step by step

miajinseo​:

     “vaguely … resembles … a quokka …?” he echoes, trying to remember what animal that was. it’s a bit confusing for a second, as he wracks his brain for what animal a quokka was before he remembers someone having shown him a video of ‘the happiest animal on earth’ and his eyes widen immediately at the very accurate comparison his sister had just made.

     he had never even thought about that, only ever having directly compared dojoon to a squirrel.

     considering jina had mentioned cute cheeks specifically, jinseo knows without saying anything that she knew who he was talking about. it’s honestly unfair how well his sister knows him, and he’s pretty sure it’s illegal. or something. he’s pretty sure, just don’t check a lawbook or anything. 

     anyways. “okay, okay,” he relents, not thinking he needed to verbally acknowledge the name of the person he had a crush on, considering she had gotten it in one. “i’m struggling.”

she can't hold back her playful smirk when her brother obviously realizes that she knows exactly who he's been talking about this time, and her eyebrow arches in amusement as she watches jinseo go through the five stages of grief at the realization that dojoon does look exactly like a quokka, with his perpetual smile. she'd always thought that the other male was quite funny, and honestly, she thinks that they're genuinely quite a match for each other, especially when they consider that they're also equally both as stupid. or dense. jina isn't really sure which one it is here.

"and what exactly are you struggling over, jinnie?" she teases fondly, her lips curling up at the corners. "is it the fact that you actually like him and have to face it, or are you under the delusion that he doesn't like you back? or are you half still in denial — though honestly, that would just be silly at this point." a delicate eyebrow arches as she waits for her twin's response, completely uncaring that she had just dropped several potential bombs on him.

after all, what's a twin for if it's not to make life harder?

miajinseo​:

     his eyes are puffy and so are his cheeks—he thinks he must look a total mess and also probably like how he used to when he would cry for every little thing when they were younger. he had never been good at processing his own emotions, always the type to cry in hopes of getting something offered to him that would make him feel the way he wanted to. whether it be hugs, or kisses, or treats, or food. it usually worked, but he remembers how their mother used to fondly call him a crybaby and comment on his puffy eyes. 

     he had cried so much as a kid that he had perpetual puffy eyes almost. 

     honestly speaking, he wasn’t crying as a way to get out of the trouble he had gotten himself into. he’s not that type of person to try to get out of punishments he knew he deserved, but it wasn’t like he could help it. it was sort of a defence mechanism, or something, but he doesn’t really control it. 

     either way, he knows he was in the wrong but he also doesn’t know what had happened. when he had seen dojoon, it felt like something, someone had taken over his body and raised the gun to his friend’s—ex-friend?—head. nothing makes sense anymore and he doesn’t want to think about anything anymore, not when all his thoughts are all jumbled around in his head. it’s exhausting, and the time he had spent inside the interrogation room had only made him more tired. 

     his eyes are heavy and so is his heart.

     “… okay,” he whispers in reply to his sister’s words, leaning his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes. he wishes he could just hide here from the world, as if she could protect him from everything. he wishes. 

     hopefully everything will make more sense in his brain after a nap, or a sleep. he’s not even sure how long it’s been since he had seen dojoon and all the events that had happened since then. is it dinner time? lunch? the next day? everything felt like a lifetime ago. hopefully all his thoughts will line up in a linear fashion so he can make sense of everything that he wants to say. 

     but, until then, he knows he’s in safe hands with his sister. he always has been. 

the pitiful look on jinseo's face, all puffy eyes and little pout on his face, makes jina feel so soft that she really can't bring herself to get angry at him, no matter how much she should be getting mad at him right now. it really would be for the best for them to put off this conversation until after her twin had slept a bit and would be less likely to cry again when speaking about it.

carefully, she runs her hand through his hair, her expression soft and vaguely pained, unable to help the feeling of compassion that runs through her, always so soft for her twin, who had always been so much more sensitive than her. jinseo had always tried to put up a tough front, but jina knows without any shadow of doubt that her little brother (even if it's only by a fractional amount of time) has always been the more tender of the two of them.

her steps are steady as she guides jinseo out of their living room and into her room, already thinking that it would be better after the tumultuous day to spend the night togehter in safety, rather than leaving him alone in his room. she should leave him alone in his room; he needs to know that what he did was wrong, but jina already has a feeling that he understands inherently what he'd done was wrong. the question is just if he's going to be able to swallow his pride and shame to actually apologize to dojoon.

that, she's not sure about.

miaremy​:

honestly, it’s not so bad down here. sure, the ground is hard and there’s something digging into the underside of one of his legs, but the view is nice– ugly crooked beam aside. it’s not often he gets a chance to lay down outside and look up at the sky. it’s so blue, and somehow, makes him feel a little more optimistic. he trusts maylin and the others to build something better for them. it might take a while, but they’ll be able to do it.

they would be able to do it faster if they let him help. for real. but whatever.

