venusvolta

[venusvolta]

seunghan:

[ ... ] now, the fallacy — “whatever’s happening was initiated by someone in the club, but more importantly, someone close to your direct chessmasters.” the pause he holds is well-timed. long enough that she catches up. short enough that he doesn’t. “what was yul’s relationship like with his chessmaster? do you remember anything from when you were initiates?”

a certain amount of levity fills her as the song they're dancing to ends and bleeds into something slower. she presses herself closer to seunghan as they move into a slower rhythm.

"forgive me but i've never really been in the habit of paying that much attention to your brother," she says lightly, "kim yul has never exactly been important to any of my causes so to speak."

her eyes scan the room again as they move slowly about the dance floor. it's a desperate search trying to piece together familiar faces when everyone's masked, there's a figure that looks like jung chanyeol and another reminds her of moon aera. all of it cements the fact that something is off entirely.

"in any case," she keeps her head rested close against his chest and closes her eyes. to an onlooker they must look akin to a couple in love, enjoying a few moments on the dancefloor, but sowon's mind is spent preoccupied with 2013 and the power dynamics that played at the time. eleven years on and the facts become hazy. "i don't remember him having the ability to create sway over any of the chessmasters from back then. go jihoon was really good about consolidating power if memory serves."

opening her eyes, she looks about the room again looking for jihoon. after three years of dating she thinks she could pick him out simply by the back of his head but in every silhouette, ever-masked face she finds nothing to indicate familiarity.

finally, the song ends and she takes the initiative to tug seunghan along with her away from the floor and through the throng of people that exist along the sides as spectators. one of them looks like choi hajoon, though that's neither here nor there for the moment, the faces she's looking for escape her.

she only speaks again once they've reached the comfort of the wall, where others stand with their drinks and polite conversation.

"i don't see jihoon though, " she finally adds, "and truthfully i doubt an event like this is something he'd like to come to anyway. why would anyone subject themselves to yang byeol's grandstanding if they didn't have to come?"

pausing, she looks over the crowd and then at seunghan, finally removing her hands from his grasp. "though i don't know maybe you've got half an idea thinking about yul. i think the chessmaster that selected him was kang hana? she was a bitch that's always been hard to say no to."

[venusvolta]

the adage goes like this: the line between love and hate is thin, and sowon can't help herself from wondering what the distance between admiration and disdain must be⏤ microscopic, she imagines.

the halo effect is a curious sort of phenomenon. by all accounts, sowon should despise nam soojung. she embodies everything sowon hates about snu and the rich fuckers in the king's club; blatant entitlement, textbook definitions of nepotism, and the lack of any real desire or talent to merit their position in the world.

and yet, it's hard to hate a girl like soojung. sowon thinks it's partially because soojung is so pretty, it's hard to hate anyone with a face that pretty, but even still it's harder to hate someone so hellbent on enjoying life for what it's worse. soojung money pays for the blase approach to lifestyle and sowon would like to consider herself incensed by the blatant disregard and almost hedonistic search for pleasure but jealousy mires her thoughts as well.

she'd like to be something like soojung, she thinks. rich, pretty, and carefree; it's all sowon's ever really desired.

so sowon gets as close as she can, instead of ire she presents soojung with her hand held out in friendship, the kind that starts with an ulterior motive and mutates itself into something more genuine.

it's the genuine part of friendship that brings sowon to soojung's apartment on a sunday morning, tidying up around the place, even though she knows there's a woman's who's job is to do this sort of thing. still, affection dictates that sowon ought to clean the mess and bring a cup of water and a pair of ibuprofen to soojung's side because soojung asks her to.

philia is a tricky sort of love that way, she does things despite herself because that's what love makes you do.

"you overdid it again," sowon says plainly, sitting on the edge of soojung's bed, eyes assessing the scene before her, "you know one day you'll be in your late 20s and you'll regret how often you got shitfaced when you were 20."

it's difficult loving someone who's everything you'll never be.

she sighs and tucks a hair behind soojung's ear.

the line between jealousy and desire has to be infinitesimal.

FAKE PLASTIC TREES ft. @cataclyisms

[venusvolta]

PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP.

