achilles song

{ ... }

“I can’t believe your friend didn’t allow you to kick his nuts… I think I’d pay to see it, how come no one backed you up on it? You see, that’s the problem of having friends who are dating. They end up breaking up and then come crying and you don’t know if you should get drunk so you don’t have to give advice or just go home because the fun is ruined. My advice is: get more single friends or people not willing to commit. You can’t go wrong with those. You have fun, get drunk, hook up, not necessarily in that order and all is good.”

Hanbyul rolls her eyes at Ilhoon but the gesture is more amused than anything. Ilhoon calls her peculiar but he’s also an unique person himself, who else instead of simply hanging up or politely refusing the offer on the other line of the phone would instead flirting with them so much that they would hang up instead probably with a mental scar that would never go away. She still agrees with him though. Hanbyul knows it’s their job and they don’t exactly deserve the rudeness they receive everyday but then they also should learn when to stop insisting or at least their boss should teach them a less annoying approach or something like that. It isn’t like they, the “costumers”, are obligated to put up with listening to an offer they aren’t interested in the first place “I think if it was really fortunate for him, he wouldn’t have hung up though.”

”I don’t think “peculiar” is the word people would use.” She sighs though Hanbyul mostly doesn’t care about people’s opinions anyway especially when they’re about her. “But thanks I guess.” She moves then Jack very carefully to not wake him up so she can stand up and go to the kitchen. “I’m making some tea, do you want some?” Hanbyul takes a mug out before filling it with water deciding that she’s just too lazy to wait for the water to boil in a kettle so she goes for the microwave instead before taking the little pot they keep the teabags so she could choose one while the water heated up.

“Thank you, finally someone who understands the reality as it is.” She sighs for a moment before sending him a pointed look but there’s a hit on an amused smile on her lips so she isn’t being serious about that either when Ilhoon comments he’s surprised she had such idea. She takes the strawberry teabag before going back to the microwave to get her mug and she finishes her tea while walking back to the couch, sitting down next to her roommate again and then takes a sip of the hot beverage.

“Relationships are too troublesome.” Hanbyul has never been in one but she has seen enough of them to know that they’re mostly a waste of time and energy considering they always end in one way or another, leaving behind nothing but pain and scars and of course drunk friends who can’t stop whining about their ex’s and don’t actually try to forget them. Commitments bring nothing but trouble and once again Hanbyul agrees with Ilhoon, it’s much easier to deal with people who don’t want anything else but enjoy themselves and not tie themselves to other people and calling it love  She hums in agreement. “To single friends who are more than ok with being singles.” Hanbyul playfully and gently bumps her mug to Ilhoon’s glass of milk before taking another sip of her tea.

The apology died in her throat as she looked up at the woman before her with a bit of suspicion. Mihyun felt the brush of her emotions that was mainly curiosity and relaxed a little. A smile, albeit slight, replaced her narrow-eyed gaze and smoothed her expression to mirror the woman in front of her. “Yeah? Were you playing the game as well?” Mihyun asked, eyeing her up an down. 

The woman before her was dressed sporty, but feminine and Mihyun could tell she took care of her clothes because although they were well-worn, they were tidy and Mihyun felt the small stirrings of familiarity because she was the same. Mihyun wondered if she was in her department, and felt a little foolish because she hadn’t bothered to really get to know anyone thanks to her ability. It didn’t help that the soccer game gave her a double whammy of both physical pain and mental every time she stood close to a player. It had taken hours for the headache to die down afterward. 

“No, but I was watching. If you could even call that a game considering how I strongly think people were more concerned about how many injuries they could cause in the other team than actually playing.” Hanbyul sighs, remembering the savagery of the other day. It again made her think about the whole stupidity that is this whole competition between departments. Actually psychology and social sciences should be helping each other considering how they both study the same thing but of course from different areas: human beings. Though Hanbyul personally was much more interested in her research with her rats and pigeons than the whole complexity of the human mind anyway but then again she needed something to do as a living. “I’m from the psychology department by the way.” the blond felt the need to let it out even though she isn’t quite sure why. 

