#min jae.

[forgaeven]

❛⠀mom wants you at her birthday dinner. ❜

he's straightforward, with nearly no courtesy for kindness or gentleness. it's something they both have in common, he believes; the few things that would forever tethered them with each other beyond the blood they shared, that his sister and him appreciates honesty, no matter how frank or brutal. or at least, mostly that's the case.

he couldn't have thought she would— lean towards the other side. he wonders how long she kept that one.

or maybe there had been indication ? god knows. min-jae certainly didn't pay attention, not towards the end there. his fault ? eh. it was her decision. if he'd been his, he'd know he would appreciate no one getting in the way. he expels the smoke of the cigarette between his mouth, his shoulders dropping with the motion as he does: relaxed, nonchalant. like he hasn't just told her something he knew she'd vehemently reject.

❛⠀it's supposed to be at that stupid steakhouse. ❜

@fatescattered, min-jae starter call.

[forgaeven]

min-jae, at mira: why are you like this? no wonder you're single min-jae at any saja boys interested in mira: none of u bastards deserve her

[forgaeven]

❛⠀yah. ❜ the greeting is crude, and impolite.

min-jae does not take it back.

why would he, after all, when she was the cause of why the construction of the site was delayed for more than a week. a week. a week that they could've spent wisely and not lost any profit, any margin. sure, the first few days of equipments failing constantly ? everybody had regarded it as coincidence. maybe the company hadn't thoroughly checked it, maybe the equipment itself was faulty. ( but they weren't, were they ? no, because as soon as it's out of the site, all of the machines seemed to be working well. min-jae would know. he read the reports. )

and then someone had jokingly suggested to him that maybe someone was simply pulling a prank. humans, of course, is likely, but nearly impossible with how tight the security they tend to keep around demolition and construction sites. that's another thing they always have to care for, right ? the safety of everyone who works in the area, because loss time injury is another son of a bitch that could've delayed work, that could've made them incurred more loss. and so he'd gone down to take a look. curious, maybe, though min-jae would like to think the more accurate term would've been suspicion.

and just as he thought ... there, where no one with an ordinary lens of the world could see — a... a spirit ? fuck. it's a nature spirit, isn't it ? fuck him sideways. he thought he'd gotten this place blessed. ❛⠀what do you think you're doing ? ❜

@promiseofspring, shipping call.

[forgaeven]

❛⠀heard you've got competition lately. ❜

he says it off-handedly, his attention's more captured by his focus on lighting the cigarette. when it's clear that the lighter hasn't had any ignition left, min-jae curses, the words sharp against his tongue, before he centres himself quickly and puts away the cigarette stick, still frowning. fuck. he'll get to some store soon, get a new lighter.

for now, distractedly—

❛⠀are they better ? ❜ he asks, and maybe, to any other person, it's just another question. but for those born under their father's teaching, min-jae's inquiry is obvious: did they have you beat ?

@honmoonsworn, min-jae starter call.

[forgaeven]

he's just sent something to the brat – hanging around by the secured entrance to the lobby leading to the penthouse, dragging a cigarette through his lips when he spots her. barely acknowledges her, really, aside from the flicker of his eyes; that small hint of recognition that glints, that says, right. the leader of the group.

min-jae inhales deeply; the smoke crowds his chest.

❛⠀violet, ❜ he calls as a greet, the english word heavy with its korean accent – not that min-jae couldn't pronounce it properly, but even in this, his authority drips: i can, and will do, whatever i wish. however i wish it. he exhales. out of courtesy, he turns his head. he wouldn't want the brat to kick him by the skull if this is ever reported back. not that they see each other often for it to happen – min-jae would still not risk it.

❛⠀the girls were heading to the bathhouse, ❜ he says in lieu of whatever explanation he could give about himself instead. ❛⠀you're not joining ? ❜

@musingmemories' rumi, min-jae starter call.

[forgaeven]

“could you ever imagine us together?” // for minjae :c

he isn't sure if it's sentimentality that's contributed to the allowance of her presence around him, or if it's only because he's never truly made an effort to rid of anyone when it isn't professionally threatening to him. which, by all means, should be more of a concern to him – but even as the thought flits through his head, he dismisses it quickly. min-jae understands well enough of his high position, and understands even more that he isn't always so well-behaved to not have earned ires and end up on a few i-wish-he'd-drop-dead wishlists because of it or from it, but in truth, he's not so attached to this life as one might think.

he likes his wealth, only because he's grown up with it, and it's a clear marker of his achievements, of all the things he'd worked to ensure he yielded once he sets his mind to it. but other things in life tends to bore him, or comes at great disinterest, or worse yet, they'd irk him. his father's hovering, for one, would fall on the latter category. his mother's obsession with reputation, as well, are often than not tiring. and his sister ... well, he supposes she's something as close as he'd get to a soft spot, but even then, the comparison to him feels flimsy.

