#dontplay

og anunoby x reader!!

warnings: mentions of racism, real world issues yk! also based off a real experience of mine 🫩

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Being a female journalist in a male dominated sport was not easy. It’s hard enough being the only woman of color in a room filled completely with white men. It’s even harder if you’re married to one of the people you’re interviewing tonight.

“OG, how did you feel about the win tonight?” 

“How does it feel to have made the game winning tip in?”

He only answered those with two to three worded responses. You raise your hand, and the man in charge speaks. “Second row, center.” 

“When you went to make the tip in, were you previously analyzing the situation, or did you have time to think about it, or was it completely spontaneous?” The room was quiet for a second. It was an oddly specific question if you consider the previous questions that were being asked, but it was a question that made him have to think instead of just using the usual “team”, “fans”, or “chemistry”.

“Uhm, I think it was just an on-sight decision. There really wasn’t a lot of time to think about what I was going to do, so uh…yeah.” He chuckled a little before taking the next question. After the briefing, you were gathering your things when two of the men in the room came up to you. You straightened your posture and met their eyes.

“Can I help you?” One of the men stepped forward. He looked you over with a slight look of disgust in his expression. “Interesting hair.” You had worn your hair natural tonight. It was naturally long, curly, and big. “Uh, thank you?” The man scoffed. “You made some interesting points tonight, sweetheart.” You looked around briefly before bringing your eyes back to him. “Well, I have to get something, right?” You tried joking, but he just stared at you.

“What was the point of those questions anyway?” In the midst of explaining yourself, he cut you off. “Look, that’s nice, but I kind of have something to get too.” He waved to the man behind him. Just before they left, the second man tugged lightly on a piece of your hair. “You should probably get your hair done.” Before you could do anything about it, they were already gone. You hadn’t realized there were still other people in that room, and they were all staring. Your face became hot with embarrassment. However, you simply gathered the rest of your things and left.

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Later that night, you showered, put on your pajamas, and now you were in the bathroom washing up. No matter how much water you splashed, you were still embarrassed. How dare they practically insult your work, then have the nerve to touch you? It didn’t take long for tears to start streaming down. You heard the front door opening and quickly tried to look a little less pathetic.

“Is anyone home?” It was oddly quiet because you weren’t moving. OG put his things down and kind of walked around, calling your name. “That’s weird.” You seemed fine at the briefing, but he left before the incident that caused this. He opened the bedroom door and saw the light in the bathroom. He knocked on the door before coming in. Your hair was in your face, so he couldn’t tell you were still crying. It was important to be a silent cryer in a time like this. 

A small smile came across his face. “There you are.” His smile dropped after a split second, he knew something was wrong. He extended his arms, and immediately you fell into them. This time you were truly crying. With his hand firmly on your back, he tilted your head up, gently moving your curls out your face. With his hand still on your back, he lovingly guided you to the edge of the bed before holding you close again. Before he could ask what happened, you spilled everything out. How the men insulted your work, you, your hair, everything. 

OG wasn’t very good at feelings, even if it was you. He was always slightly awkward, and this was no different. He just let you talk. He was a good listener. You kept stumbling over your words and eventually gave up all together. He pulled you close again, letting you cry into his shoulder until your head hurt.

“I just don’t understand why they would do that.” That was the first thing you said after fifteen minutes. Regardless, he brushed the tears away with his thumb. He sighed, then put his large hands firmly on your shoulders, making sure you were listening this time. 

“You and I both know that the only thing those people do is insult, degrade, and everything that comes with it.” You shrugged, wiping your eyes. “Well, duh.”

He nodded slightly to confirm you were still listening, then continued. “But you and I also know that those same people will stay in the sun all day long just to get a color as beautiful as ours. They’ll get surgery and fillers just to have our natural features. They’ll braid, curl, and twist their hair just so it can look like ours. They’ll talk the way we talk, and dress the way we dress, copy our art, and take everything we have and rebrand it as their own just so they can feel like they’ve done something. You and I both know that they’re always trying to copy everyone, not just us. Now let this be your reminder: The next time anyone tries to do that again, you just remember that they’re the same people who are constantly taking, copying, and rebranding.”

You stared at him in awe. This was the same man that when asked about his game winning shot and just said, “It was cool.” btw.

OG stared back. You snapped out of your daze and looked at him, nodded, wiping your face. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’ll remember.” It didn’t take long for him to see you were still a little upset even after that magnificent speech. He cupped your face in his hands, gently kissing your cheeks, the tip of your nose, and the rest of the tears away. Soon after, the tears stopped and he simply held you against his chest. He had strong enough arms. You fell asleep, but kept his absolutely uncalled for, yet still pretty good, speech in mind.

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A/N