rυndown playgroυnd

@✦ Ten “True. But I can try, right?” Jeongin said and smiled at the other. It wasn’t a lie, the other’s name was extremely difficult but he could at least try if after all. “Do you prefer Leechai..m Leechaiyakul or Constantine as a last name?” Jeongin asked curiously as he made a mental note to remember the first name, Chittaphon. He should at least be able to remember this one. He hoped.

Nodding eagerly and proudly the younger looked at the other. “I do! I convinced my dad to let me move here and have an own apartment!” Though Jeongin wanted to go see the world and learn. He wanted to study and find out so many things. Adventures were great after all and Jeongin was not here to waste his life. “Why? You think my dad wouldn’t let me to?” He chuckled. “He isn’t that clingy.” Luckily, his brother was worse but he hadn’t seen him for a while so there was that.

A small nod left Jeongin and he looked at the other. “I mean, I grew up with it. But it is suffocating sometimes. And the peace and quiet up here is just... So much better.” Sometimes a lost soul still came to find him but Jeongin had figured out ways to deal with it. At least something. He brushed through his hair and looked at Ten. “Some are wore than others, right?” Souls. Demons. Ghosts. It was all very possible and bothersome sometimes.

Tilting his head a bit and moving in the swing, Jeongin listened to the other. “It’s hard. I never had it happen to me but I have heard a lot. Losing someone you love dearly. Especially a parent. You must miss her a lot.” He looked at Ten. “But even if she is not here, she never really left you.” He touched Ten’s chest, poking the spot where his heart should be under. “Even now she worries about you. Why else would she have sent me, right?” And usually Jeongin did not do such things, helping souls, but here he was, helping. What else could he do, right?

“Just this morning a really cute dog! A small love story. People dancing. It’s cute watching people from there. Some don’t really care about anything but it’s nicer than being down there. A lot less boring than its down there.” Jeongin shrugged slightly. “If you be more attentive you will see the world move differently. Apropos! Your mom said you dance!” Now he really got excited.

For a moment he just watched Ten and then hummed. “Maybe both?” he then asked. “But you don’t have to reply if you don’t want to.” He looked at his feet and then started to swing some more again.

@✦ Jeongin A laugh slipped from Ten, brief and airy, but loud. “My full name?” Genuine amusement laced his tone as he looked at Jeongin, a slight smile on his lips. “I don’t think you’ll be able to remember half of it,” mused Ten teasingly. Though still, he answered anyway, “My name is Chittaphon Leechaiyakul- or, if you want to follow my dad’s name, Chittaphon Constantine.”

“You live up here?” Ten wasn’t fully convinced. Sure, he had seen his fair share of celestial beings roaming amongst the mortals and blending in to their community. It’s not an uncommon sight to find an otherworldly presence amidst the living and breathing. However, as the offspring of the God of the Underworld? Surely, Hades isn’t the kind to let his child wander too far from his reach, right?

Oh, but then again, who was he to judge one’s parent- he doesn’t even know his father that well.

Hearing the reason however, it made sense. Ten nodded empathetically. “I guess the sound of tortured souls can be overwhelming sometimes.” He understood that feeling, especially being the ‘special kind’ who can see ghosts and demons which normal people can’t. At the other reason though, Ten looked at Jeongin in bewilderment. His mother sent this boy here?

At the excuse though, he chuckled breathily. “Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t be too pleased to have company right now.” Ever since his mother’s passing, he had difficulty becoming close to anyone. He made acquaintances, but they weren’t intimate enough to know all his faults and flaws. He made sure he shared no deep connection with anyone in case of a scenario where he would lose them. “I’m surprised she knows I won’t like having any company right now...”

Mother knows best, it seemed.

Ten raised a brow in curiosity. “Yeah, you think so?” He chortled. “Okay then, tell me, what have you seen happening from your apartment alone.”

He offered a non-committal shrug as he explained, “It’s boring if you want it to be boring. Most of the time though, life just doesn’t have the time to throw a curveball, so you’ll just have to deal with the uneventfulness of your day.” Better than unnecessary drama, he added in his mind.

The question made Ten pause for a moment, staring at Jeongin for a bit. “Why am I here?” He gestured mildly to the playground. “Or why am I here?” He pointed to himself, referring to the state he’s currently in — sitting on a swing, contemplating about life, and talking to the child of Hades.

@✦ Ten It was fascinating to see how the other’s face went through all kinds of emotions. First he seemed to be utterly confused and more hopeful for Jeongin to just leave or ignore him but eventually he seemed to understand. Though it was not a hard thing after all. Jeongin was no mysterious guy, he had never been. His brother was more kind of that guy than he was after all. Though he wouldn’t exactly call him mysterious.

The soft chuckle of the other sounded so empty and it worried Jeongin. But then again he did understand the other. He would feel empty too if he lost someone so important to him and was never able to talk to them again. Hollow, yes, it would leave him so very hollow. Who was he to fool? So of course the other was feeling something like that.

