Isolation is not safety,
it is death.
If no-one knows you’re alive,
you aren’t.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one’s ‘round to hear it,
it does make a sound, but then that sound is gone.
I’m not saying you’ll find the meaning of life in other people,
I’m saying other people are the life to which you provide the meaning.

- Neil Hilborn

A group of middle school girls giggle as Myungsoo passes them, trying to catch his eye. He cannot tell if it is meant to be flattering or not. The stares of the passersby along the street increase as his strides become longer and more powerful, eventually transforming into a brisk power-walk down the street. He finally spots the bright yellow sign shaped into a large “M” and reaches the road right outside the drive-thru window. The rain is pattering down now, a small drizzle to begin with but the darkening clouds are promising something bigger. 

“Hi, how may I help you?” An even brighter smile than the yellow “M” sign is in view of Myungsoo’s face. He tries to steady his breathing from all the exercise prior to the encounter.  

“Myungsoo you idiot,” the McDonald’s employee grins, “Why did you run here when you could have just taken the bus?”

Myungsoo rests an arm on the window sill. “Sulli,” he says in between short breaths, “please tell me you know her ideal type.”

Sulli's grin widens even more now and she wags a finger in front of his face.

"Nuh-uh, I'm not telling you anything until your order some food," she says, enjoying his anguished face. 

Myungsoo fights back a frustrated sigh. He wipes his forehead slick with raindrops and eventually orders 20 McNuggets and a large coke. He tells Sulli about the incident that occured in which he inappropriately fell on top of her and her eyes widen at every detail spoken.

The cars lined up behind them interrupt their session by beeping and flashing their headlights for him to get out of the way. Myungsoo looks up at Sulli with wide eyes and a practiced pout. She gives in to his puppy-dog face and mutters something with "boys" and "stupid" in the same sentence before offering him answers. 

"Krystal likes a guy who looks good with horn-rimmed glasses, a white t-shirt, jeans and black hair, and basically a guy who is fun and has his own signature scent." She then responds on a whim, "Remember, ideals are just ideals."

Myungsoo thanks her and stuffs a nugget into before leaving. Sulli gives him the middle finger and before she goes back to work, she can see his eyes crinkle into two happy crescents like a little child who had just eaten ice-cream.  

*

Myungsoo is the ultimate romantic and Krystal is an escapist like her sister. Together they are always entangled in a stylish, put-together relationship devoid of harsh conflict or ground. But what Myungsoo is about to do is far from romantic. He his lips nervously and knocks on the front door of the Jung residence.

Please be Soojung, please be Soojung, please, please, please be Soojung.   

He can see her open up to breathe and in his eyes she is perfect.

"I brought you McDonalds," he says, relieved that it is her and no one else. His sheepish smile remains as his eyes bore into hers. Krystal shivers at the intensity of his dark brown eyes. There is something miscellaneous about his presence that makes her skin tingle. She does not smile and he is okay with that.

Intuitively, she unfolds her arms and leans over to wrap them around Myungsoo's neck. It's a cliched gesture, she acknowledges, but squeezes her eyes shut anyway. He pulls her even closer to him and the smell of her hair overpowers his worries. He smells home and home is what he needs right now.

-

Author's ramble: okay I have finally finished finals (that alliteration omg), and I can now update a bit more frequently, I swear I will update a bit faster. I swear on my - love for fairy tales???? idk. But on a lighter note, can you imagine Sulli in the McDonald's uniform? SHE WOULD BE SO CUTE!!!!