#yvesvi

As soon as Sooyoung woke up, she knew that something was off. She’d had the weirdest dream that had left her with a headache behind her eyes, and the room seemed too hot. Oh, and there was someone in the bed with her. It took her a moment to recognize the arms around her torso, but when she did, she was wide awake, sitting up and looking down to see who the offender was.

“Jiwoo? What the heck?” The younger girl blinked, startling awake.

“Hm, what?”

“Why are you in my bed, and why are you hugging me?” Jiwoo yawned and pulled her arms away, rubbing at her eyes.

“Mm, because I wanted to. You looked pretty in your sleep.” Sooyoung arched an eyebrow at the girl beside her.

“Uh, what? Jiwoo, are you okay?”

“Yeah? Why?” This was not the Jiwoo she knew. Jiwoo would usually flush pink when Sooyoung flirted with her and would fall back into Jungeun’s arms, whining at her to stop it. Sure, she liked skinship, but this? This was not normal. Was she still asleep?

A pinch to the arm told Sooyoung that she was, in fact, awake, and she shook her head, shuffling to the end of the bed to get up.

“Okay, weird,” she muttered, and Jiwoo sat up.

“What do you mean weird? Aren’t you always flirting with me? Don’t you like this stuff?”

“What is up with you today?” Sooyoung asked, looking back at her with narrowed eyes. “Is this some kind of prank? You’re dating Jungeun, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t have to know,” Jiwoo said, and the hair on the back of Sooyoung’s neck stood up. This was not Jiwoo in her bed. Jiwoo would never say that, she loved Jungeun unconditionally.

“Alrightcoolseeyoulater,” she babbled as she stood up, stumbling over to the door. What was going on?

Yerim was in the hallway, and when she saw Sooyoung, she smiled immediately. “Oh, good morning!” This was normal, Yerim was always smiling. What was not normal was that she was now clinging on to Sooyoung’s arm, leaning in a little closer than she usually would. “I was waiting for you!” Her encounter with Jiwoo, or not-Jiwoo, had made her wary, and she tried to lean away.

“You were? Why?”

“Because I wanted to talk to you!” Sooyoung tried to pry her hands off, to no avail.

“Um, okay? Can’t you do that any time? We’re in the same band and we live in the same house.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to talk to you in private,” Yerim said, her voice soft so that no one else could hear, and Sooyoung felt like jumping out of her skin. Yerim, quiet and not wanting to be around literally everyone, especially her loud sister Yeojin? Unheard of. Had aliens replaced her friends?

“Nope, nope, nope,” she said, managing to get her arm out of the younger girl’s grip and quickly stepping away. “Got things to do, sorry.”

“Unnie, wait!” Yerim called after her, but there was no way Sooyoung was going to stop. With a slight jog to her pace, she moved towards the kitchen, where she could smell food being cooked. That meant Haseul was up, and if anyone could tell her what was going on, it would be her. Haseul was terrible at pranks, she wouldn’t be able to keep this up.

“Haseul, I need to ask you-.” It was just the leader in the kitchen, and Sooyoung skidded to a stop. Kahei stood there beside her, and Jinsoul was at the fridge. If they were pranking her, those two would be able to keep her from spilling it. That is, if Jinsoul was even in on it herself. “What’s going on today?”

“What do you mean? It’s just a normal day, honey,” Haseul said, and Sooyoung shuddered. Honey? Sure, she might call the younger girls pet names from time to time, but she never did that to Sooyoung because she knew she hated them.

“Oh god, don’t call me that.”

“Why? You love being loved.” Haseul placed the spoon she was using down and walked over, and Sooyoung instinctively took a step back, right into Jinsoul’s arms.

“You’re pretty today too, Sooyoung” Jinsoul said as she wrapped her arms around her torso, and Sooyoung jumped, immediately wrapping her hands around the other girl’s skinny wrists.

“Haha, thanks, very funny, now please let me go.” She could feel Jinsoul pouting, and Haseul gave her the “disappointed mother” look that was usually reserved for Yeojin.

