" the mountain talks to me in the way the world moves, like its hands are the air that brushes the leaves through the trees. do you feel it? have you ever felt it? "
-- for @gntaesung
haedam's fingers are covered in cotton candy. it's not his fault, really, the fresh spun sugar more of a temptation than he could help himself, and it's with sticky fingers that he pulls his phone out of his pocket when he feels it vibrate.
another picture, taesung's contact preceding a steady line of images, mostly gureum, his cat, and daisy, a new horse that had recently been introduced to the stables, standing shakily on new, long legs, coat golden in the sun. haedam squints at the image to find that he's already here at the carnival, and surprisingly, the edge of this booth lines up with one he swears he had just seen before he made a beeline for the treat.
he retraces his steps, picture out on his phone as he tries to match memory with the reality he sees in front of him, stepping around carnival goers and doing his best to keep his cotton candy from sticking to anything nearby before he even gets to finish eating it.
there, a familiar outline. haedam's memory provides, a shape of taesung behind the counter at the cakery, at the front door to his house, cake in his hands, as haedam keeps the door open with a hip, calls out to his mom that it's just the dessert they ordered-- full moon, where it outlines the edge of the mountain, and they prosper, and they thank.
smiling, he pockets the phone and makes his way around, popping into view with a grin that indents both of his cheeks, a surprise, like when you turn the corner in the funhouse mirrors and find yourself standing there, distorted and stretched, a distant call of a bell, the jaunted, sharp tones of music.
"hey! i didn't know you were going to be here." he greets, surprised about the coincidence, too, and only thinking now that he could've texted he was on the way to find him before he showed up.
still, he offers his cotton candy in between them. "would you like some? it's a lovely night, but it's already getting deflated from when i first got it. there seems to be a sad sort of wind coming from the mountain-- it's cold tonight, isn't it?"
