Work Text:
_I was attracted to her since the first time I saw her_
"You have such a pretty face I thought you were younger than me."
Yongsun felt her entire face turn red at the unexpected words. The annoyance at being addressed in such a brash manner by a younger girl suddenly disappeared when she took in the compliment.
She still didn't like this girl. How could she? But she figured she would be the bigger person, act maturely and let it go.
The chances of the other girl actually debuting with her weren't even that high. So she just let out a huff, took back the heels she graciously handed her and left the girl behind her with no intention of wasting more time on her.
~~~
Byulyi watched her walk away, feeling a bit embarrassed by her misstep.
She couldn't really be blamed when the older girl had such a youthful face though. Those squishy cheeks and that round face were incredibly cute and babyish. And her answer, even if greasy, had clearly placated her enough to let the incident slide.
Byul let out a sigh and scratched the back of her neck nervously. She really hoped that this would not be an issue for her in the future. The idea of trying for another company, after the scams and the issues she had to go through in the past, sent her spiraling a little.
"Unnie, everything okay?" Wheein's sweet voice brought her back to reality, interrupting her thoughts.
Byulyi grinned a bit and turned around towards the younger trainee, not surprised in the slightest by seeing her best friend next to her.
"Don't worry Wheein-ah. Everything's good." She put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder and gave a smile to her friend, turning them towards the practice room's door so they could get out.
"Do you want to go eat somewhere together?"
"If you are paying for lunch, we can't possibly say no, unnie" said Hyejin with a cheeky expression that Byul couldn't refuse.
On their way to the small food place near the company they usually went to, while the younger duo talked her ear off and played around, Byul's eyes fell on a solitary figure on a corner of the street.
Immediately she recognised Yongsun and for a second, she thought the other girl did too, but her gaze went past her and back to her phone, so she let it go and went back to focus on the conversation.
~~~
When they were called to do a photoshoot with other trainees, Yongsun felt a bit awkward but she decided to push it all back and put on a confident face.
She may not know the other girls all that well or at all, but she was not going to let anything stop her from achieving her goal. Acting friendly with people she had only exchanged a few words with may be a huge struggle for an introvert like her, but if there was one thing Yong was, it was determined.
When the photographer asked them to get closer, she put her arms around Byul's waist, a bright smile already on her face. She didn't think anything of it. She held the pose until the shutter of the camera went off and immediately dropped her arms after. Focusing on doing what was asked of them.
Byul looked back at her with furrowed brows. Unused to the sudden contact and taken aback by the action.
~~~
This unnie is weird.
Byul debated letting the other girl know that she had not enjoyed the sudden contact but in the end, she decided to push back the weird feeling for the sake of the shoot.
We really don't get along I guess.
When the shoot was over and they were sent back to practice, she looked at the other trainee one last time. Kim Yongsun really was someone she didn't understand. Part of her though, couldn't help but feel a certain pull towards her that she really couldn't explain.
~~~
Yongsun was a passionate individual.
She may not have dreamed of becoming a singer since she was a child. She may have changed her life path to follow this unsure and hard road when many had considered her already too old to start but Kim Yongsun was not a quitter and now that a company had given her a chance? She would take it and make something out of it. She would make something out of herself.
She didn't care if the other trainees thought she was a little weird for practicing on her own at every chance. She had wasted a lot of years and she needed to try her best and be the best version of herself if she wanted to succeed. Especially when she had her height, age and lack of looks working against her.
When she finished another day of practice, Yongsun busied herself with checking her bag. She ignored the way the other people in the room immediately joined their little groups of friends and started chatting between themselves. She could handle feeling a bit lonely. The idol industry was a harsh world and who knew who would still be there a week from now. Why bother trying to fight her own awkwardness and introverted nature to get to know them when she could focus on working hard and making her dreams come true?
"Hello unnie" Yongsun immediately recognised the sound of the other girl's voice but still jumped in surprise, not expecting anyone to address her.
"Oh... Sorry, unnie. I didn't mean to scare you" Byulyi’s warm tone was tinged with genuine apprehension. She bit her lips and pressed one hand on her heavy bangs, trying to fix them in a nervous manner.
"It's okay! I am just... jumpy" Yong could feel the embarrassment and blush rise but she did her best to not let it show.
"Oh well, I know we didn't really start on the right foot, but I was wondering if you wanted to–er–have lunch together?" Byul stammered a bit. "It's just that you usually eat alone and Wheeinie and Hyejinnie are busy today so I thought we could... I mean you don't have to, of course..."
Yongsun looked at the other girl in silence, taken off guard by the invite and maybe a little amused by the other girl. In that moment, she thought about the time she spent convincing herself that she didn't need to become close to anyone and, letting go of her own insecurities a little, she answered.
"Okay, Byulyi ssi. We can eat together."
For the first time, when the other girl smiled brightly at her, she noticed the whisker dimples that appeared on her face. For the first time she looked at the other girl and she thought.
She is not that bad.
~~~
Eating together with the older girl had turned out to be a lot more fun than Byul would have thought. Yongsun was a really peculiar person with such an inconsistent and fascinating personality.
She was both incredibly shy and introverted but so loud and direct.
