— made it.

I wouldn’t say I set myself up for high expectations, but I have goals in life... mostly regarding my career, so I try my best to reach them. I work hard to achieve them. It’s not about aiming high to me, but to have a clear goal.

No... not really. I mean, I’d love not to have be bullied in school, but if that hadn’t happened, mum wouldn’t have taken me to taekwondo classes, and I quite like taekwondo, so...

▬

A grin rested over her lips, she didn’t not expect them to be unable to hear her own laughs, so their response didn’t surprise her at all. It mostly amused the shapeshifter. “Oh definitely, it’s better than I could expect. At least you’re not at all like my previous neighbors,” she could never forget how loud they were and constantly fighting. She never understood if they were a couple or just friends, but they were as frustrating as she perceived them to be. “Just you? Well, a challenge… I’m sure you were able to manage it, it was just a couple of days.” At least, Charlie tried to work with what she could do during that period of time. Rehearsing with the cast that didn’t disappear, waiting until everything was back to normal to go on with all the plans they had for the series and its schedule.

“You could tip off the paparazzi themselves, you didn’t have to tell someone for that to happen,” she stated with a light shrug.  

—

“That bad? Shit... glad to be at least a good change for you.” Honestly, Jin tended to keep to themselves. Thin walls were quite common in the neighborhood they’d been brought up on, so they were used to being quiet. Granted, there were situations in which they couldn’t help but being loud, especially whenever they had people over, but normally, they were rather quiet and private. “I did... It also gave me enough strength to be more clear about what I wanted and didn’t want for my future in the company, so I’m in much better shape than I was.” Jin then motioned their head towards her. “Hope it wasn’t hard for you, though. Do you uh--want to come upstairs? I have a few beers in the fridge and I’m fucking starving. I could order dinner.” They offered. I mean, it didn’t hurt to offer and they wouldn’t think much of it if Charlie said no, but well, Jin didn’t know a lot of people in Astoria. It would be nice to make friends of some sort. Or--at least... acquaintances. Didn’t people say it made moving to another country easier? “I promise not to tip any paparazzi while at it.” He also needed a shower and to put on something more comfortable.

▬ 

“Well, she definitely raised you right,” Laurel ended up finding in their humor an armor to let go of what had happened previously at the bar. At least, it had been able to cause her to chuckle while her hands moved her hair back, any action that would bring her back to reality and let go of the anxious feeling of dealing with someone that couldn’t leave her alone. “Ah, yes. If not an almighty force, then the strongest one I know,” his words caused her to think about her mother and everything Marisol meant for Laurel, how it always seemed that she was protected by the one person she wished to still have around. “But which one do you prefer? Because I’d like to take that into consideration.” Even if they preferred Jin, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask. She knew how lazy people would be sometimes when it came to different names, languages and words.

“Sometimes they are, I’ve met a few that have caused me to know how they can disturb my peace while at a bar. So this was just disappointing, but not really a surprise,” she stated. “I was going for a mojito, but we could definitely change it for tequila shots if you’re up for it.”

—

Although Jin didn’t say anything they definitely appreciated the woman’s words towards their mother... just like they had always appreciated their mother. They might not have been the best at showing it, but in their own way, the whole family had a lot of love for one another. While they didn’t know what Laurel was talking about, Hyunjin also didn’t feel inclined to ask what she had meant by that, it didn’t feel like the time nor the place to be having some sort of serious conversation about whatever topic it was. People didn’t go to bars to have serious conversations, did they? He would assume not. “I don’t mind either or, I promise.” Jin replied honestly, with a light smile on his lips. “As long as you don’t use gendered terms with me, you can call me by pretty much anything and I’d be okay with.” He chuckled, running his fingers through his hair while allowing a light chuckle to escape his lips. His eyes rested on the woman for a woman. The way she expressed herself, reminded Hyunjin of his own sister and part of him wished she had decided to move to Astoria, too, but, at the same time, he knew he wouldn’t have left the UK had this proposal not appeared, so...

“It must be harder when you’re alone, right?” He wouldn’t assume to know how it was for her, although, he knew for a fact that some men were annoying as hell and he hated it. “Unless... you’re here with some friends and I’m keeping you from them?” Because he didn’t want Laurel to feel like she needed to keep giving him attention just because he had helped her... but her question sort of eased the shapeshifter’s worries a little. “Tequila sounds great, actually. This round’s on me.” Jin assured her, before getting the bartender’s attention and ordering a round of tequila shots, which were brought along with slices of lemon. “Cheers, Laurel.” Jin clinked his shot glass against hers and quickly downing his drink, then sucking on the slice of lemon, before returning his attention to her. “I’ll send you my doctor’s bill if I wake up dead tomorrow...” He joked. “Anyway... were you born here?”

