❧ Trafalgar Square

@[D] Choi Jinri Another hectic day trying to escape the claws of the Circus. Magic was great- it was his passion, no really- but it could get frustrating and cloying, even on a good day. Honestly, he was 18. He should be out and about, exploring London, meeting friends and girls and someone other than the familiar faces that greeted him every single day. He took a deep breath and reveled in the life buzzing around him, relishing the fact that he was just another unknown face in a sea of people.

He smoothed down his tailored jacket, just taking in the scenery a little more, before someone bumped into him. Stumbling a little bit before recovering his wits, he reached an arm out to stabilize the unfortunate person that had knocked into him. "Are you okay?" He asked politely and bemusedly, watching as she turned pink. He spared a quick glance around, looking around for any potential embarrassing things around him, before checking his attire for any malfunctions.

He smiled rather sheepishly, not quite getting why she was so embarrassed at just crashing into him.

Though, now that he thought about it, she seemed a bit familiar. Why did she remind him of old gossip magazines?

He chuckled to himself, remembering all the ridiculous things reported about him in the magazines of old.

@[D] Do Kyungsoo ( pls tag me so i can find our posts easier later
especially since i'll be on a long hiatus in july >.< )

Dara paid a lot attention to the people around her, trying to figure out how they were feeling because every little detail mattered. Small things could change people's mood easily and everything could be a hint to something big. That was why she tried to watch the male as best as she could while simultanously trying to guess his personality, just by the things he did or said. And what he said first made her blink, as if unsure if she could trust her own ears.

Of course she had heard his words, and by those alone she could already guess that he felt uncomfortable with her, either because she was a stranger, or because she was a female or maybe for no particularly reason at all. He might be one of those people disliking social interaction, and Dara, never one to back away from challenges, had taken it upon herself to make this poor little male a little more open towards other people. She felt that he might need it, although she was unsure about effectiveness of her plans. After all, she never tried to completely change people's mindsets before. So far, she would only attract them and make them wanting to go see the Night Circus.

Deciding it would be best not to react to his comment earlier, she just smiled softly, settling down on the chair. She was contemplating on how to initiate a conversation when surprisingly, the other boy spoke to her again first. "So..." She replied, smiling shyly. She waited, but the next words never came, so the girl took the matter into her own hands. "So... do you come here often? What drink should I try?"

(@KIKO, ELLE, HEECHUL - CRYING I'M CRYING)




One, two, three, four, five.

Kyungsoo screamed a total of five times in his mind ever since the female invaded his personal bubble and a minute didn't even pass yet. He came to the conclusion that he would not make it through the hour alive. The boy observed the said female who stood there looking like she was meticulously devising an intricate battle plan in her head to utterly crush him to smithereens. Or maybe not. She was staring at his backpack. Okay, Kyungsoo thought, she wants to crush my backpack into smithereens not me, okay, cool, I should really take it off that seat. Kyungsoo had the tendency to exaggerate situations in his bizarre mind and he blamed his social anxiety for this.

"Uhm... your bag...?"

She sounded nervous and tense. On normal days, Kyungsoo would probably reply with something dumb like 'my bag is ier than you so it deserves a seat and you don't' but the female looked so uncertain and wary, Kyungsoo wanted to offer a comforting pat, maybe even envelope her in an embrace because she looked so confused and Kyungsoo had a soft spot for confused, lost people. He couldn't reveal his unfriendly, snarky side or the girl would run away with tears running down her pretty little face and that was the last thing he needed to happen. Kyungsoo decided to not be an _____ for once, feeling rather sympathetic for the female in front of him.

"So she /is/ going to destroy my backpack," Kyungsoo confirmed, "wait no, I was not supposed to say that out loud." The poor boy really needed to learn how to internalise his monologue. Kyungsoo awkwardly cleared his throat, "RIGHT, my bag, yeah, ha ha ha," the boy voiced, standing up from his seat and reaching for his bag. He placed his bag on the floor beside his seat.

"So..."

