HAN GANG group chat
1:28 am / sunday

yoonim: we on for tonight?
jiwhiz: YES
krys: def!! 
krys: i had a ty week
myungpoo: lmao same
markymark: nice one funky bunch me too
pcyeol: cant make it, got a sched );
krys: booooo
yoonim: boooo
jiwhiz: boooo
chansick: booo
pcyeol: u guys i didnt make yall feel bad when u all were busy and it was just me and ssulli free
hyoms: lmao u act like u minded
ssul: SAD
llamber: ddddead hahahahahah
jjinyoung: oh no ahahah
jjinyoung: chan-ah lets go?
chansick: ayt im down
yoonim: nice bring booze
namu: me n myungsoo gon try to make it
myungpoo: im goin dont bring me down w u 
myungpoo: he's trying to flake bc he wants to stay home
hyoms: lmao typical
namu: :*
namu: LMAO wait that was supposed to be :(
chun: nasty
markymark: """typo"""
pcyeol: guess he's so used to sending her kisses
hyoms: omg
hyoms: stop hahahah
krys: no denial hmm
jiwhiz: ok anyway back to the topic !!!
hyoms: hihi thanks jiyeon
namu: sorryyy
jiwhiz: same time and spot as always
yoonim: game
ziaco: yuppp see ya

Krystal pulls up to their spot at the river's edge at exactly three in the morning, and shuts off the engine. She looks around the secluded area, lit only by a lone lamppost standing tall above the ground, so high up the light it gives off is no brighter than the moon's. "ers are always late," she sighs, but without any contempt. This ritual of theirs is simple and easy - to try and force it on each other like a schedule would be counterproductive to the idea behind it in the first place. Krystal grins as she remembers the very first one.

She had still been dating Jongin - it was heading south at that point, but she still loved him nonetheless. Enough to take him to the spot her older sister had introduced to her, one that absolutely no one knew about. It was an abandoned factory on the edge of the river, where just across the water you could see the towering skyscrapers light up the Seoul skyline. She remembers grabbing Jongin's hand as they sat on the hood of her car that autumn evening, and just as he turned his head to kiss her, a pair of headlights appeared, along with the sound of tires rolling through gravel. She hops off her hood and walks to the source, which had stopped in an almost comical way at seeing that there was someone else there.

"Hey!" she yells, unsure if she wants to sound threatening. She puts her hands on her hips and she figures, maybe she does want to sound threatening. This could be a stalker, or the owner of the lot, yeah, but really the only thing she was worried about was how the secret spot she had shared with Jessica was not just hers anymore. She falters slightly at the thought, and nearly jumps in surprise when Jongin steps to her side and puts an arm around her. 

The window on the driver's side rolls down, and the loud blast of hip hop music breaks through the air. A hand pops out. "Hey, hey! Didn't think my spot would be so popular." The driver turns down the music and shuts off the engine, before hopping out of the car. "Well, at least not around this time. October's pretty cold to be coming here."

Jongin laughs as he and Krystal walk closer to him. "Zico, right?" He nods and playfully gives them a salute. Jongin turns to Krystal and another laugh escapes his lips. "Damn, what a small world. Guess our date got inter-"

Krystal moves out from under Jongin's arm and folds her hands across her chest. "Your spot?" Zico pauses for a beat, taking in her blank stare before chuckling and giving her a shrug.

"It's pretty secret, sure, but you can't be surprised that other people know about this." He takes a few steps backwards and opens the rear door of his SUV, pulling out a six-pack of beer. "Now this was gonna be just for me, but since you guys are here - care for some?" Zico holds out the six-pack at Krystal and Jongin with a smile. She considers him for a moment before returning the smile and taking a can. Jongin does the same. 

They pop open the back of Zico's ride and sit themselves down with their beers. Krystal thinks it's nice to be able to talk to someone so freely again - she was usually closed off when it came to talking to other idols, but sitting there with her boyfriend and Zico, she thinks, 'they'd probably think the same thing considering they've got eyes on them 24/7, too.' They drink, and laugh, and at the end of the night, she's kinda buzzed when she finally asks Zico. "How'd you know about this place?"

"Tablo-hyung. Said he came here every once in a while when he needed 'healing time' or whatever," he hiccups. "Not to be cheesy, but I guess it works. If I don't come here as often as I do, I'd probably go crazy." He takes another swig of his beer. "I mean, we all knew what we signed up for when we wanted to be famous but , man. Gotta have a break."

Jongin nods and tosses his empty can aside. "Yeah, I think we all get that way. I mean we do get time off but we never really get to let our guard down. Kinda ed up. There's always somewhere to be or someone to call and we just end up feeling bad for taking time for ourselves when there's more work to be done."

"That's exactly it, man. Over here it feels like time stops, or at least slows down. Even if I'm up till sunrise when I come here, I always feel better when I get home. It's like some kinda weird magic."

Krystal laughs. "That's how Jessica used to describe it, too." Her heart swells when she remembers her sister telling her the same thing. "When she was feeling pretty drained she'd bring me here. Told me I'd be grateful for it every time, and she was right."

"Yeah, it helps you not burn out completely. Gets you through another day packed with schedules, non-stop rehearsals. Probably why I'm pretty protective of this place." Zico grins and stands up. He playfully gestures for them to go away. "Shoo, kids. I got an early day tomorrow, or-" he looks at his watch and laughs, "later." Krystal and Jongin stand up and start walking to her car, waving goodbye.

