我会永远在你身边。

Kim Jongdae, 18, neutral . When the crown hangs heavy on either side, give me one last kiss while we're far too young to die. *** semi-hiatus

[seraxbw-deactivated20140208]

the big game -;

[seraxbw-deactivated20140208]

She tapped his shoulder gently, just so he would turn to her, and she could get a good look at his face. The dark haired girl smiled ever so slightly at him. “Hey there, cutie..” She looked at the cooler at the side of him, then nodded. “Can you do me a favor and get a bottle from there, it has my name on it, Sera.” Hopefully he was one of the boys that would do what she said, and if he was, she planned to have some fun.

"Did you think we did well? My knees were so shaky, I was surprised I didn’t fall. Cheerleading is pretty dangerous. Everyone says it’s so easy, but really, all of us suffer from bumps, bruises, and sometimes worse. When I was in 8th grade, I broke my ankle, I landed wrong and the girls couldn’t catch me, It was pretty scary." She nodded as she told him, as if she wanted him to believe her. 

Sera wasn’t bothered by the fact that he sat by her, actually. She wanted him to stay there. Hopefully she was making a certain guy on the team jealous, and oh, how jealous she wanted him to be.

[xxbwxjongdae]

His head turned to address the poking he felt at his shoulder, blinking lazily when he met her eyes, and she smiled. Admittedly, she was an incredibly pretty girl, with beautiful dark hair and fair skin--even her voice was pretty. Glancing down at the ice box by his feet, he reached down and searched for the correct bottle. Pretty name, he noted, finally plucking her bottle from the bunch, "This it?" Of course it was, it had her name on it but whatever, he had to say something.

A smile graced his complexion, warming his face from the cold air enveloping the world around them. "It was great, you didn't look nervous at all," he chimed, softening his grin slightly, "And whoever honestly says that what you do is easy must be blind. Flipping, flying, twirling--all while looking pretty. I'll give you credit," he chuckled, glancing back at the field momentarily. Nope, still no idea what was happening. His face twisted into a somewhat empathetic stare, "That sounds like it was terrible, has it happened since?"

Finally, Jongdae gave up on even listening to the game--it had just become dreadful. He didn't care who won or who lost, or how it happened. All that he felt like paying attention to now was the pretty girl beside him. "I'm Jongdae, by the way."

[xxbwxjongdae]

-- stuff i have to do!!!

starter for hongbin

reply for sera

plotting with jess and naeun and baekhyun

[xxbwxjongdae]

☁ stuck like glue — luhan + jongdae ;

[bwxxxluhan]

Luhan was still slightly panting as he walked next to Jongdae, gently dragging him towards where the monkeys were supposed to be. He glanced at the other for a brief moment, being able to catch a glimpse of the small smile that Jongdae wasn’t able to hold back. He held his hand and swung their arms together as they walked.

"You do look like a monkey to me," he said, his eyes wandering around their surroundings as he listened to the voices of children and to the sounds of animals in the distance. He smiled and looked down to the ground, a wide smile on his lips. "I bet that if you puff your cheeks and pull your ears a little, you’ll look just like a tiny cute monkey," he said in between chuckles.

"And as for my scene," he continued, lifting his head up a little so that he could look at his friend. "I couldn’t control myself, I apologize. But you enjoyed it, and so did everyone else. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get discovered by some entertainment company thanks to my little scene over there~" he said in a cheerful voice as they both walked into the area of the monkeys.

There were a lot of types of monkeys, so many that Luhan did not even know they existed. But it were some chimpanzees the one that caught his attention and made him stop by the window and look at them. They were just sitting and eating and doing monkey-stuff, but it was the exact type of monkey that reminded him of Jongdae. “Maybe if you stand here, the monkeys will recognize you and try to take you home with them,” he said with a teasing smirk on his lips.

[xxbwxjongdae]

Their arms swung back and forth, and Jongdae could only imagine what this looked like from a third party's point of view. Still, he couldn't muster enough heart to pull his hand away, so he let it slide, focusing more on trying to cool himself down from the show that he was thrust into. The other reiterated himself, this time laughing in between his comments. Cold eyes glared at the other before softening, gazing at Luhan's amusement in the subject. "You're strange," Jongdae bluntly stated, shoving his free hand in his pocket.

