he wouldn’t feel right calling the shots when he’d done nothing to earn it, after all. “i’ll be fine with whatever you pick. i trust your judgment. you know that, right?” as soon as that fell out of his mouth, noah all but shriveled up. he wondered if she’d realize that, with that being said, they weren’t only talking about the groceries anymore.
there’s guilt in his face and she feels bad for that, for pushing too much as she usually does. she pulls back on the unfair way she’s pushing her feelings onto noah, on a perfectly good day. “it’s fine! i’m just, i dunno, not that hungry. let’s finish groceries and then go home?” noah offers an alternative and she thinks, that must be what he wants. so she nods and smiles at him, relieved to have something she knows he won’t begrudge her for. “sounds good!”
“i know,” she says, and there’s only a tinge of sadness, at how she could have counted those words true once, that she knows ( thinks ) noah’s going through the motions of now. bora shifts the heavy bags in her hands and smiles at him. he’s talking about groceries, but she’s not. “i trust you too, no’.”
and it’s true, even if they’re talking about different things.
bora nudges him to move, walking to where their car is parked. their groceries won’t take a long time, after all. and she’s got noah’s verbal approval, even if she’ll still strive to pick out what he likes.
“do you wanna go to the kmart or just costco?” she’s still old school, likes the comfort of their korean food and familiar spices, but they don’t have the most money on them right now. bora settles the two bags down into the boot of their car, squeezing her hands together into fists when she sees how red they’ve become from holding onto the heavy bags, and shakes them out.“you decide where we go, and i’ll choose what we get!”
and that’s something she’s more comfortable with, the two of them making their decisions together. noah might be hiding something from her now but at their heart they are still a team, a strong friendship, and she’ll trust him through anything.
not past your curfew yet ? ( * / crashing at bora’s is out of the question, given that noah is her roommate and they will get into a little spat as usual if they cross paths, which is essentially inevitable. so she doesn’t even bother to ask. not like she lives far anyways. ) oh my god. ( * / oh, bora couldn’t be any more right about that. the framed picture still gets a laugh out of her though, since it’s even more bizarre from how she’s looking at it. then her neck starts to ache, prompting her to sit back up properly. ) can’t believe you guys have it framed. ( * / she picks up her glass that bora must’ve topped up, taking a long sip then scrunches up her face. ) god, i need a mixer for this. y’all have juice, right ? ( * / there’s a slight stumble when she stands up, before she heads to the fridge. ) you want any ?
( ` laughs, draws a circle in the air with her finger around the frame ) had to, noah lost a bet, ha. ( ` she can’t actually remember why or when they’d gotten it up, sometime early into moving in together, probably, fresh into college and out of noah’s tragic fashion taste. now it’s a nice reminder of good times, albeit a little embarrassing ( for him ) ) yes! there’s cranberry and, mango i think? ( ` holds up her glass to yifei, liquid sloshing a little dangerously but nothing spills onto their carpet. not that it’d hurt, it’s seen much worse than a bit of tequila. ) no pineapple, sadly. pick one for me, i trust you!
AN ‘HONESTY HOUR’ INTERVIEW WITH LUNA OF THE HEX GIRLS !
tucked away in the corner of crestle cove is an unassuming, single storey house, not exactly the sort of house one would expect to find an up and coming musician and her best friend living at. it’s the home of kim bora, better known by the public and fans as luna of the hex girls, crestle cove’s latest punk-rock, eco-goth band that’s been rapidly and loudly taking over the music charts.
when she welcomes me into her home, it’s with a cheerful smile and a warm cup of lemon ginger honey tea, a signature of hers mentioned by her bandmates – a strong lover of nature and natural herbal remedies, this is one that’s been said to cure a sore throat in a couple of hours. we bring our tea into the middle of her living room, decorated with bits and bobs of antiques and appliances incongruously thrown into the mix. it feels like we’re just two friends having a conversation over a nice cup of tea, albeit with a recorder in between. i ask if she’s heard of honesty hour, and she says she has; she promises to be as honest as she can.
let’s start with something easy. if you can have any other occupation, what would it be and why?
