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CHAPTER 14
Doom's Arc
EP: FOUR
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⊱ ────── {⋅. ♪ .⋅} ────── ⊰
♬ It's dark here... (어두워 이 곳은~)
Cold and withering... (차갑게 시들하고~)
Not a single place to lean on in this lonely place... (기댈 곳 하나없는 외로운 이 곳~) ♪
The voice akin to a soothing murmur that perfectly vivified the forlorn lyrics resonated through the speakers.
Yeosang took a glimpse at the fanatic beside him who had his jaw fully dropped to his idol's singing. He believed, by the time, the standards for Wooyoung's ideal type had been raised immeasurably high that they flew out of the stratosphere.
But to Yeosang, the talent of the generation's heartthrob inside the recording booth didn't do the most part in surprising him. It's the emotions conveyed in the song which struck dangerously close to home.
♬ Is anyone out there, can you hear it? (들리시나요?)
Can you hear the sound of my loneliness whispering? (내 읊조리는 고독이 들리시나요?) ♪
How can someone have the sheer knack for writing songs this raw and realistic??
♬ Oh please, let me know the answer... (답을 알려줘요~)
The reason I can't get away from being alone... (나 홀로 남아 벗어날 수 없는 이유~) ♪
Or was it that this man too, had a lot going on in his mind when he looked up at the night sky??
"Yeosang-ssi?"
"Sorry. Yes?"
Jolted awake, Yeosang found himself not noticing the mop of cherry red he'd been staring had turned around, or even Wooyoung and San's absence in the studio as a whole. Though, his subconscious might have grasped something along the lines of those two declaring their trip to the minimart downstairs to fetch some refreshments and whatnot.
Not breaking their eye contact, Jongho pointed backwards to his workstation on which, when Yeosang looked over, had colourful bits of audio littered.
"Can I have your opinion on the arrangement? It sounds a little off."
Dumfounded because it was the first for his opinion to be treated like it mattered in this line of work, Yeosang hesitantly nodded and rose from the lounge.
As the blond approached, Jongho swiveled his chair to play the audio for him to listen.
Awkward with his idle hands as he inclined forward to observe, Yeosang couldn't come up with a better idea than to prop them against the top of the backrest.
Jongho paused the audio and toggled the purple audio block,
"I was thinking... would it be good if yours and San's parts switch like this?" then dropped it next to the green block where it was labelled 'San-demo-3'.
Yeosang hummed. "Or..." he motioned to the screen, "if we put yours and San's harmonized bits first, then blend with mine after, it'd sound more... flowy, I think."
'Flowy'? Really, Yeosang???
The wine-haired man did as the advice, then replayed the whole verse.
His song, which sounded mediocre some minutes ago, took a U-turn from flopping down the cliff and came out just like he envisioned when he first scribbled the lyrics.
"Wow, I should really just, put your name in the credits after the process."
A faint smile appeared on Yeosang as he found the growing esteem in the other's eyes, but it only lasted for a moment before a sour, fruity scent mixed with bay crawled up his nostrils. He suddenly became aware of the gap between their faces narrow enough to smell each other's perfumes of the same brand.
However, when he was about to retreat, something tugged on his wrist.
"Oh."
Jongho looked down to see the problem at the base of the sculpted, veiny hand.
A stray thread from his shirt collar was caught in the inscribed design of a hoop dangling from Yeosang's bracelet... in a way that could never be accomplished if they tried it on purpose.
"Wait! Hold still, I'll get it."
In what seemed like a blinking second, the thread was mercilessly snapped off the collar by sheer strength. The next thing Yeosang knew was Jongho's fingers brushing against his wrist.
Jongho's fingertips pulsed with sparks at the fleeting sensation of the peachy skin. He almost not wanted the thread to be undone.
Yeosang quietly watched Jongho trying to unweave the string from the outlines of the bejewelled hourglass.
"Pardon me, it'll be much easier to just take it off."
