una in aeterum

kim jiseok. 24. associate professor for security, police. alumni of victoria college.

[seungwootology]

the duality…

[vcjiseok]

+ buttery demise

[vcjiseok]

vcsunjin‌:

     “ I’m alright, I promise. I shouldn’t have stopped right where everyone walks. “ Sunjin fought against the laughs threatening to spill from his chest. He set the bucket to the side of Aeris, trying to access the situation and just how to deal with it. They were at a water festival and he could just stick him in a shallow pool, but the Starly seemed like he’d had enough excitement for one day. Still, Sunjin couldn’t help it.

     Okay, okay, he may be laughing, but he’s a good person, he swears. Knowing that Aeris fit inside of a whole popcorn bucket just added to how much the situation tickled Sunjin. “ I think he’s alright, he’s just a little upset. “ The little bird Pokemon, more than displeased, raised his wings and fluttered them indignantly. Butter and popcorn went flying every which way, Sunjin shielding himself a little too late … and right as the stranger knelt down next to him. 

     he looks relieved that the student (surely this must a student, he looks so young) isn’t hurt. he’d have felt horrible if the other had been injured at a festival where he should be having fun, courtesy of a professor. “that’s a relief, i would have felt so bad if i’d hurt you,” he says earnestly. however, he can’t help his laughter at the poor starly who looks so frazzled and offended. 

     he certainly does not expect to be showered by butter and popcorn the instant he squats down, courtesy of the disgruntled starly flapping its wings. 

     blinking in surprise, he looks startled before he lets out a hopeless little laugh, shaking his head and dislodging popcorn from his head. “well... i mean, i was planning to shower anyways,” he sighs with an amused little noise. gingerly, he reaches for his pokeball, letting eun loose with a flick of his wrist and the alolan ninetales appears with a flash, looking around curiously. he’d heard from some students that she’d become quite famous on campus as a beautiful pokemon, and there aren’t really that many alolan ninetales that he’s heard of here. as a result, he’s become associated with her, though just as ‘the professor who owns the alolan ninetales.’ in the end, though, he’s not really sure exactly how many students know about her. 

     “eun, rain dance, if you please.”

[vcjiwon-blog]

ʰᵉˡᵖ ʳᵉᵠᵘᶦʳᵉᵈ

[vcjiseok]

vcjiwon‌:

she barely reacts to his scolding a it’s something she is rather use to at this point and normally she’s good at not calling him with that title when on campus but in moments like this she forgets, and the familiar way of calling him slips out. she’d apologize later but right now she really wanted her poor bonsly to stop crying. 

“i-i don’t know what’s wrong, he just won’t stop crying.” she says as she hands over the crying pokemon to jiseok before turning to close the door. her hands wringing together in front of her once she was facing jiseok again, worry clear in her voice and expression. even in jiseoks hold the bonsly did not stop it’s wailing, there was a pause as if bonsly was just realizing he was being held by someone else but then the wailing started up again. 

“he woke up from his nap like this and nothing has calmed him down, i can’t go into work if he’s like this.” she explained, blinking quickly a few times to dispel the tears that were forming. 

     he’s far too fond of jiwon to actually scold her properly over calling him oppa, as she has for years, rather than ssaem, which is very new for the freshman. he doesn’t even really blame her for the mistake; a habit formed by years of practice is very difficult to break. add that to the fact that she’s not expected to call him that outside of campus, and the logical conclusion is that jiwon actually adhering to the rule is very unlikely, especially in moments like these. 

     “there, there,” he soothes gently as he rocks the bonsly in his arms, rather like one would with a newborn, and despite his surprise at being interrupted and the situation that had literally been thrust into his arms, he maintains his composure. “jiwonnie, don’t you cry too, okay?” he says in worry, having spotted the tears sparkling in her eyes and he gestures with his head for her to take a seat at the couches in front of his desk, where he usually spends time with his students. 

     sitting across a desk is too awkward unless they’re discussing academic material, so he usually saves the academic discussions for the actual desk, and the personal ones for the couches and coffee table. of course, the exception is usually jiho, who deposits his pokemon with increasing frequency during jiseok’s work hours, and those are thus generally conducted at his desk. 

