come down

the more speech patterns and mannerisms he’s caught onto, the more familiar the man becomes to him, suppressing the urges to narrow his eyes as he scrutinizes his overall figure. there’s something about the male that strikes a sense of familiarity to him but he can’t exactly put his finger on it. the offhanded righteousness of his words doesn’t help to cease the suspicion, either.

“pity. i was hoping to get some extra wads for some dinner tteokbokki, too.” regardless, it doesn’t take him long. it takes one good glance at the gold shimmer in his eyes and the matching shade adorned over the tip of his fingers before he hid them for the puzzle pieces to fall into place.

“ah.” is what leaves his lips unconsciously, half-listening. he doesn’t know precise details - just fractions of his story to go by. death of a loved one, followed by a fallen hero who’s covered with streaks of gold and bearing a brash personality. his quirk… physical enhancements. it catches his interest easy. a couple of options run through his mind. 

“that tone of yours suggests that you aren’t very fond of heroes.” he comments nonchalantly, thumbs tucking beneath the loops of his pants as he glanced over his shoulder. the heroes continue to battle at midst their conversation. it’s a good distraction. “which isn’t a popular opinion. they’re just like you. aren’t they?” he tilts his head towards the direction the kid’s run off to nonchalantly, tone saccharine  “always trying to help those who’re in tough spots.”

“aww well you’ll have to find some other idiot to get some quick cash off of you, won’t you.” a sickly-sweet smile on his face before dropping away as if it were never there. bonhwa knew he was being watched by the stranger, observed. it wasn’t the most pleasant feeling in the world but at this point he was using to it. when your body was literally covered in gold it was hard for people to not stare at you. right now, though he wasn’t in the mood to get recognized. though it was unlikely. who really cared about a random ex-hero?

the next few comments have him scoffing though, eyes rolling up into his head as he looks at the guy with a small shrug. “you watch me give one poor kid some cash and suddenly you think i’m a hero? that sounds like your own fucking problem. only an asshole doesn’t help up some down on their luck kids.”

“well i’ve never given a shit about what’s popular.” a lie. how much of his childhood and adolescence had been spent making sure he was the best? that everyone knew who he was and loved him? and now he tried to keep a low profile simply because it made the job easier.

the heel of his right foot tapped against the pavement for a moment, a nervous tick from childhood. mind racing with if he should say anything at all and if he did how much. it would be smarter to avoid the topic completely but bonhwa’s impulse control and critical thinking skills had died a few years before sadly. “heroes are all only fighting for their own agendas and i don’t like that kind of shit. so yeah, i guess a good way of putting it is that i’m not all that fond of heroes.”

it was funny. before sinjae could tell when someone was following or watching him, but it was like a little shiver. a little spot in his mind that poked and prodded until he became more aware of it to check. now it was more like a constant alarm blaring loudly inside that he had to run. escape. fight. all instincts on high alert really as he tried to calmly get his things together and head out. he didn’t want to cause a scene, but at the same time it was far too easy to freak him out now as he looked behind him a few times, wary of wherever they could come from.

he supposed he was getting lazy, or whoever it was was just better at not being noticed that it took a tap on the shoulder before sinjae was face to face with them. which he could say face to face, but it was more sinjae facing the other with explosions that sparked off from his hands painfully at the other on instinct, but he was smart enough to angle them away. probably a good thing considering he nearly missed what was said, and at least now he got a glimpse of the others face. wasn’t a face he’d expected either, or maybe he should have. sinjae didn’t know– wasn’t really like he’d heard anyone talk about bonhwa. or bring him up anyway. 

“fuck– yea. shit.“ he grit out, hands shaking a little, “don’t sneak up on me.“

bonhwa didn’t mean to make sinjae jump. he really didn’t. ducking with speed from his quirk as the other let off a blast, he supposed he was still used to his old friend's antics. even if he hadn’t thought he would ever see them again. blinking and shaking his head a bit as he realised he wasn’t going insane. it was really sinjae, the one he and everyone else had written off as dead for years on end. he was here and he was okay.

