Haseul blocks her phone, head still spinning from finally being able to announce her participation to the world—mostly her friends and family—without breaking contract. She grins as the door from the room slams open.

“What?!” Yeojin screams, shirtless and pants half zipped, “What do you mean? You got the role you wanted?!”

"I'll tell you!" Haseul bursts into laughter as Yeojin jokingly throws a pillow at her, "But dress yourself first, I don't want to see you in your bra."

Haseul stays quiet as the storm known as Yeojin carelessly throws her phone on the sofa and jumps on Haseul, in a celebratory bear hug.She chants “You got it! You got it!”. It takes roughly ten minutes before she's properly dressed, and they sit side by side on the sofa,sharing sliced apples on Haseul’s lap, courtesy of Yeojin.

“Why didn’t you tell me before? How could you keep this secret so well? You were so nervous for the audition.”

“You see,” Haseul starts between bites, “I was really happy when I got the role, but life has been pretty hectic lately. I’ve suddenly got a lot of jobs, Vivi’s actually going crazy with all the wedding gigs.”

She hums in response, but frowns soon after to glare at Haseul, “Still, I’m your best friend, how could you keep this secret from me?”

“I’ll just say I forgot.”

Yeojin huffs, stuffing an apple slice into her mouth. Silence and munching sounds linger around for a while.

“Are you really sure about this change in careers?”

“Not really,” Haseul mutters, voice a bit low, but a proud smile still plastered on her face, “I think I can manage to do both, maybe not opera anymore, but work on soundtrack? Composing for movies and dramas that I might act in sounds pretty cool to me. Maybe I’ll be able to enter the mainstream media and work with the idols you really like.”

Yeojin sighs in relief, “I know you can, you’re talented no matter what,” she looks at the sides, scanning for possible somethings so she can secretly approach Haseul’s ear and whisper, “Can I ask you if you know the other actors?” she pries, “The ones that haven’t been announced yet?”

Haseul stops, she’s not humoring their common antics anymore, her hand hovers on the last slice of apple, and her face contorts in a strange, nostalgic-regret-esque face, “Oh, that…” and Yeojin’s smile finally drops, suddenly lost at Haseul's reaction and how to continue the conversation.

“You know, then?” She’s confused at the sudden change, because Haseul goes back to her excited face.

“I do, actually!” Abruptly, she turns face to face with Yeojin, sporting a mischievous grin, “It’s that girl you follow… GuinRib, I think?”

“You’re going to work with Kim Lip!” Yeojin’s loud, next time Haseul needs to keep in mind to tell the news via text message and turn off her phone so her friend would, in her words, scream into the void of Twitter and then scream less loudly in her ear. “But, wait, why did you make such a strange face?”

Haseul shrugs and makes herself more comfortable on the sofa, putting the plate on the small coffee table. “I did not.”

“Yes you did,” Yeojin starts, "just now, you made a strange face before talking about Kim Lip."

Caught red handed. How could Haseul even deny when Yeojin can read her so easily and Haseul has such a hard time lying to close friends? "She's an idol, how can she be so good at acting that she got the main role?"

"She's one of the main characters according to you," Yeojin frowns, "and you too got a really big role for your first acting job."

Of course Yeojin would jump head first to protect her dear idol in her absence.

"She's an idol , isn't that the most obvious recipe for disaster?" Maybe she is out of arguments by now because, yes, Yeojin’s right, she can't say anything because probably her previous cast might have been bad mouthing her back for getting lucky with such a big role—it was a supporting character that actually participated in the plot—despite Haseul being a rookie.

However, she’s a rising star, not a rookie, she’s allowed to think like this for a little bit—and, yeah, totally unreasonable.

Yeojin smirks, “Are you, perhaps, jealous that she got the main role?”

“What? Of course not,” arms crossed, Haseul pouts, yeah, still unreasonable. Almost maybe jackpot, “I didn’t even apply for that role, I got the one I actually wanted.”

“But you tried for your first movie,” Yeojin smiles apologetically and side-hugs with one arm, “Guess what, I know you’ll steal the spotlight anyway, you always do.”

