sunshine girl

“Mm, yeah,” he hummed, digging the heels of his palm against his eye sockets and sighing. Tae figured that he should just sit down and wait, seeing as it seemed like London was already on her way and couldn’t be convinced not to come. “A friend of mine from a while back… tonight is the anniversary of her death,” the brunet said softly. He was always a mess this time of year and the worse he felt, the more he took it out through the use of alcohol and the more he picked meaningless fights. That particular night had involved the former though he did at one point punch the wall in his frustration.

By the time he felt cold fingers wrap around his wrist, Tae was in an almost lucid state of mind. He glanced up at the girl and scoffed at her remark — a ‘what else is new’ lingering on the tip of his tongue. But instead of being an ass just this once, he said, “You didn’t have to come.”

there’s something in taehyung’s eyes that concerns london, an unnatural sadness embedded in his irises that she isn’t used to seeing. she’s used to seeing his anger, his cheekiness, and even a total lack of expression at some points, but this--this is something else. 

“ i know, ” she replies, slowly uncurling her fingers from where she’d wrapped them around his wrist. instead, she wraps her arms around her calves, squatting beside where taehyung sits, chin resting on her knee while she plays with the ends of her shoelaces. “ but... i wanted to. it doesn’t feel right leaving you alone when i know you’ve been drinking or whatever. ” 

it’s almost habitual, the way london scans him, lets her eyes look over him from head to toe, checking to see if anything needs to be patched up because she knows how reckless he can get some nights. fortunately, she doesn’t seem to see anything needing urgent attention; she does, however, notice the red on his knuckles--she hopes that isn’t fresh.

“ i’m sorry about your friend, tae. ”

      “what? they ain’t got no sun in england? i’d say it sounds like hell, but that wouldn’t make sense. since hell is supposed to be hot and all.” he feels her hand leave, and it’s a little bit soothing to know that it isn’t there anymore. not that he doesn’t like her, or that he’s uncomfortable with people touching him– he just wasn’t in the mood for intimacy. particularly not of the friendly sort. “i’d be glad to. pretending I don’t know you.” a halfhearted joke, in which he smiles only briefly. “don’t let your tears fall into it though. who knows what might happen.”

     “ there’s... sun. but for like... three days in the entire year. it’s mostly just clouds and stuff. a lot of overcast days. and then i come here, and i’m hit with this insanity. ” truthfully, it isn’t even that hot--london’s probably just being dramatic. but, to be fair, she’s rarely had to deal with any sense of ‘real’ summer heat before moving to korea. “ yeah, well, don’t get used to it. i’ll only let you not know who i am just for today. ” she takes him to a small dessert bar, an almost hole-in-the-wall joint that could easily be overlooked if one weren’t paying attention. as soon as she opens the door, she’s hit with the cool air of air conditioning, and london has to hold back a sigh of relief. she snags one of the menus from a free table, handing it to jungkook to take a look at. “ oh man. i forgot they did bingsus here too. now i have no idea what i’m gonna get. ”

That’s it. He can’t hold it in anymore and laughter rings in the air after her rant of disgust and fear. He really has trouble controlling his laughter any further when she’s this disturbed over a movie. Needless to say, he has planted a seed of horror in her mind and he feels just as bad as he feels amused by that idea. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He says, ushering her drink back to her. “Drink it! You’re gonna make me feel bad. I was joking. Promise. Ass-to-mouth stitching doesn’t sound very appealing to me either, I promise. I promise! Don’t go back to London–” 

     london groans quietly at his apology, and wills herself to not turn it into a whine--what is she, a child? “ ugh. you’re the worst. i can’t believe i had to go through all of that just now because of you. you crazy dork. why do i hang out with you? ” she reaches for her drink, doesn’t bother to conceal the wary glance she casts the straw before she’s taking a sip. “ hmm. how do i know you won’t bring up the whole ass-to-mouth thing again, huh? maybe i should start looking up flight times just in case. ”

he couldn’t help but snort at her little “war” with the lady, watching her as she reloaded the machine for the third time since he’d gotten there. she was indeed quite a character, but it didn’t look like she meant any harm nor did it look like she was capable of it (though he really shouldn’t be judging a book by it’s cover, especially since he himself doesn’t exude the ‘i’m probably bad for you don’t approach’ aura).

