"I used to hear a simple song,
that was until you came along. 

Now in its place is something new,
I hear it when I look at you."

Seulgi doesn't really know what she's doing outside Red Velvet's dorm at three in the morning holding a bouquet of lilac flowers and a medium cup of tteokbokki. She doesn't really know why her heart is beating so loud, doesn't really know why her palms are sweating despite the chilly air. 

What she does know is today is Joohyun's birthday. Joohyun, whom she knows for twelve years already. Joohyun, whom she's spent all her highs and lows with (two first wins and one slump included), whom she's grown up with. Her sweet, beautiful Joohyun, whose hugs were always the warmest (not that she'd tell the other girls that), whose words were always the wisest, whose light is always the brightest.

Maybe that's why nothing can stop Seulgi from gravitating towards her like a pair of magnets. Not even a fifteen minute drive from her new apartment that she's barely finished decorating. She'd pick Joohyun over boxes and IKEA manuals any day anyways. (But she'll pick Joohyun over anything and everything, honestly.) 

So Seulgi raises her trembling hand to knock on the front door she hasn't touched for ages and blows a deep breath. One, two, three, she counts, here goes nothing.

One, two, three, Seulgi counts, here goes nothing. 

Seulgi raised her shaking index finger to poke the new trainee's shoulder, hidden under her long, jet black hair. When the mysterious girl doesn't turn, Seulgi poked a little harder, cheeks silently burning in embarrassment. By this point, the other girls were staring at her in awe, but they've always known that Kang Seulgi was a little too brave for her own good. 

"Joohyun-ssi?" 

Joohyun turned her head with apparent shyness, smiling hesitantly, but her chocolate brown eyes were shining with warmth as ever. She didn't really speak much, Seulgi knew, but it's a good thing she already came prepared (that includes practicing in front of her mirror for two hours straight). 

"Would you like to grab lunch with me?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, unnie. You. Who else am I talking to?" 

If it was any other trainee in the room, Joohyun would've felt stupid or have her face burn in humiliation, but something about Seulgi's genuine smile and crescent eyes were hypnotizingly convincing. Even in waiting, her lips stayed raised, eyes still radiating with the promise of friendship. 

It didn't really take more than two seconds for Joohyun to say a quiet yes, smiling in full now, trying to match Seulgi's undying grin. She ends up paying for the both of them because Seulgi forgot her wallet in the practice room, but Joohyun doesn't mind, not really (that's what she'll tell Seulgi when they talk about it, years later) because she gains a new friend in exhange of two cups of tteokbokki and two cans of Cola. 

By their third little lunch getaway, Joohyun linked her arms with Seulgi's out of habit. Seulgi froze, arms rigid like a robot, and Joohyun worries for a bit that she's overstepped. But Seulgi recovered three minutes later, saying she's not really used to it. She didn't say it, but she added a but for you unnie, I'll try! in her head. Instead she said with a smile, "You just surprised me, that's all." 

"You just surprised me, that's all."

Seulgi rolls her eyes. "I thought you hated me for a second."

"Maybe I do. I hate you for disturbing my sleep."

Seulgi laughs and lets herself in, walking the path from the doorway to the couch that she's memorized for years. She sets down the plastic bag and the bouquet on the center table, propping her feet besides it. Joohyun joins her a minute later.

"Get your feet off my table, Kang Seulgi!" 

Joohyun hurriedly pries Seulgi's legs off the table, but Seulgi won't budge, little giggles coming out of at her leader's obvious struggle. Joohyun gives up and joins her in defeat, though she winces a little the moment her feet touched the surface of the table. "You make me do a lot of stupid things."

Seulgi rests her head on Joohyun's shoulder, closing the little amount of distance between them, and puts her arms around her small frame. "It's your birthday. It's okay to do stupid things." 

Joohyun hums, breathing in Seulgi's scent that she hasn't sniffed for a week, because the latter was too busy with her new apartment and the interior designing and cleaning that comes with it. Seulgi has always been a hard worker, often losing herself while doing things she's passionate about. She doesn't forget to send Joohyun a text message or two by the end of the day though. (Is this what that one movie she watched on Netflix says? That love never forgets?)

Maybe it's the birthday jitters or the fact that Seulgi hasn't shown her face through iMessage or Instagram selcas for a week so Joohyun misses her terribly, but she swears Joohyun scoots a little closer to her, like she's savoring every inch of Seulgi's body heat. The older girl sleepily mumbles with her eyes closed, "I missed you. A lot." 

Seulgi closes her eyes and smiles. "I missed you too," she presses a kiss on the sleeping birthday girl's forehead (oh, how she loves doing this, loves having the privilege to do this) and whispers, "it's hard without you."

"It's hard without you," Joohyun blurted out of nowhere, sweating profusely, straight out of practice for their duo performance of Be Natural. She sat on the floor, catching her breath, eyes closed due to exhaustion. 

"Of course, unnie," Seulgi teased, sitting right next to her, just as where she belongs on and off the stage. "it's a partner dance. It's hard if you dance it alone."

Joohyun laughed loudly for the first time since they started practicing the choreography. Seulgi was probably overreacting, but she can see Joohyun glowing, the tension leaving her shoulders, a serene smile replacing a frown. 

"There. I missed that smile."

"And I missed you, dummy."

Seulgi had to take a week worth of absences due to her school's finals week, leaving Joohyun to practice the choreography alone. She may j