ANOTHER NIGHT ON THE MOON

everything happened rather fast, one moment she was in her own world on her way to the nearest florist to buy flowers ( one of her friends were celebrating their birthday and she thought it would be a nice gesture ), then the next moment she feels her arm getting tugged as she is moved out of the way of something happening to her, she wasn’t entirely sure. 

another thing she wasn’t sure of was why she found herself in this position, leaned against a strangers chest and for a couple of seconds her heart skips a beat, it felt nice though a small faint peach color graces her checks, his voice was calming, there was something familiar about it though and she couldn’t put her finger on it– until she looks up and the previous butterflies were gone in the blink of an eye.

“…,” her brows furrow together, clearly displeased to see the oh too familiar face, he wasn’t someone she wanted to see, not now and not in a million years.

“you think i’d be walking this street if i knew you’d be here?” when his arms drop she quickly moves away from him, frustrated with herself that she had actually thought the feeling was nice, that his voice was comfortable, “ahhh,” she exclaims ruffling her hair out of frustration, ‘what a waste of a pretty face,’ she thinks to herself, turning her head to glare at the boy.

it’s one of the nth times he’s met this girl. her name is a bit of a toss up  --  he had never been good with them, but he recognizes her face in an instant. and it’s starting to make him feel delirious. things like this didn’t happen in real life did they? it felt like one of those dramas his aunt was obsessed with. girl meets boy once, boy runs into girl a dozen of times after and then falls in love with her because of the constant occurrence. or at least that’s what jaemin took from them.

and then the confusion hits.

the displeasure in his voice hits him like a punch to the gut -- did he do something? hadn’t he just saved her from getting drenched in plant water? wasn’t she supposed to thank him politely? the good ol’ knight in shining armor thing? not that that was why jaemin did this, but wasn’t this how this was supposed to go?

“i’m sorry?” he blinks, hand immediately dropping from the other’s waist -- rising upwards in surrender, as if burned.

jaemin blinks again, now dumbfounded by the way she was acting. had he offended her in some way? if anything, isn’t this the part in the story where it was supposed to be a laughable moment? so why was she acting like he had been the one who had poured the water all over her?

out of all of the scenarios naeun had imagined, this was not one of them– why you might wonder? well first, she didn’t like group dates and this time her friends had tricked her into joining one, it was tiresome being the bait they used to trick boys to these things because naeun knew that was her role, the bait– she was allowed to leave whenever she just had to show up but this time was different, the boys that had joined were new faces and naeun could feel their gazes her… all of the gazes except one.

when she had entered the room almost an hour ago, she had immediately noticed him– the boy that had rejected her over two years ago. when she was a pure-hearted high school girl, at she had first laid her eyes on him and one thing lead to another… she was rejected by the very same boy that now was sitting across from her and naeun couldn’t help but glare at him from time to time.

meanwhile, the males on his side were eager to get her contact information or her instagram handle, he was sitting there smug as ever– smiling at girls. nothing frustrated naeun more, he didn’t even seem to recognize her and that had hurt her pride just a little.

“naeun ah~,” one of the older males wanted her attention and she stopped glaring at the male ( she didn’t even know his name to be frank, never learned it– she had never gotten that far before he rejected her ), an awkward smile was directed at the male as he attempted to pour her another drink but she covered the top of her glass with her hand, “no thank you.”

fingers tap against the glass, listening idly to the conversations going at his side. there wasn’t much to contribute and he wasn’t much of the talker-type when it came to these situations. if he gave too much, jaemin could only imagine the consequence and as somehow who very much did not like coming to these types of events, he did not want to enter any type of difficulty. not when he was this close to leaving. he was beyond ready to go home and just relax.

having girls in front of him, vying for his attention, while flattering -- was also uncomfortable. especially when he was attracted nor was willing to find any personal connection between them. he didn’t want to lead them on -- he didn’t want to be that guy. if anything, he was just there to pass the time. 

“are you dating anyone, jaemin-ah?”  he can hear the over-familiarity in the girl’s voice -- was it hyesung? hyejung? her name was suddenly lost on him -- and it wasn’t one that he could deny. it was just one girl, by tomorrow, she’d be long forgotten and this night something he wouldn’t remember, probably. 

he shakes his head, a small smile rises politely. “no, i’m not dating anyone right now.” and he leaves it at that. the smile that he receives after his answer is one he was expecting -- but it was also one he did not feel comfortable entertaining. 

and while most of the time was supposed to be peaceful, just wading time until it was time for him to leave -- he didn’t think he’d feel any animosity. especially not in a place like this that was just begging for love and connection. but the sight of the girl across from him -- glaring at him has him confused. enough that it ripples through his face, head tilting to the side at her expression. 

when she had covered her glass with her hand, jaemin couldn’t help but snicker at his friend. it was a low blow -- especially when it had been kyungwon who had arranged this whole thing in hope of finally nabbing a girl. but of course, being kyungwon -- it was obvious he wasn’t about to let one rejection get him down.

