new project to see if there was a way for Levi to actually have a physical form despite being a ghost. There was no luck yet, but they had all the time in the world for a breakthrough.

But for now, he was just happy just laying side by side with Levi. And speaking of which…

Eren pulled on his pajama shorts and laid on top of the bedsheets after rearranging the pillows. He patted the spot next to him and smiled. “Come to bed already.”

“You’re going to get sick if you sleep like that,” Levi warned but still complied anyway, lying next to the vampire and having his side touch his.

“I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s hot as hell outside and I need to cool down.” Summer was the worst time of the year for him (heat and more daylight? No thank you), but it was more bearable now that he has an air conditioner for a boyfriend.

“I knew it, you just want my body.”

“Levi, you don’t have a body,” Eren deadpanned. “Besides, I just want you.”

He placed his hand over where Levi’s heart would be and Levi did the same for Eren.

There was no heartbeat, but he had never felt more alive than to have Levi like this next to him.

“I love you, Levi. My body, my soul, and even my heart belong only to you.”

Levi leaned forward and soundlessly pressed their lips together.

“I may not have much, but I know my spirit and soul is in your hands,” Levi said, “Maybe I’ll have a body once more for me to give.”

“And maybe my heart will start beating one day,” Eren supplied. “Who knows what will happen in the future? After all…”

We have an eternity together.

And that's the end! :D I hope you honeybuns enjoyed the story! ^O^ This is my last update for 2016 (as I will be away off somewhere until the New Year), but here's hoping to another year of writing and ereri!