Prompt By: @SHINeeMe08

-Title: Goodbye is Such a Beautiful, Memorable Word

-Ship: SeulRi

Characters: [MAIN] Seulgi/Kang Seulgi (Red Velvet), Yeri/Kim Yerim (Red Velvet)

Word Count: 1277

Warnings: N/A

Summary: In which Kim Yerim falls in love with the beautiful Kang Seulgi, only to have to say goodbye to her a few days later.

Kim Yerim laughed, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. “That’s the silliest thing I have ever heard, Seulg.”

Yeri wasn’t a hundred percent sure on what she and Kang Seulgi really were. Sure, they had both said ‘I love you’ and had been on a few dates, but that didn’t mean they were dating, right? They were just friends. They did those things in friend ways.

Although Yeri wanted to be more than friends, if that’s even what they were- what if Kang Seulgi secretly hated her? Only hung out with her because she was too clingy? Only spent the night with her and kissed her jaw and cheeks and neck so Yeri wouldn’t ask for more some other time?

“Yeri, I’m not joking,” Seulgi pushed, and Yeri’s hand snapped up, finally picking up on the real seriousness of Seulgi’s words. “I’m sorry.”

Yeri’s face dropped, and more realization set in. “Seulgi.” is all she could force out as her heart sank.

“I tried. I want to stay, I really do. But this job is good for him, and he’s already taken it, and Mom and I have already started packing.”

“When do you leave?” Yeri’s voice became small, and she averted her gaze from Seulgi’s, opting to look in their laps as they sat close together. Seulgi’s hand darted out, laying on Yeri’s thigh.

“Three days.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll be busy packing. We can go out tomorrow night, though. I’ll plan it- dress fancy and I’ll text you the details. I’ll send you my flight info, too, and we can say goodbye before I fly out.”

“Are you going to come back?”

“When I’m old enough to be on my own, I will.”

Yeri was silent, not saying anything.

“It won’t be long.” Seulgi added, trying to comfort her.

“It’ll feel long, though.”

“I’ll be back before you know it. And it’s not like I’m leaving right now. Dinner tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

Kim Yerim would be lying if she said she wasn’t disappointed that Seulgi was leaving.

She was, along with a mixture of other emotions- sad, lonely, confused, worried- angry, even.

But she was also grateful.

She was grateful Seulgi had told her.

Grateful that Seulgi was taking her out to dinner.

Grateful that Seulgi had done her best to comfort and understand and be there for her.

The next night, Yeri stood in the foyer of her home, slipping her feet into the small black heels that matched her little black and red dress.

Her blonde hair was piled atop her head, her makeup done carefully.

A few moments later, her phone buzzed with a text alert from Seulgi, and Yeri slipped out of her house and into Seulgi’s car.

“You look beautiful. Molto bella.” Yeri looked at her, confused, but the pretty ginger haired girl only smirked, shooting her a side glance. “I’ve been practicing.”

“I can tell.” Yeri said softly.

Yeri didn’t know why, but she always felt the urge to be gentle with Seulgi- talk softly, touch her lightly, as if the girl was a small, dainty porcelain doll. She was pretty enough to be one.

At dinner, Yeri held Seulgi’s hand tightly in hers as they waited and were seated, as if she were a small child clinging tightly to her mother’s hand, afraid of getting lost.

She let Seulgi order, not caring what she was given to eat- she wasn’t too hungry anyways, and mainly picked at the food in front of her.

Seulgi did most of the talking, too- although Yeri listened intently to every word the other girl had to say, Yeri herself didn’t talk much. It’s not like she had much to contribute anyways; Seulgi talked a little about her leaving, mainly to comfort and soothe the younger girl, and then began to tell her a few stories, stories she found funny that she hadn’t told Yeri yet.

Not like a week left a lot of time for Yeri to hear all of Seulgi’s stories.

“Yerim?” Seulgi asked as she drove her home, the sun having set enough where it still cast its warm glow, but enough for Seulgi to flick her headlights on. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?” Yeri retorted, confused unto why Seulgi asked.

“You seem…off. Like you’re a sad. You didn’t talk much. Or look at me much.”

“I’m just a little worried about you leaving, I guess.”

“Don’t be,” Seulgi said insistently as she pulled up into Yeri’s driveway. She laid her hand gingerly on Yeri’s thigh. “Let me make it up to you.”

“There’s not much you can do.” Yeri sighed, dejected.

There wasn’t much any of them could do- Seulgi had to leave, and Yeri had to stay, and that was that. There was no changing it or getting around that.

Yeri had learned that early on in life- you couldn’t change things that were already set in stone.

Seulgi leaned over the console, bringing her face close to Yeri’s. “Let me kiss you.”

Yeri didn’t reply, just brought her face forward, gently pressing her lips against Seulgi’s.

The moment they touched Yeri’s insides turned to jelly and her legs to butterflies.

She now knew the meaning of being alive, the sensation of being in love.

It was a beautiful, memorable feeling and an even more beautiful and memorable moment.



“Yeri,” Seulgi frowned, laying a hand on Yeri’s cheek. “This is hard, I know. But please don’t cry. Don’t make it harder.”

“I’m sorry.” Yeri choked out, biting her lip and her sobs back.

Just the other night she was at an all time high, never imagining a better feeling then kissing the girl she loved.

But here she was, standing in the airport, touching the girl she loved, on the complete other side of the spectrum- she could never imagine a worse feeling then saying goodbye to the girl she loved.

“It’ll be okay,” Seulgi offered up a reassuring smile. “You’ll be fine. I’m only a text away. And I’ll never be truly gone. We’ll always have what beauty we had. Don’t forget that.”

Yeri smiled small. “How could I forget that?”

“I love you, Kim Yerim. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Seulgi.”

As Yeri watched her lover walk away, and as she rode home, it wasn’t the encounter that was constantly playing in her head, but the way the other girl’s lips moved to pronounce the word ‘goodbye’.

Seulgi was right. Goodbye is such a beautiful, memorable word.

One Yeri could never forget.

~•~

Kim Yerim and Kang Seulgi corresponded via text for the first few months.

They dazzled each other with stories of Italy and school and what each girl was up to, and showered each other with so much love the only thing that could make it better was them together physically.

Eventually, though, their love, conversation, and connection died out, and they both eventually moved onto other people, and it was soon years before Yeri had even thought properly of Kang Seulgi, the girl that had left her just as suddenly as she had come.

The only time Yeri ever remotely thought of Seulgi was every time she said goodbye, always feeling the need to tack the girl’s name to the end, as if she was autocorrect and Seulgi was the automated, automatic response after.

It wasn’t until Yeri had had two children of her own and was married that Seulgi came back, appearing at her door one day.

“Seulgi.” was all she could force out, a whisper under her breath.

“I love you, Kim Yerim. Hello.”

Ignoring everything around her, Yeri brought her face in close, pressing her lips against hers. 

FIN