“hey, hidden waterfalls are cool,” he says with an air of offense, even if he has none, though, to be fair, he really does think it would be pretty cool to find one, but if a tourist is on his way to it, does it really count as a hidden waterfall? if he ever discovered one, he thinks he’d keep that information to himself and a handful of his very closest friends only. that way, the secrecy would be preserved.

but that was neither here nor there at the moment. suddenly, the attention is turned to him and the items he holds in his hands, and he’d probably be caught off guard if he didn’t find the situation so hilarious. his loud and boisterous laughter bursts from his lips, and the inevitable attention it gathers does nothing to quiet it, though a razor sharp glare from a nearby seller has him snickering at a more tolerable level.

“it’s not mine,” he says, but then whose would it be? his mother would never wear something like that, and it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you’d randomly buy for a friend. he’s searching his mind for excuses when it dawns on him that he doesn’t even have a reason to hide such a thing from jaemin, not when they’re friends, not when they’re not anywhere near trc grounds. he chuckles to himself at his own cautiousness, but can’t really blame himself for it. there’s a lot on the line if trc did find out, but the secret should be safe with jaemin.

“it’s for jisoo,” he says decisively, nodding his head, knowing full well jaemin doesn’t know who she is, but doesn’t bother clarifying anyway, a mischeivous twinkle in his eye that very well may give him away. “but i definitely could pull it off if i wanted to.”

his hands immediately raise in surrender. “okay, okay they’re cool but is this the look i’m trying to go for? maybe if i went to jeju or actually went on a search for a waterfall, it’d be the thing but ... school, daily life ... eh,” he says, the bit of skepticism leaking into his voice before he turns back to the racks. “my aunt already says i dress like a hobo, i guess a tourist dad would be an upgrade.”

jaemin guesses, anything would be an upgrade at this point. he was pretty desperate and he had the cash to burn, anyways.

his head tilts, having not understood the reason why chanyeol was laughing. but he cracks a smile anyways, there had always been something about chanyeol’s laugh  --  it was infectious, if anything. but as the reason was unbeknownst to him, he felt the smile become more bemused as he waited for chanyeol’s answer, if the elder would allot him one. 

he blinks, the gears in his head beginning the motions of work. huh...

the whole thing happens in seconds, yet to cheng xiao, it feels like it’s happening in slow motion. she can’t help but cringe into her coat as the dog goes barrelling toward the boy, and she opens her mouth to yell and get his attention, tell him to look out, but it’s way too late and he ends up on the floor anyway. she runs down the road toward them both, aided by the rest of the dogs happily dragging her along, pulling on the leashes and harnesses.

the first thing she notices is that the boy is struggling to catch his breath, though she thinks that may have something to do with the 25kg ball of fluff that has situated himself on the boy’s chest. she grabs his leash and then pulls him off the boy, thanking god that years of gymnastics training has given her enough muscle to lift him.

“oh my god. i’m so sorry, are you okay?” her hands flutter nervously, she doesn’t want to touch him, what if he’s broken something. “can you breathe? oh my god, he hasn’t broke your ribs or anything, right?”

he’s easily winded. laying on his back, he feels the ache suddenly begin to surge against his backside. oh man, that is going to bruise like crazy tomorrow. if the pain was anything to go by  --  it was passable, and surely he didn’t feel like anything was broken. once the dog is removed from his chest, he breathes in and out haphazardly, slowly trying to fill his lungs of the air that had been sucker-punched out of them. 

he sits up almost immediately when she nears before wincing at the pain he feels at the sudden 

“uh -- yeah, i’m ..” he coughs as he tries to breathe in and out, again. “i’m fine. no worries.” he coughs again. “no worries, just a little ..” he breathes out, heavily. 

yeonjun was never a greedy person, at least in a serious sense anyway. growing up under a roof with his brother, he never really had the opportunity to be bad because his parents would always scold him for not even doing anything. if anything, he learned from his brother’s mistakes that gave him punishments and it was a way to know what was right and what was wrong. it’s why he tries his best to be selfless in all situations no matter what. think about other people’s feelings, yeonjun, he can hear in his head every single day. “you won’t get by life if you’re selfish all the time.” 

in his mind, he thinks he’s doing the right thing. what he had was basically a treasure to rock fans and as much as he liked naeol, he knows that there are other people that would’ve probably liked them better than he did. and it’s natural for him to assume that the guy in front of him might’ve been one of those people. maybe he’s wrong and he’s just jumping to his own conclusions. but either way, it was better to be safe than sorry. 

