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2:00 AM. The V-Live ended later than Soojin expected, but it had been a while since she spent some time with the Neverlands, so the sleep she had to sacrifice was definitely worth it. After all, she was aware of the stress they’ve been experiencing with collecting votes and uniting everyone to get them an award for this year. This was the least she could do, and even if she had to sleep later than usual, she still felt it wasn’t enough to thank the Nevies for their hard work. Even the girls thought of the same, that’s why they were also pressuring CUBE to release more of their content so that Nevies could enjoy something.
She softly trod back to her room after an eventful night, the soft smile still lingering on her lips whenever she recalls the weird and funny questions asked to her, most of them were about their precious maknae, Shuhua, who had slept early because of the exhaustion from their busy schedules. Speaking of the maknae, she stopped in front of her door and stood there for a few seconds. Her hand had found its way to the knob, slightly hesitating to turn it in fear that she might wake Shuhua up. That, or the door might just be locked and she hated the feeling of the absurd rejection.
It’s unlocked…
Carefully, Soojin tiptoed her way towards Shuhua’s bed, staring lovingly at her porcelain-like face before she sat at the empty space of it. For a moment, she didn’t do anything but gaze, admiring Shuhua’s peaceful feature and reveling at this precious moment she rarely experiences with her. It was always a pleasure to watch the Taiwanese sleep. She watched how her chest rose and fell like sunrise and sunset, her breath even despite the light snores that equally compliments Shuhua’s whole being. In Soojin’s eyes, she was too perfect. A goddess.
“Goddess Yeh really suits as your nickname,” She whispered, her hand had absent-mindedly made its way to Shuhua’s face, tucking a small strand of hair to her ear. “Everyone’s really lucky to even see a glimpse of you.” She bent down to plant a soft kiss on the Taiwanese’s forehead, lingering there for a few seconds with her eyes closed, smiling ever so lovingly when she pulled back to give her one last gaze and finally made her way out of her room.
‘But I’m luckier…’
After Soojin cleaned up herself, dressed in her comfortable pajamas, she flopped herself on her bed and moaned satisfyingly when she felt the mattress finally hugging her sore muscles. She so damn needed to rest, and she sure deserves more than eight hours of it. But her eyes weren’t that heavy yet, so she decided to scroll aimlessly at her phone, checking back the V-Live she did and properly reading the comments this time. She smiled unconsciously whenever she saw Nevies getting jealous of Soojin having to witness and experience all of Shuhua’s affection and attention, or Shuhua’s VIP privilege of Soojin’s soft sides.
‘As they should,’ she thought, but quickly brushed it away. Their close friendship had been quite an interesting topic to Neverlands, or even the non-K-pop fans in general, either because of envy or simply because they honestly look cute together. She never complained, nonetheless. How could she? If she could appreciate first-hand all of Shuhua’s existence: from messy, chaotic, stubborn, and cocky to downright awkward, shy, kind, and a softie. Shuhua was the epitome of rawness, what you see is what you get. Despite their difficult relationship in the beginning because of the goddamn language barrier, the connection slowly, but eventually, grew deeper and more sincere. In all honesty, she doesn’t think she could ever get used to silence anymore now that Shuhua had barged into her life like a cyclone that she surprisingly loved.
Her thoughts then drifted to the Polaroid. Their Polaroid. Of course, their fans would totally notice that. She wasn’t too careful on that one, but she wasn’t hiding it either, so she saw no problem revealing it to them considering the amount of curious Nevies, (and sooshu shippers, yes she’s aware) that continuously asked her about it. She planned on hanging the Polaroid in her room, to be honest, without actually getting caught because she knew how this could cause some… ruckus. But the skeleton was out of the closet now, and she swore she could see the bright smile of the maknae once she knew what she did on the V-Live. Shuhua was aware of how Soojin dislikes pubic affection or revelation for that matter, but the Taiwanese certainly appreciate Soojin getting bold once in a while, dropping minor or major hints here and there. It rarely happens before, and Soojin was also wondering how she’s getting bolder these days. Maybe she loves seeing Shuhua’s reaction, or maybe she loves making the maknae smile, or maybe she’s just unequivocally whipped for the Taiwanese. Either way, this newfound habit had been growing to be an addiction she could barely control over time. She wasn’t complaining, however, especially if it meant making Shuhua happy.
