summer 10 - open library prompts & closed hyunseok prompt.

[unwieldy]

a. LIBRARY - BEFORE LATER

[ When Haein isn't holed up in his room, he's usually posted in some corner of the library with his nose in a book. He'd first visited the library with the intent to keep his mind sharp now that he was missing his usual college classes, but it hadn't taken long to discover that there was a troubling scarcity of non-fiction books.

It means picking up fiction books and hoping for the best, but honestly he's just been disappointed over and over again. A few premises catch his attention, and then he gets a chapter or three in and it's like he can't care to continue reading.

A particularly upsetting book (upsetting in that it's boring him to death) gets the unfortunate and rude treatment of Haein chucking it over his shoulder with an annoyed sigh. Good luck to whatever poor soul may be in the trajectory of that airborne book because it's coming in hot and fast.

Hey, at least it's a paperback book. ]

b. LIBRARY - LATER

[ Everyone knows that one romantic scene in media where two people reach for something at the same time and then it's like boom, here's where it all starts, right?

Well, this is kind of like that, with two people reaching for the same book, fingers brushing up against each other.

And then this is usually the part where eyes meet and hearts flutter, some charming person on the other end with promises of cheesy romance somewhere down the line. Only, this is nothing like that. It's just Haein glaring. To be fair, he'd probably look nice if he didn't look like he was two seconds away from committing murder for this book. ]

c. COMMUNITY CENTRE - LATER LATER

[ Having spent enough time at the library, Haein is now leaving the community center. Maybe run into him on the way out. Maybe actually run into him on the way out, physically colliding and all, because he's not paying attention to where he's going. ]

d. CLOSED TO HYUNSEOK

[ It's been more than a week since Haein had spoken to Hyunseok, which had not been plenty of time to cool off and let his anger dissipate. Oh no, Haein's temper is never ending, but on a kind of bright side, he's not as mad as he was before.

So wherever Hyunseok is, whatever he's doing, he might feel a pair of eyes on him. Look, this isn't easy for Haein... but he kind of feels strange that they're here on this island together and not on speaking terms (because of Haein but who's keeping track?). So he's mustering up both the courage and the will to say something first.

Right now, though, he's just watching Hyunseok with his usual scowl (which is probably permanent at this point) from a safe distance, waiting for an opening. ]

Comments

[dumbstruck]

[ Hyunseok, the Seoul boy born and raised, has been to Busan only a handful of times in his life. ]

Uhm... I've been to Haeundae before I think.

[ Not exactly even close to the same thing. ]

I don't remember it well, because I was really little though.

[ The chances that Haein will actually respond to that boring comment about his childhood isn't great, so he'll try another question. ]

Is Dadaepo nice?

[ If Haein thought being at the beach was going to stop Hyunseok from trying to talk to him he was sadly mistaken. He does come to a full stop in order to pull his shoes off, before stepping onto the sand. ]

[unwieldy]

[ Fill up these silences, Hyunseok. Fill them up with boring comments that Haein definitely won't respond to.

But damn it, don't fill them up with questions. ]

No. [ That's not true. Dadaepo is really nice, but Haein didn't associate his trips to Busan with nice memories. His mother would ask him to pray at his father's temple, and Haein would run away to the beach to be by himself. ] Too many tourists.

[ He hesitates for a moment before following Hyunseok's example, slipping out of his shoes to make walking on the sand easier. ]

[dumbstruck]

[ He's barely waiting for Haein at this point, turning to walk backwards as he strolls onto the middle section of the beach and leaving his shoes behind. The sand feels good on his feet, and he's kind of wondering why he doesn't come down to the beach more often. ]

Huh, yeah. You're not really the kind of guy to like big crowds, right?

[ This vacation is probably ideal then when it's small gathering of people. Pretty manageable compared to the city they came from. ]

[unwieldy]

[ Haein follows after him, watching Hyunseok as he walks backwards for a moment before diverting his gaze elsewhere. ]

I hate crowds. They're too much.

[ So yeah, this is the better option. It feels somewhat surreal to be walking on a beach, just the two of them, and talking like this. Haein's been a loner for so much of his life that opportunities like this rarely come by.

The sand does feel nice, though. So does the sun, the ocean breeze, and the company's not half bad. Haein thinks he can almost forget the secrets being held between the two of them in order to relax for a short while.

The water's edge is quickly coming up from behind Hyunseok, and Haein pauses where he's at so as not to get closer. ]

[dumbstruck]

[ What's this? Haein actually enjoying himself just a little bit? Does that actually happen?

Even in the short period of time as real friends, Haein seemed to mostly begrudgingly spend time with Hyunseok. By and large it was Hyunseok's shallowness that had him dealing with Haein's surly looks and brooding silence, because boy if Haein didn't look good while doing it.

Now it's... complicated. Friend seems like a weird word to apply to Haein, but Hyunseok would much rather be on his good side than his bad side. He wants to treat him well after all the shit he's put Haein through too--

But also never give Haein reason to take revenge on him.

Hyunseok wades into the water as he looks back at Haein. ]

Is it like one of those things-- Uh...

[ He doesn't remember the right term for fear of crowds or people, assuming he ever actually knew it, but he's pretty sure there is one. ]

Like some kind of phobia?

[unwieldy]

[ "Enjoy" might be too strong of a word, but Haein's not in his usual state of annoyed or angry, so maybe it's not too far off.

He came here to this island to get away, find some peace of mind, and that's precisely what he's trying to do. He could do without the constant barrage of questions, though. ]

No.

[ Phobia isn't the right word for it. He's avoidant, not afraid. But that's not something he wants to get into. ]

I want to stop talking about this. [ A subject change is in order. ] You're going to get wet.