imagines / multi

FOUR (WY/YS)

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yeosang didn't mind going to the laundromat.. but he did when it was pitch black outside besides a couple of fireflies that glowed on the occasion. he kicked around some post new year's streamers on the ground while he waited for a car to pass. he couldn't decide if he liked the fact nobody was in the building across from him or if he wished someone was there.

the broken overhead lights flickered which left him in the dark for a couple of seconds. maybe, it would be better to have just another energy in there to take away that ominous feeling. instead of being afraid that someone was behind him, there would actually be someone. it was unlikely though that at midnight someone would be out to do laundry with him. especially since people had just made resolutions to fix their lives. everybody except yeosang.

that became a very obvious fact to him as he loaded the washer full of sweatpants and holey shirts. he'd scrolled through social media to see his friends having outings in tight-fitting clothes under blaring colored lights. they were sociable people. it worked for them. it fit their lifestyle of joining college clubs and pursuing outlandish careers.

yeosang didn't live that type of life. he lived the one where you walk around at night with cheeto dust still fresh under your nails. similarly to the man who had just walked in. his outgrown hair falling over his eyes while he tried to split up his things. yeosang watched in amusement as the other tossed a navy shirt in his lights. "wrong side."

the man jumped back almost hitting the row of dryers behind him. "holy shit, i didn't see you there!" he claimed as he clutched his chest.

"sorry, i just didn't want you to ruin all of your whites." yeosang giggled.

the other boy looked down at his pile with one unbearably obvious navy shirt sitting in it. he rubbed his face in frustration as he laughed. "thanks."

to that, yeosang just nodded and turned his attention back to his phone. another photo of a girl with a colorful drink in her hand, the caption being some popular song lyrics, and surpassing the acceptable amount of likes for a normal person. he could update his followers on his life. a simple photo of his spinning laundry posted at 12 am was surely enough to let them know how he was doing. "hey, uhm, i'm a dime short."

yeosang tilted his head at the statement. the other boy sighed, "can i borrow a dime, maybe?"

yeosang did not have the bank account numbers to be handing out money. the problem was, he also didn't have the heart to tell people no, even more when he's alone with them. he tossed a dime to the other who swiftly caught it. "thanks..."

"yeosang."

"thank you, yeosang." he said with a smile that made yeosang's mouth go dry.

at first, he could only assume that guy was falling apart like him with no hope for the future. but he would pay him hundreds just to see how his face lit up when he smiled. utterly unfair. "just to be on even ground, what's yours?"

"oh, i'm wooyoung! nice to meet you."

"you too." yeosang said, awkwardly turning back to his phone.

"you know, i probably would've had that dime if i didn't make my resolution."

and there went all of yeosang's hope in this stranger. "oh, what is it?" he asked just to not deal with the silence.

"to treat myself more."

"i guess that's not working out well."

"w-why do you say that?" wooyoug stuttered, eyebrows furrowing.

people really care about their masks too much. "you're here in the middle of the night to do laundry. i know why i'm here so late and i can only guess it's close to the same for you."

wooyoung frowned at the direct call out but he saw it coming. "are you in college?"

no. "yes."

"well, i'm finally realizing that those tales of pulling all-nighters are in fact very real." he groaned as he drummed his fingers on the washer.

"how many days?"

"three."

yeosang had never stayed up that long in his life. "so much for treating myself, right?" wooyoung laughed but there was a weakness to it.

"honestly, i stopped making resolutions a long time ago. i know i'll never keep it up and don't want to give myself that false hope." yeosang revealed in hopes of giving the other some sort of advice.

not that it was very positive advice but it was true. "i don't know, i like having hope. i may get let down sometimes but when i am, i just find another thing to hold on to." wooyoung started.

"how do you keep trying without it?" he finished, a question he truly wanted an answer for.

but yeosang didn't have the answers. he was just a broke drop-out who spent his time either working or taking care of his mother. "you just keep distracting yourself until it's time to sleep, don't give yourself enough time to wonder."

yeosang could've laughed at the absurdity of the situation if it wasn't the only functioning conversation he's had in weeks. "so, you never daydream?" wooyoung asked.

the other was moving his clothes over to the rickety dryer while he thought about it. his mind would drift off during his classes to some foreign future where he slept on mounds of money and had steak for every meal. except that was back when he let himself even reach for a dream. that was long lost now. "not anymore."

it almost felt like the next minute didn't even exist to him. his mind felt so blank and his movements just felt like a routine now. not many big decisions or events to look forward to. just one long minute. "why even try? anything could happen and ruin what you worked lifetimes on. it's pointless." yeosang argued.

"exactly! anything could happen! so, why not have some hope that it might be something good! why not at least be able to say you tried." wooyoung said.

yeosang flipped around which caught the other off guard. "what if three years into college, you run flat out of money. you can take out loans, sure, but you'll have to start paying them off within a year." yeosang began, slowly moving towards the line of washers dividing them.

"you do it anyways. two ways this could go, you finish and get successful which helps you pay them off in no time. or you do it and fail which leaves you unable to take care of yourself. you're telling me the risk is worth it?" yeosang replied.

he had reasoned with this whole situation many times. he wasn't going to let this guy try and tell him he was wrong ... not after all this time. "but there's not two clear cut ways." wooyoug fought back, his voice only rising a little.

"you can fail and feel like there is nothing left for you but you get offered help. you take that help and even though you start out from the bottom, you climb to the top. it's a chance but it can happen. anything can happen." he went on as his washer began to beep.

the alert broke their gaze as wooyoung took out his laundry. yeosang looked away too. his own argument being thrown right back at him. but how could that chance ever happen? when you're down so low and drilled an idea into your head... "how could you get out?"

"what?"

yeosang chewed on his lip. "how can you get out when it's not just the material things that are wrong?"

"first, you have to at least have a little bit of faith in yourself that you could do it." he told him while he dropped his clothes into the dryer.

while yeosang walked back home, a laundry bag hanging off his shoulder, he kept thinking of those words. it was long ago that he last felt he could rely on himself to get things done. yet, he worked so hard for credit he never gave himself.

if he gave up on himself now there is no way he'd try to fix things. so, he would go home. cook some late dinner that his mom probably wouldn't eat and get some rest. yeosang might even think up one of those horrid resolutions. he couldn't give up even though he was tired. a new life could be right around the corner at a small laundromat.

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