“Mh yeah. Child of the underworld.” Jeongin had never really liked being called this but he did get why people called him something like this. It was what he was, his exterior. But there was so much more to him than just that after all. He sighed and tilted his head a bit, looking to the other curiosly. “What’s your full name again?” He was horrible with remembering names, especially long ones, so there was that.

“I live up here,” Jeongin explained – it was not the entire truth though. “The underworld is full of people and souls so I live here.” Simply because he wanted to see the world but there was so much more to that after all. And part of it had been Ten's mother. He had always wanted a reason to do things and now finding a task did help him a bit. “Your mother sent me, too,” he then added quietly. “She told me you wouldn’t be too happy with it but... I’m stubborn and she hoped I could be of company.” And he could. There wasn’t much else Jeongin had to anyways so why not spend his time with a certain person.

“I think there is always something going on. You just need to keep your eyes open,” Jeongin said, wiggling his eyebrows amused. “Like... I’ve seen so much happening already from my apartment. So it’s not as boring as you think it is.” He winked at the other. “But if it is so boring, why are you here?”

@✦ Jeongin Ten noticed the boy. He didn’t know when he appeared, but he knew that he was watching him. He didn’t show that he acknowledged the boy’s presence though, deciding to control his facial expression and putting on a stoic face.

He caught the boy approaching from the corner of his eyes and hoped silently that he would just walk by. Instead, the boy sat on the other swing, much to Ten’s unfortunate luck. He was never one to deal with human interactions after all, and would practically shy away from, in his opinion, unnecessary communications with the living if possible.

If having a breathing being sitting next to him wasn’t enough, said being had to open his mouth and start talking.

The question didn’t exactly catch Ten off guard, when he considered how he had looked so lost just moments ago. Anyone could identify the ‘faraway look’, as humans love to call it when someone is thinking about something in the past. However, the next statement from the boy’s mouth had Ten lifting his head to look at the former.

There was slight confusion, yet for some reason Ten understood what the other was talking about. He knew the boy was talking about his mother, but that was where the puzzlement comes in. How does he know about his mother?

At the introduction though, it finally clicked to Ten. An amused chuckle slipped from his lips, sounding almost hollow. “Of course, child of the Underworld.” There was no spite in his words, though he knew he probably sounded crueler than he should. He just nodded his head at the question. “Yup, that’s me. Ten, the number.”

Ten stared at Jeongin for a moment, unsure of what to say. What can you say when the son of Hades suddenly comes up to you and talks about your mother? “What are you doing here?” He finally settled on asking. “There’s nothing interesting going on up here right now.”

@✦ Ten It hurt. Seeing the young man on the swing so sad and defeated hurt Jeongin and he just hoped that leaving the underworld had been the right decision to do. Not that he was not living here anyways but his brother preferred having him in the underworld and around him just to make sure he was safe and sound. As if Jeongin needed any protection. Only from himself, maybe, but anything else could be easily handled. He sighed and brushed through his hair as he slowly walked towards the young man on the swing. Without really saying anything, he carefully sat down on the other swing, looking at the male.

It was easy to recognise the other male's features he had from his mother. The eyes and the lips, clearly. A very handsome young male. It must have been painful to lose her - and all the stories his mother had told Jeongin were now painful memories of a loving person he would never be able to return back to. After all, she was dead and it must be hard to move on from that.

"It's painful, isn't it?" Jeongin asked softly and looked at the male. He was used to losing friends and souls he had used to talk to, it was common for him as of the nature of his heritage. But still, it sometimes hurt and missing those people was sometimes suffocating. "She loves you, you know? A lot." He rubbed his neck and wondered how creepy this must seem now and grimaced slightly. Oh well, he had always been a weird one.

"I'm Jeongin, by the way. I'm Hades son," Jeongin then said and showed the other a soft male. "You are Ten, right?" At least that was his nickname. His full name was much longer and if Jeongin was honest, he still had a hard time remembering it correctly.

@✦ Jeongin Ten kicked a stray pebble out of his path as he advanced towards the swings, carefully sitting down on the rubber seat and listening to the protesting squeal of rusting chain. He gazed around the familiar location, memories of his childhood swimming in the back of his mind as nostalgia filled him, recalling the good old days as a kid running around this rundown playground. Even though the poor condition, it had been one of his favourite places as a young boy, his mother watching him on a bench as he enjoyed himself on the see-saw and slides, not giving a care in the world.

He could still see her — on that same green bench, with the wood chipping off, there she was. Her hands folded on her lap as a serene smile plastered on her face, gentle gaze following a wild child as he sprinted across the grass, strands of hair falling into her face. She looked so breathtakingly beautiful there, eyes filled with more life than he last remembered, face full of colour compared to the final terrifying image of her that day.

One blink however and his mother was gone, disappeared into thin air, as if she was never there to begin with.

Which was true — the reality hit him hard in his chest as he sighed, remembering that yes, the fact was his mother was gone for a good twelve years of his life now, and his brain decided to play tricks on him by making him turn back to those sunshine-filled memories of his youth.

Oh, how he only wished he could turn back time, just so he could hold his mother once more, feel her warmth and the breath tickling his face when she chuckled. “Mom...”