Count on Yeojin to make her day go from insufferable to the best quality time ever in the span of five minutes. Haseul rests her head on her friend’s shoulder, “Thanks, you’re the best.”

“I’ll still root for Kim Lip if you’re enemies.” Scratch that, make it five seconds, actually.

The first table reading happens before the grand announcement of the main characters, before the writers can finally surprehend the public even more. Haseul arrives on time alongside everyone else. The director and the cast are already seated in place, script in hands for quite some time, on edge with the knowledge that there’s someone missing—

The door opens, “I’m sorry I’m late, I got caught up with the makeup crew this morning and had to eat lunch really fast to get here as soon as possible.”

—and fashionably late.

Haseul maintains her composed face as Kim Lip hurries to go to her seat and open the script. Haseul stares at her own script and, if not for the crowded room, she'd scoff. That’s what you get for hiring idols.

“Everyone’s here,” the director begins, opening the script and prompting the whole table to do so.

The reading is mostly tiring and Haseul itches to do anything other than just being here Haseul’s character is not as present in the pilot as the others, she’s only required for three small parts regarding the concert hall and Kim Lip’s character, which is both a blessing and a curse because now she sees how immersed Jungeun—it seems her name’s not Kim Lip, which makes sense, who’d name their child Kim Lip?—is in her character, and Haseul starts to notice small details about her. Like how her voice is amazing, and she might ask Yeojin for the group’s name and search for some of their songs. It wouldn’t hurt to try to approach her coworkers in different ways, especially because they might not even be able to properly talk to Jungeun today. Pretty much the whole room is exhausted from the last hours of non-stop reading.

Jungeun organizes her materials, says a generic thank you and goodbye to everyone, and hurries out of the building without further ado. And what can Haseul say? She does the same with her own belongings, too exhausted to properly think about politeness beyond “thanks” and “until tomorrow”. She needs her bed, and a good and new playlist to relax in her well deserved bath.

Haseul has to look upwards to face Jungeun properly, although she has to look up to face pretty much anyone. Maybe that's why she's so fond of Yeojin, a sense of superiority. And, oh, she’s taller—not taller , just on point taller, perfectly enough that Haseul can slot herself in her front and both of them can watch some cheesy comedy under the blankets while eating popcorn. And her lips are moving so graciously and are so glossy and pretty, and she's not stuttering on her lines, which makes Haseul realize she's the perfect height for forehead kisses without having to bend too much, perfect for jaw kisses, perfect for quick pecks without standing on her tiptoes. Perfect for non-awkward kisses. They must taste just as perfect as she looks as well, and her lips also match her eyes in a never-seen-before way, and her eyes are sparkling, but—

"Oh, no, no," Haseul shakes her head a bit too eagerly, and Jungeun's frown vanishes to form a confused look, "that's better! You're cuter when you're confused!"

Jungeun blushes and grips the script tighter, avoiding facing Haseul. "I'm glad you think I'm pretty—"

Haseul's own script becomes known in her hands, her mouth's open and she feels the tip of her ears burn all the way to her neck, because of course she said that out loud.

"—but can we go back to work?"

Everyone's staring at her when the director announces they’ll be retaking the scene. If luck is on her side, no one has heard her possible whispering of awe in front of an actual beauty entity, and she’ll be able to just go back to her professional persona.

The lines are staring back at her whilst Jungeun speaks hers.

Oh, no.

How will she ever be able to be a bitch to Jungeun in the show? Her hand itches for her phone, to talk with anyone about this unfortunate situation of professional impasse. However, right now, she has a rising career to secure, and so Hwang Mi-Ok snickers and scoffs, quips and insults Kang Su-Won.

The workday was relatively fast and the pilot recording was smooth, and thanks to Jungeun and her idol related work, the crew recorded her scenes before everyone else's, which is perfect because most of Haseul's scenes are related to Jungeun's character.

Haseul waits for the directors signal that the scene has gone well and that's her cue to be dismissed.Thank god her character's appearance in the pilot is scarce and insignificant for now. And possibly until the Kang Su-Won's focused episode.

