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No amount of preparation could’ve made Seoyeon any ready for this.
Ever since she saw the storyboard for their second OT24 comeback’s music video, it was like a deep pit had formed in her chest. The concept they were going for this time was just so… raw… and emotional. It was a concept tripleS had dabbled in the past with ‘Girls Never Die,’ except this time, they were going the full mile. With bloodied faces and vaguely suicidal implications, yeah, a definite change from their debut.
Seoyeon was excited for ‘Are You Alive.’ Everything this comeback had to offer was right up tripleS’s alley, and something they wanted to delve into and bring to life. The struggle, emotional turmoil, and finally the hopelessness were all things the girls were able to relate to, whether it stemmed from the life of being an idol or not.
But with the nerves of being able to pull off this kind of concept, that wasn’t the only thing that had Seoyeon nervous.
While she listened to the plans for the music video, she had also found out something… interesting.
“We decided to pair you and Yooyeon together for a duo scene at the river.”
She felt her blood freeze.
“...Huh.”
She had a scene with Yooyeon.
She, Yoon Seoyeon, was going to do a scene with Kim Yooyeon.
It wasn’t like this was her first time doing a scene with her. During dance segments of their music video recordings, they were technically still together.
Get a grip, Seoyeon, that’s not the same.
Yes, while this wasn’t the first time she’s done a recording with Yooyeon, this was definitely the first time it was just the two of them.
It was blatantly obvious that this… pairing was one that the company wanted to push. And it wasn’t the only one either. Seoyeon remembered overhearing a few staff members talking about that scene in the train station, one that she knew for sure was going to involve a certain couple.
So really, she shouldn’t have been surprised that this was happening to her as well.
Her and Yooyeon were a popular pairing—then and now. Whether the fans liked their dynamic as the two leaders, or maybe something beyond that, it was clear that as of recent, their interactions have been… lacking, to say the least. And because of that, fans have been raving about it even more, wanting to see the two sweethearts from Gapyeong interact so lovingly like before.
However, all Seoyeon could say was that with time, there is change.
It wasn’t that things between her and Yooyeon went badly per se, in fact, they were able to comfortably co-exist without a single problem. If Seoyeon was being honest, she doesn’t think about the past as much as others thought she did. Because really, there wasn’t any point, especially when things had completely ended.
(Though, there are times when guilt eats up at her when she finds herself pondering about whether the “thing” in question really existed or not.)
The filming location was freezing cold. Winter was due to end any day by now, but given that they were filming right by the water and closer to evening, the cold had only gotten worse.
She took a couple of deep breaths, feeling the icy air enter her lungs as she mentally prepared for what’s about to come. Taking in her surroundings, she keeps a mental note that a certain someone was in the vicinity.
The jacket around her shoulders is pulled closer, taking any chance to protect herself from the cold. Her eyes drift past all the staff, who were all dressed in those extra puffy winter jackets, rubbing their hands together for warmth.
Before landing right on her.
Yooyeon, just like herself, was dressed in the more casual outfit the stylists picked for the music video. Though, she had a white bonnet wrapped around her head, acting as protection from the cold and adding another layer of style that was popular. Seoyeon noted how cute it was on her and how the fans will definitely enjoy this look.
(Just like she did.)
The older woman was occupied with one of the signal cameras filming her. Her eyes shift around as she shivers and speaks all robot-like.
“It. Is. So. Cold,” Yooyeon’s gaze continues darting around, “I don’t have the confidence to do this.”
Right at that moment, their eyes happened to meet. They freeze upon noticing each other. Or in this case, Yooyeon noticing Seoyeon.
For a second, surprise took over Yooyeon’s face, but within seconds, she turned back to the camera, speaking one final word.
“Fighting…!”
The older woman doesn’t quite immediately walk over to Seoyeon. Just as she was about to leave, she’s stopped by one of the stylists, who quickly fixes her hair and bonnet, making sure it was secure and looked good. Seoyeon still couldn’t pull her eyes away, fixated on the sight in front of her.
She already didn’t know why she, herself, was staring, but she definitely didn’t know why Yooyeon was staring back as well.
There’s no point in reading into it. She thinks.
When Yooyeon was finished, she finally walks over, eye contact between them still present. It was… weird, but neither woman had it in them to look away. Seoyeon knew her reasoning (she can’t just lose), but as for Yooyeon, she was completely in the dark.
