park

@°ᴛʀᴀɪɴᴇᴇ° duan hanjunᵐᶦˡᵒ Even after basically announcing she was giving up on searching for the lost object, she couldn't help but take one final look around, just in case. Her eyes inspected every last inch of the hard grey concrete slabs she had been sitting on for the last couple hours, but there really was nothing other than a random piece of tissue that had fallen off someone's bag earlier, which Hae had only noticed since it had flown right in front of her nose in the middle of the second song. She wouldn't admit it but it had actually startled her a little bit, causing her to visibly tense up, only for her muscles to relax less than a second later as she mentally facepalmed for reacting like that to something so small.

She once more turned to face the boy, hoping that would be all he wanted from her and that she could lea- wait. Why did he even ask her to search for it with him? What a random thing to ask a stranger. Anyway, she firmly gripped her bag's strap, which had been slipping for a couple minutes as she searched around, threatening to fall off her shoulder, as she prepared to head home. But the boy seemed to have other plans.

It definitely wasn't the first time Hae had been flirted with, so it's not like she wasn't somewhat used to it (there can definitly be pretty creepy people just randomly waiting to make your day worse), but it was unquestionably the first time an idol (or a trainee, for accuracy) had spoken to her like that.
Luckily for him (or was it unluckily?) she had quite some time to spare, so why not turn it into a game?

"And what fun would it be if I just told you that?" she remarked, offering the boy a not to subtle wink as her lips fought the urge to take the shape of a satisfaction-filled smirk. "Also, won't you get in trouble if they hear you speaking like that to someone?". And by 'they' she meant a couple of staff members that had been helping said boy with the equipment, which she was now pointing towards in a playfully mocking way.

Without giving him even the slightest amount of time to think of a reply, she faintly rolled her eyes, placing the very tip of her index finger on this particular spot on her chin as a hum escaped her lips, leaving her to feign a pondering expression before getting back to him.
"Not really. I usually only follow his events. So, I guess... one could say you got lucky?" she playfully retorted, fighting the urge to wink at the boy once more as the corner of her lips pulled into a grin, her body leaning every so slightly forward, towards him.



() pleeeeease don't worry about any of that! do your replies as long or as short as you please! and it's also fine hehe hae is also quite... feisty u.u
also so sorry for the wait, I had been meaning to reply earlier but uni kept me busy ;-;

@°ғᴀɴ° moon hae Making just one connection was enough to signal a successful performance. And by the end of Milo's, he had felt somehow that he'd managed to make more than just one. At least, that's how he felt at the current moment. The thoughts of the performance lingered in his mind even as he finished packing up all his stuff, and now that he'd gotten Hae's full attention he felt even just a little bit more satisfied with himself.

A small sigh escaped his lips and he shook his head, figuring he'd keep up the act of looking for the missing guitar pick. At this point he'd probably only somehow make her mad or lose a bit of respect for him, he thought. At least, if she had any to start with. He put a slightly disappointed smile on his face as he looked at her more properly, standing up and bowing slightly. "That's probably what happened, yea. A shame I lost it," he said softly, his nose scrunching slightly as he stood straight once more.

The disappointment seemed to diminish after only a few moments, and without thinking of any consequences he bit down lightly on his lip. "I'm Milo. Do you mind if I get your name, pretty lady?" he almost sang out the words, a look in his eyes showing a small amount of flirtiness. Maybe if he was lucky no one would see this exchange, but with being one of the trainees set to be on Dantes Inferno that wasn't entirely realistic. That fact was still something he wasn't entirely used to, however. The show wasn't even crossing his mind with this exchange.

That would change once he started on his way home, naturally, but in this particular moment he simply focused on his interaction with the girl in front of him. "Do you normally come out to see busking performances? Or were you just here to see my senior, and... stayed for me?" The level of playful teasing in his tone was tantamount to a level of flirting that could lead to many possibilities, the one that only barely crossing his mind being the fear that he'd get slapped- something that had only happened on a small number of occasions. For some reason, however, it never stopped him from speaking with such a flirty tone, or with generally flirty verbiage, when having any interaction with someone he'd met. And for some reason, whether he found the person attractive or not had little to do with his behavior. It was simply how he was, but one thing was true. No matter the situation, Milo simply wasn't one to lie.


