2025-08-17: Muse
- Log: Muse
- Cast: So-young Park, Myunghon Yeo
- Where: The Cardboard Dragon
- OOC Date: August 17, 2025
- IC Date: June 27, 2012
- Summary: So-young and Myunghon have a surprisingly civil conversation while the latter catches their sister up on the supernatural.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"Uweeehhhhhh--"
There is a figure lounging across two chairs that have been pushed together in the Cardboard Dragon. Quite why So-Young has chosen chairs rather than a couch isn't clear - whether she just didn't want to immediately steal Myunghon's usual spot or had some inkling of the possibility of customers being present or maybe just hasn't felt this beat up since college and is feeling nostalgic for the position.
She tried her hardest for a while to make her horizontal form look like an elegant repose, but her body aches enough that she's honestly just kind of an ungainly lump instead, her hands hanging limply above her head as her hair drapes over her face and nearly touches the floor. She tried to dress up like normal, but gave up halfway, so she's wearing a nice blouse and mismatched sweatpants. Next to her on a table is a half-drunk glass of water and a pack of opened painkillers.
"The universe hates me, So-young Park, specifically," the lump adds in a whine as it faintly lifts its head. "The only thing that can repay this slight is terrible junk food. Does this happen _every_ time?" oh that last part sounded almost lucid.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon was.... gone??? For quite a while. They returned not long ago, looking no better than when they disappeared either. It takes them quite a while to register who's present at the Cardboard Dragon before they hear So-young's telltale groan, stepping by their side. Their coat is still largely in cinders, with shrapnel holes and burn marks, and they've got to go treat that red splotch on their shirt.
"... well... if you would like junk food," Myunghon considers this request for about three seconds before pulling their phone out. "I did want to buy more Happy Meals." Does this happen every time?
"No, sequence killers and expert bombers are not usually on the menu," Myunghon says. "Good work, however." That Jin Shirato was unusually well-clued in... were the bombs only a side-activity to something else he does? They get the paranoid feeling like they've communicated somewhere without knowing, and Myunghon hates knowing someone knows something more over them.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
At the words 'good work' So-young sucks in a deep breath and slowly but resolutely hauls herself up to a sitting position. It's as if she's both feeding off the compliment but also using it as fuel for the thought that there might be more work to come. There's a hiss of exhaustion as she straightens up, but just that and just for a moment, like the rest of it is forcibly suppressed.
Half-heartedly fixing her hair so it at least hangs over her shoulders rather than her face, So-young fixes Myunghon with a glum stare. "Of all the places you could pick... I can't even get a drink there," she whines, but doesn't protest given how hungry she's just realized she feels. "Nuggies. Sweet and sour, please."
Closing her eyes, she lets a deep breath in and out, using the moment to redirect herself. "Alright, if I leave behind any metaphysical questions of what the hell just happened I can kind of drag together a story for most of that. You... entered his head to... poke around it. It's in Shibuya because that's his stomping ground. It's a bank because money. I don't get it, but I get it. What I don't get is how someone knew to be there to stop us."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon returns that stare for a long moment with quizzical confusion. Their response comes a bit too late. "But they have... soda...? The Happy Meal comes with nuggies and soda." There's a few more taps, and So-young gets the dread sensation that she's going to be dumped with six Happy Meals because Myunghon is going to eat exactly zero food and is just interested in the toys.
They let So-young take breaths as they go to the cabinet in the back for the first-aid kit, then sloughs the burnt coat off onto the couch and undoes their tie. "You were there. We can't fight him through legal means -- he's squared off everyone I can think of in his corner. So the only option was to try to get into his head to find incriminating evidence."
As to why someone was there to stop them...
"I don't know a lot of things still. But what's evident is that there are a lot of secretive groups that know far more than we do, and that makes me unhappy."
Then, Myunghon unbuttons their shirt in front of So-young.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
A frown flickers across So-Young's face that promises trouble in the future. She has the power to take away Myunghon's toys, or if she doesn't she will make damn sure she goes down trying to in the attempt to get Myunghon to eat. "I'm saying I would love to be drunk. It would probably help in figuring this out. Ugh, do I have a performance tonight... I don't think so, right?" she adds to herself as she fishes through her jacket for her phone to flip through it.