She stood just next to Seoyeon, right where the director wanted her to be. They end up muttering a, “glad to be working with you,” under their breaths before finally looking away, the awkwardness belatedly catching up to them. Seoyeon also took note of how Yooyeon stood close to her, but not enough to actually be touching her. Like, at all.
Even with Yooyeon’s padded jacket and Seoyeon’s cotton ones, they were still not touching.
The younger woman didn’t know if it was a conscious effort from both sides or not, but in the end, this all just seemed too comically cruel.
The director began speaking, running down a few scene plans with them. A few cameras came by, capturing the scene. Seoyeon turned to them, frantically waving, just for the fun of it—and also to battle the cold. If shared body heat wasn’t going to do the job, she might as well move around and generate warmth on her own.
Funnily enough, she nearly stumbles from the force of her waves, but it was enough to snap her back to reality and actually listen to the director.
It was supposed to be a sentimental scene with them and the dandelion. It would be similar to the previous group’s scene (a part of Seoyeon wonders why they couldn’t have just been lumped together), except the only difference was that it was two of them.
Seoyeon is handed the prop, and she feels her hands growing significantly colder as it’s exposed to the freezing air.
“So I do it like this?” Seoyeon demonstrates by moving her arm back and forth between her and Yooyeon, who just barely leans forward towards the prop to add to the simulation.
“Yeah! That’s good,” the director gives a thumbs up. “But just do it freely, improvise, make it just be as natural as possible.”
Seoyeon hums a sound of affirmation as they both nod. Their director walks back behind the cameras, giving the two of them a few moments of free time before they officially start recording.
“Pretty.”
Seoyeon freezes.
She immediately turns over, a look of shock on her face, only for it to instantly disappear once she notices that Yooyeon was staring at the dandelion, and not Seoyeon herself.
Of course, she wasn’t talking about you, idiot. Seoyeon scolds herself.
Before Seoyeon could open her mouth and agree, the same camera person came back, taking the chance to quickly interview the girls before filming starts.
“What do you guys have here?” they ask.
“Dandelion,” Yooyeon simply answers, as blunt as always.
Seoyeon continues twirling it in her hand; it’s the only thing she can think of to keep herself busy.
She gets the urge to say something—something to lighten this frigid mood.
Then the stupidest thing just leaves her mouth.
“There will be some DNA from me and Yooyeon here.”
She stops and looks at Yooyeon from her peripheral vision, hearing a, “oh,” from the girl next to her. Seoyeon didn’t even need to look to know that Yooyeon was shooting her a look of disbelief.
“That’s too direct.”
Seoyeon breaks out laughing.
“There’ll be some amylase,” Yooyeon instead says, clearly amused by Seoyeon’s previous statement.
Well, it did the job, kinda.
The unease she’s been feeling since she got here was slowly melting away. Now, Seoyeon was whacking the dandelion in front of the camera, an exaggerated way of trying to show it off, knowing that it might just blur the entire footage.
“I want to pluck some.”
The second Seoyeon sees Yooyeon’s arm reach out to the dandelion, she immediately brings her hand closer, closing the gap. Yooyeon grabs at a small clump.
“Is this real?” Yooyeon asked in awe. She closely examines the seeds in her hand.
“The seeds are, but I heard they’re attached manually.”
Yooyeon hums. Seoyeon turns over and lets the staff fix them. These were pretty delicately made, with each placement intentional. Seoyeon didn’t want to mess it up.
When the prop was all good, Seoyeon didn’t think twice before turning back to Yooyeon and holding the dandelion out to her.
She watches as the older woman continues messing with the prop, seemingly intrigued by its anatomy. Seoyeon couldn’t help but let her eyes drift towards her, watching the focused expression on her face as she lightly picked at the seeds and placed them back.
It was just… interesting.
The words from the director saying that they were finally ready to film snapped the women out of the state they were in before they shifted their focus to the job at hand. Their coats and jackets are pulled off of them as Seoyeon holds the prop in position, hand shaking even more now that the extra layer of warmth was gone.
When everything seemed to be set up, the director finally called out. “Okay… action!”
Seoyeon raises the dandelion just enough for Yooyeon to only slightly lean down to pretend to blow at it. She waits a few seconds and catches when Yooyeon stops, taking that chance to bring the dandelion towards herself and pretend to blow at it all the same.
