Work Text:
"I just don't get it," Jungeun says.
Jinsol's body seizes with shock as she's ripped from the periphery of a dream she was having - and a particularly good one at that. Something that involved lying on a float in the middle of the ocean.
She shoots a look out of the window. It's so dark that it has to be the darkest time of night, but Jungeun is rarely bothered by petty semantics like 'time' and 'common human decency', and Jinsol has become very familiar with the fact that Jungeun will actively judge her if she doesn't share that same reckless abandon.
Short of shining a flashlight directly into her eyes (and Jinsol is only half-sure Jungeun wouldn't do that if she couldn't ascertain whether Jinsol was awake yet), Jungeun says, "You're awake? Good."
As Jinsol fumbles for her glasses on the nightstand, Jungeun continues talking. "So, why would a massively popular band break up so abruptly? If you read the interviews Bazaar printed with Choerry and Olivia Hye, just three months before their disbandment, it's all rainbows and sunshine. Gowon was on the cover of Vanity Fair a month later, and word has it that they were going to do a group cover before Yeojin got sick with the stomach flu."
Jungeun's eyes glitter. "Vanity Fair's chief editor was fine with having just the other three on the cover, but they refused and said they wouldn't do it with only three of them. That's why they just put Gowon on it in the end. Why would a group with such strong chemistry break up under the circumstances they did?"
"This is a lot of words you're throwing at me right now." Jinsol's voice comes out as a croak, and Jungeun immediately reaches behind her for a water bottle. She accepts the bottle, drinking eagerly to clear her throat. "Thanks."
"I haven't slept," Jungeun proffers, as if it's something Jinsol couldn't tell.
"Clearly," Jinsol says dryly. Her voice has returned to an appropriate amount of husk with the water, but she clears her throat once again for good measure. She scoots over on her bed so Jungeun can sit down and not stand over her with her hands on her hips like a third-rate hotel ghost.
Jungeun looks confused. Jinsol rolls her eyes and yanks her down to sit.
"Have you considered that bands just break up for no reason?" Jinsol asks, looking Jungeun in the eye. The fire in Jungeun's eyes is omnipresent, outfitting her as every bit the investigative journalist hungering for a scoop. Needing to know the truth, needing to reason it out and parcel it so that everyone can know it too. "I was in a band with Sooyoung and Jiwoo, you know. We broke up because I got a girlfriend and Sooyoung thought it'd affect our lyrics."
(It was a grunge band called single4life .)
Jungeun groans at the mention of their bosses, but Jinsol just laughs.
Funnily enough, her high school band links to Sooyoung and Jiwoo, joint founders of Girl Front , the one stop shop online outlet for feminist gossip news (and election coverage), was what got her this job. They'd been looking for a cameraman to work with Jungeun, on the launch of Girl Fron t's new video platform, Girl Front Beyond .
("Jungeun is... Very intense," Sooyoung says, looking to Jiwoo, who nods enthusiastically, and then back to Jinsol. "But if you can handle it, the job's yours.)
"Your high school band isn't what these girls were." Jungeun checks her watch. "We have an interview with Choerry in an hour. I'll get the truth out of her. I'm gonna go brush my teeth."
There's no point trying to get back to sleep at this point. Jinsol switches off her alarm, trots over to the corner of the room where all her gear's stored, making sure that she has everything ready for their interview. Choerry had been nice enough to give this interview for free, so they should try their very best not to piss her off.
She should remind Jungeun of that, but she doesn't think Jungeun will listen anyway.
-
"This okay?" Jinsol asks, and Choerry nods, giving Jinsol a pretty smile. Jinsol was never into the biggest girl band in the country, but Luna were on every possible piece of media on and off the internet in Jinsol's early twenties. She bought a Luna-themed limited edition Lego set once, just for the kicks, and as a result has a Gowon figure somewhere in her storage unit.
"Test your mics, please," Jinsol requests, leaning back in her seat, her camera unit resting on her shoulder. Jungeun and Choerry do so, and she flashes them a thumbs up. "In three, two."
The hotel breakfast lounge is relatively empty of people, but there are still people curiously peering over to their table, and doing comical double-takes when they realize Choerry's at the table. It's been five years since the peak of her fame, and her star has long fallen, but Jinsol figures that the star factor never leaves you.
She zones back into the conversation - Jungeun and Choerry ("Call me Yerim, I haven't been called Choerry in years!") have passed the pleasantries phase of their chat, and Jungeun's brow has begun to crease in a familiar way, signaling Jinsol to start a slow zoom-in. That, and make sure Jungeun doesn't get too intense.
It's a fine line to walk.
Jungeun also likes leaning in when she's talking to people, which is mildly amusing for Jinsol and utterly terrifying for her interviewees. Yerim starts leaning back, and Jinsol makes another note to film more b-roll footage later.
"Tell me about Heejin."
Yerim's eyes widen ever-so-slightly before she resumes an unaffected expression. She laughs, "Do you mean Yeojin? My groupmate?"
"No, I mean Heejin," Jungeun says firmly, locked in for the kill. Jinsol is generally up to date on whatever story they're chasing, and is usually clued-in, but sometimes Jungeun goes down on tangents, chasing leads only she can see. "She manages Olivia Hye now, but she used to manage your group. Why? It's not as if the rest of you didn't pursue solo careers. Why Olivia?"
