sandman

(...) 

“let’s go.  i can’t wait to hear a bat screeching for help!”  a glint of cheekiness sparkles in brown eyes;  the moment they are actually inside the house and any light has been replaced by utter darkness,  goosebumps already start to crawl up her skin.  she’s just glad she’s still holding onto his arm. 

     she gets to make fun of his dark, jet black obsidian clothings all day long and atlas wouldn't fire anything back at the girl, getting the impression that it's one of her rights just as she claimed: he wears nothing else but the color of darkness. sometimes white, but it always comes with a black coat worn outside. consequently, the male nods his head in defeat instead of defending his fashion sense, jaded of her comments. 

he isn't a fan of video games, his childhood was spent on comic books and superhero movie marathons, if it counts. the guy looks her up and down, gaze following the path of invisible connected dots on her body; if someone walks by and sees the way atlas stares at her as though he wanted to devour her right now, they would think that he's a pervert when in reality, guy’s just trying to make out what kind of video game character she is. “not necessary at all,” for the male to educate himself, he squints behind the mask. “i think i've got enough fantasies, i don't need my final one to be about an unattractive sexy hiker than can kick me in the face.” 

of course she's attractive. what's he, blind? in the end, he gives up on guessing her character. all he needs to know is that this hiker girl she's cosplaying as seems... appetizing, thanks to the sophomore’s successful cosplay. he's a man with an excellent taste, after all, but atlas follows his own code: say no to gyeon miyoung. yet here he stands, ironically, letting her cling onto his arm and says yes to heading inside hell disguised as hades' playhouse on earth with the hwaseong. he challenged her first, remember? 

truth to be told, he isn't at all comfortable with them being side-by-side like an inseparable pair of twins since deep down, one extremely microscopic fraction of him still yearns for her touch though his mind quickly turns foggy once they're swallowed by complete blackness. him screeching for help? "he who laughs today may weep tomorrow.” an implicitly he aims at miyoung, voice remains monotonous. seems like he's still able to keep his cool up until this point ( it's literally been 10 seconds ) but each step he takes is steady and cautious, taking into consideration that if he falls, so does miyoung. 

 halloween event, costume party                       with @msusoohwa.

      he doesn't think he would have this much fun down in the dungeon one day, the idea of him being drowned and getting lost in a sea of unknown identities thrills the senior to his core. atlas may appear as a man who dislikes parties and crowded places but what do mothers always say about never judge a book by its cover? 

the guy sure does fancy this sort of stimulating experience, especially one that only happens once a year where wizards and witches alike aren't dressing as themselves but rather as something or someone else, preferably unpredictable choices, such as how park soohwa fits in his skirt so well. atlas has to push some people out of his way roughly so he can get to the grad student faster, and he doesn't feel bad about that. he should, to be honest, considering batman although seems like a big bad wolf, is actually a very gentle man and as a superhero, he wouldn't harm the innocents. 

kangdae had barely gotten his candy apple from a nearby stand when his eyes suddenly caught sight of a figure of clanned in a batman costume, his attended dragged from the sweet treat and towards the fellow dc superhero. he couldn’t tell exactly who was underneath the mask from his point of view, but regardless, he was sure the other wouldn’t mind him approaching him right? come on it was a perfect time to take some cool photos and maybe post a wigwog with the two superheroes.

“bruce!” kangdae called out, running swiftly to the batman, “ we meet again! have you stopped sulking in alleyways?!” 

maybe he was taking halloween a little seriously, but kangdae didn’t mind, as he stood proudly in front of the other man, his red cape floating behind him. his expression serious, trying to mimic henry cavil’s facial movements (well as serious one could be with a candy apple in his hand).

          the toseong's initial plan for the halloween costume party was showing up as nothing but himself ( yeah, for real ) yet due to some unfortunate turns of event, he ended up as the only batman of the night. atlas didn't keep track how many times people approached him because he was bruce wayne, whether to flirt with him since everybody has a thing for the sexy billionaire by day, badass ass-kicker superhero by night kind of guy. if there was a batman, of course there would be a superman. how fascinating though, when bruce’s worst enemy was played by one of atlas' good friends, shin kangdae. 

