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Realistic or Modern 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙞-𝙡𝙖

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hee-yeon




filler



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loco, hwasa



don't








there was no stopping the smile that spread onto hee-yeon's lips. a slow start and but a fraction of the warmth that used to permeate their conversations, but a start nonetheless; she would not over-step and ask— no, hope for more.

"just let me know whenever. i'll give you my new number later."
another sip from her drink, but to contain her excitement more than her nervousness.

"so... i have been wondering about this for a while..." her eyes lifted to meet bit-na's gaze at the other girl's, curious, "you know, since that day in yejunnie’s apartment." hee-yeon's smile dropped, ever so slightly, and she braced herself for the full screening of the anger she'd previewed earlier—

"i know you are not dating but... what you saw in him? i mean, sure he has the looks, and has a great job, but isn’t his personality more like the one of an annoying older brother?" bit-na paused, then added hastily, "don’t tell him I said that it was too rude."

and she couldn't help it— a laugh bubbled in her throat. bit-na's words were such a welcome surprise, and she fondly drew the parallels to their light-hearted, ditzy gossip sessions in high school.

i do have a crush... but i don't know if i should tell him...

the memory appeared so spontaneously, and so miraculously vivid for how many years it had been, but it was one that hee-yeon dwelled on as bit-na continued to ramble. would bit-na even still remember who it was? she remembered badgering her for an answer back then, but she'd stopped mentioning him sometime after. who had it been...?

"but again the last time i saw about you being interested in someone was..." bit-na paused then, as if reconsidering her words but giving hee-yeon just enough time to fill in the blank. it took all of her willpower to maintain her smile, forcing a laugh out for good measure even as she became acutely aware of the man in question. just in the peripheral. was he listening?

no, why would he? they were nothing. she was nothing.

bit-na's words once more pulled her attention away, gratefully, and she happily obliged her friend's attempt to change the subject. how lucky that fronting was a speciality of hers. "anyway, if it was me, i couldn’t see myself being interested in him. i guess there won’t be a way i could see him other than an older brother."

"don't you see most guys as an older brother?"
hee-yeon interjected teasingly,
"baby bit-na."


bit-na shot her a small glare, to which she responded with an innocent shrug, but continued, "however, I can’t even remember the last time I went on a date. perhaps I don’t even know anymore what my ideal type is. maybe I’ll just shut up and continue drinking.”

her statement elicited yet another laugh from hee-yeon.
"i wouldn't be sober if you had shut up, bit-na,"
her old friend's unchangingly endearing rambles did wonders for releasing the tension from her being, though it didn't stop her from still being conscious of the presence behind her— her volume dropped just marginally lower as she continued, as if it was a shy secret apprehensively shared.

which, to be fair, it kind of was.

"yejun's too childish to be any sort of older brother, but he's... still not my type,"
hee-yeon paused, eyes flicking to the wall as she pieced her next sentence together warily, making sure nothing too incriminating snuck in,
"at least not the type i'd marry. or even date seriously, for that matter."


it was a question she never pondered, and on hindsight, hee-yeon wasn't sure how to put how it'd started into words. she found she was speechless about a number of her most recent escapades, mostly because it was too deplorable to speak of to most who held opinions she cared remotely about— especially to the likes of someone like bit-na.

"it was a right place, right time kinda thing."


that was the best she could manage, for now. she wasn't even sure how much bit-na knew about their relationship besides that there was something that was somewhat romantic afoot, and hee-yeon wasn't about to ruin their second reunion with another rude, yejun-related discovery. she didn't like him nearly enough to allow him the power to rule her conversations.

"you know, if you can't ever imagine dating yejun, would your ideal type be the exact opposite? someone with a heart."
she drawled, and her lips pursed as a face came to mind. the biggest heart of them all, she might say, though her only half-serious suggestion was accompanied by a playful wink,
"koko?"


the memory of another past conversation flashed through her mind.
"very puppy-faced. or— have your tastes changed?"






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jun-young.





































  • mood



    this is the best idea i've had in my entire life-
















jun didn't mean to listen in to the conversation; he escaped from the girls just so he didn't have to hear that voice once so treasured and true. it happens anyway ― maybe because the space in between is smaller than he mentally made it up to be, or maybe because words travel easier and further when a piece of the person still belongs to them, attuned and alive, prepared for nothing and yet everything. it's what happens, he supposed, when endings happened but closures didn't. a relationship can be left in the past and still hold power over the present, even when it's no longer love that you feel. heeyeon was someone like that; a stranger you don't listen to, but can't help but hear.

jun didn't mean to feel the way he did, but it happens anyway. his stomach clenched and the heart stopped, as if bracing for an impact painful. yejun. the anxious waters turned a bit more wild, a bit more bitter upon hearing that name being tossed around so easily between the two.

so friendly.

jun couldn't pretend to be oblivious to that friendship nor could he be selfish enough to think he had the rights to dictate how others felt around each other. still, a river that flows despite its obstacles is bound to carry debris, and it's these old wreckages that tend to collide with those innocent and undeserving. currents aren't rational, they go as they please, and you should accept it ― accept the nature of emotions flawed and human. jun did so; smiled like his cheeks didn't hurt and like those words implicating something more than friendship didn't go down like a drink that was glass instead of beer. pretended like he didn't feel it going down his throat, past his lungs, past his heart.

he even pretended, when heeyeon expressed yejun wasn't her type, that he didn't feel glad about it. truth was, he didn't know why he felt that. luckily, he didn't need to think about it, koko's question snatching his focus instead.

"what happened in the hour I missed?”

everything. the reunion of a group frayed but tethered, the coldness between hearts bruised and scarred, the harsh realities of life, of mortality. guilt seeped into his being once again as koko mentioned the tension in the room, his face slightly grimacing. was it that palpable? jun wished he could act like hearts weren't broken, as if brotherhoods weren't betrayed, but its taste still lingered in the mouth, the hurt in his soul. faking smiles was easy, but he supposed his mask still had its cracks. deflecting with humor was the tactic that worked in most cases; it was the one he turned to now as well.

"maybe it will help if you show us those drunk dance moves of yours. i did really like that sprinkler rendition you did last time-" his grin shined briefly, before dimming into a nervous expression. his throat felt dry while his palms started to feel a little sweaty. jun, out of all, didn't like to be the bearer of bad news, especially when it was involving someone they all held dear. his eyes darted around for his girl, his pillar, but juno was still nowhere to be seen. what was taking so long? the urge to go and find her increased by the minute, his heart aching for that presence to be near again. alas, yejun was there too.

jun took a breathe. right, koko deserved to know what was going on.

"the news that you missed is.... well... chungho isn't doing well. it turns out he got leukemia and is currently hospitalized for treatment. as for shangri la, auntie has been doing her best to keep things afloat but she is considering closing and selling the place to pay for his treatment."

it hurt just to talk about it. the thought of losing chungho and shangri la sat heavier on his heart than anything else. despite everything that transpired, the club held memories he didn't wish to die. things might not be the same, but everyone had the same reason for coming here; to repay a love you couldn't repay.

"we should do something, right?" he muttered, maybe more to himself than his friend. his fingers tapped against the bar counter, his mind turning for ideas. after a moment, his lips curved up into a smile.

" koko, my dear teacher friend, how much do you think parents are willing to pay to have their children experience a fencing lesson from gold medal winner jun-young?" eyes twinkled slightly.

"it must be a lot right? i mean, not only am i good, i'm pretty handsome as well."

































as you like it



eve










♡coded by uxie♡
 

mood
(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)
outfit
here
location
shangri-la
interactions
hee-yeon
tags
Uxie Uxie
yoo bit-na
Was she perhaps overstepping the boundaries with her questions about Yejun? Would she make Hee-Yeon uncomfortable with her curiosity? Was it too soon to talk about the subject? Had she already ruined her chance to reconnect, just when they could finally have a friendly conversation after years of not seeing each other? Those questions were roaming inside of Bit-Na’s mind. She took a glance at Hee-Yeon, trying to read how the other girl felt at the questioning of the chef.

Bit-Na for sure expected everything except the laugh coming from Hee-Yeon and a sense of relief took over her as things weren’t escalating in a negative like might have thought. It almost made her remember those times when they would come together and gossip about the boys they found cute. Those innocent and almost childlike memories felt like a bittersweet reminder of the times when she felt truly happy without the worries of adult life.

In a time when her biggest problem knew that the boy she liked didn’t feel the same way and instead ended up dating her best friend. Who would have thought that the two people she was the closest to back in high school would be the same people that would teach her the real meaning of heartbreak? Would Hee-Yeon even remember that mysterious guy that she liked in high school? There was no way it had been years since those days.

And maybe it was for the best that none of them know. It would have made things awkward between the three, and she cherished more of their friendship, that she bottled her own feelings and just support the love of Hee-Yeon and Jun. And while her feelings towards Jun were now nothing more than just an old friend. She sometimes still had the wonder of what would have happened if, instead of Hee-Yeon, it would have been Bit-Na. Would things still end up the same or there would have been a completely different outcome? But even if she thought about it, she would never know the correct answer.

“I wouldn’t be sober if you had shut up, Bit-Na,” at Hee-Yeon’s remark, Bit-Na let out a small chuckle, who would have thought they would end up just like that when moments prior the tension and the awkwardness could be felt everywhere.
“Glad to know I’m making things easier this night.”
She said in a joking tone.

“Yejun’s too childish to be any sort of older brother, but he’s... still not my type,” Hee-Yeon started explaining and Bit-Na gave all of her attention to her in hopes to understand how those two would end up together. “at least not the type I’d marry. Or even date seriously, for that matter.”

“It was a right place, right time kinda thing.” As soon as Hee-Yeon said that, Bit-Na gave her a small nod as she considered what to say next.
“It’s understandable. While I personally wouldn’t end up in that kind of situation, I’m no one to judge what you two do together and if that makes you happy, who am I to stop you, I guess?”
She said with a small chuckle.
“I just hope neither of you ends up hurting the other. There’s already so much going on that I wouldn’t like to see someone else getting their feelings hurt.”


But just as Bit-Na got her answer, Hee-Yeon moved on from the subject. "You know, if you can’t ever imagine dating Yejun, would your ideal type be the exact opposite? Someone with a heart.” Bit-Na kept quiet for a moment as she gave it a thought.
“Yejun has a heart, even if it doesn’t seem like it. But I guess you could say that I’m more interested in the type of guys that are more expressive with their emotions.”


“Koko?” Hee-Yeon said half-seriously with a playful wink flustering Bit-Na
“Koko?!”
She said a pitch a little higher than her usual one, Bit-Na took a quick glance at where Jun and Koko were hopefully waiting that the two guys wouldn’t notice the conversation between the two girls. The music was loud enough. There was no way they would hear her, right?
“Him and I, we are just friends... He might be one of the nicest and sweetest people that I know, but there are not those feelings between us, just to make clear.”


“very puppy-faced. or — have your tastes changed?” as soon as Hee-Yeon said that, Bit-Na felt even more flustered than before. How could she remember something like that? She crossed her arms, making a slight pout.
“What’s wrong about puppy faces? I do still think they are adorable.”


Code by Stardust Galaxy ​
 









scroll








the teacher



kogun













mood

sad boi hours











outfit

denim jacket, white tee, black jeans and white vans











location

shangri-la











interactions

jun, mentions bit-na











tags

neon reverie neon reverie Stardust Galaxy Stardust Galaxy

































MOVIE ii


JAEHA













The wait felt like an eternity. An eternity that made Ko-Geon feel one hundred times more fidgety and anxious than he normally does (and that was saying something). However he tried to appear as calm and patient as possible, a major feat, not wanting to pressure Jun into telling him. The other looked plenty stressed as it was, especially after the question was asked.