{ ... }

“I don’t know if I can call it fun. Got home, did some uni work, got a call from an insurance seller at which point I had to flirt with him so that I could gross him out enough for him to hang up the call.” He raises a playful brow at that “You know they can’t  do that, right? So I was pretty amazing for being able to get the guy that uncomfortable that he will never call again, bless. I wouldn’t be able to work in that area, you know? Selling things through the phone? I’m convincing but then I know I’m selling shit so I’d just badmouth the product and get fired. Do you imagine yourself selling insurances? I think you’d get annoyed at the person and tell them to fuck off I don’t know why I just have that feeling and it’s pretty funny to imagine.” He rants nonstop, he knows that, but he dips another cookie in his milk and shoves it in his mouth after so it’s an effective way to warrant silence for a bit.

“I don’t  know. Some supernatural-ish series. Some guy wants to kill someone and then they keep chasing this other dude and there’s this girl in the middle and then they spent like ten minutes sucking face but I don’t know why, I thought they were after each other to kill each other and the acting sucks which makes it the perfect thing to watch at ungodly hours of the night because you stop questioning yourself.” He says as he watches Jack nestling between the two, intent in sleeping some more unlike Ilhoon who is clearly way too awake. “I’m honestly just killing time until Master Chef starts, they’re reprise the old episodes around this hour and I wanna catch up. But tell me everything about your night, why didn’t it go well, what happened, tell me all about it.”

It’s nice talking to Ilhoon especially because she doesn’t feel like she needs to fill in the silence ( he makes a better job of it than Hanbyul would ever do ) and he’s fun with this witty remarks and sarcasm. Hanbyul shifts just a little bit on the couch before finally settling down so Jack can lay down more comfortably on her lap. She’d most likely never admit that she has the biggest spot for the puppy; actually she has always had a soft spot for puppy, has always wanted one when he was younger but she knew that they barely had any money for themselves and things were already hard as they were imagine if they added a pet. She keeps scratching the back of his ear almost lazily while she listens to Ilhoon’s day. Hanbyul can’t help but chuckle softly when she hears that he has flirted so much with the poor insurance attendant that he had to hang up. “You’re awful.” Not that she’s much better of a person either, considering that she’d simply say a “no, thanks” and hang up.

She has an amused smile when he explains what kind of seller he’d be and she can definitely imagine what he described happening. Hanbyul hums then with his question of what she’d be like as an insurance seller and almost right away wrinkles her nose because. “No, thanks.” She doesn’t have the charisma or the patience for the job.  “I’d probably do exactly that and then I’ll get fired anyway because I wouldn’t be selling the insurances, just telling people to fuck off even if they deserved it so I wouldn’t even be sorry for it. I prefer working with my rats and pigeons anyway.”

Hanbyul makes the most cringy face with Ilhoon’s description of the program he was watching and the only thing on her mind was why; she’s ready to get up from the couch and take her shower to do something else because anything is better than staying for that but masterchef makes Hanbyul stay and she can take care of herself and change her clothes and everything when the episode is done after all she’s also a little late with those considering she ended up stuck with a lot of assignments and barely had the time to breath between them. “I’m only staying for masterchef.” She announces. The shorter girl sighs with her roommate’s next question. “One of my friends broke up with her cheating boyfriend and she was super bad about it so of course the best way to cheer her up was to go out, drink, find another cute guys and go home with said cute guys.” She starts  and looks down at the sleepy puppy. “But then she just ended up stuck on the drinking part so i left her puking her stomach out with my other friends and came home.”

