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Who: Nam Soon

immobileyes
When: IC 12/16
Where: Shopping District.
What: Mary finally meeting the other half of the bastard duo, Heung Soo realizing he was a dumb jealous boy for nothing, endless bickering.
Rating/Warning: None.

[sometimes, that bastard just goes a little too far. well, really, they both go too far, but this time it was heung soo who had pushed things a little past where they should have gone.

their roughhousing is a pretty normal occurrence—wrestling, play-fighting—it's always been their way, even from the time they were kids. now they're grown, and while that's still a staple of their life, sometimes it's a little more adult. and that's exactly why today, they're strolling through the shopping district. it's not the most pleasant of walks, though. not when nam soon is grimacing with a hand clasped over his neck awkwardly. he's obviously hiding something here, because the position of his hand is definitely not a natural place to keep it when they're walking around.

....and thanks to what nam soon is covering up, heung soo's lip is split, slightly bruised and scabbed with dried blood. that's what happens when one dumb bastard gives the other dumb bastard a hickey—it's repaid with swift and hard punch to the mouth.]

Aish... [nam soon is snarling a bit, rolling his eyes and heaving a heavy sigh.] You're paying for it. This is all your fault anyway hyungnim.

[of course, he pulls that card when trying to get heung soo to pay for a scarf to help cover up this mess. it's not going to help when he's at work (though it's motivation to consider switching occupations—something he wants to do anyway), but it's something.

(he's also neglecting to mention his plan to slip away and get a fresh first aid kit to clean up heung soo's lip. what's the fun in telling him that right off the bat, anyway?)]

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[ Mary's only gotten slightly braver about venturing out on her own, and that was mostly just because she had to go to work. Not today, thankfully, she's just picking up some sewing supplies-- but when she sees a familiar figure up ahead (accompanied by someone else), her nerves settle and she lengthens her stride. ]

Nam Soon!

[ .. why this.

Look, he can't help it if he gets carried away, okay? It just happens, and then it was embarrassing when he noticed it, and then Nam Soon proceeded to make a huge deal out of it and punch him so hard his lip split on top of everything. It's like a series of the worst possible events, especially since the other guy still hasn't started whining ever since they went out to find a solution to this problem to begin with.

He gets it, okay? He screwed up in the most embarrassing way, now stop mentioning it all the time and making it worse with those lame jokes, you bastard..

But just as Heung Soo is about to speak up about it, he instead hears an unknown voice calling out Nam Soon's name. Ah, yes, this is the perfect moment for that, while the other's trying to hide a hickey and Heung Soo looks like he got into a (relatively tame, at least.. by their standards..) fight only a few moments ago.

And there's an Actual Small Child running towards them.

Lovely.

He just gives Nam Soon that sort of "this is your problem now, you bastard" kind of glance. ]

[well, this is awkward.

mary's the last person he would want to run into right now, if only because this is a bit of a mess that he really doesn't want anyone else to know about. as innocent and too pure for this world as mary seems to be, he's still sure she would know what the hickey is, and given the awkward and heavy atmosphere, well.. she may get ideas.

ideas that wouldn't exactly be incorrect.

but it's not like he could (or would even want to) ignore her, so after shooting heung soo a brief look, he sucks in a breath and forces out an uncomfortable smile at mary. it's not often he sees her just out like this, and he doesn't really want to discourage it, either.]

Mary-yah. [his hand covering that spot on his neck all the while probably don't make this much better.] You're alone?

[granted, she usually is when he sees her, but there's always reasons, like specifically meeting up or because she's at work. it's different, that's for sure.]

Yes, I...

[ Mary has seen plenty of uncomfortable smiles (usually worn by Kido or the Kisaragi siblings), and Nam Soon's gives her pause; she falters, her own smile fading as she looks between the two of them with mounting concern.

Why is Nam Soon holding his neck like that? Why is the other person sporting a bloody lip? Wait-- ]

You're hurt??

[ Definitely someone Nam Soon knows then, if he's asking that specifically and calling her by her name.. but Heung Soo is pretty quickly distracted from the thought by what Mary is calling out - honestly, he wasn't even that aware of his split lip anymore. It's been such a common injury in his life that it's hardly a big deal to him anymore. It's pretty much just on the level of having to restrain Tsunami again and getting hit in the process, and even that has probably happened tons of times in his life.

So it takes a moment for him to realise what she's referring to - and when he does realise, he just clicks his tongue and looks away. ]

It's nothing.

[ He sure doesn't want the attention aimed at him right now or.. well, ever, okay. ]

[here we go, exactly what nam soon didn't want to happening is unfolding right in front of him. and because he doesn't really have any of the ability to cope with this outside of "deflecting things as much as possible," there's not much of a good way of dealing with it.

so for a moment, nam soon winces—not out of pain, but more slight embarrassment and sheepishness that they've been caught. now he just has to hope it doesn't escalate any further than this.]

We're fine. [which isn't entirely untrue. they may have been annoyed and embarrassed, but they weren't really injured by any stretch.] It's nothing for you to worry about.

