growing up ;

rkseonho​:

the responses come quick enough and seonho is rather excited about that. it’s not every day that he gets to befriend someone new outside the company. he’s so use to be surrounded by fellow royal people or even fellow samsung people that the chance to befriend someone outside of all of this is kind of nice. he loves his fellow trainees and idols, but sometimes he needs a break from it. especially as he still isn’t use to being an idol. plus? whats more fun than friending someone who plays video games?? seonho is really hoping this could help him learn more about games!

he flops sideways on the couch, chest resting on the arm rest and arms hanging over the side as he types out his reply. much more interested in this conversation than anything else he could be doing right now. though that being said there isn’t really much to do. he could do homework but bleh… he’s had a long day, why do homework when he could just not do it. 

message from yoosh03 ; yeah!! message from yoosh03 ; at least i hope im close to them 🤔🤔 we haven’t lived together even a year yet… maybe i need to bother them more message from yoosh03 ; im glad you did!!! ehehehe when you listen to it all, i’d like to know which song is you favorite!! message from yoosh03 ; i think new world is the most fun to perform right now  message from yoosh03 ; do you like any other groups?? message from yoosh03 ; ahhh i messaged you originally about gaming and here i am bringing up music 😅😅😅

as he read the messages, pj’s eyes widened as his previous suspicions were confirmed to be true. either this guy was lying, or he was actually ac from de:code—and he really hoped it was the latter. how often did he actually get to meet an actual idol? the answer was never. it just wasn’t something that happened, at least not to him. while there was a chance that yoosh03 was just pulling his leg, pj allowed himself to let his guard down, enjoying the possibility that he was speaking to an actual idol.

he immediately began typing a response, not wanting to give yoosh03 a chance to disappear. pj had so many questions—so many things that he wanted to ask—but he refrained from doing so, not wanting to scare his viewer away. he could ask as many questions as he wanted to later, once they knew each other a little better.

rkxric​:

eric notices who pj goes a little quiet, and he worries he’s made things awkward. stuff like this is sort of personal, maybe a little too personal. he’s always been comfortable sharing things with people he really trusts and cares about, at least some things. but what if pj isn’t comfortable hearing the negative details of everything that had gone down. sure, there was a lot to be happy about regarding the situation, but eric would argue there was more to be unhappy about, especially for jeno and his family. 

pj stumbling over who’s dad to label him as makes eric notice how he’s solely been talking about him as if he was only jeno’s dad. he’s the father of both of them but somehow eric feels as though jeno has a more legitimate claim to him. he has to stop himself remembering all the weekends they’d spend together when he was young in LA, because he knows that through this situation he might lose him as a father figure and remember their happiest times together only succeeds in making him sad. 

he sighs. pj’s right, but eric can’t help but feel guilty. jeno’s family lived in blissful ignorance until he had to come and mess it up - what if they’d have rather stayed that way? “i guess… i just… had i not seen the picture, or said anything about it when i did, maybe their family wouldn’t be all messed up.” his voice is a lot smaller now, as he can’t help but keep the guilt and shame out of his voice. it’s easier to blame himself, especially when he thinks about how jeno’s mum and sister will likely no longer welcome him into their home as they’ve been doing for months now already. “i just… i don’t get why he did it? he had a pregnant wife at home, yet he still… he still cheated. now i don’t think i’ll be invited back to jeno’s house again…”

hearing everything that jeno and eric were going through helped pj to appreciate his family a little more. his dad was never home, sure—but at least he still loved pj’s mom. the two were soulmates, and this was just a small hurdle that they’d overcome eventually. the thought made pj miss the days when they were all on the road together, somehow managing to survive despite constantly relocating. it was nice to have a home now, but pj would honestly do just about anything to have his dad home with his family.

in this situation, pj isn’t entirely sure what to do. he doesn’t want to offend eric—they’re friends, so that’s kind of the last thing he wants to do. but, even so, he still wants to be honest with him, even if that means voicing his opinion about eric’s dad being a total asshole. he hesitated, eyeing his friend for a moment as he tried to collect his thoughts. eric shouldn’t blame himself, and pj hated that he couldn’t magically make him feel better.