“Why are you so mean today, honey? I didn’t even get a kiss.” At the mention of a kiss, Sooyoung’s face flushed bright red.

“A kiss? Why would I give you a kiss?”

“You always give us kisses,” Jinsoul whined from behind her, and Sooyoung struggled against her lanky arms as she looked into Haseul’s eyes. The other girl wasn’t joking around, she couldn’t hide a secret to save her life and there was no sign of a smile on her lips, and Sooyoung swallowed, panic swelling up in her chest. Seriously, what was happening?

“Kahei unnie, help,” she squeaked, looking over at the older girl, who was watching from the oven with something unrecognizable in her eyes.

“Why? Don’t you enjoy this kind of thing? You’re always flirting with everyone.”

“As a joke!” Kahei raised her eyebrows, and had Sooyoung had time to really look at her, she would have seen the look that she threw Haseul and Jinsoul. But Sooyoung didn’t see it, as she was busy wiggling out of Jinsoul’s arms to escape back to her bedroom. On her way there, she passed Jungeun, who called to her and tried to catch her arm, but she jumped away and ran faster.

Thankfully, the room was empty, and she slammed the door and locked it, breathing heavily against it for a moment before walking back to her bed. On the covers sat a note, and she picked it up only to wrinkle her nose at the exclamation scrawled across it. Hyejoo’s name was signed at the bottom, and Sooyoung crumpled it up and tossed it away, curling up on her bed. Only then did she remember her dream.

In it, someone who looked like Sunmi had been dancing in front of her before she suddenly stopped and looked her in the eye.

“You’ve become too much of a flirt for your own good,” had said the Sunmi in a voice that was not Sunmi’s. “Change your ways, or you’ll pay.” She’d woken up right after that with a headache, and then all of this had happened.

Biting her lip, she stared down at the floor, trying to make sense of it all in her head. Had her dream come true? Was she being punished for being a flirt? If she was, then by who was she being punished? And why now?

“Okay then, god, I get it, I’ll stop being a flirt. Just put everything back to normal,” she said, and got silence in return.

“Sooyoung! Come out, I made you coffee!” It was Yeojin’s voice, and Sooyoung shuddered. Yeojin making anything for anyone was completely unheard of, she barely made coffee for herself because she knew she could whine to Haseul for her to do it.

“Nope, not thirsty!”

A voice answered her back, but Sooyoung put in her earbuds to block whoever it was out. How was she supposed to stop this? She’d gotten the lesson, loud and clear, but it was still happening. Was she just going to have to live with this? She glanced at the clock on her phone. 8am on a Saturday. They had schedules later, and she’d have to come out for those, but she was determined to stay hidden in her room until then. For her own safety.

-

Eventually, she couldn’t avoid it any longer. Her manager yelled her name, and she reluctantly left the room, clinging to her phone like a lifeline. She felt exhausted, even though she’d slept longer than she usually did.

“Sooyoung, what’s going on? We have to go!”

“Sorry,” she said, ducking her head down, and her manager tsk-ed.

“Alright, come on girls, we’ve got to go now or we’ll be late.” She didn’t dare to look up but she could feel eyes on her as she moved to the back of the line, trying to avoid the other girls.

On the bus, she sat next to Kahei, shoulders tense. But the older girl just looked down at her phone, not bothering to say anything other than “make sure to put on your seat belt”, and she let out a sigh of relief, relaxing a little bit. The van ride was surprisingly calm, with half of the girls drifting back off to sleep.

It wasn’t until they were at the station ready to record that it really started to happen.

“Hey Sooyoung unnie, can you zip my dress back up?” Chaewon’s voice sounded from behind her, and she jumped a little bit, still wary. But the younger girl’s back was to her, and she couldn’t really say no, so she carefully reached over to zip it up. After she was gone, Chaewon spun around and caught her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles. “Thanks! Love you!” Immediately, Sooyoung’s face flushed and she yanked her hand back, mumbling something incoherent as she shuffled back towards the wall, glancing nervously around.

