ɢᴀᴍᴇʙᴏʏ

no  matter,  haru  had  refined  his  craft  over  the  art  of  communication  and  conversation  over  the  years,  even  if  he  was  keeping  himself  from  demonstrating  that  to  a  minimum  with  the  two  other  ladies  he  was  trying  his  hardest  to  be  curt  and  short  with,  yet  maintaining  the  delicate  balance  of  polite  and  civil.  'charming'  would  have  been  the  word  those  ladies  would  have  used  to  describe  him,  but  there  was  no  way  for  haru  to  know  that,  and  he  especially  would  not  have  caught  on  to  how  they  most  certainly  found  him  'charming'  by  the  way  their  eyes  would  glisten  whenever  he  spared  them  a  small  smile  or  feigned  a  soft  chuckle.

for  better  or  for  worse,  he  figured  that  it  would  be  too  obvious  if  he  kept  his  responses  trimmed  with  others  yet  extensive  with  hyerin,  so  he  initially  kept  his  replies  short  with  her  as  well,  but  not  unkind.  a  simple  "hi"  back,  a  return  of  her  quip  with  one  of  his  own—"then  it  is  a  good  thing  i  grabbed  it  before  anyone  else  did".  it  was  what  she  said  after  that  tempted  him  into  saying  more  than  he  should  have.

"is  it?  you  should  let  me  know  when  you  typically  come  here,  so  i  can  avoid  those  hours.  i...  do  not  like  like  how  loud  it  is  here."  he  almost  said  the  word  'hate'  instead,  but  he  specifically  steered  clear  of  that;  it  was  an  intense  word,  even  haru  could  recognise  that,  and  most  people  tend  to  either  take  offence  to  the  severity  of  it  or  assume  that  meant  haru  would  rather  be  caught  dead  than  associate  himself  with  it  ever  again.  which  was  never  his  intention—if  he  wanted  to  avoid  loud  places  from  then  on,  he  would  say  it  in  explicit  words,  not  imply  it  by  expressing  his  distaste  for  it.  he  couldn't  understand  how  people  were  able  to  spin  his  words  and  extract  more  meaning  out  of  it  than  he  originally  planned.

he  could  tell  she  was  about  to  give  a  response  to  what  he  had  just  said,  however  the  young  woman  across  from  him  grabbed  his  attention  before  hyerin  could  even  get  a  word  out  and  it  took  patience  only  haru  could  afford  to  not  react  externally.  he  did  groan  internally,  however,  because  there  it  was  again,  they  kept  trying  to  pull  his  attention  away  from  everyone  else  and  monopolise  him,  god  only  knows  why.  he  wished  he  could  tell  them  to  stop  but  the  last  time  he  did  something  similar,  he  received  chides  from  his  friends  not  to  be  so  rude  and  he  did  not  want  to  seem  more  like  an  alien  than  he  already  did  by  inquiring  why  that  was  perceived  as  rude.  if  anything,  he  found  them  rude  for  trying  to  keep  him  from  speaking  to  anyone  else,  but  he  resigned  to  the  fact  that  such  a  hidden  subtext  was  lost  to  him.

when  the  question  came  of  whatever  drinks  they  would  all  be  having,  haru  too  responded  with  a  noncommittal  "i'm  okay  with  anything",  which  then  served  as  ammunition  for  the  two  ladies  cornering  him  to  inquire  more  about  his  alcohol  preferences.  as  always,  he  assumed  on  a  polite  smile  and  spoke  at  a  steady  pace,  carefully  choosing  his  words  in  a  language  not  yet  second  nature  to  him.  "i...  drank  quite  a  bit  whenever  i  would  follow  my  friends  out  during  my  years  in  university.  but  i  prefer  other  beverages."

the thought to make a joke about him sounding like he's planning on avoiding her passed though her head, but decides against it. she's not exactly sure how that'd land, so she didn't take the gamble. "i don't come here that often. especially on my own. i just end up here when i'm with them." she nods toward the cluster on her other side, the people she already knew would be the reason for her demise tonight. "i don't know if it's just loud here or if we're the loud ones. but we do normally come here around this time. if i figure out the quiet hours, i'll let you know."

while their questions tugged his attention away, she let herself drift off a little. her thumb rolled over the thin band on her index finger, then spun the ring a quarter turn, paused, spun it back. she was enjoying the quiet corner of her mind, but she was still catching pieces of the table talk as they floated by. a story about someone's haircut gone wrong. an argument about which latest song was the best. every so often she nodded at the right moment, let out a quiet hum that meant i'm here ,listening, even if she was using most of her focus on the ring.

her attention was drawn back at the mention of alcohol, and she almost verbalized the long sigh she did in her head at it. she wasn't really in the mood to drink anything with alcohol tonight, but she knew she'd be in for a long night if her friends heard that. though, her sigh was cut short by haru's answer. his choice to say "other beverages" was interesting to the younger of the pair, and it spawned a bunch of small questions in her mind. she slid herself into the conversation, asking the first small question that came to mind. "what do you like instead? i could use a few new recommendations to try since i typically end up with something sweet." in the corner of her eye, she could see her closest friend of the group looking at her, and hyerin can't determine if she should be concerned or not.

the answer was quickly revealed: she should've been concerned. her closest friend announced they were getting drinks, then sing-songed that they loved her so much they needed a love shot with her. 'just one, promise,' and they would excuse her from any drinking game after for the rest of the night. hyerin's hand stilled on her ring as she fought back the frown that threatened to appear. she knew them too well. one shot turned into a few, and then it's 'join the next round!' and then it's 'okay but you have to defend your title.' hyerin hesitated, eyes flicking between her friends' hopeful faces, as she weighed the cost of saying no against just going along with it. the pause was long enough for her friend to tack on a final bargaining chip: yogurt soju. the exact flavor that always coaxed her over the line. hyerin exhaled through her nose, the tiniest surrender, and nodded. "only one," she said, holding up a finger to set the boundary everyone would pretend to respect for now.

