𓈒𓏸 haesanmul sikdan ༄.°

@✧˚ s. mingi Yunho, the diligent owner of a bustling seafood restaurant, was in the midst of his evening ritual, meticulously slicing the freshest catch of the day into delicate pieces of sashimi. The air was filled with the ocean's brine, a scent that Yunho found both comforting and invigorating. His hands moved with practiced precision, each slice a testament to his years of experience. The restaurant's kitchen was alive with the clatter of pots and pans, but Yunho's focus was unwavering, his blade gliding through the fish like silk. He was preparing a special dinner for his friend Mingi, who had been eagerly awaiting this meal since Yunho had mentioned it earlier today.

He knew how much his old friend loved sashimi, and while Yunho didn't always spend his time in the kitchen, he wanted to make it special as it had been quite a while since the two of them met and enjoyed good food together. His ears perked up when he heard the unmistakable deep voice of Mingi which elicited a chuckle from his lips. 'Some things never change, that's for sure.' He mused. Not wanting to make the slightly shorter guy wait too long, Yunho walked out from the kitchen carrying a plate of sashimi along with him. "Stop bothering Jaeseok hyung, Mango. Sit your down- oh wait, go get like three bottles of Soju before you sit down. I still need to prepare some fish for us." Placing the sashimi plate on the usual table that Mingi used, he glanced at his friend before again disappearing behind the curtain that separated the dining area from the kitchen to get another plate of sashimi along with condiments like wasabi and soy sauce to enhance the flavor of the sashimi.

Once everything was ready, Yunho took a seat in front of his friend. A grin immediately appeared on his face. "So is Mr. Fixon finally found a lady who will fix his heart?" He teased. Of course he already knew about a new tenant at Song's apartment, a beautiful lady like Mrs. Song described it when she came over few days ago. And of course, as a good friend, it was Yunho's job to tease Mingi about her. "What's her name?"

@✧˚ j. yunho [using this place since your restaurant place isn't up yet xD]

With heavy steps, Mingi made his way towards his friend’s place where they had been promised to have dinner together. It surely has been quite a while since Mingi paid Yunho a visit to his restaurant, with the things going on between work and his personal life, eating fresh seafood was definitely out of the plan. That’s why when Yunho texted him, he immediately agreed, feeling bad for his childhood friend.

Arriving at the restaurant, Mingi immediately greeted the workers there, already knowing them for quite a while, after all, even before Yunho took over the restaurant, they had been visiting this place quite often, usually to get free meals from Yunho’s grandfather. May that old man rest in peace.

“Mingi-ah! It’s been a while!”

He grinned toward a middle-aged man who greeted him, giving a little bow and a wave. Luckily the restaurant wasn’t packed yet so they still had enough time to chat for a bit.

“It certainly has, Jaeseok hyung. I was quite busy these days. But here I am~! Do you miss me?” Mingi grinned at him to which Jaeseok laughed. “I sure did, kiddo. Our boss was wondering about your whereabouts as well, you know. It’s strange to see you two not going anywhere together like you used to. Before it was hard to separate the two of you.”

The talk about the past made Mingi smile as he remembered how he and Yunho were dubbed as the ‘trouble duo’. He couldn’t even remember what made him and Yunho become friends, but maybe it was because their houses were next to each other when they were kids so naturally they became friends and grew up together.

“Speaking of which, where is Yunho? He said he’s gonna give me the best sashimi tonight and a few bottles of Soju too.” He asked while looking around, trying to spot his friend which shouldn’t be a hard task due to how tall Yunho is.

Seokwoo could only blink at the interception and laughed dryly. He had to admit it was much more satisfying to watch the man of his friend’s demise eat the atrocity he’d just created on the spot. “Delicious, no? I should start a business.” He lightly tossed his chopstick onto his plate and leaned back in his chair, his tight arms stretched above his head prompting a groan from him. “I might take your offer on that, Minah. Drinks and food is a must. We could bring party games as well and indulge ourselves. It’s not everyday I’m able to go out and meet new people like this.” Although the friends he made in the ocean were much less headache-inducing than humans, talking like this wasn’t as bad as he’d imagined.

