deja vu. | @nectcr
the music is pulsating, shaking the walls and making the edges of his vision vibrate. the party has been in full swing for awhile now, with the pledges finishing the formalities and finally having the opportunity to let loose. dongmin has never particularly been a big partier (he spends many nights just tapping away at his laptop, getting his ducks in a row, always preparing for something), and thus despite all of his seemingly sociable disposition, he’s always a little at a loss at parties.
at parties, people are unpredictable. there aren’t any pre-rehearsed scripts or designated times for handshakes. instead, it’s as if it’s a never ending free-for-all, where anyone and anything is fair game. the silver-lining (if there is one) lies in the fact that everyone is shedding their walls, letting their defenses trickle down with each shot they toss back.
and it seems that dongmin is not exempt from having his own defenses dropped.
as he’s walking about, trying to make out the faces through the flashing lights and the haze, he barely has enough time to process the hand that is careening straight towards his face. in fact, he isn’t even able to defend himself before the hand collides right at the bridge of his nose. even though he can’t see whoever collided with him (and is currently slurring out drunken apologies), he gets a peculiar feeling of deja vu.
“it’s fine, it’s fine, fuck, i think i’m bleeding–”
and as he’s trying to stop his nose from bleeding out all over everyone’s designer heels, his attacker yanks him across the room despite his protests, leading both of them to stumble through the women’s restroom door (“hey! do you know where you’re going???” he calls out, but he goes unheard). once they’ve crossed the threshold, he’s then covered in a flurry of tissues that he struggles to catch with his free hand that is not pinching his nose closed to prevent him bleeding out in a public restroom.
it’s in between these sheets of tissue that dongmin gets a good look at his attacker. there’s something so familiar about her that stirs something in the deepest parts of his chest. it’s dark and brewing and it’s been locked away for Years. he’s looking dead into the eyes of someone he never thought he’d see again–no, he hoped he would never see again.
“of course it would be you,” he manages around the other person’s frantic hands throwing tissues at him. “history really does repeat itself, huh?”
BETTER TO BE REVOLTING, TO BE WEAK ━━
she was never known for being brave. perhaps this was a fact not too well known—jin hanui, heiress of the crystal castle, best friend of han insoo and up until late, girlfriend of jeon doyun, that has always been her title. one that she carries with pride since middle school, one that fills her with insurmountable confidence, allows her to cling to the facade of a better, more self-assured, jin hanui. a version of her that mom, in the early years of youth, had stripped from her. of course, it is easy to claim to be bigger than you are with foundations as solid as hanui’s. impenetrable was the fortress cultivated, her prince charming, her white knight, her riches, her adoring peers (what’s not to adore? have you seen her?).
but the way she is now? fast forward to present day with a heavy beat in her ears and no prince charming by her side (instead he exists now as her competitor, her rival? rival? jeon doyun as her rival? is he allowed to do that?). the only thing that filled her now is courage in liquid form, in a throat-burning, heart in her ears form, in a you’re-not-thinking-straight-to-have-done-that form.
that?
vaguely, in the back of her head: she and ryu changho stand under the moon as the only two in the universe. between the city lights behind him and the reflection of her frame in his eyes, hanui is enamored enough to forgo the lack of distance between them. even so when she finds herself inching closer—his breath fanning over lips—closer still till—
“ahhHHH!” the heiress exclaims, fingers extended and flat of her palm knocking against the side of her head repeatedly. you’ve lost it, jin hanui. absolutely lost it. by far, it’d be easier to blame this on the bubbly than anything else, but hanui knows better than anyone that the sliver of regret that exists in between her own personal audacity and shame(?) is over the 10cm distance from his lips to hers that she failed to cross. still, still, this wasn’t the time and place for this. or maybe, there really shouldn’t be time and place for it in general—at least not with ryu changho.
god. she waltzes further into the crowd of moving bodies recklessly, fresh glass of not-entirely-sure-what in hand while the other busies with knocking against her head, notably vain act in hopes of maybe regaining some sense back into her. even more so when she stumbles and shoots her arm forward, heart of her palm colliding with another’s nose. oh no.
“oh my god,” hanui speaks around her horror, syllables slightly slurred as she grasps onto his shoulder to both get a better look and steady herself. “i’m so sorry—are you ok—of course you’re not—oH MY GOD—YOU’RE BLEEDING!” and perhaps she’s one or two highballs over her own personal limit for this, but hanui doesn’t think twice before grabbing hold of him, leading them both away from the crowd in drunken fervor—all the way to the restroom.
from there though, it wouldn’t be a lie to say it’s some sort of misplaced meltdown. surely, she’s not the one bleeding—but why is she freaking out so much?
“here—oh my god—take these—i’m so sorry—i’ll pay for everything,” eyes wide, panic is easy to spot among the welling tears and knitted brows. as long as she’s lived, other than the one incident when she was younger, hanui has never remembered acting up so much at any sort of event that she’d draw blood from an innocent bystander. way to make an impression on society, jin. “sorry?” nearly misses his words, momentarily preoccupied with twisting up a tissue, hanui doesn’t catch on till she’s but a step or two closer, hand angling his jaw further up while the other presses a bunched up clad of tissues against his bleeding nose.
“history—” she blinks, now genuinely taking the time to get a better look at her ‘victim’. namely, the glassy eyes and unshed tears that she reckons he’d prefer she not speak on it. oh. it’s him. it’s— “you don’t have gum do you?” hanui gives his jaw a squeeze to open, eyes flicking down to double check the inside of his mouth, all the while her mind struggles to come up with the information; crap, what was his name?
━━ THAN NOT TO BE REMEMBERED