LUNA: another occupation? i can’t think of anything! my brothers, i’ve got five of them, y’know... i think we all ended up in different industries. and i guess, after everyone had found their footing and i was still trying to find mine, my second oldest brother brought me over to crestle for school. that was where i met yifei and daehyun – thorn and dusk, y’know, and something about us making music just clicked for me! this is such a disappointing answer, isn’t it? i don’t think i could do anything else, and i love the hex girls, after all. i suppose if i had to choose, i’d say... hmm, maybe a gardener. it’s been my hobby since high school, and i’d say i’ve got a green thumb!
i can see that, your house is blooming! if your house was burning down and you could only save one thing, what would it be?
oh my, that’s a big change from the first question! if this place was burning down... i’d have to save my housemate, if he was inside, of course. ah, is that a cop out as well? let’s see... my phone, which is a terribly millennial thing to say, but it really does have three quarters of my life stored on it. our music, my journals, photos of friends and family. everything can be bought again, but it’d be awful to lose all those important memories when i’ve got them stored on my phone. though i’d forgo all that if my housemate was inside too, definitely.
you must be close with your housemate. what quality do you most value in a friend?
loyalty. or honesty, i think? this sounds a little sad, but sometimes it does feel like people leave easily, so it means a lot to me when someone stays in touch, or makes an effort, because i definitely try to do the same! and i suppose honesty is part of that, too, i’d be hurt to be kept in the dark by a friend, and i appreciate when people be straightforward with me. i think they come together, or, well, we can’t have loyalty without honesty or vice versa in a friendship.
i see. what is your honest opinion of everyone else?
everyone else? yifei is definitely the leader amongst the three of us, she’s got the most drive and daring when it comes to her music, and what she wants! i admire that about her, the fact that she’s totally got what she wants down and she’ll stop at nothing for it. there’s been a couple of rumours between her and me, but i can promise that’s not true! we started the hex girls because we were all friends, and we definitely still are.
as for daehyun, well. he’s the youngest of us but he definitely doesn’t behave like it, can i say that? he’s been writing a lot of music for us, and not to be biased but i think it’s really good, so look out for that! dae’s just, he’s really reliable and always affectionate, and it’s really nice to be able to say we’re friends, not just bandmates.
and, if ‘everyone else’ includes the guy who escaped the house before you got here, noah’s my best friend! we knew each other when we were still kids in south korea, and i guess it was fate that brought us both to crestle. so we’ve been friends for a really long time, and we’ve shared the ups and downs of life together too! i trust him a lot, and i hope he does too.
what’s an essential childhood experience that you missed out on?
a full family vacation. my brothers are all older than me, the first and second by a lot, so when it got to me and my school holidays, they were usually working by then! i don’t think we’ve ever managed to all go on a vacation together. i used to just tag along to the different places they went to, which coincidentally is how i ended up in crestle. no one’s to blame for that, since my brothers and my parents were always busy, but i guess it would have been nice to be able to have a vacation, with all eight of us.
what advice would you tell your younger self?
breathe. calm down. we’re still growing, and learning, and it’s okay. i was the youngest, with five pairs of huge shoes to fill. so i really wanted to catch up to my brothers, be the best and, you know, perfect, like they are. it’s only been recently that i’ve learnt to take a breather and not hold myself to standards that are too high.
that’s definitely good advice. what is some advice you think everyone should hear?
be a little more environmentally conscious! i don’t think i have advice that everyone would need, but this is definitely something you can do to make yourself feel a little better, like using a reusable bag or sustainable cutlery, you know? i think it feels good to be able to do something about climate change, even if it’s small. if you feel down, at least you’ll know you’ll have made a small impact for the earth, and isn’t that comforting?
that’s true! what’s something else you do to bring your spirits up – what is your biggest guilty pleasure?
i love window shopping, and actual shopping, oops, in antique shops! there’s just something about learning all the history behind each item that’s nice, and i like finding something unique for the house, as you can tell.
what do you think people take way too seriously?
