–– NO PART OF TAEHO just a year prior would have anticipated him going down a steep hill with nothing to aid him but the top of a tote bin. but that was exactly what was happening, and by his nervous laughs that have been echoing all the way up the hill it was evident he was second-guessing that decision. ironically, it had been taeho that came up with the idea, and brought haneul along for the ride. the thing is, the younger didn’t have a clue what he was doing. he knew two things - he wanted to go sledding, and he wanted to sled with haneul. anything that might have provided him with the skills or experience to achieve that, though ? taeho definitely didn’t have that.
“ okay ! we’ve totally got this. i saw it in a youtube video before, so it should work … right ? ” wrong. dropping the tote lid to the floor, he exhaled, looking down the mountain. they were nowhere near to the top, and yet taeho felt like he was about to freefall off everest. “ so basically, what we do is lay on the tote and kick off with our feet ! then we’re … sledding ! as simple as that. ” except, it wasn’t all that simple. taeho didn’t feel him or han has the coordination to pull this off without the proper equiptment, but he knew if he asked his parents to by a sled on a whim some questions would be asked. so, laying flat on his own lid, he looks behind him to see if the other’s ready. “ so, are you gonna leave me hanging or what, han ? we better hurry up and do this before i chicken out. ”
free bird : no longer is he bound by obligations of the past ; he roams with nothing holding him down . he listens to no one ( except, maybe his bosses ) , he does as he pleases ( so long as it fits his work schedule ) . guiding him through his days , the spirit of adventure is the only voice he heads to . so if it happens to meet him face to face in the form of taeho and an offer for sledding - then , who is he to ignore its call ?
there's a beating heart pounding away in his chest as he looks upon the snow covered slope of a mountain side ; it's adreneline , he's convinced himself , not fear . ‘ it'll definetely work ! ’ he assures his friend ( and himself , too ) , but there's a sense of confidence in his words that really shouldn't be there . it's not like han's ever done anything like this before - no , no , but he's run the calculations in his mind dozens of times during their trek up the hill that he thinks he might as well have . the angle of descent, the mass of himself added to that of the tote bin, their potential energy, ... - the physics of it all seemed all too perfect in his head ( however , do recall that han's expertise lies in biochemistry , not physics - there's bound to be a flaw in the numbers somewhere . but then again , it's all just theoretical , so they should be fine , right ? ) .
‘ okay , okay . together on the count of three ? ’ he situates himself on the tote bin at that sweet spot where all his body mass is evenly - or at least, as evenly it’s gonna get - distributed across the tote . ‘ one ’ he takes a deep breath in an attempt to hold down his shaking core . ‘ two ... ’ his muscles tense at the anticipation , and there’s a crooked grin plastered on his face . ‘ three - !! ’ after what feels more like minutes than seconds , he’s off !
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“How are you out here without a coat? You’re going to get sick.”
“SNOW BALL FIGHT!!”
“Do you want something hot to drink?
“How am I supposed to get home when the snow is up passed my knees?”
“Don’t touch my snowman!”
“You complain about the cold, but once summer comes you’ll complain about the heat.”
“I’m building a snow fort, wanna help?”
“I know it’s cold out, but do you really need to make the house a sauna?”
“Let’s go ice skating. It’ll be fun!”
“Are you sure the pond is frozen?”
“You’re cold as ice! How long have you been out there?”
“Give me your hands, I’ll warm them up.”
“They’re saying to stay indoors until it passes.”
“Calm down, we won’t need to burn books to keep warm.”
“I suppose the blizzard isn’t so bad if it means cuddling.”
“Oh god, Being snowed in with you sounds worse than freezing.”
“are you serious? did you check thoroughly? maybe you looked over something,” she suggests, and now she’s looking at his messenger bag with curious eyes. “i just can’t believe that it’s this close to the holidays and no one’s sent me a ticket out of this hell yet. can you believe that?”
it’s a rhetorical question, and the statement that precedes it is what makes it evident that she knows she doesn’t have anything else. finally, she looks back at him, her smile suggesting that his company is what she had been looking forward to all along.