kihyxnrk​:

another night, another restless evening of awaiting the sleep that always eludes him. on most nights, he’s content with lying there and waiting for the time to pass, on other nights, he’ll find things with which to busy himself. then there are nights like these where the tossing and turning is just too much, and he needs to escape his apartment, where only the cool night air can offer any kind of peace—that’s his hope, anyway, though this time it doesn’t seem to offer up much at all. the sight of the river’s water does seem to help some, but his eyes remain wide open even though his lids are heavy and tired.

the peaceful atmosphere is completely ruined, though, when suddenly a stranger’s voice penetrates his personal bubble, bringing him out of the stupor he’d allowed himself to fall into. “huh?” he mutters, voicing his utter confusion, belatedly processing the stranger’s words though they still make barely any sense. why would anyone ever approach someone who might be a psycho murderer? he chuckles quietly to himself, shaking his head, debates messing with the guy but he still seems to be a kid, not too much younger than he is but still bright-eyed. “not that i know of, no. you?”

pj wasn’t entirely sure why he felt the need to approach a stranger in the middle of the night. normally he made sure not to do such things, as he had seen way too many movies that proved just how bad of an idea that could be. and, above all else, why had he asked if the guy was a psycho murderer? if he is a psycho murderer, pj thought, then i definitely just made his list. he shuddered at the thought, adjusting his grip on the pack of cookies and he listened to the stranger’s response. he seemed like he was an okay person, so pj decided that he should try to give him the benefit of the doubt.

rkjeno​:

by this point, with the people that jeno surrounds himself with, he isn’t at all surprised by the teasing comment that comes out of pj’s mouth. still, he narrows his eyes at the younger boy, then lets out a sigh because he can’t even attempt to argue. “yeah, i know… you don’t really have to remind me.” curiously, he eyes the paper bag in his friend’s hand and feels the urge to question him about it, but before he can, he’s being asked his own questions. briefly, he bites down on his lower lip and tries to figure out whether or not he should tell the truth. siyeon knew, and he wanted pj to know eventually, too, but he wasn’t expecting to have to deal with this today.

“it’s a long story… i mean… kind of… not really, i guess. where i’ve been isn’t the long story, because i’ve just been in my room… it’s the why that’s more of a long story.” he deeply inhales and lets it out in another sigh, louder this time as he runs a hand through his hair. “i mean… on and off. i’ve been in bed, but not consistently asleep. i’ve also been playing games… or sometimes just kinda… lying there. i just feel sort of drained and like a break from all of this.” as he says the last word, he vaguely motions around as if pj would understand what he was referring to.

pj’s gaze sunk to the floor as he resisted a frown. jeno was worrying him, but he didn’t want to make him feel guilty. what had happened to the guy? not too long ago, he seemed fine—but now, the older seemed like a shadow of his former self. pj wanted to ask a million questions, but, for the time being, he settled for none. jeno would open up to him when he was ready, and pj would be there for him like he always was. as much as he wanted to find some joke to crack, for the moment, he remained silent, intently listening to jeno’s every word.

rkseonho​:

by the time the reply comes in seonho’s phone has already been put on do not disturb for the night. one of his hyungs coming to make the teen go to bed since they had to be up early for tomorrows schedule. in the morning he see’s the messages but doesn’t have the time to respond. a few days pass before he comes back to that conversatoin, as seonho is someone who doesn’t actually bring his phone with him schedules. it’s not like he ever goes anywhere alone and he really needs something he has someone near by who has a phone. 

it’s the night of their new album release when he finally takes a moment to reply–feeling only a little bad that he had left the other on read for a good number of days. though he has said in his previous messages that he only had a bit of free time so hopefully the streamer wouldn’t hold it against him. these are the thoughts occupying his mind as he drops onto the couch in the main room, wet hair under a towel and phone in hand with the chat open. he actually had a good number of things to respond to (the side effect of never bringing his phone around). 

message from yoosh03 ; sorry!! i didn’t mean to vanish for so long TTTTT  message from yoosh03 ; i did end up getting to play the game briefly though yesterday!! it was a whole lot of fun and i see why you liked it now!!  message from yoosh03 ; de:code? :DD yeah!!! im a big fan of them hehehe my hyungs are so cool, aren’t they? message from yoosh03 ; are you a fan too?? have you seen the new mv they just released?? 

