𝖕𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖙 𝖒𝖊 𝖓𝖆𝖐𝖊𝖉.

tonight, chorong was a little more dressed up ( she'd just blame it on the spirit of seoul fashion week if anyone asked ) normally she did her best to blend in and not stand out enough for people to easily recognize her, even going as far as styling her hair to hide as much of her face as she could. even that was ditched tonight, her hair tied up exposing her features. no certainty about the direction the night was heading, the actress sat alone contemplating her future. did she want to remain active? was she just having doubts about the company? or did she want to explore down a new avenue? she was almost too entangled in her own thoughts to notice the new presence standing next to her.

a waiter with a shot glass.

she's no stranger to getting sent drinks but rarely was it a shot. intrigued, she picked up the glass and discreetly looked around to see if she can spot the sender. only one person was looking in her general direction, so she turned her head towards them as well. once she sees who sent it, the actress immediately recognized who it was and wanted to laugh. one, because she had no clue if she had ever actually talked to william, and two, she has to stop meeting people when alcohol is involved. she cannot possibly be leaving a good impression on those she talks to after having a few drinks. but what could she do now, especially after william's gracious invitation to a conversation?

sure, he adores the attention that his career path gives him, but there are many downsides that come along with it, too. "normal people" won't ever comprehend how isolating being a public figure can be. they'll never understand the immense levels of pressure; the endless scrutiny; the lack of honest camaraderie. he, and others like him, can only find that level of recognition in those who've also nosedived into the murky waters of fame. so, regardless of whether or not he's had a legitimate conversation with chorong before, he considers them family on some level, and as she starts to speak to him, he grins from ear-to-ear; showing her immediate respect.

"oh, honey..." he begins, shaking his head. "okay, maybe i did sense that you were in desperate need of a little sparkle in your life, but honestly?" william pauses for dramatic effect, straightening his posture. "you could have the sourest expression on your face, and somehow, you'd still come across as graceful. it's honestly very impressive."

hoping his compliment is received well, he raises his own shot glass to her in a silent cheers, then downs its contents in one swift gulp; reveling in the pleasant burn alcohol leaves behind. "yes, i'm william, but please, call me will." his grin grows a little wider as he bows his head in her direction, offering her respect as he's her junior.

"mm, i've been here for roughly half an hour? the night's still young for me; figured it'd be nice to unwind with a drink after the hustle and bustle of last week. did you have a good time? at fashion week, i mean." hopefully bringing up their latest shared event isn't seen as 'business talk.' he'd hate that. in order to prevent that from happening, he decides to be a little facetious.

so she understand why william acts the way he does towards joosung. really, she'd argue anyone with two functioning eyes and a wrinkled brain could pinpoint the source of such animosity with just a little bit of effort. she understand, knows why it happens and rather than feeling protective over joosung, she just feels... pity, for william. she hums at his words, tipping her head to the side, narrowing her gaze at him.

at her query, he pauses to think about it for a few seconds, then ultimately shrugs his shoulders; nonchalant. "do i get off on it? no..." william begins, licking over his lips. "do i choose to find the fun in it, instead of sink into the depths of despair, when people do hate me? yes!" a laugh follows suit, but it's immediately replaced with an exasperated sigh as his comrade continues going on, and on, about joosung. "also, your admission of byunghee not being his boyfriend only makes your sweet, precious joosung seem even more pathetic. like, he's that pressed because i slept with a man who is single? he's embarrassing, really. like, i almost feel bad for him. almost."

the four ask game: honesty hour

reblog this post to participate in this ask game.

participation in this ask game has two parts: 1) send out questions to the other muses who reblog this post. these questions will be answered in-character. the questions can be about anything, but can include topics such as: career, personal life, hopes & ambitions, likes & dislikes, etc. 2) answer questions received in-character as honestly as possible (as if asked by some imaginary being the muse trusts completely). answers should be considered private character development and should not be assumed to be known by any other muse! answering at least eight questions and sending out questions to the other muses who participate can be redeemed for one booking point. the tag #thefouraskgame is suggested, but not required, for ease of linking posts.

