pillsbury dough boy.

tenyearslater.

the rest of the spam of messages were merely ignored and the smashing persisted. in fact, it’s heightened by the excitement of the thought that his twin brother was being irritated because of it. he lived for this purpose, to an extent. having his brother’s attention and knowing he had the power to persuade him easily like the more likely pleasant person that joowon is has always been the older twin’s fuel.

on the other hand, one of jooheon’s weaknesses was girls. he is the very definition of what the kids call these days “thirsty.” as a neet virgin who doesn’t have many real experiences with girls other than 2d ones — especially as of late with his journey of being a bonafide hermit — he didn’t like to pass up on opportunities.

now that it was right in his face, he was more than enthusiastic. maybe a little too much that he hadn’t thought his brother might be scheming something with this request. so he does as he’s told, entering the shop with a blinding bright smile and an awkward small wave of the hand.

for the moment, for the moment he’ll ignore the fact that his brother is blatantly ignoring his messages, showing him he’s ignoring his messages while making his life a living nuisance. and of course, of course jooheon takes a substantial amount of pleasure from seeing the artificial veins poop out his brother’s head. joowon knows, he doesn’t know why he lets him do it. but at this point he can already feel the veins and the headache rising and he’s too far gone.

that doesn’t mean he won’t play a cheating man’s game. because now he’s got cards in his favor, now he’s surrounded by girls. and if jooheon had any weakness on this planet it was girls. tall girls, short girls, loud girls, shy girls, girls girls girls, he loves them ( pardon the reference got7 there was a period where that’s all his brother sang for a month ).

moving on, joowon is ready for his brother. ready as he smiles at the customers, takes their orders one by one and answers the questions, the ones about his brother being louder and more animated. because jooheon will love the attention and that’s exactly how joowon will trap his brother. with an equally bright wave of his hand, mischief hiding deep behind his dimples. “hey bro, these ladies wanted to ask some questions. ah i told them you wouldn’t mind paying for them because you’re such a gentleman.”

[ sms. the less cool joo ] i need to witness civilization from time to time in order to exist like a normal functioning human bean pls let me be sir [ sms. the less cool joo ] but i’m cute? how can they be scared? what the fuck are you doing huh joowon? [ sms. the less cool joo ] that’s okay… i gotta tone it down. youre supposed to discourage me from eating too much sweets too what kinda brother

his phone is put away and hidden within his pocket. jooheon proceeds to smash without any further messages sent back joowon’s way. noises could be heard from the distance between the two brothers.

( sms: joo joo the fool ) nothing you do will allow you to witness civilization normally ( sms: joo joo the fool ) esp things that make you look not normal ( sms: joo joo the fool ) hyung pick up your phone ( sms: joo joo the fool ) hyung 

mass texting is proving worthless. so he slips his phone back in his pocket - same phone he shouldn’t even be on on the job. but he’s on it and there’s nothing he can really do about. he’ll hide it so his co-worker doesn’t see it and smack him for slacking off. joowon sees his brother for two seconds and he’s already slacking off.

okay telepathy powers, where are you so I can cuss my brother out while keeping a grin for these customers.

the next set is a group of college girls ( of course ) looking suspiciously from joowon to his brother standing in the corner of the cafe. giggling as they put two and two together. he stills his annoyance to give them a sheepish smile.

the shift in expression and tension is noticeable to jisung, and it’s almost entertaining. but he doesn’t show it too much when there’s a slight look of panic in — joowon? — joowon’s eyes. jisung’s about to say something, but the other male quickly takes the coffee-filled cup and chugs the entire thing down. he’s a little shocked, to say the least. jisung barely has time to process the whole thing, to stop joowon from inhaling a piping hot cup of coffee. but the male seemed pretty fine after. his worries though, don’t leave him.

“are….are you okay? that was..literally a whole cup of hot coffee that you just chugged.” but he’s waved off, and this time his order is taken properly. but he doesn’t get the chance to talk (again) and joowon rambles. he’s not entirely wrong with his order though, and jisung just simply nods. “yeah yeah, iced is uh, fine. normal sweet is fine too?” he’s not sure why he feels bad when he was the one who was probably purposely attacked, but that’s how jisung is programmed to be. he’s too empathetic and even when things aren’t his fault, he still has this need to apologize, to empathize and to feel sorry for everything. 

“no, no hey it’s fine. it’s understandable that you probably mistook me for some kind of asshole, though. all my clients like this place and i really don’t have a say in where they want their dates so we just end up here. i wouldn’t be surprised if most of the staff here think i’m dating like five girls at once. no harm done!” he shoots the widest and friendliest smile, hoping that the barista actually believes him and that this would all be left in the past. at least this was a story he could tell to someone.

