Work Text:
To be honest, Namsoon is a little bit nervous.
Today is the day she is going to meet her new studio partner. She works in a entertainment company and after Hoseok, her previous work partner, quitted after receiving a job offer somewhere else, she quickly realized that she couldn't handle doing everything on her own. Because of that, she decided ask her manager for a new partner.
But the thing is, Namsoon is actually really shy. The only reason she easily became friends with Hoseok was because they met during college, when both of them were lost freshmans. So yeah, meeting new people is kind of scary for her.
She tries to put her concerns aside and starts to organize the songs she still have to finish when somebody knocks on the door.
"Come in." Namsoon says and turns around in her chair while the door opens slowly.
"Excuse me," says the girl at the door while she looks around "the manager assigned me to this studio..."
"Oh," Namsoon gets up of her chair "you must be my new work partner then. I'm Kim Namsoon, it's nice to meet you." She says, offering her hand for a handshake.
The girl shakes her hand and bows slightly.
"I'm Min Yoonji. It's nice to meet you too." She says with a shy smile.
Min Yoonji is really pretty. That is the first thing Namsoon thinks when she sees her. She is shorter then Namsoon even though she is wearing black platform shoes. She's dressed in all black and somehow she looks really cute. Namsoon usually thinks that people that only wear black are a little intimidating, but Yoonji isn't.
Namsoon shows Yoonji her part of the studio. She doesn't have to explain much about it because Yoonji already had some experience working in entertainment companies.
And eventually, they fell into a somewhat awkward silence and decide to focus on their work. And Namsoon is left wishing she had the courage to start a conversation.
☾
That night, back in her apartment, Namsoon is sitting on her couch while her roommate and best friend, Taehee, is lying down on her lap. The TV is on but none of them are paying much attention to it, being much more entertained by their own phones. Namsoon decides to tell Taehee about her day at work, seeking for advice, since her friend is quite an extrovert.
"Tae," Namsoon starts "I've met my new studio partner today."
"That's great!" Taehee says, looking up to make eye contact with Namsoon "You said you were getting overwhelmed with work these days so that's really good! What are they like? It's a man? A woman?"
"It's a woman, actually. And I don't know what she's like... It was only her first day."
Taehee suddenly sits up.
"A woman, huh? Is she cute?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Why are you asking? You have a girlfriend." Namsoon asks.
"I know." Taehee says "And I love Jungah, thank you very much. I'm asking for you. In case you forgot, you're also attracted to women."
"You're right, sorry." Namsoon apologizes with a weak smile "She's actually really pretty. She has black hair and the length of her hair is similar to mine. She's short, like way shorter than me, it's adorable." Namsoon doesn't even realize she's smiling "Apparently she likes to dress in all black but it really suits her. And it doesn't make her look intimidating because she has soft features. Her eyes are also really pretty..."
"Oh my God, ok, I get it. She's the cutest girl you have ever seen. You're disgustingly soft and you've just met her!" Tae frowns looking at her best friend "But what about her personality? What did you talk about?"
"So, um, about that..." Namsoon starts, looking away from her friend "wedidn'ttalkthatmuch" She whispers.
"What?"
"We didn't talk that much... I just explained how the studio worked."
"Wait. You've just worked in silence? You didn't ask anything? Not even small talk?"
"No?" Namsoon says awkwardly.
"Namsoon, you useless gay, I can't believe you're my best friend." Taehee sighs "If you think she's that cute and if you want to ask her out someday you have to be able to talk to her!"
"I know..." Namsoon pouts "And I don't want to think about asking her out."
"So, you're saying to me that you've just met the most beautiful and attractive girl you've ever seem and you just want to be friends with her?"
"It's just..." Namsoon sighs "I've never done this before. Like, asked someone out. All of the boys I've been with asked me out first. And I've never been on a date with a girl."
"Aww, so you're having your first gay panic?" Taehee asks, looking at Namsoon like she's the cutest thing ever "Oh, my baby is growing so fast!" She hugs her friend dramatically.
Namsoon rolls her eyes but doesn't try to make Taehee move away.
"Shut up, you are younger than me."
"Don't ruin the moment." Taehee pouts "But seriously, you can do it, Nam. If Jungah could, and you know how shy she is, you can do it too." Namsoon has to agree with that, no could beat Jungah when it came to shyness "You can start by talking to her about her preferences in music. After all, you are both producers."
"You're right. I'm gonna give a try... Thanks Tae."
