𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯.

guess the TWENTY THREE OLD JANUARY baby just arrived to dallyeog! it makes sense, because ONG DAEJUNG is just as UNEXPECTED as the month of JANUARY. wait, why do they remind me of HWANG HYUNJIN? beyond that, they seemed CONFIDENT AND PRACTICAL upon first glance. i heard someone say they’re sort of STUBBORN AND RESERVED though. i hope they get acquainted here in APT. 1 / FLOOR 2 ; they seem to have a lot going on with HIS job as CHOREOGRAPHER AND DANCE INSTRUCTOR. 

fuyuko ~ : how about we just have the party today?  fuyuko ~ : maybe vampire clan-style, candle lights, lots of food and classical music if anyone knows how to play an instrument?  fuyuko ~ : darkness rave (?) …  fuyuko ~ : does that make sense? 

     ⋆ ┈  why, of all things, was the first emotion she registered after looking to his eyes and feeling the ghost of his fingertips leaving searing hot, icy trails across her cheek absolute melancholy? time slows an in that moment where the space between them is nonexistent and he looks at her like she’s the only person in the world and she’s happy but she’s sad that she’s happy and none of it makes any sense to either of them. her heart crumbles under the stress and it’s when he breaks contact is she left to pick up the pieces. 

her reflexes had the decency not to embarrass her at that moment, clumsy hands catching his hoodie and stuffing it on. it takes a moment of absolute concentration to get her right arm through the sleeve, but her left was a hopeless case and no matter how much she rifled through the fabric she couldn’t find the head hole anywhere. 

“help me,” she demanded, voice muffled from her wrestling with the offensive article. it was only when she was finally free did she laugh, deep from the heart, at how hopeless she will always be, especially when it came to daejung. “it isn’t even that cold,” she complained, but knows her fingers will grow icy regardless and she’ll heckle him until he holds her hand, just like always. 

“snacks are not the best nutritionally. but. they’re most certainly good for the soul, and that should count for something on the food pyramid.” she’s full on analyzing the potential to a soul food hierarchy, mind sorting different confectionaries into different tiers. she fished around his living room for a moment while deep in thought, looking for the discarded purse she tossed aside earlier that evening. she finds it wedged between a decorative pillow and a chair before throwing it over her shoulder. “chocolate definitely deserves to be at the base. it is absolutely essential. like ramen noodles in the missing chunks of your soul other people took. its foundational.” she thinks she sounds like an absolute genius at that notion, proudly throwing his door open and making her way down to the stairs. 

“then comes stuff thats like. semi good for you but not really. like flavored almonds. namely honey butter. scratch that, all things honey butter are just as essential as chocolate.” 

⠀⠀⊹ ⋆. • wondering is an often state of daejung and the reason why he’s constantly seen ‘daydreaming’, or so that’s what everyone berates him for in the lack of a better term. no, he’s not daydreaming, he rarely ever is. no. he’s just finding the why’s, how’s and what’s of anything and everything; silently and desperately trying to untangle the knots of the questions he’s never been able to say out loud. he wonders, wonders and wonders why life is the way it is, how did things become so complicated and what is he going to do about it. 

haneul is namely one of his biggest wonders, a walking incognita and the reason behind several things that shouldn’t make sense and yet they do somehow. just like in that very moment. the more he looks at her, fiddling with a hoodie that’s maybe a little too big and hilariously failing to fulfill the simple task of wearing it properly, he wonders: how is he supposed to resist her? and why would he even do that? 

then comes her demand and his feet immediately take him to her, not missing a beat to help her by carefully guiding her arm through the sleeve. it was a simple request, however daejung knew there was nothing he wouldn't do for her and this was but a small way to express this. 

“you always get cold.” he lightheartedly berated her with a squint before tugging on the strings, playfully pulling her closer to him. “and you’ll find one way or another to blame it on me.” it's the proximity, he notices, what spikes his heartbeat without meaning to. he has to let go of her for his own sake even though a part of him insisted not to.

so, to not dwell on those unlabeled feelings, to not start wondering again what would happen if he skipped the gap between them, daejung distracts himself by looking for his keys and wallet. while at it, he listened  to what she was saying and smiled at the possibility of a whole new category being created in the food pyramid. he knows some would find it absurd, but it’s haneul and there’s no hesitation when deciding to entertain her. 

it had taken him a while to finally realize how weird this situation was, himself somehow relying on the fact that everyone he had met in the apartment building seemed to be nice, if not a bit odd, and that he has trained his mind to somehow believe that knocking on a stranger’s door in the middle of the night just because of a nice coffee smell was an okay thing to do. did he want to get himself killed? however, in the end, he was the weird one in this situation, so maybe he was safe after all. 

