sleepyshamrocks: (Default)
flo ([personal profile] sleepyshamrocks) wrote in [community profile] girlsfest2023-04-17 06:00 pm
Entry tags:

Round 3: Visual

Round 3

Prompts should be based on a visual medium that isn't text. For example, it could be a moment between the idols that you want to be expanded, it could be a scenario with other people, or a moodboard of aesthetics you'd like to match the fic.
  • Photos
  • GIFs
  • Videos
Characters/Ship: twice, jihyo/nayeon
Tags: sports rivalry, fencing au

Prompt:

Longtime fencing rivals Jihyo and Nayeon meet on the piste for their final match.


Embedding images: 
  1. Capture the image URL: Right-click on any image and select [Copy Image Address], or upload your screenshot to an image-hosting website like Imgur, then right-click and select [Copy Image Address] from there (on Imgur, the URL should end in a file type like [.jpg] or [.png])
  2. Paste the URL to this format: <img src="INSERT IMAGE URL" width="400px">
Embedding videos (YouTube/TikTok/Twitter etc.): 
  1. Copy the link and paste it to this format: <a href="INSERT VIDEO URL">VIDEO TITLE HERE</a>

If you're having trouble embedding your media, please reply to the first comment under this post and we'll help you troubleshoot the problem.

Click here to view the fest rules.
RULES
  • You are not required to have a Dreamwidth account to participate. There are no signups necessary. You may post anonymously if you want.
  • There will be 4 rounds of this fest and 1 round will be opened each week of the fest. Rounds will be left open for fills and comments, so there is no deadline for participating.
  • Prompts do not have to be claimed before you write them, and they can be filled by more than one person.
  • There is no minimum or maximum word count for fills. In the spirit of the fest, we encourage you to write shorter works!
  • Users are allowed to crosspost their fic on any other site, such as AO3. However, we ask that when possible, writers post the text of their fills as a reply to the prompt and include a link to an AO3 post if they choose to do so, instead of just linking to an AO3 post in their comment. This helps keep discussion in our community!
  • Feel free to subscribe and join the comm to keep track of updates and view them on your reading page.

CONTENT

Prompts and fills have to center around K-pop girl group member(s). This includes:
  • All active and former girl group members
  • Female soloists
  • Female members in co-ed groups
  • Any female idol or trainee affiliated with K-pop (e.g. GP999 contestants, AKB48 members who featured in Produce48)
  • Slash, gen, het, and trans works are all accepted as long as they involve at least one girl group member



PROMPTING
To prompt, reply to a round post and copy the following template in.


It will look like this when empty:
Characters/Ship:
Tags:

Prompt:


Fill out the form with your prompt. You can also write in "Any" to give the writer freedom to choose their own. For example:

Characters/Ship: (G)I-DLE Minnie/Yuqi
Tags: and they were roommates!
Prompt:

Minnie doesn't understand why Yuqi keeps stealing her things.

(G)I-DLE Minnie and Yuqi "arguing" in Chinese


FILLING
To post a fill, post a comment reply to the prompt you wrote for and copy the following template in. Title your comment with [FILL] followed by the title of your ficlet.



It will look like this once filled out:

[FILL] victory lap

Characters/Ship: BLACKPINK rosé/lisa
Tags: formula 1 au, hooking up in the paddock
Permission to Remix: Please ask
-

Content of fill here...

Please provide content warnings for Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, and Underage as well as NSFW/explicit content.


REMIXES
You are welcome to remix fics that the original author has approved for remixing. A remix is a work directly or indirectly inspired by another work.

To post a remix, post a comment reply to the comment you remixed and copy the following template in with your info. Title your comment with [REMIX] followed by the title of your remix.

glassclaw: (krys)

[personal profile] glassclaw 2023-04-17 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: aespa, winter/any
Tags: band fic or canon compliant!!

