for·got·ten

“right, if course, i really don’t doubt it,” he replied, somewhat of a nervous chuckle escaping him. there was something about the stranger that didn’t quite sit well with kihyun, though that’s why he was taking the time to get to know him, he thinks. “i’ve dealt with my fair share of danger, too.” though none of it was by choice. “so it looks like we have that in common.” no, they most certainly did not.

“well, that’s respectable, too. i don’t really upload most of the songs i write, either… but i still think it’s productive.” he shrugged, freeing a hand from his pocket as he rubbed the back of his neck. “i just don’t think i’d be too comfortable with it.” kihyun shrugged, somewhat of a sigh passing his lips out of habit. “oh, but you do choreography and stuff?” he questioned in genuine curiosity. “because, well… that’s pretty cool. i’ve always looked up to people that could do that.”

The nervous chuckle that fell from the other's lips only caused Jay's smile to increase even more, his amusement evidently not planning to go anywhere anytime soon. He drew in a quick breath and nodded, but soon after, he quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?" Gently laughing, he softly shook his head as he shifted on his feet. "I bet that you have. I guess we do have that in common... most definitely." He doubted it.

“well, you got me there,” kihyun replied with a chuckle, casually sliding his hands into his pockets. the conversation was far from dull, which made it difficult for kihyun to find the motivation to walk away. there was still so much he didn’t know about this stranger, though, from the looks of it, that’s what the other would prefer. “still, though, danger is something i’d be wary of if i were you. getting in trouble and getting hurt are two very different things.”

“what?” he questioned in disbelief, almost defensively. “you don’t know—you know what, it doesn’t matter right now.” a soft sigh escaped him, though it was accompanied by a faint smile. “to each their own,” he added politely. “but creativity, huh? that’s pretty cool. especially with the remixes and stuff. do you upload your work anywhere, or is it mostly just private?”

Another short chuckle fell from Jay's lips as he slightly rocked back on his heels. Originally, he was super annoyed by the other's mere presence, but at this point? He was kind of enjoying their conversation. He'd deny being lonely over and over again, but times like these seemed to tell the tale for him. After giving yet another shrug, he amusedly smiled and briefly looked at the ground. "Yeah, they are. I've had my fair share of both, though, so I'd like to think I always know what I'm getting myself into. I can handle myself."

The walk isn’t that long, but it’s plenty of time for him to think about how he’s always scrounging for meals; how in the heat of the moment as he’s being offered the chance to eat good food, he’s jumping for joy, but once he’s washed it down the guilt settles in and lingers in his full stomach. He thinks about how nothing will change because even if he wanted to cook, wanted to learn, he can’t— use the kitchen, afford ingredients; not unless he wants to pay both prices. Still, he likes to think he pays everyone’s kindness back in his own way. This time, he supposes it’s his company that’s the return, but Won’s not sure that’s quite equal to seventeen large fries ( or even one, but he keeps his mouth shut ). 

His older friend is already there when he rounds the corner, it seems, a vaguely familiar motorbike parked outside the restaurant. He pushes his legs that little bit harder until he’s close enough to be heard, and greets him at a natural volume. “Hope you didn’t wait too long. I wasn’t far away but my legs can only go so fast, unfortunately. Ready to go in?” Why are you out so late, anyway? sits on the edge of his tongue but he holds it in, at least for now. 

The moment he hears the boy speaking to him, he directs his gaze to meet him before giving a very subtle, amused grin. He shoves his hands into the pocket of his hoodie a little further before deeply inhaling, giving a small nod. "Yeah, of course. No point in standing out in the cold at three in the morning for no real reason when we're both here, right? Seems kind of like a stupid thing to do." He quietly chuckled before walking over to the door and pulling it open, then he held it as he waited for the younger (yet taller) boy to enter.

momo tended to be easily distracted, and at that time it was no different. the plastic bag hung from three of her fingers, slightly swinging as she walked. it was sort of heavy because of what was inside, but the girl didn’t make it seem like so. instead, she hummed to a song that had been stuck in her head for nearly a week. tunes those days were always so catchy and she never learned how to get rid of them.

when someone crashed onto her they made a great job of taking the song with them. her not too well-planned grip allowed the bag to set its contents free. as an instinct, she let out a “sorry”, certain she was the one at fault. not being much of an instinct, though, momo didn’t even think of holding onto her glasses. putting them on was something the girl had only recently decided on doing, and her sight wasn’t even that bad to not find the thing already on the floor.

she picked it up, inspected the small crack, and then put them on to see the multiple packages of fallen soap bars. it was a hobby of hers to sculpt, and also very weird to explain. “there is no need if you’re in a hurry.” and so momo took the one closer to her, hoping they hadn’t lost their shape because of the fall.