“hello, this is officer park donghyun of seoul metropolitan police. we’ve been trying to reach you regarding the noh hyungseo case. the case has recently been reopened as some new evidence has come to light. we would like to invite you into the station for a voluntary interview to clarify a few details from your previous statement. please contact me at your earliest convenience so we may book in a time. you can reach me directly at this number. we are aiming to conduct this interview sometime next week. thank you for your cooperation. we hope you have a good day.”

she's talking to that pug-faced cunt ko jueun when the call comes in and just at a glance she knows it's seoul metropolitan police and sowon can feel her jaw tighten while jueun's insessent questions buzz in her ears.

"you went to snu the same time as that noh hyungseo guy right?"

sowon's mouth feels dry and as she tries to consider what's going on. she doesn't know why she feels a sudden impending stress, it's not as if she did anything wrong. she brought up that she thought the ritual was ill-advised, she watched the boy drown, she went to his funeral, she prayed to god and whoever else who would listen to cleanse her conscience; she did what she had to so why is this stupid son of a bitch still rearing his ugly head in her life.

she watches as the call goes to voicemail and skims the transcription her voicemail gives her as jueun repeats herself, pressing the matter further.

"is this line of questioning actually going any-fucking-where, jueun?" she finally replies voice cold and devoid of any emotion and gives a disiniterested glance at her coworker, watching the way jueun's smile deflates ever so slowly as sowon continues to stare her down.

"no i just was won⏤"

"you just were wondering if i knew the one ultra-rich kid that died ever so tragically when i was at snu? there are fifteen thousand fucking undergraduates, tell me what do you think, jueun?"

jueun smiles at her somewhat incredulously before letting out a laugh of sorts. "you don't have to be a bitch, sowon. i was just wondering if you knew him so i could add a personal touch to the story."

sowon crosses her arms and lets out a sigh. god she could kill for a cigarette right now, or a drink; maybe both.

"so if i knew the kid then what would you have done? used the tragedy i faced in college of losing a friend in some tragic way to further your journalistic career like the piece of shit you are? or would you have used my connection to look into the story further and dig up some dead boy's corpse so you could be fabled as one of south korea's top journalists?"

jueun stands awestruck and fixes her mouth to blubber out some excuse sowon can't be bothered to hear. instead, puts a hand up and looks down at her phone, deleting the voicemail.

"to answer your question, no i didn't know the guy. i didn't know anyone who knew him either. it's tragic what happened though, imagine the pain his family must be going through having this brought up again. maybe you should focus your piece on that jueun, then people might think you have a soul."

[venusvolta]

there are a host of things she doesn't learn until she's in her thirties, how to do a basic foxtrot chief amongst them.

then again, even for all her scheming and plotting, it's not as if sowon ever considered she'd actually be invited to the ace foundation gala, or at least not invited in her own right this early on in life with no marriage to some important businessman to merit the invitation.

but here she dances with kim seunghan, mentally counting the beat of the quick-quick-slow trot in her head as they move about the room in a syncopated fashion.

none of it makes sense.

but finally, the song ends and it turns to something slower and sowon is still held in seunghan's embrace and she learns her head against his chest in a way that almost looks romantic but does the better part of hiding her words from everyone else.

"soojung's here too," she mumbles just loud enough for seunghan to catch it. "seems sort of odd that they'd invite the most useless member of the nam family instead of the heir apparent don't you think?"

she looks up at seunghan, trying to gauge his reaction for a moment before turning her gaze to the other masked faces around the room, looking for signs of recognition in the rest of the populace.

"what good are a news anchor and a younger sibling who doesn't even like their job at a place like this?" she asks rhetorically, "especially when a girl who definitely hates one of those people is running the invitation list."

PORTIONS FOR FOXES ft @5threquiem

[venusvolta]

BREAKING NEWS — FROM THE ARCHIVE, 20 DECEMBER 2016.

“Good evening. I’m Kim Yena, and this is SBS News Tonight. To our top story of the hour, the body of a young man was discovered washed ashore on Cheongpyeong Lake this morning. The victim, believed to be 19-year-old Noh Hyungseo of Seoul, was found by a group of tourists. While formal identification is still pending, police have strong reasons to believe the decedent is the same individual who was reported missing by the Noh family on December 6th, 2016.

