unsinkable ships

 “yeah sure, why the hell not?” he responds nonchalantly as if he doesn’t bother him one bit. he raises one eyebrow in suspicion by the sudden question that was asked of him. “that was random wasn’t it? why do you feel like you need to know?” he questions, thinking hard about his answer. taehyung wasn’t sure himself if he wanted to be serious or totally give her some vague answer to it. “of course i would, if it makes me feel less guilty. why?”

as frustrating as service jobs always were, there was something about them that bora enjoyed. aggravating customers and low pay aside, the different kinds of people that she encountered through working always made the troubles worth it in the end. though many people knew her for talking a mile a minute, that was only a recent development in her life, and being a homebody was true to her core-- without such opportunities, she’d probably just sit at home and only talk to the few people that she called her friends. working the counter gave her the chance to branch out that she might not have willingly taken on her own.

granted, a lot of these people were ones that she didn’t particularly enjoy the presence of, and probably wouldn’t go out of her way to interact with if the truly didn’t have to-- and in a way, taehyung was one of those people, but at the same time she couldn’t help but find herself curious to figure out more about him. like with anyone, a million questions popped into her head that she demanded answers to, and though they were never incredibly personal questions, he was still one of the few that would actually answer them, even if he sounded less than enthused to do it. still, if she managed to work up from not getting an answer at all to getting a bored one, who was to say that something more than that wouldn’t be achievable? 

“well no, i didn’t mean--” bora cuts herself off, not finding correcting herself to be worth the effort. if wheein is willing to agree, it’s no help to her if she gives the younger one an opportunity to change her mind. now is her chance, and if she doesn’t put it to good use she’ll have to wait until her next work shift, and who knows if the idea will stay as crystal clear in her head as it is now. (actually she does know-- and it won’t, because she can feel it slipping from her already.) the blonde pouted, letting out a dejected whimper before turning her line of vision back to the rack in front of her-- partially to feign offence to wheein’s statement, but also to continue her plotting. “you do? good! now don’t look at me. don’t even peek.” she points a finger at the witch, eyes narrowed to show that she means business this time around.

“well, next time we know to bring a portable charger.” for her at least, there’s definitely a next time-- getting lost only gives her the impression that there’s more to the caves that she’s yet to see, and some of the sights that they’ve passed by already would be perfect for her paintings. sound logic and caution has never been a part of the bora way, and even as she’s literally in the face of potential danger right now, she’s sticking to her guns on it. as bad as it might be right now, at least she can say that it definitely could be worse. there’s no fire, no risk of drowning, no monsters or demons lurking in the shadows for their chance to pounce, no masked murders chasing after their tails-- so really, once she puts it that way, it isn’t all too bad. just like when she got lost around campus during her first week at baridegi, except a thousand times less humiliating. 

bora nods slowly. going with her gut always seems to work well, but sometimes the best plan is the one that goes against all expectations and instincts. “what do we really have to lose, right? besides more time, i guess.” she agreed with a shrug, deciding to take the comment as a solid yes to her suggestion. only seconds later does she loosen her grasp on jiho’s arm, eyes lit up in awe at the suggestion given. why hasn’t she thought of this already? every time she thinks that she has a solid plan, jiho’s right behind her, thinking of something even better to add onto it, and it still amazes her time and time again. “oh! i have some... lip tint in my pocket. i dunno how well it’ll show up, but it’s still something?”

kneeling down, bora fishes through her pockets in search of the plastic tube. once she finds it she pauses, somewhat reluctant to continue-- now that she realizes, it probably won’t show up that well, nor does she want to waste her makeup on a dirty rock that she’s then going to rub all over her lips. talk about gross. eventually she decides to squeeze a glob of the gloss into her finger, then use that to write on the rock walls, filling in a heart and a small smiley face with what remained on her fingers. “something like that, yeah?” she asks, turning to jiho for approval. after some studying she figures that eh, it’ll be alright so long as the oils don’t start to fade off by the time they make a loop around-- or if they make a loop around, which hopefully won’t be a problem.

“You should make me a flower crown, I think I’d look charming.” he mused out, a smile quirking into place, eyes cracking open and his head lolling to the side to glance her way as he said it, unsure of whether she would poke fun at him about it or not. “What’s been up with you though, anything fun? Dramatic? Third, undefined option?” he asked her, rolled onto his side with a groan, tucked his face into the crook of his elbow and waited for an answer.

Moments like this reminded Bora of her time spent in Sydney with her family, where many days after their schooling was over were spent lounging around in the stretch of field behind their house. Compared to now, it felt like a much simpler time-- the only worries that plagued her were catching up to her siblings during their schooling sessions at home, and the only true responsibility she had weighing on her back was working her way up the ranking on her swim team. It was a whole decade later, and almost like she was living a completely different life, away from everyone she grew up around and with the knowledge of being a witch rather than the token outsider in her family. Naturally, she still had her issues with adjusting to the shift, which made times like now all the more special to her.