He raised a brow when his one-time drunk dance off was brought up, finding it a little odd that it was brought up at a time like this. Maybe to relieve the palpable tension that was seeping into every corner? Before he could inquire further, Jun stopped talking and his shoulders slumped in a defeated manner. Perhaps Ko-Geon should’ve asked another to relay the news, maybe Juno if he could find her.

Just as he was about to suggest they cease the discussion of this topic, the information was relayed. And his glass fell out of his hand and shattered onto the floor.

It took him a minute to even realize he’d dropped it and even longer to process what he’d heard. All he could think about was what? Why weren’t any of them told? This was a pretty big thing to be kept in the dark about. And the closing of the bar? Well, they’d just have to find a way to keep that open.

”Seriously, Koko?” interrupted Jae-Ho, walking over with a broom and commercial standing dustpan. ”You’ve barely drunk half yet you’re already drunk and dropping things?” He shook his head in a teasing manner, beginning to sweep up the glass.

Ko-Geon shook his head right back. ”No, hyung,” he said softly, staring at the ground. ”Jun-ah has just told me about uncle.”

Jae-Ho flinched and looked a bit guilty and once finished sweeping, walked away without another word. Koko looked over at Jun. ”Yeah, I think we should do something.” What, he didn’t know, but they all had to help in some way, shape or form.

"My dear teacher friend, how much do you think parents are willing to pay to have their children experience a fencing lesson from gold medal winner Jun-Young?"

As to that, he had no idea. ”Er. . . . I’m not sure,” He wasn’t sure what fencing lessons from a champion cost, but figured they were pretty exorbitant and way out of the parents budgets. Sure the parents were willing to fork over a few dollars for bake sales and field trips and all, but those weren’t super expensive. ”I’m sure all my students would love it, but truthfully speaking, I don’t think a lot of their parents can afford it. They’ve never told me outright, but some of them are struggling.”

He’d stop there for privacy reasons, but didn’t want Jun to think he was ignoring him. ”I think you’d be better off offering it to adults. Post on your SNS accounts about it. I know your older fans will be clamoring for a chance and most of them could probably afford it.” Not all, but most. Definitely more than his pupils.

Before he could continue, Ko-Geon heard his name spoken in a shrill tone. He looked over in the direction it came from, towards Hee-Yeon and Bit-Na, as the latter also looked at him. A bemused expression crossed his features and morphed into a hesitant grin before turning back to Jun. ”What do you think I could do to help?”


♡coded by uxie♡
 








”you think I’m going to go behind their backs?”

yejun had nearly begun to smile at juno's playful reply dripping in her usual sarcastic tone, but that urge instantly dissipated upon hearing the searing accusation to follow. "i wasn't implying anything of the sort, hye-joon," he denied with a decisive firmness, evidently taken aback by the change in tone, "just making myself clear so my intentions won't be misunderstood." he had been so caught up in the overwhelming surge of memories upon seeing all his old peers that he'd nearly forgotten how poorly two of them still perceived him to this day.

'all you see when you look at me now is a heartless opportunist, after all. i won't ever repeat the same mistake of assuming you'd give me the benefit of the doubt.'

he listened to juno's plan in contemplative silence, unable to shake the feeling that she was holding back whatever she actually wanted to talk about in favor of having a productive conversation for chungho's sake. it appeared that she'd drastically improved her self control after all this time— yejun was almost proud. given the barely suppressed aggression he'd detected since the start of the evening, perhaps it was best to keep this discussion business-only after all.

"those are some good ideas; from a marketing standpoint, however, we might get better results if we consolidate them into one larger source of income rather than several isolated events, like a charity gala or festival." yejun swirled his drink, deep in thought as he mulled over the possibilities. "children's day is coming up in two months. that timing could fit the bill of what we're looking for. i could see a concert being the main selling point here, seeing as myst.eria is well known globally and female idol groups are generally popular among students and men completing their service. children's day festivals usually also have taekwondo demonstrations, but i feel like we can swap that out with a fencing demonstration instead. that might even attract more interest, since jun-young is a local celebrity at this point."

the CM Asiana Group skyscraper towered over gangnam-do as one of the largest conglomerates in the development sphere, and as the VP of partnerships, yejun had connections with nearly every world-class resource they could possibly need to set their preparations in motion. on this occasion, however...

"instead of approaching any chains, we could cater from several local businesses, since it's a charity festival with the proceeds potentially going towards empowering the community," yejun suggested, his train of thought moving at a mile a minute to the point of not even bothering to check if hye-joon was still listening. he was thinking out loud for the most part, anyways. "we can figure out what exactly that entails later when we work through a formal plan with the others, but i'm sure bit-na is friends with a lot of people in the restaurant scene around here so she can take the lead in organizing intel on the catering end. kogun is perfect to help market the festival to the local school districts, since he's good-looking and pretty well-loved among his students. high-schoolers are way more likely to listen to someone like him than some lifeless administrative geezer. as for hee-yeon... she has plenty of experience in organizing large-scale events. i've been to a couple of her exhibitions in the states and they're always immaculate down to the seat covers. she runs a tight ship— if she's at the helm of operations, i don't doubt we'll be smooth sailing on the day of."

yejun took a moment to mull over each component in his proposal, making sure no one was left out while wondering if their small task force would be sufficient for such an ambitious plan. all of this was formulated under the assumption that everyone had the time and was willing to help, which posed a variable in and of itself. it would be best to have juno pitch it to the group since she was generally on good terms with everyone except hee-yeon, but yejun could talk to her on his own time if she was feeling some type of way about a collaborative effort. worst case scenario, he didn't mind shouldering some more responsibility should any of them bail. it had been ages since he felt this impassioned by a project, much less to the point of feeling butterflies in his stomach, and he wasn't willing to let this feeling go now that he'd tasted it yet again.

"as for you, I’m not really sure, but surely there’s something business-related you could do, right Ye-Jun? Sorry, you probably don’t like being addressed by your name anymore. Should I call you sajangnim? Or do you prefer daepyonim?"

yejun scowled at the cheap shot that he knew was coming at some point or another, considering the type of person hye-joon was. more than feeling offended, however, he was deeply disappointed in her dig of choice being such low-hanging fruit. he'd been thoroughly hazed by senior management just like the rest of his colleagues in his early years, resulting in the cool-headed professionalism he'd become a master of as he rose through the ranks. she'd have to work a lot harder if she wanted to get under his skin like she used to back in their school days.

"i'm not your senior anymore and you don't work for me. call me whatever you want." yejun dismissed, brow furrowed in discontent at the sudden shade but ultimately letting the lack of honorifics slide like he always did. he took a long swig of his drink before schooling his expression back into neutrality. "CM asiana group has a designated fund for philanthropy carved into its quarterly budget. i don't doubt the board would approve sponsoring the festival if i pitch it as a charitable cause. something this large would burn a hole in any of our wallets if we paid out of pocket, no matter how much money we make."

the rooftop space had slowly begun filling up as more and more people got off work, forcing the weary businessman to raise his voice if he still wanted to be heard over the spike in volume. never a fan of shouting if he could avoid it, yejun gave up his spot along the railing and sat next to juno at the table, staring into his drink as he continued. "i know this plan sounds gargantuan, but i think chungho would feel a lot more comfortable accepting money from something that benefits a lot of people and causes. however much we raise from the children's day festival will likely be able to cover his medical costs a hundredfold, so i think this could be a great opportunity to spread some goodwill to the community in honor of everything the old couple did for us back then."

a sudden dryness tickled his throat, and yejun was hit with the belated realization that he'd been talking nonstop for several minutes about the hypothetical fundraising proposal. pink dusted his cheeks in mild embarrassment and he downed the rest of his watered-down old fashioned, only meeting juno's gaze briefly to offer an apologetic half-smile as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "sorry, didn't mean to talk your ear off. it's just an idea, so there's no need to make any decisions right away. you should head back down before jun-young gets worried."







the big shot



yejun.













♡coded by uxie♡
 
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hee-yeon




filler



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  • home (filler tab)



































loco, hwasa



don't








"i'm no one to judge what you two do together and if that makes you happy, who am i to stop you, i guess?" same as always, bit-na was magnanimous. a trait hee-yeon was so grateful her friend embodied but made her feel so, so guilty for taking advantage of. she wondered absent-mindedly as what bit-na thought was their relationship. knowing her old friend? something far more innocent than what was actually happening, though hee-yeon didn't think today (nor any day, if it was her choice) was the time to make any clarifications.

"i just hope neither of you ends up hurting the other. there’s already so much going on that i wouldn’t like to see someone else getting their feelings hurt."

"we won't,"
she assured softly, taking another sip of her drink,
"we're two adults who know better."
she could almost hear his voice now; low, sarcastic, childish jab after jab spilling so easily off his lips.

she was far from one to criticise, though— she spat back the same type of words. it was just who they were, and just the type of thing they had going on.

bit-na's shrill squeak from her teasing was all she'd wanted, eliciting a quiet giggle from hee-yeon. "him and I, we are just friends..." the quick, embarrassed glance in the boys' direction wasn't missed, and hee-yeon followed suit, catching koko's eye just as he turned towards them too. a small smile, before she hurriedly returned to her conversation. "he might be one of the nicest and sweetest people that i know, but there are not those feelings between us, just to make clear."

she was blushing now, and hee-yeon's smile widened. perhaps the joke might really blossom into something more. "what’s wrong about puppy faces? i do still think they are adorable."

"and he's the definition of puppy-faced. you're saying it yourself— he's a catch,"
she said, letting out another laugh when she caught sight of bit-na's pout,
"i'm kidding. but i'm just saying, love might be closer than you think."


she paused, her glass lifting to her lips as she considered what else they could talk about. there was something, of course, on the tip of her tongue. how has jun been? beyond the random news articles or moments of weakness where she found herself on his instagram page; bit-na was the closest she could get to asking him herself, since she was sure juno would rather smack her back to the united states before she allowed such a conversation to happen between them.

"how— how has..."
her lips pressed into a frown, doubt pushing the rest of her words back down. she couldn't, not even if (or perhaps because) bit-na's expression showed an earnest curiosity towards her question. nothing good could come out of asking.

she needed a smoke so bad.

the light clink of the glass hitting the bar counter marked the end of their conversation, and she forced a wide smile.
"ah, sorry. i just need to use the bathroom could you help me ask jaeho-oppa for a refill?"


with that, hee-yeon slipped off, taking advantage of the crowd to disappear from bit-na's line of sight. the frigid air hit her as soon as the crowd's buzz muted behind the bar's door, and she wandered a little further down the dimly-lit alley, fingers fumbling in the cold for her cigarettes and lighter. inhale. it was routine beyond that point— lit cigarette held loosely between her fingers, eyes squeezed shut as the tension melted from her shoulders. exhale. she watched the wisps of smoke immediately mix with her frosted breath, a beautiful but transient dance in the air that so quickly faded into nothingness.

and somewhere, in the back of her mind, yejun's irritating drawl sounded out. you didn't strike me as the type to smoke. how embarrassing, and yet strangely comforting, that they smoked the same brand.

how was he holding up?

"having fun flirting up there, seo yejun?"
she murmured aloud, gaze lifting to what little she could see of the rooftop's lights from where she stood.





♡coded by uxie♡
 









scroll








the idol



juno













mood

finally i can leave











outfit

this cute fit











location

shangri-la











interactions

ye-jun but mentions all











tags

sox sox

































Holdin' My Own


Said The Sky













Juno’s expression morphed into one of distaste when she was addressed by her Korean name. It wasn’t that she disliked it, and she was living in Korea after all, it was just that she wasn’t used to it. Her birth and English name was Juno; even her parents called her Juno. No one called her Hyejoon, apart from Yejun apparently.

A charity gala would probably bore everyone to tears, but a festival wasn’t a bad idea. It didn’t have to be only music either, they could convert it into a fair of sorts with multiple different areas and exhibitions. And children’s day was definitely a good day to do it, the problem was just that it was months away and Chungho’s condition could be significantly worse by then.

