disgraceland

draw a monster / why is it a monster? byeon min woo ( student of a week )

[byeonwoo-blog]

🍀, 🍳, 👊

MUSE SKILLSET SYMBOL MEMEstatus: open

🍀 — luck

he won a game of bingo once. 

he then declared himself the ‘prince of luck’ and have lost nearly every bet/game/luck-related activity since then. he has also stopped calling himself the ‘prince of luck’.

( proficiency level:  ☆☆☆☆☆ )

🍳 — cooking

jokes aside, his cooking isn’t too bad. he’s no michelin star chef, but he’s able to whip himself some decently tasting meals. he has been cooking for both him and his mother since he was really young, so it’d be worrying if he hasn’t gotten a little bit better. he makes a mean soondubu jjigae (a soft tofu kimchi stew) so request that if he ever offers to cook. and while his kimbap may look like it’s going to fall apart any second, it’s pretty delicious too. now, baking... that’s a whole different story altogether.

( proficiency level:  ★★★★☆ )

👊 — fighting

don’t be fooled by his address or the rumours surrounding him. he once cried when a bully asked him for his homework to copy when he was nine. but, in all honestly, min-woo has rarely been in a fight, preferring to stay away from trouble than instigate it. after the news broke about his alleged murder, he has been egged on by stranger who insists he’s guilty. he’s learnt a few things, but he’d just rather.. not.

( proficiency level:  ★☆☆☆☆ )

[byeonwoo-blog]

📚 😇 🍼

MUSE SKILLSET SYMBOL MEMEstatus: open

📚 — reading

min-woo owes his library an exorbitant amount due to having a tendency to forget he even borrowed books. safe to say, he doesn’t go to the library much anymore.

and he totally don’t understand buying books. what’s the point? 

( proficiency level:  ★★☆☆☆ )

😇 — following rules

answered here.

🍼 — taking care of children

okay, min-woo really likes children. the terrible thing is that he somehow makes all of them cry. it’s a tragic story, really. 

he once tired taking care of his niece, because his aunt and uncle were going out of town for a few days due to work, and she was not having any of it. he called them as they were reaching the airport to beg for their forgiveness. and also for $50 because he hired an actual babysitter. 

he still really likes children though.

( proficiency level:  ☆☆☆☆☆ )

[tallyespen-blog]

Wow. To be honest, she isn’t really used to “wow” yet. To be even more honest, she still isn’t entirely used to talking about this at all, even though she goes to special-classes at her special-school for her special-specialness. In fact, she can’t even really remember anyone saying the word invulnerability before she arrived here. Her father had referred to Tally and people like her—people like him—in euphemism, meaning conveyed with a certain curl of his lip or a tone dripping in disdain: “those people.” Her mother had absorbed it, lowered voice and shifting eyes as she alluded to what made Tally different with a meaning-laden “you know.”

Here it’s all so plain: super-strength of invulnerability? It’s honest, it’s open, but it’s clinical. But he says “wow” and she likes him, because the openly delighted expression on his face is easy enough to read, as is his tone while he’s speaking a language she doesn’t understand. The robotic voice of the translation app can’t take that away. 

“It’s invulnerability for me. I’m guessing you’ve got super-strength? Or, like, mad pen-throwing skills, because I could tell that was a little bit too much velocity for a casual toss.”

[byeonwoo-blog]

Min-woo felt his face fell, but he was quick to smile again. Or, well, let the tips of his mouth tilt upwards for a few seconds before his mouth fell open again. Invulnerability was something he had barely thought about when he first realized his powers, but his class had proven to be a real eye-opener. He had eagerly memorized each of the students in his ‘Better, Stronger, Faster’ class, and had been utterly disappointed to find that no one had super-strength or invulnerability. There were a few with super speed and super hearing (his personal favourite was one with accelerated metabolism: no weight gain, no injuries, no illnesses!), but none with his power and definitely none with a power to counteract his powers. Meeting Tally was fate, he was sure of it. 

