Aegolius

｡ ◦ ☼ ┊ Running was something Taejoon had never really thought about. With the way Kyungsoo puts it, it really is just running. Even so, people dedicate their life to it. Alright, if running gets a pass, so does bird watching. 

“Well, when you put it that way, it’s kind of hard to disagree with you on that.” The guy sure has an interesting way of presenting his case. It’s as if he’s had to do this hundreds of times before, and probably has. He can only imagine how many shocked faces there have been when sharing about such a rare hobby.

“Yeah, together! C’mon! What if I actually like it? You can brag and say you got me into the whole thing.” Taejoon, luckily, is a figure who can entertain himself quite easily. Unfortunately for Kyungsoo that is, he’ll be stuck dealing with the rambunctious boy. “I’m sure I’ll be able to find something to entertain me if I do get bored. I doubt I will!”

     Defensiveness had to step out of the way, as now he was starting to feel possessive. He did not mind new faces among the old regulars he had been chatting with ever since he was a kid - always about birds, never about life in general - but that was because they had already passed the test. There was no recruiting process, no official clubs (even though there were organisations like BirdLife), so people who still found their way to the hobby were genuinely passionate about it. What to make of people who were willing to try, but would then forget about the whole thing? It did not matter if Kyungsoo would get the bragging rights. The only essential point was whether the other would genuinely enjoy himself.

Hanbyeol stood by the mattress Kyungsoo had been sleeping on just moments ago. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, offering an nervous smile at waking him up. He felt guilty, but he was not going to let that stop him from seeking comfort after dreaming about that again. 

He shakes his head rapidly. “Hyung… I’m not going to talk about it. Don’t make me talk about it.” an exasperated sigh. “Now I’m thinking about it…” he whines in response, sucking his lower lip in between his teeth. “Talk about something else. Did you have a dream? What did you dream about?” Hanbyeol takes a seat, right beside Kyungsoo. The silence makes him uncomfortable, left alone with his own thoughts. He gives Kyungsoo an uncharacteristic shove of his shoulder, but gently.  

“Please talk.”

     Hanbyeol scooted over, and Kyungsoo made him room on his mattress. He felt uncomfortable with the physical closeness that could easily escalate to skinship, but he understood that it was time to put his personal feelings aside and give Hanbyeol comfort to eject his fears.

     “I’m sorry.” The boy seemed frightened. Kyungsoo did not ask more about it. Sometimes putting your feelings in words, even clumsy ones, could soothe your heart tremendously. And sometimes it would make the ache worse.

     He earned a punch on the shoulder for his emotional clumsiness. He accepted it with a grunt and rubbed the sore spot absentmindedly.

     “Huh?”

     Kyungsoo lifted his heavy head and took a look at Hanbyeol in the dim light of midnight. The boy had been sleeping on the mattress beside his - there was no way he was going to let a sweating, breathing human being to join him on his own - and was now clearly awake. Kyungsoo was not sure if he had been awakened by his rapid breathing or twisting and turning, but it had only been his words that had stirred him awake completely.

     “Huh...” It was a groan with a different tone, a sound of acceptance. He rubbed his hand over his face and nodded in the dark. “I guess... What did you dream of?”

｡ ◦ ☼ ┊ It’s as if he had punched the other directly in the gut. Struck a nerve, maybe. Everything about the other male had changed, and he may have even taken interest in the conversation. Bird watching. He can’t think of it as a sport. A hobby, maybe. Taejoon keeps himself silenced enough for the other to finish presenting the entire case and convince him there are more interesting sides of his sport. With his lip curled up into maybe - disbelief, he still shakes his head. 

 “What I find amazing is there is… Championships on watching birds? I mean, the whole idea of birds are cool. They can fly, at least… But I can’t imagine spending hours on them. Maybe I can try sometime, I guess.” Being a person who is incapable of focusing on a single thing for a limited amount of time, these such things he can’t comprehend. 

“Let’s find the species together!”

