#rkpicnic

rklisa​:

☽ ; the great outdoors

“hit you?” she looks at him with an confused and somewhat amused expression. “no, i wouldn’t waste my arm strength on you, i’m not that strong and i’m easily tired.” a lie, because her stamina has been surprisingly good lately, and she’s even been trying to work out a bit more, but she says it anyways because she likes to be unassuming. “plus, i don’t want to make a scene in public, you know? but in private….maybe i would think about it. but you’re not trying to get rid of me, right?” lisa’s gaze turns to him, searching his face but not expecting a real answer, not from him at least.

“okay, you’re right. i’ll get the carp bread.” but no way is she going to let him eat it. if she’s paying for carp bread she’s going to shove it into her mouth if that’s the last thing she does. and also because she doesn’t want to see his satisfaction when it turns out she can’t finish everything she ordered. it’s petty, but lisa lives to spite people, which isn’t really what she’s trying to do here but there’s an underlying tone of wanting to prove him wrong, even if she came to this outing intending to just enjoy his company. apparently, some habits are just hard to break.

lisa’s eyes follow to where he’s looking, spotting the couple that’s packing up their food. “yeah, that’s a perfect spot! i knew we were friends for a reason..at least you can see the good photo locations.” she looks back at him with a grin. “you would take some pictures of me, right? i’ll take some of you, i can’t let this outfit go to waste. i kind of really did that.” she’s too smug, considering that she really didn’t do anything, but the amusement goes away fast enough as she turns to the person in front of them with a frown. “that is, if we even get to order.”

“oh? you want to beat me in private?” he asks, raising his brow at her as he takes the easy opening with a faint smile on his lips knowing the suggestiveness would either annoy her or cause her to react in disgust. it’s all a part of his plan to send her off despite her reluctance, but he’s not so sure it’ll pay off. she can definitely be a stubborn one, but he can’t really say anything about it when he can be just as stubborn, perhaps even more so, depending on the situation. it’s one of the reasons they always end up bickering when they hang out, but even though things like that usually tire him out, he’s become so used to it now with lisa that he’d be weirded out of things didn’t work out this way

“yeah, so hurry up and grab the seat, dummy,” he says, smugness on his face at her ending up wanting the carp bread anyway, pressing his palms into the back of her shoulders, practically shoving her toward the space he’d pointed out. with her out of the line, he quickly makes use of the now empty space in front of the food cart since the person in front of them in line has finally ordered and paid, and lists off all the food lisa had mentioned earlier, as well as some food for himself. in one swift motion, he fishes his card out of his wallet and pays for it all. it’s not his first time doing this dance, after all.

with all of that out of the way, he waits patiently for the food to be prepared and, once he’s been handed it all of it, he makes his way back to her side, cheeky grin on his lips. he begins speaking from a distance before she can get a word in, hoping to curb any kind of scolding she intends on giving him. compliments are always a good way of distracting her, so he starts off with that, going off of what she’d said earlier. “let’s take some photos before we start eating?” he says, setting them down on the nearby bench. “because you’re right, we can’t let this outfit go to waste.”

rklisa​:

☽ ; the great outdoors

every time lisa looks at him she wants to give herself a pat on the back. who knew that kihyun as a tiktok e-boy would work so well? she did, and her instincts are never wrong about these things, so as soon as he had put on the clothes she had chosen for him she knew that she did a great thing, lisa manoban scoring once again ( not to be her, but she hasn’t missed yet, and she wasn’t about to do it now ). of course, she should probably give some credit to kihyun having a good face and nice proportions to pull off something like this, but she’s also happy to take all the praise for herself.

she never really gets the time to hang out with her friends like this, and even going to a picnic seems like a big deal, which is a little depressing if she thinks about it. she feels like she especially hasn’t seen kihyun in forever, even though she always seems to bother him at 3am when she can’t sleep, sending him pictures of cats and forcing him to keep her company through text messages. but it’s not the same as actually seeing him in person, no matter how annoying he is sometimes.

she would enjoy it more if the person in front of them wasn’t taking forever to choose what they wanted, but she takes what she can get. “i want…” lisa looks at all the choices, telling herself that she was not going to be like the person in front of them and she was going to be decisive. “i want the fish cakes and the cheese corn dog.” she’s suddenly extremely hungry, and she looks at it again. “do you think i should get some carp bread too?” she scans over the park, turning to him suddenly. “why? are you trying to get rid of me? there are plenty of places we can sit.”

she’s caught on to his ruse, which he honestly should have expected. she’s always been pretty sharp, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to get things by her anyway. call it a thrill, if you will. it’s why he looks at her now as if she’s dumb, as if thinking he has any ulterior motives is so out of left field that it doesn’t even deserve a proper answer. honestly, it really doesn’t, not because it’s dumb, but because he doesn’t feel like answering it, but he’s shaking his head anyway, shrugging his shoulders in the process. “if i said i really am trying to get rid of you, are you going to hit me?”

he snorts, laughing to himself as if it really is the reason he’s sending her off on this very simple mission, but it really has nothing to do with anything. it’s been so long since he’s seen her in person, and even though kihyun as a person in general is quite solitary and can go for long periods of time without seeing his friends or acquaintances, he actually sort of missed hanging out with her without having distance and a phone screen between them. of course, he’d never tell her this in person—he’d honestly rather die than do that, but it’s the thought that counts, and it’s a good thought, so that automatically means he’s a good person.

