⟡ ⁞  beach

@ᴄ ⁞ minho l 。 "oh c'mon, you can't wuss out now," she claps as a means of encouraging him. "i'm not gonna catch you but.. yeah, just come on." and the moment he does peddle off, possibly the most proudest smile is etched onto her lips, a barrage of beckoning hand movements and loud cheers from her seen. at what she considers a halfway point within his given distance, her eyebrows furrow at the evident imbalance of his weight upon the surface of her board, and before she can tell him to be careful, he's already toppling off to the side. her palm muffles her laugh, stopping the skateboard's jagged way before jogging over to him. "bro, your sense of balance is way off. it was good in the first half though. i think you still need to hold my hand though. my goal today is that you'll be able to go down a little ramp."

@ᴅ ⁞ ryujin s 。 he honestly never expected seeing such a side from ryujin, conditioned to hearing her witty remarks that always mean to poke fun with no harm intended. he supposes she does truly care but hides it behind a practiced façade, somewhat like himself. and just like before, he sees her return to her usual self, now leaving him alone on a skateboard he's not entirely sure on how to control. at least the path in front of him is level. "i'm suddenly regretting letting you convince me to do this." he pushes off with his nondominant foot anyways, keeping balance with the other as his focus remains on not falling off. it's when he gets about halfway there that he somehow loses his center of gravity as he tilts too far to one side, stumbling off the board and watching as it continues to roll towards ryu on the other end.

@○ ⁞ jinyoung b 。 "mm, nice. i think i'm more spicy—it just has more flavor, but this doesn't mean i'd like spicy gummy bears,"—she clarifies with a laugh—"alright, sounds good." contagiously, she, too, elicits out a yawn just as he does, though this goes over her head as he answers. nodding understandably, she hums momentarily. "yeah, i get it. but the whole.. dressing up and awkward conversations isn't my style, i can already foresee how it'll go," her next words are said after a pause. "but maybe i'll see you there. you can help me spike the punch bowl."

@ᴅ ⁞ ryujin s 。 he hums with a nod, "yeah guess you could say i have more of a sweet tooth. fine, i'll bring the supplies with me tomorrow then. " jinyoung stretches his arms put which prompts a small yawn, bring his arms back to the side once he's done stretching. he cranes his head up to look at all the seagulls in the sky and shrugs, "well not really forced, but i'm going with a good friend of mine so why not? its not often that stuff like this happens anyway."

@○ ⁞ jinyoung b 。 "so, i'm guessing you're more on the sweet side between sweet and sour?" she inquires, raising a brow. as he asks, she hums in thought before responding. "that'll be a secret. can't have you sneaking peeks on your own time." this is said with joking intent, though still standing with the fact that it wouldn't be until tomorrow that he'll know. his answer thoroughly surprises her, not having taken him for a prom person. "yeah, fun. oh, you are? are you being forced or do you genuinely have a date?"

@ᴅ ⁞ ryujin s 。 "i get it i get it, it's still sugar, sugar's nice." jinyoung muses, a little snort coming through at ryujin's dramatic display. "extra shirt, ok noted. anything else? where are we gonna be painting?" he asks, leaning back a little, pressing his palms on the space behind him in the bench. "fifth wheeling, fun. but yeah i am, its been a while since ive gone to one anyway."

@○ ⁞ jinyoung b 。 "too sour," she makes a dramatic, distasteful expression his way. "but the artificial flavor in here is just-" now, she mocks a puking noise, only to laugh soon after. resting against the bench, she shifts over to directly face him sheepishly, again reaching out to thumb at the plastered paint. "i think i'll advise you to bring an extra shirt in that case." retracting her hand, she pauses in thought before shaking her head. "i'm not sure. my friends are going most likely, but i think i'll be fifth wheeling," she shrugs. "are you?"

