it's our moment!

there's a tone to her voice that implies she's not done with him, and it makes the nerves in jay's stomach spark to life. ( he wonders, briefly, if she's trying to kill him. if she takes pleasure in knowing just how easily he melts under her careful direction, under her guiding words that cause him to squirm. even when she's not here to look at him. ) his clean hand comes up to cover his face, blush evident as he groans in protest. ( for show, mostly -- it doesn't matter how long they've been doing this, he's still shy. )

teeth worry his lower lip, and jay picks up his phone, angling it down at his body from a somewhat uncomfortable angle. ❛ jagi, ❜ he whines, eyes widening when he realizes just how messy he is. ❛ i -- god, it's everywhere. ❜ the pout is evident in his tone, and jay closes his eyes, snaps a picture before he can regret it. fingers are slow to open his messages, and he quickly drops the picture in, sends it off without a second thought.

❛ you, too? ❜ he asks, almost like a reminder. ❛ wanna see you -- i miss you so much, hwa. i --, ❜ his head tilts back, body still tingling at the thought of her hands on his body, ❛ -- mmm, i can't wait to see you. ❜

a soft gasp and giggle flit about on her end as she looks at the photo her sent, giddy from the high of her climax moments before and seeing how much he's spilled even when they're oceans apart. "yah... all for me and i can't even help you with it." the laugh on her lips is faint as she moves around some on the bed, humming as soon as she gets an idea of what to send him in return.

"it hasn't even been a week, wonnie." briefly, she puts her phone on speaker before pulling up her camera app. her free hand taps a rhythm on her thigh before taking short trip lower. "but... i miss you too, aegi. can't wait to sleep next to you again."

for all of the ecclectic interests jay has, astrology was not something that came naturally to him. sure, he enjoyed staring up into the sky as much as the next person -- his moon tattoo speaks for itself -- but, the meaning behind it all is lost on him. maybe he never got enough time to study as a kid, maybe the wonder of the universe was lost on him when he was too busy hiding his life away.

now, though, next to hwayoung, he's starting to understand. her hand points up into the sky, gesturing to one constellation after another, and jay is happily silent as he watches her. ( for all the time he spends blabbing on about the things he likes, it's nice to watch her do the same. ) his eyes are soft, body adjusting as his head leans into the comfort of her shoulder. his arm slings low around her waist, tugs her closer to his side with a gentle squeeze. like there's nowhere else he'd rather be.

❛ how did you learn all this stuff? ❜ he asks, tone genuine. ❛ like -- how does it all make sense? and who decides what makes the most sense? ❜ there's a curiosity hidden under his words as his teeth worry his lower lip, foot unconsciously tapping against her ankle. ❛ it's impressive. ❜

"when you're often around people that look into these things, you learn a thing or two." she doesn't protest when he pulls her close, the weight of his head on her shoulder more than familiar with how often they spends time together this closely. they're joined at the hip, figuratively and literally, as she leans a bit of her weight to his direction with a chuckle.

"i won't lie— it still takes me a while to make sense of it all, still." her fingers mindlessly fiddles with his that is on her waist, feelings the callouses and the texture of his skin. she rests the side of her head atop his, turning slightly to let her nose press against his hair. corny as it sounds, the smell of him has become a comforting one.

in fact— everything about jay is a comfort to her.

had someone told her back then that the guy who painted her and the girls during one of their exhibition performances in cali would be one of the deciding factors for her to continue with her master's and be a guest lecturer for a whole year to a university across the world from her home country— hwa would have given them a concerned look and walked away to tell her family how ridiculous it was. ( although, her parents— the love story that they are— would have found it rather sweet. )

"it's a lot of interpretation work too."

jay blinks several times, staring at the other man with a sense of wonder. ( what the hell has his life become that he's here, of all places? a million thoughts flash through his mind -- the first one being, what is going on? ) he's nervous, eyes unable to focus on anything that's not yong-rae's face. and he's sure it reads, too -- he's horrible at hiding how he feels, how things affect him in real time. as it stands, his cheeks are already darkening, gaze wide from behind his glasses.

is he joking with him? maybe getting too much into character? jay's not an actor, can't meet him halfway on whatever bit he may or may not be doing. it makes him swallow thickly, makes his eyes drop to the floor as he focuses only on his feet. on the steps he needs to take to keep up appearances.

❛ i -- uh, ❜ he starts, tumbling over his words at a break neck pace. ❛ i don't... think it's necessary to learning. to, uh, teaching you the dance. ❜ he laughs, awkward and dry and panicked as he starts dancing again. his focus, however, is rattled, and jay steps on yong-rae's toe with little grace. and when he tries to fix it, he does it again. groaning, his head hangs, shakes with disappointment. ❛ i -- i can't concentrate when you look at me like that. ❜ the words are quiet, almost meant for only himself as they fall from his lips.

he motions for him to follow as he plops onto the couch, the cushions sinking under his weight. the actor adjusts for a moment, as he always does with any furniture that toes the line of being unable to hold him up or its plushness deceives how much it can truly carry. "... i take it that character's charisma is extremely effective." he turns to look at jay with a raised brow, chuckling beneath his breath as he lightly knocks his knee against his in a tease. "this guy's going to be another fan favorite for sure."

lips press together as yong-rae watches jay, making sure that the kiss from earlier didn't go into uncomfortable territory. it's a bit of a struggle at times to know how to approach things like this, especially if directness could potentially scare him off. "was that... too far?" he's careful when he presents the question, one arm thrown across his stomach as he's sinking into the cushions while the other reaches out to lightly tap the spot on the other's hand where he pressed his lips to.