Authorities from the Gyeonggi Provincial Police have established the crime scene and commenced inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident. The exact cause of death remains unknown at this time, and investigators are urging anyone with information to come forward. If you have any details that could assist with this case, please contact your local authorities immediately.

Noh, a promising first-year student at Seoul National University, was the only son of the CEO of NGK group and the grandson of the company’s founder. He was widely regarded as one of the brightest students of his class, and his sudden disappearance had sent shockwaves through the academic and corporate communities. In the wake of his tragic death, the students of the university have set up a memorial in his honor, where members of the community have gathered to pay their respects.

NGK group has declined to comment at this time.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the family. We will continue to bring you updates as more information becomes available. This is SBS News Tonight, I’m Kim Yena.”

given the societal prominence of the noh family, the discovery of noh hyungseo’s body washed ashore in cheongpyeong lake sends shockwaves throughout all of south korea. in becoming a media sensation, the police have been pressured by the public to double their efforts in investigating the cause and events leading up to the noh heir’s death. in their efforts, they uncover a crucial piece of evidence: in the approximate week of noh hyungseo’s death as determined by the body’s state of decomposition, several students from his university had checked into the midas resort, located a short kilometer away from the lake in which his body was found. additionally, many of these students have been seen or associated with the decedent at various points in his life. throughout the week of december 26th, 2016, the police call each of these students in for questioning. baek sunghyun and im sora are the interrogating officers.

can you describe your relationship with noh hyungseo?

when was the last time you saw or spoke with him?

were you aware of any threats or hostile behavior directed towards noh hyungseo?

did you notice any changes in noh hyungseo’s behavior leading up to his death?

why were you at the midas resort at the time of his death?

did you travel with or meet anyone during your stay at the resort?

did you see or interact with noh hyungseo at any point during your stay at the resort?

did you recognize anyone at the resort or notice any unusual behavior around the time of noh hyungseo’s death?

did you visit cheongpyeong lake or its surroundings at any point during your stay at the resort?

did you see noh hyungseo at or near the lake at any point?

did anyone mention going to the lake or meeting noh hyungseo in that week?

do you know of anyone who could possibly be involved in noh hyungseo’s death?

who was the last person you saw with noh hyungseo while he was still alive and when?

did you notice anyone acting suspiciously after noh hyungseo was reported missing?

have you, at any point, been discouraged from speaking with the police or sharing information?

do you have any theories about what might have happened to noh hyungseo?

is there anyone else you believe we should speak to?

event details  thank you for your patience — our second event is now underway! for context, noh hyungseo’s body was found by a group of tourists on the morning of december 20th, 2016 and the incident was broadcasted in news stations across the country come the evening. a student-run memorial was set up at snu’s courtyard for members of the community to leave items like flowers, photographs, personal notes, and the like, and to pay their respects. police investigations began shortly after the news broadcast, with all 2016 chessmasters and 2019 initiates being called in for questioning within the week of december 26th, 2016. the incident was ultimately concluded to be an accident, and the club and its members left unscathed. when participating in this event, you may explore events from the news broadcast up to the point of the interrogation and their reaction to it, but please do not explore anything related to the case beyond this point!

askbox prompts  please keep your askbox open and reblog this event post if you would like to receive the prompts above by our lovely members! please also remember to send some prompts out to anyone participating! answering a prompt also counts towards activity, with 3x prompts answered being equivalent to 1x thread. you may choose to send these prompts on or off anon, but it is understood that any prompts received is from the police. if you do not wish to receive any prompts, please at least answer 3 prompts of your choice for a better idea of how your muse will react to the second part of this event. this will count for a total of 1x thread activity. admin plotting tip! to make the most of this event, consider the alibis that your muses may conspire with others to come up with to explain what they may have been doing at the midas resort and to make sure their stories match up!

ooc info  this is a two-part event — this first part is set in 2016. please tag all posts as #cm:breaking. the second part of this event will be set in 2024 and is scheduled to be released on 25 august, 8pm pst. all event starters may be posted up until 15 september, 8pm pst and, along with any prompts, should be wrapped up by 22 september, 8pm pst. participation is optional, though it is understood that your muses would have been brought in for questioning.

as always, thank you for being such lovely members and for your continued commitment to checkmate! if you have any questions, our askbox and dms are always open!

