#kdinernet

Fight.

High school fights weren't a rarity, but they happened much less since you’d transferred schools. You’d heard about fights, but you hadn’t actually seen them at the new school. However, past experience at a horrible school sent flashbacks, and you were lurching off your post by the door and dashing down the hallway. It sounded as though it had just started, meaning no teachers or administration was likely to be there yet.

You rounded the corner where the B-wing hallway opened up into the upstairs quad hallway and immediately found a crowd gathered around the boys bathroom. You got there just in time to see a coach you were very familiar with, Coach Nakamoto, run through the crowd of boys, shoving a few out of the way in his dash to get into the bathroom to break up the fight, followed closely behind Physics teacher, Mr. Leechipornkul, and History teacher, Mr. Suh.

As you reached the wall of the bathroom, you didn’t dare go inside, it was already crowded enough, but as a phone caught your eye, you turned to a student towering over you, phone camera pointed in the direction of the bathroom.

“Put it up and get to class!” you hissed.

He didn’t argue as you had counted on. He pocketed the phone and walked off, but your attention was already gone onto something else.

More boys crowded the bathroom though the yelling had stopped. Tall body’s trampled over your shorter one, but you didn’t back away. You grabbed at the arms of the teens and yanked them away from the door, herding them toward the hallway, but you weren’t doing much. They swarmed the bathroom like gnats.

“Get to class!” a loud voice bellowed nearby.

You glanced over to find basketball coach, Coach Jung, shouting out, his baritone voice carrying louder than yours could, thus deterring other students, none too eager to anger the man that had a history of punishing by forcing students, any students, to run laps around the track or do push-ups in the hallways.

You pulled a few more students from the mess around the bathroom, calling out a string of “move!” and “get to class!”

All of a sudden, boys started running everywhere, several stepping on your feet and swarming around you, shoulders and elbows bumping into your body, but you stayed firm.

“Get to class!” you shouted.

As the boys swarmed as though gnats were being swatted away, Coach Nakamoto and Mr. Suh walked out of the bathroom, both holding an arm of another handcuffed male who was screaming and shouting profanities, attempting to kick away from them, but both only held on tighter.

Your eyes cast a worried glance at the two, one in particular, but your attention was quickly pulled away as Mr. Lee, a Literature teacher, started shouting for students to get to class as the bell finally rang. Students slowly began to disperse as more and more teachers circled the hallway calling for students to clear out.

When the last few straggling students had finally gone to class, you followed the group of teachers from your own hallway back to your classroom. Adrenaline was still pumping through your veins, your heart accelerated in your chest. Your nerves tingled jerkily, ready to leap into action should you need to.

When you walked into the classroom, your students were talking quietly. They weren’t working on the Warm Up that was posted on the board and had been since they started walking in, but they were all in their seats, which was all you could ask for at the moment.

“Get to work on the Warm Ups please while I call attendance,” you spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

Conversations quietened as bookbags rustled with moving papers as they got out their notebooks for the Warm Up. You moved around to your desk and took a few slow deep breaths, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

“Ms. (Y/L/N)? Are you ok?” one of the students closest to your desk asked.

This caught the attention of other students and pretty soon, all eyes were on you. You couldn’t show fear or anxiety. If you did, students would either stop taking you seriously or you’d never get anything done that class period. Good thing you’d perfected the art of hiding your emotions.

“Oh yeah! I’m fine! Not enough coffee,” you laughed, suddenly realizing it was on the back desk.

You stood up and, with eyes still on you, wound your way around the maze of desks to the back desk where you plucked your mostly full cup from the table and took a sip. Surprisingly, it was still warm.

“Who’s ready to share?” you called.

So class began and even though your nerves never calmed, you taught until it was time for individual instruction in which you turned your spotify playlist on the front board and released the students onto your laptops as soft melodies and the clicking of computer keys filled the room.

You turned to go back to your desk, hoping to wind your nerves down just a little when someone knocked on your door. A student in the back opened in and Coach Nakamoto stepped in.

“Can I speak with you for a minute?” he asked, voice calm as he spoke.

You took a deep breath, nerves even more abuzz now as you stepped from the classroom. No one said a word, most students remained focused on the task at hand as you stepped from the room, pulling the door closed almost completely, leaving only a small crack to get back in.

“Are you ok? I saw you when we were dragging that kid out.”

You nodded, casting your eyes down to the floor. If you answered, you were afraid you’d start shaking. You were used to fights, but they always got under your skin. It wasn’t necessarily that they scared you. Just… watching high schoolers beat each other down with no regard…

“Look at me and give me a verbal answer please.”

Your hands were already starting to shake as your nerves wound tighter. You looked up at him.

“I-I’m fine.”

“Mhm,” he mumbled.

He glanced around the hallways, most likely checking to be sure there weren’t any students out of class wandering the halls before he wound his arms around your waist and brought you to his chest.

