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#( threads: yoojin. )
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I WONDERED WHY IT LOOKED SO FAMILIAR
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vicvanvin · 6 months
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How HYJ still thinks that he is the “responsible” adult is really showing his unreliable narrator… sir how do you not see yourself rn you RENTED OUT A FACTORY AND INVESTED IN SPECIAL DYE
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ofgentleresolve · 1 year
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quick tag ur muse in one of these categories:
Would never stab anyone: Calum, Patrick, Nell, and Annie.
Would stab in retaliation: Raphael, Yoojin
Yells “I won’t hesitate bitch” first: Lamon, Suki
Would stab without warning: Mana, Felicity, K, and Alfred
Would stab as a warning: Myungdae
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tyrantwombat · 10 months
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"What I need right now is help, not protection. It's the same for Sung Hyunjae." ... Song Taewon gritted his teeth and reluctantly nodded.
OHHHHHHH HE DID IT.
I'm having feelings similar to the birthday scene where Han Yoojin and Sung Hyunjae person-ed each other, don't mind me.
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ofgentleresolve-a · 2 years
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@jeoseungsaja​ sent in: "I remember everything." His voice threatens to break; softened eyes wishing to gain a curtain of liquid crystal. He knows why he experienced stings on his chest, this ache becoming even greater now that his mind has unlocked all pieces of his past; the reason why he became a Grim Reaper. It all happened when higher-ups cornered him in his tea room for using his powers improperly and with prohibited liberties; injecting what they once took away from him. "I--I don't---" A trembling hand goes to his lips, it transforms into a loose fist. "I don't deserve atonement." (oKAY SO I--WIUEHDIUWEDH ABOUT THAT LITTLE PLOT WITH YOOJIN AND REAPER IN VERSE TWO...HERE'S?? SOMETHING?? ;W; I HOPE THIS IS OKAY WIEUDHWIDUH) || time for pain ( ft. unprompted )
Yoojin doesn’t need to hear Mister Saja to know something has changed. He felt it in his bones this morning too- the wind told him, he would say if someone asked. After all, in the presence of a dokkaebi, even the weather will bow down. The wind is no different- it told Yoojin in tones that Yoojin himself cannot replicate, only translate, that something major has changed and whether it is for the better or the worse, that is for him to find out.
Smile falling off, Yoojin climbs down the ladder, setting his hammer down. It’s part of his arrangement with the monks there. He takes care of some of the housekeeping in exchange for meals. A breeze blows through the temple. The sound of wind chimes whispers in its wake as he studies his friend, Mister Saja. Mister Saja, who suddenly seems so much grimmer than he did the previous day. So much heavier than the previous day, like his true age has finally caught up to him, memories weighing down on his shoulders.
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Or at least that’s what it looks like to Yoojin. All the other long-standing IMMORTALS he’s known are like that; pressed down if not by the weight of life, then by the weight of memories.
“Saja,” Yoojin murmurs, omitting the title, voice the sound of bells. He reaches out for Saja’s hand and squeezes gently. “What happened?”
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jeoseungsaja · 2 years
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“Mister, mister, over here!” And in the next moment, Yoojin’s hopped off the railing of the bridge and landed in a patch of grass. Looking up with a smile, he can’t help but grin a little wider. Oh, it’s his friend- it’s been too long since he’s last seen Mister Saja…even if Yoojin knows it’s not actually Mister Saja. Still, it’s like they say, love lost will inevitably come back. Even if it comes in the form of a rather…sour-faced looking person. “You’re looking for me right?” He bows, ignoring the dirt marks on his face. “Ahn Yoojin, at your service!” ( a throwback…but instead of reaper, make it hyuk :D JFKSLDJ )
@ofgentleresolve​ ♚ they say history tends to repeat itself-
♔ ———–
   They told him the possible witness would be here, so why is no one around? He even dared to check the address thrice, just in case he arrived to the wrong destination by mistake but, no, this is the place. He’s been waiting for twenty minutes and his small amount of patience is running even shorter and shorter with each passing second; breath of frustration leaving his lips. 
    “People don’t care to be punctual these days?” 
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   He suddenly hears a voice; head frantically moving around different angles to locate the source. Is he being addressed? Is this person calling out to him? It’s not until he witnesses the harsh descent of a body that he freezes with widened eyes, the sudden stomping of feet against grass making detective flinch a little. 
    “Yah, don’t you know there’s stairs to come all the way down here?! You could’ve gotten hurt and what use would it be for me to take you to the hospital instead of getting the information I came here for, huh? Aish, do you enjoy giving people heart attacks by greeting them like that?” 
   Is he...smiling? Hyuk peeks with a frown. Not only does he have such a big, wide grin stuck to his face but also, he seems to be in such...open disposition to participate. Huh. That’s definitely rare. Not only because witnesses are usually hesitant (or straightforwardly hard-hearted) but because the detective’s attitude isn’t exactly the most welcoming. 
   “Yes, you---”
    He sighs. A hand gets into the pocket of his blazer. There’s a few napkins he saved in there when he went to eat ramen at a nearby stand, just half an hour ago. He takes them out and hands them to Yoojin. 
    “Your face. You have dirt all over.” 
   As he does this, his other hand goes to check the inner pocket of his blazer, a small breath of relief taking place when feeling precious handkerchief around his fingers. He could’ve lent this to the other, but let’s just say this item holds too much significance and value to Hyuk; he won’t toss it around or temporarily give it to just anybody.
   “I’m detective Lee Hyuk. I’m here to ask you a few questions...your answers might be vital to the case I’m currently working with. We were told that you were near Namusario Coffee three days ago, around seven at night. Is that correct?” 
———– ♔
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mythvoiced · 3 months
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@stillresolved | ♥
---
Cesare's palms are oddly sweaty. Isn't he best equipped when he's not holding onto something? His greatest weapons lie right there, under his very skin, in the power of his lungs, the power of his jaw, his hands alone are stronger than that blade would be.
Honestly, trying to cut something up with a sword - with a rusted blade - would handicap him.
Cesare's palms are sweaty. He can feel something cold wash over him and then dissipate. He takes a deep breath, and holds it for a few moments. He's always and constantly capable of hurting someone. If he wanted to, he could probably reach out right now and wrap something monstrous around the other's throat. He's not exactly built like someone who could throw someone else around, would he snap between Cesare's fingers? Lithe and barely hitting the average?
Honestly, he looks like a drop of sunshine, like something good. And Cesare's sweaty palms are always perfectly suited to hurting.
"Huh?" Cesare asks, fixing his gaze away from the sword back to its owner, catching up with the rest of the conversation and supplying a better answer before he can even give a proper change for the other to repeat.
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"Oh, I just-" thought it'd be a normal thing to ask? Thought it'd be normal? Thought I could be normal? He takes another deep breath and wills himself to get over himself.
"I thought it was cool, 's all," he chuckles, light and sheepish, brushing his palms against the sides of his neck. "Then I chickened out. Performance, you said? Like, dance?"
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namika-saya · 2 months
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Sung Hyunjae is soooooo silly. The Man of All Time. The Man who will always put himself first. The man who loves himself the most. He, who stands above all, yet has absolutely no freedom over his life and death. Sung Hyunjae, fated to never love any human but 2 specific people. The man created to destroy him and an ordinary man who loved so much he molded flame into a human. A skill. An item. Partners. Silekia coat. Exchanged for nothing but a promise. The man who trusted himself above all put his life into the hands of an ordinary man. Words written on the palm. Sung Hyunjae. Seseong guild leader. Promise to go to the aquarium. The him of the past. Who gave up all hope. Decided to help the him who wishes to survive. Postcards that never arrived at their destination. Sung Hyunjae. Seseong guild leader. Aquarium. A birthday promise. To never disappear, to never go away, to never change. Shj. Guild leader. Aquarium. Tears. Sadness. The fact that that ordinary man will die someday. The sadness of not being able to live with him. Seong Hyeongje. Jupiter Guild Leader. Aquarium. What's a guild. What's an aquarium. I am Sung Hyunjae. The seseong guild leader. I promised to go to the aquarium. But with who?. A thread. Pink yarn. Birthday present. Han yoojin. I love you.
