kyungwon

﹆ • • • into a new world

his eye wander over to her choice of clothing. a blazer was held in her hands and he couldn’t help but be pleased with her choice of clothing. although the next question that came out next had shock him. his pick up line surely had failed him time. jay was not prepared to received a non flirtatious response. surely he did knew for a fact he did not dress nor look even close to the worker at this store. 

“the fitting room” he repeated. unfortunately those were the only words that could escape between his lips. brushing his hand through his hair he cleared his throat before he started speaking again. “I dont work here,” he laughed softly. the laugh was to indicate that it was okay that she had mistaken him for a worker. it didnt happen much but no offensive taken. “however, I dont mind helping you out.”

jay was not the type to make small talk with people that he was not interested. he was usually blunt and straight to the point. its been far too long since that has happen. “let me take out you one day.” again he was straight to the point maybe a little too forward but how else was he going to get this girl’s attention. stand here and talk about nonsense? no he was not the type to waste both of their time. 

“I can see you have a good sense of style and I have to admit you’re very attractive. maybe we continue our day shopping together?” he smiled a cheeky smile. “what do you say?”

she looks over at the guy in amusement. how straightforward, she thinks. there has been one too many times where these types of situations would happen in a club or bar during a night out with her friends, but in broad daylight? a small smile blooms on her face, somewhat intrigued. “take me out? that’s pretty bold for someone who hasn’t asked me for my name yet. what if i’m a serial killer?” granted, it’s not like she has never flirted with a stranger, but that usually happens when she’s sure she has an exit plan in case anything happens.

something about walking out the doors of her editor’s office at the end of the day makes her feel like a weight as heavy as a car has been lifted off her shoulders. her schedule is packed until the end of august, in which she’ll start focusing more on her graduate program than her gig as a writer. she knows she’s dreamt of becoming a writer for the longest time, but the bureaucratic process of having her writings published makes her rethink that dream of her sometimes. still, she perseveres, because right now this is the only thing she can do.

the time shows that it’s a bit over 8pm and she sighs audibly. all her other friends complain about their 9-5 jobs, but she can’t even do that because her work hours vary. massaging her temples, she pauses for a moment. she doesn’t want to go home just yet, it’s a thursday. she resumes walking, contemplating whether or not she should stay out instead of go home straight away. on top of her head, she knows that if she goes home, she can get some more sleep and sneak in an episode or two of the new drama she’s been watching, but the skyline in seoul that day makes her want to linger a little bit longer.

yoorim is tired and lost in deep thought when she is out with the dogs today, it has been a long day with training—well, she knows that’s debatable, but she didn’t sleep particularly well the night prior. once she finished her gym session and moved into independent study, it was close that she fell asleep in a corner by herself. admittedly, if she didn’t have to walk the babes, then she would undoubtedly have crashed the very moment she got home at six o’clock. no, the three little rascals need air and exercise, yoorim has little choice but to give it to them no matter ho tired she is.

she absentmindedly throws a small stick to different places as she tries to teach her newest pup, yujin, the game of fetch, all the while throwing a ball in the opposite direction so that hyuk can catch that one instead. meanwhile, kwan is resting comfortably by her side, just as per usual—such a lazy dog, she thinks to herself, but she supposes that it’s to be expected when he is nearing ten years old. it’s quite nice outside today, though, and she truly isn’t surprised by the crowd that shares the park with her. her mind is elsewhere when she throws the stick once again, this time too far.

yujin runs, though, as instructed and taught previously, but lost track on the stick all together. instead, he runs straight to a female, only to snatch her book. yoorim doesn’t quite notice until the item is laid onto her lap, eyes widening as she then gazes around to see who may come running for their belonging. “yujin! no! where did you get this?” she asks, although perfectly aware she will get no answer. quick on her feet, she is fast to notice who is missing their book. “unnie?” she asks, brows rising in surprise. “ah, yeah—yujin, he’s… new, I was trying to teach him fetch,” she explains.

“oh, here! i’m sorry, i hope that he didn’t damage it,” she reaches out while inspecting the book. luckily, no harm seems to have been done, save for gentle bitemarks that she hope will fade with time.

kyungwon sighs in relief upon seeing the familiar face. she’s glad that she doesn’t have to awkwardly ask for the book back or awkwardly assuring the other party that their pup didn’t do anything wrong. receiving the book, she’s glad that none of the pages were torn and holds on to it tightly, just in case the pup still thinks they’re playing fetch with it.

“that’s fine, he barely made a scratch.” she bends down to pet him softly, amazed at the energy this small creature has stored up inside. dogs are very energetic, seeming like they can’t stop bouncing on the balls of their feet. that’s mainly why kyungwon prefers felines, they’re haughty most times, but it makes them all the more charming in her eyes. that said, she’s never had a pet due to her sister’s allergies, so yurim’s dedication to her little babies are just plain amazing. with 3 canines at that— kyungwon would never have that much patience.