[he's hoping so badly that she won't question it too much.]

[ When people say something like that, she's learned that there's usually something to worry about. And yes, while it looks like the other person's lip has since stopped bleeding, it was bruised. Which meant he'd still gotten hurt.

And Nam Soon was still holding his neck, and the more she looks between them, the more quietly upset Mary starts to get. ]

Then why are you covering your neck?

[ "Easily intimidated" would be a light way of classifying this girl, Heung Soo's getting that sort of idea.. they're hardly even doing anything and she's already looking like she could burst out into tears at any moment. And that's just about the last thing he wants here, causing that big of a scene..

On the other hand, he's not even sure what might calm her down here.. and like hell he's admitting what it actually is ever since it's just as embarrassing to him as it is to Nam Soon, so-- ]

He's just sore.

[ Here, he'll even cover for you, you bastard. He even elbows the other at it, because you totally owe him now. Especially after that punch, bastard. ]

Ngh—

[he lets out the slightest sound at heung soo's nudge, and while it takes nearly his all not to shoot an icy gaze at his friend to indicate that he won't let that slide, he somehow manages. really, he doesn't want to cause mary any kind of worry.

she's not the type who seems to take these kinds of conflicts well, and he feels bad enough that she's already worried. even at their coldest moments these days, nam soon and heung soo are far from on bad terms—he doesn't want to give her a bad impression, even if he's still annoyed the situation came to this at all.]

Oh... mm. [with his hand still placed pretty carefully over the hickey, he cricks his neck from side-to-side to play it up a little.] I slept on it bad.

[his eyes dart to heung soo for a moment, and he sighs. he can't really leave heung soo out in the cold like that.] It was an accident. Before, I hit him by accident. Stretching.

[this is why he hates making excuses. and usually why he just stays totally silent when he doesn't want to tell the truth.] We're going to the pharmacy now.

[ It's a good thing Mary is a naive, gullible soul who really just wants to believe that they're both okay and aren't seriously injured. Because even if she doesn't know Heung Soo, he seems close enough to Nam Soon that she can't help but feel a little (or a lot) concerned.

And it doesn't look like they were fighting with each other, so Mary's shoulders slump a bit, and she nods, accepting the excuse. ]

I guess if you're both okay...

[ How does this girl manage to look like a kicked puppy even after she's gotten an explanation.. Heung Soo doesn't know how she does it, but it still ends up coming across a little as that when her shoulders slump like that. It makes it easy to see why Nam Soon must have grown fond of her, sure, but on the other hand, it's also a little awkward to deal with now of all moments. While he's walking out here with a split lip.

The attention being drawn to it just makes him reach up to feel it a little, realising it's even started to swell.. just lovely. Thanks, you bastard. ]

Hm. It doesn't really hurt. [ Considering what he's been through with his leg and all? He wouldn't even think of putting this one up there on the list of things that are a pain in the ass to deal with, other than the embarrassing side to it. ]

We've dealt with worse.

[they were punks, after all. and really, even heung soo having a split lip now is nothing compared to the terrible things nam soon had done to him years ago—this is barely notable as anything more than embarrassing, and at that, mostly because they'd been caught.

he feels bad about making mary worry though, even if it's completely unintentional, and largely because she's just the sort to be concerned.]

So it's okay. Don't worry about it. [he really is doing his best here to try and make her feel better about it. even with her accepting it, he can see the way her shoulders slump and it doesn't exactly instill a whole lot of faith that she's actually okay with it.

it's almost instinctual how nam soon motions to pat her on the head—but in doing so, he pulls the hand away from his neck for a brief moment. it's not long, but enough to reveal the bruising, and as soon as he realizes his error, his hand claps against the skin again. well, shit.

all he can do is hope she didn't see it. he'll be quick to try and deflect by placing the other hand atop her head, though he can already hear heung soo's annoyance before it even slips past his lips. today is just not their day, apparently.]

Even if it doesn't...

[ Hopefully neither of them ever plan on telling Mary what they went through (or did to each other), because she didn't exactly take news like that very well. It's hard enough trying to believe them wholeheartedly-- not because she doesn't want to trust them, but because Nam Soon's friend's lip is puffing up even more, and she--

Thankfully (or not) the movement of Nam Soon's hand catches her attention, drawing it away from that split lip to...

Focus...

On that...

That... ]

Your neck!!

[ DON'T COVER IT, SHE SAW THAT BRUISE. ]

[ ...

This bastard.

It's true that Heung Soo's annoyance is practically already hanging in the air before he even clicks his tongue. It's just the instinctive reaction at all of this, since how much of a dumbass is he to try and pat her with that hand when he knows he's holding it there for a reason? Seriously.. this doesn't make the situation any better at all.

Especially not since Mary definitely saw that.