can i say echo? i’m going to say echo, i know people don’t really take tabloids seriously, but the drama it’s been causing is just silly. we’re not all out to get each other, i promise. let’s just stop reading those tabloids!
what is one thing you want to tell someone but don’t have the courage to say?
ah, there’s a lot, to many people... right now, though, i think i’d like to tell someone how i feel about them. it’s been a long time, and i – i guess it’d be nice to be honest, like i am right now, but i don’t want anything to change between us either, which is why i haven’t said anything.
i'll be rooting for you! what are your thoughts on love?
i think love is really important to me. platonic, familial, romantic, all of them. my love life hasn’t been too exciting, but i have good friends and family with me, and i really, well, love them! i try to give as much love as i’ve received, and i hope everyone around me can feel it too.
and i guess it’s inevitable that love is important to me, when that’s a staple in the music industry. i love love, i’ll admit, but finding it for myself... i’m working on it!
would you rather live without love or adventure?
without adventure, easy. i don’t think i could live without love, that’d be too isolating. i can forgo adventure if i have my friends and family around, they’re all the excitement i need.
what is your greatest fear?
it’s cliche, but failing the people i love. i think it’s true to most people, not wanting to hurt or disappoint our loved ones, and i definitely don’t want to either. i guess it’s what you get when you put a fear of failure and a fear of abandonment together, haha!
what do you feel is the defining moment of your life?
coming to crestle cove! it’s where the biggest moments have happened in my life, where i found steadier footing for myself, met yifei and daehyun and formed the hex girls, lived almost half of my life in! none of this would have happened if i hadn’t decided to come to crestle for high school, and now i can’t imagine how my life would be if i wasn’t here. crestle really brought me to the best people and all of those important moments i’ve had, and it starts from when i first arrived.
last one. what is one quote you live by?
leave me but a little to myself – it’s a line from othello that stuck with me from high school literature. i know it isn’t the right meaning, but it reminds me that relationships are about reaching across to each other and to where the other person is, and bringing a bit of you over to them. it’s something i’ve learnt to do, in my own relationships, instead of trying to force two people into a common place, and to be generous with what i can give of myself to others. and it also reminds me to take a little break, and have some time to myself, too.
thank you so much for listening to me ramble, and share my honest thoughts!
he’d better appreciate the time he has left with her, then. noah’s brown eyes widen when she brings up froyo again and he begins nodding, erratically. “of course, i will! i mean, what are friends for?” noah is running on so much adrenaline, fear and panic that if he comes across as odd, he can’t bring himself to realize it.
she sees his frown and not knowing what causes it worries her even more. will noah still care for her if she can’t read his moods like she usually does, find the small things to bring it up like she once could? she’d thought she’d gotten him down; understood how he ticked and made herself a gear for him, but somewhere somehow she’d failed and he’ll wise up soon and leave her life. maybe she’d always known that would happen, but she’d never thought it’d be this soon.
what are friends for?
if she was a crueler person she would take his words and twist them, turn them into a knife to gouge out the truth from him. but she’s not, so those words twist inside her instead, just one more reminder to the ticking clock on their friendship. even noah seems to know those words don’t ring true, from the strange way they come out, and the uncomfortable gesture he makes, the one she recognises but doesn’t know the source of, this time.
perhaps it would be wiser to cut her losses now, before noah decides he’s had enough of her clinginess. she’s trying to patch up a leaking boat, prolong this drowning feeling just for the sake of those precious breaths of air she manages to get from him.
“i’m not feeling that hungry, actually... let’s not waste money, we can go next time?” bora shrugs, trying her best at nonchalance, the same words she’s said before sounding stuffed with cotton today, all mushy and raw. she smiles at noah, nodding her head towards the car. “unless you want to!” ( because, of course, if he wanted to she would, put herself through more confusion and hurt for noah’s sweet tooth. ) “if not, we can just get the groceries and head home?”
