Here's chap 11! Enjoy :) 

He thought about it long and hard, the way he could win her heart over. Maybe with the continuous image of being supportive and cool would be enough just to get her to look at him but it was not the same. Her eyes didn’t light up like how she looked at her. He noticed it way too many times. There was something between the two he couldn’t compete with and he was jealous, furious even that she didn’t feel the same for him not even in the slightest regard.

Their pretend marriage was perfect, he actually pictured himself spending his life with her, being there for her and with her and she doing the same for him. But he was never even considered in the first place.

He was close to a few celebrities and one of them being Seulgi. There came a point where he overheard the girl gushing over the rapper and a few more from other younger idols who would squeal at the sight of Moonbyul. He should have noticed something the day they bumped into Seulgi and Moonbyul during one of their recordings. But his attention was preoccupied in making his on-screen wife fall for him for real.

“Alright that’s it for the day. Thank you everyone for working so hard!!”

That was it. That was the final call for the show, the end of something so blissfully happy. They exchanged their congratulations for making it through all the show period and their words of gratitude. The whole lot of them headed to a bbq restaurant to celebrate as per tradition. Eric sat next to Solar naturally who was busy chatting away with her manager and few other crew members from the show.

“I wish you all the luck for your upcoming comeback Yongsun-shi” the WGM producer, raised his soju glass to her.

“Thank you” she smiled thankfully. “Thank you for taking of me throughout the show”

Her smile, he never wanted to stop seeing her smile.

*

Moonbyul’s insides were wrecked. Her heart felt like it was going to jump out from her chest. Her palms were sweaty and she felt like she was going to pass out any moment. But the van drove up to the familiar looking building and soon after the doors slid open.

The day had come to shoot their second last episode and it was with the entire group of Red Velvet. She remembered the uncomfortable conversation she had with Irene the other day and shivered in slight fear. 

“Alright!!” the PD called out. “We’ll start shooting as Moonbyul gets out of the van”

She took a deep breath and got out of the van with a smile plastered on her face. It started out naturally with the occasional happy greeting and the introduction of what is going to happen. With every step she took, she felt as if she was talking closer to her death.

She rang the doorbell and the first one to appear was Irene. The girl had a smile on her face as the camera crew and the PD were right behind Moonbyul. She welcomed them into the apartment where the other members were gathered in the living room area.

Everything seemed just as normal. Wendy greeted her with a hug, the rest bowed to her and smiled. Seulgi walked over and stood next to her.

“We’ve been waiting for you” the younger girl turned and smiled at her.

The programme quickly picked up as they sat around in the living room, acting as naturally as possible. Moonbyul avoided eye contacts with Wendy and Irene on most parts and interacted more with the others seeing as they didn’t give her any deathly vibes.

“So you’re in the middle of recording of a new album…?” asked Yeri.

“Yeap. We’re just starting so there’s not really much progress….” replied Moonbyul.

“You guys must be really busy these days. Seulgi complains she hardly sees you anymore…” interrupted Wendy.

“Wendy…” Seulgi eyed her, internally begging her to stop.

“Well…kinda…” said Moonbyul.

“So what’s the album about unnie…?” Joy took over the conversation, not sure what’s going on between Seulgi and Wendy.

“I can’t really say much” Moonbyul laughed nervously. 

Their segment went on with what the PD had planned and everyone participated as per told. Moonbyul tried her best but evading Irene and Wendy’s ever watchful eyes was making her regret her decisions even more. She wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole.

“Oh yeah unnie…is Solar unnie’s WGM show over…?” asked Yeri, looking up towards her.

“Y-yeah…she just finished it…” replied Moonbyul, then glancing over to Seulgi’s slightly unhappy face.

“I liked the two them together they looked so cute” commented Joy.

“Yeah they do” agreed Seulgi a little too forcefully. “Do you think Eric-shi might ask her out…? You guys have no dating ban right…?”

There it was. Seulgi had caught her in a trap. Everyone’s attention was turned to her, anticipating her answer. Considering how she said once on the show that they know how each other feel just by looking, the people waiting on her assumed that Solar had shared her thoughts with Moonbyul regarding Eric.

“I…don’t really know…” she mumbled.

“Ehh…” Yeri poked at her. “Come on unnie, give us a little something”

“Maybe we should ask Yongsun unnie when she’s around” Seulgi finally said.

