𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 | 𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘹 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

ONE.

In hindsight, perhaps it wasn't a good idea.

Then again, was there any idea by Nadia that could be considered good? Sure, her novel really was a work of brilliance; and her mind was as bright as her tongue was sharp—but Y/n just knew that when it came at the expense of his dignity, she spared no chance.

Nadia was his best friend—partners in crime from high school, currently a novel writer publishing online. She wrote well; and Y/n genuinely enjoyed her books. So did the millions of fans she had somehow amassed (for a long time, Y/n assumed Nadia was just pulling his leg) It was almost a tad bit embarrassing, that she was doing so well, practically swimming in money, while Y/n was...wallowing.

("You didn't go out for like, a week. Or a month, except to commute to work. You spent the bare minimum on groceries. And you spend your free time staring off into space. That's like wallowing."

"I am not wallowing!")

"Stop moping!" She instructed, "God, can you live a little? Your fun days consist of reading novels, eating nearly expired food from the convenience store. Your complexion is ghastly."

"Those are fun," Y/n shot back, "just because you now have Alexis doesn't mean you can now intrude into my personal space and tell me what to do. And, I contribute to your viewership."

Sometimes he was allowed to have a sneak peek at her works, or maybe even edit it. Plus, being her friend also had its benefits. Like reading her drafts she would never publish due to the sheer amount of backlash it would receive, for no legal reasons. It included a variety of..genres and situations that were rather worrying.

Like the a03 tags, Y/n had mused.

But he was reluctant to admit Nadia was right. He was a twenty-four year old salaryman working in a big corporation —and the food he ate (cheese bread, the cheapest he could find) was pretty pathetic. His taste buds, after poverty had struck him like a truck, had dwindled down to the point where he would consider cheesy, greasy pizza to be the food of the gods.

But then again, his quality of life had hit rock bottom.

"Now that I have Alexis," She had snorted, "using that as an excuse already, I see. Get up, Y/n. Or I will personally pull you up myself; and mind you, I can make it as painful as possible." )

In the end Y/n had found himself seated upright on his mattress; listening to Nadia rant endlessly about how he was such a loser; he should get laid; if his mother saw him like this, wouldn't he be killed? And, she had added: "She would kill me, too. So start actually living. Cooped up here like a hermit doesn't count."

"She won't," Y/n had murmured, "doesn't she have..you know? A new boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Nadia scoffed, "isn't that embarrassing? Your mother has a better love life than you do."

"Ouch."

Y/n's life could be summed up simply.

Broke, pathetic, and swimming in a pool of overdue work he had promised his boss but never really got to it. Also currently owing a ridiculous amount of debt, and rent. He had always assumed someday lightning might strike his house and the insurance he had foolishly gotten would disappear into thin air. Somehow.

He had considered getting himself a sugar daddy that could help with all his problems, but then decided that while that was a marvelous idea, he would make a very bad partner; for one, he had never really been in a relationship before. And number two: Y/n was selfish enough to want the emotional aspect of a relationship. Not just the physical.