    The idea came far too sudden for him to even plan it properly. What intrigues him most is there’s the sense of adventure. Would they have to travel elsewhere? Stumble into hidden areas where these birds turn to hide from the human world? Lips curling up into a wide smile, the boy leans forward as he captures the other’s attention. “I can make it less boring too! And… And… You can crush those other two and have the throne for yourself, right? Bird watching is something I haven’t tried before, or even thought of.”

     “There is,” Kyungsoo confirmed seriously. He watched the other closely with wary eyes, trying to distinguish any signs of mockery or disinterest in the other. He seemed so genuine even now, but Kyungsoo did not trust his instinct when it came to reading other people.

     “I mean, it’s surprising there is a championship for anything really.” At least he had something to say about the subject. If the other had started to talk about television dramas or pop music, Kyungsoo would have been utterly lost. “There is a championship for running, too. Nobody ever questions that. Just running really fast... To me, birds are a lot more meaningful than just running. But I don’t judge people who prefer running. I think it’s cool to be passionate about anything, really...”

     He managed to sound a bit defensive nevertheless. For that, he offered a tentative smile.

     “It’s like a collecting hobby. You know how some people collect stamps or post cards...? Well, I collect birds. But I can’t really grab them and take them home, so I just write down what I have seen and share it with others who might want to see the same thing. It’s not more complex than that...” To him it was. To him it was a matter of life and death, but he would have never expected anyone to understand.

Min is a ball of sunshine. A young beagle that seems to have endless energy and an endless amount of puppy kisses to whoever is around. The small puppy bounds to Kyungsoo the moment he’s unlatched from his leash, far too excited to meet the new comer to stay still very much. 

Chanyeol can only smile helplessly as he sees him, none too apologetic that he’s trying to pound his long time. 

“Hey, sorry. If you pet him behind his ears, he’ll calm down,” he explains, smiling as he watches the puppy yip up at Kyungsoo.

“Oh, hell yeah - I’ve been wanting to ask you for a bag for some time now! Thanks. I’ll be sure to call your mom later to thank her,” he says happily, a grin spreading through his face. 

Chanyeol calls Min so they can begin walking deeper towards the park, trying to get him to walk and not chew off Kyungsoo’s ankle clean. “How have you been, by the way? I was so excited for you to meet Min! My mom warned me and told me it would be like taking care of a child, and honestly, it’s been hard, but isn’t he so cute? And he’s been growing so much, too! You should get a dog, Kyungsoo, or a cat. Maybe a cat. I think a cat would fit your personality a lot more.” 

     The pup was wiggling and wagging its stubby tail, seemingly excited to receive any sort of attention. Kyungsoo doubted it had been neglected, considering how cute and social it was, and how affectionate and social its owner was, but it sure seemed to know how to make most of the spotlight. Its pink little tongue lapped over Kyungsoo’s fingers until they were wet and smelled like dog breath. He decided to wash his hands very carefully later.

     “Behind the ears?” Kyungsoo did just that. He was not sure if it did the trick or if the pup was just pleased to get what it wanted, but at least it stopped doing doggy pirouettes and sat down to enjoy the treatment. Kyungsoo felt happy.

      “Ah.” He looked up at Chanyeol and remembered his manners. “You’re welcome. Calling my mom, though... Are you sure about that?” It was not something Chanyeol had not done before - Kyungsoo’s mother was happy that her son had made such a sociable and polite friend, and was always happy to take Chanyeol’s calls like he was her own son - but it was embarrassing nevertheless.

     He should not have been so surprised by the puppy that dashed towards him to greet him. It was the very reason Chanyeol had asked him to come over in the first place.

     Kyungsoo had never had pets, even though his big brother had always been begging for their parents to buy a dog. His heart belonged to birds - the free sort, and not the miserable or amusing creatures people kept caged as their pets - and even though he loved most animals and felt protective of nature, the concept of puppies frolicking around and sharing a bed with their owners felt foreign to him.