‘ oh i’m sure ! ’ he answers with a nod , ‘ see , look for yourself ’ . all too confident in his words , he stretches the opening of his bag towards her , the contents that lie within able to see the light of the day . inside , everything is grouped alphabetically by street , then arranged numerically from the highest house number to the lower , with smaller letters placed in front of the larger ones . it was amazing how han could navigate such a system so easily , he knew where everything lay with just a quick glance over , but to the everyday eye , all it looked to be was a big mess of rows of envelopes and the occasional magazine . he points to a certain area , as if it would clear any doubt of what was going on just like that . ‘ all that’s left is some bills for the song’s down the street ! ’
there’s a pause as han tries to comprehend somin’s words, and the cheeriness of his visage falters ever so slightly as a result of his confusion . somin’s rhetorics... go by over his head , he fails to understand the meaning behind her smile and like some fool he still truly thinks she’s waiting for something to come for her . he lets his head tilt to the side , ‘ were you expecting someone to ? ’ it’s a genuine question , one that comes straight from the heart , but his words escape almost harsh in sound , though that hardly was his intention . ‘ if you want freedom , you shouldn’t chase after it on someone else’s terms, ’ his eyes connect with hers , a serious look shining within the depths of its color . he places a hand on her shoulder , the weight of it conveying a clear message of support, ‘ you gotta do it on your own terms ! that’s what i did , you know ! and see where that got me ’ light laughter follows , its sound is warm , almost unsuitable for the winter cold . there’s a smile spread across his face again , but it’s different than the polite kind he first greeted her with , this one is wild , uncontainable .
soojung draws in a breath, pulling her coat tighter around her body as she makes her way down the street. she’s almost happy she doesn’t have to deliver the present in person – after all, she’s always been awkward when watching people unwrap presents she’s bought them. it’s much easier to not see their reactions, in her opinion. so, she makes her way easily down jindallae street, waving at those she saw as she passed by. he shouldn’t be back yet from running the mail, so soojung should be in the clear. hand-delivering was easier – he wouldn’t see her, nor would he see the present before it appeared.
when haneul would get home, he would see a brown-paper wrapped package sitting on the stoop. around it was red and green jute ribbon, tied up in a careful bow. attached was a tag that read to: yeo haneul, from: park soojung with a little smiley face drawn on it. inside was a thick, sherpa-lined hoodie. it had looked soft and warm when soojung had seen it in the store, and she could hardly believe that haneul traveled around on freezing mornings in yangwon in a hoodie. she hoped this would suffice as perhaps something a little warmer to travel in. along with it was a matching black knit skull cap beanie set atop the jacket, along with a little winter-themed card tucked under the hat. the card had a little message telling haneul to keep yourself warm this winter season, warmest regards, park soojung ♥ with a voucher for a free meal at the diner enclosed.
the gross metabolic cost of riding a skateboard around is about 2.2 joules per kilogram per meter , a value higher than that reported for using a bicycle * , meaning , in its simplest terms , skateboarding can take a lot out of a person . and the winter time , in particular , when blood vessels are narrowed from the cold temperature and the body’s blood pressure increases to compensate , can be especially hard . it doesn’t help all too much with the holiday season upon the town and the number of deliveries to be made increasing by almost three-fold . in short , han was so , so tired . he had underestimated just how tiring this job of his could be , especially during this time of the year . sure , the man is on his board more often than he walks ever since coming to yangwon , but mere months of exercise are all but a dot to the number of years han has spent without it .
so the relief that comes when he’s finally finished delivering everything in his bag comes at no surprise to anyone . all he wants to do now is curl himself under the covers of his bed and give himself up to the drowsiness within him . but he’s far too determined to achieve this goal , too far , it seems , because he fails to notice the box lying at his doorstep , which results in him tripping over it and ultimately landing on the floor of his doorway . when bronze eyes finally land on the gift before him , the spark within him that was all too worn out reignites just like that .
he undoes the bow and unwraps the gift with steady hands , careful not to get even the slightest of tears in the paper wrapping . there’s a wide grin on his face , and something warm bubbling up in his chest as he reads the card inside , and like some overexcited child , he takes his own hoodie off and puts on the jacket and cap from the box without any hesitation . his new apparel wraps him like a good hug ; he hadn’t even noticed how cold he had been with only his hoodie to protect him until this very moment ( mind over matter , as they say ) . you won’t catch him without them for the rest of the winter - practicality aside , he’s touched that someone thought of him , and even noticed he was cold before he himself did .