“It’s ok to feel nervous or anxious,” he whispered against your ear.

You could feel your tense muscles beginning to relax as you settled against him, nerves soothing back down.

“Do you want me to watch your class while you go splash some water on your face?” he asked softly.

You didn’t respond for a long moment, taking in his cologne for just a second longer before pulling away from his embrace and nodding. He smiled and, checking for students one more time, he kissed the top of your head gingerly before pushing open your door and stepping inside. You didn’t stay long enough to hear how he addressed the students, taking off in the direction of the teacher bathrooms for a much needed moment of peace that you’d hopefully get during the last school period, your planning period.

You unlocked the door to the teacher bathroom and stepped inside, locking the door behind you before slinking over the sink and taking a deep breath as you turned on the tap.

One hell of a day, and it was only 10:20am.

You cupped your hands beneath the water and splashed it up onto your face, sighing in relief as it brought you back down to earth.

- - - -

By the end of your second class, Coach Nakamoto, who had been sitting in your class, had been called away to handle another fight. The rest of class went by smoothly, though, and your nerves were settling as you found a discreet outlet for your thoughts.

By third period, you were completely back to normal, joking and laughing with the most energetic class. You’d almost put the fight completely out of your mind. The class period brought on no new complications, which you’d been weary of as lunch also happens during third period. However, class time came and went, students filing out at the bell, leaving you in your classroom alone to collect yourself and get any work done that you needed to get done.

You took a breath and reclined your office chair back as far as it would go, stretching your back out to release all of the stress that had accumulated over the day. You had never seen such a mess.

You closed your eyes, taking another breath and just relaxing in your chair, taking a moment to collect yourself.

“Why don’t you get the fuck out of my face!” a loud voice yelled from outside.

You let out a groan. Not again. You got up from your chair, pulling your mask back on your face and walking toward the exit. Out in the hallway stood two boys, both obviously freshmen, shoulders squared standing toe to toe.

“Why don’t you-”

“What’s going on out here!” you yelled to deter them.

It didn’t work. One boy lunged for the other and before he could make contact, you were between them, the punch landing against your side, though you didn’t have time to worry about the pain.

You pushed the boy closest to you back and turned to face the other, holding your hands out to block any more punches. He squared up as though ready to fight you, but at that moment, the door nearby ripped open and your neighbor, Mr. Lee emerged.

He didn’t ask questions. He got in between you and the boy, sending him a harsh glare that deflated the boy’s shoulders. You turned your attention to the one you’d pushed away and just pointed to your empty classroom with a hard glare.

Other teachers filed out of their rooms, one declaring that she was calling for administration and before too long, the halls were swarmed once again. Though not as needed, Coach Nakamoto rounded the corner of B-wing, Coach Jung hot on his trail and your shoulders relaxed.

One of the administrators walked into your classroom to speak with the boy still there while two others escorted the instigator from the scene, profanity leaving his lips as he was led away.

“You ok?” Coach Nakamoto asked, walking closer to you but not touching.

You nodded, but didn’t look at him.

“You sure? I walked out in time to see that kid hit you!”

You let out a groan as all eyes turned to you. You could feel Coach Nakamoto’s eyes boring into your skull.

“Thanks Taeyong,” you muttered.

“You were hit?” the head administrator, Mr. Junmyeon Kim, asked.

You sighed but nodded.

“Let’s go see the nurse,” Coach Nakamoto insisted.

“I’m fine-” you would have continued but he cut you off with a stern glare.

Reluctantly, you let him lead you away.

“Jaehyun!” he called when you were both about to leave the hallway.

“I’ll get Yukhei to cover your class,” Coach Jung responded.

Coach Nakamoto nodded and led you down the stairs and into the staff workroom. You passed several frazzled-looking office workers before finally walking into the nurses office.

“Mr. Kim, Ms. (Y/L/N) had a student punch her in the ribs,” Coach Nakamoto said pointedly.

“Yuta!” you scolded.

A man wearing a white coat over slacks and a button down shirt walked out from the back room to give you a once over.

“Where?” he asked in his usual short manner.

You didn’t answer for a moment, but as Yuta’s eyes bore harder into your skull, you relented.

“Ribs.”

Mr. Kim hummed and walked closer, pulling back a curtain to reveal a small examination chair and a computer he’d use to key in the information.

“Lift your shirt please.”

You let out a grunt, crossing your arms over your chest as you glanced back at Yuta.

“What? I’ve-” you cut him off by stepping closer to Mr. Kim and closing the curtain on Yuta’s face.

You lifted your shirt for the nurse to see and the man tutted softly.

“You’ve got a bruised rib. No big deal. Take over the counter pain medication if the pain is too great,” he instructed.

Simple enough.

You lowered your shirt and stepped out to see Yuta still waiting on you.