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sctir · 1 year
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out of nothing more then curiosity, thoughts on jinjae?
i would like to preface this with a disclaimer that i do actually, despite what it might seem, have non-shitpost thoughts about jinjae (touched briefly on their respective relationships with personhood & how their evolving partnership reflects that here, not enough imo but id only been reading for a couple of months at that point so i couldn't speak about shj with an appropriate level of confidence and we only have so much time on this forsaken earth anyways). especially since shj exists as a foil of sorts to yoojin (re:self-love vs "externalized" love, learning to love oneself through the "other", so on and so forth), with their character developments complimenting the other's in return, jinjae occupies a uhhh. lot of my brain all the time and i need to scream and possibly cry about them. unfortunately it is funnier to post about gay divorce.
second disclaimer: i am both 100% joking in the following post and, at the same time, so incredibly dead serious.
jinjae is a lot of things to me. first and foremost jinjae is a guy that hates the other guy so bad they made it everyone else's problem. jinjae is also a guy that likes the other guy so bad they made it everyone else's problem. jinjae is ALSO two guys that are so obsessed with each other it should be in the dsm-v somewhere. jinjae is a yaoi (early canon). jinjae is a yuri (late canon). jinjae has at least one scum gong. jinjae is brat4brat. jinjae is also brat tamer4tamer. jinjae is ALSO brat tamer4brat. yes that is how it works. jinjae is two single fathers meeting and falling in love except they have the same child and are actively getting divorced with plans to be married again in the spring. jinjae is that trope of some guy's kid liking a teacher/other adult authority or caretaker figure in their life so much they try to set their single father up with said caretaker figure, except the caretaker figure is the biological parent of the child and also the child hates the single father so much. jinjae is a sun/moon couple except SIKE. NO IT IS NOT. jinjae are married. jinjae have been divorced 7 times. jinjae are soulmates (pink thread of fate). jinjae is a threesome. jinjae are on a date at the aquarium right now. jin is poisoning jae's dinner and jae is kicking his feet giggling and twirling his hair with hearts in his eyes. okay i need to stop referring to them as jin and jae. jinjae are constantly embroiled in psychological warfare except one side thinks losing will mean forfeiting his life and the other side thinks losing will mean that he won't get to pay for lunch. jinjae have shared a bed and neither of them talk about it. jinjae is deeply homoerotic. like 'lighting your cigarettes with the same flame' homoerotic but even more (there were roses involved). jinjae is doomed. they're perpetuating the cycle. they're [REDACTED, SOUND OF CRYING, CAR CRASHING]. jinjae are making each other worse. jinjae are getting better together. and most importantly jinjae are in love.
i could say more but this ask has been sitting in my mailbox long enough im sorry. i don't actually have any thoughts on jinjae because as soon as i try to think about them The Horrors get me. and also The Love.
edit: i didn't even talk about the "you ghosted me so im going to blow up your house". not much more context is required. insane gay people.
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dbgdbw · 1 year
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242.Designated Administrator-ssi (2)
전용 관리자 씨 (2)
“To begin, how did this happen, sir? At first, I assumed that Sigma was Sung Hyunjae-ssi–”
좌라락, once again, the events that had transpired after I’d entered this world rapidly flickered across my mind. Reflexively, I snatched up the woolen bundle rolling around in my vicinity and vigorously shook it back and forth in a hard grip.
“From what point did you start watching!”
[ If you insist on shaking me so, it does make me a tad dizzy. ]
“If you don’t answer honestly, sir, I'll unravel this completely.”
I threatened, holding onto the end of the skein. 도로록, as I pulled a single loop of thread from its place, the emoticon that had been displayed over the lump of yarn changed into ‘ㅠㅠ’.
[ I’ve been threatened in various ways over the years, but this is the first time someone’s proposed to use stripping as– ]
“The hell are you saying! Why would this be your clothes, sir?!”
[ Then what else would it be. ]
…well, even if you asked me that. For starters, he was a ball of yarn, so was there something like a core inside? Then, that would be his body, and the yarn itself… I felt slightly revulsed. Let’s not imagine it. I decided to pretend the events from just now had never happened.
[ The first moment I became able to observe young Han Yoojin was immediately prior to the initial shake-up. I’d merely lightly tinkered with the System, prior to that point. ]
By the ‘initial shake-up’, did he mean following the installation of the Disk. Then, at the very least, it meant that he hadn’t been able to see my status window. …though he would’ve been able to see everything afterwards. I wanted to hurl the mass of yarn clutched in my hand away from me at maximum strength. If I struck him in the back of the head, shouldn’t he lose at least some of his memory.
When I asked him directly about the status window, just in case, the answer that returned to me was that it was unviewable.
[ Neither is operating the quest window an easy feat. Having entered in his original body, young Han Yoojin is imbued with a strong level of outside interference; as such, even I was able to approach, but others would be unable to pinpoint my location altogether. ]
That was why, until now, when I had called out to Sung Hyunjae, this liminal space hadn’t existed; he mentioned that the messages to Yoohyunie had only been made possible through myself, as well.
[ The view I am privy to is about a hundred meters or so, around young Han Yoojin? It appears that is the limit. ]
“To say that, though, hadn’t you conveyed a plethora of this and that info via quests, sir.”
[ That was because I ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐– Ah-, so it doesn’t work, after all. ]
Sung Hyunjae shook his head to and fr…o. The ball of yarn rocked side to side, was what it was closer to, but, well.
[ This location, here, is ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐ and so, ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐. ]
^^; the mass of yarn showed what appeared to be a troubled expression. So there wasn’t much that he could speak freely about, huh.
[ Even so–thanks to the second shake-up, it became possible for me to approach you like this, Han Yoojin, lad. The disks are something you’ll need to continue installing, then? ]
“There are three still remaining, sir. I was informed that, once all of them were installed, Newcomer would then convey the conditions needed to complete the raid. Are you able to communicate with Newcomer–the volleyball–perhaps, sir?”
[ Not at all. The notification I received informed me that ‘this current body and world are not real, and that, through quests and hunts, points could be collected, whereupon they are able to be redeemed at the prize store’, and left it at that. ]
Newcomer, do your job right.
[ Once all the disks have been installed, I should be able to divulge more information to you as well. Though, at present, I’m quite soundly incapacitated. ]
I’d have to hurry and install the rest of the disks, I supposed. At least now that I wasn’t alone, it should be finished quickly. Rather than the amount of time spent installing the disks, it was probably the travel time between cities that would become more of an issue. What if, instead of two days, it took longer than a week each even by car. Could I possibly extort a helicopter from Sigma.
At present, there wasn’t much information I could glean from Sung Hyunjae. When I tried to delve in a bit further, I would be met with ‘☐’s floating around. Even so, that he was currently integrated with this world’s System was certain.
‘Is it that installing all the disks will confer info about the System as well.’
This should be something even Newcomer shouldn’t have been able to anticipate. Since, if things had proceeded as normal, in the world of his choosing, Sung Hyunjae would’ve been put into the body of a target he’d chosen. At least in this respect, I felt thankful towards the Filiality Addict that had interfered with the Dungeon. It was enough to make me feel motivated.
“Don’t lose your memories again or whatever, please, and keep a good hold of them.”
[ ☐☐☐☐☐☐ doing ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐. ]
What was he going on about. Cupping the mass of yarn in both hands, I turned my gaze back to the screen. At some point, the top levels of the building had been obliterated. Dark blue flames lapped across the night sky like waves. With the lights of the Defense Association building having gone dark, under the pure white glow of moonlight, flames that had grown a deeper cerulean in hue surged up high.
Beautiful. Even as I admired the sight, simultaneously, I felt embittered.
The fire which bloomed for Han Yoohyun, within my memories, was a noxious black–blackened to the point of having become suffused with the festering miasma that pervaded it; it was that kind of thing. From the scattered drops of blood, had blossomed forth a 'black-blood flame'. It had received admiration, certainly. It was even capable of slowing his opponent’s recovery, while simultaneously being an attack Skill of unparalleled destructive potential.
