the flyer was hidden inside his notebook because he wasn’t sure what to expect. what if they had no idea how he looked, and the only giveaway would be the suspicious piece of paper filled with impressive promotions? if there was a chance he was about to walk right into death then seungjoon wanted to prevent it the best he could.
like it did from time to time, his heart started beating a little bit faster. just a store was certainly what he didn’t expect from a store. there were clients scattered across the rows of what looked like talismans and charms, and his mind started buzzing with different thoughts and ideas. it did follow the mystical concept the flyer made the shop seem like, but all the people inside looked like... people. with a sigh, seungjoon took a pencil from his back pocket, taking notes and crossing out any sort of body modifications theories. maybe the magical beings weren’t alien or mutant-like (he’d have to think more around those).
so the boy kept standing by the entrance and blocking the way of the front door. he was too busy to notice he was obstructing anything, though. his eyes kept moving from the notebook to the internal area to make sure he wouldn’t miss any details. if his original plan was not to look suspicious then he was certainly failing it - on many levels.
from this meme ! holiday —write our characters celebrating a holiday together.
PAST: christmas, 2014 or at least sometime pre-contract. timeline: ???, potentially canon but could also be au idksolace will come later i’m SORRY
despite being told not to bring anything, jonghyun and his brother showed up with arms full of presents anyway, matching grins on their faces as haneul squeals in delight and hoseok rubs at the back of his neck, embarrassed at being clearly one-upped; although haneul reassured him that she has it all covered, he definitely worries that their dinner and two hastily-wrapped gifts wouldn't be enough. hoseok was sort of under the impression that if he told jonghyun not to worry about gifts then they wouldn't have to worry about them either -- but of course they didn't listen anyway. judging from haneul's over-the-top reaction, he's guessing that she wasn't expecting them to go so all-out either.
but he smiles, giving both boys a one-armed hug and stepping to the side to let them in. they're only here for dinner and a brief gift exchange, because the kim brothers have other things to do ( more friends to see ) but haneul had insisted that they visit for at least an hour or two. at first, it was just 'stop by for baileys hot chocolate' but soon enough it blew up into a whole ordeal, haneul working some magic in the kitchen ( with hoseok's assistance ) and he's left wondering what the heck he should be doing to earn a dinner this good on a regular day.
although he supposes, if he could choose anyone to treat like this it’d be the kim brothers; he doesn't know much about the two yet but he does know that haneul adores them, the older one especially. one would expect hoseok to get jealous, but he's not, really. maybe he was at first, just a little, but now he's just glad to see that haneul has someone else she wants to trust. he was glad to be introduced to him a few months ago. he he knows how hard it is for her to make friends, when she's normally the somewhat serious and introverted one at school; he likes that it makes her happy to see them all together. as he follows after the other three, he makes a note to try to get to know them more.
and then there’s jonghyun -- a kid, hoseok decided soon after meeting him. hoseok is reminded of this when he watches jonghyun react to the sight of dinner, clapping and cheering. he’s almost surprised by how he acts sometimes -- at first sight he would’ve pegged him as someone more serious. although that air of responsibility is still there, he’s definitely more childish than hoseok expected. and he lives up to that every time he sees him -- for example, today he nearly runs straight into the table before his brother steps in, holding him back. it makes haneul laugh, and even hoseok smiles a little.
this is such a hallmark moment. gross, he thinks, but even the voice in his head speaks fondly. he's not really used to this -- sure, his time with haneul has been filled with cheesy moments on their own but he isn't used to actually sharing it with anyone else. for so long, it's been just he and his girl against the world -- he wasn't really prepared to let others into his life, especially when it's at haneul's will and not his.
but maybe it's time. if haneul can open up to them like this, if she's this eager to have them all be great friends then he should too, right? it wouldn't be fair for her to put in this effort just for him to flop on her. so he'll try his best.
he catches her eye from where she’s sitting at the table, and he must've had a particularly pensive look on his face because he sees slightly furrowed brows, a hint of worry in her eyes. he shakes his head and gives her what he hopes is a reassuring look -- and, after a moment, he steps back and turns on his heel, pulling out his cell phone. "everyone look alive," he says, hoisting his phone right before smiling as he snaps a selfie.
he glances at the screen as he slips his phone back into his pocket. jonghyun looks fairly goofy, with food half in his mouth, his brother smiling politely while haneul looks brighter than hoseok has seen her in months. "cute.”
he's not usually this sentimental. it's just for her, is his first thought. of course it is -- but right after he realizes that's not quite true.
the others resume their conversation as hoseok slips into his spot at the table, and he feels some kind of emotion doing funny things to his insides. happiness? maybe, but not quite; it's more like anticipation, the sort of anxiety that comes with knowing that something good is coming your way while the potential of messing it up somehow is right there, too.
he wants to make friends. he really does. especially if it would make haneul smile like this more often -- it's worth it. if he has to put his wariness and social exhaustion aside to do it, he will, at least for this one night.