@ᴅ ⁞ ryujin s 。 "do you not like oranges in general ryuj?" he snorts, bringing his foot out to stop the skateboard from rolling away when she nudges it. he gives her a lopsided grin, a sign that he's agreed to the preposition. "sounds like a plan, i've never really painted with acrylics outdoors though, so if it's more of a mess than this-" he gestures to his denim jacket, "apologies in advance." ah prom- he remembered seeing pamphlets stuck around the academy, "yeah, i do. are you going?"

@○ ⁞ jinyoung b 。 "the green i can agree on, but you lose me at orange, jinyoung." this time, she etches out a small laugh, nudging her skateboard over to his feet with hers, just as she's done multiple times now. "what you see?" her curiosity piques just as his does, sharing his gaze. "how about tomorrow night then? you can show me yours and i'll teach you spray painting." taking a hold of a green gummy bear, she hovers it over her lips before voicing out. "did you hear that prom's coming up?"

@ᴅ ⁞ ryujin s 。 "for real? that's like, the best flavor. along with the green one," jinyoung points out as he takes the next orange victim into his hands and pops it into his mouth, "more for me i guess." he shrugs, art has always been an extra escape for him, often indulging in one piece for hours. "sometimes it does, other times i just...paint or draw what i see." he looks on to ryujin, raising both brows as his curiosity's been piqued. "you do? that's pretty neat, never tried spray painting, you should teach me."

@○ ⁞ jinyoung b 。 "yeah, orange is my least favorite flavor, so you're welcome." she says, lifting a red gummy bear to pop into her own mouth, but not without a devious-like chuckle. reaching over, she, too, runs the pad of her pointer onto the dry paint, shrugging. "that's cool—that you paint and all. but if your work look like what's on your jacket, then i don't wanna see," openly joking, she then offers him yet another orange treat. "i actually spray paint, so maybe if you come around to showing me, i will too."

@ᴅ ⁞ ryujin s 。 "ooh nice, thanks." he says, plucking the gummy bear from ryujin's palm and popping it into his mouth. he's tempted to roll his eyes, but he settles for a scoff. shaking his head right after as he pokes at the drying bits of paint on his jacket, "nah...i was just painting something. didn't really pay attention to the jacket and i guess i painted it too?" he snorts, "maybe if something like that happens i'll let you know about it."

@○ ⁞ jinyoung b 。 she's learned to recognize that of jinyoung's shuffled steps, so when he takes his seat beside her, she's already readily splaying her palm out for him—an orange gummy bear. sparing him a glance at his inquiry, she takes note of his stained denim, stifling a laugh. "i'd say mine was less eventful than yours. you look like you got into a paint brawl, and i'll have you know i'm offended i wasn't invited."

@ᴅ ⁞ ryujin s 。 despite it being summer, the air got chilly around the evening - especially near the beach. when a strong breeze brushes past jinyoung, it prompts him to wear his denim jacket freshly stained with acrylic paint -- a result of having it around too often while immersing himself in painting. it's not hard to spot ryujin, making a few quick strides to take a spot next to her on the bench. "yo, how's your day been?"

@○ ⁞ jinyoung b 。 this time, she arrives in hyunjin's over sized sweater, settling upon the bench she's familiarized herself with the past week now. holding a gummy bear bag in her palm, she awaits for her.. would you say, friend? she's unsure, but that didn't matter. what did was that the beach was almost a perfect getaway from everything—university, her father, and she intends on not wasting a single second.

@ᴄ ⁞ minho l 。 his hesitant response was rather expected and she knows that if he were to return the favor, she'd feel the same. "yeah, don't mention it. i'll deny it if you do." she offers him a half smile, her gaze having to be focused on his uneven hairline or his chapped lips, and frankly, she doesn't know which one is worst. on a whim (and a much needed break from this somewhat caring ryujin he's been seeing recently), she releases his hands, halting him in place with a soft nudge before jogging about a good few meters away. the pathway remains leveled and in her mind, there was no possible way he could mess this up, so she beckons him her way. "balance with your dominant foot and push off with the other. you'll be fine, but if you fall off, you can trust me to laugh."

