[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] god i just woke up and i swear i could still hear that. fucking. beeping.[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] it was going off the whole shift [ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] like[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] DRYER SIX I CLEANED YOU TWICE LAST NIGHT HOW DAR E YOUR BEEPS FOLLOW ME HOME[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] anyway, invested in ear plugs[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] Value Pack[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] got you covered
[ ⁇ ] worried text
[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] hot pink leopard print leggings lady mentioned you again [ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] she keeps asking when youll be back[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] i think she’s tired of hearing me say tomorrow …[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] please just stay safe
[ ♣ ] text not meant for you
[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] ( in mandarin ) human bones melt at abt 1381 deg so that won’t work on him[ ᴛᴏ 老鼠 ] sorry meant to send this to my grandma
He finds the end of the night unwound like this: around the bend of the alley and out into the street, where the neon lights are flickering in weak pulses, the roar of highway traffic having ceased to a faint whisper in the backdrop. In a matter of hours the city has been rendered to its blueprint shape: just its outlines and negative space, with nothing else but shadows to fill in the gaps.
Up ahead is the stall, like a lone streetlamp standing at the corner. He simply takes his time. A little ways down, the road stops abruptly, cut straight like a horizon line. Moonlight pools down from above, silvery and dim. It’s a different kind of softness that settles all around, drowsy and blurred at the edges, like smudged finger prints on glass. The world looks a little bigger, in the dark. There’s room to breathe again.
In previous circumstances, he might’ve not noticed at all. But there’s always been a case of exceptions—when he gets close enough, he looks across and behind the counter, fully expecting a familiar face to take his usual order. Instead, it follows by a pause, then a double take.
( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) He gave you a bonus? Wow( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) I’m not saying you should treat me to a round, but you should treat me to a round. If you’re free tonight to celebrate of course
a long-winded confession text (√ )
( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) Look, I don’t think you’re being all that fair to yourself( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) It’s human nature to put your own needs over others. Self preservation and all that. It’s necessary. Never has been the basis to label someone “good” or “bad.” ( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) That being said, I think you’re a lot more compassionate than what you let on. Maybe in some ways that you don’t realize.
a vague text (☏)
( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) Everything going okay over there? ( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) It’s been awhile.
a drunk text (♠)
( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) The food here suck s( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) Tastes liek an old man’s socks( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) i miss that halbaes takoykia ( SMS—Kanagawa Nao ) And yo u
( kkt – little tamagotchi ) i think you should just stop for a while( kkt – little tamagotchi ) you know until everything gets cleared up ( kkt – little tamagotchi ) but that’s just my opinion besides what the worst that could happen???( kkt – little tamagotchi ) except go completely broke?
send ♣ for a text not meant for you
( kkt – little tamagotchi ) usually im okay with people asking me dumb questions but you really took it to a whole nother level….…..
( kkt – little tamagotchi ) OH WAIT THAT WASN’T FOR YOU IM SO SORRY !!!!!!( kkt – little tamagotchi ) WHY DID I EVEN SEND YOU THAT OTL
send ♠ for a drunk text
( kkt – little tamagotchi ) hwo to say u r prety in japnese???( kkt – little tamagotchi ) i wnt to impress th is gi rl she loks kiinda like u?????( kkt – little tamagotchi ) ARE U AT TEH SME CLU N NVC AS ME???( kkt – little tamagotchi ) CLNBUNB*( kkt – little tamagotchi ) CLBUUN**( kkt – little tamagotchi ) CLUB****
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) it’s almost noon but like ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) good morning anyway? ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) do we still have cereal in the kitchen
send ♔ for an angry text
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) WERE U IN MY ROOM AGAIN ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) U MOVED MY PAGES DIDN’T U ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) I TOLD U NOT TO TOUCH THAT PILE BY MY DESK ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) ALKSDJFH GOD DAMN U
send ♠ for a drunk text
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) he y ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) areu stil l at wrok? ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) can u come pikc me up in a little bit when ur d one? ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) itss o fcuking hot in here
send ☏ for a vague text
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) uh.... ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) yes ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) but also ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) i don’t know i’m not good at this stuff
send ⁇ for a worried text
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) 언니? ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) i can hear u crying again ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) are u okay? ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) do u want me to bring u some tea?