“just get the carp bread,” he says, using it as an attempt at a distraction and pushing her away in an attempt to get her to do as she says. “if you don’t want it in the end, i’ll eat it.” he’s got a shit-eating grin on his face, already imagining her eating the carp bread out of pettiness anyway so that he doesn’t get to eat it in the end. “look, over there. that couple is leaving. doesn’t that tree look nice?” he points over toward a tree closer to the river, and while he’d merely been trying to distract her as the person in front of them finally places an order, the tree honestly does look lush and green. “good for pictures, wouldn’t you say?”

@rklisa

only the power of god and anime is keeping him from complaining about the heat right now, and he doesn’t even believe in god and hardly watches any anime. he almost regrets wearing the all black ensemble that lisa had picked out for him to wear, but even if he’d chosen his own outfit for the day, the chances are high that he’d still be wearing the same color, soaking up all the sunlight that’s left, and all the heat along with it.

at least the food is going to be good, and that will be in no part thanks to either of them. he’d joked about not wanting to die when lisa had mentioned they should buy food instead of packing some to bring since she couldn’t cook, but the fact of the matter is that he isn’t that great a cook either, but it’s always more fun to take a jab at her than to admit his own faults.

the smell on its own is enough to make a man salivate, but the person in front of them is taking forever to order and drooling is not a good look on anyone, so he refrains, fanning himself with a folded up piece of paper as a distraction. “hey, why don’t you go find a place for us to sit,” he suggests to lisa, looking around the park. he says it more like it’s an order, but it’s also a discreet way to pay for her food without the hassle of an argument. “just tell me what you want and i’ll order for you.”

plastic flutes,

rklisa​:

“i swear you know how to do everything.” and maybe lisa would know how to do more things too, if she wasn’t so lazy. she’s always been the type to pick up things quickly and drop them just as fast when she decides that she’s bored of it, which seems to be the case with most things ( and people, for that matter. thankfully jisoo has always been a constant ). “that means you’re probably the most fun at parties though, right? since you know how to do everything.” if only they could actually go to parties — the ones that aren’t supervised by company staff.

she’s a little startled by the question, suddenly and reluctantly taken out of the calm, serene environment when there’s mention of training again. “no, probably not.” she says it more decisively than she thought she would, because she always thought that it would be one of those big decisions that she wouldn’t make lightly, that she would have to think a lot about it before even considering leaving royal. but she says it simply, because the truth is that she’s tired, and with no debut plans in sight she doesn’t know if it’s even worth it anymore. “i want to do things, you know? i want to go and, i don’t know, get married and start a family.” she laughs, because that’s definitely not what she would do if she was finally free of this place. “i feel like life is flying by and i’m just stuck in the royal building all day.”

“i would like to think so too.” surely not everything because she supposes some things in life are meant to be left as a mystery. yet when it comes to things that she does take an interest in, she would always entertain the idea of knowing everything there is to know about it. perhaps it is this terrible case of being such a know-it-all coupled with the desire of wanting to always be one step forward. or in other words, being absolutely obnoxious when she wants to be. “i hope i am, i’m not always so sure. i guess that will depend on whoever will be at the party with me, though.” it’s always in the company you keep.

lisa’s determined tone makes her do a double take, a look of surprise crossing her features. while she knew the younger’s feelings about being an idol trainee were not always positive, jisoo assumes at the very least that lisa enjoys it enough to stick around. still, jisoo understands. anyone can have their own valid reasons for wanting to leave and she knows her friend is definitely not exempt from this. there will always come a point when you realize that there’s a difference between patience and sticking out for things foolishly. “i understand. there are times when i feel like we could be doing more too. i mean, how much more are we supposed to wait? i can’t be in my late twenties and just be about to debut.” she has other aspirations too. laughing, she gives lisa a sidelong glance. “i better be the godmother of your future children.”

plastic flutes,

rklisa​:

she thinks it’s the simple things in life that she really misses out on sometimes because of her training. it’s the late nights of doing nothing, the times that she can just sit at home with no worries to think about, no training in the morning, no muscle soreness, the ability to make plans freely without thinking about how she’ll have to get up at 5am just to do her trainee routine. so she’s grateful for the times that she can be with jisoo, doing nothing in particular as they sit on their picnic blanket with boxes of takeout next to them.

“you know how to do that?” she looks at the bottle of champagne, then at her friend, wondering where she learned to do that. lisa tried once but she couldn’t quite do it in the way that she’s seen on television. she claps loudly, a delighted smile on her lips when jisoo opens the champagne, holding the glass as the drink is poured into the plastic flutes. it’s not quite the black tie experience that’s usually associated with this fancy type of alcohol, but she thinks there’s a certain charm in being here with her friend, with convenience store snacks and the summer breeze around them, and by now she knows that anywhere with jisoo will be a great time. she holds up her flute, an easy grin on her lips. “cheers!”

jisoo mimes a regal bow once she finishes opening the bottle. letting the moments pass as they cheered to a few hours of normalcy before she explains where she has gotten the skill from. “i used to always use a corkscrew but after watching this video a couple of years ago and a short period of trial and error, i finally got to it.” she smiles before taking a generous sip from her flute, humming in appreciation as the liquid coats her tastebuds. “makes for a useful skill when you least expect it.” that and the fact that bringing a corkscrew would have been an extra chore they could both do without.

leaning back, she glances up for a second with her eyes closed and sighs softly. these are the kind of cheap thrills that’s hard to come by; one that she’s happy to be taking advantage of. after all, they would be stuck inside the dreary walls of royal entertainment if they weren’t here. she’s grateful for the little reprieve they were able to gift themselves after such long hours of working. there is truly no better remedy than a flute of good champagne. “do you think you would still be in the company this time next year?” jisoo asks out of the blue, the serenity of their surroundings suddenly making her ask the hard hitting questions. “i just feel like it’s starting to come to this point where i ask myself every day if this is all still worth it.”

