pheripeteia:
method makes beauty. jiyeon knows this well. each step is a mandate and art itself is the cohesion rewarded by perfection. she thinks this is applicable anywhere, seldom finds her thoughts to ever be disproven. it goes beyond morning rituals and punctual bedtimes, applies itself to things mostly. things being and staying in place. which means jaeyi’s recent aversion toward her is bad; jaeyi is a thing meant to stay in place. meant to stay where jiyeon could see her. jiyeon, in her unapproachable, undetectable vantagepoint, stowed away at the top of an ivory tower whereupon her gaze had seized all. sometimes cruel, forever unending.
it’s important, she thinks. it’s what she says in the text message she sends to jaeyi. the text message jaeyi ignores. it’s not really something jiyeon has to spend much time deliberating over—whether or not she should see her. parking her car in the lot, jiyeon takes her swift steps with pride, swept along by the incipient, autumnal chill. she’s got a plastic bag with her, full of the things she describes as having noted because she refuses to say she had to learn it. omits whatever meaningfulness accompanies plans for brunch and walks on beaches and pastimes like that. discarding it means she doesn’t really have to think about why jaeyi is creating the space between them that jiyeon knows she’s creating. it means jiyeon only needs to think that jaeyi shouldn’t be doing that, not when she’s treated her so well.
“hey,” jiyeon waves from behind the glass of the campus’ security post. she tilts her head, countenances softness like a gentle offering, a neutral one. “you didn’t answer my text message yesterday. i was worried sick about you. i told you it scares me, jaeyi. working alone at night. you could’ve let me know you had a shift today.”
jiyeon pauses and then issues challenge, “i thought you were ignoring me.”
@midni8 \ two tone
twenty-four.. and a half years of ups and downs, and moon jaeyi hardly ever learns. she tries , god bless her soul , she really does but is it her fault if cynicism was a gene nowhere to be found within her. no matter the amount of people that came and went from her life.. no matter the times her father sided with abandonment , the way he disguised it with sweet little words was all it took for jaeyi to fall right back in.
jaeyi sees a flicker of it now — you see , she’s really trying.. jiyeon feels like a calm storm , a sour candy that encompasses a disturbing surprise within its cherry sweet exterior. she stares at the text message and painfully struggles to not respond right away. despises the feeling of being used... of being a fool , but warms at the thought of flickering genuine concern , of kind words and even kinder actions.
and in this way , she goes back and forth.
it’s important... a deep sigh escapes as she finally readies herself to type out an apology when the recipient stands in front of her, waving sweetly and melting the first line of defences. jiyeon could never do something like that.. not intentionally. jaeyi understands loss and understands how it can govern your actions. she smiles back , a warm one that only softens further at the concern. the door clicks as she steps out from her desk, it’s chillier than she’d remembered but jaeyi remains unwavering — in front of the wind.. in front of her. she stands her ground.
“ i’m sorry.. i was just about to text you! ” she responds, eyebrows knitted together as she approaches the other, looks down at the bag full of things and then back up into brown orbs that hardly ever told her anything. “ but.. what are you doing here? .. you really just came all the way here to check up on me? ” her endearing tone betrays her just a touch, ever so slightly laced with suspicion before she laughs it off. “ i could never ignore you! i’m sorry i made you worry. ” pleading eyes and an apologetic smile look to her before she grabs the bag and leads the pair towards her little booth.
“ are these for me?? — what would i ever do without you , son jiyeon? ”
