“Unnie, I know that there are such things as freedom of choice and personal taste, but you looked like a hurricane swapped up several clothes from different people’s clotheslines and dressed you up for her playdate in her backyard.”

Seungwan glared at Yerim (which was not intimidating at all because she is the Son Seungwan) and scoffed. She didn’t think that what she was wearing was even half bad. It was an oversized blue striped shirt over a white tee and a black capri pants. “I haven’t got time to do my laundry because, guess what, somebody decided to occupy my weekend with her project.”

Seungwan could hear Yerim grumbling I know you don’t have that little clothes and just rolled her eyes. “Come on, unnie! I thought you agreed to this.”

“Only because you promised me bubble tea as my payment,” Seungwan said, eyes fixed on the younger, “a large one, to remind you.”

“Ah, Seungwan!” Seulgi ran to the pair with her bright smile, but it soon fell when she looked at her same-age friend. 

“You think so too, right? Tell her, Seulgi unnie. She never listens to me.” Yerim said excitedly on the prospect of gaining an ally. 

“You are very pretty Seungwan, and there’s nothing wrong with you,” Seulgi began gently.

Seungwan sighed, "But?"

"But," Seulgi moved closer to Seungwan, then whispered as if it was a secret, "I think there are rooms for improvement in the clothing department."

Yerim smiled widely at Seulgi's stance, "See, I'm not the weird one here. I bet Sooyoung unnie will-"

"I will what?" As if cue, Sooyoung joined the gang. The tallest turned her head towards Seungwan, then instantly frowned. "You looked horrible, unnie."

Seungwan groaned. She wondered what she did to deserve this kind of slanders on a Saturday morning. They were all at the university's lawn, which was deserted because there was no sane university student who would come voluntarily early on the weekends. In her case, Seungwan did not come based on her own accord. Yerim had a movie-making task from one of her creative writing class, and she needed help. "Why does my choice of clothes matter so much?"

Seungwan watched as the three of them exchanged glances, Yerim mouthing 'You tell her' to Sooyoung also did not help lessen down the suspicion that she was left out of a discussion. "Well, there is a small change in the creative direction of the project, unnie," Sooyoung said, trying to sound nonchalant," You will be the one appearing on the screen instead. You are welcome, by the way, for the promotion."

Wendy widen her eyes, "What?! Why? I thought we agreed that you and Saeron would be the actresses, and I will simply hold the camera."

"Well, I suddenly got an epiphany, you could say," Sooyoung shrugged at her glaring small unnie, "and I think it is a good sign that I should take the directorial role for once. I also think you could do a better job at it, unnie." 

Wendy, still in disagreement, countered, "Sooyoung, you are an acting major."

"Which is why I decided to challenge myself and try a new perspective," Sooyoung grinned, "and you probably should too, unnie."

Wendy then pointed at Seulgi, "Why not Seulgi then? She can also use this 'challenging-self' opportunity."

"Seulgi unnie can't" Yerim finally jumped in, "because apparently, she is camera-shy."

"I am?" Seulgi whispered to Yerim, who nudged at her in response, "I am. I have a phobia of cameras, umm which exact term I'm not very sure of. It's a very new condition of mine."

"Since when?"

"Since this morning when we did the camera test," Yerim answered, "We tried, and it was horrible for this unnie" Yerim side hugged Seulgi, "she was a big mess."

"Well, I am going to show you a catastrophe then, Yerim." Seungwan really had no confidence in acting, she knew she was horrible at it. Once in primary grade's play, she caught her father falling asleep at her performance of being a tree. Sure, later her parents tried to convince her that it was not due on her lacking in the acting category and her father was just simply tired from his work, but it did leave a sensitive spot for Seungwan. "And besides, as you all said, I don't look adequate enough to be on the record."

"You don't need to worry about that," Sooyoung pointed at Seulgi, "Seulgi brought this pretty clothes, and I think her size will fit you just as well."

