#scriptending

[bezeniths]

digital bath ft. @scriptend

there were times when zurie found herself simply wandering the mall, not going anywhere in particular but just wanting to stretch her legs for the most part. sometimes she'd stop in and visit her friends at other stores, other times she'd simply go and enjoy crowd watching from the window at lapis roasters. on this occasion, she was simply taking a break from work, obtrusively unused bottle of newly released foundation bouncing in her pocket as she walked. she'd wanted to test the coverage, but her skin tone was simply not compatible with the foundation shade, nor were any of the appointments she had that day. it wasn't a huge deal, but whenever there was a new product launch, she wanted to know immediately whether they were worth her time or not.

she supposed this little outing was more to lick her mild wounds than anything, but as usual, adventure found her regardless of her intentions. suddenly, things overhead seemed to be going haywire; the lights were flickering out and back on intermittently, almost as if trying to transfer some sort of message to someone. the music over the sound system became warbled too, clearly all of it connected. things like this simply happened in the mall sometimes; no one really knew who was behind it. all they knew was that someone had access to systems they weren't supposed to, and they used it to wreak mostly harmless havoc.

zurie couldn't even begin to understand the complicated logistics of such things; she may have had a smartphone, but that phone didn't have the smartest user when it came to technology. still, there were some things even she could deduce ...

like how the employee inside keyboard warriors was hunched over a laptop in the back of the store, adequately hidden away if only zurie didn't possess a curiosity comparable to a space explorer when it came to the mall. her head tilts as she realizes every single lump of text the person inputs on the computer seems to coincide with another technical incident. there was no way ?? she steps inside the store quietly, a mischievous smirk dressing up the corners of her lips. "red handed doesn't even begin to describe this !!" she exclaims, eyes wide with the wonder of discovery.

[writeforhollywood]

Spoiler alert: this article discusses the endings to popular movies

[bezeniths]

the counterfeit sadness dropped from zurie's visage the moment beomsoo beckoned her over to see what was on his screen. to be honest, she hadn't really known what to expect his work to look like. maybe some onscreen explosions as he clicked buttons ? it may have been a bit silly, but aside from video games, the digital world was somewhat foreign to her. but she was always interested in things if her friends were, and genuinely enjoyed hearing them gush about their passions in life.

"in my defense, i knew you'd never do anything bad. i was just ... curious about all this, i guess. i think it's really cool that you can do that sort of stuff," she flashes a look of admiration his way before reaffixing her eyes to the screen.

sure, the simple dark background with text dropping down it may not have been the most visually striking thing she'd ever seen, but she knew there were processes occurring beyond its minimalistic appearance that she'd never understand. beomsoo understood it, though, and it almost intimidated her a bit. "wow..." she stares ahead, mouth agape as she takes it all in.

as he mentions some of the other tricks he has up his sleeve, she grins again. "ooh, really ? you have the hookup, i see. it's awfully nice of you to offer that especially since i came in here like a private investigator trying to interrogate you ... aheh ... sorry about that," she peers down towards her shoes, slight embarrassment easily readable on her face. "we're still buds, right ??" she pleads, her face suddenly flushed with slight panic when she looks up — and this time, it's real.

as a teacher, the guilt that stirs in beom's stomach is a familiar feeling. he never expected his students to be smart but rather, the expectation was that they tried and fine different ways to grasp the topic at hand. if anything, zurie did ask her round of questions and looked for beom when she needed anything. credit's always given for that. however, as im beomsoo—she receives a: "no, you're not a tech-challenged idiot. you're only tech-challenged." his lips form a fine line while he contemplates what to do next. "accusing me is what makes you an idiot. you could've just asked." because they were friends. the dilemma is that he knows exactly what she's doing—but beomsoo was so used to her smile and it did not feel good to be on the receiving end of such disappointment. "come here." he gestures to his screen. "it's nothing bad." while beomsoo had no intentions of revealing all of his secrets, he presses a shortcut on his keyboard to reveal a dark screen of running script. lines of code, both frontend and backend—but likely absolute gibberish to the average person. "the security here is bad. i know a thing or two about getting us a few extra tokens for xpixel." and then an attempt at a comforting smile (despite the feigned sadness on her end). "and i can override your store's music too if you have a preferred playlist. just some... quality of life things because we all spend too much time here.