“nah it was lukewarm.” 

which isn’t really a lie. well it’s a lie but not a big lie because joowon could chug it with a straight face and let everything, burn and all slide down with a smile.

“look, when you’ve been working here so long and spilled every type of coffee on you it doesn’t burn anymore, i’m like a human torch man.”

now isn’t that a thought? he’s thought of it several times before, that the reason he doesn’t mind the burn is because he’s got his own furnace burning inside. maybe he’s immune to anything hot, maybe he’s secretly captain cold! the good one at least. joowon can’t imagine being enemies with the flash. moving on! joowon proceeds to make the right order and take in everything jisung says. “iced, regular.” he says it to no one in particular. this is him with his senses off, programming and trying to read. trying to rely on anything other than this weird raw instinct that tugs at his mind. 

trying to be like everyone else and quite frankly, it’s weird.

“well, not to brag but we do have a good gig going on here.” he says that louder and a little slower. relying on his own observations and the world around him means slowing everything down. and that, that’s a little hard for joowon but he’s always loved challenges. he probably doesn’t move or seem any slower to anyone watching but he can tell, his world blending into an easy combination of things. not things that shoot out and bold around his head, just things. it’s weird. it’s so weird but he goes with it.

isn’t joowon just a joy to observe? her mind’s nothing if delighted, so is the grin on her face and her legs from where she was standing atop of the table put outside while the shop stayed idle. are nothing if ready to bounce just as delighted, her whole body is ready to bounce for that matter. the shatter of objects is nothing to be worried about, the shatter of anything that can be replaced is in fact, nothing to be worried about. she’s broken plates before. broken glasses. she’s destroyed houses simply because they brought too many unwanted memories to some others. 

she’s put a flicker in ones’ hands because they needed that first flame before they could actually go ahead and strike it to the root. ashes are always smoothing at the end. regrets may occur but never, never has she failed to make them let go. she warned joowon, not because she was worried or to stop him from possibly crashing. she simply did it because she saw the hole and she saw him with carrying enough to not be able to see it.

she said so because she saw and he did not. but that was not intended to make him avoid the impact. isn’t joowon just a joy to be around? always so sure that he can do it even if he’s told not to. even now, as he’s scrapped and probably bruised from the fall. he’s talking as if it’s not that much to worry about. it isn’t. things are easily replaced. not scars though. yeoreum would not let someone handle a lighter if it meant they’d be ready to light it up across their skin, she doesn’t want them to scar, simply to feel as if the wounds are patched. 

“forget the china, stay right there, i’ll be back!” yeoreum does expect him to stay put, like that, on the ground. with the scatter that most likely involved her china she’s sure of it. bouncing she does, off the table, in the shop and behind the counter. her fingers are grabbing for the first aid kit she always carry around. she shuffles back with quick feet, almost as if she’s been shot with a dose of caffeine. she knows the feeling, she’s lived it. 

“i was thinking,” yeoreum starts as she sits down besides him and starts opening the kit, not a care in the world that they’re not safe in but on the side of the road. it’s not that busy of a road either way, the rare people she sees walk around, they’re either customers or lost on their way to another place. “that you’re delightful joowon, kept smiling even with the mess you made, and that’s good because they’re replaceable, aren’t they? in fact, keep smiling even if you break a bone or two, they’re not replaceable, but they heal. however, you are not.” she looks up with a small smile, a nod, a look down at the content of the first aid kit and her fingers gathering what may be needed. alcohol, cotton swabs. 

“so break some bones, get some scraps, but don’t fall too low and don’t jump from too high. because there’ll only ever be one joowon in this world.” she’s holding out her hand, palm up waiting for him to place the bruised part safely there so she can get to what’s important. 

of course though, when she tells him to stay put he’s already scrambling to fix the mess. minutes had been spent, well what felt like minutes and was only a matter of seconds, spent with him sitting in the same position. criss-cross with pant legs shuffling over glass pieces and dusting around tea leaves. what a sight! honestly what a sight it’s something his mother used to stress about when he was little. joowon was only clumsy because he thought he was impenetrable. honestly, until he’s proven completely wrong he’ll stop but for now, all’s fair in his game.

so he’s still for a few seconds, letting the fact that he is bleeding and scraped around a few areas sink in before he decides to move. and it’s despite a couple winces and a few hisses of his teeth that he does acknowledge the scrapes. it’s all after yeoreum’s taken off though. it’s not about pride or anything it’s just he was so concerned about showing that everything will be good and he’s good that he kept his face bright. and it’s bright now too, with joy and a little of a grimace at the hole that caused his downfall. literally.