“yeah, i’m good,” jj assures jina, and he laughs at himself now too. “not a good look for me, but it happens.” really; he’s about to spar and try to do something relatively badass and it’s a rock that takes him out before they really even start. hopefully that isn’t a sign of how the rest of his life as an agent will go.

“it’s crooked,” he repeats to answer jina’s question. he’s not sure if it was hypothetical or not, truthfully, but that’s fine. he’s a little surprised when jina drops to the ground and joins him. he knew he was right, but it still feels satisfying to hear her agree with him regardless. “damn, if even you can see it it must be really crooked,” he replies, only realizing his words could be taken as a slight, but he doesn’t mean it that way; he laughs instead. he’s just getting better at measuring angles by looking at them these days. it’s easy for him to tell that it’s off, but he’s not sure how visible it is to anyone else’s naked eye.

is it supposed to be that way? “mmm,” he hums. “maybe a design choice, but an ugly as fuck one.” he doesn’t know why they’d be worried about design in the fucking apocalypse, but sure? no, he should probably check with one of the building’s architects to make sure they know about it, just in case it becomes a structural issue later down the line. god knows they have enough collapsing buildings out in the city; the last thing they need is their agency doing the same.

he raises his hand into the sky, makes an L shape, and shuts one of his eyes again. he holds it up to the beam, as if he can’t already tell the angle is off from here. “it’s like, 3 degrees off from here, which means it’s worse up close. i’d say maybe 15 off.”

she honestly hadn't expected very much from the agency that she and jinseo had found so unexpectedly. neither of them had been looking for anything; they had just been moving around aimlessly trying to live, expanding their comfort zone as the world demanded them to. but she had found so much here that she had never expected to find, from mentors to companions to people that she thinks she could really call friends, one day.

"i definitely wouldn't call myself a master building critique, but that definitely looks at least a little bit off to me," she remarks with an amused smile, feeling just inexpressably content at the fact that they're actually somewhere where they're safe. for the first time in years, she doesn't have to look over her shoulder before she leaves her room, she doesn't have to set up a perimeter and make sure that no demon can get to them while they're sleeping.

they're safe, or as safe as people can be in the apocalyptic world they live in, and she can hardly believe it.

which makes it all the more funny that for some reason, she's laying in the dirt with jj, criticizing the angle of a beam. little things that never would have been possible before.

experiencing jina’s smile is like being at the beach on a hot summer day, wind gently breezing through his hair and the cool touch of the sea waves brushing his legs. it feels like a warm embrace, tastes like his favourite breakfast, smells like a wood fire on a cool night– irreplaceable. hyunwoo doesn’t know what to do with himself when her precious smile is directed his way; he thinks it must be a mistake before he remembers he called out for her.

it takes only a moment to direct her over to an open seat away from the general crowd. he’s glad there’s no one in the general area, mostly situated by the fires– he’s not embarrassed by how he feels but he doesn’t really want a crowd, doesn’t want to make jina uncomfortable if he can help it.

“i got you something– nothing huge!!” he brings his other hand back around to the front of his body, holding the small plant out to her. “i found this little guy hanging on during a mission. he reminded me of you.” he brushes a finger against one of the leaves before holding it out. “it’s a succulent. he’s a little fighter, survived basically only with the sunlight and occasional rain, trapped under a board. i think he’s a lot like you, surviving in tough circumstances but blooming regardless.”

he’s blushing once the words leave his mouth. it’s hard to control himself around her, feels like he’s always sounding like an idiot when he’s trying to be suave.

she’s curious as he leads her away from the crowd and towards a slightly more isolated area, taking a seat as directed. it’s a little embarrassing now to have his full attention on her, and she blinks up at him, cheeks rosy from excitement and the heat of the fire that had warmed her up until just now. 