“fuck.” he knew he sounded just as shocked as he felt. “sorry, i wasn’t really trying to sneak up on you. just didn’t realise it was you but, fuck, it is. sinjae…i thought you were dead, everyone did. what the fuck happened to you?” bonhwa thought for a moment that it was weird that news of sinjae hadn’t reached him but he supposed it wasn’t. he wasn’t a hero anymore and most heroes would rather punch him than talk to him. a part of him still felt he should have been told though. he’d been on the mission with sinjae when he disappeared, he’d been one of the people to fight for them to keep looking for him and now here he was still alive. he could have been back for months and bonhwa wouldn’t have known.

i’m glad that my nerdy classics student moments are appreciated and we all need a good old asshole muse kicking around!!

time ticked away in an unbearably slow pace as sejun lounged against the side of a building, gaze absentmindedly following the face paced motions of heroes battling it out against each other in the middle of the street for god knows what. the situation bestowed upon him seemed lame and pathetic and he didn’t care enough to focus entirely. he’d been strolling and switching lounge-locations to accidentally brush shoulders with passersby to get a feel of their quirks while waiting for his night shift at the host bar to approach, but none of the powers he’d replicated have been particularly eye-catching enough to keep his attention. with that being said, it’s safe to say – even with the ongoing chaos on the street – that he was bored out of his mind. 

he straightened up with the leverage of his heel pressed against the brick wall behind him and considered switching locations again until a tall figure passed by and stopped a distance in front of him to watch the scene taking place. he gave his figure a quick once-over, juggling guesses on what quirk he’d have in store, but a distraction comes in the form of a child slinking over to said man to make a poor attempt of thievery.

his quick reaction amused him enough, the wads of cash flowing out of his hands recklessly. interest piqued, he watched as the tiny thief scuttled away before his gaze flicked back towards the man. he caught him staring. with the comment thrown his way, he took the chance, a simper drawing across his lips as he kept his gaze, undeterred. he takes a couple steps forward, trying to conjure up an opening and see if he could touch him to figure out his quirk, tone doused in lighthearted mischief. “why not? it’d be foolish for me not to take the chance when the person in front of me’s feeling charitable.” 

“charitable? i ain’t feeling fucking charitable so don’t try your luck.” bonhwa grumbled out. turning to the other and shoving clawed hands into his hoodies pocket as he looked the stranger up and down. something clicking in his head as he realised, he was being observed just as much as he was observing, if not more. even if the other’s tone was light and he really didn’t seem like more than a teasing and maybe pushy guy bonhwa couldn’t ignore the slight prickle along his skin. whatever this guy was watching him for didn’t seem like an immediate danger but even then bonhwa wasn’t in the mood to have to deal with some over involved prick. work had been long, and he was still longing for some cheap take out to finish the night with.

“i only gave that kid some cash because it was obvious, they were going to do something stupid and get themselves hurt if someone didn’t help them out. you on the other hand look like a fully grown and capable adult so don’t expect any help from me.” an overly sarcastically sweet smile on his face as he spoke. gold eyes drifting over to the still long-suffering hero fight, shrugging in the direction of it. “if you want some nice charity and cash just go ask one of them. they’re heroes so i’m sure they’ll be tripping over themselves to do something for you.” there was a bitter note to his words, more than he would have liked to be there but it was hard for there not to be. it used to be his job to help every random idiot on the street and he still wasn’t really sure if he’d ever even liked that to begin with.

the feeling only grew in his stomach though, watching the possible stranger as they moved around. he noticed they seemed to be clocking out for the day and he should leave it. whoever this guy was it was going to be embarrassing if he bothered him. bonhwa was just seeing dead people’s faces again, it wouldn’t be the first time. he’d seen jung everywhere in the first year after his death. but…he had to know. picking up his coat and jogging after the other man as he walked out of the café. he wasn’t too far down the street as he caught up to him. tentatively tapping his shoulder with a golden finger and for once not sure if he wished he was seeing things or not. “sorry i just- sinjae?”

@mhsinjae​ 

he didn’t miss having to deal with such meaningless missions. he was still watching the whole affair though which was what led to him being distracted long enough for some snotty-nosed kid to make a grab for his wallet. they didn’t get far before he was grabbing their arm and yanking them back. “hey! if you feel like robbing someone why don’t you try the old grandpa over there and not me, idiot.” golden eyes rolling as he continued to curse before very simply taking back his wallet pulling out a couple of notes and throwing at them at the now thoroughly reprimanded kid. who seemingly didn’t want to stick around long enough to question why they were still getting cash before scampering off. bonhwa huffing as he still felt eyes on him from some bystander. “you don’t seem like a hungry pick pocketer so don’t go expecting a handout like that for yourself.”