@rklisa
tw:alcohol!

this was such a welcome distraction. as the cool breeze of the summer air fans her hair, she wonders for a brief moment why they do not do this that often. there was so much delight to be taken out of just peacefully hanging out, body lounged carelessly in a soft blanket, a littler of good food surrounding them, and the best type of live entertainment. even the chatter of the people around them does very little to deter her good spirits. after all, they did manage to find a semi-secluded spot and so the noise wasn’t all that bad.

then she remembers their training schedule and the amount of work it took the both of them to prepare this spread and suddenly, she thinks going on a picnic is better off as a once in a few months thing.

“let’s serve this champagne now while it’s still cold.” she says a little giddily, taking out their choice of beverage from the bag. the plastic flutes were not quite as fancy as the glass ones they have back home but given the precarious environment, it would have to do. “hold the flutes, i’ll pop it.” jisoo directs her companion, a conspiratorial smile on her lips. after many years of doing this, she’s already quite the professional. in just seconds, she was able to open the bottle without much fuss. the pop of the cork coming off bringing a triumphant smile to her lips. “oh, that’s a beauty.” she says as she pours one glass, then another. “cheers to being able to take a break.”

look out

mxnark​:  

though mina was still worrying about riding the bike, she’d be lying if she said his smile and him pinching her cheeks doesn’t make her feel any better. if she thought she had it badbeforeshe started dating him and getting butterflies just from seeing his face, she would not know what to say to thatmina about thiseffect on her.

she watches him go on a couple’s bicycle on his own and she looks at him with a look of worry. it’s only natural, really. but she doesn’t stop him, as she wants to see him prove his point to see if it’d make her feel any better about the situation going on. that’s obviously hermistake as a girlfriend, but she doesn’t think too much about it. that is… until he lifts his hands off of the handles. “soobin, i don’t think that’s a good idea,” she tries to warn. but it was too late as he falls off the bicycle.

despite the anxiety that fills her brain on whether the boy was okay, a loud pfftleaves her mouth as she finds herself laughing out loud at the situation. the fact that she (and probably he) knew it was a bad idea, yet he still followed through with it and faced the consequences? it was comedically perfect.

but then she quickly stops as she finds herself rushing over to his side. stupid mina! your boyfriend’s probably in pain! “oh my GOD! are you okay?” she asks, her voice painted with worry. “i knew this was a bad idea! i don’t even know how you can say you’re all fine after a fall like that!”

soobin is a lot of things. he’s a tik toker, a student, but apparently, not very good at riding bicycles. at the back of his mind, he was aware that this was probably not a great idea –– thought it only hit him when he hit the ground, literally. he probably shouldn’t have taken his hands off the damn handles, but like any boy his age with the cutest girlfriend ever, he wanted to show off just a little. 

he stays on the ground and hears mina laughing at his pain. it helps though, because it has him smiling despite the stinging pain. “i’m glad you’re enjoying this,” he says, eyes turning to look at his girlfriend. but his words are hardly meant to be a jab to her, because he’s smiling too. he really is whipped. 

mina runs to his side after her short laughter and soobin turns to look at her, forcing himself to get up as he does so. “what can i say,” he says, because really what can he say –– “your boyfriend is a strong man –– OW,” he winces when he attempts to run a hand through his hair. “i’m fine, it’s good,” he says, not wanting to worry mina. “but look! riding a couple’s bicycle is totally safe… if you keep your hands on the handles!” he says, smiling as he dimples dig into his skin, hoping that she at least feels a little more reassured, even if he’s accidentally done the opposite.

catching up

rkbgyu​:  

As hard as he tries, Beomgyu can only go so far when trying to contact his friends. It was up to them to return his calls and texts. Even if he hounded someone to catch up, at the end of the day it was up to them and he knew that. Soobin was someone he was used to not always hearing from. If it weren’t for the fact that they had been friends since they were both children then he wouldn’t be trying this hard to reach his friend. Which is why he had jumped at the chance to catch up with his childhood friend.

❝ A tik tok? Really? ❞ Beomgyu mumbled (mostly under his breath). He should be used to his friend’s obsession with the app by now but he still felt weird and awkward when asked to appear in videos. Even though he had appeared in countless videos, he still felt awkward when shooting videos. Still, he was eager to please his friend and so he let out a soft chuckle. ❝ I mean we can but won’t you feel weird? ❞

❝ Me? ❞ He asked, turning to face his friend with a bright smile before he shrugged casually. ❝ Not much really. I mean I signed with TRC and I may have met someone but that’s not important, ❞ he replied, perhaps too casually for what he had revealed. ❝ What abut you, Binnie? Been up to anything new recently? ❞

soobin surrounds himself with the scenery, planning a tik tok in his head, when what beomgyu says catches his attention. trc? met someone? he turns to beomgyu and his signature pokerface is changed into one with a furrowed brows and wide eyes. 

“wait, what?” he says, grabbing his friend by the arm. “let’s go through that one by one,” he shakes his head as he pieces the information together. “you’re a trainee now andyou might have a boyfriend?” he asks. it’s not a lot, but it’s still quite a lot of information that soobin’s missed out on. “how’d you get signed? and who is this guy anyway? do i know him?” he asks. it’s probably because beomgyu’s a childhood friend, but it’s only natural for soobin to be a little overprotective of him. 

“i mean, i’m not a trainee. just your regular, average, famous highschool tik toker,” he shrugs, it’s not as glamorous a life as it seems. “oh, and i got a girlfriend. i don’t think i’ve told you yet. she’s really cute,” he adds, smiling at the thought of mina.