“Junmyeon said I could take you home. He says he’ll clock you out,” he said, flashing you his phone with the administrator’s text message.

You nodded. It was a relief of sorts. The day was almost over anyway.

“What about my stuff?” you asked.

“Taeyong is going to drop it off.”

You nodded. That pretty much covered the basics. Besides, you were beyond eager to get home. Who were you to argue against it?

You nodded and let Yuta lead you out of the nurses office and down a hallway where two resource officers, Officer Park and Officer Byun, were questioning the instigator. You turned down a hallway when the boy lunged at Officer Byun and Officer Park had to restrain him.

When you got out into the back parking lot where teachers on your side of the building parked, you let out a breath of air and quickly ripped the claustrophobia-inducing mask from your face, sucking in a deep breath of relatively fresh air.

“Alright?” Yuta asked, stepping closer until he could slide an arm around the small of your back.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just been… a long day,” you breathed.

He nodded in understanding and led you to the blue SUV parked among a cluster of cars. He walked you around to the passenger side and touched the door handle. When the car sensed the key fob, the doors unlocked and he opened the door, helping you slide up onto the seat before walking around to the other side and climbing in.

- - - -

Yuta paved the way up the steps leading to the front door of your small house, keys in hand. You followed closely behind, but didn’t stop him as he pulled open the screen door and stabbed the key into the lock, turning it until it clicked. He pushed the door open and stepped back, holding the screen door with his body, but leaving room for you to step past him into the house.

Your Australian Shepherd, Squirrel, greeted you as soon as she saw you, dancing around your legs and letting out small little yips of excitement as she went round and round. You heard Yuta pull the door closed and locking it as you slid out of your shoes, placing them by his at the door before bending to pet Squirrel’s furry head.

“Are you absolutely sure you’re ok?” Yuta asked for the thousandth time.

You rolled your eyes, sick of the same question over and over.

“I’m fine, I promise. You’re the one I’m worried about! You were the one dragging those kids out!”

He let out a sigh and opened his mouth to say something before seeming to decide better of it.

“Let’s just admit that we could both use some time to process what happened,” he said.

You let your arms fall, shoulders relaxing. You hadn’t even realized they were tensed.

“Can we take a nap?” you asked quietly.

Without responding, he grabbed your hand and led you into the master bedroom that was currently messier than you liked, though at the moment you didn’t care. You let Yuta guide you to the well-made bed where you wasted no time in stretching out across the duvet, letting out a small groan as your back molded against the bed, your eyes slipping closed as you took in the comfort of the mattress. You didn’t open your eyes as the bed dipped in and Yuta’s body fell back beside yours. You simply shuffled closer until you wound your dress pants through his slacks, letting your ankle rest over his. His arms wound around your waist, letting his hand slide up the inside of your shirt and press against your back. You let out a small, happy sigh and Squirrel reclaimed her usual spot behind your legs.

“When I walked that kid out of the bathroom, I could see you visibly trembling. Then when you got hit… I didn’t know what to think or do,” he mumbled.

You let your head rest against his chin, lifting your face up gently to press a small kiss against the underside of his chin.

“I’m alright as long as you’re there. I was worried you’d get hurt, but just seeing you there felt so much better than being alone.”

His hand firmly pulled you closer, his arm tightening around your waist.

“And I will always be there,” he whispered.

He tilted his face down and captured your lips in a tender, soft kiss that made you remember just how much you loved the man.

“Tomorrow will be better, Coach Nakamoto,” you said when he pulled away.

He smiled against your lips.

prequel teaser

prequel

profiles

-

☼ prologue

☼ chapter one: friendly faces

☼ chapter two: once again

☼ chapter three: breathe in my direction

☼ chapter four: come back home

☼ chapter five: awkward tension

☼ chapter six: suspicious body

☼ chapter seven: duo is back

☼ chapter eight: need a bail

☼ chapter nine: positional view

☼ chapter ten: fight night

☼ chapter eleven: game of mouse

☼ chapter twelve: rough history

☼ chapter thirteen: a milkshake

☼ chapter fourteen: under the moonlight

☼ chapter fifteen: just one round

☼ chapter sixteen: a broken record

☼ chapter seventeen: hurts like hell

☼ chapter eighteen: play dirtier

☼ chapter nineteen: one shot, again

☼ chapter twenty: speeder’s game

¡! ❞lee jeno.

¡! ❞lee donghyuck.

¡! ❞na jaemin.

A group of six boys sat around a table talking and laughing until a loud crash resounded through the snack shack that brought their attention to a waitress on the floor, yellow heels scattered behind her, empty tray in her hands and spilled drinks everywhere as well as on a girl by the table the waitress had fallen at.

“Clutz,” one of the boys, Jeno, mumbled, shaking his head.

“Fatass,” Jeno’s best friend, Jaemin responded.