Her finger hesitates, and So-Young's expression turns briefly grim as a righteous anger flashes across her eyes. "No, I get it. You don't fight fire with fire, you fight it with whatever works." With a puff, she sags back. "And I manifested something to fight with. My.. a bit of my own head?" she guesses, correcting away from something else. "Um, thank you for that, by the way."
Her eyebrows raise in surprise as Myunghon disrobes, but not out of embarrassment but a mild curiosity. "... need a hand?" she offers, then draws back to that glum look. "I get the feeling you're a lot better at first aid than I am, though. Have you considered actual bed rest sometime?"
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"Oh. Oh." Myunghon takes a while to come to that conclusion after So-young lays it out for them. "There... is a lot of alcohol here, but not the kind you'd want to drink." A pause. "Do you drink? I guess you seem the type to enjoy a social drink." There's something almost innocent there, like they're a complete virgin when it comes to alcohol. ... advantage point??
The order is in. There will be a deadly amount of Happy Meals invading the Cardboard Dragon later. "Where are you performing?" they ask gently.
They finish unbuttoning the dress shirt, and off it comes -- leaving Myunghon in a whole mess of bandages and what looks like a tight black tanktop. Their chest is entirely flat and bony. "For the... Persona? That was entirely your own will. Not everyone has the power, and I suspect mother had this sniffed out entirely. But it was... a sight to see."
So-young offers a hand, and Myunghon first reaches to unravel some of the bandages. "I think I might be okay. You might want to look away if you're squeamish. These bandages aren't just for show."
As if on cue, as they loosen, the flesh underneath isn't whole -- it's misshapen and scarred, not unlike that of severe burn injuries.
Did they consider bedrest, however? "... I got pulled into the police station. That was why I was missing for five hours."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young reaches out to drag another chair over into her pile, apparently so that she can lean to one side and lean over it for support in the incredibly odd twisted position she's now in. Surely that's not comfortable, but she doesn't seem to really mind, resting like a sleepy cat on her folded arms. "I don't not drink," she replies first, before continuing. "But I don't like being flatout drunk, either. Just enough to loosen up and feel buzzed. It's the social thing," she confirms.
"Oh, it's not tonight, but I'm supposed to be supervising a concert tomorrow at the Bunkamaru. I'm not up front, just handling the stage prep. We switch off on doing it," she rattles off. "Next afternoon concert's the day after."
She's quieter, the exhaustion taking some of the energy off of her. Rather than respond to Myunghon's warning, she instead says: "... you don't seem the type to really be comfortable undressing around someone else." It's not quite a question, and maybe that's why she doesn't look away, feeling like she should repay whatever trust is being offered here in kind. She doesn't wince, but she does swallow tightly, before her brow furrows. "Those look old."
Alright, 'talking to the police' does sharpen her gaze up at least, and she blinks several times. "Oh. Right. That guy was there. Uh." Her face travels between a few different uncertain emotions before it settles. "Surely he can't use 'we met in his head' as permissable evidence?"
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon sees the myriad stack of chairs and points to the couch. "... I don't mind if you use the couch." The social drinker... Myunghon's been able to stave off the work drinking culture largely because Frey was a multinational corporation and also their role wasn't so much in the C-suite wining and dining quadrant. Maybe it'd be... fun sometime?
So-young points out their injuries aren't fresh. "Two years and... change," Myunghon looks annoyed to not be able to give a proper answer at the moment. It gets grosser, though, because the bomb shrapnel is just embedded into their skin, and they take a cotton swab to disinfect and then a pair of tweezers to start to extract it--
clatter
Well, that was the idea, but they dropped it. Their fingers are shaking. They ball it into a fist to calm it down, and then stares back at So-young through that one eye of theirs. "That guy... Suou-san," a tiny lightbulb flashes in their head. "... I wish he was there." Someone else, then? "And... no. The *hope* is that we find something that is secret in his head, like the location of a dropbox or some website, that we can use as incriminating evidence to blackmail him."