with a nap completely out of the question now , he grabs his board he had just set down and makes his way down to the street , riding off towards the diner to thank his gift giver with a little visit , and maybe even making use of that voucher already
it’s sad to say , but all good things must come to an end , and that includes the feat of the winter star . the night has grown and the potluck dinner is just about over , many of the attendees having already left to go back home . but there’s still a good number of people left , helping to clean up the room in anyway they can . such is the sight han returns back to from his perhaps poorly timed bathroom trip . and while he’s a bit exhausted from it all and wants nothing more than to bury himself under his blankets and given into sleep’s sweet embrace , he just can’t bring himself to leave without giving a hand in some way .
so like that , han’s found himself on trash duty , entrusted to carry the big black bag as everyone feeds it garbage . he makes his way around the room , exchanging small talk to each person as they throw in the scraps they held in their hands . ‘ how’s your chicken ? ’ is his attempt with sungjae - han’s second attempt of the night . he had caught sight of the other many times throughout the dinner , but never had the opportunity to give even a hello , only a small wave that sungjae , unfortunately , seemed to miss .
winter heeds to no one, especially not a mail man on a skateboard. but this mail man on a skateboard is just as stubborn , if not more , refusing admit defeat to anyone or anything - even if that includes mother nature herself . so he travels the icy roads at max speed, unheeding to the warnings of “ icy roads slipperier than usual ” . for a supposed genius , han can be quite brainless at times ( in his defense , the radio speaker did only mentioned it once , and han wasn’t paying too much attention to what he was saying as he went through his morning routine anyways ) .
who’s really surprised when han fails to properly calculate the effect of ice on friction and turns his board just the lightest angle too narrow than it ought to have been , the wheels sliding across the wet asphalt , sending him in a direct route towards the ground . lucky for him , he’s finished with his morning delivery run , so when his bag makes contact with the ground , dozens of envelopes and packages aren’t sprawled all over the road . unlucky for him , however , was that in his bag was a box of cookies ( store bought , of course ) instead , his intended contribution to the potluck tonight , and on impact , they were crushed from within their container before proceeding to spill out onto the snow. and now , here we are , with han and his lumpy crumbs for cookies .
he’s not entirely devastated , no screams of anguish following the sight , but he is quite upset at it all ( because , it’s his own fault for being so careless ) and lets out a heavy sigh , a thick white cloud following suit .
amidst all the hustle and bustle , all the chitter chatter of the potluck dinner , han stands calm and alone in the middle of it all . he doesn’t even seem to be aware of his own surroundings , all his attention focused on the decorative gingerbread house laid out on the table in front of him , and a plate of gingerbread men cookies placed next to it . the person who had set this up must have been quite cruel , han thinks, making these men look upon the home they were taken from as they await their death .
‘ a gingerbread man lives in a gingerbread house . ’ ( yes , thank you for your insight han . ) he picks one of the cookies up and studies it curiously , his eyes trace the icing that outline the cookie’s edge , and the small smile drawn out on its face make the corners of his mouth lift a little . ‘ is the house made of flesh ? or is the man made of house ? ’ he says his words with the most casual tone , like it was most normal thing someone could say ( and not disturbing in the slightest ) . he’s only talking to himself , only speaking the thoughts that came to him out loud , so imagine his surprise when he turns his head to the right ever so slightly to see that someone was, in fact, standing right there next to him, and had a full ear to what he was saying . he takes a bite of the cookie in his hand with a chomp , his eyes now focused on his new conversation partner . ‘ what do you think ? ’
‘ oh ’ it comes out more like a breath than words , but it speaks just as clearly . his body responds before his brain can even comprehend the situation ( which is already faster than the average person ) , an arm reaching for the camera positioned around his neck - or , that is , where it should be if he had it . like a frozen web page that’s finally loaded , there’s a brief moment of panic as everything finally clicks together in his head , eyebrows raised and eyes wide . shit ! his eyes dart around the crowded room ( which proves to be a lot more difficult than it ought to be - why are there so many people here ? ) , but just as the panic so quickly came , so quickly does it leave ; he spots the camera resting peacefully on one of the side tables of the inn , and suddenly everything is okay once again .
