SHIN KANGDAE IS…DIFFICULT. not sure how to further expand on that, but to paint a picture: it’s like working the graveyard shift in retail with a playlist cursed to loop pharrell’s happy and something else vaguely grating on a happy beat. and before her is this egregiously dense mountain of a man with puppy dog eyes that can’t and won’t take a hint.
seriously, she’s like dropping hints that she doesn’t want him around.
one time by actually telling him she doesn’t want him around.
but kangdae’s degree of thickheaded is severe—and wednesday supposes she can’t outright tell him off for doing nothing. he is, at his infuriating buoyant core, a good guy. and she has no reason to refute him otherwise. still, she wonders how she comes off to him—if it’s so much as a taking pity on an impudent child who’ve shut the world out as it feels like it is to her. whatever.
“you’re only one year older.” don’t patronize me mother fucker. words better conveyed through a scowl than anything. “but yeah, okay, fine, whatever.” she quickly tacks on, just in case this turns into a full out lecture (that’ll really harsh her vibe).
“uh huh,” somehow, coming from someone like kangdae—she’s not surprised he wouldn’t know. “no—” though, valid, she’s heard that stupid fucking joke tons of times. “i was named after—” her mouth pulls into a thin line, eyes dulling momentarily. she remembers having this conversation with mom awhile back, but also—fuck her. “never mind what i was named after.” wednesday quickly dismisses, brow raising at the compliment but saying nothing of it. she’ll blame it on the night, the atmosphere, maybe the leotard is squeezing the blood out of his brain, whatever the fuck. he knows she hates that kind of thing.
“superman.” yes, i know who the fuck superman is! do i look like an idiot!? well. that’s kinda on you for assuming kangdae understands any sort of derision. “nice.” wednesday commentates dully, watching him hold up his cape like a child showing off. “it does fit you, i guess, all perky good guy and symbol of light or hope or whatever the saying goes.” about as fitting as wednesday addams, brat queen of the dark and unfeeling fits her.
well, sort of. this wednesday can’t be unfeeling no matter how hard she tries.
“going in?” ah, the first quizzical look of the night. “where—” she barely catches sight of the sign overhead before kangdae is walking them in. oh, the maze. well—it wasn’t like she had anything else planned. but wednesday has never done anything in the interest of being easy. “yeah, but—don’t you have friends to go to these things with you?” her eyes lower to their hands, nose scrunching in slight disdain as she shakes his grip free. not so much against him as it is against the implication hand holding gives.
“or unsuspecting wide eyed girls who’d cling and whine the whole way through thinking it’s cute—” BOO! she jumps at the sudden appearance of a passing ‘ghoul’, hand gripping onto the fabric of kangdae’s cape. there’s a brief flicker of surprise that passes wide eyes before dissolving into something less than impressed. teetering on vexation. partly at herself for being predicable but mostly at this whole insufferable setup. goddamn jump scares.
“i fucking hate it here.”
kangdae is aware that wednesday’s prickly. much like the thorny paths, he would have to go through to get to school when he was younger, yes for the most party kangdae would avoid the rather pointy parts, but occasionally he would get pricked by one. talking to wednesday was like that, most of the time he would let the biting words roll off his back, but sometimes her glares did sting. never mind that! kangdae’s mother always instilled in him to be sweet as one could be, treat others as you would want to be treated. she may have acted sour but she still kept him around without kicking him in the balls, so that must have meant something.
“ yeah i guess it’s only a year.” kangdae repeated, with a curt nod, as if only being made aware of their age difference.the idea of wednesday calling him oppa or sunbae almost made the geumseong chaser choke with laughter, that’s a sight that needed to be seen. one that could hardly be caught, as mokseong students usually spoke english to one another on campus, kangdae still preferred his native tongue though.“ you still have to call me oppa you know that? i mean go ahead speak informally though, i don’t really mind that part.” he never cared for being called oppa, being rather easy going but it’s fun to tease wednesday, even if a kick to the balls was an option at the end for him.
kangdae tilts his head at the sudden interruption of her name origin. well NOW he needs to know. he couldn’t just not know why she was given that name. “ wednesday! don’t leave me hanging,” it’s easy for him to fall into dramatics, “that’s not fair you can’t just start a sentence and not explain!” sighing, “ listen! i’ll tell you what my name means, and you call me where you got yours!” he explains, hoping his hand up, his pinky extended towards the younger. “deal?”
“ yes! It took me forever, i was worried it was going to be a waste of time, because i don’t know how many witches or wizards keep up with like superheroes you know?” kangdae explains, he didn’t grow up surrounded by the fully immersed wizarding world, comic books were a muggle thing that kangdae and his friends would read for hours some days. But he wasn’t sure about wizards reading comics, when he went to stay with his dad it was bare beside just spell books, which WAS BORING, to say the least. “ but i saw a ton of people dressed in superhero costumes, which makes sense since mokseong is usually down with muggle shit.”
kangdae hums, his eyes tore from wednesday and instead to the maze, he wondered if they would have some staff members running around in costumes, can you imagine professor aurora dressed as a zombie chasing students? “ i do. but you’re my friend too, so i don’t see the difference, “ he explains, giving the younger a rather carefree smile.
“ maybe i do—” his words are cut short by the sudden appearance of a ghoul, and kangdae automically holds his arm out in front of wednesday, before turning to see her tugging on his cape. “ what were you saying about scared girls clinging onto my cape?” the geumseong chaser teased, before laughing as they continued to walk through the maze.
his laughter is cut short, as as they continue through the maze, cobwebs that were hung across met kangdae’s face, and ended up all over his head ( he’s sure the orgainzers didn’t think to do this to anyone, but not everyone was 6’3 unfortunately for kangdae) the young man gags, trying to get the cobwebs out of his mouth, ew gross. “wednesday, help me get them out, “ he cried, before leaning down in hopes the younger would pick some of it out.