[vcjiho]

thievery,

[vcjiseok]

vcjiho‌:

he has half a thought to just leave, not bothering to eat with the older, but he can already imagine the whining he’ll have to deal with eventually when they meet up again, and jiho might be a decently patient person, but not enough to deal with that. he might deal with children and teenagers and annoying customers alike at work, but that’s work jiho and not regular jiho. 

placing the freshly-dried lid back onto the tupperware container once he’s wiped the wet part of it off on his shirt, shaking his head slightly and grumbling to himself about annoying hyungs. 

“no,” jiho answers after, his expression back to his neutral one that he always sported. “i only came to get poképuffs for ditto,” he adds after a moment, thinking he might need to explain himself. he wasn’t that interested in the barbecue or anything, considering this was food that was similar to dishes that were served at the gotta eat ‘em all grill and he could have any whenever he so wanted it. he really had only come to sneak snacks out for his pokémon. 

he has a vague feeling that jiseok had something planned and he narrows his eyes behind his glasses, blinking up at the taller male before shaking his head. “if you get me damp, i’m never making you poképuffs again.”

     he’s very good at deterring jiho from leaving him alone for too long through the threat of extremely annoying whining and bothering at later times. he often jokes that if jiho prevents him from expressing his affections, they’ll just come back equally as strongly later on, so it’s in the other’s best interests just to take it a little bit at a time. they’ve known each other for so long that jiho knows jiseok will make good on that threat, and thus they usually find themselves in the position jiseok wants, jiho generally prone to giving up. 

     “let’s go get something to eat then,” he insists and he puts a hand on the other’s back, guiding him slightly in the direction of food he’d spotted. it’s true that a lot of the food is similar to the grill owned by jiho’s parents, but even so, he appreciates that they’ve come to serve the huge mass of students and faculty. “i know you’re going to say that you can have it any time, but just indulge me, okay?” he pokes the other’s cheek, careful not to poke too hard. 

     at the other’s threat, he pouts a little bit. it’s never right to play seniority with jiho, not when they’re so close that the age doesn’t really matter all that much. the result is often that he doesn’t really act like a professor around the younger male -- it’s hard to act professional around someone who has known you since childhood, after all. “what, eun and haru would be so angry.” he huffs softly before his eyes brighten. 

     “would you really be able to deny them, though?” he muses quietly before he starts. “oh right! eun really wanted to see you,” he says hastily as he reaches for the pokeball containing his alolan ninetales.

[vcdaehyun-blog]

& family ties ;

[vcjiseok]

vcdaehyun‌:

the calmness in the associate professor’s voice is soothing, and daehyun finds his tense shoulders dropping slightly as he tries to focus on the here and now. there’s something so matter-the-fact about how jiseok phrases his question, and daehyun hesitates as he really considers the posed question. 

it’s a fair thing to consider. what, exactly, is making him sad? is it the fact that he doesn’t know what he’s doing at victoria college? is it that his dad is always too busy to spend much time at home? is it that he misses home and his family, that everything here is too new of an experience? no, he realizes slowly, he thinks that he’s sad because of why his dad never seems to pay attention to him. 

hesitantly, he glances up at the professor, who has been silent this whole time as daehyun had slowly worked his way through his jumbled thoughts. “it’s complicated,” he says in a small voice. “i… i came to victoria and picked security because my dad is a police officer. i just… i wanted him to be proud of me.” and he’s not, the unspoken ending is there and he immediately feels a pit of guilt open up in his stomach, his face twisting.

     his expression softens and twists a little as daehyun’s answer comes tumbling from his lips. he can see the anguish on the young boy’s face and jiseok’s heart aches that a child of only sixteen would know a pain and grief so deep that it mars his youthful face with unhappiness. he can read the unfinished ending to daehyun’s sentence, the part that goes unspoken, and his own expression saddens at the heartbroken little voice. 

     “you just wanted him to be proud of you,” he repeats after the child and his expression is patient and empathetic. “has he said that he isn’t proud of you, or has he simply not said anything?” he asks. he wants to get a better understanding of the young student’s home situation, whether he has a father who is actively disparaging his son, or is ruining the child through neglect. 

     although this isn’t even what he’s trained for, his natural personality and tendency to take care of others guides him in listening to students who need to talk to an adult about things they may hold close to their heart. in these cases, like daehyun’s, he has to be able to secure their trust and begin guiding them before they might even consider professional help. 

