#mmyuanlan

[maracmm]

DRIFT

@mmyuanlan

Garosu-gil, like the rest of the city, is caught in an in-between: the last of winter beginning to recede to let spring roll in green, but there’s little to show for it. A bristling in the air remains and her cheeks are pink with the cold, the branches of the line of gingko trees barren and lined silver with rain. Walking along here makes her think of a similar path taken elsewhere at another time, identical only in essence. There are no docks here, the span of the harbor facing Kowloon, or the bag of curly fries she’d get on her way home, but the pan-warm hotteok in her hand now is about as close as it gets. 

Yuanlan is in her periphery, and Mara steps a little ways ahead so she is in full view. “So.” 

There’s a little twinkle in her eye, a hint of wholly girl-like anticipation. Up until now it’d been just her and the testosterone overload that’s the school team. Imagine the delight (and relief) when the Chollimas’ newest addition turned out to not be another one of the boys; fast forward a couple weeks, and here they are now: partners in misery turned partners on a mission. 

“What’re you in the mood for?” She ticks off the choices with her fingers as she walks. “Bakery down the street’s good, cafe to the left is nice, and if we walk a little further and take a right there’s a place for dim sum.” 

[mmjina]

BUDDING PARALLELS

similar but not quite the same, virtually so; but frankly, not enough. see also: jina and @mmyuanlan before the peace treaty, the glo-up, and insert the manic one on one competition between the two smartest girls in their cohort. CIRCA 2017

𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍, you want to be better than the rest. 

you read books until they’re practically imprinted in your mind. you close your eyes and your mind still runs a mile a minute, keep up, keep up -- they taunt you. you’re to be the best, not ahead of the curve, you are the curve. self-awareness is second to self-egos; pampered and bruised. tossed to wolves and torn apart all for the sake of an outstanding academic reputation. the next day, it will begin again.

it’s a repetitive cycle, the slate is never clean, it’s darkened with blood and sweat and tears jina never cries because her eyes are bloodshot and her smile is strained. but she raises her hand high, shoulder brush, maybe a little too passive-aggressively against another’s. she doesn’t spare the slightest glance backwards as her name is spoken like a spell, like it’s obvious that she would be the first to come up with the answer. 

like it’s expected, because she was kwak jina. 

this was her reputation. untainted by her mother’s crimes, unhindered by the legacies her sisters unravel: no -- kwak jina is unlike her sisters before her. she is not serious, she is not fun personified; she’s not a breath of fresh air nor does she excel at escapism. 

she’s haughty, possessive, temperamental and withers at the lack of attention. above all, she is an egoist. she wants to be the best, second in line had never been her frame of work nor would she bow down to someone like -- she blinks, smile ripe against bright teeth -- someone like yuanlan. the name rolls off her tongue as she stares at the list of students, written off by examination scores and paired like cattle for their latest DADA practicum. unlike last time, perhaps the advantage had been lost.

because right next to yuanlan’s was her own -- she bites back a groan, heavily feeling her eyes roll to the back of her head as she turns to stare the other down, arms crossed before she makes up her mind and makes the first move. “it appears,” she breathes through her nose, trying to calm the flares of annoyance already prickling at the back of her neck. “the professor thought it was wise to pair us up for today’s practicum.” her tone is flat, a declaration of if you fuck this up -- i’ll fuck you up whispered between unwritten lines. 

[mmsunwoo-blog]

FALL INTO

accio — @mmyuanlan !

yuanlan’s good at a lot of things, he’s noticed. dueling club being one of them. for five years now he’s gotten his ass beat ( singed hair and everything ) at the weekly meetings. it's fine, he’s only there for the free food anyways. but there’s only so much a boy can take. even one as patient as he. there’s a breaking point. intangible, yet fragile all the same. he’s reached it a long time ago. ( the ceiling is just barely grazed: spidery patterns on glass. )

this is typical. it’s always a marathon to get through class. but when the bell tolls at the end of the day, the world suddenly plays at normal speed. unmuted. in color. he’s here, comfortably seated at his usual spot in the far right corner. fingers on autopilot fighting whatever opponent he decides is worth his while. when the opportunity arises for yuanlan to join in on the fun, he sees no reason to say no. it’ll be a nice change of pace for once. her getting her ass beat instead.

“oh, you’re here. just give me a sec,” his eyes don’t stray from the lasers and graphics on screen. it’s understandable, though. he's mid battle when he hears footsteps come up behind him. still, for all he knows he could be just talking to the air. the game ends with numbers flashing across the screen. he’s grown accustomed to the pixelated golden streamers by now, but he still finds his heart swelling just a bit at the sight.

he turns to her, grinning from the rush. “it’s your first time at a pc bang right ? so you can either just sit here and watch,” he pats the empty seat next to him, “or if you wanna play, we can do that too. there’s couple seats over there,” his eyes wander in said direction, but not before a flush creeps into his cheeks. it was an innocent comment, really. park sunwoo, ever the honest.

“i mean it’s meant for couples ! but we’re not obviously. but like, we can still sit there. it’s just. y’know. easier to play together that way.”  ( shit. he really didn’t mean it like that. )

[sungmm]

& adventure awaits.