‘ i didn’t even realize i had taken it off ’ he says , strapping it back onto him . admittedly , he was in quite a hurry to escape it all , the noisy room , the noisy people . his body craved the fresh air so bad , it was all too willing to just drop everything to get him out of there . it’s not that he wasn’t a people person - no , he had his fun at the potluck , socializing here and there , every other person seeming to recognize him from his morning runs . but maybe there, amidst so many people who’ve known each other their whole lives , han felt so overwhelmingly alone . just maybe .
there's something just so satisfying about finishing the morning delivery run , something he never quite felt with his work in the labs . science is a fickle thing ; no matter the weeks , the months - even years he could spend working on the same project , there was always more work to be done , always more steps to climb . life here in yangwon is so much more simpler , more enjoyable .
it's all in the simple things , after all , right ?
the bell chimes its little song as han takes a step through the cafe doors , the warm air welcoming him with open arms . a small tingle runs through his body at the change in temperature , his skin still cold from the lingering morning's touch . he orders the house blend , black , the way he likes it ( or at the very least , the way he's grown used to ) , and just like that a cup is in his hand and he's taking a sip of its goodness . its warmth spreads throughout him , and for a second he's forgotten the winter outside . he's just about ready to leave the shop when , out of the corner of his eyes , he sees him - eunki sitting comfortably sitting at one of the tables , papers in front of him and pen in hand , focused on doing whatever it is he’s doing .
so without any other thought in mind , han sits himself down ( more like intrude , really , but who’s to say ? ) next to his found friend . ‘ what are you studying ? ’ he asks without so much as a greeting , and rests his elbow on the table , a sign you probably won’t be rid of him for a while .
stopping by real quick to join in on the bandwagon , but if anyone would like a quickfire starter comment with a random word or phrase and i’ll see what i can do ! ( put an * at the end if you want it to be event related ) also , side note : since han is not from town , he’s gonna need someone to teach him about the festival ! if anyone wants to volunteer their muse , please send me an im !
‘ this is for me ? ’ han asks , eyes wide and filled with stars like a child on christmas morning . now , when he picked up his phone this morning to haeil telling him he had to stop by the shop before the end of the day , han didn’t really think ( not that he ever does ) anything of it . but he most especially did not think of this .
han holds the white box in his hands as if it were the most delicate thing in the world , with such a gentleness you’d think it'd shatter at a careless touch . it held inside the entire universe , yet an empty void all at once ; it was his very own schrodinger’s cat .
could it really be - a gift for him ? it wasn’t like he’s never been given one before - his parents , professors , and colleagues have all in the past , but they all had shallow intentions behind them and he saw through it all . his parents : a book on the most recent topic he'd taken interest in , but they just didn't want his “ brilliance” to die down ; his professors and colleagues : a nice watch they all pitched in on ( which he still wears ! ) , but they just wanted to be on the good side of their resident genius . but what could be gained here ? haeil didn't know his secret , han wasn’t any genius he was trying to impress . for once in his life , this was something real , genuine .
8 AM , the air is crisp to the touch , the sun has barely claimed its place in the sky . its warmth not yet reaching to soothe chilled bones , but its light - oh its light , it shines on the sea , on yangwon ever so perfectly that everything just seems to shine . sure , the nightlife has its own charm , but han can’t imagine why anyone would sleep through the painting of a masterpiece .
the breeze ruffles his hair as he rides down the slopes of town ( it doesn’t seem to even care that he spent twenty minutes this morning trying to fix today’s cowlick ) , this morning’s mail sitting comfortably in the white messenger bag slung across his shoulder . he gives a polite wave to each passerby , and his smile grows just the tiniest bit wider when they give him a wave back. he makes his way through each house , each neighborhood , until he’s at suseonhwa street and there’s a familiar figure lingering about their mailbox , as per usual. he whips his board to a stop , a few rocks sent flying as his wheels grinds against the asphalt.
