They choose a table in the far corner of the coffee shop she and Sooyoung frequent.

Being a Tuesday night, there are not many people, the few patrons being college students too preoccupied with the glaring screens of their laptops and the music blasting through their headphones to notice them, and Seulgi’s grateful.

What she’s not grateful for is their seating arrangement, Sooyoung to her right and Joohyun sitting across from the red-headed giant, as if this was an interview and Joohyun the new employee, though Seulgi feels like the smaller of their group of three, even when it’s Joohyun the one being scrutinized, not her.

“How old are you?” Sooyoung asks, kicking off the conversation.

Seulgi has to resist the urge to smack the woman upside the head for the rudeness that flows out of , glancing warily at Joohyun while her fingers begin twisting into the blouse she’d painstakingly picked out over the course of two hours.

“Twenty-six years old.”

Sooyoung doesn’t seem fazed, unlike Seulgi when she’d first learned her age in the restaurant, remembering how she’d forgotten to chew before swallowing and had had to down her entire glass of water, embarrassment flooding through every vein in her body with Joohyun leaning over to check on her, only succeeding in flustering her with the proximity.

“You do know we’re celebrities, right? Unnie? Should I call you Unnie?” Sooyoung inquires, tilting her head with the first sign of respect since their meeting, and Seulgi breathes out a silent sigh of relief.

“If you’d like. And yes, I am aware.”

“Then is that why you want to be with Seulgi? For her fame? Or is it for her body?”

This time, Seulgi can’t bite back the sharp growl of Sooyoung’s name, glaring witheringly at her, warning the woman of her shortening fuse.

“Of course not. I wasn’t aware of who she was at first. She simply caught my eye, and I decided to talk to her. I don’t care for fame or money. As for physical appearance,” Joohyun’s eyes flit towards her, not in the way others look at her, judgemental or hungry, but softly. “I would be lying if I said I could look over something like that with Seulgi.”

Seulgi feels a thread in her blouse snap at the harsh tug of her jolting limbs, Joohyun’s words, blunt in their meaning, but elegantly sown together, ignites a flame in her blood that spreads like wildfire, shockingly aggressive and breathtaking.

“I-I’m going to - order. Be back.”

She’s moving to push back her chair, but something stops the furniture from shifting the way she wants it to, and she looks to see Sooyoung’s arm, solid against the chair’s backing, keeping her from fleeing in the opposite direction. Of course Sooyoung would see right through her, transparent as glass.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. No running away, Princess.”

Seulgi thinks she’d rather be swallowed by the ground and given a one-way ticket to hell than be where she is now, overwhelmed and embarrassed, in front of the first person she’s ever met who could trigger the kinds of reactions in her body that she’d never felt before.

Strange, never before experienced reactions that make her feel like she’s both soaring through the sky and grounded by her feet at the same time. It’s scary, but she’s not quite sure if she wants the feeling to go away.

“What’s your occupation, Unnie? You know ours already, so . . . “

It’s the first time Seulgi’s seen Joohyun’s expression so closed off, heavy metal doors locked and bolted, because despite being mysterious, she’d always felt that the certain trait of the older woman’s was just a part of her, and not something practiced and used consciously.

But then the expression fades away and smooths into familiar tranquility, and it’s as if it was never there.

“ . . . I’m an artist. Not widely famous, but I earn enough.”

Sooyoung’s elbow nudges itself between her ribs, and Seulgi doesn’t need to waste the effort of craning her neck to see what kind of expression she’s making, opting to shove her away instead, and offer a glance in Joohyun’s direction.

Joohyun’s eyes dart to meet her’s, as if she could sense an extra pair of eyes on her, and Seulgi can’t seem to look away, only freed from the intense pull of her gaze when she hears the screech of a chair being pulled back.

Sooyoung’s standing up, one hand outstretched and a grin painted across her face.

“Well, you pass my test. Take good care of Seulgi for me, Unnie. She might seem quiet, but she gets into a lot of trouble.”

Joohyun accepts the display of camaraderie with a firm shake of their hands, a polite smile of her own coloring her lips.

“I will. Is there a time I should get her home by?”

There’s a mischievous lilt in Joohyun’s voice that Seulgi almost doesn’t recognize, only used to hearing it in Sooyoung’s brass, outspoken tone, and she feels like she should be offended (though she isn’t, because it’s Joohyun).

