[VII] (1/1)

Joy has been waiting for ten minutes at the address Seulgi had given her. She knows that she's early, but she can't help but feel annoyed over the fact that she has to wait. The conversation they had last night hadn't been so well.It was awkward as hell. Seulgi had apologized for the whole love-triangle-polyamorous drama, which Joy found unnecessary because she didn't want to talk about that. She wanted to keep Seulgi as a friend, but nothing more than that. She accepted her apology and she answered her questions, telling her that she was doing fine and that she would get over it.And that's when she threw the bomb:I really need your help, Seulgi. - Joy.What? Why? - Seulgi.How can I help you? - Seulgi.I need you to give me dance lessons for my next audition. It's in two weeks. - Joy.Oh. - Seulgi.She knew that Seulgi was disappointed because their first meeting after the polyamorous-fiasco was going to be a dance lesson. However, Yerim had told her that it would be for the best. That way they would get back to the friendship they used to have.But we're not flirting anymore, sure. As Seulgi walks to the building where her dance studio is, she feels her hands sweating. It's the first time she's stepping into the dance studio ever since the accident happened. Her partners who shared the dance studio with her had respected her schedule, but Seulgi was about to tell them that she wasn't going to attend. Now that Joy is going to need the dance studio for her practices, she's keeping her keys and she even has considered giving her spare keys to Joy.When she glances up, she sees Joy waiting by the entrance. She waves at her and Joy bows at her."Hey." Joy greets her. Seulgi gives her a small smile. "Are you ready?" Seulgi asks her as she opens the main entrance door with a code. She holds the door open for Joy, who nods at her words. "I'm ready." She follows the older through the hallway. Seulgi turns the lights on as she steps further into the hallway and she presses the button of the elevator. They wait by the door, silently looking at the elevator door. The door opens with a 'ding' and the two of them awkwardly step into it. As the elevator goes up, Joy notices that Seulgi is holding her breath. "Are you okay?"Seulgi lets her breath out in a long sigh."It's the first time I'm getting into my dance studio since the car-crash." Joy's eyes widen a little at her confession. She's expected that Seulgi has been acting weird because of her.Joy awkwardly pats Seulgi's shoulder, trying to give her some kind of comfort."And that's weird because..." Seulgi closes her eyes, huffing. "Because I've been thinking about leaving it." The doors open with another 'ding'. Seulgi steps out, Joy following her, a little bit shocked because what she's just said."But... You always loved dancing."Seulgi knows that she did, but she doesn't know if she's feeling the same way about it now that she almost died at that car-crash. "I know but... There's so much I want to do before I die. Maybe this way of living isn't forever." Seulgi opens the door of her studio and lets Joy in. The youngest looks around in awe. The dance studio is so well decorated and the mirrors on the walls make it seem even more spacious."Oh, Seulgi." Someone calls her name, stepping out of the shower room with her hair wet. "I didn't expect you.""I texted." Seulgi leaves her bag on the floor and walks to the girl, ready to give her a hug. The latest chuckles as she hugs her back. "How have you been, Jennie?" When she pulls away, Jennie puts her hands inside the pockets of her hoodie."I've been fine. A few concerts here and there... And now I'm going on tour." "That sounds so cool." Seulgi smiles at her. Jennie gives her a shy grin."And you?" Jennie awkwardly asks. "How are you now?""I'm doing fine, really." She shows Jennie her now healthy hand. "No bruises. Just some cool looking scars."Jennie giggles. "You're one of a kind, Seulgi." Her phone beeps. "That's the manager. I gotta go. Have fun, you two."With that, Joy bows at her and watches her leave. Once the door is closed, Joy lets out a yelp."What the hell?! BLACKPINK's Jennie rehearses here?!" Joy exclaims, clearly freaking out. "All BLACKPINK rehearses here." Seulgi chuckles and she gets the spare keys out of her pockets. "And now so do you." "What the...?" Seulgi hands her the keys, which