@rkbgyu

if soobin’s being honest, he’s aware that he hasn’t been the most… reachable of a friend. it’s mostly due to his personality and how much he likes keeping to himself. he isn’t exactly the type to reach out unless he’s reached out to, and he enjoys simplicity, even in his daily plans. still, he’s able to make some time off to hang out with beomgyu. they are childhood friends after all, and he hasn’t seen the boy as much as he’d like to. it’d be nice to spend some time together and catch up.

“this seems like a good place to take a tik tok,” is the first thing he says as they’re strolling around the pathway. maybe he’ll shoot something here later, something that’ll get him on everyone’s for you page. his goal after all, is to get more tik tok followers. he puts the idea aside though and instead turns to focus on his friend.

“what have you been up to gyu?” he asks, putting a hand in his pocket. “i feel like i haven’t seen you as much. it’s like you’re always off somewhere,” he continues, “that’s a lot coming from me since i’m usually the one that’s off doing something and never picking up his phone,” he adds playfully. 

look out

mxnark​:  

mina knew the perks of being in a relationship. she’s watched movies, listened to catchy love songs, and (she will deny it, but) has read stories about having a significant other who she could count on. someone who could make her feel better about any situation easily. every time they talked to each other, mina feels the same side effects they all mention. the butterflies in the stomach, the immediate smile just from being with him, and how she could practically melt in his arms every time they hug. it’s a shameshe can’t be too public about how much she loves her boyfriend because she wants to tell the worldabout how happy he makes her feel. ( was that too cheesy? thank goodness she’s only thinking it. )

so going to the picnic with him was obviously something she was up for. she already had imagined how the date (date.date? date!!!!!!!!!) would be in her head. they’d be so cheesyandcuteandromanticand they’d be able to do so much together!! even if that included… tandem biking. if it was normalbiking, she’d be fine with it. but this? she can already imagine how she’d easily fall off and scrape her pretty legs that she needed for dancing!! oh GOD!! anything but her legs.

she didn’t realize that her reluctance was showing on her face and she starts to feel a bit guilty. it’s not like she didn’t wantto do it. she’d do anything for soobin, even if it’s something she didn’t originally want to do. the arm around her shoulder surprises her, but it feels comforting at the same time. after listening to him, she couldn’t but feel her heart melt just from his words. when he tries to make her smile by lifting the edges of her lips with his thumbs, it turns genuine, especially with the tease that follows afterward. “you’re adorable,” she says with the smile still on her face before it goes back into a pout. “are you sure it’s okay i don’t pedal with you? isn’t it supposed to be a group effort? i don’t want you to get hurt, too…”

he’s not too sure if he’s ever felt this kind of thing before. but he likes it; it’s a different kind of happiness altogether. and in order to keep this happiness, he wants to do everything he can. he smiles at his girlfriend and gently pinches her cheeks. she’s so adorable, and soobin will never tire from thinking that. “of course,” he replies. 

in order to show his determination, he gets on the bicycle. because despite his love for all things that aren’t troublesome, his feelings for mina hold greater. and if there’s any way possible that he can comfort her, he at least wants to try. 

it’s supposed to be a couple’s bicycle, and in that moment, soobin doesn’t think about how the weight doesn’t quite balance since he’s the only one sitting. but he wants to reassure mina. and what better way to do that then by doing something that your parents told you never to do? “look,” he says, and he begins to pedal. everything goes smoothly, until soobin makes the wise decision to life both his hands from the handle. “even with no hands it’s completely fin ––” thunk!he falls off the bicycle ( in a not very cool way ), and groans.

this is. embarrassing. and it also hurts. thankfully, he isn’t injured badly, just a few scrapes here and there. he turns to look at his girlfriend and gives her a thumbs up, groaning as he does so. he’s never been a good actor, so he can’t exactly hide the pain. “it’s completely fine,” he says, before he falls back to the floor in pain. “babe…”

♡ –– @mxnark

it’s like every love song in the world is finally starting to make sense ( the ones about realizing you’re in love, and feeling like you’re on cloud nine. none of that lauv or lany nonsense ). soobin’s got a girlfriend. he’s got a girl that he really likes and that he enjoys spending time with. and they’re going! on! a date! some might think it’s uncharacteristic of soobin to be the type of boyfriend that cared for these things, and while he might seem that way due to his mostly uncaring, prefer to be out of anyone’s business, personality, when it came to mina, he cared a lot.

there’s actually a lot of things that he’d like to do with mina. for example, rent a swan paddle, walk through the park, have a romantic picnic, kiss her under the stars. but for now they settle on cycling together and soobin’s completely fine with that. but mina looks a little enthused about it, and being the boyfriend ( !! ) that he is, soobin takes it upon himself to check on his girlfriend.