In the back of his mind, Jongdae made snark remarks about the scene, but the cat had caught his tongue. Truth be told, he did enjoy the episode a little bit, it was sort of cute, in a way. His friend had enjoyed himself, and it seemed as if he was still sort of enjoying it--it was almost cute. Wait, what? No, no, that's not happening. Quickly, Jongdae shook the thought from his mind and looked around at the new habitat they had entered. Monkeys, disgusting.

With the other's teasing, a smile warmed Jongdae's cheeks, and a snort sounded from his nose. "If you say that I look like a monkey again," he threatened, shifting his stare as the other started looking up, "I'm going to drop you in the ostrich exhibit, and you'll be stuck forever." His smile faded, and he watched the animals behind the glass. Boring creatures, they were; all they did was sit around and eat. When they didn't eat or sit, they pooped--once that was over with, they threw the poop at one another. And the cycle continued. "I smell better than a monkey," he muttered unconsciously to himself.

[xxbwxjongdae]

-- i might be back later tonight but for now i'm gonna head out blows kisses!!!!! `

[seraxbw-deactivated20140208]

the big game -;

The cheerleaders have been working hard everyday to make the performance the best it could be. Now, today was the day, and Sera wanted to be proud of the team, and if everything went as planned, she would be. Today was the New Years football game, all the boys had been training since day one to win against the other team that was playing. The first half of the game didn’t go very well. The other team had them by 2 points. Sera sighed deeply as she watched the game on the edge of her seat. “Come on..”

Before she was even able to collect herself after seeing the scoreboard, it was time for the cheerleaders to walk out and get the crowd hype. Loud music played as girls were thrown and caught, Sera being one of the flyers. She put her trust in 3 girls who stood under her, who would hopefully catch her, and hold her up as she had to move around in the air. Just as Sera thought, everything went perfect. No one was dropped, no one messed up. Finally, she could sit down and relax, because her part in this game was over with. Soon after she sat down, the empty spot next to her was taken by a male named Jongdae. She knew his name, she read something about him in the school bathroom, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. 

"Um, Hi?"

[xxbwxjongdae]

The football games were never something Jongdae attended--literally, this was probably his first game since homecoming. Sports were never really something he was into, what was the point in throwing a ball back and forth? And the team was good enough, but nothing extraordinary, why bother going to the game? Juicing up the meatheads with support was just energy wasted. New Years sort of seemed... mandatory, though. If you didn't show up you were probably dead, or branded as something you didn't want to be. As expected, the game was lackluster, predictable, and all around just a boring sight to behold.

But that was the football team, the cheerleaders were something completely different. Before tonight, Jongdae hadn't even been aware that there was a cheer team on campus. Of course, he'd heard of practices and such, but he didn't think that there was really a decent team set up at the shitstained school. The team was excellent, keeping in sync the entire time. One girl in particular had caught his eye, though, one of the girls that were tossed into the air. What were they called? Whatever, it didn't matter to him. The group of girls that had thrown her sat down, as did she. Something called him up, and before he could stop himself, he found himself seated next to the girl.

She was even prettier up close--wait, when did he get here again? He kept his gaze on the field, trying to keep himself from looking like a total creep in front of a stranger. A bit of a tone could be heard in her voice, a small smirk fighting to break into a smile onto his face. Already, she was an interesting character. "Hey," he responded, keeping his attention on the field. I have no idea what I'm doing, shit, shit, shit. He also had no idea what he was watching. What was the point in football again? People started cheering, and Jongdae clapped lazily, unsure of the play that had just occurred. Hopefully it was in Bullworth's favor, otherwise he was about to piss off a very entitled cheerleader.

[xxbwxjongdae]

-- i am the worst of the worst omg you guys i am so sorry for disappearing out of nowhere like that ;; i apologize hi hello i'm back hopefully full blast!!! i'm not sure where i'm at with paras and plots though so like this/message me if we have/had a plot or para or if you just want to strike conversation or plot okay this is turning into a really really long run on sentence hi hello and happy new year!!! `

[xxbwxjongdae]

☁ stuck like glue — luhan + jongdae ;

[bwxxxluhan]

Luhan and Jongdae quickly exited that room that smelled like bird poop and some other nasty things that Luhan was not able to describe, and started walking aimlessly through the park. They could see some animals in the distance, big animals like lions and tigers. This definitely caught Luhan’s attention, since he had wanted to see a lion for so long already. So without even thinking twice, he gently tugged of Jongdae’s sleeve and once they were just some meters away from the rail to see the lion’s, he let go of the other and ran towards the area with the lions.