[vcareum-blog-deactivated2025110]

Cure My Struggles

[vcjiseok]

vcareum‌:

⋆   The female found herself laughing alongside his joke, shrugging in reply with a small lightheartedness in her mannerism. She hoped that was the case but knowing the pokemon for quite some time now, she doubted it was the case this time. As the Eevee continued to sleep on, she moved over to allow the professor some space to work with.

While Jiseok went on to attempt to wake Sid up, Areum found her sight wandering down to observe the pokemon next to the older man. Graceful and obedient. A model pokemon for many other pokemon that wants that kind of aura. From time to time, she would ask herself whether the bond between a trainer and their pokemon was really that strong and every time, the fact was proven true by many others she had encountered throughout the years. 

“Kind of…” she trailed off, watching Sid continue to sleep. The only thing he did was twitch his ear at Jiseok’s stroke. 

“I just need this little guy to wake up.” she hissed at the sleeping pokemon to hint that he was not helping with the situation at. all.

     he sighs a little bit in amusement and he glances at his alolan ninetales, who nods as she steps forward to continue on with the task of waking up the stubborn little eevee. “how long have you had this little one?” he asks curiously, not really paying attention to eun as she continues to work on waking up the sleeping normal type pokemon. their bond is strong enough and developed to the point where he rarely has to tell her what to do before she’s already doing it. they understand each other that well, but it was certainly a skill developed through years of training together and being constant companions. the result, however, is a bond that cannot be compared to anything else, and that is what he seeks to cultivate in his students. 

     “sometimes, pokemon can take a while to warm up to their trainers. how often do you keep him out of the ball?” his voice is curious and these habits can influence how pokemon and trainer bonds develop. eun had spent very little time inside her ball at the beginning, when she had been his only pokemon, and he thinks that his bond with her is the strongest out of all his pokemon, as his very first pokemon. 

      “these exercises are designed to be difficult,” he admits with a warm smile. “many of them require a pokemon’s perspective in order to figure it out. which is why i had all of you release a pokemon of your choice.”

[vcjiseok]

+ buttery demise

[vcjiseok]

vcsunjin‌:

     Sunjin stared up at the person he’d just collided with, mouth opening and closing as he attempted to come up with words. He wasn’t hurt or anything, just startled. Shiyu nudging his hand snapped him out of it and Sunjin blinked to break himself out of his thoughts. “ Ah, yes, I’m okay ! “ The student scratched the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed. “ Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to get in your way … “ His voice trailed off as an upset screech came from the popcorn bucket quaking nearby. 

     His head swung left … and then right … and then he realized what happened. Now, the normal course of action in their situation would be to panic but, well, Sunjin wasn’t normal. He reached for the bucket and pinched the edge, lifting it up. Beneath the bucket stood an extremely frazzled looking starly covered in sticky butter and peppered with popcorn kernels. All Sunjin could do was tip his head back and cackle. Aeris was less than pleased.

     his eyebrows furrow slightly and he shakes his head in response to the hastily stuttered apology. “oh, it’s okay. i’m more worried about why you’re on the ground, and whether i hurt you by accidentally tripping over you...” he murmurs with a frown on his face as he offers the other a hand to help him up. 

     his intentions are interrupted by the angry shriek coming from the upturned popcorn bucket and his eyes widen as he tries to figure out exactly what had happened and when he’d lost his popcorn bucket. evidently, the proof of its loss is there in the spilled kernels on the ground, but he can’t quite believe that his accidental aim was that good as the student lifts up the bucket, revealing a starly that had happened to be in just the wrong place at the wrong time. 

     he can’t help the laugh that escapes his lips, squatting down next to the starly with an amused grin. “oh no, is this where my popcorn ended up?”

[vcdaehyun-blog]

& family ties ;

[vcjiseok]

vcdaehyun‌:

the silence puts pressure on him, but it’s a pressure that’s not entirely unwelcome. given the choice, daehyun thinks that he might have let himself get distracted by everything else around him, and certainly would have seized upon any opportunity to detract from the conversation that he had originally intended to have. in that sense, the silence that jiseok enforces by not replying with words creates more of an open space for daehyun to speak again. 