Prompt: GUITARIST WINTERRR
hyojungss: zhou jieqiong (Default)

[personal profile] hyojungss 2023-04-17 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: LE SSERAFIM + any others
Tags: motorsports/f1 au! (it doesn't have to be formula 1 considering it's canonically male-dominated but you can handle that however you want)

Prompt:

hyojungss: zhou jieqiong (Default)

yunjin swift

[personal profile] hyojungss 2023-04-17 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: le sserafim yunjin
Tags: yunjin with taylor swift's career trajectory

Prompt: the vague taylor-isms in blonde yunjin... consider the parallels: singer-songwriter, unafraid to speak her mind through her music, great performer... but what i really want is the messy semi-public relationships! (f/f centric but f/m is fine)
hyojungss: zhou jieqiong (Default)

the classic f/f/m love triangle

[personal profile] hyojungss 2023-04-18 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: any
Tags: the intimacies of female friendship, two-sided friendship one-sided love, realizing you are in love with a girl for the first time, heartbreak

Prompt:
THIS KILLS ME SO BAD... not to spoil the video but like when you see the girl you are in love with kissing a guy after desperately hoping they aren't into each other the world probably feels like it's ending!! (you can make the ending happy if you want though)
hyojungss: zhou jieqiong (Default)

nevertheless,

[personal profile] hyojungss 2023-04-18 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: any
Tags: nevertheless soljiwan au, mutual pining, when you want someone but they can't tell what your want means and they have to put up defenses so they don't get hurt!!

Prompt:



gif source
hyojungss: zhou jieqiong (Default)

just wanna live a real life

[personal profile] hyojungss 2023-04-18 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: LE SSERAFIM chaewon/yunjin
Tags: band au (as in self-formed band)

Prompt:
pantomimes: (yunjin)

[personal profile] pantomimes 2023-04-18 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Any
Tags: angst (with a happy ending?), hurt/comfort

Prompt: inspired by txt’s i know i love you music video.
pantomimes: (yunjin)

[personal profile] pantomimes 2023-04-18 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Any
Tags: troublemakers in love, running away together? wound tending maybe?

Prompt: inspired by txt’s loser=lover music video.
pantomimes: (yunjin)

[personal profile] pantomimes 2023-04-18 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Any
Tags: royalty au, friends to lovers to enemies, resentment, betrayal

Prompt: inspired by dreamcatcher’s deja vu music video.
pantomimes: (yunjin)

[personal profile] pantomimes 2023-04-18 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Any
Tags: situationship?, that feeling when you find yourself in the middle of dinner with the family of the girl you hooked up with once and you end up kind of loving it (doesn’t really have to be dinner, just something domestic/intimate)

Prompt: inspired by #them
pantomimes: (yunjin)

[personal profile] pantomimes 2023-04-18 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Any
Tags: criminals in love, heist, running from the authorities

Prompt: inspired by avicii’s addicted to you music video. (but without the tragic ending please…)
pantomimes: (yunjin)

[personal profile] pantomimes 2023-04-18 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Any
Tags: lovers to exes to lovers again, fame au (could be idolverse too)

Prompt: inspired by zolita’s iconic music video trilogy.
Edited 2023-04-18 02:28 (UTC)
pantomimes: (yunjin)

[personal profile] pantomimes 2023-04-18 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Any
Tags: lesbian kpop girl and gay kpop boy agree to become each other’s beards. can be a gen fic focusing on their friendship or it can be about the f/f romance the girl is trying to hide too

Prompt: inspired by this scene from dating amber (2020).
pantomimes: (yunjin)

[personal profile] pantomimes 2023-04-18 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Any
Tags: writers, songwriters or poets au

Prompt:
pantomimes: (yunjin)

[personal profile] pantomimes 2023-04-18 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Any leader/maknae pairing
Tags: any

Prompt: inspired by this post, doesn’t necessarily have to be inspired by the movie/book. (unless you want it to be, of course)
Edited 2023-04-18 02:48 (UTC)
pantomimes: (yunjin)

[personal profile] pantomimes 2023-04-18 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Any
Tags: any sort of fame au, could be idolverse too. falling in love in the club, lesbian joy!!!

Prompt: inspired by muna’s what i want music video.

(Anonymous) 2023-04-18 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: any
Tags: angst with happy ending, hurt them before they hurt you, idolverse

Prompt: when you're an idol struggling to reach the top, romantic relationships are a luxury you can't afford, no matter how much you love them.

