lookin' fab!

"sugar, please!” duri cries out, much too dramatic for the situation at hand. she has finally, and he definitely means finally, let him take her hair out of that wretched ponytail and brush it out to give it something new. it isn’t that eunbyul doesn’t look beautiful with her updo’s, but it is that he has been dying to do her hair something adventurous practically since his salon’s opening. now, here she sat in his special chair—in the corner, chair number 10, where photographs of his family and jwi, and all their other pets are covering the wall. the mirror is lined with a beautiful ivy plant, and notes from friends and loved ones alike, and the chair itself is a vibrant pink rather than duller of the other chairs. his station is not often in use, but he loves having friends sit in it for him. today, though, he isnt sure how to talk his friend into what he wants. he wants her to model some of the new dyes and help him work with some of his new irons and what nots, but he isn’t sure what she will actually allow. “i just think a little color could be fun, maybe even a new cut!”

backdated to the beginning of december, when hailey first arrived on the islands

“Hi! Thank you for agreeing to do this.” Hailey quickly rushed over to meet the blonde, waving her hands and smiling brightly. She’d only arrived on Starden a few days prior, but was fortunate enough to run into @duroodles​. Not only was he the resident hairdresser on island, but also knew the ins and outs of the Starden and Eastbell. “How lucky of me to have met the most handsome of tour guides! I trust that you’ll show me around well. I’d like to discover all of Starden’s nooks and crannies while I’m here.” Of course, she wasn’t planning to be here long, but who could really know how long it would be until Hailey actually decided to leave.

"of course, i love helping out. i mean, i have just been around forever!” duri greets her with a smile, and a hug right off the bat. that was one thing she should definitely learn to expect—on the islands, you hugged your friends, new or old. at least that was how duri’s family had always done, so he pulls back from the hug, happy to lead the other—miss hailey, as he found out their first meeting—around his oh so beloved home. “most handsome? oh, sugar, i don’t know about that, you’re just flattering me now! the island is full of beautiful people! you’ll learn that quickly,”

duri smiles despite the very unwanted thoughts of boys with spikey red hair and broad shoulders. he shakes them away as he holds out an arm for her, planning to link elbows with girl. “where do you plan on living again? i’d want to show you around the places closest to you first, of course... it’s important to know the shop owners round’ here. we’re all small businesses!”

💌 ( 1 )  𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕣  !             ⤷     delivered to: @orchidsmantis . titled : only echo remains. where : leif’s garden.

it’s like the little dog in duri’s bag can sense the tension between them. she lets out a vicious yap when leon comes out from around the counter in the garden area.

“sure, what is it..?” leon asks curiously - of course he’s going to help him, and not just because it’s his job. it’s not like he’s that much taller than duri, but at least he can use a stepladder as an employee, and he gets the feeling he’s going to need it. he’s already grabbed it and tucked it under his arm. “lead the way.”

the yap that jwi lets out is one that doesn’t come out often. jwi is mostly a quiet girl, only giving out happy whines when she sees a friend, or like now, lets out those angry yaps when she knows something is stressing out her owner. it embarrasses duri, because leon knows she doesn’t just bark like that, she never misses with anyone.

“sorry about jwi... i guess she doesn’t recognize you.” he tries to lie a little bit, but then just feels dumber than he would have had he not spoken. god, why did leon have to be at work today.

duri leads leon to the section, pointing up at hanging potted plants. “i want the one with pink flowers, it’ll look perfect in the salon.” he explains like he has to, but belated remembers leon possibly hasn’t even heard of the opening of shampoodle. had he come across the building at all... he wonders. “i have my own salon now, i’m just getting flowers ready for springtime...valentine’s day is always busy. you have to look good for your dates!”

as leon climbs onto the stepladder, duri is able to appreciate the person he use to love...or maybe he still does. could he even say love? it was what it felt like seeing the other’s arms and the memory of leon always spotting him when he used stepladders, the arms that would hold him when they went home together later. duri misses hitting his chest when he would say things that were too much.