“seriously,” he says that to no one in particular. no one’s passing by really and if they were he’d look up and wave at them, bloodied hand and all. dust around his fingers and face and all. 

he does manage to shake some off, much like a shaggy dog and then proceed to scoot together the pieces around him. he’s quite resourceful too, using pieces of the box to scoop the leaves altogether like a broom. there’s really no focus on his mind, nothing like clean up or get up or patch it. he’s just moving to move because the hole messed up his momentum and he’s got to keep it up. maybe that’s all it does.

that’s where yeoreum comes in, momentarily breaking him out his reveries and reminding him that yeah he fell but he’s also bruised. bruised and grabbing things with his bruised hand isn’t the best. neither is touching broken glass but he’s impenetrable right?

and he thinks about her words, thinks about them while holding out his hand freely, and moving back to his same position, knees off the ground and crossed under him. “you know, I broke my arm in primary school. I jumped off the jungle dome? you know the one with all the holes and stuff? and my teacher didn’t know because I was laughing so much. like it hurt but it was so fun, the tumbling and stuff. my mom cried though.” he's telling the memory because it’s important to note, no matter how many times he’s reminded he can break he always tries to prove he can’t. no matter how many people tell him he’s going to jump too high and fall too hard joowon is just waiting to see if he can overcome it.

"you know what, you’re pretty awesome too! not many people like touching blood. and the last patron I had to deliver too when I dropped her stuff she hit me on the head with a clipboard. twice. so you’re pretty cool. i’m pretty sure there’s only one of you heh.”

he’s impenetrable really!

// @flowereum

there is no reason for you to try and carry all these supplies on your own.there is no reason for you to let those supplies block your vision.lee joowon you are not coordinated enough for this.lee joowon. you are better than this.

if joowon had listened to any of the voices in his head he might’ve actually avoided this reality. his reality is, scraped knees and blistered hands. his reality is tea bags and tea bag contents spilled before him ( thank god it wasn’t the china ) and nope wait there’s the china. one of the china anyway.

it begins with a delivery, as all good things usually do. a rather chill and welcoming delivery because he loves loves loves visiting yeoreum’s shop. but she’s always got a ton of things on her list and he always tries to look too good bringing them out. maybe it’s because it’s some kind of task for him to appear as put together as she does, maybe he’s trying to impress a pretty girl. either way he’s always carrying tons of boxes into her shop, from the curb of the street to back storage.

he was carrying three, a reasonable amount and she’d been used to this game, but she still warns him. and for the moment he’s too caught up in the voice to pay much attention. that’s when the happy hole hits, feet snagging on a dip in the sidewalk and sending him face forward into the concrete. he opts for trying to catch the good china while letting everything fall but it’s a spectacle nonetheless. and seriously embarrassing. 

now see if he was clairvoyant this wouldn’t have happened.

So, Joowon is like this. 

Anyone who knows him knows he’s like that. Dramatic to a certain fault and never to a certain extent. Dramatic in that it’s become the norm, that he’s always bouncing, buzzing and bright.Always too wired and too much for most people to handle. No one questions it and since he was younger he’s just had it labeled as quirky, a personality trait so no one has to suspect anything else. No one has to dig any deeper. But Joowon does, he always does not for his own amusement but because he has a model to follow and to him, there’s no way he can be this wired for now reason.

Haebitna is one of the many who don’t question but the few how indulge him, quick words and strange motions and all. 

It’s been an - eventful day to say the least. Not because he tries to make everyday as eventful as possible but because this is the first time he’s sat down since six this morning and the first meal since then as well.

First, he downs the entire glass of water, he’d even try the ice cubes if he didn’t want to choke. He’s got some level of etiquette, at least here. 

“Alright are you ready for this? I’ve been up since six am, which I’m sure isn’t something odd to you but that’s not the point. The point was, I worked a night run last night. This guy had me take something all the way to a port near Incheon....Incheon! So I’m getting called as soon as my shift ended last night and I’m gonna take it right? But he wants me to drive this big monster, have you ever been in a truck with sixteen wheels or more? No? Yes? Okay so I have to ride in his truck right? Get it there, drop it off - I don’t have a truck license so I have to be as fast and inconspicuous as possible. Bring the truck back here....turns out it was a stolen truck. So we’re trying to hide it and at that time my boss calls me in and says he needs me on my day off so I’m rushing to work after driving out of Seoul to deliver this stolen truck????????”

