#ㅤ* ╱ 염사랑. ━━━━ JINYOUNG.

[sarangbe]

𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆.

𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔,  axis labels hq, seoul, kr, early evening. 𝒕𝒍𝒅𝒓,  sarang reconnects with jinyoung at camp.

a deep sigh flutters out of his mouth, and he's listlessly staring at a sheet of paper in front of him—lost. there's a beat provided for them, and even a loose melody that they can change if they wanted to, and while putting words to it seems simple in theory, in practice, it's actually quite difficult. in truth, the fact that he finds this so taxing is frustrating to sarang. he's consistently told by people that he has a way with words; a certain magic whenever he weaves sweet nothings together in his signature cadence. it's a charm that only he possesses, and he's become rather proud of it.

so, how is it that, whenever he's caught up in the moment, he can spill love poems with little-to-no effort, but when he has to sit down and think about flowery phrases to write, he's devastatingly stumped and at a loss for words?

pouting, he sinks his head into his hands—palms supporting his forehead since it's feeling heavy. "how do people think this is fun?" he asks jinyoung, whose been sitting across the table from him this whole time. "i genuinely don't understand how people like ren, joomi, and dohyun do stuff like this... like, they're kinda masterminds." he's been told that music is a language, and it just so happens to be one that he's not exactly fluent in. honestly, it couldn't be more foreign to him.

he can recognize when he likes how a song sounds, but he's never been someone whose thought too much about what goes into creating a song. if there's one thing this songwriting camp is accomplishing, it's that it's pushing out of his comfort zone. he doesn't mind a challenge most of the time, but right now, he's feeling discouraged. craving some sort of a distraction, as well as a bit of affection, he extends one of his ankles out and begins to glide it along jinyoung's; mirroring one of their first "dates."

raising his head from his hands, his countenance is still decorated with an adorable moue, but despite that, he gazes over at his senior longingly.

"i wish we could just go dancing, or something..." that's genuinely something he misses about his pre-training days. he always felt so free during jinyoung's classes. sarang looked forward to them every single week. the private instruction really helped him, and it also made him realize that he loves to dance way more than he previously thought. "like... i really wanna dance with you." he professes after a small pause, his tone a delicate lilt. "what do you say, my love? would you dance with me? if not now, then sometime soon?"

[sarangbe]

the two of them are so pitiful, but sarang hopes that, in putting their brains together, they'll be able to manifest some type of artistic energy; some form of inspiration that they're, sadly, missing right now. pausing to ponder, sarang lets out a heavy sigh; gazing over at jinyoung. when he realizes that his stare is lingering for maybe a little too long, he breaks his silence; smiling. "that does rhyme, and who knows? maybe it's honestly that easy and we're just making it way harder in our minds." that thought alone gets him thinking.

what are songwriters inspired by? what allows them to dive into the depths of their minds and pull out such creative artwork? what lights up their worlds so much that, almost effortlessly, they can whip up lyrical and melodic masterpieces?

It's then when it hits him. these artists often have muses; people who have a rosy hold on them, that they can spill sweet nothings about with no hesitation. sitting up straighter, sarang looks back over at jinyoung. "what if instead of trying to write things down, we just... talk to each other?" after a pause, he elaborates. "i feel like it's easier—at least for me—to come up with things right in the moment. like now, for instance. i look at you, and i notice the shape of your lips, and i can't help but want to kiss you."

then, it starts to click. "wait—what did i say earlier? 'i really wanna dance with you'? something like that..." reaching over to his pen and paper, he writes the line down, then takes what he just said to jinyoung into account, and makes it into a rhyming scheme.

"i really wanna dance with you, tell me, baby, can i kiss you?"

feeling oddly satisfied, he grins. "that doesn't sound so bad, right? what if the song we write is kind of romantic? sexy?" along with the question comes an impish expression, and he chuckles lightly before proceeding. "i feel like you and i definitely know how to be romantic and sexy with one another, if you know what i mean..." adding a wink for playfulness, he hopes jinyoung knows he's being mostly facetious.