*

Solar was busy focusing on hitting the correct notes to be concerned by her phone’s notifications. The album was now her main priority and the only thing she wanted to focus on. While practicing and highlighting the points she needed to work on, Hwasa barged in with shock written all over her face. She quickly grabbed her leader by the hand and led her to the common area where the televisions were.

On the screen was Eric Nam being interviewed by a mc on a gossip talk show, Solar listened into the conversation the two were currently having and it seemed like the mc was profusely blushing.

“So you admit that you did have some sort of attraction towards her…?”

“Of course. Solar’s a very attractive and wonderful person. She sings great, her personality is energetic. Anyone would develop a crush on her”

“So given the chance, would you ask Solar-shi to go out with you…?”

“I don’t see why not. Her company doesn’t have a dating ban and I think we got along great in the show”

“Your chemistry was undeniable. Do you think she would have felt the same way for you…?”

“I hope she does. That’s why I’m doing this interview right now”

“Oh so this is a confession towards Solar right now?”

“Y-yeah I guess so”

Solar’s mouth hung open as Hwasa reached for the tv and switched it off. The people that were there looked to Solar who was still in shock, now sitting down at one of the benches.

“Unnie…” Hwasa sat down next to her. “What’s going on…?”

“B-but…he said…” Solar tried to find words to form.

“You told him about Moonbyul unnie…?” asked Hwasa.

Solar nodded and Hwasa sighed. “Unnie…what were you thinking…?”

She didn’t understand. Both she and Eric came to an understanding that Solar was not interested in pursuing any form of relationship with him other than close friendship. She didn’t know why he would go ahead and do such a thing.

“Let’s go into one of the practice room unnie…there are too many ears here…” said Hwasa, looking around. 

*

Moonbyul let out a big sigh in the bathroom. She needed to get away from everyone’s attention and calm her mind. They weren’t letting her rest with the constant subtle questions that involved Solar and Seulgi kept giving her looks she couldn’t comprehend.

She was however thankful that the PD and the camera crew had left, no more cameras were on her and that provided slight comfort. Hearing a knock on the door, Moonbyul looked up only to see Seulgi barging in.

“Seulgi!!” she almost shouted but the girl placed a hand on .

“You’ll let everyone know I’m in here with you” she said lowly. “What’s taking you so long…?”

“I uh…my head kinda hurts…so…” Moonbyul tried to come up with an excuse.

“I’m sorry about Wendy. She didn’t mean to ask you those things…I hope you’re not uncomfortable with staying the night…”

“About that…Seulgi…I think it’s best if I don’t…”

“But it’s part of the show. What would the PD think…?”

“I know… but…”

“You can’t wait to go back to her”

“That’s not the point”

“That’s exactly the point! Unnie….we’re not over yet. How do you think it’ll make me feel if my girlfriend is looking forward to spending time with another girl?”

“We need to talk about that…”

“What…?” 

“I can’t be what you want me to be. I can’t choose you”

“But that night…”

“Was something I shouldn’t have done, I’m sorry Seulgi. I think it’s best if we end it here”

“That’s not good enough for me”

“Seulgi”

“I like you. I like you a whole lot to be honest with you about how I feel for you. She was scared and I’m not. So I’m not giving up on what we have. I know we can work this out unnie…”

“Seulgi. This isn’t working out for both of us. I should have been honest with you then and I’m doing it with you right now. I don’t think we can continue on with this”

“So that’s it…? You’re not going to even give me a chance…?”

Moonbyul didn’t reply but looked away from her. She couldn’t bear to look at the girl’s face. To her surprise, Seulgi placed her hand on her face and turned it towards her. With a brave look on her face, she leaned up and kissed Moonbyul on the lips.

“If you didn’t push me away. What you said means nothing”

Seulgi turned and left a speechless Moonbyul in the bathroom.

*

“You told him that the person you liked was Byulyi unnie…?”

“He figured it out himself…”

“Then why would he…?” 

“He asked me to go out with him for real. I told him I was flattered but I just didn’t feel it” 

“He didn’t say anything else to you…?”

“N-no…he said I’ll always remain as his friend”

“What are you going to do unnie…? They’ll be asking you about this for sure”

“I’ll just tell them that I don’t think the same way…”

“And if he says something else….?”

“He won’t do that. I trust him…”

“You sure…?”