“Nah, keep her all night if you want to, Unnie. Hit home run, too, while you’re at it. Seulgi isn’t as innocent as she looks,” the giant says, sending a flying wink in her direction.

Before she can so much as move a muscle, Sooyoung’s already striding out of the coffee shop doors, a slim hand raised in farewell, and leaving them behind to organize the chaos she’d left in her wake. Seulgi passes her hand over her face in a spectrum of emotions she can’t even begin to decipher, and peeks from minuscule gaps between slim fingers at her companion for the night.

The woman has her chin cupped in her palm, staring directly at her as if enamored, and Seulgi’s glad her hand’s in the way of Joohyun’s line of sight so it leaves pink hues unnoticed, waiting for the heat to simmer down before sliding fingers away.

“Hello there.”

Joohyun’s voice is teasing, but with no malicious intent behind it, still soft and continuously gentle, one of many traits Seulgi’s already come to appreciate in her unique character - the lack of demons behind every word and action.

“Hi,” Seulgi finally manages to say, more of a sigh of despair than anything else.

Husky chuckles rasp against her ears, warm despite the fact that she’s laughing because of her, and they curl the corners of her lips upwards involuntarily.

“Is there anywhere in particular you would like to go?”

Seulgi realizes that she’d been so preoccupied with their second date to be concerned with what their schedule would be for the evening, her tongue stuck on pause, blankly staring with nothing to say.

“That’s alright, I had something in mind, if that’s okay with you.”

Seulgi nods like her life depends on it, coaxing soft laughter from Joohyun who motions to stand, throwing the strap of her satchel over her shoulder and across her chest, offering a hand to her with a bright smile.

Seulgi takes it hesitantly, noticing the difference in the size of both the length and width of their hands, her’s being just marginally larger (she’s always had long fingers, slender and pretty to look at and soft to touch, apparently a point of interest for netizens), but when she slides her fingers across the palm of Joohyun’s hand, she can’t help but marvel at how smooth her skin is.

“Shall we?”

She lets her lead the way to the door.

~

Seulgi’s curiosity gets the better of her.

It’s hard to ignore the monochrome theme of black and white that, despite the colors being as dull and average as colors get, is so glaringly obvious: the car, her outfit, even her physical traits.

So, she finds the question escaping through her teeth before it has the chance to process.

“Are your favorite colors black and white?”

Seulgi notices Joohyun’s hands on the steering wheel tighten, her knuckles drawing an unnatural white, and the brief twitch of her jaw that signals the clenching of teeth. She wonders if she’d crossed a line.

“Could I - Would you mind if I answered that question at a later time?”

Joohyun’s voice is strained, so unlike the steady tune she’s used to hearing from the woman, and Seulgi doesn’t know what else to do but agree. It’s a basic question, nothing entirely special or odd that should evoke such a strong response, but Seulgi’s come to realize that there isn’t much about Joohyun that’s average.

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry. I promise I will tell you one day.”

“That’s fine.”

The moon resembles a fingernail, thin and sharp enough to cut at the edges, the light that shines from it pale and washed out, but it’s Seulgi’s favorite kind of moon, when it’s just the sliver of its full form, teasing its true power.

They’re bypassing several large buildings, businesses lead by the corrupt, needlessly extravagant and merely decorative, and Seulgi wonders where they’re going at this time of night. There are not many options considering it’s almost nine, and the most original locations for a date would be closed or preparing to shut their doors.

But then, they’re making a left into a road that Seulgi’s never seen before and suddenly, they’re not cruising through the bustling city with too much noise and flashing lights, but bumping down a dirt path with the sort of tranquility that matches Joohyun’s personality.

She’s awestruck by the unexpected scenery of nature, trees that are just beginning to lose their leaves of myriads of oranges, reds, and yellows, and grass that would look golden in sunlight, but shine a dull yellow beneath car headlights.

Seulgi feels like the whole situation should feel a bit creepy, riding in the car of someone she barely knows, going down a deserted path at night, completely unaware of where their destination lies. But she looks over at Joohyun, and the serene expression and drumming fingers along the steering wheel have nightmarish thoughts fleeing from the depths of her colorful imagination.

“We’re almost there. Not many people are aware of its existence, but it’s a very beautiful place.”

Joohyun’s right-hand falls away from the steering wheel to rest along the center console, the makeshift armrest supporting the length of her arm from her elbow to her wrist, leaving her hand dangling at the edge, and Seulgi can’t help but think it looks lonely.

