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If actually chatting with Seoyeon isn't already complicated enough, it became truly impossible after Sohyun's disappearance. Everyone was startled. Sohyun's alleged death had affected everyone, including Yooyeon. Yooyeon had always cared about her friends in her own, albeit weird, way. She never held any grudges towards Sohyun for being Seoyeon's interest, she hadn't done anything wrong, after all.
So of course, Yooyeon had shed a few tears over Sohyun's loss, she was pained and it was then when the realization came that everyone that had managed to make her care about people would leave one by one, and specifically the one that would hurt the most was... Seoyeon.
The loss of Sohyun had affected Seoyeon the most, during the livestream that Yooyeon and Seoyeon had watched together of Sohyun's round, Seoyeon wouldn't stop shouting at the screen, bawling and swearing on everything that she would kill Nakyoung, not even when she was dragged away for being a disturbance did Seoyeon stop raging, the pain in her voice evident as Yooyeon's attention locked on Seoyeon. Watching her get dragged away, seeing how her eyes glued at the screen. She felt a bit selfish to wish that Seoyeon would look at her that way.
Little did Yooyeon know that, that was the last time she'd see Seoyeon for a whole week.
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During this week, when Yooyeon had discovered the next contestants, she had never felt true fear until she saw her name next to Seoyeon's on the lit up board. She put a hand on the holographic photo of Seoyeon as she watched the girl's face now on top of the back of her hand. She had felt that this time would come, the time when she would have to face Seoyeon, the time when her efforts would finally come to an end.
"You poor, poor dog." Someone said in an annoying tone.
Yooyeon's head snapped back to face whoever it was that insulted her that way, although, the voice ringed a bell.
"Do you need something, Kim Nakyoung?"
Yooyeon acted collected, she's good at it, good at pretending everything was okay. She retracted her hand and faced Nakyoung properly, observing her in silence as the air filled between them with tension
"Oh not really, just felt bad for you, you know, your little crush and all that.." Nakyoung mocked, putting a hand over her mouth as she giggles.
Yooyeon smiled creepily at Nakyoung. That was another thing she's really good at, smiling when she would get overwhelmed by mostly unknown emotions. Yooyeon parted her lips to speak yet before she could, Nakyoung was already on her way out. Yooyeon bit her tongue, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding as the black haired girl disappeared from her line of sight.
She's not scared of Nakyoung, she's scared of what is to come.
Speaking of, since she had first found out about the next round contestants, she hadn't seen Seoyeon, she walked around Anakt Garden aimlessly, unsure where Seoyeon is, she didn't even know if Seoyeon is aware of their situation, if she was preparing to sing against her, if she had already prepared herself to see her die.
Thoughts swirled around her head as she frowned, walking through the empty hallways before she stopped at the loud sound of bustling, it seemed like something big was happening in one of the rooms, despite Yooyeon's reluctance, she slowly creaked the door open, peeking inside and seeing what was... basically a club room for aliens.
What she wasn't prepared to see was Seoyeon, her Seoyeon that she hadn't spoken to for days, bent over a table with hands grabbing her, an exhausted look on her face. Needless to say, Yooyeon was enraged.
Yooyeon let the door open fully as she ran immediately, grabbing the first object and slamming it into an alien's head, the wine bottle cracking loudly against the alien's head as it burst open, the red wine staining his white, clean, clothes. Yooyeon swung for a long time, she fought countless disgusting creatures as others ran out, afraid or annoyed, either way, Yooyeon was glad those aliens were leaving.
Yet while the room was practically empty and Seoyeon was leaning against the side of a couch, Yooyeon heard Seoyeon's voice, turning to look at her as their eyes connected for a brief moment, making Yooyeon smile, but before she could say anything...
"S-Sohyun?" Seoyeon stuttered, reaching a hand out.
Yooyeon fell silent, accidentally bitting her lip with her teeth poking out, drawing blood. She was speechless, yet she acted swiftly as Seoyeon passed out, running to her and letting Seoyeon rest on her shoulder as she unlocked the girl's collar, her breath still a bit altered from fighting, she'd get into massive trouble if her owner decided to punish her before her performance, but that was the least on her mind.
Yooyeon held Seoyeon in her hands, holding her cheek softly as she looked at the girl, she was roughed up too, Yooyeon frowned seeing her hurt, it wasn't the first time but she'd never get used to the sight. She slowly leaned closer to Seoyeon's face and pressed their cheeks together, feeling Seoyeon's slightly colder skin as she took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. This was the closest she'd ever get to Seoyeon, to her embrace, her love.
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Time flies. And before she knew it, Seoyeon stood next to her, wearing black, looking extremely out of it, it must've been some kinds of drugs that her owner injected her with. That plus the recent loss of Sohyun, she must be broken, Yooyeon thought as she sneaked glances at Seoyeon as she sang, almost monotone-ly, not at all her usual style, but sad and almost melancholic. To say that Yooyeon was worried would be an understatement.
When it was her turn to sing, she grabbed the microphone gently and sang, looking at Seoyeon even if the other didn't meet her eyes, even if the other stared into the crowd with dim eyes, she didn't know what Seoyeon was thinking, was she thinking about Sohyun? Could she be thinking about Sohyun even when she's standing on the stage next to her? For some reason the question was unbearably hard to answer, Yooyeon didn't know.