-

If Seamus could bottle the attention for later, they’d likely never have the need to take another drug again. But, then again, maybe not. There was no telling when the effects would wear off, but no one could keep paying attention to someone forever and eventually they would seek out something to numb the torment their thoughts put them through. For now, in that moment with Jin, it was enough. It even brought a smile out of Seamus that was neither sardonic nor forced, just genuine contentment. 

“I think a lot of depressed people end up with uplifting lyrics, tunes, or jokes, they don’t want people to feel like they do, y’know?” Another reason Seamus doesn’t talk about their own mental gymnastics, they would rather keep it to themselves and not put it on anyone else. Their demons were their own burden and not anyone else’s to bear. Seamus reached to stroke a hand down the other’s cheek. “Never worry ‘bout me, love. But, I could probably cry at how damn pretty you are. It should likely be illegal.” They answered with a wink. Jin was far too gorgeous for their own good, and brilliant to boot. Seamus couldn’t help but swoon.

—

He didn’t know much about what Seamus was talking about. Sure, Hyunjin had known sadness just like everyone else, but depression was too much of a strong word for the shapeshifter and, fortunately they hadn’t experienced it. Although it seemed like Seamus was speaking from experience... there was no way for Jin to know for sure. They were close, but, apparently, not close enough to touch personal subjects such as this. It was okay, though. People tended to force intimacy and Hyunjin liked the pace Seamus and him had decided to take. It left room for improvement, but also, Hyunjin didn’t feel bad in keeping a certain distance because they didn’t want to give Seamus the wrong idea.

“Of course I worry about you.” He replied, but as soon as he heard Seamus’ joke, he burst out laughing. “You’re so silly.” Jin shook his head. “If being pretty should be illegal, does that mean you want me in jail?” He tilted his head, all in good spirits, in order to look at his companion. “I heard prison is quite rough here. Glad to know that’s the kind of fate you want for me.” He teased, his hands moving downward to tickle Seamus’ ribs.

I don’t... know how to answer this? I suppose when I’m working on something I’m excited about. Codes and programming seems to be more comfortable to me than people?

-

The arms wrapped around them was a welcome surprise and immediately relieved whatever tension was still being held in their frame. He leaned back into Jin and held their nice strong arms with both hands, tapping fingers along to the beat of the music. “Good! I always have a fabulous time with ye, darlin’.” Seamus tilted their head to beam a smile up at him. Which, was mostly true. There were rough moments, ones with talks of things Sea mostly tried to avoid or brush off, but those weren’t Jin’s fault per se. It was just how it was sometimes and they obviously didn’t stop being friends after the fact which was all that ever mattered to Seamus. 

“They are a bit sad, but I like the folky stuff, too.” Seamus didn’t know if there was a music type they didn’t like. Maybe the super high pitched opera singers, just because extremely high drawn out sounds made them wince. “Sometimes you need a song to get you in the mood to cry for the catharsis of it all. Y’know?” They nodded as though they needed to convince themselves of the words that ramble out of their mouth and swayed along to the current song. “Plus a break from mosh pits and crowd surfin’ is good for everyone.” 

—

Jin smiled down at Seamus when the shifter looked up at them and then pressed a kiss on their forehead. It kind of reminded them of how things were when Seamus was sober, but Hyunjin decided to focus on either to gig or the conversation itself. It would do no one any good if the taller man got lost in bits and pieces of their past. They had broken things off with a reason and they were keeping their word. Besides--Hyunjin was way too busy to think about sharing their life with someone else.

“Morrisey had quite the upbeat songs for such a depressive bloke, though.” He chuckled. “So, I think I can handle these lyrics.” Jin kept swaying their bodies to the rhythm of the music they were playing, then looked down at Seamus again. “Yeah. Never been much of a crier, but I get it. Do ya need to cry for any reason? Should I be worried?”