“i keep trying to figure out how i feel,” he mumbles at last, his fingers curling around the cup that had been slid to him. the warmth of the cup is comforting, travelling from his chilled fingers to his shaking limbs and the flagging strength of his heart. “i’m… sad, and confused, and angry, and just… i don’t know, ssaem, i don’t know why i came here when nothing i do can make him pay attention!” 

the words burst out of him unexpectedly, tears rising to his eyes at the forceful words, and he inhales shakily, uncertain, trembling.

     he’s quiet as daehyun stutters through his first few words, his expression patient and he’s starting to sense that the troubles that plague daehyun run far deeper than he’d originally thought. the boy seems so unsure on the surface, but unsure and innocent, the lostness of a child, and jiseok is starting to see that there’s more to his uncertainty than just innocent naivety. rather, there seems to be a turmoil of emotions in the young boy, and jiseok’s heart aches to see a child, really, so upset. 

     he silently pushes the tissue box over towards daehyun, just in case the boy has need of them. he notes that there has been a mention of a ‘he,’ but instinct tells him that now is not the time to leap upon that point. rather, he addresses the first words that daehyun had spoken. 

     “you said you’re trying to figure out how you feel,” he says quietly, his soft brown eyes focused intently on the freshman. “sad, confused, angry - let’s talk about them all, one by one. what is making you sad?”

[vcjiseok]

+ chocolate chip cookies

[vcjiseok]

vcjiho‌:

he nods, not saying anything in response. he’s sure that jiseok doesn’t need him to give a verbal response anymore, considering how long the older male has known him and known of his mannerisms. he’s not sure when it had happened – when he had stopped being so open about his emotions and feelings, and when he had started being like this. but he’s not bothered by it. and if other people are, then that was clearly their problem and not his. he doesn’t care. 

“maybe that’s my end goal,” jiho replies, deadpan. he’s mostly joking, and for people who know him well it’s easy to tell. for people who didn’t, it would probably just sound like a threat of some sort. “clearly i’ve been planning from the very beginning to steal your pokémon from you.” 

glancing down at his eevee sleeping in jiseok’s lap, there’s a fond expression on his face despite the lack of smile on his lips. he trusts the other with his pokémon, but eevee has a soft spot for him, he’s pretty sure. though, he also leaves his ditto sometimes, considering the purple blob pokémon didn’t really have a reason to stick around in the lab if he wasn’t there. “yeah, i’m not going to wake her up.”

     his expression softens at jiho’s agreeing nod and he quietly pours the tea once the allotted time has passed, not wanting to oversteep their tea. the change in jiho has been occurring over the past decade, perhaps even more, and thus jiseok no longer finds himself discouraged by the non-verbal responses he often receives from the quiet male. he can see how other people might find the silence off-putting or even cold, but for jiseok, jiho expresses himself in other ways, just without words. 

     “i knew it,” he says in response, equally as solemn, his eyes twinkling and giving away his mirth. “i knew you were always plotting some nefarious plan, lee jiho. well, i can only say -- i guess you’re probably going to win, because how am i supposed to win out against your pokepuffs?” he sighs dramatically, shaking his head in disbelief. “i can’t believe that years of friendship and partnership, and they’d pick you over me...” 

     although they both know that neither of them are serious, the conversation itself is rather entertaining, his eyes amused as he watches the other’s face. as jiho’s gaze drops to eevee, so does his, and his expression goes even softer as he runs a finger over her soft head. “guess you’ll be stuck here for a while,” he jokes softly. “eat some cookies while you’re trapped.”

[vcsaerom-deactivated20191207]

in which there’s no rest for the… weakly scheming. ( vs. @vcjiseok. )

it’s funny, the way hindsight reveals just how twisted her childhood was. all these wholesome sights around her, and nothing strikes her as nostalgic, despite living by the water before her life fell apart. instead, she feels the vaguest notion of wanting to cause mischief take hold in her heart, limited to just that because of the sheer possibilities surrounding her. with all the activities, the vast amount of water present, and the appeal of a refreshing event drawing a large crowd to the courtyard, there’s so many ways to cause a seemingly-accidental mishap that saerom hardly knows where to start.