truthfully, pj had almost completely forgotten about his messages with yoosh03. given the fact that he hadn’t gotten a response, the boy had waved the thought of him being an idol away, assuming that it was just some teen fan of convex. while the idea of an idol watching pj stream on twitch had been one of the coolest things ever, at the end of the day, he was well-aware of the fact that it was too good to be true. idols were way to busy to concern themselves with someone with as small of a following as pj, right?

for these reasons, he’s surprised when he saw that he had received yet another message from yoosh03. he had kind of expected the guy had dropped off the face of the earth, but, regardless of the user’s identity, he had watched pj’s stream—and that was enough for him to be okay in his book. and so pj opened the chat once again, his lips curving upward into a slight smile as he began to type back, interested to see where the conversation would lead.

rkxric​:

eric feels as though he can’t be fully happy, despite it being something he’d spent his entire life dreaming of. for eric to get the siblings he’s always wanted jeno’s family has to fall apart. it doesn’t seem like a fair trade. eric wants to enjoy it, now that he’s able to experience the realities of having siblings, but it’s difficult to when he feels as though he’s partly to blame for jeno’s family having to deal with the fact his dad cheated on his mum. 

“yeah, i have too.” he admits, though the happiness he should be feeling is nowhere to be seen. eric sighs, trying to split his focus between the game and the conversation. “but for me to get a brother it ruined jeno’s family…” his voice is somewhat quiet towards the end, a feeling of guilt and shame creeping up his throat. “it’s great for me, but for jeno? what if he’s angry at me for making the truth come out?” jeno doesn’t seem angry, and he wasn’t mad at eric when they realised what the photograph and eric’s question about it meant. 

“not that he acted angry, because he didn’t, but what if he was just being nice to me? what if he blames me and wishes i’d never said anything so they never had to know about what his dad did?” he’s found himself talking about jeno’s dad as if he wasn’t also his dad as well, as though he’d cut off his familial feelings towards his father in favour of preserving jeno’s family. he was always jeno’s dad more than eric’s anyway, he thinks.

pj froze, feeling insensitive for the comments he had made moments before. as much as he felt like he wanted a brother of his own, he wouldn’t want one at any cost. his parents were happy together—or at least, they would be, if only pj hadn’t messed that up. now, his dad was all the way in another country working on his own, while his mom had to stay in seoul with him and his sisters. it wasn’t fair that he was part of the reason she wasn’t off on some grand adventure with the love of her life, and pj hated that he felt like he was to blame.

having zoned out momentarily, he pushed those thoughts aside, trying to regain focus on what was in front of him: eric. “yeah, yeah,” he answered, not entirely sure what he was saying it in response to. he tried to replay eric’s words in his mind, and, for the most part, he felt he had a pretty good idea of what the older was trying to say. eric continued to speak, only now pj was listening more intently, making sure that he wouldn’t zone out again.

rkxric​:

eric rarely gets to play video games that aren’t cheap switch games or ones that he managed to get at a hefty discount. his switch lite wasn’t even bought by himself, but a gift by a far too generous friend. his laptop isn’t built for gaming either, so his ability to play games is incredibly limited. that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love games though, in fact he really loves gaming when he gets the opportunity, but unlike a lot of guys his age he never had the chance to play console games growing up since they never had the money for them. 

so, usually he watches playthroughs of games he’s interested in, trying to live vicariously through them. that is unless he’s invited over to play with someone - which is exactly what he’s gone over to see pj to do. they’re sat playing a particularly good game that eric’s wanted to play for ages, but the conversation has gone from lighthearted banter about the game, to eric’s current situation. 

“i just… saw he had a picture with my dad in it in his house and was like ‘lol why do you have a picture with my dad?’ and… well yeah turns out he’s not just my dad.” eric explains. pj and jeno are friends, so it seems only right that eric explains what went down when they realised they didn’t just look strangely alike for no reason. it’s a weird thing to talk about - that mutual friend we had? yeah turns out he’s my half-brother and neither of us knew for twenty whole years of life. funny, huh?

playing games with friends was one of pj’s favorite pastimes. it gave him a way to be social while also doing something that he loved—it was a sweet deal, he thought. so it was only natural that he and eric found themselves sat playing one of pj’s favorite multiplayer games, having lighthearted conversations about whatever ridiculousness they could get themselves into. he found that he enjoyed it quite a bit, and, for a split second, he found himself wondering if they should invite others to come join in on the fun.