"my dungeon? it's just a 4 by 4 unit that is pretty close and empty now. we could always hang there next time, only if you guys brought the drinks and food." minah offered up her place as she had always loved hosting which she couldn't do back in seoul. these bunch of new and old friends was something she could get used to for her new life in haepung.

"no please-" Minah could barely stomach it, but before she could voice her reluctance, Wooseok had stepped in, taking the hit for her. The expression on his face as he forced down the pajeon was both painful and comical, and Minah couldn't help but feel a surge of relief in between her stifled giggles. "I mean, I'm glad you liked it." no way was she buying the soju pajeon recipe that seokwoo had been force-feeding everyone. "if you wanted more..." minah playfully picked up a piece of pajeon, hovering it over wooseok's (clearly) first cup of soju.

a poor liar, wooseok's words stuttered, "a- ahh, so this is who you're with when you're not with,, me?" trying to drum up a hearty laugh before looking at the scene that had taken minah's attention. wooseok's face audibly cringed as seokwoo dipped the pajeon into the drink, leaving behind crusty backwash of flour a small confetti of scallions in the cup as the pajeon became soaked and soggy with alcohol. bleh! he gave jinah a confused look of concern, squinting heavily with furrowed brows. he wondered why would she let him put that in as he continued to chew on the banchan that was forcefully fed to him by the stranger he called his girlfriend.

by the time the table was on their third (?) round of shots, wooseok was still babysitting his first shot, letting minah pour his glass back to the top as he watched her dynamic with seokwoo, trying to gauge her personality. this was only the third instance he'd met her, but he didn't think things would get so sloppy so fast. he barely knew her name, which was... min.. min.. minhee? wait, no, seokwoo just said her name! minah! wow, that's so weird, her name sounds just like jinah. wooseok leaned back in his chair and giggled to himself at the revelation before feeling a disturbance in the force.

seokwoo had, once again, dipped pajeon in alcohol and was now holding it in front of minah to eat. bruh. wooseok couldn't keep getting caught slipping, this was his 'girlfriend' some stranger was trying to feed. he couldn't let himself look like a bad boyfriend even if it was just for pretend. "hold on, that looks good," wooseok interjected with a smile, his wide shoulders maneuvering between the two as he leaned in to slurp the pajeon clean right off seokwoo's chopsticks, making rather suggestive eye contact with the man as he pulled his lips off the bamboo, his lips with a smirk. as wooseok chewed on the alcohol soaked pajeon, he looked over at minah with his shoulders sinking unconvincingly as he exasperated, "oh, jagi, sorry, did you want to try? i'll dip it for you."

Oh? And what does your dungeon look like, Minah?
/he asked, amused, wondering if she was also dating a toxic minion that would rarely let him out of her sight, in this case: wooseok. his girlfriend was out of town this weekend, giving him a little more room to go out with friends. he snorted, nodding.
yea, you should try it. the pajeon soaks up the alcohol and takes the taste away, but it still gives the same effect. prevents hangovers, too.
/he was obviously talking out of his and despite the fact, he held the alcohol soaked pajeon right in front of minah’s mouth as if daring her to eat it.

"it probably slipped off my mind, oppa." minah leaned against sana and tilted her head at sana before letting out a chucklee, "inseparable is the word." she watched the scene unfold before her, she took noticed wooseok subtly rubbing the back of jinah's back and pretending everything was fine after. minah lifted her full shot glass at seokwoo in return and emptying it again before pouring another round for everyone. "I'm sure your dungeon is much nicer than mine." she joked. the dynamics of the people on the table was amusing to watch, although seokwoo's pajeon soju trick had taken minah back a little, "is.. that a thing?" her eyes squint and her brows furrowed as her eyes followed seokwoo's chopstick into jinah's mouth. "to what I can remember, jinah eonnie could hold her weight with alcohol back in Seoul. right eonnie?" she raised her full glass at jinah. her watchful eyes darted between the two men and jinah.