Seulgi immediately ran to grab her suitcase, leaving Seungwan no time to argue. She picked a cute knee-length dress with a white cardigan. "I always think you look good in blue, Seungwannie," she chirped as she handed the clothes.

"Now change, please," Yerim put both of her hand on Seungwan's shoulder, pushing her to the nearest restroom, “While you do, let me call Joohyun unnie to see where she at.”

“Wait, who?” 

Yerim gulped. “Joohyun unnie, my cousin whom you met at my birthday party last time. You remember her, right?” Yerim cleared , “She is going to be your costar for this project.”

“What happened with Saeron?”

“Saeron can’t come, she umm, why can’t she come again?” Yerim turned to Sooyoung. 

Sooyoung looked taken aback for a little bit, but she swiftly covered it, “She had a small accident last night, she twisted her-“

“Finger,”

“-foot, I mean her toe, which is a finger on her foot,” Sooyoung glared at Seulgi, “so she has trouble walking since her foot...ache” Sooyoung finished, sounded unsure. 

Seungwan scowled. “Is this some sort of prank? It’s not April’s fool as far as I know or do you guys just take me as an idiot?”

“It’s not a prank, really unnie,” Yerim pouted at Seungwan, holding the older’s hand, “It can’t be anybody else, you fitted the role so well, and I desperately need this project to succeed. Please, unnie? I won’t tease your horrible fashion sense ever again unless it’s really bad.”

Seungwan gulped. Even though they always argue about the silliest things, Yerim still held a soft spot for the older. Furthermore, Seungwan was terrible in saying ‘no’. “Make it a month worth of bubble tea.”

“One week.”

“Fine,” Seungwan sighed at the sight of excited Yerim. Afraid that Seungwan would change her mind, Yerim quickly pushed the older to the restroom. “And make them all large sizes!”

[•••••]

Seungwan did not want to admit it, but her three airheads were right. The dress looked so good on her. Yerim seemed to agree too, as she looked at Seungwan with mouth agape in awe. “She didn’t lie. You are pretty.”

“Who?” Seungwan asked, surprise evident in her voice, hand combing her hair before tying it into a ponytail. 

“Seulgi unnie,” Yerim muttered slowly, eyes avoiding Seungwan’s, “I thought she was just being nice, but you do deserve the word." Both of them was not familiar with the affectionate atmosphere, Seungwan just snorted, and Yerim cleared . "We just need to wait for Joohyun unnie to come," she quickly changed the subject, "then we can start right away."

“She’s here,” Seungwan muttered, eyes fixed on a girl talking with Seulgi. Yerim turned to follow Seungwan’s gaze and walked her way to her older cousin. Seungwan followed suit behind her. She watched as Yerim pulled the older into a quick hug, then her eyes met with Joohyun's. 

"Ah, unnie. This is Seungwan unnie. You met her before at my party, right?" Yerim pushed the older towards Seungwan. 'Was she always this beautiful?' Seungwan gulped. She looked at Joohyun's brunette hair that reached the older's shoulder, how it was let loose, tucked behind her ears so that it would not cover her face. Her gaze moved from her lips to her cute button nose, then to her eyes, which were staring at Seungwan's with amusement. Crap.

"Hi, yes, I'm Seungwan, or Wendy, that's my English name, but you can call me either of them, I don't prefer one over the other," Seungwan became a rambling mess, "it's nice to see you again, unnie." She could see Yerim's raised eyebrows, mouth smirking in delight. Seungwan glared at her. The cheeky little devil abused her two weaknesses in one morning, bubble tea and pretty girls. 

"Hello again, Seungwan," Seungwan could hear Joohyun's emphasis on her name, "I hope we can work well together today."

Seungwan smiled foolishly as a response. She was saved by Seulgi who probably sensed her struggles in keeping the small talk alive, "Okay, since everyone is here, why don't we start?"