"Woah!" He squealed, pointing at a huge, allmighty lion that was lying carelessly on a huge rock. "Woah! This totally looks like a scene from the Lion King, doesn’t it, Jongdae!?" He asked, turning to see the other that was already by his side. His brown eyes were shining with excitement and the huge smile on his lips kept turning bigger and wider as he kept looking at the huge animal. "Naaaaants ingonyamaaaa bagithi Baba!!" Luhan suddenly sings the first sentence from the song of the Lion King movie. He grabbed Jongdae by the arm again and pulled him away from where they were standing just before. He started jumping around Jongdae with his arms in the air. "It’s the Circle of Life, and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love!!" He keeps singing, not minding the glances of the children and their parents (or even Jongdae’s embarrassed face). He felt like he was having some weird African ritual, but he was having fun. "On the path unwinding!! In the Circle— The Circle of Life!!" And with that, he finally stopped jumping around Jongdae.

"Oh! Let’s go see the monkeys! Yes?" He said in between pants from his sudden musical perfomance. He laughed quietly and smiled childishly to Jongdae. "You remind me of a cute monkey!"

[xxbwxjongdae]

The stench that clouded the air was lifted once the two crawled out of the birdcage and out into more open space. Exhibits containing the big cats surrounded them, and suddenly the other was no longer an ornament on Jongdae's arm. Having run off some distance, Luhan technically had broken the promise that he had made earlier, but whatever. He was just having some fun, nothing would be accomplished if Jongdae decided to start whining.

Half-jogging toward the other once more, he had only caught the tail-end of the other's excited comment before meeting his face once more. Though he was planning on saying something, Luhan had completely cut him off, bursting out into gibberish-sounding lyrics that were familiar with the Lion King. Without missing a beat, the other tore Jongdae from his position, safe on the ground, and lifted him with little effort. His face began growing beet-red as passersby and their children began marveling at the sight, giggling and gazing.

After feeling his feet finally touch the ground once more--and the other's random outburst silence, Jongdae glared at his friend, his mouth falling open. Did that really just happen? Of course it did, people are still staring. His face was still glowing with a warm pink flush embracing his cheekbones while the other suggested the next habitat to visit. "I should kill you," he muttered, replaying the incident in his mind. Hardly able to fight a smile, Jongdae bit on his bottom lip, only to quickly fall victim to a soft chuckle followed by a small smile. Quickly, he brushed the smile away and squinted at the other, "I'm not a monkey--and they're not cute, are you insane? And what was that about?"

[kookang]

[sushisaranghae]

[xxbwxjongdae]

☁ stuck like glue — luhan + jongdae ;

[bwxxxluhan]

"Ostriticithc?" Luhan tried to correctly say the name of the weird bird, his tongue apparently not working with him at that moment due to the weird sound. “Ostrichtttt?” Luhan whimpered and laughed. “Sounds german—” He randomly mumbled before gently dragging Jongdae with him so they could be in front of the huge bird. “Are you sure it’s not a dinosaur?” He asked, tilting his head to the side as the bird wiggled around the space that was given to it. 

"Jongdae," he turned to face the younger, his own eyes shining with confusion and interest at the same time. "How do animals at the zoo have sex?" He asked. He could sense the stare of some ladies that were near them with their kids, but he didn’t mind. That was something he had always questioned himself, but he never seemed to find the answer on books or internet. "Because—- I mean, I don’t think they have sex in front of everyone…"

They walked away from the ostrich after some minutes and went towards the other birds. They walked into a room that was filled with birds, but they were just flying around in between the people and above their heads. Different, exotic birds like the Rainbow Lorikeet, the Quetzal,  the Hoopoe, the Lear’s Macaw, and plently more that Luhan had never seen in his entire life.

"Jongdae," he called the younger again. "What’s your favorite bird? I really like parrots because they repeat everything you say and you can even get them to cuss," he said while grinning. "And I like ostrichschs now, too. Because they are weird and tall and they look like dinosaurs with feathers!"