leaves Joy freaking out even more. "What do you mean?""You gotta look at the schedule, but yeah. My schedule spots are now your schedule spots. You can come here and rehearse whenever you want." Seulgi smiles at the way Joy keeps calculating and trying to get any word out of her. "I don't know what to say..." Joy mutters, playing with the keys on her hands. Seulgi grins at her."How about you show me the choreography you have to learn for your audition?""Oh! Right!" Joy gets her phone out of her bag and she quickly searches for the video. Seulgi tries to stay still as she watches the video Joy is showing her, trying to keep her mind focused on the choreography and not on how much she likes Joy's perfume.Yerim is happy that she's spending some time with Seungwan. Ever since she landed in Seoul, the only time they had spent together had been all the way from the airport to the apartment. Since Seungwan was so nervous and anxious about telling Seulgi about her feelings, the conversation they had was quite pointless, spending most of the drive listening to Yerim's playlist. Right now, they aren't really doing much. It's just some grocery shopping. When Yerim dropped Seungwan at her hotel yesterday, she mentioned that she had no plans for tomorrow other than doing some grocery shopping. Seungwan, being the good friend she was, she asked her if she could join her since she had some shopping to do as well. Yerim was glad because she thought that Seungwan was going to spend most of her time with Seulgi now that they were in a relationship. Seeing Seungwan making an effort to spend time with her made her feel that she wasn't just an awkward fourth wheel.Now Seungwan is rambling about the recipe of a carrot cake she baked in Canada and how it's difficult to find the ingredients in South Korea."Well then..." Yerim picks a cereal box and places it in the shopping cart. "You should bring me to Canada with you so you can bake me that cake."Seungwan chuckles. "I have heard sillier excuses to go to my house in Toronto, but yours is about to get to the top 10." "What can I say? I am the best." Yerim makes a silly pose that makes Seungwan laugh. "Of course you are." She pokes her nose playfully. Yerim realizes just now how much she has missed having Seungwan around."So what are we going to bake?" Yerim asks, going for the next aisle. "I've heard wonders about the red velvet cake.""I've only made red velvet cupcakes.""It's quite the same, right? It's just a different size." "Actually, cupcakes have frosting on top, while a red velvet cake has different layers." A different voice chimes in. The two of them turn around to find Joohyun with her own shopping cart."Irene!" Seungwan exclaims, her eyes widening. Yerim, on the other hand, gives her a polite smile. "What are you doing here? Oh right. You're shopping as well."Joohyun chuckles at how surprised Seungwan is. "Mind if I join you?" Yerim is quite surprised that the question is directed at her, and not at Seungwan. She gives it a small shrug. "Sure. The more the merrier." Seungwan smiles at her. "Yeah. We were looking for something to bake."Joohyun nods and looks at the items on the aisle. "So, is it going to be a red velvet cake?"Yerim shrugs. "I guess. We could also have a carrot cake if we had the right ingredients, but this one here" she points at Seungwan, who playfully rolls her eyes, "says that they are not sold here in South Korea.""And she's probably right," Joohyun mutters as she takes a flour bag and reads its back. "I remember that most of the things I baked in the US aren't things I can bake here.""Right?" Seungwan holds her hand up for a high five. Joohyun chuckles and high-fives her. "Finally one who shares my passion for the kind of baking we do in America.""Oh sure, you do share a lot of things." Yerim teases, giving them a sly grin. Joohyun giggles at that while Seungwan blushes while glaring at her friend. At that moment, Yerim's phone begins to ring. She picks it up as she walks to the next aisle. "Joy? How was it?"With that, she leaves the two alone at the aisle. Joohyun reaches out for a baking mix and she reads the ingredients. "This one reminds me of my college years. We would bake things like this in the microwave.""Ewww." Seungwan wrinkles her nose at the thought. Joohyun elbows her side while chuckling."Don't judge. It was yummy." Seungwan raises her hands. "I won't judge. I also had my lazy-crazy college days.""In Juilliard? What kind of crazy was that? Singing offkey at the karaoke?" Joohyun teases her, earning a cackle from Seungwan. "I sang offkey at a karaoke night once," Seungwan admits, feeling her ears burn. "But we also had parties, you know. We would get drunk and once we entered a neighbour's pool." "Okay, okay. You did crazy things, I get it." Joohyun giggles, trying to imagine Seungwan in those situations. "But you did bring a swimsuit, right?""