#threads00.dat

A soft scoff was all that made it out of him for the time being. He had heard others say something of a similar nature time and time again. Yet it hadn’t been brought up between himself and Jennie in quite some time. Vaguely, he recalled being high and discussing emotions, but he was fairly certain they were about his own. Nonetheless, he was surprisingly comfortable with her bringing her own personal experience into the conversation. Jaewon’s focus was now split between his work securing the information on her computer and the notion that something may have triggered her voicing what he saw as being a reasonable defense mechanism. “Why?” It was the one question that most often left his lips, genuine curiosity constantly bubbling within him. There was always a need to understand those around him, even if they seemed too boring to bother listening to. Jennie, she hadn’t struck him as simple. To him, there felt to be some underlying insecurities, or a need to be the best at what she did. Then again, he could say the same about most idols. When you’ve worked as hard as they have and are still under an increasing amount of pressure, it sounded normal. Expected. The programmer wouldn’t dare vocalize this. Offending her wasn’t something he intended to do, and she was someone who he made sure to think twice before speaking around.Lithe fingers ran over the keyboard with a purpose, his job finally coming to a close just as the exchange grew more interesting. “I could tell you to just ignore them, to numb yourself the way I do. It’s easier.” But he knew morphine wouldn’t be a realistic -- nor healthy -- option for her. “What makes your emotions so dangerous to you personally? Don’t they give you inspiration for your work?”

( → ) There was a sudden impulse he felt nearly knock the wind out of him. Masking this abrupt sensation in the form of a sharp cough, Jaewon successfully hid the views on the topic that tried to manifest themselves onto his features. Tired eyes stared through his roommate, her presence seeming to have become nonexistent to him the longer he waited until he had organized his thoughts. He disliked people. The majority of them, anyway. And she knew that. Ian discussed many things with him, but rarely anything that they both knew would lead to him sharing an in depth viewpoint on his end. Where was he even to begin?“That’s normal.” It was a curt beginning to what was sure to be a very long and passionate rant. His right brow arched – twitched – when he returned his focus onto her. Silently, he wondered what would have triggered a comment such as this from her; someone who he often viewed as being optimistic, to say the least. “It’s how we’re bred,” he spoke the last word with distaste, habitually licking his lips to rid himself of the bitter tang it left in his mouth. “We’re constantly force fed these ideas that we’re equivalent to the sum value of what we own. What we wear, what we eat, what we drive. Everything. Without any of that, we ourselves are nothing. And no one values that.”He glanced to the side, taking note of the steady increase of the once rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. It was a sign to stop. But how could he? Not when he was finally given the chance to release what had been chained to him, dragging him down, since his last therapy session. It seemed no matter how many times he went, his irritation with society built up again the second he left those office doors. “That’s why we take our Lexapro, down it with a glass of wine, and run away from the fact that even with all these things, we’re still nothing. We give our all into acquiring things we don’t need, instead of putting our time towards things of true value..”

⌜ sms ⌟  Because, like most people, I’ll feel guilty if I don’t make sure you’re okay after what happened.

( → ) Waiting until she had gotten her own portion of the chocolate candy, he reached into the bowl to grab his own handful, lazily tossing them at his open mouth. Missing a few times, his gaze shifted over to his roommate and snorted silently. He didn’t mean to sound condescending, but he knew that was how his next words would come out. “People at work.” It was a simple enough answer. Who didn’t hold back sarcastic comments during work hours? “Everyone in AllSafe is fine,” he continued, looking back down at the small pile of M&Ms in his hand, resuming his little game of catch with himself, tossing the pieces into the air. “Our clients are idiots. They come in and look at everything we do, nodding their heads like they understand the code on our screens.” Catching an M&M, he smiled to himself, chewing before finishing his explanation of the complaint. “But you can tell most of them haven’t seen a terminal before.”

( → ) After being irritated by her for the past ten minutes, he found it odd she wanted to continue to stick around. Unless she actually followed through with her little promise. Even then, he wondered how long it would be until she began asking personal questions again. “I...guess so.” He didn’t have the heart to say ‘no’ after she mentioned having no roommate. Though he had one now -- and often wanted his alone time -- it was easy to recall feeling lonely without one. “Just don’t let my dog get too excited, or she’ll piss on your feet.” It was a joke. Kind of. An amusing warning, maybe? Jaewon nodded in the direction of the elevators, showing he truly was alright with having her visit for a while.

( → ) He wasn’t clumsy. Just too preoccupied with his own thoughts. Despite seeing the male coming, it didn’t register to Jaewon, as he had been lost in his own world filled with more pressing matters. Tired eyes fell to the books the other was picking up, then stopped on his face, making eye contact. Right off the bat, Shou had answered the first question that would have left the hacker’s lips. Great. He had tripped someone who lived in the same building. What a way to introduce yourself. Sucking in his cheeks, he released them slowly before speaking. “Jaewon.” He knew it was customary to extend a hand, offering a warm but firm handshake to those you just met. But he hated needless physical contact. “What floor do you live on?”

( → ) Jaewon chuckled quietly, wishing his own pet were as well behaved. The small, black Cairn Terrier he ‘owned’ had finally stood still; not because she had been told to, but in order to satiate her curiosity for the other dog before her. “Flipper pisses on everything except for trees apparently.” He glanced back and forth between his pet and the female before him. “She ruined my sheets earlier in the week before I could get home to take her for a walk. How’d you train yours so well?”