poison ivy

@fmdsungjae​

Yumi tried to move closer to the warmth. She wrapped her arms around the soft form, hooking her leg over it. She always got clingy when it was cold, something her cat could often attest to. Yumi vaguely recalled that Sunny had slept over last night. In her delirium, she forgot that this was not three years ago. Her mind was transported to the past. An alarm went off and she began to murmur drowsily.

“Five more minutes, jagi.” She curled deeper into his chest. The alarm kept going. She wasn’t normally one to whine, but she was so tired and comfortable. “Wangjanim, make it stop, please.” 

As she spoke the term of endearment, she stiffened as last night came flooding back to her. Her prince. Last night he had been a prince and she had been a princess and they had... Oh.

“Of course, you are. You’re looking as pretty as ever, but I hope Dimensions didn’t push you to do those crazy diets. I hope you’re healthy,” because if Ivy is healthy, there will be more chances for him to use that in his favor, and he would like that. “I’m doing as good as someone would expect, busy with a variety show. Dimensions are making me work on things that aren’t just music, and I must admit, it was a bit of a shock. Didn’t think they even remembered I should have proper promotions,” he says it all lightly as if he was joking even though every word rung true. Despite not liking acting and not having the best of times in variety shows, having a proper schedule with things to do was a surprise. Even if he likes to complain about it a lot.

“You know, I don’t understand why Dimensions don’t get us to work together as often. I would love to work more with you,” he sounds so sincere that almost Alex himself falls for his lie, “remember when they had that busking event? All three soloists of our company went out to sing, and it was so fun. I hope we can do something of the sorts someday again.”

Ivy was used to being told that she was pretty, but it seemed genuine when it came from a kind dongsaeng like Alex.  He appeared to be genuinely concerned with her health, which helped alleviate her worries. At the very least, she could be sure he would never hit on her. He was like the adorable little brother she never had. Instead, she had six other rambunctious sisters. Somehow, this was calmer.

“That was great. I love working with everyone at the company,” she said. “I love being a soloist, but it gets kind of lonely doing promotions by myself. Though, it was still less awkward than back when she was in a group. She thought for a moment. “Oh, we should do something together after my comeback! I am sure the company would love to see us work together again.” Really, at this point, they would let her do a lot. She was one of their few signed artists who did not complain about the company’s structure. 

Oh, this was bad. 

His mother, entirely aware of how she’d come to her place in the Baek family, had always warned Sungjae to be careful of beautiful women with kind words. Sunny never paid much mind to this advice. He was smarter than his father. But, looking down at Yumi, so pretty and bright, Sunny felt the fear his mother had always tried to instil in him. 

Despite how she was dress, Yumi wasn’t a princess. At least, she was not the innocent kind with little animal friends. She was a sorceress, powerful and enthralling. Somehow, in just moments, she had managed to put a spell on Sunny once again. Not that Sungjae was much of a prince, either. He was no knight in shining armor. He couldn’t save himself, much less anyone else. Did he even want to save himself in that moment? Sunny gripped Yumi’s hand tighter, the answer clear. 

No, he didn’t. 

A late coming arrival in what had been years of bad choices, Sunny dipped his head down to meet Yumi’s height. His dazed eyes fluttered closed as his lips touched hers. Regret would surely follow, but it hardly mattered. He’d never admit it, but Sunny had been waiting for a chance like this for a very long time. 

Yumi wondered if she was dreaming. Had she fallen into a drunken sleep? Was she going to wake up, face down in her makeup table, home from her party? Was Sunny going to be in someone else’s arms? No. Her imagination was never this vivid. She hadn’t been willing to let herself imagine such a thing, except in her most vulnerable moments. They hadn’t been together long, but the memories always stood out. She supposed time didn’t always mean anything. 

Some part of her brain reminded her that they were in a maze where anyone could find them. However, that part of her brain was quickly squashed by the rest of her. She kept her mouth locked on Sunny’s. This was a terrible mistake, but she was not going to stop it. She had tried and had made herself miserable for years. Just for tonight, she could stop the wondering. 

