2025-09-28: They're Flirting about Goofoffs
- Log: They're Flirting about Goofoffs
- Cast: Myunghon Yeo, Reiko Shimizu
- Where: Yongenjaya
- OOC Date: September 28, 2025
- IC Date: July 18, 2012
- Summary: Reiko finds Myunghon at the Yongenjaya bridge, and go home to play some Drake Adventure III. And also talk about relationships. But mostly it's about that sweet sweet XP grind.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
It's a bright new day! Nothing's gonna stop Reiko Shimizu today, everyone looks particularly cheerful as they stop by and greet her and tell her how grateful they are for her presence and one of them is--
"Um-- um, Shimizu-san, there's a vampire on the bridge...!!" says a worried child.
...
...
...
siiiiiiiiigh.
When Reiko gets up to the bridge overlooking the Meguro River not far from her kobun, they see... a white-haired person in a resplendent black long coat draped over their shoulders, currently covering themself with a thick black parasol because the sun is out strong today. They're perched over the bridge railing facing the river, quietly playing with some coins in their hand, their arm on a sling -- like Reiko saw when she last put Myunghon up on her place.
This should be considered being a public nuisance!!!
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
'There's a vampire on the bridge...!!'
"Myunghon-san," Reiko says, a little flatly.
She makes her way to the bridge overlooking the Meguro River -- and she pauses as she looks at the white-haired person there. She looks at the parasol for a second, and pauses, before she smiles.
Then she starts forward, watching Myunghon. Reiko, for her part, is in her uniform. She sighs as she gets closer -- then she smiles, and leans around the side to look at them.
"Nice parasol," Reiko says. "Your arm is still healing...?"
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon blinks a few times from their rather dazed reverie, but as Reiko's voice rings up to call them, they pause -- and then that flat, haunted expression suddenly bursts into a bright, big smile. They rise up and start precariously... balancing... on the bridge guardrail. Don't do that, Myunghon, it's very dangerous. What if you fall off. They're still playing with the coins for a while longer, before putting it in their breast pocket.
"Reiko-san! You were about to bear witness to a great and wonderful advancement in Magic River Teleportation, but... ah, I think I'd be rather rude if I just left you now, wouldn't I?"
Why are you still acting like a circus performer on that guardrail then, Myunghon!
Reiko compliments their parasol. "I started cooking in the sun, Reiko-san...!" As if to demonstrate, they lift the parasol out, and perhaps it's just fata morgana, but you can kind of see a faint trail of smoke sizzling out of Myunghon when they expose themself to the sun. How...?
They look to their arm, and more bashfully says, "Yes... I keep aggravating it one way or another, so the recovery has taken longer than expected."
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
"Please be careful," Reiko says to Myunghon with a sigh.
She offers them a hand -- if they need it, to hop down off the guard rail -- and then she tilts her head to the side. "I'd prefer you not teleport through the river," she says, and then she smiles back. Though she does raise an eyebrow at the smoke.
"How...?" She shakes her head, before she frowns a little. "Make sure to give it rest, okay? Those things need time to heal. That's what I've read, at least."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"I think it's anemia," Myunghon points out, as if this explains everything. "I wouldn't be surprised if I was suddenly diagnosed with it if I go to another doctor." If, not when. Fuck doctors! They're the enemy. Reiko's offering a hand, though, and there's a soft blink and an almost cute expression as they squat down gently and take hold of her hand and--
"Ah--"
Myunghon does actually lightly slip and stumbles against Reiko gently, squeezing her hand as she does so. "Oh, thank you," they murmur, a bit bashfully, trying to cover their mouth. ... it's like the playful mask slipped off and something cute came underneath.
They clear their throat, but then return to what feels like normal masking again. "Then I will not teleport, just for you. And... yes, I've found that if I ignored it and inflamed it, it'll set me back another four, five days..." There's something of a timid sigh, but then they do confide: "It sounds like... Officer Ishiba was suspended. He might not be suspended forever, but..."
Myunghon bites on their lip. "Oh! I'd been wanting to ask you about Drake Adventure III again. I want to continue my progress in that game. Also, I have a friend who enjoys IX? There are so many of these... it is dizzying."
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
"Anemia?" Reiko asks. "Well... that makes sense. Um--" She hesitates. 'If' they go see a doctor? Reiko isn't sure about that. She hesitates for a second. "If you ever need to see one... I can vouch for Doctor Takemi. I can introduce you, if you want."