[venusvolta]

seunghan:

[ ... ] seunghan walks away and leans against the wall to the right of her. he sets the bottle of wine on the table beside him, then folds his arms and tilts his head. “i know you, sowon,” here, an intermission. the words are uttered without accusation. kim seunghan locks his gaze on her, hoping to glean any telling shifts in her expression, “at least, i did. tell me i’m right.” he swallows. “tell me it isn’t you.”

in a way it's laughable.

noh hyungseo comes back from the dead in the form of a pool float, ready to haunt them all and seunghan wants to know if some how, some way sowon had something to do with this. lee sowon who quite frankly never really cared for hyungseo all that well when he was alive.

she tries and fails to hide her smile of mild amusement though the laugh she manages to keep out of her voice just barely. hyungseo was seunghan's best friend, she remembers that much, and even she's not cruel enough to laugh at his lost being revisited in such a way.

"i think you're right in saying you knew me," her voice has a slight edge to it and she crosses her arms as she shifts her weight as bemusement gives way to some form of minor irritation. "anyone who knows me i think would know better than to even think i would do something close to whatever this is."

she watches seunghan carefully trying to decide how he's changed since college, when his opinion of her would lead him to doubt her in such a way but she finds him inscrutable⏤ time makes strangers of them both.

"i am a lot of bad things you know. a social climber, a slut, a fucking bitch if you ask my editing assistant at work, a greedy money-obsessed cunt, but a demented fuck with too much money to play with and too much time on their hands? that's never really been me."

somehow she feels compelled to explain the truth of the situation to seunghan, though even she can tell his accusation lays thin and he more or less begs her to give him any reason to believe it's not her and for a moment she's thankful that of all the people that could've spotted her kim seunghan happens to be the unlucky vouyer. she sighs deeply before continuing on.

"i was only out by the pool because i was having a cigarette, i thought the floatie was just a bad joke one of the assholes upstairs was playing. i guess they all have more humanity in them than i thought."

her last words are close to a whisper and she takes a step back, eyes trained on the floor as she finally shows her discomfort with all of tonight's dealings.

"i'm not a good person but i wouldn't say i'm a particularly evil one either. i wouldn't make a mockery of that poor boy's death that way."

[venusvolta]

soojung:

[ ... ] “You thinking about just getting the fuck out of here?” Like she was sorely tempted to; like she should, actually. As if she doesn’t have her driver on speed dial and the audacity to strongarm her way onto the first chartered jet out of here. “I could probably have you come with me, if you wanted.” Not like there’s anything here worth staying for, anyway.

soojung means no harm.

that's the beauty of nam soojung, she never means any harm. everything is easy, everything is upfront, and no ulterior motive exists behind her words. this is what makes nam soojung such an anomaly; she is genuine in a world built on complete artifice.

sowon takes a moment to consider her next words, taking a last drag off of her cigarette before flicking the butt and crushing it under her heel and exhaling the smoke with a sigh. in truth a childish side of her from college still exists, one where she wishes she could be like soojung and move without considering the potential ripple effects, speak freely and easily without fear of repercussion. instead, she huffs a laugh before reaching for the bottle of vinegar-adjacent-wine and taking another swig.

"this is all getting to be a little too agatha christie for me honestly." she says with another mirthless huff of a chuckle following her words. "why bring up a dead kid after eight years? wasn't being witness to his death horrible enough?"

digging out her pack of cigarettes out of her pocket she sighs, again, and rocks on her heels. she was supposed to give up smoking this year, her new husband-to-be doesn't care for smoking and she knows all too well it reflects poorly on a hospital director's wife to have a chain-smoking problem, let alone for the havoc this will eventually wreak upon her looks. but there's a certain amount of stress that comes along with the king's club that's got her fiddling with the lighter as she balances yet another cigarette beneath her lips.

"i'd love to take you up on the offer," sowon says though her tone indicates otherwise as she thinks through their options. "but knowing the league of pussies inside i think if we head out early we're liable to be somehow blamed for the floatie. may as well stay and see what the kings and queens think we should do."

the rush of nicotine only helps to take the edge off. she shrugs her shoulders and casts a glance in the direction of the house. taking another drag she looks over at soojung and grins ruefully.