Image
Image
sapphicorbit: (Default)

[personal profile] sapphicorbit 2023-04-18 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: any LOONA Leader Line pairing (ot3 works too), Kim Lip/Jinsol, Chuu/Kim Lip, or TWICE Jihyo/Mina
Tags: vampires, hedonism, debaucherous lifestyle, y2k vampires, together forever, us against the world type of life, (and if you wanna make it angsty it's only one of them against the world teehee)

Prompt: ROSALÍA, Rauw Alejandro - VAMPIROS
Edited 2023-04-19 07:29 (UTC)
intoparadise: (Default)

[personal profile] intoparadise 2023-04-18 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: wjsn (or any)
Tags: heist au

Prompt: wjtb easy mv
intoparadise: (Default)

[personal profile] intoparadise 2023-04-18 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: any
Tags: moviestar/actresses au, secret relationship between co-stars

Prompt: taylor swift wildest dreams mv
intoparadise: (Default)

[personal profile] intoparadise 2023-04-18 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: stayc sumin/isa
Tags: pining

Prompt: suchae's la vlog "it's been long since we've been on a date" <3
intoparadise: (Default)

[personal profile] intoparadise 2023-04-18 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: fromis_9 hayoung/nagyung
Tags: nagyung having The most obvious crush on hayoung and hayoung being oblivious. or like. the beginning stages of a relationship

Prompt: these hakko vlogs, #1 and #2 in particular (+ also the rest of their vlogs together but there are too many to include them all...)
glassclaw: (kai)

[personal profile] glassclaw 2023-04-18 07:43 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: lesserafim, chaewon/kazuha or chaewon/yunjin or chaewon/kazuha/yunjin
Tags: kdrama-like scenarios, love triangle or ot3

Prompt: this video of kazuha talking about how she and yunjin look like rivals competing for female lead's chaewon's affection

Re: the classic f/f/m love triangle

(Anonymous) 2023-04-21 03:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Nayeon/Jeongyeon (TWICE)
Tags: Unrequited Love, Female Friendship, Canon Compliant/Idolverse, romantic and platonic love as both the life buoy and the anchor tying you down
Permission to Remix: Yes

(ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46648003)

-

Once, when they were trainees, Nayeon had brought over some embroidery floss to the agency. She was in crisis-management mode. 6mix been dashed to the rocks two weeks prior, leaving their whole debut situation in serious peril. Jeongyeon had practically one foot out the door: earlier in the week Jihyo had overheard her talking with her parents about dropping out of the agency to take her part-time baking job more seriously. The whole scenario was extremely awful in such a unique way it made Nayeon just straight up sad, so Nayeon didn’t hold it against her, but when Nayeon tried to picture what being a trainee would be like without Jeongyeon, she felt terribly wretched. 


Nayeon needed her to stay more than anything, hence the embroidery floss. The night before, her younger sister showed her how to make a genuine, bonafide friendship bracelet—the special kind, the kind that would grant wishes. The idea was you would wear it until it fell off naturally, and then you could supplicate yourself to the cosmos and make a polite request. The longer the band had stayed on your wrist, the longer it lasted, the more likely the universe was to grant your desires. Or something.


In the afternoon Nayeon blocked out for arts-and-crafts purposes Jihyo found herself otherwise preoccupied, so it was only Nayeon and Jeongyeon sitting in the middle of one of the small individual practice rooms, alone together, making friendship bracelets. Both found the whole thing to be a little silly, but their streak of tough luck in the last few months had left Nayeon itchy with superstition. She didn’t say it with words, but she felt convinced her whole world might fall apart if she didn’t make these bracelets. Jeongyeon complained incessantly and with much annoyance, but seemed to see how important it was to Nayeon and concentrated on her task, even amidst all her griping.


It was hot in the practice room. They were sitting close enough that their knees touched, bare skin on bare skin. Jeongyeon wore these nylon shorts that rode up terribly on her thigh. It had been a while since Jeongyeon’s last company-mandated haircut, and whenever Nayeon looked at her she felt the inexplicable urge to take all of it and tie it up into a ponytail for her. Jeongyeon would swat her away whenever Nayeon moved to push her hair back, but she couldn’t help it.


By the end they both had come up with something, with differing results. Nayeon’s looked much better than Jeongyeon’s—probably because she had practice, but she claimed it was because she was more naturally gifted anyway.


Jeongyeon didn’t say anything, only rolling her eyes in response, but Nayeon’s strange mood had seemed to rub off on her too. Her touch was gentle and hands slow as she wrapped her bracelet around Nayeon’s wrist, fingers double-knotting and cinching tight. Her knuckles brushed against the inside of Nayeon’s wrist, and for a reason unnameable as-of-that-moment Nayeon felt her heart beating so loud and fast she felt close to passing out.


