#hdjaeyi

written for lee jaeyi (@hdjaeyi) ♡

kentaro's half-asleep in the company lounge, slouched deep into the couch with his hood up, nursing a canned coffee he bought from the vending machine downstairs. the room's got that stale air of a place that's been used too many times for quick naps and failed group projects, faint hum of the fridge filling the silence. he sees jaeyi first, she's got that determined look like she's on some kind of spy mission and then this tall girl trailing behind her. familiar face, maybe, maybe not. music video? ad campaign? he's too lazy to place it.

"what, we doin' fortune telling now?" he mutters, low and scratchy, one knee bouncing slow. he tips his head back against the cushion, eyes dragging toward the tarot deck she's cradling. "don't think i have much of a future to look at." a crooked grin pulls at his mouth. he flicks his gaze toward the tall girl, lingers a beat too long like he's trying to line her up with some half-memory. "you bring your own bodyguard, or is she here to make sure you don't shuffle the wrong way?" his tone is flat, playful in that detached kind of way, but he doesn't move to leave. if anything, he stretches out further, he's decided the couch is his throne and they're intruding on it.

the problem with jaeyi (no, scratch that) the entire bloody problem set that is jaeyi, is that she still serves like she's trying to split the atom. same jawline, same attitude, same maddening calm that used to make minah want to throw a ball at her head. she leans against the mirrored wall, sweat gluing her shirt to her back, pretending she isn't two seconds away from clapping like an idiot. "you still hit like you've got a grudge," she says, somewhere between teasing and full emotional damage. pops her gum; too loud, and sharp. un-very-necessary. "what's the verdict then, still mad at me?"

her grin's cocky, textbook minah, all sparkle and dare, but her stomach's doing that awful slow-motion somersault thing. because jaeyi looks good. offensively good. and the HYDRA trainee tracksuit's definitely not meant to be that flattering.

YEONSEOK MEETS JAEYI AGAIN, AND IT’S ALL A VERY SERENDIPITOUS THING. he’s waiting for an elevator when he sees her in his periphery, nebulous and fleeting, sunlight filtered through soft hanji, and he almost doesn’t turn his head to look. he almost doesn’t turn his head to look, but the elevator chimes and his eyes sweep across the room. and when they do, he sees her and then he looks and then he doesn’t look away. thinks, instead: finally.

finally, because, for all the coincidence involved, yeonseok feels like he’s willed this encounter into being. he’d heard her name what, two ( three? ) weeks ago, and it had been all too easy to imagine a future in which the name lee jaeyi was synonymous with stardom. a future in which the jaeyi he knew was dressed in glossy suits, given designer handbags, expensive fragrances. it was a future in which her own reputation would scratch at her ankles like a living revenant, an obstinate presence—

so really, he’s happy. he's happy to have met her again in present day.

while bohyun admired the hard work jaeyi put into her training, there was also a part of her that wished she'd take some time off. not like run away from a full day of training and completely get loose but just do something that doesn't involve a practice room and whatnot, even if it's for a few hours.

that's why she's practically dragged the other out for what she liked to call a girl's night—well, technically day because it was still the middle of the day. "trust me, this is something you need," bohyun practically yelled out as she tightened her grip around the other's arm. "i'm not going to watch you dance that same routine for another hour. you already have it down anyway!"

the  day  had  yet  to  officially  start,  and  sena  already  knew  it  was  going  to  be  a  long  one.

if  certain  spirited  individuals  had  not  kept  him  quite  so  enthusiastically  occupied  all  night,  perhaps  he  might  have  salvaged  even  but  two  hours  of  undisturbed  beauty  sleep.  but  alas,  the  previous  night  had  been  a  relentless,  dizzying  loop:  drifting  off  into  an  exhausted  haze,  only  to  be  roused  by  the  persistent  press  of  lips  and  teeth,  then  fading  out  again  to  repeat  the  cycle  anew.

he  was  no  longer  in  his  20s,  and  he  was  quite  certain  it  showed  in  some  of  the  minute  finer  lines  that  no  amount  of  skincare  could  fully  eliminate.  yet  his  years  of  experience  in  life  did  not  seem  to  deter  his…  ‘admirers’,  much  to  his  dismay.  If  it  did,  perhaps  he  could  finally  negotiate  a  full  eight  hours  of  rest,  a  luxury  far  rarer  than  the  vintage  timepiece  weighing  on  his  wrist—an  old  gift,  actually,  from  last  night's  admirer,  which  was  why  sena  made  it  a  point  to  peacock  it  for  them.

stepping  into  the  elevator's  sanctuary,  he  leaned  heavily  against  the  back  wall  after  pressing  the  button  for  the  floor  he  was  headed  to  with  a  languid  finger.  he  caught  a  sight  of  himself  on  a  reflective  surface—still  devastatingly  breathtaking,  if  a  bit  frayed  at  the  edges  from  the  night's  activities.  he  stifled  a  yawn  behind  a  slender  hand  before  shoving  both  deep  into  the  pockets  of  his  sleek,  designer  black  pants.  he  hoped  no  one  could  tell  that  his  clothes—his  shirt  too,  a  light  beige  buttoned  down  silk  shirt  from  prada  that  was  certainly  buttoned  down  a  little  too  low  for  the  comfort  of  most  modest  cishet  men—were  absolutely  new.  so  new  that  they  looked  as  though  sena  had  purchased  them  just  minutes  ago,  even  after  a  quick  last  minute  wash  to  assure  most  would  be  none  the  wiser  regarding  its  present  life  span.

after the cameras pack up and the stylists scatter in flocks, minah's still got glitter still clinging to her collarbone and she treats the whole thing like a minor inconvenience. jaeyi being a new member of the group? fine, super tidy. makes sense, actually. nothing to unpack there. nothing at all.

you have received a message from gu yeonseok!

this was odd.

just a couple of months ago, there was awkwardness in the air as jaeyi and she had to juggle the change in their relationship. having gone from two buddies who trained together to miru, unfortunately, getting her taste of debut before jaeyi, it had been difficult for her to get the right words out in front of the other.

however, they were now set to stand on stage together. a dream come true, really, but it also meant another shift in the dynamic of their relationship. miru was ecstatic that jaeyi got to join girl next door and get her own taste of being a debuted idol. and while it was never mentioned outright, miru still considered herself the leader of the girls, and she wanted to make sure that those returning showed the same high quality on stage while the ones joining them could fit right in without looking like, well, rookies.