“you got me something?” she repeats in bewilderment, her eyes widening slightly and she holds out her hands to receive the little succulent. she can’t help but smile at the little plant, her eyes brightening at the sight of something green and alive in the dismal world they admittedly live in, although events like this training week make things better. 

but it’s hyunwoo’s next words that catch her off guard, causing her cheeks to flood with pink and her expression to be utterly shocked as she blinks up at him rapidly. “i... like me?” she stutters, overcome by a sudden wave of shyness, and she glances down at the succulent that she’s cradling in her hands. 

“that’s... because of the people i love,” she says softly, glancing up at hyunwoo and unintentionally making eye contact with him exactly in that moment without meaning to. her face feels hot and immediately she drops her gaze, embarrassment welling up inside her.

miaxseb​:

he can see jina’s reluctance, even as he smiles back at her, and seb doesn’t blame her. he’s been in this position many times himself, at least to some extent. he imagines it’s different, because he never had a twin brother to fret over, but he remembers the times his older brother landed himself in the med wing as an agent. even for as young as he was back then, his worry was immense, and he always hovered around his hospital bed too, until even yoojung was well enough to tell him to go home and stop worrying so much. seb has just always been like that: worrying, caring so much, maybe too much. he was just worse at hiding it back then; worse at controlling it, less hardened by the constant war and influx of death.

even he isn’t immune to grief, though, or fear. he just doesn’t feel it now; not yet. everyone is here in the hands of the medics now. they’re probably as safe as they can be in this world here, and strangely, he feels like there’s nothing else he can do.

maybe, if one of them doesn’t survive, then, he’ll feel guilt; guilt over not being more concerned, over not preparing them better, over not getting that serum into daesu soon enough, over any number of things. he doesn’t dwell on that thought, though. he doesn’t want to give it too much traction, or any sort of foothold to become reality.

she agrees with his suggestion, and seb is glad. he’s glad when she hugs him too. it isn’t necessarily a surprise that the other agents come to him for reassurance; he’s worked hard for that role and reputation, after all. it just always brings him a little relief too, that he can provide some comfort in trying times such as these; that they trust him for it. he’s glad, too, that he’s stable enough for it, too. he can be a pillar of support instead of something crumbling, at least for now.

it’s probably good for him too. he doesn’t think he needs the comfort, but it serves as a deeper reminder of those that survived. there are so many that didn’t, but he and jina did, and so did everyone else in this room, maybe against all odds. he still doesn’t know the exact body count of those they lost, or their names, but he counted up those most important to him and they are all as safe as they can be after an incident like this, and he’ll count his blessings too.

he pulls away from the hug, and takes jina’s hand without hesitation, leading the way down the hallway. truthfully, he doesn’t have anywhere to go in mind yet, aside from away, so he hums in thought. “where should we go?” he asks her. “fresh air might be nice? i’m not sure how much of the roof was damaged, but we could see if we’re allowed up there. or the patio. you didn’t answer my question about if you ate recently yet, either.” personally, he can’t remember the last time he ate either. maybe they should tackle that first.

she lets him take her hand and lead her down the hall, feeling still quite uneasy about leaving her brother behind in the temporary med wing. she knows he’ll be fine, that insoo will take good care of him, along with the other medics that are also assigned to the wards. 

“fresh air is a good idea,” she admits with a tinge of reluctance, silently conceding the fact that she’s definitely spent too much time cooped up indoors with the aftermath of the mission. it’s not a good way to cope with the worry, and she’s sure seb is going to scold her at least a little bit for letting herself obsess over the health of her brother and teammates to the degree that she has been. 

her lips quirk up at the corners at seb’s blatant callout, and she can’t deny it when the senior agent is saying is so blatantly. “i haven’t really eaten,” she says with a faint smile, “what about you, seb? i bet you haven’t eaten much, either.” her voice is knowing, and she tugs on his hand slightly. “should we go get food first? i can debrief you over lunch.” 

she can’t help but feel a little better as they leave the temporary medical wing, and she feels guilty for acknowledging the thought that maybe watching over her twin so intensely has been bad for her mental and physical health. she should be better with handling this kind of stress in the world that they live in, but she hasn’t ever really dealt with such a close call, so close to her. 