It's chilly outside of the building, in contrast to the stuffy and warm movie set, but she still crosses the street to grab anything from the small coffee shop right in front of the studio. They greet her the same way as from morning, not recognizing her face, or maybe they're just used to celebrities because of the studio. She's not in the actual mood for anything besides some sweetened warm drink, but she needs to establish a routine to ground herself with the messy schedule she's in.

Haseul sits by the window as she regrets her hours past self for texting that to Vivi in the heat of the moment. A random memory flashes through her mind, in which she was watching some kind of variety show with Yeojin. It featured her favorite idol group, and went about how idols had to have both of their lives meshed together and coexist "24/7" with their coworkers. Her friend commented on how tiring it must be to live like this.

She takes a sip of her drink. She wasn't supposed to say anything about what she did at her first scene. Or about her concerns about idols being able to separate work life from personal life. Haseul thinks about answering Vivi with a "wrong number, sorry" even though she'll see right through her. But her head is back to that variety show with idols, and to how there must be more stuff from other groups and maybe she can find more things about Jungeun—it'll be strange to hear people calling her Kim Lip, though—and see how she works or if she's a persona.

Five coffees and two snacks later she notices she's been watching the same program for two hours and now that it's finished she might need to go back to her life, even if she wants to watch more. What can she say? The five girls in the group are really funny and engaging.

“It’s research,” Haseul mutters under her breath as she leaves the shop, she feels less stalker-ish after the small chant, “I need to know who I work with.”

For the first time their breaks finally matched after numerous times spent together between scenes and shootings. It’s finally time for Haseul to make an actual move and stop moping around because there’s nothing she can do to become close with Jungeun.

Haseul inhales deeply and goes to Jungeun. “Do you want to have lunch together?” hands slightly shaking, she hides them in her jeans pockets. She’s met with a puzzled look and hurries to an explanation, “I mean, you’re on your lunch break too, right? I’d enjoy the company.”

“Yes, sure,” Jungeun’s bashful, it makes Haseul wonder if she’d be easily teased, and how fun would it be. Is Jungeun more of a stutter-to-hide-the-nervousness person? Open-and-close-mouth-speechless person? Or someone like Haseul, laughs-and-talks-your-ear-off person? Haseul bets on stuttering.

With paper plates in front of them, both sitting at the iron table in the dining hall, the start is much too silent and awkward to Haseul’s liking. She can't even help it because Jungeun’s not helping and she’s strictly monosilabic. Even changing the topic almost four different times doesn’t help.

Before Haseul can change the topic once more—she’s been saving this one for desperate times, and she’s certainly desperate and this is surely a moment—Jungeun stops her from talking.

“Are you a fan?”

This is not what she expected to hear. She’s off her momentum of one-sided talking, “Well, I won’t say I’m not, after you were casted I searched for some of your works and they’re really nice.”

Jungeun’s the one out of the loop now, she blinks a couple of times, her mouth stays half open for some seconds. "Why do you keep following me?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You're not a hardcore fan," she explains, "why do you keep acting like one?"

"Do I?" Haseul laughs. Suddenly, all of Jungeun's initial coldness and then awkwardness all makes sense, "I'm sorry, I had no idea that— I mean, I'm not used to your type of fame, if I knew that you're conscious with— it was a normal reaction for me to try to get close, we're working together in the drama and spend a lot of time together, I thought you— actually, I thought it'd be nice to get to know you. You— no, not you, me! I'm sorry, I should’ve been less creepy."

She laughs, Jungeun actually laughs, it’s different from the one she’s heard in the youtube videos, rougher, maybe reserved only for people that actually know her well—Haseul needs at least a little bit of validation of them getting closer. Haseul thinks it’s a pretty laugh, still, she can’t stop the nagging feeling of being laughed at, “What is it?”

“Are you always like this?” Jungeun asks. Haseul tilts her head, completely lost, and Jungeun smiles, “Awkward.”

“My friends say that I am, but I disagree,” Haseul giggles.

Jungeun’s shoulders relax, she seems more comfortable, “You’re fine.”