Finally she pulled away to breathe. Before she could think better of it, she began to speak. “Do you want to...” she trailed off. After a few more attempts she managed to get out the words. Yumi was not used to making these kind of advances. She didn’t even like to normally. But, Sunny was always an exception. “Do you want to come over?” 

the nerve of her to send her condolences as though he was the most deplorable subject to have ever lived in existence–god–jun flicked his head with a loud, audible growl and huff, crossing his rather beefy arms in clear, absolute and deep disgruntledness. “why should i be the one to do this when you’re the one that said it in the first place?” he grumbled, rolling his eyes pettily as soon as she mentioned marriage and children. 

“i mean, who would ever want to fall under your skirt and cry, please step the fuck out of me, ivy darling. whoever who does that–i’m sorry for them as well. send them my prior condolences, and i’ll be sure to congratulate them for taming the shrew.” he flapped his hand as he scoffed. “no one is going to believe the line about being married to your fans. the point is, i want you to clarify things because i don’t want my girlfriend to get any wrong ideas–not that she would anyway.” a slight goofy smile spread across jun’s lips at the thought of chaeyeon, and a moony sigh expels itself from his chest in a dreamy hum. “she’s amazing enough not to be fooled, but i’m not taking any chances, not especially since this is the second time that we’re together.” he stabs a finger in ivy’s face. 

“this time, i’m clearing everything that’s in our path that might just send us splitting apart from each other–chaeyeon can’t tolerate that, and honestly? neither can i. so clarify your statement before some ships start floating around like little bubbles of rumours that can never go away. i will be scandalized if i search my name up on the internet once more and it appears tied in with yours, complete with fan made videos of a ship–” he pressed a hand to his forehead and groaned, completely chagrined at the thought. “which, might i mention, our names have gone up on the naver search to the top one place within a fucking hour.” 

“in exchange–” he folds his arms once more, feeling a little sorry for having jumped and shouted at her so much at something that he knew was probably a blunder or something out of convenience. “i’ll owe you a favour. or a treat. i’ll clear things on my end, and you do so on yours. lets just pray that the ceo doesn’t think or the publicists don’t think that we look good together and make us go on a variety show or something together.” 

Ivy was going to go to mass after this and clearly pray for some very much needed patience. Also, for Chaeyeon. The girl was clearly going to need it. She was this close to showing Dojun exactly what kind of skills a middle child of seven gained on the farm. She wondered if her headlock was still any good. It had been a while since she had fought with any of her sisters for the last bite of something, but she had to assume it was basic muscle memory. The thought almost put a smile on her face, if it didn’t involve actually touching Dojun. At the moment, she wanted to put herself on a plane to America just to not be in the same room as him. 

She was going to tell him what he could do with himself when he mentioned the Naver searches. She opened and shut her mouth, at a loss for words. Oh no. She knew she had been rising in popularity over the years, but she didn’t expect an offhand comment like this one to be this interesting. Maybe she should have mentioned her ex. At the very least, she had liked him at some point. Now, she was stuck with Dojun. There had to be a way to kill this. If she had to have this argument every time she saw him, she was going to lose her mind.

“How do you suppose I kill this or clear this up?” she asked. She was open to ideas. Having Dojun hold her a favor so she could rub his smug face in it? Priceless. Even if she didn’t need anything from him, it would please her to no end to do it. Besides, she was already over this whole ordeal. “I will just tell them it will be detrimental to my health to go on a variety show with you. I couldn’t handle the nausea.” She thought for a moment, then groaned. “You don’t think they are going to use this to save face about all the bad stuff people say about the company, right?”

“of course it did! i think you made the right choice.” minhee says, quick to dispel any indication that she might have thought otherwise. maybe choice isn’t the right word. for minhee, once she signed her trainee contract, and then once she was put in the lineup for lipstick, she hadn’t felt like she’d had much of a say in the matter anymore. she made the choice to rebel and audition, but after that, there was no backing out as far as she was considered. 

“your songs are timeless, you know,” she adds, twisting her face into a wistful expression. “but i think, if you’d become a professional ballerina, that you would’ve been iconic as that too. you have that kind of energy about you, unnie.” 

minhee is happy to give ivy an affirmative response. “yeah, they are. they always have been, luckily. but … i still sometimes feel like a kid around them, and i fall naturally into that role. it’s not a problem, that’s just my personality, but it’s nice to talk like this from time to time too.”