[xxbwxjongdae]

A quiet chuckle escaped from Jongdae's lips before he could control it, and he played it off as a simple sigh, focusing on fighting a warm smile that was quickly forming. "I'm sure it's not a dinosaur," he coughed, watching the animal hop about in its pseudo-habitat. How did animals at the zoo even survive? The places that they were shoved into were nothing like their true domains for the most part. Some barren landscaping, a puddle of water here or there, and that was all that really made up the ostrich's home. Other animals, such as lions and tigers, what were they to do? How did animals like this even get to the zoo? Whatever, it was no concern to him.

Tuning into the other once more, Luhan's question slammed into Jongdae like a ton of bricks. Who asks something like that, especially so loudly?! Begging and pleading that he simply heard the other wrong, he waited, hoping that a followup would confirm his hopes of being hard of hearing. But no, the boy honestly wanted to know about the copulation of zoo animals. Still taken aback by the question, Jongdae stared at the other with his mouth open, before beginning to stutter, "I mean--I don't kn--What?!" His eyes fluttered before he furrowed his brow, squinting at the other. "Why would y--Why are yo--Never mind it." The stares of families and schoolchildren burned into him, heat slowly rising from his heart straight up into his face.

Escaping from the smell of ostriches, the duo moved on to another display, this one much more interactive than the other. Birds flew between people, who often ducked in fear of getting hit with one of the flying animals. The birds probably did it for their own amusement, chirping and laughing at the stupid humans that hit the ground. Birds were assholes. Most of them were colorful and exotic looking, nothing familiar to Jongdae, they all just looked like colorful small chickens.

"You're a strange kid," he marked in response to the other's question. "I don't have a favorite bird..." or anything, really. He shrugged, looking around for the exit of the giant bird cage. It was too enclosed, and Jongdae was starting to feel a little out of control. Minor claustrophobia, he supposed--but it would most definitely escalate if the two didn't get out soon. "Let's move on," he coughed, the air starting to feel heavy with humidity and fumes of--well, nature. Birds were the worst.

[xxbwxjongdae]

♛ 11 days. — jongdae;

December, usually a month notorious for the holidays, snowfall, and simply overall feelings of happiness and joy that condemns most sadness throughout the world, even if only for a few short days. Some kids were packing up their bags, eagerly waiting for their final day of classes. It was finally the holidays, students could return home to a warm, comfortable bed with their families once more. The vacation was like a small taste of freedom before being locked away for a few more months until spring break reared its blooming head. Luggage littered the floor of the dorm, some neatly packed, others overflowing with dirty laundry. Boys seemed to nonchalantly throw their belongings into whatever nook or cranny that they could find in their bags, who had time to really organize? All they knew was that they were finally going to get to taste a home-cooked meal once more.

There seemed to be no question in most of their minds about returning back home, seeing their family--or meeting the family of a loved one or friend. All of them had already planned their return long beforehand, most of them had been preparing for this for weeks, and now the time was finally here.

For Kim Jongdae, the case was still unclear. Before he had departed for Bullworth, he and his immediate family (plus his grandmother, groan) sat down, deciding what to do when it came to breaks and holidays. The majority of the conversation was simply how he was going to get back, whether he'd stay over or stay in a hotel. Almost everything had been sorted out until she had something to say about it. She always had something to say, about everything.

"He stays at school. He doesn't visit, not on holidays."

Even through heated debate and desperate persuading, his grandmother would not budge. Jongdae wasn't allowed to see his family until he left Bullworth Academy. This meant that there was no visiting for the weekend, no popping in once in awhile to say hello--nothing. His grandmother had absolutely no Christmas spirit whatsoever... And people thought that he was a Grinch.

Whatever, the real point was that Jongdae was stuck. There was no other family he could go to. He was unable to see his home, god only knows where the hell his biological mother ended up, and he refused to intrude on anyone else's visit back home. But the holiday was quickly approaching, and with each passing day, the male found himself feeling more and more desperate to go anywhere that wasn't the campus. He was in desperate need of a vacation, but who was going to let a grumpy, cold bastard such as himself tag along with them? No one. Absolutely no one; that's what he told himself. It wasn't that stupid of a thought, considering that he had made quite a lackluster attempt at befriending people.