“babe,” he says, putting an arm around her shoulder; one of the perks to being tall for his age, “are you alright?” he asks as they walk towards the bicycle. “you don’t even have to move too much! just leave the pedalling to me, and you can enjoy the view. i want you to enjoy yourself,” he uses his thumb to gently lift the edges of her lips. “the view being either the park or me of course. whichever you prefer,” he teases.

look out

rksbin​:

he’s not too sure if he’s ever felt this kind of thing before. but he likes it; it’s a different kind of happiness altogether. and in order to keep this happiness, he wants to do everything he can. he smiles at his girlfriend and gently pinches her cheeks. she’s so adorable, and soobin will never tire from thinking that. “of course,” he replies. 

in order to show his determination, he gets on the bicycle. because despite his love for all things that aren’t troublesome, his feelings for mina hold greater. and if there’s any way possible that he can comfort her, he at least wants to try. 

it’s supposed to be a couple’s bicycle, and in that moment, soobin doesn’t think about how the weight doesn’t quite balance since he’s the only one sitting. but he wants to reassure mina. and what better way to do that then by doing something that your parents told you never to do? “look,” he says, and he begins to pedal. everything goes smoothly, until soobin makes the wise decision to life both his hands from the handle. “even with no hands it’s completely fin ––” thunk!he falls off the bicycle ( in a not very cool way ), and groans.

this is. embarrassing. and it also hurts. thankfully, he isn’t injured badly, just a few scrapes here and there. he turns to look at his girlfriend and gives her a thumbs up, groaning as he does so. he’s never been a good actor, so he can’t exactly hide the pain. “it’s completely fine,” he says, before he falls back to the floor in pain. “babe…”

though mina was still worrying about riding the bike, she’d be lying if she said his smile and him pinching her cheeks doesn’t make her feel any better. if she thought she had it badbeforeshe started dating him and getting butterflies just from seeing his face, she would not know what to say to thatmina about thiseffect on her.

she watches him go on a couple’s bicycle on his own and she looks at him with a look of worry. it’s only natural, really. but she doesn’t stop him, as she wants to see him prove his point to see if it’d make her feel any better about the situation going on. that’s obviously hermistake as a girlfriend, but she doesn’t think too much about it. that is… until he lifts his hands off of the handles. “soobin, i don’t think that’s a good idea,” she tries to warn. but it was too late as he falls off the bicycle.

despite the anxiety that fills her brain on whether the boy was okay, a loud pfftleaves her mouth as she finds herself laughing out loud at the situation. the fact that she (and probably he) knew it was a bad idea, yet he still followed through with it and faced the consequences? it was comedically perfect.

but then she quickly stops as she finds herself rushing over to his side. stupid mina! your boyfriend’s probably in pain! “oh my GOD! are you okay?” she asks, her voice painted with worry. “i knew this was a bad idea! i don’t even know how you can say you’re all fine after a fall like that!”

get inked!

danielxrk​:

mina’s reaction makes him laugh, and he’s about to tell her he’s only kidding when she tells the tattoo artist exactly what he just said. his eyes widen, but the vengeful older brother in him gives him pause. daniel, as weak and easily humiliated as he is, has endured an entire lifetime of mina embarrassing him, both intentionally and otherwise. it comes with the territory of having such an extroverted, shameless little sister. would it be so bad to make her endure this punishment for losing the bet? mina did bring it upon herself.

he’s pretty sure that’s not what jesus would do, however, and considering daniel is supposed to follow that example and is trying to more now that he’s not lying to everyone he knows about his identity, he should probably do differently. “you don’t have to put all of that,” he corrects the artist. “just ‘kang daniel is the best’ works. thank you.” luckily, the tattoo artist has to start at the beginning of the sentence, so by the time daniel says so, it’s not too late to change it. if he was too late, then…oh well? (mina is lucky he’s so nice.)

he laughs again at her thumbs up, and if anything, mina gets credit for being a good sport about it. part of him is surprised she’s not complaining the whole way, but she probably realizes this was all her idea to begin with. daniel never would’ve come up with something like this on his own– never really wanted anything to do with the bet anyway –so this is ultimately all mina’s doing. maybe she really is getting more responsible as she gets older.

he hears her mutter something to the tattoo artist, but can’t make out the words. knowing mina it’s some kind of scheme, but daniel will let it slide, as he usually does. daniel gives her his full attention when she turns back to him, and taps at his chin in dramatic thought. “buy me food,” he decides. “since you ate everything else. that i worked hard on.” it wasn’t anything too elaborate, but he knows were their positions reversed mina would milk this face even more.

she tries her best to keep herself still, not wanting to ruin the tattoo artist’s concentration on what would be their futuremasterpiece (or what mina would like to name as future disaster for herself). when daniel makes the correction to go with “kang daniel is the best”, she thinks she hears boththe artist andher sigh in relief. of course, she’ssighing because the less embarrassing situation, the better for her. btu she thinks that the artist is sighing because they probably think mina’s request (let alone herself) is a lot to deal with. and… given the fact that her brotheris right here as proof, they’re not wrong.

he really issuch a good sport. if he were in hershoes, she knewthat she would still stick to the “kang mina is the best and i smell like socks” idea because she’s a little sister. it’s her job to make her siblings’ lives hard, even by just the bare minimum. she’s at least fortunate enough to know that the tattoo won’t last forever. they’d only last a few shower washes and thenno one would be looking at her funny-looking arm. even if she doesagree with the sentence, she stillhas her preciouspride.

on the topic of precious pride, him telling her that she has to buy him food makes her groan even more. she almost feels bad over the tattoo artist being the innocent bystander in this situation. a part of her wants to tell him ‘no way am i gonna do that!’, since she’s stillvery much a little brat, but she continues to restrain herself. curse her prideful self thinking that she had the upper hand in that bet. on the brightside, this will be a mistake she learns for the future.

she sighs later on, showing a look of slightdefeat as she pulls out that fake,forcedsmile again on him. “sure. you deserve it,” she answers. and it’s true, he does. he deserves a lotwith the fact that he had been dealing with her endless teasing for years. “don’t order any of my favorites, though. if you do, i will neverforgive you… even if i deserve it.”

get inked!

