─ staff room 'la rona'

@◈ lee donghun⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ There was no way Junhee wouldn't notice the change in the other's expression. Even if it had been a while since he'd last seen Donghun, they had known each other for a good few years. They were together for a big portion of their time when WISC had just started, and they had been close. At one point, Junhee had definitely been able to recognize even the microexpressions on the ex-vocalist's face, though right now that wouldn't have been needed as the hurt and frustration were stamped all over his face. It slightly fueled Junhee's guilt and he took in a slow breath as he considered what to do next.

They were both adults now and this should've been left in the past anyway, there was no point in making it worse now. Then again, there had never been an apology or any type of make up, so could he really just act like nothing happened? Not that Junhee had ever been good at that anyway. But he could try. There was no point in antagonozing Donghun or himself over this anymore. Certainly it was something they could talk over and fix, though, for now, he knew he couldn't bring himself to discuss the real reason it went down. So, maybe at some later point.

For now, he had to focus on the job at hand. Donghun seemed to be as eager to avoid him as he had been, but not enough to drop out. Yeah. Back during the survival he'd taken part in he'd hear the staff talk about a 'lee donghun' who'd dropped out right at the start. He'd never gotten to confirm whether it was the same Donghun and, if so, it had him wondering if that had anything to do with him. Part of him wanted to believe they hadn't been on terms bad enough to influence the other's career options. Then again, this was right after the split, so maybe. The possibility was enough to have him feel like for it. It wouldn't be fair to have Donghun rejecting opportunities over their bad blood. He cleared his throat and offered the other a shake of his head. "It's fine... The CEO requested it so it's part of my job" He started, eyes still carefully taking in Donghun's expression. "Any questions right off the bat or?"

@◈ park junhee⁻ᵖʳᵒᵈᵘᶜᵉʳ The overall mood turned a bit sour as the silence set in and only the faint sound of both their breathings could be heard in the rather small room. Donghun felt his eyes sink in even further at the other's tone, a tone that brought back way too many dark memories; there seemed to only be hatred in the few words he'd spoken towards Donghun so far - or at least that's what it felt like to him. He couldn't really help the hurt expression that took over his features. He still had the slightest hope that the other would've somehow gotten over everything and felt at the very least neutral towards him, but that tone... It certainly confirmed it, he still hated him.

Things hadn't exactly ended so great the last time they'd spoken- actually, when /was/ that? For him it was all a big blur; even after all these years, he himself couldn't even comprehend just how and why exactly things went downwards in the first place; and what followed just came naturally: they drifted appart, situations left to explain, feelings unresolved, left to linger on his memory every time he was reminded of the other.
Although that doesn't sound so bad, seeing as how he'd purposely move away in an attempt to stay as far from Junhee, the world sure kept drawing big laughs at his expense. He'd see him everywhere. Sure, they were in the same business for a while, but in completely different areas, completely different cities, Donghun made sure of that; so there was no good explanation except for fate. Why would he even be participating in a survival? That was definitely something Donghun would never imagine seeing the other doing but well, that just goes to show how much Donghun didn't and still doesn't know about his old friend.

He should've at least felt slightly surprised at the realization that they'd be working together, at least for the day, as he'd been assigned the (certainly) tedious task of explaining how to job goes, but no. It was just the world getting another laugh out of him.
Lost in his thoughts, Donghun shifted in place, fixing his posture. This was his new job. The only one he'd been able to land for months after staying at cheap hotel rooms. This was the only chance he had to do something good for himself, towards his future, and if having to deal with ghosts from his past was the cost, so be it.
"More or less. I just need to know what I'll be doing, and I can figure out the rest by myself."

@◈ lee donghun⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ For a moment Junhee didn't want to believe his eyes and he could feel how tense his expression was as he stared at the other, who seemed to actively avoid his gaze. Donghun didn't reply right away and there was a moment of silence as Junhee tried to run through multiple possibilities of why the other would be here other than being his new coworker. But wouldn't that be just a tad too lucky for him?

