cafeteria

@ˢ⁰² ; nakamoto yuta yuto supposed he should be glad for the aura he seemed to admit at times like these – with a busy, crowded cafeteria full of students, being avoided by the general populace was a blessing. he'd gotten his tray of food with ease, ignoring all the looks and whispers shot his way in the line, and had promptly found a table to sit at. by no means had it been empty, but mere minutes after he'd quietly asked the other students whether the seat was free, they'd vacated the table, leaving it empty for yuto to "enjoy".

and "enjoying", he was – if you could call quietly eating the corn muffin they'd served as a side dish in a busy cafeteria all by yourself "enjoying" a meal. but he was used to this – maybe not the amount of people, or the bustling activity of an esteemed academy – but he was definitely used to being avoided like the plague (because he kind of was the plague. a little bit.). and so he simply sat in the empty table, keeping to himself as usual. nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary on this normal, average school day.

or so, he thought. yuto been too focused on mechanically chewing away at his muffin to notice the identical students that approached him. before he realized exactly what was happening, they were already close by, far too close for yuto's comfort – people didn't usually approach him. he could only stare at the pair, bewildered – were they twins, maybe? twins with balls of steel that ignored the aura he gave off, and all the looks that seemed to be shot his way?

odd – how was he supposed to act in this situation? quickly swallowing the crumbs left in his mouth, yuto scrambled for a response that wouldn't make him seem like a social pariah – even though that was exactly what he was. "th-they're not," he stammered, heart hammering in his chest at the sudden appearance of two identical strangers. , what was he supposed to do? perhaps a beat too late, he quickly took the stranger – yuta's hand in his, clumsily shaking it once before pulling his own hand away almost immediately. he was glad for the gloves he wore – yuta might have felt how sweaty his palms had seemed to be if not for them.

yuto looked up at the other twin once he was introduced, waving hesitantly in return – jesus, one person was enough to deal with – now it had to be two? he was glad yatu seemed to be more soft spoken; that was less conversation that yuto had to deal with. "i... i'm yuto," he greeted quietly, unsure of what exactly one was supposed to do next. part of him wanted to start up conversation – they were twins? who was older? what were their powers? their names didn't sound korean – were they from japan, perhaps? if so, where? maybe he knew of the area, maybe they had a lot in common...

but he couldn't exactly do that, could he? he had no idea how to even begin. and so, yuto turned back to his tray, trying to busy himself with eating his food in an attempt to distract himself from how nervous the sudden situation of two people sitting with him for lunch made him.

@ˢ⁰² ; shin ryujin For months, almost nearing a year, Minghao found himself settled in this cozy spot in the cafeteria during breaks they shared with the sophomores. Although the air conditioner was centralized in the cafeteria, this particular booth seemed to be colder than the other. Minghao, with his peculiar belief that his mood is dependent to the temperature, found such place comforting though it may come off a little too cold for another person’s liking. As there were no other people who seemed to take interest, he claimed the booth for himself; to where he would work on his sketches or school works during break.

It was not too long when he found it rather odd that this was the only place in the whole cafeteria that seemed to be on the lower temperature spectrum; to which Minghao responded with an investigation. It did not take him long though to figure it out. There came a day where he observed its surroundings and found out that on the other side of the booth was a lone girl – a sophomore he guessed, as her face did not really remind Minghao of anyone he could have seen from their year. Shortly after, he finds out the younger female’s name: Ryujin Shin – the ice queen, as some would call her.

Though today, it was rather different – as Minghao was having trouble concentrating on one of his drafts for a mural he was commissioned to do. The air seemed humid and made him feel stuffy; almost suffocated. Yet when he briefly looked through the ornament that was dividing his booth and Ryujin’s he finds himself staring at the familiar but atypical streaks of pink. It was Ryujin but somehow it seemed like it was not her.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Minghao ripped a clean page from his notebook into which he wrote, “Having a bad day?” He hoped it would spook the girl or think that he was being a creep – so he worded it as such: casual, straight to the point. He then folded it into an origami in shape of a butterfly before using his fingertips to streak it with blue; somehow complementary to Ryujin’s hair but a tribute to her title—the ice queen. Using his powers, he animated it to make it seem that it was indeed a real butterfly fluttering it wings before concentrating for it to land on an empty spot on Ryujin’s table – hoping that the other would take notice.