Then, Myunghon stumbles against her! Reiko laughs -- and her cheeks turn a little red -- but she helps Myunghon stand up straight. She smiles at her, and then tilts her head to the side for a moment.
She frowns, then -- but there is a nod. "Good. I'm glad he was suspended... and I hope it sticks," she says. She hesitates. "And look after the arm, okay?"
Then, she brightens up. Drake Adventure III will always do that, though. "Sure," she says. "I'd be glad to help! It's... a pretty big series. But, you're okay just playing a few, or focusing on one at a time."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Straightening up from the littles tumble, Myunghon blinks gently, then quietly nods. "I think you said you obtained some medicine for me the last time I stayed from her, but... well, I suppose I could, if she has your recommendation. I'm... not particularly good with doctors or hospitals. Especially hospitals..."
They've got that parasol still held up rather close to cover them from the sun, but the dark fabric does make their pale features and white hair stand out more as a backdrop. "I... hope so too." They hope, but they can see that hesitation in Reiko and they both know Sumaru PD is corrupt enough that things might not just stick, but they have the additional knowledge that Miho's put them in check.
"I will. Shall we walk back to the kobun, or were you about done with your shift, given the time...? I wasn't quite certain," Myunghon glances up for a moment, then actually checks their phone for the time instead. "There was something pleasing about -- having a grasp of all the variables present in one area and being able to simply increment your own character experience numbers without risk. I have not quite experienced this before in my life! So many other systems are volatile and risk-based and often involves a lot of speculation as well as manipulation of outside factors, and no small amount of back room deals. But Drake Adventure III assures me that experience only goes up, at the cost of Drackies! ... they are cute, though, so I do feel bad about defeating them."
Myunghon are you comparing grinding in a JRPG to manipulating stonks in the economy (yes, it's their only comparison point so far, give them time)
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
"Yeah. No pressure, okay? But... if you need one. She's... definitely not most doctors," Reiko says, with a slightly sheepish laugh.
Then she looks back towards the koban -- and then she glances back at Myunghon. "I'm about done," she says. "My shift is up, so... I can head back with you." She smiles, then, and she tilts her head -- and her eyes widen a little bit.
"It is nice, isn't it? The way that you know everything you need to," she says. "And how it's... simpler. And the way you get to design how your character works!"
She beams. "I never thought about it like stocks," she admits. "But... I feel bad about the Drackies, too."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon would probably dangerously get along with Tae Takemi when she promises them to not disclose the exciting new possibly dangerous drugs they've got for them because a doctor with a sense of DANGER and death in the air is wonderful and fresh and not unlike the White Room. Reiko has no idea of what dooms she's introduced them to.
"W-well -- that was just one comparison, perhaps, but..." Myunghon does smile gently. "I do understand the appeal now. And yes, not knowing what other new novel strengths your characters might obtain is quite exciting as well. And there is a lot of choice, all those other professions I did not select. Even a goof-off." ACKSHUALLY it's Gadabout now??
But Reiko says her shift's up! "Ah, very well," Myunghon nods, gesturing down towards the back alleys as they walk. Unless Reiko has to go back and pack up, but that's rather easily handled off-screen well enough. By the time they're actually walking back towards Reiko's...
"... I'm rather glad to have run into you. Things have been awkward back at the Cardboard Dragon... I'm afraid I got into an argument with my sister and my friend," they sigh. "And... it hasn't been going well with Shinobu-ssi too. I rather feel like I'm doing an exceptionally poor job keeping myself together. That was why I avoided Sumaru today, even."
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
"I'm a little relieved you didn't choose a goof-off--" Reiko is old school. She does not use the modern renamed classes. "--since they're... kind of for advanced players. Or people who don't mind a lot of frustration. You know, I'm not sure what that says about me..."
She trails off, then she sighs. She smiles, though, and nods -- and it is, indeed, a short walk to the koban. She gets her bag, and falls in next to Myunghon. She glances at them, lifting her bag up.
"I'm sorry," she says, reflexively. "That sounds like it's... gotta be a lot. Um, did something happen with nee-chan...?" A beat. "Arguments with sisters are never fun, either."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"Well. You already have your hands full handling -this- one goof-off, so you must be frustration-tolerant," Myunghon briefly places their finger on their lip with a half-wink on their face.
