#( c: mahira yoon castillo 1 )

[vedantxarora]

WITH: @mahirayc LOCATION: soundwave

A change in management likely meant the end of his work at the establishment. Not because Ved worried he would get fired. But the only reason that he worked at the old bar was because his friend had been struggling to keep it afloat and every single bartender kept walking out. He offered his help and ended up serving the one or two regulars who did not consume nearly enough alcohol to pay for the expense of keeping the place operational. And once again, Ved briefly wondered if there wasn’t more he could have done to prevent his friend from being run out of business. Perhaps put that MBA to use for once. As his eyes cast around the newly refurbished building, it was almost unrecognizable. What had once been a dive bar now transformed into a dazzling club. And Ved assumed that with the cosmetic makeover the bar received, the staff would receive a similar changeover. Especially considering he was hardly a bartender by trade, there would be people far more qualified for this new business. Approaching the back office, he knocked on the door of the new owner, waiting for an answer before cracking open the door to enter.

[hyunwooxseong]

Hyun Woo’s entire attention was directed at his son, trying his hardest to ignore the palpable animosity radiating from Sarang’s sister. It was natural and he expected to be greeted with this type of coldness. After all, he’d received an icy response from his ex-wife. And her sister was fiery hot in her rage. However the protection and comfort he sought in his five-year-old son was stripped from him when Mahi asked for him to go to his room and give them privacy. Hyun Woo knew what this would entail and yet he could not cling to a child as a shield. He would have to face the punishment for his crimes. He had wronged the family in many ways by hurting Sarang and he was well aware that it was time to face the music. Which was why he took a soft breath in when Hanbin bounded out of the room and up the stairs, prepared for the onslaught. Which was precisely what he received, the moment that they were completely alone. The animosity turned into abject hatred.

As she recounted his promises, each of the vows that he had broken to not only the woman he had loved more than life but to her family as well, his head hung in shame and he remained absolutely silent during her tirade. Because he knew that he deserved this. He had his reasons, but they all boiled down to his failings. He failed as a husband and as a father. Hyun Woo could try and rectify the latter, but the former was impossible to change. And as she continued to threaten him, much more harshly than the first time they had met when she had teasingly noted that she’d make him pay if he ever hurt Sarang, Hyun Woo could feel her fierce protectiveness for her nephew. Looking up at her, he took another breath before speaking. “I won’t. Even though you have no reason to believe me, I won’t hurt him.” But he had lost their trust and he had made the same promise years ago, only to break them. Granted, he couldn’t tell her the reasons that he had. That in a twisted way, he had been protecting her sister from something far worse. Something even more sinister than a heartbreak. So, he kept silent, willing to take more of her distrust and fury. “I just want to get to know him. As much as I’m allowed, I wish to be involved in his life.” He wasn’t even thinking of telling the young boy he was his father anytime soon. The few hours he got to see him was already enough. / @mahirayc

“Binnie, can you do me a favor and go in your room for a few minutes? Masi has something important to discuss with this uncle.” He was lucky she didn't call him an asshole to her nephew's face. After watching the young boy walk away, she turned back to Hyunwoo, her smile faded as she narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn't believe the audacity of this man, showing up here after everything he had done to Sara. The pain he had caused her sister was still fresh in her mind, and seeing him sitting there, acting as if nothing had happened, made her blood boil. She crossed her arms, her posture defensive as she regarded him coldly. 

"I don't know what you're doing here, Hyunwoo. You have some nerve showing your face after breaking my sister's heart." Her voice was low, anger simmering beneath the surface. "You promised you would never hurt her. You looked me in the eye and swore you would always be there for her. And then you broke that promise. You let her go, like she meant nothing to you." The betrayal stung. If this was anyone else, maybe she wouldn’t care. Mahi wouldn’t even care if someone were to hurt her, but not her family. Not her siblings. Her nails dug into her palms and she had to take a deep breath to keep herself from saying something she might regret later. "You better not hurt that boy the way you hurt Sara. Because if you do, I swear you will regret it. And while we’re at it, keep your hands to yourself. You had your chance but you blew it. Are we understood?” 

[ruhixmarathe]

The moment that she saw her cousin’s expression change, the flash of understanding reflected in her gaze, Ruhi felt a pang of regret. Immense guilt overwhelmed her for daring to allow her inner most thoughts to color her enthusiasm at having Mahi back. She knew why she left. She knew just how much she had experienced when she was away from them. And when Ruhi had never experienced something so life altering, wasn’t it unfair of her to hold it against Mahi? To blame her for how she coped? It was selfish of her to be thinking of herself when her cousin was shouldering the trauma of witnessing a colleague die before her very eyes and had experienced the torment of not knowing what would happen to her. She should be grateful to have Mahi with her at all. Every minute with her was a minute that she might not have otherwise had. A family much like theirs was not as lucky. Which was why when Mahi reached across the table to take her hand, Ruhi turned her palm upward so she could grip her cousin’s hand with her own. This time a more genuine smile came across her features as she pushed down her disappointment and guilt for Mahi’s sake.

“Please, tai, you don’t have to apologize,” she insisted, unable to listen to Mahi ask for forgiveness when she was already dealing with so much. “You never have to apologize to me. I know why you left. I can’t even begin to understand what you’ve been going through and because I haven’t been in that situation, it’s not fair for me question how you cope. I just worried because,” as her eyes grew slightly moist, Ruhi looked away to blink back the tears that threatened to fall at the thought. “It was hard enough to imagine losing you once. I couldn’t do it again, not knowing where you are or if you are okay.” Looking back, she swallowed hard and gave Mahi’s hand a squeeze. “I would be happy even if you only decided to visit me once a year as long as I knew that in the other 364 days, you were and sound.” As the waitress came with a refill, Ruhi quickly looked away again and composed herself, turning back with a small laugh. “Leave it to me to get senti in Rizzo’s of all places. And you don’t have to ask, tai. It is not even a question, of course we are! You haven’t seen my new place, but it is freshly stocked with all your favorite snacks.”