As the other finally confirms it, Junhee can't stop the quiet "No way..." that escapes his lips, his tone coming out a little more sarcastic than he'd intented. There was no way his past was coming back to bite him on the right now. Just standing right here in front of him was enough to unlock a good number of not-so-pleasant flashbacks from back then. Now, don't get it wrong. It's not like he hated Donghun or had only bad memories of him, nothing like that. It's just that things never fell quite back into place after everything, and he could recognize now the big role he had played in all of it. He could feel his neck flushing a little as he recalled it. Was it anger? Embarrassment at the way he'd acted back then? He couldn't be sure, but that had certainly been one of the reasons that landed them both here and he had to hold back a snicker at the irony.

"That would be me..." He responded simply after considering his words carefully, trying to keep his expression blank as best as he could. They'd been avoiding each other for years now and things had never been talked over. But wasn't it a bit late now for all that? "So, I guess we skip the introductions... Have you been shown around?"

@◈ park junhee⁻ᵖʳᵒᵈᵘᶜᵉʳ Remembering places and keeping mental maps of new places was fairly easy for Donghun but man, was this place huge. He'd just been introduced to all the spaces he would and wouldn't be using, but at this point he'd lost track of over half of them. Was it because he was nervous, going into this new job? Chrystal had even gone out of her way to show him around and somewhat explain how things would be working from now on- which reminds him. He was currently in the staff room, waiting on this apparently amazing producer - or so he was told. He'd been filling in for another manager, so he'd be able to explain things into a lot more detail than Chrystal. Who could this guy even be?
The train of though was interrupted by the creaking of the door coming from the other side of the room, and as so Donghun was quick to his feet, getting ready to introduce himself for the nth time today, secretly holding in a sigh of both nervous and tiredness.
"H-" Nothing. Absolute silence. Well, except for the sharp sound of /his/ voice.
The silence hadn't even lasted enough for it to be considered awkward, but it really did feel like an eternity from Donghun's perspective. He wasn't exactly sure what expression his face was painted with, but his mind was running through it all - confusion, shock, exhaustion, pain.
Despite it all, this was still the only thing he could do. He'd tried to stay away from the boy in front of him, to keep himself out of his way, but if it's come to this there's really not much he could do. There's nowhere else he could turn to, so he'd just have to deal with it the best he could.
"I'm a new manager here... I'm waiting for someone who's supposed to be helping me start". Well, that's easier said than done. Apart from the split second his eyes had landed on him, they'd been fixed on the ground, the wall, the trash can by the corner, honestly anything that wasn't in /his/ way. What was he even doing here? He hadn't heard of him signing with a new label or coming up with any new music. So, why?

@◈ lee donghun⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ They were finally getting a new manager, which meant Jun would probably soon be relieved of his assistant manager role and be able to fully focus back on making music. This was the only reason he wasn't as frustrated to be interrupted by a message from Stephanie instructing him meet up with the new guy and get him acquainted with Royal Flush's projects and the necessary involvement of managers with the production staff so as to stay on top of their group's works. Chrystal had been showing him around the building, which gave him enough time to save up some ideas wrap up some loose ends before ditching the studio and heading for the staff room at (barely) the appointed time. He had no idea what the other looked like, but he knew most of the staff who were usually around so it should be easy to spot him. Yet, as he walks into the room and glances around in search of the unfamiliar face, he instead spots a rather familiar but seemingly very misplaced face. His eyebrows ride up a little in surprise as his gaze locks into Donghun's expression. "What are you doing here?"

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@◈ im jinah ɴᴀɴᴀ⁻ᶜʰᵒʳᵉᵒᵍʳᵃᵖʰᵉʳ The girl didn't seem to recognize him immediately and for a moment he considered whether he'd gotten the wrong person, but the way she quickly peered back up at the call of her name reassured him that it was indeed her. It had certainly been a while since he'd last seen the girl and although she did look a bit more grown up, she looked mostly the same.

He could tell from her own expression the moment she recgonized him as well, as her own eyes widened slightly soon followed by a mention of his name. His lips twisted into a surprised smile as he offered her a nod. "Yeah, that is me" The ex-bassist confirmed with a small tilt of his head as she got up and approached him slowly. He let's out a short quiet chuckle as he faces her "I would've wished I looked a bit older and grown up, but hoping that's still a positive thing" He teased jokingly, turning back only for a short moment so he could set up one of the mugs to get himself a coffee.