“No, I’m not a mad pen-throwing student, but I do have super strength,” he said rapidly, excitement building up in his veins. It had been a while since he had felt this way— like he could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. “This means that I can hit you really hard, and you’d be able to shrug it off, right?” Min-woo envisioned being able to shake hands with Tally without the chance of crushing her fingers, envisioned being able to do simply, mundane things without any fear of killing (yet another person). She was like a personalized power negator (which, on hindsight, would have been very much appreciated as well). 

“Wow,” he repeated, realizing it seemed as though his vocabulary only consisted of four words. “How did you first realized you had invulnerability?”

[jiseokist-archive-blog]

( @byeonwoo​ )

« You’re holding it wrong. »

He usually could be considered a person who just minds his own business and leave whoever else might be around him sinking in their own mistakes. He’d not give a fuck, he’d laugh and joke at them, a mocking that might or might not be perceived as friendly because not even Jiseok himself knew what kind of idiotic label he should be putting to every single action of his.

But still, the tall figure of the newbie the Ignis dorm just acquired last week was messing up the position of his body to begin with, holding he bow like a child with a new toy and his hand slightly trembling and the arrow in the wrong position –and that was causing him to cringe to no end, dismantling his own position to quickly hover towards him, one hand quickly delivering a light punch to the other’s spine. Nothing harmful, just enough to have him eventually straighten up that back of his

« Fix your back, don’t stay crouched like a damn monk or your blows’ gonna all go to the ground or hit your foot. Head up, parallel arms, the arrow has to act as an extension of your fingers –string well tense and pressed against the corner of your lip. And don’t tremble or you’ll end up killing someone for real. »

[byeonwoo-blog]

He had signed up for archery because it was a solitary sport. Sure, group competitions do exist but, for the most part, it required one to spend an extensive time alone to hone their skills. So Min-woo had signed up for archery, just to avoid the lingering glances of the students, simply because of the ridiculous rumour going around that he was a murderer (and not an Elswood-standard murderer, but an actual bona fide murderer). Hearing a voice directed at him certainly wasn’t on his radar. 

Min-woo looked up from his bow, feeling his back being nudged by another student (and an Ignis too, he noted).  Immediately, he flinched, his arrow swinging around rather dangerously in his hand. He wasn’t expecting a physical touch, and especially not one so soon.

“Oh, okay,” he said, his voice translating the full depth of his doubt. Sure, Min-woo wasn’t turning out to be the Olympic-gaining archer he thought he was going to be, but this kid looked barely strong enough to prop himself up, much less carry the bow (which was a lot heavier than the movies had made it seem). Fix your back, his mind mentally repeated, as the fellow student rattled off advice for him. Don’t stay crouched, head up, parallel arms, and as he thought through his words, he felt his body following the instructions intuitively. Until he got to the last part, and he stiffened again, his face falling. Because he had actually killed someone, for real.

But, still, he threw it aside.The kid could bring up any issues he has with him after class but, for now, he was going to prove how wrong he is. Because even Min-woo could see that his arrow was veering totally off-course, even worse than his original arrows. 

Which was, totally, because the other student was a bad teacher (and, thus, archer). Obviously.

“How about we see you shoot?” Min-woo couldn’t help but to sound cocky, but his advice had led to a poorer performance.  After all, how good could he really be? 

[queenvals]

Her head jutted off the center of her neck, as she craned to look at him crazy; was he really talking to her like this? “I am not flushed, I have a healthy glow. How often do you go running around looking for someone just to insult their appearance? What a weirdo.” And although she looked back front and center, the incredulous disdain did not leave Valerie’s expression.

And as he eventually got around to what he needed from her–like they always did, although most ignis didn’t take this long–her face didn’t soften any, nor her stride. “Listen, first of all, introducing yourself properly includes saying your name and not saying there’s something wrong with the other person,” Vals punctuated with a brief, hard look. “B) Part of my responsibility as student advisor is to empower you all to advocate for yourselves. Which means that your first step in any dispute is to try and work it out on your own. If you fail, try again. If you still fail, get creative with your second try. And if you still fail, I can give you some tips. But it is not my job to fix your every issue. What would that teach you?”

[byeonwoo-blog]

Ah. So this was why she was the student advisor for Ignis. After hearing about the tendencies of the people in his division, it was no wonder that the school (or was it the students?) had elected Valerie Hyeon for that position— she had the attitude and the fire within her to quell all the grievances the Ignis students would have given, himself included. “Sorry, it was a joke,” he mumbled, looking as apologetically as he could. 