( * / follows suit after letting out a cheer, readjusting her position so that she’s sitting upright, not sprawled over the couch like a lazy feline. her body moves on its own, downing the shot without hesitation. then comes the salt and lime. easy peasy. ) ( * / the seemingly innocent invitation — as innocent as debauchery can get — makes yifei’s smile tighten for just a split second before she’s back to normal. hopefully, bora didn’t catch that. ) yeah, i’ll make sure to drop by when you two are snoozing so i can get a proper look at that stash of your’s. ( * / quickly supplies. god, someone get her a fucking oscar for this. wouldn’t make her feel much better about this, but still. she yawns. ) ugh, is it witching hour yet ? ( * / leans back into the couch, throwing her head back. smooth topic change. ) can’t be assed to go home though.
( ` something sinks when she sees yifei’s replying smile, the corners of her mouth tight at that invitation. there’s been something wrong lately, something missing between her and yifei. she doesn’t know what it is, and hasn’t picked up the courage to find out. ) why, are you gonna rob us? ( ` she feels like a hypocrite, faking a smile for yifei when she teases her, a filler to cover up the hurt she’s been plagued with ) yeah, ( ` takes a glance at their newly bought clock that noah’d managed to somehow get fixed, delicate hour hand moving a little past the one. ) it’s 1:10, yi’. ( ` she opens out her hands, and pours another drink. maybe she can fix theses cracks still, with the only way she knows how ) stay a little longer if you don’t wanna go? ( ` just for something more lighthearted, she nods towards the obnoxiously framed picture she’s got hanging on the wall, of noah and his unfortunate high school fashion choices ) that’s the only thing you’ve got to worry about here, anyway.
a soft exhalation slumps his shoulders as he releases the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. self composed songs were the direct window to his feelings: every strum of an acoustic were the words he couldn’t say, the unremitting drums the beat of his heart. it was a vulnerability he wasn’t used to, despite laying his songs bare to the girls was nothing unusual, it still left him with a shadow of fear of being rejected. “key change?” he repeats to himself, turning over the suggestion in his mind before an idea clicks with the melody. “oh, oh, right here!” his foot goes from following the beat to tapping to another verse in his brain. “bring up the tempo, add some subtle brass. it’ll be great,” he’s already reaching for his trusty little notebook, scribbling the joint revisions in the margins of lyrics he was in the process of writing.
the hypercritical side of him is satiated from the changes, finally receding to the back of his head and freeing his thoughts for the moment. “i can always count on you, noona,” he murmurs, half hoping she doesn’t even hear him. where he lacked, she always compensated for, and it offered him a comfort he so desperately clung onto. “oh? are you calling me fun, then? i always thought of myself as the boring one out of us three.”
daehyun catches the small suggestion she gives and turns it into something bigger, something better than anything she could manage, and bora can only smile and nod in agreement. of the three, she’s always been the smallest – the one by the side, forgotten, while yifei and daehyun shine on stage. he lacks nothing, in her eyes, and even though all she can do for him is cheer him on and watch as he takes on bigger and better things, she’s content with that.
she laughs and nudges him with her shoulder, the little point of contact sending a small hum of contentment through her. this is all she can get, but it’s okay – she’s happy with it. watching him grow into his own makes her proud and incongruously afraid, wanting to hold on to him a little longer before he finds his wings properly and leaves. but she’s got no right to do that, to even think that, when she’s too cowardly to do anything more than friendly words and shared smiles. it’s enough for her– it has to be, because the alternative is nothing, and she can’t bear the thought of that.
“of course you’re fun! how could you be boring, dae,” she pinches his cheek teasingly, gentle, “it’s why i like you!” she hides her feelings into those five innocuous words, and knows he won’t see them for what they are, just like he won’t see her, ever, too shadowed to be noticed by someone as bright as he is. bora laughs off the ache, and shrugs, “and your music! is that why you asked to meet?” she tilts her head at him and smiles. “got any more songs for me to listen to?”
the incessant tapping of his foot garnered attention from a few passersby, the action undoubtedly obnoxious, but if he’s conscious about it, he makes no move to acknowledge it. he gets this way when out and about, always too lost in his head to have a decent conversation with. any lapses in talking are always immediately filled with some ghost of a song, be it humming, drumming, or irritating foot taps. “i can’t get this damn song out of my head,” he grunts in frustration. violently turning to his worn out backpack, he ruffles through its contents before pulling out his headphones. “i need you to listen to this song i just wrote,” he hastily stuffs one into his ear and hands them the other. “give me your honest opinion. don’t hold back. what do you think?”
bora’s kept up a steady stream of small talk while daehyun’s head is somewhere else, missing in action. she’s gotten used to it; she knows he doesn’t mean to, and he’ll work it out of his system to her when he manages it. so instead she just lets him be, waiting, as she’s used to.