”I like the idea of it being on children’s day,” she agreed, ”but like you said, it’s a few months away. What if Chungho gets worse sooner than that? What if. . .” She decided not to voice that thought. ”Shouldn’t we try to do it sooner rather than later?” Juno was well aware that these things took time to plan and couldn’t happen overnight, but this was quite literally a life or death situation.

Then she sort of zoned out. Yes, this was an important conversation, but Yejun had turned on business mode and she didn’t understand half of what he was saying, only picking up bits and pieces. ”Since we’re all the ones organizing this, in terms of food, I think Bitna-unnie should be the main focus,” She was well aware that a festival of this magnitude would be overwhelming for a single restaurant, but Bitna was their friend and one of Chungho’s honorary kids, she should get the best. ”She should get the biggest tent in the prime location.”

Kogun definitely could market it around the schools, and it was lucky they had someone in that vocation since this was a Children’s Day festival. Then both of her brows shot up. Oh, so he and Heeyeon managed to keep in touch over the years but never bothered to reach out to the rest of them? Interesting. ”Kept in touch with Heeyeon, have you? Nice to know that the two of you are all buddy buddy while the rest of us can apparently go fuck ourselves.” she muttered under her breath, praying he didn’t hear.

Looking for something to do, Juno lifted her glass to her lips and began to chew on the ice cubes left inside. Then she saw him scowl at the lack of her honorifics usage and smirked, setting the glass back down on the table. ”You are older than me so you’re my senior there,” Not that that mattered. ”Though I did debut before you took over the company, so in terms of the professional and business world, I guess technically I’m your senior.” That was a weird thought. ”But sajangnim it is.”

Yes, now she’d picture an old man CEO every time she thought of him, but he was kind of acting like one. ”I don’t know who or what CM Asiana is, but I agree. Pitch it to them and then we’ll donate whatever’s left.” She had a feeling CM Asiana was Yejun’s company, but didn’t know for sure.

"Sorry, didn't mean to talk your ear off. It's just an idea, so there's no need to make any decisions right away. You should head back down before Junyoung gets worried."

”It’s fine,” Juno dismissed. Yes, he did talk her ear off and she kind of zoned out, but this was an important thing. ”And I’ll go back down in a second,” It really had been a while since they came up here. She hoped Koko, who’d arrived just as she headed up, was occupying him. She pulled out her phone and opened her notes app. "Give me your email so we can send the ideas and paperwork to each other,” Knowing it was odd that she wanted email over phone, she continued. "Since you’ve ignored all of my texts over the past few years, I figure email is the best way to contact you.”

When it was entered into her phone, Juno stood and pushed her hair over her shoulder. ”See you.” she said and then headed back downstairs. She’d find Jun in a second but first she needed to freshen up.


♡coded by uxie♡
 








among the many things about juno that had changed in the last half decade, her counterproductive habit of interrupting others to give her unsolicited two cents wasn't one of them, an observation that simultaneously brought yejun a nostalgic sense of peace and made him want to take a long walk off a short pier.

while it was easy to nod along and let the comments about his honorifics and company name slide, the muttered jab about keeping in touch with hee-yeon brought a crease to his brow, irritation creeping up his spine at the implication that he had one-sidedly burned all his bridges when in reality, the only ones he hadn't heard from recently were this happily mismatched couple. was this their impression of his standing among their old friend group? had the two of them not shown up, the night would have been perfectly devoid of bad blood for the jaded businessman.

and yet, despite the sour turn in his mood, yejun was determined to keep that train of thought to himself, knowing full well that digging into those tangling alliances would only tear open the can of worms they'd been avoiding throughout the conversation. or so he'd planned, until hyejoon demanded his email address with a targeted dig locked and loaded.

"since you’ve ignored all of my texts over the past few years, i figure email is the best way to contact you."

yejun's gaze whipped towards juno from where it had been staring emptily at the string lights in thought, confused and taken aback by the sudden accusation. never, not even once, had he received any sort of message from juno in the last five years; if he had, they likely wouldn't feel nearly as awkward as they did now that they were having their first full conversation since the fallout. no more than a moment later, however, yejun's eyes widened as he realized where the miscommunication had occurred.

"hey, wait— i wasn't ignoring you. i had to change my personal number several times after i moved abroad."

back when he had begun to seriously make an impression at cm asiana and established a formidable reputation for himself as part of the board, one of his former secretaries who had been let go for falsifying company records began to stalk him relentlessly: calling him at all hours, taking photos without him knowing, even showing up at his apartment complex in the middle of the night. for years, the anxiety and paranoia of not knowing when he was being watched kept yejun from getting a single proper night's sleep, and visits to the psychiatrist became a regular part of his weekly routine. whether she'd been looking for money, sex, or something else, he never found out; the whole ordeal shook him deeply enough to file for a restraining order and ditch his personal phone altogether.

yejun filed away the memory with a grimace, figuring juno would buy his explanation without caring enough to probe any further. "i have a kakaotalk id now anyways, so just take that," he offered with a resigned sigh. "i don't check my email outside of work hours."

finally free from the clutches of that thorny conversation after a clipped fairwell, yejun opted in favor of closing out his tab and leaning against the metal railing instead of following juno back down into the throng of young adults on the first floor. their interaction had left an unsettled pit in the man's stomach as he pondered the events surrounding their falling out yet again. those memories were becoming more and more difficult to recall as the years passed by; however, he couldn't tell whether that was due to erosion over time or his own subconscious desire to repress anything that reminded him of the murky black coating that had enveloped his exhausted heart.

there was no real reason for yejun to stick around any longer, having done his part in brainstorming a fundraiser for chungho's treatment. all he had to do between then and monday was wait for updates from juno, after which they could get the ball rolling and put a finalized plan into action.

'that's that, then.'

yejun pushed off from the railing and headed down to the entrance, deftly evading the congregation at the bar with how packed the space had become over the last hour. the crisp night air filled his lungs yet again as the door swung shut behind him, a refreshing shock to his system that he welcomed with open arms. moments before he pressed the button to call a cab, however, yejun noticed a figure that looked eerily similar to hee-yeon's further down the alley.

he couldn't hold back the smirk that tugged at his lips; he was genuinely impressed she'd lasted this long without escaping for a smoke, but the sight was reminiscent of many other nights back in the states, hours into networking at banquets and placing bets on who'd reach their social bullshitting limit first. regardless of which state of undress they found themselves in afterwards, a lit cigarette always dangled from her fingertips to illuminate the quiet darkness of his penthouse.

"having fun flirting up there, seo yejun?"

yejun bit back a laugh as he approached as silently as he could, savoring the view of a distracted hee-yeon squinting up at the rooftop lights above. she looked as beautiful as ever, somehow seeming dressed to the nines despite the simplicity of her outfit; if they didn't share the history that they did, didn't suffer from the same demons plaguing their hearts and bedsheets, he might have been able to organically fall for her one day.

but that hypothetical world of rose bouquets and lingering touches didn't exist. their reality was one of blinding spotlights, loosened ties, and tar-stained lungs.

"jealous?" yejun swiped the lit cigarette from hee-yeon's fingers with practiced ease and leaned comfortably against the wall directly beside her, taking a pull with the same shit-eating grin plastered on his lips. the smoke burned a familiar warmth down his throat that instantly quelled the waves of anxiety radiating off him like a beacon. he knew hee-yeon would pick up on it— for better or worse, they had long learned each others' smallest tics— but he couldn't quite bring himself to care. what their relationship lacked in communication and honesty, it made up for in the no-questions-asked acceptance that came with recognizing that they were cut from the same cloth.

"you would've loved it, honestly. she jumped on every opportunity to let me know she thinks i'm a proper douchebag. didn't try to hide it even a little." yejun scoffed and took another pull on the cigarette. "which is fine, because i definitely am one, but not for whatever twisted reasons she's made up in her little blonde head."

yejun sighed softly, wisps of smoke escaping through his teeth into the night air as the weight of five years of uncertainty flooded his mind. before he could fixate on the topic and ruin his mood any further, however, he shook his head in dismissal and handed the cigarette back to hee-yeon, distracting himself by playing with a loose lock of her hair by her collarbone. "how'd your little drunken soirée go? i trust you and jun-young had a nice, long chat and talked out all your pent-up feelings, no?"







the big shot



yejun.













♡coded by uxie♡
 
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jun-young.





































  • mood



    crying outside the club rn

















it was easy bouncing off ideas with koko on how to raise money to help shangri la stay the way it was; this neon prismed hole in the wall, owned by chungho and sooyoung. the memoirs of this place might have become saturated in hues both bright and blue, but despite the years and changes, it was clear all of them still held this place dear.

jun knew koko would do all he could to save shangri la, too. it was a gathering of hearts chungho had collected and filled with familial love and care; something that stretched beyond the bounds of material matters, yet had to be repaid with monetary means for now. they both knew neither chungho or sooyoung would accept the money straight from them, but that didn't mean they couldn't raise a fund.

jun-young listened to his friend as he shared his perspective about the first idea, guilt seeping into his being upon being so ignorant of the financial aspect of it. sometimes, he would forget how, despite the shadows and silence, he had grown up rather privileged. money was never the issue, not even when he had cut the thread tethering him to the role of the son that sometimes existed; his mother, perhaps out of conscience, probably out of guilt, still sent him envelopes with money sometimes. jun didn't know if it was done in secrecy nor did he care to find out, because he finally knew he was enough and what she gave him wasn't.

truth was, jun had always envied those kids who had little money but so much love. he could not understand complaining about the nagging of parents among peers, heart so desperate for even just a word of acknowledgement. he thought they had everything, eyes too used to the darkness to see struggles around him and ears too used to the silence to hear and comprehend the noise of complaints from others. he was different now though, had experienced the effects of too much and too little of things to know balance is what mattered the most. so, he felt for the situation these kids were in.

jun hummed, thinking once more about everything, motivated to do something that benefitted everyone. then, an other idea emerged, causing him to smile again and clasp his friend's shoulder.

"well, maybe we can organize a charity fencing competition with your school? i can coach the kids for free and we can sell tickets to everyone who wants to come in the city. this way, they get the opportunity to learn fencing for free, have fun, we get the opportunity to raise money for shangri la, and the school gets the opportunity to have some free PR."

something else catches his eye; a figure, face of blankly whispering eyes and unsaid goodbyes. jun watched as yejun disappeared to outside, his heart clenching for a moment while conflict whirled. it was so easy and so foolish to think he could get through this night by ignoring him, just like he pretended he could ignore the presence of hee-yeon — but jun had never been good at these kind of things. his heart was still something that never fully belonged to himself; there had always been these scarlet fragments buried in someone else's pockets, stuck and unable to return. yejun was someone he didn't like but couldn't quite hate — not anymore — and it did pain jun-young to let this reunion pass like that between them.

"ah, sorry. i'll be right back." he told koko. was it foolish? perhaps. should he know better? definitely.

still, he followed yejun's departing figure.

maybe because he wasn't so sure he would see him again.

maybe because he really did miss him.

that was until the cold air entered his lungs and his gaze fell upon a sight his heart didn't know what to do with it. his mind paused to rewind, hoping for a moment it would result into a different scene. it didn't ; he witnessed the smiles painstakingly playful, the dance of fumes so close to each other they collided, the leaning in.. the cigarettes were theirs, but in that moment, jun felt to be the one choking on the smoke.

they were acting so close.

when did they become so close?

this revelation shouldn't have made his heart sink like it did, shouldn't have sent signals of a double crossing that wasn't even there, and yet,, here he was; aches deep and breathes sharp. was it jealousy or something else? it's a brand of emotion he couldn't fully decipher, though one he knew he should not have. it was a feeling he buried before it could seep in the soul — just before others could see just how much it coloured him blue.

if he could go back unseen, he would've, the moment ready to become a secret they'd all keep to themselves. their gaze caught him though, in equal measures of surprise maybe.

