bad girls

ㅡ * ✰ . under my skin ,

there are certain things in life that taeho knows he’s not supposed to do, but frankly that’s just what makes him want to do them even more. and no, he’s not even referring to the illicit substances he’s just inhaled. instead he’s thinking more about how amusing it is to make fun of people. and among ‘people,’ there are select ones who are naturally more fun to make fun of than others — go daeun just happens to be one of them. hey, it’s not his fault that she gives such satisfying reactions when provoked. he knows it’s definitely immature and aggravating for him to be like this, but it’s a lot of quick and cheap fun. it does briefly cross his mind that bullies probably have a similar mentality but … it’s all a matter of perspective, eh?

i mean, look at her now. she bites back. it’s a reciprocal relationship, so he feels like he’s definitely in the clear. thus his lips curl into a content grin at her animated reaction, which only incites him to push her buttons a little further. “you’re gonna kick my ass?” he challenges the notion with a scoff. “on summoner’s rift maybe. oh– wrong sport?” he feigns ignorance. still he breaks into a good natured chuckle afterwards, flashing her a charming smile which is his unspoken way of apologizing. as much as he doesn’t buy her threat, he still doesn’t want to risk being humiliated at a public, campus-wide event. plus he kind of enjoys her company. he’d like to keep her around, which means he’s got to ease down once in a while.

as they walk over to the game booth, he keeps an eye on her, just to make sure things are progressing well for her. after all, he’s starting to feel it kicking in himself. usually it’s never anything too drastic for him; his body eases up a notch, senses become slightly more sensitive, mind gets a tad more chaotic — or creative, depending on how you look at it. the only thing that’d be that noticeable to an observer would be how he smiles and laughs more than his usually detached and stoic demeanor would allow. “alright, first round is on me,” he says as he passes a bill to the guy working the station. “also don’t worry,” he speaks up again, giving her a light nudge before stepping up to the booth and picking up a toy pistol. “i won’t tell your subscribers that you lost a shooting game to a pleb like me.”

she’s certain now that she’s feeling the effects of the high, as if she’s on a completely different plane than the one she’d been living on for all of her life. it’s as if every anxiety and problem has seeped out of her through her pores and onto the ground, pooled into a puddle and she’d left it behind, leaving her feeling light-headed but free. her senses feel heightened, like she’s one of those superheroes from the marvel films she enjoys so much, like she can count each and every hair on a person’s head, can smell each individual ingredient in the food at the booths she passes by, can feel every cell working within her body. it’s an incredible and addicting feeling, and it makes her feel alive. 

one thing that remains unchange, though, is a heightened sense of self-confidence that may seem a bit over the top to some, but is rightly earned, justly warranted as far as she’s concerned, and it shows in the way she laughs in his face, boldly, but also almost childishly in a way that hardly makes sense but also makes all the sense in the world. she picks up the toy pistol in her hands and it’s probably made out of some kind of synthetic compound or plastic, but it feels like the finest steel in her hands, a real gun, something she’s never actually put her hands on in her life. she holds it up like she’s seen in all those spy movies, pointed up at the sky and close to her face, peering at taeho—who, by the way, is even more striking through this new lens, and it isn’t even fair—through squinted eyes. “oh, i’m not worried,” she says, words dripping with the same kind of cockiness that’s gotten her hate before when she’s streaming. “because you’re not going to have a story like that to tell.”

she then points the toy gun in his direction, firing off an imaginary shot, which she gets scolded for by the booth attended. the strict tone with which he’s said it only sends her into another fit of giggles, one she barely manages to pull herself out as the game starts, shoulders still shaking with mirth as she takes aim. shooting off a toy gun in the real world and shooting off a sniper rifle in a computer generated 3d world are a little different, but she feels laser focused, even when her shots fall a little short, even when she misses more than she thought she would. what’s most surprising of all, though, is that she doesn’t grow frustrated with the results as she can be known to do; instead, she laughs, enjoying the moment in itself than worrying about the outcome. of course, that doesn’t stop her from trying to cheat, hand reaching out to try and push taeho’s gun down and decrease his accuracy. “try and tell that to my subscribers. they’d never believe you!”

i’ll show you a good time hotstuff

jongin is already grinning by the time she answers him back, the lines in his face just deepening with a chuckle that wants to break free of his lips even as he pressed them together. he always enjoys taking beautiful young girls out to a night of debauchery and chaos, but daeun especially is one of his favorites– not because they’re physically intimate or they’re socially similar climbers or anything, but because she’s easy to tease and easy to laugh with and easy to relax around, and he knows he can pull her into his lap at the club and it doesn’t have to mean anything to anybody on any level, subconscious or otherwise. there are a few other people he knows he can be this way with, without sleeping with them, but not many.

thankfully it’s not so cold outside that he won’t mind if he has to wait for her, but he doesn’t want to be standing here all night like a loser, anxious for his prom date. his eyes dart up from his phone to scan around himself, looking for his motorcycle in the far parking lot, aching for the adrenaline of it already. he wonders if she’s wearing a skirt, if she’ll be mad at him for insisting she rides with him, despite however many random passers-by she may flash. he grins again just thinking about it.