[•••••]

Seungwan was bad at acting, that was not news to her. Acting alongside Joohyun however, was a completely different matter (Spoiler alert, she was horrible at it.)

"Seungwan unnie," Sooyoung said for the nth time, "could you please hold your stare? Just a little bit longer will do." It was not like Seungwan could not hear the taller girl or lost her ability to understand the language. The problem was the request itself. It was impossible for normal humans, especially those who were attracted to girls, to be able to hold their stare at Bae Joohyun's eyes. The woman was the epitome of a goddess. "And can you also look more at ease? You are too nervous, unnie."

Seungwan closed her eyes, then breathed in and out, trying to slow down her rapid beating heart. She can do this. She tried to convince herself, she just needed to hold it a little bit longer. When she opened her eyes, she was met by Joohyun's concerned smile. 

"I'm sorry, I make you feel uncomfortable, don't I?" The older softly said. 

"No, no," Seungwan cut quickly, too quickly, "it's not, not really, wait that came up wrong. What I meant is it is uncomfortable but in a good way. It is because you are very pretty and I am bad with pretty girls." Smooth, Son Seungwan. Why don't you also get on your knee and ask her to elope with you to Las Vegas?

Joohyun seemed to be surprised by her answer, but after a short awkward silence, she could hear the older's chuckle. "I'm glad to hear that," Joohyun grinned widely at her, "I also think you are beautiful, Seungwan-ah." Seungwan could feel heats moving to her cheeks. It must be nothing more than a pleasantry, she thought, but it still made her feel good. With her mind going haywire, Seungwan just shot the older a sheepish grin.  

"Okay, cut! That was good!" Sooyoung suddenly intruded. Apparently, she had the camera running the entire time, "you guys looked gross enough for the scene. Let's take five then continue to the next one!"

"Seul," Seungwan hurriedly grabbed her same-age friend, "please tell me we are halfway there."

"Why, Wannie? Are you tired?" Seulgi asked empathetically, giving her a bottle of water. Seungwan quickly gulped the content, trying to cool herself down. 

"Seungwan unnie? These are your lines for the next scene." Yerim chirped in, giving a piece of paper to Seungwan. Seungwan read the writing with eyebrows furrowed before her eyes went wide after reading a line. 

"Yerim," she looked at the younger pleadingly, "Can you please change the lines?" If she could not exchange looks with Joohyun, then there was no way she could say the words written without passing out. 

"Why, unnie? The lines are not hard to memorise, right?" Yerim asked, which was retorted by an urgent look from Seungwan. 

"That's not the problem," she anxiously said, "it's that, I mean, I can't possibly say these. Especially not to Joohyun unnie."

"Unnie, you are the personification of greasy lines," Yerim countered, "and I have seen you flirt before. This is not that bad by comparison. How can you be this panicked if it's not even the kiss scene yet."

"There's a kiss scene?!"

Yerim snickered, pleased that her tease worked. "No, there's none. See, I'm considerate enough. Now, please get back there unnie, we don't have all day."

Seungwan still had things to say, but Yerim already walked away towards Sooyoung and Joohyun waited for her on their spot. Apprehensively, she went to the older and sat beside her on the bench. Joohyun could probably sense her nervousness as she shot her the concerned look again. 

"Are you okay?" Seungwan heard the older gently asked. She sighed but smiled and nodded in response. "I can ask Yerim to change the lines if you want."

"You heard it?" Seungwan asked apologetically. Great, now she probably hurt Joohyun's feelings by fussing over some stupid lines. "I was just being a nervous mess, unnie. I'm sorry. You don't need to worry about it." It should not be that hard, Seungwan thought. All she need to do was to act like she has a crush on Joohyun, which was probably already became a truth. Right, she would mean everything she says anyway.

"All right, people," Sooyoung shouted, "it will be great if we can finish this in one shot. Let's start in three, two, one. Action!"