epsilonmia​:

cw: depression, mentions of suicidal thoughts

there was never any other option for any of them. seoyun, orphaned at fourteen, was abandoned to a world that by all means should have swallowed him up and devoured him whole. he doesn’t know jina’s whole story, but he imagines that much of it is the same. it seems to be a common theme among the meia agents. they’ve all suffered from some immeasurable loss; they’ve all suffered far more than anyone should for their years. but that’s just the world they live in. they are surviving, never quite thriving. maybe that’s why seoyun gets mad when the younger agents slack off, have a little too much fun, play a little too hard. don’t they know how much everyone else is hurting? don’t they care that they’re living in what will surely eventually be the end of the world?

but he can’t blame them for the way he envies the light in their eyes. he knows he shouldn’t be upset because they can laugh when he feels like he’s one bad day from never getting out of bed again. he wants to feel that again. in moments like these he wants to get better, or at least wants to want it, and he tries to take it as a sign that not all hope is lost. he’s not doomed forever.

jina helps. seoyun doesn’t know if she knows it, but her presence is one of calm and healing, of understanding those things that seoyun will never put into words. he loves her in his own way. but with that comes guilt. he has no words for her at first, nothing to disagree with or add to the conversation. but she’s hugging him and seoyun knows that he betrays her and everyone else with the thoughts that too often flit about in his head. he shouldn’t think so much about his own death, about his own emptiness, about his own sorrow. he should be more grateful for these people who care about him so much that they make sure his face is clean and he drinks some water even on his worst days. how can he fantasize about taking his own life when he knows it will make jina cry? he’s sorry. he doesn’t say the words, but he holds her just a little bit tighter and wonders if she understands.

seoyun isn’t much of a touchy person, so he’s letting go almost as quickly as he gave into the hug, pulling away and using his glass of water as an excuse to do so, taking another little sip. “you’re too good, jina,” he’s reminded of the fact that he’s supposed to be up and teaching her right now, but here she is taking care of him. she’s too grown up for her years. “i don’t know how you do it, but take care of that. we all need a little light.”

he squeezes her a little bit tighter, and she responds in turn, squeezing him back just a little bit more. that hug means the words that seoyun cannot bring himself to vocalize, jina knows. she might not know exactly what he wants to say with the squeeze, but at the very least, she can recognize that it's one of appreciation and that's enough. if she can help him feel even a little bit better, she'll be happy. it's what she wants to do the most in the world they live in, where it seems like happiness is difficult to find. if she can be any source of comfort for the people she loves, then she's more than willing to put herself out there for them.

she lets him go when he moves to pull away, not wanting to force him into something he's not comfortable. it already means a lot to her that he had let her hug him at all, knowing how he is with people sometimes. what follows next are words that are gentle but heartfelt, and jina feel her cheeks warm slightly and her heart soften even more at them.

miahelios​:

his team is so cute. 

it’s something he thinks pretty often when he watches the three of them interact. watches them figure out the world around them with as much maturity as they can. solving problems and working together in ways that sometimes surprise him. he has a good team, he knows he does. even if jinseo is too reckless sometimes, even if suhwan is a little naive and sometimes timid, even if jina takes too much on her shoulders. he does his best for them but he knows he also has to give them room to grow and learn themselves. but still. 

sometimes it’s alright to need someone to hold your hand. 

“sore. tired.” he says honestly and he doesn’t even bother trying to sit up. his hand holding onto hers as she sits beside him. he blinks slowly a few times trying to both make the tiredness from his eyes vanish and to focus them more in the dim room. he can tell she has much on her mind and he wishes for a moment he had the ability to just read it (even if thinking about said enhancement makes his chest hurt). just so he could make sense of what she is thinking. 

“but i’ve had worse and i’ll live from this.” maybe that’s true, maybe it’s not. but he wants to try and calm some of her worries a little bit. “what’s on your mind, jina?” he isn’t sure if she’ll actually talk to him. if she’ll try and just push it aside or not, but he knows he can at least try. to see what she has going on and see if there is anything he can do to help her. to see her sleep. 

she squeezes his hand gently when her team leader admits that he's sore and tired, her eyes full of sad compassion. her mind is running at a million miles an hour, desperately trying to put things into their proper place so that she can move past this mission, disaster that it was. but jina has never been good at compartmentalizing — it's simply not one of her strong points. she is an empathizer, someone who can understand other people's feelings and make things go away with earnest hugs, not the kind of person who can logically sort out her own emotions and put the scary things behind her.

she reaches for the glass of water, equipped with a straw precisely so he can drink without needing to sit up. she guides the straw to his mouth quietly, keeping it low so that daesu can drink without fear of anything spilling. only when he's had a drink of water does she put the glass down, staring thoughtfully at their linked hands, turning the words over on her tongue before she speaks slowly.