/smiles at the new addition to the table, and gives a small nod while lifting his glass with her/
pleasure to meet you, minah. I finally had a chance to come out of the dungeon after a long while.
/his eyes flicker between minah, wooseok, and jinah while placing a piece of pajeon onto sana’s plate, noticing the glances, the touch and the forced flirting. the corner of his lips quirk up slightly at wooseok’s concern for his friend. tsk.
let me see.
/he nudges jinah to face him before nodding in agreement.
he’s right, you look like you haven’t slept in days. but you know what helps with sleep. alcohol.
/reaching for another piece of pajeon, he dips it in his glass of alcohol and shoves it into , giving her a warning look to pull it together in front of her ex.

/relief washed over wooseok's face as sana was ever so gracious enough to repeat the name of his supposed girlfriend multiple times, taking his hand away from jinah' back before turning his body toward sana, leaning his chin on the hand that had jinah's scent lingering on it as he shook his head/ ah, you know what, haepung has grown so much i didn't know if her best friend sana was you or someone else hahaha
/his eyes shot at minah, trying to communicate telepathically if there was anything else he didn't know about her relationships with the people at the table, though, minding his manners, he began to sip on his shot instead of shooting it as the others had and mindlessly lectured jinah without ever so glancing at her/ have you been taking medication to help you sleep? i heard it doesn't mix well with alcohol, so don't drink too much if you need to sleep

(with wooseok’s comforting touch the air of the room seemingly clears up at once, allowing her to take a deep breath of relief, but keen to not stir up any trouble; underneath the table she lightly shoves wooseok by the thigh in an unspoken command to unhand her as she downs her second shot of alcohol, and inches closer towards seokwoo instead) oh no, i’m fine. i promise, i didn’t sleep too well last night so i’d say it’s honestly just my mind playing tricks with me. but oh- small world? that’s really nice.

/Sana chuckled softly to herself and gave Minah a small nod, taking her shot right after we all clink shot glasses, looking over at Nana with concern, pouting at her momentarily/ Nana, babes, if you’re uncomfortable inside here we could always move to a table outside? So we could get some air too. /gives her a reassuring look before taking care of the beers and beer glasses/ oh Minah’s my best friend, I’m surprised you didn’t know that but yes been inseparable since Minah moved here.

/suddenly finding his face stuffed with banchan, he shoots down a glare at minah, but quickly puts on a fake smile, laughing louding to mask the pain of the bamboo chopsticks stabbing his gums/ wAH HAHAHA uri jagi is so sweet !!! so sweet indeed !!!!

s so sana how do you both know each other??
/aggressively puts sana and minah in the spotlight as he coaxes the bottle from minah and begins to pour another round for everyone starting from minah to sana to seokwoo before getting to jinah, quietly noticing her distress and putting his hand on her back as the others talked, pouring her shot with his nondominant hand/

(gwenchana me too I've been so out of practice I'm just stuffing third into slashes ajsjdmfk)

(quickly taking the shot with ease and casting her glass aside, she merely watches over the love birds in silence for some several short moments before serving herself and humming at the undeniable delectable taste of the food) mm, alright that definitely hit the spot more than i thought it would. can’t believe it’s been a while since i last came here- (lifts her gaze from her plate only to flinch at the sight of yet another unwelcome ghostly guest, instantly causing her head to drop) i- i’m sure the rest of the food is going to do us just right. sorry, could someone help me refill my glass?

minah had almost forgotten about the act that she had put up with wooseok. she chokes slightly as she downed the shot of soju in her hand, as the burning sensation slid down .

she wasn't sure how much sana know from their inconsistent act. minah nudged her under the table before giving her the eye. then she looked back at wooseok and returned him with a forced smile, hoping jinah wouldn't have caught them. "n ne oppa..." she took the plate that wooseok had filled. "you should have some too." she picked up a few pieces of the banchan with her chopsticks to wooseok's mouth, "you should eat more too oppa." a playful smirk lingered on minah's lips.