Ivy smiled at Minhee. It was sweet of her dongsaeng to say. Ivy was not used to hearing people say she should have been a ballerina. Most told her she had made the right choice, whether because her career would have been even shorter or because people claimed it would be immensely boring. No one ever told her they liked the idea. It filled with warmth. 

“Thank you. I am sure I would have been good. But, this is great too,” she said. “And it definitely involves more people looking up to me.”

Ivy hesitated a second before patting her shoulder. It wasn’t belittling, just comforting. “I have not been the youngest in a room for a long time, but I understand what it’s like to not be taken seriously. Don’t worry, I am always here for a chat.”

She looked down briefly at Minhee’s feet. “Make sure to point those a bit more.”

[ivy to ???]: where are you???

[ivy to ???]: my god how good is your costume

[ivy to ???]: i’m the sleeping beauty

of all the things that she could possibly do–she speaks to him as though he’s nothing but a fucking child. how absolutely wonderful. what a bitch. dojun glowers despicably as he grudgingly takes a seat at her direction, almost snarling as he glared back at ivy with an equal amount of intensity.

“my fault? my fault?” he hissed, catching himself just in time as his voice momentarily raised above the right decibels that it should be. “you were the fucking one that picked that stupid fight with me!” he swelled importantly with all the fury that he could possibly muster. “and hah! no taste. she says that dating me is having not taste.” he sneered, folding his arms. “tell that to my girlfriend, whom i mutually adore, while you yourself remain bitterly single and unwanted, ivy.” 

he’s not in a good mood–never is, when it comes to romantic relationships and ideal types. already by an extreme measure, chaeyeon and him tread on a very very thin line of a chance that he no longer wanted to miss. this was almost akin to his last opportunity, and the last thing he ever wanted to do was to ensure that it went into bits just because of her one singular statement about ideal types and the kind of shit.

knowing their fans, there wouldn’t be a shortage of people that would see it fun to ship them together, and he dreaded to even think what their company would insist to play on (not that he wouldn’t resist), if they found such harmless shipping was anything good. 

“ listen. are you gonna do anything to clarify it? or we’re just going to let people think that we adore each other and perhaps ship the fuck out of us?” 

Yumi wondered how it was that god had decided Dojun was worthy of finding love, while she was left with a broken heart. Twice. She had been a good person. She had been faithful and devoted in her romantic endeavors. Yet, somehow, the jerk who just happened to not be the most horrible thing to look at on the planet, was the one with the partner. Meanwhile, she spent more times than she’d like to admit diving behind a plant to avoid an awkward conversation. 

Really, she had been intent on letting this die down. But, Dojun had managed to pick on her last nerve. There was a lot of things Ivy was, but a coward was not one of them. She had every intention of putting Dojun back in his place so help her. Her self-respect was literally the last thing she had in these types of situations and she was sure as hell going to keep it.

“Yes, I am going to tell them we are married and have three kids. Would you prefer a summer wedding or winter?” The sarcasm dripped off of every word. Where was a time machine when she needed one? It would have been better to pick literally anyone else on the planet. My god, she could have picked the C.E.O. and somehow still stomached it better than this. 

“If anyone asks, just say you are flattered but are to busy too think about dating. That you’re married to your fans, or whatever.” That seemed to be the party line for most of the people she knew in the industry when something like this happened. “As for your girlfriend, tell her I’m sorry. And send her my condolences.” 

Heat rose up Sunny’s neck to his ears, a flush hidden by the night and darkness in the maze. Why did it have to be like that? Why did such a small touch, such simple words have to effect him like that? He’d blame it on the free flowing spirits at the party but was it really that? Sunny didn’t even know why he’d ended up outside in the first place. Or maybe he did, but he didn’t want to admit it. One minute, he was warm and cozy by the bar, nearly home free talking his way into spending the night at some girl’s place, the next he’d felt the sting of a cold breeze on his face. Yumi always did this to him. And he let her.