“hmm?” she looks up at him, smiling when he offers her a earbud and a look into his head. “hold on, lemme listen,” she shushes him, covering her other ear to focus on the melody streaming out of low quality headphones. it’s a fast beat melody, clear over the instrumental, still lyric-less. “it’d suit us,” is the first thing that comes to mind, then, “could do like, a modulation or a key change, the keys’ll get repetitive after a while.” her professional opinion, and then that of her’s as his friend, “i really like it, though,” she smiles at him, wide and honest, and nudges him with a shoulder, “it’s got your style on it, too. it’s fun!” she gives him a thumbs up, still bopping along to the tune that’s looped.
god, can someone please change the subject? he begs the universe for some sort of help, and he thinks he’s got it once bora is asking about the shopping list. unknowingly, noah takes a long pause while trying to remember where he put said list before recalling that it was on his phone. “oh!” he jolts suddenly, coming back to life. he pulls his phone out of his pocket and opens his notes, reading from them aloud. “let’s see, we’ve got the clock …” he scanned through the list. “it looks like the rest is all groceries. did you still want to get frozen yogurt after?”
she smiles at him, trying to keep it on when she sees his face fall, knowing exactly what he means without knowing what’s behind those words. their friendship has made her attuned to his moods, but she’s not privy to his thoughts, no matter how much she’d like to be. so bora sees his smile drop, the uncomfortable twist of his mouth when he’s hiding something from her, the same expression she’s been seeing at random points in the day, right before noah disappears for hours on end.
but he comes back to her, and so she pretends not to see it, just like he pretends not to do it.
“alright!” bora lifts up the basket, nodding her head to the counter. “i’ll pay, since this is mostly my stuff...” she rifles through the rest of its contents and nods; they’d come to the antiques shop because she loves it here, everything wizened and holding a story behind each item. plus, it’s usually cheap enough that she can buy whatever her heart fancies without her wallet hurting. “gimme a sec, then we can go get the groceries!”
bora moves towards the register, then turns back and grabs noah to go with her. “c’mon,” is all she says, pulling him along. it’s unnecessarily clingy, maybe, but she feels bad just leaving him standing there. he always comes back, no matter what he’s been up to lately, and despite the petty side of her wanting to leave him alone for just one minute, she won’t do it, because it’s not fair to him. he comes back, so she won’t leave him either ( and he will, always, won’t he? ).
she fishes out the cash at the counter, smiling at the old woman who runs the shop. “thank you,” she chirps, taking out the reusable bag she’d brought along in place of using a plastic bag. “you can put them in here!” bora helps with the bagging, making small talk and occasionally catching noah’s eye, smiling when she does. “okay, thank you again!” she says, waving to the owner as they leave.
“i still want the froyo...” she raises the bag in her hand, then gives noah her best puppy eyes for the second time in an hour. “i paid for these, so won’t you treat me to it?”
( * / watches bora go through the options, turning over so she’s laying on her stomach, arms folded under her chin. her expression lights up when she recognises the bottle of tequila. she doesn’t even need to say yes. ) got any lime and salt for that ? ( * / not that it really matters, since she’d take it with or without. past the point of being picky and she’s only going further from here. at least, she has proper company this time. no somewhat familiar faces with missing names, but someone she actually gives a shit about, even if she’s not doing a very good job at it at the moment. ) i swear you and noah have more booze than i do at my place. it’s weird.