danielxrk​:

mina is one of the people daniel loves most in the world, if not the one. they endured the same life together, aware of their shared blessings, but withstanding the difficult parts: their mother, mainly. they held up against their constant criticism and built each other back up again, understanding constantly mutual, on the same insufficient level while their older brother seemed to meet every expectation. they shared a subtle resentment of him too, or– daniel did, at least. mina never really does anything subtly, but daniel loves that about her (usually.)

she annoys him to death sometimes though, like now, with her insistence on eating all of the food they packed up for the picnic before they even arrive. there kang mina sits in the back seat, drowning in food like some insatiable piglet, stuffing her face, and here is daniel, always looking at her in his rearview mirror, silently cursing seoul’s evening traffic. maybe, if he even could drive on the street long enough without stopping, he would even speed to get to their location in time.

it isn’t even really about the tattoo, although it would be humiliating. daniel could just find a way to cover that up. no, it’s the fact that he wants food too. he’s hungry!

thankfully, daniel’s excellent driving skills preserve some of the food. oh, yeah, it also wins him the bet, which is convenient. he laughs all the way to the airbrush tattoo stall, and even this much is fun. spending any time with mina is, though, with training getting in the way of their time together for the longest time. now she’s in sphere with him, and it’s still a joy, even if he has the feeling the heartz project will separate them once again.

“i don’t know,” he admits. “kang daniel is the best and i smell like socks?” honestly, daniel isn’t vengeful enough to make her get something that bad. it’s fun to joke about, though.

one of the things she’s thankful for is how daniel has always been a good brother to her. maybe toogood, especially considering the fact that most of the time, mina has acted like a demon spawn to him. or really a little sibling to him. either way, he has to witness half if not most of her wild shenanigans growing up and even nowcounts as proof. of course, she’s the one who lostin this situation, but mina will take this L even ifit’ll hurt her pride more than she would want it to. to be honest, it was bold of her to assume she’d win such a bet. 

she groans at his response, not even trying to hide how she was not at all excited at that response. she wishes she can complain and instead tell the artist to draw something else. maybe something lesshumiliating for her, considering the fact that she’s putting it somewhere most people would be able to notice. but, this isher punishment for not keeping her end of the bet. not to mention, she’s too full to eat anything more from the basket to continueto try and prove herself. even if she did that, it’d be cheating and daniel won fair and square, thanks to his driving skills. 

she sighs and looks over at the artist. “what he said. kang daniel is the best and i smell like socks. please.” the tattoo artist gives her a strange look, but complies to the request. she looks over at the other with an awkward, fake smile and a thumbs up similar to posing for a picture of a regretful decision. she turns back to the artist for a quick second to say something else to her. “if you could, could you make it as small as you can? only if that’s not a bother.” 

she looks back to him as the artist begins drawing on her arm with the air brush. “congrats, by the way. for getting your win, i mean,” she says with a genuinesmile this time. “do you want to do anything else to congratulate your win? because i don’t think there’s much left food in the basket.” there’s a cheeky grin that follows right after because while she didn’t win, she still got benefitted from it in a way. 

• A DAY AT THE RKPICNIC     ━        ⁺  ♔

jieqiong had never been one for the outdoors. especially in this heat.

she could practically feel herself melting. when she had finally departed from yoorim, she had found herself aimlessly wandering. not quite ready to go home just yet – though, if jieqiong was being smart ( and not exactly her greatest asset ) she probably would have because home meant air conditioner on blast – she stayed a bit longer. enjoying the way the sun began to set and create a ripple of hazy oranges along the horizon. 

it was one of those rare days outs that she didn’t get. often cooped up in a four-walled room with heavy strobe lights and a camera clicking incessantly in the background as she posed this way and that and back this way to the chatter of the photographer and the fussing of the stylist. it wasn’t bad work, nor was it remotely hard but jieqiong did think it could get quite mundane if she thought about it.

and she hardly thought about it because the mundane of it all would just depress her and jieqiong was not here for that kind of negativity. her make up friends always told her the more negative you were the more wrinkles you’d get as you grew older and hello, it wasn’t like jieqiong wasn’t getting any younger.

she pauses by a tree, finally finding some shade – although pointless considering how the sun was beginning to grow shadows from the depths of her soles rather than from the top of her head. all in all, if jieqiong looked back on the day – it hadn’t been a bad one. she had stayed long enough to finally hear the hypnotically raved BOL4; ate some mediocre convenience store food and chatted long and well with friends she hadn’t seen in a while. if anything, it was probably a better day than most – she got to see yoorim, got reassured that her baby was well fed, healthy and surprisingly happy despite the hard work her company was throwing onto her baby shoulders ( the thought made jieqiong’s heart break a little -- and was that a tear in the corner of her eye? ) ; it was a good day.

• ON MY WAY TO YOU ​     ━━━━        ⁺ ♔ 

rkyurim​.

would it be right to assume that yoorim feels awful? yes. it has been a little less than a month since she was made part of sphere’s debut project and following this rare opportunity, she suddenly went radio silent on all of her friends. as someone who historically texts her friends on a daily basis, it should be noticeable when she goes missing, and that especially during summertime, when the school are all closed for the holidays. but, well, no one has sent out ‘missing person’ notes yet.

yoorim supposes that everyone has been busy these days, though she wouldn’t really know since she has refrained from communicating with anyone. it’s not like she hasn’t wanted to, these past two and a half weeks has simply has been too overwhelming—like, when she signed the contract with sphere in mid-july, there was no way she expected to have a chance at debuting so fast. best case scenario, she hoped that she might reach the stage in the next few years. not… months…?

now, she doesn’t really expect to receive a spot, though. why should she, after all, when there are so many other talented girls that deserves it more? all the questions make her feel suffocated, all the uncertainty and insecurities make her feel helpless. she has come to realise that despite being strictly told not to talk about the project, yoorim simply has to, for her own sanity. she needs advice, she needs guidance. but, first and foremost, she must see her friends to see they are alright.

she had only just spotted jieqiong when her phone rings, the device already in hand as she was looking for the other. “i see you! don’t move, i’ll be there in a second!” by the sound of her tone, it’s obvious that she already grins brightly—finally; time to relax, time to be herself again, fully.