     “Hello,” he told Chanyeol, his trusted and only friend from his  difficult high school years. “And... hello.” He nodded politely at the pup, who was obviously even more clueless about friendly human interaction than Kyungsoo was. It was staring at him with its round puppy eyes and wagging its tail so vigorously his butt was shaking, too. Kyungsoo squatted down to give his head a few clumsy pats.

      There had never been a need for unnecessary words when it came to hanging out with Chanyeol. It was often him who was in charge of talking, and pleasantly comfortable with Kyungsoo’s taciturn disposition.

“It’s possible to sell your soul? For how much? I mean... Why?”

THERE WERE TIMES when Bin just wanted to feel like a normal person again. And especially with another comeback coming up very soon, he just wanted to relax and for a moment feel like it was back before the fame and light. Don’t get him wrong, he rather enjoyed being a part of OK:GO and the family that he had back at the company, of course, but for a few hours every so often he just wanted to go back to the simple times.

SO THERE HE was, on the train, going back to his parents house. One of the best things about his parents house, no such paparazzi had found out where they were living. Hopefully it would be to stay that way of course. But so far, so good and nothing had been found out.

THAT WAS UNTIL he felt some eyes staring at him. His gaze lifted up from his phone, glancing around to see if he was right. And there it was, a male sitting on one of the seats of the train just staring at him. It seemed to be in a friendly matter – more or less rather.

WHEN THE OTHER male spoke, Bin immediately raised his eyebrow and gave a short chuckle afterwards. Smaller. That was something he heard quite a bit really. And when he noticed what magazine the other male was looking at, he knew exactly right then what picture he was talking about. “Yeah – I blame it on the camera really.” Bin joked.

     The stranger - or rather, the celebrity whose name was without a doubt printed somewhere around the open page - shot a knowing look at the magazine Kyungsoo was holding. It was enough to make him feel self conscious and flip the page so an advertisement for a new city-sized car was visible instead. He had had no intentions of seeming like a stalking fanboy, but it was without a doubt the very impression he had given.

     “Sorry,” he muttered, frowning slightly. He man was friendly enough, but he was still nervous about breaking some unwritten law about talking to people of higher social status. “And hello.” Perhaps it was not too late for a polite greeting.

     And there was the awkward silence that seemed to follow Kyungsoo wherever he went. He knew that it was his responsibility to make sure no misunderstandings had occurred and the man he had approached did not feel offended, but small talk had never been his forte.

     “Do you like cameras?” he asked. “I mean... Do you like having your picture taken...? It seems like an interesting job, standing there and looking good. Or does it feel like an inevitable evil?”

Have they walked into swamps? No, that couldn’t be; Suriel was sure he would have noticed – he made sure to double check the map before they left for the trip. And sure, they were lost now, or so he thought judging by how long what was supposed to be an hour walk was already taking. They’ve been out in the cold for almost half of the day now and he was beginning to feel hungry. In fact for the last two miles he’s been looking around for any source of food and with every minute leaning more towards the idea that consuming tree bark couldn’t be so bad. Yet, he believed, it could always have been worse.

As if to prove his theory, Kyungsoo’s shoe got stuck in the mud and Suriel chewing on his bottom lip to prevent himself from chuckling as he stared at the other’s little tantrum, walked into the thistle. Sharp prickles brushing against his skin earned a curse word but as he backed away from the plants he still managed to flash his whites at the other. “You might hate it now, but give it some time and you’ll be laughing at all of this too. And you’re not dying here. Definitely not on my watch.” He took his jacket off and threw it over the other’s shoulders (they’re both drenched to the skin so it did nothing but it’s the gesture that counts, right?). “See, it’s already better. No need to panic.” Suriel was sure it couldn’t have been the first adventure like this one Kyungsoo has survived, thus the next thing he suggested was an attempt to calm the other a little bit down. “How about you tell me about the worst trip you’ve had in the past? How did you make it out alive back then?”

