“How did you get into photography?”

“Is it more like a hobby or a job or-?”

“You said you can handle yourself, what skills do you have?”

♞ - Caring for each other while ill

Raising a fist to knock lightly at Naeun’s door, Amber waited patiently with a fresh bag of groceries in her hand and a bright smile at the ready. She didn’t have to come over, but she wanted to. They had just been on the phone together only a few minutes or so ago, and Naeun’s own voice had sounded scratchy and strained. It was a voice that sounded congested and was a clear sign that she had caught a cold. Naeun had told her she was fine, that she just needed to sleep it off, and she’d be as good as new the next day.

That didn’t do much to stop Amber when she was determined.

The door swung open, and Amber’s own smile faltered a little at the sight Naeun was in. Her hair was a bit of a mess, and she was paler than usual, a blanket wrapped around her frame. 

“So, are you going to let me in?” Amber laughed, stepping into the humble abode.

Stepping into the home, she saw the coffee table littered with used tissues and various tissue boxes along with the TV still turned on. Watching Naeun settle back onto the couch, Amber sighed, taking another blanket and draping it over the older girl’s shivering form. She laid a hand over the other’s forehead, hissing and pretending to draw back her hand. 

“Damn, you’re burning up!” Exactly as she used to say back when they were kids.

Amber laughed, “God, this reminds me of when we were younger, and you were the one taking care of me. Guess it’s time to repay the favor.” 

Amber narrowly dodged a pillow being thrown her way and stuck out her tongue in response, “That’s no way to treat someone who’s going to be taking care of you!” Amber smiled and winked, “Don’t worry, my famous porridge will cheer you right up!”

@naeunph 

Amber never expected to see anyone from her life back in Korea. She thought and believed that once she had landed at Jangmi Island, all of that would be behind her. She’s never really been happy about losing her life, but it was what had to be done in order to protect them. She hadn't expected her past to follow her. In fact, she didn't think her past could follow her. She was an experiment, and everyone she knew was, well, not. On Jangmi Island, there was a certain sort of melancholy. It wasn’t very apparent or clear, but one could practically smell and feel the lingering sadness or anger that almost every experiment harbored. 

If she hadn’t been paying attention to where she was going, Amber probably might’ve missed her completely. Her thumbs were tapping away at her phone, notifying her employees that she was well on her way. She was glad she had decided to look up right at that moment.. 

Before her very eyes was Naeun, the very person whom she had been heartbroken to leave behind, the person whom was her childhood best friend and basically her sister (from another mister). She still remembered the warm spring and summer breeze and them playing among the field of flowers, the darkness of reality not yet settling in on their very beings yet. When Amber’s family had decided to move one summer, a summer when she was only a teen,  they had clung to each other the last night and cried until their tears were no more. They had promised to keep in contact, but the letters that she had meant to send and probably the letters that she had meant to receive were all swept away with time and the volunteering to join Project Hercules. 

The pain of the past lingered on her thoughts, threatened to pull her down into its depths. But she pushed it aside because it was Naeun. The sight of Naeun was a pleasant one, and she was never someone Amber would’ve tried purposely to ignore and continue walking. She brought an onslaught of memories, all happy and laced in innocence, back to her, and Amber found her own lips curving into a delicate smile.

She stopped, staring wide eyed at the girl in front of her. It had to be Naeun. Although she looked a little different, Amber still saw the familiar twinkle of kindness in her eyes (interlocked now with a hidden sadness) and a faint smile.

♠: Your muse adjusting their jewelry/neck tie/ etc.

It was really interesting to see someone snapping photography shots around the slums, really there was nothing fancy to capture in a moment of time. Then again not all pictures were meant to be beautiful, maybe this woman was trying to get a realistic point of view across, let people know the reality of what they had to live in day in and day out. It sort of reminded him of people who took war pictures or disaster pictures to educate the public on what’s going on, because more people would probably respond better to visual images, reading was just too hard. 

LOCATION: CAFÉ LISIO, MINDUELLE DISTRICT.

Thin fingers scratch across mahogany as Somi traces her finger along the surface of the table. The wood crackles icily under her touch, perhaps it was a testament to hardships that have marked their presence upon her over the course of many years. In a way, she can relate to the object — how unscathed beauty diminishes the closer one looks. Her past is her present, and her present is ubiquitous to her own desires.

She exhales outwards, a soft gust of wind dancing delicately with the dust that travels from her surroundings and onto the literary classic that she had brought along with her. Mein Kampf. For an individual such as her, the work had always possessed a strange tranquility that enthralled her within its marvel. In her eyes, there was much to be learned from historical leaders of the past — if not by applying their ideas to affect the current situation, then to educate oneself so that they may lecture the masses. It is still strange to her; but Somi is given no time to contemplate it thoroughly. Hazel eyes would shift left, glancing at the inbound individual who now approached her with haste. 

The world was filled with loss. She had lost her mother so long ago that she didn’t remember her fact, just the faint scent of lilacs. She had lost her respect for her father in high school and hadn’t bothered keeping in contact with him after that. He could be dead now for all she knew, Sooyoung definitely treated it as if he were. They didn’t bother her as much as she knew it probably should, which did trouble her. At least, it had in the beginning. Years of being under men as they rutted into her, of killing those who had slighted her, of being on this godforsaken island, she had ceased to care much about how she should feel compared to how she did feel. 

@naeunph

The days seemed to be getting longer, dragging on and on to the point where Sunggyu would rather sleep more often than not. He’s considered closing the bookshop down for the weekend, just to spend some time in comforting isolating; just so he could wrap himself in his blanket and sip some tea while enjoying a few of the books in his shop. Instead though, Sunggyu finds himself spending another afternoon shelving the books people return and making sure everything is perfectly organized. He couldn’t handle having it out of place really, anytime he saw the books that were shoved in odd places; he would feel his stress levels escalated. 

To calm his irritation; he thought back to his younger years - which was a tad ironic as thinking of his life before the experiments usually caused more bad than good, but this time around he thought of a particular group he enjoyed listening to; and thought of a song he happened to enjoy. 

Without thinking, his lips fell part and the song started off as a whisper - “ I didn’t know back then, that’s why I was careless And that’s why it was more beautiful....”

His lashes fluttered shut as he let his voice grow louder; the lyrics hit hard in his heart. 

“ Giving and receiving scars is part of being human And I don’t think I was really scared of that If you just wipe it, that’s it that’s what tears are If you don’t go there, that’s it, that’s what memories are ...”

Leaning back against one of the shelves behind him, Sunggyu’s head tilt back and he tried desprately not to cry; “ If you just endure, that’s it, that’s what pain is

If you just take it, that’s it, that’s what sadness is

Sometimes, I still think I can be like that

But once again…Fear takes a hold of me and my heart grows heavy And a sigh comes out of my mouth again

Time made me into an adult But I don’t think it made me strong Time made me into an adult But it made me that much more of a fool...”

The voice shocked him, the female tone shook him from his state and he found himself suddenly twisting and facing the stranger - eyes wide and cheeks slightly tinted pink in embarrassment.