“Oh, right,” he said, mentalling giving himself a face-palm. “I’m Byeon Min-woo, and I have super strength,” he continued, the introduction flowing out of him naturally (and in English, too!) after having repeated it for too many students and teachers alike. His eyes lit up as she continued, though he did feel slightly afraid of Vals. But, technically, he was afraid of a lot of things, so it really doesn’t prove much. “Um, yes, I’ve tried talking to them, but they have insomnia.” He paused for a second, wondering if he should tell her what he did prior to talking— but he braced himself for her reaction before he did. “But, I did throw my alarm towards the ceiling... and there’s an alarm-shaped hole in his floor now.” 

“Any advice would be really appreciated.” 

[greciandamsel]

{ @byeonwoo }

In Elswood, rumors could spread fast. Although sometimes it was the better option to ignore these, some were easy to fall for if you had never met the person. So when it came to a new student having such stories spread about them, it could be difficult to shake off in some cases. Unless it was minor or obviously not true. The rumor spread about Min-woo was not of the variety easy to shake off, and because he had only been in the school for less than a month especially. In a way Rory was glad she didn’t share any classes with him, how were you supposed to talk to a supposed murderer? Sure, it was kind of an unspoken lore that there were others in the school with this rumor hanging over their heads, but Rory overheard an orange coat in History discussing the ‘Bad Aura’ around him and she then thought it was a good idea to avoid the guy. An ignis saying that about a fellow Ignis? Something couldn’t be right.

Luckily the janitor’s closet was left unlocked at this particular time as she needed to get some bleach for dark roots a spillage of some kind in her dorm that she wanted rid of before anyone could see, yep that was certainly it. Unfortunately for her, there wasn’t a stool in sight as the shelf was too high for her to reach. Rory peaked out behind the door and called to the boy walking by.

“Pssst! Hey, can you help a sec? I can’t reach this thing?”

[byeonwoo-blog]

Being able to walk the hallways of Elswood undisturbed had been one perk of the rumour (was it still called a rumour if it was partially true?) flying around. But, compared to all the drawbacks, Mn-woo would rather not have such a reputation follow him, at least not when he’s trying to adjust to his powers and to this strange new school. First impressions were the most important, and he’s pretty sure he had ruined his by simply being there.  So when someone called out to him, he was left stunned for a split second, before he quietly agreeing. 

“Yeah, sure,” he mumbled under his breath, walking into the janitor’s closet without much protest. She had seemed nice enough— and by that, he means that she doesn’t look like she’d play a prank on him. Lock the murderer in for jokes, throw a bucket of red paint on him as a prank or to hurl toilet cleaners at him as payback: it all seemed rather out-of-character for her. Plus, perhaps helping this student out may earn him some good rapport with the other students. And, fine, he doesn’t really know how to reject people well. So he walks in without any objection, and waited to hear what she needed, the door clicking closed behind him. “So what do you need?” 

[byeonwoo-blog]

🎭🌲⚽️

MUSE SKILLSET SYMBOL MEMEstatus: open

🎭 — performance art/acting

answered here. 

🌲 — surviving in the wilderness

while he’s no boy scout, he thinks he he’s able to survive in the wilderness longer than he probably can. yes, he can tie a few knots (he was interested in knots when he was nine— it’s a strange hobby, but there are stranger things to be invested in) but that’s pretty much it. he doesn’t know which plants are poisonous (to him, they all look fine so they should be fine), what to do during a bear attack, and he definitely doesn’t know how to start a fire. 

on a plus side, he has his super strength. so, if a bear tries to attack him, he’s likely to win in a fight. but he’s probably more likely to just run away in fear. bets are that he’d do the latter 99% of the time though.

( proficiency level:  ★☆☆☆☆ )

⚽️  — sports

basketball for life. basketball 4 lyfe. ‘nuff said. 

elaboration: while impressively good at basketball, he’s quite bad at a few other games. football, for one, was something he had never understood. running is another— to him, it just seems like pain?? why would anyone do that to themselves? he’s pretty good at a few other sports, but only the handful. which is a small handful.