{ ... }

Her arms throbbed in protest from the movement. The rivalry between departments was no joke. Mihyun knew she would be sore for at least another day after she was body checked during the soccer game against the psychology department, the social science departments bitter rivals, or so the head of the two departments made it seem. She had heard a rumor that the two women had beef because of a cheating ex but Mihyun was too uninterested and too miffed that her Head threatened to make anyone who didn’t participate life’s miserable. Mihyun’s life was crazy enough, she didn’t need anymore pressure. 

Tucking the shopping bag into her purse, Mihyun looked up in time to stop from colliding with another woman.  

Hanbyul admits that she isn’t exactly the best when it’s about social “etiquette” like some things that are just so subtle and in her opinion useless and the only purpose that they have in her point of view is wasting time when you simply could go there and say what you want in a straight forward manner and save everyone some good time that could be easily used for something better, maybe that’s why she isn’t the most popular in her major in the first place ( though she isn’t exactly the most friendly person in general ). Needless to say that she thinks that the whole rivalry between her department and the social sciences one is just beyond ridiculous because both of them were science in their own ways and as soon as she has heard some rumors that it wasn’t about the departments in itself but a fight between the head of the two departments Hanbyul was so done she refused to listen to any more of it. 

Thank god the university student is scary enough that they didn’t try to make her join the soccer game the other day which was just another ridiculous show considering that everyone was much more worried about winning than actually enjoying the game and Hanbyul thinks that she has never seen so many people going in and out because of injuries. However, she wasn’t still completely safe from it and had to go anyway, to cheer for her “friends” of the department because it was her duty as a member of the department and some more things that to be honest she didn’t really pay attention to and she ended up going for the sake of having some peace later. Well, at least she could get a little of her reading done so it was mostly ok.

She’s window shopping the bookstore like she always does, looking to see if there’s any books on sale that could buy and some others that she makes a mental note to search later to see if she can get it for a cheaper price. After all, Hanbyul isn’t rich and has way too many books to buy to simply take the first one that she sees. That’s when she feels a presence by her side that makes her move a little bit, not enough to really stop the collision that would’ve happened if the other girl hasn’t stopped but enough that at least less damage would be done.

{ ... }

He moves into the kitchen area, taking his kettle and filling it with enough water before setting it down to boil, before rummaging through his cabinet to get out two mugs that don’t have obscene or controversial quotes on them.; he’s a bit of a collector. When he reappears in the living room, he’s carrying multiple boxes of teabags.

“I’ve left the black and green tea I got in the kitchen but you get to choose between… cranberry and raspberry, strawberry and mango, peach, and this ginger and mango mix i’ve never tried. also herbal stuff, I guess, but that’s something people only drink when they’re sick or have really boring personalities.”

Hanbyul looks back at Baekhyun when he comments about his wild days with an amused raised eyebrow. She tries to picture it, a younger Baekhyun with an even younger baby face with a tongue pierced and going around town and edgy visual. The funny thing is that she can actually picture it, probably because she has seen that same scene a little too many times when she was younger, she has seen her own brothers go through that same phase of sorts, though she suspects that for Junhwan it’s been much more than a simple phase but as long as she’s happy, Hanbyul wasn’t one to judge ( not like she can do that anyway ). However, it doesn’t make things less amusing and Hanbyul feels herself relaxing a little bit more; it’s hard not to when Baekhyun is welcoming her like they aren’t not so close neighbors that share a mutual friend. 

“I guess even the most saint ones have their wild days.” She comments with a hint of tease on her voice. Hanbyul stands awkwardly at the living room for a moment, almost fidgeting with her hands only because she doesn’t know what to do with them. She doesn’t know if she should follow him to the kitchen or simply wait on the living room. She doesn’t like to feel this insecure about things, especially because Baekhyun does seem nice and hat kind of person who doesn’t seem to get offended so easily but small faux pas. Hanbyul huffs a little amused with Baekhyun’s comment, the closest thing she has of a laugh. “I don’t think it’s that bad.” She decides to put her hands on her pockets before she drives herself crazy. “The whole domesticity and adulthood. I prefer the peace of domesticity than the chaos of pierced tongues and trespassing properties for the sake of romantic stargazing. I guess I’ve always been boring though I admit I also had some piercings back in the day.”

