04- Rhythm

She runs her hands along the rough expanse splashed with colors that once looked harmonious, stopping at the gray streak before sighing. She thinks she can still fix it, given just the right amount of paint, she knows she can.

“Seulcub~~~ Are you ready?” her Yuri unnie called from downstairs, she hurriedly grab her bag beside her bed and ran out of her room.

“Yes, unnie! Let’s go~”

“Alright, alright, just give me a sec.” Yuri smiled at her, going to get the keys and locking their door while she sped off to their car, already buckling her seatbelt on with Yuri laughing at her excitement.

They were driving towards their favorite ice cream shop where they’ll pick up Jessica and Wendy for a fun day in the amusement park and she was so excited thinking about how nice it is to have her bestfriend--crush(?)--all by herself after a month and a half of Wendy having no time and attention to spare for her---which is really irking her to no end. Before everything, the smaller one’s attention was always hers and now-- she shook her head and pulled out her phone, quickly sending a message to her best friend.

She had told her sister to hurry up after receiving the reply from Wendy that they were on their way to their meet up place which in turned earned her some teasing and her Yuri unnie asking her if she likes Wendy in which she answered with “She’s my friend, of course I like her!” She heard some snickering from her sister before they were light heartedly quiet again until they got to the front of the ice cream shop where the girls were waiting for them.

There’s this little twist in her chest as she saw a familiar figure standing beside her best friend as the car stopped in front of the three girls waiting. She sighed, stepping out of the car to move to the back and give way to Jessica.

“Hi, Seulbear~ I hope you don’t mind.. I invited Irene unnie.. she told me that she wanted to go to the amusement park too.” Wendy looked up at her, eyes wide, innocent, pleading, cute, and adorable and she can never say no to her best friend anyway so she just nodded her head.

“Hop in.” She motioned for her two friends to go in first before slipping in herself. She helped Wendy, who was sitting in the middle, with her seatbelt while Irene buckled herself up at the other end.

“Thanks, Seul.” Wendy smiled and she meekly nodded before doing her own and looking out the window, staying quiet as she stared at the passing shops and scenery, tuning out everyone as she observed the way the colors around her blur together.

“We should ride the roller coaster first!” Wendy exclaimed happily.

“No, let’s save that for last! We should do the arcade first~” She chimed in, glancing at the stalls a few feet away from them with cute hanging stuffed toys.

“I want to ride the teacups first.” Jessica mumbled and suddenly all of them were spewing words and suggestions on what each of them wants. A clap from her Yuri unnie had gotten their attention and made them quiet down. All eyes were on her sister as the older one instructed for them to just split up into groups.

“We’ll meet later here at lunch time okay?” They all nodded their heads.

“Irene unnie, what do you want to do first?” Wendy asked, face flushing in excitement.

“I’d like to go to the arcade first.”

“Okay, then, to the arcades we go!~” Wendy exclaimed and Seulgi tried to stop the scoff forming in . Didn’t she just say that she wanted to do the arcade first while her best friend had wanted to do the rides first. And now, just because Irene unnie had said that she wanted to do arcades, her best friend had suddenly jumped agendas.  She blinked, letting go of that feeling of annoyance before she hugged her sister goodbye and skipped towards Wendy who was already  dragging Irene towards the arcades.

“Which one do you want to play first?” She asked, looking around, eyes wide with excitement at all the bright lights and games surrounding them before Wendy squealed and tugged on her shirt, pointing at one of the stalls.

“Look at that! Look at that! Look at that!” her friend squealed as she tried to squint her eyes at what she was pointing at.

“I think she’s pointing at the bear, Seulgi.” Irene smiled at her.

“Yes! It looks like you! C’mon!!!” Wendy pulled her shirt instantly dragging her towards the stall where there was in fact a big white teddy bear, almost half the size of the younger one, sitting at a chair surrounded with other smaller stuffed toys.

“Hello, how do--Sejeong?” Irene asked, looking rather taken aback at the familiar face of their classmate.

“Irene?” Their classmate looked taken aback as well. She smiled and waved at Sejeong. “Seulgi? Wendy?”

“You work here?” she asked and Sejeong beamed.

“Yeap! Nayoung works at the rides section~ So do you girls want to play?”

“Yes! How do we win that teddy bear? The one that looks like Seulgi!” Wendy asked excitedly.