"just like old times, huh?"

[venusvolta]

in her time as a chessmaster, lee sowon has had the privilege of being privy to a certain kind of stupidity that only exists amongst the upper echelon of society.

kim haein's attempt at a ritual is a good example of said stupidity.

the rules have been explained twice over to all of the other initiates but sowon would be a liar if she said she fully understood what the exact point of this ritual is supposed to be. they're all sat in some overly large noraebang back room and each initiate is meant to perform a song of haein's choosing for the chessmasters to enjoy. so far, the only thing sowon has learned is money as it turns cannot buy any sort of vocal talent on kim haein's part. ma boy, sowon is sure, was never meant to sound quite like... this.

sowon will give her this though, the performance is impassioned although deafening in tone and the dance moves are mostly correct, though again sowon is less than sure if this is the talent haein should be so proudly displaying for consideration. but the rest of the group cheers on the pitiful tone-deaf performance and sowon rolls her eyes before making up some sort of excuse as to why she needs to exit the room expeditiously, she finds the more this drags on that she is in fact not a sadist willing to laugh at some oblivious girl's social execution nor is she a masochist willing to subject herself to anymore torment at the hands or rather sounds of kim haein's singing.

so she finds herself outside of the noraebang, beer bottle still in hand while she takes a sip and scrolls through her phone scrolling through message notifications absentmindedly. cho minah has sent her another text begging for sowon's understanding again, and kim seunghan has sent one asking if she'd like to meet up after this ritual ends. taking a swig of her bottle she's poised to respond to both before she hears certain footsteps that sound all too familiar for her to ignore and can't manage to stop the groan that exits her throat as she sees the likes of kang juyeong walking directly her way.

sparing a glance behind her, sowon can see that they are well and truly alone outside of this picture-perfect hole in the wall that haein managed to find and she sighs deeply before pulling on a tight mirthless smile to greet the bitch of a girl that's headed her way.

"juyeongie," sowon says so sweetly she could make herself sick, "what did i ever do to earn the privilege of your esteemed company out here? isn't there a heathen you should be trying to convert somewhere? or a sinner you should be disparaging in the name of christ? or am i lucky enough to be today's conquest?"

GIRL, SO CONFUSING ft. @rcttencore

[venusvolta]

seunghan:

[ ... ] sometime later, seunghan catches the ghost of her flitting to the bar and he excuses himself, following about a minute behind her. she leads him deep into the wine cellar and he clicks his tongue to announce his arrival. “miss me?” he repeats the phrase spelled out on hyungseo’s likeness, though the question is ambiguous in the way he delivers it. as though a spouse coming safely home on the night of a violent storm. as though twisting in the knife. seunghan takes a gander about the room, surveying the impressive bottles of wine as he says casually, “i thought you were above all this.” and perhaps he had intended to save the best for last, how he pivots to regard her completely, a betraying, “lee sowon,” to hint at the closeness that now seems lost between them.

kim seunghan is not the master of subtlety that he imagines himself to be.

she sees him, because of course sowon sees him, looking at her out of the corner of his eye, and if present company wasn't around she'd have half a mind to ask him about the surreptitious glances but instead she settles for perceived ignorance and smiles and makes polite conversation with everyone else seated at the table the way she'd ought to.

it's only after dinner is over that she finds the window of solace for herself. she makes some bullshit excuse to whoever she's talking to about how she needs to make a call, and slips out amongst the general chatter of things. eight years on and noh hyungseo is still the central topic of discussion amongst the club members and for different reasons than she had in 2016, sowon's less than equipped mentally to discuss the topic at hand.

shin junpyo's mansion has changed little since the first time she came here in 2013. furnishings look different, and she wonders if his mother died or maybe he's simply forced the old woman out by now ⏤ all the feminine touches from a decade ago are replaced with a much more feeling and sowon thinks it's a turn for the worse but the layout is the same. she takes the steps down to the wine cellar and finds the same old dusty forgotten bottles that were probably here the last time she was.

the chatter from upstairs filters down below taking on a muffled tone and sowon finds herself staring up at the ceiling while she tries to figure out what the actual fuck is going on. but her rumination is cut short by seunghan of all people coming down the stairs with a careful sort of expression on his face that she supposes is meant to be read as impassiveness.

she smiles, somewhat mirthlessly as he addresses her. could it be there's contempt for her in his voice now after all of these years? for a moment she racks her brain trying to think where she might've burned a bridge with the likes of kim seunghan but she draws a blank and crosses her arms as she considers how to proceed.