She has the sudden urge to knit their fingers together, to reach out and make the first move between them for the first time and catch Joohyun by pleasant surprise for once.

She’s suddenly stuck wondering when the desire to touch the woman had been born, where exactly it came from, because never, in her twenty-four years of life, had the idea of making the first move in a relationship crossed her mind.

She’s lost in concerning thoughts until the car’s rolling to a stop, the sound of gravel beneath tires snapping her out of her stupor as Joohyun expertly maneuvers the vehicle to line up with a gray minivan a few meters away.

Before Seulgi has the chance to so much as breathe, Joohyun’s unbuckling her seatbelt, letting it snap back into place, and stepping out of the car without a word. Her side of the door is suddenly opening, Joohyun ducking to lean in towards her with a question written along the slopes her features, and it’s all she can do not to look away.

“Coming?”

“Y-Yes. Of course.”

Her fingers do their own little dance against the buckle of her seatbelt, somehow managing to get it off so it doesn’t constrict the lines of her ribs, and she motions to leave the car, Joohyun stepping back to let her through before shutting the door with a soft thud.

“Wear this. It gets rather chilly in this area. I wouldn’t want to get you sick.”

She only notices Joohyun’s newfound black trench coat then, and she can’t help but think that it looks a bit expensive for the average person’s salary (she would know, she works as a model, after all), and a glance at the white coat nestled between Joohyun’s fingers tells her that it’s in a similar price range.

She had noticed how lavish the car looked the first time she’d laid eyes on it, but she’d brushed it off as simply extra money spent for something that interested the older woman, nothing more than that.

Joohyun motions to drape it around her shoulders and she lets her, murmuring a quiet word of thanks.

“Shall we go?”

There’s an arm being offered to her, an uncharacteristically nervous smile to go along with it, and Seulgi finds her fingers sliding into the crook of Joohyun’s elbow, seeking human warmth beneath the cool fabric that quickly warms to her touch.

They set off in the direction of the woods where she can just make out a small trail winding in between trees, a slight breeze rustling dry leaves that send a small flurry of reds and oranges fluttering to the ground before settling again.

Only the crackling of leaves weave through the tranquil silence, and Seulgi can’t help but focus on the warmth that radiates from the Joohyun’s body, stepping marginally closer, almost subconsciously, but not quite.

“I come here often. When the city becomes too much and I feel the need to get away, I drive here and stay for awhile. You’re the first person I’ve brought with me, now that I think about it,” Joohyun muses, her head tilted back to face hues of indigo.

“Where exactly is this place?”

“You’ll see. It’s just around that bend.”

It’s a river.  

There are yellow bulbs that resemble the ones that line her favorite street, bright enough to offer sight, but not enough to blind and make her squint, tied to the trees at opposite ends so the reflection of lights in rushing water seem to dance and play.

There aren’t many people, mostly elderly couples holding hands and walking along the bank, but even then, there are only three that she can see, and one middle-aged man sitting by his lonesome on a camping chair.

When she traces the cords keeping the lights shining bright, she notices the small shack on their side of the river in the trees, clearly a power source, though made to look like a miniature cottage.

“Wow.”

When she finally manages to rip her gaze away from a storybook painting to check on Joohyun, she’s struck dumb by eyes darker than the expanse of obsidian above them, swirling with stars that Seulgi’s never seen before, and she’s helplessly caught in the weight of their gravity.

“You . . . truly are beautiful.”

Joohyun sounds breathless, and with the marginal space between them, she can feel small puffs of warm air brush against her lips, almost like the caress of a lover’s hand, and she feels herself tipping over the precipice of a cliff dressed in black and white with hair as dark as shadows and skin as pale as moonlight.

It’s all she can do not to stagger, to strive for some grasp of control over the thumping of her heart tattooing itself across her chest, and the butterflies in her stomach that she’d thought to be long dead, all the while the voice in her head whispering its darkness into her ears.

Don’t fall for it. It’s a trick. Just like everyone else before. This isn’t the first time you’ve heard that line. You’re only going to get hurt again. You’ll only be thrown away when she’s done with you. It’s seduction. Sure, it’s a lot of effort for seduction, but you never know.

“Would you like to walk?”

Seulgi’s abruptly reeled back into reality as Joohyun tugs gently forward so she falls naturally in step with her, the older woman clearing as if to expel remnants of stars Seulgi had read in pools of midnight.

