red string of fate

a starter for @dhwyunseong !

     growing up rich, there are some things that you don’t really get to experience. it’s not exactly a bad thing, junhee would never dare to go as far as to say that he was lacking something because of his wealth, as though it was a burden to have been born with money never being a concern — that would be ungrateful, spoiled, and immature. at least, he’s starting to realize that. truth be told, it had never crossed his mind when he was younger what kind of privilege he possessed. 

     in any case, now that he’s more aware of the world in general and what kinds of things there are that he’s never seen before, he’s made a point of going out to different places around the city to try and see if there’s anything around that will catch his eye. he’d read good reviews (not by famous people) about this one place that was supposed to serve good, korean food that tasted homemade. 

     now, junhee hasn’t ever really had what the common people might consider homemade food. his parents cook... occasionally. but for the most part, junhee hasn’t really had the opportunity to have something very homey and simple at home. he feels a little bit awkward as he walks through the streets, biting his lip as he tries to navigate the unfamiliar streets. when he finally locates the restaurant, his eyes brighten, excited as he slips inside. 

dhwahri​:

ahri would definitely like to argue when junhee says that it means nothing, that he’s only sulking this much over a ruined friendship. well, it might seem like that to others, but ahri would like to assume that she knows the person she considers her little brother a little better than this. at first she thought what bothered him was that he didn’t know exactly what he did wrong to suddenly deserve hyunsu’s hostility like that — and to be honest, even ahri is a little confused to why the other suddenly turned his back to junhee — and he couldn’t even apologize for it, try to fix it or make up for it since he doesn’t know what is wrong in the first place. but then the more she watched this whole thing go on, the more she was sure that there was something there that wasn’t a simple friendship. 

but of course that she’d never force it on junhee even if she might seem to know where this is going, or at least where junhee’s feelings are going. she won’t guide him there since it just feels wrong that she steals the process from him. the younger boy will have his moment to realize his feelings himself and then decide what he’s going to do with them, so ahri just lets it go, resigns herself with the small pleasure of poking junhee a little bit, nudging him into the right direction at least, after all, they’re still friends and she can’t let him in this oblivious situation forever. besides, it’s always fun to see him blush even while trying to glare at her — and only confirms her own suspicions.

the design student is ready to nudge junhee a little more, to comment about how if it meant nothing then junhee wouldn’t be this worked up about it, or to point out how ridiculous the whole situation is. they’re both young adults now, they should be mature enough to sit do and talk about it, but then the tables turn with the mention of a simple name and it’s ahri’s turn to have a light shade of pink painting her cheeks, eyes narrowing at junhee because— “i know exactly what you’re doing changing topics like this.” 

“i haven’t said anything because there’s nothing to tell, nothing is happening. just nothing is confusing because there’s nothing to be confused about.” she replies almost as defensive as junhee was moments ago, definitely repeats herself a little too much for it to be completely natural. “like what’s between you and hyunsu.” which is true in more ways than one. even if ahri herself won’t admit to her feelings. at some degree, she’s very much aware of them but she always push them down, ignores and denies them with everything that she has because her and kihyun are friends, have been since even before junhee came into the picture, because kihyun deserves someone better than her, someone nicer and that is genuinely sweet. he deserves a sincerely good person. 

“we’re just friends.” she shrugs even if it’s a week gesture, her cheeks turning a little pinker when she remembers the night stroll they took together the other way, her almost sent message to his invitation, how he dropped his coat on her shoulders because it was a cold night and ahri didn’t bother with a coat herself, she never really did around him and there’s warmth on her chest thinking that kihyun doesn’t need those heavy coats, not when he controls ice, but he still wore those for her. “what is confusing about that?”

     quite frankly, junhee welcomes ahri’s accusatory glare when she declares that she knows what she’s doing. if she’s occupied with that, then it means that it’s less time she’s spending trying to embarrass him. even if there’s no truth in her words, junhee always finds himself easily flustered by ahri. it’s partially because she’s, well, her — and she knows him better than most people. and the other part? well, ahri does specifically seek to make his life harder (in the most loving way she can manage, but still).