had he stopped sulking in alleyways? “no.” the toseong replied like a brute, did sulk a bit at the other's dumb question. atlas being all stuck-up made him a perfect batman cosplayer at some points, flawless without even trying and he could see that kangdae was doing the same at staying in-character. that shall be fun. 

      halloween event, haunted house               with @msumilo.

           the haunted house adventure he had with gyeon miyoung is undoubtedly going to be a memorable moment of this year's thirty first of october, athough atlas just feels glad the terror's finally over ( jokes on him ). she left first, took off in the other direction as the toseong takes another route but just when he's about to walk away, one of the actors in the costume of a bloody-looking corpse clumsily runs out from the exit, begging atlas to replace him for twenty minutes as he desperately needs to take a dump.

the toseong considers this an extremely unprofessional move coming from the event planners, can't believe he actually got scared of one of these people earlier. furthermore, it sure as hell is going to be hilarious when someone walks out of the haunted house thinking back of their experience, asking themself wait, did batman just give them a jumpscare... ? but he's promised a beer afterwards and whatever, it's a long night. plus, atlas has some time left to kill before he has a new plan so he just goes with the flow. 

it’s freezing in here, there are staffs guiding him through the fundamentals but nobody enjoys being alone in a dark corner with dangling heads and floating body parts above. he wonders how much an employee's paid for, considering this job requires a lot of courage, passion and actual dedication. why did he sign up in the first place? batman hides inside a coffin positioned to be leaning against the wall, bitterly nagging at himself when he finally spots the first unfortunate visitor through the cross-shaped hole carved on the casket top. 

without hesitation, without much thinking, without an experience of being a scare actor, he kicks the coffin open with a loud BANG!, mimicking an earthquake’s effect, then jumps out of it like a fucking terrifying vampire king he is ( when in reality he's just a man with a bat mask, a batman ), arms thrown in the air and fingers curled like he's got the sharpest claws, ready to rip out the victim's throat as he yells into their face. “BOO——” and then a pause; a beat passes. even in the absence of light, even when the other looks like a whole different person, atlas would recognize him wherever he goes. 

(...)

black dons his figure from head to toe,  even conceals his face.  miyoung still recognizes him in a single second.  there’s just something distinctive about @msuatlas she always acknowledges.  “are you not going to go inside?”  she questions as a greeting once she’s forced to turn her attention to sir batman after being approached,  praying he will not be asking the same in return.  “your costume is very … fitting.  staying true to your graveyard look,  i see.”

      not the cozy christmas gatherings with the jingle bells track repeating over a hundred times in every single store, not the chuseok festival of bountiful harvest where everyone proudly puts on traditional hanboks, baking mooncakes and honoring their ancestors but this — the spine-chilling season of halloween is everything that matters. 

you're correct, atlas lives for the scary stories of the living dead and the actual dead. for a guy who always looks like he's about to hide a body beneath his bed, this doesn't come off as a surprise at all. he's been living on earth for twenty two years now but the times he went into a haunted house double that number. this year's no exception when he finds himself standing mindlessly in front of the haunted house, minutes keep passing but he hasn't moved an inch as though he was a rooted to the spot until a familiar voice snaps him back into the exciting ( for once ) reality.

weight shifting from leg to leg, atlas stares down at the younger girl whose outfit's surprisingly bold today. atlas did think that if he was ever to bump into her tonight, he would get to see her as a seductive and alluring nurse or some sort bewitching vampire countess, but who’s she supposed to be? “lovely to meet you, too.” he greets back, sarcasm hidden in his voice before twirling around, again, sarcastically, so she can admire the view. “it's halloween, everybody dresses as a walking graveyard. you as a sexy hiker fits in the scene, too.” he doesn't know what character she's dressing up as but it's definitely a compliment.

