His face feels hot but it's not the swell of embarrassment under his cheeks. It's from dragging his palm over wet skin until he rubbed it all raw. It doesn't stop. He sniffs and looks pretty petulant. 

"I'm not." Hands take his, turning them over to view the bruises dotting each knuckle. He presses them back into his lap and meets Jinhee's eyes. 

"You're soft-hearted, Minghao." 

 -- 

He feels the press of dewy grass against his back when he collapses. Water logged clothes means he'd feel heavy when he sat up, but he doesn't feel like sitting up just yet. His head swims a murky sea between indecision and pain. His mouth tastes like a bunch of coins. He touches dried blood on his lip. 

Night passes into morning this way, and he jolts awake every hour. There's the buzz of insects in his ears, but he can't dissociate from the persistant memory of an old friend. He's shivering cold and his nose starts to run. Finding the energy to curl up inside a shed isn't easy. 

☮: Favourite thing about your muse

☯: First impression of your muse

♠: Favourite thing to do with your muse

Ω: Favourite feature of your muse's

♤: Way they apologize to your muse

♣: How they hold your muses hand

♧: How they kiss your muse

♡: How they hug your muse

♥: Small way to show your muse they care

♦: What they would buy because it reminds them of your muse

♢: How they share a bed with your muse

♔: How they like to cuddle your muse

♛: Pet name for your muse

★: First thing that changes when they realize they care about your muse

☆: What they miss about your muse when they're apart

☾: What my muse says to yours when they think they're asleep

❥: Anything else you can think of [specify]

“...More than one thing. What if I can’t think of one thing?” Maybe Yifan finds it amusing enough to focus on, smiling in the incomplete way he always does. It shines more in his eyes without forming into a full grin. Barely an upward twist of one corner of his mouth that disappears. “You’re incredibly stubborn. It can really be annoying-- but it’s your work ethic that I admire. You care so much about your work. Sometimes people get in the way of it, but you’re never cruel, you always try to help someone else in trouble at the expense of yourself. You hide your fears well. I know it was hard for you after the gala. The possibility of...” 

he doesn’t finish. normally he wouldn’t try to shield anyone from such blunt phrasing, but baekhyun is different. 

“...You’re a loud person. A very demanding presence-- it was almost too much for me in the beginning. I didn’t like you for a while, and then it changed. It shifted at some point. But maybe... It was curiosity that made me wonder why you try to hide so much of yourself by being so intrusive in everyone else’s lives. Even when you have suffered the most, you smile. You joke around, you say the dumbest shit. I couldn’t figure it out, why you suddenly became so interesting to me. I’ve never been able to be as free as you, be so unguarded and honest in my reactions to people and situations. But...”

“It’s captivating to be around someone like you. In ways, I think being around you made me a better agent, a better partner. And I don’t understand you sometimes, but I don’t think we need to understand completely. It’s just enough. It works this way. I’ve always liked to watch it all unfold from an outside perspective beside you. Trying to figure out how you view the world.”

Yifan pauses, fitting his chin into the palm of his hand, eyes trained on his friend.

“You probably want to hear me wax poetic about your face, don’t you? It’s not going to happen. I’m not romantic and I don’t find it all that useful. Besides, you know you’re not ugly.”

“It’s when you talk about something you love, something you’re passionate about, it shows in your entire body. You’re always present in the moment, and I’m always watching the way your eyes light up and the way your lips move.”

Yifan turns away, tucking his fist under his chin. His interest in continuing ends.

“That’s enough of that.”

THIS IS A BOLD FACE LIE

YOU DO 

[ sent to: Sass-quatch ] > Chaotic Neutral. Easy. What do I have to do? It’ll probably be easy too lol > I don’t recall this so you can’t hold this against me

when minyoung asked jisoo to strip she probably got so flustered her voice got real shrilly

you: *says anything*

“--so if now isn’t a good time to interview you, when would be a good time? I know how busy you are.”

The one trait they shared consistently creates the standstill, Minyoung buzzing around Jisoo when a questionable case still has yet to be filed. Women in their positions were rare, law and politics male-dominated and subtly but effectively always discouraging interest. Determination was an absolute for them to survive, stubbornness more like a prerequisite for their personalities. Jisoo has always been far more entertaining than her co-workers and the chief of police (who still refuses to see her). It’s a bit risky fraternizing in such a way, but there’s a story with Jisoo, and Minyoung just wants to give that narrative a voice. She uses Jisoo’s desk much like a chair, becoming a distraction Jisoo certainly does not need.

“You’re always dancing around my questions at work, so why not dance around them off the clock over lunch?”

he looked at her face and finally saw someone. she looked at him and hoped to never someone else waiting there. someone even worse in the future.

they saw each other enough (not to really see anything) they spoke just enough (not to really say much) they related to each other just enough (not to feel like strangers do) what happened when they were young together happened just enough until it wasn’t enough to ignore. not anymore.

as adults their words echo silence and they never say anything important. sometimes, he thinks maybe he wants to. maybe he should.

maybe build a bridge and let her walk across it.

yet, words always become sharp. turn into barbed wire. and he builds the fence around her even higher.