chrysalism.

『 ☽ call me ‘bro’ ☾ 』 starter for @chaerincirce – ! 🃏

Dizzying stars danced across the opaqueness of the alley. Only the sounds of panting breathing and bloodied skin against bloodied skin could be heard. Shuffling footsteps quickly silenced by the sudden THUD! of a large mass being smacked against hard surface. 

Pulling back to regain what little of himself he had left, the mangled painter hunched over, curled over himself as he used a bloodied hand to hold at his abdomen – now sore and bruised. He continued to pant, swaying to and fro slightly as orbs of color would fade in and out of his vision.

He doesn’t even remember how he ended up in this situation. In an alley brawl with some stranger... It all happened in the blink of an eye. He thought he had a better handle on his temper by now... clearly, he didn’t.

In the midst of trying to keep his footing, he was met with the brute force of another series of punches. The potential energy unleashed on his battered flesh and sent him stumbling backwards, into the light of the street. He just barely managed to catch himself before he face planted into the hard concrete of the side walk. It was only once he had managed to prop himself up on an elbow and wipe his tattered sleeve over his face did he notice that he had fallen just mere steps from an innocent bystander – possibly toppling over them had it not been for his timeliness. 

He hurried to stand, careful of the iridescent stars that speckles his vision. He offered an embarrassed expression, tone apologetic and nervous,

『 ☽ eye for an eye ☾ 』 starter for @lunaxyoona – ! 🃏

He swore that he was paying attention, he really did. His complete and total attention was on the meeting, the information, the importance of this reunion for both Haengunwi Chil and Neugdaedeul. His mind did not stray, it did not stir, it didn’t think of anything else.

Not at the way the leader of the opposing gang fixed her hair so gracefully. 

Not at the way she held herself with such poise, demanding respect but ever-so effortlessly.

And certainly not at the way her intensely sharp eyes would pierce him every time she glanced towards him.

The djinn was sitting at a table in the middle of this emptied out bar, between representatives for his gang, Haengunwi Chil, and the leader of Neugdaedeul, along with some of their other members. This was a rare situation, as the five notorious gangs rarely, if ever, meet up on good terms. However, this time the aforementioned members of Neugdaedeul had requested the help of The Seven of Luck. They were here to find out more information as to how the gang notorious for slight of hands did their dirty work. How they managed to con patrons out of their hard earned money time and time agin.

Eunbyul, especially, was being put to the plate. Being a gambler and a con-man for the gang meant that he had a lot of valuable information to offer. Yet, he found himself sitting still at the table. Mind and heart clearly not focused on the situation at hand.

Feeling those intense eyes on him once again, he fumbled through his thoughts. At a complete and total loss for words. Feeling as though he was losing his handle on the situation, and his cool, he shut his eyes and craned his neck left and right – giving the illusion that he was cooly loosening the tight muscles. But in reality, he was just about ready to sprint out of his seat and out onto the streets, where the cold winter wind would blow him somewhere far away. It was when he heard the sound of throats being cleared, of voices calling his name, that he snapped back to reality and looked around with heavy lidded eyes. 

“So...,” feeling panic slowly build up within him, he tried to stall for as long as he could, “let me get this right...”

Shifting his gaze from either member Neugdaedeul, he took his time before looking straight into the eyes of the source of his strayed mind, “You want advice from us, to help you con people? What do we get out of it?”

『 ☽ bonnie & clyde ☾ 』 starter for @sncpdragons – ! 🃏

He’d never admit it out loud, but lately the djinn has had a reason to smile. His otherwise gloomy and agitated facial expressions easily pushed others away, the only time his face really showed any kind of warmth of charisma was when he was working his charms on patrons or anyone who happened to fawn over him. If it hadn’t been for that, he would never remove that permanent scowl from his face.

“Only a few more minutes now...,” he mumbled to himself as he checked the clock that hung on the wall in the casino’s break room. His fingers tapped on the hard surface of the table as he turned his attention back to his phone.

Eunbyul had overheard some interesting news from a bickering couple at his table. While he had maintained a poker face and pretended not to have heard a single word of conversation, he can’t hide the fact that his ears practically stretched out the moment he heard the juicy details of infidelity. Thinking back to it brought a devious smile to his face.