@◈ park junhee⁻ᵖʳᵒᵈᵘᶜᵉʳ hearing the other bidding her a good morning, she peered up from her device to which she took out her phone earlier and did a quick glance at the person, mumbling along the line like good morning and continued to stroll through countless emails on her phone again.

"Jinah? Im Jinah?"

habitually she looked up to the call of her own government name and looked at the guy who was also in the room, staring at her with his jaw slacked open slightly and moments later, her expression mirrored his. To think seeing a face after so long and probably in her dream right there and in person, it felt all too surreal. "J-Junhee? Is it not you?", she gasped softly, slowly getting up from her seat and even moving in slow-mo. Jinah kept a short distance just in case and looked him over for a bit. "You still look the same as you did back then..."

@◈ im jinah ɴᴀɴᴀ⁻ᶜʰᵒʳᵉᵒᵍʳᵃᵖʰᵉʳ Junhee was still trying to get familiar with the company building as he had only started in DSF not too long ago. That meant he still only knew the location of the offices on the fourth floor, the studios he'd been using, the gym, and of course, he'd managed to find himself the staff room that allowed him to get his free coffee. As he approached, he could already hear the beeping from the machine notifying him that someone else was also in need of caffeine, hence, as he got to the door, he gave it a light knock to announce his entrance followed by a short but polite "Good morning." The words are directed at the person sitting by the corner as he leads himself towards the coffee machine, but it isn't until she lifts her eyes to him that the face starts to look familiar, taking him only a few moments to recognize the girl before his eyes widen a little in surprise, jaw dropping slightly as he mouths out the name he hadn't mentioned in years. "Jinah? Im Jinah?"

@◈ park junhee⁻ᵖʳᵒᵈᵘᶜᵉʳ with a small sigh, she stepped into the La Rona room in a bid to get a cup of coffee to kick-start her day and walked up to the pantry that was also included in this space. as soon as she got a cup under the dispenser and inputting the coffee capsule of her choice, pressing the button to dispense it as soon as possible, she turned around to have her back facing the coffee dispenser. there, she contemplated on her life from baby until now to wonder why she chose the path of dance. the beeping sound from the machine signalled to her that her drink was done and she turned around to retrieve it and headed to the table at the most corner to drink her coffee away.

[ sorry if this is short. >//< ]

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@◈ ahn heeyeon⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ Such a gentlewoman~
*coos before stepping out, turning on her heel for one last word and nearly tripping over her feet in the process*
Oop- obviously, no promises
But you look really pretty today! Okay see ya! Enjoy your break~
*grins, waving before hurrying up the hall to catch the elevator before it closes*

@◈ shin bora⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ *amused by the turn in excitement, Heeyeon heaves a sigh to subdue a laugh before she shakes her head to answer the question*
Nope~ nothing outside of sns
*she supplies, resting her chin on laced fingers and nodding subtly when the younger starts her exit disclaimer*
Ooh good luck. Fighting fighting~
*raises a fist to cheer for Bora befoe using it to catch and secure the little kisses to her heart. she's up even before the ask, crossing the room alongside the other and hurrying the last couple steps to reach the door first and open it*
M'lady~
*grins and gestures to the door with a sweeping guesture*
Be safe, watch where you're walking, yeah?

@◈ ahn heeyeon⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ *brightening more, if at all possible, she lets out a happy little squeak and brings her hands together in eager little applause*
Oh, the kids'll love that! Miri's been asking about you, honestly and you haven't even seen Hyeseongie since he was little, right? This'll be so nice
*sighs happily, glancing at her smart watch when it chimes*
Look, I've gotta run
*starts, getting up to gather all of her things once again*
Gonna take these to the car and then I'll be in the office if you need me! I've got a few distributions to work out and one of the guys wants a zoom meeting
*she pauses in her scrambling around to roll her eyes before smiling and blowing a few kisses, hefting the box back into her arms*
I'll text you so we can iron out details okay? Oh-
*pauses mid-step, facing her earlier obstacle from across the room*
Ehm, could you get the door, please?