Kahei caught her eye before looking quickly away, and Sooyoung’s attention was caught by Heejin and Hyunjin, who had appeared at her side holding hands. She gave them a wary look and stepped away, but they just moved in closer.

“What’s up?” Her usual confidence was gone, replaced by a waver in her voice. The girls that she was usually comfortable around had made her on edge today, and she had no idea what was going to happen next.

“We were thinking,” Hyunjin started.

“And we decided that we want to take you out somewhere tonight,” Heejin finished Sooyoung wished she could melt into the floor. Her wish wasn’t granted.

“Um, why?”

“Because we like you so much and we want to treat you, unnie,” Heejin said, smiling, but it wasn’t her normal smile. Sooyoung hated it.

“Uhhh.” Thankfully, she didn’t have to answer, because the door opened and a member of staff poked their head inside, telling them it was time for their interview. “Oh cool let’s go,” she said, giving the two girls an awkward smile before stepping around them, making a beeline for the door.

She was sat beside Haseul for the interview, which wouldn’t normally be a problem, except for now the other girl kept giving her these looks that she really didn’t like. For the most part, she spaced out, more focused on how she was going to fix this mess. That was, until the interviewer asked that fateful question.

“Who would each of you date if you were a man?” Sooyoung hated that question for multiple reasons (mostly because she was a proud lesbian who would gladly date a girl any day) but today it was even worse. She could feel all eyes go to her, and she fidgeted in her chair as the girls began to name her off, one by one.

“Yves, for me.”

“I’d say Sooyoung.”

“Sooyoung for me too.”

“Yves unnie.” She hated it, wanting to die as the interviewer gave her a judgmental eye. This looked so bad.

“Looks like you’re popular, Yves. Who would you choose to date?” Everyone turned to look at her, and she dared to glance at them for the first time. All of their eyes seemed unfamiliar as they stared, and she swallowed, uncertain until her eyes fell on Kahei. She was looking at her like she normally did, a slightly amused smile playing on her lips. When Sooyoung thought about it, she was the only one who hadn’t been creepy so far. Letting out the breath she’d been holding, she plastered on an awkward smile and turned back to the interviewer.

“I’d date Vivi.” The older girl raised an eyebrow, as if she was asking “really?”

“Why Vivi?” The interviewer asked, and Sooyoung swallowed.

“Um, well, she’s really pretty and a naturally cute and funny person, and I’m comfortable around her.” She was avoiding looking at Kahei as she felt the blush creep up her neck. Why was she blushing? Why was her heart beating quicker? Was this part of the curse too?

“That’s not fair, I’ve known you longer,” Jiwoo whined, and Sooyoung let out a sigh as she looked back at the ground. Thankfully, the interviewer changed the question, obviously uncomfortable, and the girls dropped the subject.

A few “I love Sooyoung”s and a “Sooyoung is in charge of being sexy” later, they were back in the green room getting ready to go, and Sooyoung felt like slamming her head into the wall. This was the worst kind of torture and she was close to going crazy. As much as she loved girls, having her friends be all over her was creepy and weird and she was ready to swear off flirting forever, if only it would stop.

“Sooyoung, sit beside me,” Yeojin called, holding out her hands towards the older girl as she climbed on the bus.

“No, me, you barely said anything to me today,” Yerim whined from the other side, interrupted by Jiwoo and Jinsoul calling her name. Sooyoung’s stomach turned and her eyes shook as she looked over all the girls, knowing that sitting next to them would mean being put into another uncomfortable situation with them all over her.

“She’s sitting next to me again.” Kahei spoke from the back of the van, voice louder than usual, and Sooyoung felt a wave of relief wash over her body as she walked back to her, ignoring the whines of the other girls as she carefully sat down beside her.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and Kahei nodded, shooting her a look before going back to her phone.

“We need to talk when we get back to the dorm.” Her voice was serious, and Sooyoung nodded her head, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes, trying to will the headache building in her head to go away. She still didn’t really know what was happening, but for whatever reason, Kahei didn’t seem to be affected by it. Maybe it was because she rarely flirted with Kahei?

