WANING LOVE

mphanhwa​: Hanhwa & Jinseok

Adrenaline//Hanhwa & Jinseok

“The purpose of skydiving? Bruh it’s like, one of the best rushes you can get! A natural high like no other!” To say that Jinseok was a bit of an adrenaline junkie was the understatement of the century. Anything extreme, you could find Jinseok right in the thick of it. “It doesn’t need to have some profound purpose to enjoy it you know.” He held the door open to the building and let Hanhwa go in before him.

“These guys are good friends of mine. They’ve had to put up with me for years. They’ll take good care of you.” He greeted them heartily and beckoned Hanhwa to come forward. “We’ll get you trained up in no time but first I need to know who would you like to tandem dive with? I normally don’t use a parachute for obvious reasons but if you’re more comfortable jumping with me I’m fine with that.”

          Hanhwa still can’t really understand Jinseok's reasoning. But he just nodded since he’ll soon experience it for himself. It’s not really often he feels adrenaline or feeling high for that matter. His life has been monotonous, arriving at Mount Phoenix was the start of his life changing and sparks of colors started to fill in his sight. “Okay,” he just nodded along, hoping that he’ll experience the type of thrill and excitement Jinseok has when he explained it to him. 

anyone can cook;

@mphanhwa​

“Cooking is really simple,” Ara noted as she laid out all of the vegetables on the counter. “Especially with recipes! It’s basically fool-proof, you just have to follow the directions.” The wealth of recipes and the ease with which someone could access them were probably her favourite thing that she had discovered since leaving God’s Meadow, considering before she and the other women had just had to rely on the few recipes some of the women knew by heart and their untrained culinary instincts. It was so much easier to open a cookbook and follow simple instructions.

Which was exactly what they were doing today. She grabbed her Korean cookbook from a shelf and opened it to a recipe for bibimbap, figuring it was an easy enough dish to start with. “Let’s cut the carrots and mushrooms first. You need to cut them really small.” There was probably a technically term for it, but she certainly did not know it. She took one of the carrots and began carefully slicing it into thin pieces, then chopped up those pieces even smaller. “Like that. Looks about right, huh?”

She looked over at Hanhwa with a smile, patting the cutting board beside her to encourage him to give it a shot. He did not seem to know how to cook anything at all, and the best way to learn was by doing. As much as she would have been willing to cook for him, he would learn much better if he did it along with her. “This is probably the hardest part, and the rest is easy!”

          He would probably disagree that cooking is simple. With all the flames and sporadic movement as not to burn the ingredients, Hanhwa doesn’t think he has the capabilities to do so. But there’s nothing wrong in trying, that’s one thing he had learned after living in Mount Phoenix for several weeks, everything seems do-able at least they are until he tried it. “Oh, okay…” he nodded, eyes following her movements and also the cookbook laid in front of him. Though he barely could read or understand what’s written in the pages, at least the pictures and diagrams helped. 

          Hanhwa had never had bibimbap before, he’s not worth it for a full meal like that. He doubted he could finish them either, maybe he’ll share with Ara since he’s not the person who eats a lot in the first place. “I’ll try,” he nodded after watching her cutting the vegetables into small pieces. The boy glanced at the knife he held and the one in her hand, trying to mimic the way she’s holding the knife before he tries to cut them roughly into small pieces. At least it looked small, albeit some of the pieces looked bigger than the other. 

Is there anything better than pussy? Yes, a really good book.  (Jackson~Hanhwa)

           Jackson’s smiles were always the most genuine things about him–though his tonal delivery did quite the job as well. That smile never left even as he spoke, where it shines through his words like the sunset through a kitchen window. Just as calming as that scenery would be, his voice came out with buckets of praise. He learned best when he was praised so he used that to help other’s as well. 

“Treat other’s how you want to be treated, Jacky. Always, do you hear momma?” Her voice was clear then.. not filled with the deep cough that started to chip away at her throat. Her words will stick with him until he’s gone.

             “I made a million copies just in case you want to practice again one something particularly hard.~ And if you messy up you won’t feel so bad about it because you won’t have to look at the mistakes! Just throw it away, start over, and move forward. Because all progress is good progress.” Sometimes Jackson tended to almost sound like a motivational speaker, ‘almost’ is a key word.  “And I know for sure you will do great. Your eyes are determined I can tell. And I can feel that you really strive to do well for yourself. And that alone will be enough to push you to make this happen. And I’ll be your supportive cheerleader the whole way~!” Unfortunately as soft and sweet as Jackson was speaking, his actions were still boisterous as he got up and pretending to do a small cheery routine with hand pom pom’s and all. With wiggly finger’s he ended his routine, his smile even brighter than before as he sat back down, looking into Hanhwa’a eyes. “Really though, I’m here for you.”

          “Does it always take that long…?” In contrast to Jackson’s high, energetic voice, Hanhwa’s voice was gentle and uncertain. There are things that he does not know of after all, and being out from his family’s protection is really terrifying and foreign feeling for him. For one, everyone was really kind to him, that alone makes him riddled with confusion. Why though? Why are people being kind to him like this? 

          “We-well,” hesitantly, his eyes looked down at the books that Jackson had lent to him. He couldn’t read the cover of the book properly, he knows several letters--he’s aware of them as he often seen them in the kitchen or now, a giant billboard, but none of them stick really well in his mind. Though Hanhwa doesn’t think that he’ll be able to read or write would benefit him much, but he hoped it’ll help other people more. Since he doesn’t matter, and nothing on this earth would make him think otherwise. 

