chapter five

Idol

Please read the author's note at the end of this story! Thank you for everyone's patience. Hope you enjoy this chapter !!


Usually fansignings go on for about a couple of hours, though since the venue for today was smaller, that meant there were fewer fans that Sinb had to meet, and thus shortening the time for the whole event.

 

Yerin was actually growing a little anxious, the date was tonight and if things could be any worse, it was at Sinb’s apartment. Thoughts started rushing through her mind since Sinb isn’t here with her anymore but she was grateful for that because at the very least she is able to let herself go for a bit and just let her mind wander.

 

Her pondering grew longer. She mindlessly checked her phone while still being in deep thought, it was only 4:48 PM and there was around an hour and a half more until everything was over. She doesn’t know what to do at this point, she’s been on her phone, her iPad, Minseok-oppa even checked on her a couple of times to make sure she’s okay and offered her food, she doesn’t want to do any fansite work at the moment because she likes doing that at home while her mind is at peace and if she was going to be honest---she could fall asleep any moment because this sofa was just that comfy....

 

Aaaaand that’s when she starts drifting into slumber, with her heart as anxious as ever and her mind filled with unnecessary noise. She definitely didn’t plan this.

 

[an hour and a half later, right after the fansigning ends for sinb]

 

Sinb contemplated if she should wake the girl who was adorably sleeping on the waiting room’s sofa, a blanket spread across her body which she guessed Minseok-oppa draped her in, slightly opened as she was deep in slumber. The idol studied Yerin’s features as this was the first time she’s able to do so without looking like a total weirdo (in front of Yerin at least). 

 

She sighed lightly at the view in front of her, then she noticed Yerin’s camera and other belongings were scattered on the coffee table probably because she was trying to find things to do to pass the time but ended up falling asleep like she said she was afraid of a few hours earlier. Sinb carefully approached the coffee table and tried to pack Yerin’s things, she made sure to handle the expensive camera with care and put it into the right compartments she saw Yerin took out of earlier. Upon doing so, Sinb noticed how organised Yerin is with all of her personal belongings, everything had a reason where it was placed. 

 

Once she was all done, she went to her Minseok-oppa to ask when they’re going to leave and if there’s anywhere else they needed to go before going home. She had mentioned their dinner earlier today and wanted to double check her schedule before proceeding to do so, Minseok gave her the green light. 

 

“Yerin-ssi…” Sinb whispered softly, keeping her distance from the sleeping girl. She didn’t want to scare the girl though she still didn’t wake up. She tried a couple more times and failed, scratching her head. Who knew Yerin was such a heavy sleeper. 

 

“Yerin-ssi… we have to go now…” She whispered a little louder, this time her hand was tugging on Yerin’s left hoodie sleeve. “She’s too cute for her own good… aigoo…”

 

Then Sinb did something so brazen that her heart almost jumped out of her chest, she placed one of her hands on Yerin’s, squeezing it lightly and shaking it, praying that Yerin would wake up this way and to her surprise, Yerin’s sleepy eyelids flutter open, lifting her head straight, her lips pouting to the front as she tried to remember where she was and why she was there in the first place. Panic flashed her face as she remembered. 

 

“It’s okay Yerin-ssi, it’s just me… see…” Sinb said, softly smiling as she waved and tried to show herself to Yerin, her hands still on top of the girl’s. 

 

Yerin’s expression relaxed, her pout stayed. “Am sorry, didn’t mean to fall asleep” she slurred, trying her best to wake herself up as she squinted her eyes that were still adjusting to the room’s light. 

 

Sinb only circled her thumb on Yerin’s hands, trying to assure her that it was okay. She desperately wanted this moment to last longer. 

 

“Are we supposed to leave now, Eunbi-ssi?” Yerin asked, words still coming out a little slurred which Sinb found to be too adorable. 

 

“Mhm, but we can take our time, most of the staff have already left. It’s only us in here along with Minseok-oppa and Hyoyeon-unnie…” 

 

“Am sorry, am taking too much of everyone’s time. Let’s go…” Yerin said as she tried to get up from the sofa before getting stopped by the idol. 