[bezeniths]

a freshly manicured hand, courtesy of somin at salon 20, was now perched playfully on zurie's hip as she eyed beomsoo. she may have been willing to cast all of this away as a coincidence if he hadn't reacted the way he had — no, there was definitely something to this. still, she was temporarily conquered by his distracting statement about her phone screen. "actually ...... yeah," she says, eyes lowering to the floor momentarily, clasping the outline of the barely functioning samsung in her pocket.

"hey, wait !! that's not the point here, and neither is my ignorance about google services," she retorted, hip swung even further to the side than before. she was far too easily distracted, but that didn't mean he had to exploit it !

it certainly didn't bother her that he was finding his way into the greater computer systems throughout sunset. if anything, she craved the chaos it brought, but it was still kinda fun to be let in on the secret, even if beomsoo wasn't willingly confirming her suspicions. "it just seems awfully coincidental that i find you hovering over a computer all honed in while things are going digitally haywire in certain spots of the mall. and it seems to me that every time you do something on the computer, the 'systems', or whatever, respond. so, i mean, i know i'm not the most book smart person who works here, but..." she trails off, before a thought suddenly entered the scant recesses of her crowded mind.

maybe she shouldn't have come in here aggressively accusing him of something she barely understood. she knew there was merit to her claims, but this probably wasn't the best course of action to reach the truth.

"though maybe you're right..." her voice is affected with a melodramatic sadness. "maybe i am just a tech-challenged idiot who doesn't know what she's talking about," she heaves a heavy sigh, lowering her shoulders in a dejected fashion. it was a pretty convincing performance if the right heartstrings were involved. "i'm sorry i bothered you," came zurie's final line read, hoping that her plan had worked and a change of heart was in beomsoo's near future.

it's no pristine setup. beomsoo found ways to work around the mall's systems and used what he could of the spare parts and equipment lying around the store. half the store is under construction and the other half is packed with the month's stock. things that were part of the job description: base knowledge of board reworks, standard pc bring up, assembling peripherals for system start up, build host systems from it builds or clone hdd, etcetera. things not in the description: ability to lift approximately 40 kg, several times a day, climb standard ladders, walk stairs with added weight (stock), floor work for tool sets/servers and/or standing/sitting/walking for duration of shift.

the point is, his setup works. his schedule works—the double shift gives him just enough time to be bored enough to unpack and record the new items to track for their stock. the damaged items are up for grabs—or they'd have to ship it back to the manufacturer and wait for that refurbished stock—which isn't what they prioritise at the store.

the construction seeps into the technicians' office spaces so beomsoo is left with a makeshift desk with the shipment—all of which were packed tightly towards the back of the store. work hours include mostly work and always enough time for play. lately, beomsoo's target is xpixel's im yunseong. whether the lights flicker in a trail where yunseong goes or the machines dispense coins and tickets in excess, beom's setting yunseong up for his hero origin story. and maybe when he clicks the wrong button, there's an obvious pop-up (he's still working on the interface), and the lights in front of the store go out. it's enough to conclude that he has some control of the scene. 'red handed' he hears. beomsoo swipes his thumb over the touchscreen of his keyboard: his monitors fade out. "store's closed." he sounds gruff, not out of annoyance but in slight defensiveness. "—oh, zurie. you crack your phone screen again?" he tries to hide the obvious mischief in his expression; it seemed like he's met with his sephora equivalent. "what exactly did you think you saw? you didn't even know you could set up multiple chrome profiles until last week."