To be honest, Céleste didn’t interact much with any small children—after all, she had always been the baby of her family. Only after hearing the woman’s answer did she realize how dumb of a question it was. Kids were loud; she should’ve remembered that from that one time she babysat, considering how badly that went. 

Céleste winced a bit hearing the woman’s question. Really, she could have asked about the noise level more politely. “Oh, no no it’s fine really, sorry if that sounded accusatory. Just not used to small children’s noise level, that’s all.” Céleste glanced at the woman, mulling over her question. With curiosity finally getting the better of her, she asked, “Hey, did you write that book? That’s like super cool!”

the comment made her blush. she should be used to people complimenting her work by now, but it still catches her off-guard. it’s endearing when little kids run up to her to say they loved her stories, but when adults or anyone above 11 says it, she feels reassured. when she started diving into creative writing, she didn’t see herself as a children’s books writer. fantasy was always her favorite to read aside from sappy romcoms (they were her guilty pleasure) so she naturally thought that was what she was going to do. when her undergraduate professor suggested the niche to her, she found herself gravitating towards it gradually.

sweat rolls down her neck as she lifts her weights one more time. it’s been 30 minutes since she’s started this exercise, and yet she still feels like she could do more. her arms are starting to ache, a result of having put off exercising for months. back in high school, she used to run for the track team and had a short stint with the soccer team, but after graduating she hasn’t had time to do all that. for a while she’d visit the school gym and play volleyball with her friends, but as time progressed less and less of them visited the court. eventually, their finals year approached and they couldn’t spend their evenings at the gym anymore.

getting up from her seat, she wipes off the sweat of her nape and gulps down water from her bottle. her eyes wander towards the elliptical machine. it was occupied at the beginning of her workout (which is why she didn’t start by going on the machine). walking towards that general area, she takes another swig from her bottle before setting it down on the stand next to the machine.

tw // sexualization/harrassment of women in gyms

( /busted. ) ah– ( /the same nervous laugh as before bubbles up, interrupting where he had been looking at the image to make sure it would fit what he is looking for (it does) and that he doesn’t need to ask for her to take another one (he doesn’t), and it’s not like he isn’t fond of his constant pressing urge to fall back into his own dialect - it’s more the having it brought up by a stranger on the street. ) a bit further than ‘out of town’. ( /another laugh comes, but it’s a little less nervous, a little more sure of himself, because he’s supposed to be good at talking to people and he is - he just hadn’t expected the interaction to go any further than having his photo taken. ) i’m from jeju.

for a second, chaewon thinks that kyungwon might be about to turn her suggestion down, and for that brief moment, her face falls. kyungwon is a customer she’s comfortable enough with to push ideas like this, someone whose face she knows well enough by now to do her best work on. “yes! thank you!” she cheers once kyungwon gives her the green light, clapping her hands together in front of her. “i promise, you’ll look really good once i’m done. obviously.”

chaewon quickly turns to the wheeled work station next to her, double checking that she has everything from her usual kit that she wants to use on kyungwon today. she has access to everything else that the salon sells in concessions too, but like anyone else, chaewon has her preferred tools of her trade. “hm?” she looks over her shoulder, attention caught by the mention of and*roma’s brother group. her future seniors, maybe, if nova decide they want her after her audition. “no. i like their sister group, and*roma, a lot, but i haven’t bothered checking out per_se yet,” she admits with a shrug. chaewon turns fully back to kyungwon, making sure that her usual shade match still worked – and it did. she mutters a small ‘excuse me’ as she starts to work on kyungwon’s foundation. “i like eclipse’s choreography a lot, but i’m not that into them. do you know luxe? them and and*roma are my favourite idol groups at the moment.”

it’s been years since she last fangirled over groups. in fact, she doesn’t recall the last time she’d buy a korean idol’s album, save for chichi and sg wannabe which was close to a decade ago. her dream of becoming a singer in korea is the only thing keeping her up-to-date with the music scene these days. “i think i’ve listened to their music a couple times. what was it again... up&down? i really liked that song.” she remembers playing the melon top 50 songs in the background as she cleans her room earlier this summer, and that song was stuck on her head for weeks. “what songs did and*roma sing?” she inquires, genuinely curious.

the wind grazes her face slowly as she lies down on the picnic blanket she laid down on the ground. rays of sunshine blanket her face, hands, and neck with warm, lulling her into a daydream. this feels nice, she thinks to herself. putting her hand over her eye, she lifts herself up slowly and smiles. it’s nice to be writing outside for once instead of being cooped up in her room or the hundreds of cafes all over seoul. heaving a sigh, she picks up her notebook and scribbles for a bit. the nice weather has inspired her plenty, and she wants to jot everything down before they cease to exist in her mind.

a soft grumble breaks her focus, and her hands go toward her stomach. realizing that she hasn’t eaten, the writer fishes out a sandwich from her lunchbox and start munching. she substitutes her book for her phone, scrolling through naver to see if there’s anything interesting in the news lately. feeling a bit thirsty, she sets her food on top of the lunchbox and opens a bottle of apple juice. just as she does that, she spots a small figure dashing towards her from the corner of her eye. whipping her head to the right, she realizes that it was a dog. before she could react, the dog grabs her book and runs away with it, dashing through the park to who knows where. horror strikes her face and she jumps to her feet, juice spilling down her fingers from the shock. “my book!”

