Raejun's mouth quirks up at the corner, the closest thing to a real smile he's given anyone in a long while. "Haeundae, yeah. Went there a few times before..." For a second he's not really here, he's back on that sand, salt thick in the air, sun hot on his shoulders. "It was good. Water's nice. Peaceful, like you said." He shakes his head, a small, rueful thing. "But summer there, brutal. Half the reason I ended up in New York, if I'm honest. Couldn't take the heat anymore. Winters up there will freeze your ass off, but at least I'm not sweating through my shirt just standing still." He tilts his head, and there's something almost boyish in the way he looks at Jun now, curious, arms loosely crossed, his whole posture looser than it's been all day. As if the company has lifted a weight bearing down on him.
"Have you travelled much?" It's not idle small talk. There's real want behind it, like some part of him has been starving for a window into a bigger world than the one he's stuck rebuilding a life in. He listens, and he actually listens, none of the half-present nodding he's gotten so used to giving people out here, real attention, eyes steady on Jun's face like he's trying to memorize the shape of a life he never got to live. When Jun mentions Seoul, something flickers behind his eyes, a memory surfacing uninvited: a trip he took once with a friend from his unit, cheap soju and loud laughter, a version of happiness he hasn't let himself think about in months. "I had family in Seoul. I visited when I could."
Then Jun says it. Training. Joint training with the Americans. And something lands hard and quiet in Raejun's chest, a small, ugly pang of sympathy he doesn't let anywhere near his face. Wrong place, wrong time, no fault of his own, and now stuck out here same as the rest of them, cut off from everyone he's ever known. What a shitty hand to be dealt. He doesn't say it out loud. He's learned by now that some things are better left sitting quiet between two people who already understand without needing the words. So he just gives a short nod, jaw tightening slightly, something passing between them that doesn't need translation.
He glances up at the sky, gauging the fading light, the way it's already starting to bruise toward evening, then back toward the mall, a quick habitual sweep of the shadows near the doors before he lets himself relax again. When Jun laughs about Horse's name, he shrugs, a little sheepish, a shy smile tugging at his mouth like he's embarrassed to have it pointed out. "I didn't think much about it at the time. I couldn't leave her there, and I needed to call her something, and 'Horse' just came out." At the suggestion, Hope, he looks over at the mare properly, considering it, eyes tracing her scarred flank, the steady way she holds herself even now, ears flicking toward him like she knows she's the topic. "Hope," he repeats slowly, testing the sound of it as he looks into her eyes. "...Might actually suit her." A quiet huff of amusement escapes him, "More than... Horse."
"If I could bring her I would," he says, jerking his chin toward the mall, already turning to lead Horse forward by her lead, boots crunching over broken pavement scattered with old debris. "But I keep her inside at night. Safer that way, for her, for us." He glances back once, just to be sure Jun's still with him, something almost companionable passing in the look, before stepping into the dim, hollow quiet of the restaurant, Horse's hooves echoing softly behind them both. Once inside, he veers off toward what used to be a drink cooler near the bar, its glass door long since shattered, and roots around inside until his hand closes around a can. He pulls it free and hands it to Jun. "Here. Not cold, obviously, but it's still Coke." Rae gives small shrug as he gets Horse situated in the cleared out dining area, the kind of gesture that comes from a man who's had to lower his expectations for comfort down to almost nothing. He glances back toward the doors they came through, toward the parking lot, then back to Jun. "We should get moving, though. I don't love being out here once the sun's down."