King was at the library to look up some self help books, to aid him in his patience issues and also to potentially find some books on how to be a father, he recently found out that he was in fact a father, and that his children had grown up not knowing him or he them. With as much as King loved children he had never had any of his own, for one he was not attracted to women, secondly he would never wish the burden of his powers on anyone and finally, King had always thought of himself as expendable, if something were to happen to him, the people who had care about him had long since passed away and so his passing would hurt no one.

But he had kids now, and both of them, he felt, needed him, though in very different ways. Which brought him back to the problem at hand, King was staring at cooking books, “Hmm…” he grumbled as he walked down the isle slowly, not entirely sure where to go first when a small voice called out to him. King stopped and looked up from the shelf, “Hm?” he hummed the noise and then pointed to himself in question of whether the other was talking to him, “Uh…” he paused and looked at the shelf before smiling and giving up, “Yes, please… I don’t dont know what I’m doing.” he chuckled in his deep husky tone.

Walking up closer to the young man, King got hit hard with a case of deja vu, “I’m King…” he said softly in gretting whilst he squinted at the other, “What was your name?” he asked with a smile, there was something familiar about the young man, but he had never sen him in his life. 

          His eyes gazed to the books on the shelves, hoping that it’ll provide more clues to what the stranger is searching for. Be helpful, it is why he is here in the first place and he hoped he could help him as much as he can. Though he’s limited to just reading the vowels written, reading and writing isn’t a necessity for a tool like him back then, he can pretty much guess what the other is looking for, a cookbook perhaps? Is he a chef or something? “Are you looking for any particular cookbooks?” he said, voice soft yet audible enough, “we uh, have a lot of variants of cookbooks here...maybe, i can help you find a specific one, sir?” Talking to someone else is...odd. He was so used to being silent. 

          After all, that’s how he grew up. No one bothered to talk to him nor listen to him, the world outside the comfort of his home is...weird. Hanhwa has yet to adjust to the new environment he’s in, and he finds himself at several disadvantages with his inability to read properly but hey, it’s not like the other needed to know that. 

          Hanhwa scanned over the room, the white walls looked a little bit too plain for the ones he’s used to, he’s not sure if this was a good thing. He was waiting for someone, but he doesn’t know who. Will it matter if he knows who it was? He doubts it, he doesn’t know anybody else except his parents, brothers that are now dead. The memories of the previous night still etched in his brain and he gulped down the bile that’s forming in his throat. He has heard that the world is vast and big surely, the monster that ripped his family apart (quite literally) isn’t here. 

          When he heard the door open, he turned his back to the figure. She was well, beautiful, elegant and prim. Everyone is beautiful compared to him, an ugly mass of meat, he remembers that was what his brother called him and he doesn’t know the meaning of that word. Wide doe eyes blinked blankly at her, unsure to make of the situation. What did that driver say whenever he meets a new person? “Nice to...meet you?” his voice soft and unsure, raising his eyebrow to question whether he was allowed to speak or not.

          Hanhwa was stacking up the books right back to its place. Since he couldn’t really read properly, he opted to just memorize where the books belonged to. Once he placed the last book on the tray at the right place, he was about to return back to his post when he was a man looking a little bit lost. The young boy blinked once and twice, looking at the man’s back in curiosity. Normally, he wouldn’t try to approach other people because he’s not allowed to. He was just a mere object back in his house but it seems different here. While even speaking is a taboo in his house, it seems that he’s encouraged to speak and ask people when they need some help. 

          The younger still feels like he’s making a big mistake as he approaches the other male, but his parents are dead and the other librarians seem to be a little bit kind to him even though he doesn’t understand why, he liked having the feeling when his chest isn’t trying to suffocate him. “Uh,” he called out softly, since it’s the library and you’re not allowed to make such a noise it seems, “do you need...any help?” he raised his eyebrows, unsure if he’s questioning the man if he needs some help or it’s because he’s not sure if his words are correct.

           Hanhwa glances over the picture book on the table. The picture shows a little girl with her arms spread wide on each of her sides. He’s told that he’s learning more if he acts on it and thus why he’s trying to mimic what the girl in the picture book is doing. Hanhwa unsteadily raised his arms up, spread it to his sides just like the girl did. He doesn’t know why the other--his real, biological father had agreed on doing this with him. “Am I doing this correctly?” he mutters to himself, tilting his head to the side in a small quirk whenever he’s confused. 

          Once he has confirmed that he is indeed doing it correctly, he looks up to God's eyes. There isn’t any expectation or glimmer reflected on his eyes. He doubted that the other would actually hug him. He had never once had physical contact in this form before, he’s not sure the benefit of this either but he still has his arms wide open for the other, head tilting as he waits for his father to complete just like the next picture. A hug, it’s what it’s called, Hanhwa never experienced that before.

          How unlucky can Hanhwa be? Though he doesn’t really look into it that much. The male doesn’t even realize that a can of paint has fallen right to his head, barely reacting to it before he looks at his hands, covered in blue paint and starts to seep into his clothes. It feels cold and uncomfortable but he still has the courtesy to say otherwise. It wasn’t a big deal, really. He wasn’t a big deal in the first place. But it’s just odd, how the shorter male apologized to him profusely. “It’s alright,”  he said softly, a small smile on his lips before he walked away. 

          Fortunately, he was on his way home now. Maybe he could brush everything off on the shower later. Hanhwa ignored everyone who looked at him weird, leaving a trail of blue on his tracks as he made his way back to the place that was given to him. It feels weird, living alone but guess he’ll have to get used to it. His chain of thoughts were cut off shortly when his eyes caught a stranger’s--woman’s eyes. “Oh,” he shied away, looking away, “I’m sorry...for staring.”