One of the first things she’d noticed upon her arrival were some of the less than optimistic attitudes of the classmates around her. It was yet another feeling of alienation that she was already used to, but part of her couldn’t help but wonder how different might she have turned out had she grown up with the knowledge of magic and her true being like the rest of them had. Making friends never became a difficult task for her, but she gained an appreciation for people like Taemin who were willing to make room for her despite outward differences. After all, anyone that was willing to listen to her constant ramblings deserved all the awards.

“oh,” she says, hesitant. “i think we got lost,” she continues, trying to hit a casual tone but it does worry her a little; what if they ventured too deep inside the caves and can’t find their way out? “this is pretty scary,” she frowns, looking up at the older. “do you think we should try to find our way back or just look around more? as pretty as this place is, i really don’t want to rot here.” she thinks for a second, her head tilting to the side. “though actually, it would be a pretty good legacy! imagine someone coming here a thousand years later only to find our skeleton! we would become famous!”

bora tries not to let the current situation worry her. being lost is a temporary state-- technically they’re still on school grounds, and certainly they’re not the first set of people to go exploring, right? for every problem there’s always a solution, and they simply needed to find that solution before it got too dark, or before they got too hungry. easy, peasy. their wit and creativity combined should be enough to pull them through this, and if all else fails, she can only hope that someone will take notice of their absence and send out a search party. most people should already expect bora to have herself tangled up in something she’s not supposed to if she can’t be found, anyway.

“that’s okay,” she answers calmly, hoping it will be enough to keep jiho calm and encouraged as well. she may be the oldest between the two of them, but she doesn’t trust herself to handle high-stress scenarios well. “they could put our skeletons in some sort of baridegi museum or something... we’d be like school legends or something.” she ponders with laughter in her voice. she can’t deny that it’s a cool idea, but not the kind of fate that she wants to succumb herself to when there’s so much of her life that’s still so inexperienced. once again she pulls out her phone, clicking on the lock screen to help her determine what route might be the best to take. of course, her mobile service is slim to none, but she doesn’t let that discourage her. “well, my battery is only at seventy percent. at least we have that, right?” if she rations right, it’ll last them for the last few hours, and she wants to think that they’ll be back in the comfort of their rooms by then.

keeping her grip on the device, she focuses her line of view on the pool of water in front of them. there has to be some sort of circle that they’ve been going through, considering how they’ve passed the small lake at least twice already. the first step is finding their way out of that loop, even if it means pushing further into the maze. maybe it’ll be just like one of those puzzle books, where they enter on one side and come out the other! with a firm nod, bora confirms to herself that this’ll be the trick that they try first, then links her arm with jiho’s. the last thing they need is to lose each other, while already being beyond lost.

‘I want to try it.’ Her answer is ( contrary to most of her babbling ) very clear, and she adds to it by firmly nodding her head. A very dumb thing to do, really. What with the alcohol and potion being mixed and rushing through her system, she took forever in stabilizing herself again, tightly holding onto the female’s arm. Confusion shuts her up for a moment, but the grin is back on her face as soon as she looks back up at Bora. ‘I really liked that potion.. Do you think we could get another? After we try to hold up this dress. You want to dance too, right? Let’s both dance!’

It was odd to see Dahye more smile-y and cheerful than she even was in the moment. The potions were stronger than she would’ve assumed them to be, and that only made her all the more reluctant to have one anywhere near her lips. There was no way an artificial mood maker could be consequence free-- even with all the new, magical truths she’d been exposed to, that was one thing that she would refuse to believe. Of course, it wasn’t her problem at the end of the day, but it wouldn’t stop her from worrying a bit.

“I would think so. As long as your dress isn’t too stiff or a lot of fabric, it should work just fine.” But what did she know? She was a painter, not a fashionista. If the simple idea was enough to keep Dahye satisfied, there was nothing stopping her from putting in the effort for it. Nodding, Bora moved to tug the beige holder out of her own hair and hand it to the other. “Just pull some of it up into a knot, and tie the holder around it, and it should lift the dress off the ground some,” she instructed, only to pause. With the way that Dahye was gripping onto her, she wasn’t sure if it would go over well to let her bend over. “I can do it for you, if you want.”

she shifted her position to hold on to the blonde’s legs, keeping her still on her back, “man, those elves sound nasty.  i’ve never met one, but i don’t think i want to.”  the younger let out a hum of agreement, trying her best to peek through the crowds of students, “right.  let the dead guys party, i say.  speaking of, do you see anything up there?”

the mention of the novel piqued her interest, and she prepared herself for an explanation that would actually make sense to her, rather than the monologues and foreign terms that everyone else gave to her. it seemed to have slipped some people’s minds that not everyone was raised with the same awareness and knowledge as they were, but bora would never outwardly complain. she had no problems with jumping into something blind if she had to-- after all, she did move to korea with not a single understanding of the language. “ah...” so ghosts weren’t some wise, respected creatures. or rather, they weren’t considered to be. “but why? do they do bad things? or are people just scared to be scared?” still, it didn’t stop her from wanting to see a ghost in the flesh-- or not flesh, considering.