[ daeun —>] aren’t you always thinking about me?

[ daeun —>] i’ve told you before, i’m your dream prince charming, that’s my job

[ daeun —>] i got a great idea for a little bit of a kickstarter for the night, please come down in your sexiest outfit

[ daeun —>] i’m wearing leather if that gives you any ideas

she’s nearly all ready to go, checking herself one final time in the mirror, running her fingers through dark, black tresses, smiling at her own reflection. there’s only one thing that’s keeping her from heading out right at that moment, though, and she can’t quite put her finger on it. something is just missing, but even as she continues to twist and turn her figure in the mirror, it’s impossible to place. a frown forms on her face, lower lip jutting out in an involuntary pout when her phone springs to life once more, causing her to turn away from the mirror to grab it and reply to the messages.

———————  *┇ 𝙨𝙢𝙨 » 아도니스 ❞

‧  ‧  ‧ ‧‧‧⇢ hmmmmm wouldn’t you like to know~? ‧  ‧  ‧ ‧‧‧⇢ well, you’ve been doing a good job. keep that up and you just might get a promotion ‧  ‧  ‧ ‧‧‧⇢ oh, leather, huh? just the image is tantalizing~ don’t worry. i’ve got just the thing

                               ✧･ﾟ ——————————— now broadcasting with @sgnjiah !

she stares down at the device in her hands, and back up at jiah, a confused frown upon her lips. when she’d come to her to fix the problems she was having with her laptop, daeun had been happy to do it, seeing as how it didn’t seem like it would take too long to fix, and it wasn’t like she had too much else to do anyway, considering the new semester had just recently started and all the schoolwork had yet to pile up (in other words, not enough time had passed yet for daeun to procrastinate until everything was due the next day). she had taken care of the major issues, but it seemed a miracle was expected of her.

                                ✧･ﾟ ——————————— now broadcasting with @sgnsunwoo !

"huh...?”

she raises her head from where it rests on her enclosed fist, elbow perched upon the armrest of her chair. she feels lightheaded and disoriented, and images of a swampy forest and otherworldly monsters fade into darkness, replaced by the overly familiar surroundings of the lecture hall. she blinks once, twice, attempting to find her bearings, making the leap from an imagined setting back into reality. the process is slow and drawn out, eyes dry and still heavy, but she makes the transition, finally realizing what’s transpired.

“how long was i asleep?” she asks, a sudden dive off the deep end and into panic, alert in a split second as she straightens her spine, looking around once again to realize that the room is empty now save for the two of them. finally, sunwoo’s question registers, and a barely sheepish grin crosses her features.

                                ✧･ﾟ ——————————— now broadcasting with @sgndanbi​ !

it’s not the first time it’s happened, and it definitely won’t be the last. going into the life of a streamer, she’d known the kind of comments she would get from random strangers on the internet, but she’d always prided herself on having a thick skin, able to withstand whatever life threw at her. what she hadn’t expected is just how many people there would be, just how much courage hiding behind an avatar would give those who wouldn’t dare say such things to her in real life. it’s exhausting, taxing, demeaning, but it’s also an unfortunate part of what she does---at least, that’s what she keeps telling herself in order to keep going.

of course, in the beginning, she’d taken these things much more seriously. reports to not only the streaming service she used, but also making reports to the police when things got particularly out of hand. but what she’s learned over the years is that sometimes, authorities are just as helpless as she is. reports to the streaming service result in bans and warnings, but people will always find a way to come back, and reports to the police might as well fall upon deaf ears with the amount of absolute nothing that happens as a result. it’s a tough lesson to learn, but it’s one that’s been burned into her brain at this point. there’s nothing she can do but tough it out.

