#{ ☾✩ 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 ↬ yoshikawa aki }

[ofchrysoprase]

Hoseok wasn't normally the type of person to bother packing lunch - if it wasn't for his best friend and roommate, he was sure he would simply be living on a strict diet of ramen every single day. It was one of the few things he trusted himself to cook without setting the kitchen on fire or ruining perfectly good food by preparing it the wrong way. There were a few skills that he had, but cooking was definitely not one of them. So having his new... friend? Aki show up on a daily basis with these insanely detailed and carefully prepared lunch boxes had taken a while for him to get used to. Every day was a different theme, but never did anything seem rushed or half-assed. And while it had been a bit overwhelming and embarrassing at first, he was now looking forward to lunch time, not just because it let him take a break from being around customers, but because he got to see what kind of masterpiece the small girl had brought him this time.

Jiwon had made fun of him, but who was laughing now and who was begging for him to share? Exactly.

He was in the middle of sorting the shelves with newly arrived titles, when the familiar and very welcome voice sounded through the quiet store. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, though his expression turned to one of slight confusion when his gaze captured the large box in her hands. However, he kept quiet, not wanting to seem ungrateful for her efforts, even though they seemed to have been even more excessive than usual today. He didn't want to question her hard work.

Though he expected her to hand the container over as she usually did, he was surprised at her offer to have lunch together. "Oh, um, yeah, of course. Did you... did you want to share?" That seemed like a valid conclusion, right? Given the size of the box. He briefly glanced over in the direction of his manager, who had most likely already seen Aki shuffle in on her daily quest to feed him. "Where did you want to sit, um, maybe we could have it at the food court?" He hated how crowded that place was during lunch time, but he also didn't want to force her to eat inside a bookstore and he wasn't sure how his boss would feel about the place turning into a cafeteria.

@ofchrysoprase location: a new chapter date: 2/2/1989

Although this trip to A New Chapter had become a part of her daily routine, her stride was filled with unusual trepidation. The knuckles of her dainty hands were chalk white as she gripped onto the larger-than-usual bento container. That morning, she had felt good about her decision. It served as her motivation in the early hours of the morning as she zoomed around the kitchen like a stressed-out worker bee. Now that the time to actually go ahead and commit to her decision was here, anxiety filled her to the bone. Ever since she had heard from his roommate about his upcoming birthday, the idea of making a special birthday meal had not left her mind. It was exactly the sort of thing she would want for her own birthday. Still, she did not want to come across as too much and make the skittish male view her differently. Over the past month that they had known each other, she had grown to value his presence in her life, even though their relationship was mostly transactional. She spoke to him briefly whenever she dropped off his lunch and then attempted to make conversation sometimes whenever she came over to visit the bunny he was looking after for her. Sometimes, she wanted to ask more about him, grow their friendship more, but the threat of rejection loomed heavily over her. It would be like the Dai-chan situation all over again; somehow both not as bad and worse at the same time.

The other issue was that the girl was helpless even in the face of moderate kindness. People gave her an inch and she poured endless sunlight into it without question. It was simply who she was. Hoseok was nice to her; quiet and shy, sure, but a perfect gentleman all the same. So, it was difficult to reign herself in from putting a little more effort into his lunches each time in an attempt to make him happy. They were small gestures anyway. This, on the other hand. This might be excessive. She pushed her way into the shop, using her shoulder to nudge the door open enough to let herself in, and bounced on her heels briefly for a moment as her eyes sought him out throughout the room. They finally landed on the lanky figure tucked away between some of the book shelves. She dragged her feet as she made her way over. “Hey!” She chirped when she was finally there. “Um, I have your lunch.” Her gaze dropped to the box she was holding onto for dear life and she kept it there. “Um. If it’s okay, do you wanna go to lunch together? I - It’s kind of a surprise. I can go like, after you see.”

[hoseokmoons]

starter for aki ( @ofsyzygies ) location: lapaws

Hoseok had lost track of how long he had spent in the store so far. Likely much longer than the average person who didn’t even own a pet. Was it strange to be so fascinated with pet toys, pet costumes and other supplies when he didn’t have a pet to use them on? He had curiously browsed through different dog toys, a faint smile on his face as he observed and gently touched some of the extra soft looking plushies. He’d always loved plushies; even now he still owned a couple that he kept hidden under his blanket when anyone came over. He supposed it wasn’t that embarrassing, but at the same time, he managed to get embarrassed by just about anything and this was one of the least common things to feel awkward about.