“i could stay with you until you finish.” he shrugs, leaning more of his weight on her. “i mean it’s not like i have anything better to do.” it wasn’t exactly the truth, not really. he could always use some sleep until his next client and shift at his part-time jobs, though he didn’t really care much for his health in the first place, nothing would change now.

he broke into a smile as the other mentioned his boxers, nose scrunching up as he tried to remember where he got them (though it probably belonged to someone else at some point). “i’m surprised too. it was the only thing left that was clean in my closet.” he nods, lips pursed as he banished the thought of his brother being the original owner of the boxers, noting that he prefers monotonous clothes instead of bright ones.

“then pick one. would you rather a funny story, a sexual story, a scary story, or a really boring story that i’ll end up telling you about anyway one of  these days but will also probably forget after today?”

london visibly perks up at gavin’s proposal, but only just remembers that he must have an agenda of his own. “ you don’t have to, ” she says, but there’s a tiny part of her that hopes he insists because she can’t stand the thought of being stuck in the laundromat for another three hours watching the other customer’s boring routine of loading and unloading the same basket of clothes. as much as she appreciates the lax environment of the laundromat on most days--the perfect condition to write--this monotony was sure to lull her to sleep. “ we could nap on the lost property together. i’ll even let you have the nice fur coat someone left. makes you feel like you’re sleeping on a cloud. ”

unable to help herself, london takes another peek down at his boxers, and doesn’t even try to hold back her grin. “ you don’t strike me as a neon green kind of guy. hot pink, maybe. or orange, like those traffic cones. but, hey. the fact that you still have clean underwear and made a trip down here to do laundry is commendable. nicely done, gav. ” 

the options he presents her all have appeal, and london pauses to think. “ um... ” his last visit had resulted in her laughing until tears ran down her cheeks, and she would not mind having a repeat of that--at least today, she wouldn’t have been disturbing too many people like she had before. but, always a sucker for the weird, the wonderful and the frighteningly addictive, london goes with the third. “ a scary story. if you manage to make me piss my pants, at least i can wash ‘em straight away. ”

She’s more scared of him than of the movie, and that’s progress. If this is enough to scare her, than the chain of forced analingus shouldn’t be too much for her either. “You have to watch it. What if I turn into a mad scientist who wants to force ass-to-mouth on you? What are you going to do then? If you don’t watch the movie you might star in the movie.” It sounds like a threat, and he’s still staring at her. If this doesn’t work, maybe he should resort back to tickling, but creeping London out has always been a hobby of his.

     needless to say, london is well and truly mortified. “ look, ” she says, attempting to sound a bit more composed than she feels. “ if you turn into turn into a mad scientist, i’m moving back to london and never talking to you again, buddy. ” the thought of being in the movie is frightening; she doesn’t want to dwell on the idea, but the look on his face forces her to and she winces as if she’s in pain. “ oh god. i don’t want my milkshake anymore. i regret bringing this movie up. we could’ve been taking about how terrible the saw series is, but instead, we’re talking about stitching mouths to assholes. good god, why? ”

Margaret Atwood

“ Oh this? “ 

He takes off the beige book cover and turns it around. the title and book itself is in english. he shifts a bit and his seat and offers it to her for her to page through, he already book marked his place with a piece of draft paper.

“ It’s a bit long but it’s history. more American history than anything     but it’s called ‘ Blue Dreams ‘. the book is also kinda poetic in     certain aspects and is about the L.A. 1992 riots. so uh, two years    before I was born. “

“ ooh. ” 

    she takes the book from his hands,     looks at its front and back, before     thumbing through a few pages. 