Kyungsoo's throat felt tight -- he really couldn't handle talking to people, it was way out of his comfort zone. Small talk was never his thing.

@[D] Do Kyungsoo [ cries because i agree with kiko and elle
LIKE GURL YOUR WRITING HAS IMPROVED SO MUCH
EASILY SURPASSING ME LIKE I FEEL SO PROUD ;A; ]

[[FOR JEONGKOOK]]

Jinri took a bite out of the small cupcake she had gotten at a bakery earlier and the icing that stained her lips, utterly content with her day. For once, she was let out of work early as compensation for being worked overtime the last couple of days. With spare time on her hands now, she was left to roam the foggy streets of London as she wished. Though she was a native of the area, she looked at her surroundings curiously, finding interest in just about everything. It had far to long since she last came out for a leisurely walk as she always had to catch up with the latest stories.

She was so caught up with her thoughts and the joy of freedom, she lost track of the people around her, and promptly bumped into someone's back. Jinri stumbled back, eyes on the ground as she hurriedly gave the person an apology. As her eyes swept up, she took note of the person's expensive shoes, perfectly tailored suite, and...she let out a small, mortified gasp when she realized just who she had so carelessly bumped into. An image of an article she wrote when she was a new intern at the company she now worked at came unbidden to her mind, and she cringed at the embarrassing article. In her defense, it was written about a year ago, and the company made her write it for the newspaper's gossip column. That still didn't take the humiliation she felt, as the deep flush coloring her cheeks was an obvious signal of her current emotions.

Jinri started at the man, no, boy, in front of her. Jeon Jeongguk had grown even more attractive, and the journalist had to remind herself that he was a couple of years younger than her. But that didn't keep her from openly staring at him, her eyes wide and her blush, if possible, getting darker. Her brain urged her to say something intelligent, or at least rearrange her facial features so she didn't look so unbecoming. But for all her brain's valiant attempts, her body would not move at all.

Clearly, one should never write for a gossip column because the embarrassment when one met the subject of their article was completely not worth it.

@[D] Do Kyungsoo ( BASICALLY WHAT KIKO SAID
And you have done your research HAHAHA )

@[D] Do Kyungsoo [Wow I swear you've never written that much omG AND YOU SAY YOU CAN'T WRITE. #r00d]

@[D] Do Kyungsoo "Thanks," Dara replied quietly, her smile a shy one. She could sense how awkward the other was feeling now, and although she did feel a little offended when usually strangers were enchanted by her looks alone that they would offer her a drink right from the beginning, this was not a too bad thing either. It meant that she had to actually put her charms to use, tactfulness and female intuition to know how to present herself. Men didn't all like the same type of women, though most of them surely liked her either sweet and naive, a little dumb even, or pure seduction. With her crush though, Dara was sometimes not even sure if he liked women. In that case her efforts were in vain. (At the same time she knew Heechul was married to his job, hence he had no time to date).

She figured out quickly that flirting with this particular male would not bring her the desired results, maybe even make him flee, which would be one of the worst outcomes possible, pushing her self-esteem down to the ground of a bottomless abyss.

Staring at the seat occupied by the male's backpack, she wondered how to tell him to remove the item because he either didn't notice yet or he just replied out of politeness, actually wanting to be left alone. Dara would surely not touch other people's property, much less a stranger's personal items, even if he was standing beside her and could see what she was doing with it. A minute of silence passed though, so she cleared , pointing at the rucksack. "Uhm... your bag...?" Insecurity was lacing her voice and for now she was satisfied with her acting. A Korean student would she be, now her first time travelling overseas, and hopefully, that would light some sympathy, making the male open up to her a bit.

At times, the unattractive piss yellow paint of his dorm room was off-putting. Today was one of those days. Kyungsoo sought to engage in his intense, productive, and beneficial study session at a much more visually pleasing place because the gross colour of the walls was so sickening to such great extent that it elicited several, prolonged groans from the short male every time his eyes landed on the piss coloured wall. Kyungsoo got up from his chair and hurriedly grabbed the necessary stationery, his exercise book and his laptop. He reached for his black Herschel backpack off the door hook before dumping all of its contents onto his untidy bed and shoved all of his much needed things into the backpack. Kyungsoo carefully tip-toed over the objects forlornly lying on the carpet floor as he made his way towards the exit.