“Where is he?” throwing his head back impatiently, the man groaned and returned to his original position, eyes now darting to the door. Honestly, this story was too good to pass up and if the little brat didn’t walk in soon he wasn’t going to get the drama of the day.

Like a miracle, the door swung open and Eunbyul’s body suddenly jumped in anticipation, a wide toothy grin on his face. “Finally!” 

He’d never admit it out loud, but lately the djinn has had a reason to smile. He’s made friends with one of the members of the gang, but it’s the kind of friendship that clicked without having to try too hard. He couldn’t have been more thankful for the younger djinn’s presence, suddenly raking in money for the gang wasn’t such a bore.

face: i’m a 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓈𝒽𝒾𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇

wants: stuck in an 𝒾𝓃𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂

aesthetics: you’ll never 𝓌𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓊𝓅

asks: i should 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 – asks

submits: i’ll reveal your 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂 – submits

starters: those with 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓇𝑒𝓈 – starters

replies: those with 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓇𝑒𝓈 – replies

ooc: ℰko

djinnbyul: djinnbyul

starter for @shxnxngmyeong – ! 🃏

It had been a shit day. It was as if everything had worked against Eunbyul’s favor on purpose. 

He didn’t sleep last night, instead he was covering for someone at the casino until sunrise. He had no food at home. Grocery shopping took longer than it ever should. He missed his daytime dramas. Couldn’t fall asleep because he was called into the casino to work another shift. 

To say he was feeling the flames of hell burn within him was an understatement.

Eunbyul felt awful, and what better way to emphasize that feeling than to sit around with others who were also having a shitty day and fester in the overwhelming awful sensation. Trudging through the busy city night all he could think about was how pathetic it felt to be heading towards a bar on a week day night.

Spotting his melancholic oasis, he sighed and ran a frustrated hand through dark locks. Stepping into the building he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was packed – guess he wasn’t the only one having a terrible week day. He didn’t feel as much self hatred upon learning that. 

There weren’t many open seats, which brought a frown to Eunbyul’s face. As he made his way through the taken tables and chairs, he managed to spot one available bar stool. Not paying attention to how it was seemingly too perfect... Too exhausted to pay it much mind, the djinn sat himself down at the bar next to a patron with a little too many empty glasses at his side. He raised a hand to signal the bartender, accidentally nudging the aforementioned patron with his elbow. He didn’t seem to stir much, those drinks probably weighing him down, but Eunbyul wasn’t about to start a rude streak.

『 ☽ call me ‘bro’ ☾ 』 starter for @blisande – ! 🃏

“I’m sorry everyone, but this table will be closed for a few minutes.” A sweet smile spread across the djinn’s face as he cleaned the table. He gently waved an arm in the direction of another open table, “There are other tables open on that side of the room.” once the patrons had left his side, Eunbyul’s charismatic persona collapsed, groaning as he rubbed the back of his neck. He really couldn’t wait to sit down in the break room and do anything but smile.

People are greedy creatures, the thought has always been present in Eunbyul’s mind ever since he learned to see the desires of other people. No matter how they tried to justify their wishes at the end of the day it didn’t matter, greed was greed, no matter how good the intention is. Luckily for him, his powers do make his job incredibly easy.

Being a gambler and con-man for the Seven of Luck was never a route he had planned for himself, but the opportunity had fallen into his lap and he wasn’t in much of a position to refuse. That’s why he finds himself working extra hours at the casino. The week had felt endless, and it didn’t help that his skills were constantly needed at locations around the city to reap in cash. He never complained, but his face does all the talking for him.

Striding as quickly as possible to the employees only area of the floor, Eunbyul noticed something rather odd. There was a wall hugger close to the door. That in itself wasn’t unusual, but it was strange that the man who sat there with his phone plastered to his face looked so young... and rather... alone? Eunbyul looked around, hoping maybe someone would walk by and come take their kid away. Yet he didn’t seem to notice anyone moving towards the kid’s direction. The djinn sighed and took a detour, heading over to the wall hugger.

『 ☽ count to 10 ☾ 』 starter for @kgwoobin – ! 🃏

Meetings were supposed to be grounding. 

Meetings were supposed to provide Eunbyul with a sense of stability in his life. 