"ah, sorry-" he spoke, smile apologetic and oh so fake. "i was just looking for juno. do you know where she went?"

































ok to cry



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♡coded by uxie♡
 
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hee-yeon




filler



filler



filler



filler



filler



filler






  • home (filler tab)



































loco, hwasa



don't








"jealous?" she turned quickly, startled, though her alarm melted into satisfaction upon catching sight of yejun, wearing his familiar smirk and exuding an faint aura of dread. just how she liked him. he swiped the cigarette from her fingers, and she made a quiet noise of irritation.

"thief."
her arms crossed as she watched him lift it to his lips— looked nothing short of an addict, as usual, with the way he let himself go with the smoke. a sigh escaped her lips as she glanced away, contemplating if it was necessary for her to grab another of her own.

"you would've loved it, honestly." her gaze returned to yejun, an eyebrow raised. "she jumped on every opportunity to let me know she thinks i'm a proper douchebag. didn't try to hide it even a little." she let out a quiet snort at his visible upset, taking as much joy from his misery as comfort from their ridiculous little camaraderie.

"which is fine, because i definitely am one, but not for whatever twisted reasons she's made up in her little blonde head."

"it's good that you're at least self-aware,"
she interjected quietly, though the silence that descended upon them was enough of a cue for her, even without the disappointed shake of his head. hee-yeon could piece together from his reaction how harsh juno must have seemed, even accounting for her usual boisterous demeanour.

he was drained, and if they were not to be remedies, they would, at least, avoid adding burdens.

yejun's hand angled towards her, the offer— return of her cigarette gratefully accepted after a moment's hesitation. and just in time, too, for the next words that left his mouth. "how'd your little drunken soirée go? i trust you and jun-young had a nice, long chat and talked out all your pent-up feelings, no?"

a drag, and a soft tsk as she exhaled.
"must you always ruin my mood, too? so needy."


"we had the loveliest chat without speaking a word to the other,"
she said, an absurd smile creeping onto her lips despite the bitterness in her voice,
"but at least i know, for sure now, that he hates me."


she leaned, just slightly, towards him, head resting lightly on his forearm as her eyes flitting down to the hand that rested near her collarbone; the last of her pull blown gently into the night sky through barely-opened lips.
"so i should move on, no? let go of all those pent-up feelings."
her gaze lifted to meet his, sardonic expression half-obscured by the wisps of her bangs and an unsaid, unsubtle addition better left for less-sober nights,

shouldn't you, too?

but they were not the same, as they always deemed to point out when they bickered about these things. where yejun might seek to only repair his lost friendships (or so he said, though she had her doubts), there was a small, minuscule yet painfully apparent part of her that still yearned to return things to the way they were with jun. a desire acknowledged as impossible so long ago that perhaps, these days, all she hoped for was to see him smile at her again.

a damning feeling.

a waft of sweet cologne, mixed with the sharp smell of smoke; a familiar concoction that brought her to reality. her hand paused in the motion of lifting it to her lips for another drag, her mind met with the clear-headedness that always reached her eventually. she, too, was probably enveloped in the same, acrid scent, and that would not do.

with a swift flick of the wrist, the cigarette was discarded to the ground, its flickering embers stomped out with the heel of her boot. the end of the session was signalled by the added shake of her hand, ridding her fingers of any loose ashes, and the same hand reached into her purse in search of her perfume. small pink bottle in hand, she turned towards yejun,
"pull up your..."


her voice faltered as her gaze travelled to the door, catching sight of the figure standing just some ways away. the last person she wanted to see at this moment, his very presence turning her into a deer in the headlights. the miriad of emotions that filled her and taking center stage: shame, guilt almost, and hee-yeon cast a furtive glance at yejun, shifting just imperceptibly further from him. should she explain? they were just friends— no, not even. or more than that?

her attention returned to jun as he spoke, a painfully familiar smile on his face. one she could still recognise the meaning of; one that made her heart twist in her chest.

damned, she must be; it wasn't meant to be in this way.

"ah, sorry— i was just looking for juno. do you know where she went?"

hee-yeon's reaction was immediate. a knuckle bumped gently against yejun's as she fixed him with an expression that betrayed her agitation. answer him, her eyes urged, before they fled to the waistband of his trousers, then to the toe of her boots. because she hadn't a clue where juno was, of course, but also because she didn't think she could look jun in the eye right now without saying all the wrong things; a million thoughts that threatened to take form from her lips, the panicked rambles of a ghost in his past mourning a death that happened so many years ago.

why'd he even come out? a small part of her hoped he'd noticed her missing, though her logic knew with confidence it was her companion he'd probably been seeking out. not when he'd barely looked her way all night. the spike of jealousy that shot through her was an oddly refreshing feeling amidst all of her torment.

but, she supposed, it'd always been easy redirecting her heartbreak into resentment.
"seo yejun, you bastard,"
she muttered, under her breath. a half-hearted jab, but a reassuring one nonetheless.





♡coded by uxie♡
 
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mood
heeyeon where are you
outfit
here
location
shangri-la
interactions
koko
tags
dreamglow dreamglow
yoo bit-na
Could she worry about what Yejun and Hee-Yeon did with their lives? Probably not. They were adults and she couldn’t meddle in their lives. But perhaps it was her selfishness at finally seeing everyone together once again despite their misunderstandings and her desire to treasure those moments that knowing that at any moment one of them could slip up and just decide to disappear from their lives once again; and the pain that came with it was something that Bit-Na didn’t want to go through again.

But despite Hee-Yeon reassurance that both knew what they did; that feeling of uneasiness still lingered in her. But it was suddenly forgotten at the teasing of her former best friend and the flustered answer of the chef; reassuring that there were no other feelings for their friend that weren’t the ones of friendship. But that bickering felt like a fresh breeze that made her remember their times when they were in high school and how they would spend their time talking about the mysterious guy they had a crush on back then.

It was almost funny to think that back then that guy caused butterflies in the stomach in them, but that years later, neither of them would end up with him. But that’s how the first love was; the one you remember the most, but the one that most likely would not be your true love.

And just as their conversation was blossoming, it was cut short at Hee-Yeon, excusing herself to go to the bathroom and disappearing between the tumult of people that were in the club. Bit-Na wasn’t the type of person who minded waiting; but in a place surrounded by people. It almost felt out of place just sitting there without a friend by her side. There was no sight of Yejun or Juno although they were long gone and as she took a glance towards where Jun and Koko were, the last one was now alone with no sight of Jun being close to they were. Where did everyone go?

And just knowing that both were alone was enough of a reason for Bit-Na to approach the teacher. Taking a seat next to him, the girl offered him a warm smile. If there was one person who could always brighten your day was indeed Koko and with so many emotions in their time there, she needed someone that could reassure her that things would get better and put a smile on her face.

“Always arriving late, as usual. Did you once again you got too busy checking up assignments for your class?”
Bit-Na said in a teasing way.
“I want to assume you are already caught up with the news. It’s saddening to know what Chung-Ho is going through. He next to my grandfather was like the father I never had and knowing that he is sick is heartbreaking.”
A sad sigh was let out after those words.
“I’m sure everyone is thinking of a way to help them, but I feel like even if I wanted to help, I wouldn’t be able to do as much as people like Yejun or Juno.”


“Oh Sorry! Let’s change the subject. I don’t want to make ruin the mood even more. How are the kids from your class? Did they enjoy the pastries that I told you to share with them?”

Code by Stardust Galaxy ​
 









scroll








the idol



juno













mood

well, shit











outfit

this cute fit











location

shangri-la











interactions

jun











tags

neon reverie neon reverie

































What You Did


Mahalia













The sounds of a busy bar faded to background noise as the bathroom door swung shut. Juno made her way to a mirror dotted with dried water droplets and stared straight in it, inhaling then exhaling deeply.

She didn’t know what she expected tonight to be like but she knew she never expected this. This being all six of the estranged friends seeing each other for the first time in years, forced under the same roof with tensions mounting only to find out that their father figure had stage-whatever leukemia and didn’t really want their help? Yeah, not exactly a night she envisioned.

Splashing some water onto her face, Juno looked into the mirror one last time before reaching for a towel and dabbing away the water. Then she exited the bathroom and went on a search for her boyfriend. A pang of guilt went through her as she thought about Jun, feeling bad for abandoning him for so long. She said she’d be right back but in reality, had been gone for nearly twenty minutes.

Her eyes scanned the bar and then the sitting area for the familiar figure but couldn’t find him. Curious, she approached Koko to ask where Jun went and he told her that most of them had gone outside to the alley they’d spent a lot of time exploring during their school days. Thanking her friend, she headed outside in a determined search.

“I was just looking for Juno. Do you know where she went?"

Juno had just pulled the door open when she heard the words. Pausing in her tracks, she took a moment to think. Why would he ask random people in an alley where she went? Figuring she was missing something big, she stepped out and let the door swing shut behind her. ”I’m right here, baby.” she assured, walking over and slipping her hand in his. Then she looked around.

And ah. There was the problem. Yejun and Heeyeon. Standing quite close together. She didn’t give a shit since she couldn’t think of any other people on the planet who were more deserving of each other than the two of them, but knew it was hurting Jun. Wrinkling her nose at the smell of cigarette and mimicking retching motions, she turned her back to them. Fuck them. She hoped they choked on all of the nicotine they were inhaling.

”Ignore them,” she said audibly, though knew it was a lot easier said than done. ”They’re trying to hurt you, get under your skin.” While that probably wasn’t true, why else were they out here together? To try and get back him? There was no way Jun didn’t see one and then the other go outside, the alleyway exit was in the direct line of sight from the bar. They had to go out here with the intentions of him seeing. But then she remembered what Yejun said about him going to some of Heeyeon’s whatever the fuck she did in the US. So this was a little midnight soiree between two old friends, was it?

Well, fuck them. Juno reached up and placed her hands on Jun’s cheeks, uncaring of who was watching. Then, with an unreadable look on her face, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. And not just a peck either, no, this was a full on kiss in complete view of everyone. After about a minute, or maybe longer because who knows, she pulled away.

She let her hands linger for a few seconds before dropping them to his shoulders and then eventually, grabbing his hands once again. ”Better?” she asked in a whisper, raising a brow. She sure hoped he was somewhat better since she didn’t know what else to do. ”Why don’t we go back inside? We can chat with Koko-oppa and Bitna-unnie and then maybe the four of us can go hang out somewhere?”


♡coded by uxie♡
 
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"so i should move on, no? let go of all those pent-up feelings."

the warmth of heeyeon's head against his arm sent goosebumps up his sleeve as the midnight chill threatened to permeate his bones the longer they dawdled in the dimly lit alleyway. he wasn't entirely oblivious to the implication of her words— had he been so visibly distraught over their company that even heeyeon felt qualified to preach hypocritical relationship advice? surely not.

he chose to remain oblivious, not out of distrust in his companion's judgment, but out of sheer self-preservation in the presence of threats to his sanity. "as expected of our mature little hee-yeonie, all grown up now," he cooed with a tilt of the head and narrowed eyes, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips yet again with the provocation. she was only a year younger than him, but he made sure she felt that gap at all times outside of the bedroom. it was a sorry state of affairs between them; if they lost this familiar dynamic to the tension in the air, they'd truly have nothing left.

"pull up your..."

yejun turned to look at whatever had cut off heeyeon's words and imprinted such a fearful glint in her eyes, and it all made sense the instant he caught sight of the pondering face staring at them from down the alley. jun had always been facially expressive against his better wishes, and the sinking heartache in his eyes permeated the darkness straight into yejun's gut despite the fake smile he plastered on for the sake of avoiding another painfully awkward exchange.