“oh no.”, saem quickly said, shaking his head. “no, you didn’t disturb me actually!”, he explained, fumbling a little with the the cuffs of his sleeves. “actually, i was just wondering, are you making coffee? like, usually, randomly throughout the day?”, he asked, tilting his head a little. he didn’t want come across as too invase, however he thought that he had already missed that opportunity and was just being the biggest creep out there - maybe not trainstation crackhead at 4am creepy but creepy enough to make someone else question his actions. 

“it’s just, it smells really good!”, he finally said with a smile, as the smell now wafted through the open door, making him at least feel like he knocked on the right apartment and got the right person. “sorry if i… woke you? or something?”, he wondered with furrowed up brows, hoping he wasn’t disturbing the other either. “sorry, this is really weird, i think i just smelled it and my brain shut off and i came here– i mean the time…”

⠀⠀⊹ ⋆. • having watched his fair share of scary movies and thrillers, daejung should’ve known better than to open the door without even checking who it was through the peephole. yet, the realisation of this rookie mistake came a little too late: the caffeine not kicking in yet for him to be as alert as usual. he blinked lazily at the other, taking a little longer to process his words and formulate the answer to his queries.

“actually yeah!” daejung answered, perhaps sounding a little more excited than it was fitting due the circumstance. “i make it either early in the morning or… as you can see, really late at night when i want to stay up...” and so he continued sharing his favorite brand as well as little tips he’s found on the internet. 

a couple of seconds later and it finally dawned on him how bizarre the situation was: two guys having a casual exchange over coffee in the middle of the night. maybe he should’ve closed the door or just not open it at all to begin with, but daejung was surprisingly comfortable with the conversation. “how do you prepare yours though? i think i’ve smelled coffee too a couple of times before, but never found the one behind it.” at the other’s last sentence, daejung laughed, eyes curling up as he thought this to be extremely accurate.

🌸         THE sound of his oh-so-smug voice on the other end nearly caused poppy to black out from how frustrated the sound alone made her. that, along with the mental image of this stupid self-impressed jerk standing in his apartment with his phone in his hand, caused her skin to itch. of all the people in the universe, this guy had to live below her? “say what you want, but i’m practicing.” emphasis on the word practicing. “you’re not perfect, either. don’t think that your loud music around doesn’t drive me out of my mind, daejung. what are you even doing down there? preparing for the end of the world? do you really need drake to be playing at max volume when that happens?” in preparation for whatever smart-alec thing he’d throw back in her face ( and surely so. she didn’t have to know him for long to understand that, for every comeback she’d come up with, he had 10 ready at a moment’s notice. ) so she tried her best to use one she’d thought of after their last squabble. “oh, wait. i just checked the calendar and i’m sorry. i didn’t know it was a holiday.” she frowned. “my bad for not getting you a card to celebrate asshole day. maybe next year, huh?” 

.

⠀⠀⊹ ⋆. • daejung liked to pride himself on being the type to first listen and based on what he heard, answering accordingly. most of the time, anyway, and with poppy was no exception. he'd let her talk and talk, let her express everything going through that head of hers and only until she was done, would he counterattack her cute little jabs. this time, however, he found himself albeit flabbergasted; he had to give it to her, it seemed like she’d have the upper hand in their petty argument. by the time she was over, all he could do in reply was laugh wholeheartedly hoping it’d rub her the wrong way. “oh, poppy.” the male accentuated her name as if it was some sort of private joke he was unwilling to share. “how long did it take you to look that up? or did you ask someone from work because, truly, you need to find better resources.” then, he clicked his tongue in feigned disappointment. “poppy, poppy, poppy. the only reason i play music so loud is to drown out your awful singing. i thought you’d take it as a hint, but it seems like i was giving you too much credit to actually understand it. maybe i should’ve been clearer, my bad.” a heartbeat later and he had his last statement on the tip of his tongue.

* ... the smell of coffee.