mind buzzing, saerom makes her way through the water park without a thought as to where she’s going. she follows cyan’s whim as he trots from one curiosity to another; it’s meant as an excuse for her to search the grounds for someplace she can cause more damage, but it gets harder to commit details to memory when she loses herself in her daydreams. for a good while, the most attention she pays to her quagsire is to shoo him towards a different attraction when he tries turning someone else into his playmate for the day.

she has her eye on a selection of water guns, wondering if she has to prove cyan doesn’t know any water moves at present in order to get one for herself, when she realizes he’s out of her periphery once again. saerom stifles a groan as she tears her gaze away from the toys, only to freeze up when she sees who he’s chosen to pester this time around. of all the trainers… she chokes down the urge to make a vocal complaint, taking a moment to be sure she’s wearing a believable smile as she bounds over.

“jiseok! hi!” cyan turns and waves to his trainer as she joins them, latching onto her leg with a satisfied gurgle. “sorry if he kept you from anything,” she starts, idly patting the quagsire’s head. “but at least this time he found a familiar face! i was starting to feel awkward, apologizing to nobody but strangers for this guy butting in wherever he can. this whole thing is like paradise to him, you know?” saerom glances down for a beat, huffing at cyan flashing his usual carefree smile. well, if he’s led her here… “hey, while i’ve got you—are there any places that are particularly crowded? it’s so hard to tell, keeping up with cyan going every which way, but i’ve been trying to figure out what areas to avoid, if i want to take a breather without leaving the water park.”

[vcjiseok]

     the whole experience of the water festival has been exciting, but quite frankly, tiring. unlike normal days where he has some time to himself, the water festival has been an endless stream of greetings, chatter, and interactions with students and faculty. he loves his students and he’s good friends with the faculty that he’d bumped into so far, but even so, jiseok treasures the quiet moments he has to himself. this festival has sapped a good deal of his social barometer so far and he’s feeling almost ready for the festival to end. 

     his even balance between extraversion and introversion means that although he’s good at making conversation and interacting in big groups, he also needs time to recharge from extended events. the water festival has been one such event, and jiseok genuinely can’t wait to have some time to himself. 

     his previous conversation partner had just left him, giving him some time alone and he’s considering getting a coffee or maybe a small snack, when there’s a bump against his knee. when he glances down, though, he jerks in surprise as a blue head makes itself known right at his shoulder, startling him with how tall the pokemon actually is. a voice then calls out to him, and internally, he resigns himself to losing his momentarily gained solitude, a smile coming onto his face. truly, he doesn’t mind saerom, quite likes her presence as he does the rest of the students, but he had really just hoped for a moment alone. 

     “it’s jiseok ssaem, saerom,” he sighs with a smile and his expression softens as he glances down at the quagsire. “oh, it’s alright. i can only imagine what kinds of trouble he’s gotten you into during this festival -- he must be happy to see so many water pokemon,” he chuckles gently, patting the quagsire’s head, unable to feel resentful at the innocent pokemon. “the center is the most crowded, but so are some of the popular food stands.” he offers her a smile. “i was thinking about getting a coffee or something, if you’d like to join?”

[vcjiho]

thievery,

[vcjiseok]

vcjiho‌:

“they said free food,” is his defence and his voice is almost defiant with what he’s trying to defend his own actions with. “and then they said have as much as you want, so.” he’s not even sure why he’s working so hard to defend himself from jiseok, not when he knows the older male probably doesn’t care at all about what he does. unless he gets in trouble, and then his parents need to find out or whatever. 

jiwon is the new kid anyway, not him. 

he narrows his eyes at the tupperware lid that’s being held out to him, and he wonders vaguely what the other would do if he were to just turn on his heel and leave without the lid. but then one of his tupperware containers would be missing a lid, and that just wouldn’t do. that left him with no other choice, honestly, and he wouldn’t even be surprised if that was jiseok’s thought process all along. 

