( / lowers down the book she was holding, her gaze averted from the book she was reading, not even bothering to take off her reading glasses as she gave her room mate a curious look. ) hm? what is is, haena?
( ★ / swallowing audibly, she pushed back her now jet black hair away from her face ) i’m...well. i just thought we’d talk a little. without awkwardness. just plain honesty. i thought we’d play...honesty hour?
Horrible. Absolutely, utterly, and completely horrible. There is no other suitable description worthy of detailing just how poorly Seulmi feels the very moment she awakes. Her body is as heavy as a thousand stones, her head is throbbing steadily with a harsh pain, and her nose seems to be filled with an unbelievable amount of snot (as disgusting as it is to pay recognition to). Overall, she is beyond exhausted and beyond well. It takes an excessive amount of energy to simply lift a hand to rub away the wetness accumulating beneath her nostrils, which are already reddening from irritation. Truly, what a bother. Now the icky semi-liquid is beginning to dry against the skin of her hand, the sensation as disturbing as the overwhelming burning filtering through her entire body. Being sick is not at all fun when alone.
Not that this is a new discovery on her end. It is the moment that presents the realization in a new light. Perhaps a direct result of this incident being quite close to the most terrible she has ever felt during sickness. A conclusion thoroughly supported by her inability to do much more than shift slightly. She rolls her head to the side, in search of a box of tissues that she knows she has. Alas, the item she wants is nowhere in her immediate vision, which means it will not be retrieved any time soon. Instead of reaching for something with which to wipe away the nasty nasal mucus that continues to leak, her palm lands on the hard case cover that protects the back of her cellular device. Seulmi pulls the phone to her with intentions of persuading someone to come nurse her back to health. Singling out a friend requires little thought when considering the sickly state she is in.
[ ✉ → amaezing babe. ] i’m dying. i swear it.
[ ✉ → amaezing babe. ] you cursed me when you said i would get sick. :’(
[ ✉ → amaezing babe. ] i feel terrible. come help, please. <3 sos.
Immediately after her finger taps the ‘SEND’ button for the final time, her cellphone falls through her weakening grip, landing with a muted plop against the bed sheets. Her arm quickly follows, sapped of all remaining energy. Seulmi sniffs in a futile attempt to stop the snot starting yet another slow track down her face. This time she does not bother to rub at her face. A fatigued groan rumbles through her chest and throat, unnecessarily high in volume. The action fuels up a hacking, coughing fit that has her entire body heaving with the effort to breathe while she musters the power to roll over onto her stomach, pressing her face deep into the material of her pillow. Her eyelids slip shut, closing against the bright light filtering through the window. There is an insistent urge to fall into a state of dreaming, yet she is simply too tired to do so.
Colors, to Seulmi, are nothing more than an enervating hassle approximately ninety-percent of the time. Ranging from the colors she can properly determine, to the few she cannot. It all requires an exhausting amount of energy, labels, and a tedious process of trial-and-error. That is, when pertaining to clothing and dressing oneself. Art, however, is an entirely different issue located on a completely different spectrum, all on its lonesome. All the same, the obsession with matching each article of one’s attire has never settled comfortably into her daily agenda. As a totally clueless and inattentive person with a rare color vision deficiency, she is at an immediate disadvantage in that competition. Incredibly unfair, in her opinion. Luckily, her sociability tends to award her with friends willing to play the part of her second pair of eyes.
Lovely, amazing friends who consequently receive unyielding attachment. More particularly, Maegan; the given name (though she rarely refers to her as such in favor of testing dozens of senseless nicknames) of the woman that ranks rather high among the people Seulmi cherishes wholeheartedly in many aspects. And also requests to tag along for spontaneous shopping adventures, like so: she travels alongside her usual companion across well-polished floors, occasionally bumping at the shoulder due to her inability to properly judge the boundaries of personal space. The consistent contact goes unnoticed by her as she seemingly rambles on and on about several different topics at once, hands gesturing wildly all the while, most likely unable to focus on one subject long enough to be understood. That does not give reason for her to cease her babbling, though. Her words are only pulled to an abrupt halt when her attention is stolen through peripheral vision.
Her gaze is drawn to a vast array of styles displayed within a window a few meters away. She stops, unusually quiet, silently mulling over a series of thoughts, both disconnected and connected to the current circumstances. Barely a second passes before she is stabbing a finger in the direction of the store, saying, “Let’s go look around in there.” Although, by the time the short suggestion is fully spoken, the girl is being lured inside, aided by the exuberant sounds of a soundtrack that becomes increasingly familiar the closer it edges towards its chorus. Seulmi hums quietly along with the jittery tune, not bothering to check to see if she is being followed by her friend as she swiftly shuffles farther into the depths of the clothing store, obviously momentarily distracted. Her fingers graze the soft fabrics of the nearest clothing items in reach as she passes, leaving blouses, dresses, and jeans to swing precariously on their hangers, nearly dropping from the racks each garb hangs from.
Naturally, there are hundreds of options to choose from. Naturally, Seulmi does not do well at all with decisions that involve large selections. Thus she settles on combing sloppily through a random assortment of dresses branded with intricate abstract designs. Interesting enough. As an act of humor, her hand grabs for the most confusing print, that is harsher on the eyes than necessary. “Hey,” she calls out suddenly, whirling around to fully face the other female. “What color is this one? It’s really cute.” The garment dangles in front of her body, proportionate to exhibit an estimation of how it may appear if worn. Ever the fool, Seulmi pokes out her lips in a dramatic pout, expression forging into something she assumes to be quite common for those pursuing the essence of “modelesque” as she strikes an even stranger, exaggerated pose: hand planted on hip, head cocked abnormally to the side. Her eyebrows wiggle rapidly with great effort before she asks, “Do you think it looks good on me?”