(sorry guyys I at 1st)

/looks at the newcomer with a friendly smile before recognizing her as his new 'girlfriend' thinking 'wait is she friends with sana' before effortlessly transitioning into a poor performance, his neck twitching toward jinah to indicate to keep up their lie/ j jagiya, don't drink on an empty stomach

/reaches over to make a plate for minah, masquerading himself as a caring boyfriend, but also realizing he didn't quite catch her name as he wasn't actively listening when sana had exclaimed it out loud/
everyone don't be shy about digging in either

/he mouthed a thank you toward minah as she poured the shots, taking a glass and raises it up to jinah's/
to a new friend!!

(her brows quirk upright as soon as minah’s joining the table, distracting her enough from the previous uncomfortably ghastly encounter to curtly smile at the female as she soon takes a hold of her shot glass) right, cheers to that.

maybe a bottle or two might do the trick /picks up the bottle firmly at the neck and taps the bottom against her elbow/ here's to a new friend! /she pours the clear liquid into the small glasses/

nothing like a drink to cap off the day huh? oh yes this is seokwoo, seokwoo this is minah. /smiles and gestures over to Minah before looking up and thanking our waitress how brought in our drinks and pajeon, stating that the calamari and wings would take a while/ alright, thank you! guys dig in-

I'm beat.. /huffs/ customers coming in nonstop today, it's odd. /looks around/ mostly.. although there's a new face /referring to seokwoo, soft smile on her tired face/ I guess I've been missing out on gatherings. nice to meet u..

not much we were just getting started, we just sent in our orders. how are you? how was work? you know everyone here yes?

/puts bag down and sits on the empty seat next to minah/ did I miss much?

Minah! /gestures her over and pats down a seat next to me/ well hopefully whoever it is maam, they leave you and us alone for the night

/pushes glass door open/ sorry I'm late!

A fly? /He frowns, looking around and waving the to the manager behind the counter/ Ahjussi, you seem to have flies in here. Can we get a discount? /his eyes flicker back to the group, his hands waving/ I’m a pro at holding my liquor, you don’t ever have to worry about me (lying).

(she’s rendered speechless for some time, nodding along idly as she listens to everyone speak only to snap out of her silent reverie with the shake of a head and a fairly awkward chuckle) please.. i was just a little startled by- well, what i want to believe was a fly? and i’d like to think my tolerance is pretty good too so.. nothing to worry about there either, trust me. though is there anyone we actually need to keep note of? in case we might have to start babysitting sometime soon.

he doesn’t notice the aggressive stare, or rather, he chooses to ignore it as he smiles at sana, leaning back before answering.
today’s a pretty nice day. woke up before the crack of dawn to catch some waves. teacher? brave job handling the gremlins. thank you for your service.
his eyes shift over to jinah, arching a brow at her change of demeanor.
you drunk already? or are your demons here for a chat?

/his ears twitch and burn trying to stretch closing to hear what's being said around the table, he was curious and nosy about their lives, trying to dissect and read between the lines as he nodded his head along with conversation, muttering under his breath, 'ah, yes, the kids,' before snapping his neck toward jinah as sana called attention to her demeanor/ hm? what's wrong? im jinah, are you okay? /his voice was laced with concern, his eyes inspecting her from head to toe/ did you hurt yourself?

hey at least we're being kept busy right? As for me..the kids have kept me on my toes this week, and I thought teaching them math and science would bore them.. I thought wrong. /notices the shift in nana's demeanor/ is something wrong, Nana dear?-

can’t complain either, business has been steady and life’s been pr- (clears once again upon noticing an unwanted presence behind sana that causes her gaze to avert quickly) pretty calm. i hope all has been well for everyone?

/squints aggressively at the little nudge, analyzing it in slow motion (csi enhance zoom), but puts his attention toward sana's question instead with a big bright smile/
work's been busy, but other than that, everything's been standard. no news is good news, right? how've you been?