say so.

WHEN / WHERE: Mid-February, evening; in a small café WITH: open to anyone; ok to assume connections if necessary!

“So, let me be clear here for a moment.” Jiwon straightened out the creases in her skirt first, perhaps taking a little more time than necessary just for the dramatics of it—if she did, that was no one’s business but her own anyway. “I paid for your drink, which means we’re going to play by my rules today. And my rules say that we’re not, under any circumstance, going to talk about work. Tell me anything you’re comfortable telling me here–” Her hands flew out, to gesture at their surroundings, that being the small, currently fairly empty café she’d suggested for the meet-up, “But no work talk.”

Frankly, none of this was as much of a selfless stunt meant to counteract the weighing pressures of the industry as she was making it seem in the moment but Jiwon couldn’t care less. She was tired of thinking, living and breathing Lucid’s upcoming comeback, no matter that she found it less boring than what their innocent concepts had been like so far, and if she had to co-opt someone else’s daily life anecdotes to get somewhat of a reprieve she wasn’t going to claim being above doing just that.

It wasn’t this bad, right? After all, she was still fielding the bill at the end of the day.

“no work talk,” noeul reiterated, nodding her head at the older girl. she herself was sick of preparing for their comebacks, ready for it to all be released and over, but it was difficult to think of much else when that was what most of her days consisted of now. she looked around the empty cafe, pulling her mug of hot espresso closer so she could keep her cold hands wrapped tightly around it, and nodded slowly, understanding some what of what jiwon had meant. with lucid having similar schedules in their building, she was sure they were preparing as well, which meant she also had to be feeling the impacts of constant practice. “anything?” she repeated slowly, raising her eyebrows.

jeonghwa’s shoulder blades kicked into action, popping her up off the wall to the tune of a bright, smile-ridden “great!” not her having been in that stuffy room for probably way more than the two hours she’d allotted, but that now jeonghwa had the pleasure of breathing some life back into noeul. her hand shot out, fingers spread in invitation for others to join, though, jeonghwa didn’t wait long, as after only a second and a half, she started walking out, hand then splayed out behind her.

phone from her pocket, one thumb slid across the digital keyboard to ask her manager -really, at times like this, they functioned more like a personal driver, the poor soul- to bring the car around for her and a friend. once it was closed up again, and noeul was within earshot, jeonghwa spoke again, “so, are we getting some real heart-bearing juice, or sparkling cider that we pretend is champagne like we’re ten and wanna be fancy adults.” an out. “either’s cool with me, so long as we get you out of this place. what were you doing here, anyway? isn’t it, like, more worthwhile to practice with someone else? or at least less of a drag.”

she reached out and slipped her own hand into jeonghwa’s, pleased to have reason for distraction at least. she had been there for much too long at that point, working too hard for not much success in the end. the lucid member was good at shaking her out of it, though, and she knew she wouldn’t have much trouble relaxing around her. 

alice had never been one to sit around on her days off. admittedly, she’d also usually had something exciting going on - a trip to lotte world, a hang out, a vlive. today, though, she decided she’d work extra hard to stay sharp. it might have been weird to have a favorite practice room considering they were mostly the same, but she went to hers all the same and opened the door. a familiar face awaited her.

 “oh, noeul unnie! sorry to interrupt!” alice grinned, lingering in the doorway. “it looks like you’ve been working on your dancing a lot! you’re so sharp and fluid.” she complimented, smile widening. “do you think we could dance together sometime?”

an uncharacteristic snort left her, and she shook her head. “hardly. hours of work to trick even the most talented of dancers,” she answered drily, offering a conspiratorial grin to the lucid member, nodding with her head to enter fully. “of course, if you’re okay with being slowed down. maybe i’ll learn something by proximity.” her grin became more lazy, easy going, as she moved more languidly through the positions. she was just waiting for the part of the song that she had trouble with the timing of.

