rebhb:
mild panic.
“you’re feeling adventurous today, aren’t you?”
Hanbyeol stops when he hears her voice, and almost immediately turns around to look at the woman whose voice is way too familiar for him not to recognize as soon as he heard her. He’s known Li’er for a long time now, and despite the nervousness he felt when they first met at her spawn point, he has grown to be lowkey fond of her and her company. Not that he’d ever admit it, though.
But still, he smiles when he finally looks at her. “Adventurous,” he repeats in the form of another question, tilting his head and looking at her with a face that clearly expresses confusion. He isn’t sure what she’s talking about until she speaks to him again.
“Your hat,” she points at his head. “You’re not wearing it today.”
And that’s when he feels his chest tight, eyes wide open as he looks at her and brings his hands up to touch his head, expecting to feel any type of fabric but all he touches is his own hair, soft and smooth under his palms. Some would say not wearing a hat is not something big enough to make a person panic, but it was more than enough to send Hanbyeol into a state of paranoia that might be viewed as exhaggeration; but it’s only irrational fear.
“Oh no,” he says with a quiet whine, hands starting to shake. “I can’t believe it, I’m so stupid!”
she doesn’t know all there is to know about her neighbour, but she knows enough. can recognise the way he hates being recognised, the fear when someone pokes a little too deep around him. she’s got her demons; she won’t begrudge him his. even if she still doesn’t know his name and other details that usually comes with being neighbours. nevertheless, li’er’s still privy to his daily minutiae after seeing him sporadically around for the past decade and more years — she registers the difference in appearance before she realises exactly what’s missing.
it’s not meant to be anything, just a playful jab at his deviation from the norm, but the other man reacts with far more distress than she’s expected. “hey,” the mirth in her voice turns to worry, hands reaching out to steady his. she’s learnt to back off from getting too personal with him, but li’er reacts on instinct and routine with someone clearly in need of help.
“it’s fine, it’s okay,” li’er’s never seen him without some sort of covering and while she doesn’t know why it’s important, she does know how important it is to him. so she unwinds the scarf around her neck and quickly drapes it over him, covering his hair and over his shoulders. “there we go,” she says, more to herself than him, then turns a soft smile his way, adjusting the scarf so the stray bits of hair are hidden. “that’s enough adventure for a day?”
