⤷ 　student lounge.

@⁰² heejin j. "i said encylopedia, silly! not wikipedia." he laughs, finding heejin's derp response absolutely comical. "yes, have some food before you work too hard." jaemin advises, sneaking in another piece of chicken, looking at the encircled location on heejin's laptop. swallowing his food, he then proceeds to agree with her idea and proposition for the location of the filming. "yeah, i think that's great. and you're absolutely right about the point of highlighting the characters. also think it would be nice if people recognized the area, because while they're watching the commercial, they could be like 'oh i know that place', makes audience more aware and attentive." he reaches behind, to his backpack at the mention of the commercial's storyboard. "here, i'll show you the storyboard. because i've only just finished it, for now i don't think there's anything different that i want from it." jaemin flips his notebook open, showing heejin his haphazard and messy boxed drawings. "sorry, if you don't understand anything on it, i know it's really messy." he opens his bottle of water, taking a sip from it, looking back up to heejin. "i'm really hoping to make it as funny as possible, like parodying the typical korean drama ending cut scene. that way the commercial actually sticks to the audience, and they'll remember it better, and in turn, think of the product."

@⁰² jaemin n. "pfff, wikipedia has nothing on me." she retorts with a lighthearted scrunch of her nose upon hearing the playful moniker she had been given due to her affinity towards reading almost everything and everything. laughter follows along as she moves the satchel to her side and brings her laptop closer to her, opening the hood and rapidly typing away at the keyboard. after becoming accustomed to the fast whims of staff from a young age, heejin was someone who acted fast when things needed priority. from the moment jaemin gave her the cue to show her ideas, she opened the search engine to fill in the location that had been hovering around in her mind for some time.

she turns to look at her friend, chuckling at the sight of him stuffing his face with the teriyaki chicken and rice - he had reminded her of the chipmunk she saw on her stroll around the park the other weekend. "the chicken smells really good, let me get some before i show you my idea." she muses, reaching over to take a piece of the chicken and some rice. her face lights up at the savory taste and she shows jaemin a thumbs up. after swallowing her food, she returns her attention back to the screen and tilts the laptop towards her friend to give him a clearer view.

"so, i was thinking we could film somewhere uptown. a lot of directors choose to film here because they want the city vibe without the crowded feeling, because they want to highlight the characters. there's this street by the tunnel close to campus that we could visit, what do you think?" she inquires, circling the area on the map with her stylus. "is there anything different you were wanting from the storyboard?"

@⁰² heejin j. "encyclopedia jeon." he calls her playfully, knowing that heejin wouldn't take offense to the title, as it was true. the anthropology sophomore student's satchel always encased a bunch of readings; some from her classes, but more often than not, because heejin actively sought out and collected reading material. the latter indulged in reading, collecting books, papers and articles in her leisurely time. while such hobby made heejin more of an introverted hermit crab, jaemin also liked to think that her tendencies made the latter creative and original, which he had first-handedly experienced, the time that they had spontaneously met in freshman orientation week. again, it all just came back to the conclusion that jaemin couldn't have had a better, knowledgeable person be a part of his project. any idea, criticism, or suggestion that heejin would have, jaemin was going to definitely listen with an open mind. "noooo, i owe /you/ one, setting aside time to work on this with me!" he claims, shaking his head.

sitting down, he takes out the two chicken teriyaki bento boxes, revealing the answer to her question regarding their meal. "chicken teriyaki~" jaemin says in a sing-song voice, making it obvious that he was excited about the food. he places one before heejin, placing wrapped cutlery beside the box. "for drinks i just got us healthy water, cuz y'know us students always be dry." he shakes his head at her last question, referring to the filming location. "no, i haven't. i only finished the storyboard just this morning actually." jaemin rips open his packet of chopsticks, pulling them apart before scraping them against each other to smooth and clear them of any small splinters. "i was thinking of it being an iconic place though, a place in which a lot of people would recognize." he picks up a big fluff of rice and piece of sauced chicken, stuffing it into his mouth. "mm mm mmm~" he hums, imitating the reaction worthy of a mukbang youtuber. nodding eagerly with his cheeks full, he chews then swallows his food before answering her again. just because he was famished didn't mean no manners. "let's here it then, pd jeon."