ㅡ * ✰ . under my skin ,

once the pen is transferred from his possession to hers, he leans back a bit, crossing his arms across his chest and awaiting her choice of action. he can’t help but to snicker a little at her comment about him knowing ‘the way into a girl’s heart,’ shaking his head slightly in denial. “ehh… i wouldn’t really put it that way. i kind of suck with people in general,” he replies, indifferent and unbothered. he watches her now with equal parts of pride and concern. this whole evening, this entire strange ‘mentorship’ they have going on, would’ve been much cuter if he were showing the younger girl the ropes to something more wholesome. like teaching her how to ride a bike or something… and not getting her feet wet in the world of illicit substances. oh well. at least their delinquency wasn’t doing anyone else any harm.

fortunately he doesn’t get too much time to dabble in far-too-late guilt or doubt, because before he knows it, she’s already going for her first hit. he stifles a chuckle when she coughs almost immediately after, figuring she might’ve been a little too ambitious with her first draw. but hey, go big or go home — she was someone who gets that, and he likes that about her. a single brow raises in response to her question, because he’s by no means an expert on the science of all this; believe it or not, he doesn’t actually smoke all that often, not loving the smell and also as a swimmer, he tries to take decently good care of his lungs and overall health. still he tries to conjure a somewhat helpful answer. “hard to say, depends on the person,” he prefaces his response. “you’re just a tad bit smaller than me,” he notes sarcastically, a teasing grin on his lips as he sticks his hand out over her head to measure her height, slowly lowering it and giving the top of her head a gentle pat or two. “maybe ten minutes? give or take a few,” he shrugs before snatching back the pen, taking another hit himself for good measure.

“well alright, let’s get a move on,” he suggests, eyeing the path back to the main open area. “you said there were some games to be played? maybe i’ll finally be able to beat you at something once your headspace is, you know… a little altered?” he teases, looking a little more smug than usual. lowkey he’s the slightest bit concerned at how she’ll feel once the effects kick in; after all, the high treats each person a little differently. but he doesn’t let it show. at the end of the day, he’ll stop her if she tries to do something too stupid. though now that he thinks about it, he thinks it’s sort of funny how she trusts him so much with today’s choice of unwise activity (or honestly in all their previous mischief too), with very few questions asked.

“sure, just a tad,” she retorts, swatting at his hand, intending to be more annoyed in her reaction but coming off more bratty than anything else. it’s not like she really has any problem with her height because she knows other than not being able to reach things on really high shelves at the grocery store, it really doesn’t have any bearing on her or her capabilities, but when she’s teased about it, she can’t help but react in such a way. with huff, she allows him to get away with it in the end, because of course she would, and he probably knows that. “just watch out; i can still kick your ass at 166 cm!” it’s a bold-faced lie---even though she’s a member of the kumdo team, he’s not exactly an easy takedown---but bravado has always been one of her more prominent traits.

in any case, his answer doesn’t really help much despite the time frame he’d given, but she figures there’s no need to stress about it anyway, so she shrugs, leading away when he suggests getting back out into the open. she only turns back to face him when he jokes about being able to beat her at something, and she can’t help the laugh the escapes her as she does so, though she doesn’t stop walking. “mm, i think you’re being a bit ambitious,” she says, an arrogant grin upon her face to match his expression. despite her words, because she doesn’t know how the high will affect her and her abilities, she’s actually quite convinced that what he says may actually come to fruition, but once again her inherent ability to put on a brave face comes into play, even as she saunters off toward the different carnival game booths.

— behind the lens.

every jab she sent his way came as a tickle instead — it’s supposed to sting but why is he so amused? if anything, it might even be a little arousing to have her shoot him down like that. “cute.” he chuckles, his lips curving into a pompous smirk, “you do know that everything you’re saying is just making me like you a little more, right?” his words were dripping with cockiness, something only one without shame could pull off.

“you’re right.” he shrugs with a wanton grin, “someone could take your photo with their eyes closed and you’ll still look cute as hell. can’t fight that.” if he had to point out one thing he likes about her, it would be her confidence. not just when she was gaming but her attitude towards anything, or anyone. there aren’t many people who could spark muse in junhyung but her confident demeanour was starting to get him going. this was his chance to impress her and her assertive words are fuelling his desire to do a good job, not just to win brownie points with her but to prove that there is more to him than the side she knew of, or the side he had only shown her thus far. 