▬

It was inevitable that her petite figure would do nothing to that guy trying to annoy her, but at least someone else was able to get results. And aside from that, someone intervening, aid her into restraining herself from getting into a fight or using her powers to find a way to make him back away. Her hand passed through locks of her hair and finally she was able to take a deep breath and let go of how anxious that minor situation caused her to be. ‘I’m– sí. I mean, yes. I’m alright.” A sigh escaped from between her lips. “Thank you. For doing this, most people usually just stare and don’t want to do shit about this kind of situation. I’m sure someone found the time to record or something,” she replied, rolling her eyes; but then, Laurel just ended up laughing.

“It shouldn’t be this stressful to go out for drinks, right?” And with that she finally offered her hand to them. “I’m Laurel, by the way. Can I get you anything? A drink or something to eat as a way of expressing my gratitude?” Besides, her friend would soon need to leave, so she wouldn’t be by herself at the bar. Which, usually, she wouldn’t mind, but now it was for the best that she had some company.

—

“Good thing my mum’s always said I wasn’t most people.” Once again, leave it to Hyunjin to crack jokes in inappropriate times, as well we whenever he was nervous, but that wasn’t the case here. “It might’ve been too dark for them to actually get something decent out of it, so maybe you’ve got someone up there looking after you, or however people say it.” They weren’t exactly religious. Their parents were, but Hyunjin and their older sister, ever since they left Bristol, they stopped paying much attention to it. The twins were probably the ones who still went to church, if anything. They didn’t know. Quick reminder to call the lads and check in on them.

Hyunjin took her hand and gave it a light shake. “Hyunjin, but people find it easier to call me Jin. And yeah, I can’t imagine how shitty it for women. Men are massive dicks, so I’m sorry.” He chuckled a bit, before shaking his head. “I’m alright, thank you. How about I buy you something instead? To make up for the stress. What were you having?”

▬

“A matter of perspective,” she offered as a response towards what they said about dimensions. It was even better when they mentioned about the Leftovers, she tried to joke about it using that reference when everyone was still going through that chaotic situation, and, unfortunately, most of them couldn’t find humor in that sentence offered by her. “The main difference is that, in our case, everything went back to normal,” Charlotte made sure to emphasize the word normal, because it was anything but that. Astoria had never been normal, at least not during those two years and a couple of months that she had been in the city. And the world, in a way, wasn’t so different from that either. There were different types of madness all over the planet they inhabited. 

“Ah, that’s probably it. Well, that’s good. At first, it would cause Loki to bark,” and herself to laugh, but she kept that part to herself, even if they probably heard that laughter coming from her before. “And yes, I’m in Hidden Killer. I’m trying to get used to seeing my face everywhere.” And it wasn’t an easy task, because it’d usually lead to others staring at her and she could notice them wondering if they wanted to ask for a picture or just leave her be. “Don’t tell anyone I’m your neighbor, or else we’ll know who tipped off the paparazzi, right guys?” The last couple of words were directed at both Mania and Loki.

—

“Don’t act like I couldn’t hear you laughing, too.” Jin replied with humor. It definitely didn’t bother them, it was just water rolling down their back. Besides, they weren’t home all the time to actually grant someone else entertainment with their clumsy ways. “At least you were entertained enough for those times, yeah?” Jin crossed his arms. His shoulder still bothered him, but it was probably from shifting back into a somewhat healthy state of their bones than the accident itself. For a moment there, they pondered if going to their aunt’s chiropractic would help in any way. “I think that for me, the biggest problem was that my business partners partners were all gone, so I was basically laughing and crying out of stress and desperation. At least now things are better.”

Nice. Hyunjin didn’t know she was an actress up until seeing her picture on the tube earlier. They’d never been much for television anyway. Plus, nowadays, they didn’t have much free time either. “Who would I tell? I don’t know many people around here. And even if I did, wouldn’t it be that person’s fault for tipping off the paparazzi and not mine?”

▬

“I had a roommate back in my college years that was obsessed with One Direction, I got used to their songs, because she was constantly listening to any of their albums. And then, falling in love with Harry and Zayn, mostly, was inevitable. Their songs are just– amazing!” She flashed her tongue at her friend, “so no extra money for that because I think I’m not misbehaving. I’m sorry, pal.” Navigating through the crowd hadn’t been easy though they made it better than before; at least, a couple of seconds later, they were finally able to find a spot in the midst of the crowd. One that no one was taller than her. Even if Harry had started the first song already, they’d still have the chance of enjoying it from the very beginning

“Either this one or Kiwi,” she whispered close to his year, handing the phone. Andrea adored dancing to Golden, just as much as Kiwi whenever Aleyna was listening to those songs and doing house chores. Once she was slightly far from them, the werewolf was already engaging to the rhythm of the song.

