#44m4

the dinner was transpiring rather nicely, but siyeon still needs a moment of reprieve. it's the way she's taking extra precautions to make sure she isn't the source of any drama, the analyzation and overthinking, that causes her to feel like a balloon with too much oxygen; strained. the son's abode is unsurprisingly vast, and it takes a bit of time for her to find a place where the voices of the others don't reach, but once it's located she takes the opportunity to let out a sigh. it's new territory having to mind the feelings of others, even moreso when one among them is your ex and another is one you loathe despite the fact that everyone else fawns over her ⏤ but for the sake of earning her spot within the revered red and green club, she stays.

taking some moments for herself, the back of her head rests upon the wall behind her while allowing for time to sit still for just a few seconds, mind easing from one hundred miles down to forty five. it's only when mingze breaks her out of her reverie with his presence, passing by while oddly dabbing at eyes made of glass, that the pace starts to pick up again. call it self preservation in the way that siyeon decides to keep to herself, instead focusing attention upon the phone upon her lap as a good distraction, in hopes that she could end up regretting. that would be odd anyway, right? to just saunter up to someone and start questioning them during a potentially vulnerable moment. the information she knows wasn't really hers to mind after all, but when the situation with jisoo was concerned ...

when muyeol appears sometime later she comes to realize that she was hardly concentrating on the images on her phone, despite what her hunched position over it might seem. and of course he looks nearly unfazed, as she feels like he always seems unfazed, but that gnawing feeling inside of her only develops within as she comes to wonder if maybe the detective's son passing by in this exact moment the spotlighted sign she needs. even if she did try to drown him once or thrice before. "pssssst, stupid," she calls out in his direction in a mix of a yelling whisper tone that's comical, abandoning her place at her seat to shuffle towards him, "one, what are you doing here? didn't expect you to be this much of a sore loser that you follow me to a private party for a rematch. yikes." purposely pretentious, siyeon moves a section of her hair over her shoulder with a languid flick of her head, though her attention peers over his for sight of the topic at hand, "also, what's up with mingze? looks like he was upset," head nodding in the direction he walked in, "is he okay?"