ATHENA

but the thought is cut short because seulgi speaks and he listens. each fact, he takes and pieces together a string of knowledge about her. he weaves each trinket into something bright, vibrant, something that fits her as much as it does her justice. she speaks so colorfully that it’s fitting, it makes his job easy, needle and thread coming together with simple, unrestricted tugs and pulls. once he’s done, plush lips part so he can ask that maybe one day, not night, she can show him her skills, but then she’s speaking again and the words molder under his tongue.

a multitude of things rush to his mind; he can say so much, so little; he can hide, he can reveal; he can even lie, but it’s all too much. he’s never had anyone ask him so cleanly, he’s never had someone slip the dam off so easily so he lets the flood come to his mouth. there they bicker between themselves until one fact slips out, leaks out of the cracks into his mouth, past his lips, and into the night.

seulgi's brow cocks when he suddenly mentions his love affair with bulgogi. although she never really had an opinion on it, her interest was piqued more so by the type of answer he volleyed back to such an open-ended question. food was, by default, always a simple answer; basic. however, following it up with some kind of analysis of why he is the way he is... seulgi's the one to now hang onto his words. jung daehyun is a flip switch. but he wasn't purely a pair of oppositional contradictions either. he is cohesive and flowing, but the matter that strings him together conjures up enough rises and dips to always keep one guessing of his pattern. or at least this was the case with seulgi, at the very least. and she's aware she reads into things more than what was probably healthy, but when life got dull, the occasional interesting person never failed to birth a wellspring of muse.

"right, but it can go both ways though," she replies, "practicality is subjective too. i see what you're saying -- you get what you know done first and that's how you prioritise, and that's cool." she hesitates before continuing, hindered by the repeated occurrence of people viewing her as self-righteous or ignorant for blurting her opinions. and although it was important to stay true to oneself, one's network was the key to advance life's hierarchy. being buddy-buddy was always the way to go, even at the sacrifice of free speech. but if her conversation with jung daehyun so far is telling of anything, he is different from everyone else. he instils a bit of faith in her -- so she continues, as she would without eyes on her.

I’m not sure if there’s any debut album I’m anticipating more this year than English producer SOHN's newly announced LP, Tremors.  I’ve loved everything he’s done so far (“Bloodflows” even made my Top 50 songs list last year) and his new single “Artifice” continues the trend of stunning, soulful electronica that SOHN has all but perfected.

he turns his head, sends off another smile, muted and subtle. laced among the curved line where his lips met, the flurry of dips on their rosy surface, the thickened and plush tiers that curled and stretch, there lay everything he couldn’t say, things he can’t verbalize. it’s his attempt at being warm and enigmatic for her, for this moment, for the chance meeting under a hanging moon and a litter of hidden stars.

"let’s walk." he repeats, less of a question, more of a statement. and he’s surprised at er height; a mind so grand and potent, powerful when he’s weak, should demand a larger body. but she doesn’t rise past normalcy. she’s not a giant, she’s a normal girl with earthly features and he isn’t quite sure why he’s surprised. daehyun looks to both sides, squints, deems the right more appetizing and he places a step forward.

"kang seulgi," she replies -- almost too fast when he asks. "thought i already told you my name before," she smiles into the dark, honestly not sure if they went over this before, and it elicits a small laugh from her behalf. "i could be wrong... feels like i did." seulgi shrugs, shivering a little as her body attempts to slack and defrost. "i study. music and dance at a university in ansan. mm... i busk from time to time, make youtube videos... i'm developing my craft, as they say -- a fitting excuse and the most passive means to say i'm not officially employed, heh." all the while walking, seulgi marvels at the puffs of smoke billowing back at her face as her voice pushes through the frosty air. "one day i will be paid to develop my craft; you're further along that path than i am, jung daehyun."

to say he’s addicted is a bit brash, a bit daring, a bit honest. it’s a selfish desire that he allows himself only because it’s human: the wish for a sturdy, reliable source of buoyancy. something that’ll cease the endless battle against the current of problems, the ocean of life, the rash waves and the way they drag him down, try to pin him underwater and drown him. with her, though, he’s sure he would float. even now, fingers curling over the edge of the bench, he feels as if he could fly off if he lets go. he feels empty without his heavy thoughts, light with her hopeful words that lift him. this state of flight is precarious so he decides to anchor himself down with her.

whereas he has hardly even caught a glimpse, and seulgi's already bare of her pretence. she never put it on tonight. jung daehyun has a character that was hard to complement -- he consisted of qualities that both clashed and filled each other, and the remaining breaks were easy to solidify with a pinch of hard reality. seulgi's come to the conclusion that he'd prefer to always handle his problems by himself, but she doesn't blame him. after all, she does the same exact thing.

"you're cool, jung daehyun." and though he might not be able to see it, she is flattered -- delighted with the permission to speak as she herself would, amongst everything else. the lack of inhibition and true openness was the best facet of a friendship.