     “you don’t sound very convincing, you know.” he replies with more confidence now that he’s no longer the centre of attention. junhee, despite being a princess, has never been one who has been completely comfortable in the spotlight. he’d much prefer to be on the side, letting other people shine, while he slips through life unbothered by drama and, well, following fate. “hyunsu hates me,” he says quietly, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. “or at least, he doesn’t like me much. we didn’t ever really make up, not like you and kihyun hyung. it’s different.” and we’re both boys, he adds in his head, although that thought wavers. he isn’t really sure anymore what the truth is. he’d been raised to believe that relationships and love were between males and females, but the longer he lives, the more he questions whether that’s really all there is to the world. 

     it’s all too clear to him that there’s a lot more going on between them, but if neither of them are willing to acknowledge it, then junhee isn’t sure what else he can do. the thing is, he wants them both to be happy. sure, it had been a big blow in his plans for the future when he’d realized that not only did ahri not believe in their destiny, but that she was in love with kihyun. it had seemed like all his dreams had crumbled to dust. he knows that she keeps promising him that if he really wants to, they can get married. 

     but it brings junhee no comfort to think that perhaps, even if they do follow destiny, he’ll be making ahri miserable. he doesn’t want that. he would never want that. 

a starter for @soomindhw ! featuring a flash from the past x 2018

     destiny is too hard to understand. junhee had come to understand destiny from a very young age, had known that he had once been someone else. he had known that he was destined to fall asleep, victim to a curse, and be awakened to find his happily ever after. honestly? even though the thought of being cursed and falling asleep for a hundred years wasn’t all that appealing, at least he’d always had the promise of a happy ending. 

     but that had all come crashing down around his ears when he had realized that not everyone believed in destiny. in fact, the person he was destined to be with is one of those people. which means, automatically, that... if she’s questioning her destiny, reluctant to follow it, in love with someone else... his destiny, too, is jeopardized. 

     hands wrapped glumly around the hot chocolate he’d purchased not too long ago, he stares out blankly at swan lake. the lake usually provides him with comfort, but today, it feels more quiet and depressing than anything else. maybe it’s just his mood, dismayed and burdened with the worry about his future. 

dhwkyungah​:

For a brief shining moment, the young woman registered her hug was being returned and it felt like some small, lost part of her had found its way home. Eyes slid shut, the corners of pert lips turning up in contentment. But, almost as quickly as instinct had taken over, Kya broke through it, aghast at such an invasion of the others personal space. She was supposed to be protecting, not harassing! And yet…

Nope!

“Wake up, Kyungah,” she mumbled, palms lightly slapping cheeks as she backed away from the warm embrace, trying to get a hold of herself. As accustomed as she was now to strange things happening, the ranger was dumbfounded by the whole interaction thus far. “Wow, I am so sorry! I don’t know what came over me. I just—” cutting herself off, the befuddled student shook her head once more. “You’re just, special. I mean everyone is special, but like to me specifically?” Kyungah was prone to spells of making little sense, dreamy imaginings had a way of avoiding logic, but even to her own ears the words sounded absurd.

Fingers pressed against bang covered forehead while she stared at him. That thrumming in her heart picked up its pace, driving to some conclusion she just couldn’t see. Who was she? Who was he??? “Oh gosh, I’m sorry my name’s Kim Kyungah!” Folding into a polite bow, as she should’ve done in the first place, soft smile resurfaced against her will. “I know who you are Song Junhee. At least, I think I do?” Hands knitted together before her, wringing in the awkward lull of reason. “Do we know each other? I’m sorry, I just have such a headache all of a sudden.”

     truth be told, junhee should be weirded out. and usually, he would be. he has a decently developed sense of stranger danger, but still, for some reason, she doesn’t feel like a stranger. in fact, he feels a little bereft when she pulls away, and it confuses him. when was the last time he had felt like this? “i’m special to you?” he repeats, a soft note of confusion lighting up his voice. he tilts his head with a small noise, trying to remember and understand exactly why this feels so familiar. 

     it clicks as she introduces herself, the name rolling off his tongue as he repeats it after her almost instinctively. the last time he had felt this way was so long ago — years ago, in fact. with ahri. they had later found out that the reason was because of who they had been — their fables, the people they had been, once upon a time. hesitantly, he wonders if this could be the case again, and he bites down on his lip, reaching out hesitantly to take her hands, hands warm and dry against hers. 

dhwhyunsu​:

hyunsu doesn’t consider himself a very hostile person, he accumulated a decent number of friends and he usually welcomes whoever with open arms. he makes it a point to try and accept everyone regardless of background—unless there’s something actually morally wrong somewhere hidden there—but something about junhee just grinds the wrong gears, despite their friendship in the past.