"ah, sorry— i was just looking for juno. do you know where she went?"

the knock of heeyeon's knuckles against his own brought him out of his spiraling thoughts and back to the present. the bravado she'd been oozing prior to that moment seemed to dissipate in an instant, and all he could see standing before him was a broken young woman with a comprehensive repertoire of demons lost wavering between the connections she coveted and the dream she'd woven for herself into reality.

"seo yejun, you bastard."

despite the tangible distress in the unsolicited jab, her words lightened the burden in yejun's heart ever-so-slightly. they weren't lovers of any kind, rather a fragile codependency built on physical affection, and he knew they'd be misinterpreted if caught but he'd caved into his selfish need for comfort anyways despite the consequences. he resolved to take responsibility for any potential fallout, since it seemed his companion was not in any sort of state to do so.

just as yejun opened his mouth to offer some suggestions, juno's tiny figure popped out from the entrance and attached herself to jun's arm with a soft "i'm right here, baby." the sight was enough to send the bourbon in his stomach rolling, but he retained the same indifferent expression he always bore around people he was uncomfortable with, refusing to betray the turmoil in his mind as the idol locked lips with her boyfriend in an obscenely public display of affection.

yejun's eyes narrowed yet again and tore his gaze away from the smooching couple, an odd mix of irritation, disgust, and amusement settling in his gut as he recalled hye-joon's exaggerated retching motions. was that really necessary? he'd done everything he could to be nothing but courteous to her all night, but that didn't seem to influence her need to outwardly display her hatred of his presence. pda beyond hugging was still very rare to see in korea, and despite his time in the states, the awkwardness of it all made him wildly uncomfortable.

but he wasn't naïve; this kiss they were sharing reeked of some twisted, romantic show of force, a way to assert their dominance over the situation and nonverbally say 'you don't actually weigh on our hearts at all.'

it was so characteristically juno, but so uncharacteristically malicious and uncalled for at the same time. was this scene really worth such roundabout confrontation? even if yejun staying close to hee-yeon after they parted ways was somehow hurting jun, that was still hee-yeon's first love that juno was sucking face with. for someone who seemed to care so much about keeping in touch with her old friends, the blatant childishness in kissing her ex-friend's ex-boyfriend in full view for the sake of some middle school level retaliation came off deeply hypocritical to the businessman. it seemed she was no better than the rest of them after all, despite her holier-than-thou attitude.

'well, fuck it. i don't owe them anything, and it's not often i get to match the energies people give me. don't bother getting mad at me for the way you're acting.'

"ice cream and funnel cakes sound good right now, no? i'll treat you," yejun whispered to hee-yeon and enveloped her slender hand in his own broader one to tug her in the direction of the street in hopes of waving down a cab. as they passed the still-kissing duo, he fixed juno with a cold stare and whistled under his breath without an ounce of playfulness.

"so touching, dogs smeared with shit scolding the dogs smeared with bran," he muttered just within earshot while pulling hee-yeon towards an approaching cab. the korean proverb loosely equated to 'the pot calling the kettle black', and he knew she was smart enough to fill in the context, whether in regards to the pda or something deeper. he didn't quite care if they were misinterpreted as being in some sort of relationship as a result; if she searched their names together on google, there would be plenty of american news articles speculating as much anyways.

they didn't have to explain anything to anyone, to be perfectly honest.

in retrospect, the taunt may have even fallen on deaf ears, seeing as juno had moved to this country at the age of 14 and had missed the years they'd learned idioms in elementary school, but he didn't care enough to check and the cab was at risk of being snatched up if he didn't hurry.

the ride was mostly spent in silence, but from the moment the car door shut to the moment they walked into the ice cream parlor to place an order, yejun kept a firm grasp on hee-yeon's hand, rubbing calming circles on the back with his thumb. he didn't feel like teasing her anymore, much less flirting or anything of the sort. he merely wanted her company— her warmth— to fight off the frigid emptiness carving its nest deeper and deeper into his burning heart.

some nights, that warmth came in the form of swollen, wine-stained lips and purple marks on their necks that they'd make fun of each other for the next morning.

tonight, it took the form of two forks sticking out of a crispy, golden funnel cake topped with chocolate syrup, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream, and that was good enough for seo yejun.







the big shot



yejun.













♡coded by uxie♡
 
fest.
shangri-la
performances start at 4pm!
https:///www.naver.com/mail/inbox
RE: Children's Day Festival Updates (IMPORTANT).
Wed 5/5/21 8:00:00 KST
To: <CMAG-PRIVATE-LISTSERV.cmasiana.com> {32 recipients}
From: myungsoo.park@cmasiana,com

Hi all,

Very excited to say that preparations are complete and we're about ready to get this show on the road. All we're waiting on now is our food vendors, which are on track to be all set up by 11:00 if all goes swimmingly.

As for the charities we were discussing, the sponsor board has decided that 50% of profits are going to underfunded school districts in Seoul, 30% are going to local businesses, and 20% are going to various Seoul orphanages.

For those who were just added onto this thread, here's a quick recap of our updated layout and itinerary:
  • 10:00 - Parade
    • Local schools and youth organizations
    • Floats and dance performances
    • Starts at the river and ends at the park near the amphitheater
  • 11:30 - Martial Arts Exhibitions
    • Park across the amphitheater next to the food vendor stalls
      • 11:30 - Park Si-woo (tae kwon do)
      • 11:55 - Lee Sung-ho (judoka)
      • 12:30 - Lee Yong-mun (wushu taolu)
      • 12:55 - Park Jun-young (fencing)
      • 1:20 - Korean Zombie (kickboxing)
  • 1:45 - Musical Theatre Performance
    • "Yoohoo Takes You Around The World"
    • Seoul International Elementary School
  • 3:30 - Sponsor Messages
    • CM Asiana (me, Ye-jun)
    • Samsung (Lee Seo-jeong)
    • FFATE (Yang Hee-yeon)
    • AVA Entertainment (Choi Yoo-seok)
  • 4:00 - Concert
    • Opening: TZB
    • Opening: Kim Seol-hyun
    • Headlining: MYST.eria

Great work thus far, everyone, and remember to take a stroll around the festival whenever you get a chance.

Best Regards,
Myungsoo

Myungsoo Park
Director of Philanthropy
myungsoo.park@cmasiana,com
+82 2 609 5074
coded by reveriee.
 
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mood
this is fine
outfit
here
location
festival
interactions
no one
tags
yoo bit-na
The day of the Children’s festival was full of colorful imagery and the sounds of giggles were enough to set someone in a cheerful mood, but Bit-Na couldn’t be more stressed out during that time; mostly because she wanted everything to go according to how she planned it. No, everything needed to go according to how she planned it; mainly because her pride as a chef was on the line.

Trying to convince the owners that taking part was going to be beneficial to the restaurant despite that they had already given up on keeping afloat the place. Because of their terrible business and marketing choices; that were just dragging the restaurant into a pit hole was a harder task than she expected. In other circumstances, she would have accepted the no she knew she would have gotten as an answer. But since this was planned to help Chung-Ho’s treatment, the chef couldn’t stand still and also because she didn’t want to be the only one that wasn’t able to help in any form.

And that was the reason she ended up making a PPT to the owners with a detailed analysis of how their profits would grow favorably, their clientele would duplicate from their current one and how would they be able to expand to a higher social stratum; because of the participation of families that were attending as part of the renowned brands that were the sponsors of the festival.

Maybe listening to Yejun rambling about the business world after all those years really paid off or she just shoot herself in the foot. Because despite the disinterest they showed at the beginning. They ended up accepting, expecting the results that Bit-Na promised them. Results that she wasn’t confident enough on obtaining after knowing her job was on the line for this.

Sure, her dream was to leave her actual job and open her own restaurant, but that was a goal far away. She couldn’t lose her job. She still had rent to pay. It would be disastrous if something went wrong. That’s why making sure that the food was exquisite, and that the clients received the best service they could experience, was part of the tasks that Bit-Na was trying her best to make successful and until that moment, she was actually getting somewhere.

But she knew she couldn’t let them down. After all, she made a promise to them; she could leave someone in charge and she was sure the kids would enjoy her lunchboxes while all saw Myst.eria performed. What could exactly go wrong with taking a brief break from this chaotic day?
Code by Stardust Galaxy ​
 



jun-young.





































  • mood



    i'm :) doing :) so :) fine :)
















the festival lights made it a pretty picture of bright smiles and rainbow joys. the air was alive with noise; excited shouting, cheerful chatting and lovely melodies formed the spirit that was the festival. it was good to see everyone enjoying the activities and performances, especially since this event was set up with the objective of raising money for charities.

jun felt proud of everyone's effort, hoped that at the end of the day, the worries about shangri la's financing would be no more. because they were doing all of this for him, for chungho ; his care was the reason of their paths intertwining once more, and the reason they put all their hands together, despite how bad that fated night went.

truth to be told, the reunion still plagued the athlete's mind. he could remember everything so vividly, so achingly; the sensation of lips pressing against his, the burning of cheeks in a red flush as shock rooted him in place— the cold effects of this intimate display pulling away those he didn't think would hurt him so to see leaving together.

jun wished he could've said something then, but words fell where feelings collided, leaving an empty space too close to the heart to not echo those beats hollow and harrowing. all he could do was watch them disappear together, haunted by the silence that lingered like a soft uttered curse. all he could do was pretend like he was glad and happy, all while swallowing another gulp of bitter nothingness.

yeah, he was better.

jun liked to think he could move on from it, because that's what you should do, isn't it. let the past be in the past and focus on what could happen instead of what happened. people say you can’t simply sit around and look at your wounds, and they are right— but what about scars? what about those faded lines that no longer bring pain, but the memories of it do? because some of those pains never leave your bones. like salt in the sea, they become part of you — and you carry them, everywhere and every time.

even if you wish to let them go.

hee-yeon and yejun were just that; scars he wished he could heal. or maybe he was just weak, weak and a coward, afraid to face his past and make peace with it. afraid to make those scars wounds again so it could heal right this time, because there was this pain and that pain back then. one, he could survive, live with even. the other—

a fragmented soul could be put together again once,,

twice, though...

or maybe, maybe jun wished to avoid a truth. a truth that while hee-yeon and yejun were worthy of redemption, he was not. after all, those endings of two were not written by one; he always had his hand in it, too. and maybe the fault wasn't theirs, it was his. but he couldn't admit that, could he? not when those broken relationships had caused such cracks within a group once so close, so inseparable. so jun stayed silent, silent like the guilty after getting away with his crimes. silent and pretending, pretending they aren't there.

pretending he was nothing more than an athlete standing in the crowd, waiting for the grand show to begin.



































karma



kingdom










♡coded by uxie♡
 









scroll








the teacher



kogun













mood

pls let this go smoothly











outfit

black button down, jeans, and converse











location

festival grounds











interactions

kind of everyone











tags

n/a

































Love Me For Me


MASN













Saturday mornings should be for sleeping in as long as possible, not for waking up at the ass-crack of dawn. However, Kogun couldn’t complain since it was festival day, a festival that had been in the works for months and a festival that would benefit both Chungho and the local schools.

When his alarm went off at 6:45am, Koko rolled out of bed and went straight for the shower in order to not show up to the festival looking like a zombie. After getting dressed, he’d grabbed his things and left his apartment, heading over towards the local bakery to buy donuts for the kids. Gotta get them on a sugar high right before the parade so they last for the duration of it.

At 8am, he showed up to the designated meeting area since he wanted to be there before any kids got there and also wanted a few minutes to relax before the chaos began. By 9, all children had arrived and it was a complete shit show getting all of them in their correct places for the parade start at 10. By 12:30, he’d given them their lunchboxes made by Bitna and sent them on their merry ways with their parents. Perfect, this gave him time to head over to the exhibition area and make it in time to watch Junyoung.

Spotting (prince, presidents son) Jaeho in the crowd, Kogun watched the entire exhibition with his hyung, making a mental note to ask Jun if he’d be willing to do a free workshop for the kids. When it was over, he and Jaeho found Bitna and walked over to the stage to watch the musical theater performances. If Koko was losing his mind over how cute those kids were, no he wasn’t.