@ˢ⁰⁴ ; kim jongin yugyeom recalls the dances and steps that the boys took. the giggles and smiles crept on their faces as they ran from room to room during a journey of tag. he remembers the face of a young pal that he adventured with for so long, so young, and so naive. he is able to collect all of that memory, but he'll never fail to visit the consequences of it.

the total shock zooms through the other constantly, from fright or excitement, but their parents didn't like that. everyone knows that he is a /monster/ at this point, but his long best friend never called him that. instead, he was in fascination for a long period of time. the blonde emits electrocution from pure entertainment, with a bright smile that always appears whenever they play together. even if they both have naive minds, the blonde loved spending time with the male.

but it didn't last very long.

the incident happened, which is something that yugyeom fails to recollect every time. however, this particular moment will be something that he wishes to have never occurred. he embraced jongin with such might while he sniffled away his bitter tears. he looked like a mess; his eyes were red, his nose was stuffed, and his lips trembled. "i don't know what i did wrong," was the only thing he voiced before his mother took him away.

—

it is his fourth year at the academy. his father gave him high expectations, but the blonde hasn't satisfied any of them yet. he is disappointed of course, but that doesn't mean he will give up. this is his final year to shuffle his way through his previous scores—he can't fail now. however, there is one goal that he wants to achieve before leaving the school. he wanted to meet jongin again. he didn't know exactly where the male might be, but his attempts failed every time on searching for him. perhaps, the academy is too big? or maybe, jongin isn't even /here/ in the first place. he doesn't know, but people always call him dumb—so maybe that's why.

he is waiting in line to receive food from the lunch ladies. this is probably the fifth time that he asks for extra servings, and the people around him are mumbling about his desperation for more food. he doesn't know honestly, but he does know that the lunch lady is glaring at him. he holds onto his warm plate tightly, looking at the newly-cooked food that brought in. suddenly, he feels a light touch on the shoulder. he quickly turns around, blinking a few times to recognize who the person is. "yes?" he replies, but there is a sudden shock of realization. he knows who it is.

"wait, jongin?" he nearly shouts in surprise. his whole expression lights with glee, "oh my, you're—you're here?!"

@ᶠ⁰¹ ; adachi yuto yuta was famished after three morning classes: at this point, he was beyond be an early start as he had too many years of college under his belt. sora academy was no different from the three years of university he attended previously--if anything, it opened his mind to weirder possibilities.

like swindling the cafeteria for two meals instead of just one with the help of his "twin". yuta's gag had been going on for a while, where he would take a clone with him to meals, get twice as much free food, and sit down to eat. he could taste all that without eating twice as much or decide to make the clone disappear and eat it all himself. the aromas, the presentation, the flavors were probably average but he was pretty happy with the food (until the chefs get creative with their dishes).

but today? today, his favorite lunch items were out on display. pastries, puddings, pastas: it was a good thing he was famished. they all landed on his tray, and his 'twin' followed close behind.

"seats, seats, seats," yuta mutters to himself as he scans the busy lunch room; his clone looks down at the tray, feigning shyness in lieu of speaking. he always found it more convincing to keep the twin quiet and downward looking - less work on his part than having a talkative twin, and less double vision. instead, he sees what his host body sees, and then he sees the food on his clone's tray. a gaggle of undergraduates pass by, and the view clears, revealing a whole table open except for the one quiet looking fella seated there. yuta makes his approach, the twin trailing behind by a few steps. yuta tries his hardest not to make it mechanical.

"heya, i don't suppose these two seats are taken and it seemed rude to sit away from ya," he greets, sitting with a grin and a hand extended, "the name's yuta." the twin takes a seat beside him and yuta almost skips a beat--the twin's eyes flit up, meeting the stranger's gaze and waving, but it's yuta that speaks. "and this is my twin yatu."

@ˢ⁰⁴ ; kim yugyeom /

“yug! i’m gonna find you!” he sang as he dashed around the corridor, peeking around every marble pillar for his companion. the young boy peered up at the guards that towered over him for any hint that they had seen the other prince. jongin squinted up at them with suspicion until he heard a stifled giggle coming from behind one of them.

/

“ow” jongin retracted his hand upon feeling a sharp pain emanate through his muscles. he squeezed and extended his fingers as he turned over his hand on his palm, there was a lighting-like scar emblazoning his flesh from the tips of his digits to his elbow. his arm was pulsating in agony, but he was silent—in awe.

/

he held tightly onto yugyeom as if tightening his embrace would prevent the other from leaving. however, after `the incident, his parents had made up their minds. jongin had pleaded that they let his friend say, but they were obstinate about their decision,”i’m going to miss you,” he expressed in a breathless whisper, barely audible.

/

jongin didn’t stay on his own planet long after yugyeom was sent away. a few months later, he discovered that his father was still living and he ran away from home in search of the man.

when he had arrived on earth, he had been detained by the government and only freed on the condition that he would serve the human race and attend sora academy.

he hadn’t laid eyes on yugyeom in four years until that moment. the smiling face was all too familiar. the features had become less boyish and more handsome, but the carefree smile and the twinkle in his onyx eyes were unchanged.

“yug?” he whispered to himself as he weaved around students in the dining hall, trying to get closer for a better look in case his eyes had been mistaken,"excuse me?" he extended a tentative hand to touch the male's shoulder.