() it's a little shorter i'm sorry ;; also i'm sorry for milo i--- please let me know if you need me to tone it down for him im really not intending to make him too much omf

@°ᴛʀᴀɪɴᴇᴇ° duan hanjunᵐᶦˡᵒ Hae's attention was now fully on the boy- what was his name again? Ah, that's right, Milo.
She was only now noticing how he'd kept his eyes shut during most of the performance which was quite engaging in itself, but as he slowly opened them, Hae could definitely see his expression change, was it relief? Content? Either way, she found it endearing how a smile was now shaping his lips, eyes dancing as he scanned the people around him. Of course she didn't notice that his stare had perhaps lingered a tad longer towards her direction. I mean, why would it?

Having decided to simply enjoy the show until the end, she found herself smiling and thoroughly enjoying herself as she watched the boy interact with the croud throughout the remaining songs. She had remained in that exact same spot, sitting on the floor, but she'd now occasionally clap her hands to the beat as her body fought the urge to swing from side to side once again. It truly surprised her how much she was enjoying herself, and how much she was physically showing that; not only was she not one to do so when surrounded by people, but she was usually way too tired to even have the energy to try.

Before she knew it, and before any of the other people who'd been there from the beginning knew it really, the last song was over, and the boy was already saying his goodbyes and thanking everyone for coming, waving to some girls right on the left, and shortly exchanging greetings with people who'd come up to him as he was packing everything up.
There was a certain sense of.. accomplishment? No, that wasn't it. More like, satisfaction, for having stayed through the whole thing, for allowing herself to not only to do something out of her routine, but to also to enjoy something to the point of having time fly by.

Someone tripping over her bag, which had been laying on the floor beside her, brought her attention back to herself, and as so she quickly began to grab her things, taking her time to get up as her legs were now feeling sore from having been in the same position for a while. With everything on her back, the girl reached for her phone and sighed in relief as she realized it was actually earlier than she had thought, and she wouldn't have to catch the last bus (and later on get yelled at by her mother for coming up some random excuse as to why not only did she skip school, but also got home at dinner time).

"Hey! Miss!". That same voice Hae had been listening to for the past couple hours (and had by now gotten accustomed to) resounded through the now almost empty park air, stopping the girl on her tracks. Surely, that wasn't directed to her, but her body moved faster than her head and seeing as how the boy was already taking a few short steps towards her, asking for help with something, she concluded that was indeed the case. She tried to process the question as she took one last look around, making sure there was no one else around he could be speaking to, but as she seemed to be the only one in that general direction, she could only mumble a "Ah- sure" before her eyes fell on the floor, darting around as she tried to find the object.

After one or two minutes, both her and the boy had yet to find it, so she simply gave up and turned to him, with an apologetic smile. "Maybe someone found it and took it with them?"

@°ғᴀɴ° moon hae At some point in his performance, Milo's eyes had fallen shut. Perhaps it was him being unable to bear the sight of seeing more people walk away from him. Or maybe it was the depth of the emotions he was intending to convey coming through more clearly when he did as such. The entire second half of his performance, he didn't see anyone. It wasn't until his eyes opened again that he realized a few more people than he'd initially expected were still in the crowd. A half smile formed on his face as his eyes scanned the group of people, but for some reason they lingered on the girl in the front who he'd noticed before.

Perhaps it was the fact that, he'd really thought she would have left throughout his song. After all, the look she'd given him wasn't exactly the most pleasant. On the other hand, her demeanor didn't seem to match that of some of the others in the crowd. It was something he wasn't quite sure about, but... was it that she simply wasn't interested in music? Of course, Milo knew there were people who weren't crazy about music in the same way that he was, but it still threw him off to meet or see people who weren't. In any case, he figured, perhaps he could change her mind.

