𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐄𝐌.

it isn’t the art that draws him to a particular piece, but the woman standing in front of it. a few cautious glances tell iseul that she is, in fact, someone he’s seen a few times before. enough that it doesn’t just feel like coincidence anymore. but still, he won’t say that it’s her that made him approach. “a fan?.. huh. i guess you could say that,” he agrees passively as his arms come up to cross over his chest. “i like the lighter ones, too. but for me, i think i’m always drawn to lighter pieces regardless of the artist... they feel safer.” he shrugs, lets a few moments of silence pass, and the ends, “looking at a dark painting feels a lot like staring into someone’s misfortunes. i’m not sure why, but that’s how it’s always felt for me.”

with a light shrug, he looked at jiyeon again. it was shocking to hear that she didn’t have many close friends; then again, she did seem a bit distant sometimes. he had always assumed that she was just tired when he saw her, though. “yeah, i get what you mean. it would be awkward if you went to a different company with no purpose... just loitering.” it wasn’t like she could blend in with the other people trying to sneak a peak of idols, either --- she wasn’t just some person, she was im jiyeon. she’d always stand out. “now that i’m thinking about it, i don’t think i’ve ever seen you anywhere but here. not including on a phone or television screen. and you said that you don’t go anywhere you’re not needed... i’m no detective, but i’m starting to think there’s some comic-book-superhero type stuff going on.”

“i have a tie-dye t-shirt in really nice shades of green and blue. it says counselor on the back and it has a little black bonfire outline on the left chest. i can only assume that it’s from a summer camp --- i picked it up at a thrift store.”

“maybe charm’s? there’s no particular reason. i’m not that big on fashion, so it would be difficult for me to come up with anything that... makes sense. i just think it’s a nice brand.”

“skiing. i’ve only gone a few times, so i’m still pretty terrible at it... but that makes it more fun. i’m excited to go again this winter, if i can.”

“i don’t mind it if i’m performing. i’m typically a very nervous person, but something about performing takes that away, even if it is only for a short while. but say that i’m just trying to go shopping... i’d much rather avoid crowds and any unnecessary attention. there’s a difference between eden and hyun iseul --- eden could remain calm while being watched by the whole world. hyun iseul can hardly handle being looked at for more than a few seconds.”

“well, first of all, i’m not so sure that pristine even has a fandom. but if we do, then it depends: if i had to do it by myself, i wouldn’t want to. i’m... honestly quite nervous with strangers, and i wouldn’t want them to get a bad impression of me. but if the other member could join me, then i think it would be nice. assuming that we have a fanbase, i can’t imagine it being very large, so maybe we could go do something relaxing. maybe make candles together or something? we could all learn something new and bond. that’d be fun, i think.”

“i have a whole tote bag of things that i carry with me everywhere i go, honestly... doesn’t matter if i’m going to practice, to a convenience store, shopping, whatever. i always have my phone, earbuds & charger; i always have at least one pen, but usually more & a notebook or journal; paper for origami if i’m stuck somewhere and get bored; my wallet; my glasses, contacts, contacts case; cologne; at least one book. i think that there’s more, but that’s all i can remember without digging through my bag. i’m... prepared for any situation, i guess.”

“a nice winter coat. as much as i love winter, i get cold rather easily and i don’t really have any thick, warm clothes  ---  i’ve been relying on the same four or five hoodies to keep me warm since i was a teenager. i like nohant and gloverall’s coats, but they’re all way, way out of my budget.”

"winter and spring. i think the cold, muted colors of winter are simply beautiful  ---  there’s nothing that i love more than the sight of freshly fallen snow. i think it makes everything look delicate, untouchable... pristine, even. somehow, winter makes the world seem so much softer than it is. but spring... spring is good, too. watching the brighter colors return to everything all at once, seeing flowers pop up in unexpected places... i think winter is a place of quiet acceptance whereas spring is the time when hope is reborn, if you get what i mean. i feel too deeply attached to both seasons to choose one or the other.”

“the agit outreach program. there are a lot of teenagers who have dropped out of school and are already living on the streets. a lot of them are kids who ran away from bad situations, but being homeless isn’t good, either --- although i’ve never been through something that bad, i know what it’s like to be just a kid and already feel hopeless. the organization is... well, it’s like a team of people who go out and find these kids and try to offer them hope for their future, try to help them get back on their feet. i guess you could say that the organization hits close to home for me, so that’s why i would want to donate.”

“currently, the next step is to debut, isn’t it? it’s hard to do anything else when i’m still a trainee. especially since summit didn’t show our faces for so long... not that it’s the company’s fault... actually, i know that there are things that i could do as a trainee to get attention for pristine, but since i’m still so unknown, would it be worth it? could i do it? i really don’t know. but i might start looking into stuff like that.”

a particularly loud squeak of his sneaker against the linoleum brought him back down to reality and reminded him of where he was:  not in a never-ending hallway, but on the way to the cafeteria. iseul still felt a little guilty for asking dan to accompany him just so he could pick up a couple cold bottles of water, but he was too nervous to go by himself & he was getting really, really sick of the room-temperature water stashed by his bed. “is it usually crowded?” he asked, trying to sound casual, but the ever-present uneasiness was still more obvious than he would like. “d’you think people will think it’s weird if i just get some water and leave?” he looked downwards again to see if their steps were still in time, but he wasn’t surprised to see that they weren’t. after all, he and dan were different people.