“...the bluish light that’s mixed in, sir, that should be because of Alpha’s Skill, correct?”
[ No–it should become clear immediately, after verification upon returning, but that the flames wielded by Alpha was an ordinary one ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐. ]
“...come again?”
[ Though the flesh may be different, as the one acting as a conduit for the mana is still Han Yoohyun. That strength is the young master’s own. ]
The tenuous hope that I’d had, became resolutely dashed with Sung Hyunjae’s response. The back of my throat prickled.
…how should I explain it, this feeling. That, with Yoohyunie… That Yoohyunie, was changing, was something I’d realized. I hadn’t been given a choice in that, in some respects. Since, when so much around him was changing, remaining just as he was by himself was an impossibility.
Because of that, I knew, but.
“Before, there was a time that you’d mentioned that Yoohyunie was acting in a way unsuited to his original nature, sir.”
That it was fascinating to see him gathering people together, establish a guild, and lead it. That, originally, he would’ve wrought even more wanton violence than Liette with his temperament.
“That’s, for my dongsaeng… was it a bad thing, do you think, sir. Was it, perhaps, the wrong thing to do, to tell him to get along with people.”
[ That would depend on one’s perspective. ]
The hot pink ball of yarn twirled around in my hands.
[ When viewed in light of ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐, had it not been for Han Yoojin, Han Yoohyun would have continued to remain alone. Without the ability to approach anyone, nor the desire to, burning alone to the end until he finally burns himself up, too, at the last. ]
“‘Himself’ as well?”
[ Just so; no matter how outstanding one might be, it’s a difficult world to survive in on one’s own, is it not. Despite the lack of a guild, or dedicated team, even Liette will forgo attacking an S-rank Dungeon on her lonesome. She brings with her either temporary teammates, or her dongsaeng. However–Han Yoohyun would have remained on his own to the end; and had he reached the limits of his abilities, he would have met his end alone in a Dungeon. Without retreating, or evading. ]
That kind of temperament, Sung Hyunjae said.
[ ‘A life that burns brief but brilliant, as the spray of fireworks(1) do’, as it’s oft referred. And Han Yoohyun would have burned all the more intensely. Although he would have gained accolades for his single-handed undertakings of such great dangers, he would toppled before long. ]
Unable to formulate words, I looked down at the yarn. My insides prickled. When a sigh inadvertently slipped out, ^▽^, the ball of yarn smiled. I wanted to kick the shit out of him once.
[ He would have been free, certainly. Because he would have been able to live as he wished, he wouldn’t have had regrets. And as such, there are people who may consider that to have been the preferred outcome. Then, on the other hand, there would be those who believe, despite the self-repression involved, living in accordance with people to be the better choice. And, as for myself. ]
…’myself’? Suddenly, he fell silent. The smiling expression had disappeared as well.
“Sung Hyunjae-ssi?”
The hell, did the connection get cut or something. Just as I was about to call out for him again, a hand shot out from behind my shoulder. The hand grabbed the ball of yarn in a fist. Just when I’d been wondering, whether he’d used the overcoat and gloves to create a ‘body’ again.
“You brought him up well.”
A voice sounded. Reflexively, I turned around. My sight climbed up the hand that held the lump of yarn, to a body clad in a suit, along a neck that went up to a head. The face, irritatingly welcome, smiled at me.
“It is my opinion that Han Yoojin performed admirably, bringing up Han Yoohyun.”
“...because it’s ended up being more fun for you, as a result?”
“Because the transformation had only been made possible due to his being ‘Han Yoohyun, who was raised by Han Yoojin’.”
Sung Hyunjae lightly tossed the yarn into the air and caught it again.
“His temperament is not one that would have him stay his hand, merely because he was instructed to. Were he such a simple mark, I would have hardly felt such a level of interest towards him. However, Han Yoohyun accepted Han Yoojin. A prospective weaker than himself, and lacking besides. For the strong to convince the weak is an easy feat, but the opposite proves difficult.”
My heart pounded. It felt like I was a bit aflutter, too. Like I was a small child, waiting to be praised.
“So, you’ve brought him up well. Diligently, too. Had it not been for you, Han Yoojin, my boy, it would have been an impossible transformation. Though I cannot profess that it was perfect, I will express admiration. Truth be told–there’s no such thing as perfection, when it comes to raising an individual. All one can put forth is one’s utmost, and it is my view that this requisite, at least, was certainly met.”
My face burned crimson. Even as I felt embarrassed, at the same time, I felt pleased as well. Something warm spread throughout my chest, bringing a lump to my throat.
“...thank you, sir.”
“Rather than being the one expressing thanks, it’s my view that young Han Yoojin should be the one receiving it.”
“Even so. At least as far as this time is concerned–genuinely, thank you, sir.”
And I did feel glad, in truth. The fact that it was none other than Sung Hyunjae telling me so, made it more touching.
I didn’t think of myself as having been perfect, either. The end Yoohyunie had met, was something that could never be labeled a desired outcome. But even so–and though Sung Hyunjae had no way of knowing what had happened pre-regression, even then–the words telling me that I had done my best, and raised him well, felt comforting to me.
I felt thankful that he had given acknowledgement of it.
“It seems about time for you to slowly awaken.”
“Yes, sir–I’ll quickly install the rest of the disks, so we can conduct a proper discussion outsi–”
Just then, the detail I had overlooked registered in my eyes. The side that wasn’t holding onto the yarn–one of Sung Hyunjae’s arms was missing. There was only cloth, draped over the empty space.
“A-arm, what happened to your arm, sir?!”
“To intervene to this extent in person, for there to be no backlash is unlikely. Even so, as this body belongs to another, as an admission fee, it’s quite a bargain.”
“That’s, even if it’s not the real body!”
“If you would oblige to look upon my eye as well, in that case. Now, then.”
Before I could say anything else, my vision bled to black. When I opened my eyes again, the bluish glow from the vast expanse of the Hole filled my entire field of view. Hurriedly, I examined my surroundings. Yoohyunie, holding my body in his arms, was close by.
[ Would you like to resurrect? ]
Along with the message, the remaining respawn time appeared. After immediately opting to resurrect, 스윽, I was pulled back into my body. Just like an actual video game character resurrecting, the body that I was returned to was in pristine condition, without anything injured. What method had I been revived with, I wondered.
“...Yoohyun-ah.”
“...hyung?”
- Hyung!
Yoohyunie and Irinie cried out simultaneously.
“H-hyung. Are you okay…?”
“I’m okay. Honestly. I’m perfectly alright.”
Upon being told that he could set me down, the flames that had been surrounding Yoohyunie’s vicinity retreated. But, immediately after he’d set me down from his arms, this time, Yoohyunie suddenly crumpled down to the floor from where he’d been standing.
“Yoohyun-ah!”
- Yoohyun-ah!
“Are you perhaps hur… Of course you’re hurt, shit! Hold on, a potion–”
“It’s not, hic, it’s not like that, hyung–”
뚝뚝, as tears that had ceased resumed once more, Yoohyunie stumbled for words.
“J-just suddenly, my legs couldn’t… I-I can’t, remember how, to even stand… so…….”
“Yoohyun-ah–”
Taking out a potion first, I treated the wounds that remained on his shoulder and back. As I was doing so, my dongsaeng, who had been quietly hiccuping the whole while, reached out his arms to pull me into a tight hug.
“...hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“Me too–I can wait, too.”
Swallowing back tears, Yoohyunie continued on.
“I can trust in hyung too, and wait if I need to. Because I can wait for as long as it takes. So, don’t come on your own. Arrive together with Peace, or Bak Yerim. Without rushing, come and collect me safely. I’ll wait for you until then.”
“...yeah, sorry. I’m sorry, Yoohyun-ah.”
Because I’d felt so panicked. After telling my dongsaeng not to rush, I’d gone and made the very mistake myself.
“You’re not hurt anywhere else? Is your body alright? Damn bastards probably didn’t even bother feeding you properly.”