junhyung nods with every point she makes, plastering on a teasing smirk as she spoke. he doesn’t interrupt her, just in case she changes her mind and he really couldn’t afford that, not when time was ticking — he only had a day left for this project. scratch that, he only had a few hours left. instead, he responses with his expressions — an eye roll at her first rule, ok, that might be challenge but he’ll try anyway. not that he had a choice, really. so, he nods. he lets out a muffled cackle at the second rule. he might think with his dick more than his head but he wasn’t a predator though he’ll accept that, just to make her happy. that was the least he could do for someone who agreed to help him. 

the third point? no issue there. “deal.” he stretches out a hand for a handshake to authenticate their partnership (and also, an excuse to hold her hand but she doesn’t need to know that). “follow me. I have a location in mind and no, it’s not isolated.” he adds with an eye roll, “even if it is, I wouldn’t do anything to you.” he turns towards the direction of the rec center, gesturing for her to follow after him, “the basketball court has pretty good lighting, especially at this hour.” he grins eagerly, “lucky for us, it’s golden hour soon.” 

if her eyes could roll any harder, they’d roll out of their sockets and onto the carefully sodded ground. there’s just no winning with this guy, and yet she continues to try. her persistence and resilience have always been some of her greatest features, but they only seem to work against her when it comes to people like junhyung, who only seem to feed off of her attempts to shake them off, a frustration that comes with no end because neither side will back down. it’s an entanglement she both hates and yet willingly participates in, proof that too much persistence can turn out to be a flaw, on both sides.

another sigh escapes her when he actually agrees with her, and she can’t help but close her eyes, shaking her head because she admits that she walked right into that one. not out loud, of course, because that would only serve to fuel that shit-eating grin he’s got going on, and that’s the last thing she wants to do. so she forces that strained smile on her lips again, tilting her head to one side in a show of feigned innocence to his goading. “good, then there’s no excuse for you to fuck it up.”

she peers carefully at his outstretched hand when he offers it, pondering for a moment whether she should take it, but in the end decides to do so because it’s as good a way to seal a deal as any. of course, there’s no way to take any action if he were to go against their deal in the end, but she’d already figured that out long ago and made amends with it. two shakes, and she abruptly lets go of his hand, following after him when he says to. she’s unsure of where he’s taking her, seeing as how she’s still a freshman and hasn’t explored every inch of the campus yet, but if he says it’s not isolated, then she’s taking his word for it.

ㅡ * ✰ . animal farm ,

( ... )

“since you’re scared, we don’t have to go over there anymore.” she told her, crossing her arms. “the baby chicks or chickens in general won’t hurt you.” she looked up at the staff member just to make sure that they wouldn’t just peck at them for no reason at all. those chickens seemed a lot braver than daeun was and some cowards were usually referred to as ‘chickens’. she looked down at the baby chicks with a smile on her face.

in terms of birds, it was usually the pigeons and the seagulls you had to look out for. the pigeons don’t care what type of day it is, what you have on, or what occasion it is. they will sit and poop all over the place and for that reason, she ducks her head whenever she sees one flying or holds her hands up in a fighting stance. as for seagulls… no food. don’t you DARE bring food around jinah if there are seagulls there - they will literally fight you for it and she’ll just leave you there for your stupidity.

when she had been standing directly in front of the goat, going over to check out the baby chicks instead seemed like a good idea. judging purely on their size, it seemed like the safe bet, and if things got out of hand, she could simply just toss the baby chick aside. of course, she didn’t want to do that, considering how helpless the little chicks seemed, but life is about survival of the fittest, and if she has to chuck some baby chicks away from her to survive, then she’s going to do it, even if she doesn’t want to.

in any case, although they had seemed harmless in comparison to the baby goat, the closer she and jinah got to them and the louder their chirps became, the more she could feel an inexplicable feeling rise up within her. the baby chicks weren’t even scary or frightening in any way, but the thought of holding them in her hands didn’t sit right with her. it reminds her of back when she was a child and had been given a pair of hamsters. those had looked harmless as well, but when she had picked one up and played with it, it ended up biting her, and even drawing blood. since then, she’d had an aversion to picking up any animal that wasn’t a dog or a cat, even though those animals could very well leave scars if they decided to bite her as well.

still, she couldn’t continue to be a coward in front of jinah when the roles were usually reversed. jinah just had this quality to her, like she needed to protect her, and daeun never failed to indulge in that feeling, looking out for the other girl even though jinah is older. so she has to save face, walking just a few steps behind the blonde, peering over her shoulder at the baby chicks.