( ` winks at yifei and nods, giving her a couple of little finger guns ) you know we do! gimme a sec. ( ` goes to the kitchen and grabs a couple of shot glasses, quickly cutting a lime into eight neat wedges that’s more muscle memory than skill, reaching for the salt as she walks back to the living room ) here we go! ( ` lays it all out on the coffee table, sweeping her hand out in a wide arc to present it all to yifei, playacting the bartender before pouring a neat shot for the two of them, passing the other girl a wedge and quickly taking her shot, chasing it with the salt and lime ) do we? ( ` shrugs, because yifei’s always welcome at her place, and she’s sure noah wouldn’t object, even if he’s been a little cagey about who comes over lately... but he probably won’t mind yifei, whom they’ve all known since high school ) well, if you wanna drink... you could always come over!
NOAH: i’ve been convinced … yes the fake dog is v cute does he have a name ?
NOAH: ok let me get this straight: mug cake first
NOAH: and then we kidnap the dog
NOAH: … dognap? is that a term?
NOAH: w/e it’ll be ours soon
( 💬 BORA ) :3c no he doesnt hes waiting for u to come home & name him
( 💬 BORA ) yes mug cake first.. then doggo!!
( 💬 BORA ) see u soon buddy <3
i’m a hex girl, and i’m gonna put a spell on you!
ft. hex girls : their debut song; the one they wrote in between lessons and after school, the one that jump started them into music, before the rumours and notoriety and fame.
ii. sit next to me foster the people
just come over here and sit next to me / and i'll take you high, high
ft. fei : probably what was playing while they were high and figuring things out, one thing leading to another, and anytime she calls, she knows he’ll come over.
iii. guy.exe superfruit
wish I could synthesize / a picture perfect guy
ft. noah : one of her favourite karaoke songs with noah, singing it out at the top of their lungs on road trips and while doing house chores! best friend, perfect guy, that’s the same thing! ( right? )
iv. carried away h.e.r
i never saw it coming / you wanna take me away / so please / don't let it be for nothing before we get carried away, yeah
ft. fei : she started this and now she’s getting carried away, doesn’t know why or how this is spiraling out of control but neither of them have a handle on what’s going on or what the other person is feeling, and she’s starting to have trouble seeing what’s real and what’s pretend.
v. no more suckers marina
no more suckers in my life / all the drama gets them high / i'm just trying to draw the line
ft. yifei : the both of them, trying to deal with fame and the tabloids and the rumours, but who needs all that when they’ve got each other?
vi. goodbye my friends fixh
goodbye
ft. noah & yifei : her closest friends, finding something better in each other and leaving her behind. that’s okay.
give it a thought, it takes a lot / to trust that someone else will catch my fall
she feels like she’s constantly searching and reaching out for someone and finding no one, letting herself fall and trying to trust that she won’t break like porcelain.
ii. number one tove styrke
everybody loves a number one!
it’s what she wants, to be the final one, number one, and she’s chased her dreams this far, so surely... she’ll be number one soon?
iii. liability lorde
you're a little much for me / you're a liability / you're a little much for me
the one line she’s heard a little too much, because she’s always a little too much, too insecure and trying too hard and sometimes too much is not enough.
iv. i’ll still have me cyn
i broke my back 'cause / i thought you would too / i'd run in circles / i thought you would too
every relationship she’s been in, every friendship, she’s overexerted herself into exhaustion, trying to hold everything together all by herself because the other person might not try and she doesn’t have the strength to let that happen. but now she’s learning, to have herself and be content with that.
v. to noise making (sing) hozier
you put your emptiness to melody / your awful heart to song / you don’t have to sing it nice, but honey sing it strong / at best, you find a little remedy, at worst the world will sing along
the reason she started making music: she loved it, and it felt freeing. this is her singing in the shower, around the house, on long drives, to herself, the small reprieves she takes to remind herself of the little blessings she has.
vi. daydreamer aurora
when we should be daydreamers / and moonwalkers and dream talkers
this is who she wants to be, the daydreamer, the one chasing her dreams with nothing holding her back anymore, leaving behind all the baggage she’s wrestled with. it’s easier said than done, but she’s on her way there!