The other four muttered something along the lines of agreement as they watched the waitress cowering on the floor with a bright red face as the girl now covered in cola shrieked about her ruined clothing and hair.

Jaemin got up from his seat angrily.

“What the hell are you doing to my girlfriend!” he yelled, approaching the pair.

“Jaeminnie! She poured soda all over me!” the girl pouted, running into Jaemins arms.

Jeno rolled his eyes.

Jeno shook his head. Out of all of the boys in their biker gang, Jaemin just had to be the most gullible, falling for the Queen Bee of the high school who used him for nothing more than his money and face.

“She ruined my shirt,” Jeno heard the girl whine.

Jaemin embraced her tighter.

“You’ll have to pay for her clothing, fatty!” Jaemin demanded.

The waitress was someone Jeno recognized. (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N). She had been one of his best friends when he was a shy ten year old trying to fit in. They both befriended Jaemin and the rest of their group and somewhere along the way, he’d gotten muscular and tall while she’d gotten chubby. With Jeno’s looks, he’d always been popular with girls, but when he became interested in them as more than friends, he’d dumped the girl in favor of girlfriends.

She was a bullied girl wearing outdated clothing that made adequate grades. A nobody. She didn’t fit into any groups. She drifted through high school being shoved against lockers while her books were thrown across the hallway and what little lunch money she had was stolen. More often than not, Jeno or one of the other guys was the perpetrator.

“I can’t…” (y/n) muttered, looking down at the floor.

Jaemin kicked the carrying tray away from her, making the girl flinch.

Something in Jeno’s heart snapped against his chest, but he’d never allow it to escape. He watched tears gather in the corner of the girl's eyes and Jeno fought the urge to pull her to his chest.

Feelings began to stir their first year in high school when he and (y/n) had been seated side-by-side in homeroom and he’d leaned over to tease her about her recent, awkwardly styled hair when he’d met the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen.

The feelings made his stomach twist in knots and his body tingled. Feelings and sensations that only grew stronger when their skin brushed or when her angelic voice met his ears.

The feelings were what drove him to brash treatment. His hands shoving her shoulders against the lockers as he demanded for her money. Fingers harshly tugging at the ends of her hair. His voice yelling horrible things at her just to hear her speak back.

He couldn’t tell anyone how he was feeling either. Dating the chubby girl would cause him to lose whatever popularity he had obtained along with his pride and his gang. Their leader couldn’t be seen as the weak punk who decided to date the chubby girl from a poor family.

Jaemin sneered down at the blushing girl, taunting her loudly and Jeno watched her feeble attempt at hiding her face.

“Jaemin! Let’s go. Chubby over here isn’t worth our time,” Jeno called loudly, voice filled with authority that had Jaemin immediately moving away from the girl.

“Fine. But she owes us free meals for a week! Those clothes were expensive!” Jaemin whined.

He kissed his girlfriend's cheek and walked to the door to wait on the rest of the gang who were stuffing their last few fries in their mouths or finishing off their milkshakes.

“Let’s roll,” Jaemin called, a grin on his face.

Jeno shook his head at how fast the male changed perspectives. He grabbed his leather jacket off the back of his chair, sliding his arms into it and let it snap against his back.

The last few members finished their plates, leaving them on the table before grabbing their own jackets and following Jaemin out the door. Jeno took the end, stopping by the waitress on the floor.

“Maybe get some heels your fat feet can walk in, huh Dollface?” he sneered.

Her face flew red again and he rolled his eyes.

“And you should stop blushing. You look like a tomato. Vegetables aren’t attractive. Although it’s fitting. Tomatoes are plump.”

He walked out the door without another word, heart hammering painfully in his ears. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, but that was a problem. He couldn’t think chubby girls were beautiful. What would his friends think?

The loud purr of an engine met his ears and he sighed happily, most of his regret getting washed away, uprooted by the smell of motor oil and tires.

Jeno’s ride was a cherry red 1960 Harley-Davidson motorcycle with shiny silver wheels that didn’t match the rusted gas tank or muffler that Jeno was now saving to restore among other things. The black leather seat was slightly cracked from wear over the years and the breaks didn’t always work great. His headlight needed a new spark plug and the oil line leaked. Still, with all of these issues, he loved his bike. Each new issue gave him something to work on at night in his father's tiny little garage when all he wanted was grease on his chest and a wrench in his hand.

“Let’s go Jeno! I wanna ride!” Donghyuck moaned from his spot on his own bike, revving the engine with his right hand.

Jeno rolled his eyes at Donghyuck’s whining. Out of all of them, he was the one that loved traveling the most. They’d gone all the way up the coast the day they’d let Donghyuck lead them.

Jeno nodded and threw his leg over his bike, kicking the kick start lever and sighing happily as the bike roared to life beneath him. He pushed off his kickstand and allowed it to roll forward.

“Let’s go!” he called.