ㅡ * ✰ . one up ,

if anyone were to ask sian why she was transfixed on this particular game specifically – not knowing how many seconds, minutes, possibly hours have passed since she first started playing and how many tokens she’s spent on this booth alone ( an embarrassing amount, most likely ) – she wouldn’t be able to give a good answer, if even one at all. it’s a form of hyperfixation that comes and goes with certain things that she does, and it seems that a game that should be so simple to beat and win is her current problem of the day. it makes her wonder if the games truly are rigged as the rumors say, or if she really is just that bad at games in general – because every time she seems to throw the sack it never goes the way she wants it to.

and there have been others who have tried to help and failed – mainly men hoping that she would oogle how quickly they knock over the can in hopes that they could get her number – and every time she would push them away, annoyed at the fact that others seemed to master the game with ease. if that was the case then why was she struggling so hard? why would the bag not – go – where – she – wanted? it’s when the girl is mumbling to herself as her last attempt flies upward and grazes a bottle, rocking it a bit only for it to remain in its place that she hears someone waltz over, too busy groaning and swatting tiny fists upon the counter to even notice until they speak.

sian is about to tell them that she’s fine, she doesn’t need help and no you can’t have her number until she’s face to face with the person and – holy shit. is that seriously … daeun? the streamer she follows on twitch? once their gazes connect she suddenly feels weak, struck by the other’s confident gaze and all she can give out is a wimpy “huh?” because what in the hell is she supposed to do when a girl who’s talents you practically worship wants to help you out? also the fact that she’s most likely been watching you pathetically struggle which also makes you want to crawl behind the booth and become one with earth? “yeah it’s … my hand …” she mentions timidly, said hand flopping back and forth, “um … it’s not working properly. not … connecting to my brain, you know.” and it ends with a nervous laugh as she motions for the other to go ahead – motioning for the girl to take her shop, to lend her expertise; who on earth would say no if they were in sian’s spot right now?

the girl’s explanation is feeble, and daeun tries her best not to laugh, she really does, but she’s never been good at that type of thing, always opting to speak her mind or do as she pleases rather than censoring or inhibiting herself, so a laugh escapes, though she somehow manages to scale it down from a loud guffaw to a more subdued chuckle. “i really hate when that happens,” she says, both poking fun at the excuse and joking around, hoping it’ll loosen the other up, seeing as she seemed to tense up---at least, in a different way than she had been over the carnival game---once daeun had shown up. she’s pretty sure it might have something to do with her online presence, but she doesn’t want to make assumptions (even though she’s already totally made that assumption).

she steps forward when she’s given permission to try, glancing at the person working the booth to see if they have an qualms about it. apparently, she doesn’t care, because her expression is as neutral as they come, teetering that line between disinterest and the desire for their shift to end, presumably. in any case, she takes it as free reign to do as she pleases (not that she would have done any different if the attendant’s expression had been disapproving), and stands in position, confidence emanating from every pore in her body.

ㅡ * ✰ . fairway games ,

    bin knew carnival games and the likes were most likely created and ran in such a way to make you think you had a chance or that you were about to win - only for it to fail at the last second and you end up losing. then because you were so close, you feel more likely to try again and then the cycle repeats. that’s how they get you and even though bin was aware of this, he let it simply because he was competitive and did not like to lose.

    then you add someone like daeun into the mix and he’s even more inclined to not give up. it doesn’t help that the other is just as competitive as he is–if not more–because it only serves to make him even more fired up and increase the growing tension between them as they’re in the middle of their current competition. it seemed to do him well though because a quick glance at daeun’s horse-player-thing alerts him that he’s still in the lead. even if it’s just by a slim margin, it’s enough and helps him secure a win in the end, much to the younger’s (very obvious) displeasure.

    bin can’t help but throw his arms up in celebration once he hears the ringing sound go off that signals his win, a loud whoop following after. the difference between his and daeun’s reaction makes him laugh just as loud, a cocky grin on his lips as he crosses his arms over his chest and looks at the other. “don’t you play games professionally? shouldn’t you have better reaction times?” everything he says is just him ribbing the younger because he knows how competitive she gets and it’s not often he wins over her, especially in games. he got a bit lucky this time but he’s not so sure about what’ll happen next so he’s going to take advantage of this win and gloat as much as he can.

    he uncrosses his arms and follows the girl’s line of sight when she settles on something. a quirk of an eyebrow shows his interest and since he’s still in the mood for more games, he gives an easy shrug and nods. “okay but just so you know, i have really good aim,” he warns with another smirk as he gestures to the game they just played, “as you know from how i won this. you sure you want to play the ring toss?”

the deepening from that results from his goading is unmistakable, souring her expression to the point that if looks could kill, he’d be done, dead, and buried. if there’s anything she hates more than losing, it’s the winner gloating about it, using her position on a professional esports team as ammunition. she’d worked so hard to get there, playing countless hours of frustration and intense concentration, all while putting her play style out there for the world to see. even though she’s earned her spot on the team, there are those that doubt the validity of it, claiming she’s just a diversity pick, or that she still lacks the skill to be there.

so yes, it does sting a little when bin gloats like that, years of online comments coming back to haunt her in that brief moment, but if there’s one thing she’s learned from live streaming, it’s the ability to hide her true emotions behind a facade---at least, that’s her belief. it’s still hard to hide the downward turn of her lips, though.