send ♣ for a text not meant for you
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) like tbh ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) i’m still not even sure why she is ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) wait a minute wrong homie ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) but while i’m here ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) dafuq man
send ✘ for a text that should never have been sent
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) of course i do ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) u asked the other day why my eyes looked red when i woke up ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) it’s bc i had a dream about him again
send ✺ for a saucy text
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) i think i left my pants in your room again ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) ;)
send √ for a long-winded confession text
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) okay ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) so this dude came into work today right ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) and he was hella hot ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) and we were talkin while i was scannin and baggin his shit ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) and he was so fucking cute i can’t right now ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) but u know how i am ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) i can’t look anyone in the eye anymore ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) but THIS GUY ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) christ mate 10/10 istg ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) is this me turning a proverbial new leaf??? ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) because that’s scary af okay ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) u know how i feel about moving on from( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) y’know ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) but I FUCKING CAN’T ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) THIS FUCKING GUY ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) tell me to get a grip ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) we talked for like 2 minutes alksdfhj why
send ☠ for a misguided advice text
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) yes i do think u should do that ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) and while you’re at it ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) buy something in corduroy too
send ☢ for a desperate text
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) fuck fuck fuck ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) oh fUCK ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) do u know where i put my shirt??? ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) the really nice one with the little banana on the pocket??? ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) alkdfhasdf my fave shirt!!! gone!!!!
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) nvm found it ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) it was under my bed :-)
send ☼ for a congratulatory text
( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) congrats my dude ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) u just won a lifetime subscription to london park’s tyranny ( kkt → neigh-oh-me 아냐 ) lucky bitch :-)
Lazy fingers twist around the dainty chain that hangs from her neck, a small notion of mindless affection before pulling her strands of hair away from the links.
“Did you not feel that? Your hair was all tangled in your necklace. I can’t believe you didn’t notice.” She takes a sip from the whisky she’s been haphazardly nursing, eyes falling onto her cuticles as she shrugs. “It looked like it was tugging at your scalp. You must have a really hard head to have not noticed it pulling at your hair for the past fifteen minutes.”
She doesn’t mean to sound rude.
She doesn’t mean to sound nice either.
“Maybe you’d notice if you weren’t too preoccupied alternating between snacking on your thumbnail like it’s rated a Michelin star and rubbing your spit covered hands all over the couch.”
She looks up, eyes glazed with a mixture of annoyance and boredom.
one wouldn’t usually find tae at the library, for one it was too quiet there and he was most likely one to fall asleep. he got bored rather easily when it came to studying, but since he was on a scholarship at a school that didn’t have to give him one he pushed through that mindset of him not wanting to do stuff, and just did. he happened to be flipping through the pages of his art history textbook, some of the content written was intriguing, and others he already knew. it was a drag, and time wasn’t going fast enough so that he could get through with everything he needed to get done with.
as he was sitting at the rather long table by himself, he couldn’t help but notice when someone decided to make company, and occupy the table as well. with his books, and such scattered over the table tae had to push some of his things over to make more room. it didn’t bother him at all, and it almost made things better than their was someone at the table with him. he didn’t know the female at all, and since this was a library that he was in he didn’t want to be a disturbance and interrupt the female from whatever she was doing. though, when he glanced over at the book that she was reading, with her brows furrowed as she seemed deep in though, tae couldn’t help but notice that she was reading a korean language book.
he could assume instantly that the female wasn’t from korean descent, but that was stating the obvious if she was reading such a book. the more he glanced over towards the other who was at the table with him, the more he began to feel a bit bad. he thought that maybe the language was a bit hard for the other, especially the pronunciation maybe that was just him?
tae wasn’t one who was afraid to engage in conversation. he loved to talk to knew people, and explore new things even though the outcome to his curiosity didn’t always get him into good things. so, he leaned over to the female and whispered softly. “ do you need help? ” he asked, gaining her attention immediately.
“one moment. ” he said softly, and with a small smile he moved from his seats and to find a book that would help her better than a boring textbook that teach you the basics. so, he came back with several books that would be more entertaining to read. sure, they were children books, but they had pictures and what was better than a book with pictures?
