Realistic or Modern ⇻ 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩. ♡

[sox]

"sweet, haha... so... you think i'm her type, then?"

2... 1... click!

"sure, man,"

jinwon had muttered into his camera at the time, disinterest coating his words as the burly senior hovered over the park bench to take a peek, reeking of potent cologne and veiled insecurity. seriously, what was the deal with urbanites and their plethora of suffocating fragrances? he could hardly take a proper breath in his morning macro course without some pungent, saccharine scent clogging up his sinuses and souring his mood from the get-go, a far cry from the vague air of diesel and mint lingering on his own clothes. as such, when the sociable park taesik chose to follow him after their shared statistics lecture and crowded his space during his dwindling lunch break to sneak a glance at the snapshot of his portrait, jinwon had simply scrunched his nose in displeasure as he shifted away to put some space between himself and the encroaching data analytics major.

well, whatever. even if he didn't like the dude very much, he just needed to get this over and done with— taesik had promised to introduce him to someone useful if he helped him score with his crush, after all.

choi yujeong... he didn't know too much about the woman he was setting taesik up with other than the obvious traits: young and beautiful, likely the same age as himself; ostensibly wealthy, based on the quality of her accessories; extroverted and bubbly, without a doubt; single? most likely, if he trusted his own observations of her behavior over the last few days— he would inevitably find out for sure once her admirer approached her, though his intuition had yet to lead him astray after nearly twenty years of practice.

now, however, as he sat at the very back of the political science hall that briefly created a tangential connection between their otherwise discrete bubbles of interaction, idly watching her from his periphery in wait of a clear shot, jinwon couldn't placate the mildly unsettled feeling in his gut that warned him against making haste. playing with the hearts of strangers had become a cathartic form of entertainment that came with its own risks, but he always tried his best to mitigate them by doing his due diligence in researching potential matches long before taking the plunge. this time, though...

"that's all for today,"

came the professor's shrill dismissal as the students around him began to gradually shove their belongings back into their bags.

"remember to buy the textbooks i outlined in the syllabus before next week's quiz!"

time was quickly running out— per his own instructions, taesik was bound to appear at any second to sweep this unsuspecting girl off of her feet. this was his last window of opportunity to guarantee a successful confession scene before he lost sight of her for good.

2...1... bang!

at the very moment that he lined up his shot and sealed choi yujeong's fate with a single flick of his finger gun, the flippant senior sauntered in and plopped down onto the chair in front of her with his back to the white board, leaning forward onto her notebook to prevent her from running away before he could shoot his own shot.

"hey, beautiful, recognize me? don't lie, i saw you checking me out at the northern roast café last week,"

taesik crooned, reaching out to twirl a lock of her hair around his finger with a self-assured smirk. a chorus of subdued snickers erupted from the few onlookers that lingered nearby, clearly amused by the demeaning introduction meant to pass as flirtation.

"if you have plans tonight, cancel them— i'll show you a good time instead. how about it?"

surely this was a bit? no way this guy was being serious... just barely within earshot to eavesdrop on their conversation from his position several rows away, jinwon's neutral expression contorted in distaste at the crude pick-up line.

'the hell... gross bastard.'

despite stiffening in his seat, however, he still opted to shield his face behind the brim of his cap for the time being to monitor just how their collegiate love story would nevertheless come together atop such a rocky foundation with the silent aid of his inexplicable abilities. after all, choi yujeong must already be plenty enamored with that clownish man by this point— certainly enough to find even the most grotesque advances charming so long as they came from park taesik.

'cheers to the future lovebirds.'

he belatedly wondered if the new shipment of radiator coolant he'd ordered had arrived at the shop yet.

jinwon.

mood.

'just... don't make a mess.'

location.

poli sci classroom.

outfit.