“You see those moving rubber ducks? You have to take them down using this water gun. If you hit 10, you win the bear~” Sejeong finished explaining, giving them her signature smile that makes you want to smile back and Seulgi did. A nudge on her ribs made her look beside her and had quickly locked gazes with her best friend and it’s like every color in and between the rainbow is suddenly splashed haphazardly inside her, coating her in every shade of whatever it is she’s feeling for Wendy. Underneath all the shades of colors bursting in her, another tiny glimmer started shining, connecting to the others and making another constellation. Wendy squinted at her before poking her tummy.

“Stop smiling so much.”

“But you like it when I smile.”

“Yeah, but not to other people.”

“Sejeong’s our classmate thou--” a glare so piercing it ran down through her bones had her last words swallowed up in fear.

“I’ll win you that bear.”

“You don’t have to….” another glare before they heard giggling from beside them and both of them turned their heads to see Sejeong and Irene talking and grinning while glancing back at them. Wendy huffed, tugging on Irene’s wrist.

“Unnie, why are you laughing?”

“Oh, we were just talking about how Seulgi doesn’t need a bear since she’s already one!~” Irene explained, grinning at her.

“Yes, that cute bear ears of yours” Sejeong pointed to her ears then back at herself, pulling it a bit and grinning happily which she grinned back, her features turning bear like and Sejeong letting out a cute squeal. She hears Wendy huff beside her before slapping money on the table.

“Let’s start.” she had never seen her Wendy being...uhm…..glaring at someone else, she had to look questioningly at Irene while her best friend had started gunning down the rubber ducks a bit too violently if that’s even possible.

“Unnie, did I do something to make Wendy…. angry?” she whispered-asked and Irene had just grinned at her before shaking her head.

“Don’t worry about it, Seul~ Wendy’s probably thinking that those rubber duckies are evil.”

“....but rubber duckies aren’t evil...” she whispered as she saw the serious expression of her best friend, face filled with concentration while their classmate Sejeong was eyesmiling and grinning at her innocently. The buzzer rang and Wendy only got 7 ducks, she huffed some more before slapping more money at the table.

“Again!”

“We should buy her some tea...”

“You really like her, don’t you?”

“W-wha-what?” She stuttered, stepping back in shock as she looked at Irene with wide eyes and an oncoming blush. Irene smiled, eyes trained to the intense gunning of the rubber ducks, while she tried to compose herself from the unexpected question.

“It’s alright. Don’t worry, everything will be fine.” the older one winked before hearing another groan from Wendy who had once again lost and was already on her way to looking like she’s about to cry.

“Thanks.” was all she can say as she looked at her best friend who was now glaring at the ducks grudgingly

“Hey, Seul~ Want to try?” Sejeong called out, nonexistent eyes and stunning smile still in place and she grinned back before nodding and handing her classmate some bills. “10 ducks to win, okay?”

“10 ducks to win, got it~” she smiled one last time before focusing on the ducks. A sudden blast of water from the gun and the small ring of the timer was her cue to start. It wasn’t really as hard as she thought it would be. The strategy is to at least keep the water on one duck for 3 seconds at most until the duck falls off, by the time the buzzer that says game over was done, she was well on her way to killing 15 ducks.

“Yay!~~ You won!~Here’s the bear~~” Sejeong handed her the huge white plush before squealing, “You and the bear could pass as twins!”

“Thanks!” She exclaimed enthusiastically before turning to back to her friends proudly. She saw Wendy pouting while Irene gave her a two thumbs up. She walked on over and handed Wendy the big plush. “Here.”

“...........” her best friend looked shock as she pushed the bear plush for her to hold.

“It’s for you.”

“Why? You won it!”

“I did but I’m already a bear so I don’t need another bear. Besides, you said it looks like me~ So you can keep it and have a seulbear of your own~” she grinned as Wendy took hold of the giant teddy bear before cocking her head to the side.

“But you’re already my seulbear to begin with.”

“Well now you’ll have another one for when we can’t talk or see each other~” Wendy looked like she’s contemplating the things she just said before nodding her head happily and thanking her, eyes filled with everything good in the world and there and then Seulgi realized that her heart wasn’t hers anymore.

They were on their way to their 5th arcade game with Irene happily munching on her cotton candy prize that she won on that gun shooting game that made Seulgi swore to always be on Irene’s good side because apparently even though the oldest looks so fragile and can’t even kill an ant type of person, she was a sharpshooter--taken down all the cans in that game in less than a minute.

They stood in front of the last arcade game for the morning, watching Wendy throw rings over milk bottles while hugging the huge bear on her side with one arm. She smiled, observing the look of concentration from her best friend’s face, trying to at least win a prize.

Irene offered her some cotton candy but she declined, knowing that the older one can finish that all by herself.