“ you try these books instead, i’m sure it would be more fun to read than that one you have. ” tae offered, and even though she didn’t directly say that she needed help he still ended up moving his chair in order to help her.
there’s a dull ache in the back of her neck because she’s been sitting in the same position for the last hour. without a doubt, she’s going to regret this in the morning, but london really can’t find it in herself to stop now, not when she’s so close to finishing this chapter.
“london? london.” she barely registers nao’s voice. “london.”
“huh? what?”
a firm nudge to her shoulder has london dropping her pen and looking around the room in a daze, and now that she’s not hunched over her notebook anymore, the ache in her neck has increased tenfold and become all the more prominent.
“i said will you give it a fucking rest already and sleep? it’s four am.”
london looks down at her desk, looks at her now burnt-out cigarette submerged in the old ashes contained in a repurposed salsa jar she’s now using as a makeshift ashtray. the little desk clock beneath her lamp is letting her know that, yes, nao is right: it is four in the morning, and she is very much awake.
and so is nao. london swivels around and laughs quietly.
“but you’re still awake too.”
nao scoffs, and says, “i got up to pee and saw your light still on. go to bed.”
“sure,” london says. “in a minute. i’m nearly done.”
“no. now.”
“i’m literally a sentence awa–”
“london.”
london sighs, but she chuckles tiredly because there’s no arguing with someone like nao. admitting defeat, she swivels back around to switch off her lamp, and for a moment her room is close to pitch black, with only moonlight and the fluorescent lights coming from the kitchen through her open bedroom door to fill the space. london stands, all while nao is leaning back against the wall, arms crossed as she watches like she’s making sure she actually follows through. nao watches as london raises her arms above her head and stretches, shirt rising up past her navel, before yanking out the elastic in her hair, dropping it carelessly onto her desk, not caring where it lands.
london rubs her eyes with the heels of her palms, groaning. when she notices nao hasn’t left, looking like she has no intention of leaving, she turns to the silhouette of her friend.
“what, are we sleeping together tonight?” she chuckles. “i promise i will go to bed.”
but nao seems unconvinced as she watches london sit down on the edge of her mattress.
“your room is a mess, babe.” that’s nothing new. “remind me to wash your sheets in the morning.”
london winces, and lifts one half of her body off the bed to pull a pen out from under her, tossing it towards the other end of the room. she replies with, “sure.” she can’t see nao’s face clearly, but she can guess that she’s got her eyebrows furrowed, face all scrunched up in badly disguised disapproval at london’s blatant disregard for order and neatness.
“let’s go,” nao says.
“what? where? you told me to sleep. i’m going to sleep.”
“not here you’re not.”
fingers wrap around her wrist and pull her up onto her feet, and before london can ask what’s happening, she’s being dragged out of her room, down the hall and into nao’s own room.
the light from her bedside lamp fills the whole room in a pale yellow, and london doesn’t have to walk too far in to see the stark contrast between her room and nao’s.
“jesus. your room looks and smells like an ikea showroom,” london mutters. “do you even live here?”
“we don’t all thrive in filth, lo,” nao replies, matter-of-factly.
“my room’s not even that bad.”
“we’ll take a vote on that later when soojung’s awake then.”
“i haven’t washed up. do you really want me in your bed?” london watches nao purse her lips, and for a second, she thinks she’s won.
“it’s fine. tomorrow’s laundry day.”
damn.
with a quiet sigh, london lets nao pull back the sheets while she unties the drawstrings of her sweatpants and kicks them off, leaving them in a messy heap by the foot of the bed.
( london stays still for a moment, wondering if nao is gonna pick them up and fold them up. she doesn’t, and london considers it a little victory. )
she climbs in after nao, hit with the scent of laundry detergent and nao’s perfume on the pillows; she thinks about how these sheets probably aren’t in need of wash, but she keeps it to herself, knowing she’d probably get kicked off the mattress in a heartbeat -- and she’s gotta admit, it’s a nice mattress. what a shame it would be to not be on it anymore. london rolls onto her side, face hit with nao’s hair and chest as she reaches over to switch off the lamp, the room going dark in an instant.
“go to sleep, lo,” she hears. london shuffles forward, face pressed to nao’s shoulder.