The song progressed somewhat smoothly, the lights at one point felt blinding to Yooyeon, she could notice that Seoyeon was falling off, that she wasn't putting any effort. Yooyeon tried desperately to aid her and to give her the more infuencing parts of the song, letting her sing louder, brighter, yet when Seoyeon didn't sing in fact brighter or louder, it made Yooyeon increasingly anxious.
So, before she makes a decision she would regret for her entire life, she pushed her microphone onto the ground, letting it fall over as she walked through the rain towards Seoyeon. Seoyeon, as usual, ignored her, singing as she looked to the ground, it made Yooyeon a bit upset. She grabbed Seoyeon's hand and pulled her towards her, looking at her in the eyes as she finally met Seoyeon's widened, almost scared and shocked eyes. She never wanted it to be this way that she'd look at her, yet she couldn't do anything about it anymore.
As her hesitation disappeared, Yooyeon grabbed Seoyeon's head and pushed her into a kiss, looking at her in the eyes as their lips connected, well, not entirely. As Yooyeon kept kissing Seoyeon's still lips, Yooyeon closed her eyes for a moment, if only this moment could last forever— no— If only Seoyeon would've been kissing her back instead of looking at Yooyeon with such startled eyes.
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Yooyeon was always a prodigy, the ideal, obedient, smart and polite kid. She was the example to everyone, the one the aliens would always compare you to. Yet this doesn't mean Yooyeon is perfect, she is far from it actually. Yooyeon is insensitive, she didn't know nor understood emotions, she didn't know why people would cry, or how anyone could be so obsessed with someone that they wanted to spend their lives with that person, she didn't comprehend how anyone could feel such a strong emotion.
She also didn't understand why some kids laughed to stuff she never found funny, maybe she's the one that is messed up. The aliens would force her to smile due to this, because she didn't know how to, because her only expression is her resting poker face, a face the aliens couldn't afford be their idol.
Yet everything changed when she saw Seoyeon. At first, she thought the girl was foolish, she saw how she spied on a dark haired girl, clearly in love. While the dark haired girl spoke with another blond girl, laughing, giggling, blushing... It was obvious how the girls were in love, yet all that she focused on was how the dark haired girl liked the red flower crown that the blond girl made her.
Yooyeon then proceeded to watch as the girl learned how to make flower crowns on her own for hours just to make one for the dark haired girl. Yooyeon thought the girl must be stupid and weird, yet as the girl dropped the flower crown past her and ran past her, she realized the emotion in Seoyeon's eyes, it felt like a refreshing breeze pass through her, waking her up, making her realize that maybe there isn't just standards to live up with in this world.
From then on, she was determined to befriend the strange girl.
Yooyeon would bother the girl (whose name she figured out is Seoyeon) everyday. She'd sit next to her during lunch time and poke at her, smiling at every little thing she could to get a reaction out of her, making her own cheeks blush a soft pink in excitement, enjoying toying with Seoyeon.
One day, she saw Seoyeon make another flower crown, for the same dark haired girl, something about that made her feel a bit upset, she had realized that despite her constant pestering, Seoyeon's interest never wavered from the girl, whose name is Sohyun. Yooyeon, annoyed, stepped on Seoyeon's flower crown. That day they fought, Yooyeon had punched Seoyeon and Seoyeon had punched her back, even so, she was weak, and eventually asked for forgiveness.
Slowly Yooyeon started to understand how Seoyeon could pursue someone clearly unobtainable.
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One day, after weeks of planning, Yooyeon had managed to convince an alien guard to help them escape, so she grabbed Seoyeon and ran out with her, running into the wide camp, eyes watching the meteor shower as Seoyeon ran behind her, the reddening sky dawning over them as they were going to the exit, Yooyeon was so excited until she suddenly felt Seoyeon let go. Assuming this was an accident, Yooyeon turned around to grab Seoyeon's hand once more but as she turned around, she halted. Seoyeon had stopped following her and had stayed a few steps behind. Yooyeon was confused, what was the problem? She wondered, about to ask when she heard these next words.
"But... Sohyun! I-I can't leave her back there...!"
And with that Seoyeon ran, and Yooyeon could only watch as the girl she love ran into the night sky, the meteor raining just above her. You'd think Yooyeon would say something, try to reason with Seoyeon, but after so long being Seoyeon's friend, she understood that she couldn't change Seoyeon's mind about Sohyun, so she just patherically stood there, smiling like an idiot as her loved one ran away and back to the hellhole.
Obviously, Yooyeon walked back, albeit slowly, looking at the rain of beautiful stars.
Only from there did it actually sink in how far she was from getting Seoyeon, how Seoyeon clearly didn't like her back, how Seoyeon's feelings for Sohyun were painfully obvious, and from then on, she had sort of accepted it.
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Yooyeon grabbed Seoyeon's neck, tightening her grip as she looked up at the counters, she could see her own counter stopped going up, instead going down, she desperately kissed Seoyeon one last time, almost apologetically, soft and more tender than the other kisses.
Seoyeon 89.
Yooyeon 70.
BANG!
Yooyeon felt something pierce her side, making her groan in pain and clench around Seoyeon's neck harder.
BANG!
Yooyeon felt the piercing pain even clearer now, starting to feel a bit nauseaus, looking at Seoyeon's face, seeing the exhaustion etched into her face.
BANG!
Yooyeon groaned out, coughing up blood as blood trickled down her chin, she looked at Seoyeon, finally letting go of the girl's neck. She tumbled back slowly, her body feeling heavy and head feeling too light. She smiled at Seoyeon as her body fell down to her side, her eyes closing, and losing consciousness.