"i feel like i should be the one asking questions here. you've been staring at me all night and yet now in this moment you're treating me with a little bit of contempt so color me confused," she takes a step towards him and tilts her head to the side searching his face for any kind of expression. "did things not end between us as amicably as i always thought or have you finally sided with sunyoung and juyeong and have decided maybe i am a dirty social climbing slut after all?"

[venusvolta]

soojung:

[ ... ] There are two shadows in the pool. “Fuck’s sake, I think I almost peed my pants,” she says in lieu of a hello, hand splayed over her chest to still her shallow breaths. In her defense, Sowon creeping up on her like the ghost of 2016's past after what had happened here literally two hours ago did not deserve a welcome.  “Want some? It’s pretty terrible.” In reference to the wine. Or the night. Both.

for the past twelve years sowon's been promising herself she'll quit smoking next year.

twelve years gone by and she's still sitting with a cigarette resting tightly between her lips while she tries to find the solution to her latest problem, only this time she finds herself drawing a blank.

the pool water is a crystal clear aquamarine, and by all accounts now that the ill-fated floatie in the pool is gone looks almost enticing to her, though considering current circumstances she finds the idea of taking a dip far less attractive. so she stands by the poolside, grimace placed firmly on her face and cigarette now dangling haphazardly in her hands.

part of her still thinks this must be some sort of dark joke that simply didn't land as intended, but she's also smart enough to know she'd ought to keep her mouth shut lest she earn undeserved suspicion from the rest of the pack. yet her brain keeps going over the details and the lack of sense that seems to be going on with this impromptu trip.

she only stops ruminating when she hears soojung's voice.

"fuck, you scared me." sowon says stupidly, trying to regain some of her composure before taking in the sight that is nam soojung. she, much like everyone else in this god-forsaken mansion, looks somewhere between shaken to her core and completely put out by the entirety of the situation.

taking a long drag of her cigarette she considers, she exhales only to answer soojung's question.

"sure why not have shitty expensive wine," she finally replies before taking the bottle from soojung's extended hand only to read the label before taking a swig frowning deeply before handing the bottle back to soojung.

"why does that taste like a vinegrette?" her disgust is obvious in her words and she takes another long drag off of her cigarette if only to alleviate the taste on her tongue.

"you know," she says flicking ash off of the end of her cigarette before sighing, "i thought the family vacation i went on when i was 12 where my grandma had a heart attack was bad but, honestly this little weekend get away might be the worst holiday i've ever been on,"

[venusvolta]

lee sowon is not happy about this last-minute trip to jeju.

she's never been fond of surprises, and she thinks after everything they've gone through together han wonbin should have at least a little more consideration for her schedule, a week's notice would've done well enough but she supposes 3 days are better than nothing. so she packs what she can and makes some bullshit excuse to the senior citizen she calls a future husband and goes down to jeju to see what the fuck this invite is even about.

an hour in the air and another 20 minutes driving to shin junpyo's mansion leaves her mildly annoyed and terribly inconvenienced but as her rental car pulls into junpyo's driveway she can already make out the figure of a man also fresh from the airport looking just as put out as she feels and sowon knows just by the silhouette that han wonbin is here.

parking the car, she sits inside for a moment considering her options. they know each other too well for a polite greeting before moving on to other prospects. yet, she finds herself hesitating if only for a moment before deciding she ought to greet him and maybe, just maybe, figure out why on earth he called a meeting at such short notice.

"hey," she calls over to him as she shuts the car door, arms crossing at her chest not bothering to hide the mild irritation that still festers within her. "you admiring the architecture or something? never really took you as a fan of anything of shin junpyo's. i guess things have changed since i last saw you?"

