JET SET

@przhiruo

hyunsoo’s a top-notch orator. if this was 400 bc athens, he’d probably have everyone under his thumb. but they’re in 21st century seoul and he might as well be speaking gibberish, 'cause she’s itching for a light and this meeting couldn’t possibly be any longer (it really could, but she’s not going to jinx it). here’s the thing: sebin’s a proper teammate. and like any proper teammate she stands idle, nods at the appropriate times and laces her fingers behind her back. and thinks to herself, i’m going to have to make a convenience store run by the end of the night.

the neon numbers on her hand-me-down casio read 10:30 by the time the curtain goes down. sebin takes her time to mingle before heading out the door. down the steps she goes, catching zhiruo with an arm looped through hers, all chummy in her near-perfect mandarin. she’s been working on her intonation at ruo’s behest. “you’re not heading home, are you? thought we made a promise.”

this week’s prize is a beaut-- snow-white, with dark cherry upholstery. certainly not as showy as the last one, but sebin’s been looking forward to taking it out for a real test drive. she relinquishes her grip and fishes the keys out her back pocket. with one click, the doors swivel to open in a seamless upward motion-- 

--like an angel unfurling it wings. 

almost biblical if you think about it long enough.

@prwonjae

coffee’s served piping hot, with a dollop of cream and cocoa powder on top. apparently it’s their specialty drink, but sebin hasn’t seen anyone else ordering it since she’d first step foot inside. and that was six years ago. she chalks it up to the part-timer who works on sundays-- donghyun, or donghun or something. last time he’d practically strong-armed her into trying the ‘march special’-- coffee, a dollop of cream and matcha powder. the ‘february special’? coffee, a dollop of cream, and cinnamon.

he’s persistent. she’ll give him that.

“nother blind date, huh?” 

“hey, dong...” a quick peek at his nametag won’t hurt. “...hun. can’t be helped. a girl’s lonely.” one hand curls around the handle of the mug, bringing it to her mouth. she takes a cautious sip and nearly spits it out. he hardly notices, too busy smiling down at her with those big puppy eyes of his. if she didn’t know any better she’d think he was smitten. “but hey, thanks for the drink!”

“no problem! i hope it goes well for you this time.” he salutes her and trots away, permed curls bouncing with every step. sebin sets the cup down and fiddles with her helmet instead, lowering it onto the empty seat beside her after some consideration. with her luck, wonjae’ll get here by the time her coffee’s cooled down. soon enough, she spots a familiar figure dismounting from a bike on the street and wriggles her hand in greeting. waits until he’s lowered himself into his seat to shove the drink under his nose. 

@prnatsume

on any other weekend, establishments like these are swarming with customers. they’ve got the seasoned veterans: old men with leathery skin, loose coats and a keen sixth sense. boring lot, but good for business. then there are the yuppies, twenty-somethings strutting around in packs like they own the place. sore losers. still good for business. maybe even better, if they’ve got loose change rolling around in their pockets by the fistful. 

dad’s taught them the fine art of observation. small details are just as part of the big picture, like the amount of hair gel slicked through crop-cut hair, or the brand of perfume clinging to fresh-pressed linen. indicators of class, age, bad habits and good. all it takes is one look, he’d say. just one look for you to start assembling the pieces. know thy enemy, or however it goes. proverbs aren’t exactly her thing.

@pryongji​

here’s what any eighteen-year-old girl will tell you: the sure-fire way to bypass any line is to get all dolled up. wriggle into a skin-tight minidress and throw on some heels, maybe add a dab of peach-pink lipstick to match. bouncers eat that shit up. 

good thing she’s not eighteen anymore.

today’s guy is the same one who’d been stationed at the door last week-- he starts in recognition, eyes naturally drifting down to her lime-green runners. sebin has the decency to shoot him a sheepish grin. “came straight from a job. you know how it is.” apparently he does, because he steps aside without so much as a peep to let her pass. the next person in line’s not going to be so lucky-- poor kid doesn’t stand a chance in those khakis.

(she’s not seyoon, but those pants are fucking hideous. what. the. fuck.)

inside, it’s an absolute pigsty-- floors sticky from a cocktail of spilled drinks and grimy residue off well-trodden asphalt; harsh, swinging neon strobes an epileptic nightmare. not too shoddy for the unlimited supply of free drinks, though. the girl at this particular bar’s a definite perk. sebin slides into the next available spot at the counter. sheds her hoodie in the same breath and cups her hands around her mouth, a crude attempt at making herself heard above the bone-rattling bass. “hey, jiji. seen any big fish around today?” 

but before that:

aesthetics: some good ol’ rum and coke, dirtied white sneaks, upbeat vaporwave on full blast in a club at 3am, cars roaring along the shoreline of tokyo bay, the lingering traces of cigarette smoke in a worn t-shirt, muffled old school hip-hop playing through paper-thin dorm walls, the ladder sequence in baduk, freshly-squeezed lime in a glass of seltzer 

1/2 of the hwang twins (mr. hwang seyoon’s her male clone), family’s new money thanks to dad’s lucrative casino chain busine$$. word on the street is that he made it this far with the help of some shady business partners and underhanded deals but u gotta do what u gotta do amirite ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

sob-story free-- sails through most of her life without a hitch as an unproblematic(?) rich kid, dutifully graduates with a degree in economics ($$$) from the university of tokyo and gets into racing while she’s there!! comes home and hones in on her newfound love for the vroom vroom and look where we are today

v chill, but weirdly competitive at the same time. depends on her mood :~) not the type to cause drama, but definitely the enthusiastic bystander armed with a bucket of popcorn

rich kid privileges mean that u pick up a handful of foreign languages u will probably never actually use irl unless it’s to talk shit about people

need a partner to assist you with morally questionable headassery? Say No More

has a gambling problem :-( drinking and smoking are separately filed as “daily hobbies”