the  moment  they  stepped  into  the  threshold  of  the  establishment,  haru's  senses  were  immediately  assaulted  by  the  vibrant  cacophony  of  sizzling  grills,  boisterous  laughter,  and  the  thick  haze  of  smoky  air.  in  an  instant,  dread  washed  over  him  and  the  immense  annoyance  of  knowing  that  he  could  have  been  anywhere  else  but  there  was  palpable  in  his  veins.  loud  crowds  made  for  distractions  aplenty  and  a  slight  debilitation  for  clear  thought,  which  haru  had  an  inkling  he  would  need  as  much  of  as  he  possibly  could  muster  that  night.

he  spared  a  glance  over  to  where  hyerin  was,  so  that  he  could  keep  track  of  her  location  in  spite  of  the  two  pillars  affixed  to  either  side  of  him  that  seemed  hell  bent  on  keeping  him  sandwiched  between  them.  he  hadn't  a  clue  why  these  two  young  ladies  had  been  consistently  hounding  on  him  and  made  it  their  mission  to  keep  his  focus  away  from  everyone  else,  but  he  still  tried  to  be  as  cordial  as  he  could  while  thinking  of  a  strategy  he  could  employ.

haru  could  probably  count  within  one  hand  the  number  of  times  he'd  unknowingly  gone  out  together  with  hyerin—two  separate  friend  circles  of  his  apparently  had  an  overlap  with  hers,  and  once  again  haru  was  in  disbelief  at  how  there  were  people  who  genuinely  believed  more  company  made  for  more  fun.  yet  in  spite  of  the  few  instances  that  they'd  been  within  relative  proximity  to  one  another,  his  perceptive  gaze  had  caught  on  to  small  things,  little  details  that  most  would  either  dismiss  or  overlook  entirely,  which  gave  him  the  strongest  inkling  of  hyerin's...  he  wasn't  even  sure  what  to  call  it,  at  least  not  yet.

tonight  would  be  the  night  he'd  get  his  answers,  he  thought.

when  their  group  was  led  to  a  long  table  against  one  of  the  walls,  more  chaos  erupted  in  the  already  lively  premises  and  the  politics  of  deciding  the  seating  arrangement  began.  while  haru  typically  had  little  preference  for  where  to  sit  and  he  was  usually  more  than  happy  to  take  whichever  seat  remained,  this  was  the  one  night  he  had  a  particular  position  in  mind,  and  he  had  every  intention  of  claiming  it  for  his  own.

in  a  gesture  he  rarely  partook  in,  haru  shoved  his  hands  deep  into  the  pockets  of  his  pants  and  rolled  in  his  shoulders,  so  that  he  could  create  as  much  distance  as  possible  between  him  and  the  two  unwanted  columns  on  either  side  of  him.  before  they  could  catch  on  to  his  escape  attempt,  he  then  swiftly  sidestepped  away  and  casually  slid  into  the  seat  right  beside  hyerin's,  wordlessly  and  without  sparing  her  another  glance.

they moved in a loose cluster and she let their chatter carry her, adding a joke here and there when she could. she kept her jacket folded over her arm because it gave her hands something to do. someone nudged her toward the middle and she almost halted, but then let herself be steered because saying no would make it bigger than it needed to be. the table came into view, and she took her seat. only then did she notice haru settling into the seat beside hers, which kind of caught her off guard. they weren't necessarily close if you were to ask hyerin. they were just familiar from overlapping friend circles and a few shared laughs from the times they'd hung out. still, the smile she offered him felt a little more real than the one she wore for the friends that dragged her here.

"hello," she said as a simple pleasantry. she let the word hang there, and for a moment, she let the room turn into small things she could name instead of one loud blur. her eyes flickered from the decor on the walls to the flooring with a scuff right where her feet were. it was enough to get her to relax and push through another hour or two of socializing. she set her jacket across her lap and folded the edge between her fingers to once again keep her hands busy.

but she had to keep her mind busy before she spent every second thinking about her bed, so she turned back to haru. "it's been a busy night," she started, meeting his eyes for a beat before looking away again. "great seat choice, though. maybe even the best in the house." the joke was quick, something he could ignore if he wanted. her gaze skimmed past him to the far end of the table and back again, never lingering in one place for more than two seconds. "this place is somehow always loud when i'm here." it was a comment meant for herself, but she'd said it just loud enough to be picked up by the two people sitting on either side of her if they were paying attention.

she let out a long sigh as she leaned back in her seat, tucking a loose strand behind her ear as she took in the table. it had only been a few minutes, but it already felt like an hour. she opened her mouth to speak to haru again and then noticed the girl across from him looking like she wanted to talk to him, so she swallowed whatever she was about to say and angled her body a fraction away to make room for the conversation he was about to be pulled into. instead, she spoke to no one in particular, aiming it at the group. "i'm good with anything. i'll have whatever you all want."

written for yoon hyerin (@hdhyerin) ♡

chaeyeon tears down the park path, bell chiming like she's announcing royalty, her long hair flying, laugh too loud for the Sunday quiet. she pedals standing up, legs burning, but she sells it as if she's auditioning for a commercial. "oh my god, look at me~ look at us! i totally needed this." she swerves dangerously close to the grass, then wobbles back onto the path, shrieking, "i meant to do that! totally part of the routine!" before ringing the bell again. a family of joggers stares, but she waves like a pageant queen, coasting until she nearly tips.