☁ - THE ENTIRE CITY IS WITHOUT POWER DUE TO A STORM, AND OUR MUSES RUN INTO EACH OTHER DURING A SUPPLY RUN → starter for: @joorista !

the teacher had been sprawled out on her bed, still in the short pencil skirt and blouse she wore to work, marking her student’s homework with both eyelids half open when it had happened. if it hadn’t have been for her mother yelling down the apartment for somebody to get a torch, minji would not have realised her pot lights had burst out since she was already half asleep anyway. soon enough, her mother was banging on her door to hurry up and minji starts awake, completely bewildered about what had just happened in the past minute. alas, her brothers were too lazy – her mother defended them; heechul had exams! and jaehyun had a long shift at the hospital that day! – and her father too tired ( she would stay and argue she was too! but decided against it when her gaze fell upon her mother’s glare that had lit up with the torch she had found ) so she slipped on her flats, pulled on the first coat her hands fell upon and stumbles out the apartment complex for the grocery store a couple blocks down.

it seemed as though the entire city was without power, because there were plenty others who seemed to have the same idea in mind by running to the store for supplies. it was hectic and minji really wished one of her brothers had come along with her; it was so late! sighing to herself, she pulled the cart along the aisles and drops whatever she thought they’d need in every couple moments. however, her torch had slipped to the side and the light suddenly disappeared behind a packet of ramen noodles so she doesn’t see the cart she’s just crashed into. 

❝ ya! watch where you’re – oh, okay. not possible right now, ❞ minji cleared her throat awkwardly and grabbed the torch from the cart to shine the light onto the face of ❝ joowon-ah! sorry! you alright? ❞

joowon is, if anything a dramatic individual. dramatic like when the lights went out he screamed just to see who else would scream. ( half the girls in the shop and two of his co-workers, one who punched him in the arm after......worth it ) but that’s beside the point, the point is he was in the shop when the power went out. the power and all the lights by hongdae and quite frankly it was a mess. scrambling to find matches and flashlights that their rather old-fashioned owner still had in the pantry. it made for a nice ambiance, lighting the coffee tables with candles. on top of shelves, above espresso, on each table and adorning the counter. if he wasn’t so annoyed about his shift being extended he would’ve liked the way things were done. joowon’s always had an eye for the softer things, the pretty girl aesthetics that one would see on a pinterest account and he’s not ashamed.

but he shift has been extended and he’s been sent to pick fresh things from the store to make sure they run decently until the light.

first of all, getting around in a street without power was a nightmare. a literal nightmare. if he wasn’t used to the traffic on the daily he might have fell from a crash and broken something. still, he’s eager for the calm atmosphere of the shop and that’s all that gets him maneuvering through the crowd of people and shoving himself to the nearest convenience store. the power seems to only go a few blocks down which isn’t bad but it’s bad because it’s the 21′st century. still, he’s rushing through the aisles, picking up all the supplies and wondering why he didn’t bring a flahslight with him. 

hey powers, secret ability to light up in the dark this is an excellent time to activate!!!!

relying on the flashlights of others has to be his worst idea yet because it takes one turn and a crash to have him toppling over. now joowon is especially dramatic but those two carts and his speed actually sent him into the shelf behind him. he hears words but he’s got about four boxes to go past his head before it registers.

he’s relieved to see the barista take his cup, looking as if he was actually going to remake the tea. it comes to his surprise however, when he sees a new cup being shoved under the espresso machine. hate is laced in the words spewed out of said barista and jisung has absolutely no idea what he’s done to piss off the guy this much to the point where he’s being given coffee. again. he’s taken aback, just lets the male go off about how he’s a jerk and how he’s — wait, did he hear that right?

playboy?

jisung internally feels his eye twitch at the mention of the hated word, and it takes him everything to hold it back. he’s not a playboy. sure, his job makes him look like one. but he is far from that. and he doesn’t blame the male for thinking so, but to sabotage his drink just like that? 

“you ever hear of the whole, don’t judge a book by its cover saying? yeah, you’re kinda doing that right now.” if eyes could kill, jisung was sure he’d be dead by now. “i’m not, that.” he refuses to say the word, absolutely. “i can see why you would think i come off as one, but that’s my job. i’m a…” how does he describe what his job is without making it seem weird?

“i’m….someone who gets rented for relationships. i’m not dating anyone, and i’m just being paid to be with these girls. please stop staring at me like that.”  

This is - karma of the best form. 