METALLIC TASTE ft @deadlyanthem

[venusvolta]

yohan:

[ ... ] "But it's good to know at least some of us give a damn about how our initiates turn out. How very kind of Lee Sowon to do," not that he has not also preemptively prepared the same; in addition to aportable heater he intends to haul with him all the way to the lakeside. He sends her a tilted sort of smile that tells of his previous statement being a light tease. "Unfortunately, it's never impossible that one of these little shits decides to be ungrateful. That's what the NDAs are for, yeah?" He flicks his lighter one last time. "I'm gonna stop it before it has to get to that point."

"i suppose you're probably right," sowon concedes carefully before looking over her shoulder, guaranteeing that she and yohan are alone before she chooses to continue on, "especially considering she and wonbin are in their own little fight for power. if she correctes yoojin, she loses but then again if her initiates maims or injures someone doesn't she lose anyway?"

shrugging, sowon shifts her weight and considers yohan's words with a degree of passivity. this long spent amongst god-awful rich kids and she begins to wonder where she left portions of her humanity behind. It's easy to become apathetic when everything becomes purely theoretical; if everyone is a chess piece, who cares if a piece falls off the board and breaks?

still she sighs despite herself, the certain uneasiness never quite fades even as she tries to settle more into impassiveness.

sowon only perks up once yohan declares his intention. crossing her arms she stands up straight and smiles in an incredulous way.

"how do you suppose you're going to stop it?" she asks carefully, genuinely curious to hear his plan. "like do you plan to put a stop to the whole ritual? because between yoojin, sunyoung, and wonbin who honestly is probably waiting for this ritual to turn sideways just to fuck over sunyoung i think you're in for an uphill battle, sisyphus."

[venusvolta]

seunghan:

[ ... ] “if you leave the way you came, you’ll bump into hyungseo,” he confesses, eyes drifting from her as he scans the room for a hiding spot. there. seunghan chuckles and pulls his eyes back to her, “think you can fit in that closet?”

it's sweet, if only for a moment.

seunghan's hands rest along the small of her back as he pulls her close and for a moment sowon can mistake his touch for something softer like a lover's embrace. for a second, her heart skip a beats and she leans her head on his shoulder in embarrassment, feeling like a bashful virgin.

then, in the next moment, the whole scene falls apart.

unlike kim seunghan, she doesn't find nearly as much humor in the situation. "what d'you mean i'll bump into hyungseo? i thought you said he wouldn't be coming for a while."

the question is rhetorical, and her voice has a new slight edge of annoyance as she speaks. grabbing the remaining of her clothes she makes the admittedly embarrassing few steps to the closet before glancing at the door handle and then over at seunghan, not bothering to hide her mild irritation.

"i think maybe for the rest of this little excursion we shouldn't meet up," she says, opening the closet door unceremoniously before dumping her clothes inside, "nothing against you but i don't particularly enjoy being the literal embodiment of skeleton in the closet."

she pauses for a moment considering the indignity of the choice that stands before her. she could just put her clothes on and walk out, even if noh hyungseo does see her she is still at the end of the day is a grown woman fully in charge of her own life. but she thinks of her reputation or lack thereof, and the lack of discretion that comes from mouths as large as hyungseo's, and with a parting glance at seunghan she steps into the closet.

she turns and faces seunghan fully, gesturing with her head for him to come over and shut the door behind her.

"i'll text you first next time," she says with an air of finality, "i promise."

[venusvolta]

apologies for being mia y'all i've got family in town but they're only here for like two more days so i will be getting back to everyone and replying to threads very shortly ty for your patience!!

[venusvolta]

yohan:

[ ... ] Eyes trail up to meet Sowon's. His nostrils flare. "Who does that little rat think she is, anyway? She's not Queen yet, and I'll make sure she never is if something goes wrong."

ambivalence becomes her.

in truth, she thinks yohan is right. the ritual is stupid at best and potentially dangerous at worst, and it's clear for all of the things jung yoojin is a biomedical student clearly is not one of them. shrugging, she leans into the wall training her eyes downward onto her nailbeds making a concerted effort to stop herself form picking at the edges of her nails.

she's nervous, just like yohan though she supposes the difference is the aloof air that overtakes her.