After browsing through the different supplies for a while, he finally reached his favorite section; the live animals. Not the birds, not the fish, but the rodents. The boy smiled, watching the tiny hamsters sleep in their cozy homes, as well as a couple of mice and rats. Eventually he found the rabbits that he’d been looking for, his eyes softening at the sight of them. He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt like he related to them - it might have something to do with people often comparing his features to a rabbit, as well as his parents’ childhood nickname for him.

‘Tokki’ 

The once endearing nickname now held a lot of conflicting memories and feelings. Despite him wanting to remember his childhood as fondly as possible, most of it had been tainted by a harsh truth, even if he still struggled to accept reality.

Hoseok briefly wrapped his arm around himself, using his free hand to rub along his sleeve in a subconscious, self soothing gesture. After hesitating and chewing on an already quite abused lower lip, he awkwardly turned to the person nearest to him, momentarily observing them. The girl was at least a foot shorter than him and appeared somewhat non threatening, so after taking a couple of deep breaths, he forced his question past his lips.

“Um, s-so-sorry, um... do you know if... if we’re a-a-all-allowed to pet them?”

[ofchrysoprase]

ofsyzygies·:

the bright golden brown swirls of her irises seemed to lighten up even more the longer she looked at the display case, her eyes so wide they bordered on making her look cartoonish. she had been summoned to the bakery by cosmic forces beyond her control, manifesting in the growling of her stomach and the sugar cravings she’d had all days. recently, mondo-san had been commenting on her excessive sugar intake with some concern, claiming he simply did not ‘trust’ sugar, but the girl paid him no mind. after all, how could something so good, something that conjured all the fuzzies, ever be bad? on a purely scientific level, it was impossible.

“hi,” she greeted in return, a wide, saccharine smile on her youthful face. “oh, um.” she blinked several times in rapid succession as the dainty man behind the counter rattled off the options, her brain whirring as she struggled to keep up. every time he listed a different option, she could feel herself swaying.

EVERYTHING SOUNDS SO GOOD!!!

(chill, oh my god)

“It’s kind of lunch, but also I guess…dessert. Maybe like a sweet lunch, or a sw…..u….unch?” She cringed slightly at the end of the syllable. that did not sound appetising. shaking her embarrassment off, she focused on the task at hand. “can i have one of each, maybe? i can’t decide.” at least this way she’d be putting her pocket money to use.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Uh... Swunch?” Jae responded, confusion clearly visible on his face. Did she just make that up or was he behind on the latest slang? He had heard of brunch before, but she definitely hadn’t said that. No, this had to be a new word that she had just made up. Right? Either way, a sweet lunch sounded pretty awful to him, but ultimately he should give the customer what they wanted.

“One of each? Are you gonna have a party? What if your friends also want to try different things? Maybe you should have two of each, unless you wanna cut everything in small pieces, I guess...” He trailed off with a frown as he tried to imagine how they were going to make it work. Maybe it was a tradition to share snacks like that, so he knew he shouldn’t judge. 

Eun Jae pushed his lips up into a sweet smile. “Do you wanna try anything to see what your friends might like?”

[ofchrysoprase]

ofsyzygies​:

Although her joke was silly, she was delighted when the boy joined in with a few cheesy jokes of his own. Soft giggles shook her body, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. “It’s good they take such important safety measures. Going alone sounds very dangerous,” She agreed. “You guys should at the very least have a buddy system.”

Her head inclined with interest as he explained that Jiwon had only recently moved to Shrike. They must have had a really profound friendship for him to move over a decade later to be close to his friend. Then again, that was just an assumption. After all, she had moved halfway across the world as well and it was not really borne of any innate loyalty toward her father or desire to be closer to him. Of course, she did want him to like her and she desperately wanted to get to know him. That was just the thing though, she didn’t know him. Perhaps circumstance had been at play for Jiwon and Hoseok as well. One thing was for sure, it was obvious from her interaction with the former that he cared deeply about Hoseok. “Oh, um,” Her nose wrinkled slightly; she felt a little self-conscious all of a sudden. “Well, I hope it’s okay. It’s my first time making it so I’m a little worried it won’t… I don’t know. I hope you like it.”

She nodded jerkily in confirmation. “Mhm, it is Japanese,” She affirmed without explaining what it meant. That was a conversation for another day. “I just think it really suits him. It always takes me a while to name my bunnies. Gigi probably was the one I named the fastest. Maybe ‘cause I just picked a name I thought sounded cool without thinking much about it and now I call her Gigi because she really isn’t much of a Girugamesh, is she?” She wondered out loud. 

“I’m sure it’s good,” Hoseok argued with a small frown. It was going to be infinitely better than his own cooking, that was for sure. Not that he had even bothered attempting to recreate any of his parents’ dishes - both of them were good cooks and he had been spoiled in that sense, never having to worry about needing to provide for himself. His adoptive parents had similarly been greatly invested in feeding him well, although their dishes had been completely different from anything he was used to at home. The adjustment hadn’t been overwhelming on its own, but it added up to all the other changes. Being presented with something as simple as a seaweed soup shouldn’t have been this nostalgic or shocking and yet it was.