With this, he’s already taking his own shoes off, it’s not such a weird move as clothes didn’t really matter at this point – and the squishing sound heard every time he took another step was becoming really tiring, thus he figured walking barefoot might be a better idea. “Look at it this way, mud baths are refreshing and good for your skin.” There was one reason to his positivity – he managed not to freeze any water that came in contact with his skin, if he did he would have a lot of explaining to do. Of course, after finally convincing the other that he wasn’t hallucinating. “Come on, we can’t be this far from some shelter…”

     Kyungsoo felt awfully childish. He did not have to raise his eyes and look to know Taeil was taking it all far better than he did. How the other managed to smile and keep up the good spirit, Kyungsoo had no idea. His own mood was soaking in the wet soil with his poor, muddy shoe.

     “You are a strong person,” Kyungsoo muttered under his breath. It sounded like he was talking to himself, but his words were clearly aimed at the other. The shoe that was persistently stuck in the mud had been the last straw, destroying the remains of his optimism, but Taeil did not seem to mind. Of course, it was not his shoe, but that was not the point. He was acting like they had been walking for half an hour on a clear, sunny day, whereas Kyungsoo was grunting and sulking. He could not help but wonder which one of them was more foolish.

     His foul mood was not to say he would not be able to laugh about it all a few days later, or perhaps in a year when the humid chill had left his bones. It just did not feel possible at the moment.

     “Huh.” Taeil’s jacket felt heavy on top of Kyungsoo’s own. He lifted his gaze, staring at his friend with wide eyes. It was a polite gesture for sure, but it did not feel fair. The chilly drizzle would soon seep through Taeil’s shirt and he would not have even his jacket to keep him warm. He frowned. “You will catch a cold. Please don’t be stupid.”

     He had to return the jacket to its original owner (truly, he couldn’t bear the guilt of stealing Taeil’s warmth from him), but the gesture had warmed his heart.

     “I went camping once,” he replied matter-of-factly to the rhetorical question. “I was pretty young. I didn’t have any particular reason, but I wanted to get in the nature and be alone. I slept in a tent, and in the morning it was raining heavily. All the paths were flooded, and my sneakers were soaked. Walking home like wading in a river, but at least I was so wet I couldn’t feel the rain anymore...” He yanked his shoe back to see if it still fit his foot with all the mud in it. If it had been summer, he could have walked barefoot.

     Kyungsoo had always struggled to tell faces apart, especially with strangers and celebrities, people he did not personally care for. A news anchor he saw every night in television would not have necessarily rung any bells if he had happened to run into her in a grocery store, and it was more than likely that he would miss a friend of a friend in a crowded train. Humans in general were not a favourite of his, and it was difficult to memorize faces he would have rather avoided. But when there was something concrete to compare a person to, a high resolution photograph on a page of a magazine for example, it was impossible to make a mistake.

     The man sitting on the window seat right opposite to Kyungsoo’s was a make-up free, unphotoshopped version of the singer featured on the page of the magazine he was reading. Why a celebrity would choose to travel by a train instead of something fancy like a helicopter or a limo, he had no idea.

     He felt awkward. It was more than likely that the man had noticed him staring or reading the magazine. Changing seats abruptly would seem suspicious, but he was not sure if it was considered appropriate to say something. What if the man had a bodyguard hiding somewhere, ready to punch an unwanted nuisance?

Morning after sentence startersStatus: Accepting

     It was not a sentence he had expected to hear the first thing in the morning.

     Kyungsoo was a heavy sleeper and a slow one to stir awake, but the words spoken by a stranger’s voice were like being slapped with a cold salmon. He sat up, eyes wide open and aimed at the man - or a boy - standing next to the mattress that served as a bed in his tiny studio apartment. His usual shyness and socal awkwardness was swept away. The situation was far more awkward than he could ever be.

     “I what?”