"honestly i'm surprised sunyoung let her go ahead with the ritual, but if sunyoung and wonbin aren't stopping it i'm assuming the ritual must be safe enough."

she doesn't quite believe the words that come out of her mouth. her mother always used to say money can't buy sense and the words are ringing in her ears like some prophetic warning as she speaks.

she downs the rest of her drink and sound that sounds closer to a sigh than satisfaction when she finishes. the nagging voice of her mother continues on loop in her mind.

"i'm thinking about bringing something warm to drink for my initiates, maybe buying some hot packs from the pharmacy too, and blankets or something." she shuffles slightly, watching the way yohan plays with his lighter and finds herself desperately craving a cigarette suddenly⏤ maybe her mother is right about this too, maybe she should quit. "you don't think one of these little bastards will sue us if they lose a fingertip to frostbite or something? i don't really think anyone is going to die of hypothermia but yoojin has made the threat of neuropathy via frostbite suddenly a very real threat."

[venusvolta]

seunghan:

[ ... ] what matters now is that he is distant and impersonal — to make like god. seunghan uncaps a bottle of water by the table, takes a sip, then holds it out to her. “drink.”

sometimes, sowon wonders if she died today what circle of hell would she find herself in. she could find herself in circle four, because god knows her material greed knows no bounds, or maybe even circle nine because there is a certain amount of treachery that's gotten her this far in life. but when kim seunghan stands up and covers his nakedness she thinks circle two might be her assigned place.

sighing, she thinks ought to get up and get herself together before the rest of the club begins to stream into the hotel. after all she'd hate to somehow be found like this, naked posted up in some initiates bed looking wanton and guilty⏤ her reputation is already shoddy at best and there's no sense in making it worse. standing up, she begins to collect her clothes off the ground while trying to cover up with false modesty as if somehow it's now embarrassing to be found naked by seunghan of all people too.

even still, his kindness catches her off guard. she stands before him, immodest and disheveled and he holds the water out to her in a gesture that seems small and insignificant, but sowon knows enough about rich men to know even the smallest bit of common decency can be a miracle. pulling her underwear and bra on as quickly as she can manage, she gives a small thanks before taking the bottle of water from him and taking a sip.

she wants to say something nice to him. something about how she thinks it's nice that he thought to invite her early, something to acknowledge that there's a part of her that's glad he wanted to see her before even if for a little while, but the words feel heavy on her tongue, and instead she finds herself going for another swig of water before handing the bottle back to him.

"when are your friends supposed to be arriving again?" she asks. it's hardly romantic or charming, but then again neither are they.

[venusvolta]

sowon will give jung yoojin this, the girl has a flair for the dramatic.

there's a murmuring amongst the general populace, most of the initiates have drunk too much and now there's a certain amount of fear and indignations being spewed at the table but in true form, sowon could care less. if some kid drowns it won't be on her conscious, it's not as if she told the dumbasses to drink when a ritual still had yet to be announced and she's not the idiot who provided anyone with drinks before telling them to go swim in a freezing lake either. whatever happens, happens to the flock of idiots that stand before her and no one else.

instead of waiting and watching for the rest of the fallout, sowon excuses herself from the table and walks out to the veranda to overlook the darkened woods that lead to lake cheongpyeong. thank god she's not an initiate, she thinks, there are a thousand stupid things she'd do for the chance to be in a club, but being dumb enough to swim in a lake in december while drunk might just be where she would've drawn the line four years ago.

she stares into the darkness of dense trees and what should be a lake for a moment, trying to see if she can see clearly into the night enough to guess what the conditions might be like but the absence of light leaves her unable to make out anything.

turning on her heel she thinks she ought to find clothes better suited for a nighttime hike when she sees him out of the corner of her eye. jin yohan sits in the corner, drink in hand and even from the briefest glance sowon can see in no uncertain terms that he is pissed.

"what?" she asks in a deadpanned voice, "are you worried that your recruits can't swim or are you worried they've got the sense to realize how stupid and dangerous this ritual is? because if it's the latter don't worry i doubt they do."

she walks closer to him, and leans against the wall looking down at him. "if anything hyungseo should have third best shot after hajoon and seunghan respectfully."

ECHOLALIA ft. @silenthowls