Years later, a guy brings flowers for Jeongyeon to their waiting room at a music show.


Well, not really. He brings flowers to his manager who brings the flowers to their manager who brings the flowers to their waiting room.


“From your friend,” manager-unnie tells Jeongyeon, her head tilted in some wise, all-knowing look. Friend, she says, an obvious misappropriation.


Uwah, Chaeyoung actually says, crawling across the floor to where Jeongyeon sits, cross-legged and hunched over in embarrassment. Chaeyoung’s on her hands and knees when she inspects the flowers, head tilting this way and that. It’s a lovely arrangement, for sure, maybe a little bit cliché—chrysanthemums and snapdragons and some foliage, all tied up in a bouquet good enough to get married with.


Nayeon feels sick.


“Wow,” Jihyo says, sounding genuinely impressed, “he’s got some serious guts.”


All of the staff in the waiting room are on the JYP payroll and therefore definitely likely to stay mum about the whole thing—but still, flowers? At a music show? If anyone in this room was unaware that Jeongyeon had something going on with somebody, now they do. What happened to subtlety? What happened to finesse? What happened to keeping the godforsaken peace?


Jeongyeon doesn’t even like romantic gestures like that. Too public. She would definitely prefer something private, something that could be shared between just her and whoever she’s with. 


Nayeon’s friendship bracelet had fallen apart only two weeks after they made it. Publicly, she blamed Jeongyeon’s poor craftsmanship as the root cause, but she knew and Jeongyeon knew the truth: she wore the thing to its absolute limit. She refused to take it off. She would wear it everywhere: in the shower, to bed, during dance practice, even during evaluations. 


Jeongyeon had said to her: It’s supposed to last, you dumbass. That’s the only way your wish can come true.


The day before they both had gotten good feedback on their evaluations, and as a reward had been given a weekday afternoon off. The both of them were too tired to go out, so instead they watched a movie at Nayeon’s house, huddled together on her bed, laptop perched precariously on their two knees. Nayeon had bought one singular cranberry bran muffin from the company canteen for them to split. She managed to needle Jeongyeon into feeding her bites until there was nothing but crumbs.


Later Jeongyeon would fall asleep on her shoulder, and Nayeon would feel such a nauseating mix of fondness and dread that it felt like she was dying. 


Jeongyeon had taken better care of her bracelet—she would take it off during company-related things but left it alone otherwise—and it had lasted almost a year until it hit a snag and the whole thing unraveled. A week after that the company announced that the two of them, along with Jihyo and thirteen other girls, were slated to participate in an upcoming survival show where they would compete to debut. 


After they received the news, they had both broken down sobbing in a public park right by the agency building. Nayeon had pressed her face into Jeongyeon’s shoulder and thought I want to be with you forever . Nayeon tried not to believe in superstition anymore because it fucked with her head, but she had taken Jeongyeon’s hand and wrapped it around her wrist, holding it there even as the other girl started to stared at her, confused.


“Thank you,” Nayeon had said, and kissed her.


That was the first and last time they kissed.


Jeongyeon places the flowers next to her things, face absolutely on fire. “No words,” she says, pointing an accusatory finger across their entire group, “from any of you.”


The group looks sincerely ready to take this whole situation and run wild with it, but Jeongyeon’s expression somehow manages to cower them all. They all go back to their previous conversations with reluctance. Nayeon positions her body so the flowers are no longer in her line of sight.


Jihyo taps her knee. You okay? her face says, eyebrows pinched in the middle, telegraphing clear concern. Nayeon just shrugs.


After their performance, when everyone’s out of costume and ready to brave the early morning chill back to their dorms, Nayeon catches Jeongyeon talking to a boy by a vending machine in some shadowy hallway off the commonly trodden path. Nayeon only knows this route because it’s the route to the only machine in the building that offers pre-packaged chewy gummies. Jeongyeon knows this too—it’s their post-show ritual.


Jeongyeon and the boy are speaking to each other like any pair of friends would, comfortable but not too close, smiling but not too much, talking but not too enthusiastically. At least, that’s what Nayeon thinks, until Jeongyeon’s leaning up to press an awfully sweet kiss to his cheek. Then she repeatedly knocks a fist into his chest, scolding him. Nayeon stays as the guy takes Jeongyeon’s wrist in his hand, playfully holding off her attacks until they come to a standstill, and then she simply can’t watch anymore. She keeps on walking until she’s sure she’s far enough away, and then focuses on her breathing until she’s sure she’s not dying anymore.


