She's been teaching Jiyeon Yoga since her first visit in Hwaryung but now that she lives here and has taken a full-time job as a yoga instructor, she had insisted that Jiyeon visits her more often and that her classes would be free of charge since Ahreum will be teaching the classes she'll be attending. Ahreum took the morning class this week and she waves a hand at Jiyeon upon seeing the female walk into the room.
“I was worried you might not be able to arrive on time!” Walking over to where her friend stands, Ahreum carefully greets the rest of her students along the way. “Are you sure you're okay with this though? I bet you're new to this but don't worry, this is the beginner class so you'll be fine!” Placing a hand over Jiyeon's shoulder as she guides her to her spot. Aerial Yoga isn't for everyone.
The normal yoga itself was aleady difficult but this was a level higher. Having to be constricted by the fabric and aiming to do dificult poses in them while trying to be completely flexible as well. “Just tell me if you're having a hard time, okay? We'll do some stretching before the class starts so don't worry!”
sophia was somewhat nervous with meeting for the first time ever jiyeon. it has been years and most of the time their only communication was letters they had with each other. she had a small box that had all the letters that they sent to each other, in which she likes to look at from time to time. just reminiscing the past.
once sophia moved to hwaryung, she tried to get in contact with jiyeon, sending another letter, telling them that they have a small bakery called ‘le mignon macaron.’ she mentions in the letter that she hopes that jiyeon can pop on by, and so they can catch up with each other after all these years from being apart.
the door opens slightly, and sophia glances at the door. a wave of emotions overwhelms her and she smiles nervously, waving slightly at the other, “hello! welcome to le mignon macaron! you must be jiyeon if i’m not mistaken! i’m sophia! it’s finally a pleasure to meet you!”
the stench of the city clung to his nostrils even as he entered the establishment.
his lungs, filled with smoke still, was met with stale air and cider. in here, it was only slightly warmer than the frigid winter air, but it was the homey kind of warm that made all the muscles in yujin’s body relax instinctively. here, all the ladies and the gentlemen kept their coats on and talked in hushed voices, afraid to break the atmosphere that hung lowly over the large, open room.
it was a small bar; admittedly, it wasn’t the best yujin could do. there were better places to grab a drink at this part of the city, yet something about this place kept luring him in.
maybe, it was the quietness, the aforementioned stillness of the air. that was something yujin wouldn’t be able to experience in a club, regardless of how high-end it was; there would still be people yelling their hearts out, and there would still be music pumping out through bass-boosted speakers.
maybe, it was the alcohol. the bartender consistently gave him the best scotch and limes he’s ever had the pleasure of drinking, made from blended malt scotch (the brand of which yujin has never gotten to know, because it was apparently a closely-guarded secret), soda, and ice.
maybe, it was the promise of conversation. that one was laughable in its own way. yujin was never one for idle chatter, finding it unbearably awkward and needlessly intimate—unless he’s already had a couple glasses of scotch in his system, and his face was needlessly red.
unless he was inebriated, and loose-lipped, and all smiley.
he plopped down onto his designated seat on the bar, the one everyone kept vacant for him and him alone. yujin nodded at the bartender, who shot him a small smile in return.
she was already there, in the seat beside him—to his right, as if a reminder that women were never ever wrong—just as yujin settled enough to be still yet again.
he looked at her, very briefly, lest he caught her gaze. she was beautiful, that much he knew; but there was an underlying turmoil in her eyes than yujin simultaneously knew too little and too much about. they hovered in that grey space between acquaintance and friend, and yujin was perfectly fine with that.
“good evening, jiyeon-ssi.” he let the words slip from his parched lips, loud enough to reach her ears but no one else’s.
how was your week? he wanted to ask but refrained from doing so, because he still had too little alcohol in him to make up for the hole that was his self-confidence. instead, he turned his body enough to make it seem like she had his full attention, and listened intently for her reply.
There was nothing more energizing than a good, utterly exhausting workout session. No portion of caffeine could replace the dose of vigor sent down his system. Aside from those restorative aspects, most importantly the time spent pushing his own limits with the little help of various machines was momentarily putting his cluttered mind at ease, as if there was a switch magically turning off the racing thoughts he preferred not to deal with currently. When his body was busy with manual effort, his undivided attention was solely on that. However, he couldn’t overlook one other detail. His greatly appreciated gym buddy.
Seungwon was always diligent when it came to excising, there was absolutely no space for slacking or excuses, but if it hadn’t been for Jiyeon’s presence, he could’ve been a bit too lax. This way, the motivation was constantly there, and it seemed to be a mutual transaction. She also made him realize that maybe he wasn’t that much of a complete loner.