Yerim laughs nervously, "It was just happenstance. We were on good terms the whole time."
"Heejin was caught on tape cursing out Luna," and Jungeun produces a phone recording. It's a short ten seconds, and although Jinsol knew this was coming, it still shocks her a little, how acidic Heejin's words are. Jungeun had procured the recording from someone working backstage at a show Olivia was on - one of Jungeun's many industry contacts. The tape ends, and Jungeun raises an eyebrow. "Do you think Heejin may have engineered the breakup of your group?"
"No," Yerim says simply.
"Then what happened?"
Jinsol tries to reach her foot across and kick Jungeun in the shin, but she's too far to reach.
"We decided to go our separate ways," Yerim says stiffly, fiddling with her fingers in a way that makes it patently clear that she's lying. "It was time."
"At the peak of your careers?" Jungeun cocks an eyebrow judgmentally, "That was the time?"
Yerim looks away from Jungeun and straight into the camera. "Cut the cameras, would you?"
When it becomes apparent she won't budge, Jinsol hesitantly lowers the camera, looking to Jungeun. Interviewees getting angry at Jungeun isn't new, which makes for entertaining content on Girl Front Beyond that Jiwoo praises , but it's never fun to sit in that fury. Jungeun, on the other hand, doesn't really care when people are angry with her. It's part of the job for her.
Instead of screaming at Jungeun or throwing something at Jinsol, though, Yerim produces a ballpoint from her purse and scribbles a number on her napkin. She writes the name KIM HYUNJIN and underlines it twice. "She can give you more information. But this is all I can tell you."
Jungeun blinks, but takes the napkin anyway, staring dumbly. Without another word, Yerim stands and bids the two of them goodbye, striding out of the lounge, leaving a trail of starstruck people in her wake. Must be nice to have that sort of power- and Goddamnit, Jinsol realizes Yerim just walked off with her mic.
"I don't think I'm getting that mic back," Jinsol sighs, staring longingly after Yerim and the mic she's just accidentally stolen.
Jungeun has the decency to look apologetic.
"Sorry. I know how much your, uh, mic means to you." Jungeun starts messing with hers trying to get it off, sending feedback ringing into Jinsol's ears as the fabric of her blouse brushes against the mic. Jinsol laughs softly, leaning over to help her with it.
Jinsol's breath hitches when she looks up, an inch from Jungeun. Jungeun's eyes are wide, and the investigative journalist is at a loss for words - which is a rarity.
Jinsol laughs nervously, moving away, "We should get to work on contacting Kim Hyunjin."
Jungeun's cheeks are red. She nods quickly, looking away. "Yeah. Let's go."
-
" Jinsol! Jungeun! " Jiwoo's voice rings across the line, " How are things? "
"It's just me, actually," Jinsol clarifies, shooting a look to the balcony, where Jungeun's on the phone, brow furrowed and mouth moving quickly. "We've gotten a lead on the Luna thing. Looks promising. Jungeun could probably tell you more if you want."
" No, it's fine ," Jiwoo says dismissively, " As long as you're getting that content for us? "
A pregnant pause builds before Jinsol realizes that she's meant to answer Jiwoo. "Oh, yeah. We are."
" Won-der-ful !" Jiwoo cheers, and Jinsol hears applause on the other end. " We're looking at an acquisition soon. Isn't that exciting ?"
"What?" Jinsol asks, "Are you getting acquired or are you acquiring something?"
Jiwoo laughs pointlessly. "
Does it matter? Sooyoung and I are going to be rich!
"
"You already are rich," Jinsol points out, the statement reminding her that she should've thrown her lot in with Jiwoo and Sooyoung in high school instead of deciding to become a freelance camerawoman. Now Jiwoo and Sooyoung have built a media empire, become capitalist overlords who overwork their employees but pretend to compensate with free yoga lessons held in the foyer once a month, and Jinsol… works for them.
" Oh. Yeah! Bye Jinsol, tell Jungeun I said hi! "
Jiwoo hangs up, and Jinsol sighs - it really is hard to dislike Jiwoo. That's the thing about most of the people she's met while working at Girl Front. Jungeun, Sooyoung, and Jiwoo individually have so many dislikeable traits that it should be easy for Jinsol, who's always prided herself on her discerning taste in people, to silently resent them. But it's difficult, because she does like them.
Her eyes land on Jungeun again, who's hung up her own call and is staring into space, and Jinsol sighs.
"Hey," she greets as Jungeun comes back into the room, sliding the door closed behind her. "Jiwoo just called. I think Girl Front is getting acquired. Did you get in touch with Kim Hyunjin?"
Jungeun shakes her head morosely. "No, that was my ex-wife calling."
Jinsol freezes, immediately uncomfortable. She knows Jungeun's been divorced for a year now, and that she'd been the frontrunner for Girl Front Beyond because she was fine with travelling around the country, with no obligations at home. She knows Jungeun's blonde hair is the result of an impulse decision she made after her ex signed the papers. However, Jinsol never has any idea how to react when Jungeun's ex is brought up, which makes things infinitesimally more awkward.