‘ hey somin ’ han greets her , a breathy smile and white fog escaping his lips . by now , he’s pieced together in his mind that she waits out here every now and then for something special to come in the mail ( what else could she be waiting for ? ) . but each time , all he has to give for her address is nothing more than the usual magazine subscriptions ( unless she just really likes her magazines ? ) .
despite what many yangwon natives would like others to think, working at jojamart isn’t bad. sejun imagines it’s really just like any other minimum wage job– nothing exciting but decent enough to make some extra cash from. maybe the company’s motives and goals are worthy of apprehension (sejun would agree with this in any other circumstance but considering the fact that he can now live a bit more comfortably thanks to the infamous corporation, he finds he doesn’t care enough to voice that thought) but a job’s a job and you gotta do what you gotta do to make a living.
one of the entertaining parts about working here is that sejun gets to people watch from his spot behind the cash register and can get away with not being creepy about it since he can claim he’s just keeping an eye on customers to make sure nothing goes astray. he notices a lot of things, like those who seem to hesitate shopping at the store and look around shiftily like they’re about to be caught doing something unforgivable (he supposes for some, it kind of is though). of course, he also notices the regulars - which he finds strange because who’s brave enough to frequent a jojamart in yangwon and be considered one?
sejun makes particular note of them, like this one customer who’s taller than him, has dyed hair, and seems to stop by pretty often. he usually buys a few items at a time but comes back not very long after and purchases one or two more things again. sejun’s not sure if the guy’s just forgetful or enjoys jojamart that much but he’s a curious person and curious people can’t help but have questions. so he eventually starts asking the now-familiar stranger something every time he stops by and today is no different. when the other comes up to his register and sejun starts scanning his items, the dark-haired boy glances up at him. “you didn’t forget anything this time, did you?”
‘ um ... ’ han’s voice trickles as his own curiosity is sparked ; what was it that he needed , again ? his eyes lock on the array of items on the check-out counter in front of him . a head tilt here , a tap of the foot there - and he’s deep in thought imagining a grocery list in his mind . he really should get into the habit of writing these kind of things down ( it has been proven to boost retention of information , after all ! ) . it’s not like he minds the extra trip ( or three ) back to the store every now and then when he forgets to add an item ( or three ) to his cart . honestly , he kind of likes them , the skateboard rides across town to joja . it gets him moving , out of the house - and oh , how han loves to do anything that doesn’t involve sitting around all day .
and maybe he should feel a little bad for shopping at joja so often . he’s started to hear the whispers in the streets , natives worried for the heart of their home . but , han doesn’t understand it all - he’s an outsider , a child who grew up in a corporation-ridden city . he’s never really had a connection to his “ home ” ( it never felt homey enough to be really called that , though ) , no community traditions to hold onto . to him , joja isn’t anything . so for now , he keeps coming back to the store without any thoughts , pulled by the advertisements of cheaper prices .
‘ i don’t think so... ’ he says , satisfied with everything he sees in front of him . he lifts his head to meet the others eyes , and gives off the gentlest of smiles . han’s not embarrassed by the exchange , not by the idea of someone seeing his ‘ check-outs of shame ’ ( that is in title only , of course . han doesn’t have any shame , especially in his grocery trips ) - no , no ! he’s quite happy ; happy that someone would interact with him , talk to him in a scenario that usually goes by with no words at all .
‘ but if i did , i’ll be sure to say hi when i come back ! ’
what’s up everyone !! i’m nich ( any prns , 18 ) and i can’t wait for you all to meet han ! all his pages are still under construction ( oops ) but i thought i’d just drop a couple of tidbits before i head over to finish them so you guys can get a general idea of what he’s like ! i don’t have any plots on me right now , but please do like this post if you’re interested in brainstorming something perhaps !!
- yeo haneul , 24 , photographer & morning mail carrier !
- a real life genius , but shh you’re not suppose to know
- he introduces himself to everyone as han , no last name - or anything . no one’s questioned it yet
- was pretty much trapped as a lab researcher a majority of his life , so he’s trying to have the good time he never had here in yangwon
- you’ve probably seen him skating around town everyday . where is he going ? ( even he doesn’t know )
- it’s not that he’s shy or anything , he just doesn’t have that much experience interacting with people 1. that don’t have a doctorate 2. for more than a few exchanges , so , yeah he’s not the best at it , but somehow , it’s kind of charming
- lives in the “ shabbier ” part of town , but it doesn’t really bother him
- always has his camera on hand , and has a habit of taking pictures of people on the streets without their knowledge and / or consent ( sorry ! )
- an early riser ; he’s up at dawn everyday watching the sunrise , then heads off to deliver the mail . he always makes sure to greet everyone awake with a smile . the old ladies down the street have taken a liking to him ‘cause of that and they started giving him stickers !
janainaart
turnnoffyourmind
vaporwave
baratheonpilled
snowghoul
yousharknotpass
romaincrisis