“fine,” he grits out eventually, a finger coming up to push his glasses from sliding down the bridge of his nose and then sighing. “but no hugs.”

     he almost laughs at the defensive tone in jiho’s voice but manages to restrain himself, his lips simply quirking up at the corners. they both know that jiseok really could care less about what jiho chooses to do, as long as it doesn’t endanger anyone -- the most likely victim would be jiho himself, in jiseok’s opinion. “somehow i don’t think they pictured this when they said that,” he chuckles lowly and he shifts the tupperware lid in his fingers, eyes crinkled up in laughter. 

     he can practically see the thoughts that are flitting around in jiho’s mind, the younger male’s train of thought easier to guess due to how long they’ve known each other. as always, he waits patiently for jiho to cave, his expression very fond even as he holds the tupperware lid hostage. “good,” he replies once jiho grits out his reply, his smile genuine and he doesn’t really fear jiho running off once the lid is handed back, knowing that the other wouldn’t have agreed if he had truly minded. 

     and they both know that he wouldn’t have refused the return of the tupperware lid, if jiho had truly not wanted to have lunch together. 

     “have you had any of the food yet?” he asks, ignoring the demand of no hugs and deciding he’ll just spring one on jiho when the younger is least expecting it, scanning the area around them curiously.

[vcjiseok]

+ chocolate chip cookies

[vcjiseok]

vcjiho‌:

“always,” he answers the tea question once he’s gotten an affirmative that his eevee is doing well – not that he had had any doubts about the safety of his pokémon. he knew that his eevee would be safe with jiseok, or he never would’ve left her there in the first place. that does not go to say that he likes jiseok’s company or anything, just the fact that he’s known the older male or so long that he has enough blackmail on the older if he ever needed to use it, and that he knows that the other would never hurt a pokémon. 

he doesn’t answer, just shrugging as he gently sits himself down on the chair in front of jiseok’s desk, having noted that the computer was off now. honestly, he could’ve just kept ‘vee with him during the entire baking process, like how his lycanroc stayed there with him. but he also knows jiseok enjoys his eevee’s company. 

instead, he slides the tupperware of fresh poképuffs across the desk silently, just a silent thanks for babysitting the eevee and for helping him out all these years. “she’s still asleep?” he asks quietly, leaning forward slightly just to peek over at her, the tiniest shadow of a smile ghosting across his lips before his expression falls back to his usual stoic one, the smile nowhere to be seen. 

     his lips curl up at the corners at the other’s positive response, and he’d already had no doubts. he slides the mug over to the other, empty, as he takes the teapot, examining his store of teas. “let’s have oolong today,” he decides as he scoops an appropriate amount into the teapot, filling it with hot water from the dispenser quietly. 

     in all of this, he’s careful not to disturb the sleeping eevee on his lap, relying on his rolling chair to keep him moving smoothly without startling the normal-type pokemon awake. he rolls back slowly to place the teapot on the desk between their cups. “yeah, she hasn’t woken up at all,” he murmurs softly, his lips curling up at the corners as he takes the tupperware of fresh pokepuffs, always very touched whenever jiho shares the things he’s made with his own hands. he doesn’t miss the smile that touches jiho’s lips, wishing the younger male would smile more often. he remembers days when they were young and jiho’s smiles had come as easily as his tears then.

     “if you keep sharing these with me, eun and haru will love you more than they love me.” he jokes with a smile, waiting for the tea to steep as he reaches for his own tupperware, taking jiho’s favorite chocolate chunk cookies and arranging them on a plate. sliding the plate over to the younger male. “i can keep her for a while longer, right?”

[vcseungho-blog]

line of sight.

[vcjiseok]

vcseungho‌:

@vcjiseok​

the water festival sounded like the perfect chance to let his precious wesley out and play around with other water type pokemon. his buizel was generally more of a playful pokemon but with work and school, seungho had yet to have the chance lately to play around with his pokemon as he usually likes to. he knows dear wes has been eager for some fun. 

“wes… do you see what i see?” he comments, leaning in to whisper to his partner at the two of them stood off to the side after having been defeated in a water fight against a polywrath. both dripping head to toe with water and having a blast. but the games were not yet done. a grin on seunghos face as he spotted someone a little ways away from them. “lets go!” 

with impressive speed and agility from both pokemon and trainer they made their way through the people to the older individual that they had spotted. “ssaem! you look too dry!” laughing, seungho jumps back to let buizel forward and the water pokemon blasts jiseok with a spray of water before posing rather proudly. 

     the water festival has been exciting to no end, with students and faculty out alike, and jiseok is no different. he’s been partaking in all the different types of food and games, even playing against some students and just grinning at them regardless of whether he wins or loses. they’re just here to have fun, after all, and this is probably one of the few times that he wouldn’t correct a student if they were to be more familiar than is necessarily proper. during the festival, they’re all there to have fun, after all. 

     he’s just contemplating letting out bom to have some fun of her own, the little baby pokemon rather enjoying these types of festivities, when he hears a familiar voice shout at him and a spray of water drenches him rather thoroughly. “why, you--!” he exclaims with a laugh, pushing his now wet hair out of his face, putting on an affronted expression and shaking his head. arceus, he’d only just managed to get dry! 

