Epilogue

Love Me Another Way
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Tutting is a style of dancing that is performed mostly with your arms, hands and fingers to create geometric shapes of straight lines. It is one of the most difficult types of dances that both Seulgi and Joohyun have ever learnt as it requires the utmost focus and patience. They start learning it from the basics, about three months leading up to their sub-unit second mini album, three years after their first one.

 

The offer for the comeback actually came from their company much earlier, but at the time both of them politely declined, with the reasons being Joohyun wanting to focus on her acting career while Seulgi was long overdue for a solo debut. The real reason, however, was the fact that both of them thought it was wiser to not do it. The preparation for their first album was intense and they, especially Seulgi, wasn't sure if they could spend so much time together without jeopardizing their friendship once again.

 

Learning tutting is frustating, to say the least, but once they have mastered the movement perfectly, it's beyond satisfying. The first time they finish the whole choreography without stopping and without making a single mistake, the feeling is magical. Their bodies move so well together. Their dance instructor just can't stop complimenting their chemistry; the movements, the little touches, the eye contacts, how good they look together while performing. Seulgi loves to dance, and to have someone so in-sync with her feels incredibly gratifying. 

 

One of the first schedules for their promotion is for a radio show with a senior host they both like and is always very friendly and nice to them. It starts as usual with them exchanging pleasantries, explaining the concept of their album and getting their title track played on the radio.The show then goes to the next segment where they answer questions from listeners. It's the typical, boring questions they always get until one person asks Joohyun what her favourite song from Seulgi's solo album is.

 

"I like Danger a lot." She says, mentioning one of the B-sides in the album that Seulgi performed once on her debut stage on a music show alongside the title track. "It has nice choreography and I think Seulgi killed it."

 

"I have my own personal favourite." The host chimes in. "There's one song called In My Dreams that I really like. The song is so sad. Who rejected you, Seulgi-ssi ? Tell me, I'm gonna give him a smack in the head."

 

Seulgi laughs at the exaggeration but she notices Joohyun looking at her. She turns to give the older woman an assuring smile. "It was just a song. I wasn't even the sole lyricist for it. I scribbled a few lines and the company liked it and asked for the team to help me develop it."

 

"Ah, I see. It makes sense now. I think one must be very stupid to reject Red Velvet's Seulgi. Do you agree, Irene-ssi ?"

 

Joohyun nods her head without hesitation. "Very, very stupid. Whoever that is, they don't deserve Seulgi." She says with the same exaggeration for comedic purpose.

 

"Why are you guys being like this?" Seulgi cackles. "It's not a crime to not like someone back, though? Also, the song didn't say anything about being rejected. It's also possible that the confession never even happened."

 

'In my dreams you love me back.' Is how the chorus goes. Seulgi never intended for this sentence to ever see the light of day. It was an accident where her scribbles got mixed up together with other files in the folder she sent to the company. As luck would have it, it was actually the one that grabbed the most attention and she was immediately asked to finish it. She tried explaining that it was a mistake but they insisted, saying that they already had this fairy tale theme idea for the song.

 

Seulgi had no other choice but to go to Joohyun and explained everything; how it was written a long time ago when she still had feelings for her and she was just absent-mindedly writing things down, never really planning to ever use it for anything. It felt wrong somehow, like she was sharing something so intimate to the world and she didn't want Joohyun and the other girls to go back to pitying her again when they heard the song.

 

Joohyun was thankfully pretty chill about it, giving her the permission to do as she saw fit. 'If you refuse to do it they would just finish it themselves and make you sing it. At least this way you have a control over it. It's just a song, it doesn't have to mean anything.'

 

And the song went on to become one of the most loved B-sides from her album. She had told the rest her members about the behind the scenes story before letting them listen to it, they only gave praises that it was beautiful and refrained from commenting much on it.

 

"Irene-ssi, if you have to choose, do you prefer Red Velvet's Seulgi or the real life Kang Seulgi?" The radio host asks, reading the next question.

 

"Do I prefer Red Velvet's Seulgi or Kang Seulgi?" Joohyun repeats the question to buy some time while she thinks of an answer. "They're not that different though? Each has its own charm, but if I really have to choose of course it would be the real life Kang Seulgi."

 

"And why is that?"

 

"I don't know. Maybe because Red Velvet's Seulgi feels more like a colleague and Kang Seulgi feels more like a family member?" She says. "No wait, come to think of it, Red Velvet's Seulgi is easier to deal with. Because of all four of them, Seulgi is probably the most obedient one."

 

"Huh?" Seulgi turns to her, a tiny bit offended that she's being talked about like a good little puppy.

 

Joohyun chuckles at her reaction before continuing, "The point is, I can control Red Velvet's Seulgi, but Kang Seulgi is a different case. Especially as she got older and became bolder, she now gives me headaches all the time."

 

"When did I ever!?" She asks, faking being insulted. "That's not true. Kang Seulgi is a very good kid, my parents said so."