“ blue dreams... interesting. american history, huh? the ‘92 L.A. riots. hah. wow, it’s been a while since  i’ve read anything in english. how’s it been so far? i’m not really big on history, but korean-american politics... this sounds intriguing. i’d give it a go. ”

“You’re not afraid, huh?” He says, face stern and straight–expressionless–as he looks at her. Instead of tickling her like he had originally intended, maybe intimidation is a better technique. If there’s ever been something he’s been good at, it’s staring with a straight face. “You should be, though.” His hold on her waist is tight, because she could still run away before he’s made his point. And that, absolutely, cannot happen. “I have witnessed ass-to-mouth and it has done nothing to me. How do you know I haven’t killed a man? I might as well have. It shaped me into another being. You, too, must be shaped.” 

     arguably, london is now more afraid of kyungsoo than she is of the mental damage the human centipede will inflict on her. arguably. “ wait. what? ” she’s stunned beyond belief, with no hope of running away in sight, and his lack of expression is... creepy. london doesn’t know if she wants to laugh or cry. “ soo... are you okay? if you’re still trying to convince me to watch that damn movie... you’re failing. you’re so failing. you’re having the opposite effect right now. you’re making me doubly not want to watch it. if i’m afraid of anything, it’s you. what the hell did ass-to-mouth do to you?! ” 

“i suddenly had free time,” he lied, though it was half the truth. the free time he had was supposed to be spent with a client, but the desperation and need for clothes (though he would’ve lost that along the way) made him cancel. he’d probably get a scolding from carmen in the morning (or rather, a few hours later) but with only a pair of boxers and an oversized shirt, he wouldn’t dare show himself to his clients. sex or no sex, he had to look good. it was his branding, anyway.

as she released his hold around his waist, he dragged his trash bag full of clothes over to the nearest machine beside her, dumping all of his coloured clothes in one and whites in another (despite appearances, his laundry was no joke. especially since some of his belongings weren’t his in the first place, which is why they’re branded). after loading the washer, he peeked at the woman who she had pointed out, making his way to her side without a sound. “she seems out of it, but she has to pay for all the washes so hurray you?” he chuckled, soft enough to only be heard by her.

he hops on the dryer beside her, now only in his boxers as he threw the shirt he wore in as well. he’d probably end up hand washing them, or saving them for next week’s wash, but either way after going around naked the first few times and having to deal with her incessant nagging, he’d rather not deal with it again.

“what stories do you want?” he smiles, leaning against her as he puts his feet up on the other dryers. “if that gets published, you have to pay me ok?” 

“ lucky you. i’m itching to leave, but i have about... three more hours left of my shift. three more hours of... ” london casts a wary glance over at the other customer, who was now in the process of reloading the washer. “ that. maybe i should go take a nap on the lost property later. i don’t know why the hell i said yes to the night shift yesterday. i hardly ever take the night shifts. ” 

london watches as gavin loads up the closest washing machines with his clothes, barely catching a glimpse at the designer label names on the tags. she’s seen this whole routine before--almost memorised it, even--but she never fails to be surprised by what he ends up bringing in every time he stops by. she’s pretty sure one of his dress shirts would take a good two months’ paychecks.

“ wow. those are really bright, ” she says, watching gavin hoist himself up to sit on the dryer beside her. she’s beyond grateful that, these days, he’s no longer compelled to walk around stark naked as he used to do--london’s sure she can still remember the faces of the other customers. “ you won’t be getting run over in those any time soon, though i’m surprised you even own neon green boxers in the first place. ” 

she’s quick to open up her notebook again as soon as gavin’s gotten comfortable next to--well, on-- her, twirling her pen between her fingers. “ anything. surprise me like you always do. and of course, yeah! i’ll dedicate the entire thing to you too, don’t worry. ”

      he at least tries to smile for her, to show that he was fine despite the opposite being true. besides, he’s always liked paying for women– even if his own wallet would be chewed up by the cost of it. “it’s fine. i’ll pay. i’ve got the money for it anyways.” he’s not really being honest here, but it’s not like she knows. “absolutely certain. and yeah, lets go. somehow it just keeps getting damn hotter.” and then he just looks at her, patiently. because honestly, he doesn’t have a clue as to where they should get milkshakes.

     “ god. yeah, you’re right. i can’t deal with this. we didn’t have sun back in england. i can feel myself disintegrating into nothing just being outside.” london scrunches up her nose in distaste, and takes her hand away from his shoulder to start walking, remembering that she had been in this area before--and found some bomb-ass drinks while wandering around. “ fair warning: i might cry out of happiness when i get my drink. i give you permission to pretend you don’t know me. ”