"I'd rather not talk about it," Jungeun says, a little harshly. Her eyes are red, but Jinsol gets the impression Jungeun wouldn't appreciate her mentioning that. "Let's just get to work."
And Jinsol has no inclination of her own - so she goes along with it.
-
"This is Kim Lip, signing off for Girl Front."
Jinsol mouths along to the words as she wraps up the editing of an unreleased video - an expose on the unhygienic practices of a local corn field. They haven't had much downtime, jetting from interview to interview, so Jinsol's had to edit on the road or at night. It's all part of the job.
She replays the last part of the video, squinting at the corner of the screen when she thinks she sees a bug flickering in the sunlight, wondering if she'll have to edit it out.
"This is Kim Lip, signing off for Girl Front," Jungeun's voice comes from behind her, echoing her own voice, and she laughs, sitting down beside Jinsol. They're in a different city today for an interview with Gowon, who had been agreeable to a sit-down only after Sooyoung had pulled some stops and cashed in some favours for them. In a way, the stakes are even higher than the interview with Choerry. "Are you obsessed with me, Jinsol?"
Jinsol rolls her eyes. "I'm editing your video, Jungeun. There's this stupid flash of light in the corner."
Jungeun leans her chin on Jinsol's chin, humming, "It's coming from my ring. The sunlight got reflected off it."
"Great," Jinsol retorts. "Now wear fewer rings."
Jungeun giggles, and pats Jinsol on the shoulder, "Not happening."
-
By and large, the two of them travel alone. Alone, and with the company credit card, but physically, still very alone. They have a big van with the words GIRL FRONT stencilled on the side, with plenty of space for Jinsol's gear and the mountains of notes Jungeun has for their various interviews. The amount of information she's capable of storing in her head is almost egregious.
They've been criticized by a rival site, Girl of the Month , of having engaged in gotcha journalism. Jungeun had gotten supremely irritated and wrote a long op-ed on Girl of the Month , espousing just exactly what she thought of them, but Jinsol has to admit it: they're not wrong. They may have noble intentions, but a lot of their videos boil down to gotcha journalism.
It's endearing, and admirable, how Jungeun throws herself heart and soul into something she is so obviously better than. How her hunger for the truth doesn't wane, even when the subject matter is the most inane of things. They'd done a piece last week (at Jiwoo's behest) on the contents of model Wong Kahei's purse, and Jungeun had spent the whole night tracking down the manufacturers of the individual components of the purse. Suffice to say, Jinsol, and the entire Internet, now know that Kahei carries around a purse with a zipper made in Boston , of all places.
Jinsol? Jinsol just follows the money. You can't afford principles and rent at the same time.
Travelling alone means that they get to dictate their own schedules, and do pretty much whatever they want, as long as they get one video out every two weeks. That, and further progress on this Luna story, which is what's been driving Jungeun insane.
Jinsol interrupts Jungeun's rambling one day as they're on the highway, a little worried that Jungeun might just keel over any day now, "Do you like sandwiches?"
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Jungeun wrinkle her nose. "Like Subway?"
"I guess," Jinsol says, knowing that Jungeun has a (frankly inspiring) hatred for Subway. "There's a great sandwich shop where we're going. Let me take you there."
"So it is like Subway," Jungeun says slowly, smiling clumsily.
"You have
got
to get over the Subway thing." Jinsol takes a left, and Jungeun is buoyed by the movement of the car, slumping against the window.
She makes sure the child locks are on, just in case.
-
"I'm sleepy," comes the complaint an hour later. They're still a good distance from the city - Jinsol has the pleasant sight of endless road stretching ahead of her to gaze at.
Jinsol takes another left. "I'm not surprised. You've been awake for how long now?"
"Dunno," Jungeun slurs, fumbling with the cap of one of the pill bottles littering the front compartment of her backpack. She gets it open successfully, and proceeds to turn the thing upside-down, emptying its contents into her palm.
Jinsol sneaks a look over. Four sleeping pills, which is better than she expected. At least she thinks it's Jungeun's sleeping pills, and not any of the straight-up tranquilizers she has with her. She passes Jungeun a water bottle, and the pills go down with a quiet gulp in the next five seconds.
She sighs when she sees Jungeun unscrewing the cap off a flask. "You shouldn't be doing that, you know."
"I know." Jungeun takes a long swig, and pulls her legs up onto the seat. She's asleep by the next left turn.
-
"So?" Jinsol asks eagerly, peering over at Jungeun, "How is it?"
Jungeun has an absolutely neutral expression. Her hands are absolutely still as they hold the sandwich in front of her, a small bite taken out of it. She'd gone with Jinsol's recommendation of meatballs and a double serving of mayo (triple on a good day), no vegetables.
"Hmm," Jungeun says, somehow managing to sound extremely judgemental with just one sound.
Jungeun's phone vibrates, and Jinsol takes the call as Jungeun takes another furtive bite.
" Jungeun ?" A spectacular crashing sound comes across the line, overshadowing Sooyoung's voice. " You there ?"
"We're both here," Jinsol supplies, looking up at Jungeun excitedly. "Jungeun's having the best sandwich of her life. Remember the place we used to go to?"
"Hmm," Jungeun repeats, chewing faster, her face growing red.
" Oh!" Sooyoung exclaims, " So you're close to Seoul."
