#hyanggi.

it was just an apple pie and she didn't even make it herself, she only brought it from the cute bakery she explored earlier. it was incredibly different strolling through paris on her own now than it was when she was a high school student on a trip with her friends. the sights, the smells, the people, the noises... everything felt more livid even more charming than before. the first time she was here, she lost most of her money in handbags she was never gonna use and drank for the first time on the balcony of the hotel while scream-crying to kpop songs because she was homesick most of the time. now following her own kpop boy across the world for a few days felt like walking in a dream that her subconscious mind would never articulate on her own. honestly, she wasn't sure she was even there at all, and differently from what she would have expected, she was feeling like a once-in-a-lifetime well-deserved vacation for both of them even though hyunki was actually working. at least now with her in the hotel room, he wouldn't have the alone time to write another song.

she laid the apple pie on the table alongside the other delicacies she brought to try on nicely, tried out the new dress she also couldn't resist but to take with her and the stupid stuffed animal pillow she instantly thought of hyunki when she laid her eyes on — now he would think twice before boarding on an airplane without one and getting neck pains. hyanggi was feeling incredibly well after a shower, watching television on her own and killing time constantly looking at the hours passing by on her phone. she knew better than to wait, of course, but she still would if it meant seeing the cheerful smile on her boyfriend's face coming back to her after a long day. and so she did about a minute or so ago when he entered the hotel room, she was lucky his members gladly gave away a few days of privacy for them to enjoy on their own. they weren't even hesitant about hyanggi traveling a day after them, in fact, billie and hizhi were the first to meet her in the lobby while politely sending her the coordinates to the floor and rooms in which they were staying at. it was her first time doing something as recklessly as this, but it was what she bargained for and she had to admit it was also really exciting.

instead of replying to him at first glance she did what she wanted instead — hyanggi leaped both feet on the bed and held both her arms to hug hyunki by the shoulders, making her slightly taller than him in the cutest of ways. he smelled like he was fresh off the shower, his hair was dry but it was windy outside and he seemed fragile under her embrace which made her melt even more into it. there was not a single doubt on her mind, that was the place she wanted to be and nowhere else in the world could compare. they stayed for a little way like that until she started moving their bodies side to side in a rhythm way but not for too long or she would fear him sleeping just like that. she motioned to stop, loosened her arms, and stared at his eyes for a moment before finally speaking. "hi." her voice sounded more softly than she intended, her cheeks were blushing now because it didn't matter that they dated for god knows how long, standing so close to hyunki still had that effect on her. "you're awfully handsome right now." it wasn't far from the truth, she was just suspecting he was doing something out of the ordinary today because he knew she was going to be there waiting for him. "did you shower before coming? that's was dumb, you have a shower here, we could have shared." and she whispered the last part, partially giggling, before coming off the bed with a thud on the ground and motioning to the table where she laid the goodies.

they were still looking so pretty from her point of view, she ought to remember the name of the bakery for later and if they were any good bring some home with her. "they look so beautiful, i will kill myself if they taste bad because they were exceptionally expansive." she pouted, taking a little bit of frosting off the pie and bringing it to her lips. it wasn't at all bad, hyanggi wasn't expertise in culinary so she could say it suited her tastes just fine. she waited for her boyfriend to sit on the loveseat next to the table with her, just so she could throw her legs on top of his while taking off a proper piece of pie for them to share. "now- i know most of it must have sucked without me but... how was really your day like?" it was only fair to hear about his day, in fact, she was entertained by most of which hyunki had to say always, but these days right here in pairs with him were special because it was mostly about how they could make it despite their different lives and the whole world outside that room.

i don't usually start fights, i finish them. i know, i really love ligh switch! but there is too many, he is so talented and he makes me so proud to be his fan. right in the back of my mind, there is popstar, dice, honeypie, ride, stay, casanova... his songs are literally timeless. waking up easy is his new one and let's just say i've also been waking up easy with his voice in my head.

