Songs prompt by my friend Dean, the King Clown.

For Dean: you deserve a soft epilogue too, bud.

Black Velvet, the band.

Wendy - Vocalist, Guitarist

Jisoo - Leader/Manager, Guitarist

Jennie - Rapper, Drummer

Rosé - Vocal, Bassist

Lisa - Keyboardist

Honestly, this isn't really important, just a vision I have in mind. Heads up, messy story ahead with song titles and lyrics.

U.N.I

And I'm always saying everyday that it was worth it

Pain is only relevant if it still hurts

I forget like an elephant or we can use a sedative

And go back to the day we fell in love on first kiss

Then.

“Come on, Wendy unnie! Just admit your loss!”

Joy's laughter rang in the room, while Seulgi and Yeri grinned expectantly with reddened cheeks, waiting for Wendy to take the piece of Jenga block she had been trying to displace in the past 5 minutes. They had been drinking for a couple of hours and safe to say, all of them were drunk - ranging from mildly tipsy to one drop away from being wasted.

“Yeah! Let us win against Irene unnie already!”

Seulgi cheered, and Wendy was convinced she’s beyond drunk. The three had teamed up against her and Irene, since they knew the only chance they could defeat Irene in anything was if she got paired with Wendy.

“It’s okay, babe. Just do it. Take a leap of faith.”

Wendy turned to her girlfriend, smiling as she heard Irene mutter the same words she used when she first confessed her feelings, one year ago.

“Okay, love, leap of faith.” Wendy repeated, staring at her lover with a knowing look.

“I think I’m going to throw up.”

“Yeah! I feel you Seulgi unnie. I feel like throwing up myself, looking at the two!”

“No, no, you don’t get it. I’m really going to throw-blargh.”

Yeri yelped, cursing as she jumped away from Seulgi and Joy laughed until she couldn’t breathe. Wendy and Irene just exchanged tired looks, knowing that they would have to deal with all the mess later between the two of them.

At least they had each other.

Now.

“-ndy. Wendy. Wendy, wake up now, it’s almost our turn.”

Wendy swatted the hand away, not wanting anyone to distract her from the sight of Irene. How long had it been since she saw those pair of doe eyes looking at her? And the secret smile only she had seen?

Curses. More curses from around her. What was it? Where did it come from? Who was the one cursing?

Someone splashed water to her face and Wendy jolted awake, cursing and flailing as she tried to register where she was. She blinked a few times, shaking her head and groaning when the mere action brought a head-splitting headache. Wendy clutched her forehead, taking deep breaths and gathered her bearing before she looked up to her assailant.

Jisoo was staring down at her, hands crossed as her leg tapped impatiently.

“10 minutes. Or else don’t bother following us around the country anymore.”

She walked out of the waiting room, not waiting to see if Wendy needed any help. Wendy cursed again, wiping her wet face as she shook off the thoughts of her dreams. She rolled out of the worn-out couch she was sleeping on, hearing it creak under her weight. Right, they were in Jeonju - another club performance in their nationwide tour. It felt pathetic calling it a nationwide tour since all they did was perform in dingy bars and occasionally, some collegiate parties but they were doing fairly well for an indie, unsigned band.

At least that’s how it was, before Wendy got thrown to hell, faceplant.

She glanced at her ocean blue guitar, laying on one of the tables. Rosé must have set it there again, hoping that Wendy would change her mind. Always so kind, so hopeful. Rosé was probably the only one who had not given up on her.

Wendy ran her fingers through her hair, starting from her bangs to the tips that barely reached her shoulders now. Cutting her hair short and dyeing it blond had been an impulse, but it was probably one of the most reasonable ones she had during as she went on a self-destructive streak. She shoved her hand in the pocket of her jacket, taking out an old watch with a baby pink strap and wore it on her wrist.

Ah, how long had passed since Jisoo left? The younger woman probably won’t be too kind to her this time around, considering Wendy had almost kissed Jennie last night when she had one too many bottles of soju. She was sure she had apologized, and she explained that she never had any feelings for Jennie but drunk her and sober her were different people with different needs. Jisoo had almost slapped her if Jennie and Lisa did not rush to stop her.

Understandable; she would probably have reacted the same if somebody tried to kiss Irene.

Wendy winced, pushing the name to the back of her mind.

She stretched and patted her hair, flattening it so that it would look more presentable. Once she was satisfied, she stood up, walking out of the room. She stopped for a few moments beside her guitar, a blank look crossed her face before she stepped away from the room, from the guitar.

Later, she would notice the sad smile Rosé directed at her when she walked over to them barehanded, the slight nod Lisa did before she went back to studying the notes over her keyboard and the cold look Jisoo had as she picked up her own guitar.

“Still no guitar?”

For other people, Jennie’s question might sound cold, but Wendy knew there was concern behind the drummer’s nonchalant ask. She shook her head and head straight to the microphone placed at the center of the stage.

“No, just my voice is here.”

And I don't get waves of missing you anymore

They're more like tsunami tides in my eyes

Never getting dry so I get high smoke in the day then I sleep with the light on

Dawn.

Wendy placed a cigarette between her teeth, fishing for the lighter she had seized from the college student she had been in a fight with around half an hour ago. One of her eyes were bruised and the side of her lips burst, her cheek swollen from the punch she took. Not that she cared about any of those; she returned the favour twice and more to the college boy who had been harassing his ex-girlfriend behind the club.

Just as she was about to light up the cigarette, it was snatched away from her and she could only watch when the stick was crushed under Rosé’s sneakers. If this was someone else, Wendy would either protest or throw a punch, but she didn’t like messing with Rosé. This was the only person who still cared about her and much as Wendy thought she didn’t deserve it, she would still hate it if Rosé thought she was not worth her time anymore.