Whatever, though. There was always after graduation.

[kaiptivated]

Jongdae devouring his food

[xxbwxjongdae]

☁ better than panera — kimberley + jongdae ;

[rosangelaxelle]

Only letting out a soft blow of air in relief as she straightened her back after finishing the last leaf on a birthday cake, which should be delivered in a good half of an hour, her eyes now fixated on the cake with roses and single petals in a pale tone of rose pink falling on the smoothly covered with White butter cream icing side of the cake, which were accompanied by the fern green color of leaves. A proud and satisfying smile curved on her thick lips while she was beholding her artwork of the day. But it soon slipped off her lips, like a smiley face in the sand being vanished by the wave in a span of seconds as an annoying familiar voice called into the kitchen, letting out a wave of scolding at her. Kimberley rolled her lips inwards, clenching her teeth on them while shutting her eyes tight. All the happy and contented feeling was blown away like dust particles and was replaced by an exploding anger inside of her. Taking a deep breath before she opened her eyes, she wished that she was hallucinating and he wasn’t standing between the door frame with his gaze fixed on her.

He was the only thing that she disliked about her job and one of the few reason making her stay in South Korea become less pleasant. All this started on the second or third day at the bakery. She still remembered how it happened. It was about a week almost two weeks ago..

Kimberley held the leashes of her puppies on her hand while walking around the town looking for a nice place to rest after buying some warm clothes, since it got colder each day. Roaming her gaze along the shops on the pavement, a bright smile spread across her lips as her eyes caught the front view of a bakery with a Korean name which she couldn’t really tell what it meant. As soon as she stepped into the bakery, the warmth and smell of breads and coffee embraced her, giving her a chilling and comforting feeling. After getting herself two muffins, 3 slices of cakes and a big mug of latter macchiato, she set down her full tray on a circular table at the wide window, which gave the customers a great view of the street flooded with streams of people.

Her smile grew wider as the sweet taste filled her mouth and her eyes wandered around the rather small but unique and cozy bakery. It was a combination of romantic and nostalgia, somewhat French but still full of elements from Korean culture. She couldn’t point out why she had that feeling but she just happened to have it since the moment she stepped in this place. After finishing her cakes and coffee, she brought the now empty tray to  the shelf to return dishes and made her way to the cashier with the chip, on which her orders was saved. Before it was her turn, she luckily got the chance to talk to the baker. The conversation started with how great the cakes were then went on to sharing the same interest in baking and all their experiences.  Kimberley proudly told the friendly young baker of her first place at a baking contest in her hometown. An annoying cough of someone pulled her back to reality and let her know it was her turn already. A sheepish chuckle rolled off her lips as she noticed the impatient customers standing behind her.

With a guilty smile she put the small chip on the scanner and the male tolde her the sume with an annoyed fake smile. Rolling her eyes, she opened her wallet only to find out that she had used all of her Korean money on the coat and scarf she just bought earlier. There were only around 30 Australian dollars left in the while wallet of hers. After a long discussion with the unfriendly cashier, the baker paid for her even though the other male groaned out loud and rolled his eyes. He even offered to work at the bakery because they were in need of a helpful hand.  Of course she didn’t reject it and agreed to start working on the following day.

That’s how Kimberley got this job and how the relationship between Jongdae and her started. The impression of her about him remained the same, an annoying unfriendly person. It got even worse since he kept on making fun of her accent and her big teeth. It surprised her that someone was able to make such an anger explode inside of her. Shooting him a glare, she didn’t really dislike his voice, in fact it was nice, but the tune and its owner got on her nerves.

“Don’t you know something called manners?”, she carefully opened the oven and took out the new load of muffins then shifted her gaze at him challengingly “Be a useful person and bring them out for me and better not drop any of them, ‘kay?”

The worst thing about him? Attending Bullworth academy just like her.

[xxbwxjongdae]

The tiny bug of a girl that stood across from him piped up, slinging not only an insult, but a command. Who did she think she was? "You're in absolutely no position to order me around, do you understand that?" he seethed, squinting his eyes at her, "Don't you even try to casually boss me around." Gliding across the floor, Jongdae quickly moved out of the way of passing bakers and into the business of the snappy girl that irked him so.

