chemical hype boy

The Han River had become one of Chloe's favorite places to disappear whenever her schedule allowed it. Coffee finished and forgotten on the bench behind her, she stood near the water's edge, absentmindedly tossing small pieces of bread to the ducks that had gathered around her feet. "Okay, okay... that's the last one," she laughed as one particularly determined duck waddled after her. Looking down, she couldn't help but smile. "You're lucky you're cute." Turning to leave, she took one step and immediately felt her sneaker sink into the soft mud along the riverbank.

"...No." She gave it a careful tug. Nothing. Another, stronger pull. The shoe finally came loose all at once, throwing her balance off. Chloe windmilled her arms for a split second, nearly toppling face-first before catching herself at the last possible moment. Getting up slowly, she froze hearing footsteps.

Slowly, she looked over her shoulder... only to find James standing a few steps away, having seemingly witnessed the entire thing.

"...I'm going to pretend you got here five seconds later and my only witnesses were the ducks," she sighed, dusting the front of her knees with both hands before the corners of her mouth lifted into a sheepish smile, waving.

"Hi, James."

"i don't know," he mused, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "those ducks looked pretty judgmental." his gaze flickered toward the muddy patch before landing back on her, amusement still lingering in his expression. despite himself, he let out a quiet laugh through his nose.

But the tension doesn’t last long. It never really does with her. Not on the surface, anyway. At his greeting, and especially at the mention of her group’s comeback, something in her posture shifts almost immediately.

“Oh... you saw it?” The question comes out faster than she means it to. “What part did you like?” she asks next. Her mind trying its best not to show her deep rooted insecurities. “Like… choreography? Or the performance? Or-” She stops herself with a small exhale, shaking her head as if she’s overthinking.

“Sorry, that’s a weird question.” A quick smile appears, but it’s a bit tighter at the edges. Ugh, she's being weird again. There’s a brief pause before she adds, a little lighter again, as if trying to smooth it over:"

"all of it?" the response came as a question. his fingers found the strap of his dance bag instead, absentmindedly readjusting it.

"the choreography was really clean." that part came easier. familiar territory from his line of work. "there were a couple formations that i thought were really satisfying to watch." a small shrug followed. "and i thought you did really well. all of you did really well." a quick correction that he watched all of the girls equally. heat crept into the tips of his ears almost instantly like she would see through his lie.

"the whole group." he reiterated. his attention dropped to the floor for a brief second before lifting again when she mentioned the camera.

"'she's very helpful,'" he repeated, doing a surprisingly accurate imitation of james' voice. "yeah, okay." the elevator dinged as it passed another floor, but maki barely acknowledged it. "you know who else was standing there?" he continued. "me. sunoo. ni-ki." his brows lifted. "but somehow the very helpful person you wanted to go with you was eunchae?" he let that sit for a second before grinning. "interesting."

despite the teasing, there wasn't any judgment in his voice. if anything, he looked entertained by the whole thing. when james cut himself off with a never mind, maki noticed immediately. he always did. years of friendship made it pretty easy to tell when james was trying not to say something.

"you're making connections that aren't there. it ain't clicking," he argued, though there wasn't nearly enough confidence behind it to make the statement believable because maki wasn't wrong, and hated it. his eyes rolled toward the ceiling the second his friend started listing off everyone else who'd been standing there. sunoo. ni-ki. maki himself. he turns his neck at an angle, stretching the muscles just to relieve the tension that suddenly formed.

james pressed his lips together, trying very hard not to react in a way that would immediately confirm everything maki was accusing him of. the silence alone probably did enough damage. "you're annoying."

he followed maki out of the elevator a second later, adjusting the strap of his bag higher on his shoulder, stopping fast on his track when maki brought up ni-ki.

"you're a dick if you do." heat crept up to his eartips, then glanced around the empty hallway they were walking down on. all clear, thank god. "don't go telling people shit that isn't even true."

james

jungwon didn’t know what about his junior seemed to always get under his skin, maybe he just hadn’t gotten any action in a while, but something about the younger man held his attention.

and the worst part was james could tell.

he saw right through jungwon and it pissed him off to no end. so when james came in, slick comments rolling off the tongue like butter, he rolled his eyes coolly and didn’t look his way. “you claim to be looking for riki, but always find me. sounds like you aren’t trying that hard to find the right person.”

his attention wandered to the choreography still paused on the studio monitor before he pushed himself to his feet, giving his shoulders a loose roll. "besides..." he glanced over for barely a second. "if i had to choose somebody to be stuck in the room with. you really think that i would choose you?"

the elevator doors slid shut, sealing them into an almost painful silence. maki stared at the numbers above the doors for all of three seconds before letting out an exaggerated sigh.

"wow," his head tipped back against the wall. "this is probably the worst elevator ride i've ever been on." he shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, glancing sideways toward james.

his shoulder bumped lightly against the elevator wall as he stared at the floor numbers overhead. anything was better than looking directly at maki right now. the worst part was that he'd known the second the words left his mouth that asking eunchae had probably been a mistake.

it had sounded normal in his head. even harmless, then she turned him down. not even harshly, which somehow makes him feel ten times worse.

james shifted his weight, trying to ignore the lingering embarrassment still sitting heavily in his chest. he hated how obvious he must've looked. hated that maki had apparently clocked it immediately. "and for the record," he started, lifting a finger, "i did not look like someone told me my dog died. maybe a goldfish."

years of friendship made it impossible not to fall into the familiar rhythm. maki had seen him through enough embarrassing situations that joking back almost came automatically, even when james wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere.

the second question hit harder. or was the problem that you wanted her to come with us? james felt his stomach twist. because yes, obviously yes. but saying that out loud felt like voluntarily stepping in front of a moving train.

"i asked her because she was standing there," he said, far too quickly. "she's very helpful." the excuse sounded weak even to him. he exhaled quietly. "i just..." his voice trailed off before he shook his head. "never mind." because explaining it would only make things worse.