PLOT CALL *: ･ﾟ

hi everyone! kyungwon is looking for new friends so please message me or like this post if you’d like to plot.  i have some plot ideas/relationships below!

( /he’s sure the way he relaxes is visible when she figures out just what it is that he’s asking and the smile grows wider and brighter as he gives a nod. ) would you be able to, please? ( /he almost forgets his manners - almost slips back into satoori - but catches himself on both counts and instead glances down to the camera in his hands to adjust the display back around and fix the settings away from his selca set-up before he offers it over to her in both hands. ) i’ve been trying to get a shot without anyone else in it but… ( /a nervous laugh betrays him but he doesn’t look away from her. ) thank you.

drink in hand, the 22-year-old laughs lightly at her friend’s jokes. she leans back against the sofa, observing her surroundings. she’s five shots in− enough to lower her inhibitions and get her talking more, but not nearly enough for her to go batshit crazy. tucking her hair behind her ear, she takes another sip of her drink. that’s when it kicks in. “i need to use the toilet.” she mutters to no one in particular.

getting up from her seat, she makes a beeline for the bathroom. after graduating with her bachelor’s she rarely went out, and when she did she wasn’t keen on drinking. being the designated sober friend was a role she much preferred, but days like this? getting a little bit tipsy is fine. staring at her reflection in the mirror as she washes her hands, she chuckles. her flushed face reminds her of how she looked most weekends in melbourne, out and about with her friends, often not making it back home to her apartment. she’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss being younger and free of adult responsibilities. in fact, she misses it dearly.

yeonjun would always take the time to do any type of community service that took up his interest. he remembers doing it often just for the benefit of his resume, but always having fun with them depending on which he was doing. he had fun talking to other people who were doing it with him, even making some friends that he would keep up to tabs for on social media. and he would’ve tried to continue doing that after graduation. but with his mental health declining, he lost the motivation to do so. 

so he decides to try it again with something he’s done before, but hasn’t done in a while. he explained to the teachers at yeoreum kindergarten that he had some experience and he believes he was able to prove himself when just a few minutes later, he’s playing with some kids that thankfully found him funny enough. he ignores their comments about his hair color that were negative, though he finds some amusing. who knew kindergartners had spunk?

he turns around to the front of the classroom to see someone enter it: a woman who he isn’t sure he recognizes 100%. nonetheless, it was nice to have some company, even if he did appreciate the children trying to talk to him. “hi! you here for the kids, too?” he asks with a big grin on his face. he looks at the children and tells them to wait for him to get back before he turns around and offers his hand to shake to the other. “i’m yeonjun! super nice to meet you. let’s have fun together!” 

the kids start asking her for an airplane ride before she can reply to the boy. she’s reminded of all the times she spent staring at her baby cousins when she was younger, always amazed at how they would shriek in joy every time her mom or one of her uncles lifted them up high in the air. without hesitation, she cradles one of the smaller kids and gets up before replying to the (presumably) second oldest person in the room. “yeah. are you one of the teachers? i’m supposed to read them a story later.”

he seems to get along well with the kids, and she finds it funny how the kids are staring at his hair in awe. the blue shade suits him, she thinks. she observes as one of the kids try to touch his head. her hand, that’s not currently supporting the child, instinctively goes towards her head, making sure that her long locks are neatly put up in a bun. she knows from experience that she has to secure her hair if she doesn’t want hundreds of it to get lost to the hands of curious 5 year olds by the end of the day.

the lights are dim as she enters the booth with her friend, the other girl’s arms wrapped around her shoulder. she laughs lightly as she takes her place on the sofa in the corner, dragging honey to sit next to her. it’s been a while since she’s spent the whole day outside of campus, just milling around town without thinking of work. i should do this more often, she thinks− but it isn’t the first time someone’s told her that. she just never listens.

“what song should we sing for our duet this time?” she asks her friend, going through the printed song list on the table. across from here were 5 other people, some she knows through honey and the others she’s only met for the first time. still, her first impression of them is good after the quick dinner they had before. part of her wonders if they are all rappers or musicians of sorts since honey spends most (if not all) of her time in hongdae or soundcloud.

her fingers keep on turning the pages, not too sure what song she wants to sing with the crowd tonight. “um...” her friends mutters, “i don’t know. i’m going to use the bathroom so make sure you pick a song before i come back or we’re doing kanye.” that causes kyungwon to scrunch her nose in distaste. although she doesn’t feel to strongly about his music, the amount of times he’s been on the news or trended on twitter for the most controversial things turns her off.