Or... they could trust in Reiko, when she says she'll do everything in her power to help. "Or an anonymous tip to the media. Something severe enough that Hirasaka won't even be a top ten concern when he's neck deep in it."
But on the topic of the concert, as they slowly reach for a second pair of tweezers, "How... much time does it take out of your week?"
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"I'm stuck here now. No moving," So-young says as if that makes any sense at all. "It's kind of nostalgic. The lecture rooms back at university all had these crappy chairs but the lectures were really informal, so we'd just spread out all over them in the weirdest positions." She _is_ grimacing at the sight, but she's also forcing herself to not look away. This was from Myunghon throwing themselves in front of her, and she at least has the presence of mind to recognize that.
The noise of the tweezers hitting the floor almost makes her jump as it knocks her out of her thoughts, and she swallows as she reaches out a hand. Not to help, exactly, but for Myunghon to hang onto with her other hand if she needs it. "... surely there's some shady back-alley doctor you can contact," she grouses to cover the faint embarrassment at doing something so corny. That lasts two seconds because she realizes: "You went to the police station with shrapnel stuck in you???"
After letting out an annoyed sigh at that thought, she sags back. "Blackmail seems pretty risky when the guy's that vindictive, but at least that means he's made a lot of enemies. Maybe the Phantom Thieves will do the job for you." She frowns to herself, thinking of Madarame. She hasn't quite gotten to the point of wondering if she has a Palace, but it might not be long.
The attempt to change topic to something brighter is easy to follow, and So-young grins as she starts to fill the air as Myunghon works. "Stage manager's easy, I just boss people around. For an actual performance, it depends how much I know the group. If it's people I haven't worked with before, we might spend a whole day in practice until they know my quirks and I know theirs. Then we slowly cut the time down so I'm not crowding them and they can do their thing. Two, three hours a day? An hour for gym, too. You wouldn't believe how much of a workout it is just waving your arms around. And then goofing around on my violin."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"Informal...? I can't imagine that in Todai," Myunghon admits. They wonder, just what kind of university life So-young's was. They were only able to let out steam by being part of the street scene at night but... they figure So-young will not let them hear the end of it if she finds out, so they let that be.
"I got seized," Myunghon blurts out, their voice trembling now after So-young questions about the police station. They seem to realise it, and they have to put the effort to bolden and smooth their voice out. It mostly works. "There's... there's someone who likes pulling me in for all kinds of made-up charges. Public nuisance, loitering, whatever."
There's a deep frown as So-young points out the Phantom Thieves, though. "Was that really them, I wonder? They're very secretive, so it's hard to make assessments. But what's clear is that I haven't worked with any of them, and it's difficult to actually find a completely separate group of Persona-Users, I've found."
The second time, Myunghon puts a piece of paper into their mouth to bite down on, and they drag that piece of shrapnel out with a more deft and braced motion. Blood starts pouring, and they quickly dab and patch that up with a bit too much ease.
"... I was a stage manager once, in high school. It isn't as easy as it looked," Myunghon admits. It does sound like quite the workout, though. The only comparison point they have is high school theatre, and even just being support to Yua and Remi was already entirely too exhausting -- too loud, too much people, too much focus.
"A lot of Persona-Users seem able to balance their day job and the supernatural, so I don't doubt you can either, but... I imagine it's really hard."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"I don't know what your major was, but in my experience there was no stopping music students from being little assholes, me included," So-young grins brightly - but that grin dies away remarkably quickly when Myunghon talks about getting pulled in for random charges, and her eyes flash again. "Make sure I'm there next time. I'll cause the biggest ruckus you've ever seen."
so-young probably won't swing a punch at a police officer, right? right??
The first sight of blood actually jolts So-young halfway to standing as she prepares to-- try to do-- something to help, she doesn't know what, but the ease and practice with which Myunghon stymies it sends her back down to her seat. Her expression is one of deep concern, but she lets it pass as best she can. The smile doesn't quite reach her eyes, but it starts making its way back.