The talk becomes easier then, with Jungeun less suspicious and Haseul making most of the small talk while Jungeun follows attentively. This might work, she ponders, this dynamic might be fun.

“It seems we’re the hottest couple on the internet,” Jungeun says after a bite of her meal.

Luckly, Haseul isn’t eating anything at that precise moment—less possibilities of comicaly over the top reactions. Chopsticks being held midair, she stays stunned from the remark. The way Jungeun can even say something of this caliber so casually has Haseul flushed and her mouth opening and closing a few times before finally being able to speak, “We? Who’s we?”

“Us,” she laughs, laughs . There’s no way someone knows about Haseul’s crush. “I mean, Suwon and Mi-Ok are pretty much the reason why a lot of people watch the show, I’ve heard the production team talking a day ago that when we’re together on a scene the audience skyrockets.”

Haseul laughs awkwardly, “That’s a weird way of phrasing it.”

Seconds pass in silence, Jungeun with a puzzled face looking straight at her, and it’s always fun to see when it clicks, her eyes widen just a bit, the tip of her ears redden and her mouth forms a strange half-smirk half-smile. She becomes silent and shrinks in her seat just a tiny bit before she looks down and then back up so she can actually laugh airly in awkwardness.

Haseul wants to see how she continues her embarrassed ritual, but the little laugh always gets her and she can’t find the strength to continue the teasing in any way, and thus, as always, she starts a new topic to change the direction, “How do you know?”

“I just told you the production team—”

“I know! I know!” Haseul giggles, “But audience is one thing, being famous on the internet is another.”

“Oh, you mean this,” Jungeun takes another mouthful of food before continuing, closing their gap as much as she can, she speaks in the most ushered way possible, “okay, you see… egosurfing.”

Haseul giggles and nods, it makes sense. Her chest blooms and her heart does somersaults in her ribcage.

Maybe this is not just a simple crush because normally by now Haseul would be used to the person and the first discomfort generated from her timidness and stop the mixed sensation of is-my-heart-pounding-because-I’m-close-to-a-heart-attack-or-am-I-in-love she always has when talking for the first time. This time, however, her heart’s still thumping madly every time she’s the reason for Jungeun’s laugh or when Jungeun invites her for lunch, and she knows it’s not an awkwardness induced heart attack.

“Have you ever egosurfed?”

It might be that Jungeun’s keeping the conversation going, but Haseul’s smile becomes shier and warmer, there’s also butterflies in her stomach and all that. Certainly not just a simple crush.

“As a matter of fact, no, never,” she eats a bit more and sips her cup of water, “I’m an opera singer that happened to be in artsy and artistic movies, pretty sure that’s not internet fame material.”

“I think you should try,” Jungeun mutters bashfully, her voice becoming less understandable with each passing word, “they’re starting to notice your work and talent...”

Haseul tilts her head, "They who?"

"I don't know," Jungeun avoids her gaze, "the internet?"

By now, Haseul has two options, let the topic die and shift the talk to anything else that's not about them, or press on even more to poke and prod Jungeun's every word just to see a reaction. "Are you implying that you searched about me?"

Haseul has never seen Jungeun's face as red as it is now, she expected a big reaction, but not the overly surprised caught-in-the-act she's showing. It's too much fun, so this time she won't change topics or joke about it, she rests her head in her palm and raises her eyebrows.

Jungeun averts her gaze, "Maybe," she says too softly to be understandable.

It's enough for now, Haseul decides, having the upper hand is fun—and almost impossible for Haseul—and it can be turned on her if she teases more. Jungeun might be able to see through her face. If she's ever known about Haseul searching for Jungeun on the internet, she doesn’t say.

Haseul finishes her juice, "But I agree," she says as she stands with her tray, "We are a great couple."

Haseul’s theory has been proven right, Jungeun's perfect-sized for cuddles. Especially because Jungeun's playing with Haseul's hand while they watch some foreigner movie release about something they're not really paying attention to. Bucket of popcorn already finished, Haseul's legs taking up almost the whole sofa whilst Jungeun's are stretched in the leg rest in front of her, her left arm is enveloping Haseul's shoulders and Haseul's on cloud nine after the idea of a next time with Jungeun almost sleeping with her head on her lap whilst Haseul plays with her hair and they just talk about nothing and might just sleep together cuddling without noticing with some really extensive movie series in the background.