“yeah, yeah, you get lucky once and suddenly my skill is being doubted?” she says, more of a statement than a question, lithe fingers running through her hair. there’s more bite to her words than she’d intended, and she feels a bit bad about it since she knows bin doesn’t mean anything truly malicious behind his words. she wouldn’t be friends with him if there were. but there’s no point in apologizing for it now, not when there are still games to be played and games to be won, and words that she needs bin to eat immediately.

ㅡ * ✰ . under my skin ,

{ tw; drugs/substances }

as much as he rats on his older sister, he ultimately admits that it was better for the universe that he was born as a younger sibling. it’s not because he respects the elder ‘good child’ of the kwon household; god no, nothing could be further from the truth. it’s actually because he realizes that he’d make an even worse older sibling. people seem to widely agree that he doesn’t always make the best choices. in fact, it seems to them that sometimes taeho goes out of his way to make the ‘wrong’ ones… and has a knack for embroiling anyone who’s bold and/or foolish enough to hang around his sphere of influence.

all this is to say that he’s something like the anti role model. very few transferable, redeemable qualities to be learned by a bright-eyed, eager-to-succeed freshman at prestigious seongnam. he recognizes this too and has enough self-awareness to not really mingle with many first year students. they deserve a fair shot at ‘achieving their greatest hopes and dreams’ and fitting into the system before they have a run in with the disruptive force he is. 

but not all freshmen are such run-of-the-mill snowflakes needing tedious nourishment and care. some of them have some fire in them, a kick, a twist, a rebellious streak – all of which he considers attractive and necessary qualities in anyone he voluntarily chooses to spend time with. some, like go daeun, happen to check all of the above. and so when she suddenly pops up at his side, the grin on his lips is genuine. admittedly, he’s growing quite fond of her.

“hey,” he greets her simply with a smile, but his eyes are busy scanning their surroundings for a more favorable rendezvous point. got it. swiftly wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he tucks them around the corner into a corridor between two storage containers. the space, albeit rather narrow, was most importantly out-of-sight. “i’m down for any games you want to play, no need to ask,” he replies with a mischievous grin. “but first-” he produces a dab pen from the inner pocket of his jacket and presents it to her. “again, no pressure whatsoever,” he prefaces, actually serious for once, and he gives her a sincere look as testament. “but if you’re gonna take a hit or two, i’ll warn you it might feel a little stronger than usual. this sunset will look even nicer though.”

tw ! drugs/substances

and just like that, she’s immediately caught in his inescapable currents, not pulled by its influence, rather, allowing herself to go along with it, letting it take her where they well please. she’s been down a road like this before, back in high school when bad decisions always seemed like the only decision, and her parents were always disappointed that their star student’s perfect scores didn’t translate into making the right real world choices. a part of her thinks that if they knew that she was getting herself into the same situations at the oh-so-prestigious seongnam university, they’d pull her right out and send her overseas. she supposes it’s a good thing, then, that her academics are the only thing they seem to care about now.

as soon as they enter the small space hidden away from prying eyes, her heart begins to beat a little bit faster knowing that she’s about to reach the point of no return---but is it really, when all this time saying no has never even crossed her mind? she watches with both curiosity and a concealed apprehension as he pulls the device from his pocket, subconsciously licking at her lips out of habit. no pressure, he says, when all she feels is the pressure of trying to live in his world, but that isn’t through any fault of his own, so she appreciates the gesture anyway, the sincerity in his voice and expression.

“yeah, no pressure,” she repeats, more to herself than anything else, as she reaches out to take slim object from him, fingers wrapping around it as if it’s a foreign, unknown animal before gripping onto it tightly, as if it would disappear from sight if she were to let go of it. still, she hesitates, looking from the pen in her hand and back up at him, a small smile gracing her lips at his comment. “an even prettier sunset? you sure know the way to a girl’s heart, huh?”