there's a silence that hangs over them when seong-su brings jay's attention to the scene across the way. ( he's a little... awkward, honestly, watching it happen. and the fact that even a total stranger can tell that he's totally into her is a bit embarrassing, he thinks. because jay tries really, really hard to keep his feelings under control -- knowing that his efforts are basically useless makes him a little sheepish. makes him shrink in on himself. )

still, he doesn't like the idea that hwayoung owes him anything. because she doesn't -- they both agreed to the rules of their game when it started. it's not fair for him to expect more from her just because his feelings have developed beyond friendship. that seems scummy. lips twisted, jay's fingers tap against the side of his pint glass. ❛ lots of the dancers are close, ❜ he explains, voice still soft when he speaks. ❛ we go out a lot -- bonding, i think, is what she called it. lots of strong personalities in that group. ❜ that makes him chuckle, at the very least, and jay shifts on the spot, looks towards the taller man with a raised brow.

❛ why are you over here? ❜ he asks, tone a little blunt. it's unlike jay to ask something like that, to call someone out on what they're doing, but the beer gives him a little bit of liquid courage. and, so, he turns, faces him a little more head on. ❛ what makes me more interesting than all of the famous people here, hmm? ❜

"why am i here? i'm part of the main event, man." he casually replies, leaning towards him as if to bump shoulders but pulls back quickly in jest ( in truth, he could feel the prickle of that damned protection talisman or charm or whatever on his person. ) "nah, i'm trying to feel out other people, you know? i'm still pretty new here myself. lots of people to meet and get to know." potential souls to feast or offer to the demon king to appease him while the sajas continue to round up more fans for the grand finale.

"c'mon now. famous people have to start somewhere, right? just like my members and i." any thoughts of keeping it low are slowly being pushed down by seong-su's growing interest to see how far he can tip either this dancer— or the hunter that's been keeping an eye on him since he first stood next to him. abby has always been as instigator, even before making a deal with gwi-ma. his time in the hwarang poking fun at nobles and turning their fancy way of speaking against them, gave him a certain thrill and this was no different. "we know a thing or two about getting... looked over. so excuse me for trying to be a little helpful with... whatever's happening with you two."

With a flick of his wrist, the curtain is pulled halfway with one of his fighting needles to dampen the light that's about to come in with the sunrise coming around the corner. "If you decide to go the helmet route... I would like to throw my suggestion of making it an American football helmet." they chuckled, the sound filling the room. A funny thought for the girl who lived in the States for a while, but with how often she's been getting injured lately— they might actually suggest something similar to her for her own safety.

"You got upstairs just like how anyone who's unconscious does, cutie." They waited a moment for her to gather her bearings before he held out his hand for her to take. In their other hand was a glass of water for her after passing out for however many hours. "—I carried you up here."

[ SMS ; YONGIE ] incentives? [ SMS ; YONGIE ] so greedy [ SMS ; YONGIE ] i guess i can be nice and give you want you want, though. since you asked so nicely [ SMS ; YONGIE ] [IMG.JPG] [ SMS ; YONGIE ] is that incentive enough for you, handsome?

[ SMS ; ANGEL ] mmm [ SMS ; ANGEL ] looking perfect as always, beautiful ;) [ SMS ; ANGEL ] a true angel blessing a guy like me [ SMS ; ANGEL ] i'll be back in an hour

...

[ SMS ; ANGEL ] maybe sooner with that motivating incentive [ SMS ; ANGEL ] [IMG.JPG]

jay watches hyun carefully, the way they take in their bevy of beverages options. and when they point out the one that smells the sweetest, jay can't help the laughter that spills from his lips. ❛ when a drink is more mixer than alcohol, it tends to get a little... messy, ❜ he explains. ❛ the day i figured out what a cosmo was, it took me a long time to wake up the following morning. ❜ with a slight wince, he reaches out, takes it for himself. ❛ i'll dive on this grenade for you, though, 'cause i'm a good friend. ❜ his teeth bite into the straw as he adds on, ❛ just don't let me have more than one, okay? ❜

"those kind of drinks are fm's favorites," they shake their head at their main vocalist's choice of drink. "i wish he and himawari were here for this... they'd have finished them all before they hit the table." leave it to the two party people of the band to also be the harder drinkers. hyun carefully extends the drink jay reaches for before setting down the rest with a faint huff. "you... you don't have to drink it unless you really want to..." their lips press into a line before taking a sip of their own drink. "... do you think we can give the rest away?"

a lazy murmur comes as her initial response, hands running through his hair as hwa feels her husband's breath warms her skin. truly, with the way they've always looked at each other even before they made their relationship official— it's a wonder they only have three children (so far) throughout their marriage. while it's a topic their families often like to tease them about, they learned their lesson about offhandedly pressing for more after their third.

jay kim did not mess around when it came to his wife, after all. there was never a shortage of love in their little family.

at the feeling of his touch between her thighs, hwa's breath hitches for a moment before a soft laugh flits around the room. "always need you, yeobo." one hand settles over his at her waist, fingers brushing patterns against his skin. over the years, she's softened more— her work as an active hunter lessened as she wants to be there for him and be with him more. to live presently with him without worrying him to death. she's poured herself over and over for cause that's changed in the years, and now she gets to do that for the love of her life for as long as she can.