Today marks the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. Please take a moment before you read these drabbles to respect those who passed away as victims to this act of terrorism.

ONE

Title: A Season of Change
Fandom: UNIQ
Rating: PG
Warnings: n/a
Word Count: 400

[taken down at the request of the original writer.]

TWO

Title: Typical Days
Fandom: BTS
Warnings: None
Word count: 300

The new patient Eunyi was assigned to take care of was different from all the people she had encountered during work. For instance, he never fussed about the routine pills he had to ingest every day, nor did he conduct himself in a pompous manner. 

Maybe those were the factors that led her to develop a peculiar relationship with Kim Taehyung. 

After all, when schizophrenics were admitted into her section of the psychiatric ward, they would usually resist any means of confinement.

The faded red marks embellishing her arms were proof of that. 

Clutching the tin tray with both hands, Eunyi pressed down the handle of the door with her elbow. Taehyung, as always, laid on the bed, eyes trained on the female nurse who never seemed to waver under his gaze. 

"What's on the menu today?" His stretched grin rivaled the Chesire cat. "Chicken soup and rice?"

Eunyi sighed. "I know. For a growing boy like you, they should have more calorific options." She placed the tray on the edge of his bed, and Taehyung jerked upright before patting the empty space beside him.

"I'm a man," he said with a pout. "Make yourself at home."

Ignoring the queasiness of her stomach, she sat next to him.

"Do you want to know why I'm not acquitted from this place?"

Eunyi tilted her head. "Why?"

"I'm not like you," Taehyung sighed. "You––you think I'm normal, but I'm not."

"Taehyung–"

"You think I'm sane," he pointed out. "My mind's been getting worse. There's this one voice, however, that's much more prominent than the other."

The young male rested his head against Eunyi's shoulder.

"I'm not supposed to be this involved with you," she murmured. 

Taehyung closed his eyes as a wistful smile played on his lips. 

"It says that constantly too."

THREE

Title: Love Like A Fairytale
Fandom: Block B
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Word Count: 393

"We cannot do this anymore. I truly love you, but I cannot defy the wishes of my father any longer. I must marry the Duke. You and I are just too far opposites for this to be allowed. I am so sorry. Goodbye, Minhyuk."

He stared at the note a moment longer, her curving, elegant script taking his heart and dashing it to pieces. Minhyuk had thought that their love was unconquerable! He should have known that the daughter of the King would never deign to marry to son of a farmer, but he had hoped. Now, with a pen and ink, she had killed his hopes.

No, that wasn't fair. She loved him, too.

He tucked the note into his pocket and went about his work weeding the carrot patch, trying to push her words from his mind as he went. He had known all along that their love would never last, and after a while of working and letting his pain and anger steam away under the hot sun, he allowed a sad smile to come over his face. 

Honestly, he knew that she had loved him. That she still loved him, surely. As much as he was suffering, there in the fields and with his relative freedom, she was likely suffering even more. Due to her position, she would have to accept the hand of whomever her father passed her off to be married to, not even able to meet and come to love the man before marriage. Minhyuk shook his head roughly, cursing the fates once again that he had ever been able to meet the princess. If only they had never met, then they would never have had the chance to fall in love. 

Never have had the chance to have their hearts broken.

If only life were like a fairytale, and he could somehow earn her father's recognition and sweep her away to marry and live happily ever after...

But sadly, it wasn't. He stared down at the clump of carrot tops, tangled hopelessly together as they grew, and knew that he could never be what he was not. She was royalty while he was a serf, and no matter how they strived, things would never change.

At the very least, he hoped that she found love with her husband. She deserved to love and be loved.

FOUR

Title: The Elite Soldier
Fandom: Winner
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word Count: 400

Seunghoon smiled at his friend, watching as he put armor on. This was it. "Can you believe it? You're going to be a YunGail. It's awesome!" 

Taehyun took a shaky breath, smiling back. "Yeah. It's hard to believe, but it's here. Wow..." He turned when he heard the door opening. His commander stared at him sternly, glancing at Seungyoon as if he shouldn't there. He already knew that he wasn't supposed to be there. He just wanted to calm his friend's nerves on the biggest days of his life, so far. 

"Just stay calm and you'll make it, okay? Be yourself, and just as strong as I know you can be," Seungyoon said, feeling as if his heart would jump out of his chest. Once Taehyun put on the armor, he would be elite, and therefore, untouchable to the general public. He would join Mino and Seunghoon, while Seungyoon and Jinwoo stayed back and hoped that they would come back alive. They wouldn't be allowed to interact anymore, at least not in public. Seungyoon was a civilian, while his best friend was now a fighter. He would help protect them against their enemies, the Aletrons. "I'll see you later, okay? Take care of yourself," Taehyun touched Seungyoon lightly on the hand, causing the other man's mouth to go dry. He wanted to go with him, but knew that he would never be on his level. He would never wear the armor, since he wasn't compatible with it. 