          ⁺     before she even has a chance to greet the other ( more like chastise because if jieqiong hadn’t noticed it’d been ages since she’d seen the other she was sure yoorim must have ) , yoorim youthful voice comes ringing in her ear and all jieqiong can do is hush her giggles at the other’s words. but she accepts, “ah, alright. i’ll stay right here but don’t come sneaking up behind me, okay!” she warns before hanging up the call. the other’s words don’t stop her from turning around, looking even more for the other’s familiar head of hair and above-normal height. 

( though, she supposes if standing next next to jieqiong who shared the other’s height by the by, it probably wasn’t as abnormal ) if anything, jieqiong probably looked as abnormal standing by herself within the throng of average-height folk.

but the sight of the other girl come bounding her way brings a wider smile to her face. immediately her arms latch around the other’s form, happy to see that while it has been long that yoorim still looks happy and healthy. so, after her arms have come undone from their ever-so tight embrace, jieqiong does what she does best. she slaps the other’s bicep with a huff. “yah – if i go radio silent, you can’t go radio silent too! you know i need love and attention on a daily basis.” her lips protrude into a slight pout, something that probably doesn’t fit her elder-like status. 

• ON MY WAY TO YOU W/RKYURIM​     ━━━━        ⁺ ♔ 

it’s been ages since she’s seen yurim. ( an oddity for jieqiong because unlike most of her friends, jieiqong was one who made it a habit of being an absolute nuiscaince and making sure she stayed in the loop of her friend’s lives at all times – however, time moves faster than her when her schedules and shoots with chuu end up clashing with her social life and she falls off the radar, something no one had thought would ever happen )

to make up for this misstep, jieqiong proposes a cute picnic date. but rather than a cliched wooden picnic basket set in hand, jieqiong bears gifts of glee. in one hand a cardboard bag full of new goodies that have yet to hit the stores at chuu and in the other some delectables she had quickly picked up at the nearest convenience store, housed in a plastic bag. sure, it wasn’t cute or ideal – but jieqiong thought the convenience was better than nothing.

she walks along the throngs of people laying in the grass in their own clusters, spending their hearty weekend day in mirthful enjoyment. the distant sounds of a busking duo could be heard from where she stood in the middle of them all. her head turns from left to right, hoping to catch a glimpse of familiarity among the crowd – if yurim had somehow escaped her notice – but to no avail.

so, she picks up her phone, ready to dial the younger’s number in hope of getting a hold of her. jieqiong quietly wonders if she had given yurim the wrong address to the park. 

chungha really wanted to do the swan paddle ride but it felt a little odd doing it herself. so she ultimately decided not to.

she and mina decided to come. it was the weekend, their schedules were shorter and they were able to make it to the celebration right before the sun started setting. chungha had decided to use her roller skates. she never got to do that anymore. in fact she hasn’t brought them out once since buying them. they were practically in new condition.

the park wasn’t packed with people when she arrived. there was a clear path for her to bob and weave through everyone as she skated along as if she were gliding on ice instead of pavement. there were a myriad of families there, trying to get a few more moments of summer fun before the semester started up again. chungha didn’t blame them. this was her moment of summer fun too.

all throughout the park she skated. headphones in her ears and a new spirit in her. it was gorgeous out. the weather was mild due to the approaching autumn. the sky was dotted with a few clouds as if an impatient novice artist had wanted to occupy the empty space so their work didn’t have to much open. the were fluffy and white although not altogether. some had that fluffy full look, clearly the work of the artist in the beginning. but most of the clouds were stretched, pale white and almost clear just barely strung together. and the sun was bright although not beating down on the day as it sleepily began its descent, turning the sky hues of pinks and oranges. golden hour.

chungha propped up her phone, quick to take some videos of the sun blessing her skin with nutrients like the thirsty little sunflower she was. with the sheen of sweat on her skin, chungha seemed to glow. she soaked it up. it wouldn’t take long for the sun to enter nautical twilight and be gone completely, taking its warmth with it.

soon chungha couldn’t take videos of herself skating without feeling like someone would swipe it when her back was turned. it seemed with the sun setting that the park had gotten more packed. chungha didn’t mind but she lamented having to take of her skates after only a few hours. back to sneakers and off to grab herself some dinner. but before that, she figured she’d hit up some of the park vendors to get herself a treat. she worked up an appetite.

rksoleil​:

✧watch your step

It was one of the good days. Or it had been, up until a few seconds prior.

The silence drags out, even after the stranger speaks, and Soleil doesn’t even lift their gaze to look. Their eyes are fixed firmly on their phone. It’s not even a matter of having to get a cracked screen fixed (it’s inconvenient, at most, because they had just bought this one, and they’ll probably skip repair straight to replacement, and it always takes longer than they like to transfer everything between devices).

Their skin burns.

Their fingers twitch, wanting to curl into fists, wanting to itch at where there had been contact (and contact is still contact even with the fabric of their all-covering clothing in the way). They can feel the muscles in their legs and their back slowly tensing with each passing second in the silence. 

The tension is forced out in a heave of a sigh, and a sharp snap of their tongue.

Annoyance.

