#obsxver

Jongin knew that his baking skills were sub-par. But with the help of Valkenhayn it wouldn’t be too terrible, at the least no one would get sick from eating it. He required both Nago and Gii’s help to decorate the place with the most obnoxious birthday decorations he could find. Of course the three of them weren’t the most ideal at doing anything productive especially since only recently had Jongin gotten over his fear of Nago. The icing on the cake was done nicely by Valkenhayn but when Jongin tried to write “happy birthday” it ended squished together and somewhat messy. For him none of the party preparations were the hard part - it was figuring out what to get Rachel that she’d like. Normally he wouldn’t worry too much because it was the thought that counts but this was Rachel he was talking about. If he got her something dumb he could already foresee the judgmental look that she would burn him with. It’s Jongin after all - she should expect either something really dumb or something super cheesy. He never had been a good gift giver but putting thought into it helped some. Not to mention he’s asked everyone gift ideas: he ended up wrapping somewhat lopsided the present which he leaves to Gii to put somewhere Rachel cannot find. He’s not even sure where she is but thankful it spares him some time to hastily set up everything. Jongin, embarrassingly, had found a costume to wear since she was born on Halloween and it seemed appropriate to go with a costume party theme. After all he was her knight (more she was his) so nothing seemed more apparent to him. “Okay, everything is ready.” He says with a sigh wondering if he’s forgetting anything. Cake, decorations, presents, people - he mentally checked off everything. Now they just needed a Rachel.

He often finds himself sleeping in odd places and at odd times. Naturally it was apart of who he was. Lately, he had been better about not randomly drifting off in the middle of the work day or during conversations but when he gets home a bit early he finds himself plummeting on the couch cuddling up to his pillows before dozing off into a dreamless sleep. Most days he doesn’t lock the door often having a few guests which he refused to give keys to because they were bothersome or they didn’t need keys. (Jongin has quite the many supernaturals around him of late.) When his bleary eyes open at the sound of her voice it startles him, jumping up only to get his feet tangled with the blanket drapped at the end of the sofa and smacking right into the floor before he is coherent enough to understand what is happening. “RACHEL!” He says with a frown rubbing his eyes. “That was such a Nago thing to do. Was this payback for the dancing thing?” But he doesn’t have it in him to be mad at her.

For a while now she had been walking around, kind of trying to find the right way to head home, the streets always looked so different once the lights were out. Besides, there weren’t many people around to ask for directions. So when she finally stumbled upon another female, there was no hesitance. ‘Excuse me, can I ask you something?’ she asked, hoping to not have scared the female by jumping out of the darkness so suddenly.

It’s only now that she realizes what every protagonist of a book is talking about when they say that you need to appreciate you’ve got while you still have it. Once you lose it, it might be gone for good and you will never be able to express your gratitude for that; it’s a thought that shocks the young woman, leaves its mark on her face with an expression that isn’t hard to read as she glances up at the other. ❝Have you changed too?❞

‘Miss, do you happen to have a bandaid with you?’ Of course it was very much like her clumsy self to trip over pretty much nothing, she had fortunately managed to catch her fall with her hands and therefor hadn’t hurt herself really badly but in the process her palms had kind of scraped along the concrete causing her skin to have gotten damaged and soon enough a few minor trails or blood were running down her wrist. It didn’t hurt too badly, she was mostly just trying to prevent the blood from dirtying her white clothes.

“Miss Lee, would you please accompany her” a subtle nod appeared. Not a smile of course. ‘Hongbin, you’ve improved’

< obsxver >