@⁰² jaemin n. some time had passed and heejin had finished a chapter within those minutes, though surprisingly no one had entered within that time. if they had, the brunette was so engrossed in her reading that she may have missed them entirely. however her senses were sharp so heejin doubted that was the case, and even so, if people had walked in to disrupt her she would have been rather irate at the notion. still, she wondered why there was absolutely no one in the lounge despite it being the eve of the weekend. was there some major event happening that she hadn't caught wind of? she wasn't the most social person so she reckoned that could have been it.

after putting her book back into her satchel, she turns to follow the sound of footsteps, beaming when she spots her friend walking over. "not sure actually, i kind of lost track of time while reading." she says with a snort, closing up her bag and waving him over to sit by her. the two had formed a rather unlikely friendship from the start of freshman year, given heejin's overt introversion, it was jaemin who approached her first. since then, they bonded over their affinity to media - sharing their insight about topics like filming and advertisements.

"no worries though, and neat! i actually didn't eat yet, i owe you one. what did ya get?" she inquires, taking out the bento sets and drinks to place them on the table. she mentally makes a note to get jaemin lunch on the day they start filming, grateful that he had brought lunch over. after setting everything in place, heejin turns to her friend - a curious glint in her eyes indicating that she was indeed eager to get to the topic at hand. "so, did you figure out the location for the commercial yet? i have a few ideas in mind if you wanna hear'em."

when she holds up the small canine towards him, his arms instantly reached out to take hold of the pup, cradling her to his chest. continuing to scratch at the area behind her ear, his lips pulled into a small smile. “oh? that sounds nice. maybe i’ll check it out — hopefully i’ll have time for it, though.” blinking, he shifted his attention back to the girl. “it’s san — and whatever you hear about that name, please ignore. but it’s nice to meet you, minju.” emits a small coo, lifting the pup a bit so that he could nestle his nose into the soft fur. “and it’s nice to meet you too, little lovie.”

she's relieved once lovie displays a look of fondness as he scratches behind her ear, holding her up slightly as if to offer her to him. "it's a club for animal lovers, to put it simply. i think you'd fit in real well—" she raises a brow, tilting her head. "i'm sorry, i didn't catch your name. i'm minju!"

san didn’t really care to address the elephant in the room once the girl turned away — in truth, there really wasn’t much to address. their shared kiss was fleeting and it wasn’t one that actually harbored any want or desire from either participants — just a drunken exchange. what did make him cease his conversation with the girl beside him was the entry of the one he had been trying to reach since the party ended. jimin. it didn’t take long for the girl to turn around and begin to walk out — and that was when san realized he was, once again, caught in a misunderstanding. taking a glance at the girl with the dog, he groaned loudly, a hand rubbing over his face before he exclaimed. “ ! jimin !” he called out, but she was gone before he could even be heard.

“yeah, she doesn’t require a lot. but she is a cuddler. i found her wandering the streets one day and she didn’t have a tag or anything so —” with his shoulders raising in a small shrug, he turned his attention back to the do before him, hand out stretching to lightly scratch behind the canine’s ear. “team pawssible club? what’s that?”

the air in the room was too awkward. and jinsoul just doesn't do well with awkwardness. she's turning her entire body away from the male, and the girl, and the . . . puppy? not her business anyways, they were caught in one drunken kiss. big deal. she didn't even remember his name — did he mention his name? she was about to continue on with her first intention, eyeing the vending machine just to halt in place as another figure crosses her path. as an empath, she knew it just got even tenser. "ooh, yeah, hmmm maybe not." her thoughts spoken outloud, jinsoul swivels on her heels to walk back out of the door she entered from.

there's a bad feeling that sinks in her stomach as she passes an obviously ticked yewon whilst on her way through the lounge, but despite it, she walks in and surveys the vicinity. jaemin, she recognizes him (again with his gatorade), a girl that she didn't know—and jinsoul and... well, san. for a brief moment, she halts, her gaze running between the two (with scenes of the party flashing through her mind), only to linger upon san's as he's seen entertaining yet another girl. 'no surprise there', she spats in thought, proceeding to walk through the lounge and out the other exit with a wounded pride.

she blinks as the woman suddenly makes her leave, feeling bad as she knew she only wanted peace and quiet... but also sort of relieved because now she could talk normally amongst others. a win-win, she guesses.

there were animals here too? yewon has had it. she picks up her bags and leaves the student lounge. she hopes that all these s flunk the semester and never get to graduate on time.