Even just thinking about it was enough to piss me off. For now, I brought out the water bottle and dried fruit I’d kept in my inventory and fed them to him. I should’ve packed some more things to eat to bring with me. Since the building that contained the cafeteria hadn’t been destroyed yet, should we head in that direction. No, since the dormitories had both a fridge and basic foods stocked, too, if we took the best room… Was there a way I could evict Sigma.
I picked up my dongsaeng, who was still trembling faintly. Flustered, Yoohyunie hastily clutched at me.
“Hyung! But I’m heavy!”
“I’m a C-rank right now, ‘kay. You’re not heavy at all. And I could pick you up before, too.”
Probably. Crossing over to me to clamber up my arm, Irin circled around on top of my shoulder.
- Hyung, Hyung! Should Rinie show you how I can transform?
“I saw. You were amazing.”
- Right?
“But how did that happen? And you’re talking, too.”
- That blue thingy. Near the Blue Hole, Rinie can talk too! Since there’s a whooole lot of mana! And it meshes really well with Rinie, too!
Was it due to the Mana Hole’s power. Maybe when it came to elemental spirits, even without a Mark, they were capable of quickly absorbing the Mana Hole’s mana. As Irin was chattering on, for some reason, Yoohyunie was looking at him with a reproachful expression.
“Why are you calling him hyung, when he’s my hyung.”
- Because he’s Yoohyunie’s Hyung!
At Rinie’s response, Yoohyunie’s expression shifted into one that seemed to convey a sort of acceptance. Hmmm, I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it seemed like they had come to a tacit understanding.
“Is this the time for applause, then?”
Just then, Sigma’s voice rang out. I turned back to look at the man who stood surrounded by the remnants of dying flames.
“Then do see yourself right out, sir, once you've had your fill of applauding.”
“I’d planned to call out for an encore.”
“If you’ll surrender your personal chambers, it’ll be brought under consideration. Or a room of similar quality, really. My dongsaeng requires rest, you see.”
“A dongsaeng, you say.”
Sigma’s gaze flicked back and forth between me and Yoohyunie, with the look of someone who was finding the proceedings to be immensely entertaining.
“Alpha certainly never had a male sibling. It doesn’t appear to be the work of a cognition-modifying Skill, so, what could have transpired, I wonder.”
“I’ll make a formal introduction, sir. This is my one and only dongsaeng, Han Yoohyun. Who I most definitely warned you not to touch. When I told you to quietly sit back and watch while shoving some tteok powder in your mouth or whatever, why the fuck did you think you could wade in here and make a mess of shit, huh.”
Was it because this place didn’t have rice cakes, that he hadn’t understood.
“The terms of the contract merely extended to the point ‘until Alpha is released’.”
“Contract, schmontract–how dare you lay your hands on someone else’s dongsaeng, you son of a bitch.”
[ ◑▽◑ Let’s introduce your Partner as well! ]
…and you could just stay out of it. Someone take Sung Hyunjae’s ability to assign quests away from him. But apparently neither Sigma, nor Sung Hyunjae, had any intention of meekly complying.
-----
(1) 불꽃(fireworks); the kr word for fireworks comprise of 불(fire) + 꽃(flower), which evokes the ‘blooming/blossoming’ effect firework displays have. yoohyunie gets a lot of fire and flower motifs, and this is a good example of how they can ‘naturally’ flow/entwine together in kr.
大人's proofreader here! there are plenty of instances of this blooming/flowering/blossoming language being used in regard to yoohyunie’s skills—”black flames, which bloom forth from blood”, “Han Yoohyun called forth an endless wave of blossoming flames”, “the flames that bloomed”, and so forth. rather than just straightforwardly burning by itself, then, this fire unfurls from its source; it blossoms into being ^^ speculatively, it’s also a testament to his strength and nature—not limited by its fuel, continuously growing, and a flame which consumes everything, even itself in the end—but that’s late-game content ;) ! of course the visual impact is also different, then: gently flowering, but not without heat or force.
there are other ways to describe fire in kr which aren’t quite so poetic, so these are meant to adhere to the flower symbolism that geunseo’s attached to yoohyunie; don’t forget, too, the plum blossoms which bloom from winter leading into spring—from yoohyunie to yoojin.
irin ↔ yh | informal casual
irin → yj | informal polite
yj → irin | informal casual
+(Q&A)
Q) is there a plot-related reason that yoojinie is unable to use the seedling Skill to look at his own stat window?
A) as a supporting aspect of the Caregiver title, the seedling Skill can only be used on others who hold the potential to become a candidate for ‘caregiving’. to be precise, it is a limit imposed by the System; and, should Han Yoojin make the decision to protect and look after himself as well, he would be able to overcome the bounds of the System and use it on himself, too.
+(Q&A)
Q) considering that, aside from han yoojin, seok shimyoung was at han yoohyun’s side for a very long time–then, does he have an understanding re:han yoohyun’s original nature, to an extent?
A) seok shimyoung considers han yoohyun to be an incomprehensible entity. from when they had first met, he’d quickly picked up on the fact that han yoohyun’s social sensibilities were less ‘human’, and closer to being a different ‘kind’ altogether; and having judged that, rather than attempting to teach and change han yoohyun, it would be more efficient to leverage that point instead, he structured haeyeon guild to follow after its guild leader. though he does not understand han yoohyun’s true nature, he registers him as a being with the prerogative to move differently from ordinary humans. of course, had han yoohyun attempted to incinerate everything the way his original nature had dictated, then seok shimyoung, too, would have rejected him, and viewed him as a threat; but, as han yoohyun was able to at least mimic basic social conventions through han yoojin’s influence, seok shimyoung thought that that much would suffice. as he’s the kind of person who puts little stock in the true nature of humans, even–rather than a human who would make a blunder of things, it’s his opinion that the intelligent monster who knows how to pretend to be human is the better alternative ^^ only, due to this, he misjudged the weight of the value that han yoojin’s existence holds to han yoohyun. if seok shimyoung had been able to understand han yoohyun a little better, then things would probably have been considerably different, whether for good or ill.
+(Q&A)
Q) the small yoojinie that sung hyunjae took with him in the epilogue, how does his culinary preferences pan out? in contrast to the yoojinie who refused to acknowledge his preference for sweets, will he come to like sugary/sweet foods as well? or, does he end up taking after sung hyunjae and/or the elder’s food preferences? does he eat bread crusts? if he happens to show signs of 편식(picky eating), how would the elder and sung hyunjae respond??
A) he’s still in his early years yet, and possesses an ordinary preference for snacks ^^ considering his state as a child, there should be a high possibility that he will learn to like the kinds of foods that he becomes exposed to in his environment. it may be that he comes to like some foods that don’t even exist on earth. from the perspective of a young child, sung hyunjae would likely come off as an immensely cool and strong adult. when he sees that kind of grownup avoiding eating bread crusts, wouldn’t he end up thinking so you shouldn’t eat that part, huh. it might be that he ends up assuming that cutting off the bread crusts is a grown-up thing to do. assuming the young chaos doesn’t intervene, that is. both of them veer towards thinking if i don’t eat the things i don’t like, so what. as the young chaos had lived according to his whims as well, he’s the type to just leave things be so long as there’s no outstanding problems, and sung hyunjae would probably either locate or create various ingredients and foods with a similar enough nutritional value. but, of course, since there’s no substitute [for one’s diet], if it began to affect his health, then they would endeavor to address his picky eating.
+(Q&A)
Q) i was curious whether the reason sung hyunjae doesn’t eat bread crusts is because it’s a metaphor as it relates to sung hyunjae’s narrative, or if it’s simply a trait of sung hyunjae’s pickiness!