Hearing the girl apologize as well caused him to realize that she likely also believed that she was at fault. He was fairly certain that he was the one to blame, but he still gave a gentle nod and cleared his throat. Dealing with a situation like this wasn’t familiar to him, but it wasn’t all that difficult, either. Despite what most who meet him may think, he wasn’t too much of an asshole. If he causes someone to drop something, he only found it fair that he should help pick it back up.

Guilt wasn’t something that plagued him too often (or so he likes to tell himself), but he did feel it when he noticed that she’d also dropped her glasses which had a small crack. He hoped that they wouldn’t be too expensive to fix, but maybe not if she was being so friendly instead of yelling at him over what he has caused.

Since they’d met, Bella had slowly gotten used to Jangjun’s blunt ‘sense of humour’ and most of the time, she bounced back off it with vibrant optimism and a chirp of the word ‘oppa’ for added effect, but sometimes, she can’t help with pout more, frowning a little at his amusement in her pain. ( Of course, she knows he means no harm. He might mock her bowling skills, but she likes to think that if it came down to it, he’d take good care of her in her time of need, as she would do the same for him. ) 

“Because practice makes perfect! We can’t all be naturally talented at everything.” She mumbles, her voice increasing in force as she speaks. The cheap shots don’t seem to stop there, and Bella is seconds away from telling him to go home if he’s having so little fun spending time with her when she hears it— kindness, patience, a miracle. “Really?” She narrows her eyes, watching him suspiciously, but truthfully, she doesn’t have anything to lose either way. “Thank you, thank you! You still have to bowl first, though.” 

"Not always. You think if a penguin tried to practice flying enough that it would eventually start soaring through the skies? No. No matter what parents and teachers tell you, not everyone can do anything they set their mind to. Truth is, if you spend too much setting your mind to it, you're going to come out of it with a lot less time and still no skill." He smiled a little to himself, standing from the seat that he'd taken in order to carry on with this seemingly lost cause of a game. He waited a moment before continuing.

“ever think about adding it to your vocabulary?” kihyun questioned, ignoring the fact that the stranger was far too intimidating for his liking. maybe there was a chance that he could trust him, though, considering that he hadn’t punched kihyun… yet. “it means to… take caution.” he didn’t ask for an actual definition. he knows what the word means, now shut up. he ignored his own advice, however, and proceeded to speak. “you know, avoid doing dumb shit that could get you into trouble. in this particular instance, i am not being careful. by trying to talk a bit of sense into a dangerous man such as yourself, i’m kicking the hornet’s nest, if you will.”

“mm… you strike me as the jazz type of guy, am i right?” he questioned in good humor, somewhat of a smirk forming on his lips. “ooh, wait, no, don’t tell me—classical, maybe? beethovan, mozart, bach?” he paused, looking the stranger over before opening his mouth to speak once more. “yeah, you strike me as a bach kind of guy. can’t say i blame you.”

"Hmm..." He was about to answer with some sort of sarcastic remark, though, before he could, the other started going on about the actual meaning of the word. It was humorous and immensely annoying all at once. Jay honestly wasn't sure whether to laugh or punch the guy's lights out. Of course, he ended up settling with more quiet chuckles, shaking his head because of how little he could believe this. "Yeah, yeah, enough of that. I know what it means, okay? I just don't want to avoid dumb shit that could get me into trouble, because what fun is that? Clearly, you know what I'm talking about... considering what you're doing right now." 

It was nice hearing the other say so, however, and that only made his subtle grin grow a little. It was an ego boost, in a way.

honestly, she had no clue what to make of this situation.

her first thought was, okay this is definitely just another psycho pervert. but this stranger didn’t necessarily look like a pervert ( do perverts even had a ‘look’? ). while her second, most pressing thought was: why now of all times? 

“hold up, hold up.” kyulkyung raised her hands to stop whatever was coming out of this boy’s mouth because honestly, she wasn’t listening to a thing he was saying. taking a deep breath, the girl attempted to will her desperate urges away for the time being. “okay, first of all, i’m not taking your money. that’s just weird and- no, i’m just not doing it.”

she paused as she took another good look at the stranger - glancing back and forth between him and air vent, mind struggling to wrap around what exactly should she do. in the end, kyulkyung decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “secondly, i would like to hear your complicated explanation before i turn you into whoever runs this mess.”

Jay bit down on his lower lip the moment the girl started to speak, so he stopped everything that he was doing in order to properly listen to her. He brought his two hands together and carefully clasped them in front of his body as he found himself chuckling from amusement.