( proficiency level [for basketball and a select few]:  ★★★★★ ) ( proficiency level [for almost every other sport ngl]:  ★☆☆☆☆ )

[lailavcrma-blog]

Upon her exit from the pool area, Laila pulled her damp hair into a low knot at the back of her head and sighed in contentment. Perhaps there were two areas of life where she could find her own type of reprieve from the rest of what happened: when she was praying, and when she was swimming. Why more people didn’t use the pools, she wouldn’t know; if it had anything to do with the lack of life guards, well, did that not just grant even more of a screen of privacy? She draped the towel around her neck, comfortable in-between dryness and dampness, glancing down at the slightly open flap of her knapsack where books peeked out at her. Perhaps now she could spend an interrupted afternoon reading.

– – – – If she hadn’t nearly RUN INTO SOMEONE like the clumsy girl she was. 

“Oh, why does this always happen?” came the quick lament as she almost dropped her bag in her hurry. “I should really be watching where I am going. Unless, of course, you are looking for me, and then I can be a little bit more excited about almost knocking you down - and getting you one-third the amount of chlorinated wet I am.”

[byeonwoo-blog]

“Oh, no, it’s all my fault. Are you alright?” 

Min-woo had been looking forward to spending some alone time in the pool, having heard that it was practically deserted at certain hours of the day. While swimming wasn’t his sport-of-choice, it had always remained high up on the list of things Min-woo liked to spent his time doing. Of course, he certainly didn’t think he would have ran into someone else in this quiet haven, and he certainly wasn’t expecting someone he vaguely recognized. 

Plus, he was surprised that she hasn’t flown all the way across the pool, considering his powers.

Using his towel to cover his body (for him, it was strange to expose one’s semi-naked body to a classmate you barely remembered the name of), his face brightened as he racked his brain to try and remember her name. “You are the girl with the book powers, right?” They had been grouped together once for physical education, and his powers have always lett a deep impression on him. “I think we were in the same physical education class?” 

[queenvals]

Not another one, not another Ignis, not today, why was this happening to her. She was starting to feel a toe go numb and was convinced the rock was cutting into her nerve. But bolstering herself up, Vals reminded herself that that was ridiculous and no one liked a weak bitch. So when he saw she was in pain, she responded by straightening her shoulders, squaring her jaw, and refusing to favor the angry limb. The traitor foot.

“I’m fine, are you alright? You’re practically wheezing.” She quickened her stride, he could keep up or not. “Did you need something?”

[byeonwoo-blog]

“What, me?” Min-woo doesn’t mean to sound indignant, but it clearly slipped out in his tone, before he shook his head and laughed. It was true, though. He was gasping a lot more than he’d like to admit and he can only imagine what it looks like from her perspective. “At least I was gasping because I was trying to find you, and you’re a surprisingly hard person to find. While you, on the other hand, was just walking along the hallways, and you’re already looking flushed,” he said, in mock offence. 

“But anyway,” he said, clearing his throat. This was his student advisor, and not his good friend. Getting on her bad side certainly isn’t a wise thing to do. “I just thought I’d introduce myself properly— and, also, okay. You’re not a resident advisor, but you’re the closest Elswood has to one, and I was wondering...,” he said, trailing off. He had thought what he was going to say, and realized it sounded extremely trivial. ”The dorm above mine has a tendency to blast their music all throughout the night, and it’s a bit distracting. I was hoping you could do something about it?” 

[byeonwoo-blog]

💋 😇 ⌛️ 🎭 ➗

MUSE SKILLSET SYMBOL MEMEstatus: open 

💋 — kissing

he can’t even remember the name of the first person he kissed. and, no, it’s not because he’s a lady-killin’ machine. he was nine, and he was invited to a friend’s birthday party. it was there did he met her: his friend’s cousin’s sister’s friends. she was a pretty girl with a gap where her front teeth should be and purple spectacles. he had no feelings about her she thought he was creepy— a typical love story. they kissed accidentally when they ran into each other in the dark during hide-and-seek. 

and, yes, that counts as a kiss. 

now, min-woo doesn’t think he’s the best kisser around town (or, well, elswood), but he certainly thinks he’s not the worst. he has learnt a few things from his cousin (now, he was the lady-killin’ machine), but he has only ever had one girlfriend prior to his kidnapping admittance into elswood. so he certainly lacks practice. 