She dared a look over at her before quickly closing her eyes again. There was something about the older girl, something about that pretty smile and that chic look she gave Sooyoung every time she flirted that made Sooyoung’s mouth go dry. She’d always told herself it was because Kahei was just that pretty and decided not to think about it too much. But now.... Thoughts swirled around in her head, refusing to let her rest as she listened to the faint sound of music coming from Kahei’s headphones.

It was a long ride back to the dorm.

-

“I’m not going to ambush you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Kahei said when Sooyoung flinched at the closing of the door. “I’m confused about what is happening too.” With a sigh, Sooyoung slumped onto the older girl’s bed, letting her guard down for the first time that day.

“That’s a relief. Today has been rough, unnie.”

“So I’ve noticed.” After a moment, Kahei sat down beside her, but with enough distance that she didn't have to worry. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Sooyoung admitted, running a hand through her hair. “I had this super weird dream about me being punished for being a flirt and then when I woke up everyone was being weird.” The events of the day flashed through her head and she groaned, closing her eyes. “Oh god, the interview today. If that gets aired....”

“You are kind of a flirt.” Sooyoung whined and fell back onto the bed.

“I just flirt for fun! Everyone knows that I’m just joking because I flirt with everyone!” Kahei let out a little hum, and Sooyoung looked at the back of her head.

“You never flirt with me,” she said without turning around, voice soft, and Sooyoung swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat, her heart skipping a beat and her face getting hot. How was she supposed to reply to that? “Sorry. I know now isn’t the time. You not flirting with me might be the reason I wasn’t affected by this whole thing.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Sooyoung said, voice small, “but I’m not sure. I feel like you’re supposed to help me break this thing since I haven’t been able to do it myself, but if I had to flirt with you, wouldn't that just be going back to the problem?” Finally, Kahei looked back at her, fixing her with her dark eyes.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to try.” Sooyoung raised her eyebrows, and the older girl gave her a little smile. “Flirt with me, Sooyoung.” Immediately, her face flushed, and she knew even as she sat up that she couldn’t do it.

“I-.” Kahei was too pretty, especially with her newly dyed hair and her makeup from earlier washed away. Sooyoung really was, deep down, a useless gay, and having Kahei this close to her, looking deep into her eyes, was too much. “I can’t.” Kahei’s face fell, and she immediately regretted her words.

“Do you really dislike me that much?”

“No! That’s not it at all....” She’d never had a problem telling girls how she felt until now. Her face was on fire and her tongue felt heavy and awkward in her mouth as her brain panicked over the sad look in her unnie’s eyes. “It's because you’re too pretty and you make me feel a certain way.” It wasn’t the most eloquent way of saying I, but it just tumbled out, and Kahei’s face turned pink.

“Oh.” For a moment, it was silent. As silent as a dorm with twelve girls in it could be, anyway. Tension sparked in the air, and Sooyoung felt like melting again, but this time for a different reason. “I. Feel a certain way about you too.”

“Really?” Sooyoung breathed, and Kahei nodded, biting her lip.

“I’ve actually liked you for a while now, but I figured you didn’t like me back. Especially since you never flirted with me like you do the other girls.”

“That’s because you’re different. You’re... You’re you.” It was simple, but she really couldn’t think of another way to say it. She liked a lot of things about Kahei, and a lot of things about her took her breath away and made her uncharacteristically nervous. But she didn’t know how to say that, so she just told her the truth: she liked everything about her. “And I guess I just didn’t think about it because I was afraid of liking you, since you’re so out of my league.”

“Me? Out of your league? If anything, it’s the other way around,” Kahei said, now giving Sooyoung that smile that made her stomach explode into butterflies. “I’m just average. You’re incredible.”

“You’re anything but average,” Sooyoung said, before letting out an embarrassed giggle and covering her face. “Why are we even arguing about this?” Kahei giggled with her, reaching over to pull her hands away from her face and hold them in her own.

“I don’t know.” Sooyoung knew she was grinning like a fool, but so was Kahei, so it didn’t matter.

