When Joohyun smiles for the crowd, it’s not forced nor for pretense, unlike what she'd been doing recently. It’s genuine; her eyes sparkle, her heart feels full.
 

Among all the fansigns she’s had to do for her brand deals, this has to be her favorite one, and it might have to do with a certain someone who’s come to accompany her.
 

After she feels like the press has taken enough photos, she walks to the table at the center of the stage and takes a seat. She’s readying her markers and flexing her fingers as a warmup when a gradual hush falls over the crowd. Joohyun looks up to see a lot of the fans whispering with each other, pointing at someone to her far right.
 

She bites her cheek to stifle a smile, instantly knowing whom they’re referring to.
 

After the buzz of the crowd grows louder and louder, a brave fan finally yells, “Wendy-unnie!”
 

Joohyun turns to the right, finally looking at Seungwan who is turning the most adorable shade of pink at all the attention. Seungwan shyly waves at the fans in response, and everyone begins to cheer and squeal happily, lucky to be able to see two former members of Red Velvet in one place again.
 

Seungwan turns to her and meets her eyes, and Joohyun has no control over how her breath gets trapped in her chest. For one precious moment, it feels like they’re the only two people in that auditorium.
 

Then Seungwan waves at her too, as if they hadn’t been talking backstage just minutes ago. Joohyun waves back, and she doesn’t think the buzz of the crowd could get any louder, but it does. Even from meters away, she sees the sparkle in Seungwan’s eyes, and it makes her chest want to burst, struggling to contain the amount of love she has for her.
 

The inside of her cheek is bitten raw with the immense effort of trying not to look like a lovesick fool. But then Joohyun thinks, why the heck not? Why should she pretend that Seungwan’s presence doesn’t make her over-the-moon-and-clouds-and-galaxies happy?
 

So, she lets go of the façade, smiling like a person in love. Now her cheeks are hurting for an entirely different reason, but she doesn’t mind one bit.
 

A dozen blinding flashes make stars swim in her eyes, but Joohyun only smiles wider, knowing they’re going to be the talk of the fandom tonight.
 

She can’t wait to see the photos.

***

Halfway through the fansign, a Reveluv shyly asks Joohyun if it would be alright to ask Wendy to sign her album as well.
 

“Of course,” Joohyun says with a smile. An idea strikes her and she signals the fan to come closer.

***

Seungwan stifles a yawn as she continues to watch Joohyun sign posters on stage, the latter’s head adorned with a flower crown given by a fan, making her look ethereal. It’s not that she’s bored; she adores the fans and loves that Joohyun is able to make them happy even in the smallest ways. It’s just that she and Joohyun had a very late night last night, watching a few movies and…cuddling, among other things that make her break a sweat at the thought of them in this very cold auditorium.
 

She soldiers up, shaking off the sleepiness and wondering if she can sneak off for a little while to get a cup of coffee.
 

But then she notices a fan approaching her after she gets down from the stage with Joohyun. The girl looks shy and excited at the same time, and Seungwan can’t help but smile, exhaustion momentarily forgotten.
 

“Hello,” she greets.
 

“Hello,” the fan says softly. “Uh. Irene-unnie told me it’s okay to ask you if you could sign this too?” She lifts up one of their old Red Velvet albums and a marker.
 

“Oh! Sure, no problem,” says Seungwan. She takes them from the girl and asks for her name. It’s been a while since she’s done this, but like muscle memory, she signs the album for the fan and writes her a sweet message.
 

Afterwards, she gives the materials back, and the fan thanks her profusely.
 

Still, the fan hesitates, looking up at Seungwan and down at her feet a couple of times.
 

“Is…there anything else? You have another album in there?” Seungwan asks with an amused smile.
 

“Uh. It’s just that…” The fan gulps and leans in. “Irene-unnie told me to tell you…that you’re very beautiful. I mean! I know you’re very beautiful but she…she told me she wanted you to know that she thinks so too. And that you can go get some coffee if you’re feeling tired.”
 

Seungwan’s jaw drops at the fan’s words, struck speechless. opens and closes a few times before she can actually nod and murmur a shy thank you to the fan.
 

The fan bows and smiles before leaving, and Seungwan does the same, even though she is still in a state of shock.
 

She slowly turns to face Joohyun, but the older woman won’t meet her eyes. However, Seungwan can clearly see Joohyun exuding some aura of smugness right now, from the grin lifting up the corners of , and Seungwan’s eyes narrow.
 

Fine. She’ll have to swing her playful counter-attack later.
 

For now, she’ll do as Joohyun suggests. Seungwan looks for her manager so she can ask him to accompany her to a café. She’ll make sure to buy Joohyun and the staff some drinks, too.

A/N: can't stop won't stopppppppppp

jk I've only got one idea left for this AU hehehe