"Take care," he tells them as he shuts his trunk. "Let's make this a thing, yeah?"

She grins at him and nods. "Definitely."

"Knock, knock!"

Krystal nearly screams when a fist knocks on her window, snapping her out of her reverie. She opens the door of her sedan and steps out, greeting Park Jiyeon with a hug. Jiyeon laughs as she wraps her arms around Krystal. "Sorry, should've known I was interrupting a daydream." The latter pulls away and shakes her head.

"Nah, it's fine. I was kind of early so I zoned out."

Jiyeon nods in understanding before raising a bottle that had been in her hand. "Well, for waiting, I've got something for you!" Krystal takes the bottle and inspects the label before looking back at Jiyeon, impressed.

"Moët? Fancy. It's a step up from our usual beer and soju." 

Jiyeon giggles. "I swiped it from Eunjung's house. She won't mind." Krystal rolls her eyes but pulls Jiyeon by the hand to the edge of the river. They sit on the ledge and face each other, and Jiyeon uncorks the bottle without difficulty. As it opens with a pop, a voice reaches their ears.

"I hope you ladies aren't going to chug expensive wine straight from the bottle!"

The two girls turn their head almost simultaneously and exclaim, "Chunji!" He laughs and takes a seat next to Jiyeon. He holds out a stack of paper cups from the paper bag he'd been holding and Jiyeon takes one with a smile. "Thanks," she says. "And it's champagne, not wine."

He feigns annoyance. "Oh, I'm sorry I'm not as cultured as you," he replies, to which Jiyeon simply shoves his shoulder and pours herself a glass. She passes the bottle to Krystal, who makes herself one. "How was your week?" He asks them, pulling out a pack of cigarettes, bringing one to his lips and lighting it. He takes a drag and turns his head to the two girls.

"y," Krystal shrugs. "I didn't eat for two days because I had non-stop shoots. And whenever I had free time it was always a choice between sleeping and eating." Jiyeon and Chunji hum sympathetically. She pulls the cigarette out of his hand and inhales deeply, before slowly blowing out the smoke as she begins to talk.

"Mine was okay," she says. "Don't really get busy 'cause I haven't been getting a lot of work lately, which I guess too." She sighs and swings her legs back and forth on the ledge, gaze fixed on the water below them. She had never thought she'd want to be busy, and hearing Krystal complain should have made her relieved she wasn't working that much anymore, but being in this group and seeing everyone else talk about work and seeing each other at broadcasts made her miss being so active. Chunji puts his hand over hers and gives her a soft smile. She looks down at their hands in slight surprise, and contemplates letting it stay there when the noise of multiple cars break the silence.

The three of them turn around and stand up, squinting against the glare of the headlights as three cars park in front of them. Krystal raises a hand to give the arrivals the middle finger, yelling. "Turn off your headlights, idiots!" The cars' engines shut off and their drivers step out and walk towards them. "Gosh, you'd think you guys would know to turn off your high-beams when you're literally driving towards people." 

Myungsoo and Sungyeol bow dramatically when they reach them, holding up bags of food and beer as a fake peace offering. "I'm so sorry, Miss Jung." Krystal can only laugh and take the beer from them when the passengers of the two other vehicles greet them. 

"What is up, my dudes!" Mark says, raising his hands up as he walks between the two Infinite members and slings his arms around them. "Guess we're all running pretty late." He turns his head to Gongchan and Jinyoung, who smile sheepishly and shrug. "Anyway, got the cooler in the back. Let's get our drink on."

HAN GANG group chat
8:41 am / sunday

chun sent a photo
chun: LMAO MARK
markymark: oh god
chansick: OH DANG
yoonim: yall lame half of u went home before i even got there
ziaco: ikr noona
ziaco: how could u guys be dead so soon
markymark: HEY i hadn't slept in 30 hours ok
myungpoo: lame xcuse
jiwhiz: yea doesn't excuse puking in the back of my car
yeollipop: LOOOOL
jjinyoung: good luck mark
markymark: i said i'd pay to have it cleaned!!! im sorry PLS FORGIVE ME
jiwhiz: i had to drive with the windows down to drown out the smell of ur stank vomit 
markymark: harsh
chun: but u... puked in her car.... LMAO
jiwhiz: t h a n k  u
yeollipop: yea u did a lil bit on my shoes too bud
markymark: aw my bad
myungpoo: let's not forget
myungpoo: that krystal puked too
krys: oh off lmao
krys: forreal tho i need to sleep
hyunahh: YES
hyunahh: go to sleep homies
hyunahh: stop blowing up my notifs u woke me up
ziaco: mute us u coward
hyunahh: ill block ur asses if u keep talking

hyunahh: nice. good night x

A/N: this was pretty stale but I stand by it. I need to get all the word vomit out and I haven't written in ages so I'm rusty but hopefully a little time to warm up my brain again will help me develop this into a real thing. as of now I'm writing this with zero plot in mind so LMAO whoops but here it is!! this is more of a normal night out for the gang, and obviously not all eighteen of them will be going out at the same time because a) that sounds like a nightmare to write and b) it's impossible to hang out with the complete group so often when you're all normal people, what more when you're idols? and there's eighteen of you? omg hahaha anyway hope yall found it adequate x

p.s pls let me know if u guys arent sure whose chat names r whose! i tried to make it pretty clear but maybe not as much as i thought haha