it's still early enough in the night there's no hint of a head rush and the bartender's fully accommodating. he sits by himself at the end of the bar, eyes scanning the back wall of bottles without much dedication to pretending he actually cares. he's aiming for nothing more than part-time employment of the mind to keep it from wandering too far into itself before he's even got drunkenness as an excuse.

he's successful enough that it comes as a surprise when the bartender hands him a shot of soju and tells him it's been sent over. it isn't his first drink of choice, but he's not one to ever turn down a drink. he throws it back down his throat before he even bothers to look for its sender. the bar's barren enough it doesn't take long for him to catch the smile and eye contact that answers his question.

offering a coquettish smile in response, william stands from his seat and ambles over to the one beside ash; taking his time on his journey. he doesn't want to seem too eager, and just in case his new friend is interested in him, he figures giving him a little bit of a show wouldn't hurt; his statuesque figure hugged by a sleek onyx ensemble, one designed by the illustrious yves saint laurent. he never fails to look his best, at least in his opinion, and even if the man on his radar isn't wooed by him, william can still feel confident in knowing that he's presenting himself well.

gracefully, he sits down; one of his legs crossing over the other. "i wasn't sure what your drink of choice was, so i sent over something simple," he begins, giving him a once-over; adoring how he looks up-close, "but if a shot of soju isn't your poison, i'd love a second chance to get it right." the grin on his face widens, and he turns his body to face his fellow artist; offering him his undivided attention. "i'm not sure if we've officially met before, so i'm glad we're finally getting the chance to—i'm will."

emotions cycled constantly, but nothing seemed to ease his pains. sung knew the one thing that would solve his issues, yet even after bringing up his needs, he was left out to dry.

the itch to find whatever next best thing would help had already begun. thus far, it had been drinking. however, when sung happened to see william through the glass of the practice room door -alone, he wondered if he might have happened upon a new next best thing.

that night, byunghee had pushed william out of the room fast enough that he hadn't the time to react, not to his face. only the thought of those memories had them rolling back in his mind and heating up his blood to where the door whooshed as sung opened it. "hey! don't you have the decency to not get in bed with other people's boyfriends? or at least apologize for it afterwards?"

the uncertainty has him feeling anxious, and the best way for him to release tension is to dance, so instead of staying up all night staring at the ceiling, he's decided to hole himself up in a practice room—using every square foot of it as an escape away from his problems. movement has always helped him calm down, and as his graceful limbs groove to the music, william loses himself in the beat. he's not doing choreography, he's not being rigid about it, he's just dancing, and it honestly feels so fucking good.

however, the euphoric sensation dissipates immediately when the door swings open, and none other than choi joosung crosses the threshold. william's tempted to ignore him, but instead, he has the decency to turn down the tunes and averts his attention over to him. "what?" he asks, clearly annoyed; one of his arms extending up to dab the sweat that's accumulated on his brow. "what nonsense are you talking now?"

pausing, he attempts to piece together the fragments he heard of the statement spoken to him before, and after retrospectively getting the gist of it, he rolls his eyes. "oh... right," he half-acknowledges, half-dismisses. "byunghee made his own choice, joosung. i don't fuck people who don't wanna be fucked. besides, i didn't even know he was your boyfriend at first, but whenever i learned that you two were seeing each other, it only made more sense to me why he'd come searching for me after spending so much time with you." after his statement, william has the audacity to laugh.

she enjoys these little acts of rebellion, knowing that at the same time she has something to lose, it's not everything. it makes her wonder whether that's the reason most of her idol friends look down on her constant actions - perhaps not having anything to fall back on is the main reason they are so uptight. she can't blame them. south korea and its entertainment industry is far from her favorite place in the world, but at least she can run away.