maybe it’s a petty thing, his reason for blatantly turning on the other isn’t one that’s noble. still, hyunsu justifies himself with labelling junhee as another one of the privileged rich kids, not without reason. he remembers the incident like it was yesterday, finding out that he wasn’t invited to a grande old party—it’s a childish thing to get so irritated over, but that incident is enough for hyunsu to want to distance himself.

after all, if he’s banned from something as small as a party, then is it really worth sticking around when he’s clearly on a lower level than the rest?

sitting before junhee now, oblivious to what he had done, makes hyunsu believe it’s a better option to not regret his decision (but a part of him does, it’s hard for him to be completely satisfied over ending a friendship, it’s why he channels his bitterness in small jabs and sharp glares). at junhee’s response, though, hyunsu blinks. he hadn’t expected such an answer, it’s not a mindset he thought he’d hear from someone like junhee.

“you don’t, huh?” he doesn’t hide his surprise. “here i thought you’ll find a tragic tale of romance, two privileged teens—isn’t one of them still a child?—driven to death by the pressure of their families. sounds like a story that doesn’t need to be told, but oh well.” it’s a popular tale with many iterations, no matter how much hyunsu complains about it, it’ll remain as a classic form of literature. there’s nothing wrong with that (except there is, since he’s forced to analyse this now).

he lets out a huff. “i need a drink,” he says, more to himself. “anyway, since we’re on the same page, we can talk about how unnecessary that ending was. to be honest, their entire feud is a little redundant, but that’s another matter entirely.”

     junhee has resigned himself to the fact that perhaps, he’ll never know what went wrong between him and hyunsu. maybe they just weren’t meant to be friends. but junhee will never stop finding it so incredibly strange that they had been okay one moment and not the next. he doesn’t know what could have caused their rift, either. usually, he can ignore the thoughts — but not when hyunsu is right across from him, acid in each of his words and ice flaking off his shoulders. 

     he glances up at hyunsu with a small frown and a questioning furrow to his brow. “a tragic tale of romance?” he repeats with a soft huff, shaking his head. “is that supposed to be a dig at me or something? i might be destined for romance but this isn’t romance...” he’d known that hyunsu disliked him, but he hadn’t necessarily thought that the other thought so little of him. 

     “it’s a tale of childish decisions and rebounds,” he says with a frown at the book. “not only did they barely know each other, i don’t think it was the pressure from their families that drove them to their deaths. they were kids who didn’t think twice about what they were doing.” he groans, putting the book on the table. “how could you think i would like this kind of story?” he despairs as he covers his face with his hand. 

dhwahri​:

ahri thinks that junhee is a little too easy when it’s about teasing him. she has barely said anything and he’s already blushing. or maybe it’s because she has known him for so long, knows exactly what kind of things make the other embarrassed, get him a little flustered. it also helps that she has always been attentive, attuned to other people, so she can read people well, especially when she has lived most with her life with said people. that’s why she can see that maybe there’s something there between her little brother and hyunsu, how the other always finds a way to mention hyunsu in their conversation, how he always has something to say about him. 

see, this is just ahri being a kind a soul and bringing him up before junhee had to find a way to do so.

she just shrugs. “it means what it means, junnie.” ahri tries to keep this casual, like she’s genuinely just curious but it’s hard when she has barely done said anything and junhee is already blushing even if just faintly, already narrowing his eyes at her like he knows he’s walking into a trap or at least he’s expecting ahri to mention something more, maybe sing softly hyunsu and junhee under a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g— the thought makes her scoff a little on her mind, like ahri would be that obvious when they’re in public like that. but she’d definitely do it at some point, maybe later, when wherever they’re going is a little more clear, when she has more evidence for her claims. “you actually might know it more than me if that pink on your cheeks are anything to go by.” ahri points out, calls junhee out on it.