"Oh, you were? ... hmm, was it for theatre?" she guesses. "That's a much bigger job, a lot more moving parts. For an orchestra, it's basically just matching the acoustics of the stage to the positions of the various instruments, then making sure the lighting matches. We don't really have to worry all that much about backdrops or people coming off and on the stage unless we're doing something really fancy, like fireworks. And I'm not contractually allowed to touch those, I have to get a contractor in," she pouts. That's definitely coming from experience.
Her eyebrows slowly raise at that last comment. "... ... am I expected to spend time working on the supernatural?" she asks in genuine confusion, before refolding her arms with a frown. "Besides, everything I've done so far has been because I wanted to do it. That includes looking into whatever the hell all of this is. I'll find a way. At least I'm not stuck in an office nine to five. I'd rather die."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Rather gravely: "Business." The life just seems to exit Myunghon for a moment at that admission. There's a sigh as So-young insists on being there next time, and they bite their lip, thumb up against their lower lip. "It's unnatural... Sumaru Police Department is famously crooked, but they get off a bit too easy sometimes." Then they're gone as they let themselves indulge in conspiracy theorising, which they probably shouldn't do while they're bleeding out.
Fortunately, they're back long enough for them to compress the wound and tape it all up. There's a weak little shiver as they hold it down tight for about fifteen seconds. Then they reach for their shirt, because even in the June heat, their body isn't healthy enough to be able to get away with being shirtless for very long.
"It was a theatre production. ... I offered because my friends were in the theatre club, but it was a much bigger responsibility than I was ready for," Myunghon reflects on the decision. "Sevens is rich enough that we had headsets, and I had to coordinate with the lighting team and the sound-effects team and also the props and costuming team..." A frown. "People are... unreliable variables."
Their eye is appropriately fish-eyed saying that.
The mask gets reeled back on, though. "Well.... I suppose I am paying *some* people for supernatural business, but no, I suppose not. I am just impressed at the people who can do it. I hardly consider running the store a full day job with how close it is to the supernatural elements."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
A frown passes over So-young's face. Myunghon doesn't exactly warn her away from her ire, but at least provides it some important background context to work off. "Except this Suou guy, I imagine, if you've somehow made friends with him. What a city," she sighs. "I thought it was just sleepy and quiet a couple of weeks ago."
She visibly sets that thought aside without examining it more closely. So what if she thought that? Now she thinks differently. Instead, her smile turns suitably shit-eating as Myunghon admits their major. "Well, there you _go_," she crows, as if that explained everything, and to her it possibly does. It only strengthens further into an outright smirk when her sibling gives her the side-eye. "That's me, I'm the unreliable value. The more plans I can screw up the better."
So-young's brow isn't clear of concern, but there is at least a bit of relief in knowing that Myunghon is at least partially patched up. "You're giving me too much credit," she sniggers. "As if I have any idea what to do with this information in the first place, let alone how I'm going to work it into my schedule. But..." she frowns thoughtfully, allowing herself a rare moment of introspection. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world, I'll say that."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"He's... too nice," Myunghon admits, wondering how he'll react if their masking ever caved in front of Katsuya when he's so far only seen them as the weird, quirky Magic River Teleportation person. It kinda feels good to only be known like that, an instance where the masking *is* doing its proper job. "A good cop doesn't tend to last long in Sumaru... especially one as persistent as him. I can't believe he was at the Palace, chasing the Joker Killer."
There is something like a sad smile to So-young. "You've only seen the worst parts of Sumaru. Go somewhere like Rengedai Ward and it is quiet and sleepy enough to raise children." Except Sevens had the principal murder, so, so much for that, one supposes.
They're buttoning their shirt back up, still lightly shivering. Is this what Shinjiro feels like all the time? "Truly a wild card." Not a Wild Card, though. "That might just be the ace we need against the Joker Killer." They sound like they mean it. But sarcasm doesn't... actually ever cross Myunghon's milieu, now does it? They tend to just go flat and understated when they want to be exasperated.
"There are a couple of pointers I'll need to teach you, so don't worry about being lost. Skill Cards, for one -- this is what this store's really for, a place for Persona-Users to go for information and also learn a bit more about the powers that your Persona has."
