MOONLIGHT / SUNRISE

she raised an index finger to her mouth in an attempt to mimic a hushing motion. however, despite her intentions, the buzz rushing through her body only made the gesture appear like a sporadic wagging. "shhh, shhhh!" her response remained the exact opposite of quiet, but minyoung bobbed her head along in agreement with the other. "quiet, quiet." the muddled murmuring remained in time with the nodding of her head.

🔥 it's just you two left at the bonfire. the silence is loud, but neither of you are getting up to leave

🍜 you're on a late-night snack run at the general store with your basket fully loaded, but you don't realize that you forgot your wallet until you've reached the register. minyoung is tired of waiting and pays for you (vice versa works too!)

🍹you both enjoy the bottomless margaritas a little too much, and now neither of you can find your way back to your respective yurts

🦢 oversized floaties in the middle of the ocean was a good idea until minyoung remembered one of her fatal flaws: she can't swim very well and she's drifted out too far. please notice her arms waving around and send help !!

🏆you vs minyoung on the inflatable obstacle course. loser has to grant the winner (1) wish during the weekend trip

there'd be 16 rooms ... no, 24 rooms. he'd also sculpt a terrace around the lower level and perhaps a courtyard with a fountain. he'd be remiss if he forgot the dormer windows and mansard roofing. all that currently lay before him for the time being was an expanse of sand, though. soon enough, it'd be a strikingly adequate sandcastle all made by yunseong's hands. it was a skill he'd gleaned growing up on the beaches of yangyang city, along with surfing. as he got to work scooping a few buckets of damp sand into measured piles in front of him, his sculpting tool began etching out the rough beginnings of the structure. he was having to displace quite a bit of dry sand to get to what he needed, and as he risked a glance behind him, he realized where he was moving it all too. he saw minyoung's beach towel barely visible beneath piles of glistening sand. "oh, uh ... my bad," is yunseong's dumbfounded response.

the cozy comfort of a movie theater always managed to lure eunwoo into a dangerous sleepiness. to his luck it had rained outside, the scent of summer rain now seeping life back into him as he filled his lungs with the familiar scent. he gave himself a good stretch, hands intertwined above his head, genuinely not used to sitting for such a long period of time. eunwoo had spent the majority of the film flicking between the subtitles and trying to understand the japanese film with his broken language skills, sometimes getting a bit lost in translation. minyoung would chuckle and shake her head when he asked for what a character just said because he tried to listen and not read - and leave him hanging in his own chosen fate, of course. 

eunwoo would really have to keep it together at work tomorrow and not clumsily answer with the truth when asked what he had been up to the night before. uttering the word movies put everyone into a state of high alert, revving up their engines to tease him. it was a known code word for spending time with minyoung again, a fact everyone took great joy in annoying him about. for the rest of the world it seemed a thing of astronomical unlikeliness to stay friends with your ex. somehow, eunwoo had rarely questioned it. it wasn’t like they were an integral part of each other’s lives, bound by memories - at this point the comfort of knowing each other and their overlapping interest kept ushering them together. 

although at times, eunwoo wondered if that was truly all.

he dissipated the thought whenever it crept up on him. their romance (if one could even call it that) had been so short-lived and casual that it would have been foolish to assume anything else. but at times he would lay awake after their movie outings, twisting and turning one of minyoung’s sentences in his head, wondering about its true meaning. more than once had he been told that he would not notice an obvious sign sent his way even if it was written on the wall. but to assume that minyoung was sending him those signs felt so pretentious, he cringed at himself whenever his imagination got ahead of him.

in the past, he was a distraction, born solely out of her own curiosity. if one were to question how the pair had come to be, minyoung wouldn’t be able to produce an answer, for she was unsure of the details herself. in her age of adolescence, it was something she simply wanted to experience. all she really knew was that she appreciated their shared interest in the cinematic arts. hearing anything besides, ‘it was just good’,  as a response when asking about a film was truly a holy grail, and more than enough of a reason to want to keep baek eunwoo in her life.

though she’d never admit it aloud, she rather enjoyed being kept company, as opposed to her solo cinema outings. even having to explain the events of the film in real time for the other had been more amusing than annoying.

at his words, minyoung could only squint her eyes in a half-hearted glare before resigning with a heavy sigh. “there’s no winning with you.” she mumbled the words under her breath as she widened her stride to catch up with the other’s pace. for a moment, she questioned the meaning behind his words, wondering if there was more concern for her than necessary. but she was quick to shake off the thought with a playful comment of her own. “if that happens, you have to promise me that even if turn into a chair, you’ll continue to keep me company no matter where i travel to.”