Another crashing sound in the background, and Jinsol raises an eyebrow at Jungeun. The journalist shrugs.
Sooyoung speaks after a brief interval of crashing and shouting in the background - Jinsol thinks she hears Jiwoo yelling.
" You probably shouldn't come back to HQ for a bit. I think someone's looking for you. "
Sooyoung hangs up, and Jungeun finally swallows the bite of her sandwich.
"That wasn't ominous or weird at all," Jinsol says, but she's not too alarmed. She wasn't looking forward to going back to Seoul anyway, back to work. Out of it she feels like a wandering traveller, out on a trip.
And the fact that it's with Jungeun doesn't help either.
"Our interview with Yeojin is in Seoul," Jungeun frowns, already plucking her phone up to check her email. "We'll have to reschedule. Yeojin's manager said she was booked for the next three months, she's going on some travel show." Jungeun is chewing on her bottom lip nervously, "Maybe we can ask her to compromise. She'll understand, won't she?"
"Ask a celebrity who got famous in her teens to be understanding ," Jinsol deadpans, and Jungeun visibly deflates. She shoots her a comforting smile. "Yeah, that'll work."
Jungeun rolls her eyes, giving her a close-lipped smile as she begins tapping away at her phone to dial Yeojin's manager. Her phone vibrates before she can dial, and her screen's angled low enough that Jinsol can see the caller ID: Haseul .
Jungeun's expression tightens, and Jinsol makes the executive decision to set her sandwich down and grab Jungeun's phone from her.
She jabs at the screen to hang up on Haseul, and grins at Jungeun, her heart racing.
This is the moment Jungeun throws an entire sandwich at her camerawoman, Jinsol figures. Which wouldn't be the first time she's had a sandwich flung at her (which has only happened one other time, but it's kind of weird that it's happened before), but would be an unfortunate ending to their partnership.
Instead, she leans over and kisses Jinsol.
It's not how Jinsol thought their first kiss would go, with the taste of meatballs and mayo on her lips and in the middle of a diner she's frequented since she was a kid. But as far as first kisses go, this is by far the best.
-
"Jinsol," Jungeun whispers breathlessly against her lips, later, in their hotel room. They're in a king-size bed, a mixup the receptionist had made that was probably the product of divine providence. "There's something I have to tell you."
In the light of the setting sun, Jinsol can see just how kiss-swollen Jungeun's lips are. She blames it on her wavering self-control, and leans in to kiss her again. Jungeun laughs. It's a pretty sound.
"What is it?"
Jungeun kisses her again, and rolls Jinsol onto her back until she's straddling Jinsol's hips.
She leans down, eyes half-lidded, "That sandwich tasted like shit."
-
Jungeun doesn't sleep easily, but she does tonight. Tonight, it's Jinsol who can't sleep, and she finds herself staring at Jungeun's face, the way the tension Jungeun keeps in her expression has dissipated, the easy rise and fall of her shoulders.
She looks a lot younger, a lot less stressed out. Jungeun's sleeping on her own right hand, her other hand cushioning her hip from the bed. It's a spectacularly strange position to sleep in, but she makes it look comfortable.
Jinsol sighs, flipping onto her back and making peace with the fact that she probably won't sleep tonight. Her mind is racing a mile a minute, the way she often imagines Jungeun's to, and it won't calm down, so she settles for taking her phone from the bedside table, scrolling through Twitter. It's four in the morning.
She looks through Girl Front Beyond's page. The social media intern back home has been doing her job well, and Jinsol notes that Choerry's retweeted one of their videos. Nothing related to her, just an interview they did with a male model a few months ago. Going onto Choerry's page,
Jinsol realizes that she's retweeted even some of Jungeun's tweets, though they're a little older, from when Jungeun was a junior reporter at the Herald and was live-tweeting the school board elections. The amount of traction Jungeun had received from her ferocious posts - for instance, suggesting that one of the candidates was, in fact, unfairly awarding field trip contracts to tour agencies managed by his wife (and another less credible one alleging that another candidate was in fact a lizard person) - was what got her fired from the Herald , and what got her into Jiwoo and Sooyoung's clutches.
Before she knows it, she's on Jungeun's personal page, and she can't help but smile as she scrolls down her page. She turns on to her side, going down Jungeun's page - the latest one was from this morning, a picture of the two of them at the sandwich shop, the accompanying emoji blocked because Jinsol doesn't have them on her phone. She figures it must be something positive.
She manages to look through about a year's worth of tweets in an hour, and realizes that there hasn't been a moment where Jungeun was ever quiet. She just doesn't rest - either because she's too angry or too disappointed with the world.
"You really are obsessed with me," Jungeun mutters, slinging an arm over Jinsol's waist, and Jinsol jerks, shivering at the touch of Jungeun's breath against the back of her neck, her quiet laughter.
"Stuff it," Jinsol growls without any real malice, locking her phone and setting it aside. "I was just going to get some work done."
"Yeah, right. I've been awake for the past ten minutes. I see all, Jung Jinsol."
Jinsol groans out loud, and Jungeun just laughs again. Murmurs against her shoulder, interlacing their fingers, uncharacteristically clingy, "Just stay here."
She's lulled to sleep before she can say otherwise.