Haseul stops Jungeun's hand and untangles herself so they can stay face to face, Haseul legs now tucked under her knees. "Jungeunnie, are idols actually forbidden from dating? Or is it an internet conspiracy?"

"Depends on the group," Jungeun replies, she follows Haseul with a smile, maybe already used to sudden topic changes and antics, "my group doesn't, but it's an unsaid rule, you know? Dating can bring new fans, but normally just causes a lot of scandals."

It’s one-sided, but Haseul feels the mood of the room getting strange, shifting from the light and soft from seconds ago to a more stuffy, heavier and suffocating from the topic, although Haseul knows it’s all her fault and maybe she’s the only one feeling the sudden shift, because Jungeun’s staring at her impassively. “Would you date? Like, scandals and all that might come your way and loss of fans, maybe, I think you’d be really brave.” Haseul tries to pretend that this is coming from nowhere, she adjusts herself to a more relaxed position, places her feet next to Jungeun’s and turns her eyes back to the TV. It’s just a sudden topic that she thought about during the movie—she truly did, there’s some implied homoerotic subplot in the movie that got her thinking about this subject since the beggining, even though it’s a fantasy genre.

“I never thought about it before.”

“But would you?” She’s not doing a Good Job™ in pretending when she’s trampling Jungeun to speak above her.

Jungeun laughs, “Where’s this coming from?”

“Oh, you know, the internet, like, I’ve seen people talking about dating-ban from other groups” The words coming too fast from her mouth and she’s too eager to know about what Jungeun thinks to actually think-before-speak,

Jungeun hums, suddenly smitten with the implied parts, “Never thought about it before, but let’s say i hypothetically fall in love with someone, ”

“But really, where’s this coming from?”

“The movie,” Haseul explains, Jungeun’s unamused, so she continues, “the romance subplot is kinda interesting, it made me think about it.”

Jungeun looks at her with a not-quite-disgusted-but-really-judging expression, “Haseul,” she starts calmly, “there’s no romantic subplot in the movie, he’s hated by everyone.”

“Of course there is, the two girls obviously love each other.”

“Are you talking about the side characters?”

“Yes.”

Jungeun smiles, “I agree,” and makes herself more comfortable on the sofa, scooting a little bit closer to Haseul so their shoulders touch.

They're all sharing a big, almost bucket like, bowl of ice cream together in a surely overpriced and semi-fancy ice creamery and créperie—all five of them, which is a miracle by itself—with the promise of Haseul's cheery "it's my treat!".

Heejin's cheeks are flushed and Haseul's sure she might implode from curiosity, and thus she sighs and brings the talk to her friend. "How's your work with Kim Lip?"

It piques the curiosity of all three, for different reasons, and she feels the need to answer in the most nonchalant way possible: "Oh, you know, she's an idol. She idols."

Everyone in the table snickers, and Hyunjin's the one to tease, "Haseul is crushing on her coworker."

"I'm not!"

"Gimme your phone then," Yeojin says with an actual caring face, and Haseul is trusting.Yeojin snatches the phone from her hands even before she realizes.

"What are you—"

"Searching your youtube history," she answers, smirking.

Haseul's still out of the loop, until both Heejin and Hyunjin are crowding Yeojin’s side to see the phone screen better. She knows she's been deceived because she's too trusting, but she still can't grasp how it'll prove anything—especially because there's nothing to prove because simple appearance attraction is meaningless and means close to nothing . She's still mad at them, though.

Heejin smirks devilishly and looks at Haseul for a second in a teasing manner before her eyes go back to the screen. "It'll show if you're already searching for video compilations of her."

“What, no! You can’t do that!”

Hyunjin and Heejin at least try to pretend they’re not laughing at her face. Yeojin bursts in her loud laughter as soon as she opens the app, even Vivi’s now curious to see. She scoots closer to the group and leaves Haseul alone in front of them. Vivi’s even laughing. At least her laughter is less obnoxious than Yeojin’s.