☾
In the next day, Yoonji and Namsoon arrive early at the company. So they decide to check their social media, messages and other things before they start working.
Namsoon notices that Yoonji is wearing a black midi dress with black boots and she looks beautiful. How can someone be so pretty?
"You're really pretty." Namsoon says without thinking.
And then Namsoon realizes she said it out loud. Her eyes go wide and she covers her mouth with hands. She's blushing.
How could she be so stupid? Yoonji will definitely think she's weird. Her mind must be working against her. This is Taehee's fault. Oh my God, she's never letting Taehee know about this if she wants to live in peace.
"Uhm," Yoonji's voice makes Namsoon lose her train of thoughts "thank you?" She says with a small smile. "You're too. I really like your hair. Purple suits you."
"Thanks." Namsoon says with a shy smile.
Before they could go back to their phones, Namsoon takes a deep breath and decides to start a conversation:
"So, Yoonji... I know we didn't talk much yesterday but I would really like to know more about you? After all, we will be working together in this studio for a long time and I wanted to make sure you'll be comfortable in the company..." She says looking at the floor.
Yoonji puts her phone down at her desk and smiles (or was that a smirk?), looking at Namsoon seemingly interested.
"What would you like to know?"
"Uhm, I don't know... Your favorite genre of music? Or when you started producing?"
"I really like hip-hop and hum," Yoonji crosses her legs and looks up as if she's trying to remember something "I think I started to produce music when I was 18..."
[...]
☾
"I can't believe you did that!" Taehee says, laughing so hard she's crying "Oh my God, that's so funny, I can't." She says, wiping her tears in her sleeves.
"It isn't that funny." Namsoon says rolling her eyes "Besides, everything went great after that so it doesn't really matter."
Taehee takes a deep breath to calm herself down.
"Ok, true, the rest of it was great. I'm proud of you, Nam. And she seems really nice."
"She is." She says, recalling the conversation in her mind. Yoonji was perfect "But... I still need your help with something."
"What is it?"
"Uhm," Namsoon bites her lower lip, feeling nervous for some reason "How do I know if someone's gay?"
"Seriously, Namsoon?" Taehee says, raising an eyebrow.
Namsoon just nods.
"You ask them." Taehee says "You know there's no other way to tell. And I know you've only asked it because you scared things might go wrong if you ask directly if she wants to on a date with you... But you got to give it a shot."
"I know... I just don't want things to be awkward between us if it doesn't work." Namsoon says almost whispering.
"It won't. And you don't even know if won't work. You got to stop overthinking, Nam." Taehee says, hugging her friend.
☾
Namsoon doesn't ask right away, she waits weeks and weeks and continues talking to Yoonji regularly in the studio. They even go out to get lunch together sometimes. And Namsoon becomes more and more worried that she might ruin this new friendship if she asks Yoonji out on a date.
But she knows for sure that Yoonji isn't dating anyone (she asked before) and she doesn't want to pretend anymore. She has feelings for Yoonji and she doesn't think they will go away soon.
And one day she decides she had enough.
Namsoon takes off her headphones and turns in Yoonji's direction. She can feel her heart beating fast on her chest. She's closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
"Yoonji." She calls, opening her eyes.
Yoonji turns around in her chair to look Namsoon in the eyes.
"Yes?" She says, tilting her head like a puppy.
Namsoon's heart skips a beat. Damn, she's so cute.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course. Feel free to ask me anything." She answers with a smile.
"Uhm..." Namsoon starts "Yoonji, you would like to go on a date with me sometime?" She says still looking at Yoonji in the eyes.
"Oh..." Yoonji says, clearly surprised.
That didn't seem a good sign. Namsoon looks at Yoonji expression and feels like he definitely messed everything up. She starts to get even more anxious.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" She looks at the floor and shakes her head. Making gestures with her hands as if she's asking the other girl to forget about it "I just thought... I just... I'm sorry."
"Wait, Namsoon," Yoonji comes closer and grabs Namsoo's hands so she would stop waving them around "I didn't even get to say anything. Wait, look at me."
Yoonji puts her hand under Namsoon chin to make the younger girl look up. When Namsoon looks at her, Yoonji eyes are shining and her gaze is soft.
"I would love to go on a date with you, Kim Namsoon." She says holding her hand.
"I really like you, Min Yoonji." Namsoon says, smiling and her eyes watering. She rubs her thumb against Yoonji's hand as to emphasize what she's saying.
"I really like you too."