-
There's a plate of fried eggs on a bed of rice from room service (with the new order from Sooyoung not to come back to Seoul, Jungeun's figured that their abuse of the company credit card can ramp up as they please) when Jinsol wakes up. She eats propped up against the headboard, watching Jungeun type furiously into her laptop as she sits cross-legged on the floor. She's already dressed.
"Thanks for the food," she says when she's done. "Have you eaten?"
Jungeun jerks a thumb at a half-finished cocktail. A sad little paper umbrella floats aimlessly in the glass.
"Jungeun," Jinsol says disapprovingly, but Jungeun pretends not to hear her. She gets up to head to the bathroom, but not before she catches sight of Jungeun's screen.
"Wong Kahei?" she asks in confusion, crouching down beside Jungeun and squinting through her glasses. Jungeun is practically radiating heat with how excited she is. "What are you doing looking her up?"
Jungeun has about fifteen tabs opened on her laptop, but what's more impressive is the speed with which she flips through them. "I had a hunch about Kim Hyunjin, so I looked Hyunjin up."
Another tab, a sketchy-looking forum page. "There's nothing on her on the Internet. But she is associated with Kahei, who worked with her for a few modeling gigs. Hyunjin is a manager ."
She flips through a few more tabs. "She worked at Blockberry Creative, managing some actor who did some background work. You know who else worked at Blockberry Creative? Jeon Heejin ."
Jinsol frowns. "That tells us nothing. We just know that they worked together at one point in time. Luna wasn't under Blockberry Creative."
"No, because if we get to Blockberry, we can find out more about both of them." Jungeun flips to another tab. Blockberry Creative's corporate page shines back up at them, the smiling face of one of their chief executives beaming back up at them. Jinsol doesn't recognize the woman, but she does recognize the name Jo Haseul beside her face. "Guess which agency decided to start outsourcing their management?"
"Huh?" is the only sound Jinsol can make.
"That's right," Jungeun says, "We're going to talk to my ex-wife."
-
Later-
"This is a bad idea," Jinsol says for the third time in ten minutes. The only reason she'd gone along with this is because she didn't want Jungeun to drive drunk. Jungeun says she isn't drunk, but Jinsol's thirty. She knows bullshit when she sees it. "Jungeun, this is a really bad idea."
The other woman is scribbling on a notepad, "It's a good lead. Kim Hyunjin won't talk to us."
"You haven't even called Hyunjin," Jinsol replies, a little irritated. "You're sabotaging yourself."
Jungeun reacts like she's been slapped. " What? "
"You haven't called her."
"She wouldn't talk to us even if we did," Jungeun snaps, "You know how those types are."
" What types?"
"I don't know!" Jinsol hears a rattle of a pill bottle, and Jungeun downs a few pills dry, having to swallow twice. "Look, all I know is that-"
"Jungeun," she interrupts, pulling one of her hands from the steering wheel to grasp Jungeun's shaking hands.
They drive in silence for a few miles, Jungeun's hands cold and small in Jinsol's own. This is another one of those moments where Jinsol realizes that she should be speaking, and that she can't rely on Jungeun to fill up the gap.
"Let's try to contact Kim Hyunjin first, and then if you lose all your leads, you can call Haseul."
"Journalistic integrity," Jungeun says suddenly. "That's the only reason you think we shouldn't talk to Haseul, right?"
The implications of the question soar above and beyond Jinsol's head for the time being, "Yeah."
To her immense relief, Jungeun relaxes after a little while. "Thank you. Look, I-I'm sorry. I'm a little in my own head right now."
Jinsol grins, trying to lighten the mood, "I know. You even said you didn't like the sandwich I bought you."
Jungeun rolls her eyes, leaning over to punch Jinsol lightly on the shoulder. "You bought it on the company credit card."
"I was sticking it to the man," Jinsol retorts, and Jungeun just laughs.
-
The line connects after one ring, and Jungeun speaks quickly, calmly, outlining who she is and what she's looking for, who she's after, glancing over at Jinsol once every so often to get a firm nod in response.
" I'll meet you ," comes Kim Hyunjin's voice, " The Pavilion Cafe in Dongdaemun, tomorrow, 11AM. I'll be the one in cat ears. "
"Dongdaemun," Jungeun says, "Like,
Seoul
Dongdaemun?"
There's no response, and for the third time in a week, they get hung up on. Jinsol rolls her eyes.
"So," Jungeun starts, absentmindedly reaching over to play with the end of Jinsol's coat. "Sounds like we go to Seoul or we lose the best lead we've got."
Jinsol grins, already setting their GPS up.
-
"Do you think Jiwoo would ever buy views?" Jungeun asks, her knees to her chest as they're on the road to Seoul.
Jinsol thinks briefly about what she knows of Jiwoo. "Nah."
"So the views on this video are real?" Jungeun asks.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't they be?"
Jungeun shrugs. "I don't know. It just feels surreal that anyone would want to watch me talk, you know? I know they're watching because they're invested in the subject and not me, but still-"
"Don't be dumb," Jinsol chastises gently, giving Jungeun an unabashed grin. "Of course they're watching for you."
Jungeun laughs again, and then asks her, "So what's in it for you? Someone might be trying to kill us and you still agree to come to Seoul."