siyeonrk​:

“trust me, no one’s as surprised as me.” she quips, already regretting it. it’s not difficult to decide she dislikes pj the least when his mouth is closed, though when he continues through her home, eyes darting around, the nervous nagging in her stomach reminds her she isn’t too fond of him quiet either. he mumbles a compliment, but siyeon can’t help wondering if it’s just a front, just a polite thing to say when you’re in someone else’s house and his actual thoughts are a million miles away from it. does it really matter, though? why does she concern herself so much with what others think of her — especially people like pj who are probably never going to like her anyway? she’s trying, she really is, but if it weren’t for jeno, it’d feel completely hopeless. 

regardless, she places the cake carefully down onto the kitchen counter, looking across it at the younger on the other side. something here is off, she can feel it, but she puts it down to the less than comfortable air between them. maybe he’s feeling just as weird about all this as she is. maybe it’s the strange consistency of the cake when she takes a last long glance before turning to grab a couple small plates and a knife. she won’t say anything; she isn’t the type to shoot down someone’s honest attempt to learn a new craft, especially one she loves so dearly. if he was actually good at it, on her level almost, it’d be another story, but he’s just a kid trying to make amends. right? “how big of a slice do you want then, if you’re so hungry?” 

in a strange way, pj was here for jeno. he wanted him to give siyeon a chance, and, in his own way, this was pj’s way of giving her that chance. maybe they had gotten off on the wrong foot, or maybe siyeon just couldn’t bring herself to tolerate him for whatever reason. why was it that she disliked him so much? pj couldn’t remember, but he thought it had something to do with him being annoying—was she the one to say that? again, he couldn’t remember—memories of her and others who had disliked him in the past blurred together. or maybe he just didn’t want to remember. he subtly shook his head, pulling himself from his thoughts. now wasn’t the time to dwell on any of that.

rkjohnny​:

A bookstore is one of the places that takes a lot of Johnny’s money. He has bought a lot of books in the course of his lifetime, and he has been dying to find some new reading material. He hasn’t had time to get any new books since last year, and it was time for Johnny to add even more books to the dorm shelf. He had gotten a few, and was eyeing yet another book on plants when he felt the impact at his side. 

“Ouch,” Johnny mutters under his breath checking who bumped into him. He raises an eyebrow at the boy giving him attitude. “Unfortunately, no, I didn’t,” Johnny says a bit dryly. He tries not to be to mean, as this can easily come out once he debuts with NSG. He crouches down to help the boy pick up the books he dropped. “Are you okay, though?” he asks while he picks up the books. “Do you need any help?” 

pj couldn’t help his sour expression, given that he could still feel the impact on his back—he had been moving way too fast for someone who couldn’t see where they were going. i’ll feel that in the morning, he thought to himself, his lips sinking into a subtle frown. he was already picking up some of his scattered books, thinking that he must look just like the cliche nerdy guy in one of those horrible teen high school movies. well, at least a larger, brawnier guy hadn’t been the one to knock the books out of pj’s hands—oh, wait.

charisma starter for @kihyxnrk !

another late night, another perfect opportunity for pj to clear his head. he was running like always, unsure of his destination, only knowing that he had to keep going. things were much more peaceful than they were during the day, but not completely—it took more than the sun going down to bring life in seoul to a halt. or maybe he only felt it was more peaceful because of the surrounding darkness—it comforted him, even if he wasn’t entirely sure why.

rkbaekho​:

Night shift. Ever a time for Baekho to simply relax in his seat while his partner catches up on his university work in the backroom, scrolling endlessly through various social networking sites and listening to music turned all the way up through the store speakers and chewing on the end of a disposable chopstick from his lunch.

His attention is never too far away from his job, though, and the sound of the door open sets off a gut reaction to instantly reach out and lower the sound of the music and lift his gaze. He returns the wave with a smile and a greeting, and pulls himself to his feet, phone tucked away behind the register.

It’s so rare to have an actual customer, especially this late, without it being one of their regulars (usually Yeonjun, or one of the university students from a nearby dorm). Baekho enjoys the encounters, enjoys every part of working in customer service (enjoys people).