 

“It’s okay Yerin-ssi, you should wake up first… I’ll get you some water, yeah?” Sinb gets up from the sofa and went straight to one of the vanities that had bottles of mineral water, grabbing one and hurried her way back to Yerin. She opened the cap for the girl and handed it with a soft smile, “Here you go…”

 

Yerin showed her gratitude with a nod and drank the water given to her.

 

Sinb let Yerin wake herself up by just waiting for her, her eyes shamelessly roaming around every inch of the girl’s face as if she’s taking in her beauty with every part of her. Yerin still looked really sleepy, her eyes were puffed and half opened but she looked really cute that way. 

 

Yerin, on the other hand, her mind was still going miles per minute, a lot of thoughts rushing through as she sat there trying to revive herself from the nap she just had. She wondered about a couple of things, but one stood out in particular because of the situation they were in.

 

“Am I riding the car with you, Eunbi-ssi?” 

 

“Um… yeah? Wouldn’t that be easier? Unless you’re not comfortable with that…”

 

“I don’t mind, though how am I gonna get in the same car as you without being recognised as someone who’s not part of the staff… there’s probably many fans waiting for you right now and some might recognise me.”

 

“Don’t worry, just wear your mask and walk alongside or behind Minseok-oppa with your head down. Ah! Don’t forget to wear your cap too,” Sinb replied as she grabbed Yerin’s cap that was behind her, putting it on the girl and snuggling it tight, “there, you’re all set, Yerin-ssi.” 

 

Though Yerin was not fully convinced, she still wanted to follow through with the plan because she trusted Sinb that much. But thinking from a fan’s perspective, she definitely knew that this was going to strike up some rumours in the fandom. She had a couple of backup plans if she was recognised, though, and that strengthened her confidence with the plan.

 

When Sinb saw that Yerin was more awake now, though she just yawned--she got up from the sofa and held her hand out for Yerin to grab on to, and when the girl accepted, she pulled the girl up. 

 

Yerin had noticed that the idol packed her backpack for her which she didn’t expect her to do, “Thank you for cleaning up for me, sorry if I made a mess earlier…” 

 

Sinb only shook her head and muttered a small “It’s okay” before going to find her manager. Yerin only stood there waiting because if she sat back down on the sofa she’s probably going to fall asleep again, knowing herself. She stretched her muscles a bit to loosen up. For some reason the air felt tense. 

 

After about a minute or so, Sinb came back with Minseok by her side. “You ready, Yerin-ssi?” the manager asked. The girl didn’t really have a choice but to nod at this point, so she did hesitantly. Sinb grabbed her hand and squeezed it, her fingers felt warm and comfortable, a small reassuring smile on her face.

 

“Okay, just stay by my side alright? Eunbi-ya, you know what to do.”

 

Both of the girls nodded as a reply, and without wasting any more time, Minseok led their way out of the building. 

 

---


 

[in front of Sinb’s apartment building, 6:35 PM]

 

“Alright girls, have fun. Eunbi-ya, make sure you behave and Yerin-ssi, it was really nice meeting you. Give me a call soon!” Minseok says as he waved towards them, one hand on the steering wheel with a big smile on his face. He looked more excited than both of the girls, it seems--which made Sinb roll her eyes at him playfully. 

 

“Thank you for the ride, Minseok-oppa, and it was nice meeting you too..!” Yerin said shyly. The manager’s smile only grew wider as waved for the final time before driving off. 

 

Sinb turned around and led her way to her apartment, a cosy silence fell between them on the way there, sometimes their eyes would meet and their cheeks would turn into light shades of pink. 

 

Yerin couldn’t believe it really, she was actually here with her favourite idol in the entire world, in the elevator going up to her apartment to have dinner together, a date, which Sinb had invited her to--like she didn’t win a competition or anything, how did she end up here, really?

 

There was still that uneasiness inside of her, she couldn’t shake it off no matter how hard she tried. It’s not that she didn’t like Sinb, because she does (as a friend and as an idol, she tries to convince herself), it’s just that… this is just so crazy. She couldn’t get that thought out of her head, this is crazy, this is CRAZY. She starts fidgeting with her fingers, her knees growing weaker by the minute just like yesterday before she went on that stage to sit down with Sinb to have a short conversation about her comeback, only that this was a thousand times more intense. 

 

They finally arrive at Sinb’s doorstep. The idol keys in her password, Yerin looked away for the sake of respect. It beeped and unlocked, every sound was amplified due to the pin drop silence they were in. 