Seungyoon nodded, fighting back the emotions that were threatening to overtake him. This could be the last time he saw his friend, and he regretted not telling him how he really felt about him before he went in for testing. Now he was on the lesser spectrum, and would never get the chance to say it. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he smiled. "Be careful. I know that the Aletrons have killed YunGails before, so just come back."  

Taehyun laughed softly, and Seungyoon noticed something different in his dark eyes. It looked like his friend wanted to say something deep, but the younger man shook his head, the expression disappearing. Even if the feeling was mutual, it was forbidden.

Once Taehyun left, Seungyoon couldn't think of anything but Taehyun. He hoped that the other man would keep his word return to him, so that he cold tell him how he really felt. 

FIVE

Title: The Clock-Maker’s Gears
Fandom: VIXX
Rating: pg
Warnings: None
Word Count: 396

Leo carefully moved his hands, the tweezers in his grasp tightly holding the most delicate gear. He was working it inside the open clock, reassembling it slowly and carefully.

He knew he had been at it for a few hours already, but had no notion of day and night while he was there, inside his little windowless office. It was quite a peculiar space, really. All surrounded by time pieces – of all shapes and sizes – there was a little desk against the wall, where Leo did all of his work.

He loved it. His life was dedicated to fixing old clocks, sometimes even playing around with a few creations of his own, or doing intricate pieces for a specific client. He’d spend most hours of his day in that room, with nothing to complain.

But as much as he felt that room was his wonderland, the safe space from the outside world, it didn’t always work for his behalf. His love for his work slowly destroyed every other part of his life.

“Are you even listening? I’m talking to you right now.”

His girlfriend asked, almost in a whisper. She sounded like someone who had given up, and that’s exactly what she was. She was trying to tell him that.

“I heard you. I just don’t understand.”

He said, putting his tweezers down and pushing his chair back, so he could turn and look at her. She was very still, standing beside his seat, sorrow reflecting in her eyes.

“This is not working, I’m not happy.”

She repeated herself. Breaking up with someone was already as task she viewed as difficult, but with Leo it seemed impossible. He was so far away that what she said didn’t seem to come through to him.

“I don’t…”

He started, but she cut him off, raising her hand to the height of his face so he could pay attention.

“Let me put this in a way you’ll understand. The two of us are like the clock hands at 12:30. We couldn’t be farther apart. We’re practically strangers; I don’t even know you anymore. It’s over for us.”

That he could comprehend. He could visualize the gears in place, as the clock struck 12:30. And he badly wanted to move them, to make them turn back and come closer together. But it was too late, and his girlfriend walked away.

BONUS

Title: untitled
Fandom: EXO
Rating: G
Warnings: canon, Luhan's lawsuit
Word Count: 313

They were grown now. They had been through a lot together, but they were grown and matured and they were going on their own ways - they just went in different directions, unlike what the two had believed for the years they had spent together after debuting in EXO.

Luhan had broken the news to s the night before it was released on the web, in the effort to absorb the shock as much as possible. (It was a bit funny - how could something like this not hurt? When they had spent the last few years together, sweated together, cried together, laughed together. Things like that didn't disappear easily, but it wasn't as if Luhan had completely forgotten their companionship. He just, finally, chose himself and his own life and health over the others', since there was always a point at which that had to happen.)

It had still hit Minseok the hardest. The latter hadn't known at all, with Luhan ignoring his questions of "Are you okay?" and "You know I love you, right?"

I know, Luhan had wanted to reply, I know, which is why I can't tell you. But instead he just smiled and avoided answering directly and waited so that Minseok would find out with everyone else, and Luhan wouldn't be around to see his pain.

"You too?" had been the general response to Luhan's announcement, but when he looked at Minseok - just once, with an apology in his eyes - he had seen the hurt and broken trust and the future that he could have had. A "You are?" instead.

Luhan almost regrets his decision, but as he sees Minseok on screen, as successful (and "trendy" he thinks with a smile) as ever, then flips the channel to where his own movie was playing, he realizes that there was no other choice that he had.

And that's it! Only five people turned in their drabbles this week (six others skipped) and two were eliminated for not turning in their drabbles or contacting me. There will be no eliminations this week, but feel free to vote for your favorite drabble(s) anyway.