“you usually talk an awful lot about him.” the reincarnated prince calls the younger boy once again while she puts her water down. “for someone who claims you’re not even friends, so i was just asking.”

     junhee is a little bit disappointed in himself. usually, he’s better at controlling his own reactions, better at holding out on the impulse to behave a certain way, but for some reason, ahri always knows how to push his buttons exactly. it seems painfully easy for the older girl, and he wrinkles his nose at her in a way of expressing his distaste. honestly, he just thinks that ahri likes to tease him — the topic only happens to be hyunsu because his ruptured friendship with hyunsu has bothered him ever since childhood. 

     they had been so close. what in the world had happened to turn hyunsu so fully against him? he still doesn’t understand and it baffles him — it still hurts him, every time he sees the other shoot a glare at him. there’s nothing going on between them like ahri seems to imply, after all, they’re both guys. but he admits that maybe he’s a little bit pathetic about how much he wants them to be friends again. 

     “it means nothing,” he huffs in response. he’s so blind to even his own situation, too blind to see the truth that sits in front of him. he’s swallowed up by the vision of his destiny, tunnel vision and blinkers on to only see the narrow path in front of him. there’s not much room for him to deviate here. “i just wish we were friends again, that’s all.” his lips turn down in a small pout, obviously (more than) a little sulky about the spoilt friendship. “it’s been years and i still don’t know what i did wrong.” he can just ignore anything she says that isn’t conducive to their conversation, he thinks — 

     “anyways, nuna. what about kihyun hyung?” he nudges her gently under the table with his foot. “you haven’t told me about what’s happening with you two yet. it’s getting kind of confusing, you know?” to junhee, it’s painfully obvious that they like each other, but for some reason, the other two can’t seem to see it. ahri might be his destined, but if she’s in love with someone else, junhee isn’t going to step in the way. 

dhwkyungah​:

Oh no, he was definitely looking at her. A reasonable call to shrink back, try to disappear or something equally useful whispered in the back of her mind, but the patient student stood her ground. Stealth was out the window. Duplicity a foreign concept to her nature. No, as he marched up in a brazen advance, she stepped out to face the music. Whatever it may be.

“Um,” brows furrowed as a hickory gaze swept over crossed arms and back up to a rather cute pout. Not for the first time in her twenty plus year’s Kyungah wanted to pinch someone’s cheeks but managed to resist. “Because you’re precious?” Fumbling over simple words, the young woman could feel that odd inherent tug growing stronger with the closer proximity between them. Idly, she wondered whether he didn’t sound as angry as she’d expected.

“I—I want to protect you.” Hair swung around cherubic face as she looked down. “No. That’s true, but I was asked to do this.” Rapid blinks accompanied a melancholy sigh. “Please don’t be too angry. You’re wonderful! Of course, people love you enough to want you safe and sound.” Teeth ran over bottom lip as she dared to glance up again. “I’m sure you’re quite capable! And maybe it sounds silly that someone like me could protect someone like you.”

Despite all previous misgivings or concerns, an undeniable urge rivaling any she’d ever had before gripped Kyungah. Before a beleaguered brain overrun with feelings could make sense of them, her arms were wrapping themselves around his shoulders. All thoughts of the crowded city, textbooks and even his parents faded away with the all-consuming knowledge of a single fact. “But I will. No matter what.”

     her answer is entirely unexpected and catches him off guard, his eyes widening as his lips part to return a comment, but finding no words on his tongue. the words should be strange but instead, they sink into his heart, holding him there and reassuring him that he’s going to be okay. everything is going to be okay. the feeling is so strange and he finds himself looking sheepish instead of irritated by the words. you’re precious, her voice echoes, and he hesitates. 

     the revelation that she had been asked to do so (surely by his parents, who else would be quite so overprotective?) should anger him, should frustrate him, but he knows that his parents only mean well. they’re still worried, even though sixteen has come and gone with no incident. no maleficient, no curse, and he thinks that maybe he’ll be okay. maybe maleficient won’t exist in his lifetime. 

     “i don’t need protection,” he says slowly, and he hesitates, “but... if it’s you, i... i don’t think i mind. i don’t really know why — i don’t even know your name—” and right as he says that, she throws her arms around him, and his eyes widen, arms automatically coming up to hold onto her, just as tightly. instinct drives him to do so, and for some reason, it feels right. he doesn’t know why it feels so right but it does. it feels like they were meant to know each other, that she was meant to protect him. 

dhwdojun​:

alright, once again dojun’s very young and impulsive proposal — impulsive yes, even if he did prepare flowers and a handmade card — isn’t his proudest moment. he was young and a little naive, didn’t know better about the world besides how well, junhee, was one of the prettiest people he has ever seen and that translated to love and then that translated to junhee being his soulmate because who else was dojun supposed to love anyway? that was what he was taught and that was what he believed in, even to this day, especially now that he knows that what he felt — and still feels — for junhee was just him being a little infatuated with his face, it wasn’t love. not the kind of love that he was looking for, that would make him want to marry someone. 