Mahira's gaze dropped back to her plate as Ruhi spoke, her cousin's words settling heavily in her being. The other wasn't the type to lash out or express anger, but the disappointment in her tone was unmistakable. It cut deeper than any shouting ever could. "I'm sorry, Ruhi," Mahira said, her voice cracking with regret. "I never meant to make you worry or feel like I forgot about you. I just… I got so caught up in trying to escape my own head that I didn't think about how it would affect everyone else." Reaching across the table, she tentatively placed her hand over that of her cousin’s. "I'm glad I'm back too. I've missed you, missed this." She gestured between them with her free hand, a small, hopeful smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Do you think we can start over? Maybe have a weekly cousin's night, just the two of us? I promise I won't flake out on you again." Her promises meant nothing now, she knew that. But unlike before, she didn’t want to run away again. It was time to face her demons, and heal. She couldn’t keep punishing herself over something she had no control over.

[vedantxarora]

As he stepped into the office of the woman that had taken over, fully intending to let her know that he had little intention of continuing to work at the club long term, Ved stopped for only a beat when he finally laid eyes on the brunette that had taken over. The woman he had run into under far more precarious circumstances years back. Whose presence in his town had the ability to sending him right back to the war-torn country they had both met in originally. Though is expression remained deadpan, his eyes shone with a touch of curiosity. If he were a more spiritual person, he might have believed that this was destiny. After all, it was a fluke to meet someone once, no matter how intense the circumstances under which they met were. It was perhaps a coincidence to run into the same person again a year later in a completely different state ( ironically, once again a desert ). But three times?

Before he could suggest the same, her line of thinking veered in the opposite direction. Lucky for them both he was not sentimental, or a stalker. But he raised a brow in amusement at the suggestion and the fact that her demeanor was quite different from both the other times he’d met her. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she was a completely different woman. Perhaps this version of her was healed. In a way he had never managed, Mahira had managed to put herself back together after the trauma they endured. Her more than him. For he were ostensibly trained to deal with the pressure and the possibility of loss. She was not and she had witnessed it before her very eyes. Shaking the thoughts of the past that flooded his mind the moment he saw her, long strides brought him to her desk. “I was curious to meet the new management.” He kept it simple, not divulging the fact that he had also intended to leave after. “I’m not looking for a job,” he continued, hands resting on the chair across from her though he didn’t take a seat. “I’m looking to keep it,” the words came out before he fully processed them. His intrigue overpowered his intention. “Unless you’re planning to overhaul the entire staff.” / @mahirayc

She was in the middle of sorting through a stack of applications when the knock came at her door. "Come on in," Mahi called out, her eyes still glued to the papers in front of her. The name on the application she was currently reviewing caught her attention—Vedant Dasari. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. When she finally looked up, her eyes widened in surprise, and her heart began to race. There, standing in front of her, was Ved—the man who had saved her life in Syria. She couldn't believe it. First, they had run into each other in Vegas, and now he was here, in her office. Was this some kind of dream?

She’d always been great at hiding her feelings, and she was about to do that now. Putting on the veneer of indifference, she plastered on a dimple popping smile before speaking up. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were stalking me. How are you, Ved?” Then, she leaned back in her chair, and took in the sight of him. The last time he saw her was in Vegas. With booze and weed in her system, she’d acted unlike the broken person she was when he rescued her. She didn’t want him to see that version of her again. No one had that right. Today, he would get the same version—though she wouldn’t be stoned out of her mind. "I have to say, I'm surprised to see you here. Are you looking for a job, or did you just miss my charming personality?" She asked, keeping the act of the bubbly girl he’d encountered in Vegas.

[ruhixmarathe]

Uncharacteristic silence fell over them. Mahi had gotten the call after many messages went unanswered for days. To the point where she actually started to worry about Mahi’s wellbeing and if she was okay. Only to receive a confirmation text that she was alive a week or so later. Ruhi of course sympathized with what her cousin was going through. That was why she would have never judged her for deciding that she needed go out and live her life. Hell, Ruhi respected her for saying “fuck it” and doing what she wanted. But she couldn’t help but feel that in the process, she forgot that there were some people who still worried about her. Ruhi had never wanted to be an obstacle to the life her cousin wanted, but there was a pang of disappointment that she couldn’t shake. Nonetheless, when Mahi finally broke the silence that settled in the gap between them, Ruhi met her eye and shook her head. “I’m not mad,” she began calmly, having never been the best at expressing any negative emotion or being anything but agreeable. “And I’m not going to yell at you. I’m just,” she hesitated, pushing the lettuce on her plate around, deciding against speaking her mind in that moment. “I’m happy you’re back,” she concluded with a soft smile that didn’t fully reach her eyes but that was sincere. / @mahirayc

closed starter @ruhixmarathe

Sitting quietly at Rizzo's Diner, Mahi picked at her burger as she avoided meeting Ruhi's gaze. The usual chatter between the cousins was noticeably absent—replaced by an uncomfortable silence. She couldn’t blame her family for being mad. For five long years she came and went as she pleased, most of the time without telling them where she was. If she was in their shoes, she would be livid. As she stirred the ketchup around with a fry, she finally broke the ice, "You're mad at me too, aren't you?" She glanced up, her dark eyes filled with guilt. "Donnie yelled at me, so if you want to do it, go ahead. I deserve it."