“Soojin?”
Soojin shot up from her bed, tossing her phone aside quickly when she saw the sleepy Shuhua, with her large pillow on her arms, making its way to her bed beside her.
“Shu? What’s wrong?” She cooed, wrapping her arms around the smaller figure as if it was already an involuntary gesture whenever Shuhua would visit to cuddle with her. Erase that. It was actually a habit she would never admit to herself. “It’s late, I thought you were asleep.”
“I was…” Shuhua mumbled, scooting herself closer to the older girl and hiding her face in her neck.
“… and?”
“I had a bad dream.” came a hushed and trembling reply. “I-I'm scared. Can I sleep here?”
Soojin, as if on cue, immediately tightened her embrace protectively, shielding her precious Shuhua against all evil that wanted to harm her. This feeling had been there ever since, but it was triggered and intensified when Shuhua once came back, eyes red and puffy from crying because of the anxiety she had been carrying around from various hate comments on her V-Live. Shuhua was strong, yes, but her façade does have its own limitations. She was human first before she was an idol.
“Of course. Stay here whenever you want.”
Stay with me forever, if you want.
Shuhua whined and clung to Soojin closer as if the warmth that radiates from the older girl removes every negative dream she recently had, as well as the anxiety she had been experiencing. The scent just instantly calms her mind down, effectively bringing back her drowsiness, paired with Soojin’s tender hand that’s brushing her long, silky hair. She loved being in Soojin’s presence, much more when Soojin takes care of her like this. Like Shuhua was her everything.
Soojin, on the other hand, had disregarded her previous thoughts about the V-live. Her focus was on the baby in her arms and how she could provide more love that the Taiwanese undoubtedly deserves. Yes, Soojin had been through a lot, convincing her parents for two years to chase a dream of uncertainty, but Shuhua’s obstacles of coming to Korea with barely to no knowledge of the culture, the language, and just everything about the country were certainly no match with her own. No one truly knew what the younger had experienced, except her, of course, whenever Shuhua would cry in the middle of the night, upset at herself for not understanding Korean better, or whenever she was homesick and misses her family back in Taiwan. She hid them all from the world. From the world, except her world, Soojin. And Soojin listened, from every ounce of Shuhua’s frustrations to every bucket of her happiness. Soojin was there all along, never leaving the maknae behind and patiently waits for her.
“You’re so whipped, Soojin.” She recalled Soyeon once said when she caught her staring at Shuhua for god-knows-how-long with their recent Polaroid. “Just confess.”
Soojin just glared at her.
“I swear you’re the greatest dumbass if you aren’t getting Shuhua’s hints. She’s too obvious!”
“That’s different” Soojin sighed, placing the Polaroid at the back of her phone, and smiling ever so lovingly as she caressed her thumb on Shuhua’s face on the photo.
Soyeon only watched her in pity and shook her head. “What’s different?”
Soojin shrugged, “That’s fanservice, Soyeon. Like what you do to Yuqi—“
“—Who said what I was doing was fanservice?”
Soojin shot her a confused look, to which Soyeon only grinned innocently.
“At least Yuqi’s not dumb even if she could be stupid most of the time,” Soyeon said matter-of-factly.
“You mean… You and Yuqi…?”
The cocky and victorious smile on Soyeon’s face made Soojin roll her eyes. She doesn’t really need an answer when Soyeon was this obviously satisfied. And happy.
“You should take the risk, too, Soo. You never know, and you’d die not knowing if you continue being like this.” Soyeon stood up, smiling shyly when she read the message from her phone.
Probably from Yuqi.
Soojin just shrugged in response, sighing softly when her eyes landed once again on the Polaroid.
Going back, Soojin pulled the duvet closer to their bodies, planting one last kiss of goodnight to the person she deeply cared and got so whipped for, as her members would say. She smiled when her thoughts drifted back to the Polaroid again, glancing at her phone not too far and seeing a glimpse of the photo.
Yes, the Polaroid. It was by far the biggest hint she dropped to the world.
Best friends? Of course, that never changed.
Lovers? Who knows?
They could all come up with different theories.
But for now, she’s leaving everyone with their Polaroid.