     “seungho, you brat!” he laughs and he lets his hair fall back into his face, now soaking wet. “i’d take my revenge but i see you’re already soaked! what in the world happened?”

[vcjiho]

thievery,

[vcjiseok]

vcjiho‌:

“i was avoiding the festival,” he sighs and his nose scrunches up just a tiny bit, shaking his head slightly. he was a bit upset over the whole thing, the fact that he had needed to come into the festival to begin with because he absolutely did not want to get wet. and he had managed it so far, considering that he’s not even the slightest bit damp, aside from the water that had splashed on him from the ice buckets holing drinks. that had been his own fault, so he can’t actually be mad about it. 

the head pat is accepted reluctantly, and jiho squints up at the older male. he doesn’t particularly want to keep this conversation, very tempted to just leave with his stash of poké-goods without saying anything else. but he doesn’t know what to say for that, just shaking his head and shrugging. 

he’s tugged closer and he digs his feet into the ground, backing away. “no, you’re not getting me wet,” he responds, shaking his head and the lid drops off of his container. “ah … look what you did … it’s wet now …”

     he chuckles at the other’s petulance, his lips curving up at the corners in his signature smile, his eyes crinkling into crescents. “and yet you’re out here,” he remarks with laughter in his voice. “i’d have thought that you’d be ensconced safely within your dorm, away from all the hustle and bustle of the water festival.” he comments in amusement. 

     glancing down at the tupperware container in the other’s arms, his eyes fill with more laughter. “oh, you came to get pokepuffs, didn’t you?” he asks with a laugh, well-used to jiho’s reticence when he’s not in the mood to be talkative or whiny. jiho’s whined complaint in response to being tugged closer draws a laugh out of jiseok, and he leans down to pick up the lid, holding it between his fingers. 

     he would prefer to hug the other, but he thinks he might save that for later, knowing the grumpiness the action will certainly draw out of the younger male. “come eat with me first,” he says with a smile, holding out the lid to the other, but fully intending to hold it back until jiho agrees. 

[vcdaehyun-blog]

& family ties ;

[vcjiseok]

vcdaehyun‌:

he pushes open the door shyly at the warm greeting, peeking into the office with a tiny little noise escaping his lips. jiseok’s familiar face brings such a warm feeling to his heart, a spot of comfort in the roiling uncertain waters of his life. “ssaem,” he greets softly as he steps into the office, closing the door behind him. he can see the teapot, full, next to jiseok, and the plate of cookies that’s waiting for him, and he wonders what in the world makes this professor so patient as to be willing to listen to the worries of young students. 

hesitantly, he takes his seat in front of the other’s desk, his eyes fixed on the table quietly. there’s a shame that stirs deep within him, his expression uncertain as he lifts round brown eyes to meet jiseok’s for the first time that day. “it’s not getting any easier,” he starts hesitantly and he bites down on his lip. his thoughts are full of conflict, and his heart even more so. what does he feel? even he doesn’t know.

     “daehyun,” he says warmly as he pours a cup of tea for the young student once he’s taken a seat, his expression open and understanding. it’s not that he’s licensed to counsel, or to help people who are struggling, but sometimes, he thinks that students just need an adult figure to talk to. even if the adult isn’t very much help, as he thinks is the case for him. 

     sliding the cup of tea across to daehyun, he tilts his head slightly, his smile disappearing slowly and he watches the student quietly, not saying anything, but simply listening. unwanted or unneeded words can sometimes prevent the held-back words from escaping, and jiseok is determined not to undermine daehyun’s attempts to talk with his own unnecessary interjections. 

     he slides a plate with a few cookies on it across to the young boy, his eyes fixed steadily on daehyun’s, the look in his eyes encouraging the first-semester student to continue.