“nah, it’s fine.” her words came out as casually as she felt. truly, jeonghwa wasn’t one to frequent the company’s practice rooms if she didn’t need to. lucid already did enough choreography practicing. however, she didn’t bother to leave, rather she decided to mosey around fingers sliding along the wall as she took in her surroundings. halfway along the wall, jeonghwa stopped and flopped her back against the wall. arms came up to cross over her body and her eyebrows raised before she asked, “uh, how long have you been in here, baby?” half of a breath between her words, she continued, “if the answer is more than two hours, you need a drink, pronto.”

the text from her manager lit up her phone, her eyes fixed on the article’s headline in the message, finger hovering over the screen with some hesitation. award season always came and went without much recognition to 7rophy. though they had seen some success with some of their recent tracks, it wasn’t something she had kept an eye out for anymore. she had learned that to get excited with the season usually meant disappointment when they either weren’t nominated, or couldn’t secure a win from the panels.

“maybe i don’t want to look like a fool playing childish games. ain’t my fault whoever planned this thinks we’re twelve.” glad he was that the cameras had drifted away from the edge of the pool to look after dowoon. let him be the perfect boy next door for once.

–actually, that sounded like a shit idea. he ought to have been putting in more effort for screen time, especially when another charm member was around. maybe towards the end, he’d pop in for a pinch. call it practice for whatever acting gig would come to him next.

right, the dog. kind of a dumb dog, to fuck around with an idol image like that, but he supposed that was what happened with dimensions artists. “seriously, why go through the trouble?” he scooted to the side, despite having a long expanse of pool to his other side, and pat the wet spot by the corner of the pool he was just sitting on. “come sit. we can talk shit about other people instead of pretending like we’ll be able to hurt each other’s feelings.” at least, that she could hurt his.

“you don’t want the screentime?” the sarcasm rolled off easily, as she attempted to tread water poorly, trying to keep an eye on the nearest camera so that she wouldn’t look too terrible on screen and hoping she wasn’t in the background. it wouldn’t be the most embarrassing thing she’d have done on television, but it would come close. 

“where’s the fun in that?” she hesitated, but only briefly. it wasn’t that she wanted to be in the show, really, or that the cameras were paying attention to her over the others — she was decent at variety, but usually it was for being cute and her struggling was anything but, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t expected from their management. really, given the amount of time it took for them to climb and prove themselves, she probably shouldn’t be wasting an opportunity to put herself out there. 

it’s not easy to forget that they had flirted with danger before when she seems so keen to investigate for trouble with a blind eye. or maybe her iher gaze is sharp and intent. he thought he knew noeul, that she was innocent, so much so that he by all accounts marked her as off limits for the potential trouble she may bring. but it always felt like she brought her own trouble regardless. he would be dishonest if he implied not to like it, so perhaps that’s why he smiles like a wolves jaws before they snap.

“you’re not,” he confirms shortly, laying his line when he can feel her fingers poised at the strings of him. she doesn’t run, he can see it in her eyes. she hadn’t ever ran before and now that he really takes a note of it, there were many times she probably should have. not just today, but since the day they met. she lights a fire with her mirror smirk and he likes how she can surprise him. “you’re not as innocent as you seem sometimes,” chani gently sweeps his nose against her temple while he says it, on his way closer to her, an attempt to make two into one in this moment. she baits him back so that’s why he does it, no other reason but because it’s a game now that she’s throw out her intent with wicked, gullible abandon. 

she’s not the girl he sometimes found giving him gifts to smile more, bringing food when she felt he forgot to eat. laughing louder so that she catches his eye and makes him laugh, too. annoying how refreshing she got, like standing in the sunlight with a squint. he’s the moonlight. they shouldn’t coexist — his arms overlap by now from pulling her so close into him that not an inch doesn’t touch, holding onto his elbows like she was a pillow to hug, drawing her, petite and eager in his arms, up onto her toes. “i warned you.” not this time, this time he brought this on. this time he wanted her to defy him. he’s dipped down by a head so it’s easy to finish sensually curling around her like smoke clinging to a surface, coiling inward until he steals upon her lips with his. a long kiss, deep and practiced to be simple new year innocence. he kisses her like he had the first time, slow, purposeful like a trap with bait. the last time they were alone, this time in public but it makes no difference to him. everything else fades away for the moment as he makes his point, pulling back only after his instincts tremble from the strain of nearly taking too much. 