Hey there lovelies, we’re back with another meme/prompt for everyone! You’ll be able to reblog this meme for one week, starting today, but feel free to continue answering memes after that. (Make sure to send at least something to everyone who reblogs this regardless of if your muses have interacted or not. Feel free to use this as starters or drabbles as well if you want to or as a standalone kind of thing, it’s up to you. Hopefully it’ll spark some new plot ideas, interactions and more dash activity. And the important thing: it WILL count for activity!! Nonetheless, please don’t neglect your replies over these and try to balance them if you can.) Have fun!

{ ... }

Ten minutes after her first question, he seems to have passed the test with flying colors although he suspects that Jack did convince her even before Ilhoon opened his mouth. And now he’s there, roughly a month later, in his new apartment with his dog, sprawled on the couch in nothing but shorts and a simple t-shirt at 2:30 in the morning on a saturday because he can’t sleep. The small jack russel is sleeping soundly with his head on the boy’s thigh while Ilhoon attempts to dip his twenty-fourth cookie in milk. The series he’s watching loses its interest once he needs to fish the soaked cookie from the bottom of the glass where it landed and the fact that he has a guest doesn’t help either. Hanbyul had mention something about going out with friends and 2:30 seems awfully early to be back from a saturday night outing. He assumes it either didn’t go well or she got bored – whichever happened first. 

“Fun night out?”

Hanbyul doesn’t understand what heartache feels like, can’t really get why so many people seem to take forever to get over someone else that hurt them in that way, maybe because she has never been in love; the closest to a crush that she ever got was on celebrities and she knew from the start that it’d never work especially when they were mostly much older than she was so it was more of “I found them cute” than really anything else, and consequently she has never had her heart broken because of love ( though that doesn’t mean it was broken for other reasons ). Also that’s why she is the worst person you could ever ask for comfort when it’s a heartbroken issue. Hanbyul is naturally a rough person, bordering on the harsh and of course that any advice she has to give is basically “Don’t think about them too much and you’ll get over them.” 

( It’s incredibly insensitive, she knows, but Hanbyul doesn’t have anything else to offer )

That’s why when her friends from university call her to help with a broken heart Hanbyul is already sighing but she can’t say no because she cares about them in the end and she knows well enough that it isn’t like they’d ever accept a no. But of course that this couldn’t end in anything but a disaster and Hanbyul decides to leave at the second the heartbroken girl starts puking from having drank too much because she just isn’t obligated to take care of people who don’t know how to measure their drinking limits and respect them. 

It’s still late though and that’s why she tries to not make much noise when she gets home, carefully taking of her shoes at the door until she realizes that Ilhoon is actually still awake and a part of her is glad that he’s awake so Hanbyul doesn’t have to be careful to not wake him up while she walks around the apartment. “Not really.” Hanbyul admits and wrinkles her nose. “Fun night in?” She asks next, going to the couch where the taller male is and scratches behind Jack’s ear in greeting softly to not wake him up, leaning on the back of the furniture. 

{ ...}

but this girl… though familiar, she doesn’t strike any bells just yet, so he stares at her a little too intensely ( or at least, he feels like it’s intense, although he is drunk so that’s debatable ). he accepts the offered stick though and grunts at her question about the light. “well i could try to use a lightning bolt to hit the end of it, but when i tried that last time, it ruined the cigarette and burnt the floor…” he chuckles a little bit, although something inside him is waiting for her, watching her closely to see her reaction—if he can’t recognize her, maybe she’ll recognize him? maybe making an allusion to him as zeus will let her know that he knows about her duality.

doesn’t seem to be working though, but after she leans in and looks up at him, he gets a good enough look at her eyes, and it all starts coming back now. achilles. they’d never really formally met, which is why it’s taken so long to settle in, but after he realizes it, it’s a wonder that he didn’t pick up on it before. that stout stiffness on her face, the vague standoffish nature of her stance, the warrior tone in her voice. the only real difference now is that she is much more beautiful like this, and taemin appreciates that. he hums low in his throat when she introduces herself by a different name, a smile curling at the edges of his lips. “sure you are,” he mutters to her, leaning his head against the side of the house, nonchalantly. the grin spreads further over his mouth as he draws in a smoke-filled breath. “we didn’t talk before but i like you better like this, achilles. sexy.”