 

“Make yourself at home, do you want to wash up or anything?” Sinb says as she takes off her shoes, using her feet to kick them aside and shuffling herself into her slippers. Yerin does the same with herself, Sinb opened a cupboard above her and took out an extra pair of slippers she had in yellow for the girl, which looked a little ridiculous considered the all black outfit Yerin was wearing.

 

“Um.. I’m fine, though I think I’m a little underdressed for… a date…” 

 

“Don’t worry about it, you look great I promise, and I’ll be right back!” Sinb said and paced to her room, Yerin assumed. 

 

Yerin let out a breath she didn’t know she had held in as soon as she heard the door to Sinb’s room click. She tried to calm her poor heart from bursting out of her chest, entering Sinb’s apartment, her eyes roaming around the small yet spacious area. It was what Yerin had expected of the idol, simple and minimalistic, though she had seen a sneak peak of the house when Sinb appeared on that one variety show, a few things had changed since then. 

 

She set her backpack down by the side of the black sofa. She pulled out her phone from her hoodie’s pocket and decided to open Twitter and see what’s going on, if there were any rumours or anything out of the ordinary. 

 

@hsb98: [photo attachment] hmm… why does that girl look so familiar? does anybody recognise her?

 

@TTinb_ttin Replying @hsb98: why does she look like @shining_sinbyul masternim? is that u masternim?

 

Oh god…

 

Quoting @hsb98: “eh? why is everyone mentioning me to this photo? i couldn’t get any tickets for today’s fansigning T__T stop making me more sad because i couldn’t go. and plus she looks nothing like me...wait how do all of you know how i look like in the first place??? weirdos!”

 

She tapped the tweet button and let out a huge sigh. She knew the fandom wasn’t stupid and afterall, there were many of them that were so dedicated to Sinb that they notice everything. Yerin wasn’t all that worried, however, because she knew they would let it go once she addresses it. She locks her phone after reading through a couple more tweets, it seems that she didn’t miss much at today’s fansigning but then again, she was just backstage.

 

Right then, Yerin heard a door open and Sinb revealed herself in front of her, wearing a similar outfit as Yerin except… it’s the opposite color of what Yerin was wearing, white. A smile tugged her lips upwards as she saw the girl, her hair now tied up in a high pony, she looked more refreshed than she was before. She looked as pretty as ever, Yerin thought. 

 

“What do you think?” Sinb said as she spun around a couple of times in front of the girl, showing off her outfit proudly. Yerin’s heart filled up because can this girl be any cuter?

 

“Well--it’s not something I would wear but you look great as always, Eunbi-ssi”

 

Sinb chuckled at the statement Yerin just made and headed towards her kitchen. “Tonight’s menu is… pasta! Because that’s what people usually have when they go on dates, right?”

 

“You’re asking me Eunbi-ssi… I told you I didn’t date, remember?” Yerin replied, approaching the kitchen too. She wasn’t sure what to do, actually. 

 

“Ah, well… I guess you don’t watch any movies or read any books either, Yerin-ssi. Do you like pasta, then? Or should we cook something else?”

 

“We?” 

 

“Mhm, we! You think I’d let you just sit around on our first date?”

 

Yerin only blinked blankly. “I’m not really a cook…” she said with her voice low.

 

“Hm… that’s fine, you can just sit still and look pretty,” Sinb smiled to herself and opened her kitchen cabinets to get out the ingredients immediately after. ‘You’re really going all out tonight huh, Hwang Eunbi,’ Sinb whispered to herself.

 

“No no! I’ll help with uhm… boiling the pasta noodles!” 

 

“If you insist.” 

 

Yerin had some questions lingering in her mind. To be fair, she’s never actually gone on a date date before--sure she’s been on a couple of friendly dates that didn’t end up going anywhere, but this was far from what she had imagined. 

 

Even if Sinb was right about the pasta thing, aren’t first dates supposed to be… someone cooks and the other offers something else? Also Yerin is a thousand percent sure that people don’t usually go home together and have their first dates in the other person’s apartment… but then again under their circumstances, did they really have a choice? 

 

This was weird in every way it could possibly be. Isn’t it weird that the first thing that Sinb had asked her for was a date? Aren’t people supposed to get to know each other first before going on a date? Or they get to know each other during the date? Yerin tried to settle for the second reasoning, though it’s still weird how they had lunch together earlier, was that considered a date? 