"What is their deal? Is it social commentary? I can imagine it. Everyone else is depicted as hardworking members of their profession -- the Hero, the Magician, the Fighter... and then here is this layabout that does not particularly excel at anything. In a world governed by strength of arms and magic, those who have neither is shunned! But perhaps therein lies the tale, what if this goof-off could defeat the Demon Lord Baramoth?"
But Myunghon does stop for a moment, their smile weakening. "I'm quite a fragile person, Reiko-san, no matter how I might act out. I felt as if my half-sister was laughing and belittling me when I was admitting my troubles... and... um--"
They glance to one side, voice lowering into little more than a hush, their fingers gripped around the stem of their parasol. "I made... things rather awkward with Shinobu-ssi. It's my fault. I, well, I wanted to know her better, become closer to her..."
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
Reiko laughs at Myunghon's joke, but then she shakes her head. "It's fine! Really," she promises. "You haven't refused to do things in a dangerous situation and just started telling fart jokes instead."
A beat.
"That is not a suggestion, for the record," Reiko says. Then she looks at Myunghon, and considers: "Not really. If you level a goof-off to Level 20, they become a Sage, which is the strongest job."
Then, she pauses and frowns, as she hears that. "I'm sorry about your sister. That wasn't very nice of her," she says. Then, she frowns, and she considers her older sister for a second.
"Nee-chan is..." She trails off. What does Myunghon mean by 'closer,' exactly, Reiko wonders? She looks at them, and considers that for a moment. "...sometimes, she pulls back and keeps to herself. She--um. I don't always know why. But sometimes, she has trouble opening up."
She smiles. "She has a good heart, even if she's rough around the edges. I'm not sure if she always sees that about herself, though."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon briefly fisheyes and sent to another galaxy in wonderance of what kind of clever scathing commentary is behind a layabout with no particular talent who just tells fart jokes and refuses orders eventually achieves some kind of internal enlightenment-- oh, yes, it's an enlightenment metaphor, isn't it. That's what they believe, at least. Even if you are a goofoff, work hard enough and you may one day become a sage. It's the kind of canned line they say to make people believe they, too, can make it. Or is it a commentary about failsons who just get promoted upstairs with their failures?
Myunghon might be thinking too hard about this. Not everything has to be cutting commentary in games, Myunghon. Please check back in with them when they've discovered what 'ludonarrative dissonance' is, it'll really break their brain.
"I do not think So-young means it, but she is... confident and bold," Myunghon confesses. "It is very easy for me to feel fragile and take whatever she says in the worst light imaginable." They bite her lip gently and says, "I should apologise." It's embarrassing that they fled to Mementos to avoid dealing with them, and is out today in Yongen-jaya when they should be taking care of Tsubasa's needs at a time when they need them.
Nee-chan... pulls back and keeps to herself. She doesn't know why -- but she has trouble opening up.
"... I've noticed," Myunghon gently nods, as they step towards the porch and steps back so Reiko can handle opening up the apartment. "She does have a very good heart... she's saved me more than once, and even if she says she doesn't have it together, there's something about the way she carries herself that I admire... she's pleasant to be around, and always there to lend a helping hand, and when she's worked up about something there's the gleam in her eye--"
Oh, they're gushing a little now. It's really awkward when they've put themself in the situation they have. "... sorry, I was carried away."
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
"Maybe so, but..." Reiko says, thoughtfully, and with a shake of her head. "Needing a second to be your best self and respond the way you want to isn't a crime. You just have to actually respond that way. Okay?"
She wonders, though, about So-young. It makes her curious -- maybe she will meet her, one day soon, and see what she is like for herself. She glances back at Myunghon, as she opens the door to her apartment up and sighs.
"Home sweet home," she says, and she walks inside.
"It's okay," Reiko says. "I'm... uh... I'm glad you think so highly of her." It sounds awkward. Then, quietly, Reiko adds: "I--um. I don't... I've never talked to nee-chan about that kind of thing. I'm not sure how she feels about it, and--and our parents..."
Reiko stares into the distance for a moment.