Hanbyul doesn’t even think too much about the comment of the lightning bolt the stranger makes, doesn’t give him much besides an amused hint of a smile. She knows he’s pretty drunk so he’s most likely just talking nothing with nothing. Hanbyul just can’t take him too serious and that’s why she imply plays along. “That sounds really troublesome.” She hums, taking out her lighter and lightening the cigarette on the taller male’s lips and soon enough it’s back to her pocket. “And such waste of a good cigarette so let’s not take the risk.”  Hanbyul tries to sound serious but it’s a little hard to leave the amused tone out of her voice, however it doesn’t make her any less uneasy about how the other is simply staring at her like that, like he’s looking for something and Hanbyul almost gets defensive about this.

She taps on her cigarette twice and thinks about asking him what’s he looking at, but then there’s something on his tone when Hanbyul tells him her name that makes her want to punch him. Until she remembers that the guy is possibly drunk out of his mind so of course he could be having some hallucinations and thinking that Hanbyul is someone that she clearly isn’t so the psychology student decides to let it pass. However, the name Achilles makes her chest tightens just the slightly bit and her eyes widen for a very brief moment. There’s this feeling inside of her that seems to answer by that name, like Hanbyul should answer by that name too.

( She’s probably a little more tipsy than she thought she was ). 

“Achilles, right.” Hanbyul ends up snorting, she vaguely remembers that name from some greek myth like Achilles was supposed to be this hero in the troy war or whatever. Brad Pitt played him, right? She also remembers he was supposed to love this other guy who was his cousin? Who knows. It isn’t like it matters anyway. 

{ ... }

he steps aside with a gentle smile. “come on in then - unless you want me to try and pick your lock? I used to be able to do it when i was younger, and i might just be lucky this time-” he grins at her; he’s really not being serious. “ilhoon is right - i bartend, i always work odd hours, so it’s pretty early for me.

“i think a cup of tea would be better in this case - you’re shaking all over, and if we caffeinate ourselves we’ll end up staying up until it’s morning. i could make some? it’s really no trouble.”

Hanbyul feels a little more ridiculous when Baekhyun smiles at her like that. She knows that he’s only trying to be nice, to calm down the nervous mess that she’s being because she just doesn’t know how to ask for help when she needs to, especially to strangers. She knows that he means no harm, that he isn’t looking down on her, babying her in any way but there’s this prideful part of her that almost wants to slash out, lie saying that she doesn’t need his help anyway because she’s a grown up girl and knows how to handle herself. It’s stupid and childish and Hanbyul claims she’s a grown up girl but she’d be acting like a kid that doesn’t like to be called a brat even though that’s exactly what they are. That brief moment is gone and Hanbyul tries to rely more on how Baekhyun’s body language is inviting, how relaxed he is and tries to take some of that to herself. 

She’s just tired and stressed from a long day, only wanted to get home and take a long shower before going to bed. 

The psychology student is more than relieved when Baekhyun steps aside and invites her, her shoulders relaxing just the slightest. She can’t help the soft snort that makes its way out of her lips with her neighbour’s suggestion to pick up her lock, it isn’t a mean one or anything like that. It’s just a little cute and unfitting for Baekhyun, imagining him going around in his younger days picking up locks for whatever reason. It almost makes her a little nostalgic, remember how her oldest brother has always been good at that too. “Sorry.” She says to get her head out of those memories. “You have too much of a good kid’s face that I can’t imagine you going around doing things like that.” Not that Hanbyul knows him that much anyway, he could be a daredevil inside for all that she knows.