A) typically, the trait goes hand-in-hand with the intended metaphor. it’s a longstanding habit of his ^^
> geunseo’s afterword - han yoohyun excerpts
 ‘...to briefly touch on the story of the novel, the ending was formulated alongside the first half of the series in a synopsis, before writing ever started. ‘if, as he develops, han yoojin becomes able to accept han yoohyun as he is, and, as his relationship with sung hyunjae evolves into a reciprocal ‘caretaker’ relationship, he is finally able to come to terms with himself, it will in turn facilitates a happy ending where, even as he must send off the 25-y.o. han yoohyun, he is simultaneously able to reunite with him’, is how it went. and they happen to save the world as a bonus ^^
[...]
han yoohyun was designed to be han yoojin’s destination(목표), as the lingering regret of his life(삶의 미련), while sung hyunjae was developed to be the path(과정) to that goal, as a self-assured embodiment of [han yoojin’s] ‘ideal self’. without even names assigned back then, that was their foundational framework…’
(full Q&A entry in footnotes here)
‘...when ‘the s-ranks that i raised’ novel was in its beginning storyboarding stages, one of sung hyunjae’s first keywords was ‘a character who does the things that a protagonist might do from beside the protagonist, and therefore ended up a main character’. by taking a being who held the potential to become a protagonist in whichever world, and then having him go through many worlds in practice–but also providing him with a strong enough ego(self-identity) to endure through the process–the current sung hyunjae ended up coming into being...’
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yersina · 2 years
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If you have the time, there’s this no powers soulmate AU idea that I have. In a regular world, where everyone has a red string around their finger, that connects to their soulmate at first contact, Han Yoojin has a pink string. Anyway, I think it’d be funny if regular construction worker hyj got stuck together to CEO/stupidly rich Sung Hyunjae by the hot pink string forcing them to be around each other, and all the fights and funny things that happen because of it. Neither of them can catch a break, and I think it’d be hilarious.
(I headcanon Han Yoohyun as aromantic, so in this AU he doesn’t have a string, but idk how relevant it it would be if you decided to write it)
Yoojin doesn’t actually figure out what the strings mean until he’s out of high school, because for a long time there doesn’t seem to be any pattern to them. His own dark blue string connects him to Yoohyun, but not all of the siblings in his classes have the same string. Sometimes, he sees a golden thread connecting a classmate with their parents, but neither he nor Yoohyun have any tying them to their own. He sees red strings most commonly, which sometimes connect parents or married couples, but sometimes the strings lead away from the person’s spouse. Not a single person who boasts that they’re dating in his class has a red string that connects them to their significant other of the week.
Yoojin hasn’t seen anyone with a bright pink string like his, either.
Despite the ambiguity, though, he does work out a few rules:
Strings that float off into nothingness and disappear a foot or two away from someone’s body means that they haven’t met the person on the other side yet. The entirety of Yoohyun’s string stays visible no matter how far away Yoohyun goes, but even when his end of the pink string bobs and moves, it never seems to point anywhere specific.
The whole string materializes when the people on the two ends touch. It doesn’t have to be skin-to-skin contact—as far as Yoojin can tell, it’s more about the symbolism of the meeting than the actual touch.
The color of the string is related to the relationship. Yoojin hasn’t worked out all of the colors yet, but he knows the blue string connecting him and Yoohyun has to be for siblings. Gold seems to be parental and red is romantic, but there are other, rarer colors that Yoojin still has yet to puzzle through.
For a while, Yoojin worries about Yoohyun’s lack of strings. Yoojin is already at the low end with only two, and Yoohyun has even less than him. But Yoohyun never seems to be worried about it, even when Yoojin tells him about the strings, and Yoojin gradually stops asking. Maybe Yoohyun is happiest with his one string, and whatever being is tying the strings between people got it right for him.
He does wonder, sometimes, what the pink string means for him. He doesn’t trust the red strings, not really, not when one tied his parents together and didn’t leave room for a single golden thread between them and him or Yoohyun. But the pink… Maybe it’s something better.
-
Yoojin boards the bus that’ll take him home, squeezing in between the people already on board until he finds a space around the middle of the bus, standing next to a row of seats.
He’s prepared to spend the ride staring out of the window like he usually does, watching the blur of buildings and trees pass by outside, but this time, when he lifts his head, his eyes catch on the strings tied to his pinky finger. More importantly, his eyes trace the pink one, which no longer drifts off into space like it used to.
Instead, it’s attached to the man in front of him.
What.
Yoojin stares in disbelief at the businessman sitting in the seat in front of him, pale hair slicked back perfectly and dressed in a neat and obviously expensive suit, even to Yoojin’s inexperienced eye. A leather briefcase is propped up in his lap and Yoojin is pretty sure that the watch he spies on the man’s wrist costs more than Yoojin’s monthly rent.
Their shoes are touching.
Yoojin has never seen a person that he is more convinced doesn’t belong in his life. How is Yoojin connected to this man? The whole idea seems absurd.
For the first time, Yoojin doubts the accuracy of the strings.
“Can I help you?” Yoojin winces. Apparently his staring has caught the attention of the man.
“I—” His breath catches in his throat as he abruptly becomes overwhelmingly aware that this is his chance to get to know the person on the other end of his string. This person, who wears uncomfortably expensive clothes, looks proper and put together in a way that Yoojin will never be able to manage, and looks like he hasn’t done a second of menial tasks in his life. “No, sorry. Excuse me.”
He dips his head hastily in apology and spends the rest of the bus ride staring out of one of the windows to his right, refusing to take a single glance at the man. He thinks he might feel a gaze on his face during the ride, but the man never speaks up, and Yoojin steps off the bus at his stop, convinced that he’ll never see the man ever again.
-
“No, you don’t understand, he was wearing a suit,” Yoojin emphasizes. “Can you imagine me with someone wearing a suit?”
“Hyung.” Yoohyun’s exasperation is loud even over the phone. “I wear suits.”
“Yeah, but that’s different.” Yoojin tests the ripeness of a tomato carefully. Hm. He sets that one down and picks another one up. “I look at you and all I see is the kid who used to pick his nose and wipe it on my shirt.”
“Hyung!”
“It’s true! My clothes went through the wash at least twice as often as yours did because of it.” Yoojin puts the third tomato in his basket and moves on to the green onions.
“Hyung, that’s not true.”
“You can’t tell me it’s not true because you never did the laundry.” Yoojin manages to browse through the selection of green onions and make his pick without a single word from Yoohyun. “See, you know I’m right so you’re not saying anything.”
“No, I’m speechless from how wrong you are.”
“You just won’t admit it—” Yoojin’s attention snags on the way his pink string suddenly jumps in the air, pulling taut just in time for the businessman to walk through the sliding doors of the grocery store.
“Hyung?”
Yoojin turns his back to the door, heart pounding. “He’s here,” he hisses.
“Who’s there?”
“The guy!”
“What guy?”
Yoojin groans. “I’ll call you back.”
Yoohyun hums a note of confused agreement. “Talk to you later, hyung.”
Yoojin ends the call right as the businessman joins him near the produce. The businessman is still dressed too formally—he isn’t wearing a suit jacket anymore, but Yoojin doesn’t know anyone who would wear a dress shirt and slacks to poke through the green peppers available at the nearest grocery store.
Whether it’s out of innocent or morbid curiosity, Yoojin stays rooted in his spot, watching the man pick up a cucumber and turn it in the fluorescent lighting like it’s a scientific specimen. “That’s not how you’re supposed to do it,” he can’t help but say when it looks like the man is about to put a bruised zucchini into his basket.
The man turns to him, eyebrow raised. “Oh?”
Yoojin, cursing himself all the while, reaches over and points at a scratch in the skin of the zucchini. “It’ll go bad more quickly if you choose one with scratches. Also, it’s better if you pick one with shinier skin.” Yoojin inspects the available zucchini quickly and picks one that he’d buy for himself. “See, this one is better.” He presents the zucchini to the man.
The businessman slowly puts the one in his hand back on the shelf and reaches out to take Yoojin’s. “Thank you,” he says. Yoojin feels the brush of the man’s fingers against his palm down to his bones.
“If you want to buy good cucumbers, you should choose the ones that are more firm,” he adds, not sure what else to say. He subtly shakes his hand out by his side, trying to rid himself of the lingering sensation of fingertips on his skin.