mira's his sister. at times, the meaning feels heavy with blood, wrapped so tightly with things they can never fully talk about with, with another; other time, the bond feels as easily wrinkled as paper. still, a sister's a sister. there isn't much one could do with that, good or bad.

now, others ...

min-jae flicks his eye upwards from a document he's been reading. he hadn't mean to bring work while they meet, but one of his secretary had been insistent he'd checked on the latest contract ten minutes ago, and now he's browsing through the words – a little idly than he likes, sure, but he's browsing. half of his mind is on the speed-dial he has to the company's lawyer. the other half, more than he likes to admit, lingers on her query. and really, he thinks again, he still isn't sure why he keeps agreeing to meet her, but —

❛⠀i didn't realise there is a possibility of 'us' together, ❜ he says so bluntly, direct, though without any harm nor a sneer – perhaps curiosity, if one would dare inspect his tone closer. ❛⠀plus, i was the impression you might not have liked me from all the ways i am... harming the earth. ❜ his smoking habit, for once. the fact that he would not be quitting his job anytime soon, which does involve levelling grounds, and pouring concretes. even if one of his recent projects had been a public garden he had been secretly constructing in hopes to– to please her, maybe.

to grow closer to @promiseofspring, whatever that means.

will they, won't they

[forgaeven]

[ GRAZE ] sender brushes their fingertip back and forth along receiver's jaw while they listen to receiver talk

min-jae doesn't make a habit of rambling.

he sees no point in it. you either spend the time lucratively planning your next move, or you don't. he hasn't realised, of course, that he's been softly telling her about some of his and the brat's fondest memories together growing up, which was probably the sudden trip their father had decided to take them to, to visit cape town. it was the only few times, perhaps, that abeonim wasn't mercilessly measuring every measure of their scholarly or public success, and eomeonim didn't seem to worry about pandering to whatever korean's high society would ask them to be under.

in hindsight, maybe they'd been too young then : sitting at that perfect age where they weren't too small to be constantly chastised, but not old enough that the weight of what it means being apart of their family had truly weighed in on the both of them. min-jae wasn't sure, truly, if he were ever happy; if he could even experience it, for the lack of joy he finds in anything else — but perhaps that trip had been the closest he'd come to it. their stay was good, the environment was nothing like what him and his sister had ever saw before, and the safari was an amazing experience.

he got to feed a giraffe.

❛⠀you're quiet, ❜ he tells her in the lull when his story pauses, and eventually stops entirely. it's as he's said: he isn't one for rambling, let alone storytelling. there had been no point telling anyone anything pertaining to his memories before, to his experiences; it'd been enough that they know what he could do at present, and what he plans to do and be in the future. hm. although ... he guesses she isn't just anybody. he finds that he doesn't mind that.

min-jae turns his head, and kisses her palm.

❛⠀i didn't take you to be a creature of patience, ❜ she didn't seem to be. ever-eager and enthusiastic, and much too soft. one day she'll learn that he's difficult and stone-cold and, despite her best efforts, he's not someone anyone is meant to thaw. for now, he trails a finger upward her arms. he concentrates to take in the shape of her face. he finds that small bit of regret that his brain will never truly learn to remember it.

❛⠀hm. were you seeking a reward then, my spirit-nim ? ❜

casual yet intimate.

[forgaeven]

who taught you how to patch a wound like that? // brother brother !!

❛⠀yah, you want this closed, or what ? ❜ his annoyance is bleeding through.

although, in all honesty, @napalmera isn't wrong. min-jae might be the last person anybody should go to for any treatment. sure, he'd gotten his lesson in first-aids, and he'd especially understood the fundamentals when he'd went on and did his two-years service. but, you know. he understands it well enough that he'd been very privileged his whole life given how even the smallest of injury, besides the standard papercuts and bandaids-worthy treatment, had often been referred to a professional so it may get appropriately tended to.

and so — the bandage is a little wonky. and he— didn't really account for the way the skin stretches, which scrunches the fabric up when she moves a certain away, which now irks him because apart of his pride is certain she's doing this on purpose, which in turns makes him grasp at her arm to try and smoothen the damn thing over. which, hm, well. if he were any more rational, he'd admit quicker that he may or may have not worn the glue out when he kept reapplying the bandages, but he's clearly trying to prove a point, so.

❛⠀— tch. this is what happens when you kept criticising me. don't you know it's rude to interrupt a person when they're concentrating ? ❜

patching a wound.