but having that brought up still makes him blush, even if he just a bit, and suddenly very interested in one detail in junhee’s shirt that he’s sketching. “forget what i said about you being nice, you’re just a brat.” he replies childishly. “i can’t even believe that i used to write poetry about your face at some point, your personality is such a turn off.” like he wouldn’t do the same now if he had any sort of talent to that specific area, like dojun doesn’t adore junhee anyway. the reincarnated prince looks up then, because he needs to check how to do this one shading when he’s meet with junhee just being breathtakingly beautiful staring at him, his damned dimples almost mocking dojun and his poor heart.

dojun almost drops his pencil. almost. he still has a little bit of his pride left at least. 

“actually, i just remembered why i did that.” or maybe now, considering what he just said. dojun still has his moments, these short moments when the light hits junhee’s face just right or he flashes those dimples at him that the older boy wonders sometimes if maybe indeed this isn’t love, if maybe this is the fates giving a sign that junhee is the one, because what else would be the explanation for dojun to get so flustered with someone’s face. “yep.” he confirms even if he doesn’t need to, having to force himself to go back to his sketch or else he’d just stare and stare and stare, and he’d rather not give junhee much more of that satisfaction when the other just almost made his brain reset by only smiling at him. “nevermind.” 

     he can’t help but smile mischievously at the older male when dojun starts to blush, clearly still flustered by the mention of the clumsy, but sweet proposal he had made, when he was younger and more naive. junhee hadn’t known much about love and marriage at the time — he still doesn’t, if he’s being honest — but it had been painfully clear to him at the time that whatever dojun wanted, it wasn’t junhee. they weren’t destined for each other. 

     “i’m perfectly nice,” he argues with a small pout on his face before he rolls his eyes playfully, obviously not actually bothered, his smile returning to his face. he’s definitely more amused than anything else, at this point. “you say that like you don’t still write poetry about my face,” he retorts serenely, that same dimpled smile still on his face, knowing that he has the upper hand this time. “or well, you would, if you didn’t suck at it.” he giggles there, wanting to lift a hand and cover his mouth but also mindful of the fact that dojun is drawing him and that he should therefore try to stay as still as he can. 

     at dojun’s frank admission, indicating that the older male is still very much in love with his face, junhee laughs, his eyes crinkling into crescents and nearly disappearing in his mirth. it’s extra flattering coming from dojun, he thinks, because dojun himself is so handsome that having him obviously infatuated with junhee’s face is a huge ego boost. junhee had never thought about boys until dojun had literally proposed to him, and while he had laughed it off at the time, it had started him wondering. it’s been years and he doesn’t think he’s come to a conclusion yet, still thinking and wondering about himself. 

dhwsori​:

   as much as sori pretends like she doesn’t care about things, she does - maybe too much in some cases. she walks around like she doesn’t care about her destiny, that her fate is meant to be marrying some guy who she apparently falls in love at first sight with and to the point that she wouldn’t hesitate to leave her family and home for him, or even give up something precious of hers for the chance. the truth is though, she probably cares too much, considering how much she thinks about it. it’s a tiring cycle.

   the point is: she cares, and of the things she cares about, junhee is one of them. she’s not sure if they’d ever be friends if they hadn’t known each other since the other was literally born but she supposes it doesn’t matter. what matters is they are and she would risk it all for him - so maybe there is some validity to her fate. (she’s not in love with junhee though so does it really count?)

    still, she cares so she notices when he seems a bit more run down and exhausted than normal. sori’s aware school can do that to you (it’s part of why she chose not to stress herself out like that after graduating from the high school division of ever after academy after all) so naturally, she keeps a watchful eye on junhee, both because she wants to and because his parents not-so-subtly asked her to. they could only keep him sheltered for so long so when they were no longer able to, they turned to their next best option: sori. it’s just too bad they didn’t realize how much of a bad influence she’d be on their son or else they would’ve known better than to trust her with him.