Seungwan let her emotions took over her, allowed the feelings she held back all this morning to control her. She fixed her eyes on the older, studying at how the sun rays backlighted Joohyun, making her look like she shined. 

"You're staring," Joohyun said her line. 

"Mm-hmm," She hummed, let her eyes wandered around Joohyun's face. God, she is mesmerising. 

"Why-"

"Why are you so pretty?"

She watched Joohyun's eyebrows arched, and parted a little, liked she was genuinely surprised by the question. "What?"

"You are making it very hard for me not to fall for you." Seungwan murmured, but clear enough for the both of them. "I thought I learnt my mistakes with girls like you, that people who take your breath away will eventually suffocate you. But here I am, thinking that probably this time you are an exception. That you would actually be around to catch me."

Seungwan knew that what she just said was more than just mere lines of a stupid project Yerim had. It was true, each and every words. It was from her, not only from the character she was trying to portray. That was why she was especially nervous when she said the next question.

"So, what do you think? Do you think that I could be right, just this once?"

Seungwan waited for Joohyun's answer. Probably the universe would side with her this time. Probably Joohyun would not mind the mess she could be, or her quirky awkwardness that may come and go, or her terrible taste in fashion. She looked at Joohyun opened , and then...

"And cut!" Sooyoung clapped loudly, "that was incredible Seungwan unnie! You nailed it!" 

Right, it was an act. 

"We need a long shot for this scene as well, and the audio from the previous take would go over it, so just you guys can talk about whatever. I'll set the camera and will keep it on, so don't move until I tell you guys so." Sooyoung then helped Seulgi moved the equipment farther from Seungwan and Joohyun. She set them up, then gave them a thumb up, signalling that she had started the recording. 

"Well," Seungwan started, awkwardly, "I guess it wasn't that bad, right?" She watched Joohyun smiled at her, not those pity smiles she had shot her today, but a smile like she was genuinely happy. 

"You said those before." Seungwan looked at the older, confused. "Those lines just now, it was not the first time you said it."

"When did I-"

"It was the night of Yerim's party. We were talking on the balcony, and you were drunk." Joohyun could see the terror in Seungwan's face, and she laughed. "Yup, each of those words is yours truly."

Seungwan groaned, she wanted nothing more than to flee the place. "Please tell me I didn't make a scene when you rejected me."

"Well," Joohyun replied, with her smile still on her face, "I told you that I would give you my answer, you are sober."

Wait...

Seungwan looked at Joohyun, still dazed, "So you will answer now? Wait... I don't...what is your answer?"

"Well, I am here right now, aren't I? What do you think my answer is, Seungwan?"

[•••••]

"So," Seulgi said, looking at the other two, "when do you think we should tell them that the camera ran out of batteries?"

The three of them watched over Seungwan and Joohyun. They could not hear what was said but judging by their facial expressions. It was safe to say that everything went well according to plan. "Let them be for a little while," Sooyoung grinned, "I think we got enough footages for those embarrassing videos we would play at their wedding. By the way, Yerim," Sooyoung turned to the youngest, "I know Seulgi, and I don't mind helping out Joohyun unnie get together with Seungwan unnie, but you, on the other hand, why are you helping her?"

Yerim smirked. "She promised me the newest gaming keyboard."

"I should've known," Sooyoung sighed, "you were trying so hard to convince Seungwan unnie not to bail this morning."

"Guys," Seulgi cut their conversation, "I think that's Saeron and she is walking towards Seungwan's direction." Yerim was about to run and stop her friend, but it was too late. Seungwan saw Saeron already, walking perfectly fine and not limping in any way.

"Oh, well, Seungwan unnie can't be that mad at us," Yerim shrugged, "We practically got her a girlfriend, right?"

A/N: Thank you for reading and writing the comments. I at replying, but I read each one of them, and they would always make my day. Red Velvet is coming back today, and I can't wait for them to wreck me. Zimzalabim!