cracked marble • jungri

seven

day 4: the koseki temple, 0951 hours.

hours later, yerim finds herself staring out the open sliding doors of another guest room, having just woken up on a sunny morning by the oceans. her hair reflects the blue morning sky that greets her upon waking, strands colored a darling cerulean as she blinks her tired silver eyes slowly, gaze flitting around the vicinity while the singing of birds echo around the vast atmosphere.

the morning sun is blindingly bright as it greets her from beyond the horizon, specks of white light peeking from the faux edge of the endless sea, shy as it hides from her blurring sights (like a mimosa, cloaks itself at the feathery touch of her sleepy gaze).

the incense in this guest room is different, she notices. instead of sweet mango or ever irresistible apricot, this place reeks of refreshing ocean breeze, salt that travels through the rivers she calls her veins, dotted with ink from the past and stardust from above. yerim hasn't been to the beach for a long time coming, too caught up in the painfully sweet isolation of her temple, the dead memories left behind there being realer than she could ever hope to be. saddening, yes. everything about her is.

the ocean, the thunderous seas; they remind her of much sunnier days, with her youth wound tight together, far from falling apart. they remind her of playful chases by the shore, giggles wafting through fleeting winds as they run along sun-kissed sand together. the memories are too distant now, a mere blur from another life. she doesn't remember enough about him in the past. perhaps that is why she is so used to his newer persona nowadays, as if she has witnessed this kind of change a million times over. yerim has a feeling that it had something to do with the ever-sneaky weaver of fate, the root to all troubles in this universe and all timelines.

yerim is brought back to reality by the magnifying sounds of loud knocking on her door, a ripple of soundwaves that pierce straight through the atmosphere like a hot knife though butter. she perks up at the sound, tilts her head to the side just a little as she turns around, humming low in her throat.

even without looking behind the closed door, she could already tell who is the noisy culprit standing on the other side. a huff leaves her mouth, irritation soon rising up to the surface of her soul. "what, hoseok?" she questions flatly, already feeling her patience thinning despite not even seeing his face. being away from him for so long has almost made her forget about how infuriating he truly is.

the door is pushed open soon after, and to no surprise, hoseok's sunny face peeks in, lighting up at the sight of her. "there you are, fortune! i was going to think that you disappeared into thin air or something! your little human boy was getting worried, y'know," he hums cheerily as he moves to prance around the room, enchanting the billions of wax candles and causing them to easily catch aflame with the assistance of his magic, sunlight pulsing through glowing veins as the rich magic envelops him.

this is a normal sight to her, yes. it's been a long time since she's seen the sun card in action, but this is perfectly orthodox in her eyes. this is one scene she's seen too much in their older days. now, it just feels like a faraway memory from another time and another place. in fact, she feels this way with most of her better memories; a shame, indeed.

yerim lets out a small huff, watches the smoke that travels through the air with faint fascination. "are you mad? as much as i'd like to get away from you, i can't just jump anywhere and leave jungkook alone here. it's not part of the future i saw, at least."

hoseok rolls his eyes, pouting his lips as he glances at her from the corner of his eyes. his fluffy tuft of hair, in its usual honey brown hue, changes quickly into locks of pretty cotton candy, resembling the cherry blossom that also litters this guest room. all star children are stunningly beautiful, yerim concludes. "excuses, excuses. just admit that you're growing fond of the boy and get on with life, fortune. it's not too bad."