ghost of a smile.

"lukewarm kissing...? there's a hierarchy to kissing now?" touma snorts, glossing over his lack of experience, even though seol oh-so-graciously points it out regardless. "have i ever confirmed anything with you? you're just making assumptions that i'm a prude! you don't know that for sure," touma responds with a roll of his eyes — big mistake, considering how dizzy he's already feeling from the alcohol he's taking into his body. whatever notions seol has decided to believe doesn't matter to touma in the first place, because seol is just using these facts to tease him.

often times, seol's prying can be embarrassing — but the buzz in his head diminishes any sort of concrete thought. it's pleasant, actually. "you're such a liar," touma rebutts, tapping the centre of seol's chest with a laugh. "i never had any space in here, so why would it be empty now?" touma's presence in seol's life had been like a torn on his side, dragging him to places he probably doesn't care to go to. back then touma would say it's for the greater good, seol's skills would be a waste if no one were to see and appreciate them — nowadays, it's touma who became difficult to find, like fading into a ghost story that teachers can tell as a cautionary tale.

"if it truly had been a secret admirer, then he must be disappointed right about now." he takes a breath, before letting go. "there's nothing left to admire." touma admits, catching a glance in seol's direction from the corner of his eyes, wondering how the other boy would react. "i always wondered what type of person would just come in and stare, say nothing, leave no trace, except for a gift basket with no sender card." touma chuckles, reliving the memory, the nurse's excitement from encountering such a handsome fellow. who could it be? touma has no solid evidence to prove one way or another, just a gut feeling that he's keeping close to himself. "i wonder if he'd still stalk me afterwards. a part of me wants him to."

only once seol pries the bottle away from him does touma fully face his friend, eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion. it's a little disorienting, but it's made worse when a cold and hard sensation is placed against his lips — it's the bottle, with seol's face by the other side. seol's next set of words echoes throughout the dark night in messy fragments, all thanks to the alcohol numbing his barely functioning brain. you're really pretty, fall in love, want to kiss you. lies — touma hears himself say, unsure whether the words properly came out of him or not.

and then, seol's lips reaches the opposite end — a gentle, soft touch that touma can't feel, the bottle acting as a transparent barrier between the two of them. foolish, stupid touma — he chastises himself, his flushed cheeks turning even redder once the reality of the situation had caught up to him. "ah, what?" it slips out of him, falling back to his native language out of surprise. processing, confirming. it takes a while, but even in that pause, touma makes no move to pull away.

maybe he really is an idiot.

i missed you dearly, touma. he blinks, lets out another breath. "that's not fair," touma finally replies, laughing, his throat tight. "i don't want to believe in a lie, seol. so don't make me."

eventually, touma takes the bottle instead of pulling away, setting it back down. "we shouldn't waste a good bottle. should i bring this with me as a keepsake?" he questions, lighthearted, setting the mood. "the first time kim seol kissed me." his eyes flash towards seol, quick, unfocused. "it was lackluster, wasn't it?"

he doesn't need an answer.

does the words that oozes out of seol’s mouth drips like honey or poison? no one knows. seol does not care, nor does he care about the consequences of his words. they’re merely meaningless sweet nothings he would say to anyone. there is no love or fondness laced in those words; an existence like him cannot love anyone.

seol only exists in the shadows, otherwise he’ll get burned by the light. he would only watch that blazing fire from afar, just like when he was just passing by a crowd, wondering why they were making such a ruckus—only to see a performance danced with fervent passion. so full of life, like he was having the time of his life, like it was his everything. seol had never forgotten that the glimmer in those eyes, and for a brief moment…

he was enchanted.

but even then…

even the sun can die.

those days of being dragged to places, of touma’s burn on his supposedly empty soul—since when? since when had asakura touma had a place in his heart? no matter how much he tried to tear him out, the more he tried to destroy his memory of him… he’s still there, like a curse. it’s as if seol is possessed, and this unnamed emotion is suffocating him, strangling his neck to breathlessness.

