open starter . / bonfire !
despite prior protestation at the idea of spending a few days in the mountains, resort or otherwise (because what if a lynx jumped out from the shadows at them while they were all being jolly around the bonfire, jaein, did you ever think about that?), hyoyeon couldn’t deny that it reminded her a lot of home. something as little as the weather, the view of the mountains and the greenery makes her ache for the comfort of her parents back in jeonju. really, it could just as well be the marshmallows she’d roasted only moments prior disagreeing with all else she’d shoved into her mouth without her manager around to bully her for eating like a pig. it’s quiet, at least, gives her a moment to process - to think about things in a way she probably wouldn’t otherwise. time is better spent in other ways back in seoul, productively or socially, so the silence is almost foreign. the murmur of activity around her, a pleasant white noise over the backdrop of the sun setting on an evening that serves its purpose of making her vie for normalcy. if nothing else, she feels like writing about it: the warm glow on tired, smiling faces - still young, still fresh-faced but with a thousand lives under each of their belts, stress that ages them below what skincare can correct. it’s semi-sweet.
she shivers when a gust of wind pushes at the fire she’s sat in front of and decides, quickly, to rejoin the festivities to avoid spiraling into contemplation. she hadn’t brought anything to write on, anyway, so it isn’t like she was doing herself any favors. her eagerness to - do something, impedes her sense of direction, the side effects of staring into the fire for as long as she had, a stark contrast to the darkness of the environment around her. so, it makes sense that she walks, quite bodily, into a passerby. you know, like an idiot. “ow, fuck!” she exclaims, clutching her foot with a dramaticism that would make anyone think she’d been the victim. “i’m so sorry,” she corrects herself, face alight with embarrassment at her own lack of consideration. “god, make a sound, would you?” she jokes lightly.
nature is far more inviting to eunjae than the city life could ever be. they recognize the irony in that when they had turned away from living in a smaller city, with a lot more nature around, to live in seoul, as metropolitan as it could possibly get. there are several reasons as to why a retreat like this one benefits them. for one, it’s easier to clear their mind when there aren’t city noises all around them. eunjae’s brain is never quiet, to the point where sleeping is more of a nightmare than anything else, but in a place like this they are certain sleep is going to come to them more easily. twelve years into being an idol, eunjae reckons they deserve to have moments like this when they want nothing more than to drop everything and move to somewhere as far from seoul and the idol life as possible. realistically, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea – eunjae isn’t entirely sure they’d be able to look after themselves without their manager checking in every so often – but the fantasy is welcome and comforting. they are also certain the mountain air is much better for their body, and that’s just another thing that puts them in a good mood. enough so to make them comfortable enough to attend the bonfire.
they don’t speak much and most idols don’t approach them – either because they don’t know each other or simply because some of them make it clear they are intimidated of seniors. eunjae doesn’t understand and never will but if it keeps them from being disturbed, they refuse to complain. the decision to walk around for a bit comes after they take a bite of the brownie they brought with them. it’s not long enough for it to have made any serious effect when someone runs into them – eunjae’s reaction is to simply reach out and steady the other person lest they fall down, even if it hadn’t been his fault. the girl’s cuss has one of his eyebrows rising out of amusement. “ it’s fine, i’ll be more mindful of my quietness in the future, ” they take a step back, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable by their proximity but the girl’s words have eunjae curious. “ are you from north jeolla? jeonju or something? ”