He rolled to the front of the group before revving the engine and turning onto the main road leaving the beachside snack shack behind.

~

When Jeno pulled into the driveway of his house, he parked his motorcycle beside his elder brother's black and gold Harley, letting the kickstand rest against the dirt driveway and dismounted..

He made his way into the house where his older brother, Jaehyun, was sitting alone in the living room flipping through channels.

Jeno’s heart hurt. All through the ride, he thought about (y/n) and the pained look in her eyes every time someone teased her. He knew it wasn’t right to bully her, especially for something as shallow as her weight or her clothes, but when the girls Jeno dated began mocking her, Jeno joined in, and pretty soon, she was alone. It hurt that Jeno could have stopped it. He could have kept her as a friend instead of ditching her, and now, here he was, hopelessly in love with the girl he bullied and too afraid to stand up to his friends out of fear that they would dump him.

“I have a problem,” he groaned, flopping down on the couch.

Jaehyun turned the small box television off and turned his attention to Jeno. Jeno rolled his head back on the plush green sofa and sighed.

“There’s this girl I like…” he started.

Jaehyun groaned in disinterest.

“So tell her. Not like you can’t get any girl. I heard you’re one of the kings of your class,” he replied.

Jeno whined. It was true. He could virtually have anyone he wanted, yet the one person he couldn’t have was the one he desired.

“I can’t. My friends wouldn’t approve and she’d never go for me… not after everything I’ve done,” he muttered hopelessly.

“Why do you care so much what your punk friends think? Do what you want, not what they want you to do.”

Jeno sighed. It wasn’t that easy and Jaehyun should know that.

“She’d never go out with me anyway and I can never tell her!” Jeno whined, hoping his brother would understand.

He was far too ashamed to come out and say exactly why she wouldn’t. “There’s girls that don’t like you?” Jaehyun asked, clearly shocked.

Jeno nodded sullenly.

“Just one…”

That seemed to make the links click in Jaehyun’s mind and Jeno wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

“You don’t mean you like the poor girl you always bully, do you?”

So Jaehyun knew about that. No wonder his brother had grown distant since Jeno had started high school.

“Um… yes…” he mumbled.

Jaehyun shuffled around on the beige chair he was sitting on before one of his dirty socks was being chucked at Jeno’s head.

“Hey!” Jeno snapped.

“You don’t treat people like that! You and your friends are assholes! That poor girl won’t forgive you for what you’ve done to her!” Jaehyun yelled.

Jeno wanted to yell back, but he knew Jaehyun was right. He was an asshole.

“What do I do to get her to like me… I don’t know how to stop this mess…” he mumbled. Jaehyun groaned and grabbed the large remote, flipping the television back on.

“You make things right. Stop bullying the girl and apologize like you mean it. Even then, it may be too late,” Jaehyun answered before his attention was back into the heavy box television.

Jeno sighed. He knew his brother was right.

~

The next afternoon, Jeno pulled his motorcycle into the parking lot of the snack shack, parking alongside Jisungs rusting brown one he refused to let Jaemin or Jeno strip and repaint.

Jeno dismounted and walked into the shack. His friends were crowded around their usual table, talking loudly.

Jeno walked over to the table and slid into the booth beside Renjun.

“What’d I miss?” he asked.

Jaemin was cackling and fishing ice out of his soda glass.

“(y/n) is on our table today!” he smirked.

Jeno’s heart dropped. That meant they’d be extra cruel to her today and Jeno really couldn’t do anything to tell her or his friends how he felt. The universe must really hate him.

Jaemin got the ice out of his cola glass and held it in his palm, his faze shifting to where (y/n) was shuffling around in her red striped shirt and black pants, wearing those same yellow heels.

“What are you gonna-”

Jeno was cut off as Jaemin smirked and launched the ice cube across the table, getting enough air to fly across the room until it dived down into the low cut v-line of (y/n)’s striped shirt.

“Yes! 10 points!” Jaemin cheered loudly.

(y/n) squeaked at the sudden intrusion of ice, a sound that Jeno found oddly adorable, even if it wasn’t a good kind of squeak.

Her face flamed red and she hurried back to put her notepad down on the chef’s counter before moving back to their table.

“Can I get you guys anything else?” she asked, her voice having gone up an octave from embarrassment.

“I want a chocolate milkshake,” Renjun answered.

(y/n) jotted it down and moved to look at the rest.

“I want a burger that’s charred on one side, but not too charred. Don’t bring me burnt meat or I’ll make your fatass eat it,” Jaemin said.

Jeno sighed at his friend, shaking his head subtly.

“I want a burger with a dollop of ketchup and three pickles. Don’t you dare give me any more or less than three pickles,” Donghyuck ordered.

Jeno rolled his eyes. Donghyuck didn’t even like pickles.