 

Yerin only shook her head, genuinely confused and didn’t want it to bother her as much. Maybe she should just… enjoy the night as is? Date or not, she’s still here with Sinb, that’s all that matters, right? Right???

 

Sinb heard a soft sigh from Yerin, “Everything okay there, pasta boiler?” 

 

“U-uh yeah!” 

 

“Good, cus I’m almost finished with the sauce” 

 

Sinb’s hands moved like clockwork, one held the plastic handle of the pan tightly, pulling and pushing it back and forth against the hot electric stove while the other held a wooden spatula, stirring the dark red mixture around. The smell of minced garlic, tomatoes and other herbs filled the kitchen and whiffs into their nostrils. Sinb hummed at the pleasant smell. 

 

Quite frankly Yerin was impressed, she thought she knew a lot of things about Sinb as a fan, but then again that’s all she was, was… what were they now? She knew the idol could cook various dishes but pasta never crossed her mind. 

 

“Okay, Yerin-ssi. That’s enough boiling for you…” Sinb said while lowering the heat on her side of the stove, Yerin perked up to glance at Sinb and stepped aside, giving the idol some space to work with. “You mind setting up the table?” she asked Yerin as she took the tongs and picked up some of the hopefully al dente pasta noodles and swiftly transferred them into the pan of slowly boiling sauce. 

 

Without hesitation, Yerin went ahead and scouted for plates and cups in Sinb’s kitchen, opening various cabinets and figuring out what had what inside of them. She didn’t want to divert Sinb’s attention from the stove and trouble her that way. Eventually she found everything she needed, she placed two plates near the stove for Sinb to use and made her way to the small white dining table, placing the cups at each end. Then she made her way towards Sinb’s fridge, opening it in search for a good drink that she thought both of them would enjoy. She settled for a bottle of sparkling water. 

 

“Can you get the parmesan cheese for me, Yerin-ssi?” Sinb asked, turning around and glanced at Yerin who was taking out the green bottle from her refrigerator. The girl immediately recognised it and took it out from the fridge, reaching out towards Sinb who had her hand held out as well. “Thank you,” Sinb said quickly as soon as she had the block of cheese in her hand. 

 

Yerin wondered if all first dates felt this way--she definitely felt anxious, her heart wanting to burst out of her chest the whole time since she was at the fansigning venue earlier. It’s been a long day and she would think her body would give it a rest, but of course it only betrayed her. But even with all these pent up anxiety filling her, she also felt really comfortable, like this wasn’t a date at all, as if Sinb and herself were just old friends who just wanted to catch up and have dinner together. If she didn’t know any better, she’d probably think that way but Sinb has made it more than obvious that this was more than just a friendly dinner. 

 

She heard the idol plating the freshly cooked pasta, the sounds of the tongs in her hands clacking against the plates she had placed near the stove earlier for her to use. She popped open the chilled sparkling water and poured it into the respective glasses at each end of the table. Yerin looked around the table in front of her, making sure she hadn't missed anything and thankfully she thought she did a pretty good job. 

 

Then she heard Sinb’s slippers dragged along the floor, the sound growing closer towards her. She sees Sinb getting into her field of view and the girl can be seen holding two steaming plates of marinara pasta topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese and parsley. The scent of ingredients filled the room and her tummy grumbled in hunger under her hoodie. 

 

Sinb went to wash her hands and took off her black apron at the kitchen, taking a glance at herself through the microwaves reflection to make sure she doesn’t look all that bad after cooking. The idol rushes towards the girl, pushing her shoulders behind her to her seat, even pulling the chair out for her. Yerin only chuckled and laughed it off as she thought it was cheesy but awfully adorable. 

 

Once both of them were seated, Yerin couldn’t help but admire the food in front of her, her eyes growing wider at the sight, taking in every whiff of the pleasant and savory smell. “I’ll eat well!” she exclaims and Sinb does the same with a light chuckle.

 

The first bite. Sinb waited for Yerin to have hers, eyes locked towards the girl sitting in front of her. When she saw Yerin closed her eyes and moaned in satisfaction, she gave herself a pat on the back and proceeded to eat her serving. “It’s not bad, right?” she says, tasting her own cooking. 