Byulyi's more calm and passive demeanor really contrasted with hers, but she couldn't help finding her entertaining.
The most surprising thing to them both though, was finding out how much they both loved a certain side dish.
The moment they ordered their meal with extra kimchi, Byul felt a vindicated smile appear on her face. “Finally someone that appreciates kimchi! I was tired of having to deal with Hyejin disgusted expression whenever I eat it”
They had not needed much more after that to actually start getting to know each other, and finding how much their taste in food matched had made everything feel much easier.
For the first time Byulyi started to realize how strong the pull towards the older girl was, how she had actually felt it since the first day they had met, even though their first impression had been far from good.
Byul really hoped that when the moment to debut would come, they could debut together.
~~~
They had been training under RBW for a while now. Some people had left, others had stayed. Yongsun was still working hard to achieve her dreams but she wasn't always alone now.
Moon Byulyi was there.
Sometimes on her own. At other times, flanked by the two younger girls that Yong wished she could get to know better.
She wouldn't consider Byul a close friend yet, but she was a constant presence in her trainee life. Someone she was starting to get used to looking for when practice started. Someone she had spent a lot more time than she would have imagined with.
When Byul came up to her that afternoon, still sweaty because of the dancing they had been doing, Yongsun expected another request to go eat together. So when the younger girl started talking she was actually caught off guard by the question.
"Unnie, I wanted to ask you something. I know you still don't know Hyejinnie that well, but we were thinking of looking for a rooftop apartment we could share near the company. She needs a better place and I thought that it would be better to move here and share one with others, to save on costs! Do you want to join us?"
~~~
Byul felt both hopeful and nervous.
She knew the older girl's family lived in Seoul already, so asking her to leave the comfort of her parents' house to live with them was a stretch.
Wheein was saving costs and living with her aunt and when confronted with the question of who else she and Hyejin could ask, Byul could only think of Yongsun.
She waited for the older girl to process the sudden request, fixing her bangs for the nth time to expel the nervous energy in her body.
Yong seemed clearly taken aback by her question and she really couldn’t blame her for it. They had spent some time together with the younger girls but living together would be a completely different matter.
She thought of Hyejin, alone in that small storage room that was slowly suffocating her even when she had so much passion and fire inside her that most people couldn’t handle. She tried to reassure herself that even if Yong said no, they would still manage to find somewhere, just the two of them, together.
When she felt the little hope she had, die down at the older trainee's silence, she was taken by surprise by her answer.
"I could think about it…"
She wasn’t agreeing, but the sincerity in her tone was enough to make Byul smile and revive those little sparks of hope inside her.
"Sure, unnie! We should spend more time together so you can get to know the kids! Hyejinnie may look intimidating but she is just a baby, trust me," the excitement and affection in her voice while talking about the younger girls, made Yongsun smile.
" You are so pretty when you smile, unnie" the sudden greasy line took the older girl by surprise. Blushing furiously, she hit the other girl on her arm while Byul chuckled and tried to avoid her blows.
"We really don't match" Yong muttered but the red dusting her cheeks and cute pout made the statement feel weak.
~~~
"Yong" Byul's voice was always soft and warm. Listening to her felt like being wrapped up in a blanket, and hearing her call her name was the warmest hug.
Solar turned around and smiled at the other girl, not surprised at all by the shutter of the camera that welcomed her and the immediate grin that appeared on the other girl's lips while she admired her work.
"You are so pretty, ddun"
Yongsun huffed at the comment, by now used to the compliments the other girl said to her. Always meaning them. Always sincere.
"Let me see the picture, Byul-ah"
Byul smirked mischievously and moved her camera out of reach.
"No, sorry. You have to pay me if you want it!"
Yong whined childishly and hit Byul on the shoulder like millions of times before.
"You are so annoying Byul-ah"
Before she could say another word, Moonbyul threw herself against her side, both arms sneaking around her waist while still being careful of the expensive camera in her hand.
Byulyi pressed her face against her neck, a habit that was born over a decade before then, and Yong let her do it, weakly protesting against the surge of affection.
"You are so bothersome," Yong said, putting up a token amount of resistance.
"You are so mean, Yong." Byul whined.
Yongsun let out a sigh, faking annoyance, but let the other woman move around enough so they could look at the picture she had just taken.
Moonbyul's talent in taking pictures was undeniable but it shined so much through the photos she took of her and the kids. The love she felt for the members was clear in every shot and sometimes it took her breath away a little.
"Let me take a picture of you too," Yong said.
"Sure. Take a good one, Ddun" Byulyi giggled a bit at her own words and gave her the camera.
~~~
Later, they posted the pictures they had taken of each other on their instagram accounts, sitting next to each other on Yongsun's white couch.
They bickered and annoyed each other while looking at the comments.
After a while, Byul laid down on the couch while Yong went around the house, busying herself with chores, always needing to stay in motion.
Byulyi scrolled through her feed, one hand playing with the little charm attached to her phone. On it there was her name and the word love surrounded by colored beads.
A matching one hanged from Yongsun's own phone, left on the counter by the older woman.
"Yong, do we have kimchi?" Byul called out.
"Of course we have kimchi" Yongsun let out an exaggerated huff of disbelief.
"Unnie, we match so well."