Thankfully, the smile growing on the man’s face pulls his attention away from his hand. It’s the kind of smile that people use when they’re trying to hide amusement, and Yoojin’s hackles automatically rise at the thought. “This fellow customer has been so helpful,” he says amicably, tucking the zucchini that Yoojin handed him into his basket. “Perhaps you’d be willing to help me with the rest of my groceries as well?”
Yoojin makes a face. “I have my own things to shop for.”
“Then we can accompany each other.”
“There’s no need—”
“Where do you suppose the aisle with noodles is?”
His pink string is, Yoojin finds, a complete asshole.
Unfortunately, Yoojin can’t figure out a proper excuse before the man begins herding him in the direction of the opposite side of the store, so he resigns himself to his fate. “You’re going in the wrong direction,” he says once they pass the noodle aisle.
The man hums with interest. “Am I?”
Yoojin revises his assessment. His pink string is actually insane.
The man ends up dragging him down the sauce aisle. Yoojin leaves him to stare blankly at the array of soy sauce while he grabs another container of gochujang and a bottle of rice syrup. Yoojin watches him stare at the shelves of bottles for a very amusing twenty seconds before reaching out and snagging the brand that he uses at home. “Here,” he says, pressing the bottle into the man’s hands. This time, it leaves less sparks. “Have you never cooked before?”
“Knowing how to cook and shopping for ingredients seem to be two different skills.”
Yoojin snorts before he can stop himself. “This ahjussi is good at talking around the topic. Whatever he means, he should say.”
The raised eyebrow is back. “And this customer isn’t very polite to his fellow customers.”
“The other customer was impolite first, so it seems both are at fault.”
The man rolls his shoulders in an aborted shrug, like it’s true but he can’t be bothered to acknowledge it. “What is this impolite customer’s name?” The interest in his expression feels genuine.
“If that’s what you want to know, then you should give your own.”
“I’m Sung Hyunjae,” the man says easily, though the way he looks expectantly at Yoojin afterwards makes Yoojin think that he should recognize the name.
“I’m Han Yoojin,” he says, despite the very Yoohyun-like voice inside him that says he shouldn’t give his name to strangers that he’s known for all of two minutes.
“Would Han Yoojin-ssi like to help me choose a bag of somyeon to buy as well?”
And Yoojin should say ‘no’ and continue with his own grocery shopping, but he feels the incorporeal weight of the string around his finger and finds himself saying, “Will Sung Hyunjae-ssi be able to choose without my assistance?” instead.
Sung Hyunjae smiles.
When they go to check out, Yoojin finds out that Sung Hyunjae already paid for his groceries when he goes to hand over his card. “That was unnecessary,” he protests once he’s caught up to Sung Hyunjae at the entrance.
Sung Hyunjae hardly even blinks. “What if I wanted to pay for Han Yoojin-ssi?”
“It’s still unnecessary.”
“Then see it as someone paying for their junior.”
Yoojin pauses. “Should I call you hyung, then?” he says, trying not to laugh. It feels unwieldy and informal in his mouth, and even without asking, he knows that Sung Hyunjae would agree.
“Let’s get closer first,” he says, as expected.
Yoojin chooses not to linger over the choice of words—when are they ever going to meet again?—and instead nods politely to Sung Hyunjae. “Thank you for your assistance today,” he says, even though he was the one to help Sung Hyunjae choose his items and having him pay for Yoojin’s groceries felt more like a favor to the other man than himself.
“It was my pleasure.”
Yoojin leaves Sung Hyunjae at his car and heads towards the bus stop, doing his best to convince himself not to look back as he walks away.
(He gives in eventually while he waits at the bus stop, watching the pink string bob and shift as Sung Hyunjae drives back to wherever he must live. It’s much more active than it ever had been before, and unfortunately just as attention-grabbing and annoying as the person it’s connected to.
Maybe that’s what the pink color stands for, Yoojin thinks wryly as he boards the bus. Annoyance.)
-
Yoojin really, really expects to never see Sung Hyunjae again. Seoul is a big city, and it looks like they run in completely different circles. Why would he ever meet the man again?
Unfortunately, Sung Hyungjae does not seem to have gotten this memo.
“Ah, Yoojin-gun,” Sung Hyunjae greets when he steps up to the counter. He’s wearing his full business suit again, and Yoojin has a brief flash of worry that his workplace is near this coffee shop. Will he have to see Sung Hyunjae all the time from now on?
Yoojin shoves this impending spiral to the side in favor of giving Sung Hyunjae a dry look. “If Sung Hyunjae-ssi will call me Yoojin-gun, then I will continue to call him ahjussi.”
Sung Hyunjae, the bastard, just smiles. “Would you prefer Yoojin-ah?”
Yoojin can’t help the shudder that runs down his spine, face twisting like he just took a bite of a lemon. Coupled with that expression… “Yoojin-gun is fine,” he says reluctantly. “What does ahjussi want to drink?”
Sung Hyunjae just orders a black coffee, which seems terribly in-character for him. “Does Sung Hyunjae-ssi not have a coffee maker to make coffee for himself at home?” Yoojin asks, handing Sung Hyunjae’s card back to him and beginning the incredibly arduous task of filling a travel cup with coffee that has already been brewed.
Sung Hyunjae follows him around the counter. “Either way, I’m here to see Yoojin-gun, of course.”
Yoojin frowns. Sung Hyunjae would’ve had no idea that Yoojin works here, if this is his first time visiting the coffee shop. Has Yoojin just not seen him?
He fits a lid over the cup and hands it over to Sung Hyunjae. “Have you been here before?” he asks curiously. It’s possible that he came in during a rush hour and Yoojin just didn’t have time to register who he was, though that seems unlikely.
Sung Hyunjae smiles and takes the coffee. “No. Thank you for the coffee, Yoojin-gun. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”
Yoojin frowns at Sung Hyunjae’s retreating back. Surely he’s just imagining how foreboding that sounded.
-
“No.” Yoojin stops in his tracks and gapes.
Sung Hyungjae waves. “Hello, Yoojin-gun.”
“You—” Yoojin looks around wildly, not sure what he’s expecting to see, but it’s still just the walking path next to the Han River that he was strolling along before, and still just Sung Hyunjae sitting on a bench to the side of that path. “Are you stalking me?”
“Why would I stalk Yoojin-gun?”
“That’s the question I should ask my stalker.”
“I’ll wait here until you’ve contacted them.”
“Then I’ll ask again: why are you here, Sung Hyunjae-ssi?”
Sung Hyunjae just smiles. Yoojin wonders how he always manages to make the expression so that it perfectly gets on Yoojin’s nerves. “I’m just here to enjoy a walk along the river.” It’s a completely reasonable explanation, but somehow Yoojin doesn’t believe him. “It would be more enjoyable if I could join Yoojin-gun.”
Yoojin doesn’t even pause to think about it. “No.” He spins on his heel and heads back the way he came, never mind the fact that he really did come out here to take a walk.
Walks can happen any time. Avoiding Sung Hyunjae takes priority.
-
A week later, Yoojin spots Sung Hyunjae standing outside of a high-rise building, looking down at his phone.
Yoojin crosses to the other side of the road.
-
“No,” he whispers to himself, looking in through the window of the coffee shop he was prepared to step into, and resigns himself to going without caffeine for the morning.
-
“I cannot believe you.” Yoojin frowns at Sung Hyunjae.
They’re back on a bus.
He resolutely does not make conversation for the entire, twenty minute commute to the stop that he gets off at. He also resolutely does not look at Sung Hyunjae, who, based on what Yoojin can see out of the corner of his eye, spends that time smiling at Yoojin.
He does see a young woman sneaking peeks at the handsome businessman sitting a few seats down from her and wishes that he could live in her blissful ignorance.
-
“So you’ve never spoken?” Yoohyun frowns and puts a hand out for the bowl of cut potatoes that Yoojin passes to him for the pot of doenjang jjigae simmering on the stove.
“We spoke once,” Yoojin corrects. “Twice, if you count the coffee shop. Wait, three…?” But do any of those meetings really count as talking to Sung Hyunjae?