It’s chillier than she’s used to, which makes sense considering the river beside them, and she’s grateful for the coat that hangs around her shoulders, providing surprising warmth despite the fact that she’s not fully wearing it.

“So, is it safe to assume that you like the place?”

Seulgi nods distractedly, eyes wandering to new details around the edges of tumbling water she’d failed to notice before. “How did you find this?”

“I just happened to stumble on it. I was driving around and I took the wrong turn.”

The lines of yellow bulbs stretch out as far as the eye can see, so the furthest lights look to belong to fireflies. It’s the most beautiful sight Seulgi’s ever laid eyes on, and it’s then that she comes to the complete realization that Joohyun clearly isn’t like anyone else she’s met before.

So it’s terrifying when Joohyun’s abruptly halting in her tracks and harshly yanking her sideways by her wrist, Seulgi yelping in surprise as she crashes heavily into the woman’s embrace and wondering how she hadn’t so much as stumbled even under the force of her pull and Seulgi’s weight.

“J-Joohyun?”

It’s only when she hears the distant, yet dreaded shutter of a camera that Seulgi realizes what’s going on, and instinctively, she buries her face into the crevice of Joohyun’s neck, her fingers curling into the coat at Joohyun’s back, her body pressing close.

Seconds tick by and Seulgi gradually becomes aware of several things at once. The first being how close her lips are to brushing against Joohyun’s porcelain skin, the tip of her nose already pressing into her neck. The second, the hands soft around her waist, so light that she almost misses their touch, but feels the extra heat that gives them away. Lastly, how much the situation reminds her of every drama she’s watched on television.

“They’re gone. I’m sorry, are you alright? I pulled you rather hard.”

Joohyun’s pulling away carefully, like Seulgi would shatter under any excess force like china, and she steps back timidly to allow space to grow between them, space that should’ve been there from the beginning.

“I’m okay. I was surprised. Thank you.”

Her thoughts and feelings tumble forward in bullet points of a beginning idea rather than polished paragraphs well thought out, and she knows it’s not enough, that she won’t understand, they never understand, but when she looks up into Joohyun’s eyes, she knows it’s okay.

And I just want you to know, that I understand you.

This time, there’s something different in the air between them, something crackling like electricity even when Joohyun’s eyes are promising tranquility, and Seulgi’s not sure who initiated what, or when they got close enough, but they’re suddenly kissing.

They’re kissing, and suddenly, nothing else matters.

~

Sooyoung won’t let her sleep.

She remembers having jumped out of her skin when the redheaded demon materialized out of nowhere as she opened the door to her apartment, still reeling from memory lips and vanilla, and thoughts that made no coherent meaning running through her head.

“You have fun, Princess?”

She’d lashed out in terror, only to have her fist caught in spindly fingers too strong for their own good, and her hand had dropped lifelessly like a rag doll's from spent energy.

Sooyoung’s lounging on her couch now, feet propped up on the coffee table, the epitome of relaxation (she’d always had a knack for making anywhere her home), while she sits on the kitchen stool.

“We kissed.”

“What?!”

Sooyoung’s at her side before she can blink, hands digging into her shoulders and attempting to shake an explanation out of her before she’s ready. Seulgi wonders if Sooyoung’s ever considered being an athlete, what with her obvious strength and the speed she’d just witnessed.

“You’re giving me a headache,” she warns, trying to wriggle out of the redhead’s titan grip in vain.

“What do you mean kissed? I mean, it’s not like you haven’t gone further than that before, but seriously? She kissed you? When I told her to hit home run, I didn’t actually mean it. And by ‘we’ you mean you kissed back, right? I thought you were over that stuff. You didn’t slap her? Shove her?”

Seulgi frowns, shoving away Sooyoung’s giant hands which come off surprisingly easy, and shoos her away so she’s not pinning her against the kitchen bar and invading her personal bubble like she belongs in it.

“How was it? Is she a good kisser? Was it hot and steamy? Or romantic? She looks like the romantic type.”

“Sooyoung! Stop talking!”

Seulgi doesn’t raise her voice often, but when she does, even Sooyoung knows to shut up and do as she says, albeit pouting like a child as she sits on the edge of the sofa with arms and legs crossed in a small show of defiance, but teasing all the same.

The silence doesn’t stretch for long, extensive limbs untangling from one another as Sooyoung leans forward conspiratorially, hands clasped together and eyes glinting with a familiar spark Seulgi knows to be wary of.