Jeongyeon sits next to her on the car ride home. Nayeon can’t look at her, so she doesn’t. A long moment stretches out between them, something Nayeon guesses is Jeongyeon just trying to figure her out. Eventually, instead of saying anything, she passes Nayeon a packet of sour gummies, her favourite kind, the kind the vending machine sells. Nayeon deflates, too touched by the gesture to stay hurt by something that’s not even completely Jeongyeon’s fault.


“Thanks,” she says, ripping open the packet and letting Jeongyeon take the first pick.


“I’m sorry,” Jeongyeon says.


Nayeon looks at her then, wondering how terrible it would be to say I don’t regret a single second of it, or maybe even, I wouldn’t have made it this far without you. “I’m okay,” she says instead. She knows in Jeongyeon’s apartment her friendship bracelet sits in a jewellery box on her dresser. “It’s really alright.”

Re: the classic f/f/m love triangle

(Anonymous) 2023-04-21 03:48 pm (UTC)(link)
oh FUCK i forgot to write fill and the title at the top. i am so sorry. i read the thing over like a billion times to make sure i didnt leave anything out too. god

[personal profile] maybetonguetied 2023-04-23 07:18 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: ryeji
Tags: any

Prompt: Ryujin and Yeji find themselves talking without words. Inspired by this which I want to burn on the inside of my eyelids.
spasi: (Default)

[personal profile] spasi 2023-04-23 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: any
Tags: witches, magical realism, apprentice first day (optional)

Prompt: witch delivery service!!! can be lighthearted or evil or both
spasi: (Default)

[personal profile] spasi 2023-04-23 02:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: any
Tags: space sweepers au, found family

Prompt: sometimes all you need in a ship is a single dad/mom, an ex-soldier, a former gangster, and a trans android trying to make ends meet by snatching a crashed space junk in a debris chase
spasi: (Default)

[personal profile] spasi 2023-04-23 02:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: any
Tags: car washing au? please go crazy

Prompt: red velvet sappy mv why are these girls fucking up my car instead of cleaning it
spasi: (Default)

[personal profile] spasi 2023-04-23 02:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: any
Tags: end of the world

Prompt: imagine if the world ends in an hour

(Anonymous) 2023-04-24 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: Loona, Chuu/Heejin
Tags: Smut, strap-on, basically Heejin dicking Chuu down pls

Prompt:
Image
hyojungss: zhou jieqiong (Default)

[FILL] you're gonna miss that plane

[personal profile] hyojungss 2023-04-25 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Characters/Ship: STAYC Sumin/Isa
Tags: vague post-disbandment future fic, 'before trilogy' influence that i didn't notice until writing the ending LOL... totally before sunset inspired
Permission to Remix: Yes
-

“How long ago did Sumin-ssi move to Los Angeles?” Chaeyoung’s manager asked from the driver’s seat of their rental car. Chaeyoung sat in the back, nervously twisting her hair and letting it fall back against her shoulders.

“I think it was about a year and a half ago,” she said. It sounded much better than the truth, which was that she knew it was a year and 10 months to the date last Thursday.

“Does she like it here?”

“I think so,” Chaeyoung answered. This one she was less sure of. Sumin had impulsively packed her bags and told them she was going to take a hiatus from dramas and vacation with her sister; they had thought nothing of it until three months had passed and suddenly she was enrolled in an acting school and was renting an apartment. ‘It just happened like that,’ Sumin had said over a group video call, and after a few questions she deftly changed the subject to Jayoon’s niece and which of them was going to be the first to have kids. It was about that time, after all.

Chaeyoung had recounted the story to her father, who frowned over his naengmyeon and told her the US visa wasn’t interchangeable in that way. ‘I had no idea,’ Chaeyoung said softly. They had never had to take care of their own papers when traveling for work.

He saw her face fall and kindly said, ‘I would rather think she was lying to you than the US government.’

The car was passing the shoreline now, and Chaeyoung could see the beautiful sunlight reflecting against the water. “I can see why she wouldn’t want to leave,” she said.





“I guess this is it,” Chaeyoung murmured, looking at the tall apartment building in front of her. It didn’t exactly look as nice as their Seoul place from a few years ago, but Sumin was probably classified as unemployed at the moment. She got out of the car and her manager let the engine run, parked by the curb.