She glanced at Jisung and Chenle, both who were contently sipping their cola’s and completely ignoring her existence, so, after scribbling down everyone else’s orders, she turned her eyes to Jeno.

“Coke with ten pieces of ice and a burger.”

(y/n) nodded, writing all of the information down and shuffled off to the counter again.

“Do we really have to be that mean to her? She looked like she was going to cry,” Renjun muttered.

Jaemin rolled his eyes.

Jeno nodded in agreement to Renjun. Her face was sullen and her eyes glistened with tears that hadn’t fallen. His heart sank at the thought that maybe something had happened at home or that their words had finally gotten to her. In all the time they’d been bullying her, she never once said anything much to them, and they’d never seen her cry.

“Do you think we should lay off her?” he suggested.

Donghyuck and Jaemin snorted at the same time.

“Why would we do that?” Donghyuck asked.

Jeno shook his head. His friends could be such assholes sometimes. They wouldn’t even stop for someone that seems to be almost crying, they just use it to play more games. More buttons to press.

“If you’re so worried, Jeno, go check on her,” Chenle challenged.

“Yeah, go check on her!” Jaemin cackled.

Jeno shook his head and sighed, getting out of the booth. He knew very well what they expected him to do, or at least, what they wanted him to do, but he didn’t know if he could take calling her names anymore. Not when it felt like his soul was screaming at him not to.

He didn’t have much of a choice as he made his way over to her, however. He couldn’t control what his friends wanted and what he was obligated to give.

He moved up behind her and while her back was turned, he brought his hand down hard on her butt as his friends cackled loudly from their table. Jeno’s ears burned in embarrassment and guilt. If his mother knew what he’d just done, she’d be dragging him out of the snack shack by his ear.

He didn’t really know what to expect from (y/n). What he didn’t expect however, was her body whirling around rapidly, her hand raising angrily, and the sharp stinging sensation across his cheek.

“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! I HAVE DONE NOTHING TO YOU, AND YET ALL YOU ARE YOUR ASSHOLE BUDDIES WANNA DO IS BULLY ME! WELL PISS OFF! I DON’T NEED THIS!” she screamed.

Jeno’s eyes widened. This was new…

“YOU ARE A BUNCH OF PUNKASS BOYS WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO, BUT I SWEAR THE NEXT TIME I HEAR A COMMENT ABOUT MY WEIGHT, CLOTHES, OR HAIR, OR ANYONE TOUCHEs ME, I WILL SHOVE MY FAT FOOT UP YOUR BUTTHOLE!” she screamed angrily.

The cackling from the table had stopped as the boys gaped at their waitress in shock.

“AND YOU IDIOTS CAN GET YOUR OWN DAMN BURGERS!”

The snack shack had gone deathly quiet. Jeno stood as still as a statue, face still stinging, but not quite as painful now. The outburst from this usually quiet and reserved girl shocked him to his very core, but it also made him feel worse. Sure, the ice throwing, name calling, and excessively stupid orders had added fuel to the fire, but it was Jeno’s action that had thrown her over the edge.

“I-I’m… sorry…” he stammered out.

“DON’T SAY SORRY TO ME AFTER THE HELL YOU’VE PUT ME THROUGH!” she screamed.

Jeno’s heart pounded in his chest and his eyes gazed at her fearfully.

“I think it’s time you go home, (y/n), calm down and come back tomorrow,” the owner of the snack shack said, walking out of his office.

(y/n) nodded and let out a sniffle. Jeno didn’t know when she’d started crying. She grabbed the bag the owner handed her before running out of the shack.

“And you, young man. You and your boys get out of my shack. You’re all banned for a week. Come back in here acting like that and you’ll be banned permanently,” he said, eyes fixed angrily on Jeno.

Jeno turned to look back at his gang and sighed, waving a hand for them all to follow.

~

After the incident, Jeno hadn’t felt much like going on a ride with the rest of the gang. They were all perfectly fine, cackling and talking about the outburst, but Jeno couldn’t stomach it. The way she’d screamed. How upset she’d looked. He was done being a bully. Now he just needed to figure out how to go from bully to courting her, if that were even possible.

He parked his bike beside Jaehyun’s again, happy to see his brother was home and not at the rusty body shop he worked at.

He ran into the house, taking the front steps two at a time, and when he was inside, he made his way to the room he shared with Jaehyun.

“I need to borrow your boombox!” he yelled at the male.

Jaehyun, clearly not expecting the sudden intrusion, jumped off the small bed, stuffing the adult rated magazine he’d been “reading” under his mattress. Jeno rolled his eyes. He didn’t have time to find ways to ruin Jaehyun’s relationship with his girlfriend or rat him out to their mother.

“I. need. Your. boom. Box!” he enunciated.

Jaehyun stared at him incredulously.

“Uh… Why?” he asked.