"I'm from Seoul, you know." Jinsol grins. "And I thought the little country bumpkin would need someone to show her around the big city."
"I'm from a big city too ," Jungeun complains, then, "God, why does everyone from Seoul think everyone else grew up playing in grass? Did you think I didn't know what the Internet was before I got to Seoul?"
A small pout is forming on Jungeun's lips. It's adorable.
"Yes?" Jinsol asks innocently, and for her trouble, gets pelted in the head with a banana peel from lunch.
-
"Seriously," Jungeun says later, "What's in it for you?"
Jinsol takes her time thinking. She thinks about her bed in her apartment, her empty fridge, the small pot of honey she has sitting on the counter because honey's one of the things that doesn't spoil, and Jinsol is rarely home. She thinks about the neighbours' dog and how it runs to greet her when she passes by. She thinks about her career, and how she'd like to spend a good, long life with someone. Someone who would understand that Jinsol, truthfully, doesn't want much - just the promise of a life with someone she loves, doing what she loves.
She looks over at Jungeun. Looks back at the road, and sighs a little, more to herself.
"I just want to go home, I guess."
-
Fade in: They're on the road, finally, ready to satiate the urge deep in their bones. Jinsol's makeup is smudged from a mix of her rubbing her eyes too much and Jungeun leaning over to kiss her every five miles. A rust-coated song belts its tune on the radio, and Jinsol hums tunelessly, not quite following the melody. It's an English song that was popular around the time Jinsol went to college.
Jinsol stops humming when she hears Jungeun singing along.
"But it's so fun, we're so good at selling lies ," Jungeun sings softly, trailing off to more humming when the song breaks into a complex chorus.
"I didn't know you spoke English."
Jungeun shoots her a glare, "What makes you think I speak English?"
"Your pronunciation is good. And you sound good," Jinsol confesses, chuckling as Jungeun rolls her eyes.
"No one's ever told me that."
"Not even Jiwoo?"
"Jiwoo takes the TOEFL for fun," Jungeun deadpans, "I don't think pronouncing some lyrics right is much cause for celebration."
Jinsol mutters something that she doesn't quite remember, and Jungeun says 'What?', and Jinsol shakes it off and scrolls the window down.
Wind whips past them in that breakneck way that it does when you're on the road, and as she'd expected, Jungeun eagerly sticks her hand out to feel some of the wind. There are no cars on the road with them, so Jungeun even sticks her head out, yells something unintelligible into the wind.
"I do speak English, by the way," Jungeun says later, "I was just being difficult. I speak English really well. I was in Iceland for a little bit."
Jinsol high-beams a driver driving in the wrong lane. "Oh, I know."
-
They reach Seoul in the morning, just a few hours before they're due to meet Hyunjin. Jinsol takes them to her apartment to rest and recharge, parking their media van in the parking lot behind the building, and shaking Jungeun awake in the passenger seat.
"Oh, we're here," Jungeun murmurs, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She'd fallen asleep sometime on the drive, between sticking her head out of the window and begging Jinsol to stop at a gas station so she could get some ice cream, which gave Jinsol a good amount of time to enjoy some peace and quiet. She yawns quietly, "Good morning."
Jinsol leads her out of the parking lot and to the lobby of the building, and Jungeun pats her gently on the shoulder and mumbles something while pointing at the mailboxes - Jinsol's is overflowing. A result of not being home for the past few weeks as they've jetted around the country filming videos.
She collects her armful of mail, and brings Jungeun to her home, turning the key in the lock and wincing when the rusting hinges screech. The interior is pretty much as she left it - her apartment is clean but empty, mainly because she'd learnt early on in her career that most things require constant upkeep and if she wasn't going to be around to do that upkeep, she shouldn't have it. Her empty ten-gallon tropical fish tank sits in the corner sadly, a couch and TV scattered nearby in a similar fashion. She doesn't get cable anymore because she stopped paying the bills for that.
If Jungeun notices how depressingly hollow Jinsol's apartment is, she doesn't comment, and moans with happiness when Jinsol gently shoves her towards her bed, "You should get some sleep, Jungeun."
She doesn't argue with that.
"Set an alarm," Jungeun yawns, and she's out like a light.
She's starfished out on Jinsol's bed before long, dead asleep, and Jinsol smiles. She wants to take a photo for posterity, but Jungeun would probably sit on her until she deleted it - she's charming like that. She decides to look through her mail instead.
Her mail is fairly nondescript. Bills that she settles online. Credit card invitations. The Videography Guild Quarterly newsletter. The monthly magazine from the aquarium Jinsol goes to. She tears up most of the envelopes except for the magazine, and absently, wonders when she'll have the time to look at the magazine. There's a growing pile in her bathroom.
That reminds her - she really should clean up her apartment. It's one of the things she does when she comes back from long assignments, and she can usually get it done in a few hours or so. It's not something she relishes the thought of, but it's a marker of stability, a routine that makes her feel good.
Then Jinsol looks back at Jungeun splayed out on her bed, how she's muttering to herself in her sleep and starting to sleep on her hand again (even though she'd complained incessantly about how her entire arm felt like static the last time), and makes a decision. She decides that the cleaning can wait, and curls up with Jungeun on the bed.