 

The host laughs as she quickly moves on to the next question before it turns into a fight. "What about you, Seulgi-ssi ? Do you prefer Red Velvet's Irene or Bae Joohyun?"

 

"Hmm.. each has its own charm." Seulgi says, parroting what Joohyun said earlier. "But they're a little different. A lot actually. Irene is cool and chic while Joohyun-unnie in real life is warm and goofy."

 

"What do you mean goofy?" Joohyun protests with a pout as the host laughs at her.

 

"So, which one do you prefer?"

 

"Of course Bae Joohyun. But not only because she's warm and goofy." Seulgi explains, suddenly wanting to go deep. "It's because when unnie is working she's very strict and shows no weakness, whereas behind the scenes she's more willing to show vulnerabilities." She steals a glance at Joohyun and sees her playing with the mic, twisted. "As I get older I like to take care of people more than being taken care of, and I like the feeling of being able to take care of her sometimes. Knowing that I help ease her burden, no matter how little, knowing that she can put her guard down and let loose a little is really important to me."

 

The host lets out a satisfied sound. "That's really sweet. Do you agree with what she said, Irene-ssi ?"

 

"Don't ask her, she would never admit it." Seulgi quips, making them laugh.

 

Joohyun then moves slowly closer to the mic, her face getting serious. "Seulgi has been there for me and has helped me more than she knows. Sometimes when the reality feels to bizarre, I only need to look at her to realize that yes, what's happening is real. When things get hard, I look at her and is automatically assured that it will get easier because she'll be there ready to help me to get through it." Joohyun turns to her before breaking eye contact immediately. Seulgi knows whatever the older woman is about to say next is going to be either really cheesy or really heart-warming. "I never said this to her directly because it sounds kinda.. gross.." She chuckles. "but.. Seulgi makes me feel loved. She has this abundance of love and affection that she never hesitate to share with everybody and it feels heavenly being at the receiving end of it."

 

The answer renders Seulgi speechless. They have become more honest with each other privately and has shared quite a lot but Joohyun never opened up this way on shows. She looks at Joohyun, sticking out her bottom lip to show her that she's touched. Joohyun only scoffs at her. Of course, after pouring out her deepest feelings she's back to being the cool and chic Irene again.

 

Another satisfied sound is heard from the host. "You two have known each other for quite a long time, haven't you?"

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turtlenaut_ #1
Chapter 16: i love your writing style and how you carefully wrote the characters. but please, i want seul to end up with evie 😭 sooyeon popped up out of nowhere lmao, but great story nonetheless. thanks authornim!
sewcret
#2
I binge read this in one entire day, 24 hours, because i was just so hooked on your story! I was scared to read this when I saw the bittersweet ending tag. I'm a big fan of happy endings (i think i adopted that from my unhealthy obsession with romance movies), and I was really surprised when I finished without complaining once. The way you portrayed the characters in the story was PHENOMENAL. The emotions, the expressions, their feelings, it was truly a work of art! Down to the plot, it was just so good and it's nothing like I've read before. There were moments where I wanted to cry, moments where I wanted to laugh, and that's really fun when I feel like I experienced the emotions with the characters. Thank you for this amazing story, I hope to read more of your works. Some stories don't always need the ending you wanted in order for it to be your favorite. At least thats how I felt with this. Stay happy and healthy <33
ddeulgiu
#3
Chapter 16: I finally had the courage to read after i found out that there's an alternative ending. I was prepared to get my heart crashed but unexpectedly loved it and finished it in a day. Now i'm wondering why i didn't read this sooner lol. The comments section scared me tbh. The ending is very realistic. I think i've said this before but the greatest charm of silhouetteink's stories are how human, relatable, and not too fictional the characters are. That's why i'm satisfied with the ending. I'm still 100% anticipating the alternative ending tho. They seem to be very in love with their girlfriends i'm curious how will it turn out but I'm sure it's going to be as satisfying as this original one.
jelynviola
#4
Chapter 10: and who is the reference for evelyn song huhu i love evie here atleast for now
jelynviola
#5
Chapter 2: who is the reference for stylist yeona? is she a real person i want to know please
oofiee 1032 streak #6
Chapter 16: the emotions i felt while reading this story pls 😩 there is so much depth in how each scene is narrated... there are really just some people you feel so much connection to, as if you cant live your life without them. no matter how tangled your relationship reaches at one point, it will unwind and eventually just fit comfortably in your life
oofiee 1032 streak #7
Chapter 10: tbh if i was joohyun and i do like seulgi romantically, after all those pressure to give her a chance that feelings will change to disgust almost immediately... now everyones even fighting abt it 😔
nagbabasalang
#8
Chapter 17: so it's.... love me another another way? XD
Oct_13_wen_03 61 streak #9
Chapter 17: 🤍🤍🤍
ceralamperouge516
#10
Chapter 17: <3<3<3<3<3