As he stood in front of her, a growing urge to knock the tin right out of her hands sprouted from the back of his mind. Of course, he wouldn't, though--it was work, this was supposed to be as professional as possible. After work, then he'd do whatever he wanted to the smaller girl, so long as it couldn't get back to his boss. All this girl had ever done, in the entirety of her time at the bakery, was bake and decorate shitty cakes, and collect charity. Hell, her job was charity, she never should have gotten the job. "That's not my job, pretty sure it's yours. Do yourself and all of us here a favor and start doing it," he hissed, gesturing behind him, "It's packed, and your laziness is only making this more stressful than it has to be."

Another baker barked at Jongdae to get back out front, and he reluctantly slithered back out front. The group of people created an astoundingly irritating buzz, crowding up the air with talk of all things holidays. Slowly though, orders were being filled and people were beginning to file out of the safe, warm haven and back into the uncertainty of the chilly city air. As the demand of cashiers thinned out, Jongdae sneaked away from his post, leaving another coworker hanging. I'm sure he can handle it.

Ever since escaping the kitchen earlier, something had burned in the back of the male's brain, and all he could hear was the foreigner's words, playing on repeat in his head. Her face, rounded with a smug look playing at her lips, giving him a mocking smirk, as if she had one-up'd him. He figured it was time to lay down the law, put this girl in her place--permanently. If she refused to comply, then it would just have to be her head on the chopping block. Jongdae stood in the doorway, scanning the sweatshop they called a kitchen for the girl called Kimberley. Swiftly, he shuffled toward the girl and pulled her aside, "We should talk, I'm glad your not busy."

Without even checking that she was in fact, not busy--which she probably wasn't, but what did he care?--he spun her around and put his hands on both of her shoulders, guiding her towards the back door. Doing this in the middle of the kitchen would only escalate the situation, resulting in someone, maybe even the both of them, getting in a bit of trouble. Carefully nudging her along, Jongdae hummed to himself, trying to piece together a coherent monologue to help the girl understand the unspoken law around here.

[jonqdaes]

158/∞ photos of Chen

[19920921o]

[xxbwxjongdae]

☁ stuck like glue — luhan + jongdae ;

[bwxxxluhan]

Luhan cleared his throat and smiled playfully at the other. “Oh stop whining, most people say thanks or something when they get out of paying something,” he repeated the exact same words the other had told him some minutes ago at the taxi. 

He slid his hands inside the pockets of his jeans and puffed his cheeks a little. He was not used to walking around next to someone without holding their wrist, fingers, shirt, or whatever. He just enjoyed it and he thought it was another way of reminding the people he walked next to to remember they were not alone or some cheesy shit like that. Luhan smiled and looked at the other, his head slightly tilting to the side. “I won’t,” he quietly replied, and pulled his hand out of his jeans; his fingers gently holding onto the sleeve of Jongdae’s sweater again. “There are less chances of me running away if you allow me to hold you by your sweater, like this…” He said softly. He wanted to make some stupid comment on how Jongdae seemed to care about him, but he decided to not embarrass the other more than he could already be. 

Luhan grabbed the ticket that Jongdae was holding weakly and he showed the two of them to the lady that was at the gates of the zoo. She nodded and moved to the side, allowing the two grown ups to walk into the zoo.  Luhan gasped and squealed, bouncing a little bit before deciding to not run away and pull the other with him. He decided the would try to be as mature as possible. He would try.

“Jongdae!” He squealed softly, his free hand pointing at an elephant that was away from them. His eyes then spotted a giraffe, and then an ostrich. “Wow, Jongdae! What’s that!?” He asked, his finger now pointing at the ostrich. He had never seen such a thing before, and he didn’t even know things like that could exist. “It looks like a dinosaur!”

[xxbwxjongdae]

"Don't use that on me, you can't do that," he barked, snarling slightly at Luhan. What a brat, he thought to himself, pursing his lips. Only a few hours back, Jongdae had run from the near-stranger, now they were going to spend the day with one another. With a sigh, he shrugged the thoughts away and continued on with the other.

