Yggdrasil
the tree has many branches
I've been rewatching my favorite Korean Dramas lately, so here's a short chapter of the cutest people on earth acting as revenge buddies.
Also, Oh My Venus is possibly one of the best K-Dramas with a completely healthy relationship and hilariously rainbow-vomit worthy ending. It follows the path of an overweight woman, that due to heartbreak and health issues, strives to retain a healthy body. It's also one of the few K-Dramas that have such a target audience and deal with issues other Korean Dramas don't dare to touch, even with a 10-meter pole. I seriously recommend it.
Warnings: grammar, some implicated character bashing, a grain of hilarity... probably
Disclaimer: The How to Train Your Dragon franchise is property of Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks Animation.
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world 11
oh my venus!au
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She could feel everyone watching. Damn it, why couldn't they mind their own business? So she'd run into the glass door. So what, so what, so wHAT? Was she such a sight?
Maybe, seeing she was still lying on the floor. Ugh, get it together Hofferson!
She should get up and face the music. Stand up, face her awful cheating ex and his new mistress and everyone in the damn lobby that stared and whispered at her misfortune.
Ugh. Why couldn't they all mind their own damn business?
Astrid pressed her cheek further down the marble floor. Maybe if she wished hard enough, the floor would open and swallow her whole.
"Is Milady alright?"
Astrid blinked at the nasal voice but didn't dare to raise her head. With her rotten luck, the stranger would be asking that woman. And Astrid gets it, alright? She too would be scared of the fat, blonde doormat that all of a sudden fell in front of her.
"Oye. Didn't your parents teach you it's rude to ignore people?"
Astrid frowned at the tone (and the foot poking her hip) and dared a glance over her glasses.
Gorgeous.
The man was tall and lean, with auburn hair and green eyes. Hell, he had freckles and an adorable gap-tooth, and his smile seemed to make the room shine brighter.
And she had faceplanted right in front of this specimen.
Oh god, she hoped her face wasn't as red as she felt.
The stranger chuckled and carefully helped her to her feet. Astrid was still staring at him starstruck.
"You alright, love? Didn't hit your head too hard?" His thin fingers weaved through her hair before his eyes settled on hers again. "I don't feel a bump, so my guess is you're alright."
Astrid was still too gobsmacked to function.
"Uh, excuse me? Who the hell are you?"
In unison, Astrid and her perfect stranger turned to the couple behind them. Instantly, Astrid's mood soured. Eret had taken a step forward, glaring and sneering at the man. Behind him, his dark headed bimbo looked like she swallowed a lemon.
"Who the hell you think you're touching?"
How dare he? After what he's done to her, he had the gal to act as if she still mattered to him. Playing the overprotective boyfriend card, while his new flame was right there, to the ex he had cruelly thrown away the day of their 10 year anniversary.
It made her blood boil.
Astrid curled her lips in a snarl and took a step forward, ready to rip Eret a new one, but she was quickly yanked back to the stranger's side.
"My woman. What's it to you?"
What?!
Astrid turned her sharp gaze to the stranger, who was frowning at a gobsmacked Eret. He was standing tall and straight, and he had an arm around her waist. Astrid wanted to snort; men. She opened her mouth to put this random dude (she refused to call him handsome after this whole exchange, even if he was) in his place, but a sharp pinch made her bite back a yelp.
Astrid threw him a glare. The stranger shot her a look.
Just play along.
"Your woman?! Who the hell do you- What- Astrid, what the hell is this bloke talking about?!"
Eret, surprisingly, had missed the entire exchange. Yet again, unsurprising, seeing as the man had missed her last two birthdays. So Astrid leveled Eret with a glare, straightening her back, and leaned by the stranger's side. Fine, she'll play the game, just to spit Eret the same poison he had spit at her.
"The truth."
Eret's jaw hit the floor.
"But… But you're you, and he's…"
Astrid's heart tightened in shame. Such a low blow, quite unbecoming of Eret. He knew better than talk about her size. Especially since he knew why. How could he become so cruel in just one month?
"I'd appreciate if you didn't talk to her like that."
The stranger's tone was freezing, making Astrid hide a shiver as she peaked at the hard emerald of his eyes. He held Eret's surprised gaze for a few seconds, before turning to her. Like flipping a switch, he threw her a smile and tugged her away.
"Now, come Milady. We've wasted enough time with plebians. We have a reservation after all!"
Behind her, the dark-haired bimbo and Eret were sputtering in disbelief.
"Plebians?!"
"Reservation?!"
The stranger pushed her inside the elevator, before turning to the couple.
"Of course." He smirked and punched the top button. "The entire top floor for the whole night."
The doors closed just as Eret took a step forward. Astrid ignored the pang of Eret's words in her heart and turned to snarl at the stranger. He was already braced on his knees, gasping for air. Astrid blinked at him. What the hell happened now?
"Oh god, that was almost too much." the stranger groaned before he straightened back up. He threw her a hesitant smile. "Are you alright?"
What?
Astrid narrowed her eyes. "Peachy. What the hell was that?"
"Me saving your cute butt, Milady."
Astrid ignored her flushed cheeks and surged on.
"Where are we going?"
"To the top floor?"
If possible her eyes narrowed further. "And how long are we staying there?"
The stranger grinned at her. "The whole night."
Astrid bristled at his flippant attitude.
"If you think for a second I'll-"
She shut up the moment she saw his eyes; sharp and calculating, he stared her down, looking and scrutinizing her all over. It was as if he could see through her clothes. It made her hackles raise and Astrid tried to turn away from him.
"What are you looking at, pervert?"
He hummed as he tilted his head. "Strong body, long arms, and legs. Cute face, freckled skin with chubby cheeks. Your neck is slightly big, your belly larger than you're comfortable with, and you walk with a slight limp." He sniffed at Astrid's sputtering. "Swimmer. Stopped due to an accident. Thyroid struck when you were in physio."
What. How?
"H-How did you…"
"It's what I do."
"What you do…"
"I'm a physiotherapist. I've helped many an athlete in the States." His eyes turned sharp before he continued. "I can help you too."
"Help me? With what?"
The slight smirk on his lips made her belly flip. "Revenge."
Revenge. A cruel word, but oh, so tempting for Astrid. Once upon a time, Eret had been the love of her life, high school sweethearts that had gone to the same university, shared an apartment, hopes, dreams, and at a point, promise rings. Astrid had fallen hard for the quarterback in high school and had visualized a life with him.
She thought he had as well. But seeing that instead of a proposal she got booted for a piece of firmer ass, Eret apparently hadn't.
So, revenge. Tempting.
Astrid turned a calculating gaze to the stranger. "And what's in it for you?"
His eyes, if possible, turned harder. Astrid was quite sure she could pluck them out and use them like gemstones. "That woman, Heather. She destroyed my best friend's life. She took him, used him, and then threw him away like garbage. I was left to pick up and piece him back together. He's getting better, but he's still a wreck." He smirked cruelly and said, "I want revenge for my friend as much as you want, maybe more. I want to destroy her as she did to my friend."
There was a spark in his eye, cruel and hard and a little terrifying, but Astrid remembered the woman -Heather- from before. How her eyes shone with dismay, and how she curled her lip in disgust as she stared Astrid down her nose. Anger pooled in her belly as she made her decision.
"Well then. I suppose we have a deal." Astrid thrust her hand forward, "I'm Astrid."
The stranger smirked and shook her hand. "Good. My name is Henry, but you… You can call me Hiccup."