#dearparadigm

two hours.

bleary eyed and still yawning, agatha trudges her feet through the morning dew towards the lake. she's only slept two hours before her alarm rings, forgetting for a moment that she's set it up right before she crashed in bed. she didn't even have the mind to check if seoyun and stella were in their bunk or if she woke up yerim by her alarm. she takes one of the thicker jackets and makes her way out.

the skies were slowly getting lighter as the minutes pass by. she's sitting cross-legged on one of the docks by the lake, her hands pressed in her jacket pocket as she watches the slow ripple of the water and waits for the sun to take a peek from the horizon. she didn't even realize that someone might be awake a this time nor expect anyone to join her and watch the sunrise.

to her surprise, she hears the footsteps of someone getting on the dock, causing it to move slightly. she turns around and beams upon knowing who it is joining her. but her eyes are immediately caught by the very bright and very blonde hair of kang sungmin.

"oh my god, who are you?" she says in disbelief, fully turning to face him. she is rendered speechless as she watches him get nearer, noting the way the blonde brightens his complexion, his features softer. "come closer, i wanna see you. sit beside me."

›  help ›  the food truck owner got into a fight with someone ›  and now my sausages r about to burn ›  Should i flip them

it’s not often that polaris members are featured on her blog. as the shining stars of the university, seolran imagines that most members try their best to stay out of drama. she doesn't buy their prim, proper, and (almost) perfect veneer, however. humans are complicated, multifaceted, and full of secrets and seolran knows for a fact that the image someone presents isn’t always an accurate depiction of their true self. if anything, she is a contender for the best example to prove this statement.

smiley and bubbly in your face, but is secretly judgmental and almost always trying to figure out your secrets.

it's this hidden part of her that got her stuck in this situation— studying with a classmate (she prefers studying by herself) and asking for help over a subject she's not even struggling with (she has a 96% in the class), all in an attempt to figure out if sungmin has secrets that are salacious enough to feature on aulaits. she had no particular reason for choosing him as her newest research subject other than the fact that they shared a class and that he was in polaris.

it's almost an hour into their study session, and seolran is growing tired of only hearing their pens scribbling across their notebooks. she's also tired of the long-winded ruse she planned to get closer to her classmate. seolran lets out a silent sigh before closing her notebook and gently tossing her pen onto the table. "i'm tired," she says after a moment of silence. "bored as well."

agatha needs a reprieve, she knows that. but her mind works faster than her body could comprehend.

someone needs water? agatha's got it, bringing a case over.

someone needs more posters printed? agatha's got it, she assigns the task to one of the student body government representative.

someone burns their hand while working at the food trucks? agatha's got it, she's helping that person move to the medic area.

the rush of people surrounding her would've been overwhelming if not for the happy smiles and laughter that she sees. yeonhwa university's summer festival is famous for its great stages, events, and booths. agatha could already feel it being a great line on her long list of achievements.

'hosted a successful university summer festival as vice president of the student body government that garnered a great number of attendees during the three-day weekend'

“the witching hour? no... i don’t really believe in that.” sohee starts, eyes slightly furrowed as she attempts to read off the screen in front of her. the stream of messages coming in is slowing down and she’s starting to actually feel a little tired, all things indicating that her show is nearing it’s end, perhaps the reason why that one listener brought up that specific topic. “that’s like 3am to 4am no? i don’t know, i don’t think i’m scared of spirits.”

there’s a lull of silence as she reads the replies coming in, not bothering to say them out loud before addressing them. “what am i scared of?” she ponders, slowly tapping her chin in an exaggerated manner, performing even if no one can see her. “i guess i’m scared of being alone. like, not in the corny depressed way, no offense if you are, but physically being alone. i get really paranoid if there’s just silence around me. i used to always need to be on the phone with someone, now i just talk to myself out loud all the time. kind of like right now! ha!” 

silence grows as sohee starts taking note of the overwhelming darkness surrounding her. she always liked doing her show with the overhead lights off, it made the atmosphere feel more intimate, like she was in the same room as the people listening to her, but now she’s frantically turning her head at any slight hint of noise. slow and scared, she puts her palm over one of the cushioned cups covering her ear and drags it behind it, hoping to gain a better sense of her surroundings.

“i love summerween, i love the idea of it. scare the heat with chills, it’s so clever.” sohee continues but her voice is shaky, betraying the unease she’s attempting to hide. then, she hears something. a faint noise outside the studio. stiffening, she leans in toward the mic. “um, you guys wouldn’t fuck with me, would you? like, you’re too cozy in bed.. and nice... no?” her shallow breathing is captured by the mic, her fear fully in display now. “guys, i think there’s someone outside.”

frozen in place, she braces herself for something, anything, to happen. a few knocks on the locked door make her jump out of her seat, the fear that it might be over for her settling in. at least her random nightly killer is kind enough to knock beforehand. “something just knocked on the door...” she whispers against the mic, terrified they, or it, will be able to hear her. “i’m gonna go see.” silencing herself, sohee presses play on sneakernight by vanessa hudgens before walking away from the desk and grabbing the nearest remote as a make-shift self defense weapon.

~ sungmin ☻