Jeno shook his head angrily and shoved past Jaehyun to siffle through his side of the room searching for the large, heavy, cassette playing boombox his brother had bought a month ago.

“I need it to fix my (y/n) situation!” Jeno explained as he searched.

Jaehyun groaned.

“Movies aren’t real! That won’t work!”

Jeno ignored him. The guy always showed up at the window of the girl he was hoping to impress and the girl always forgave him. It’d work. It had to.

Jeno grabbed the large boombox from beneath Jaehyun’s bed, groaning at the weight. He heard Jaehyun sigh.

“Good luck then.”

Jeno didn’t need it. This would work. It had to work.

~

The ride to (y/n)’s house had proven to be a bit difficult as he struggled to hold the boombox against him. The box was large and heavy, with a small cassette player at the top that already had his chosen tape resting inside it.

The trip over was one of many stops and repositionings in an attempt not to drop the box that could very well make everything alright. He could just imagine her grinning in glee and running down to meet him, forgiving him for everything he’d ever done to hurt her.

By the time he got to her house, dusk was falling. He had maybe ten minutes before darkness engulfed the sky. Ten minutes in which he’d be tasked with making everything better.

He moved around the side of the common two story house and found (y/n)’s window easily. She appeared to be dancing to the music playing from the vinyl record player he could almost see perched by the window. It brought a smile to his lips. She looked so happy and carefree.

He could watch her all night, but he was here for a reason. He had to apologize for everything he’d ever done and confess.

He found a rock likely from her driveway by her window in the grass and picked it up. It was only one so he had to make it count.

He pressed play on the cassette player portion of the boombox and ‘It’s sad to belong’ came flowing out melodically from the speakers.

”Met you on a springtime day,”

He threw the rock hard against her window, flinching as he heard the rock bounce off. He was surprised it hadn’t broken the window.

”You were mindin’ your life and I was mindin’ mine too. The window opened and Jeno’s heart hammered in his chest.

“(y/f/n) (y/l/n)! I am so in love with you it hurts. I am so sorry for everything I’ve ever done to hurt you! All the bullying. All the teasing. I’m so sorry. You’re not fat or ugly! You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen! I just couldn’t show it! But I don’t care what my friends think! I love you! I want to be with you! I want to court you! Please forgive me!” he pleaded, not giving the girl a chance to say anything.

When he finished speaking, the song was nearing an end and his body was shaking. The girl looked almost close to tears again and Jeno grew hopeful that in any second, she’d run downstairs and jump into his arms.

“Yes it’s sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along.”

“You love me huh? Well you have a funny way of showing it,” she sneered.

The window slammed shut and the drapes were immediately dropped, leaving Jeno alone in the darkness of the evening, his hopes dashed across the grass.

sangyeon as a dad:

the day that you told him you were pregnant, he almost burst into tears because he had indirectly been wanting a child for quite some time now

but he didn’t want to tell you that, in case you might’ve felt burdened for wanting to give him a kid

however you do end up having a girl, the night that you two were too busy crying over a movie that you were watching

a bunch of emotional roller coasters everywhere as sangyeon scrambled to find your bag and rushed to the hospital

after 16 long hours of being in labor comes sana lee, the third oldest of the second generation of tbz babies.

coincidentally, her birthday twin is younghoon’s eldest daughter bora, and they secretly predicted that they’d be best friends to the hip

but more about bora and sangyeon’s relationship:

she is a daddy’s girl

although she may be an only child, the comfort of being with all of her cousins was what mattered to her, even though she wasn’t the youngest or the oldest

like her father: she likes being that person that people can look up to whenever they needed advice and she wanted to be that way

if there was ever a time that she wanted her father’s attention as a baby? fake tears, cause she knew he’d come to the rescue

but with moments like one bad grade or if she were to do something that may land her in trouble, her father would be understanding about it

yeah, he may seem angry and be siding with mom about why school should be important and why sana could’ve done better to improve her skills

he was also the same person that came into sana’s room after you had sent her to bed with a comforting hug and reassuring words that it’s okay to slip up once in a while

even if it may be important...

sana and sangyeon could be splitting images of the other as she actually captured his eyes and beautiful smile

copy and paste if you ask me

however with your small, but also not so small family, you could either find sangyeon either taking care of sana or the other kids as he was also the designated uncle if you wanted to meet somewhere halfway

besides jacob

but that’s another story

San Francisco, the Golden City.

You were currently writing the rest of the menu for your cafe onto the chalkboard that was supposed to be hung on the wall as you felt some sort sensation at the edge of your fingertips. The start of a new season was always an exciting time for you as the thought of the new customers that were already lined up at the start at the door after hearing about the new boba place that you just so happened to own.

After years of perfecting different recipes and creating different pieces of baked goods and drinks, you were finally able to open the little cafe that you named, Sunlight’s Apollo. The cafe was meant to heal people, as a way to put them at ease of their troubles and worries of the world, but for some reason you wanted to stick with the concept of the sun and Apollo since it felt more familiar to your heart that way.