her smile broadens at that, a laugh bubbling up as he called her bluff just as easily as she had given it. chani was not the first to mistake her kindness for naivety, nor would he be the last, but it always struck her as interesting. though she has a tendency to gravitate towards those who weren’t quite so bright, her intentions are rarely to change them — her expectations always low, she only tries to lend a little light where she could. though he was intense, he wasn’t quite so scary as he once had been as a more distant figure. to say she understood would be an overstatement, but she would almost go so far as to say she trusted him. perhaps not her wisest decision by his own warnings and admissions, but she had yet to see a reason she should be careful. a little excitement never killed her before.  

she leans into his touch ever so slightly, though before she gets a chance to dispute that he ever thought of her as innocent, his lips were on hers, and with them went her breath once more. a small voice reminds her that perhaps this is why she shouldn’t push at him, should act with more caution, but it hardly feels important, forgetting their surroundings and her image. though as he pulls away, she becomes more aware of how it must look, should anyone be paying attention. her cheeks flush as she detangled her arms from the front of his shirt, her smile remains in tact, more sheepish than smug. 

there’s the slightest peek of color and it comes in the burst of something protective blossoming in her chest at the feel of noeul’s hand in hers. jiae doesn’t think twice before closing her fingers around the other girl’s gently, her thumb smoothing over her knuckles the way her mother used to do for her when she was a child who hated the feel of turbulence, heart hammering in her throat and the once fleeting macabre thought of plunging down down down. she’s long since conquered her fear of being so high up, made friends with airplanes and fell in love with clouds. flying becomes as easy as breathing and she divulges her tips and tricks in a low murmur timed to the slow thudding of her heart. 

“what’s there to apologize for? there’s nothing wrong with being scared. we all have fears. we’re only human.” she doesn’t look at noeul, choosing to direct her eyes outside the window, at the way the sun peeked over the fluff of clouds, streaking gold across her skin. “i might not look it, but i used to cry every time i got on a plane. used to drive my parents crazy how much of a tantrum i threw, i was an obnoxious little girl.” there’s laughter there, bleeding into her words and she catches a palmful of it before jiae tilts her head at noeul, her smile soft. “don’t beat yourself up over something you haven’t been taught to overcome yet. this doesn’t make you weak.” she squeezes her hand. just once. “breathe.” 

warmth spread through her stomach into her chest at jiae’s words, her careful look out the window instead of at noeul, like she knew she didn’t want to be seen like this. the gentle touch over her hand reminded her of her brother, home, and she felt the roaring in her ears begin to die down as her focus shifted to breathing, rather than the sensation of the flight itself. it had been fairly smooth, even, with little turbulence, but it was so easy to get overwhelmed by even the sounds on the plane, of feeling trapped. 

“listening…” there wasn’t much point. whatever noeul said, unless it required whole ass certainty of death, jeonghwa was gonna go along with. but for the appearances, her raised brow and dragging word feigned her only ‘possible’ interest. as noeul spoke, jeonghwa mirrored her, eyes flicking to her arm position to match it. listening 101.

offer barely out on the table for half a second, between them came, “i’m in,” followed by, “okay, now, i’m double in.” never mind that she’d never made a gingerbread house before. there was a first time for everything. jeonghwa reached out to grab noeul’s hand and walk with a swiftness over to where she could vaguely see the gingerbread house making station was. right as they reached the table, jeonghwa made an abrupt stop, and swung around on her feet, leaving them crossed as she faced noeul. “wait, what if we make it a drinking game? like, every three new pieces you have to use, you take a shot. so the goal is to make something creative with the least amount of pieces possible. and maybe, like, breaking pieces is fine, but if they look ugly, you can’t use it and hide it later.” three could have been an undershoot, when the goal was creativity, but… fuck it, who cares, right?

her eyes widened with her grin. that was an idea, a dangerous one, but one that sounded like a blast to her. normally, with gingerbread houses, she’d be taking it more seriously, making sure everything looked nice and was in place, as well as a story, but truthfully, a change in pace would be welcome. and it certainly sounded more fun to just completely destroy a few sheets of gingerbread. “yes, absolutely.” 