Having wound up their routines, their paths crossed again after they were both done getting themselves more presentable. Hanging his bag over his shoulder, the sudden idea storming through his head raised his eyebrows, and he hoped the growl of his stomach sounded this resonant only to him. “What do you say to grabbing something to eat?” As they were wending their way towards the exit, an amicable smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “Something nutritious, of course,” he clarified with a chuckle, as though the matter seriously required further specifying.
the shop was having a slow day. minjung usually spent these off hours reading a book or planning new displays for the store, but she didn't feel like doing either now. instead her heart was aching to shop again, though this time she would have a limit to her spree. shopping was a reminder of a life before, sure, but retail therapy can work at all phases of one's life. even the ones where you've supposedly renounced ridiculous spending habits. this won't cause me to relive anything from the past if i don't allow it to. with an exasperated huff, she continued browsing the online catalog, trying not to be too in her head about the situation.
someone entered the store and minjung looks up from her laptop to greet them. her smile drops immediately when she sees their face, the shopping cart becoming a distant memory in her mind. "audrey." her voice is barely a whisper. breathing is becoming a laborious process and minjung can't remember how to do it. something about in and out, except her diaphragm is locked in place and won't expand. she's just holding her breath and staring at a girl who's influence she thought was long gone from her system.
the customer smiles. mj doesn't return it. instead, she quickly averts her eyes and darts to the back of the store. it's the only place she'll be safe. how old am i? why am i hiding from an ex— no, the girl couldn't be can ex because they had never dated. her thoughts come to a halt as the memories come speeding back to her like a bullet train. the feeling of love she thought she'd forgotten how to feel, the absolute defeat when her love wasn't reciprocated, the desperation to be loved she craved after the whole ordeal. then all of it was buried deep inside her, emotions and memories she no longer wanted to remember. until now. when she stepped back into minjung's life. was it her though?
minjung peeked around the corner to look at her again. it had to be her ex. of all the cities in the world, how did they end up in the same one? she looked around the store, hoping an employee would come to help the customer so she wouldn't have to. then she remembered she had sent the single worker home for the day because of how slow business was that day. it was time to grow up. she gave herself a once over in the mirror, chided herself for even caring that much about her appearance, and then made her way to the front of the store where her the customer was still standing. "h-hi."
᠁ A Bad day doesn’t always lead to a bad decision. But sometimes a good day does.
Dominick left school earlier that day thanks to the absence of a teacher, which made him extremely excited to make his free afternoon useful in some way. Not the boring type of useful, the fun type.
Aimlesly walking down the street while thinking of what to do, the smell of popcorn played with his senses and his own eagerness to have it. Entering the movies without much thought, the first thing he did was to buy the biggest popcorn bucketvthey had and a large soda. And after he was satisfied with his snacks, he decided he needed to watch a movie to make it worth. Unfortunately, all movie sessions were for too late that night in exception of one.
He chose that movie and went straight to the room. And that was the moment he regretted everything.
It was a horror movie, the worst he has ever seen in his life - not that he has seen a lot either. It was so scary he could barely touch his popcorn, and by the end of the movie he still had a full bucket of it.
Upon leaving the movies, feeling goosebumps all over his arms, Nick felt the need of resting against a wall and taking a deep breath.
“That was the scariest moment of my life.” He talked to himself, defeated and spooked.
It didn’t happen often, but when it did, it was never pleasant. He could count on his fingers the amount of times it had happened in his six years as a model. It was usually caused by the same terrible mix of pushing himself to his limits, overworking himself and forgetting to eat properly, the feeling of hunger pushed to the back of his mind, ignored until it couldn’t be ignored anymore, until everything turned black around him.
And when he’d come back to his senses, he would be surrounded by his manager, and anyone else who happened to be near him at the time, and they’d be giving him orange juice and fruits to snack on before shipping him to the nearest hospital even though he always insisted that he could finish the job, not wanting to cause a delay because it would look bad on his resume. It could take job opportunities away from him and he doesn’t want to risk that.
But every single time, it seems like everyone is more concerned about his health than they are about finishing the shoot and he supposes he should be grateful, that they care enough to not hold it against him, to book him again later. But he worries that one day, they’re going to send him away and they’re not going to call him back.
So today, when he ends up passing out toward the end of a shoot after too many hours spent awake with not enough food to keep him going, he wakes up in the hospital with a tube in his arm. He groans and pushes himself up into a sitting position. He looks around the room and notices that someone left some crackers and fruits on his bedside table, so he reaches for them and proceeds to eat them slowly. He’s just bitten into a piece of orange when the door opens and in walks a tall woman who looks like a model.
❝ i feel like there’s someone / something watching us. ❞
Ahreum looks at Jiyeon, unexpectedly calm. “It's just your imagination, Jiji.” The other replies, but she was bothered by it. She felt it too, but she didn't want to scare her friend more by saying the same thing as well. It wasn't clear how they got out of the mall so late and why the parking lot was eerily dark as if someone had busted the lights. There were lights here and there but they were dim. It was just enough for anyone to find their cars, but not to feel safe.
“Stay close to me, Jiji.” She reaches out for Jiyeon's hand, her heart was racing already and her mind was playing tricks on her too. She's seen enough horror movies to expect something to emerge from the dark and yet, she's scared it would actually happen in real life too.