{ ... }

his feet and hands are moving before his brain has a chance to come up with any sort of smarter strategy besides just walking up to the assaulter ( which often happens to ares—his instincts outweighing his intelligence ). he knows of women who have been assaulted before and he by no means considers himself a hero or a vigilante, set to help out any damsels in distress, but the opportunity is there and ares is screaming for something to hit. he scoops up a hand-sized stone on his way down the alley, barely even pausing to say, “hey asshole,” to catch the attention of the assailant, before smashing it against the man’s face full-force. jiyong’s eyes are glowing, his rage is building, and he actually fully intends to beat this wiry, stumbling human to death. the man cries out and tries to get away, but jiyong grabs him and pulls him back, hitting him again hard enough to knock him out cold. or kill him. he can’t tell. he doesn’t give a shit.

Hanbyul was never a girl who believed in fairy tales, even when she was a kid and her older siblings tried to keep her innocence for as long as they could because they knew better than anyone else how harsh the true world can be and Hanbyul should have at least some nice memories from her young days to hold on when reality would finally hit her. Hanbyul never believed in prince charmings, in waiting for someone else to rescue her during hard times, especially because the real world never proved her wrong. She comes from a place that guys like this one that is trying to corner her are in every dark alley and you learn in the hard way that or you push them away or they will take anything they want from you, there’s no prince charming, no knight in shining armor that is coming for you. 

That’s why she’s so surprised when she hears a third voice in the alley, for a moment she thinks that the guy has friends and maybe they’ve seen the whole scene and also want to have fun, however, Hanbyul is pretty sure that friends don’t knock each other out like that and there’s is this twist on her stomach, her instincts are screaming danger; her “hero” isn’t better than the other guy who is on the floor. 

Hanbyul doesn’t believe in ‘heroes’, in good hearted people who simply help others for the sake of it. She hates selfless people, feels like there’s nothing worse than simply giving and giving yourself and not receiving anything in return. She doesn’t believe in guys who suddenly appear in dark alleys conveniently when she apparently needs help ( which she didn’t, Hanbyul has more than enough strength and skill to beat the crap out of the guy, but then she wasn’t trying to be nice enough to give him an out before she really punched his ugly face, after all, she hates using her powers in another humans. She has a heart, ok? ).

{ ... }

but things start to feel a little too heavy after a couple too many drinks, the music gets a little blaring, and he recognizes the signs screaming at him to go outside for some air. and by “air” that means cigarette smoke. he heaves in the chilly breezes and fumbles around his pockets, looking for a pack that isn’t there. “shit shit shit shit shit…” he mutters, growly, before realizing he’s not alone. he looks over at the girl, the hard lines in her face, the staunchy, slightly stiff demeanor in her posture—she clearly doesn’t want to be bothered. she looks familiar, so of course he’s going to bother her. “can i lift a cig off you? i’m so fucking out of it…” he raises a hand to his forehead.

Hanbyul usually is pretty good at minding her own business, doesn’t spare a single glance to the people around her especially when she’s enjoying a moment of peace that only fits her and herself, but then there’s this drunk guy apparently approaching her, probably also looking for a little of peace himself with a cigarette. He doesn’t look exactly young but he has more vibes of someone that is probably on their senior years or something of that sort., also he seems like someone who would make out if not fuck with more than half of the party., she’d think it’s a little surprising seeing him outside alone like that. Not that it’s any of her business anyway. She looks up to the dark sky again, releasing more smoke and watching it disappear in the air; Hanbyul isn’t sticking anyway so why bother with the stranger. 

Well, apparently because the stranger is out of cigarettes and as the only person besides himself outside is Hanbyul, clearly smoking a cigarette of her own, he asks her. 