he can’t help but smile at the other as he asks him again for confirmation. “no, i don’t mind,” he assures the other. he wasn’t expecting anything more than that. if he knows that he made a guy’s day just by getting a limited edition record, then it’d make him feel good in the end. 

and that’s why it confuses him when the other says that he could keep it because yeonjun wasn’t really expecting that response. it’s not like he didn’t want it because he did. there’s a reason why he picked it up in the first place. but the fact that the other changed his mind and wanted him to keep it? the polite gesture was touching to him. 

so touching, in fact, that he feels a little guilty. “are you sure?” he asks again. “i mean- i know it’s like, super rare to get it. so i don’t mind if you take it. really!” he says with a nervous smile. “i really don’t mind if you have it instead.” 

it was time to let go. 

jaemin knew he couldn’t -- shouldn’t -- be bothered by these worldly possessions. ( they won’t bring them back, he can hear his aunt telling him ) 

not that it was because they were ‘ worldly possessions ’ that his aunt was worried about but he can already hear her words in his ear -- singing her disappointment. and he wouldn’t blame her for it but jaemin could only contend to one lecture at a time. after all, hadn’t she already given him grief over his wardrobe? if he came home with more things for her to nag about, it was something he’d rather not think about. 

“nah, it’s cool.” he says, this time, with definite assurance. it was time. and he knows, the moment he crosses the threshold of his home and his aunt laid eyes on the album, there would be nothing but chaos that ensued.  

“i’m sure it’s safer in your hands, anyways.” he laughs, lightly. “my aunt would kill me if i came home with that.” and it was the truth. not that he would get any severe consequences, jaemin would rather save himself both the lecture and time, he shakes his head with affirmative action. he had to do this. if jaemin didn’t do it now, it would continue to haunt him. it was a small step, with multiple meanings but it was one he needed to choose. 

in the middle of summer, approaching the bushes– naeun was keeping a secret from her family. a secret she had managed to keep since the first time she visited the apple tree garden, it was big– from the end, she could barely see her house but that was the best thing the only thing she had her eyes on was the bushes and what she knew was on the other side.

it was with an excited smile she pushed the pushes aside and stepped inside– this was their spot, it had become their spot since their first meeting. it was a difficult feeling to describe for her– but this was by far the highlight of her summer and as she sat there, waiting for the male she remembered the first time they had met. a rustle in the bushes had caught her attention, then she had looked inside and there was a face staring back at her. a face she had never seen and she had gotten startled and tripped ( yes she had fallen into the bush ), she had made a yelp which had caught the attention of her father who was nearby but once inside. one thing had lead to another, the male, whose name shed later name was jaemin– had a finger covering his mouth as if he didn’t want her to make a sound.

from that moment everything had changed, the way they had sat so close, listening to her father’s footsteps outside the bushes and naeun holding her breath so she wouldn’t be heard and eyes glimpsing up at the male, her heart thumping against her chest. 

naeun remembered that feeling, now that she was sitting there waiting for him– this was no accident. now her heart was beating with excitement as she waited for him to arrive. the boy that had caught her attention and had made her breathless and continued to excite her with each meeting.

what was this feeling?

                                starter for  ━  ꕤ ┊ @jaerk  *:･.

summer was always a busy time at the estate  --  workers were a dime a plenty, plus the added on help, it seemed like the number of heads that frequented the homes was endless ; the more people, more of their produce was groomed for sale, too. it meant that the bustle of work was far more energetic than it is on the off months. the more people on the estate also meant it was easier to slip past his father’s eagle eye defenses when it came to meeting naeun for their daily venture around the area. she wasn’t from here and while jaemin usually never went out of his way to do so  --  something about showing her where he grew up and all the little things to love about it made him want her to love it, too.

( after all, she was only here for the summer )

it’s easier to ignore the dull aching he feels when he watches the days go by -- as july becomes august far too quickly but jaemin does what he does best and he ignores it for the greater good. because what good would it do to dull on the what ifs when reality was just a few feet away. it’s what pushes him into the bushes like all those weeks ago  --  ignoring the infrequent branches and leaves that brush against his arms as he makes his way through the hedge . navigating through them has become easier as the days go by, their meeting spot never once changing, always being smack dab in the middle of their properties ; jaemin isn’t the least bit surprised when he catches her by the wrist and pulls her from one side of the brush to his own ; indefinitely defying the property lines that divided their two homes. 

he doesn’t say much, saving all the more with a smile as he tugs her from the bushes and quickly makes his escape with her through the back of his yard. weaving through the gardens and the rows of apple trees that lined the end of their property line. “come on! i have something to show you,”