ARIN for SINGLES KOREA, Feb. 2023

maybe jinam shouldn't have been making assumptions, but he felt he was well within his rights to do so considering the situation. he'd been cooling off inside the hotel on his lunch break and had now strolled back into the garden, energy renewed to power through the rest of his shift. he'd happened upon a disturbing sight in his return, however; the distinct outline of footprints in his beautiful, lush grass. maybe some would consider it a bit overbearing, but jinam had placed signs all around the garden informing visitors that the ample garden stepping stones were the preferred path, as opposed to the lawn he spent the entire spring nurturing and perfecting.

still, some people seemed to ignore the signs entirely — one of them being the owner of the footprints, or at least the person jinam assumed owned them. as he leaned down to attempt to fluff up the grass where she had stepped, his head tipped towards the flowerbed. "what's wrong with that minyoung, huh ? disrespecting you guys like this, as if you're not just as alive as she is," he expels a sigh, grumbling toward the direction of the white asiatic lilies as if they were keenly listening.

his head pops back, as though arguments were being made in the woman's favor. "what do you mean 'be understanding' ?? i'm defending you guys, here. besides, i'm pretty sure i never asked you, morning glories. you're not even supposed to be awake in the afternoon," he retorts, as if he'd just made some amazing comeback against a worthy opponent. it was a bit of a habit for him to vent to the vegetation he raised, as it was far easier to him than trying to converse with people. he winced inwardly, the thought of someone catching him in the act of something so embarrassing making his skin crawl.

and just as the woman is about to make a beeline for sephora to see what new lip glosses are in, there's a familiar frame that catches her eye as she travels to a different location in the mall. there's a part of her that's certain that she knows them, a childhood friend that she reconnected with over social media who would tease about showing up to vesper lounge when she least expects it. but instead of clarifying the situation, arisa thinks it would be more interesting to turn the tables instead ⏤ she finds herself shuffling behind the person before encasing her arms around them roughly in a back hug, laughing at the prospective jolt they most likely felt, "you thought that you could sneak up on me like that, huh? i told you th⏤"

but how it plays out is that arisa is the one who ends up appalled at her own nature, as when she turns to look at their face, the person gazing back is unrecognizable, someone completely unknown to her. goosebumps graze her body as springs backwards with a gasp, hands in the air before they make way to cover tint of rose that blooms across her face, bowing profusely in the midst of her flustered moment. "oh⏤ oh my god i'm so so sorry! i didn't⏤ i thought that you were my friend because you guys look alike and we were joking around that they'd see me one day and i thought that day had come but you're not them and all and you're cute but i've never seen you in my life before and i didn't mean to assault you like that dear god please i'm so so so so sorry⏤"

it wasn't above her to simply leave her post once the handful of late-night movie goers had straggled into their respective theaters. even as she strutted past the concessions bar, feeling the burning glare of her fellow employee, minyoung did not falter in her step. "i'm going on a bathroom break, obvi." while her announcement could hardly pass as a shout, her voice echoed through the empty lobby for anyone nearby to hear. these breaks had become a nightly routine of hers to wander around the mall in order to pass the time. it was also a good way of getting some chores out of the way since she wasn't going to stay back after shift to do them on her free time. no way!!

eileen steals a handful of popcorn from her fresh bag when she hears her name being called. she turns to the source with a curious expression. it takes a second for her to recognize the other but when she does it's unmistakable: lee minyoung was blinking back at her. of all the people from her past she could've run into, of course she runs into her.

"me? i'm here for spiderverse," her second viewing of it actually, "what are you doing here?" eileen gives minyoung a glance over before regaining some of the composure she's lost from the surprise and it's as if they're back in high school again. "ah, don't tell me. you're here to sign autographs and greet fans or something." she takes a moment to remember where exactly they were standing. "i didn't know sunset galleria did red carpet events."