He bit his tongue as his smile grew, and he slowly found himself able to pry his eyes off of her. He stood up this time, and as the next song started, he performed with even a bit more energy this time. Throughout the duration of his busking, his energy seemed to grow. He would get more excited when someone seemed to really enjoy his music. But more than anything, he kept finding his attention going back to Moon Hae frequently than anyone else. His eyes grew playful, or rather flirty, the more times he saw her. And at the end, when everyone seemed to be leaving, he took his time packing up his things.

His eyes kept going back to the park, however, as he tried to catch where this girl was. Something in him truly just wanted to talk to her. To see what she thought of his music and find out if she liked him. "Hey! Miss!" He called out, but not too loudly, when he spotted her again. "Do you mind helping me look for this guitar pick, I can't seem to find it. I think it fell out of my pocket during my performance," he spoke. This was, very obviously, a lie. He didn't even know if she'd listen to him, or even hear him for that matter. But his lips still moved as he willed them to.

@°ᴛʀᴀɪɴᴇᴇ° duan hanjunᵐᶦˡᵒ Deep down Hae knew she was being a bit harsh towards the boy, he hadn't really exactly done anything wrong, at least definitely not towards her, but it's not like her being there would make that much of a difference for him. Sure, a couple other people had also began to leave, but there were plenty that ended up sticking around. It's not like he was going to be left with no audience.
However, and for some reason, something inside of her was telling her to just give it a shot. She'd be missing her classes either way, even if she did go back (which at this point, sounded extremely uninteresting and exhausting, specially since she'd been looking forward to this day for a while now and the disappointment was more than enough for the day), she definitely wouldn't make it in time for any of her lectures. What was she really losing by also sticking around a bit longer?

These thoughts crossed her mind in just a split second, but even if they hadn't been enough to keep her from leaving, the boy's soft (and somewhat sad?, she thought) tone, filled with such sincerity was just that small push to her conscience she needed to finally drop her things beside her once more, taking the same spot on the floor she had just been occupying a couple seconds earlier.

Hae wasn't exactly there for the music, neither did she know much about the topic or overall enjoyed it the way music lovers do. It's not something she found interesting but once again, there wasn't much in life she had an interest towards. Sure, she had ended up following the photography route in her studies, but if she had to be honest with anyone, that was only so she could improve the quality of her blog; the blog she had spent hours upon hours on, being it with the travelling for the events (and events themselves), the odd jobs here and there to ensure she'd have money for any last moment trips, new equipment or tickets, or even the long, tedious and seemingly never ending nights of editing. What was she doing all of that for, she didn't really know. But she was dedicated to her idol, and that was all she needed.

She wasn't exactly there for the music but... as soon as the first note came up, something changed. Something was causing her to gently sway, from side to side, and she could swear she felt her heartbeat syncing with the subtle beats of the instrumental that was echoing through the air, spliting the wind into soft and light breezes that danced around the circle of people around him. An unpreoccupied and content sigh escaped her lips as she allowed her eyes to close, the gentle swaying of her body never stopping. Before she knew it, the song was over, and the claps from the audience now replaced the music that had just now been playing.
Coming back to "real life", she thought to herself.

"Maybe I'll stick around for a little longer."

@°ғᴀɴ° moon hae A small breath slipped through Milo's lips as he took in everyone's expressions within the audience. He knew he should try not to take things personally. After all, this wasn't originally his gig. Some of the faces he seemed to receive served to cause a small amount more of hurt to seep through to him, but he still kept a smile on his face. In fact, against his better judgement his smile grew towards those in the audience. Perhaps, he thought, a good attitude would make things better in this situation. Maybe the smile would... not antagonize those in the audience? Surely, that wasn't the case entirely. While some seemed to calm down and sit, others appeared to be more frustrated as they stormed off.

"Waste of my time."