He found Jun in the crowd after the theater performances were over and dragged him over before the start of the sponsor messages. Kogun made sure to position Jun in between himself and Bitna with Jaeho bringing up the rear. Why? Yejun and Heeyeon were about to speak and he didn’t want Jun watching that alone, especially not after what he’d heard through the grapevine about what happened at the reunion.

Now, the least he could do was offer support silently as they waited for Juno and MYST.eria to take the stage.


♡coded by uxie♡
 








between accounting for the requests of each sponsor, managing the media coverage, and slaving over the budget to double check their financial details, the days leading up to the children's day festival proved to be far heavier of a workload for yejun on top of his full-time job than he'd initially imagined. dark circles underneath his eyes more pronounced than ever, the business man had opted to simply not sleep for many of the nights prior to d-day, instead passing out on the bar counter over his papers the next afternoon as jaeho scrubbed the floors around his stool.

despite his ragged mental state, yejun managed to pull himself together by the time he needed to be presentable before his colleagues, layers of his generous assistant's concealer fighting with all its might to conceal the visible exhaustion under his eyes.

"you clean up nice for a soulless husk of a man."

'ouch. unsolicited.'

"you know i determine your salary, right?"

regardless of all the strife involved in preparing for the event, even yejun wasn't unsusceptible to the festive atmosphere; being surrounded by so many delighted children undoubtedly tugged at his heart, envy at the smiling faces of so many complete families eclipsed by sheer gratitude that his plan had finally come to fruition without a hitch. even the weather, which had been forecasting a slight drizzle later in the afternoon, had completely cleared up to reveal sunny skies a gentle breeze.

further down closer to the stage, myungsoo took care to fix the collar of his blazer and shoot yejun a cheesy wink upon meeting his gaze.

"you're up, my zombie friend," he urged, flicking a piece of lint off yejun's shoulder. "i've been talking all day, so try not to fuck up the few lines i gave you, yeah?"

yejun scoffed and ran a hand through his stylishly tousled hair, resisting the urge to rub his eyes to wake himself up after his assistant had meticulously applied a subtle layer of eyeshadow on them.

"speaking to people is my entire job. you can handle a few more hours of it."

"you're a pitiless man, seo yejun."

"there's no reason to pity you, hyung."

another few minutes of meaningless banter passed in the blink of an eye and then it was time for the sponsors to open up for the concert. while yejun was so used to public speaking that he could probably deliver a speech in his sleep at this point, the sheer size of the crowd before him was a bit intimidating for the businessman who usually only spoke at events such as corporate banquets and press conferences.

regardless, he steeled his nerves and put on his most relaxed smile, tapping the mic for good measure before beginning his introduction:

"good evening, everyone, i am cm asiana's director of partnerships, seo yejun, and this is our director of philanthropy and host for the night, park myungsoo. we hope you've all gotten a chance to look around at everything the festival today has to offer and filled your bellies with some treats from our exclusively local caterers.

"we would like to seize this opportunity to raise a toast to everyone who helped pull this fundraiser off, especially all of the generous business owners who graciously donated their energy and resources to make sure this event was one for the books. all profits raised from this event will be donated to various underfunded school districts, local businesses, and orphanages across seoul. we are honored to thank all sponsors, organizations, and donors who took the time out of their day to bring this fundraiser to life.

"let us continue giving back we can for the betterment and enrichment of our next generation of bright minds. thank you all for joining us, and we hope you enjoy the rest of the show! happy children's day!"

with the sponsor speeches out of the way without a hitch (despite myungsoo wiggling his eyebrows at yejun suggestively when he wished heeyeon luck and gave her wrist a gentle squeeze before her speech representing FFATE), the business man was free to enjoy the rest of the show from his designated seat at the front of the audience. he hadn't listened to much idol music outside of his enlistment days, but every now and then he'd come across a video of myst.eria's performance at some award show or another and take the time out of his meeting-packed schedule to watch his old friend shine on stage.

this was the first time he'd be able to see it live since their school days, however, and the notion brought him equal doses of anxiety and anticipation. hye-joon was his childhood first love, though he would've rather impaled his neck with a screwdriver than admit it back then, and her current lover was the same man he'd once treated like his own younger brother yet now hated his very existence.

everything tasted far more bitter than sweet to yejun, who felt like a stranger in his own skin when he walked the streets of seoul as though viewing the world through the eyes of someone who was no longer around to see what had become of his delicate relationships. that naive and driven yejun of way back when who had packed up everything and moved to a foreign nation by himself, alone and depressed but determined to make it no matter what the world threw at him— would he look at the ironic scene before him right now and feel the floor drop out beneath his feet? would he feel the same revulsion that 26-year-old yejun felt coiling in his gut like a ravenous serpent feeding on the crimson ink in his soul

or would he nod his head in approval and clap his hands at the finality of it all like the ice cold cog he believed he had to become to survive in such a cutthroat industry, because, well...

'that's just what life does to us all in the end.'







the big shot



yejun.













♡coded by uxie♡
 
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hee-yeon




filler



filler



filler



filler



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yeonnam-dong



dvwn








when hee-yeon dragged herself out of bed at five in the morning, she was surprisingly okay. she would have to be, either way, even if the prospect of another reunion was utterly dreadful, but the months that had passed had served for a much-needed respite. perhaps it was reconciling with bit-na that helped her through, with their little shopping trips that were so reminiscent of simpler times. their recovering friendship re-ignited hope— in herself, in her relationships— that had been lost so long ago.

so yeah, she was okay. it would be okay.

she took a cab there anyways, because she expected she'd need at least several drinks to close up the day without losing her mind, still.

it was bright and early when hee-yeon arrived at the venue, just an hour or so before the parade was set to start; the next few hours were spent making sure nothing under her charge went wrong. perhaps it was a good omen for the rest of the day that she didn't have to make a single urgent phone call and that things went so smoothly she'd even had the time to walk around the festival herself. the atmosphere was bright, joyous, and infectious enough that it put a smile on her face, too.

thus far, her recount of the day would have been positive— even if her conversation with her favourite chef had lasted an all of three words before she'd hurried off to meet another customer's demands. she'd even managed to make it to a certain olympic fencer's exhibition and admire his skills again (from a good, safe distance away) for the first time in years.

thus far.

it wasn't the speech, of course. even while she waited in the wings of the stage for yejun to finish his, going up there to recite a few words was the least of her concerns. she'd grown so accustomed to it over her years in the industry, and she'd done it so many times she already had an exact smile reserved for public speaking exclusively.

no, the problem was the idol who had just emerged with the rest of her group from their holding rooms; the problem, to be more precise, was that hee-yeon was entertaining the possibility of incurring her wrath by speaking to her.

the day had gone too well, clearly, since she'd grown complacent enough to think of it as a possibility and not a definite outcome.

it was a stupid move, by all accounts, and something she wouldn't have considered at all a few months ago. but the cute coffee dates with koko and soft laughter over a cosy dinner shared with bitna had surely changed her— or found her, she might say, along with the feelings she had pushed down in her years of absence. the yang hee-yeon that was neither talented designer nor ruthless ceo, but the yang hee-yeon that loved and missed her friends so dearly.

and juno— hyejoon— was as much part of her memories as bitna and ko-geon and even yejun. they had drifted so far, but perhaps it wasn't irreparable; and if she could even begin to reconcile with her, maybe the last of her splintered connections wouldn't be that far off, either.

a microphone was offered to her just as yejun's speech came to a close, and he gave her a small squeeze as he passed her, to which she responded with a small smile and a silent good job.

"hee-yeon ssi?"

"ah, yes."


her time on stage passed uneventfully, and it was just as the polite applause rang through the venue with her final word that she made up her mind. a 'good luck' would be considered courteous, surely, and it would be kind, natural, and just in passing— she would go back to the rooms to check on her staff right after, before taking her seat in the audience.

the smallest first step, but a step nonetheless.

she prepared a smile as she approached the idol, and it was with careful gentleness and a small smile that she said,
"good luck. i'm looking forward to it."






♡coded by uxie♡
 
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scroll








the idol



juno













mood

it's unfortunately showtime











outfit

here











location

the festival stage











interactions

heeyeon, but mentions everyone











tags

Uxie Uxie

































What You Did


Mahalia













Having not left her apartment once these past two months apart from getting the bare necessities, the prospect of actually leaving her bed and getting on a stage seemed incredibly daunting. Juno wasn’t sure she could do it. But she had to, had to for Chungho’s sake and there was no way she was letting him down.

A few days before the festival, she finally left her apartment for more than an hour in order to attend rehearsals with the rest of the girls. Everything went smoothly, thankfully, and then Juno stayed behind to rehearse for her solo stage, a performance of the song that started it all. She was performing her English cover of ‘Way Back Home’ and could only hope a video of it would somehow make its way to Chungho.

The day of the festival, there was no time to chat with anyone (not that she wanted to anyways) and she made her way backstage to the trailers where the rest of MYST.eria was. After taking a look at Juno’s new hair color, Chaewoo asked "Finally done being a recluse, hermit?"

And Juno just rolled her eyes. But it was a fair question since she’d hardly spoken to anyone these past 2 months. Feeling guilty about what happened at the reunion, she’d sent Jun a quick “i’m so sorry” text the day after it all happened and hadn’t spoken to him since. Even though they hadn’t done anything and were lovely as always in her eyes, she didn’t really have anything to say to Bitna or Kogun so hadn’t talked to them either. Everyone already knew that Juno would rather walk through a field full of legos barefoot than speak to Heeyeon so that was a no brainer. And she’d forgotten Yejun had given her his kakaotalk ID, plus she had no desire to speak to him, so hadn’t reached out.

The only people she’d spoken to were her manager, CEO Yooseok-nim, and then Myungsoo-ssi. Myungsoo had seemed to be the one to take charge of festival planning so Juno had spoken to him regarding all things festival (and if she was very much looking forward to meeting him, no one had to know). Then of course she had to loop in her manager and CEO-nim so they could be updated regarding festival performances.

Now it was D-Day and as far as she’d heard, everything had gone relatively smoothly, thankfully. "I’m done, yes,” she answered her unnie and promptly moved to hair and makeup. Well, that ended far too quickly and way before she wanted them to be, MYST.eria was making their way to the stage.

“Good luck. I’m looking forward to it.”

Juno had been so lost inside of her head that she hadn’t heard or seen Heeyeon’s approach. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. Last time she checked, she and Heeyeon were not on good terms, so what prompted this? However, the tone of voice seemed genuine, seemed as if Heeyeon was actually looking forward to it.

”Oh,” she answered, startled. ”Er. . . thank you. Good job on your speech.” Truthfully, she hadn’t heard a single word of the speech but it seemed rude not to say something about it, especially when the older appeared to go out of her way to say something to Juno. She couldn’t dwell on the matter for long as they were told to get in their places for the performance, the openers having just ended.

Thankfully, the performance went off without a hitch and as she stayed behind for her solo stage, became immensely grateful that the stage lights made it impossible to see the crowd. It wasn’t that she was nervous, rather, she just really didn’t want to see the faces of her friends reacting to Way Back Home. This performance as a whole was just too much too soon and she didn’t think she’d be able to handle seeing their reactions.

When the lights cut off, she hauled ass off the stage and navigated her way through the dark back to the trailers. Just in time too, since as soon as the door swung shut, the flames erupted. Materials and equipment had shifted around during the performances and ended up in the path of the pyrotechnics. Instead of shutting it completely off, a stagehand accidentally turned it all the way on and the shifted materials immediately ignited.

Locked safely away inside of her trailer, Juno was oblivious to all of the chaos that was ensuing.


♡coded by uxie♡
 



jun-young.





































