HE DIDN’T NEED TO WAKE UP EARLY to study anymore - yet on certain days the mind decides that it must buzz with some untold energy, and he pops up when he shouldn’t. like now when his phone reminds him that it is 4am, and he doesn’t need to be anywhere until far later. much, much later. but when the boy decides his best to fall back into the world of slumber he only ends up tossing and turning.
eventually he leaves his bed. eventually he goes even further, though quietly without waking up his brother. in case the other wakes up while he is still out for one reason or another, junjae leaves a neatly written note on the table. with that and all bundled up for the winter night cold, he makes his way outside.
the air nips at exposed skin, so he adjusts his hoodie all the more to conceal himself. eyes do not stare at the ground, instead keeping ahead though mind wanders as they usually do in the early mornings. but not far enough - he catches someone familiar from the corner of his eyes and immediately curiosity settles into him.
❝ – rosalee? is that you?❞ junjae quietly inquires, bounding over to where the other woman happens to be. the corner of his eyes immediately crinkle into his smile when he realizes it is exactly the person ❝ – why are you out so late? or should i say early….if you couldn’t sleep like me.❞
She probably shouldn’t be outside at this hour, but she was used to it. Only a few years ago, she was there, closing the Karaoke Bar and going back to her university dorm to sleep a couple of hours before going to classes. But tonight, it was withotu a reason that Rosalee was outside, walking in her neighborhood with music in her ears. She was lipsynching to her music, kpop, with the image in her head of her doing the rap and being good at it.
And then, right at the end of a song, she heard her name. The thing with her name is that it’s so long and unusual that she knows someone is speaking her name. She quickly removed one earbud in a reaction to a jumpscare. “Wha--” It was Junjae, a friend. “Yah! You scared me, oh my God!” she said, a bit too loud, with a laugh. She wasn’t prepare to meet with someone this late, or this early. Junjae asked the question. “Well, I just... like, woke up. Like if it was morning already. You know how my brain is weird. I was a bit surprised when I saw that the sun wasn’t even out there yet.”
Rosalee removed her music. “You couldn’t sleep?” she asked, repeating. “Like insomnia?”