@◈ shin bora⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ *smiles, leaning on a palm to patiently wait through the search*
Once we're done, you should show me how to do the cushions too. I want a cute little thing for my chair, as well
*voices, dropping the one scrap back into the box. hearing all that they need, Heeyeon goes over in her head where each could come from. Bora's right, the iron fillings and powder stuff might be a bit more difficult to find on a quick supermarket trip*
Let's make it a Friday thing, hm?
*sitting up a little haughtier, she jokingly adds*
Yes, I'm inviting myself over for family dinner

@◈ ahn heeyeon⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ You're absolutely the best!
Hold on-
*pauses to pat around for her phone, eventually finding it in the unlikely left pocket which she'd stuck it in during the rush to accept the scraps before someone changed their mind*
I saved a pin on them a while ago, let me just...
*trails off, opening and scrolling the pinterest app while muttering "no" "not that" and the likes to herself before letting out a triumphant aha! and turning the screen to face you*
Iron filings, table salt, a couple of baggies, aaand water gel powder. we can get most of that easily, right? might have to order a couple of them online...maybe this won't be a starting tomorrow thing ehe

@◈ shin bora⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ Rea-
*laughs, doing a poor excuse for shielding against the warm but heavy-handed hits. she ultimately ends up capturing the other's hands in her own to hold onto*
Sounds. Perfect.
What is "everything?" Maybe I can pitch in

@◈ ahn heeyeon⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ *beams, her excited little grin widening*
Really? Oh, unnieee~
*coos affectionately, batting your arm with lightly balled fists*
This'll be great! I'll grab everything I need today and we can get to it after tomorrow's rounds and all that are done. Sound good?

@◈ shin bora⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ Ohh
*nods along as Bora speaks, reaching into the box to create her own rain of fabric confetti*
That'll be nice! All of it, I mean..
*trails off, poking around in the box a little*
If you teach me how, maybe I can help make some of those warmers, mh?
*smiles, folding a scrap over itself*
It'll make things faster, take the load off a little

@◈ ahn heeyeon⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ /Everything/
*grins, letting the scraps in her hands sprinkle back into the box like confetti*
I got it from styling because it was literally just gonna get tossed out so I figured /I/ could take it and do something with it. Like—those chairs we made a few months back? Cushions. Clothes for Miri's dolls. It's still going to be cold for a while; especially at night—hand warmers. I can donate a bunch of them for the homeless people and the people working the night vending circuit...and maybe twin with whatever's left over—if anything
But isn't this great??

@◈ shin bora⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ *Heeyeon's attention is on the tense disaster flick illuminating her phone screen, pieces of a kimbap roll being robotically delivered to every minute or so; so she doesn't notice the switch in company until her younger senior's voice fills the little room*
Ohk- Bowa-ya
*greets around a mouthful, doing quicker work to break it down so she can speak properly. she eyes the box of scraps with considerably less enthusiasm, confusion painting her features right up to the knit in her brow*
I see...what's it for?
*asks, gaze briefly shifting between the box and the woman next to her*

@◈ ahn heeyeon⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ *slips into the staff room with her hands full with a box, just barely squeezing past the door that a leaving peer merely pushes further open upon her approach. muttering her complaints with regathering herself, she brightens once more upon seeing you and scurries on over*
Unnie unnie unnie!
I knew I'd find you here
*greets, unloading her burden onto the table between you before rounding it to slot right into the chair next to you. grinning, she picks at the pieces of scrap fabric inside—each a different color, shape, and size*
Look at all this~
Ask me what it's for

@◈ im jinah ɴᴀɴᴀ⁻ᶜʰᵒʳᵉᵒᵍʳᵃᵖʰᵉʳ *completely clueless to the war going on in the other's mind, she turns a little more in her seat to give her full attention—squinting lightly as she tried to make out the vaguely familiar face among the hundreds that she'd seen up close in her life. she doesn't bother questioning it because she'll probably end up supplying dozens of possibilities before getting anywhere. and it isn't so important. what is important was coffee. the mere mention of it and she's already on board, expression brightening a touch*
Ohh, sure! But, I'll pay you back.
Imagine just taking from someone you don't even know, that's crazy
*chuckling, she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear before belatedly doing a cautionary save on her work, lest 4 hours of work go down the drain*
Whatever you're getting, make it two. I'm not picky

@◈ luc quyen⁻ᵐᵘᵃ *her eyes widens in surprise, shocked even that her words has literally flied over the other's head. soon enough her non-existential social anxiety kicks in and she has to gulp the excess saliva down to keep the bile from coming up. with an uneasy shift in her seat, she musters all her last of her courage to repeat what she had said earlier*
I wnated to order coffee online and it's a little too much to order just one so i asked if you'd like a cup too. it's on me though. it's also okay if you wish not to.

