his hands turn the giant box over this way and that, and laughs an incredulous laugh. āno way, dude.ā as if he canāt believe his eyes, ādid christmas come early this year?ā
purely a rhetorical question, by the way. (he totally remembers that thereās some light at the end of the tunnel in a handful of weeks. that day to day grad student life doesn't always feel like a bleak, endless winter. it's something much worse when the holidays are right around the corner.)
shaking his head, sejoon sets the package down by the chicken wings and the milk carton. "you're crazy for this." and sure, there are crazier things than being challenged to a hot ones hot sauce advent calendar challenge because ziying can do that much and then some easy. it's about living life on the wild side, carpe diemāer, noctemāand learning when to take that good ole leap of faith all at once. and normally, heās all the way in for this kind of thing. unconditionally. no if's, and's, or but's.
but heās really, really not sure about this one.
sejoon still has a smile plastered to his face when he looks at her. a deceptively bright expression that masks the uncertainty of how this'll go. for god's sake, he's seen the videos. the anguish, the tears, the glasses of milk. so many glasses of milk. his stomach turns from the secondhand recall. from the thought of chugging that much dairy, or the profound lack of confidence in his spice tolerance, he can't tell. "so we're doing this." the smile grows bigger, and with it the fear. "like right now."
a girl may not look the part, but she sure as hell can feel it. deep, deep in her bones, with the skull-splitting boom of the bass, and the growing ache of her feet. strapped and stranded in red bottoms at the epicenter of a party, exhaustion follows by a wave of exasperationānot at the humbling reality of having nowhere else to be tonight but here, but at how her pathās been blocked off by a couple slowgrinding to justin bieber (which...where does someone even begin to unpack that? do you even dare to go there? anywayā)
to her credit, she thought she'd last maybe 10 minutes before calling it quits. 15, at most. it's been a whopping 30 so far, which warrants a pat on the back at bare minimum, and stiff drink bestowed with the utmost generosity. cheers! to her resilience. to being a trooper. to not caving to the impulse of shoving these assholes to the ground already. but she's closeāso closeāuntil a good samaritan takes one for the team to unceremoniously elbow them out the way.
heels double for sky high stilts as they delicately step over many a stain and sticky spillage of god-knows-what on the blue hall floors, vodka shot in hand. a searching gaze sizes up the first empty spot to be seen and it's an immediate beeline to the end of a windowseat.
there's zero regard to the person next to her as erina plops down, willing away the reflex to kick off the shoes the very second her weight sinks into the cushion. looks down at the drink in her hand like she just remembered she'd brought it along at all and knocks it back. 80 proof straight burns hot then cold with the force of a firehose, followed by...a stale gummy bear. just the one. she chews at it. gets a burst of cough medicine and instant regret. how nice.
it's nothing new: a december 4pm reels in the same stretch of black sky as 9pm during the peak of july. the turn of the seasons doesn't matter much when the worst of it is spent all the same; shut away from the rest of the world, confined to the company of shadows and the straining blue glare of a computer screen.
on any given day, this doesn't bother her. (and why would it? grass is green, the earth is round, and grad students pay to be voluntarily shackled to the doomed rituals of academia. indisputably, these are known, universal truths since the beginning of mankind. indisputably, this is the norm.) but factor in a looming deadline right before the weekend from a tenured professor who more than half the department hates, and the night suddenly feels exceptionally endless.
she steps out eventually. according to her phone, the ordeal only took up two hours of her precious time. never mind that it felt like ten years, never mind how 9:08pm right now feels deliriously like three-something in the morning. what's done is done.
book bag in one hand, empty drink in the other, erina stops at the top of the stairs. gives her eyes a moment to adjust to the bottomless dark that engulfs everything all around before she begins making her way down. boots hit frosted asphalt, steps geared towards yellow hall. a ten minute trek if she gets her timing right.
click, click, clickā
in the distance there's laughter, chillingly hyena-like. at first, she pays it no mind. but then that same laughter reverberates in doubles, then triples, multiplying and growing louder by the perilous second. and then, another set of footsteps, slow at first then quickening.