  • mood



    i protecc D:<
















red and grey smothered the skies and blistered the souls of those previously content and peaceful. how such a wonderful event could end in such a burning chaos was beyond anyone’s imagination; the zenith of joy and success collapsing as fast as the flames rose tall and high. panic spread around like smoke while cheers became shouting of fear and hysteria, and it was in these moments, when eternity happened in an hour.

guilt.

jun-young could only think of the guilt clenching his heart as he pushed past the craze of people, eyes wide and worried, mind wild and wretched. it was probably not a smart move to do what he did; rushing into the building of fire and smoke, but god— how could he stand back and watch as the one he held dear was in danger. juno — he felt guilty that she felt guilty about doing something a girlfriend would do, solely because of his foolish grudges and pain. felt guilty because juno would always follow him to the end, no matter the sacrifices or scrutiny, and he could not even truly say everything was okay and mean it. she deserved so much better, and so much more than this.

this wildfire of a woman; she was always supposed to be the one with flames at her fingertips and fire on the tongue. he was never supposed to lose her to them — couldn’t imagine losing her to them. it was why he stormed into the building, right on his way to check on his girlfriend.

but there was someone else there too, wasn’t there?

and even though his guilt was great, his regret might be grander.

her name slipped right through the halls, a voice, coughing and urgent. jun-young did not know who it was — maybe a stylist or someone else she knew — but it stunned him all the same. his body froze immediately in his movement and the heart dropped to new depths as a realization struck him in his core.

heeyeon was there too.

the image of her seeped into the mind while buried memories and emotions clawed their way back to the surface. it was this graveyard, full of words and thoughts that died long ago, that suddenly became a little too alive to be simple ghosts of the past. regret flooded every crevice of his being, because the first thing he could think of wasn’t the hurt and wrongs between them; it was every joy, every right.

like the precious laughter that sounded a bit too loud for a joke that bad,

like dances that go on and on despite the downpour of cold and rain.

like the moment of watching her reach for the stars under a dark cerulean sky and thinking; i will weave them into white blistering crowns for you.

why did he let himself taint them?

why couldn’t he let go of the past before it was too late?

now, he was running to someone he shouldn’t run to, yelling her name in worry, in fear.

all because regret was eating him up.

all because he once wished heeyeon would hurt as much as he did,

but he didn’t mean this.

coal-like clouds swirled stormingly in his longs and the taste of ash scorched the tongue once he finally found her. her figure stumbled around in the room, cloth held over the mouth and a book in her hand; she looked unwell, but alive.

“heeyeon-” he uttered breathlessly, relief engulfing him. all that was bad and tainted, he could no longer remember in the moment. it was why he did something perhaps surprising to the both of them; rushing to her side and pulling her into a hug so tight, it could crush bones. his arms held her close to him, as if afraid what he saw wasn’t real and she could slip right through his embrace. words spilled from his mouth in reassured repetition, maybe more to himself than her.

“you’re okay… you’re okay,” unconscious desperation clung to his voice and if time wasn’t so quick on running out, he would’ve stayed where they were; in this moment where their history meant so little and yet so much. right where he could pretend everything was wrong except for them. but both their bodies started to miss air more and more, with coughs riddling their breathing and smoke burning their lungs.

afraid that heeyeon might collapse before they could make it out of the building, jun lifted her up. “i got you,” he whispered softly, not knowing if she could hear him still or not. the athlete then started to make his way back out of the building, ignoring the pain in his lungs and unbearable heat against his skin. he didn’t care how he’d come out of it; may this fire burn everything to the ground, including him.

but not her —- never her.



































numb



dotan










♡coded by uxie♡
 






hee-yeon




filler



filler



filler



filler



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  • home (filler tab)



































yeonnam-dong



dvwn








the screams had begun not long after haena had left the room, followed quickly by the pattering of rushed footsteps outside the door. by the time hee-yeon was ready to stick her head out to see what was happening, the bitter smell of ash had already come. a fire, a fire. how? when?

no, it wasn't important. she split into action immediately, fumbling around the room in search of whatever might be useful. the loud rip of fabric tore through the silence that had come to rest over her, with no time to admire the beautifully straight tear that her experienced hands had produced; folded once, twice, before she pressed it over her mouth and cracked open the door. she was immediately greeted by a rush of heat that was yet to be unpleasant, but it was the thick smoke that had already filled the hallway that was the most distressing.

she would just have to take her chances. did she have anything else she could use? no water— what did she even have with her? she...

hee-yeon paused. it came to mind in an instant, and it was against her better judgment that she stumbled away from the door, a clumsy hand searching in her bag despite the ever-growing smell of soot that crept into the room. a statistic floated around in her mind as she rummaged, a number she had no doubt skimmed over in those mornings so listless she had tapped on a random article online— something about how more people died from the smoke than the actual fire itself.

you were always far too sentimental for your own good. too focused on the past.

it was after what felt like an eternity that her fingers finally brushed against its rough creases— a crinkled sketchbook, worn-out pages bound with leather wizened over the years. it was a beloved thing that contained all of her earliest designs, that had been with her since high school, and that she brought with her whenever she needed good luck.

it was carefully tucked into her chest and she turned towards the door, finally ready to leave. the slight unfocus in her vision was discarded as being clouded by the thick haze, and she staggered forward right as she felt her chest flip as a harsh cough jumped out from her mouth. had she already wasted too much time?

another step, and she wondered if the other people backstage were safe. juno. had she managed to evacuate? she hadn't looked in her best state today...

another step, and the next thought that hit her was the irony of a death like this when a pack of cigarettes still sat in her bag. maybe she would quit if she lived—

"hee-yeon—" another step, and she felt his arm around her. "you're okay... you're okay."

she glanced up to meet his face, eyebrows furrowing. a cursed mix of incredulity and relief flooded through her being, a feeling that interrupted by a harsh cough.
"jun...?"


why was he here?

he was coughing too, and her eyes darted around the room in search of her ruined shirt. she'd tear him a strip too— her legs lifted off the ground, calling her alarmed gaze back to him, with a readied protest swallowed by another sudden coughing fit. the
put me down
she wished to say so desperately hung heavily on her tongue, buried beneath the soot that continued to fill their lungs as he raced through the building.

it wasn't worth it for both of them to die. especially not him, and especially not for her.

hee-yeon's eyes flitted close just as the exit came into view, her last thought only of guilt; guilty, because of the insurmountable debt she owed to this man that she might never come close to repaying in this lifetime; guilty, because through it all, she still wished to be by his side.





♡coded by uxie♡
 








juno's performance was beautifully professional, nothing short of what yejun expected, and he had half a mind to shoot her a congratulatory text once it ended before reigning in the impulsive urge. they had not left on particularly good terms since their last non-business conversation, a detail he'd overlooked in the hustle and bustle of coordinating the festival to make sure her team faced no issues on d-day.

'well... she knows she's good at her job even without me saying so. i should go make sure everything's going okay with bit-na."

the distinct stinging scent of ash and a faint orange glow in yejun's peripheral vision froze him in his tracks from where he'd begun snaking his way down the stalls adjacent to the stage, an icy chill striking his core despite the sudden rise in temperature around the venue.

"the fuck is that—"

his anxieties were confirmed in the form of a billowing plume of smoke erupting from somewhere along the side of the stage, spiralling upwards towards the evening sky as screams tore through the open air. security staff members did their best to calmly shepherd the audience towards the rear exits away from danger, but panic ensued regardless, tears and cries of horror surrounding him as he looked around desperately for anyone who might know what was going on while directing some lost kids back to their families.

his eyes eventually landed on bit-na's stall, where a frantic myungsoo was on the phone while helping the restaurant staff pack as many of their belongings as they could before joining the escaping guests. the businessman raced over, scooping bit-na up into a quick, relieved hug before pulling back to scan over her petite form for any injuries from the stampeding crowd. luckily, she seemed unharmed in the chaos. he gave her arms a reassured squeeze at that observation.

"thank god you're okay. what the hell is going on?!" ye-jun inquired, turning to face a frazzled myungsoo, who seemed to be getting an earful from the local fire chief.

myungsoo shook his head and covered the mic to answer his co-worker. "something went wrong with pyrotechnics backstage! i-i guess a whole bunch of props and shit caught fire or somethi—" a pause, eyes widening as he received more intel, "—and th-there's still some people inside, they think! they haven't found one of the myst.eria members, ffate's ceo, and one of the stage hands. i—"

yejun didn't hear anything else from that point onwards as he turned and sprinted directly back towards the stage, hopping over the barrier and dodging security guards despite myungsoo shouting at him in distress. there were people inside— his friends were inside— and there was no time to waste on waiting for orders. they were all here because of his stupid plan, they were stuck back there because of him.

yejun had spent nearly all of his adult years building a stable foundation for his eventual blissful life, the future happiness he was sure he'd be able to obtain if he just worked a little harder, stayed up a little later, climbed a little higher, held out a little longer. and yet, before he knew it, his world had become one of rigidity and pretenses, his whims and aspirations locked behind an airtight seal deep in the trenches of his heart.

business deals could not be used to define friendships, nor were they capable of evaluating the honesty in his sentiments, but how else could yejun measure the weight of his emotions? he did not have the answer yet, but perhaps it was for that very reason that he found himself risking it all to save a woman who hated the sterile monster he'd become.

'by letting it go, it all gets done. the world is won by those who let it go. but when you try and try, the world is beyond the winning.' lao tzu— curse his philosophy courses for plagueing his psyche after all these years.

time had long since tempered his volition, whether he'd been willing to accept that until this very moment or not— now, he would give up everything to find the answer he had been seeking.

just as he braced himself to dive into the wall of smoke before him, a familiar figure emerged with a nearly unconscious woman in his arms. yejun halted in his tracks and blinked in surprise, concern flooding his gaze as he recognized jun underneath the layer of soot coating his face. he looked like utter shit, but he was still standing, and that was all yejun could ask for. when he glanced down to examine the body in his arms, he was hit with a second shock, finding that person to be none other than an incapacitated hee-yeon.

'... not hye-joon.'

yejun continued barreling past junyoung, having stalled too long already in the few seconds he'd paused outside the entrance. the thick veil of smoke made it nearly impossible to accurately survey each room one by one, but he ripped off his undershirt to tie around his mouth and did his best anyways, feeling around the walls to navigate and praying that his memory of the stage's layout was better than he gave it credit for.

it was hot, nearly unbearably so, sweat rolling off his searing skin in waves, but yejun pushed forward nonetheless, ash filling his lungs with every haggard breath as his desperation reached record levels. by the time he reached the workshop in the back left corner of the venue where props were meant to be assembled and repaired, tears freely streamed down his cheeks, cutting a clear path through the soot.

and yet, through the smoke and flames and tears, he found her, lost and disoriented amidst the orange forest surrounding her.

"juno—" he called weakly before getting cut off by his own strangled cough. "juno!"

yejun gritted his teeth at the white hot pain licking his calves as he strode towards her, fighting desperately against the urge to hack up every last fleck of ash in his lungs until he could make sure hye-joon was safe.

"it's me," he shouted over the roaring chaos once he was close enough to pull her into his arms in an attempt to shield her from any falling debris, "it's yejun! the loading dock is just—" another cough, "—just around the corner; come on, we have to hurry!"

‘you have to make it out. i need you.’

without waiting for an answer, yejun lifted juno's petite frame and hoisted her over his shoulder before making a guess towards where he thought the exit probably was according to his memory. the loading dock was in fact just around the corner, just as he'd remembered, but the gates were shut and locked, eliciting a string of expletives from his cracked lips.