                  it couldn’t be as bad as it seemed, at least not from the perspective that hyanggi was wanting too. no after everything she left behind, not after she had to abruptly attend sympathetic to the sudden visit of hyunki to her oasis and yet chaotic hometown which didn’t help because she was still in her most comfortable and favorite pajamas. after the short tour in her bedroom — it didn’t lead to much, she saw the corner of the warms of hyunki and the grin he tried to hide while noticing her exquisite decoration. it was the first time ever she had a guy over her own space that wasn’t that nice adult apartment of hers, excuse the hello kitty on the blanket, the pinks, yellows, and blues coming out of her closet. at least the dreamcatcher by the balcony was a nice touch, she wasn’t gonna talk about that though, she was just hoping the conversation would be over. hyanggi wouldn’t leave the fact that jeju island was kind enough to bless every other relationship in her family, determined to fight the odds of the signs brought by the universe and billie himself, she would be okay to just have a weekend without the drama and treat hyunki as a friend. there was nothing wrong in playing fair, but that wasn’t playing fair at all. damn it, island. why does she have to have such a pretty view from her balcony? why did hyunki exist in the first place? why was he so smooth? she crossed her arms inquisitive, avoiding him the eye because it was a terrible thing to believe he was being like that when she explicitly told him not to. ‘ it’s not only bad, it’s cruel. it’s very asshole of you actually. ’ maybe her attitude wasn’t helping at all either, but hyanggi was never not honest to any situation. they broke up for a reason, an important reason which she could barely remember now that he was so close and so godman pretty. yes, pretty. he was very pretty. ‘ i hate kpop boys so much!’ she suddenly yelled over her breath, ignoring the fact that there were other people in the house with them. in fact, it was all her family fault for being so nonchalant with her life, how she wished her father would simply just march the door down and throw hyunki off the balcony. ‘ you guys always act like everything revolves around you! and your wishes, desires! and... and just because you have fame, and money and everything work like magic. it’s just annoying, fucking annoying. ’ there was probably nothing more ironic than curse words coming from five feet and one-inch person wearing pajamas, who wasn’t even that mad, who probably could never get really angry about anything other than online discussions. she didn’t mean that maybe she was trying to convince herself of that, repeating it may it become the truth in her heart. being surrounded by famous people all the time had its perks but it was also a headache, the only one she could focus right now was that she was so attracted to them for a reason and that was completely infuriating. after fuming her head off and only getting a giggle as an answer, she truly considered throwing hyunki off the balcony again but then worst than that she couldn’t help but wonder if he was truly serious about that kiss and everything that would come with it. ‘ i want you to go. leave jeju. this island is not for you, rockstar. ’ almost whispering after a long breath, calming herself to face him which proved her weakness to be true. it was very hard to resist someone so pretty, smooth-looking, and at the same time so casual to the circumstances. altogether, her stance broke completely, making hyanggi have to say what she really wanted to say, losing the sight of everything that was keeping her guard up minutes ago. ‘ you will get too burnt by the sun, you might die. for real. ’ using a hand to cup his stupid face, on the tip of the toes she didn’t quiver the smile that came within and the throw of arms around his giant shoulders to pull him in for a gentle kiss that swayed her off her feet for the ages. finally outpaced by the island itself, no one was a great competitor after all the decades of its success in bringing people back together.

             if someone would have told hyanggi years ago that working was as fun as she was having right now, then she would have dropped school in london and came back to south korea as soon as possible. actually, she liked studying but working was much more fun, especially with what she really loved and with people that were as talented and hardworking. it was the opportunity of a lifetime which she worked really hard for, so she wouldn’t trade it for anything. besides having things to call her mom for over the week to tell how everything was great and how wonderful things were going as an almost adult now, hyanggi would admit she was growing up although it felt good to have that responsibility. but because she lived abroad for many years before, being in seoul was a piece of cake, she could handle herself in any situation, at least she believes so. and with the right soundtrack and a creative idea she could get anywhere she wanted to. of course, the paycheck helped too. being able to live off something other than her parent’s money was great, although they still insisted on paying for the expenses of the nice room she had in the city for herself. sometimes though, like now, over lunch she would miss having her friends around the cafeteria in london where they would eat talk about their hobbies which mostly were kpop groups or just diss professors about their boring lectures. but the office had a big nice kitchen, so she would just sit there eating her cheerios she brought at the convenience store earlier and just scroll through her phone about any news around the world, or just cute stuff on pinterest, stupid videos on youtube… stuff like that. she barely even noticed when someone else entered the kitchen, as it was lunchtime it could be any other employee just going through the fridge and stealing someone else’s lunch, she honestly didn’t care. but her laugh when she saw that stupid cat video from twitter was loud enough, making the other person notice her and she subconsciously notice him too. being the second time she saw hyunki out in person around his parent’s house was not as weird as the first one, but it sure wasn’t as great either. he was nothing like his own twin, which was weird and upsetting. it was hard even believing he was an idol, because he was around so much and was always so casual. hyanggi just brush her head off him, picking up a cheerio and eating, focusing solely on her phone. but it was only when he closed the fridge kinda frustrated looking that she decided to say something. ‘ if you’re looking for something to steal you are too late, everyone already took their stuff.’ she said, strolling casually through her phone as it has something interesting there. ‘ have some cheerio, i am feeling generous.’ hyanggi wasn’t the type to be shy or not make friends easily, actually most of her friendships were chosen by her because she couldn’t stand being alone and loved getting to know people, that apparently wouldn’t change even around a cute boy like hyunki. so what if he was an idol? so what if he kinda makes her shake on her foots a little bit? it was just out of shook, it was totally okay to be nice. ‘ c’mon, it’s not like your head is hurting for eating a snack. unless i poisoned it, you wouldn’t know.’ she made a funny face, but regretted as soon as she faced him, choosing not to stare for so much because her courage wouldn’t last for so long. ‘ i didn’t. poisoned it, i mean.’