    which leads her to believe it’s in junhee’s best interest and for his well being that they forget about school and classes for the day so with a mischievous grin, she turns to the younger and slings an arm around him. “what do you say we go out and let loose then?” she suggests with a waggle of her eyebrows, an obnoxiously obvious show of playfulness that can only mean yoon sori is up to something again. “i heard there’s this band playing at swan lake and there’ll be some food stalls set up. let’s take a break!”

     junhee’s eyebrows furrow slightly at sori’s suggestion. somehow, he doesn’t feel like that’s the conclusion that they were supposed to come to. when he’s stressed over failing his classes, wouldn’t the logical thing to do be to study more? and yet, here sori is, suggesting that they ditch his class. junhee bites down on his lower lip, obviously contemplating it even though he really, really shouldn’t. he needs to study, he needs to attend class, but the sound of music and food at swan lake sounds far too tempting to his stressed mind. 

     “i should study,” he says weakly, his expression twisting slightly as he frowns at his best friend, his mind obviously caught between what he should do and what he wants to do. it’s too bad they’re entirely different things. he doesn’t think this is what his parents had in mind when they asked sori to keep an eye on him, but it’s too late. no matter what his parents say, he’ll always be friends with sori. sori, the free-spirited girl who has been in his life as long as he can remember. sori, who is more like his sister than anyone else in the world. of all people, she can always convince him to do what she wants. 

     he wavers as he thinks about the food. the thought of food is too tempting, and his stomach growls quietly. oh. he’d probably forgotten to eat lunch in his haste to try and cram as much information into his mind as possible. “we shouldn’t go...” he mumbles but the words are weak, the intention behind them even weaker.

he expects to be dragged back to the stall to either be made to clean it all up and then scolded until his ears bleed, or told to pay for whatever amount of food that was dropped because of his reckless behavior. both options would be terrible in taehyuns opinion, though he would take the first one in a heart beat. there’s no way he could cover the cost of all that. he didn’t even have enough to get one for himself right now! 

what he doesn’t expect is the person he had run into to get up and continue staying around. his eyes widen as he hears an unfamiliar voice questioning the situation and all taehyun can do is stare in unconcealed awe.

is this guy doing it because he’s worried over taehyun? 

a small voice says that he might also want taehyun to pay for knowing him over, but its drown out by the louder voice saying he has a hero! coming to his rescue! taehyun has never had someone try to save him like this, not since his hyung at the orphanage who would always defend him… even when it was actually taehyuns fault. and most of the time it is actually his fault. 

as he continues giving the stranger a starry eyed puppy look, the stall owner who was still holding him by the collar of his shirt starts complaining. explaining how taehyun had purposely destroyed part of their stall! even shaking the kid slightly to make their point. so mean… all he had done was come get a look at the food. he really hadn’t meant to knock anything over… his expression falling as he was painted as more of a villain than he is. 

the real world really does suck.

      the stall owner complains to him, although his tone is far more polite than it had been when he was yelling at the teenager. perhaps it’s in his clothes or in the way he holds himself, but it’s obvious as anything that junhee is from a different class. junhee’s expression remains politely inscrutable, nodding slightly in response to the stall owner’s complaints, and it’s only when the complaints subside that he glances at the boy quietly before he looks back up at the store owner. 

     “i’m sure he didn’t mean to do it on purpose,” he says calmly. the boy is looking at him with starry eyes and junhee gets the feeling that this unfortunate stranger just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, often. he doesn’t really give off the malicious vibe or even one who has a penchant for being deliberately naughty. of course, junhee could be wrong. as someone who was born and raised rich, there are a lot of things he doesn’t understand. but still, the boy’s crestfallen face at the accusation seems to indicate that in this case, junhee’s suspicion might be correct.

     “i can understand that you’re upset, sir,” he reasons, “but i don’t think he meant to harm your stall. why don’t we go take a look together to see what the damage is? i’ll cover the cost this time.” the stall owner blusters at the offer, but eventually declines, although junhee does insist on the owner taking two 10,000 won notes. “to cover the lost food,” he says politely, although the tone of voice is skeptical now, obviously understanding that the stall owner hadn’t been telling the whole truth. 

dhwhyunsu​:

it’s kind of ridiculous, the predicament hyunsu managed to get himself to. the only reason he’s here is because a friend—traitor that they are—promised to be the middleman, keep the atmosphere a little less tense and maybe even get rid of the awkwardness that was to come. he should have known not to trust the idiot, not when their significant other is right across the table. a few minutes in, they scurry off to their lover’s side after making eyes for the past half hour.

so, here hyunsu is now, left with another traitor. he rolls his eyes at the situation, clearly annoyed and already done. unfortunately, it’s not like he can run off. they are supposed to be working on a project together, curse that the teacher didn’t allow the class to pick their own partners.

in the first place, hyunsu can never see himself stepping foot into cupid’s cafe, a place riddled with couples, much less with junhee of all people. he doesn’t bother to hide how inconvenienced he is for being here, it’s not like junhee is having the most pleasant time either. he’d like it if he could ignore the other’s existence for a little while longer, but it was about time until their project is mentioned again.