“Sorry it took me being cursed by god or whatever for me to realize I liked you. But would you be my girlfriend?” Kahei laughed, and the sound was like music to her ears?

“This is such a weird situation,” the older girl said, “but yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.” Sootoung smiled, then widened her eyes.

“Wait, do you think this might break the curse?”

“What, you getting a girlfriend?” There was a twinkle in Kahei’s eye. “Only if you promise not to flirt with other girls.”

“Is that your request or the curse’s request?”

“Mostly mine,” she admitted, and Sooyoung grinned, a boldness rising up in her.

“Maybe we’ll break the curse if we kiss.” Immediately, Kahei flushed red all the way to her ears, matching her hair, and the younger girl giggled. “Unless you don’t want to, babe.”

“You’re the worst, you giant flirt,” Kahei whined, gently shoving Sooyoung’s shoulder, “but I want to.”

“Close your eyes.” Her voice was soft once again and Kahei let her eyes flutter closed. For a moment, Sooyoung looked at her, taking in her beauty with a swell of emotion in her chest as she realized that this beautiful woman was really her girlfriend. And she was the luckiest woman in the world.

Then she leaned forward and kissed her. It was just a sweet, chaste kiss, but it did more to her heart than any of the passionate kisses she’d ever had in the past. Kahei was really special.

When they pulled away, both blushing, she suddenly felt tired. The other girl was so warm and inviting, and her eyelids felt heavy. Apparently Kahei felt the same way, as she yawned and leaned her head on Sooyoung’s shoulder.

“Why don’t we just stay like this for a while?” Sooyoung yawned, closed her eyes, and let Kahei pull her down onto the bed.

“That sounds nice.”

-

When Sooyoung woke up, nothing felt off. Her familiar, comfortable bed was underneath her, and there were no arms around her. She sat up, blinking sleepily as she looked around the room. When had she left Kahei’s bed? Jiwoo was still sleeping soundly in her bed as Sooyoung turned on her phone. 7:30am on a Saturday. She blinked. Wait, Saturday? Yesterday had been Saturday.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and got up, staring at her phone. She hadn’t dreamed up this whole thing… Right?

She stepped out into the hallway and Yerim greeted her with a bright smile. “Good morning unnie!” Sooyoung flinched a little, but the younger girl just skipped past her, leaving her bewildered in the hallway. She could smell breakfast, though, so she walked into the kitchen with careful steps, still on edge.

Haseul stood at the stove with Kahei beside her at the coffee machine and Jinsoul at the fridge. At the sound of her footsteps, Haseul looked up.

“Good morning, Sooyoung. How do you want your eggs this morning?” She asked as Jinsoul gave Sooyoung a wave before downing the rest of the milk from the carton.

“Um, scrambled,” Sooyoung said, and then her eyes met Kahei’s, and the older girl gave her a dazzling smile as she held up a mug full of coffee.

“I made you a cup. Just how you like it.” There was a twinkle in her eye, and Sooyoung swallowed, accepting the mug into her hands and moving to stand beside her. It hadn’t been a dream, right?

“It wasn’t a dream,” Kahei said, as if she were reading her mind, voice soft. “I think this means we broke the curse.”

“Then are we still...?” She didn’t say it, but Kahei understood.

“You aren’t going to dump me that quick, are you?” There was a playful lilt to her voice, and Sooyoung’s cheeks flushed, but she smiled.

“No. I just wanted to make sure.”

“Everyone, breakfast! Come on, we have an interview to get ready for!” Haseul’s voice echoed as she turned and yelled, and the whining protests of the younger girls could be heard. At the mention of the interview, Sooyoung shuddered.

“Thank god that didn’t actually air, we would have been ruined.”

“No kidding.”

The rest of the group began to move into the kitchen, groaning and whining and asking for food, and Sooyoung stood beside Kahei, quietly sipping her coffee as she watched. The memory of yesterday still lingered in her head, but everything was back to normal now.

Kahei’s hand discreetly slipped into hers, and she smiled, leaning back into her new girlfriend. Well, everything but one thing.

“Wanna hide in my room until we have to leave?”