              a lot of things were filling up hyanggi’s mind, starting by how the fuck would she size that drawing into a 10px image without it losing it’s great quality if the illustrator just wasn’t opening at all. she was still getting her degree, she had no idea about systems or stuff like that. shutting down the computer and turning on again just wasn’t working, that was honestly all she knew about fixing stuff and she wasn’t really ready to ask for help… although she was liked around the office, she still wasn’t really sure how to ask anyone how to fix a problem that she wasn’t even if sure it was really her that caused it. besides, there were not many people around, she could just switch computers without anyone noticing since she was still an intern she didn’t have her own so whenever someone asked for help with a project, she would have to use someone else’s. if anyone saw the problem then she would just pretend she knew nothing about it. hyanggi switched in the wheelchair with a class to the other computer, not really noticing someone approaching it at the same time which made the chair hit his feet and her hand collapse in his face in order to find the balance not to fall. she didn’t fell, however, when she looked up to apologize to the other she kinda wished she did. ‘ gee, i am sorry. you literally came up out of nowhere, did you fell from the sky or something? be careful. ’ she said, fixing her posture back in the chair, unfortunately, her attitude didn’t stop her face from blushing especially because hyunki was still very close to her despite still having been hit on the face. ‘ did i hurt you? ’ politely she looked up again kind of worried, trying to take a better look at his face to see if there were any bruises. even though she was small, hyanggi had a reputation for being very strong but her intention was never to hurt him in any form. when she noticed nothing really severe had happened, she took her attention back to the computer in front of her, it was just a weird and annoying coincidence. ‘ were you looking for league of legends to play? sorry, it’s not tournament time but you can come back tomorrow around eleven am right before lunch because that’s when everyone takes a break to play. but our teams are only golden leagues up, so… ’

             rainy wednesday afternoons with her boyfriend? who would have thought? most certainly, hyanggi did. not exactly, she was more the one to fantasize about spending time with a certain significant other but not to hold much hope into it because she would defend the ideal of the independent woman to death. whatever ideals, it was chill inside her small apartment, that the best adjective to classify it as simple and colorful was cozy. whenever hyunki was free of things to do, she’d insist they would hang out on her place and by that she meant to make out on the couch, on the bed or whatever superficies were available, even in the floor — not recommended now because it was freezing outside, and she wouldn’t want hyunki to catch a cold. he was so sensitive to these things that she’d feared he could die by whatever virus around, despite his detachment to his own health. gladly, at least today, he was very well-dressed and warm there, existing, playing on his phone kind of unaware of her fond eyes observing him. she chooses a pink and furry blanket from her closet, bringing it to the bed where he was sitting patiently with difficulty because it was way bigger than her figure. after placing in on the bed, covering half of her boyfriend’s legs, she exhaustedly jumped back in with him, pushing the blanket to where she cuddled him. to make herself even more comfortable, she mandatorily took his hand and put it behind her back just to finally smile victoriously. ‘ that’s better. ’ despite being so warm she could take the best nap of her life, hyanggi wanted to be awake to savor every minute out of hyunki’s free time. ‘ pick something for us to watch. ’ she commanded once more, with her eyes on the screen of his phone and her arms hugging him tenderly. but before she could suggest anything, her feet jumped in electricity after touching his unintentionally and feeling them completely freezing. ‘ why are your feet so cold? jesus! ’ hyanggi complained, laughing a while later by how he reacted so innocent. ‘ i would warm it, but it’s your own fault if you didn’t bring socks and i don’t want to discover you have a weird foot fetish. ’

               ‘ you totally forgot the graphics, no can do. it’s impossible to no more about the benefits without exact numbers, dude. you better work harder on your presentation for the next meeting.’ hyanggi argued like a total pro inside the business area with a soft tone and her eyes still focused on her computer screen, she sure knew he wasn’t exactly talking to her but she couldn’t lose the joke either. ‘ did you try suing him? he would go down in a minute, i’m sure. you have way more status than he does anyway, it’s got something to do with the fame.’ she articulated her head to look at him very briefly, just to come back to her senses of how cute he was, especially when he was paying attention into what she was saying like he was so chill about it. ‘ it doesn’t work with me though, you gotta have credentials for a schedule. i won’t settle down for less, dirty jobs take longer and i know because i have my share’s of being the annoying little sister. you should come around any day now with proper demands so i can teach you how to train a bird to attack literally anyone to your commands.’