“ . . . So?”

“You’re serious?”

“How was it? You can’t not tell me.”

It had been beyond anything she’d ever experienced. Soft, amazingly plush lips and the gentlest of fingers along the line of her jaw and against the slope of her neck, while the intoxicating scent of vanilla sent her into a galaxy of her own. But it had been the way Joohyun moved against her, steady and solid beneath silky touches that truly grounded her.

“It was . . . good.”

Sooyoung looks ready to attack her, rolling eyes saying all that needs to be said.

“Why do I even try with you?”

“Why are you in my apartment?”

She moves towards her bedroom, grabbing a towel out of the cabinet before throwing a glance over her shoulder.

“You’d better be gone by the time I’m out.”

“Why don’t I just join you instead? I could use a shower.”

“Out.”

~

Their next shoot is in the middle of a park.

She’s paired up with Joy this time, donning outfits fit for hikes and early morning jogs, the redhead’s subject for teasing being ‘Sure you won’t faint? Shall I carry you, Grandmother?’, and taking off at long-legged sprints before Seulgi can so much as breathe in to reprimand her.

There are people gathering to watch, drawn by flashing reflectors and the clicking of cameras, but it’s not a surprise, and Seulgi focuses on the work at hand, glad that for once she’s not partnered with some greasy male trying to get a feel out of her.

“Should I ask for a step stool? I’m not sure you’ll make it in the cuts, Princess,” Sooyoung says through her million-watt smile.

She’s been bombarding her with snide comments since they’d arrived and hadn’t stopped even through the duration of the photo shoot, a feat considering their director of the day is a picky man who strives for nothing short of perfection at all times.

It’s all Seulgi can do not to lash out with a flying fist to Joy’s perfect teeth and maintain a steady smile instead. She has a soft spot for Sooyoung, not Joy, and she can use that as an excuse if she wants to.

“No way, Aphrodite, ten o’clock.”

“What?!”

The shout escapes her before she knows it, and the crew members and spectators jump in surprise, all eyes swiveling to rest on her, and Seulgi coughs to lessen the pressure suddenly building up in layers in her chest at the attention.

“Unnie isn’t feeling well today, I’m sorry. Can we take a short break, director?”

Joy’s quick to cover up, her second persona as top model oozing charisma that Seulgi knows gets the redhead what she wants whenever she wants, and the director mutters a word of agreement, calling out for a ten-minute break.

“Did you call her over so you can show off?”

“No.”

“Then what’s she doing here at five in the morning?”

Joohyun’s standing exactly where Sooyoung said she’d be, wearing a one-size-too-big, yet fashionable black and white sweater and fitting white pants, her signature brown satchel thrown across her chest and hands nestled in her pockets, the epitome of peace beyond people wrestling for a photo to take of them and brag about.

Locks of black are pulled back into a high ponytail, sharpening the edge of her nose and the lines of her jaw, revealing the curve of a smile along her lips, and Seulgi doesn’t think she can possibly get any more beautiful than that.

“Okay, that’s enough ogling for a lifetime. She looks like she’s here to stay. Back to work, Princess, you can meet your one true love later.”

It takes everything in her not to allow her eyes to drift towards Joohyun after every shutter of the camera, especially since she’s so well-versed in poses that are simple muscle memory and doesn’t require thought.

It feels like a decade before the shooting is finally done, choruses of ‘good work’ bouncing between crew members as they pack up and move towards waiting vans, leaving them behind after Sooyoung mentions something about wanting to take a walk.

She’s just about to make her way to Joohyun when a crowd of people surround them, extending pens and paper and begging for signatures that she can’t deny, vaguely listening to Joy making small talk with the fans and Seulgi distractedly murmuring thanks to those who offer her compliments while she cranes her neck to catch a glimpse of Joohyun.

There’s vanilla wafting into her senses, familiarly pale fingers that are nearly identical in color to the piece of blank paper between them, and Seulgi looks up to a picture of the one person she’d been looking for through the herd of those that don’t matter.

“Could I get a signature, too? I’m a big fan.”

~

A/N: There are several hints here and there throughout the story, I'm not sure if you've caught them yet, but it'll all come together later on. I'm thankful for those who leave behind comments and upvotes, it warms my heart to hear that you're enjoying my work, and I hope you'll stick around till the end. Until next time!