It's ok. I don't mind having some thread in my accessories, was what he intended to say but for some reason, missed the timing as the handchain already came off.
Yeosang's eyes riveted on the wine-haired man plucking the thread out of the embellishment carefully as if he was carving the details of a miniature, his bottom lip pushed out in solid concentration, sort of resembling a rosebud.
Cute.
"There, done!" Jongho cheered as he threw away the goddamn thread to somewhere. "Would you like to have it back on your wrist?"
"Um..."
Yeosang's marimba ringtone blared inside his pocket like a knight in shining armor coming to rescue him who apparently had all syllables congest the tip of his throat. He casted an apologetic look at the other, implying to hold the accessory for a moment, as he answered it.
"What's the matter, Taehyun-ah?"
Jongho turned away to give the blond some privacy. Right then, San and Yeosang's friend returned with a handful of soft drinks.
"Jiu is what!?"
All three pairs of eyes set to the blond. Jongho saw Wooyoung's eyebrows shoot up at the name.
Yeosang threw a glance at the loud male while listening to the phone, collecting his belongings on the lounge amid the process.
"Right, we'll be there in a moment! Stay calm. Do not sign anything yet. I'll handle it!" he pulled away the phone from his ear to rush a bow to Jongho and San.
"I'm sorry, I'll take an emergency leave. You both, take care."
Without even waiting for the cue, Wooyoung snatched his motorbike key in Yeosang's hand and dashed outside.
"Wait! You forgot..."
Before neither of them could comprehend the situation, both handsome men disappeared from their abode, leaving Jongho's hand stranded mid-air and San flummoxed.
"Um, what happened? And who the hell is Jiu?"
"I don't know," Jongho shrugged. Unbeknownst to him, his thumb ran along the length of the silk cord where last traces of warmth haunted.
The two teardrops that imitated the sand vessel dazzled in a reflected hue of the mood lights. They looked anything short of noteworthy compared to the gleam of those chocolate brown irises.
"What's that?"
"His bracelet," Jongho answered absentmindedly.
"Ah..."
San's eyes darted back and forth between the fancy item and the younger's abstracted expression, his discernment slowly sinking in.
"Well don't worry," he placed a hand on the younger's shoulder, "looking at his style, just give him some time and you're bound to hear from him again."
"Hopefully."
He might not know exactly what he was hoping for, except the only thing he knew was the weird plummet he felt in him when the warmth on the bracelet had faded.
-image crd to its rightful owner-
❥•°❀°•༢
8:55 a.m.,
Brisbane, Australia
A pale wash of yellow.
The first thing Hyewoon perceived when she was forced to open her eyes by her godforsaken alarm was enough to question which bedroom she's waking up in.
Even through her unfocused vision, she could see that the walls weren't adorned with the handmade, aesthetic collage of her bias' photocards like they used to be.
Where did the floral-themed wallpaper go??
Staring at the eggshell walls that were as blank as her mental state, she slowly began to realize that she hadn't been hit by a pillow on her head by a grumpy shortie. Then, her hand robotically traced along her clothed leg to travel to a specific part.
She hissed at the sting that shattered all her hopeful thoughts when her fingertips pressed on the peeled area on her kneecap underneath the fabric.
"Darn it. It wasn't a dream."
The throbbing pain in her head doubled when all of yesterday's events flooded her half-awake conscious systematically.
Moved in. Job loss. Knee skinned. Groceries mugged. Roommate acquired.
Hyewoon groaned at the last fragment.
Granted, her first - and second - encounter with someone she'd be running into anytime in any corner of her new home wasn't very ideal, things couldn't be more awkward after she'd missed her shot to get familiar with her landlord/housemate. Then again, she doubted she could do so with the likes of that guy.
Chewing on the dried scales from her bottom lip, Hyewoon acknowledged the need for a glass of water before anything else. After a yawn, she cracked her neck and enjoyed the exhilarating 'pop' it released.