“And you know for certain that he’s the one who’s connected to you?”
Yoojin shakes his hand at Yoohyun even though he can’t see the string dangling from his pinky. “It’s hard to miss.” It’s actually rather eye-catching when Yoojin is standing next to Sung Hyunjae, since it contrasts so sharply with the man’s entire look.
Yoohyun shoves Yoojin’s hand out of his face with an exasperated look. “Fine, fine. I just thought I’d ask. Can you get the eggs from the fridge while I cut the mushrooms?”
Yoojin does as he asks, grabbing the container of gyeran jangjorim and bringing it over to the table where they’ll be eating. “Like I said, I see him around everywhere, but I don’t want to talk to someone I don’t know.”
“You don’t know anything about him, then?”
“He’s probably rich,” Yoojin says, wrinkling his nose. “He said that his name is Sung Hyunjae. He drinks his coffee black.”
Yoohyun stops in the middle of putting mushrooms in the pan to turn around and stare at him. “Sung Hyunjae?”
“Yes?”
“You’re sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Yoojin impatiently gestures for him to turn back to the stove. “Yah, Yoohyun-ah, if you have something to say, just say it.”
Yoohyun slowly turns back around and gives the mushrooms a few half-hearted swipes. “Hyung, if you’re right, the Sung Hyunjae that I’m thinking of might be one of the richest men in Korea. Top one hundred, at least.”
That can’t be right. “He rides the bus,” Yoojin points out reasonably.
Yoohyun gives him a look. “Rich people can’t ride the bus?”
“Why would they?” Sung Hyunjae does seem like the type to have a chauffeur drive him around everywhere. It fits his arrogant, handsome chaebol look.
“Hyung, can you…?” Yoohyun gestures vaguely to the pan before raising his phone. “I’ll see if I can pull up a picture of him.”
Yoojin sets his hands on his hips in indignation. “You’re asking your brother, the person who raised you, so rudely?”
“That only worked on me the first two times you did it,” Yoohyun says, raising an eyebrow. “Eventually you have to run out of ways to guilt me into doing things for you.” Yoojin keeps staring. Yoohyun sighs. “Hyung, could you please make sure the mushrooms don’t burn while I look up this person to help you?”
“Sure, Yoohyun-ah.”
Yoohyun snorts and steps to the side so Yoojin can take over at the stove. “Whoa, he has a lot of overseas investments, apparently,” he hears Yoohyun mutter after a few moments. “Mostly in technology—oh, here we go.” He tilts the phone in Yoojin’s direction. “Is this him?”
Yoojin’s not sure what he was expecting when he looks over at Yoohyun’s phone, but it’s still not a professional picture of the same man who may or may not have been stalking him for the past month. “Huh. Yes, that’s him.” He returns to cooking the beoseot bokkeum, but for some reason, the only thought that runs through his head at that moment is that the Sung Hyunjae he saw once in the grocery store, sleeves pushed up to his elbows and looking confusedly at the shelves of soy sauce, looks much better than the one that smirks at him through the screen of Yoohyun’s phone.
Yoohyun elbows him out of the way of the stove so he can begin adding seasonings to the pan. “You said that you’ve never seen a thread in the color that you’re connected with before?”
“Pretty much.” He has seen the pink before once or twice, but it’s hard to tell what it might mean when it connects two strangers. He catches Yoohyun’s concerned look and shoves him gently on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it so much, Yoohyun-ah. Let’s focus on dinner, okay?”
If his current track record with Sung Hyunjae is any indication, he’ll be forced to figure it out soon anyway.
-
When Yoojin next spots Sung Hyunjae at a crosswalk intersection, the most he can muster is a deep sigh of resignation. “I’ve seen Sung Hyunjae-ssi more often than my own brother recently,” Yoojin says, waving to him in greeting. It’s somehow reassuring to see Sung Hyunjae look equally startled to see him this time, rather than infuriatingly smug. Of course, his version of startled is a delicate raise of both eyebrows rather than just one, but Yoojin takes it as a victory.
“Yoojin-gun,” he greets. Unfortunately, Yoojin has no other option than to join him at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. “Yoojin-gun does seem like an older brother type.”
Yoojin eyes the man next to him and tries to imagine him with any siblings. Not any younger siblings, surely, but perhaps one that’s older? Though the thought of Sung Hyunjae calling anyone hyung or noona… “Sung Hyunjae-ssi is an only child,” he declares.
“Yoojin-gun seems very confident about this.”
Yoojin is, strangely. “Yes.”
“Hm,” Sung Hyunjae hums. “I have a sister who’s older by thirteen years.”
“Do you?”
“Certainly.”
Yoojin narrows his eyes at Sung Hyunjae’s guileless expression. “Sung Hyunjae-ssi doesn’t have any siblings,” he decides.
The light changes. “My sister will be so disappointed to hear this when I tell her,” Sung Hyunjae says mildly as they cross the street.
“Sung Hyunjae-ssi shouldn’t lie to strangers.”
“Yoojin-gun is so cold for calling me a stranger when he said himself that he sees me more often than his brother.”
“Don’t make up strange meanings to my words, ahjussi. I can always just look up the real answer on Naver.” Once they reach the other side of the crosswalk, Yoojin takes two steps before he realizes that no one is following him. “Oh, are you headed somewhere else, then?”
Sung Hyunjae’s pause lasts for another second before a corner of his lips lifts. “The best place for me to be is by Yoojin-gun’s side.” It’s a statement, but there’s a question buried beneath it as well.
Yoojin throws his hands up in surrender. Perhaps if he and Sung Hyunjae get sick of each other, the universe will grow tired of pushing them together. “Fine. Fine! If you do anything suspicious, I will call the police,” he threatens. “I’m going to go eat dinner at that restaurant over there. Come on.”
The dinner, surprisingly, goes no worse than any of their other interactions. Sung Hyunjae, in his collared shirt and slacks, should look out of place amongst the worn tables and chairs of the family restaurant that Yoojin and Yoohyun have been going to since they were children, but instead he looks… comfortable. Softer.
Yoojin glances down at his string once during the dinner, throat crawling with some thick, unnamed emotion. It’s still there, swaying gently in the air between them.
Maybe he can give Sung Hyunjae a chance. Maybe there’s something more to their chance meetings, a reason why the string connects them.
When he looks up again, there’s a there’s a split second where he’s convinced that Sung Hyunjae’s eyes are unerringly trained on the base of Yoojin’s pinky where the string is tied, but between one blink and the next, he has his infuriating smile plastered back in his face and Yoojin uneasily brushes it off as his own mistake or a trick of the light.
Strange.
“Ahjussi,” he says once they’ve finished their food. “You’ll be paying, right?”
“I should get something in return for paying for Yoojin-gun so often, shouldn’t I?” Despite his words, though, Sung Hyunjae puts down his card without waiting for a promise.
“Sung Hyunjae-ssi seems like he has the money to spare.”
“Is Yoojin-gun so confident that he’s what I prefer to spend my money on?”
“I trust that Sung Hyunjae-ssi is polite enough to pay for the person in need in front of him instead of waiting to purchase another unnecessary accessory.”
“Yoojin-gun should be my next accessory, then.”
Yoojin makes a face. “What nonsense is this ahjussi saying?” Is he just an item to this rich person? Thankfully, one of the restaurant employees interrupts to return Sung Hyunjae’s card and that line of conversation is dropped.
Yoojin takes a deep breath once they step out of the restaurant, feeling like there might be something different, something changed in the air. The sun is just starting to set on the horizon, and the rays of golden light reflecting off of metal and glass are equal parts warming and blinding.
“I’ll see Yoojin-gun again, hm?” Sung Hyunjae hums, turned away from the direction that Yoojin will be going. He still doesn’t know anything about Sung Hyunjae, much less have his contact information, but he believes it. He’ll have time to unravel all of this man’s mysteries in the future.
They’ll meet again.
“See you, Hyunjae-ssi.”
