Work Text:
Sooyoung's mission for the afternoon is to catch Haseul writing on her face.
This is her working hypothesis: whenever Sooyoung falls asleep in class, Haseul is the one who puts lip tint on her face.
Yet to be proven, but probable. Haseul is the one who sits in front of her in class, and her lip tint matches that of the tiny hearts that litter Sooyoung's cheekbone and the scribbles that line her jaw whenever she catches a well-deserved nap.
Haseul denies it every time Sooyoung comes into the clubroom with half a face of lip tint, but Sooyoung is sure. Haseul is the only one with the particular shade of coral that matches her complexion so well.
So in the last ten minutes of their last class for the day, Sooyoung fakes falling asleep. She folds her arms on her desk and tucks her face in the space she makes. Then, methodically, leaves enough of her face accessible as a lure.
Sooyoung is a light sleeper, which makes the usual doodles on her face all the more unexpected. But with her head on her desk, the view of Haseul's back and the droning voice of her teacher, it's easy to fall asleep.
But no, she will not. Instead she reviews the chorale piece they have to practice later, her alto 1 blending with Haseul's soprano.
The school bell rings, followed by the sound of chairs scraping on the classroom floor and the accompanying end-of-class chatter. Sooyoung stays as still as she can, steadies her breathing, because this is the most crucial moment for faking a nap.
The chorus quiets. A last scraping of a chair. Then a soft knock on Sooyoung's desk.
"Sooyoungie?"
Haseul. Sooyoung focuses on evening out her breath, relaxing the muscles of her face and body. This is it, Sooyoung's mission. There is a ten-minute grace period before they're late for club, plenty of time for proving her hypothesis.
"So silly." Haseul's voice is gentler than the enthusiastic classmate or the assertive club leader Sooyoung knows her to be. "We have club in a bit."
Sooyoung hears the unzipping of a schoolbag, the rummaging of its contents. This is the plan: the moment the lip tint brush touches her face, she'll open her eyes and catch Haseul in the act. Then she'll make Haseul buy her ice cream on the way home from club.
But instead of the lip tint brush, Sooyoung feels the touch of cool fingertips on her cheekbone. Right beneath her eye.
"Pretty." The fingertips dust her cheek, then tuck a loose strand of hair behind Sooyoung's ear. Sooyoung stiffens at the contact, at this version of Haseul that's tender and sincere.
Then she hears the unclasping of a lip tint that pulls her back into focus. The mission. Right. She braces herself for the touch of the lip tint brush, and as soon as it comes, she opens her eyes to a view of Haseul centimeters from her face. Haseul, too close, lip tint brush in hand and surprise in her eyes.
No, not too close. Sooyoung catches Haseul's cold hand, the one with the lip tint bottle. From this close she can feel the heat of Haseul's face. "So. You." Haseul startles in her seat, feebly tugging her hand away, but Sooyoung keeps it in place. Caught in the act.
Haseul whines like she lost a bet. "You did all that on purpose."
Sooyoung would gloat. Gloat, then ask for ice cream after club like she planned to. But Haseul has a fresh coat of lip tint on her lips and things are starting to piece together.
"We have club in a few minutes." Haseul squirms in her grip. "We should get going."
Sooyoung gulps, and prays that her hypothesis is right. "I think you're pretty too."
Haseul blinks. Eyebrows rise, lip-tinted lips opened in surprise. Then curved in a smile.
Relief. Sooyoung can't help herself. "So you like me?"
The grin on Haseul's face widens as she presses her lip tint brush to Sooyoung's face.