Choreographer!Seulgi and Idol!Irene AU

All it takes is a single clap of Seulgi’s hands for her to capture the practice room’s attention, Irene included.

Irene’s the only idol in the room, the so-called “most beautiful female idol of her generation,” but even she can’t help but stare in awe as Seulgi beams at the lot of them – herself and her dance team – with her eyes crinkling up into two beautiful crescent moons. The younger girl straightens her previously lax posture, pushing back sweaty strands of hair with purpose, grinning.

“So today’s our last day of practice,” Seulgi starts, her voice resonating clear throughout the practice room, and she props herself on one hip to survey the group. “And I just wanted to say a few things before the big day arrives in two days. First, as the choreographer and leader of the dance team, I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of your hard work; for all of your hours spent dedicated to perfecting every single motion. You guys inspire me! I know I’m not the most senior out of everyone, but I’m so incredibly humbled to be working with all of you.”

The dancer pauses for a moment as her coworkers cheer and hoot at her words. Irene throws her head back and laughs at the way a wolf-whistle rings, cutting through the air with purpose, laughs at the way Seulgi’s face turns the most delightful shade of red.

Cute.

“Yeah…” Seulgi trails off in adorable embarrassment, coughing into her fist to hide her endearing awkwardness. Irene watches in expectation, sticking out her tongue playfully as Seulgi forces herself to meet the idol’s amused stare. “And finally, to Miss Irene.

“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the honor of choreographing for your solo debut,” Seulgi says breathlessly, and it’s like everyone else has disappeared from the room as Irene holds Seulgi’s gaze. “You’re the kindest, most beautiful, most inspirational person I’ve ever met.”

And then that beaming smile is back on Seulgi’s face, and Irene’s breath hitches.

“I can’t wait to watch you make history!”

Irene’s vision blurs as tears start to cloud her sight, and her bottom lip trembles in emotion. The next moment, she’s launching herself off the wooden dance practice floor, only to be caught in her backup dancer’s toned arms a second later. She wrings her arms around Seulgi’s neck, hiding her face in the crook of the younger girl’s neck.

“Thank you,” Irene murmurs, feeling Seulgi shudder at the way her lips brush across skin. Behind them, the other dancers only get louder in their cheering. “Thank you for agreeing. Thank you for coming back to this place. Thank you for standing by me.”

And she can’t see Seulgi’s smile, but she can feel it— feel the warmth just radiating off of this beautiful girl.

She had missed Seulgi so very, very much.

“Anything for you, Joohyun-unnie.”

--

“I never thought the day would come,” Irene admits, later that night, as she and Seulgi lounge by the edge of the Han River, refreshingly cold colas in hand. She looks out across the water, at the sparkling city lights of Seoul, twinkling like distant stars. “I can’t believe that I’m actually getting a solo debut in just two days.”

They’re alone now, having said goodbye to the other backup dance members, as well as Irene’s fellow Red Velvet members (who had joined them after practice) once they’d stuffed themselves full at a celebratory dinner.

Seulgi had tugged Irene into the nearest convenience store, buying a pair of Coca Colas without a second thought. It was heartwarming, really, how Seulgi still remembered Irene’s distaste for beer even after all these years. But then again, how many nights had been spent just like this? Back when Irene was Joohyun, and Seulgi was still Seulgi, sitting on the banks of the Han River, sipping cola and spouting their worries and dreams.

“It’s pretty surreal for me too,” Seulgi says with a small chuckle, shrugging her shoulders. “I… I didn’t know whether I’d ever get to share a stage with you, ever, Joohyun.” She pauses. “Did you know, Hyun?”

“Did I know what?”

“Did you know that that was the single dream that I didn’t give up that day?” Seulgi inquires, observing the way those distant lights seem to dance across the river’s waters. “The one dream that I couldn’t – wouldn’t – give up the day I decided to stop training at SM Entertainment: I want to dance on stage with Joohyun one day. One day, I will be on stage with Joohyun. I will watch her make history— after I apologize, that is.”

Irene inhales sharply, studying the melancholic smile toying on Seulgi’s lips, the genuine apology shining in her eyes.

And Irene shakes her head softly. “I never blamed you for leaving, Seul. It was only fair… You’d been there for so long, without a light at the end of the tunnel; no guarantee for debut. Truthfully, I don’t know why I lasted. I wanted to follow you.”

“I begged you to stay,” Seulgi gently reminds her, and Irene perks in recognition.

“Ah, so that’s how it was…”

“I regretted leaving for a while,” the choreographer says. Irene nods, understanding. “I contemplated going back to SM, y’know? I thought about getting on my knees and begging to be a trainee again… after years of falling into that kind of cycle, I felt lost without it. And I felt… guilty. Like I abandoned you—”

“You didn’t. You know you didn’t. You were still very much present in my lives— in all of our lives! Wendy would tell us how the two of you would go out to lunch. You stopped by Yeri’s place to give her presents all the time! You even would walk to and from school with Joy every day. And, well, you know how things went with me. You never abandoned us, Seulgi. You were just striving towards a different goal alongside us.”