  halloween event, costume party                       with @msuclaude.

       not another sailor moon coming up to him and asking about tuxedo mask's whereabouts, please. 

as this appears to be one of the many perks of being a volleyball king's best friend, atlas has soon grown accustomed to being bothered by claude ahn's terrifying army of remarkably loyal fangirls ( and boys, unsurprisingly ) from time to time. it happens in the hallway when some random hwaseong girl runs after him, yelling “ATLAS!” in an unnecessarily ear-shattering screech. it happens when he's rearranging books in the library, the only place in the entire castle that begs for absolute silence but unfortunately, some idiot that's whipped for a man called claude ahn just refuses to get that. once again, atlas' name is mentioned; all these people chasing after the poor guy just to ask for claude's contacts.

black’s the most favored costume color choice of the night — enigmatic, sophistication, darkness, sorrowful, death and it fits every halloween character from salem witches to count dracula. ironically, too much black makes these students invisible in atlas' eyes as to the guy who chose to dress up as gotham’s emo superhero, they are nothing but merely blurred, pitch black silhouettes blending into the shadows. 

claude still stands out though, frankly, even when he has the blackest cape attached onto the blackest tailcoat, with the blackest, most hideous-looking top hat sitting nicely on his head. the white mask that barely covers half of his face might have made it easier for claude to be spotted, but that isn't the reason why atlas was able to recognize him from afar. perhaps when someone means the world to you, all you see in a sea filled with millions of different faces is still your world. it's basic physics, as atlas likes to assume for fun. 

MOKSEONG HALLOWEEN, 2020.

presenting, 아틀라스  as  BATMAN.      ; matching with @msuchaeyoung​                                                                               "you’ll hunt me. you’ll condemn me. set the dogs on me. because that’s what needs to happen. because sometimes truth isn’t good enough.”

henlo it's me june !! first of all, welcome our new members and i hope you all have a great time here with us. i'm coming over and plot with you >:( secondly, this is a   HALLOWEEN EVENT PLOT CALL   🎃 🎃 🎃   so please heart this post if you'd love to plot with atlas ( and if we've never had a plot before, it's even better ) and i'll jump into your inbox! i'm cool with both ims and discord, whichever you prefer. 

(...)

they stared for a couple of seconds, all the tension between them too alive until alec chuckled, crossing his arms. “perhaps they keep you here because of your pretty face. or they just pity you. or they’re mental. it wouldn’t be the first time they kept people here out of pity.” he licked his lips, provoking him. “do you? have me, i mean.”

      ambition is what one could find in every toseong. the excessive desire to achieve something that they set their eyes on —— the determination, the eagerness, the hunger, and atlas yearned for the triumph. right then, victory was when he managed to get on the other guy's nerves, perhaps even feeding more fuel to alec's roaring flame, all just to get alec to admit that he was feeling pissed off but at the end of the day, the toseong never meant to bruise his feelings.

admittedly, that wasn't like him at all. atlas could care less about counting wins and losses though of course, if the guy seriously wanted to win at something, he would do whatever it takes. toseongs. but alec always brought out this playful, mischievous, maybe somewhat childish traits of a rascal persona that atlas never knew he had. it could be a bad or a good thing, depending on each scenario but alec would be able to tolerate him nevertheless. right?

the toseong was sitting very much comfortably in his seat, what he expected was a much more proper conversation ( mixed with jokes here and there ) until he was taken aback by alec's sudden movement. he didn't lean back against the chair nor flinched the moment he realized that alec's facial features were closer than expected, but his muscles did stiffen beneath the white shirt and if the geumseong paid enough attention into those dark chocolate brown eyes, atlas' dilated pupils were filled with his reflection. 

but soon, atlas’ tense shoulders dropped as he allowed himself to loosen up. the smile on his face had been soon wiped off, then replaced with the toseong's signature nonchalant expression. both hands firmly placed on the table, atlas hated how the other guy was starting to tease him at some point. “seems like my pretty face turned everyone into a fool. if you could tell that they only keep me around ‘cause i got the looks, you do know what you're looking at, after all. hm?” atlas hummed, left hand gently stroking his own cheek, head tilted to the right as his eyes flickered up at the male. 

