Baekhyun tugged the hood of his jacket up before stepping into the convenience store, keeping his face averted as he passed the clerk on his way to the aisles. From the corner of his eye he noticed a security camera perched in the far corner of the store. Without taking a closer look he couldn’t be sure if the camera was a dud or not, but he knew better than to risk getting caught sizing up the cctv. Instead, he strolled to the end of the first aisle and then rounded the second, pausing to browse the shelf in front of him and offering his back to the camera.
Safe in the knowledge that neither the clerk nor the cctv would be able to catch sight of his face, Baekhyun sized up the shelf in front of him, gauging its height to decide which aisle would be the easiest to lift from. With the cctv’s position, the closer he could get to the camera the better his luck would be. Of course that put him furthest from the clerk, which would only make him look more suspicious if anyone bothered to check the tape later.
With an almost imperceptible sigh, Baekhyun began to weave through the aisles, raking a disinterested gaze over the shelves as he passed. He only stopped when he had reached the far aisle and furrowed his brow. He made a show of inspecting the labels on three different cups of ramen, plucking each container from the shelf in turn. With his other hand he carefully took a handful of wrapped jerkies and slid them into his pant pocket.
“Ne, ahjussi.” Baekhyun held up the container of Shin ramen. “How much?”
The old man behind the counter punched out an irritated sigh. He set his newspaper down in favor of glaring at Baekhyun over the rim of his glasses. “Can’t you read, kid?”
Baekhyun just gave him an expectant stare.
The clerk finally grumbled the price before pointedly picking his newspaper back up with a snap.
Baekhyun pulled a face and set the ramen container back on the shelf. “Aish, that much for ramen?” He wrinkled his nose before shoving his hands in his pockets and heading for the door. “Forget it.”
He was almost to the door when the clerk called out to him.
“Hey, kid!”
It was against his every instinct in him that Baekhyun hesitated.
Reluctantly, Baekhyun glanced over his shoulder. Thanks to his hood his face was still obscured from the store clerk’s view, so if he needed to make a run for it, at least the man wouldn’t be able to identify him when he called the cops.
“Don’t come in again unless you’re buyin’ something, yeah?”
The breath that Baekhyun had been holding was released in a quiet chuckle.
“Yeah,” he agreed, “Sure.”
He left the store without a backwards glance, pocket still stuffed full of jerky. Finally, finally, Baekhyun had something to eat.
"Oh, wait! Please! You dropped this on the ground!"
The streets of Eden were crowded, loud and at first the call didn’t really register; just another voice nearly drowned out by all the others. Then he clued in to what he was hearing and Sunggyu stopped, patting his pockets.
With a rising sense of panic he stopped, spinning around he scanned furiously for the owner of the voice. Damn! He couldn’t lose it! Already his fingers twitched, a hand moving to his pocket to stroke at the worn photograph he already knew wasn’t there.
He was stronger than this! He had to be… But he was still clinging to the comfort it brought him wasn’t he?
Sehun’s face deadpanned. “Do I look like I’m joking.” While not being the expert on the underground of Eden, he knew how tangible these rumors sounded.
“They say someone really found a way to get messages outside,” He sighed, “I don’t know trustworthy this info is, but it ain’t a bad thought, right?”
It's spring and Jongdae hums an old tune beneath his breath, his steps matching the beat of the song as he makes his way down from the dormitories and into the Alpha district where coffee shops and boutiques cropped up regularly as more and more people found their creative niches. Jongdae liked being around them; it fueled energy that he craved against the minimalistic design of Eden. A splash of color here, a contrasting text there; it was poetic and just enough chaos to liven up their space. A display of cherry blossoms at a boutique window accompanying new spring time dresses catches his attention, soft pink in its petals and vanilla white in contrast to their expression brown branches. Touches of yellow could be seen if someone looked in close enough, but Jongdae wasn't peering in that close; he merely stopped to appreciate someone's hard work.
He turns on his heel, stomach grumbling gently to remind him that he was on the way for lunch when his shoulder clips someone in the arm and Jongdae is quick to jump in defense, hoping it wasn't someone having a bad day that he accidentally hit. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry-" he starts, catching the other person by the arm and offering to brush off his sleeve as well. He was much taller than Jongdae, craning his neck up with worry in his brow and sweat starting to form at his palms as he swallows dryly. Suddenly the spring breeze felt too stuffy for his outfit. "Oh- .. chingu-hyung-" Jongdae blinks, squinting his eyes a little as if to help his vision become clearer (or was it just out of habit of nerves?), glancing over the familiar face again and then ripping into a blinding smile. "Chingu-hyung!"
"Oh, wait! Please! You dropped this on the ground!"
Jiyeon was walking along the streets, the glare of the sun blinding her. She was on her way to buy some groceries — she should have made it a routine but there never was really any system in her life. So, often, she found herself going to the groceries with a list of items haphazardly written and too many for her to single-handedly carry back without some help.
Upon hearing the stranger’s shout, Jiyeon stopped in her tracks and turned her head: was he talking to her? And, in his hand, she spotted her wallet — the pattern on it distinct from even that far away. Eyes widening in surprise, Jiyeon hurried back and begun profusely thanking the individual. He could have easily taken her wallet and the money inside of it but he didn’t. And he had saved her the embarrassment of reach the cashier without any cash to pay for her purchase.
“Thank you, really,” she said, her eyes widening in gratefulness. She paused a second, wondering if she should offer him a free drink or something but quickly thought against it — good karma is a decent enough of a repayment, she thought.
namjoon looks, at worst, surprised. at best, he looks mildly intrigued, one lip curled up in amusement, having stopped to take a look at the stranger addressing him. “my mother told me not to get into cars with strangers,” he hums, turning, giving the man his interest.
he was heading to his afternoon shift-- hands folded into his jacket, one earphone tucked into his ear, a vacant look on his face. and then some stranger, demanding his attention. he pulls out the single earbud and looks the other man up and down, an eyebrow raised. “just a quick question, but-- you’re not intoxicated, right?”