[] ignore the are, u

his answer surprises her, considering he had just said he was a dog person, and she flashes him a pleasant look of disbelief. "oh wow, but that's good! cats are require less maintenance, so it's easier. byeol, that's nice. you know, you should join the team pawssible club!" she chirps, now brushing her fingers through lovie's fur.

the eruption of giggles that borderlined manic laughter caused his attention to fall towards the female once more, a brow arching in question despite his want to avoid her. he wasn’t avoiding her because he garnered any kind of dislike towards her — all they did was kiss and then parted ways. his avoidance was for another reason. another person that he didn’t wish to hurt anymore than he already had.

“oh, well .. ironically, i have a cat.” he utters, lips soon spreading into a wide grin when the girl raises the dog’s paw. for entertainment, he gently booped the animal’s paw with his palm. “her name is byeol.”

"oh, jesus. . " she's mumbling under the breath, running a hand through her dark strands. she swore she felt her stomach going all queasy, even if their eyes did meet for a split second, it was a split second too long. it wasn't anything having to do with them making out . . . it was just the consequences that followed after that made her this way. but maybe if she pretended she forgot? dumb. that thought made her giggle though, out loud, amidst the silence. it was a little too loud.

"oh, do you?" she murmurs over to san as he makes his way over, her smile widening. glancing to her dog, she directs her paw out to initiate a high five to him. "she's one year. do you have a dog? or any pets?"

san had also looked up the moment he heard the shouting, lips pursing for a short moment, but before he could say anything, he noticed a familiar girl step into the lounge — one that he was sort of trying to avoid. for a second, he made eye contact with her before quickly looking away, muttering a quiet “.”

“oh, i like animals. .. more so dogs.” stepping over to the smaller girl, he perked at the bundle of fur in her arms, tilting his head a bit. “how old is she?”

at a standstill, she remains oblivious as to what to do because she didn't want to make any sound to disrupt the woman, but at the same time, it hurt her walk so she couldn't help but emit a small "ow."

he winces at the sudden scream. normally, he would have helped whomever was screaming, but the latter had said that all they wanted was some quietness, and he was not about to argue. because that's what he wanted too.

jinsoul steps into the student lounge just as a voice from across the room rips through the rather peaceful night. her eyes widened in both confusion and shock, glancing towards the source of the outburst, before emitting a soft whistle. "well, damn." she's about to take another step towards the vending machine before noticing the all too familiar profile of the man at the party. "oh, ." bad idea.

"i—i'm sorry." she's quick to say upon the woman's outburst, feeling as if it's directed to her from her brief interactions despite her soft voice.

once again, she winces from the sound he makes, only to slightly relax as he mentions her dog. with this, she offers a small smile. "yeah, my pomeranian, lovie."

“shut the up!” yewon stands up and hisses, looking around, but her scowl is quick to fade into a look of pitiful indignation. “people are trying to study here.” she’s nearly in tears, a special skill of hers. “please keep quiet.”

"hope you enjoy it at least." she says, relieved that he responded to her in the least. turning around, the clash of coins onto the floor captures her attention and she crouches to help the stranger retrieve it. "oh, it's alright—" with it in her palm, she holds her hand out to him cheerfully. "here you go!"

“and none of it is mine.” he speaks the girl over at the vending machine before slinging his backpack onto the table to make another loud noise. “hey is that a dog?”

just as he pulled out his coins to insert it into the vending machine for a snack, the loud bang startles him and causes him to drop most of his change. “oh no— my money.”

he catches a bit of her apology, and jaemin feels slightly bad. just /slightly. only so, because the owner has shut its dog up yet. "it's fine." turning up the sound to his headphones, jaemin just closes his eyes, letting himself wallow in sadness from the melancholy songs that play from his phone.