Hyewoon lumbered out of her bedroom, kicking a few unpacked boxes on the way, in hopes of finding the wooden stairs which would led her down to the kitchen.
Today, like any other day, Hyewoon had plans - a massive pile of plans that beat Taehyun's height. Speaking of Taehyun, he came bragging to her on Kakao last night, and she honestly didn't expect her (supposedly) unlucky brother to get a contract job while she'd just been laid off, and at a prestigious office at that.
The sound of her heels landing off the last step of stairs came striking like thunder to her ears when a tall silhouette loomed in her view.
When she checked again after a blink, the silhouette turned out to be the rear view of the all-too-familiar youth dressed in dark hues that were similar to last night's, except the design had a tad altered. It's of no wonder why she took that guy for a criminal at first.
The fact that a guy like him having a house of his own was impressive and jarring to her at the same time.
Through her somewhat heavy lids, Hyewoon watched him brew coffee with the most resting face a person could possibly pull off. If she didn't knew better, she'd deny if someone said 24 hours ago that this animated icicle would be the one to run her over with his bike and run without apologizing.
Hyewoon knew she'd have a tough road ahead of her unless she suck it up and hug some thighs, so she forced her mouth into a full display of her charming incisors as she walked over.
"Morning! Yesterday was pretty wild, ain't it?"
Despite the mist in them, her sharp eyes caught on the subtle jolt of the other's hand holding the kettle as well as his flickering side glance before he put down the kettle on the countertop, paying no mind to her greeting.
"Hello? Can you hea- Oh...kay. My bad. Didn't see those."
Hyewoon retracted her pointer finger, that was initially going to tap on the other person's shoulder, back to the tip of her nose when a black shiny bud peeked from the tousled hair.
She looked around and was almost overjoyed to be able to occupy herself by getting some tap water with the glass she'd found.
Fliss wasn't wrong when she said it's either 'shy af' or 'too cool to care'.
Hyewoon gazed at the languid back of the icicle who made his way to the upper floor without sparing any pleasantries till the very least, and wondered if her wish for a roommate of certain sorts had backfired miserably.
ꔛ♡
You couldn't have done me any dirtier than this, Aunt Lim.
My sigh unintentionally blowing the steam off the coffee as I went up upstairs while purposely ignoring the half-awake person in the kitchen. The longer I stayed, the more likely for her to realize the silence ringing through my airpods - my phone died and my mp4 was still on charging.
When Aunt Lim said she'd surely come up with a solution for lessening the financial burden I had to carry this year, I didn't think she'd go to this extent without even telling me. It must be obvious to her too, that I'd protest it.
For sweet seven years, I've got a place to myself without any uncomfortable presence around, and I'd prefer it this way for the rest of my life. Because I never liked returning to that suffocating place where the tension between those people so-called my adoptive family always makes me sick, even if it was for a week.
I don't get what Aunt Lim was on about, saying sudden things like I needed to socialize sometimes even if I hated it. That being said, I'm still surprised that she troubled herself for weeks to cherry-pick the one that meet all of my standards - essentially, a person that only minded their own business.
I eyed the room across mine to see the rumpled white sheets shrouded by the door that was left ever-so-slightly ajar.
It was no doubt that there's something with that sharp-tongued girl when two of my ⟨Loner's Principles⟩ were broken because of her. And I'd rather not reminisce how much mess I had solely made in that one day.
Will it be okay to let her be?
❥•°❀°•༢
8:37 a.m., Monday
Near Yongsan Trade Center
Taehyun's second day at work ultimately started off worse than the first.
He had to spend his whole day-off surrounded by the disinfectant odor he despised, and had to shrink himself the whole night to fit into the crappy, metal bench in the patient room.
When he woke up, every joint on his body was loudly protesting his locomotion when he rushed back home at five in the morning to change into his work attire before catching the earliest subway.
"I can't believe he bothered to write a long fucking note just for a Starbucks," the brunet mumbled as he rushed in before the revolving door shut, a steaming triple venti, half-sweet, non-fat, vanilla latte clutched in one hand.