It was… nice.
When they finished that first cycle, they repeated those same motions. Seoyeon brings the dandelion back to Yooyeon, who was pretending to blow the seeds away yet again, but this time, Seoyeon thought about the director’s words. Do it freely, improvise. As natural as possible.
With those words ringing in her head, Seoyeon lets herself fall into a more… silly mood.
The smile comes easily to her face. She wasn’t sure what exactly did it, but it was almost like she was transported back in time. Back to those times where she would mess around with Yooyeon in the house, when all they had were semi-professional, definitely-unserious dance lessons with the choreographer.
(Sometimes, it’s a shame that things change.)
But Seoyeon doesn’t allow herself to trail down that train of thought. She clings to the more positive qualities of reminiscing.
Then she thinks. A little bit of fun doesn’t hurt anyone.
Seoyeon fully indulges. She slightly pushes the dandelion up, bumping against Yooyeon’s lips before just running it all across her lips and even grazing her nose. The older woman flinches back a little, a muted noise of surprise leaving her throat. The smile on Seoyeon’s lips immediately grows wider the second she catches Yooyeon’s lips mirroring her own.
That was cute.
She gets the urge to bring the dandelion to her own lips—wait, was that too much?
The realization had come a little too late, with her lips already meeting the soft puffs of the dandelion. Her eyes meet Yooyeon’s, who were wide with shock. She flickers her gaze away and pretends to blow the seeds.
She brings the dandelion back towards Yooyeon, fearing that they might’ve messed up the cut, but when Seoyeon saw the softness in the other’s eyes, it was like something struck inside her.
This was okay.
The smile returns to Yooyeon’s face as she purses her lips, leaning just the slightest bit towards the prop between them. Seoyeon watched closely, somehow feeling a little breathless and intrigued. She wanted to see how far this would play out.
Then, she sees Yooyeon move, just the slightest amount, so that the soft seeds just barely grazed her lips.
Oh.
No, Seoyeon shouldn’t be reading into things that didn’t need to be read into. Even if Yooyeon’s eyes flickered up to hers, with that same soft expression on her face. Even if Seoyeon felt like her heart was going to pound right out of her chest.
Seoyeon didn’t know how many times they went back and forth, just doing the same thing, but with each take, she could feel herself grow lighter, even if it was with Yooyeon, the one who doesn’t even allow their jackets to touch at all.
It really was enough. And she means it.
At some point, the director actually does say “cut,” but only to hand Yooyeon her own dandelion. The playful air continued onto the next shoot, to Seoyeon’s luck. If anything, the added dandelion just made everything more comfortable between them. Eventually, the director shouts a final cut, and surprisingly, Seoyeon doesn’t know if she should be grateful or sad that it’s over.
Their managers and stylists rush towards them, handing them the soft-padded and cotton jackets, shielding them from the ever-growing cold. Since neither woman had any other scenes to film until later that night, they were granted the luxury of going straight back home, which was always a plus. And Seoyeon was honestly ready to get back and laze around for as long as she could.
She was already scurrying off set, for herself and for Sullin, who was getting ready to film her scene.
(Seriously, why didn’t they just put them all together?)
Seoyeon would stay and support their Thai princess, but seriously, this cold was about to kill her. And she would rather be cuddled up on her bed than suffer and get frostbite.
But just before Seoyeon could get out of the crowd of staff, something stops her in her tracks.
“Seoyeon.”
Ah.
She turns. Yooyeon also looked just as cold, wrapped in as many layers as she was, her nose and cheeks beginning to grow a little red.
A breathless reply. “Yeah?”
The beating in her chest began to grow faster. Seoyeon felt like she was about to be crushed by the anticipation of Yooyeon’s next words.
But in reality, she had nothing to be nervous about at all.
An unsure look, but only just for a second.
“Let’s have a meal together again.”
Yooyeon’s face breaks into a small grin, with one end of her lips tugging up just a little higher into an awkward, but charming smile.
Oh.
Seoyeon could only stare at her, eyes wide in shock.
It was a simple invite, that much was obvious, but Seoyeon couldn’t help feeling that there was something she was supposed to pick up from that.
But maybe it was something for her to figure out later.
With a warmth that could combat the cold, it was like the hope that Seoyeon wished to spread to the world had somehow found itself coming right back to her too.
She nods with a smile. “Yeah, let’s.”