—

They didn’t remember ever been into One Direction, but the group had been massive in the UK, so of course they had listened to some of their songs--it just wasn’t their preferred style to listen to. They had always been more into bands like Lumineers, Vampire Weekend and Mumford & Sons, which had been mostly presented to them by their older sister, since Jin had never been much up to par with current music trends, but they managed. Once the phone was in their hands, they slid the screen to put on the camera mode, selecting the video recording option, then turned the phone sideways and raised both hands to have a better angle of the stage. She was right through, Harry Styles was actually fun onstage, which made things more pleasing to them. Fun, even. 

They sometimes glanced towards the werewolf, just to make sure she was alright, but didn’t bother her, nor her dancing. Once the song was over, Jin stopped recording, but didn’t return the phone to its owner. “I got it. Just let me know which one is Kiwi and I’ll be back on video business.” He chuckled. “I’m mostly here for your company, so if you want some random pictures, too. I’m your person.” They smiled. “Is Scout joining us?”

The first thing she noticed was that they had so many instruments and the next thing she noticed was the way they layered sound so beautifully. Briony didn’t normally listen to the group, but now that she was here, she left herself a note on her phone. She wanted to remember this part when she was sober, when everything was less magical. Her sober self needed more happy surprises, she decided, so she was going to do everything she can to make this festival experience great. 

Just as she was ready to get deep into the music, a slight bump from the right caused her nearly lose her balance. If it wasn’t for her quick hands grabbing onto their shirt, she would have fallen flat on her butt. “Oh no! I’m all good. I didn’t mean to do this to your shirt. It’s all crinkly! But it’s all good! We were both just enjoying the show!” She liked going to these events with other people, but going alone was fine too. “Hey, wait, I know you! I didn’t know you liked them!”

—

Jin, as distracted as he was, had barely noticed the wrinkles on his shirt until Briony had pointed out, which, he used his own hands to try and get rid of them, but in case he didn’t, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal either. “It’s just a shirt.” He chuckled as if trying to steady her, until he finally pulled his hands to himself and averted his gaze to the stage. Hyunjin, albeit to not knowing a lot of people in Astoria, knew he was really good with faces, and Briony’s wasn’t one so easy to forget. Especially when they had people so adamant in setting them up for some mountaineering adventures. He didn’t mind—th setting up, I mean. Jin really needed to go out more often, and they were trying to become more outdoorsy. It was some kind of mutual benefit.

“Yeah! Hyunjin, remember?” The shapeshifter leaned down a bit while pointing to himself, then shifted his attention back to the stage. “They’re amazing, aren’t they? I didn’t see them live on their last tour, so I’m glad to catch their gig now.” Again, he returned his gaze to the other woman. “I’m heading to Lizzo next, I think. What about you?”

― 

            “I mean, that’s only if you want to get them all coffee but then that’s gonna make this one a bit less special,” he commented with a bit of a grin before he took it from the other. It wasn’t uncommon for others to be brought things or visited by people they saved, when Koda had seen some of them come in and out of the station but he wasn’t used to it himself. It was something new. “But yeah, you didn’t need to do that. It’s kind of like our job?” Though if they hadn’t done their job, then there was a bit more of a chance that the other might not have walked away from what had been at the scene of the accident. “You okay? I mean like, they don’t really let us know what happens to people when we send them on their way.” Unless he was working the shift with one of the paramedics, seeing as he had medic training in the line of duty ― the rest of the time they were left in the dark unless someone let them hear one. way or another. “Did you ― wanna come back? Or did you have to go.”

—

“I definitely don’t want that.” Not that the others that had helped Hyunjin didn’t deserve praise--it wasn’t that at all. But they would rather focusing on the blonde in front of them instead. If anyone asked them, Hyunjin wouldn’t know how to answer that, though. The shifter took a sip from their coffee, allowing the hot liquid to warm their throat as they slowly nodded to answer Koda’s question, before words actually left their lips. “I am. Blame it on being a shapeshifter.” It felt--oddly refreshing to be able to say that out loud without having people thinking they were crazy, or blatantly looking at them as if they were seeing some kind of monster. “But I’m okay. It only took me a day or two to be back in one piece. Of course... all thanks to you.” They smirked lightly, motioning their coffee cup towards the blonde’s direction. The invitation, however, caught Jin off guard, which wasn’t too hard to read in his face. “I—yeah, no, I have nowhere else to be right now. I can stay if you’re not busy?”