 

“Not at all, Eunbi-ssi. It’s really good, I didn’t know you could cook like this” 

 

“Well, I have a couple of tricks up my sleeves other than singing and dancing, ya know?”

 

“What I meant was that I didn’t know you were able to cook something as good as this. This tastes like it could belong in a five star restaurant.”

 

“You’re exaggerating though I’m glad you like it, Yerin-ssi.”

 

Yerin only hummed in response, taking more bites of the pasta. 

 

Sinb made this seem so easy. Yerin was sure that first dates are usually so nerve wrecking that she wouldn’t be able to function because that’s what she felt at the rooftop. But even now, even with these nerves that were building up at the back of her spine, Yerin felt at ease as she slurped the pasta from her plate. Though, what she wasn’t sure about was their sudden formalities, the air was suddenly coated with it, as if they were actually eating in a five star restaurant.

 

“So you’re really not gonna ask me?” 

 

Yerin raised her eyebrows for the millionth time today, “About…?”

 

“This, me, anything that’s on your mind right now,” Sinb didn’t bother to bat an eye towards the girl in front of her, smirking.

 

“Oh… well…” 

 

“To answer your question from yesterday--yes,  I like girls. Do you?”

 

Yerin was reminded of their facetime call yesterday where she was figuring out why Sinb had asked her for a dinner date. The question that was directed towards Yerin herself, however, made her more confused. 

 

“I’ve never really thought about it, if I’m going to be honest.” Sinb hummed in reply, deep in thought. Yerin didn’t know why Sinb had asked her that in the first place since they’re here already… having a dinner date…

 

“Well… if it helps, you’re here with me. Does that tell you anything?”

 

“A little. What do you identify yourself as?”

 

“Queer.”

 

“Ah…” Yerin was sure she knew what that meant because she thought she knew the whole gay lingo thanks to international stan twitter but here she was wondering what it actually means. She’s heard it multiple times in conversations and read it on written tweets, but she has never gone out of her way to search it up on Naver or Google. 

 

“It’s a little complicated to explain but basically it means that I’m not straight” Sinb furthered her answer as if she was reading Yerin’s mind again. 

 

“Can you try to explain to me the complicated part?” Yerin asked with her tone full of genuine curiosity. 

 

“Hm… well you can say that technically I am attracted to both male and female, but I don’t think I could ever find myself dating the opposite gender. I can’t really call myself biual because of that, since biual means that I have to be romantically and ually attracted to boys too, but I don’t feel that way so… Queer seems to be the best possible term for me to identify as because there’s no really set category to it.”

 

Yerin nodded attentively, all of her gaze on Sinb as she tried her best to explain. And the bizarre thing is, Yerin felt the same way about it.

 

“I guess… I’m queer too?” 

 

Sinb’s eyes widened. “Eh? Are you sure? That was quick…?”

 

“I mean, whatever you said applies to me too. And since I’m here with you right now willingly… I guess I am attracted to girls romantically. I can’t really see myself dating a boy either.”

 

“That makes sense…” Sinb said with a tint of wonder in her voice. She was sure Yerin was a full blown lesbian but then again, her gaydar can’t be predicted these days. 

 

By the time they finished dinner, it was already 9:30 PM. The air felt more comfortable by then, they talked about anything that came to mind and Yerin was content. Sinb would flirt with her here and there, though it didn’t seem like the idol’s usual flirting like she would do on the variety shows that she always appears on. It sounded genuine, as if Sinb was actually trying to steal her heart as best she could and if Yerin had to be honest with herself, it was working but of course, she would never admit that to herself because today has been crazy as it is. 

 

After cleaning the dishes, Sinb had even offered Yerin to stay the night  because it was already really late, she politely declined as she felt like that would be a breach of Sinb’s privacy. She also wanted to take things slow if anything, it’s been a long day for her. She wondered if this was one of the norms for an idol, having dinner dates with whoever peaked their interest that way in their own apartment. 

 

Sinb had ordered a taxi for her, she said it’s just courtesy for Yerin coming over today when the girl tried to decline the offer. The idol even went out of her way to send Yerin down to the taxi when it arrived which unknowingly made Yerin’s heart swell up, even if it’s just a simple gesture. 