"fucking fuck, for fuck's sake—" with a bit more groping of the walls, yejun found the back door to the trailers a couple feet away from the loading dock, its handle unlocked but jammed out of place, most likely by a metal bookcase that had fallen against it. the scratched-up window in the door revealed that the trailers in the back had been untouched by the flames, despite being illuminated by its bright orange glow.

yejun glanced around frantically, at a loss for how he could get them out in one piece. there was far too much smoke by this point to navigate back out the way he'd come in; he'd have to get this door open somehow if he didn't want them to die a painfully crispy death.

the businessman fumbled around the boxes in the bookshelf in search of anything that could break the window and eventually wrapped his fingers around a steel wrench, hot to the touch but not painfully so. without a moment's hesitation, yejun pulled it out and rammed it against the window with all his might, trying his best to ignore the tremor in his arms at the stress of carrying juno during this whole process.

the window shattered easily, glass shards flying out into the night air as the sudden breeze met his nostrils. however, yejun did not have time to enjoy the reprieve. with his free hand, he reached through the broken frame and located the handle on the other side, rattling the knob in every direction in an attempt to wrestle it open.

"come on!"

it wasn't until yejun rammed his side against the door while repeating this action that the exit slammed open, the pair stumbling out into the open air as he struggled to regain his footing before they both could eat pavement. his arm had caught a shard of glass sticking out of the window's frame in the maneuver, but he didn't even register the blood trickling down his bicep before making a beeline towards the expanse of grass behind the trailers.

nothing mattered except her. not the festival, not the money, not even his life.

when they were at a distance yejun deemed far enough to be safe, he placed juno down on the grass as gently as he could, despite his body screaming at him to just drop her at this point, and collapsed nearby, gasping out strangled breaths as he tried to peer through his smoke-induced blindness for her hand.

“you’re here, you're safe,” yejun whispered, voice hoarse and barely audible over the cacophony of roaring flames behind them. he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something about the serenity of the unbothered night sky juxtaposed by the orange and gray below brought out an honesty from him that he hadn’t planned on baring to his less-than-receptive companion. “you can’t die yet—“ another wracking cough. “you can’t… you taught me how to love, how to really care for someone other than myself, but not how to stop—“ a tear rolled down his cheek, and he squeezed his eyes shut to keep more from escaping; he was speaking more to himself than anyone at this point. “how do i stop?”

weaving his trembling fingers through her’s, the most he could do from then on was reach for the cellphone in his pocket and press the shortcut to call the last person he'd spoken to over the phone— kogun, who he'd rung earlier to check on the status of the musical preparations— before the device slipped from his fingers, stars swimming across his vision as exhaustion finally took over his charred and bloody body.

everything hurt, from top to bottom, inside and out, but yejun couldn't focus on any of it. the last thing he wanted to see was the moonlight peeking over the treeline, round and illustrious, casting a beautiful glow on juno’s glossy hair before darkness could take over his view.

the dial tone of his outgoing call faded into meaningless white noise before he could find out whether it had been picked up, fading in and out of consciousness.







the big shot



yejun.













♡coded by uxie♡
 
Last edited:









scroll








the idol



juno













mood

am i dead??











outfit

here











location

inferno then field











interactions

myst.eria & yejun











tags

sox sox

































Speak


Lloyiso













“I could really go for a frozen marg right about now.” said Somin.

“Not surprised.” replied Yebin.

“Rude.” huffed Somin.

“You literally call yourself an alcoholic everyday, how is this rude?” Yebin wondered with a snort, pulling out her phone.

“In her defense, it is pretty warm out for a spring day. A marg sounds good.” added Chaewoo.

Juno tuned them out as she put her in-ears and bluetooth mic pack in their respective cases and handed them off to a staff member. Accepting the mini fan that was handed to her, she took her jacket off and took a seat in a hair and makeup chair, ready to get this thick and itchy stage makeup the hell off of her face.

The next few minutes passed by in silence with everyone presumably on their phones, until Ruby spoke up. “Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“Listen. . . it sounds like screaming.” Rushed footsteps were heard, followed by the sound of the trailer door opening.

“Whats that smell?”

“It smells like smoke. Shit…. I think there’s a fire!” the leader exclaimed.

Now that got everyone’s attention. Juno was on her feet in an instant and rushed to the door, the others following. Though they couldn’t see any flames, they could definitely smell the smoke and knew they had to get out of here quickly. While the others fled the trailer and made a beeline for the exit, Juno and Ruby remained, sharing frightened looks with each other.

“Unnie, didn’t some of our staff go back to the backstage area to get the rest of the power packs?” Juno asked, voice filled with dread.

Ruby just nodded. “Let’s go find them.” And she rushed off, Juno hot on her heels.

A few minutes into the rescue mission and it became clear that it was going to be a failed one. Though they tried to stay together, Ruby had long since disappeared from sight, the thick smoke and ash all around preventing Juno from even seeing a foot in front of her—there was no way she could follow anyone. And she didn’t even think to bring something to tie around her face (no, she was not about to take her shirt off) to help prevent smoke inhalation, so now she was breathing in all of the smoke and ash.

Stumbling around blindly, throat raw and blistering, she continued on. Debris was falling all around her, the various pieces having succumbed to the fiery inferno. One fallen piece had landed on her back and managed to slice open a sizable gash. Blood was now dripping freely but she hardly felt it, adrenaline somehow propelling her forward in search of safety.

Only when something struck her so hard across the forehead that she saw stars and momentarily blacked out did she stop moving forward. What a way to die, she thought, trapped back stage in a fiery abyss with nowhere to go. Then she heard someone calling her name. Given the fact that visibility sucked, there was a 99% chance she had a concussion, and was likely about to suffer from a collapsed lung from smoke inhalation, she couldn’t figure out who it was.

“I’m here.” she called, or tried to since all that came out was a hoarse whisper followed by several hacking coughs. Next thing she knew, she was pulled into someone’s arms, grimacing at the pain that flared up her back. She thought she heard him say ‘Yejun’ but didn’t have any time to find out for sure before she was thrown over a back. Head swimming from the earlier impact and now blood rush, Juno faded in and out of consciousness as they moved through the wreckage and was pretty much a dead weight, offering no help whatsoever to get them out of here.

Completely unaware of the struggle he went through to escape the wreckage and inferno, she didn’t really start to come to until they hit fresh air and wasn’t even close to full consciousness until her bruised and bloody body was gently placed upon the earth. Brown eyes slowly opened when a hand gripped hers and she turned her head to the side, trying to see who her savior was. With still blurry vision, all she managed to make out was a voice but it was one she recognized.

“You can’t die yet. You can’t. . . . you taught me how to love, how to really care for someone other than myself, but not how to stop.”

It took way longer than it should have for his words to process but when they did, all she could do was squeeze his hand tightly, actions speaking louder than words at this moment. Though now was not the time to talk about love (with both badly injured, her on the verge of a collapsed lung from hella smoke inhalation and him suffering from the same plus more due to carrying her through the flames), it was also the perfect time. If death was truly right around the corner, there was no better time than now to confess all bottled up thoughts and feelings.

And Juno wasn’t sure if her heart ached from the pain of the past few minutes or from the words he spoke.

”You don’t,” she replied to the ‘how do I stop’, voice at a whisper. ”Once you start to love and care for someone, you’ll do so for the rest of your life regardless of what happens.” There was a part of her that was thankful that her voice was gone and that Yejun seemed entirely incapable of comprehending a single thing spoken to him so he wouldn’t hear what she said. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed. . . . really, she wasn’t. Okay. . . maybe she was.

But they needed to talk about it, assuming they both survived. Vowing to bring it up at a later time, she returned the hand squeeze. Or tried to, since all she probably managed to do was to barely shift her fingers over his. Her eyes slipped shut as he managed to call Kogun, though quickly popped open when their friend’s frantic voice was heard over the speaker but no one responded.

One glance over at Yejun told her everything. ”Koko,” she began as her body chose that moment to be overcome with a coughing fit. ”We’re in some. . . some field behind the stage. Yejun found me, we’re okay.” More coughs. ”Fuck, no w-we’re not. He’s unconscious and I’m about to be. Pl-please just. . . send help.”

Rolling over to face the one that rescued her, she got one last glimpse of his beautiful-yet-soot-covered face before everything faded to black. And when rescuers finally showed up, all they saw was what they presumed to be two unconscious lovers—the girl with her arm over his abdomen, head resting on his chest and him holding her in such a way that showed he’d probably move heaven and earth to protect her.


♡coded by uxie♡
 
Last edited:









scroll








the teacher



kogun













mood

let my friends be okay











outfit

black button down, jeans, and converse











location

festival then hospital











interactions

everyone











tags

sox sox Uxie Uxie neon reverie neon reverie Stardust Galaxy Stardust Galaxy

































Friend


BTOB













There was nothing better than watching one of his best friends perform to end an otherwise perfect day. Everything had gone without a hitch and he’d heard through the grapevine that they’d made well over 1 million won. If anything could’ve sealed the deal on the day, it was this.

He smelt the smoke before he saw the flames.

What was once an otherwise perfect day was now a scene from a horror movie. Kogun watched as Jun darted off towards the flame-filled stage before turning his attention to his remaining friends. ”Go somewhere safe with Jaeho hyung! I need to help with the kids!” And without waiting for a reply, he too darted off.

It took a while, making sure all the kids were reunited with their parents and those that were lost or solo were taken to a safe location with proper supervision. By the time he was finished, he was an exhausted sweaty mess and desperately needed a drink. He made his way over to Bitna’s stand, incredibly thankful that she was still there, completely unharmed, and stole a bottle of water from the cooler.

”Have you heard anything from the others?” he wondered, putting the cap back on the bottle. He thought he himself was gone forever, yet was the only one back? Maybe they headed somewhere else safe.

Before he could dwell on it any longer, his phone started ringing and he frantically pulled it out, seeing Yejun’s name on the screen. ”Please tell me you’re okay,” was the first thing out of his mouth after answering. But no response came. ”Yejun?” he asked, but the only sound heard was silence. "Yejun!”

Instead of Yejun, a female voice spoke, one he recognized. ”Koko,” Juno started. ”We’re in some. . . some field behind the stage. Yejun found me, we’re okay. . . fuck, no w-we’re not. He’s unconscious and I’m about to be. Pl-please just. . . send help.”

Then she, too, fell silent.

Swallowing down the absolute panic that threatened to overtake him from the inside out, Kogun ended that phone call and quickly called 119. He told them Yejun and Juno’s approximate location and only after being assured that an ambulance was already on its way did he hang up and turn to Bitna. ”They’re in bad shape, really bad shape, but help is coming.”

—​

It was after midnight and Kogun found himself seated on a chair in the ER, chin resting on his palm and lips pursed in deep thought. After the chaos that ensued, he and Bitna plus Jaeho and Myungsoo had made their way to the hospital Yejun and Juno had been taken to.

Jun and Heeyeon were okay, much to his relief. They’d gone to the ER to get checked over and other than a few scrapes and bruises, had escaped relatively unscathed physically. Due to smoke inhalation, they were being kept overnight as a precaution, but both were alert and talking, albeit a little hoarse and exhausted.

Yejun and Juno were a different story. They’d been whisked off the moment the ambulance arrived and no one has seen them since. Last he heard from a doctor, they were in the ICU, hooked up to all sorts of machines. Chest x-rays had been done and showed they both suffered from lung damage, the pulse oximetry revealed a severe lack of oxygen in both of their bodies, and blood tests came back showing carbon monoxide poisoning. In a few hours they were each getting a bronchoscopy and hyperbaric oxygenation.

Kogun had no idea what any of this meant but it all sounded bad, very bad. They were still unconscious, which majorly concerned him, but the doctor assured that it was just their bodies trying to heal. Currently, he was fighting a battle with himself not to run up to the ICU and see them with his own eyes.

Thankfully, a distraction came in MYST.eria showing up to see Juno and he quickly got to his feet, offering to show them to the waiting area. Upon returning, Koko sat right back down in the chair he’d previously vacated and turned to Jun and Heeyeon. ”Is there anything I can get you? Anything you want or need?”


♡coded by uxie♡
 
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