@ᴅ ⁞ ryujin s 。 "haha, very funny," he deadpans, although he wouldn't put it past her for being proud of such a thing. he keeps his head up as they go, watching everything pass by as they continue along the sidewalk. "i see," he replies, noticing how it's not too different from his own response. as her hands squeeze, he does the same as well, hoping that this isn't where he falls despite the dip being so small. what she says next brings a small smile of amusement to his face until the light jab at his abdomen stops that. "hey, stop that. i–" he doesn't expect the next sentence coming out of , freezing up on the spot. even though it comes out like an afterthought, the offer still stands, and he can't helo but think that is something he could never do. there's so much to say that he doesn't even know where he would begin. so he chooses to go with a simple "thank you. i'll keep that in mind" before adding on a small apology as he has no idea what else to say in return.

@ᴄ ⁞ minho l 。 "if you get hurt during this, i will proudly say i did it." she reassures, entirely joking (not really) between the two as she guides him alongside the pavement, watching as a few passerbys aimlessly clear the way for them. nodding in acknowledgment of his answer, she understands it all too well, though she fails to catch the slight hesitance in his voice to continue on as he ushers the same question back. "hanging in there," she shrugs, squeezing his hands to slow him down a tad from the minuscule of a decline in the sidewalk. "i don't know, i guess i'm asking because.. you know, i guess we're somewhat friends now, and hyunjin would sign to me that i should always ask how my friends are doing to just check in," murmuring now, out of embarrassment, she releases one hand of his to press a harmless punch to his abdomen. "and i think i'm supposed to say like, you can tell me anything—like, when you're ready or need someone to listen, i guess."

@○ ⁞ ryujin s 。 "whatever," he mumbles. he tilts ever so slightly in all direction as he tries to find his balance with ryujin's help, stabilizing eventually as he stands upright. disbelief settles in as he realizes 'wow, i'm actually doing this?', but he supposes it's nice so far. "i... okay. if i get hurt during this, i'm blaming you." it takes him a moment to comprehend what she asks. since when did ryujin want to know what he's been doing? he guesses that it's to make this less awkward, but it doesn't make it any less strange. "i've been better than usual i guess. things are... bearable." for now, he neglects to add on. he's truthful about things being better than usual though. "what about you?"

@○ ⁞ minho l 。 "ah, good choice." she says almost too cockily, her simper accentuating such as he grasps unto her daintier hand. her other naturally comes to slip within his palm and she slightly raises it to help him balance onto the surface of her board. and once he's managed to stand, she gradually begins to walk to let the skateboard follow in suit. "i'll—drag you for a bit for you to get an idea about how to steady yourself, then when you're ready, you can peddle," murmurs, eyes of hers focusing on their pathway. "and this isn't me being interested at all, but how have you been?"

@○ ⁞ ryujin s 。 minho wonders what happened to him in his past life to be stuck with someone like ryujin in this moment right now. the whole world just hates him, doesn't it? "a favor? yeah, okay." but he reminds himself again, the sooner he gets through this, the sooner he doesn't have to see ryujin until whatever next meeting they'll have. he heaves a sigh, testing one foot on the skateboard. "alright, fine. teach me." he doesn't trust himself to balance on the skateboard just yet, so he begrudgingly takes a hold of her hand.

@○ ⁞ minho l 。 with one foot, she, too, steadies the skateboard onto the pavement as a mischievous smile ades across her visage at the feeble resistance of her friend before her. "yes you are, come on. think of it as a favor for letting me throw spitballs at you and spill fizzed soda on you in the lounge the other day," she shrugs shamelessly, her palm splaying out for him to take a hold in case he'd need her assistance. "i heard death was an awesome skateboarder too."

