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Mari couldn't stop looking at the fresh ink on her skin, admiring the small yet simple design on her wrist. It wasn't anything wild and extravagant like the many tattoos that donned Hongjoong's skin, but it was just perfect for her. The tattoo was a small sun, moon, and stars, with Mari's moon being colored in black. She had chosen it herself, partly because she didn't know exactly what she wanted to get. She knew that tattoos were very hard to remove, seeing as they were meant to be permanent. So she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
Hongjoong sat down next to her, a huge grin on his face as he showed her his own wrist. He had gotten a new tattoo as well, one that matched Mari's since that's what he had agreed to. The only difference between the two was that his sun was colored in black. "Congratulations, you've completed step one of rebellion. You've officially joined the crew." He joked, his laugh echoing through the almost empty parlor. He had gotten their matching tattoo on his right arm, the canvas that had yet to be painted on yet.
"Are you sure that's okay? I mean, you were probably saving that arm for something more... intricate weren't you?" Mari asked, her eyes stuck on the tattoo she had suggested that tainted his skin. Hongjoong gave her a questioning glance, clearly not understanding exactly what she meant. The girl cleared her throat, trying to find the exact words she was trying to say. "Well... tattoos are supposed to have meaning right? The whole sun, moon, stars thing I came up with doesn't really... meet that standard."
"Who came up with that lame rule?" Hongjoong snorted, shoving his hands in his pockets as they walked up a grassy slope, his motorcycle long forgotten. After leaving the tattoo studio, he had quickly rushed her onto his motorcycle and brought her... somewhere. They were on the very edge of a busy street, his motorcycle left at the bottom of the slope somewhere in the grass. They were heading up the hill, but to what, Mari didn't know. The cars were just getting smaller and smaller the higher they climbed. "Tattoos don't need to have meaning, as long as you like it then that's all matters."
Mari's unintentionally pout made way on her face, she couldn't even wipe it off before Hongjoong had seen her. The boy laughed at her as he stopped in his tracks, crossing his arms as he spoke to her in a teasing tone, "If you want it to have a meaning you could always come up with one later? Yunho and Seonghwa like to come up with dumb stories that could have made me subconsciously get all the ones I have. Plus, I think your tattoo is a nice addition to my collection anyways, princess. So you have no need to worry about it."
"You flatter me," She mocked him, clearly not taking his words to heart. Hongjoong was... an odd one if she had to be honest. He tried his absolute hardest to keep up his hostile demeanor in terms of appearances and actions. Leather jackets, a million piercing tattoos, dyed hair, motorcycles, and sneaking out at night behind adult's back. He looked like the epitome of a reckless, selfish teenager: a badboy. And yet here he was, hanging out with Mari in the middle of the night and concerned over her wellbeing. What did she do to make him act this way? All she had done was tease him whenever she got the chance. "Alright lover boy, will you finally tell me where you're taking me?"
"New nickname?" Hongjoong beamed, his old nickname suddenly long forgotten. It wasn't a good one, but definitely better than being called wannabe badboy. "What an upgrade! What's next, you're going to call me prince? I wouldn't mind it, being the prince to your princess." Mari practically gaged at his awfully cheesy words. Prince? Mari would never let him get the chance. She'd rather die than call Hongjoong a prince. The blue-haired boy gave her a mischievous smirk as he poked fun at her. "What? You don't like me calling you princess still? What else could I call you then? My treasure? My precious? My b—"
"Hongjoong, no." Mari snapped. If she didn't stop him soon enough she'd be as red as a rose, the endearing nicknames being awfully effective on her. She's never met someone who was that persistent to give her a nickname. Wooyoung and San tried, but they respected her boundaries a lot more then than Hongjoong did. He seemed to continuously try and push her buttons, no matter how hard she tried to ignore them. "I said where are we going. Don't change the subject again." She told him, trying to steer them right back on track.
Hongjoong looked satisfied with the response she gave him. "You didn't say no to princess." Mari opened her mouth to protest, but the boy cut her off anyways. He didn't even give her the chance to fend for herself against his argument. "I'm just playing with you princess, no need to get all defensive. Besides, I like calling you my princess anyways." He told her, blinking his eyes innocently at her. Mari rolled her at him, tempted to tease him once more. But then started speaking again. "Ah! We're here!"
"Where is... here?" She asked him, walking a little faster to catch up with him. The girl stopped right to him as she looked forward, confusion evident on her face. They had stopped at a footbridge, a bridge that allowed pedestrians to cross a busy street without actually walking out into it. Under the bridge was the heavy traffic below them, the car lights taking the form of stars. Hongjoong went first, taking the daring step of walking over it with. It seemed as though he had no thoughts of worries crossing it, trusting its stability despite its height.
"I found this place when I was with Seonghwa," he told her, skipping along the bridge in a wishful manner. A smile appeared on his face as he relived the memory, leaning over the railing to see the cars. "I had crashed my motorcycle on that side of the road, and I was too anxious to go home and get in trouble. So Seonghwa saw this place up here and calmed me down here. Ever since then, this has been a sort of haven to get myself together. It's been... a while since I've been here."
Mari nodded, standing on the very edge of the hill before the bridge began. "That's nice but... why bring me here?" She asked him, crossing her arms as she cautiously leaned over the edge to look down at the cars passing by. She wasn't scared, why would she be scared? She had faced more dangerous things than a footbridge! Mari was just apprehensive, of course, she was apprehensive. She had never done such a thing before. Never in her life had she decided she was going to walk on a tall bridge that was right over busy traffic.