 

They said their goodbyes with shy smiles, Yerin felt that tugging disappointment in her chest again. She wished she could stay the night, but things might go too fast and she might not be able to process it later on. If it were up to her heart, she would’ve thrown away everything and just be with the idol as much as she wanted,

 

But she would never admit that, would she? Yerin and her poor heart. 

 

 

When Yerin got home, she sighed again for the thousandth time today. Her mind was exhausted from the thoughts that kept running through her, and her heart was still not giving her any breaks. She couldn’t stop recalling her whole day while cleaning up and doing her fansite work that her cheeks would hurt from smiling too much, tinting itself with a slight shade of pink. 

 

She can’t believe that she had dinner with Sinb, the idol who owned her heart in not the way she imagined. The fact that Sinb had declared that it was a date, too, it didn’t seem real, 

 

not even after it happened.

 


 

A/N: Hi everyone! There are a couple of things I'd like to address and I hope all of you will continue to read on.

 

First I would like to thank everyone who has subscribed, we hit 150 subscribers recently and I can't even begin to express how happy I am that people are actually giving this story any attention at all, so thank you! It means the whole world to me and I appreciate every single one of you, even the silent readers, I see you!! Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart <3

 

Next, I would like to explain how the updates are going to be for this story. Since there's I don't have a set ending for it yet (I'm still figuring it out, I have a couple of things in mind), I'm just writing with what comes to mind just like how I've been doing it when I started writing this as a one shot but with more thought in mind.

 

Basically, when I finish writing a chapter, I will straight away start with another. Once I've written that chapter half way, I will usually post the finished chapter before that. So that means I will only post a chapter when I've started/finished the chapter after it.

 

With this process, it might take awhile to push out each chapter. As you can tell by this one, it took me a few days to finish it--so I hope everyone doesn't mind that it's not like the daily updates I did for the one shot.

 

Again, thank you so much for your patience and for the love and support that everyone's been showing for this story. I hope to satisfy your reading needs with good chapters.

 

As always, if you have any comments and anything that you want to say regarding this story or the chapters, you are free to leave a comment below!! I love reading comments because it gives me an insight of a readers prespective and it also helps me to see how I should progress with the story so don't be shy!

 

Alright, that's all for now. Again thank you for reading, I hope everyone is having a good day/night. Take care and stay safe and healthy always. <3

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
Andrea_97 #1
please update it, It's really good
supergirl1989
#2
Chapter 14: Author nim please update
Yerintopic #3
Chapter 14: This is so goood i'm waiting for next update
YeEun86
#4
Chapter 8: I need to read/re-read a few chapters back because I'm not sure where I left off reading. I knew what happened during this event already but it didn't stop me from smiling the whole time I read this chapter.
wnsr_28
#5
Chapter 14: I got a feeling that Yerin and Eunha would be related... ><

Take care, Author-nim!
Kamiyama_Hime
#6
Chapter 14: Ooooh... i like where things are going!
This UmB past will put the tense we need to have a less innocent Yerin, I guess...
We want Sinrin to go official! I can’t wait to read the meeting with Yewon!
Thanks for the update, author! I enjoy this story a lot!
SowonsHands #7
Chapter 14: I’m really hoping for Wonha and maybe Yumji?
SinRin03
#8
Chapter 14: I think it's joy who called haha. Sinb at least told yerin that yewon is her ex. I can't wait for the meet up of the past and the present. Thank you for the update authonim! :)
ashirogimuto
#9
Chapter 14: Hahahha you keep your promise to give us more sinrin moments on this chapter~
But now i can't help but anxious about this umb situation,.. was that yewon - eunha scene happened before yewon meet eunbi at the previous chapter author nim? If it really happened before, then I'm at east because it's already made clear that yewon only wants her friendship with eunbi back, and eunbi also already made clear that she only loves yerin now~
It's also really cute but frustrating on how they keep flirting with all yhe skinship and kissing but they still got no label !
What are you waiting for eunbi yaaa~ hahaha

Tysm for the update author nim!
I'm glad you had so many ideas for this au! Then i can enjoyed this au as long as possible hahaha
Stay safe author nim! Fighting!!
wnsr_28
#10
Chapter 14: I really think Joy was the one who called Yerim.. Ahhh!! I'm excited! Thank you, Author-nim!