leeyoogeun

[leeyoogeun]

Yoogeun can kind of relate, he thinks, to Takumi's shyness; he doesn't exactly think of himself as shy, but he tends towards soft-spoken and he can definitely be a little nervous around new people. That being said, he has found himself settling into a sense of comfort around Takumi with an alarming quickness. There's just something about him that creates a sense of ease within Yoogeun.

For the most part, at least, as he'd also begun to develop what he assumes is a bit of a crush on him—harmless, he thinks, and probably just the thrill of making a new friend tangled up with platonic affection in such a way that it felt like butterflies. It wouldn't exactly be the first time Yoogeun had mixed the two of them up. And Takumi had an elfish sort of pretty to him that Yoogeun thinks probably served to complicate things further; even if this turned out to be nothing more than a blossoming friendship, he still thought Takumi was beautiful.

He shrugs in response to Takumi asking him about school—he'd been studying here and there, sure, but he doesn't think he's ever felt so much as a drop of academic anxiety a day in his life. School was easy.

"I think I'll do fine? I've been revising and all that, but I'm not like, busy with it." and he'd smile, almost to himself, his cheeks flushing with heat at the thought that Takumi was often struck by the desire to text him, to talk to him, "You should just...text me, next time." he says with a smirk, satisfied with himself.

And then he snorts.

"Yeah, I think you'll have to get on the bike to ride it, baby." he says with mock sweetness, more of a coo than a statement, taking the opportunity to poke a little bit of fun before continuing, "We'll take it slow. And I'm right here. I think it seems a lot more daunting than it really is, like once you get the hang of balancing yourself it's a piece of cake."

being that it's his freshman year at sungkyunkwan university, takumi's spent the last few months rather nervous. it's expected of him, honestly, as he approaches every life change with caution, but settling into campus life, adjusting to his schedule, doing lots of homework, studying for mid-term exams... it's a lot piled on his plate all at once. he's handling everything with much more grace than he's giving himself credit for, thankfully, but there's always a sense of unease that surrounds him, an insecurity that's been hard to shake, one that's deeper than simply being stressed about grades.

his mom tells him that going to college is like a trial-run for adulthood, and that weighs heavy on his mind. universities are places where a person gets educated, sure, but they're also where they learn valuable life lessons; where they their first flight out of their family's nest. many things happen to people during this era of their lives, that goes without saying, and though his mom has joked with him about finding love in-between classes, he never considered it a real possibility. after all, no one's ever showed that type of interest in him. not seriously, anyway.

that said though, takumi was completely caught off-guard when he met yoogeun. the pair were introduced by his longtime pal, hanse, and the instant that takumi laid his eyes on yoogeun, he felt a sense of overwhelming warmth flood his chest; the heat later rising to his face, burning the apples of his cheeks with a delectable blush. he felt so foolish for reacting so awkwardly when they were introduced, but in truth, he'd never seen anyone so handsome before, and not only was he handsome, but when he spoke, he was intelligent, too.

takumi's convinced that he's not real, and he plans on testing out his theory today because, somehow, he lucked out and yoogeun invited him to hangout. well, more specifically, yoogeun offered to teach him out to ride a bike when he learned that that's not a skill he possessed. takumi didn't realize that his revelation would be such a stunning one, but he's glad that it was because it landed him in this position. here he is—making sure everything looks right on the secondhand bike he purchased, ensuring that his helmet is strapped on correctly, and that the seat is in the proper place.

interrupting him crossing things off his mental checklist, though, is the sound of yoogeun arriving; the way he rides making him look as though he's gliding through the air. when he stops in front of him, takumi smiles; finding it hard to make eye contact right away, but slowly, he's working up the courage to maintain it. "hi," he murmurs in response, then nods at the question thrown at him. yoogeun's always so considerate... and takumi eats it up every single like, like they're spoonfuls of sugar.