"i can't stop thinking about it... waiting for all of you to come back," she admits quietly, her eyes betraying her upset. "not even just team sparrow... all of you, here in this room... i care so much about every one of you, and... when suhwan and seoyun came back first..." her voice trembles, cuts off, unable to voice the fear that she had felt at the delay of the other teams.

epsilonmia​:

he’s never liked how easy it is to lose his edge. two weeks of rest doesn’t sound all that long, but when seoyun was finally cleared to resume his normal training schedule, he could feel the rust in his joints, slowing him down and making him feel like he’s ten steps behind where he left off. he hates it. his body doesn’t respond to him in the way he’s used to and it seems like it takes three times as long to get those skills back as it takes to lose them.

the bi-annual team training at least gives him a reason to loosen up a little bit, to treat their practice like it’s a little more fun than life or death. the consequences of getting shot by a water gun are much less dire than staring down the barrel of an enemy’s loaded gun; seoyun’s not really sure what the benefit of the trivia quiz is, but he supposes that some people must enjoy that sort of thing too.

seoyun was between tasks when jina bounds up to him, not sure if he wanted to go try his hand at archery (even if he’s always been more comfortable with a pistol than with a bow and arrow) or sneak away to somewhere quiet to rest and recharge. what definitely wasn’t part of his plan was the three-legged race. he’s seen enough of these training events to know that that particular event is nothing more than just watching idiots eat dirt and laugh at the ridiculousness.

“no way,” he tries to resist jina, at least at first, even though he already knows he won’t be able to disappoint her, to take that smile off of her face. “you want to be the laughing stock of the agency? i’ll watch but there’s no way i’m participating in that.”

she had anticipated his rejection, his unwillingness to participate in the exercise which does, more often than not, result in ridiculous situations that will certainly evoke laughter. but that's part of the reason jina wants to participate, to be honest. she doesn't really mind making a fool of herself if it'll be fun for her and the people involved, whether they're watching or actually her partner.

but she genuinely does think that if she partners up with seoyun, it could either go really well, or be completely disastrous. either way, she thinks she'll have fun, and she hopes that she can convince seoyun into having fun too, even if it's not really his idea of something fun.

miajinseo​:

     “you don’t sound surprised,” he accuses her immediately, and his suspicions are proven correct. as always, jina knows him better than he knows himself sometimes and he wonders how much she suspects already. he had only come to the realization a few days ago, catching himself after one of the quidditch parties and he wonders if everyone knows aside from him.

     he wouldn’t be surprised at this point. 

     it tends to be how things go around gryffindor tower, especially with their group of friends. it’s awful actually, he’s not quite sure how it always happens to him but it does. and he hates it. 

     deciding to keep it vague for now, jinseo doesn’t go into too much detail yet. he doesn’t want to just come right out and admit the crush he has, and he wants to try to figure out how much she knows or has guessed so far. “there may or may not be someone on the quidditch team that i … keep wanting to be near. that isn’t you, of course.” 

     he thinks that’s neutral enough, quiet and he doesn’t know what else to say yet. “it’s bothering me.”

her lips curve up in response to her brother's accusation, eyes crinkling up in fond amusement. she doesn't think he's surprised that she's not surprised, after all. her brother has never been the most aware of his own feelings, and she highly doubts that there will ever come a time when that will change to a point that he notices before she does.

she just knows him too well.