"is any of this making sense, or am i just crazy?"

jinyoung knew from the moment they announced the camp that he was horribly out of his depth. perhaps it's ironic, studio delta hosting the camp and one of their newest trainees woefully ill equipped when it comes to reading music, let alone writing it. jinyoung has never even had much of a way with words, rarely wasting time on poetic language when there's better, more physical ways to communicate with another person, as far as he's concerned. maybe he should be more ashamed of it all. maybe he should go apologize to his coaches in advance for the humiliation he's going to put delta through just by being one of their trainees whose creative talents do not manifest in words or melodies.

somehow, it's easier when he's hanging around sarang. he's not nearly as self-conscious about his suggestions, not overthinking how he might come across like he does among trainees with much more experience in this area than himself. no, jinyoung knows he's in the same boat as sarang. and that camaraderie brings some sort of comfort in itself.

he's long since given up staring at a blank sheet of paper, now face down in it as if any words will transfer themselves directly from brain to written word without the help of a pencil. jinyoung knows that's not working, but neither were any of his earlier, more serious attempts. and sarang doesn't seem to be much better off, his expression mirroring exactly what jinyoung is also feeling. "yeah, i've never been good at this type of thing," jinyoung sighs, wishing he was. he's a little jealous of those who can create music, but he's long since given up on that talent. "maybe they're born with it or something. i don't know."

jinyoung sits up just enough to catch sarang's eye, to know that it's not a mistake when he feels his touch under the table. rather than think too much about it or put up a wall of rejection, jinyoung relaxes into it. he knows sarang well enough now to know there's no deeper meaning to physical touch with him, just a way to soothe the both of them during these trying times. jinyoung finds he doesn't mind it as much as he thought he would.

"dancing would be better," he agrees. he's much more comfortable in front of mirror walls than sitting behind a desk. "i could dance forever... does that kinda rhyme? write that down," he half-jokes, but it's not like anything else is any good between them.

[sarangbe]

𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅'𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔, streets of seoul, late-summer, day. 𝒕𝒍𝒅𝒓, sarang catches up with moon jinyoung.

the weather outside is beginning to grow colder; the breeze that rustles through the trees chilling his bones more than it was mere days prior. while the fast approach of winter can be seen as inconvenient, or even unwelcome, to some people, to yeom sarang, it's rather exciting. ever since he was a kid, he's always adored the transitional seasons. he was born in the springtime, so he feels right at home whenever the cherry blossoms bloom and the sun becomes stronger, but not as harsh as it is in summertime. then, later in the year, his fondness for layering garments and crocheting sweaters comes in handy when the leaves become repainted by nature; their once evergreen hues taking on the vivid chroma of flames and sunshine.

both seasons are a win for him, and as he makes his way through the city, he catches glimpses of his outfit in shop windows; en route to the studio jinyoung works at.

he remembers the hours upon hours they spent confined in those four walls. the music would blare through the speakers, their limbs and brows would glisten with sweat, and their hearts would pound after running through choreography for what felt like ages. sarang has always felt thankful to jinyoung for helping him, and even to this day, is dumbfounded at how he took first place in "next gen" while his friend walked away without any sort of prize. it makes him feel guilty, or unworthy, because all he has to offer the world is a beautiful face and effortless charisma. jinyoung has both, and much more, and all he can hope is that his longtime pal finally gets his chance to shine. there's no one more deserving than he is, in sarang's mind.

finally arriving at their once shared space, he enters the building and sees that the class jinyoung is teaching is still in-session. they're doing cool-down exercises right now, and not wanting to disturb, he sits on a chair in the back of the room; offering a smile and a wave to all who are present, hoping that he doesn't startle anyone.

though, when the class concludes, he waits for everyone to leave before making a beeline to jinyoung; beaming. "hi, remember me?" he begins, voice a singsongy lilt. "i was in the neighborhood, and i know this is a surprise, but i was just thinking about you, and thought we could hangout... if you didn't already have other plans."

sarang takes in the sight of him and grins; finding him to be just as handsome as before, or even more-so, if that's possible. "what do you say?"

[sarangbe]

[  🌹  ]  𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖑.