even up to his hair, a faded red that duri had not touched up since they saw each other left—it means someone else helped redye it, or worse, he used box dye on himself. he still likes the spiked up look, but he wonders if leon has been using the products he gave him even still.  did leon even think of what duri use to teach him?

eastbell is duri’s true home, even just being on the more quaint of the two islands for a visit makes duri happier. one day, he hopes to be moved back, closer to his parents house. but for now, he makes the trips back and forth very often to see his parents, and visit the town.

like now, he’s running errands for his mother, picking up groceries for their weekly dinner together. just a few more things that she forgot to grab, so duri sets off with jwi nestled into her bag nicely to nook’s cranny. it’s a short walk, but he spots a familiar face.

“hejoon, sugar, my eyes better be deceiving me!” duri calls out, walking straight for the other on the path. his hands immediately find themselves in hejoon’s hair, brushing it out with his fingers and, my goodness, was hejoon really letting his hair look like this everyday? he didn’t mean to nag, but... he just couldn’t stand seeing such a messy head. “look at your hair, darlin’.. you’re due for a washing, a cut, a brush, and a color touch up! you know pink is my favorite, but it is so hard to keep looking nice, doll! you have to take care of this.. here, hold jwi?” duri says, taking his hands out of the other’s hair only to hand him the purse with the dog in it.

with the way the other failed to respond to her, she finds herself getting frustrated by feeling like the only one contributing to her interesting conversation. “are you even listening?” she asks. “i’m talking about my harvard adventures! this is super interesting, duri!” 

i’m not at all sorry for this, @duroodles​

shampoodle had grown busy, every hairdresser at work that day had someone filling their chair or an appointment that clashed with taking anyone else, so while duri normally took on specific customers, today he was seeing walk-ins and a few of the unspecified appointments.

that was how rebecca ended up in his chair, and duri didn’t mind too much. she had gorgeous hair, and touch ups were easy. no, nothing was wrong with these parts of the encounter.

she just kept talking. and don’t get duri wrong, he loved listening to people. he loved hearing all about peoples lives and problems, and normally he’d love talking to rebecca, but this time in particular he just wasn’t completely in the right mood. earlier today he had seen an ex of his, and maybe he was just tired of hearing people make the rest of the world seem like it was so much better than the islands.

“i’m sorry, sugar.” he says, brushing the paste of color onto her roots, catching her eyes in the mirror. “my mind is just somewhere else today...” he starts off, before deciding to be a little bit on the petty side. “i also just don’t understand what would be so special about harvard?”

leon.

duri hadn’t realized the other was back on the islands, let alone working at leif’s again.

suddenly, he can’t think about what he needed from leif’s, and he wants to just run out of the store because wow, could this get anymore embarrassing? fuck all of this, fuck leon. he was such an asshole, worse than anyone else he had ever met.

right, leon is the bad guy in this situation, not him. he has to get something, he came here for something. right—he wanted to get flowers for the shop.

the shop leon didn’t stay to see him open. the shop he never helped with. right, that shop. flowers to make it look nice for his customers, and not leon, because leon didn’t matter, he hadn’t mattered in so long.

why did he have to feel this right now?

he hugs the bag with jwi in it closer, mumbling to her about how they could do this. he was just a guy. it was all fine. they avoid him for the most part, until he really needs help getting a plant down, and he knows the rules for the step ladders are employees only. he used to work there after all.

duri likes to avoid the morning rushes for the roost. especially because he loves to buy coffee for his openers in the morning, sometimes bringing quite a few orders to the nearby coffee shop. he never wants to overwhelm anyone.

so, duri strolls in right on time for his usual monday routine, removing his headphones and smiling at hyunjin. duri had been so very happy a year ago when the aforementioned brought the coffee shop to town. it had a wonderful environment, and duri had very quickly became a regular, loving to support any businesses that popped up, especially owning one himself.