@4gives asked ❝ what’s love got to do with it ?? ❞ from miju
❝ …i used to think it didn’t matter, miju. ❞
his voice is quieter than usual, missing that familiar sharpness, and he doesn’t immediately look at you when he says it. instead, his gaze drifts somewhere past you, like he’s following a thought he’s avoided for a long time. ❝ it was easier that way, convincing myself it was just a weakness, something people cling to when they don’t have anything else left. if you see it like that, then you don’t have to deal with it, you don’t have to wonder if it would have changed anything. ❞
he exhales softly, the sound almost tired, like the answer costs more than he expected it to. ❝ i’ve seen what it does to people, the way they stay when they shouldn’t, the way they forgive things that should never be forgiven, the way they choose someone else over themselves even when it ruins them. ❞ there’s a slight tension in his expression, something that almost sounds like judgment before it fades into something less certain. ❝ i thought that meant it was pointless, that it just made people weak. ❞
this time when his eyes find them, they stay there, steadier, though not as guarded as they usually are. ❝ but it’s not that simple. people don’t hold onto something like that for no reason, not when it costs them that much. ❞ his voice lowers just slightly, softer but more honest than he usually allows himself to be. ❝ it doesn’t just ruin them. sometimes it’s the only thing that makes them stay, the only thing that makes them keep going when they should have walked away a long time ago. ❞
he pauses, just briefly, like he’s deciding whether to leave it there, but something in him pushes the thought the rest of the way out. ❝ so… what’s love got to do with it? ❞ his gaze doesn’t leave his former group-mate's, something unresolved lingering beneath it. ❝ probably more than anything else. ❞
Zoey had been half listening to him talk for the past minute, at least she was pretty sure it had been a minute, but her attention kept drifting back to the food in his hands instead of whatever story he was in the middle of telling. It was not even that she meant to focus on it, it just kept catching her eye every time he gestured without actually taking a bite, like he had completely forgotten he was holding it in the first place.
After a while it started to bother her more than it should have, the way small things always did when she was sitting still for too long, and before he could finish his sentence she leaned over without warning, took it straight out of his hands, and took a bite like it had belonged to her the entire time.
She chewed like nothing unusual had happened, eyes dropping for a second in thought before she finally glanced back at him, completely unbothered by whatever look he was giving her now. ❝You were not eating it,❞ she said simply, like that explained the whole situation, holding it in her hand for another second before taking one more quick bite and giving it back. ❝If you hold food that long without touching it, you cannot expect me to just sit there and ignore it. That is not realistic.❞
Zoey settled back into her seat after that, perfectly comfortable, like the conversation had never been interrupted at all, though the corner of her mouth lifted slightly when she looked at him again and added, almost as an afterthought, ❝And do not complain, because if you start complaining I am taking it again. At that point it becomes your fault, not mine.❞
chrysanthemum : how does your muse express romantic love ? how do they feel about love as a concept ?/ haneul
phew this is going to be so insanely long 😳 okay here we go..
HOW DOES YOUR MUSE EXPRESS ROMANTIC LOVE?
Haneul expresses love through presence first. He shows up early, stays late, and doesn’t announce either. If someone matters to him, he orients himself around their gravity without making it obvious - choosing the same spaces, adjusting his schedule, quietly making sure he’s there when things go sideways.
He doesn’t hover, but he’s reliably around, like a warm light left on in another room.He’s attentive in small, observational ways. He notices habits before he notices feelings. Such as which mug they reach for when they’re tired, how they dress when they don’t expect to be seen, and what they avoid talking about. Love, for him, looks like remembering and adapting - bringing the right thing without being asked, stepping back when space is needed, stepping in when it isn’t requested but clearly required.
Affection comes filtered through humor. He teases, lightly and often, but it’s never careless. If he flirts, it’s usually sideways - playful comments, warmth in his voice, an unspoken I see you threaded through banter. He doesn’t rush physical closeness. Touch, when it happens, is deliberate: a hand at the small of the back to guide rather than to claim, brushing shoulders in passing, quiet contact that lingers just long enough to matter...
When he loves someone, he protects their autonomy. He doesn’t cage, doesn’t demand reassurance, doesn’t force vulnerability out of them. He makes room instead. He’s the kind of partner who will sit with you in silence without making it awkward, who will carry the weight when you can’t without making a show of it later. And when things get serious - when love stops being hypothetical - Haneul becomes steady in a way that’s almost disarming. He doesn’t dramatize commitment, but he honors it. He keeps promises. He stays. Even when it’s uncomfortable. Especially then.
His love says: I’m here. I’m paying attention. You don’t have to perform for me.
That’s the kind of love that lasts.
HOW DO THEY FEEL ABOUT LOVE AS A CONCEPT?
Haneul believes in love the way someone believes in gravity: not romanticized, not debated, just understood as a force that exists whether you want it to or not.
Because of his parents, love was never theoretical to him. It wasn’t something you prove or perform or bargain for. It was steady, lived-in, unquestioned. Two people choosing each other every day, not loudly, not perfectly, but completely. He grew up watching affection expressed in routines, in shared silence, in the way his mother always knew when his father was coming home without checking the clock. Love, to him, was safety first and passion second - something that anchored you to the world.
That makes his relationship to love complicated now.
