#atxasteria

@atxasteria​

Haneul was lost. He had somehow managed to lose his group, during the tour, no less, and was aimlessly walking around, trying to see if he could miraculously stumble upon them again. There was a small directions board, and he figured he would try and make sense of where he was. The group had said they were going to visit a training room, but the letters on the board were less than helpful. He hadn't really had an education before, and his reading and writing skills were on par with that of a first grader. Actually first graders were probably more familiar with reading and writing than he was.

It took him a while, but the words on the board slowly started to make sense. "Caf...te...ria?" He mumbled the parts of the word before it clicked in his head what the word said. Cafeteria! Haneul's face broke into a small smile of success. Now to find the training room. Training should start with T-R, right? He was scanning the board for words that started with those letters, when he heard a condescending voice from just behind him.

"Are you actually lost in here? What were doing? Got lost in the big boy's section of the gift shop?" The insult didn't make much sense to Haneul; the school didn't have a gift shop. But he was aware that the tone wasn't a good one, and the mocking lilt gave away that he was being taunted. He stayed quiet, turning around to face not one but two physically larger males. Instantly, his fingernails found the palm of his hand and dug in as he tried not to have a panic attack right there. It probably wouldn't help his case.

"Are you a mute on top of being dumb? How long does it take someone to find a room on a map anyways? Can't you read, dumbass? Maybe your group ditched you because you're just dragging them down." 

atxasteria

Moving around was something that he had been no stranger to. At sixteen he had managed to move from one country to a completely different country and from living with his parents to living on his own, all within a span of a few months. With these changes came the normal worries about adjusting to new surroundings, forgoing new friendships, and getting used to a new environment, but he had always managed to push through it all. So Dohyun wasn’t too worried about the prospect of this new change in his life. It was something that he was used to making; but that’s not to say it didn’t come with challenges.

The past few days had been full of excitement and much fanfare, but through it all he couldn’t remember actually eating a proper meal. Sustaining himself with sandwich quarters and coffee didn’t exactly make for a real meal, so he had decided to properly treat himself and go to the cafeteria. He’d heard good things about their selection, and looked forward to eating something hearty. As he walked he regarded the crowd of students making their way towards the cafeteria with mild interest. They looked excited, sporting the same dewy eyed look of amazement that he probably had plastered on his face a few hours ago. 

He was more than content with keeping to himself and reserving his social skills for one of the larger events held with his orientation group; but something had stopped him. It was a quick glimpse, but a familiar and welcome one. It had been a few years since he had last seen her, and odds were slightly outside of his favor considering the circumstance, but he had no choice but to act on the impulse.

@atxasteria

it takes a lot of courage and even more time bottling it all up to do this. as he lines up for food, and heads outside, and walks around looking for her -- he’s distracted. mind running too fast and too on his feet, he doesn’t even think to stop when he puts the sandwiches and the yogurt drinks in his bag. he just keeps walking and walking and walking, because it’s still too early to learn anything else.

there isn’t much time left before boarding when he finds her. it’ll take a few steps to reach her, he knows. and in all his time thinking about how many steps that will take exactly, he almost talks himself out of it.