To back up his own words, he reached for the thermos and carefully unscrewed the top, making sure it wasn’t too hot before taking a small sip. It still burned his tongue a little bit, but in the moment he couldn’t care less. “I love it,” He breathed out, swallowing hard to get rid of any emotions that threatened to bubble up. Suddenly he was very grateful for the topic of bunny names, whilst he awkwardly reached for a pair of chopsticks to start digging into the lunch Aki had made. “I don’t really know what a Girugamesh is.” He admitted, trying to copy the same pronunciation as he feared to butcher the name completely. “But Gigi is a cute name. Um, I’ve never had any pets before... Tsuki.”

[ofchrysoprase]

ofsyzygies​:

“I know, they usually are!” Aki confirmed enthusiastically. “But in Nara, they’re different. Because they know nobody’s going to hurt them. It’s really special.” There was a warm smile on her face as she spoke, happy to share one of the very few memories she had with another person. A giggle spilled past her lips when he said that he would love to meet both the deer and her grandmother. There was something very endearing about the cashier and the fact that he had immediately recognised the name she gave her grandmother interested her enough to give him a proper, but quick, onceover. He didn’t look Japanese, but clearly at least had a basic understanding. Maybe… an anime fan?

A cute one, at that. Not as cute as Daisuke was, nor as tall, nor as handsome, but cute, all the same. Kind of like a puppy.

“They are super cuddly! They can’t give hugs but they snuggle up to you, and they nuzzle you when they like you.” She beamed. “My bunnies give me cuddles all the time. It’s the best part of my day.” She looked briefly disappointed when he didn’t seem to understand what she was trying to say, but perked up when he brought a paper and showed her. “So it’s Hwan like happiness. That’s such a sweet name,” She complimented. “But, you don’t need to apologise. There’s a lot I don’t know. Like, more than you could even imagine.”

Amnesia didn’t affect language, so she had retained her mysterious knowledge of several languages, English included, but she wasn’t sure why she could speak those languages, at least to the level she was capable of. There were many unanswered questions about herself just like that one.

Was her mother good at languages? Her father never seemed to want to talk about her, so she seemed like a distant shadow she’d never be able to reach, much less learn about.

“Oh, I know I don’t have to. I want to! I’m probably not as good as you at baking but, I’m pretty good!” She said. “I never have anyone to feed anyway, other than myself, ‘cause my dad’s never home.”

Definitely too much information, Aki.

“I mean - I’d just love to bring you something as a gift of friendship.” She recovered lamely. As he mentioned he could speak a bit of Japanese, she brightened up considerably. “Hontōni?” She asked in confirmation. “I’m Japanese,” She confirmed. “Oh, Nara’s where my mother and my grandmother are from. I grew up in Tokyo, I…guess. You’ve been there?”

Man, Eun Jae would absolutely love to visit a place where deer weren't afraid of people and came close enough to touch. He'd always thought they were beautiful creatures and he was sure that being near them would feel magical - like his personal fairy tale forest. "It sounds super nice, I bet it's really pretty there." He mused, wondering if the deer would let him try to sketch them or if they didn't like to stand still for very long. He wouldn't blame them if they couldn't, since their legs looked pretty weak.

Sometimes he also got wobbly on his legs, much like a baby deer. Not that he thought that was cute or anything.

"Bunny nuzzles sound so good. I bet they're warm and soft and perfect cuddle size. Hwannie's small too, so he's also nice to cuddle, but he wiggles a lot or tries to kiss my face, which doesn't feel very nice. His kisses are wet and a bit stinky." The boy rambled, happily fantasizing about snuggling a bunny, rather than an impatient pup. He then nodded, confirming the name's meaning. "My parents got him for me because I was really sad and lonely and I was too old for a babysitter, you know, 'cause I'm like, older than twenty..."

Well, that was a good reason to not have a babysitter anymore.

"Um, that's okay, I... don't really like sweets..." There was no way around it now, he had to be clear about not wanting to consume anything with a load of butter and sugar in it. "Or, like, anything else that's baked. I like to make them, not eat them." Hopefully that was enough to make her stop trying to feed him. If not, he wasn't sure what else he could come up with.

Eun Jae then nodded at the question about his Japanese. "Yeah, it's been a long time, but I learned it back home. I've been to Tokyo before, too, but I don't remember that much of it, just like I don't remember much of Seoul. It's all kinda long ago. Um... sixteen years, so..."