#hrdabin

winter starters

the icy ground had not been an obstacle to minjung since she was a child, fumbling on unsteady feet. she had gotten so accustomed to cold conditions that she hardly gave the ice on the ground a second thought when heading out. even her mother had given up on telling her to be careful when she ventured out in the snow. “there’s no need to worry about me. the ice and i are basically one now.” she joked with a soft smile as she rewrapped her blue wool scarf around her neck in preparation for her trek home. when she was finished, the girl looked back to see he was still at unease.

1:55 pm. her eyes went from the clock on the far wall to the door. she became aware of each tick of the second hand, the sound becoming louder in her ears than the soft volume of the record player. each week at nearly the exact same time since she had opened, he came in to the bookstore. a smartly dressed, tall boy, who usually came alone, though she could remember a few times where he had brought a companion or two with him. and like clockwork, as soon as he entered, he would make his way to her for conversation and ask for a new book recommendation.

it was a pleasant welcome when she had first opened. minjung was glad to quickly find someone in her new community that shared the same love for reading that she had and it was good for business to have a regular customer. at some point in time, the conversations they shared became longer and branched out from simple book talk. most people would consider this making friends and building a rapport. to her, this was considered a nuisance, an obstacle to be dodged. she didn't drop her entire life and move to a new city to form all new connections. minjung moved so that she wouldn't have to deal with anymore long term relationships.

she looked at the clock again. 1:57 pm. he would be entering any second now. in addition to the list of recommendations she had for him in mind, mj also prepared a list of excuses to quickly end his attempts at conversation. she even thought about enlisting the assistance of one of her employees in some of these plans, but to include them would mean an explanation as to why she wouldn't want to have a conversation with one of her most loyal customers.

Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak.

@hrdabin

The alarm beeps as Leon just stares at the figures it shows on the display. He had agreed to go shopping with someone he had met and now he is deeply regretting his sudden burst of extrovertism. This means that he has to get up, get dressed and look marginally presentable rather than just enjoy his lie in for the weekend. It also meant he has to delay the start of his stream which his followers will not be happy with but it’s the price he pays to go outside and actually do something.

He grabs his phone from the bedside table, taps the small bird icon and starts to typing ‘Stream will start late today. Being sociable for once. Not sure what time but I’ll keep you all updated.’ He sighs as he drops his arms and stares at the ceiling, trying to build up the motivation to go outside. Slowly he rises from the bed and throws the bedding off of himself. He walks around the dorm and grabs items of clothing that he has lying around, he flicks through the notifications on his phone, most dms from random followers on twitter and a few friendship requests on various mobile games (a guilty pleasure of his). A pause.

‘What was the guy's name again?...um...it begins with a D?’ He slips on the clothes finishing off with an orange hoody and face mask. A quick look in the mirror before he heads out ready to face the outside world. As he walks out of the dorm room, out of the building and towards the shopping district he continues his trail of thought ‘D...a...Daa?’ he felt like it was on the tip of his tongue and he couldn’t remember, it would be slightly embarrassing if he couldn’t figure it out before the other arrived.

After several minutes Leon arrives at the meeting place. deep in thought, as he tries to remember the name. 

WINTER SENTENCE STARTERS

prompt. → accepting.

“oh, gosh. i was the baby, so, i’m sure you can take a guess ,” he laughs, covering part of his face out of embarrassment. 

looking back on his previous behavior, there are a few things he would like to forget ever happened but, considering dabin’s youth and how he grew up with a severe lack of childhood experience, he goes into more detail. 

“my grandparents didn’t live in the city, so, every time we had a break from school, my brother and i would go to their - well, my dad said it wasn’t a farm but if you have chickens running around, i think that’s a farm. anyway, we would go to their farm and i would chase the chickens. i remember, one time, i was trying to catch some chicks and the mom chased me all the way back into the house.” he’s laughing again, shaking his head at the memory.

he remembers how he clung to his older brother and forced him to walk, side-by-side, out of the house in order to protect him if the mother hen tried to kill him again. nevermind how his brother left him in the dust the second they both caught sight of her, laughing at blaqk the whole time as he panicked. 

“what specifically did you want to know? school? friends? i’m ready to let loose.”

deep starters

those three words brought a sense of discomfort to her as old memories coming back to center stage in her mind. “i can’t explain it. i don’t even know why i decided to do it myself. i just-” minjung pauses as she tries to find the words. she should have known better than to leave the contacts app open on her phone when she stepped away. there were bound to be questions from someone when they saw that there were only 6 names listed.