Hongjoong turned around on his short stroll, laughing at her situation. "Come on princess! Nothing to be afraid of!" Mari opened her mouth to snap at him, ready to destroy him with a strong remark. Though the blue-headed boy grabbed her hands and pulled her onto the footbridge, causing her to let out a terrified scream as they walked across the metal bridge. "Aw, princess! You scared of heights?" He teased her, pulling her farther and farther into the bridge.
"I am not scared of heights!" She protested, though immediately regretting her actions. Hongjoong took her words as a challenge, letting go of her hands and leaving her alone where she stood. Mari, too stubborn for her own health, didn't say anything. There were very few things Mari was scared of, thanks to her family background raising her to be as fearless as possible. But this just seemed to be one of those things she never knew she had to overcome.
"I'm not scared, I'm not scared," She chanted, grabbing onto the railing with an iron grip. Mari closed her eyes shut, sliding down onto the ground as she kept chanting the mantra to herself. Again, she was forced to show vulnerable to the person she wished never knew the secrets she was handing out on a silver platter. It's like her body just wanted Hongjoong to know her weaknesses. "I'm not scared... I can't be scared, I have other things to worry about I can't be scared of this!"
"Woah, woah, princess! Calm down, I'm sorry," Hongjoong apologized, noticing Mari was on the verge of a mental breakdown. She's already had one tonight so it wouldn't be the first. The boy's earrings jingled as he darted back over to her, taking her by the hands again so that there was a presence of someone else with her. "Princess, are you sure you're okay? You don't seem like yourself."
"I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine, stop asking already!" She yelled at him, a sudden burst of frustration escaping her. He was taken aback by her anger, yet refusing to even let go of her no matter how much she decided to lash out. "Stop with the stupid nicknames, stop asking me questions, just stop it! Stop caring so much about someone you barely know!" Mari abruptly put her fit to a halt, noticing she was in solid ground again.
Despite her lashing out at him, Hongjoong had brought her all the way back to the slope and away from the bridge. He smiled at her as if she wasn't just yelling at him like he was the root of all her problems. "We're back the land again! See? Moving on the bridge wasn't so bad, was it? Now, are you ready to talk about it?" Mari stood there and stared at him, barely noticing he hadn't taken his own hands away from hers yet.
"Why are you so nice to me?" Mari asked him as he sat down on the ground, letting go of her to sprawl out and get comfy. He only hummed in response to her question, causing Mari to ask it once more. "Hongjoong, why are you so nice to me? I've been mean you and I've snapped at you like you aren't even a person. Do I have something you want? What do you want from me? I'll give it to you right now so you can leave me alone,"
"Your friendship is what I want," He answered easily, a smile creeping up on the boy's face. He patted the ground next to him, encouraging her to come and lay with him. "And the fact that you look like you need some consolation. I may look like a bitch, but I'm not one. It's very obvious that you have mixed feelings right now, but I think it's better if I just wait for you to open to me instead of forcing it out of you. You're not Mingi after all."
Mari fiddled with her hands, glancing back at the footbridge he had pulled her away from. With a reluctant huff, she sat down in the grass with him, making sure her eyes were on the sky instead of the stupid grin on Hongjoong's face. Mari knew she had to talk about her problems at one point, keeping her feelings bottled up wouldn't be very good for herself or the faction. She couldn't open up to San, she most definitely knew Wooyoung would be too preoccupied at the moment, and she was just getting to know Yeosang.
Either way, all three of them were apart of the double life she had to keep a secret. She needed an outside look on her problems. At the moment, Hongjoong was the only person around to talk to about them. Yet talking about it would be another vulnerability revealed to him. Did she really want to test her limits again? "Princess, look! A shooting star! You know what those are right? You know you're supposed to make a wish on those right?"
She glared down at the blue-headed boy, who gave her a bright smile in return. Was she really about to get consolation from him? "Hurry up and make a wish before it goes away. I've already made mine. You never know how much a shooting star can help you." Hongjoong told her, very adamant about getting her to make a wish. She wasn't some five-year-old child, she didn't need to make unfulfilled wishes on stars.
Yet, she still did either way. The girl took a deep breath and made a quick wish, letting her thoughts roam the endless depths of her mind. There were so many things she hoped that would be fixed, yet in this minuscule, she could only make one. Mari let herself fall back onto the ground, staring at the sky with as much wonder as Hongjoong did. "I'm sorry Hongjoong. I've... I've got a lot going on right now. My life just got so hectic so fast and I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear it all."
Hongjoong shot his head up, the amount of wonder and excitement in his eyes suddenly directed onto her. "No please, tell it all to me. I'm all ears all the time, you don't need to worry about me being bored. Seonghwa always listens to me ramble about my life, so this is like... me taking what he says into account and passing it onto someone." He eagerly told her, trying not to make her regret her decisions. Mari tried to conceal the sudden urge to laugh, finding his eagerness a lot more amusing than it should be. How could this wannabe badboy become an innocent puppy so quickly?
"I promise, Mari," he said, catching her off guard for a second. He had said her name before, in fact, it was just earlier today that he had spoken it. But something about the way Hongjoong was talking now was just... so different from before. "Everything you say to me will be only between you and me, I won't share it with a single soul. And whenever you want to talk about something that's bothering you, just meet me at this footbridge and we'll just talk. That's what friends are for... right?" Hongjoong asked her and Mari smiled at him, a genuine smile in fact. He was right. That's what friends are for.
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