( * / yeah, you’d think that, is what she doesn’t say, eyes flitting to a photo of bora and her dear housemate on the wall. she looks away, letting out a laugh. ) god, i wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy — ( * / pauses, then breaks into a grin. ) actually, yeah, i would. ( * / curses are out of the question. with the amount of loathing she has towards echo, she’d rather not have that energy return to her three times stronger. for now, she can only hope they’ll die down eventually, as bora says. not that she has much hope, but it doesn’t hurt to be a little optimistic, she supposes. ) ugh, you read my mind. ( * / really should’ve said no, but what difference will one more make. ) let me just… ( * / sits up with a groan, so bora can get up, only to lie back down when the space is freed up, looking at the other hex girl with a warm smile — so unlike her usual demeanour. ) love you the most.
( ` laughs and jokingly uses her knuckles to rap on yifei’s arm, when she just wiggles around to let bora off and waits for bora to bring the drinks ) you’re so lazy. ( ` but her smile mirrors yifei, the words her friend says making her expression break into a soft one that takes up her whole face with its sincerity ; bora walks into the kitchen and glances through the assortment of liquor she and noah have slowly stocked up ) we’ve got wine, gin, baileys, j.d, uh... ( ` holds out what she knows is their go to drink, the one that they tried in high school and that they default to on the worst days when they just need something to take their mind off things ) the usual? ( ` cocks a shoulder and grins, holding up the bottle ; it’s been a while since she and yifei had a whole night to themselves, and even if what got them together was less than pleasant, they can make a good night out of it )
NOAH: NO PLEASE I BEG BORA I’M SORRY
NOAH: BOOOOOOORRRRRRRAAAAAAAAA
NOAH: ooh uh maybe a little longer than i hoped
NOAH: did you know the neighbors got a new puppy?
NOAH: isn’t he cute? should i steal him?
( 💬 BORA ) omg when did they
( 💬 BORA ) come back home first i wanna go over too
( 💬 BORA ) AFTER i make this mug cake!
( 💬 BORA ) will this fake doggo entice u home a lil faster...
( * / the thing is, bora’s right. it’s the minority spreading the rumours, yet to yifei, they stand out the most. they exist to rile her up and she lets it happen to the point where the anger consumes her. frustrated to the point where she begins pointing fingers and throwing accusations at people who she knows deep down would never do such a thing. ) surprised they haven’t already. ( * / scoffs, not even bothering to mimic bora’s actions. who knows, they might say that this is all just an act forced by their manager. ) you think good ol’ mystery inc can expose these guys ? ( * / it’s a dry attempt at a joke, but she still smirks a little at the thought. ) deluded town drives out the only people keeping it groovy. ( * / says in her best blogger-slash-news-anchor voice. )
( ` laughs and shrugs; the tabloids are having as much of a field day with mystery inc as they’ve been having with the hex girls ) why don’t you hit them up, they’ve got as much beef with echo as you do. ( ` it must say something that bora’s been deemed too boring, too unimportant for echo to even take notice, even when the town is so small it’s been cycling through the same three rumours – the only time she finds her name printed in the papers is when she’s yifei’s helpless victim, or yet another one of fei’s suspected girls – it doesn’t rankle so much as fester a little longer, a little deeper into the hollow that her insecurities have made for themselves. but that isn't what yifei comes over to think about ( it never is ) ) crestle’ll miss you, who will echo write about now? ( ` teasingly, then she taps yifei’s forehead on her lap with her finger and nods in the direction of the kitchen; the lavender candles aren’t doing much in the way of improving either of their moods right now, so: ) want another drink?
NOAH: my stomach was *not* weak!
NOAH: it was gross? and cold? wow bora wow way to rewrite history
NOAH: i will stay hating …. thanks but no thanks
NOAH: first you insult my stomach and then you???? deny me cookies
NOAH: aw <3 thank u
NOAH: wait……
NOAH: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ‘EASY’
( 💬 BORA ) fine i wont make u anything next time u fall sick!
( 💬 BORA ) HA
( 💬 BORA ) u know what i mean
( 💬 BORA ) eta pls ...