He doesn’t distrust love, but he respects its power in a way that borders on wariness. He’s seen what real love can survive - and what it can destroy. His mother’s death didn’t make him cynical; it made him careful. Love, in his mind, is not harmless. It’s transformative. It can save you, and it can hollow you out if it’s taken violently away.
So, Haneul doesn’t rush toward it, but he also doesn’t deny it when it finds him. He doesn’t believe in half-love or placeholders. If he loves, it will be fully, intentionally, with the quiet understanding that it’s a risk he’s choosing with open eyes. He refuses to cheapen it by treating it casually.
He also carries an unspoken fear: that loving deeply might mean losing just as deeply. Not because love fails, but because the world is cruel and random and doesn’t care how good something is before it takes it. That fear doesn’t stop him - it just means he measures his steps, aware of the edge.
At his core, Haneul believes love is worth the cost. He watched his parents choose it every day, and he watched what it did to his mother when it was torn away. To him, that isn’t an argument against love.
return a call, would you? / sieun for jiwoon ... he probably snuck into his house again im sorry
it always startled him . it doesn't matter how many times sieun has done it before . seeing a shadow sit on the couch in his dark apartment always made jiwoon tense up . he let out a relieved sigh when he realized it's sieun , and took his jacket off with a half hearted glare . ‘ can't you use the door for once ? ‘ though , there's no trace of genuine irritation in his voice . today was a long day , his limbs still ache , nospin has been rehearsing the new dance for hours since this morning and jiwoon seemed to be the center of the attention . obviously , the new sweetheart of the industry with an angel face and sinful moves ─ it's frustrating really , to be so loved all of a sudden , out of nowhere . jiwoon winces as he sits down on the couch , and leans back with closed eyes and a soft groan . after the rehearsal , jiwoon was .. taken out on something like a date . it wasn't something he did out of pleasure of course , his bandmates had told him it was always clever to never turn down a manager's kind offer to dinner . he felt bad , his mind kept running to sieun , and he had to turn his phone face down to not see him keep calling him . now his eyes were closed because he didn't want to look at sieun ─ he did nothing wrong ! it was just a dinner , a business dinner but it made him feel disgusting . tonight jiwoon had realized he's pretty skilled in turning someone down in the most polite and subtle way possible . ‘ how long have you been waiting ? ‘ he asks after some time , not able to bear the silence anymore .
@4gives asked:
it's completely innocent. / from noori
"Sounds like a PR answer." But Hwan is simply jesting at that point, a smile upon his face, amused more than accusing the other. All idols and entertainers at one point, they are told what to say when they are caught doing something, nevermind how small it was, as their fans often made everything blow out of proportions.
"Look, you don't need to explain yourself to me. Hell, I would even help you with the lie." Because they all needed to give each other a pat on the back and help one another. Hwan's sway around the glass he had on his hand, eyebrows raised in an offering. "Buy you one?"
𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐎 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋 were a common thing amongst anyone with a service animal. They were still animals — they still got pulled away sometimes from various things like smells, other animals, and people. And while this didn’t happen very often when it came to Bomi — it still happened every once in a while.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 as he trailed after her, trying to limit his speed and the pressure of his feet along the concrete — ignoring the murmurs of recognition from passersby; ‘ isn’t he that idol from the accident last year ? ‘ ‘ should he really be running after what happened … ? ‘ — things he heard on the daily that didn’t necessarily matter in this current moment. “ Bomi ! Heel ! “
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐒, sniffing at the three other dogs that were being walked by a stranger — Cheol-min catching his breath as he grabs her leash gently, pulling her away from the other dogs, kneeling and grabbing her head, playfully shaking it around. “ You really worried me … ” His gaze flickered up to Sieun before he got back to his feet.
" Sorry — She never usually does this. I hope she didn't bother you."
can i convince you to stay the night? / hasun and jiho
leaned back against his car , still donned in his racer outfit ─ all with that infuriating little smirk on his lips . as if he's pretty sure jiho will say yes and he's just trying to be nice , and pretend he's patient enough to let jiho decide . he looks like a dream , jiho had ignored the dangers of being seen among the spectators by the paparazzi in order to sit here and watch hasun win . as usual , his cocky little wink went unnoticed by many , and jiho had to lower the shade of his cap to hide his faint smile . pretty sure some of the crowd had recognized him , nospin was getting a little too famous since hak jiwoon joined them . it had its perks , obviously but it also limited ones like him who was infatuated with a racer . he was still wearing the cap as he stepped closer , catching hasun's hand that reached out for him . just to bring it to his mouth and kiss his palm , his wrist . ‘ aren't you going to celebrate it with your team ? ‘ that's not a yes but definitely not a no either . in fact , a sweet little sign leaves jiho in a quiet chuckle as he takes hasun's broad shoulders and brings himself closer . tightens the lock of his arms around the other's neck and rubs his nose up and down his neck . that faint scent of sweat , mixing with his aftershave and cologne ─ jiho is a goner . how's he really supposed to reject a night with a winner as charming as hasun ? ‘ you were so good out there . but you probably heard that a lot tonight . ‘ he mumbled with a growing smile , so fond that his eyes are glinting . the lights around the racing area are turning off , darkness engulfing them in an embrace as jiho rests his forehead against hasun's . well , he hopes whatever camera might be recording them can't see shit in this darkness . a useless hope , or maybe nobody is watching them . if that's the case , jiho mindlessly catches hasun's lip in a chaste kiss . ‘ come over to my apartment ? ‘