“if i’m a liar, what do you believe then? maybe i’ll become that figure who keeps visiting you and leaving you gifts. would you be happy if it turned out to be me this entire time?” don’t answer me, say no. reject me. push me away. be disgusted with me. “hm~ disappointed? i’ll say that secret admirer of yours… oh, if it was me, i think i would had been really sad that you disappeared without a trace. i would had been more worried than disappointed. i would had wished you told me about it.” i don’t care, i only care that you left your stupid responsibilities to me.

seol almost wants to laugh at how dumb touma looks right now, cheeks flushed from the bottle kiss. he’s getting there, isn’t he? one step closer to his heart? if he pushed even more… then would touma still accept him? would he break their friendship? to what extent, would touma let him? “the bottle was in the way, wasn’t it?” a murmur. the distance between their faces wasn’t that far, who told this dumbass to not pull away? “i’m sort of offended you think that was a kiss.”

something overcame him, with how distracted touma is. it makes it easy for seol to lean in, tilt his head and push his lips against the other boy’s. nothing else. plain and simple, but it’s a proper kiss, isn’t it? a prude like touma would explode, perhaps.

“so? was it lackluster?” he throws the question back at him, smiling.

phone screen lights up with a glaring reminder: ophichius meeting in five minutes. he briefly considers slamming his head against the table he's sitting at, but ultimately decides against it. no need to draw any attention to himself before he walks on down to meet with this 'secret society.' — eugh. that made him cringe.

there is no pep in his step as he trudges on over to the elevator, things haphazardly shoved in his backpack, headphones slung around his neck. he's literally walking as slow as humanly possible— anything to put this off for just a little while longer. the doors slide closed in front of him, and he moves to pull his headphones back up, ready to block out everything until the very last second.

but then the doors are opening again, just one floor down, and he's glancing up to sneak at a glance at who's joining him in his descent to hell the basement. seol. a pleasant surprise. a small smile blooms on his face, reaching out to dap him up. "running late today, hmm?" he lilts, as if he's not in the exact same boat. yohan's lateness is definitely on purpose though— he can't say the same for seol with confidence. he gets along with seol well enough, but he can't help but feel like he doesn't really know him.

"i so do not want to go to this stupid ass meeting right now." it's sighed out— borderline exasperated— as he leans up against the wall of the elevator. at least he's honest? "i'd actually rather do literally anything else. and i'm hungry. you think joon would be pissed if i gave a delivery driver instructions on how to get to our secret meeting room?"

he has one of those off white uniqlo moon bags slung over his shoulder, filled with his essentials while carrying an ipad and a herbal inhaler with his hand. when the elevator doors opens before him and he sees kang yohan with a smile on his face, he almost sighs, but his lips curls up instead into a small smile too, taking his steps in. “they could just wait for us, we’re all buddies aren’t we?” it’s hard to tell if he’s being sarcastic or not, from the way he speaks so gently and politely.

kang yohan, another one who doesn’t contributes much to ophiuchus in general. temperamental with a sharp tongue, but someone who cares more than he lets on. seol’s just making assumptions, he’s never quite seen past the surface before—but he knows, artistic people who loves music and arts like him carries a genuine soul with them.

seol thinks for a moment, tilting his head slightly to the side with a mischievous grin on his face. “is it destiny? i’m hungry too. should we grab a bite?” he’s going to be missing the meeting, but he could just look pathetic in front of sungha and get his notes. that guy takes notes on everything, what a freak.

harumi braves the few drops of rain that blow in her direction as she steps out through the sliding doors of the hall, hands rising to form a makeshift cover for the top of her head. should she go further? risk getting soaked and possibly sick? waiting it out was also an option, but who knows how long the sudden rain would last. she could message a friend! ...if her phone wasn't on the verge of dying.