That was one of the statements he'd heard from a few as they left, the time seeming to move by much more slowly than it actually was. Each second felt like a minute, words and movements in slow motion. He had expected this, but clearly, he wasn't as prepared as he thought. His gaze landed on a girl towards the front of the crowd when she began leaving, the look on her face lingering in his mind for a few more moments than the others. He didn't know at the time that this was Moon Hae, but something about it had given him a swift slap in the face. Or perhaps that was just the wind.

"I know I'm not who everyone is expecting to see today. I'm here to fill in since my senior isn't feeling well today. I hope you'll all give me a chance. This... is a song I wrote. If you like it, maybe I can convince you to stay for the rest of my performance." He spoke these words in a smooth tone, his head lolling to the side as he hit play on his phone. And then the music started, the instrumental playing and pulling him out of his momentary freeze up. The mic lifted back to his lips, and he began to perform, his singing and rapping seeming to be in a better condition than he'd initially anticipated. That in itself seemed to be a of luck for him, but he didn't even seem to fully notice it, allowing his emotions instead to flow through his voice and radiate for the already smaller group of people in front of him.

This was it, the day was finally here. Did Hae have to skip a couple classes to be here? Yeah. Did she care? Well.. yes, but probably not as much as she should have. It wasn't the first time this happened anyway, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.
At the time of the busking announcement a few days earlier, she had been glued to her computer, editing and uploading photos of him for a couple hours. Not expecting anything to be announced that late at night, her focus was 110% on her screen. Which is why when her phone rang with the very specific notification sound she had set specifically for these type of announcements, it had startled her so much to the point she ended up dropping the device as she ran to try and grab it. Of course, It wasn't long before her mom's voice could be heard from down the hallway, yelling at her to go to sleep. Not like that doesn't happen everyday. She did eventually comply, but not before staring at the announcement for a little longer than what would be considered healthy, a grin from ear to ear plastered on her face.

Arriving at the spot with more than enough time to spare, she decided she'd get some work done and took out her camera, looking around for nice little corners to photograph for her project. Time went by smoothly and as the alarm clock she had set before went off, she swiftly put away her camera, claiming an empty spot in the front for herself.
As a boy she'd never seen before made his way towards the middle of the circle of people that had already gathered around, setting up a few speakers and a microphone. Confused, Hae double checks the time and place of the event wondering if maybe she'd gotten it wrong. At the confirmation that she was indeed in the right place, she wondered if maybe the boy was just a young staff member helping set up the gear.
That was, of course, until the boy introduced himself. To say she was visibly upset was an understatement, and never had she so quicky gotten up on her feet, ready to leave. She gave the boy one last not-so-pleasant look before turning to leave.

() I tend to write quite a lot in the beginning as well so that's definitely okay! ;-; sorry for any mistakes!

@°ғᴀɴ° moon hae The days had passed by in a flash for Hanjun. With training, preparation for Dantes Inferno mainly, on top of classes and his own personal task of relearning instruments, he was wanting to get some fresh air while also doing what he loved. He was essentially using his only freetime to go out and do more of what he'd spent the rest of his time doing. Make music and play music. This occasion just so happened to be one he was extra lucky with.

One of his seniors had originally been slotted to do some busking at the park, but as the time approached things fell through. Milo was the lucky one to get the opening. With the change being as last minute as it was, he had a feeling in the back of his mind that he would be seeing a slightly larger crowd than usual. He sat down at the designated spot, setting up the speakers and humming along to a couple songs he'd written and yet to perform, or even show to anyone. Making the decision to perform something completely new was a risk, and he knew that, but if it went well then that would only make things better for him. "Hey, I'm Milo Duan, or Duan Hanjun," he spoke into the mic once it was set up, flashing a smile to the few people who'd made it by this point. There were more than a few who were visibly confused or upset, but he knew the reason. It wasn't a reason to get down, he thought to himself. After all, this was an opportunity he'd probably never get again before properly debuting.


() i ended up writing way more than I was expecting please don't feel obligated to write as much as i did ;;