the hairs on the back of her neck start to stick up.
clickclickclickclickā
night vision could be so useful right now, except the only two things in her arsenal are flight-or-fight and a can of pokka coffee.
clickclickclickCLICKCLICKā
hastily, the can's crushed by the grip of her fingers. it's a harrowing split second decison of fuck it, it's fight when erina abruptly spins around on her heel, can aimed threateningly high to chuck it square in the face ofā
"oh."
under a streetlamp (that seemingly, conveniently just remembered to do the one thing it's supposed to do and turn on), her eyes scrutinize the face framed by a pair of hideously oversized sunglasses. they trail over to the rowdy gaggle behind him. and then it's right back to the glasses.
the hand lowers. a breath escapes her, tone falling resolutely flat with disappointment. "it's you."
caved so quick to the 2nd muse impulse o mein gott......throwing sejoon into the mix with another minimal stats page + round two of rambly character intros šµāš« if u are interested in plotting just like this post or add me on discord!! (tip.toph) š„°
tw! mentions of terminal illness, death of a parent
only son to 2 anomalies. plain jane working class background
in a past life, dad is still a top tier hardboiled detective who doesn't gotta think about the fact he has a wife and kid at home
in this one, mom is inconveniently out of the picture for......... [vague gestures] reasons and he has to hunker down into single father life fast. ends up opening a restaurant in order to be able to provide
but in spite of all of this his childhood isn't so bad! he and his dad are close despite obvious stark differences in personality, which can be summed up as naive softie vs cynical hardass. even if sejoon's too trusting ways has dad up at night wondering how the hell is this kid gonna survive on his own
also dad: [does the absolute most to keep him shielded and sheltered cause he's Seen Things and as a parent's bare minimum that means letting a kid being a kid. which means shoving things deep under a rug and the default response to any inkling of curiosity being "Don't worry about it"]
until sejoon's anomaly kicks in at 12-13 by making a patron's chair float on accident and his dad's like k. better late than never......
its a little (ok a lot) hard to coach sejoon through controlling his abilities considering dad's own anomaly is not anything remotely close to moving things w his mind (its memory manipulation btw for some hwang fam #trivia) and sejoon is like ): but this is so cool why shouldnt i wanna show it off......
their deeply anti-anomaly district with equally staunchly anti-anomaly neighbors, friends, politicians being a VERY good reason not to: (:
dad: wear this patch thingie. dont ask why just do what i say
(thank god for nullivi huh like seriously)
doesnt stop the bubble bursting with when people realize ur not "human" they treat u different but ykw.........the sun is still shining and the world is much much bigger than their humble slice of daegu for EVERYONE to be that way
sua's open for admissions just around the time sejoon's thinking about higher ed AND broadening his horizons. gets in on arts scholarship and off he goes
baby bird leaving the nest turns fish out of the water. college and seoul are a bit of an adjustment but exciting all the same. and he does thrive! gets involved in the sporting rallies, really developing his artistic vision, has a social life, and gets to be his #true self among fellow anomalies the whole enchilada
things only really go downhill in the last 6 months of his undergrad with 2 wrecking balls: a devastating breakup and (TW: ILLNESS, DEATH) his dad being diagnosed by stage iv lung cancer
its right after graduation that sejoon immediately falls off the face of the earth for 3 years to be his father's sole caretaker until his death (END OF TW) no one i mean no one knows what he was doing or where he is
but hes back now to do his mfa!! let the bella loca where the hell have u been-isms begin
vibe wise hes bright, social, easy to talk to but can also be kind of spacey eccentric and the ultimate pacifist. the type that makes u feel like u guys are sooo close but then when u reflect ur like actually idk if i really know much about him at all (which!! is not totally intentional he just makes for a better listener and is great at making conversation about what YOU have to say). these days that same can do energy is there but it doesnt feel the same if u look too close but its fine!!! everything is fine
plots that are marginally better than the first time around but not by much:
friends who were blindsided by him going mia without warning
friends who are gracious enough (or equally ??????? avoidant? weird even) to pick up where they left off like nothing happened in the first place
people who dont even know who he is so like none of the above for his sob story doesnt even really matter
this is really really limited to one (1) person but somebody who managed to run into him in the three years that he was laying low
will require extensive plotting but the ex......not necessarily endgame but i am in the mood for some bittersweet woulda shoulda coulda's, angst and answering the penultimate question of: why did we break up?