she's seen taking a step forward, then back, then forward again, and once more back. almost a dance, minus the background music. with a final breath, she's about to give up and just make a run for it, when a soothing voice halts her motion. her whole body turns to face him, her hands still held up above her head, as she looks up into the other's eyes. there's a sincerity behind his gaze, the kindness of this stranger causing a wide, thankful smile to appear. within a matter of seconds, harumi had been saved from enduring a sprint in the rain.

it’s comedic how the girl was battling herself mentally whether or not she should run in the rain, judging by the worried expressions on her face and how she stepped back and forth over and over again. he almost laughs.

instead, seol nods as he opens the umbrella and hovers it over their heads. it’s your typical transparent umbrella you can get at the convenience store. “it’s better than getting sick in the heavy rain, right? it’s big enough for the two of us.. as long as the winds are nice to us,” he glances at the downpour before them. so far, it’s not windy yet? he wouldn’t like to get soaked in the rain either.

it is already too too late into the night. agatha doesn't even know what time it is, if she is being honest. she left her phone in her dorm earlier when she tucked in yerim for bed and she hadn't thought about it during her whole interaction with jinyoung.

she's grabbed another can of beer at this point and is trying to finish it as she looks onto the black expanse of the water before her. she managed to find her way to the lake and sit by the docks. it was only yesterday that she's neck deep into the same lake she now surveys but after such a long day today, she just wants to sleep it off. but there are too many things going on in her mind. from her morning with joon, her time at the lake with eunwoo (she smiles to herself as this memory passes), her talk with yerim, jinyoung being drunk.

it was all too much that her brain is actually hurting. so she takes another big gulp of her beer. she never liked the taste of beer, generally preferring it with paired with soju, but she doesn't want to get more drunk now that she's sobered up a little.

then she hears it, a rustle and she turns her head slowly. a part of her thinks to be ready if it is some kind of wildlife, but the inebriated part of her remained seated, craning her neck to determine if the shadow before her would bring her harm. it wasn't until the moonlight shifted and that she sees who the figure was.

agatha turns back around after assesing the situation. her usual facade already down, from the alcohol and because this person knows her through their ophiuchus meetings.

he’s usually wide awake at these hours, but due to the tight schedule he’s forced to follow he ends up yawning and rubbing his eyes. for once, seol has some sort of a proper sleep schedule—that’ll change when he gets back after this MT though.

still, he’s too used to being awake at ungodly hours. seol grabs a bottle of his usual soju as he heads out, already popping it open and taking sips as he walks around aimlessly. unexpectedly, he spots a familiar girl.

ah. annoying. it’s that girl from ophiuchus and the student body. he almost rolls his eyes when agatha turns around, instead giving her a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. they’ve never had a reason to talk to each other like this outside of ophiuchus meetings, but maybe it’ll be slightly interesting to get to the snake more.

Looks like three months have flown by already.

We know it sounds repetitive at this point, but when we first opened we never imagined the community would grow into what it is today. Thank you for your continued support, creativity, and dedication to making this space thrive. We’re so grateful to everyone who has been with us since the very beginning, and to all the new faces who have joined along the way.

For the three month anniversary, we’re introducing the Scrapbook Meme. Think of it as a keepsake for your muse: fragments, doodles, and little memories gathered from their time at Yeonhwa so far. By reblogging this post, you’re opening the door for others to send you emojis from the prompt list, and you can answer however you’d like: through writing, headcanons, edits, moodboards, whichever way you’d like. It’s open-ended and meant to be as creative as you want!

This meme will run from September 20th to October 4th, which will give you about 3 weeks to reblog. If you choose to participate, please ensure that you send a question to everyone who has reblogged the post as well, whether this be on your character’s account or on anon. Once again, thank you so much for the amazing three months and we hope you have fun with this meme!