"yeah, it's really nice... and don't worry about me—i'm all layered up!" he reassures, finally daring to lock eyes with him. "are you doing okay? mid-terms are coming up and i've been wondering how you've been doing, but i've been trying to force myself not to text you too often..." the instant the words escape him, he blushes; scared that he revealed too much. "i—i just hope you're not frying your brain with all the studying like i've been. i hope today will be a nice break for both of us!" with that, he nods his head once; beaming.

"so, should i try to mount my bike, too? what if i can't stay upright?"

[leeyoogeun]

coffee for your head ✪ a starter for @hsaem 0900hrs

Yoogeun and Saem had known each other relatively briefly in their youths, having taken piano lessons together for a couple of years during one of the periods Yoogeun's parents had moved them back to Korea. He was pretty sure it was his mom's doing that time; the company she worked for had acquired a new brand that operated primarily in Asia, and she'd needed to be more centrally located for a bit, or something like that.

Saem had always been sort of funny to Yoogeun; even when they were young, he was uptight, and finicky in the way you only really saw with rich old ladies. It had been fun to reconnect with him on account of this, even if Yoogeun sometimes worried that he was the one really pushing; he just wanted friends, having had none in Korea when he started university.

Today they'd decided to meet up for coffee, which Yoogeun hated. He'd happily gone along with Saem's suggestion, though, because he assumed whatever café they ended up in would have something for him. Although, in fairness, he'd not drunk much coffee; his dad hadn't allowed it in the house as he had this whole thing about "caffeine being the only drug everyone was okay with being addicted to" and had some weird mushroom blend he insisted upon instead. The mushroom water tasted like mud and the only coffee Yoogeun had ever had taste like soot, and he wasn't impressed by either.

He gets a text from Saem with stiffly textbook grammar to the effect of "I have arrived" but he ignores it as he's just around the corner, anyways.

Saem's still looking at his phone as Yoogeun approaches him, and he flinches rather severely when Yoogeun gives him a friendly smack on the behind.

"Damn..." Yoogeun mutters with a soft chuckle, taken aback by how pert and stone-hard Saem's hindquarters were, hard enough that he almost felt like he could have bruised his hand had he slapped him any harder, "You've got a tight ass. And I'll need your help picking out something to drink, I don't know anything about coffee."

[leeyoogeun]

in tandem ✪ a starter for @itotakumi 0930hrs

The sky is a near-cloudless blue. There’s a slight crispness in the air that perks the hair follicles on Yoogeun's forearms as he rides, but the sunlight warms his skin and keeps him from shivers; it truly feels like winter has given way to spring, and he’s glad that it has.

He's meeting up with Takumi at a nearby park, to teach him how to ride a bike, of all things. He can't remember now how it had even come up, he just remembers being stunned that Takumi had never learned, and he'd offered to show him how. He knew of a few nice bike trails, and it was a good excuse as any to spend time with the other boy without feeling like he was being overbearing. He felt like he was at real risk of being such as of late; he'd taken a liking to Takumi and wanted to get to know him more, but he also didn't want to come on too strong.

He rounds a corner and spies Takumi up ahead, standing in the dappled shade of a tree beside a charming old bicycle, the kind you'd expect to have a basket attached to its front, or that a rascally boy in a 1950s sitcom may have ridden. Yoogeun immediately feels a little underdressed, although he supposes that's always how it is with them; Takumi's always dressed rather cutely and he just sort of throws whatever on, prioritizing comfort and ease over any real sense of style.

Yoogeun admires Takumi's shape from behind, his eyes tracing along the lines of his form, making note of how nicely his clothes seemed to fit him and of how cute his legs were.

Takumi must hear him as he approaches, his head turning, and when their eyes meet, Yoogeun feels like he's been caught, somehow. What he's been caught in, he isn't sure of, but he does flush warm, leaning back and taking his hands off of the handlebars, slowing as he approaches and leaning into a slight turn towards where his friend was stood, hoping somewhere deep down that Takumi found it kind of cool that he didn't even need to really steer.

"Hey." he greets Takumi softly with a bit of a smirk, "You okay? It's a little cooler than I thought it'd be, but it's still nice, right?"

[leeyoogeun]

ANTON Memories, 2023