( proficiency level:  ★★★☆☆ )

😇 — following rules

min-woo is very good at following rules. but it is his own rules that he stick by. 

he took a quiz once which said he was a ‘true neutral’ which he doesn’t argue against, and it tells in his actions. while he wouldn’t openly go against rules and regulations, he likes to skirt around the finer details and base his choices on his own interpretation.

( proficiency level:  ★☆☆☆☆ )

⌛️ — time management

what time management? but, for real, he’s horrifically bad at time management. once, he handed in his project six months (technically six months, two weeks and three days, as his teacher had said) late. back in seoul, he would constantly be playing basketball (ballin’ 4 lyfe), neglecting his homework and other commitments. 

he tells himself that he’d get better at it in the future, but it has been twenty years and nothing had changed. 

( proficiency level:  ☆☆☆☆☆ )

🎭 — performance art/acting

not to pat himself on the back, but min-woo was the best tree in his elementary school’s yearly play. just saying’. 

( proficiency level:  ★★☆☆☆ )

➗ — mathematics

min-woo’s relationship with mathematics goes in a spiral, and it all starts the same way. 

step one: he gets really annoyed at not being able to solve a question.

step two: he solves it!!

step three: excitement ensues and he proclaims his love for mathematics because ♥♥♥

step four: he encounters a difficult question

step five: repeat step one to four

( proficiency level:  ★★☆☆☆ )

[byeonwoo-blog]

💃

MUSE SKILLSET SYMBOL MEMEstatus: open 

💃 — dancing

feburary 25th, 2006, was a saturday, and the sun had shone as brightly as it did the previous day. he remembered eating soybean soup, vegetables and rice for breakfast, just like he did on every saturday. but this wasn’t any ordinary day, no.  that was the day that byeon min-woo realized he was NOT meant to be a dancer. 

his mother had signed him up for dance classes, insisting that it was going to instill discipline and rhythm into him. but she made a tiny tiny tiny mistake— she didn’t realize that she had signed her twelve year old child up for an adult’s (as in senior adult) advanced ballroom class. 

oops. 

he can still hear the giggles from the other students in his class as he attempted (and failed) to follow the instructions. he tried, he really did. 

his teacher gave up on him and refunded the money (including the deposit), with a pamphlet for the competing dance school a block away. thanks, mrs kwon. 

( proficiency level: ☆☆☆☆☆ )

[ask-meme-addicts]

Muse skillset symbol meme

Send an emoji to learn how good/bad my muse is at that particular skill!

💋 — kissing

💄 — makeup

👾 — video games

🎵 — singing

💃 — dancing

🎹 — playing an instrument

🌷 — taking care of living things

🌲 — surviving in the wilderness

👊 — fighting

😇 — following rules

🍳 — cooking

🍼 — taking care of children

🎁 — giving presents to others

🎉 — hosting parties

💌 — romance/flirting

🎨 — art

🍀 — luck

⚽️  — sports

🏊 — swimming

🚗 — driving

🔮 — magic

🔎 — investigating

🔫 — long range weapons

💣 — explosives

🔪 — melee weapons

🔬 — scientific pursuits

🚿 — hygiene

💰 — finance

🌍 — knowledge of the world

👻 — communing with the paranormal

📚 — reading

🔧 — engineering/mechanics

⌛️ — time management

📥 — organization

🍺 — alcohol tolerance

🚴 — riding a bike

🎭 — performance art/acting

⚓️ — sailing

➗ — mathematics

[byeonwoo-blog]

☛ GET INSIDE YOUR CHARACTER'S HEAD! aka The Excessively Detailed Headcanon Meme

Ask a question, any question! Because I have nothing better to do than to answer your questions. ... No, really. I don't. D:

1: What does their bedroom look like?

2: Do they have any daily rituals?

3: Do they exercise, and if so, what do they do? How often?

4: What would they do if they needed to make dinner but the kitchen was busy?

5: Cleanliness habits (personal, workspace, etc.)

