#1
standing on a strange city's street | 588 w.
4minute: gayoon, jihyun, brief mentions of the others
completely, absolutely fictional
title taken from this post at unnideul
When they were still living in the dorm, Gayoon liked to get up in the early hours of the morning, when the sun had just begun to clip the top of the city skyline and Jihyun's phone started to light up with messages again.
She made her way to the steps spilling out from the door, slippers pressed against the asphalt of the pavement, and breathed in. Most times it would smell like the faint aftermath of car exhaust, but on some mornings, the smell of fresh water and vegetables from the market down the street would drift in, accompanied by the echoes of cogs hitting the wet floor. Gayoon had always found relief in the boisterous voices, the loud haggling. The sounds of the city coming alive.
One time, Jihyun followed her, mumbled groggily about locking the door and strangers and then settled beside her, head lolling to rest on her shoulder. Jihyun was getting to know a boy at that time, and she had become a little distant, unfocused, but she was as lucid as she could be when she looked up at Gayoon, eyes wide open. Sometimes Gayoon forgot that Jihyun was the leader, and these moments would come out of left field, surprising her.
'Are you doing alright?' Gayoon couldn't tell if it was a loaded question, or if she was being oversensitive again. She stared down at her wrist, veins clearly visible for what seemed like the first time in her life.
Gayoon opened a can of orange juice (against her diet) and sipped it carefully, considering the question.
'I could be worse,' she replied, and Jihyun laughed.
'Right. Could also be better?'
Gayoon didn't know why she felt so overwhelmed by the weight of Jihyun's maturity coming to the forefront, so different from Jiyoon's thoughts layered with miles and miles of confusion.
'I guess.' She twirled the can in her hand, and it was empty enough that none of the juice spilled out. Her stomach turned.
'You know I'm here, right? To listen? It's kind of my job.' Jihyun's head had left her shoulder, chin now propped lazily on her palm, wrist bent and elbow digging into Gayoon's left thigh.
Gayoon had only started, in that period of time, to think seriously about the idea of pursuing friendships with the three of them. Jiyoon would be following her forever, that she knew, but there was still a choice for the other three. Sohyun was difficult, still guarded and careful. Hyuna carried that self-consciousness that Gayoon saw too much of herself in, and it made it hard for her to let her guard down.
She'd never liked the idea of professional workers merging with friends, but Jihyun's hand on her shoulder, amongst other things, like the horrendous scrambled eggs that Hyuna came up with and Sohyun's loud and consequently soft, embarrassed singing in the shower made her reconsider.
Sunlight started to make its way across the streets, wove itself around cars and across the pavement. Jihyun's smile was dopey but genuine, and the light caught on her eyelashes, made her flinch and her eyes water. Gayoon parted her lips as if to speak, then closed them again, hesitant.
Jihyun fidgeted, her fingers reaching for some phantom limb, for the phone still charging inside their dorm. But Jihyun was there, and present, and watching Gayoon carefully even as the sunlight filtered, harsh and unforgiving, across her visage. It made her look beautiful.
Gayoon set the half-empty can on the ground and began to speak.
4minute: gayoon, jihyun, brief mentions of the others
completely, absolutely fictional
title taken from this post at unnideul
When they were still living in the dorm, Gayoon liked to get up in the early hours of the morning, when the sun had just begun to clip the top of the city skyline and Jihyun's phone started to light up with messages again.
She made her way to the steps spilling out from the door, slippers pressed against the asphalt of the pavement, and breathed in. Most times it would smell like the faint aftermath of car exhaust, but on some mornings, the smell of fresh water and vegetables from the market down the street would drift in, accompanied by the echoes of cogs hitting the wet floor. Gayoon had always found relief in the boisterous voices, the loud haggling. The sounds of the city coming alive.
One time, Jihyun followed her, mumbled groggily about locking the door and strangers and then settled beside her, head lolling to rest on her shoulder. Jihyun was getting to know a boy at that time, and she had become a little distant, unfocused, but she was as lucid as she could be when she looked up at Gayoon, eyes wide open. Sometimes Gayoon forgot that Jihyun was the leader, and these moments would come out of left field, surprising her.
'Are you doing alright?' Gayoon couldn't tell if it was a loaded question, or if she was being oversensitive again. She stared down at her wrist, veins clearly visible for what seemed like the first time in her life.
Gayoon opened a can of orange juice (against her diet) and sipped it carefully, considering the question.
'I could be worse,' she replied, and Jihyun laughed.
'Right. Could also be better?'
Gayoon didn't know why she felt so overwhelmed by the weight of Jihyun's maturity coming to the forefront, so different from Jiyoon's thoughts layered with miles and miles of confusion.
'I guess.' She twirled the can in her hand, and it was empty enough that none of the juice spilled out. Her stomach turned.
'You know I'm here, right? To listen? It's kind of my job.' Jihyun's head had left her shoulder, chin now propped lazily on her palm, wrist bent and elbow digging into Gayoon's left thigh.
Gayoon had only started, in that period of time, to think seriously about the idea of pursuing friendships with the three of them. Jiyoon would be following her forever, that she knew, but there was still a choice for the other three. Sohyun was difficult, still guarded and careful. Hyuna carried that self-consciousness that Gayoon saw too much of herself in, and it made it hard for her to let her guard down.
She'd never liked the idea of professional workers merging with friends, but Jihyun's hand on her shoulder, amongst other things, like the horrendous scrambled eggs that Hyuna came up with and Sohyun's loud and consequently soft, embarrassed singing in the shower made her reconsider.
Sunlight started to make its way across the streets, wove itself around cars and across the pavement. Jihyun's smile was dopey but genuine, and the light caught on her eyelashes, made her flinch and her eyes water. Gayoon parted her lips as if to speak, then closed them again, hesitant.
Jihyun fidgeted, her fingers reaching for some phantom limb, for the phone still charging inside their dorm. But Jihyun was there, and present, and watching Gayoon carefully even as the sunlight filtered, harsh and unforgiving, across her visage. It made her look beautiful.
Gayoon set the half-empty can on the ground and began to speak.