@daesthete· 

even if it was the middle of the night, the smell still permeated through his apartment door. it was faint, but still there. where did it come from? was the only question on his mind, constantly, whenever he knew that a mysterious stranger might be brewing fresh coffee somewhere. saem wondered where the smell came from - apart from it obviously wafting in through the crack of his window, making it clear that it wasn’t coming from his own floor. 

in a certain way, it was relaxing ( coffee shop vibes, you know? ), but at the same time curiosity was seemingly getting the best of him as he slowly arose from his desk chair, tilting his head towards the direction of his front door. 2AM. really? his papers had been shoved into the corner of his desk beforehand, his videogame paused on the screen of his computer. there was no way he was letting this chance go this time. 

in his slippers, he made his way through the hallways, following certain smell of roasted beans. it took him downstairs, uncharted territory, phone in his hand as he used the screen to illuminate the paths before him. ‘ daejung ‘ – it read, the name familiar but not enough at the same time. for a split second, he was thinking that maybe knocking on someone else’s door at 2am wasn’t a good idea, but he trusted his insticts ( that were calm for once ) and let the corner of his phone tap gently against the woden surface of the door. after all, the coffee smell and light seeping through the cracks was enough evidence of someone being awake behind it. 

“ bad idea. maybe. “

⠀⠀⊹ ⋆. • if daejung had to point a flaw in his personality, it would be how easily obsessed he can become over things he enjoys. the kind to hyperfixate in a hobby, a tv show or anything he found the slightest entertaining; he thought this to be a curse. tonight was no different as his eyes stayed glued to his tv, fingers fiddling around the buttons of the controller while exploring the world and defeating creatures as he made it to the location of the next quest. daejung is quick to blame a couple of his students at the academy for recommending him this game, but at the same time, he adds a mental note to thank them whenever he sees them next.

he didn’t know how long it had been until his phone lit up with a notification and the time on the screen indicated it was well past two in the morning. weighing his options, he decided to have a coffee break before he entered the next phase of the game, hoping the caffeinated drink would keep him alert throughout it. it only takes a moment to get out everything daejung needs for it and another for him to grind the beans, after all, coffee tastes the best after it’s been freshly ground.

it’s after he lets the coffee brew and pushes down the cafetiere filter that the exquisite smell wafts through his apartment, but the dancer is unaware of how it sneaks outside and dances around the whole building. it’s after the first sip that he hears a gentle knock on his door, which has him immediately frowning. it has him wondering if he’s done something to disturb his neighbours; did he yell without noticing while playing the game? or were the noises from his kitchen too loud? whichever it was, he didn’t take long to open the door, cup on his hand and confusion clear on his face.

“hey” daejung greets, getting the feeling that he’s seen the guy before but failing to match a name to the face. he’s quick to jump into assumptions and an apology escapes his lips. “sorry if i disrupted you- i didn’t mean to do… whatever i did that bothered you?”

🌸 SHE had the music in her, pardon the old expression. the lyrics seemed to run through her veins and become a part of her true self. poppy twirled around her room, singing along to the song that was pumping through her speakers. lucky, from his place on the couch, blinked at her as he watched the peculiar girl live perhaps her best life. poppy’s voice soared, singing at the top of her lungs and the girl was so very sure that she sounded absolutely incredible. however, the sound of pounding on her floor caused her to hit an offkey and frown at the ground. daejung. that’s who it had to be, right? her ( least ) favorite critic. the ever-present thorn in her side. ugh, why did he have to live so close to her, anyway? the girl picked up her phone, searched her contact list and pressed ‘call.’ as soon as she heard the ringing stop, poppy sprung to action. “what do you want?” she tried to make the annoyance abundantly clear. “i’m trying to practice here, daejung. where else do you expect me to go? the roof?”

@daesthete·

⠀⠀⊹ ⋆. • it would be absolutely hypocritical of daejung to say that music annoyed him. he’s made it a lifelong companion and something present in his daily life. he dares to say his days were less empty with it. however, one thing he did come to strongly dislike was the way the beautiful melodies were slandered by a particular neighbour of his. don’t get him wrong, he does understand that she, none other than poppy, might be just having fun and fooling around. he’d be quite concerned if that was the way she presented herself at her job. but after a couple of hours and several shrieks coming from the apartment above, his head was starting to pound and he couldn’t even concentrate on his tasks at hand. daejung didn’t care if he came across as an old soul by the way he grabbed his broom and incessantly hit his ceiling with it, letting the woman wordlessly know that she needs to stop or, at the very least, sing better. his phone ringing easily amuses him and a satisfactory smirk curls his lips as he sees who the caller is. “actually yeah? anywhere but here, poppy. it sounds like you’re torturing a cat up there.”