(...)

“thank you again,” she laughs as she looks up at him. atlas isn’t quite as tall as he is, but he’s still taller than her by a good amount, and hyewon supposes she should just get used to looking up at people. “but really, atlas! i don’t fall that often —“ she protests, obviously no heat in her voice. “now if it was a dollar for every time you helped me, that might be true.”

       witnessing how heat gradually rises up her cheeks is sure is an interesting moment. atlas lets out an invisible and unheard soft laughter, because he never laughs at people getting all flustered, even though sometimes it's impossible to contain himself. the senior just thinks that if he makes fun of them, they're going to feel worse for some reasons that he just assumes. hence, atlas puts on a poker face ( as always ) but the tone of his voice's already shifting into a high-spirited one, in such a way that she gives him an exuberant personality.

“i'm not the one with a scandalous history with you.” he's referring to claude. “besides, i don't even have time to eat dinner. do you seriously think that i have the time to stalk you?” plus, his best friend might not be supportive of atlas stalking the guy's ex-girlfriend as well. the senior lazily dusts off his uniform before solidifying himself and standing straight, giving esther that little rise in the corner of his mouth — a rather boyish smirk. “somebody must have jinxed me, it's real tiring being the knight in shining armor all the time. i wish to experience what it feels like to be the damsel in distress for once.” 

(...)

for once her voice is quiet and she distracts herself by digging her fork aimlessly into the greens in the plastic bowl.  “because i liked hanging out with you.”  this is the most open she’s been in a while,  already feeling embarrassed at the unexpected confession.

       was in the middle of munching on his mozzarella sticks with bulging squirrel-like cheeks full of food but now the toseong male freezes for a good few seconds, looking no different than a dumbstruck chipmunk. fairly speaking, she’s the one who ordered a freaking salad plate at a fast food heaven, the one place where they make the worst possible salads because nobody comes to mcdonald's and expects to be served with a nourishing, nutritious diet. then there's gyeon miyoung in flesh and bones. 

he would've thought that she was too boring but before he makes any further judgment, atlas supposes everyone has their own preferences. maybe she dislikes junk food in particular, maybe she wants to stay fit in those xs or s sized dresses. maybe she just simply has a healthier lifestyle than him. after all, he never knows her well enough. probably why he lost her interest in the first place. but, did she cross her boundaries for his cheese sticks? 

the senior finds it amusing, not that this is something that's completely unpredictable because nobody says no to such scrumptious flavor of cheese, atlas just didn't expect her to eat it even though he was the one who offered to share. he only did it out of the blue, almost like a tendency as it’s just one of his characteristics and if she declined, it was alright. the guy swallows his dinner, of course he would be enjoying the food. “finish that, it'll bring more flavor to your tasteless salad.” his gaze drops on the half-eaten stick she set aside, scowling in displeasure. come on, we're at mcdonald's. 

as ridiculous as it might sound, he honestly thought they would be talking about the food topic for a while since atlas' mind seems to be empty at the moment but that sudden heartfelt confession gets his attention snapped up to her; the senior's eyes widen in bewilderment, he may have held his breath for a moment. well, he did not see this coming at all.

  one afternoon with the best girl,                      with @msutaeyeon.

        chilly autumn breeze blows through the tangled black strands of hair on atlas' head, sometimes a leaf of red or brown would dance the waltz with the wind then gently lands on his fluffy, ruffled hair without letting the guy know about its existence as though he's got enough to worry about instead of having to present the best hairstyle in front of his opponent. if his looks could distract her ability to concentrate, the toseong would gladly comb the messy the bird nest on his head ( all thanks to the wintry autumn breeze ) with his bony fingers, ready to look his best before the girl but this is shin taeyeon he's dealing with, and a girl like her doesn't fall for his looks nor personality, if that matters at all. 