His struggles with keeping his emotions in check didn’t seem like they were getting better, contrary to what the therapist has told him before. That he’s “making great progress.” That “listening and sharing with others was taking steps in the right direction.”

His willingness to come to therapy was already a great feat in of itself.

Meetings were supposed to be his little oasis in the turbulent chaos that was his inner demons.

But this meeting didn’t seem to wash him over with that familiar sense of calm he’s gotten accustomed to when he stepped into the familiar room and saw the same group of exhausted face.

Much to his anguish, the therapist had informed the group that a new member would be joining them at the next meeting. Everyone seemed to nod and agree nonchalantly that it would be good to have someone new to listen to. However, at the end of that meeting the therapist had pulled Eunbyul aside to ask something... rather grand of him. He tried to refuse, oh, how he did. But the task was already given to him. 

And so this is how Eunbyul wound up at the next group meeting, sitting in his usual chair adjacent to the window, leg bouncing rapidly as his hands came together to tie his fingers, resting just over his mouth, hiding his displeased expression. His eyes kept gazing towards the clock, its hands moving at a glacial pace. His stomach churned, twisting and turning in ways he hadn’t felt since the last time he got sick.

It was almost time for the meeting to start. The new attendee was joining today. Eunbyul didn’t know much about the new person who would join them. Other than the fact that it was another male, and his name was “Oh Woobin.” The disgruntled djinn did his best to relax his nerves, taking deep breaths and counting to ten.

He shouldn’t be this nervous. It was just another attendee. Yet his mind kept going back to the private conversation he shared with the therapist last meeting.

“I think it would be good for you to sponsor Woobin.”

Thoughts broken upon hearing the door to the meeting room open, Eunbyul’s focus shot to the person at the door. This was a new face, so it was safe to assume this was the infamous new attendee. Steeling himself, he rose from his seat and wiped his hands on his dark plaid patterned pants, making his way to the door to introduce himself.

Once he stood before the other he offered his hand out, a gentle smile gracing his face. “Hello, you must be Oh Woobin. I’m Hyeon Eunbyul. It’s nice to meet you, I’ll be your sponsor at this group.”

『 ☽ out of my shell ☾ 』 starter for @jaesungkg – ! 🃏

Pushing the fire escape door open with his shoulder Eunbyul stepped out of the apartment building’s stairwell and onto the roof. Unable to use his hands, he grunted as he used all of weight to push the heavy iron door open. The stuffy  air of the stairwell was suddenly replaced with the smell of fresh breeze. The fresh gust was welcoming, and Eunbyul didn’t waste a second to stride past the door and move towards the edge of the roof where a couple of lawn chairs sat.

He placed the two heavy bags of food down onto the crate that rested between the two chairs. The paper bags crinkled and the djinn was happy to finally have use of his arms again. He sighed loudly, dropping down into one of the chairs. He sunk into the dark colored fabric and gazed out towards the city. The lights were something else, yet after a moment he considered how much lovelier the night sky would be if there wasn’t so much light pollution...

It wasn’t that long since he had sat down, but the djinn was rather impatient. He didn’t mind spending time with his friend, but he would much prefer to stay in the comfort of his apartment. Huffing slightly, he unrolled the top of one of the fast food bags and plucked a couple of fries out before pulling his phone out of his pocket to check the time.

“He’s late...” Great. Now he was going to look overeager. Chewing grumpily on his french fries, Eunbyul began to type out a message to his tardy comrade.

✉️ Text to: Jaesung Kang 📝 Start Message...

Hey, Jae. We said to meet up tonight, right? I’m on the roof and I got the food. If you’re on the way you better hurry up before I eat your burger. And if you’re not on the way... I’m still gonna eat your burger.

* eko | 22 | uct-05 / est

yee-haw, everybody! 🤠 my name is eko and it’s so nice to meet all of you ~ thank you for giving me the opportunity to write with you all on hustlers. i’m so excited to be here and i can’t wait to start plotting and writing with everyone!

this is my son, eunbyul hyeon, a djinn who is 125 years old. he goes by the alias of “arsene”. he is a member of haeungunwi chil, as a gamber and con-man! more in depth detail about him can be found here and here!