Enjoys, as well, when encounters don’t go quite as planned and the boy’s comment is simply met with a laugh. Warm, hearty, almost reassuring.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says with a bright smile that creases the corners of his eyes. “On me.”

pj had expected to be met with a scowl, or, at the very least, a simple ‘no’. he was already preparing to leave the gum on the counter before making his exit, returning to his run without satiating his craving for sweets. what he received, however, surprised him: a bright smile accompanied by warm laughter. while he typically wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, pj simply didn’t understand how he had gotten so lucky, given he expected that most people working the night shift would be miserable.

rkseonho​:

it doesn’t take a long time for a response to come back which does surprise seonho a little bit as he half expected his message to never get replied too if only because he assumed the streamer ends up with enough messages as is. it’s kind of like how seonho has a good handful of messages on his account as well fans and even a few negative messages. he never opens them–worried to much that could get him into trouble. he doesn’t want to mess up the groups image when they’re so new still.

but the streamer does reply and his response is really nice and seonho lets out a happy giggly as he rolls over in his bed to send back a reply. it’s like making a new friend–like a penpal. it’s kind of exciting and plus he’s never spoken to anyone who streams on twitch! or anyone who games onlline like this at all. the teens experience with gaming is really lacking actually. he knows some of his hyungs are into it and recently he has gotten more interested. 

message from yoosh03 ; i had some free time and was glad to have something watch! i’ve watched a few others, you’re fun to listen to! :DD  message from yoosh03 ; i’ve never seen outer worlds before it seemed so interesting! 😲😲

pj rubbed at his eyes, trying to determine whether or not yoosh03 was the real deal. the viewer’s profile seemed to point towards the possibility of yoosh03 actually being de:code’s a.c, but pj knew better than to assume he knew what was going on. he was tired, which meant that he wasn’t thinking straight—he wasn’t considering each of the possibilities. but, still, he had never seen that particular picture of a.c (not that he’d seen them all, anyway), so was there even the slightest possibility that this could actually be the idol himself? probably not, he thought.

but what if this was him? what if pj had somehow attracted the attention of an actual idol from one of his favorite boy groups? the boy took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself long enough to devise a plan. he didn’t have to lay all of his cards out on the table just yet. besides, even if it were a.c, pj confronting him would probably only make things weird for the both of them. so, to avoid jumping to conclusions, pj decided to play it cool... for now.

message from pjplays ; thank you so much! that’s actually awesome to hear message from pjplays ; yeah, it’s an interesting game hahaha message from pjplays ; i like your profile btw! are you a fan of de:code???

charisma starter for @yejirk !

pj tapped his foot restlessly on the ground as he studied the menu, somehow having no idea what to eat despite having been here several times in the past. each time his eyes glanced over an item on the menu, he immediately lost interest, perhaps due to the overwhelming number of things that had been on his mind for most of the day. “hmm,” he hummed aloud, frowning down at the menu as his indecisiveness continued to power over him. why did it feel like there were so many options?

rkchoisan·:

san was competitive, and it wasn’t any kind of secret. the boy was friendly first and foremost, but once you really get to know him, his competitiveness shines through every once in awhile, here and there. pj had seen that side of san a few times, most commonly whenever they played mario kart together. however, today they were in a different environment, and san was just grateful pj had managed to get him out of the house (the last few weeks hadn’t been the easiest for him mental health wise).

he’s not doing too bad at the dart booth, though he’s pretty sure he’s doing better than pj at the very least. he snorts as he watches the younger fall to the ground dramatically and he looks away from him to throw another dart, cheering silently under his breath when he manages to pop another one of the balloons. “yah, come on,” he complains, tugging pj up by the back of his shirt and trying not to laugh as he does. “don’t give up so easily! i need your help winning that hello kitty plush.”

it was somewhat comforting that, rather than laughing (as many of pj’s friends probably would have), san instead tugged at his shirt, even going so far as to encourage him to keep trying. admittedly, pj was just about ready to throw in the towel, so that maybe he could escape this booth with most of his dignity intact. it became clear, however, that he would not be that lucky. hearing that san needed help was enough to have pj rising to his feet, dusting himself off as he braced himself for the challenge to come. “okay, then,” he said, cracking his knuckles as he stepped back up to the booth. “let’s do this.”