“No cigs. You have to take care of your voice.”

“C’mon. I haven’t had one for like...3 days.”

Rosé gave her a disapproving look but did not extend further lecture. She went to sit beside Wendy on the dirty ground, back against the mouldy bar wall and now it was Wendy’s turn to scowl.

“It’s dirty, Chaeyoung ah. You shouldn’t be sitting here.”

Rosé ignored her, not that she was surprised. The lighter is snatched from her hand and she observed as Rosé flicked it on and off in a repeated motion.

“I was alone in the waiting room the whole night. Jisoo and Jennie went to rent a hotel room and Lisa crashed at a friend’s house. You didn’t come back once and now that you’re here again, you’re hurt and trying to destroy yourself further.”

Wendy frowned. “I was beating up a punk who thought he was God’s gift to his ex-girlfriend and what the hell, Chaeng? They left you alone? You should have called me.”

Rosé laughed bitterly, digging a finger on Wendy’s shoulder while she spat her next words.

“I did, but you never picked up.”

Right. Wendy recalled now that her phone died after they finished their performance last night. She never bothered to charge it back because...no one would try to get in touch with her.

Not the one she was waiting for.

Now, watching Rosé looking so hurt and on the verge of tears, guilt overwhelmed her. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left you alone. I know how hard it’s been for you-”

“You know, this is what I hate most about you.”

Wendy was about to retort but Rosé raised a hand, shutting her up.

“You run around trying to save everyone else and would drop everything you’re doing if I call you, but you can’t be bothered to save yourself or let me help you. I have to watch you go down on a spiral and I can’t even do anything about it because out of some selfish made-believe noble reasoning, you were convinced that you would only trouble me when I want to be there for you, my best friend.”

Rosé was crying now, letting out her anger and frustration as Wendy’s mouth fell agape. There was no response required, not anymore. Rosé had given her space to grief for months and Wendy took full advantage of it, drowning herself in agony and teetering at the edge of the line a few times, always being watched over by Rosé from a distance. Not that she made that as an excuse to be a bad friend, or so she thought. Whenever she had an inkling that Rosé was sad, she would be the first to swoop Rosé away and try her hardest to make the woman laugh again, unknowingly being a worse friend in the process.

“So what if I’m hurt about Jisoo? I can still be there for you; I know you’re hurting even more because of Irene. You won’t even allow me to go near your pain at all, yet you want to take away all of mine. You think I enjoy that?”

Wendy's tongue grew a few times thicker - it was hard to form words or swallow. She felt her body being pulled towards Rosé, arms wrapped around her body which has lost so much weight in the past few months. Her shoulders were wet, from Rosé’s tears and she wondered how long it had been since she herself last cried over her pain, truly releasing it out instead of letting it fester in her, slowly decaying the parts of her that barely put up fights.

Rosé was shaking, or maybe it was her. She blinked once. Then twice. Then repeatedly, trying to hold back the hot tears forming in her eye from falling. She could not lose it, not now, not when she had been holding back since that day.

“It’s okay, Wendy. Let it go.”

Rosé’s whisper reached a part in her that was long hidden, a vulnerable child that was trapped in a cage, sheltered from the cruelty of the world, not even realizing that the child was already surrounded by it the moment Wendy trapped all of her feelings inside.

Wendy let go.

Keep looking around to make sure I'm not the only one to feel low

Because if you want I'll take you in my arms

And keep you sheltered from all that I've done wrong

Murmurs.

Wendy knew her bandmates and the bar staff were talking about her, chatting among themselves but she could not bring herself to care.

This had been the third city since Jeonju and in each city, Wendy held her guitar in the waiting room, fiddling with it but not actually playing. She knew Jisoo still hadn’t bought her excuse about forgetting to play guitar, but it was true. There was a huge part of her that was gone with Irene and that included her guitar skills. Maybe she had suppressed it, allowing it to be forgotten along with the memories of the many nights she had spent softly serenading her lover before they fell asleep.

Wendy’s love story was straight out of a B-list teen movie. A college-dropout musician falling for a chaebol’s daughter aiming to be a business mogul and taking over her family business one day. They first met when Wendy was still a solo act, playing her guitar and singing at the parties in Seoul U, crashing at her friends’ dorms and drinking her body weight after she was done with her performances. Their eyes locked in one of those parties when Wendy sang a love ballad, and the rest was history. It was a wonder to everyone on how a dainty rose tamed the wild child, but Wendy knew Irene was no ordinary rose.

Wendy tuned her guitar, not really playing it. Beside her was her old songbook, one that had been in the guitar case for months, untouched. She had been writing some thoughts that came on her mind - thoughts that were slowly shaping into an intro and a chorus. Unknowingly, she was humming to herself as well, only realizing it once Lisa, who sat beside her elbowed her playfully.

Wendy looked at her, confused but Lisa just smiled sheepishly while tapping on her notebook.

“You need a little help there, mate?”

“Where did you pick that up, mate?”

Wendy returned Lisa’s question with one of her own, amused by the sudden accent. Lisa scratched the back of her neck, an automatic reaction whenever she was nervous. Wendy would know, she had seen it many times from the centre stage, back when she checked on everyone before giving them the cue to start, and she had always seen Lisa doing it.

“Rosé...I don’t think she realizes it but uh, she keeps using it and it’s a pretty cute accent and urm, I just picked it up a little.”

Judging from Lisa’s stutter, Wendy was sure the accent wasn’t the only thing that was cute, but she did not push it. She tossed the notebook in Lisa’s direction, happy to accept the offer for help. She used to compose songs with Lisa and Rosé, but it felt like forever since they had put their heads together, pouring over her lyrics and trying to come up with a melody that best suited the words.

"Oh, this is some deep stuff."

Lisa spontaneously muttered before she placed a palm over , looking horrified.

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