"hey jonghyunnie, pass me the salt?" he hopes they can stay for a while.
drabble meme : accepting!movie: our characters going to the theater together.
the movie theater had one of those special deals you always loved but never managed to get. it was called a deal, but to get the personalized bucket of popcorn and a themed soda cup was way more expensive than it needed to be.
he was already nervous about the situation in general, and standing next to the entrance simply waiting didn’t help his nerves much. “sorry i was late.” jonghyun was too nice. if someone were to check the time they’d realize both of them were actually early. in fact, seungjoon had arrived an hour before because sitting at home stressing about getting there at the right time didn’t prove to be very useful ( or good for his heart ). “no, you weren’t!”
and so he broke the topic. silence took over once again. he had given himself the job of buying their tickets since he was already there doing nothing for an hour, so there was no need to worry about that anymore. they stood next to the glass box in the middle of the room showing the death star-shaped popcorn bucket in commemoration of the movie they were going to watch. rogue one had just come out, and while the stores outside were decorated for christmas the movie theater took in the stars theme. he hadn’t watched it yet, but thankfully jonghyun had invited him so he wouldn’t do it by himself.
“do you want one?” seungjoon’s neck almost snapped when he turned to look at the other. he had probably been staring at it without realizing, but he’d only have the money to buy it in his wildest dreams. “no, please!” and he wouldn’t want jonghyun to waste money on him, either. still, the other couldn’t help giving him a smile. “you bought the tickets. it’s the least i could do.” except the least meant a hole in his wallet.
his fear of being a bother got stuck between not wanting him to buy him something and not wanting to bother him by asking him not to. maybe by refusing it too much, it’d sound like he was simply denying his nice action and it’d make him a terrible friend. “i mean, there is no need, but…” his hands moved in front of his body in an awkward rhythm and before he knew it they were already inside.
best seats in the house. maybe getting there so early wasn’t that bad of an idea, after all. he was in charge of holding the bucket, and he did that as nervously as he ever could be. at least he wasn’t shaking ( or at least not as much as he thought he’d be ). “we’re sharing, okay? if you want soda just let me know.” seungjoon nodded in agreement. that could only be fair. jonghyun had probably realized what a mistake his offer was as soon as he reached the cashier, but acting could be his special skill.
“who will take it home?” seungjoon turned his attention to the one beside him, eyes opened wide. “please take it! you bought it!” jonghyun was already moving to argument on his side but at such rate, they’d spend the entire movie discussing. the younger quickly fixed his posture to make the other stop. a moment of silence. as always, the attention made his cheeks warmer, but he couldn’t stop. “let’s settle this like proper men.”
a fist moved forward but stopped between the two. “rock, paper, scissors.” jonghyun got his own hand out without a second thought. they gave each other a moment to breath ( and maybe do some kind of mind game only with their eyes ) before they counted down for the definitive moment. he shouldn’t have thrown a rock. “damn it.” jonghyun hid the two fingers he had used as scissors, making seungjoon the winner. although the method was fair, and he was the one who had suggested it, the boy couldn’t help but feel bad about it.
just like it often happened his mind was filled with a million thoughts, trying to come up with the best outcome. he slowly rested his back against the big chair, lips pressing against each other. “we could always do it like divorced parents, you know?” not that he had some to know, but he had watched enough tv programs. “i can keep it the first week, then you can have it on the other.” and so he gave him a closed lip smile. it was his last attempt, and he wished it would work out well.
“or we could do it like non-divorced parents and i go visit from time to time.” he couldn’t help it but open a proper smile. that was much better than anything he had thought of. the lights dimmed, warning the people inside the movie was about to start. so seungjoon looked forward, taking some popcorn for himself. “that sounds nice.”
a random starter for @ccjonghyun, who sent a prompt to this post !
however leon found himself in this situation is beyond him. sitting in a coffee shop across from none other than kim jonghyun, vice president of the league, former friend ( if 'former' is the right term ), he feels fairly awkward; it's not often that someone asks him to meet up just for the sake of talking and it's even less often that leon actually agrees. he didn't brush him off like he does with most, for a combination of two reasons: one, jonghyun is the vice president of the stupid league and leon is maybe a little bit worried about being rude to someone of that standing, and two, he knows jonghyun well enough to know that he means well.
although leon doesn't really want to talk to him. there's an elephant in the room that hasn't gone away in.. a year? past a year? well, however long it's been since haneul died; and despite jonghyun's most well-intentioned efforts at bringing up the past in a light-hearted way, leon shuts down the conversation every time, almost immediately. don't talk about that stuff, he'd say, perhaps a little too harshly. it doesn't matter anymore.
maybe it embarrasses leon a little that jonghyun knows the old him, knows jung hoseok, and leon is positive that jonghyun pities him, at least a little bit. leon hates that -- it's hard enough trying to forget who he was before and it’s even harder with jonghyun being around; the last thing he needs is a reminder that leon and hoseok aren't exactly as distant from each other as leon hopes.
he's avoided talking to jonghyun alone for so long. and the other hero seemed to understand why, at first, or at least he didn't care to bother pushing his friendship on leon anymore -- leon was able to distance himself pretty easily. it was better that way.
and yet, here he is, doing exactly what he's been avoiding for a year. why? because he's bored? lonely? probably, something along those lines anyway. or maybe there's a small part of him that yearns for those memories of the past, little reminders that leon wasn't always the shitty person he is today.
"so what do you want?" leon says, his tone just as abrasive as usual despite his inner turmoil, blowing a puff of air across his latte. he watches the foam bubble a bit as it settles back onto the top of the sweet drink, refusing to meet jonghyun's gaze.
"am i getting kicked out of the league or something? 'cause, uh -- no offense, but that'd actually be kinda ideal."