He had been helping her dance for what seemed like hours now. Being a substitute teacher he moved from class to class where he was needed. Today he was doing a private with a choreography student that he had worked with a few times before. He loved dancing, but he wasn’t as strong in it as she was, well agility wise. But he kept up with her. After they finished they where both exhausted, sitting against the wall and drinking water. “Well that went pretty well, I think you’ll do great for your final!” He nodded as he helped her up. He then looked at the clock and chuckled. “We are done for the day, go home and rest!” He then leaned in and gave her a soft kiss upon her forehead, before hugging her. “Have a nice night~” He whispered before releasing her, then going for his bag to head home as well.
so when she was proven wrong one fateful day at university, amidst the crowd of students during a bad day, bitna realized that kismet must have been real, else she would think of maegan as the one that got away.
it was a summer fling.
it was not meant to last more than a few months – unless it could have, to which bitna would never know considering she was sent away a little while after just meeting the most amazing girl with her toes in the sand, and dark hair blowing in the wind. she looked too beautiful, bitna could not help but walk over and introduce herself. for a moment, bitna felt the loneliness wash away with the the waves, sinking at the bottom of the ocean –
like her heart did when she woke up one day, isolated in a white prison, while maegan wondered where her newfound friend (possibly more) could have gone. they shared a kiss, and that was it, yet bitna could still feel the tingle every time maegan appeared in her dreams, wandered into her thoughts in the middle of the day.
but now maegan was right in front of her, and she needn’t look to the past for fond memories. maegan was a concrete being, and not a figment of her imagination the one summer her mind had gone berserk.
maegan was real.
and bitna was going to take advantage of that.
when they found themselves alone when bitna invited maegan over to her dorm, it did not take bitna long to commence any opportunity, valid or not as it may be, to be able to make sure maegan was as substantial as bitna hoped she was.
maegan was nothing but a whole bundle of perplexity when she found her back pressed against the wall, wrists trapped against the wall on either side of her head, bitna’s hands gripping them tightly. her eyes were wide, but their gazes were unfaltering. bitna could see the reluctance in the other girl’s eyes, tinged with a need that had been unsatisfied that summer.
bitna leaned closer, inhaling the scent she had longed for, and was taken back to the salty air of the beach, and the smell of maegan’s shampoo when they embraced. maegan was tense beneath her, their bodies pressed so close, bitna could feel the warmth that emanated from the other girl. she had the choice to take her then and there. after all, maegan also had the choice to push her away that very moment, yell at her, tell her no – all of which the latter did not do.
however, bitna decided that the wary expression on maegan’s face, mixed with blatant longing, was much too amusing to her. she pursed her lips, stifling a laugh from escaping her lips. as bitna leaned leaned closer, her hold onto maegan’s wrists had begun to loosen until – finally –
bitna gave the girl a quick peck on the lips.
and pulled away.
the look on maegan’s face was too much for bitna to suppress her laughter, and she burst out laughing right in front of the other girl – who was left stunned, and even more confused.
“next time, maegy,” she said, giving the girl a bright, somewhat apologetic grin. “i promise.”
After serious consideration and deliberation, Jumie approached her friend with an idea. It was mostly for fun, but she figured ‘why not turn it into a project for school’ as well? So with a coy grin, she had wrapped her arm around her friends waist and rested her head on the girls shoulder before turning on the aegyo. “Chingu~ Do you want to do the school project with me?” She waited for the affirmation that was sure to come, and when it did, quickly whipped out a sketchbook that had glued in pictures, one of which was John Travolta. “Perfect! I’m thinking of drama minor, but am not sure, so I am taking a class. You know how we aren’t sure how guys think and such? Lets pretend to be them. The drama department already said they would help us with the makeup!” She paused and looked her friend over. “Ah, but you’re...cootiful. You may not need makeup.”
Brushing it aside, she pointed to the picture of John Travolta gleefully. “He is my concept. I will be very cool looking don’t you think? Anyway, we can record us acting out as guys and get the awesome experience while completing our project! Wonderful, yeah?” She waited for the response, bouncing up and down on her toes excitedly as she hoped for approval of the project. Mostly, she just wanted to dress up as a guy to see what it would be like and to have some fun, but makeup was hard to do and if she could get the theater department to do it for free, then why not? Hopefully Maegan thought the same [she was somewhat sure she would since they seemed to have a similar humor].
Sitting on her bed with her legs crossed, one elbow resting on her knee and her chin on her hand, she sighed heavily, causing a piece of loose blonde hair to fly up and then rest back against her face. She had been watching Maegan practice a new set she had come with for the last ten minutes, but though her eyes watched, her mind wandered. Her friend was pretty, Jumie thought. Neither her nor Jumie seemed to care too much about looks, but that was alright...wasn't it? She thought it was, but Jumie began to tire of always being the 'boy-like girl'. Sitting up, she tried to think of how best to capture her friends attention, only to blurt out the first thing that came to mind. "Am I unattractive?" Well, not the best way to put it.
"I mean, not like...y'know. Like..." Heaving a heavy sigh, she flopped backwards on her bed and kicked her feet against the sheets like a child. "I'm tired of being one of the guys! I think that's my problem. I think that's why *he who must not be named* was such a dick in high school...and even now...I must be manly..." the last part was mumbled as she stared up at the ceiling before sitting back up. "Make me not manly. You're good at that, right?"