a girl like her, who knows too much about atlas, wouldn't harbor such feelings for him so there's no need for the toseong male to take care of his appearance when he goes out to meet her. he knows she would sit with him nevertheless, even if they were mean girls and atlas refused to wear pink on wednesday. moreover, he knows for a fact that not only agreeing to sit with him but the brunette would also do anything with him as well; be it setting the whole world on fire, staying up late until the first rays of dawn come up or whatever because that's just the kind of relationship that they have — been stuck together since day seventh at the university, so they're bound to have this special connection that won't be broken so easily.

after seven minutes of pondering and racking his brain, the male finally reaches out to one of his black chess pieces, replacing her bishop with his rook. “your bishop is mine.” finally. on the outside, the male remains calm and collected as ever but behind that exterior, he’s laughing tastefully as though he already won the game. 

“what's wrong, taeyeon? it's not like you let me be in a more advantageous position this much early into the game.” he leans back against the tree that offers its shade to the two of them, flickering his eyes up at her condensed face. 

      "honesty hour, honesty hour.” atlas whispers to himself, didn't expect to be hit with this kind of heavy-impact question. “to be honest, no, i don't think we’d still be friends. it's kind of similar to how apes together strong. we only got to interact with each other thanks to us being in the same house, otherwise you would've asked for a hand from another person, from another house and then there wouldn't be me standing there to guide you anymore.” 

the senior swallows, giving her a small and subtle smile. he's. smiling. gently. “but forming a friendship with someone depends on many factors, i think you could effortlessly make friends with anyone you want to, malia. anyways, the fact that you and i are in the same house means that we're kind of fated to be friends. i don't believe in destiny and all that bullshit but wouldn't want to mess with that either— the point is, you're the best cheerleader mokseong's ever had and so many things wouldn't be the same anymore if you weren't a part of toseong so let's just be grateful for that. i like you, mal.”

   "no.”

    "it’s honesty hour and i'm going to hell if i lie, right?” though he's probably gonna end up working for satan anyways. atlas wishes he could just lie to her face and say “no, i do not still have feelings for you right now" because it's much easier than telling miyoung the truth.

what truth? that's where the irony lies since the toseong can't tell either. maybe his no answer is the truth but if it really is, he wouldn't feel the guilt in letting her know right now. atlas has always been the most straightforward individual ever; he absolutely hates beating around the bush and sugarcoating. if he hates someone, he doesn't hesitate to tell them how much he dislikes breathing the same air as them. if he has feelings for someone, he will tell them how he feels and if it's unrequited, he'll just move on. always simple as that but everybody always has that somebody who they’re willing to break the rules for. 

“i’m not going to complicate my answer so let's go with the scale of 0 to 10 with 10 meaning i want you to become mrs. jeong, while 0 means i’m not romantically interested in you. after the day you rejected me and the following months of us having no contact, it went from 8 to 1. right now, it's a solid 1 so yeah, i still have feelings for you but it's different.” the male wrinkles his noise. “i was getting real close to a 0 but you paid me a surprise visit and the scale got broken." how funny, atlas thinks to himself. “if you hadn't shown up and give me some more time, it would've been a big fat 0 number by now. but don't worry, nothing's going to happen between us since i know that's obviously how you feel. it's gonna go back to 0 again and i won't give you any trouble.”

she's definitely going to tease him about that but maybe it's better. after all, atlas does miss having her around and being on her good side ( sort of ). still, is it really going to be over?

     "i miss a lot of things from my childhood. i don't usually talk about this to anyone but i have an elder brother that passed away years ago. the best childhood memories i have are the ones that involve him when were both still young, naive and stupid and just, doing kids’ things.” his voice lowers. “i used to say ‘yes, i would’ to those questions but right now, i'm going to say nah, i'm alright, just living in the present even though adulting's a complicated phase. going back and experiencing all of it means i have to attend his funeral again and once is enough. as much as i missed him, the past is in the past. queen elsa sings that song, y'know.”