Finally, Soleil reaches down to their feet to collect the dropped device, and even before they can see the screen itself, they know it’s a lost cause. There’s small shards of glass on ground, and they sigh again.

“Great.” A muttering. Mandarin. They crouch, long legs easily folding beneath themself as they place down their drink to free a hand so they can carefully pick up the small shards. Unlikely to cause much problem, but with so many families around, there’s bound to be some young children escaping with bare feet. 

Finally, once the shards are collected in one palm with the broken device, and their drink is back in the other hand, they stand and lift their gaze. It doesn’t meet the stranger’s, though, and diverts right past to look over her shoulder instead.

“M-My… apologies.” Formal Korean. Uncomfortable. Almost cold.

Where’s Da Long when they need him?

they seem to ignore her, almost as if they were catching up to what had actually transpired. there was no words of acknowledgement thrown her way. for a moment chungha was ready to fix a scowl. though she knew she couldn’t do what she typically would have done, her fingers were just twitching to start something.

but no, she couldn’t. especially not as a private trainee. especially not since mina was around somewhere. mina was an adult but chungha still felt responsible for her. she couldn’t go and get herself in trouble just because someone was being weird.

she takes a deep breath.

the strangers says something. she recognises it as a chinese language but she knows it isn’t the words her girlfriend so often uses. she wonders if he cursed or if it’s a different dialect (meiqi spoke cantonese that much she knew. but she wasn’t sure how to tell which other dialect this would have been). it probably definitely was a curse although she was surprised to hear the non-native language. she blinks, watching him crouch to clean the parts of the broken screen. she cringes at the sight of it. it’s so annoying to get a screen fixed.

“i can help you,” she offers although she’s not sure the man would even acknowledge her at this rate. she goes into her bag and pulls out a thick napkin. that way they can wrap the shards and ensure none escape or dig into his palm. she holds the napkin open for him to dump the glass shards into. she’s a little stiff with him, unsure if she should extend any kindness. he seemed…..antisocial.

“it’s fine,” she ultimately says. there was no reason to make it any worse. although she doesn’t smile or try to seem bubbly. that’s not her. she’s sure such a response would have made him cringe, anyhow. “i’m really short so if you don’t pay attention you might run over some kids.” she checks her own phone, pausing only a moment to gaze at the lockscreen of her and her girlfriend before unlocking it for what she was looking for.

“there’s a screen repair place just two streets down from the picnic. i’m not sure about their prices but maybe you can get a good deal.”

that’s the most she would offer. after all, she wasn’t even sure he meant to be in such a crowded place. she tried no to look dismayed or grimace at him but it was hard to keep her eyes from looking a bit harsh. it was almost a reflex. she took a deep breath.

this day was too nice for it to be ruined by a strange encounter.

rksoleil:

ｃｌｏｓｅｄ ｓｔａｒｔｅｒ ｆｏｒ @rkchungha []

The good days come more often than the bad ones, at the moment. It’s the only reason they’re so deep in the crowd like this. They aren’t at the picnic alone; would never have come to the picnic at all without their crew’s insistence and their brother’s encouragement, but they’re alone in the crowd gathered around the food stalls. 

Their eyes, ever the only part of Soleil’s face visible even in the warmth of summer, wander over the stalls and the steam rising from the various grills, and they only look down again to look to their phone in their hand. Their other hand is occupied by a cold drink, straw wet from slipping it beneath their face mask for a sip.

It only takes a moment. A single moment distracted with curling up the corners of their hidden mouth in a smile at a message from their brother. Sol’s usual instinct to being touched is to tense up and jerk away, but it’s a little different when they’re the one at fault for walking into someone.

The instinct is to save their drink, to keep it from spilling over either themself or whichever unfortunate soul it was that they had walked into. The drink survives with nothing escaping, and Soleil thinks they’re in the clear right up until they register an unmistakeable crack.

A sigh escapes even before they look down, and the defeat that presses down on their shoulders keeps them from reaching down. They simply stare at the ground for a long moment and never look away from where their phone had landed.

Face down.

the picnic was bustling with people. excitement and eagerness for the summer sun. parents taking their children to picnic on the large areas of grass in the park. couples lining up to go on the swan rides in the lake. chungha can only watch in small envy, thinking back to her childhood and wishing her parents did small family gestures like this instead of leaving her with relatives in south korea for “vacation” or having her neighbours watch her if they were working. it wasn’t a bad childhood – they weren’t neglectful. but she had yearned for family bonding experiences and one of her biggest wishes as a child was for a family camping trip.

she never got one.

her eyes drift over to the lake again. friends and couples alike hopping onto the rides enjoying themselves even though eventually it would make their thighs hurt from paddling. she wonders if she and meiqi would ever be able to do such a thing together. would it look weird? she can see many pairs of the same representing gender and even she didn’t assume they were couples. so maybe she and meiqi could someday. but she was also an idol. so would she really?

chungha takes a step back from the bridge, knowing that watching and allowing her mind to be plagued with envy and what-ifs would do nothing but soil this beautiful sunny day. besides, she had to get back to mina eventually and make sure she doesn’t run off too far to not get back home to their apartment.

she pivots, turning on her heel to start walking but she feels a bump from behind. she stumbles forward a step or two, whipping around to see the large mass that moved into her. she sees the man in front of her, a full 20 centimetres taller than she, just looking down at his phone. she didn’t hear any cry of devastation but she did hear the impossibly distinct sound of the screen cracking.

“….are you going to check it?” chungha asks after a moment passes where nothing is said. though she isn’t particularly invested. she looks up, definitely waiting for something to be said. at least an apology. “staring at it won’t help.”