"if you wanted a kiss that bad, you should've volunteered for that weird kissing booth. or would that be too easy for you?" his words come with no malice, but he does pucker his lips as if he's going along with seol's weightless whims. "unfortunately for you, such tactics won't work on me! can't you flirt better? or is that too much effort on your part too?" asakura touma of some-months-ago would have shoved seol away, tell him to get serious, but his long-gone mannerisms have become relics of the past. there isn't anything to work hard towards anymore.

his gaze linger at the soju bottle calmly perched between the two of them, the only wall that stands in-between. "you don't even have a cup? are you going to force me into an indirect kiss?" touma questions, eyebrows dramatically furrowed as he tilts his head. regardless though, he picks up the bottle and brings it to his lips, taking a few sips before seol could even answer him—his sense of self-control effectively halted by the white noise in his head; muted, but persistent nonetheless.

"this feels like the first time you've stared at me so intensely. it feels like you're going to burn holes into my skin." he comments, swirling the bottle in his head, listening for the audible swish of its contents like he's measuring hoow much more toxin he can take into his body. "i never thought you'd realize i've been gone! you're surprising me more and more today. to what do i owe this utmost pleasure?"

bullshit upon bullshit—that's basically one way to describe how this conversation is unraveling. "you can look at my face all you want, seol. you might even fool me into thinking i look pretty tonight if you keep it up," touma laughs, hushed and lulled. "just kidding!" he adds on, setting the bottle back down after another sip, the color of his cheeks slowly turning a darkened crimson.

"you're curious about my wellbeing?" he smiles, delivering no precise answer to seol's pressing question. "look at me, i'm alive! isn't that what matters the most?" his reply provides no satisfaction, but he does lean his head to seol's shoulder, humming as if he is procrastinating coughing up an answer. "i've had a visitor, you know." touma reveals, with no other context explained. "he would leave me with a gift. no sender card. no nothing. i wonder who it is, and i wonder why i'm telling you. maybe i'm starting to get drunk."

a laugh comes shortly afterwards when he listens to the boy’s response. it’s what he’s expected. except that this time, touma has given him an opportunity to flirt back. strange. “that’s lukewarm kissing, even i have my standards. i guess french kissing would be too much…~ especially for someone as prudish like you.” seol relaxes his shoulders, tilting his head as he glances at the soju bottle that touma eventually picks up. before he could say anything, touma is already drinking it straight from the bottle.

so stupid, he thinks to himself. what a stupid look. none of these thoughts are translated to his face. “look, we had an indirect kiss~” he leans in closer with the usual sleazy smile he always has on his face. “if only that was a direct one, huh?” a jest, or maybe not. who knows? kissing touma would be both hilarious and unsatisfying. “mmh, missed you so much that i have to burn the memory of this into my brain. it’s like there’s an empty space in my heart now~” he knows that this entire conversation is nothing but absurd nonsense, that touma is taking none of this seriously. he was a little more passionate back then, and now that light has dimmed.

he remembers that pale, sleeping face in a room of white. ghostly, even. a body laying there with a human melancholy he could not understand. when touma leans into his shoulder, his heartbeat remains unchanged—until the mention of that peculiar visitor he brings up. heartbeats cannot lie, can they? but it’s not like the other boy would detect the slightest change in heartbeats. seol swallows it away, he’ll need to shift this topic away.

“huuh? that’s odd… a secret admirer of yours then? it’s not impossible.” he pretends to ponder. “or maybe he’s a stalker… you should be more careful, then.” seol catches the glance. yet again, looking absolutely stupid with the reddened cheeks. he smiles an insincere smile back. “getting drunk already? that was quick. you kinda suck, touma-san.”

so pathetic, it’s irritating him. amazing, isn’t it? how touma could pull out such an emotion for him. he wants him to burst into flames, leaving not even ash behind.

very gently, seol pries the soju bottle away from the latter. he pushes the cold neck of the bottle against touma’s lips, “i think you’re really pretty though.” you aren’t. “i might fall in love, for real.” i won’t. “it makes me want to kiss you right now—“ he dips his head down, pressing his own lips against the opposite side of the glass, closing the distance. his eyes doesn’t smile as they pierce into touma’s, there’s no glimmer of light in them, only a dark shadow looming over.