“of course,” he says with a sigh. he searches through his bag, pulling out his notebook and his stationary box. he flips the pages of his notes until he reaches his scribbles for their newly assigned project. “thought of any ideas in that pretty little head of yours, maybe?” as per usual, hyunsu doesn’t mince his words, nor does he colour them to make sure he doesn’t offend junhee. that being said, he does want to finish this project. the last thing he wants it failing to graduate.

he twirls his pencil between his fingers, letting out yet another sigh. “i don’t like our topic.” i don’t like my partner either, he doesn’t add. “what’s there to analyse? they were both idiots, that’s all.”

     the reluctance in hyunsu’s voice is so obvious that it almost makes junhee want to throw his hands up in resignation and disappear back into his room. at least in his room, the only people who would come bother him are the people who already love him. there’s none of these dirty glances and cutting remarks in his room. 

     unable to avoid hyunsu’s displeasure, he stubbornly reaches into his bag to get out his notebook, determined to at least get some work done despite how much the other might dislike him. letting their friendship — or lack of it, he supposes — get in the way of their grades is not something he’s willing to do. the words might have been flattering, but the tone of voice that hyunsu had said them in is not nice at all. not even a little bit, and junhee can’t help his small little frown as he fishes out the book as well. 

     maybe things would be better if he just knew what he had done that was so utterly unforgivable that hyunsu still hates him to this day. he can’t really remember at all why their friendship ended. he kind of wishes he did, so that next time, something like that wouldn’t happen again. but for now, they’re stuck. they’re stuck with needing to work together, no matter what their individual feelings are. junhee might be rich and somewhat spoiled, but he’s not a slacker.

dhweunbyeol​:

she thinks their friendship is pretty unconventional, considering they had met because he had rudely stolen the last cake out of her fingertips and then forced his company on her. okay, maybe her memory of the day was somewhat twisted but it was something like that okay? it didn’t matter anyway, because now she had someone who would go to cupid’s cafe with her to check out and buy the ~fancy~ cakes with her and help her eat them too. 

it’s also nice that he usually pays.

(usually, she would go ugh, rich people here but she’ll let junhee be the exception this once. because he’s a nice rich person. who knew that could exist?)

“cake,” eunbyeol answers without looking up from the pastry display, eyeing the different cakes and slowly walking along to take in all of them. most of them are the cakes that are regularly stocked at the cafe anyway, but she’s looking for the special that they had posted about online earlier that day. hopefully it wasn’t sold out. 

“aha!” she points at the cake once she’s located it, something with berries and mint and edible gold leaf or something fancy, and usually she wouldn’t go for it but it looked so pretty that she really wanted a picture of it. and maybe a bite of it too. “that’s the fucker.”

     he can only sigh in exasperated amusement when the other simply says “cake,” and he figures that he really shouldn’t have expected much more. his friendship with eunbyeol is rather unconventional, but in that way, it’s refreshing for junhee. all his life, he’s only been really raised around people with a similar social status to him. he’s always had whatever he wanted — they’ve always had whatever they wanted. and it’s only now that he’s realizing what kind of ignorant mindset he’d grown up in, blindly just accepting life however it was given to him. 

     strange though their friendship is, it’s something that he quite enjoys. although, he supposes there’s a lot of eunbyeol that reminds him of his other friends, namely the fact that they all seem to like to bully him. what is it about him that screams, “please make fun of me?” just because he’s a princess — 

     still, he doesn’t say anything, knowing from experience that eventually, she’ll get around to saying which cake she wants. instead, he lingers patiently behind her, staring at the drinks menu as though he doesn’t already know what’s on it, nearly by heart. “do you want your usual to drink, byeol?” he asks her with his eyes fixed on the menu.