You wanted to remember your first life, for as many centuries that you have remembered living through in multiple lives, but nothing had worked. Not a single memory of your first life could spark, and you wonder if it was because of something that might’ve happened back then that might be preventing you from remembering. 

However, all that you could think of was how excited you were to open your cafe in a few moments of time, and how accomplished you felt for just doing so all on your own with the help of your friends that just so happened to be your coworkers as well. 

The day already flies by like a blink of an eye as customers come and go, waves of these individuals rushing in and out of the small place with smiles on their faces made you feel pleased. You were doing something right, you think to yourself as you glanced at the clock to see that it was already 6 in the evening, the golden hues of the sunset falling in through the glass windows and into the place.

It was quiet and peaceful as there were probably four customers that were enjoying the last few sips and crumbs of their treats, your two friends already leaving since it was almost time for closing and you wanted to close for the night. You could’ve sworn that one of them, Sunwoo, had turned the sign to close, because the moment that you see the next minute pass by, a new individual walks in with a step in his pace.

You looked up from where you were cleaning the back counter to make eye contact with them, ready to greet them when you suddenly noticed something as soon as you locked eyes. A wave of nausea somewhat hits you as flashes of memories started to appear in your mind, from sitting by a body of water to being shot with an arrow that you presumed to belong to Eros, you assumed that this was your first life as you remember begging your father to turn you into a tree to run away from him. 

Him, who had finally walked through the door of your cafe with pride on his face. 

“It seems as though I have found you again.” He greets with a smile on his face, stopping in front of where the register was with a flower in his hand, and you could only let out a scoff at his manner, your entire happy mood from the entire day being ruined with his presence alone.

“You have some nerve to show your face here, Apollo.”

His human form seemed to scream everything about his God counterpart, which made you realize that it must’ve been the reason why the sun suddenly seemed brighter today and how familiar the name of your cafe seemed. Everything about him was everything that you could think of from all the times that you’ve described to your ‘friends’ the ideal boyfriend that you wanted, but it was all wrong in your eyes. You despised him for as long as you remember, and you could only think that it might be because of all the right reasons.

He seemed more confident in this form, ready to have stuff given to him at the tip of his fingers and you didn’t want to fall apart at that and become his victim. However, deep down on the inside you knew that there wasn’t a reason for him to show up unexpectedly if he didn’t want anything, and something in you had a hunch that it had to be about you. 

“You can call me Eric, you know, just like how people call you Y/n, rather than Daphne,” He muses, leaning against the counter and you raise an eyebrow at how forward he was being, and for once you were intrigued with what he might’ve wanted, but it was all shut down with the next few words that left his lips.

“I want to talk about what happened to us, because it’s my fault that you ended up like this.”

Your face contorts with confusion with a hint of anger, eyes tearing away from his to realize that there weren't any more customers, but instead a locked door as it was now only the two of you in the cafe. Your eyes go back to his and there was something about the gaze of his that made you feel as though you should give him a sliver of a chance to explain, given that he had used all this time to find you once again in this life. 

It wasn’t until you saw that there were two arrows that appeared into his hands and you recognized it to be the arrows that were used to be hit the day that it all happened; a golden one and a lead one. He holds them out for you to see and a moment of silence passes by, until he decides to break both of them against his knee and as if it were magic, all the hate and spite you held for him was gone.

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to why it had vanished, but you notice how his eyes had watered as he gazed at you with a longing look, making your heart beat louder in your chest as you weren’t sure what this could mean for you both. The silence felt overbearing as you didn’t know what to do, or whether or not you should move closer to him, however you could tell that there was some sort of tension that was present between you two that was ready to be broken by the sound of one’s confession. 

“I spent millenia looking for you, from the moment that I heard you reincarnated… If I had known that I was the one making you suffer the entire time… I would’ve never tried Eros in the first place.” He whispered quietly, his voice slightly cracking at his own words and you could feel a lump in your throat as the urge to wipe his tears away felt overwhelming. 

“I’m sorry that you suffered because of me.” You whispered back, looking away from him momentarily to collect your thoughts when suddenly he flashes in front of you as you blink, where you were now just inches apart from one another.

Everything seemed to flash in your own mind as you stared into his golden brown eyes, pieces of what could be your future together and it seemed risky. You were technically a deity, even though you had been reincarnated after being a tree for many centuries, and you could live for as long as you wanted if you stayed with Eric, but you wondered what would happen if you didn’t stay with him as well. 

A touch of his lips onto yours had seemed to make your mind even more hazy as you felt as though kissing him was the missing puzzle piece your heart had been yearning to find. It was intoxicating, a vapor that seemed to have filled your lungs as you could only think that he was the one person that you wanted forever, no matter how bad your past might’ve been together.