however, when rhiannon approaches, she starts with flirtatious banter, but hits him with a one-two punch. the instant she brings up the latest fire he started, he's taken aback, but not in a negative way. he just wasn't expecting her to lead with something that happened somewhat recently. apparently joosung has a big mouth. "word gets around quick, hmm?" he teases, licking his lips. "it's true, though, and honestly? i don't... really care. he can be mad at me all he wants. he doesn't scare me." to punctuate his statement, he laughs; shaking his head back and forth.

that was the case of the relationship, in sung's eyes. william had to have decided who he thought sung was at some point and stuck by it for years. yet, he didn't know who sung was, proven with every argument pointing out the crafted version of choi joosung that william slung around. he could say he knew, toss on the confusing tone, and sung wasn't interested in biting. deciphering what he meant by that was not only a can of worms in his own mind, but through william's mouth as well.

the instant that he sees joosung shrivel up, william grins; adoring the reaction he elicited out of him. sung's mood is exactly where william wants it—uncomfortable, so much so that he's writhing. it's subtle, but he can feel it, and as sinister as it is, he feels satisfied.

maybe his lack of empathy in these situations is troublesome, but in truth, it's merely his target that he lacks remorse for. at least for now while the tensions are still sky high. unlike his loved ones, choi joosung sees a dark side of william that's seldom witnessed by any other. he's far too image-conscious to act a fool in front of important people, but joosung? he drops all façades and keeps it "real" with him. at least that's what occurs in his point-of-view. so, as sung replies, he listens and rolls his eyes. it's refreshing that he at least acknowledges the unfair bias, but that doesn't make him any less guilty of benefiting from it.

"it's not that i focus on it, joosung, it's that it's constantly being shoved in my face." he hisses, his glare locked onto the man at his side. "you're not the one on the negative end of the comparisons made between us, and trust me, there is nothing more insulting to me than being compared to you." as he finishes his statement, the door to the boardroom finally opens; multiple people rushing out as they're clearly tardy to other obligations. in that moment, a woman calls to william; letting him know it's his turn to enter.

it feels like the sun is sitting just outside. the cafe's window panels let the light extend a few metres past the tables with a view. it reflects softly across the entire space, enough so that only a few softboxes are stood around their quaint set.

the table is decorated with a short cutting of baby's breath in the centre, but otherwise, is no different from any of the others around them. the lighting shifts as shadows of their crew gather outside.

he's here.

jean's smile spreads to her eyes as a muffled cheer follows the opening door, patrons eyes exchanging looks as william walks through. he deserves the idolatry. he looks hot as shit.

"will! my beautiful boy, welcome~" it's moments like this she's particularly grateful they share a language of their own. it breaks the ice faster than anything else, and allows her first casual conversation of the day.

still, she has to stop herself from correcting a hair out of place on his head. hyper aware as she was of their surroundings, she makes a gesture with her eyes before yielding to their makeup artist.

in the midst of it all, he's ushered to a segment that he'll be filming alongside a close friend of his; one that he honestly considers a twin flame, a sister. knowing that jean's the hostess will make this a breeze. it'll feel less like work, and more like their bi-weekly dinner parties, and their chemistry will light the set up like a bonfire.

rushing over to her, he grins as she showers him with praise; like music to his hears. "you know i love it when you call me beautiful," he teases, sending her a wink. "you're the belle of the ball, darling; like always." graciously returning the sentiments, he takes his seat, and allows the hair and makeup team to do whatever they need to do to ensure that he's presentability. his fate is in their hands now. though, when he catches his pal's nose scrunch, he returns it in jest; pursing his lips together after fresh gloss was applied.

frankly, william didn't deserve his politeness. sung knew that, yet he still tried. past tense. he wasn't much interested in continuing politeness for however long this horrible conversation would last.

"i only give politeness to those who are worthy of it... and that's not you," he quips, licking over his lips. "also, it's not me being crass, it's me telling the truth. you acting as if that's not what they do to you is bold, and in my opinion, it only makes you look worse. that, and you honestly? you can't act as though you're more 'innocent' than i am, joosung. you may be in denial, but i know who you are."