“I always look nice,” Sunny said. He wanted to sound more disinterested than he was. It wasn’t particularly effective when he stared at Yumi’s lips so intensely. The secluded nature of the maze, the shadows, it all reminded him of the way things used to be. It should have helped harden Sungjae’s heart. It didn’t. 

Sungjae’s hand moved to cover Yumi’s own on his chest. He had intended to remove it, end the physical contact and give him some breathing space. This intention seemed lost on his body, the thought in his mind not connecting with his muscles. 

“You’re going to get lost in this maze, Noona.” 

Yumi couldn’t exactly disagree with him. She was sure Sunny could be on his deathbed and still look like an angel. Really, it was vastly unfair that he only seemed to get better looking every day. She looked down at his clothing and started giggling uncontrollably. She leaned in to whisper into his ear. 

“We match.” 

Yumi was referring to the fact that she had dressed as a version of her favorite princess and Sunny, for lack of a better term, was definitely a prince. Though, with him, it was hard to know if it was intentional or not. He had that kind of energy any day. Really, anyone would be happy to go with him today. The thought made her upset.

“And I don’t mind getting lost here with you.”

Her face flushed as she realized she had said that out loud. Somewhere in her brain, she connected the dots that her hand was still on his chest. But, she could hardly seem to move it. Instead, she just kept turning redder and redder, as if she was a teenager telling someone she liked them for the first time. She tried to open her mouth and will anything to come out, but it seemed to be a lost battle. She just kept staring into his eyes. 

yunho very rarely went to bars when he wanted to drink. it was risky, not usually his favorite thing, though he doubted anyone would know his face well enough to recognize him without makeup, in plain clothing, with his usual hat. it wasn’t anything major that had caused it, simply just that he didn’t particularly want to go home immediately after their rehearsals for puls2, given most of the others were on vacation at this point. 

seeing ivy, his senior in the industry and someone who had been active much longer than he had, was really all down to chance, but she didn’t seem to want to be alone from her insistence that he come sit with her. she was much friendlier than was comfortable for him, especially given how little he knew, so he tried primarily to remain polite, fingers gripping his glass much harder than he intended. 

“that’s okay — i don’t know how much our managers would like that,” he answered simply, hesitating slightly. a ticket would have been nice, the line up was good, but he knew better than to do much else than focus on what needed to get done. it would just be him and one other member, he had to stand mostly on his own and he wasn’t confident he could do as well as they expected. “what’s the vibe of it?” he shook his head at the offer, lifting his nearly full glass to his lips. “thank you, though.” 

It was always a bit of an awkward situation whenever Yumi ran into members of Impulse. She was never sure if Sunny had mentioned their relationship or not to any of them. So, naturally, she just pretended they probably didn’t. It was best, since it meant they could all ignore the situation, even though it was probably a blip in his dating history. Probably not even worth mentioning. God, she needed another drink.

But, it seemed like her companion probably didn’t agree much. She tried to stop herself from being too friendly, but her brain was muddled by the several beverages she had been given. The bartender was a fan, which meant they had been more than generous with their pouring. Plus, they were also familiar with Yumi, since she always seemed to come to this bar when she was upset. She smiled at Yunho.

“I understand. It is a fun song though. Very much makes you want to dance. A little sexy, as usual. I feel a little ridiculous doing the finger thing, particularly at my age though,” she said. 

for @fmdsungjae​

Yumi had never expected to end up tipsy at a work event, but she had apparently lost her sanity at the sight of Sunny flirting with someone else. It was not really her fault. Sure, she’d had a great time promoting, but lately, her feelings had been overwhelming, especially since their last interaction. She had done her best to avoid him the rest of the evening. She had done an admirable job until she managed to find herself in the garden, hoping for some air. 

Instead, she had managed to wander into the maze, her addled brain making that think it was a good idea. She nearly slammed into someone turning the corner, already lost. She cleared her throat to apologize, but lost the ability to form words.

Sungjae was there and instead of becoming more sober with her trip outside, Yumi suddenly felt even more intoxicated. She licked her lips in hopes of trying to form a coherent thought. “You look nice,” she blurted out, not realizing her hands were still on his chest.