sgntaeho:
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!”
except they totally would.














