Seungwan hates the light.

She prefers submerging herself in the dark of her room with thick curtains blocking the sunlight. Prefers her dresses in colors of black than white. Prefers seeing the shadows than the actual figures. She prefers the dark, the silence that comes with it, because then she can hear her thoughts, hear her own voice in her head clearly than the voices around her.

Seungwan hates the light, the flash of sudden white that stops on her and she’s suddenly at the center of everyone’s attention, but it doesn’t mean that Wendy hates it.

Wendy, when up on stage, ravishes it, basking in it like she is born to be under it. Born to be under the lights and shine brighter than it. Interestingly, her lines on their debut song match her perfectly.

(Shine on me.

Let it shine on me.

Shine on me.

Let it shine.)

Wendy hears the voices around her and takes it in, all the good and bad, with that signature face-crinkling smile of hers, without letting Seungwan’s screams at the back of her mind affecting her. Wendy loves the light and lives in it; the spotlight where she sings and dances, her only dream since she was five.

That’s where Wendy and Seungwan diverge. Wendy loves the light while Seungwan hates it.

“Seungwan.”

But in the midst of being Wendy, in the midst of stage lights and loud voices, the hand that intertwines with hers makes Wendy slightly slip, that soft velvety voice calling in her ear lets Seungwan stand on the same stage with Wendy.

At first, it baffles Wendy how a slight touch of skin, how a low whisper of her name, can make the two opposite personas enter a truce. But she waves it off with the reason of Irene being the leader and someone older than her. She is a respectful child after all, that’s all there is to it.

Wendy, she’s still on stage with all the fans looking and the lights blaring, silently sighs, curling her hand tight with Irene’s. She lets the older girl take it to her back and uses the other hand to cup their knotted ones.

(Wendy thinks Irene wants to be secretive, preferring to hide their interwoven hands, but the older forgets that there are also fans at the back. Or maybe Irene doesn’t care and just does what she wants. For some reasons, the leader always gets what she wants. But with collateral damage, like people falling in love and their hearts breaking after. Not her though, Not Wendy, she tells herself.)

The light shifts to the other artists, to the other part of the stage, and Seungwan hums back to Joohyun. The latter leans in and buries her head to Seungwan’s hair for a second. Seungwan bites the smile that was threatening to curl her lips but let the amusement dance in her eyes at the touchy and whiny Joohyun.

“I’m cold.”

And Seungwan’s thumb immediately draws circles on the back of Joohyun’s hand. The latter sighs in contentment before shifting.

“Oh, the fans are calling you.”

And Wendy’s back in a split second, overtaking Seungwan, as she turns her head back to the familiar strangers holding multiple light sticks, calling for their attention. Wendy smiles, her hand still on Irene’s hold, at them. The fans roar when Yeri plays with them and she, with Irene, smiles a little bit more seeing the maknae’s smile. It’s a small smile compared to Yeri’s bright squirtle grin but it relieves the unnies at the sight. The dull brightness on the maknae’s face a hundred times better than the unstopping tears and aching sobs.

Wendy gives a little wave at the calling fans and then the staffs cues them to go to the center.

They go to the front, to the most center, just a step back from the MCs. Their position in the stage a lurid testament of the three successful comebacks within one year.

The clock strikes twelve, confetti pops with a loud bang, “HAPPY NEW YEAR!”, and Joy and Seulgi pulls them in a group hug. They jump and twirl in their small circle and comfort the crying maknae who begins the year with an “I’m sorry for being unhappy.” and immediately follows up with “Thank you, for being here unnies.”

It melts all the unnies’ hearts and they tighten their circle, whispering “We’re all in this together.” and “Let’s continue working hard together this year.” Together. The word seems too overused but they won’t have it any other way.

Wendy feels a hand trail down her arm and like second nature, she opens her palm, fingers flexing and in a second fingers slip through the gaps and their hands automatically curl together, clasping unto each other.

“Happy New Year, Wan-ah.”

And when the lights turn off, even when on stage, Seungwan appeared, Wendy giving way, and she whispers back to a smile so bright, it illuminates in the dark. Seungwan hates the light but she doesn’t dislike how bright the world seems when Joohyun smiles at her.

Maybe they can compromise after all. Seungwan can not hate light if Irene’s in the equation and Wendy may come to like the dark if it means seeing Joohyun give her that private smile that comes out only when the lights come off.

“Happy New Year, Unnie.”

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Author’s Note:

And there you have it! A measly 896-word one-shot for my new OTP.

I’m new to this ship, only since the Red Flavor era, but I can ultimately say that it’s because of these two scandalous flirts that I’ve risen and came back from the dead. I just can’t not write about these two precious softies and also no matter what most of the shippers say that they’re the next TaeNy, I see JeTi in them. With their moments that usually comes (but not for this year, they’re finally caught on tape!) from behind-the-scenes to the heart-warming skinships to their magnetic hands, they just scream JeTi for me. Idk if it’s because my ultimate OTP is JeTi but the vibe that I got from the two’s moments just melts me so damn much every time and I only melt until I become goo with JeTi. Idk. Whatever. Haha.

Anyways, let this ship continue to sail high! Last year it was like they were feeding us with tons of moments. I hope WenRene will also be prosperous that will burst in feathers and rainbows this year.

Lots of love,

IcyMushroom09