6: Eating habits and sample daily menu

7: Favorite way to waste time and feelings surrounding wasting time

8: Favorite indulgence and feelings surrounding indulging

9: Makeup?

10: Neuroses? Do they recognize them as such?

11: Intellectual pursuits?

12: Favorite book genre?

13: Sexual Orientation? And, regardless of own orientation, thoughts on sexual orientation in general?

14: Physical abnormalities? (Both visible and not, including injuries/disabilities, long-term illnesses, food-intolerances, etc.)

15: Biggest and smallest short term goal?

16: Biggest and smallest long term goal?

17: Preferred mode of dress and rituals surrounding dress

18: Favorite beverage?

19: What do they think about before falling asleep at night?

20: Childhood illnesses? Any interesting stories behind them?

21: Turn-ons? Turn-offs?

22: Given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and nothing to do, what would happen?

23: How organized are they? How does this organization/disorganization manifest in their everyday life?

24: Is there one subject of study that they excel at? Or do they even care about intellectual pursuits at all?

25: How do they see themselves 5 years from today?

26: Do they have any plans for the future? Any contingency plans if things don’t workout?

27: What is their biggest regret?

28: Who do they see as their best friend? Their worst enemy?

29: Reaction to sudden extrapersonal disaster (eg The house is on fire! What do they do?)

30: Reaction to sudden intrapersonal disaster (eg close family member suddenly dies)

31: Most prized possession?

32: Thoughts on material possessions in general?

33: Concept of home and family?

34: Thoughts on privacy? (Are they a private person, or are they prone to ‘TMI’?)

35: What activities do they enjoy, but consider to be a waste of time?

36: What makes them feel guilty?

37: Are they more analytical or more emotional in their decision-making?

38: What recharges them when they’re feeling drained?

39: Would you say that they have a superiority-complex? Inferiority-complex? Neither?

40: How misanthropic are they?

41: Hobbies?

42: How far did they get in formal education? What are their views on formal education vs self-education?

43: Religion?

44: Superstitions or views on the occult?

45: Do they express their thoughts through words or deeds?

46: If they were to fall in love, who (or what) is their ideal?

47: How do they express love?

48: If this person were to get into a fist fight, what is their fighting style like?

49: Is this person afraid of dying? Why or why not?

[queenvals]

There was definitely a rock in her boot. While she walked, it had worked its way down to the middle of the inside of her foot, and was cutting into the tender muscle there, pinching her skin. But she hated putting herself in those positions where she had to stop, hold up traffic, and lean against a wall or trash can as she worked the boot off enough to remove the stone. So Vals soldiered on, a brave, and increasingly flushed face leading her back to her room. 

Then she came up behind someone walking way too slow for her needs, the constant biting pain only got worse as she was forced to wait, and so did her mood. “Hi? Hi. Um, excuse me, I promise you can use just half the path, if you’ll just–thanks…” And she tried to get around them.

[byeonwoo-blog]

There she was.

From what the other students had said of her, Min-woo could only pray that it was Valerie Hyeon walking in his direction. He had stopped four other students with similar descriptions, and he wasn’t really looking for another exasperated sigh and an annoyed roll of the eyes. And, hey, fifth time's a charm, right? 

“Hey,” he called out rather loudly, over the bobbing heads of the students, as he spotted his target. Pushing past the wave of bodies that crashed themselves relentlessly on him (well, he was walking on the wrong side of traffic), he could feel his chest rising and falling, his breath hitched. In his defense, he had been out of shape, having not really exercised since his... acceptance into Elswood, but it still wasn’t a good way to introduce himself to his division’s student advisor. “Hey,” he said breathlessly, once she was within hearing distance, only to repeat it again as he realized she didn’t look... right. “Hey, are you— are you alright?” 

[luckiestcricket]

“It’s xe, not he. But exactly! You’re gettin’ the hang of Elswood quicker than anyone. Even me.” Although, considering the state she’d been in when she’d arrived, that wasn’t exactly an accomplishment. Not that he needed to know that. “I am just so honored to meet you, Min-Woo And even more honored that you’re so eager to help! This place needs more people like you. I swear, most Elswoodians are too caught up in their own cynicism to even try to participate.”

