maelstrom

[/part of Jieun is still amused about this situation. She just barely resists the urge to mess with him and play pranks on him by telling him things she knows about him and situations they’ve been in. After all she did see him shirtless at one point when coming over with lunch for his roommate and herself. In the end the two of them divulged all of it while crossing chopsticks to fight for the last pieces of chicken. Or that Hoya had helped her get over her initial awkwardness when dancing with a partner- if looked at it from a bystander perspective, she could definitely mess with him but Jieun wasn’t that mean.] Yush! That I know. [/with an easy smile on her lips she walks.] if there is anything you want me to tell you about Seoul or people here, just let me know! I know quite lots of people so I’ll probably able to help you out!

Mail is one of those trivial things he always forgets to check, and he’s thankful the people nowadays have turned to more modern forms of communication because if he had to rely on snail mail and check his mailbox everyday, then no one would ever hear from him. He goes to grab it at least once a week if he’s lucky. But thankfully nothing super urgent ever comes for him in the mail– no packages from online shopping or post cards from relatives who’ve gone on vacation or anything like that. 

He just so happens to remember to pick up the mail today; he stands in their apartment lobby by the stairs to actually open their mailbox to check what’s inside– bills, bills, flyers, and more flyers– he discards about half the pile into the nearby recycling bin, turns to the stairs to make his way up to his apartment– and that’s when he sees him. Re-encounters with Hoya have always been awkward, despite them leaving things on ‘okay’ terms since the last time they met– and speaking of which, it’d also been a while since he’s last seen him. From how he sees this, he has two options: one, ignore him and pretend like he didn’t see him, therefore avoiding the awkwardness, or two– confront him and say hello. 

(But who is he kidding, he’s not the first type of person anyway)

So, he stops, taps the other male on the shoulder and, “Hey Hoya, long time no see! What’ve you been up to?” Was that too casual? Probably too casual.

hoya checks his mailbox and sees a few things inside addressed to him -- a few bills, spam letters, a letter from his family back in busan, some letters from friends in LA, but nothing out of the ordinary, but hoya’s not surprised after all. he did just recently move to seoul anyways. he finished perusing through everything, tossing out junk mail into the recycling bin and starts to head back upstairs only for someone to stop him. 

he takes the earbud out and gives the stranger a curious glance but a smile nonetheless. of course, it has to be another weird encounter for hoya. he really can’t catch a break, can he? it’s almost as if this is karma for him doing something bad in a past life or whatever. hoya switches his music off and shoves his earbuds into his pocket, not caring if they tangle or not, and regardless, they were going to. 

“it’s nice to see you, too?” hoya answers the stranger’s question with a question of his own and he hopes this meeting isn’t awkward, but too late. “uhhh, i guess i’m good? i uhhh, i’m getting settled in seoul, but it’s all good.” he searches the other’s face for a sign of familiarity, but it’s so faint, hoya’s not sure if he even knows this person or it’s just because the guy has a common face. 

[/and so Jieun walks ahead, confused, still a little lost. She never dealt with friends who suffered from memory loss before. Yet there was no sense in making it more complicated as it was. Leaving Hoya to feel guilty or like he did something wrong was the last thing she wanted. Especially when he apologized to her. Slowing down her step so they were on the same path again, the trainee smiled.] Oh no, please don’t apologize. It’ll be alright somehow. I hope you’ll regain your memories and well- we can always just get to know each other again! [/then she bows her head, dismissing to extend her hand since he was more than occupied at the moment.] Song Jieun. Nice to meet you! [/then she grinned. Even if her intentions were honest, she couldn’t help but feel a little amused about introducing herself to a person she had known for over a year.]

it was for old time’s sake. to get away from the strict training atmosphere, she wanted to go back to her roots where she first had started to properly learn how to dance, or freestyle her dancing at least. she liked to think that she had gotten better at it, but she knew that she still had a long way to go. glancing up at the sign made her feel a little nostalgic, smiling to herself she opened the door and greeted the font desk lady with a smile.

her feet moved over the floor and towards the same practice room she had used back then, where she had had most of her classes. once she was outside the door she noticed someone else was there, blinking a little she opened the door, curious she glanced inside only to spot a familiar figure. “oh!” was her first reaction as she laid her eyes on the male,, she entered the room silently as she didn’t want to disturb him as he was warming up, getting ready to dance.

hoya goes through different motions of his body and oddly feels as if he’s done it before, in this exact room, in this exact spot. strange, he knows, but maybe it’s just because all dance rooms are practically the same. hoya doesn’t think that’s the case but he didn’t want to argue with himself in his head. instead, he focuses on warming up, loosening up his entire body before he turns his music on. 

in the corner of his eye, he notices a figure standing at the door and he almost stops because the face looks familiar to him. he hasn’t had the chance to dance in awhile though, he pretends to not have seen her presence and he moves to the music, limbs swaying in precision to the beat.