     He wished there had been a way to make sure he had his virginity still intact. It was not something he particularly cherished at the age of 24, but he would have liked to remember the occasion of doing “it” for the first time. There was also the other far more concerning factor of facing another man like this. Had he caught the gay from his homosexual friends?

     Kyungsoo’s sneakers were making squelching sounds as he waded through the undergrowth. He could feel cold rainwater seep through the seams with each step.

     It was not like he was not used to bad weather and challenging conditions when exploring nature. Truly, he liked to think his survival skills were better than those of an average city dweller, and that he was not quick to complain or feel uncomfortable as long as he stayed preoccupied with his goals. He had survived blizzards and downpours and sudden thunderstorms, so the particular occasion of getting stuck in the chilly winter rain should not have been so bad.

     Except that it was. He had not been prepared for the foul weather. Apparently Taeil’s idea of a “quick trip” was different than Kyungsoo’s, and what was supposed to be a little walk had turned out to be a hike. There was a raincoat in his car, but the shelter of his vehicle was a few miles behind. On top of that, his throat had felt dry and hoarse since morning. The cold shower provided by mother nature had made it worse.

      “How can you sound so happy...?” Kyungsoo mumbled. His own voice sounded miserable compared to Taeil’s chipper tone. He appreciated the optimism, but it was difficult to relate to it. “My fingers are going to fall off and wiggle on the ground like worms... Ah.”

     He was cut off by a groan. The shoe that had been leaking on his foot was now stuck in the mud, and his sock was even wetter than before.

.• ♡┊ A human who was interested in animals & who, therefore, appreciated & treasure their existence ? It almost sounded like a DREAM — Or, like a cruel joke. With something akin to HOPE bubbling within her breastbone, she eagerly listened to every single word that was rolled upon the tongue of the stranger & with a few nods ( one thrown here & another one thrown there ) , she truly did her best to show that she was genuinely interested in the subject, something she assumed did not happen too often. Humans, unfortunately, only seemed to be interested in two categories of animals: those they can ‘adopt’ & torment with silly dresses & those that make them appear as anti-conformist & rebellious owners, such as snakes & venomous spiders. 

❛ I like owls !! Well, to be more precise, I like ALL kinds of animals, ❜ mused happily the Gumiho, accompanying her words with yet another childish nod of her head; despite her desire not to become too invasive & nosy as far as his life was concerned, it was indeed difficult to keep her tongue under control, especially when the sons & daughters of Mother Nature were concerned. For a brief moment, a low HUM throbbed against the back of her throat, signaling that she was pondering over his words quite carefully; what he did was definitely not strange, not for someone like her, at least. ❛ Do you only keep track of the owls ? Or, are you interested in other species as well ? When I moved to this city from a more rural area, I was really surprised to hear the chants of the owls at night… I didn’t think that such birds could survive in this kind of dangerous environment !! ❜ 

A pause, her smile growing even wider than before. ❛ For how long have you been doing this ? ❜

     "Really?”

     Kyungsoo studied the girl carefully. He could not remember talking to someone of the opposite gender who seemed so genuinely enthusiastic about the mention of animals. It had often turned out that  girls who claimed to like animals liked cats and dogs and pet bunnies, or perhaps horses and ponies. The smelly, dirty, shy animals of forests and rivers and dumpsters often did not appeal to them, especially if they did not have round, brown eyes. Birds were deemed cute only if they were baby chicks or clever parrots. Others were either a nuisance or a threat.

     “I do keep track of all birds I see, not just owls,” Kyungsoo replied, feeling encouraged by her curiosity. “I try to see as many species as I can write and then document them... It’s not a job or anything official, it’s just a hobby. There are other people who do the same, so it’s not something I just came up with on my own...” In his childhood had been closer to the old men of the birdwatching community than his own father. To an outsider the idea of such community must have sounded absurd, not to mention the passion for birds its members shared. “I can’t remember when I got interested in birds. I suppose I was born this way. They are just fascinating to me in a way I can’t explain...” It was harder to imagine life of ignoring the great variety of birds out there.