"uh huh..." she says slowly, wondering why in the world he's trying to be mysterious about this crush of his. "you don't really want to be near me that often anymore," she dismisses his weak attempt at deflection impatiently, pouting a little bit. "why are you being so vague? jinnie, you're so annoying. just come out and say it," she huffs as she reaches out to poke his side.

miaxseb​:

another day, another hard fought game against gryffindor. this time, hufflepuff didn’t come out on top. seb usually thinks about everything he could’ve done better after every game, but this time, jinseo caught the snitch, so it wasn’t really his fault for not blocking the chasers from scoring more points.

he usually doesn’t mind losing to gryffindor too much anyway, because it means losing to jinseo and jina, both of which are his friends– but jina in particular.

when she bounds over to him well after the game has ended and he’s cleaned up, he laughs. “you already did beat me,” he replies, and a smile that soon turns more teasing. “though i guess that was jinseo, actually?”

it was technically jinseo this time, but gryffindor has beat hufflepuff off the back of jina’s scoring before, even if hufflepuff does come out on top more often than not. jina is skilled. seb just has a tendency to throw himself into anything he likes wholeheartedly, so he practices, and he practices, and he practices, more than he needs to, probably. he likes keeping busy, though (as if his duties as head boy don’t keep him busy enough.)

it’s odd to think of jina as a thing he likes, because she’s a person, of course, but nevertheless, he thinks the same might apply to her as any of his hobbies. it could, anyway; not yet. he’s afraid of it. he doesn’t think it’s healthy to throw himself wholeheartedly into a person, or at the very least, it’s risky, but jina is a person he likes.

just a little. he tries not to think about it more than just a little, because he knows he can’t do anything halfway. either he likes her just a little, or with every bone in his body. somehow, he knows, if he were to care for anyone like that, jina is among the best; she is kind and smart and compassionate, and even if she didn’t return his feelings, he knows she would handle his heart with care. what more can he ask for than that, really?

he can think of a few things, but every time he does, he intentionally thinks of something else to distract himself, like now: “alright, you won, so i owe you this time. did you have anything in mind?”

"hey," she can't help her natural pout at seb for giving all the credit to jinseo, even though she knows that he's teasing. "i contributed too! i scored a lot!" she huffs playfully, sticking her nose in the air in mock haughtiness. "but one day i'm going to swing the ratio in my favour, just you wait."

her cheeks are flushed but that could easily be attributed to the vigorous flying they'd just been doing. whether that's actually the true cause or not is something that seb will not know until she either admits it or enough time passes by.

but then seb asks her what she wants, for her prize as winning — a fun little bet they have going on. the loser will always do something for the winner, one thing of their request. but now that jina's been asked, she's not entirely sure what she wants from seb, either.

that's a lie — she knows what she wants, but she wonders if it would be taking it too far. would it reveal her hand in a way that would be irretractable? she knows that even if seb were to reject her, if she were to betray her feelings too much, that he would do it with immeasurable kindness and still care for her. and that would be better than any other alternative she could hope for.

but she, selfishly, wants him to feel the same way for her that she does for him. and until the day that she can be more sure, she's reluctant to bare her heart. she might be a gryffindor, but she's still young and nervous in terms of love, if the budding feelings can even be considered as anything close to it.

"i'm thinking," she fibs instead of saying what she wants. i'd like you to take me out on a date, she had considered, but that would be too transparent. she'd considered asking him to take her hogsmeade instead, leaving the reason why open. but at the same time, she's also curious to know if he had had something in mind.

miadojoon​:

victories, no matter how small, must be celebrated. this huge win, too, deserves that same treatment. for your information though, that’s not dojoon being biased simply because he’s also in the quidditch team! alright, he will admit that it’s nice knowing his efforts are being appreciated, since he likes being appreciated. besides, dojoon would dare to argue that he contributed quite a bit to achieve this particular result. but of course, at the end of the day, it’s not him that’s being showered with praises and compliments. dojoon never lets it get to his head, especially not when he catches a glimpse of their precious seeker surrounded by the other students.

maybe ‘catches a glimpse’ is kind of an understatement. dojoon always searches, always looks, always stares—it’s about time that someone notices.

oh, and someone does. someone a little too close to the boy that’s constantly running around his mind.

when jina approaches him with a friendly smile—that should have been the first sign of suspicion, but dojoon had been none the wiser, fool that he is—he merely returns it with his own grin, lifting up his mug to adhere to jina’s silent request for a toast. it was when he’s about to take a ( calm, tranquil, serene ) sip, jina decides to drop the bomb.

oh, and what a bomb it was.