𝖆𝖓 𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖉𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖗, 𝟏𝟐:𝟎𝟎𝖆𝖒 /  20220917. 𝖙𝖑𝖉𝖗 /  SARANG AND JINYOUNG MEET AT A DINER.

ever since the two of them spent a beautiful night together, post-show, at the greenplugged festival, sarang’s been thinking about jinyoung way more frequently. memories of their time together still play in his mind from time-to-time, and while he’s sent him text messages every once in awhile to say hi, he’s been curious about what would happen if they actually saw one another in the flesh again. last time, things escalated rather quickly, but that was all thanks to a rush of hormones and a plan to piss of a person that both of them couldn’t stand. however, what started as dubious intentions blossomed into a display of passion so powerful that it assisted sarang in getting over his former flame, and though the pain still exists in some capacity, it’s become duller; more manageable to deal with and carry around on any given day. first heartbreaks are brutal, he’s learned that now, but thankfully, there are many ways to bandage the damage, and whether he knows it or not, jinyoung kickstarted that healing process in him. for that, sarang is forever thankful.

he keeps that information to himself, though. telling his senior that might freak him out, so he’s bitten his tongue ever since then, and even now that he’s sitting across from him at a booth in a 24-hour eatery, he doesn’t plan on divulging that information to him. all he’s looking forward to is resting his limbs after a long day of training. that, and well, unraveling whatever adventure he and the other get up to. as far as he knows, there’s no agenda, but they have all night to figure one out. he can sleep all day tomorrow if he wants to, so he’s not too concerned about time. instead, he sets his sights on the handsome man before him; an impish grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “ i hope it’s cool that we’re starting our night here, ” sarang breaks the silence; licking over his lips. “ with all of the work i’ve been doing, my appetite rages around this time every night... it’s kind of embarrassing. ” a soft blush colors his cheeks pink, one of his ankles stretches forward to embrace jinyoung’s.

“ how’ve you been ?? i’ve been thinkin’ about you. ”

[sarangbe]

[  🌹  ]  𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖊𝖞𝖊𝖘 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖏𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝖍𝖎𝖘...

𝖌𝖗𝖊𝖊𝖓𝖕𝖑𝖚𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖉 𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖈 𝖋𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖑 /   20220710. 𝖙𝖑𝖉𝖗 /  SARANG SEES JINYOUNG AT THE FESTIVAL; HIS MIND’S IMMEDIATELY FILLED WITH BAD IDEAS  !!

wow... has he always been this gorgeous ??

sarang remembers catching glimpses of jinyoung from afar before, but always felt the urge to turn away since seonghan made it known that he and jinyoung have ‘ issues, ’ but now that his ex is no longer in the picture, sarang can’t help but feel curious. there’s this aching need within him to ruffle some feathers, and whether he knows it or not, that temptation alone has allowed him to get closer and closer to the object of his affections as the day’s gone on. like a phantom in the crowd, the younger of them has kept an eye on his senior passively for the last while, and now that he spots him alone, sarang feels like he’s a moth and jinyoung’s the devastating flame — one whose warmth is acting like a north star to him, even if it comes with the risk of possibly being burned. there’s also the tale of icarus who, out of self-indulgence, flew far too close to the sun, and everyone knows how that story ended. however, these warning signs that continue to present themselves to him mean nothing right now. without pausing to consider options, sarang begins his journey towards him; his walk bold and confident as he approaches. there’s no way in hell he wants to appear timid in front of him, especially when nothing but sin is on his mind.

mere moments later, he’s standing before him, and in typical sarang fashion, he beams a smile; longing to catch his sightline [ and most importantly, his attention ] somehow. “ hey, ” he starts, but when he takes a second to gather his thoughts, he becomes distracted by jinyoung’s features; pausing almost dumbly after one syllable. god, his jawline is so strong; his lips are so luscious; his eyes are magnetic in a way that sarang’s never witnessed before. to be frank, he as danger written all over him, but that’s what makes him all the more enticing. “ whoa, i, uh — i’m sorry... you’re just, like, really handsome. ” could he have chosen his words better ?? sure, but he doesn’t get hung up on the could-be’s because who knows ?? maybe jinyoung’ll find it charming that he became suddenly speechless at the sight of him.

“ anyway !! my name’s sarang. are you enjoying the show ?? ”