“You’re in deep! Oh my god, she’s your coworker, does this count as stalking?” Speaking of the devil, Yeojin could at least have the decency to watch her tone and not attract the whole store's attention, even though they’re the only customers present and the attendants are used to their antics. They might even enjoy the gossip when all of them are gathered at the same table, “Because you’re pretty much watching everything you can with her in it—You even watched the couple’s compilation?!”

Haseul shrinks in her seat, “I needed to see how she acts around others and how she interacts with other people… I need to know my coworkers, you know, we’re going to be together a lot for our scenes, and maybe even on breaks.”

Hyunjin hums, “We understand,” and Haseul smiles because Hyunjin’s always on her side, she can always count on Hyunjin and she surely can trust her enough because Hyunjin is an actual angel sent to earth. “Next time try not to be as obvious, your watch history is giving you away.”

Haseul’s still smiling, “Yes, yes, yes, I’ll be more careful—”

“Yeah, seriously, Haseul?” Heejin mocks, “‘chuulip being lovey-dovey’ and right after ‘every time kim lip and chuu fought’?”

She must be pale now. Even the attendant is silently giggling, and Yeojin couldn’t be more insufferable. Maybe it’s for the best to leave them be. Anything she gives them, she knows they’ll just make even more fun of her.

Jungeun’s standing on the spotlight in the middle of the set, violin mastered after incessant hours of non stop training. The strong lights are probably burning Jungeun’s skin by now. She finishes the solo piece alone in the middle of the stage and her face looks sweaty, though Haseul’s not sure if it’s because she was really into it or just the makeup.

That’s her cue, she takes a deep breath and stomps in Jungeun’s direction.

MI-OK

It’s all your fault!

SUWON

What?

MI-OK

This! All of this! You had everything anyone could wish for!

And you still dropped everything to go back to that scumbag

even though I warned you about it! I told you not to go after him!

Mi-Ok’s hands, shaking and trembling.

SUWON

What are you talking about?

MI-OK

He doesn’t care for you! You don’t matter to him!

You matter to me! I care about you!

TILT to Suwon in profile, hands lowers the violin, she’s startled.

SUWON

I’m not following…

Mi-ok raises her hands. She slaps Suwon.

Though she doesn’t, she can’t bring herself to be violent, not at Jungeun. Her hand stops mid air, slowly and weakly Haseul lowers it to her shoulder and she places it there. “I’ve loved you since day one.”

Mi-Ok runs away crying.

Haseul tries to close her fingers, but they are too weak. Tears soon start falling from her eyes, her makeup becoming slightly smudged. “I do everything for you because I love you, Suwon…” her voice is hoarse and small, she doesn’t think about the microphone trying to capture the audio.

Suwon stands alone on the stage. She falls onto the floor and cries alone. The screen turns BLACK.

Haseul grips Jungeun’s shirt as tightly as her trembling fingers allow her to. Bringing their lips close enough to brush against each other, she whispers “You should choose me, Suwon” before finally kissing Jungeun. Haseul thinks the director already screamed to stop the shoot to stop and do a retake, but she doesn’t want to discover it and ruin the best moment of her life.

And if that couldn’t get any better, Jungeun actually kisses her back! The kiss itself isn't a full on makeout, but it’s way more than a technical kiss, much more intimate and passionate. She hopes Jungeun can understand her own feelings under the acting, makeup and tears.

The show must go on, though, and when the kiss breaks, both are breathless and unable to utter a word. Haseul cries more, sliding to the floor, sitting on her legs. She clings onto Jungeun’s legs tightly for a bit before Jungeun herself drops to her knees and embraces Haseul just as tightly.

“I love you too,” Jungeun whispers.

The lights fade as if they're in the climax of a cliché romance movie. Then, the lights are on again and the director booms "Cut!" in a very pleased way. That's just a way destiny found out to keep Haseul grounded and remind her that she is indeed in a cliché romantic plotline in a drama—although she's acting and not living a formulaic teenage romance—and she feels lost in place, hoping Jungeun can understand her under all the, maybe, overacting and semi-fake tears.

