through the wire

     with a dramatic, excentuated sigh, lennon tossed her pencil lead aside, extending stiff legs for a long stretch. by this point, they could’ve easily drawn the other’s rosy, round, ravishing features with her eyes closed, upside-down and in her sleep. the curve of her nose, the pout of her lips, the twinkle in her eyes. lennon knew all of it; she learned it once, and then she learned it twelve times over. because there was something there that she couldn’t pull away from, maybe the way she yells the lyrics over her favorite songs, or her complete admiration for her plants, or even the fact she utilized break up playlists to do her dirty work.

     “ break it is,” lennon chimed, because what june wanted, june recieved. climbing up off the floor, she began moving even despite the muscle soreness that began to settle. “ what does our junie want ? “ she paused to open the fridge, open-floor studio apartment making for an easy set-up. 

     “ i have … juice — orange or fruit punch — vodka, vodka, wine, beer, tequila, sprite — probably flat — water, gin. “ she looked back to june, leaning her chin against the top of the fridge door. lennon thought it was probably silly to cling to her ex how she did, but she hoped june’s appearance that day was at least a sign. 

               pout turning into a satisfied smile, june lifts her head up, watches lennon retreat to the kitchen, and wonders what made her say yes to this — to everything involving the other girl, in fact. for someone who broke up with her ex in the interest of keeping her feelings safe, she’s doing a shit job at committing to it. she can already hear yulhee’s protests in the back of her head, especially since she disabled her ‘ find my friends ’ tracker for the time being. it hardly makes a difference since her friend would figure it out either way. 

               ‘ the sun hasn’t even set yet. ’ she raises a brow at lennon. not that it’s ever stopped her before. it’s always five o’clock somewhere, as they say. but now it’s the question of drink to make this pass quicker or don’t drink to avoid stupid decisions she’ll be making anyway. once again, she’s screwed either way. 

“yeah… if you pick on it or after you brush your teeth, loser.” flicking her forehead. it’s too easy to mess with june. despite her being a lot smaller in frame and younger than him, she’s oddly protective over him and he appreciates it. “chihuahua’s remind me of you.” he laughs before taking a bite out of his taco. laughing as he chews, expecting an explosive reaction from her. “you’re more demon than dog too, right?”

     a simple weekday night, working on first, second, third sketch drafts because sam simply can’t get it right. in his eyes, he never could. but with that noise from the apartment next door, his hands are gripping the pencil too tightly. because don’t people have manners anymore ? but what he didn’t expect as he pounded on the culprit’s door, was to see a small girl, tears in her eyes, holding a knife in her hand. “ um. “ there’s a pause, as his head motions towards the knife. “ first, please, put the knife down. i’m safe. “ he couldn’t help but exhale a laugh at the absurd situation, but the anger in him was still aflame. “ also, it’s samuel. you’re too fucking loud. can you cut it out ? i know i’m like an old fucking man, but you’re loud. very loud. “ he realized in that moment he forgot her name, even forgot her face from a greeting before. but it was standard for the course. 

              “you’re such a bad fucking LIAR.” glaring as june invites herself in. “as if you stood me up for a whole forty minutes just so you can hang out with your friends for a little longer and then choose to disable find my friends so i wouldn’t go to your location and see that you’re REALLY there to see your ex.” she says in a single breath. “do you take me for a fool? huh? do you think REALLY think i’m not going to find out! if you want your heart broken again, i won’t be a part of it!” she pauses. realizing this is the exact reason why annie was mad at her recently. yulhee, a complete hypocrite, but she won’t ever admit that, especially not right now. she’s focusing on her rage toward june which is a totally separate and completely unrelated situation. “depending what it is, i’ll forgive you.”

“    only because i need to look presentable at the studio   .   ”    annie’s timbre comes out both raspy and painful sounding as she finds herself a seat across of june    ,    her usually breathy tone now nothing but a sweet memory and something to yearn for as she recovers from the prior night’s number one mistake—    trying to follow beyonce’s runs to love on top    .    “    it sucks    .    even saying the bare minimum hurts    .    ”    she would have giggled if it didn’t ache to do so    ,    instead opting on casting a lazy smile to the other as she moves her cup of coffee up to her lips but only taking a sip once her inquiry had slipped past glossy llips    .    “    how’s yours   ?    does it hurt    ,    too    ?     ”

       ⇝ closed starter for june @peachpittcd

      at this point, jae had run all of his records dry. anyone that knew him well enough knew that if he was at home, his record player was spinning non-stop. this meant that it was only a short matter of time until he was in need of yet another record to throw onto the table and let it ring through the open air in his home. the record store jae usually frequented went out of business months ago and though he was terribly upset abut it then, it was only a matter of time until he found a new one. one that held so many more piles of records for him to dig through and a way better selection of the new things he grew to like. this was his new spot, the only place he’d visit while in search of his new favorite record. and, thankfully, he had already met someone that made picking something out so much easier. jae couldn’t remember if he approached june first or if it was the other way around, either way, he was nothing short of thrilled any time he was able to catch her working on the days he stopped in. 

      on this particular day, though, she wasn’t splashing her bubbly personality all throughout the store. when he walked in, the few people that stood around the shop didn’t have the quirky personality of the girl he was looking for. so instead of greeting her with a random statement that probably didn’t have anything to do with the reason he was there, he took to a new pile of discs that he quickly ran his eyes over, searching for something that looked interesting enough for him to scan the cover and backside of. but alas, nothing. maybe he’d just become picky or actually relied on the help and suggestions, but jae was coming across nothing interesting enough for his taste. 