There was a small pause, long enough for her to remember to breathe and for her mind to catch up to her mouth. Min-Woo? Why did that sound so familiar? The slightly concerned crinkling of her eyes was barely noticeable as her thoughts spun. “Min-Woo,” she repeated, lips still upturned. Oh. The rumored murderer. Interesting. And, here she was, a murder victim. They certainly made quite the pair. “Such a lovely name. People are always makin’ silly comments about my own. I hardly care, but a name like Min-Woo would have been just as nice as Cricket.” 

She flipped through her questionaries, brow furrowed as she scrutinized each one. Sure, she could go with one that’d actually help her focus group her own image, but now she was curious about who he was. With a swift uncapping of her pen, Cricket was ready to go. “Let’s start slow, alright? Since you’re a new student, I think it’s important that we have a solid foundation before we begin.”

“How would you qualify your experience at Elswood as a student thus far? Now, I know the culture shock and everythin’ can be quite the – well, shock, but I mean beyond that. You, as a student, in the social system that makes up our glorious academy. Do you believe that the students have been welcomin’ and kind to you? How do you feel about your division? Who would you say is the most welcomin’ and, say, popular person you’ve met so far?”

[byeonwoo-blog]

“Xe,” he said instantly, regretful that he had made such a mistake. “Coming here has been.. a journey,” with the last two words coming after a pregnant pause, his face darkening as he did. It was true: it had been a journey. From assuming this was an etiquette school, to a youth prison, and finally to realizing it was none of the above, but actually was a school for the gifted (he thought it with a rather sarcastic tone— he had seen the trailers for the latest X-Men movie, whatever it was called, and know that the more appropriate term was ‘mutant’). Realizing his stupid mistake was because of his powers didn’t make the transition any easier. 

At her next words, he couldn’t help but to smile slightly, the tips of his lips lifting up almost imperceptibly. Min-woo had thought he had mispronounced her name (the translator had cleverly left that in English, with it written phonetically for easier pronunciation, and he had assumed it was either going to be off-base or entirely offensive), but she seemed pleasant enough by his attempt. “Thank you, yours is lovely too,” he replied automatically. His mother might not have been the bearer of perfect morals, but she had certainly instilled in hi the importance of good manners. Or, at the very least, accepting compliments and returning one in favor.

Min-woo couldn’t help but to be impressed as she  flipped through her questions. It clearly shows that she had done substantial research, and he braced himself for the influx of questions. “It has been a month,” he replied, starting out slowly. This reminded him of the interview room he was placed in when he first arrived, and he wondered if she was part of the student body or just another entity of this mysterious institute. “It has been refreshing,” he said, his mind working on overdrive to provide the least offensive words possible while giving her just enough content. “But I do wish the school had elaborated more on our— abilities? Is that what people term it here? Or is it powers? Whatever it is, there could have been a better explanation.” 

“The students have been,” he paused as he racked his brain. In all honesty, he hasn’t taken the extra mile to get to know the population. In fact, there was barely a person he considered to be his friend which was, while reasonable (seeing as it has only been a week), pretty sad. “Alright,” he settled for, deciding that a feeble answer was better than none. “I was placed into Ignis which has been,” he paused again, wondering how to properly phrase his thoughts into words. “Alright,” he repeated, realizing the bulk of his answer was going to be along the same line. 

Scratching his neck at her last question, he tilted his head and took a quick glance at Cricket. All throughout this interview, he had preferred staring at his shoes (which were pretty scuffed up already) or his fingers, but he had to take a look up at her. It seemed like such a loaded question, with only one answer. But he wasn’t going to dispute it, for it was pretty much true. “And, uh, you seem to be the most welcoming and popular person I’ve met.”

“I’m sorry, but what is this for again?” 

[luckiestcricket]

A fresh face. Perfect! “Yes, you. My goal is to get as wide a swatch of participants as possible. People from all backgrounds and walks of life. Everyone’s got a different point of view. Why limit myself?” And there was the part where she kinda got off on talking for hours on end.