“That was amazing, girls,” the director’s praise sounds somewhat strange and out of momentum after such an emotion-heavy and private moment. Nevertheless, the director calls both of them to a small briefing, “I’m really glad that you two understood the main idea of the characters so much, we scratched that idea after the first rehearsal. But congratulations, you girls nailed it, and that kiss at the end? If we do a retake it’ll not be as good.”

It causes a strange reaction in Haseul. Invalidated? Dismissed? Is this how a rejection feels like? She shifts in her seat, Jungeun’s calmly listening, as if she’s forgotten already, and Haseul feels tenser than ever, the worst part is that it seems it’s only her: Only Haseul’s feeling rejected, only Haseul feels the tension in the air, only Haseul feels like crying her eyes out in Yeojin’s lap while her best friend throws mean comments at everyone’s direction but Haseul’s.

The director excuses both of them and Jungeun walks faster than normal to somewhere, what shocks the most is how tightly she grips Haseul’s wrist.

It’s now, Haseul’s mind wanders. Jungeun’s not going to scream because it’s not part of her, she shows her displease in other ways—she nags, she gets irritated, she’s passive-aggressive, but never the out-of-control, borderline irrational reactions as Haseul has. She’s probably going to say something mildly hurtful of her feelings in a very Jungeun-esque way whilst rejecting Haseul. If Haseul’s a little bit lucky, Jungeun will stumble and trip over her words which will turn the rejection a bit more bearable and funnier. Because that is how her life normally goes, destiny likes to include ironic turns in as many parts of her life as possible.

Haseul’s fine with the possible outcome, because, if there's something Jungeun deserves, is an actual confession with an expensive dinner in front of her lit by candles. She deserves a princess-like treatment and a shoulder massage given by someone that deeply cares about her. She deserves the world out of love and more. And that’s not what Haseul just gave her, she confessed in the middle of pent-up frustration tears, acting in her character’s final scene.

Haseul’s fired-up now, though, she’ll give her an actual private and baroquesque confession in the form of a love song for their idol group that Jungeun would center and enchant every fan’s attention. Although not right away, wait four-to-five months, until the buzz of a lesbian kiss in a mainstream media to dissipate to avoid any possible scandals harmful to Kim Lip as a persona and the idol group she’s in.

Maybe, then, Jungeun can truly understand and accept her heartfelt confession.

They enter Jungeun’s dressing room, she finally releases Haseul’s wrist and sits her on the sofa and sits some places further to create distance. “Were you acting?”

For some seconds, Haseul is almost sure it’s reprocicated by how small Jungeun’s sitting frame is.

Then, her thoughts become a mess once again, “Of course! We’re working, you know, and that scene felt really bland overall,” Haseul’s looking in every direction but Jungeun’s eyes. She should, but once she starts word-vomiting she can’t stop, “the director always lets us improvise, and your character doesn’t have an actual ending unless they do a season two, but I thought that having our characters to actually kiss would mean much more than any bland and no chemistry relationship the drama was directing your character into, and I also think our characters should have happy endings—”

Jungeun is squishing Haseul’s cheeks rather tightly, at least tight enough so Haseul stops talking, her other hand grips her shoulder. It seems that her lips have been moving since Haseul started talking incessantly.

“Haseul,” Jungeun giggles, the same giggle she saves for only closed ones, the airy giggle that has Haseul’s chest blooming in hopeful anticipation.

“Jungeun,” she jokes, her voice strange from the fingers still squishing her cheeks, because Haseul’s noticing that her worries have been destroyed from non-verbal reaction.

Especially because now that there’s only the two of them, Jungeun’s allowing herself to become bashful and shy, her eyes silently pleading Haseul to take control of the conversation.

“Wanna go on a date with me?” Haseul mumbles as her lips permit her, and it has Jungeun laughing.

“I’d love to,” Jungeun releases her cheeks, her fingers going to faintly hold Haseul’s, “You’re a dork, do you know that?”

Haseul beams and laces their fingers together. “If we kiss right now, will it be our first or second kiss?”

“Who knows,” she says and she leans over.