mood is depicted by sparkling melodies and glimmering lights and the feeling that another year brings unlimited possibilities. the last several years of wading through resolutions came up a fruitless fall through the months. he’s been losing for a long time. but now he’s relaxed and a drink in, wine on his lips and coloring his thoughts burgundy; next year can wait a few more hours. he didn’t see her before she approaches but her appearance rocks the boat around him, so to speak. the presence of her winking next to him and up on her tiptoes to spring for the kiss catches him off guard. so much so that his hand lifts to her bicep in compensated shock and he looks a bit surprised. but it relaxes just as fast, and he stops her from pulling too far away, with his fingers slipping down her arm to pin around her wrist. “hey,” he smiles, little with no teeth but a burning star that catches fire in the pools of his eyes, a firefly in a dark sky, “happy almost new year.” he echoes it back to her and with her leashed to him by the hand, pulls her closer against him.

he hadn’t had noeul this close in months, longer even. since nighttime running into one another in secret as he snuck out of 7rophy’s dorm, or when he pinned her against the nearest surface to teach her a lesson about who’s the real big fish between them. maybe she liked the spark in his eye, or wanted to play with that fire. he couldn’t be sure. but he liked to watch her hands reach out and the glow hit her face, regardless, and wanted to watch her burn just as much as he told her he didn’t.

her wave doesn’t dismiss him or but it pulls his smirk aside for a heady, teasing look to his eye. “think you can get away with a drive by?” forget about the last time they were this close when he told her she would do well to maintain a distance. tonight he turns it counter clockwise. his free hand catches on her hip, bending his neck to put their faces closer together, so he can speak more softly without the music at play. “is it really a new year if i don’t get a real kiss?” his voice is coy like a riddle, a joke and with it she could pull away and run, but his fingers tempt from her hip to the small of her back and suddenly they’re chest to chest— if she runs from him now, that would be a sore loss for him. his lips are close and the memory of the last time he kissed her reappears for the first time nearly since. his grin says he’s thinking of something bad, his eyes dare her to remember it too.

the startled look didn’t last long, but it made the slight dimples on her cheeks appear as she smiled up at chani. only a few years ago, she wouldn’t have been able to imagine even speaking to him, given how intimidating he came off. over time, though, seeing him in the company building and in 7rophy’s dorms especially, it became a lot easier to treat him like she would a friend. with some time of joking around and testing where the boundaries lay, she felt they had gotten to a comfortable spot. the new year’s environment helped to pull out her more relaxed side, too, and so she had felt much more at ease then, not expecting much reaction other than perhaps a grin, maybe a joke or two. 

especially after last time she had kissed him, simply poking fun at him with what was intended to be a peck but instead turned into a real kiss, she was shocked to be pulled closer, starts at the hand that lands on her hip, her own pressing against his stomach lightly to keep her balance. her breath caught in her throat as his face moves closer, a shiver moving down her spine, though she was unable to exactly pinpoint whether it was the temperature or their sudden close proximity. the nerves had certainly settled in her stomach, flickering in and out like a candle flame, as she worked to keep her head about her. he had an uncanny ability to set her on edge, take her off guard, even when she was simply playing around. 

shopping could be so hit or miss. half the time it felt like a chore, usually when she needed something or it was groceries, but the other half it made her feel like santa. she needed to buy gifts for her group members, find something they’d all enjoy well enough, which was a struggle in and of itself with six other people to buy for. plus, being docked finally, she wanted to get off the boat to stretch her legs some, get on solid ground while she could. there had been opportunities to do both, but she hadn’t pulled a blue card like so many of the lucky other individuals, so she was stuck planning outside of the variety show filming. as she wandered to make her way off the boat, she sidled up to a familiar face.

"hey, you wanna be promoted to best friend?” she continued without giving him much of a chance to answer, to contradict her in any way, with hardly a breath in between. “‘course you do. come shopping with me? please? i need opinions on gifts.”