Kudos to Huening Kai for the intel, Taehyun cracked the code for Choi Beomgyu's complicated order. Heck, he almost had to waste his time in the office pantry for that bullshit.
Thanks to the long line he had to wait for that damn fancy drink, he was now racing against the ticking clock to get to the eleventh floor, then to the intersection 6 at the far end of the hallway.
Taehyun learned that not only the work days and hours of HYBE were cruel - 54 hrs per week with Sunday as the only day off - but also the rules the employees had to abide by. He'd be lying if he didn't regret putting a college semester on hiatus that led him to the bottom of this foodchain.
Among those rules, one that he would avoid proactively was: anyone coming in later than the chief shall be contributing to the fine jar sitting in the middle of the office, and not just any amount but 5-bloody-thousands wons.
He dashed when the sliding doors of the elevator going up were about to be closed, and didn't miss the chance to stretch his hand through the crack. What he'd missed, however, was a chance to let his doom standing at the other side slip from his grasp.
"Aren't you gonna get in, intern Kang?"
The question was undoubtedly accompanied by a taunting eyebrow raise that made Taehyun's hanging hand retract with his fingers curled tight.
The brief time before the door should close again didn't leave him with much choice. He got in and stationed himself as far as he could from his superi-- hell no, the source of his headache. He nearly strained his neck from forbidding it to turn in any other direction than straight ahead.
Technically, I'm arriving the same time as him. I can't be fined for that, right??
He heard a breath somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle from the other man, and poised himself for the upcoming farewell to his 5000₩.
"I thought, usually when you run into your boss, you're supposed to say hello to them, no?"
"Good morning, teamjang-nim!"
Godammit, you fucking wimp.
His body betrayed faster than the speed of light before his conscience could discipline, and the fine wasn't even the topic the other person brought up.
Beomgyu feigned shock, "goodness! Not that 90° again. People will get the wrong idea and say I'm a power-abuser if you keep doing it like that."
Well, wasn't it the point?? Taehyun gritted his teeth while his head was still down. The hair on the back of his neck stood up when the other man pat on his shoulder.
"30° will suffice from now on. Don't stress it much, alright?"
His head raised to bear with the seemingly kind smile of the other.
"I'll remember it, sir."
Beomgyu noticed what the brunet had been holding and pointed it out, the ghost of his cheeky smile still creeping on his lips.
"Is that mine?"
"What? Oh, right! Here you go, sir." Taehyun gave the drink to its rightful owner with both hands as if offering it to an idol of a deity or something.
The boss kept his side-eye at his subordinate as he opened the plastic lid and brought the drink to his mouth.
"Hmm... Not bad," he nodded, then pulled up his sleeve to look at his Rolex, "but that doesn't mean I'm sparing you the late fee - rules are rules. You clocked in exactly 4 minutes later."
"Ahaha, absolutely! I wouldn't expect you to, regardless, sir."
Taehyun internally lamented for not spitting in that coffee when he had the chance.
*ding*
That was his calling to escape this bothersome power-play that he almost jet off once the metal doors slid open.
"Not so fast, intern. We're going together. I'm not done with you yet."
-to be continued-
⋆┈┈｡ﾟ❃ུ۪ ❁ུ۪ ❃ུ۪ ﾟ｡┈┈⋆
end-notes:
ehh nothing much here other than a big shoutout to our comfort queen 'Not Too Late' for participating in this rollercoaster ride
things boutta start going south from here, luvs, buckle up ಠ‿ಠ
Mark the date ya'll, our emo boys had come back with another slapping bop! gosh there's so many killing parts that I don't even know where to begin with the list :')
loving all of it... the concept, the vibes, the vocals (+ the whispers, Yeonjun's sad little laugh and that demonic 'i like being bad') and the lyrics bruhh 🛐🛐🛐
[09.05.2022]