@◈ im jinah ɴᴀɴᴀ⁻ᶜʰᵒʳᵉᵒᵍʳᵃᵖʰᵉʳ *it's near impossible to hear someone speaking to her with the discordant sounds of a, now, 3l3d3p song blasting through her earbuds but something prompts her to look up and try, and fail, to make out the words on the stranger's lips. it's times like these she remembers she's not native and she pops a bud out to engage clearly*
I'm sorry, what?
*she chuckles apologetically, leaning slightly back in her seat for a stretch that claimed her after about an hour of sitting hunched over her iPad*
I didn't hear anything you just said. Could you repeat that?

@◈ luc quyen⁻ᵐᵘᵃ *knowing that she might have disturbed the way the way she could feel her scrunity right off her skin, she stayed still for a while before resuming to open up her Word Doc to immediately type away at the screen, typing up class plans and choreographies if there is a spot open for any choreographer to create. they all have different concepts and she prays that one of them is similar to what she has thought up. feeling parched since the last few hours ago she had some water, she wonders if she could ask the lady sitting not too far away if she'd like some office. not only that, she also finds her familiar, knowing she might have seen her at some event she used to be a high-profile runway model at.*
uhm... hello.. I am going to order coffee online and it will be a little too much to order just one cup. will you like to have one too? it's on me, really.

@◈ im jinah ɴᴀɴᴀ⁻ᶜʰᵒʳᵉᵒᵍʳᵃᵖʰᵉʳ *with a good chunk of time to spare before her next job, she's holed up in La Rona, leaning over on her left hand while the right deftly marks digital ink on the canvas of her current piece. the wireless earbuds stuck in her ears feed Banshee to her senses while a platform sneaker-clad foot idly taps along to the beat.
only the light shake of the distrubed table draws her attention, leading her to undo a messed up line and look toward the source. a few moments of scrutinty reminds her that this is one of the new hires, so she offers a polite smile before turning back to her work*

@◈ luc quyen⁻ᵐᵘᵃ *she works better when she is in a well-lit room and has often worked in the staff lounge if not the cafes. heading there by the elevator, she walks towards the room, pushing open the door to see one other female staff being there even though jinah is facing her back so she couldn't really greet properly. with quiet steps as not to disturb another, she heads to the long table facing the window, sitting not too far from the female figure as she is planning on interacting, mingling around with the company staff as much as she can as she is still a new staff. it cannot always be that she doesn't do the socialisation and achieve nothing. a little help from others can go a long way. with that kept in mind, she sets up her laptop on the said table, starting it up while still thinking on how to greet the other. she will not lie that the aura emitting from her is pretty icy cold*

@◈ ahn heeyeon⁻ᵐᵃⁿᵃᵍᵉʳ *only stumbles a bit as the elevator jerks to a stop, his leaning providing a touch more stability. when the red back up lights come on, confirming the outage, he lets out a light chuckle*
Change of plans, I...guess..
*trails to a stop, his lighthearted response clearly falling on deaf ears as he notices your rising panic*
Noona?
*takes a tentative step forward, a hand extended before coming to rest on your shoulder to get your attention
You okay? I mean- I can see, I have eyes..
*mutters the last bit to himself, a quiet reprimand, before he launches back into damage control*
But, uhm, it's probably just a quick outage, yeah? We'll be out soon

@◈ yoo taeyang⁻ᵛᵒᶜᵃˡ ᶜᵒᵃᶜʰ Ahh
*nods along, expression rather blank as I process the information and focus on the gut-floating feeling of the elevator shifting back into gear*
I do, sometimes
*finally answers with a nod, watching the 3 switch to a 2*
Especially when the sky is clear, you get a really good view of the--
*cuts off abruptly, hand flying to grab onto the nearest railing as the elevator lurches to a sudden stop in the same breath that the lights shut off, my eyes going a little wide with quickly budding panic*
Wh- what? N-no nonono
*hurries forward to the control panel, both hands uselessly hovering as my anxiety halts all brain function*