Jungeun takes up too much space, and Jinsol should regret having let her get on the bed first. But she snuggles up to Jinsol in her sleep. That alone makes up for it.
Jinsol dreams about throwing her camera point-blank at Haseul, and wakes up fresh and smiling.
-
The Pavilion Cafe is as public as it gets - there are dozens of people in the massive cafe, and Jinsol has to suck in her stomach and hold her gear above her head to avoid touching anyone else. Whoever asked them here either really wanted an audience, or wanted complete anonymity.
Jungeun, looking a little intimidated by the noise and bustle in this microcosm of Seoul, follows Jinsol to the table where a woman with a cat-ear baseball cap is sitting. The table where she's sitting is an unnatural distance from the rest of the tables, making it seem as if the other patrons are giving her a wide berth.
Jinsol gets a little uneasy, but she tells herself it's more private this way.
Jungeun holds on to Jinsol's hand as they wade through the last of the crowd, letting go only when Hyunjin spots them. Her hand is small and nice to hold, Jinsol thinks to herself.
"Thank you for meeting with us," Jungeun says, bowing shortly as she introduces them, "I'm Jungeun, and this is my camerawoman Jinsol."
Hyunjin gives a short nod, and gazes at Jinsol. An unreadable expression flits across her face, and Jinsol gets the uncomfortable feeling that she's seen Hyunjin before, somewhere.
But then she just says, "No cameras," and Jinsol nods, subconsciously gnawing on the inside of her cheek. She'd expected Hyunjin to rebuff them, so this isn't a surprise.
As nonchalantly as she can be, she jabs at her phone screen, turning on the audio recorder, and leans closer to Hyunjin instead. If she notices that Jinsol's recording her, she doesn't mention it.
"What do you know about Jeon Heejin?" Jungeun asks, and Hyunjin's static expression doesn't waver.
Jungeun said that Kim Hyunjin and Jeon Heejin had been really good friends, once upon a time. Jinsol had been expecting a more exciting reaction, but maybe Hyunjin's already prepared for this interview.
If you can even call it an interview.
The 'interview' ends up being closer to an altercation than anything, because Kim Hyunjin has a weirdly gripping, tense energy that sets off Jungeun's own agitated energy. For one, when the waitress comes over with ice water for Jinsol and Jungeun, Hyunjin reaches over and downs Jungeun's glass in one gulp, before coolly appraising her.
"You aren't asking the questions. I'm just going to tell you what you need to know," is what she says next, and Jinsol just slides Jungeun her own water.
Hyunjin shakes her head when Jungeun pulls out a notebook. Her posture is stiff, her expression rejecting any social banter Jinsol or Jungeun may try to initiate. Her sharp eyes bore into their souls.
"This conversation isn't happening. Got it?"
Jungeun looks significantly miffed, because her eyebrows are furrowing and she's glaring at Hyunjin. Jinsol reaches over to place a comforting hand on Jungeun's thigh, but it's not enough to stop Jungeun, "You're such an asshole."
"I know," Hyunjin says coolly, seemingly unoffended. "Now listen up."
And it works - she starts speaking, and for once in her life, Jungeun keeps quiet and listens, absorbed in the sad, sad tale Hyunjin has for them.
-
"Christ," Jinsol says when they get back into their car - they're in Jinsol's Kia instead of the Girl Front van, in the name of anonymity and also making sure neither Jiwoo nor Sooyoung notices them running about. Sooyoung has eyes all around the city, and Jinsol doesn't feel like finding out just how many pairs of eyes that is. "That was really intense."
Jungeun is quiet, and Jinsol realizes as she looks over that she's furiously typing the details of the interview into her notes app, trying to get the words down before they fade from memory altogether.
Jinsol gets the engine running. It's bitterly cold today, and she doesn't want there to be anything wrong with her engine.
Jungeun eventually sets her phone down and laughs, "I wanted to hit her!"
"Now you see how you come off?" Jinsol asks teasingly, and Jungeun whines in protest.
Jinsol chuckles, turning on the radio and flipping through the channels until she lands on her favourite one. The hosts have changed since she left for this job, which is mildly disappointing - and it serves as another reminder that things seem to change faster the longer she's gone.
She leans back, looking over at Jungeun. She can't help but smile at the look on Jungeun's face. She's looking at Jinsol expectantly, an eyebrow cocked and rosy lips parted, a look that makes Jinsol want to lean in and kiss her. They're not in the company van, after all, and they aren't working, since they're supposed to be avoiding Seoul, which would make Jinsol's decision not at all unprofessional.
It wouldn't be unprofessional, it would be indulgent. And being with Jungeun has taught Jinsol that indulging herself isn't that bad. Not if you get the right results.
So would it be so bad if Jinsol were to stretch out her hand and swipe her thumb across Jungeun's lower lip, take her face into her hands?
"So where to next?" Jinsol coughs discreetly, tearing her eyes off Jungeun before she does something really unprofessional, and focuses very hard on Jungeun's shoulder instead.
Jungeun hums thoughtfully, biting at her nail.
"We could work on the information Hyunjin's given us. We'd be able to get the video out a lot faster."