“Well, my dream is being fulfilled, in the end,” Seulgi laughs. She takes a quick sip of her cola before dropping her head down onto Irene’s shoulder. She nuzzles into the wool, bringing herself ever closer to Irene. It’s comforting, the older girl thinks, being so close to Seulgi, whom she’d loved and still loves with all her heart. “I still can’t believe you got SM to hire me as your choreographer.”

“You’ve always been a dance prodigy, Seul,” Irene responds with meaning. “Even back during your trainee days. I’ve watched every single one of your choreography videos, by the way. 1Million is so lucky to have you amongst them. I didn’t have to do very much convincing.”

“You should stop by some time,” the other girl comments. “Idols do collaborations with 1Million choreographers at the studio all the time. You should stop by, Joohyun.” She repeats it twice, trying to get the point across as obviously as possible.

“Definitely,” The idol agrees, her fingers absentmindedly rising to thread themselves through Seulgi’s dark brown hair.

If there’s something that Irene’s always admired, aside from the girl’s boundless performing talent, it was her dedication to sticking with the natural colored hair. It’s because of Seulgi that Irene now considers the different shades of brown to be “warm” colors, much thanks to Seulgi’s diligent attitude.

They lapse into silence.

Then—

“I could kiss you right now,” Seulgi confesses out of the blue. “It’s been really hard not to. I want to kiss you.”

A smirk quirks at the corner of Irene’s lips. Oh? This is new.

Seulgi pouts. “Why do you look surprised?”

“I want to kiss you too,” Irene concedes a second later after a brief internal monologue about self-control. “I was just a bit caught off guard that it was you admitting it first. It’s—”

“— usually you who has to be lectured by the rest of your members about constraint,” Seulgi finishes teasingly. “Trust me, I know, Hyun. And I’m so glad that I have yet to be on the receiving end of one of those.”

“For you to be the one giving in first…” Irene frowns, placing a thoughtful finger on her bottom lip, not missing the way that Seulgi’s eyes hungrily latch onto the sight. “How long has it been?”

And, unsurprisingly, Seulgi pouts. “Two months, Hyun! Two months since I last got to kiss you! Like, we’ve gone through periods of time with no kisses before, but this? This is a new all-time low! I’m dying of deprivation, Joohyun!”

“Well this is what happens when you’re the choreographer for your own girlfriend!” Joohyun shoots back with a playful glint in her eyes, only getting egged on with the way Seulgi’s deep pout somehow manages to get deeper. “We’ve gotta keep things professional during our sessions and whatnot, and—”

She breaks into abrupt laughter at the pair of lips that suddenly attack her own, swallowing the chuckles bubbling out from the back of . Irene chases Seulgi’s lips with her own, kissing back just as hungrily, because the reality is that she’s just as – if not more – deprived as her choreographer girlfriend.

It’s not long until Irene gingerly takes Seulgi’s bottom lip in her teeth and tugs briefly.

“Whoa,” Seulgi says in wonderment a few moments later, after pulling back. The look in her eyes is cloudy, dazed, like she’s daydreaming— except it’s very much nighttime, and Seulgi has no intentions of sleeping any time soon.

Irene’s still breathing heavily, but she her head and raises an eyebrow at Seulgi.

“You sure those Cokes you bought weren’t spiked or anything?”

“I think that we should just blame everything on deprivation. Man, having to stay professional around you , Joohyun. Did you know that you look illegally hot in those practice clothes?”

“I have the day off tomorrow, Seulgi. My last day of freedom before another two weeks of promotions on my own.”

“So I’m assuming that you’re coming over my apartment?”

“Of course I am.”

--

Irene wakes up the next morning in Seulgi’s arms, wrapped in a Seulgi-esque blanket, very much in Seulgi’s apartment.

Sunlight streams in from the window, landing perfectly on her lover’s hair, turning that warm, dark brown hair that Irene loves so much into a stunning shade of chestnut brown. She thinks that she could just gladly stare forever here, in Seulgi’s embrace. If everyone has their own personal heaven, this one is definitely Irene’s.

It’s been so long since she’s had nothing to do— yes, tomorrow will most likely be the start of the busiest days of Irene’s life, but somehow, everything is worth it now that Seulgi’s next to her.

“The single dream I wouldn’t give up,” Seulgi had said the day before. To perform on stage with her.

Looking back, Irene realizes that it had been a vision that she’d been unable to give up as well. After all, she’d made an entire Powerpoint slideshow, back when negotiations of her pending solo debut had still been murky, composed of all the reasons why Seulgi was nothing short of the perfect choreographer for her solo.

It had turned out, thankfully enough, that she’d only had to go through the first three slides before she’d been approved, and Irene had called up her girlfriend in tears, being allowed to issue the official invitation.

Seulgi had accepted so quickly that it was admirable.

Tomorrow, Irene will begin the long and vigorous process of music show promotions and variety show promotions. It will be difficult, because she’s never been too much without her members, regardless of how often her beauty is complimented, no matter how many times she’s guested solo on TV shows.

It will be hard, and maybe, she’ll even want to give up during some distance through, maybe before she’s even halfway up the mountain.

But, she thinks, still encased in the arms of the girl she loves, it might be all worth it.

It’s been awhile since she and Seulgi have stood on the same stage.

But it all might be worth it.