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eyes grow wide as soon as he’s faced with the other, and it takes far too much effort not to groan. embarrassing himself in front of strangers was one thing, but amara? now she had ammunition. even so, he finds himself biting back a smile—because who was amara, really, if she didn’t try to take the piss out of him? “i am, actually, and you’re not invited because you made fun of me.” he says, playing along as he grabs a few more kiwis in addition to the one she’d given him. “what about you? getting ingredients for brunch with your fellow rabbits?”

caramel waves graze her shoulder as she turns to meet the voice. once she matches the voice to his face, a smirk creeps onto her lips. a 'hello' would suffice. "seriously, el?" she shoots him a look. "just buy the damn kiwi." she hands him one at random. she doubted he would need one for today so did it really matter if it was ripe yet? noting it was outside of his usual diet, she asks, "let me guess -- you're hosting a party for parrots?"

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he’s relieved to find that it was ayla he’d been speaking to, easily responding with a smile of his own. “ayla, hey! didn’t know that was you. it’s just—” here he pauses, voice dropping to a whisper as embarrassment works its way back into his tone, “i kind of forget what’s in my pantry, but not all the time, you know? just—sometimes. so i’m worried that if i get something that’s good now, it’ll be pretty much rotten by the time i remember to eat it. should i be going for something a bit more firm, or?”

ayla always liked coming down to the farmers market, she'd come down here so often, she knew all the stall owners by name. she was looking at some fruit when she heard elio's voice, she turns, offering him a smile, "it's easy really, you just need to give it a squeeze, if it's slightly soft, it's good to be eaten".

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northridge isn’t quite as intimidating as elio thought it would be, but as someone who persists on instant ramen more often than he cares to admit, he’s still a little out of his depth. “excuse me,” he asks, turning to the only other person poring through the produce at this particular stall, “this is a little embarrassing, but—how can you tell the difference between a good kiwi and a bad one?”

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› ft @alexwfm !

elio isn’t the stealthy sort, not really—but he’s on a mission today, and he prides himself in being able to rise to the occasion if need be. this is what leads him to stride into green basket (cautious as you please) a good ten minutes later than he normally does, because surely alex wouldn’t expect him to arrive at forty past instead of thirty past. elio sticks to one aisle instead of wandering as he is wont to do, only switching whenever alex’s voice drifts a little too close for comfort, and it would have been fine if alex’s eyes hadn’t somehow locked in on him and—crap. maybe he shouldn’t have told alex he was free today. element of surprise and all that. elio’s busying himself with his phone in record time, aiming for casual even though he’s already been found out.

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“I wasn’t sure about the existence of a higher power, but I believed in floating, in clear blue above me and clear blue beneath me. I believed in the silence I could find only when I was lying, weightless, in salt water. In salt water, there is nothing looming over me but sky, nothing that might collapse.”

— Nadia Owusu, Aftershocks (via 89words)

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hey look, it’s hajun elio park! you know, the twenty-eight year-old who works as a lifeguard at santa monica beach. i heard that if they could pick a theme song, it would be best friend by rex orange county. makes sense, seeing that they have that limbs tangled together on a lazy sunday, flipping through vinyls at the record store, and sleepy eyes and sun-kissed skin thing going on. catch him at downtown LA or skylight books if you want to know more.

the basics.

name hajun “elio” park birthday 22nd of june gender cis man, he / him sexuality bisexual height 6’0” face claim kim jongin languages spoken english and korean hair color almost always dyed; he’s partial to this shade of brown and it usually gets lighter with all the time he spends in the sun traits optimistic, sociable, loyal, either spontaneous or impulsive—it’s all a matter of perspective

about.

born and raised in pacifica, hajun learned how to swim long before he learned how to do most things. it was inevitable, really—he had far too much energy and the ocean was right there, so his parents were more than happy to let him tire himself out on the coast. swimming soon bled into surfing, and before long he was spending every moment he could out in the waves, using whatever board the more experienced surfers would lend him—and he would rush into class just a few minutes shy of being late, salt in his hair and his skin flushed warm from the sun. he loved it, really, except—

except kids can be cruel, and hajun was one of the few koreans in a school whose student body was predominantly caucasian. they made fun of his eyes, called his packed lunches disgusting, claimed his name was too difficult to pronounce. this is how hajun became elio, and this is how elio learned to despise school even though he really isn’t the kind to despise anything. it’s something he will carry from middle school all the way to high school, and really the only thing that would snap him out of it was a boy, because of course it was a boy.

he was new in town. tall for his age, like elio. korean, too, like elio. after the nightmare that was middle school, elio had gotten much better at making friends, but he and the new kid got on like a house on fire. maybe it was the shared culture, or perhaps the shared language; either way, elio found himself looking forward to school again—and even though he still wasn’t paying much attention in class, he was at least physically present. it took the majority of high school for them to realize that their bond wasn’t a typical friendship, and the first time they kissed during senior prom was pretty much perfect until they got caught.

things changed quickly after that. word got around, their parents got involved, and suddenly they weren’t even allowed to speak to each other anymore. after graduation, the boy moved away and elio got kicked out of the house—and it was a miracle, really, that elio hadn’t found himself homeless the minute his father found out (he suspects he owes this to his mother). scrambling for a place to stay, things somehow came full circle, because one of the kids he used to surf with just so happened to know a place in downtown los angeles.

wanted connections.

neighbors. do they get along or do they hate elio’s optimistic guts? do they think he’s nice and friendly or do they think he’s doing too much? beach bums / people he surfs with. they probably know him as the lifeguard or that one surfer they always hang out with. are they acquaintances? friends, maybe? god knows elio spends far too much time on the beach, so it’s no surprise that he would know the regulars. former fling / someone he used to hook up with. are they civil? if they see each other walking down the street, would they look the other way? maybe one of them confessed and the other didn’t reciprocate. maybe things went sour after that, or maybe they decided they were better off as friends. and on that note... friends. elio loves them, elio has plenty of them. he makes friends wherever he goes. no matter who your muse is or where they’re from, as long as they cross paths, they could probably make a friendship work. korean friends, separated from the previous connection because of nuance. as sociable as elio is, he feels a lot more at ease around people who share his culture—people who understand what it’s like to grow up while being viewed as something “other” just because of their ethnicity. maybe your muse is a noona who dotes on him or a hyung who worries about the fact that he doesn’t seem to have any long-term plans. maybe they’re a dongsaeng that elio feels protective of. maybe they’re the same age. anything goes.

these are all i could think of at the moment, but as a rule of thumb, friends are always welcome. if you have any other ideas, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line. might send in some wanted connections to the base in the future, we’ll see how it goes, but for now feel free to shoot the shit with elio.

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Kai - 190518 Third official photobook ‘PRESENT ; gift’

Credit: 나의 빛, MY LUZ B!.

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androidboy:

who wants to road trip w me we’ll hit as many ufo and paranormal hotspots as we can

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⌕ nothing but summer !