Fingers latched onto the rim of his sleeve, and the other sheepishly responded to his earlier command. He glanced down slightly, slowly processing what was said. "Whatever you say," he shrugged once more, not even making an attempt to retch his arm from the grasp of his friend. It was a little strange, Jongdae had to admit--they probably looked like a couple, or maybe Luhan just looked like he needed a guide. Making a scene out of it would just embarrass the both of them, and probably ruin the day, which was finally starting to brighten up after its rocky start. So, he'd let it be for now. Eventually, maybe he'd be able to slick his way out of it, but for the time being, why not just let the kid tug on his sleeve. Make life easier.

Admittance into the zoo brought mixed aromas of different animals straight up and into his nostrils, his face curling up in twisted, disgusted shapes. His contortions were suddenly cut off after Luhan yanked his sleeve toward a nearby exhibit, suddenly filled with pep that he had subsided only moments before. Not even bothering to glance at the animals that were being pointed out to him, Jongdae shifted his eyes to the other, watching as his face lit up with each animal he pointed to. Wait--did he just say dinosaur?

Tearing his stare from Luhan's profile, he forced himself to find the animal that had apparently resembled a pre-historic extinction. Nothing looked that unusual, and Jongdae tried once more to follow where the other was pointing. All he could find was an ugly-looking bird, knees backwards with a neck as long as the bottom half of the animal's body. "That's an ostrich, Luhan," Jongdae blinked slowly, turning his head back to the other. "It's a bird, not a dinosaur. It's ugly, though, damn."

[xxbwxjongdae]

❖

❖ My character gets yours a gift.

"Be merry,” they commanded, “Don’t be such a Grinch, Jongdae,” they whined. If another person told him to jolly himself up for the holidays, he was going to jingle someone’s bells. As far as he saw, there was no need to get so worked up about the whole holiday season. It wasn’t even a real season, it was just a string of holidays jam-packed into six weeks. The whole situation was just one big invitation for stress and debt.

Soon enough, people were getting fed up with his Scrooge-like attitude, completely avoiding him all together. Didn’t bother him very much, the less people he had to interact with, the better—there were less chances of “holiday spirit” being shoved down his throat. Not everyone gave up on him, though. One strong-hearted classmate had the audacity to bark at him, trying to snap him into the “god damn Christmas spirit!” He could’ve strangled ‘em.

They had had a point, though. Jongdae really wasn’t in the jolliest of moods around the jolliest of holidays, what was that about? He didn’t truly have a reason, and therefore didn’t have an excuse for acting this way. Reluctantly, he decided to make up for lost time, heading out early one morning to pick up a few tchotchke items to surprise a few people with. He’d probably look like an idiot, almost like a weird, unfriendly rendition of Santa Claus.

It took ages for Jongdae to actually hunt down every person that had wished him a holiday greeting, and even after he was done he still had a few more random gifts leftover. Now what? The overflow wasn’t a whole lot, but it was still too much for him to just pack away in a bag for the next holiday season. Sigh.

Continuing to trudge the sack that carried the remaining presents, Jongdae felt… nothing. Holiday spirit was a joke, all he did was sweat and peddle for nothing. The next person he’d run into was going to get the last of his Christmas cheer, whether they wanted it or not. On cue, a foreign face appeared not far from where he stood. He looks like he could use some damn spirit, Jongdae thought to himself, trying to find the boy in the encyclopedia that was his mind.

It was no use, the boy was unfamiliar, which meant he was either new, or a lost tourist. Either way, he was getting dumped with whatever was left in the stupid bag that had been wrapped around Jongdae’s wrist for the majority of the day. “Yah, white boy!” he called out, assuming there weren’t any other Caucasian kids lurking around the school grounds. Crossing paths after a bit of a fiasco—nearly tripping on ice, avoiding a harsh wind that could knock your feet out from under you, y’know, Mother Nature being her kindly self—Jongdae extended his arm out to the boy. Not for a handshake, though. The bag that began to weigh heavily on his arm swung into the chest of the other.

With a slight tilt of his head, he half-smiled, “Merry fucking Christmas,” he choked, turning away to walk back to his dorm to defrost. He had only made it a short distance away before Jongdae remembered something, forcing him to abruptly spin on his heels and march back towards the other; still stood in their original location. “And happy new year,” he coughed, dropping the gift receipt into the bag that he had just handed over. A sigh of relief. If that whole scenario was supposed to be Christmas spirit, Jongdae was never going to try to spread holiday cheer again.