"...I don't know. Um--I don't think nee-chan knows much about me like that, either," Reiko admits, her voice quiet. "But... it's okay to feel how you feel, Myunghon-san. I don't know where nee-chan will stand, but--but your feelings are yours."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
What Reiko says, about needing a second to be your best self -- and respond the way you want to isn't a crime. Myunghon considers that internally for a longer moment, then softly nods to say, "You're very good at this. It isn't a wonder that I do feel more at ease speaking with you, Reiko-san." They step into the apartment proper, and they take their shoes off and furls the parasol to put it in the wet umbrella bin.
"I do sometimes worry I overdo it. That I put on too much of a front... it's often the only way I know how to feel like people can accept me."
It's a very vulnerable thing to say for a moment, but Myunghon joins Reiko in staring into that distance. Reiko speaks of not having ever talked about 'that kind of thing', so she's not sure how she feels about it... but perhaps Myunghon is relieved that Reiko's not reacting with some kind of disgust about that kind of attraction, because you can't just assume this in people.
"Shinobu-ssi... said she was flattered, but that she couldn't -- wasn't in a position to return my feelings," they admit. The words are echoing in their mind. "She can't stick with anything for long... she'd lose interest, and -- she doesn't want to hurt anyone like that."
Myunghon bites their lip further as they sit down gently on the couch. "I took her at her word, because that's all I can do, but it's as you said... about pulling back and opening up." There's hesitation. "It's just simply been more and more awkward since, however. To be honest, I'm also scared on my side, since... well, there are many faults I have too."
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
"Eheheh... really?" Reiko asks, with a sheepish smile and a glance in Myunghon's direction. She takes her shoes off, and then she walks over to her sofa -- and sinks down into it for a moment. But she turns her head, and looks back at Myunghon.
"Mm," she murmurs. "It's okay. I think... we all put on fronts, sometimes. But--it's okay when you don't want to. Or when you can't. I know I put on fronts sometimes."
She trails off, then, and looks down. She nods.
"Nee-chan... yeah. I see why she'd think that," Reiko says. "I think she's selling herself short. But, um--it's... it's natural for it to be awkward, okay? She probably feels awkward too. But... she's still showing up to talk to you, right?"
Reiko looks at her. "I know my sister, and if she was really put off, she wouldn't do that. She's trying to make it okay, I think. In her way."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"It was often... fatal, to have that front slip," Myunghon does confess. "I don't live that life anymore, but that habit is very difficult to break. But I'll certainly keep it in mind... I do believe some of the troubles I am having is because I still have a piece of myself that believes that, somewhere, and the burden is too heavy to carry alone."
Reiko believes Shinobu's selling herself short. Myunghon... perhaps has come to the same conclusion too, but she also has also come to 'what if I told you it was okay to lose interest in me', so they haven't quite come to the healthiest conclusion either. "M-mm. It *is* awkward, since I am still her sometimes-employer, and I do still need her for quite a lot of tasks." Both mundane and supernatural.
There's reassurance from Reiko though -- if Shinobu was truly put off, she'd have walked off by now. "... that does reassure me quite a lot." A pause, and then a soft flush, "I just realised I admitted I was attracted to your sister out of the blue. From what she's said of your parents, I imagine they would be... harsh."
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
"I can... um. I can only imagine. But... I know a thing or two, too, about needing to have a front up at work," Reiko says. "And how it's hard to let go."
She tilts her head -- then she smiles a little, and she nods. "I'm glad I could help," she says. "And, um--yeah. I don't... like I said, I don't know about nee-chan. I-I actually just assumed she's straight, and..."
She looks down.
"Our parents... wouldn't be very understanding, I don't think," she says, her voice quiet. "It's something that... that I never really discussed with her. Or onee-chan. It--it actually is kind of hard to imagine discussing it with them, which says a lot."
To say nothing of telling them something they would need to hide from their parents. But, Reiko assumes her own closet door remains tightly sealed and invisible.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon gently nods, knowing quite well how much pressure there is as a police officer. And Reiko's trying her best to be someone who can be someone the community can trust, as they've seen in the Yongenjaya community, unlike some of the less fine examples, such as... well. He's suspended now. Suspended.
"... it wasn't particularly certain on my end either..." Myunghon places a hand to their neckline in that way they do when they're a bit anxious. "I-- well, I didn't really want to be a woman anymore, but not a man either... I'm far from resolving that on my own end... and I didn't really understand what that meant of others' attraction to me in turn."