Look, he doesn't know how to quickly save them from this situation when it's escalated to this level, okay? He just shoots Nam Soon an annoyed sort of glance, but doesn't say anything else. ]

[dammit.

that wasn't supposed to happen, and mary definitely wasn't supposed to see it. nam soon's first instinct is to wince, to grimace at his fuckup. he can already feel heung soo's gaze burning into him.

well, maybe now they're even for having reasons to be annoyed with one another, at least. which usually means it'll blow over pretty quickly, but that's definitely only going under the assumption that mary doesn't know what kind of bruise that is. he hopes. he really, sincerely hopes that she won't be able to figure it out, or that if she does, she won't make any strange assumptions. he and heung soo have struggled a lot with getting to the point they're at now... the idea that something so simple could potentially draw it to an end is too shitty to think about.]

Aigoo... it's nothing. It looks worse than it is.

[ This seems to be a common trend with the two of them. Busted lips and weirdly-shaped bruises with both of them claiming that it really was nothing, that it wasn't bad at all. And she supposed that, compared to more lasting injuries, it really isn't. But a mark on the neck is a weird place for a bruise to be... an accidental one, anyway. And who purposely aimed for the neck--

... Wait. Bruises on the neck. Hadn't she seen something like that in one of her manga...?

The sudden, considering silence Mary's fallen into might be vaguely uncomfortable for the two nearby. Especially because she's doing it while still staring at Nam Soon's neck. ]

[ It's hard to assume it's been brushed off with that when Mary is still staring at Nam Soon's neck like he's starting to grow a second head there. So much so that Heung Soo can't just stay back and let the other handle this, then it might just only get worse.. so he steps forward a little more, even though he's clearly not looking all that happy about it. ]

It's fine. Really.

[ Aish.. how did they end up getting into a ridiculous situation like this? It's something you'd see on tv, not something that happens in real life. ]

Don't worry about him. He has strong bones. [ Please don't assume the spot is because of anything else... ]

[apparently this is something that happens in real life. but isn't that how it goes with everything when it comes to this place? nothing ever feels like something that should honestly be happening, and yet... well, there they are.

in any case, nam soon is a bit grateful for heung soo stepping in to say something, even if it probably doesn't do all that much to diffuse the situation or put mary's mind at ease. still, he can't help but shoot a look to heung soo that is very subtly thankful for it—even if they're still bickering a bit and even if he knows heung soo is definitely agitated by it, he's still grateful.]

Mm. It's nothing you have to think too much about, Mary-yah. [so please don't get any weird ideas. even if the weird ideas are probably the correct ideas here.]

[ It's too late. Mary hadn't been introduced to manga when she'd lived alone in the mountains, but once she had, she'd devoured the pages with the same thrilled interest she'd given every single book in her little house.

And some manga was nice and cute and fun. And some manga was nice and cute and really pretty and involved very pretty males, one a demonic butler, one a young man who could pass as a girl on occasion. And some manga had people biting necks - but thankfully, it doesn't look like Nam Soon has puncture marks so Mary won't be pointing fingers and accusing anyone of being one of those 'vampires' she'd read about - and then some manga...

She can't remember which one it was, or what the term itself was called, but she remembers how there'd been a mark left on one of the character's necks, and he'd been embarrassed about it, just like--

Finally Mary speaks again, in a tone of rather thrilled(????) suspicion, forgetting that speaking one's mind is not always a good idea. ]

A mouth bruise...?

[ Someone does not really know how to call a hickey a hickey. ]

[ Forget subtle thankful looks or returning anything about them. Heung Soo is totally distracted by Mary the moment she says those words. A mouth bruise. SHe's so innocent that she probably doesn't even know the word hickey, but with the way she's saying it, it totally implies she knows what it is.

And while there's not really anything between him and Nam Soon that he's really embarrassed about.. other people finding out or talking about it like that is another case entirely, especially when it's such a wide-eyed innocent girl on top of it. Heung Soo is trying his best to keep his usual tight face about it, but there's a redness that definitely creeps into his face a little.

Look what both of them managed to cause with their respective dumb actions..

Heung Soo can't even really say anything, there's only an odd half-choked noise that escapes him as he looks away and shoves his hands into his pockets since he doesn't know where else to leave them. This is way off the charts on the scale of things he can't handle. ]

[it's almost instinctive how nam soon shifts to elbow heung soo in the side—if he's not going to add anything but a choked sound to dealing with this situation, he better at least earn it.

not that nam soon has a single clue as to how to deal with this. this is way, way over his head and he's of the mind that mary should be completely unaware of things like this. never mind the fact that the iljin girls they knew in middle school definitely were aware of it, even if the two of them had always been preoccupied (mostly with each other, when not getting into trouble) so really delve into it. sure, other 14 year old girls probably knew it, but mary is a cinnamon roll. too precious and pure for this world and he can't really reconcile the fact that she's actually bringing this up.

even though she's absolutely right here. and nam soon is not about to teach her a proper term for that. or even outright confirm her suspicions.]

Ya-yah... Where did you learn things like that? Aish... [he is definitely equal parts flustered and frustrated at this situation. oops.]

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