@mmyuanlan​ !

contrary to popular belief, sneaking out of the dorms past curfew isn’t hard at all. sung has the whole routine down to a tee. he’s already told jiyi to let him back in when he gives her a call, hastily shoving in supplies he thinks he needs into his messenger bag- potions, his wand, snacks, and other miscellaneous things- before waving goodbye as he takes his exit. he avoids the prefects patrolling the corriders with ease, not bothering to use his invisibility potion as he finds his way towards the cheong ryeong dorms. he usually doesn’t find himself here, mostly because he’s almost always at the hyeon mu dorms to pester sunwoo, but tonight is definitely going to be more exciting than playing fortnite ( and losing miserably thereafter ).

a few days ago, yuanlan and him had stumbled upon an old piece of parchment in the library when he was tutoring her in the classes she was struggling with. a treasure map, specifically- stuck between the pages of the potions book they were using. they had no idea where it led to, but studying was quickly ditched in favor of trying to decipher it. between classes and extracurriculars, they agreed that exploring would be best done at night ( because who followed the rules, anyways ). he had let the younger take possession of the scroll of paper, and as he gets closer to the dorm entrance, he spots her outside, waiting.

“yuanlan! how’s my favorite fourth year doing?” sung greets, easygoing smile already in place as he slings an arm over the girl’s shoulders and pulls her in close to his side. it’s second nature by now, the way he treats her like an endearing little sister ( despite already having two ), and he doesn’t think twice before absentmindedly brushing her unruly bangs out of her face. there’s a twinkle in his eye, one usually put there by mischief, and he whispers conspiringly, “you ready? i think i already figured out the first clue. i’m pretty sure it’s pointing us in the direction of the kitchen, but what d’you think?”

[mmharam-blog]

the eyewitness. @mmyuanlan

these past few mornings, afternoons and sunsets– yosul has been more or less in a stalemate. not many ruts and cracks under everyone’s feet for haram to watch them trip and fall, the potholes being their everyday tug-of-war with what confines them.

surprisingly enough, haram finds diversion in this placidity itself.

it’s because no games jump from ‘start’ to ‘finish’ directly. it’s because there are tussles and detours, resets and the odds. the days’ dice happened to continuously roll to ‘1,’ and the pawns have only taken just that much step. it’s a slow churn: like the girl sitting in far right of the front row, gnawing on the tip of her nail as she looks at the boy by the presentation lectern in detest. careful whispers through the ears and hidden snickers. translucent labels on everyone’s back: team a, team b, team c, and so forth. unspoken tensions that root from the most rudimentary desires. recognition. validation.

in short, what haram is saying is—there are no turning points without a proper buildup.

“—and lastly, yuanlan and haram. everyone, pair up with your partners for the last 10 minutes of class to exchange contact information and project details.”

he’s in the far back row of the lecture room, where light rarely hits. yuanlan, somewhere in the foreground. just where he likes everyone to be.

(spotlights should and will always be on the lay figures, not him.)

“hey.” haram, having made his way to meet her mid-way, now hovers over her with a wave of his hands. “yuanlan, right? i don’t think we’ve talked before.” the boy’s a corpse without an intuitive mind and his set of perceptive eyes. he senses some sort of a catalyst with the way she eyes him– so he gives her a wide smile, harmless and from the heart. about damn time.

[mmseol-blog]

☏ + ☢ !

A PEEK INTO SEOL’S TEXTS WITH : yuanlan 🍉 || ACCEPTING!

send ☏ for a vague text

💬 : sorry!!! just ignore what you saw please 👼

send ☢ for a desperate text

💬 : HELP I CHUGGED REDBULL+COFFEE WITH 3 EXTRA ESPRESSO SHOTS TO STAY AWAKE SO I COULD FINISH REVIEWING FOR THIS TEST💬 : AND I MEAN I’M AWAKE AND FINISHED MY TEST BUT AT WHAT COST I’M SHAKING WHAT DO I DO

[mmjiyi-blog]

“do you think a dog animagi could have puppies?”

HP STARTERS: ACCEPTING!

jiyi’s collapsed on the field, the soft, soft grass that’s way too inviting and cool under her back, after a long day of practice. “could, what, huh?” she turns her head to the left and looks at yuanlan’s head through half an eyeful of grass. “i mean. huh. maybe?”

she thinks about it; does that fall under magical theory? gotta ask sunwoo if it does, because merlin knows she hasn’t remembered a single thing from that class ( she does, however, know how to fall asleep 5 minutes into it ). or maybe just transfiguration, but all she remembers of that is standing very, very still when professor rhee turned into a large spider. she shudders to think of the offspring that particular animagus form might have.

jiyi throws an arm over her brow and shakes her head, flicking little bits of grass over herself and yuanlan. she’s too tired to think, let alone come up with animagus theory; she yawns and lets all her teeth show.

“i just wanna play with some doggos… when is coach gonna give us a break?”

[mmchoa]

☏ + ☠ !

send a symbol for a text ! // ( accepting )

send ☏ for a vague text《 💬 ➠ yuanlan 🌱 》 : i hope you're prepared for what i've got in store for you《 💬 ➠ yuanlan 🌱 》 : 🤪

send ☠ for a misguided advice text《 💬 ➠ yuanlan 🌱 》 : if you only focused on your studies like i did《 💬 ➠ yuanlan 🌱 》 : you'll miss out on a lot of things 《 💬 ➠ yuanlan 🌱 》 : you'll feel the need to compensate for that in your twenties《 💬 ➠ yuanlan 🌱 》 : and your twenties? an experimental time of your life where you're walking a fine line between being an adult and fucking up