As soon as he was exposed to the painful UV rays of the sun, Kyungsoo regretted his choice to venture outside because now he had no idea where he wanted to go next. Several minutes later after standing in the middle of the pathway deciding where to go, Kyungsoo headed towards the nearest underground station. “The National Gallery, it is," the boy voiced to himself. He swiftly manoeuvred through the bustling crowd of people, cautious to not bump into other beings. Kyungsoo hastily dug out his convenient Oyster card, shoving it at the ticketing machine at the entrance of the electronic gates. The machine flashed green and the barriers retracted allowing him to pass through. When he arrived at the platform, the train was already there so he hurriedly rushed inside before the train doors could shut.
The train ride was not long. After all, where Kyungsoo lived only a few stops away from Charing Cross. Kyungsoo exited the tube and headed towards the staircase leading to the iconic Trafalgar Square. Kyungsoo quickly ran across the busy road and entered the National Gallery where he then speedily made his way into the cafe.

To his fortune, at this hour of the day the cafe was not as packed so there were vacant tables. Kyungsoo sat himself at the quaint table in the corner as far away from other human beings as possible because he loathed humanity with the burning passion of a million suns. Kyungsoo took out his laptop and proceeded with his much needed sort of study session.

As the fleeting hours passed, the cafe was gradually filled with the presence of many others - tourists and businessmen in general. It was only when a light, timid pat to his shoulder that he realised the time. Kyungsoo turned around to see a seemingly peculiar female. "No, this seat is not free, my bag is sitting there, no, no, no," was what Kyungsoo initially planned to respond with but what came out was completely off track. "Uh, yeah, it's free, sure."

And it was times like these that Kyungsoo wished he could openly voice his dark, dark, dark opinions to strangers upon first meeting because he had now landed himself in an unwanted situation that would most likely require him to communicate with an actual person and oh god no, please no, please, Kyungsoo felt extremely uncomfortable now.

@[D] Do Kyungsoo Once in a while Dara would need a break and that was why she decided to go now when preparations just started. She would get busier by day and if she didn't try to get away now there might not be another chance to walk around London before the circus would travel to its next destination. She tried to convince herself that doing some sightseeing was the only reason why she was leaving the circus's grounds, although she knew she could never lie to herself. Being next to Heechul everyday, helping him out in every way, flirting with him whenever she got the chance, and still not getting any results. Of course she was upset and her pride was hurt when she usually had an easy game with men. No matter who, she could seduce them within minutes, unless their name was Kim Heechul.

Mingling with all the tourists around Trafalgar Square, her mood lifted quickly with all the eyes directed towards her, although she would still ask herself if what they saw was Dara in natura or just a more perfected image of her, product of her illusions. Despite having learnt the art to suppress those, the girl was still unsure about her own capabilities, especially without her mentor around. Suppressing her magic was more difficult than assumed when all her life she had freely and unknowingly used it before.

Sighing softly to herself, Dara finally entered a café, the elegant ambiente luring her into the National Café inside the National Gallery. Surprisingly, dressed in simple jeans and a blouse didn't make her stand out too much when everyone else here looked the same, more like casual tourists than important businessmen in suits or high class ladies in expensive dresses.

Luck must be in her favor today since there was exactly one free spot left in the overfilled café, the table occupied by a lone Asian man, and Dara, optimistic as ever, decided to use her charms on him, especially if he turned out to be a Korean. After all, her self esteem needed a little boost and getting it by someone's admiration was the easiest way.

Walking over to the man, she stopped next to him and lightly tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me?" She asked, voice soft and a little unsure, nervously biting on her bottom lip once before continuing with a slightly accented English. "Are you waiting for someone or is this seat free? Could I sit down here? There are no other seats available right now." She gestured at the room.