 

[Uxie]

no sane person wanted to be in class on a monday morning — 8.30am, slumped over a desk with all the world's dread on your shoulders. a most sorry reminder that free time existed only on the weekends, especially for a law student. always fleeting, and always leaving you with symptoms like an addict chasing something you can only wait like an idiot for. to make matters worse, she'd been abandoned by the only friend she'd convinced to take this class with her, though she should've known better than to expect anything from han gyeri, who had an attendance rate of negative three in the past semester. she wasn't sure she'd ever be catching a glimpse of that girl in this class.

all that to say, yujeong was feeling like shit. hot shit, at the very least, because she'd picked out a cute outfit in an attempt to cheer herself up this morning, but shit was shit, no matter how many pretty ribbons you slapped on it.

with that in mind, it would make perfect sense that she'd been fighting off her sleepiness amidst the grouchiest mood known to mankind, and it would make perfect sense that she had resorted to sudoku puzzles to keep her eyes from falling shut.

perfect sense, too, that she'd completed a grand total of thirty-four puzzles by the time the professor hit his final slide and was half-certain she could enter herself into a competition and get somewhere with it. her last puzzle had taken her only seventeen minutes and twenty-six seconds for the second-most-difficult-difficulty, no hints, and surely that had to count for something, right?

so engrossed, that "that's all for today," was mere white noise against her boxes and numbers, even as students began packing up and filing out of the classroom. would a nine go there—

the screen disappeared from view, replaced by a burly forearm with the hint of a tattoo peeking from beneath rolled sleeves. yujeong barely eked out an indignant

"hey!"

before he launched into a dramatic little monologue.

"don't lie, i saw you checking me out at the northern roast café last week," her nose scrunched in disgust as a finger came a little too close for comfort — his entire, sleazy person was perpetually too close for comfort, if you asked for her honest opinion — and she leaned back in her chair in a futile effort to distance herself from him. her hands tugged helplessly at her laptop (and her poor, unfinished sudoku! she hoped the timer paused automatically.) but the weight of his upper half locked it in place on her desk, and she was left to endure the rest of his parody of a confession.

"if you have plans tonight, cancel them— i'll show you a good time instead. how about it?"

her features flashed disbelief, and for a moment, she was at a loss for words. utter incredulity would be an under-exaggeration, and as soon as her mind finally kicked back into action, yujeong let out a scoff and a snicker — a quick, dismissive little sound.

"what? ew, no, who the hell even are you?"

the unfounded confidence seemed to melt from his face, replaced with a sense of confusion she was quite certain should not be difficult to figure out. her lip quirked up in distaste, eyes rolling before coming to settle on where his forearm was still resting on her poor laptop.

a strong, sturdy tug, and his arm flopped away, and she hugged her laptop close to her chest. in case he might try to hold it hostage again, or whatever. and she took back her lock of hair, too. for good measure.

not that he seemed capable of it, at that moment, at least — he was looking a little... bug-eyed. he'd been bug-looking before, but he was selling the look with far more conviction, now, cheeks pink and gaze looking off into the distance. she passed a glance over her shoulder and spotted another boy just a few rows away, brim of his cap tipped over his face in a super-suspicious way. ah...

had she totally missed her cue?

"oh, my god!"

a laugh flickered from her lips, a half-hearted sound.

"i'm so sorry, that was a joke, right?"

he finally looked down at her, and she forced a smile — a grimace, it probably looked more like — as she gave him a half-hearted pat, her fingers barely brushing the air against his sleeve before darting away like he might leave a stench. such a shitty prank, but she was sure he was embarrassed enough.

"you must have lost a bet or something to have used that pick-up line, right? it was so bad, hah."

why wasn't he laughing along? god, this was so awkward.

her laptop safely in her bag, she pushed herself to her seat and began to shuffle out from behind her desk.

"so, um. that was so funny,"

she said, humour fading from her voice,

"i'll see you around— ah?"

his hand had found its way around her sleeved wrist, and she stared at it for a moment before her eyes lifted to his face. somewhere, somehow, that dazed look had disappeared, too, except he had not returned with a slimy suaveness. whatever he was sporting now felt a bit more... brutish. his grin was a little more terrifying, actually, and his grip on her arm was not helping that fact.

"i don't appreciate you making a joke out of me," he all but growled, and her eyes widened. "but i'll overlook it for you, baby, if you consider my offer seriously." she almost gagged. he'd been serious?

her eyebrows furrowed in vexation, and she tugged at her hand to no avail.

"okay, i'm not interested. like, at all."

"kept making eyes at me last week and now you're not interested?" his tone was taunting, and her eyes flared.

"what the fuck are you talking about?"

she pulled again, to no avail.

"dude, let go of me—"

"c'mon, you're just playing hard to get now. i can see it in your eyes."

oh, he'd be seeing something, alright — stars, if he didn't fuck off.

"i'm going to give you three seconds to let go of me before i kick you in the balls."

yujeong.

mood.

'who the fu-'

location.

poli sci classroom.

outfit.