Its been a while now but he still remembers the little things about her.
Things like, how she sounded when she first woke up. Dazed and somewhat sad, keeping her eyes shut as if she wasn’t ready to face the day yet. As if a few minutes of sleep would have made a difference. As if staying in his arms was all she wanted.
He remembers how she smiled and how she had a different one for every moment. One for when she spotted her favorite dish, mouth closed but eyes wide, holding her hands back from taking the first bite.
And one for when she saw a dress she liked. It was her widest one yet. But not the most beautiful.
The most beautiful were those moments that she would look at him.
At least that was how he felt before. Eventually Cris realized, there was never just happiness when she looked at him.
Pity was present too.
[PHONE RINGING CONTINUOUSLY]
The ringtone reverberated throughout the entire apartment. Although the mans house phone was barely used, on the off chance his cellphone was turned off, it was the only other way to reach out to him.
“Christian. Pick up the phone.” The voicemail finally answered.
“Christian, if you’re home, you really need to call your dad. He’s over here throwing a fit because you’ve been ignoring him today. He said something about you were suppose to come by.” The male voice sighed. Cris always wondered which mistake it would be that made the rest of them look down at him too.
“Whenever you get home, it doesn’t matter what time it is. Just. Call. Him. Please…Talk you later cuz.”
Before the call ends, a female voice could be heard. “Spending time with prey is making him we-”
The call disconnects.
[TWO HOURS LATER]
“Cris!" There was a sense of urgency in her tone.
"Hey, I-I know today is suppose to be a personal day and this number is for emergencies only , but we’re kind of having an emergency back at the restaurant." It was one of his servers and she was rushing her words faster than usual. "The night manager said he tried calling your cellphone but its going straight to voicemail. We’re having some issues with the-” Glass falls in the background.
“Sir, please put that down, you’re not suppose to be back here-Sir!" There are muffled voices and sounds of a struggle. "Cris! Just come down here as soon as you can. We need you. Sir! Please don’t thro-”
The call disconnects.
[ONE HOUR LATER]
“Hey big bro.” It was Jimin this time.
“I didn’t know if something was wrong with my phone so I decided to call you and for some reason your phone is off. Just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”
The few seconds of silence that followed made Cris wonder if there was something more that he wanted to say but couldn’t. Or maybe he just understood,
that being alone was okay sometimes. That sometimes it was necessary.
The flashbacks were coming back again.
“Please just tell, was it something that I did?” Pathetic. “Can’t you let me fix this?” Weak. "We can fix this. I know we can. Just please don’t leave me.“ Sheep.
"I don’t know what I’ll do without you Noyna. Please.”
Once in a while, Cris was cursed by the memories of her and reminded that maybe he might never be enough for anyone. And letting people in sometimes, will make him weaker than before.
“Big bro.” Jimin’s voice brought him back to reality.
“I just wanted you to know that I’m always here for you, whenever you need me….I love you. so just say the word and I’ll go over,” he paused to laugh, “with your favorite takeout and all the Disney movies.” Cris was proud to have him a part of the pack.
“Just say the word and I’m there.”
Cris mattered to some, at least and maybe that was just enough. Maybe it was time to move past her. “Put your head up,” the man whispered to himself, “for you are enough. Don’t ever forget that.”
Haechul knows that he isn’t busy today. He knows that his friend is available, and he knows where he is.
The Dance Studio.
More often than not when they hang out, Haechul has to wait for his friend to finish here. But today. Today there is a surprise. Lugging a boombox, and wearing a very suspiciously long jacket, he opens the door. The receptionist at the building warily looks him up and down, and points to where the small were-wolf teaches and practices. She warns him that he might not be there, as he doesn’t have a class today.
So Haechul navigates the directions laid out to him. As he gets closer to his destination the excitement builds up in his body. He’s positively glowing and vibrating when he slams open the door to Jimin’s studio and yells his greeting!
. . .
Wait. There is a class in here. Some very talented children and a very angry woman. The woman angrily tells him to leave and he does some finger guns as he exits, spitting a pun about boogie-ing away.
. . .
Right. Haechul needed the studio next door. Hopefully his target didn’t hear his first attempt.
Slamming open the right door, the greeting is yelled a second time. Somehow even more enthusiastically than the first,
“JIMINNIEEEE~ IT’S TIME FOR YOUR MORNING EXERCISE!”
With a charismatic press of a button, some good old 1987 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship Opening Music begins playing. Very loudly.
Without skipping a beat, the moves flow through the fae as though they come naturally. His suspiciously long jacket is on the floor revealing a neon 70s style exercise leotard.
“YOU’RE LEARNING AEROBICS, PUPPY-BOY!”
( ooc: mood music for this post https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIfAkOBMf5A )
it was a really nice restaurant, jimin muses. he’d have to remember to thank his co-worker for recommending it to him because he’s pretty sure he would’ve just ended up with his usual meal of instant noodles that night had he not passed by the place and remembered.
jimin blinks out of his musings when a glass of water is sat down in front of him, his nose catching the scent of another were (lion, he thinks) moments later. he must really be out of it to be so… out of tune with his senses. it’s discomforting, to say the least.
“long day–yeah, you could say that.” jimin rubs at his neck and cracks a tired smile at the other. he glances at the menu in front of him before shyly looking back up. “ah, i’ve never really… been here before? uh, what would you recommend?”
As Cris stood by the customers table, his scent attacked him once more. It was clear then that the younger looking male was definitely a werewolf, it was a scent he had engraved into his senses a long time ago.
When Cris was a boy and just getting use to both his forms, human and animal, he had wandered too deep into the forest in his human form. He wanted to see if he could make it out, but after a few hours stumbled onto a werewolf pack. Realizing what he was, and without even really knowing him, they turned off their aggression and silently led him back home. They were the ones that had started his fascination and one of the moments that led him to be so accepting of others, especially in a pride that only saw each other.
"Depends how hungry you are." Cris answered, the smile never faltering. "We have an eclectic lunch and dinner menu here at Pride Rock, ranging from traditional Korean dishes and barbeque to seafood pastas and even sandwiches." God he sounded like such an infomercial sometimes. "But we have a special this summer, a seafood sampler that includes mixed rice, your choice of soup, and a free summer drink. All for one affordable price." The last part may have not been true but most of his staff already knew the werelions soft spot for the supernatural customers. And with them so few now a days, they let his antics slide. "Weres get that supernatural discount."
'Family' has always been such a straight forward concept for the young lion. He was raised in a close knit household and even after the death of his mother, the love and cherish never stopped. They always made him feel like they could depend on each other and no matter what the cost, the family would always be there. But in the world of the Yu Pride, they were the only ones that mattered. No one else could compare and no one else could replace.
They were completely and utterly selfish. Using others only as social tools and lending support to keep up appearances rather than for the greater good. It was all an illusion, resulting in the nobility of their name to remain intact. But Cris could never fully get on board. He never understood why he couldn't spend too much time with other weres or why his intimate relationship with other species were always looked down upon. It was madness. After all, there was a whole other world outside of the Yu Pride, but none of them ever tried to look that far. And besides. were creatures were Cris' favorites. He found them all fascinating.
"So what will it be?" Setting down a glass of water, Cris smiled at the younger male in front of him. He had walked in a few minutes ago and picked up the faintest whiff of wolf. An unfamiliar presence in the restaurant but welcomed, none the less. With his curiosity peaked, Cris decided to bump one of his servers else where in order to handle him. To make sure his sense of smell was accurate and not tweaking or anything. "Long day?"