[vcareum-blog-deactivated2025110]

Cure My Struggles

[vcjiseok]

vcareum‌:

⋆   There was a moment of hesitation; Areum wasn’t usually one for asking help. To her, requesting for help from others meant she was inadequate and that’s the last thing she wanted to be at the moment. She softly exhaled while nodding her head reluctantly. Her finger goes to point at her Eevee who was sleeping. He was in dreamland and she could do nothing to wake him up. This wasn’t very much like him but, at the same time, it was. He was an unpredictable pokemon as the trainer had found out throughout the two years she had known him. 

“He refuses to wake up… I’ve been trying to reason with him. He’s not usually like this, so I don’t know what to do.” she explained, exasperated that Sid was still sleeping. 

She attempted to shake the pokemon awake but it was futile to say the least. Looking back at her professor, she silently pleaded for his help with her eyes. As mentioned before, it was hard enough to admit she was having a problem so asking verbally was next to impossible for her. 

     at her small nod, his lips quirk up at the corners. there’s no shame in admitting that one needs help, as he often says -- in fact, this whole exercise is designed to be solved by people and pokemon working together, to prove that a group working and cooperating together is much stronger and more capable than those working alone. “maybe he was doing some deep thinking last night,” he jokes warmly and eun nuzzles his hand gently. 

     “i’ll try to wake him up, but if not, i’m sure eun can handle it.” he says, squatting down next to the desk and patting the eevee’s head, scratching gently between its ears. he’s not sure what usually works for areum, but he doesn’t want to overstep any boundaries she might have. professor or not, a pokemon and a trainer are intimately bonded and it is not the place of anyone else to interfere in that bond. 

     “is the task itself understandable for you so far?” he questions as he carefully nudges the eevee, trying to wake it up slowly.

[vcjiseok]

+ chocolate chip cookies

[vcjiseok]

vcjiho‌:

he makes a quiet sound under his breath as he finishes packaging up the poképuffs he had been making. he doesn’t get to make them as often as he likes, considering the consistent project he’s been working on – his ditto is still as confusing as ever, and he doesn’t know how long it’ll take him to do the project he’s taken on. he doesn’t know, but it’s not going to stop him. if anything, it seems to make him want to try harder, even if it ends with him yelling at his ditto as the poor pokémon just shrugs at him in response, as if saying i don’t get me either. 

he always apologizes with some homemade poképuffs, so he’s sure it’s okay. 

and today, jiho was off to make some new ones. he never really bothers in making his own food, or food for other people, only really having learned to cook pokémon food. pokémon are much easier to please anyway, and it had given him a good excuse to drop his eevee off with jiseok before disappearing into the kitchen for a few hours. he had even managed to sneak in a nap with lycanroc while waiting for the poképuffs to bake. 

once they’re done though, he splits the contents in half and places them into two separate tupperware containers, after feeding a freshly cooled one to lycanroc, of course, and tucking them into his bag. he heads back to genesect quietly, following the familiar route to the older’s office. the halls are empty, as they usually are in august, and he peeks his head back around the door frame once he’s knocked twice. “was ‘vee good for you?” he asks in lieu of a greeting, fingers reaching up to push his glasses from sliding down the edge of his nose.

     his fingers stroke over the eevee’s head gently, patiently, just doing work with one hand as his other is fully occupied. despite the handicap of having only one hand, the quiet and the soothing presence of the sleeping eevee helping him to concentrate. there’s no possibility of him getting distracted by games because he only has the one hand, and videos or movies are out of the question because of the noise it would cause. 

     he’s stretching his fingers out when two knocks on the door sound. the door is only partially closed, so he doesn’t need to get up and open it for the other. not that jiho would have waited anyways, and he glances up to see exactly who he’d expected. “she’s always good,” he replies with a fond smile and he runs his fingers over the tuft of white fur around her neck. “do you want some tea?” he offers, already reaching for a mug. 

     “so, what did you do while you left me to babysit ‘vee?” he asks with a fond smile, turning the screen of his computer off quietly. he’s amused, rolling his chair backwards slightly to adjust the eevee without waking her up. “i hope you had a productive day without her,” he jokes, rubbing a soft ear between his fingers, just the lightest touch. haru no longer has these fluffy ears and jiseok would be the first to admit that sometimes he misses when haru was an eevee, not an espeon.