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medeasfirstborn · 1 year
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If you're interested for more s classes content but find the mtl difficult to read and don't mind spoilers this forum is pretty ok, but it can be difficult to understand what other people are typing sometimes.
Disclaimer: screenshots are all from the novelupdates spoilers discussion. Most people got the info from reading the mtl so the legitimacy of the exact details of the story may vary.
Source:
SPOILERS FOR SCTIR (~600+):
Lol shj & pre reg shj pining talking abt hyj
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YOOJIN???? Guess he wants(?) More kids as usual
(Im pretty sure he doesnt really have a "child" with stw but im still desperate for it)
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Yoojin got no artistic talent but this is still so cute...🥺
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wovenstarlight · 2 years
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(some background before we get to the fun stuff. on ao3)
When Yoojin Awakens, he does so with a beast sensing skill. Like the system reached down and said, Congrats, your world has been turned upside down, here's a radar for where it's worst.
He's a celebrity, for those first few weeks, rank aside. The rescue teams and army units are thrilled to be told precisely where they're needed most, and the fact that he can tear apart the monsters with his bare hands for them is a nice bonus.
Then slowly, slowly, the dungeon shock starts to be brought under control. The novelty of being able to fight back fades as the world realizes just what it's lost to what it's fighting against. The responses to his calls become less excited and more despairing, as every new encounter adds to the casualty count. People see his face, and where they'd once brightened in relief, they draw away in fright.
(He would lie awake, that first week, stretching his radar as far as it could go. He'd track the monsters as they disappeared, appeared, converged, grew in strength, grew in number, grew undefeatable—)
(There's a lot of monsters. There's only one Yoojin. And he needs his rest just as much as anyone else.)
Seok Simyeong assures him to hang in there. He says not to worry, that Yoojin will prove himself, that the people will come to love him.
Yoojin doesn't really believe him. Then, twenty levels and one reckless dive into a saturated high-rank dungeon later, he realizes that his new head of HR might have been right.
Because when he watches the massive chimera in front of him smash clear through Kim Sunghan's reflexively-erected stone wall, poison dripping from its bared fangs as it lunges forward, there's a little click in his head, and he knows.
He knows exactly where the chimera's paws are going to land. He knows how its claws will gouge into the rock underneath, joints bending, legs bunching, preparing to launch forward. He can feel every bit of fur on its body bristle in anticipation. He feels its jaws stretch open, threads of saliva snapping and falling, drops sizzling like acid against the ground.
His attention shifts just slightly, and he knows Kim Sunghan's not going to step back fast enough.
There's a little click in his head, and he says, "Stop."
Everything stills.
Kim Sunghan stares, wide-eyed, into the dark maw of the monster. Its open jaws tremble on either side of his head, locked in place. A bit of saliva drips from its teeth, and Sunghan stumbles back. It shrieks when it hits the reshaped rock at his feet.
"Back," Yoojin breathes. The chimera shrieks, jaws still locked open, and takes one twitching step backwards. "Back." Another. And another, and another, and more, shrinking closer to the ground with every jerking movement, until it's huddled down among the shards of stone, staring fearfully at him with its many eyes.
Yoojin walks towards it slowly. He can feel his team's gazes on him like they're physical things. If he strains, some part of him can feel their exact positions, track the precise placements of their limbs.
He ignores that, and opens his mouth. "Mine," he whispers.
On the inhale, they're his. His paws, his claws, his joints, his legs, his fur and his jaws and his fangs and his venom and his many, many, many eyes.
On the exhale—
On the exhale.
They're gone.
Significant achievement! You have singlehandedly killed—
"Guild Leader-nim," Kim Sunghan says from somewhere behind him (4.23 meters to the back and left), his voice shaky (hands shaky footsteps unsteady shoulders tense and—). "Are you— Did you..."
"New skills," Yoojin says lightly, and turns around. "Are you alright?"
Kim Sunghan doesn't answer. Yoojin doesn't follow up.
There's awe in his Shield's eyes. Awe, and a bright, trembling relief.
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ofgentleresolve · 2 years
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hi everyone!! i’m still on a temporary hiatus for the time being, but after mulling things over, i’ve made a decision about how i run my blogs:
for now, i’m not going to use the queue for my threads although i might use it for any dash games i get tagged in and aesthetics i happen to stumble across
i also know i get thru all of the drafts for my muses at once usually....i think that’s been what’s making this feel more like an obligation so after i finish ga-ram and myungdae’s drafts...i’m just gonna...switch to tackling threads when i feel most inspired for them ( this might mean i’m on my single muse blogs a lot more often as well 😌 since i have...lots of thoughts for calum in particular.... ) please know that if i haven’t answered our thread for a while that doesn’t mean i care about our dynamic any less though!!
this also means the activity levels for some muses are gonna go down significantly; again, that doesn’t mean i care any less about any dynamics or threads they have there!! it just means the muse for them appears less often for me unfortunately. just as reminder here are the activity levels for my main muses as of now:
high activity: mana, lamon, patrick, myungdae
medium activity: raphael & ga-ram
low activity: yoojin & mana ( supernatural verse! )
i’m also going to tweak my rules slightly- nothing too noteworthy though, but do give a read when i get around to doing that. but other than that, that’s it from me for all. if you’re reading this, thank you for taking a look <3 and i hope to be writing and plotting with you all soon ( again)!!
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perfectionreached · 9 months
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🐝  *  ―  send ✨ or ( ‘SPARKLE’ ) and i’ll tell you at least one thing i like most about you, your blog, your portrayal, or your muse.
sparrow you know i love you!!! i adoreeee the way that we've created tai/yoojin's relationship and i love hearing about the different ways that you create her character. our disco threads are so much fun and you're super nice to talk to <3
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lukemo10 · 2 years
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How Korean Fashion and Culture Took over the World
In Seoul with the Victoria & Albert Museum in June, I found my daily uniform shifted gradually as the days went by; by the week’s end, I had assumed a new final form. Walking around the city, in neighbourhoods like hyperactive Hongdae and the long-immortalised Gangnam, I swiftly fell under the influence of the young Korean population, who wore, almost exclusively, school-uniform style shirts and polo shirts, with slacks or pale blue jeans in a baggy 90s cut. The colour scheme was always white, or beige, or somewhere in between; loved-up couples coordinated carefully. On the feet: bulbous white trainers, or kitten-heeled sandals for girls. And while in London trends may percolate through the city in the span of a summer (crochet bucket hats have a lot to answer for this year), the impact is rarely so total. Drinking an iced coffee on the corner of a busy junction in Seongsu-dong, an on-the-rise area formerly known for its shoe factories, I noted four instances of short-sleeved, white, button-up shirts on girls of different ages in a record time of 60 seconds.
My adoption of a new look was a more localised iteration of the Korean Wave – or hallyu – that, in its global scale, is the subject of a new exhibition at London’s V&A Museum this September. But as the curatorial team behind Hallyu! The Korean Wave (Rosalie Kim and Yoojin Choi) explain, they do plan to tell the story of the major worldwide phenomenon of K-dramas, K-pop and K-beauty and fashion through specific objects big and small: displays as historic as 13th-century cosmetics packaging, and as immersive and recent as a recreated bathroom set from the apartment in Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning Parasite (2019). Among all this, and providing a connecting thread between all the genres and modes in which the impact of hallyu has been felt, are the show’s fashion designs, costume designs for film and television, and various clothing and beauty items belonging to Korean citizens through the decades.
Back in June, in a humid taxi inching along one of Seoul’s infamous traffic-jammed highways, I asked project curator Yoojin about the trend saturation I had noticed in the city’s fashion-conscious crowds. She described it as one symptom of ppalli-ppalli culture that often sweeps through areas of fashion, beauty and technology in the country: literally, ‘quick-quick’ culture. In South Korea, citizens have enjoyed Deliveroo-style food delivery services for some decades, internet that is among the world’s speediest, and, in restaurants, meals that usually arrive in minutes flat. By taking as its subject a country where culture is locked into hyperdrive, it feels like part of the challenge of putting together a show like Hallyu! must be to figure out how to package and present this constantly-moving present.
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