So-young reflects on how she wouldn't have missed it for the world, though. "... did it feel like something annoying stuck in you's finally been set free? The metaphor wasn't... subtle, with how your Persona flies."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
... ... So-young was kind of busy and kind of electrified during everything in the Metaverse, and she is entirely not up on Sumaru's Rumour trade, and so the name 'Joker Killer' kind of slides off of her brain and leaves her with a ridiculous frown. "Joker Killer," she repeats back, as if she can't quite believe those words just left Myunghon's mouth. "They sound nice, very friendly. I'm sure I'll love them," she adds with a sour pout.
She blinks slowly at the extended description of the Cardboard Dragon's utilities. "... is _that_ what those cards were?" she realizes, despite not having any kind of information on what they actually do. "I didn't recognize them as being from any kind of game, but they looked too special to be something normal. I saw you palm one into a pack for someone, so... well, I thought you were having some kind of promotion."
Still leaning haphazardly across the chairs in a way that will probably give her a backache later, So-young considers the question. "I wouldn't have called myself a particularly stymied person...?" she wonders first, sounding uncertain - she's never been very good at navelgazing - before flexing her fingers. "Though I do feel very energized, muscle pain aside, like I'm itching to play something. I thought--"
In a reversal, she's the one giving Myunghon the fish-eye this time, knowing that she's about to sound weirdly sentimental. "--I thought it was my muse," she admits as she fidgets with a few strands of her hair. "Back before I started university, I was really struggling. Everyone figured I'd be following in Mother's footsteps, except I kind of hated the thought of acting by then. I broke away from it, got into music, and everything suddenly... clicked. What you said reminds me of that more than anything."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"They were there," Myunghon points out. "The guy with the bloody paper bag and the sword. It was probably a really good thing he didn't come our way, because my only advice if he ever comes after you is to run." What was that about Sumaru having quaint and sleepy parts again, when a sequence killer can just turn up at your doorstep?!
"Ah. You're very perceptive," the rumourmonger sounds a little surprised that So-young noticed. "To someone normal, they just look like any other normal card. But Skill Cards contain cognitive power... you can expand your Persona capabilities with it. Play with fire or electricity. It's a very useful power... but difficult to obtain too. I'll give you one, so that you're armed."
But the topic is more on So-young's impression of her Persona. "Mmm. Well, it's different for everyone..." They've, at this point, found an extra chair to adopt their usual squatting position on. Is it a supernatural power to be able to curl into such a tight ball on a steel folding chair? "So you had an inkling... or even dreams, perhaps? No, I understand that..."
Myunghon looks distant for a moment. "No one expected me to become an actor. It was all business, all the time. Father had very specific plans. I'm glad you didn't have him for a father. And..."
They kind of melt into that chair more, somehow, not unlike how a bag of bones ultimately has to settle. "... that you awakened without life-threatening injuries."
They thought they were jealous of how charmed So-young's life was, but when it came down to it, there's a sense of relief that overrode that.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young continues to blink. "Was there someone like that?" she asks, apparently genuinely confused. ... well, it was her first time. She can be forgiven for being blinkered, maybe. She tilts her head back, evidently trying to remember, and the "Ah, him!" that comes afterwards is suspiciously like she's trying to just save face.
"To think you'd encourage your older sister to play with fire. Whatever would anyone think?" she smirks, but there's a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes, the thought of what she could do with this new power, that makes her nod. She's tired, and maybe now isn't the time, but there's really no doubt that she's liable to experiment at length. Probably until she finds the flashiest options available to her.
You can definitely see the way she opens her mouth to ask how Myunghon awakened their Persona, before the last comment makes her clamp her jaw shut again and sag in a quite similar way. It doesn't take a whole lot of understanding to draw out the conclusion involved, not after seeing the scarring across her sibling's torso. "... I'm not so vain that I can't admit that was thanks to you. If you hadn't thrown yourself in front of me - both times - I'm sure it would have been a much different story. So... thank you, again. I'll make it up to you somehow."