former teammates? i imagine he was part of house samjoko during undergrad
ur a stranger feeling nosy and ur ultimate mission is figuring out where hes been. he lets u speculate
u need someone to do ur graphics. can be contractual pro bono whatevah.......
im running out of steam here but i am open to it all please hmu
aw shit here we go again.png because tumblr cant give ur girl a break and shadowbanned her anyways hiiiiii i bringĀ erinaĀ whose stats page is VERY very bare bones so you are likely far better off just reading my word vomit here for plotting purposes š please like this post if you are interested in plotting š«¶ my discord is tip.toph !
only daughter to a rich guy anomaly. the watanabes own a multinational chemical company based in japan known for their polymer development and production
contrary to public opinion, her dad thinks being different is just another way to know god is on his side and that heās one of āHis Chosen Onesā
(if it isnt obvious already, the guy is fairly religious and this is the one (1) time where his traditional mindset ironically seems progressive in how accepting? it is when it comes to those w abilities)
otherwise, typical run of the mill man who uses piousness to his convenience and thinks 1950s-esque casual sexism can still flyĀ in this day and age
instead of being discouraged by this, a creature of spite like urs truly is only driven to work harder better faster stronger wherever she can exert herselfĀ to prove her worth.Ā it helps that thereās no one else lined up to take over the family business
also very helpful to discover at 13 youāre an anomaly too when you accidentally disintegrate your 2nd stepmomās hand in a fit of teen rage
gets used to having to āintegrateā into normal society once sheās sent overseas for an esteemed k-12 education in the uk. for a long while, the nullivi patch is a non issue,Ā and any few inconsequential accidents were just that. inconsequential
by the time sheās applying for universities her dadās on wife #4 and wants his only kid to be closer in spite of his flaws. off to sua she goesĀ on the compromise that itās close enough to him but it's also not right under his nose tfg
when undergrad is over and done with, dad brings up discussions of marriage like this is the 1800s or something,Ā to which eriās likeĀ ālemme finish my masterās first then iāll think about it (:ā
fast forward to the completion of her masterās: before dad can even think to bring up marriage prospects again eri says āwow a doctorateā¦imagine how cool and conveniently time consuming that would beā¦ā¦.ā
so thatās how sheās still here, 7 years and counting!
contrary to her kind sunshine princess face eriās ur textbook prissy too-serious-for-her-own-good ambitious go getter.Ā its not that sheāsĀ meanĀ persay but ms girl constantly gives off the vibes that she has bigger fish to fryĀ with no time for trivial bullshit
the type where if it takes 10 minutes too long to make her latte she will head over to the other side of the counter and start making it herself
on the flip side, once sheās committed to anyone and anything sheās alll the way in. u can count on her for ride or die like loyalty if nothing elseā¦..
stays well out of campus politics because she thinks sheās above it lolā¦ā¦the patch is kind of annoying though when sheās trying to conduct research (on developing durable polymer materials) so thatās one of the rare times it comes off
plot ideas (so bad at coming up w these on the fly omg so sorry š)
youre the barista who took too long to make her iced latte and was either humiliated on the spot when she made her way over to YOUR side of the shop to make it herself or u are grateful thatās one less order to deal with
she was a TA for one of ur classes and what u thought would be one of the easiest courses ever turned out to be an absolute nightmare
someone who decided it was worth pursuing her, lemme ask youĀ this: WhyĀ would u put urself thru that
band of brothers aka other grad students who just get it
friendsā¦ā¦.Ā š„¹
if none of these work iām chill with brainstorming too just hmu