"Thank God. I barely have any money to my name, now I can actually eat dinner tonight... and not from this shit hole!" His words were laced with a playfulness to indicate that he was partially joking and being sarcastic before he deeply inhaled from his nose.

"Alright, fine. If you want to know, I'll tell you, but you came in here for something, right? Am I not... getting in the way?" Lowering his voice, he whispered for effect despite there not being anyone else around. "Don't you have to piss?"

“you have?” he questioned, eyes slightly widening as his expression turned to one of disbelief. it faded away a moment later, however, and kihyun found himself shaking his head ever so slightly. “right, i mean… of course you have.” why was it that he always tangled with such dangerous people? whether or not the stranger was being serious, kihyun couldn’t tell, though he made a mental note to watch his behavior around this one just in case. he laughed as though he had just been told a joke, smiling at the boy once more. “yeah, you don’t really strike me as the ‘terrible’ type.”

“you’ll make it that far if you’re careful,” he stated honestly, lightly chewing on his lower lip. “and i sing because it’s fun, why else?” maybe he’d give the other a more in-depth description later. “it’s… my favorite thing to do, i’d say. an excellent pastime. but, you said you’re into music? what kind of music do you like?”

At the question, Jay shrugged once again indicating that he wasn't going to give the other a proper answer. After all, he wanted to leave it to his own imagination. What was the fun of confirming or denying it? He's never mugged anyone, that's for sure, but he has at least stolen things. How else was he supposed to survive? It's not like he had anyone watching out for him. Still, this guy didn't need to know that. He quietly chuckled again, slightly shaking his head and allowing the subject to be dropped.

[ tw: mention of knives ]

“well, i doubt you’re the worst guy in the entire world. if you were, i doubt you’d be asking for a lighter so nicely.” kihyun inclined his head to the side once more, eyeing the stranger over as the same smug smile remained on his lips. “you look a guy who would carry a knife, am i right? if i am, that’s at least one way that you could have mugged me. but… i don’t know, if this is your way of mugging me, you sure know how to make a guy feel comfortable while you’re robbing him blind.”

he frowned, pondering the stranger’s words for a moment. kihyun wasn’t one-hundred percent interested in becoming involved in a debate on what’s right and what’s wrong, but maybe it was time to make an exception. “i suppose it’s none of my business what you do with your life, right? but… i don’t know, you should realize that your habit isn’t the healthiest in the world. i wouldn’t want to risk anything.” he paused, chewing on his lower lip for a second. “i sing a lot, so my lungs are kind of important to me.”

"Hmm... I guess. The worst person in the world would probably just steal it. Though, I can't lie... I've certainly done that kind of thing before." Jay quirked an eyebrow and looked at the other, figuring he would let him decide whether he was joking or being serious. Of course, the truth was that he wasn't lying... but all of that seemed like a lifetime ago. He has his moments here and there even now, but he's nothing like what he used to be. He's still trying to figure out whether that's better or not. "Maybe." He cleared his throat at the knife statement, shifting uncomfortably as he thought about the one he kept in his boot. "I'm not a terrible person, you've got me. Still, I'm not a good one, either."

kyulkyung hated mcdonald’s with a passion. she didn’t know if it was due to the fact that she wasn’t really a burger or nugget person, or because their food was just plain nasty. either way, micky d’s was usually a no no. but she really had to pee. 

so she bought her a water and a little thing of fries because courtesy or whatever before shoveling both items haphazardly into her backpack, making her way towards the restrooms. i swear if it’s full- the mere thought physically hurt her. sending up a quick prayer, kyulkyung carefully turned the door knob before pushing as it gave in, a sigh of relief passing her lips. 

happily, the girl closed the door before turning to move deeper into the bathroom - only to be stopped by a leg dangling suspiciously from the ceiling. her eyes trailed up the leg to a torso, to a pair of arms supporting a body as it attempted to shimmy from the air vent. 

“i… don’t even know what to say.” i just need to pee.

If he was fast, he doubted that anyone would catch him. Typically, he had a way of getting himself out of trouble anyway, so this couldn’t be too risky. Still, he came here for information so that's what he was going to get.

Was it awkward that the easiest access to the air vent was the ladies' restroom? Well... hell yeah. Regardless, he wasn't going to allow that to deter him. It's not like he hasn't done worse things in his short, pathetic life. However, he really didn't expect anyone to come into the bathroom as he was making his escape. Not that he thought it was impossible, either, it was actually something that briefly crossed his mind and worried him. Though, once it actually happened, he felt like he stepped in a massive pile of shit.