The psychology student arches an amused eyebrow with his antics, doesn’t know why— probably the alcohol talking — that she finds them amusing and maybe that’s why or even because she knows what it’s like to want to smoke some and not have a cigarette for it feels like or she’s just feeling slightly more generous to the world that night that she agrees easily to lending him one. “Clearly.” She snorts, obviously not meaning that the other male is out of cigarettes but maybe he had a little too much to drink. “Sure, do you need a lighter too?” She offers, taking her package of cigarettes out and then holds it out for him. 

There’s still something inside of her that is somewhat feeling uncomfortable, a hint of bitterness like Hanbyul is supposed to be angry at the stranger even though it’s the first time that Hanbyul has ever seen that guy in her life, like this guy has done something bad to her before. However, since the psychology student can’t really pinpoint exactly what it is, once more, she just shrugs it off all these weird feelings she has been having for some people; this is far from the first time that something like that happens. Hanbyul would call it a gut feeling or some sort of instincts but then they don’t seem to really lead her anywhere either, it’s almost like all of that is about someone else that feels like Hanbyul should also feel wronged because others wronged that person. Or simply maybe she’s overthinking this.

( Yeah, definitely ). 

{ ... } 

He stared at the books for a while. He knew that if he knelt down to pick the books up, it would become a sign of victory for these idiotic teens who want to prove some that they were somehow superior. Rage quickly built up within him, but he also knew that if he fought back, or show any bit of aggression, these boys will still feel the victory. It was a lose-lose situation for him. His fists slowly closed, his nails digging into his skin as he slowly knelt down to pick up the books–what was a man to do? He’d rather eat his pride than be charged for child abuse or physical harassment. No, that’s not it. He ate his pride because he didn’t want to hurt anyone ever again.

He heard a few of them snickering before a threat that made them leave. True enough, the voice of his savior was harsh and empowering, and gladly enough to make the young group leave him be. He looked up to thank his savior, only to be surprised himself to see the quiet girl that had been coming around often. 

“Thanks a lot.” He smiled ang bowed a bit. He felt bad that someone had to witness that.

Hanbyul stands her ground, glares at the bullies like daring them to even try fighting back. They seem to get the message that she’s going to wreck them if they try anything ( or they simply see something else on her ), because they’re fleeing like the cowards bullies usually are behind all that intimidation and urge to humiliate others in order to feel better about themselves. Pathetic. She keeps glaring at them until they’re out of sight, just to make sure that they wouldn’t try anything else funny. Hanbyul relaxes a little more when they’re gone and turn her eyes to the person she was protecting moments ago. She checks him up and he seems to be alright, completely dismisses the words of gratitude. “Are you ok?” She asks instead, her usual frown already on her expression though this time it’s a little softer than it would usually be.

She doesn’t know why, barely knows that man, but something in him makes Hanbyul carry herself a little softer, a sense of familiarity that is almost overwhelming, something inside of her screaming that Hanbyul should know him, should protect him because the world has done him many wrongs. Of course, since she can’t understand any of this nonsense, Hanbyul ignores all of it, pushes it down to be dealt later ( or never ). “Does this happen often?” She asks, not remembering ever witnessing something like that in the store before, doesn’t remember any of those faces but granted that there’s only one person that she actually pays attention whenever she comes in the store and it’s the man standing in front of her because she’s going to a bookstore to buy books and not to stare and take notice of every person in it. 

{ ... }

but hanbyul is different, particularly because achilles was kind of an asshole to zeus’s recollection, and even now, she stands there with an egg raised over her head as though she’s going to knock him out with it. what kind of belligerent, disrespectful bullshit—especially in a dream. this is beyond ridiculous, but he dusts himself off and steps a little closer to her, tilting his head. “what the fuck are you doing? put that down, achilles,” he rolls his eyes and looks at their surroundings, without much degree of success. dreams are often hard to see through, unless it’s something notable.