Reiko does share that their parents really wouldn't be very understanding. It's not surprising, of a lot of the older generation in Japan at this point. But it's also not something she's ever discussed with Shinobu. Or Ayame. It's... hard to imagine discussing it with them. Something about those words catch Myunghon. It's hard to imagine discussing it with them... as in, there is something to discuss.
"... well," Myunghon draws their hand down gently. "I suppose I have already started on the path of admitting a lot that's intimate and precarious of myself... would it be a bit easier to discuss it with me?"
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
"That... yeah. That makes sense," Reiko says. "I read up on X-gender, after I got to know Tsubasa-kun. I didn't know much about it, but... I wanted to help them and get it right, so..." She trails off. "...I don't know what it's like, but I can imagine how difficult that is."
She looks back at Myunghon -- then she blinks. She hesitates for a second, before she looks down.
"Mm."
She has admitted it before. She had a girlfriend in college, after all -- though they had to hide that. It still makes her nervous, each time.
"I... well, my parents hope that I'll get married," she says. "That... isn't what my preference would be, at least under the current laws."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"X-gender..." Myunghon muses, closing their eye. "Tsubasa-kun told me about it too. It's not bad, is it...? 'x', as in, a variable, undefined and full of potential. I like it... but at the same time, I feel everyone is always trying to solve for x in algebra and other fields, so it almost feels like an invitation for others to try to define you..." What a Myunghon way of thinking about it. "For me, I suppose..."
A hesitant pause, as Reiko imagines how difficult that might be. "An example I like is... would it be strange for me to say I always envied mist or light? I can't ever escape the bounds of my body. Someone will always parse me one way or the other, that's how the majority of people are wired and taught... and then I run into conflicts of what I still like if it signals 'girl', something I should be moving away from... if only my body could just become something as immaterial as mist. No one looks at mist and says 'that's girl mist', 'that's boy mist', it's just... mist. It simply is. I don't want simply to be the variable 'x' to be solved, I want to be an inviolable constant, something as pure as the speed of light, moving at 299,792,458 meters per second."
...
...
They look bashful, and say, "Ah-- my apologies, I was nattering on again." but they listen to Reiko as she says their parents have expectations of marriage -- they knew this, from how they handled the news of Ayame, to a degree... but that isn't her preference. Under current laws.
"... mm. I understand... I have friends who are struggling with the current laws too... and-- well, I suppose I've never thought of marriage myself, but... after all I've shared with you," Myunghon gently says. "But..."
There is a deeper breath. "... thank you for choosing to share this with me, Reiko-san."
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
"That makes sense..." Reiko says, trailing off. "I don't think it's bad -- but, it's how they define themselves. It doesn't have to be how you do. If you want to be mist gender -- or an inviolable constant gender -- or anything else... I think that works, too."
She smiles, then, and shakes her head. "It's fine! I don't mind," she says. Then, though, she looks down -- swallowing -- and she hesitates for a second.
"S-Sure," she says. "Don't... um. Don't tell people, okay? It--it wouldn't go over well with my job. And... I don't know what nee-chan or onee-chan would say. I think they'd be supportive. But... I should be the one to tell them."
Her eyes look down at the floor.
"...some day."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon pauses as Reiko floats the idea of mist gender, but it still isn't in the shape they like it. Or perhaps that there is shape at all is their problem with it. It all just feels like a faraway pipe dream, like imagining society restructed so radically they can live different lives, like just being able to marry who you want, or what marriage is defined as in the first place anyway...
"I know. And... it does help a lot, to know Tsubasa-kun feels that way. There is another I know too, Tsumugi..." A pause, as they look rather embarrassed for a moment as their thoughts float to Tsumugi again. Better keep that checked away for another day.
But Reiko asks them to not tell anyone. "I won't tell a soul. It's as you said... it should be you who tells them -- I wouldn't dream of taking that away from you."
... some day, though.
"Well, if it's any consolation... you know how Shinobu might react about it from her experiences with me, at least, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Shimizu has posed.
"Ah... I've never met them," Reiko admits. "But, maybe sometime!"
She smiles, then, and she hesitats. Myunghon points something out: she has a good idea of how Shinobu would react. It wouldn't be outright rejection. Reiko still tenses for a moment to consider it... but it eases, after a second.
"...yeah," she says. "Yeah. You're right. I... well, when I'm ready, I'll talk to nee-chan about it. I don't think she's guessed."
(She has absolutely figured it out.)