      just a few minutes into searching, jae could feel a tap on his shoulder. his frame turned to find a familiar looking man, one he was positive he’d seen in there before. did he work there along side june? maybe he was just a customer and happened to run into him quite a few times by this point? either way, jae politely introduced himself to the man as he did the same, striking up a friendly conversation with him as they stood near the pop rock section. the boy listened to other explain how he’d seen him in there before, quite a few times, and noticed his taste in music was quite interesting. jae explained how his father had left him a record player when he was young and ever since then, he’d play whatever records he could find on it as an excuse to use it. it was how his love for music grew and how his music taste was so diverse. before he knew it, minutes passed and jae found himself still leaning against the stand, arms crossed over his chest as he held a conversation with the older man about music and makes and models of the players. it wasn’t long until the man grew impressed and was asking jae if he was looking for employment, causing a small chuckle to ring free from past his lips as he responded, “i, uh. am actually currently employed, but i’m flattered my knowledge can land me a job in case the whole culinary thing fizzles out.” he teased before asking, “by the way, is june in today?”

               curse the new kid who didn’t bother cleaning the backroom as instructed. she can’t help but sneeze again when brushing the dust off one of the boxes her boss asked her to bring out. honestly, how hard is it to use a little feather duster ? she’s certain chad had just taken a nap instead. the college freshman imprint on the dust in the corner is concrete evidence. muttering about how she’s going to definitely snitch to her boss about this, she moves her stepping stool over to another shelf, reaching up for a box of posters that is placed on the top shelf of all places. her fingertips graze the box and she just manages to nudge it forward, only for gravity to say ‘ sike ! ’ and result in the box falling forward instead, rolls of posters falling out, all hitting her as they land on the floor.

               june does nothing to stop the stream of expletives slipping past her lips, gripping onto the shelf so she doesn’t end up like them. god, that’s gonna leave a bruise on her forehead. ‘ god fucking dammit, chad ! ’ she yells, because if he didn’t call in sick ( lies ) today, she wouldn’t have to go through this. hopefully, no one could hear her from outside. stepping down from the stool, she places her hands on her hips and lets out a defeated sigh at the sight, beginning to pick up the posters from the floor.

               there’s a slight annoyance in june’s tone when she repeats riley’s name back to him. by seeing the way her body tenses, he’s already mentally noted that he would not go on this date for the sake of his cousins emotional and mental wellbeing. “june, your taco–” looking at the meat spill out from the tortilla. “gingivitis?” he laughs. not because riley has gingivitis, but because it’s definitely not contagious. “i’m sorry, but, do you know what gingivitis is?” taking a drink from his water bottle. “you make it sound like it’s a sexually transmitted infection, when it’s just built up plaque tearing at your gums. it’s definitely not contagious.” he shrugs his shoulders. “i dunno’! i kind of think you sold me on this date thing now that i know she has a dog.” he teases with a grin. 

✂︎ JUNE KIM ━━  @peachpittcd.

     pencil scratches against paper in the most pleasing fashion as lennon’s eyes locked onto june. there was a long list of others she could’ve asked, a few people who owed her favors and countless reference to download online. but she couldn’t give up the perfect excuse to stare at this stunning image for an hour or so, immediately knowing who to ask when the commission came her way. it wasn’t the hardest position: sat on the floor, knees gently raised with arms relaxed over them. lennon even attempted it herself, but she knew her stiff posture would never near the elegance of june. ( or so was her excuse. ) 

     “ stop moving so fucking much ! “ she groaned, sat on the floor five or so feet away from the other girl. “ if you don’t stop, i’m gonna have to tie you in place or something. “ pausing, she halted her hand, raising her eyebrows at june through brown eyeglasses with a playful smile. “ unless … ? “ and with a loud laugh, she continued, sketching sounds tingling her ears. “ it’s not like i don’t have anything to restrain you. “ 

               the request itself wasn’t unusual, even if june didn’t quite understand why since she’s certain lennon knows a lot more people that could be sitting here instead of her. no point on dwelling on it. best to just sit here and do her job while enjoying lennon’s company, only she isn’t doing the greatest at being a model. the other times when lennon had drawn her, june’s pretty sure she had been unaware of it. so knowing she has to sit still, when she already has a bad case of the fidgeting, is not doing her any good.

               throat sore from last night’s bender, june takes a sip from her white chocolate mocha, relishing the sweet taste before the sugar makes her throat ache even more. shades on, she sits in a corner by the window of the cafe cradling the warm mug in her hands. her schedule for her day-off has been decided. recovery day, both emotionally ( the loss of a favourite record ) and physically ( vocal chords and liver ). cue a bittersweet sip from the mug and a longing gaze out the window, sigh slipping past her lips.

               honestly, how hard can it be to master the guitar ? apparently, harder than june thought. if only she had started learning at a younger age when she was more primed for learning new skills. maybe then, she’d have the instrument mastered by now. instead, her parents invested in violin lessons that lost their worth when fourteen year old june confessed she only attended those classes once a month instead of the agreed weekly arrangement. if you’d met her teacher, you couldn’t fault her for doing so.