“I can’t let you get kidnapped in a foreign country,” he said. “I’ll leave when Sumin-ssi comes out,” he relented. “Unless you want me to trail you two.” He was being completely serious.

“Please don’t,” Chaeyoung begged. “My next schedule isn’t for a week, anyhow. There’ll be time to find me.”

“Okay, call me by 11pm,” he said, checking his watch. “I—”

“You have my location and the list of places we’re going, yes,” Chaeyoung said, losing focus as the apartment front door opened and Bae Sumin exited, flying down the steps to crush her in a bear hug. Sumin’s sunglasses fell on the way, and Chaeyoung’s kindhearted manager went to go get them while the girls got used to the idea of each other again.

Sumin looked like she was going to cry. “Chaeyoung-ah!”

“You changed your perfume,” Chaeyoung got out. That was not all - Sumin’s hair was lighter like she’d been in the sun this whole time, her skin tanned, but most importantly - she looked happier.

“Yah, so did you, brat,” Sumin retorted, lightly punching her in the arm.

“Oh yeah, I did,” Chaeyoung realized, laughing with her. It was so nice to see her in person but also to feel her touch, know that she was still a real person. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you more, I bet.”

“Then why didn’t you come back?” And visit, Chaeyoung meant to say. But deep inside she wanted to know that too.

Sumin slung an arm around her shoulder and said, “Let’s go.”





They drove around in Sumin’s sedan avoiding the subject and Chaeyoung was happy to try to forget about it for a few hours.

“How was KCON?” Sumin asked, laughing - Chaeyoung hated MC work because it triggered her anxiety. Chaeyoung considered lying to her but just said ‘I did it for the free plane ticket,’ which Sumin didn’t do anything but hum at. Then they ate at a restaurant in the arts district that Sumin had scoped out on Instagram beforehand, even asking the waitress to confirm during their order that neither of their dishes had any of the foods Chaeyoung couldn’t eat in them.

“You still have that long list saved on your phone?’ Chaeyoung asked in awe. “In English?”

Sumin scratched her head sheepishly. “I was just hoping you hadn’t developed any new allergies in the last two years.” They swapped dishes halfway through dinner and to her delight Chaeyoung liked both of them.

“Don’t shop too much,” Sumin warned as they walked it off - “I have a pile of presents back in my apartment I need you to take back for me.”

“Yah, unnie!”

“I knew you would make some room,” Sumin said, grinning.

In retaliation Chaeyoung sent a very unflattering picture of her to the STAYC group chat. Within minutes Yeeun sent a laughing sticker and Seeun said [send a picture of both of you!] It was a good excuse to take a selfie.

“We’ve taken a lot of pictures of each other,” Sumin said.

“I want more,” Chaeyoung said, leaning in to take the photo on her phone. “Plus, you look so silly in most of them.” Sumin slapped her for that one.





It was almost sunset when they rolled into the crowded beach parking lot. Sumin had to make liberal use of her car horn to scare someone else away from her spot.

“You’re so brave, unnie,” Chaeyoung said, admiring her skills.

“Well, no one else will do it for me.”

They walked out onto the pier as the sky had just started to turn a brilliant red.

Chaeyoung just stood there against the railing in awe. “I always wanted to see this.”

“I’ve seen the sun set in LA so many times,” Sumin said, happy watching her that happy. “I haven’t been here since my sister left, but it never gets old.”

“Will it ever be enough?” Chaeyoung asked. It was hard to keep the hurt out of her voice without sounding pathetic or callous instead. It was hard to know what to show to Sumin, exactly. How do you say you miss someone without begging them to come back? How do you say you support their decisions without saying you don’t mind not seeing them for months on end?

“We should talk more,” Sumin said, taking her hand. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Chaeyoung told her. She let go and they watched the sun set into the ocean.

“I’ll explain when I get back,” Sumin said earnestly. “I just need more time.”

I’ll hold you to it. I’m looking forward to it. Chaeyoung wanted to say, like a patient friend would. When would that be? “My flight is tomorrow morning,” she said instead.

“Stay over then,” Sumin asked.

“It’s getting late,” Chaeyoung said, pulling out her phone. “Let me call my manager.”
Edited 2023-04-25 20:01 (UTC)