"Or?" Jinsol smiles, seeing the cogs turning in Jungeun's head. For all the walls she puts up, it's obvious when Jungeun is in deep thought, and it feels intimate, kind of, for Jinsol to know that Jungeun's letting her in on a quiet place.
Jungeun stammers the next part out, "Or we could go back to your place."
Jungeun is bashful, the tips of her ears reddening as she refuses to explicitly say let's go back to your place and bang one out . Jinsol muffles a laugh against her hand, heart squeezing at the sight of this woman. For all of Jungeun's bravado, she is completely helpless when it comes to talking to women she likes.
"Jinsol," she seethes, "Don't make me say it. Is the heat even on-?"
"How about," Jinsol starts, pretending to look deep in thought, "We go back to mine first, give me time to clean up the place, and we'll see. And take this."
She shrugs off her coat, and drapes it around Jungeun's shoulders, and the reward she gets for that is Jungeun's cheeks going ruddy. Her blue coat around Jungeun makes for a homely sight in her (well-heated) car.
"You look good," Jinsol praises, brushing a kiss against Jungeun's cheek because obviously Jungeun wasn't going to do it herself, and Jungeun blushes a deep red. She's wearing two coats now, Jinsol's on top of her own, which should be enough to give someone heat stroke, but Jungeun is a human icicle.
Red and blue. They make a good team.
-
From: Kim Jiwoo < [email protected] >
To: Jung Jinsol <[email protected]>, Kim Jungeun <[email protected]>
Cc: Ha Sooyoung < [email protected] >
Subject: future of girl front beyond
hi you two!! sooyoung and i have been talking - both to each other and to our shareholders and we're glad to say that girl front beyond is here to stay!! congrats u two!! looking forward to more scoops!!! we're about to be acquired but i'm sure the new people will want to keep GFB alive… so keep it up!!!!!!! and remember to keep those margins loose :))) get that content girls!!
Kim Jiwoo
Director
Girl Front Inc
-
"Hey," Jinsol drapes herself across Jungeun's back as the journalist's bent over her phone. The crisp winter air makes spooning that much more attractive an option, but Jungeun seems to be incapable of recognizing that, opting to sit on top of one of Jinsol's expensive, ethically sourced, really fluffy pillows.
(Living like a bachelor has its perks - Jinsol has a nice, spacious apartment to herself, and spends her money on herself, which is how she's ended up with top of the line furniture outfitting her place. To Jungeun, who doesn't have much of a home to herself and who lives off couch-surfing and motels, Jinsol's apartment is lavish.
"Jinsol," Jungeun says, pulling her lower lip between her teeth, brow knit, "You were friends with Jiwoo and Sooyoung in high school, right?"
Jinsol nods a yes in reply, but her eyes are elsewhere. Jungeun is delightfully disheveled, a bit of Jinsol's lipstick printed on her collar, her dark hair tousled from how they've been rolling around in bed, in a way that makes Jinsol's heart clench and her thoughts giddy. It's not fair, it really isn't, how fast Jungeun goes back to work mode and how fast Jinsol has to run to catch up.
"Were they always like this? Especially Jiwoo." Jungeun mutters. "She's become such a… CEO-type that I think one of these days she'll show up to work dressed like the Monopoly Man."
"People change," Jinsol offers, chuckling softly to herself. Jiwoo and Sooyoung were never particularly entrepreneurial. If anything, it was Jinsol with the big ideas, Jinsol with the excitement of bringing them to life. She was the one who suggested they start their band. Jiwoo, on the other hand, was a little more subdued, a little less extroverted than she is now. Sooyoung hasn't changed, but clearly something's worked if the two of them lord it over hundreds of employees now.
Jinsol settles for, "I don't think Jiwoo's happy."
"Have you not seen her email?" Jungeun asks, aghast, showing Jinsol whatever she was looking at. Her hand's trembling a little so Jinsol can't quite make out the words, but there are enough emojis to paint the entire page pink. "She sounds happy, that's for sure."
Jinsol laughs softly. "I meant I don't think her heart's in what she's doing."
" What she's doing is being rich," Jungeun snarks back.
"Well," Jinsol shrugs, "At least we have a direct line of communication to them. She's an open book."
(Girl Front Beyond is inexplicably overseen directly by Jiwoo, who has so much more on her plate that Jinsol and Jungeun are the last things on her mind.)
Jungeun hums, and tosses her phone aside. Before she knows what's going on, Jungeun is hovering over a wide-eyed Jinsol, "You know, I think we have it better."
"What are you talking about?" Jinsol stammers as Jungeun's small hand finds its way to her throat, up, up to her chin. Jungeun's eyes are wide and reverent when she looks at Jinsol, and somehow, Jinsol knows Jungeun would never admit it. Because it's hard to feel like she's enough for Jinsol, and what they have now is so thrilling and wonderful that it feels like break if she prodded at it too hard.
And Jinsol knows that isn't true. She knows she's waiting for Jungeun. This smart-mouthed, fiery journalist who has made it her life's mission to chase the truth, to chase happiness- she's everything Jinsol isn't, and that's a good thing.
Because they make a good team.
"Well," Jungeun glances down at Jinsol's lips, "Maybe we do have it better."
"Definitely," Jinsol laughs freely, letting Jungeun's lips find hers, "I think we're good."