... No." Seungwan coves her face from Joohyun with the baking mix. "Anyway, let's get this and put it in the microwave."Joohyun laughs and stops her before she puts it inside the shopping cart. "Actually, this one tastes disgusting. I don't recommend this one." "Okay, I trust you." Seungwan places it back on the shelve. Joohyun stares at her in wonder."Do you?" She mutters. Seungwan looks at her and she wonders if she has heard right.Before she can ask her about it, Yerim comes back. "Hey, I gotta go. Joy kind of needs me." Yerim looks apologetically at Seungwan. "I'm really sorry.""Hey, don't worry. We can hang out tomorrow and bake that cake." Seungwan opens her arms and pulls the youngest into a hug."We will." Yerim hugs her back and pokes her nose when she pulls away. "You pick the ingredients, okay?""Sure. Bye, Yerim!" She waves at her as Yerim gets the shopping cart."Have fun, girls." She winks playfully at Seungwan's way, before leaving the two alone.There's an awkward silence for a few seconds before Seungwan breaks it. "So... what do you suggest?"Joohyun smiles at her and they start talking about different recipes. They get the ingredients for a red velvet cake and after that Seungwan helps her with the rest of her shopping list. Seungwan finds it amusing that Joohyun smells all the fabric softeners because the one she usually buys is missing. There's something charming about Joohyun that makes Seungwan want to know more about her. When they get to the cashier, Joohyun pays for the baking ingredients before Seungwan can stop her. She places the items in a separate bag and she hands it to Seungwan when she's getting out. Seungwan then offers herself to help her take the bags into her car and Joohyun thanks her. When they put the bags inside Joohyun's car's trunk, they stay by the car in awkward silence."Hey, let me drive you to Seulgi's place.""Oh, I'm not staying there anymore. I'm staying in a hotel." Seungwan explains, Joohyun nodding at her words. "Then let me drive you to the hotel. You know, as a way to thank you for helping me with the bags." Seungwan tries to find a way out, but she realizes that she actually wants to spend some time with her. She gets to the passenger seat and Joohyun sits next to her. They put on their seatbelts and Joohyun checks all the rearview mirrors before starting the car. "So how are you and Seulgi?" Joohyun asks in a casual way. Seungwan shrugs and gives her a small smile."We're fine. It's still all new and I get all fluttery when I'm near her..." She gives out a dreamy sigh. "It's hard to believe that she's the same girl I've been with all my childhood.""You see her in a different way now that she's your girlfriend, right?" Joohyun mutters, her eyes never leaving the road. Seungwan nods and looks at her in silence, wondering how she can be so mature and caring."It'll get me some time to get used to it and you know, to get used to... this." She points at the distance between the two of them. Joohyun nods in agreement."I know. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable." Joohyun states in a relaxed tone. "One step at a time." "Yeah..." Seungwan sighs. "It's still hard to...""See me with Seulgi? I know." Joohyun brakes at the traffic light and turns to look at Seungwan. "Just give it time, Wendy. It's a matter of time and compersion.""It's funny because I... I kind of feel that thing. The compersion." Seungwan mutters. "I kind of see what Seulgi likes about you." Joohyun smiles at her before getting her eyes on the road again, accelerating the car. "I see what Seulgi likes about you, too."Seungwan's stomach grumbles all by a sudden. Joohyun chuckles and gives a glance at the car's watch. "Do you want to come over to my place and have dinner? We could text Seulgi."Seungwan grins. "I would love that."