“Yeah…”

“If he decides to do something I don’t like unnie, I’m going to beat his ”

She didn’t like how things were complicated right now. With the preparation of the album and her situation with Moonbyul, Solar really didn’t want to add more things onto her plate.

*

He expected her call, if anything he was waiting for her call. He wanted to tell her that he deserved the chance at making her happy, at giving her a normal relationship where there’d be less complication and easier for her to love. He wanted to be everything Moonbyul couldn’t be.

Her name flashed across his hand phone screen and he gladly answered it. To his surprise, her voice was rather calm.

“I won’t ask why you did it Eric shi. But I’ll have you know that my feelings for Byul won’t change. I thought you had understand what I mean when we met that day”

“I deserve a shot at making you happy. I mean you seemed genuinely happy when we were together. Don’t tell me it was for the sake of the show Yongsun. I know you felt something”

“For a time maybe I did. But it was before I realised that the person I ever liked was standing beside me all these while. I’m sorry Eric, I truly am”

“No you’re not! You gave me the signs, we connected. All those late night texts, those calls…surely they would have mean something to you…?”

“They did. During the time we spent together….you meant something to me. I just couldn’t put a word to describe what it was. But now I am being as honest as I can be. My feelings for you…? They were built on uncertainty, on some hopeful chance that I might actually feel the same and neglect the ones that I truly felt”

“You pretended to fall for me…?”

“I didn’t. I did fall for you but I wasn’t in love with you like I thought I was”

“This isn’t right Yongsun. This isn’t right what you’re doing to me”

“I know it isn’t and I apologise for hurting your feelings”

“I won’t accept this call as your voice of reason Kim Yongsun. I like you and I will continue to like you, I refuse to think that we can’t work this out”

She hung up the call on him, refusing to hear anything more. Eric sat in his chair, clutching his fist tightly as he listened to the lingering sound of the dead line on his phone.

*

Moonbyul was sitting in the recording studio with the producer going through some of the lyric changes they’ve made to the song. All the troubles, all the complications in her life, she let them dissipate in the background whilst she worked for the thing that she had worked hard for to do. Moonbyul’s reserves of creativity flowed through like running tap water as she suggested her opinions to the producer who complimented her on her genius contributions. 

“I think we’ll take a ten minute break from here. I need a drag”

“Yeah sure. Take your time”

“Take it easy with the work Byul, we still have time you know”

“I will”

She played the music again and hummed to the melody while bobbing her head. She tapped her fingers subconsciously to the beat without realising that she had company. The older girl who had joined her, sneaked up from behind, standing close to where she was sitting. She lowered herself next to Moonbyul’s ear and gave it a gentle blow.

Byul yelped to her feet before turning to see who it was. Solar gave her a smile before sitting down then patting the empty space next to her.

“Unnie…”

It was the first in a quite long while since the two had shared some alone time together. With all the things that has happened in the past few months Solar and Moonbyul spent time away from each other as much as possible to resolve issues of their own.

“You sounded pretty good in there…”

“Thanks…”

“I watched your episode…”

“Y…you did…?”

“Yeah…..”

Awkwardness was never a thing between the two of them. They have shared literally everything that is personal with each other. But somehow it felt like they were meeting for the first time again. Moonbyul ran her fingers through her hair while Solar fidgeted uncomfortable where she sat.

“There’s…something I need to tell you…”

Byul turned to her, eager yet anxious to hear what she wanted to say.

“I…I told Eric. That I liked you”

“You did what…?”

“I told Eric that person I liked was you. And that I wanted to be with you”

“Oh….”

“I’m serious Byul. I don’t think I can spend another moment without you around. You don’t how hard this is for me”

Solar sat there pouting with her hands clasped together on her lap. Her heart was hammering against her chest and she dared not look up to see the girl’s face. She felt Byul’s hand over hers and the girl held it tightly.

“I’m sorry”

“Hmm…?”

“I’m sorry I made a mess of things”

“It’s both our faults”

They laughed for a moment. Byul gazed into Solar’s eyes and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears. Her heart swelled with emotions just looking at the one person that she so dearly cared about. The older girl smiled back at her and held onto her hand tightly.

Byul’s hand moved down to caress her face gently, her fingers then traced Solar’s bottom lip. Eyes fixed on the older girl’s lips, it was Solar who then took the lead and leaned into her. Their kiss was slow and gentle but eventually progressed to a more emotional level. All the pent up feelings, all the things they had been holding back came like a wave crashing down.