dojoon coughs—no, he hacks, an uncontrollable fit that lasts for longer than it should have. there’s heat rising to his cheeks and his ears, which only makes him look all the more silly with butterbeer spilling onto his clothes. gross! he’s suddenly unable to look at jina in the eyes, now fully aware at how visceral his reaction had been.

totally not suspicious at all. good job, dojoon!

he forces out a laugh, which sounds hoarse after his earlier mishap. “what are you talking about?” as if on reflex, his eyes wander back to where he knows jinseo is still standing. shit. no! stop that! look away! she’ll know! dojoon turns back to jina with a nervous quirk on his lips. “jinseo? i mean—doesn’t everyone? you would know. look, he’s practically being bombarded by fans.” he’s gesturing to the scene in question with a dismissive wave of his hand, going for casual.

way to be subtle. 

the way that dojoon reacts to her words only reinforces jina's suspicions, and her lips curl up at the corners in utter amusement as the gryffindor beater literally chokes on his butterbeer, choking and spluttering. she simply can't help her laughter, soft and bright, and her eyes crinkle up at the other's distress. it's not malicious, not at all, but there's something so comical about dojoon's expressions, so exaggerated and cute in some funny way.  

"evanesco," she incants with a smile, removing the butterbeer he'd spit out onto all his clothes. her eyes crinkled up at the corners as she reaches out to pat dojoon on the back gently. the other's face is red, probably partially because he was choking but also (hopefully) because he is embarrassed at having the truth spoken out so candidly. "what am i talking about? i think you have some kind of idea, joonie, given that you just did a spit-take."

she should feel guilty for deliberately making the other cough, but she doesn't really. after all, it had to have happened that she caught dojoon off guard to get him to actually respond honestly to her question — both he and jinseo are so incredibly stubborn and blind, that she's quite sure if she doesn't do this it will take years for something to happen.

and to be fair, jina wouldn't be questioning dojoon like this if (a) she wasn't sure that jinseo was equally as fond of dojoon, (b) she didn't think the two of them would be a good match, and (c) if she didn't like dojoon. but she does think (strongly) that jinseo is ridiculously soft for dojoon, and that the two of them would be a good couple. the problem is just that both of them are ignorant to the truth of their feelings and it's almost painful to watch.

epsilonmia​:

she’s warm in his arms. it was comfortable at first, the feeling of someone he loves tucked safely into his embrace, but then it was too warm. seoyun untangles himself to rest his hand against her forehead, definitely the most scientific and accurate way to check for fever. he doesn’t need the thermometer to know that jina is burning up.

seoyun’s been going to school for this doctor thing for a while now. he may be still be a few years out from being able to take his boards, but he knows what the flu looks like and when jina starts coughing, he’s all but certain that she has it. he should be more concerned about himself, about catching whatever plague she brought into his apartment, but he doesn’t think twice about it. she calls for him and he’s there, a cold glass of water in hand that he sets down to help her sit up to drink.

“take it easy,” he soothes her gently, his bedside manner better than it’s ever been with any other patient (in simulations or otherwise). he fluffs her pillows when she sits up, making the bed more comfortable for her to rest in for the moment. “you’ve got a fever. i hope you’re not planning to go to class or work today.” something in his tone communicates the words he doesn’t speak out loud: he’s not letting her go anywhere until she’s feeling better.

he’s there before she can even really croak out a call for him, his hand against her back soothing as he helps her sit up, and she feels unusually dizzy, leaning her head without thinking against his shoulder. people have said before that seoyun is grumpy, that he’s difficult to approach, but jina had never really found that to be the case. seoyun had been gruff, certainly, but it had only taken some persistence and an understanding that sometimes, it was easier for seoyun to communicate through actions and not words.

it certainly hadn’t felt difficult for jina to find her way under his defenses, and even harder not to develop feelings for the soft-hearted man she found him to truly be. he’s only proving her thoughts correct as he soothes her with a gentle care that she knows guides his actions, even if people don’t see it right away. 

she sips the cool water he holds up to her lips gratefully, swallowing as the cold water soothes the ache in her throat, and she leans her head against his shoulder again. “a fever...?” she mumbles with a small pout on her face. “i should have known this would happen...” she sighs softly, turning her head slightly up towards him to offer him a faint, rueful smile. he’s definitely not going to be letting her go to class or work until she’s better — she can sense it already. 

but still, she shouldn’t get him sick too...