“Your translator’s workin’ just fine, by the way,” she added with a smile. Cricket had been at Elswood long enough to know the stages the new arrivals went through. “Absolutely bizarre how that thing works. It sure is convenient as heck around here. Not all of us are Logan Westbrooks!” Her brow furrowed slightly. “You know, I bet it took ages to get right. Have to wonder how it translates though. I mean, if I throw out an idiom will it translate literally – which I can’t imagine would make much sense – or does it try to match with a similar idiom in your language – of which there might not even be one and, even then, could have an entirely different connotation and…” Cricket! Rein that inner nerd in! Circle back to the point.

“But, uh, yeah. If you’re free then I’d love to bother you for a little while.” She reached out to shake his hand. “I’m Cricket, by the way. Cricket Calhoun. Absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

[byeonwoo-blog]

At the flood of words, Min-woo felt his body slowly backing away from her. She reminded him too much of the popular girls in school (you know, the really pretty ones, with probably enough money to fund an entire country, paired with an ulterior motive in anything and everything that they were doing), but she also reminded him of an overexcited puppy. The combination was both extremely endearing and very frightening. He was stuck between wanting to run away, with his imaginary tail between his legs, and wanting to stay to help in any way possible.

Min-woo was pretty sure that was how Cricket got around to accomplishing many things in her life.

As she went on and on about the translator (he had let out a few series of quick nods to show that he was totally engaged even though his phone was heating up, trying to match up to her speed), he couldn't help but be impressed by both the confidence and the speed of her thoughts. Perhaps she was both a student body president and a rapper? God, he had met way too many people of strange backgrounds that the combination wouldn’t have surprised him. When she finally stopped (he waited a bit, the silence stretching out between them, as he wasn’t sure if she was really done, or it was a pause before she continued), he cleared his throat (a nervous habit of his that he had to get rid of sooner or later) before speaking out, his voice ridiculously shaky compared to hers. 

“Yeah, the translator’s a brilliant invention,” he started off, wanting to give a substantial reply to each of the points she had raised, though half of it flew by his head at the speed of light. “And, I’ve heard of Logan? Loren? He’s the walking translator right?” He scrolled through the words on his phone, thankful to have a visual representation of all she had spoken, before looking back at her. “I’m Min-woo,” he said, wondering if his name would trigger any rumors in her head about him being a legitimate murderer (someone like her was sure to have, at the very least, heard some semblance of whispers in the hallways). “And I would love to help you, Cricket,” he finished. 

[tallyespen-blog]

Okay, when he looks at her like that, she’s not sure if she should feel like a complete freak or super proud of herself. It’s hard, a lot of the time, to feel any way at all about her “ability.” It’s just been there, ever-present, her whole life: she has red hair, she’s always been taller than her classmates, and she’s invulnerable. She could wish that she didn’t have it—that her father wouldn’t hate her and that her mother wouldn’t worry—but she doesn’t even know what really she’d be wishing for. And, on the other hand, its ubiquitousness in her life has made if hard for her to feel super jazzed about it, either.

But he’s looking at her like she is anything but mundane, and she’s unsure exactly what to do with it. So she just shrugs, now, like it’s no big deal. She supposes it isn’t anymore, not when she’s one of many, now, and has nothing to hide. (Nothing she can hide.) “Nope, not at all,” she says, raising a fist to rap her knuckles on her head, a sensation she barely feels. “I’m pretty hard to hurt. Like, maybe impossible. Barely a tickle, that was.” (And, okay, she might be playing it up, but if it gets him to keep making his best fish impression, well, she wouldn’t complain.)

[byeonwoo-blog]

"Wow.”

It was at that point that Min-woo had to physically tear his eyes from her face, lest she calls the supervisors (were they call the Elementals? The Elements?) over for excessive staring, that was boderline . With a slight cough, he looked at his own hands— the hands capable of enough destruction, and there she was— completely unable to be destructed. She was intriguing, in the best way possible. 

“So you have invulnerability? Or, do you have super strength?” There was a hint of hopefulness in his voice as he uttered the last two words, a tone that the translator failed to carry over in its monotonous transcription. Having someone impervious to his powers would be amazing, but having someone that would have undergone similar experiences would be even greater. As he awaited for her response, he failed to realize that his expression mirrored that of a tiny puppy, with enough hopefulness and naivety wrapped tightly in his face.