This is he kind of karma that someone can feel smack them in the face and doesn’t necessarily have to hurt. This is what he gets for trying to interfere with automatic responses and instincts. So many people ignore them and the one time Joowon tries to it blows up in his face. His pride isn’t really hurt but he does feel a little stupid, a little jerk-ish considering he was wrong and he knew he was wrong but he tried to read things differently, tried to go against everything and rely on what must be the mundane.

That aside - if he didn’t think he was in a game he does now. A guy who gets rented for relationships? Either this guy is really about to become his arch-nemesis or he’s testing his waters, sizing Joowon up. It’s bad enough that Jisung is fairly taller, fairly more built that Joowon himself because the sizing up doesn’t work like that. Most people does it but the good ol’ story of David and Goliath taught them better. Not that Joowon was rearing up to fight Jisung, all thoughts of that died down with the revelation.

Oh right - speaking of the revelation.

Joowon glances down at the espresso shots and then around to see if his co-workers saw. In that second he tilt his head back and downs the entire cup.

“The coffee was okay. Not the worst that I have had if you wish to know.” The worst being the time when her brother had accidentally made her coffee that tasted so sweet, she could feel herself getting diabetes from a single sip of it. That goes to show how badly her brother functions in the morning, to the point where he would use a big measuring spoon instead of the usual tablespoon of sugar. Safe to say that she does not trust him to make her coffee anymore.

She hums as she thinks about his answer, wondering if he was that afraid of upsetting his manager or if this was his subtle way of turning down her offer. “Considering how you had made the choice to come over here instead of resuming your choice, I do not think it will be any riskier for you to sit down and have a chat with me.” She can always get something to order if that is what he is worried about. 

So he remembers her name too. That’s nice of him. “It is. Like I said, I just want to talk. It’s been awhile since I did that with anyone. Nobody seems to have the time or the interest to simply talk anymore.” Pity, because that is how the best connections are formed with someone. “It’s okay if you don’t want to sit with me. I don’t have that many interesting stories to share as compared to the stories you might have from working here. That story of the last employee sounds pretty interesting already even though much was not revealed.” 

“It was okay but not the best.”

This isn’t really him gloating, it’s a pride thing but it’s more out of respect for her taste buds. That’s really where his concern lies, not in the fact that he can make the coffee just right but in the fact that it suits the person, that their taste buds aren’t crying and they have to swallow something atrocious. Like being used to a favorite fluffy jacket and all of a sudden taking alligator skin to the body and wondering why it’s rejecting it. Coffee’s like that.

That’s also why he’s wary because had he been messing up her coffee this entire time ( unlikely ) he’s in for a treat. Treat being the opposite of what she’d do to him. People are funny about their coffee. 

She seems relatively calm though, not enough to calm his nerves - granted joo’s usually always buzzing like this so that’s not the problem. “Its just - “ He has nothing to lose with telling her the reason for his standoffish nature. Well - standing away. See the cashier face, the toothy eye smile and all isn’t really an act, joo tends to be this talkative and bright away from the register, but he lets his instincts steer him as well. They settle, just for the moment. He watches as she holds the coffee, holds his gaze and talks. If she’s not here to splash coffee on him she’s not here to kill him. ( if she was she’s doing a perfect job of being inconspicuous, romanoff style probably ). Joo’s keeps the broom as his brace, but continues talking.

“A little bit ago well not a little bit I believe it was last week? We had a regular come in and usually she wants a vanilla latte and she likes it sweet but we can only put so many pumps in there because I’d have to charge so much extra per pump and as a fellow consumer that’s a pain. SO, she came in and I could tell she was having a bad day so I put a little extra vanilla, one pump exactly in there right?” It’s not the breath he takes to say this all that has him breathing it’s remembering the incident.

( sms: 원이 ) which is pretty scary, no? i don’t really understand what you’re getting at… are you ok.. that’s all i wanna know ( sms: 원이 ) i hope you know i’d never throw something at you  ( sms: 원이 ) not intentionally anyway ㅎㅎㅎㅎ ( sms: 원이 ) find me van gogh oppa first, then we’ll talk ( sms: 원이 ) can you please just get here ( sms: 원이 ) i’ll turn on my damn location for you, you big babo 

( sms: 원이 ) that’s a scary thought stop it ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ ( sms: 원이 ) imagine you stopped falling and found me instead? miracle ( sms: 원이 ) um okay. ummm… if i yell will you hear me? ( sms: 원이 ) i brought bread, but maybe i should throw it down from this building and hope it hits you on the goddam head ( sms: 원이 ) yeah exactly, find me a man like that ( sms: 원이 ) if you get here without crashing, i’ll grant you 3 wishes. like a genie. img.