@○ ⁞ ryujin s 。 "if i were death, i'd be anywhere but here," he states bluntly. his foot slightly sticks out to stop the skateboard from rolling any further, holding it in place. confusion crosses his face momentarily until he looks up at her, and he freezes at the implication of ryujin's action. shaking his head, he lets out a small laugh of disbelief. "oh, no no. i'm not getting on that thing."

@○ ⁞ minho l 。 "ah, it's death in the flesh," she muses rather shamelessly (as he's used to), rising from the bench. with the small kick of her foot, she rolls over her skateboard in his direction, gesturing for him to mount atop of it as she follows soon after. "as the world's most greatest friend, i have, one—gotten the boring troll out of the house, and two—saved him from hours of napping and saying sarcastic remarks to teach him how to ride a skateboard. hold the applause."

@○ ⁞ ryujin s 。 [ text to: pink-haired nuisance ]
- and here i was hoping you forgot.
- i'm on my way :/

the beach would never be one of minho's first places to go to, but it's ryujin who insisted they come here so he complies. the sooner he agrees to her demands, the sooner he can find himself without her incessant blabbering, headache inducing behavior. so he drags himself to the beach, a pair of dark sunglasses resting upon his face. it doesn't take him too long to spot ryujin's signature pink hair luckily. "alright, i'm here. you can stop complaining now."

@○ ⁞ minho l 。 [ text to: spitball ]
- hey
- when i said,
- 'get up and meet me at the beach'
- it wasn't optional
- hurry, i'm getting hangry

@○ ⁞ jinyoung b 。 it was evident that the leading of his own demise was more worthy of her attention than the previous subject, the ends of her lips now curling in a devious smile—albeit a minor one. although he'd shown her a glimmer of sympathy over her own devastation, her mind doesn't yet think to repay the favor. "so, they scolded you?" she scoffs. "if that was me, i would've slammed the door harder in that case. accidents happen, and you're just a kid too." for lack of a better description, she somewhat hopes that doesn't offend him, but if it did, she doesn't burden herself with whatever retort he could possibly have, and instead directs her gaze to that of the waves once more. in this moment here, she deliberates—perhaps her earlier words were of no help for him, not that she cared.. this was why she needed that stray cat, she tells herself. "did you get detention or something?"

@○ ⁞ ryujin s 。 jinyoung's first impression of the girl was that she was rather aloof. he didn't want to throw around the word so easily but she was rather rude, but he pushes the thought away. maybe it's because this is their first encounter, he wonders to himself. that could be it or maybe she just doesn't know how to express it. or maybe she just doesn't want to talk about the stray kitten any more. there's a billion possibilities why, so jinyoung doesn't entertain the thought for long and shrugs it off. "well- it was by accident. i was trying to walk into a teacher's office during office hours and i guess i must have slammed the door too hard. because next thing you know the bottle part is on the floor and the carpet's super wet."

@○ ⁞ jinyoung b 。 a small, 'thank you' would've sufficed or even a, 'yeah, she was a good friend.. cat', but unfortunately for the male beside her, he'd been stuck with someone that had a difficult time expressing such feelings of gratitude. so, she acknowledges his words with the subtle nod of her head, her foot nudging her skateboard over his way for him to roll it back. but, the revelation of his presence now garners her interest, curious eyes of hers meeting his visage to inquire more upon his situation. "you knocked down a water cooler? nice," she offers an amused look. "what happened?"

@○ ⁞ ryujin s 。 "sounds like a good friend...cat. it's a good thing you got to spend time with her even if it was for a little while." jinyoung says, wondering if the girl could communicate with the cat for a brief moment before he brushes off the absurd thought. but he does mean it when he says it's a good thing, it's nice to have someone listen to your worries at times. he's a little sad for her, now that she can't meet the cat anymore. his attention drifts to the sound of wheels scratching against the pavement, watching it get rolled back and forth. "well i did get scolded for knocking down a water cooler today, so i'm a bit bummed out by that."