“Suit yourself~” the girl had grinned before eating the remaining of her cotton candy in one bite and finishing with a satisfied “UhmmHmm~”. She laughed at the oldest the same time Wendy came tumbling in front of them, face flushed in excitement as Seulgi felt stars and constellations move from within her.

“Unnie!! Here!~” Wendy shoved an olaf stuffed toy towards a wide-eyed Irene.

“What--”

“I won it for you!~ It’s Olaf! You said, I look like him, right?” The smaller one giggled and she felt the beginnings of something dark from inside her that she brushed away quickly. She saw Irene glancing at her then looking back at Wendy who still wore that excitement in her face.

“Take it, unnie.” She mumbled, “Wendy won it for you.” She watched as Irene’s eyebrows scrunched up before relaxing and receiving the Olaf plush with a smile. Wendy’s grin can power up the whole of Korea in her opinion and she’d like to keep it like that even if it’s opening up lightless things inside her.

“Let’s go for lunch.”

“What do you want to eat, unnie?” Wendy asked, clinging on Irene’s arms as she cajoled the older one to start walking, leaving Seulgi a step behind them.

It was a bit crowded in the amusement park food court, Irene had told the two to order their food while she finds a good place to sit, already carrying the big plush bear and Olaf in her arms. Seulgi felt Wendy feeling torn over leaving the older one and going with her to buy food--she is going to carry all five of their orders. This is the time she wishes she was some sort of Hindu god with tons of arms so that she can tell her best friend to go with Irene instead of helping her because she knows it would put a smile on Wendy’s face. She sighed.

“C’mon, Wen, let’s be fast so we can go back to Irene unnie quickly.” There was a fleeting look from her best friend’s eyes before Wendy nodded her head and pulled her towards the array of food.

“It’s safe for everyone if we just choose burgers. Since Auntie Sica doesn’t like specific types of food and Irene unnie can’t eat chicken.” Wendy suggested, already lining up on the burger stand. They finished ordering their lunch and was on their way back to the eldest who had texted them that she’s by the mini souvenir store when Wendy decided to speak up again, “Hey, Seul, thanks.”

“....For?” Wendy shrugged,

“For understanding.” her best friend didn’t need to say anything more because she knows--the simplest of movements, the saying of just one word, their simple eye contact--and it’s like they can read each other, moving and connecting rhythmically.

Her Yuri unnie along with Jessica arrived a few minutes after they had settled down on their table. The brown-haired girl had immediately noticed the white bear that Seulgi had won for Wendy and the Olaf plush that the latter gave to Irene. They started eating, famished from the morning’s activity around the amusement park, and before they even realize it, they were parting ways once again with her, Wendy, and Irene wanting to do the rides now while her sister and Jessica wanting to try the arcades. Her Yuri unnie had brought the plush toys back to their car for them so that they could enjoy the rides with no hindrance.

They had ridden almost all the rides possible--the roller coaster twice! With Irene holding on to her for dear life, much to Wendy’s disapproval. She just knows how her best friend wants for Irene to sit and cling with her instead but she can’t do anything about it--Irene chose to sit with her on the ride.

It was a splash of blue along with orange painting the skies as the day drifted off into late afternoon. She, along with her friends, had exerted so much energy into screaming and laughing that when they had settled down, they decided to finally meet up with the older ones to ride the ferris wheel in hopes to see the oncoming sunset. Her sister and Jessica were already in line when they arrived and they continued to chat on happily until it was Yuri and Jessica’s turn.

Seulgi then noticed, at the point where her sister had smiled at Jessica while climbing into the first carriage, that there was something different in the way her sister looked at the smaller girl, the way her sister had held on to Jessica’s hands so gently and yet so firm. It was then she realized that her sister’s world had been painted another color and she smiled at that thought.

The second carriage stopped in front of them and they were about to climb in when the conductor had stopped them.

“Only two people per carriage, I’m sorry.” The girl said, smiling apologetically at them. The three of them looked at each other before Irene smiled.

“You and Wendy go ahead, I’ll ride the next one alone~”

“But, unnie--” Wendy interjected, holding on to Irene’s wrists before looking at Seulgi, eyes swirling with unsaid plea.

“You and Wendy go, unnie. I’ll ride the next one.”

“But, Seul--” before the oldest could even retaliate, Wendy had already squealed in delight as she gently ushered Irene inside the carriage and had waved back at her, grinning like she just won the lottery. The lightless matter throbbed.

She didn’t ride the ferris wheel.

A/N: Hello, sorry I went on hiatus without telling you all...I'm still on hiatus tbh but I've been posting oneshots lol. So here's the new chapter for DotS~