“your dream?” he squints again but then shrugs. “i suppose that’s something all dreams would say.” although he can’t remember ever dealing with a self-aware dream before. then again, this whole thing feels weird. “obviously i’m looking for eggs. you must be a manifestation of my frustration in doing so—that makes sense…”

That’s why Hanbyul doesn’t like Taemin— one of the many reasons anyway. He keeps with this ‘Achilles’ bullshit even though she has said more than once about how much she hates it. She’s not greek, she’s not a boy, especially one that is a million years old one that is one more on the list of why being a hero in Greek Mythology is the worst idea you could ever have. A part of her, a tiny part of her, admits that maybe she indulges him a bit, because something inside of her still claims that name and Hanbyul still always perks up to that name that isn’t hers. But then, Hanbyul has already ignored Taemin a couple of times and it never really worked out considering that the more she ignored him the more Taemin became obnoxious and annoyed her even more. And funny thing that she still has this small feeling inside of her that tells her that if the circumstances were others and he’d stop with the nonsense, they’d actually get along well. 

She still remembers the party they first met and how she managed to not want to jump on his throat and there’s now where she regrets ever letting the egg down because it isn’t like she can be charged by murder if it’s just a dream, right? “That does make sense considering I was really wishing to murder someone.” She says in an almost teasing tone, would even smirk if not for the context they were in. 

{ ... }

they don’t know each other very well. baekhyun has been over at ilhoon’s apartment to visit him more than a few times - has spent afternoons on his couch, cradling a cup of coffee in his hands while watching the other work or just talking about everything and nothing - but he’s never had a one-on-one talk with hanbyul, even if he’s seen her around more than a few times. sure, they greet each other when they cross paths, and the three of them had conversations as well, but she seems more reserved than baekhyun knows how to deal with - he’s the type to hug someone after knowing them for an hour, so he tries to giver her space as not to overwhelm her with his friendliness and general obnoxious behaviour.

he blinks a few times as he tries to clear his mind before giving her a smile, leaning against the doorframe. “hey there, what do i owe the honour? i hope you’re not here to complain?” because he knows that he can be a bit loud, and he tends to let his dog run wild.

That’s the thing, Ilhoon is the social one between them, the one who can smile and barge into other people’s apartments with a smile while explaining to them why he’s barging in in the first place, has the magic with people to make all of that feel natural and smooth no matter whether they’re close or not. Hanbyul is the awkward one, the one who frowns and isn’t afraid to shut the door in someone’s face because they’re being annoyed or to avoid them barging in her apartment. She’s the one who frowns and has more skills in staying in the corner and not be noticed than even trying to be the center of attention, to go out of her way to interact with other people especially when she doesn’t need to. So it’s completely understandable why she feels so awkward in front of Baekhyun, and not only because she just knocked on his door this late at night ( and she’s so relieved he doesn’t seem to have been sleeping or anything like that ), but because Hanbyul isn’t the one to ask for favors, she’s the one people asks favors for. 

“What?” She frowns a little confused for a moment, her tone a little too firm and she kicks herself for already starting this sounding rude. “I mean, no— No.” 

Inhale. Exhale. Start again. 

“I know it’s sudden.” She tries again, tone milder and she decides to look at Baekhyun’s nose instead of his eyes. “And in the middle of the night, but—” It’s a little embarrassing to admit that out loud, Hanbyul notices when she has to do exactly that. “I forgot my key inside the apartment this morning and Ilhoon isn’t picking his phone. So I thought—” She clears her throat, holds on her things a little tighter before she starts fidgeting with her things again. “He’s always saying how your sleeping pattern is weird anyway so I thought you could be awake and maybe I could stay in for a while? Just until Ilhoon reaches me back.” She adds the last part quickly, Hanbyul hates to feel like she’s bothering people and really it isn’t like Baekhyun and her are close or anything to actually ask to sleep over or something more of that sort.