the second star to the left (t-ara, soyeon/eunjung & soyeon/qri)
the second star to the left
group: t-ara
pairing: soyeon/eunjung & soyeon/qri
length: ~4000w
notes: written for my dearest mia unnie ♥ i sincerely hope you'll like it baby!
For the hundredth time in the past hour, Soyeon flips her phone case open, just to make sure for the hundredth time that both the place and the time is right and that it’s not her fault that she’s still sitting alone in the park, her girlfriend nowhere to be found. She doesn’t even try calling her anymore; she knows she wouldn’t pick it up anyway just like she hadn’t in the past hour.
Did something happen? she wonders for the hundredth time as she stares at the text message Eunjung sent her yesterday, telling Soyeon to meet her tomorrow - aka today - in the park at 2pm; and no, she didn’t remember incorrectly, Eunjung really did say 2pm and today as Soyeon noted it for the hundredth time.
So, the question was still standing: where was her girlfriend and why wasn’t she picking up the phone?
Soyeon’s patience had a limit and now it was on the way of reaching the threshold of that. As another sigh leaves her lips, she takes a look around the park once again, hoping for a familiar figure to pop up somewhere in her periphery.
And it does; but the familiar figure’s owner is not whom she’s waiting for but someone whose name she doesn’t even know, yet it would be a miracle to mistaken those shimmering pastel pink locks (god, how much she hated the color pink and every shade of it) for something else.
As the girl turns around, Soyeon allows herself to stare at her for a while, wondering why she’s been still here, almost in the same spot for possibly hours now. She remembers coming here, sitting down on this bench and seeing the pink-haired girl lazying around on the bench across from her and she believes for a second that she’s not the only one having been set up. Of course, there’s no proof at all that the other girl is waiting for somebody just like her; but the assumption makes her heart settle just a tiny bit.
“Your staring is quite intimidating, ever heard that before?”
“Your sudden appearance is rather intimidating, ever heard that before?” Soyeon reacts to the high-pitched voice seconds before she raises her eyes and meets a pink hell of hair staring into her face and only then does she realize that the hair is complimented by a rather pretty face, something which she had seen quite a lot of times in the past hour and the realization hits her so hard her body jerks - all this happening within the close interval of 3 and 5 seconds.
The girl cocks one of her - what a surprise - pink eyebrows.
“There was no need to demonstrate that so intensively.”
“I just didn’t know it was you,” Soyeon breathes before realizing what she had said, as if she actually knew who this person was.
“Me as in?”
“The pink-haired girl,” she snaps immediately, her distaste for the said color faintly showing in her tone but the other woman breaks into a laughter that’s so soft and so ladylike that Soyeon is confused for a second whether she’s actually sitting in front of a princess or a civil.
“I guess I get that a lot,” the other says, turning around and carefully placing herself down on the bench next to Soyeon, “but my name is Qri.”
“Ever thought of shaving that into your hair? Perhaps that would make you not only the pink-haired girl, but the Girl Who Has Her Name Shaved Into Her Pink Hair.”
“Very funny, black-haired girl.”
Soyeon shrugs her shoulders. “Just thought I’d help with an idea. Name’s Soyeon, by the way.”
“Did you get set up?”
The sudden question makes Soyeon choke on pure air and Qri happily helps her by slapping her back a few times, but it takes her a rather long minute before she can force out an answer.
Yes, I did. My girlfriend said to meet me here more than an hour ago, she’s still not here and she also doesn’t pick up her phone, she thinks bitterly.
Instead, she only says, “No. Did you?”
The quirked eyebrows betray Qri’s doubts regarding the reliability of Soyeon’s answer but she doesn’t comment on it. She shakes her head. “No, actually, I just broke up with my girlfriend. After getting slapped hard on my face two times, I didn’t want to go home with reddened cheeks so I decided to stroll here for a while.”
Soyeon blinks, her eyes subconsciously focusing on Qri’s cheeks to check them for any signs of redness, but the girl looks away and she wonders whether it’s purposeful.
“Sorry to hear that,” she says and then something clicks in her. “Wait, girlfriend?”
“You heard it right,” Qri nods and Soyeon blinks again, unsure how this girl succeeded in making her confused so many times in less than five minutes.
Whether it’s pity or guilt (or the beauty of the pink-haired princess, though Soyeon would never consider that an option), but something makes her let out a sigh and admit it, “Actually yes, I got set up.”
“I know,” Qri simply says and it doesn’t even surprise Soyeon anymore. “That’s why I came here to tell you that you should stop waiting and just go home.”
“And who are you tell me what I should do?” Soyeon snaps but she regrets it almost immediately.
Qri doesn’t even flinch. “It would’ve been just a suggestion. And also, it gave me a way to somehow start a conversation with you.”
“And why would you want that?”
“I don’t know,” Qri shrugs casually and there’s a look in her eyes Soyeon can’t understand. “How about we go get some coffee and figure out?”
And to Soyeon’s huge surprise, she finds herself cracking a smile and nodding.
*
She still remembers the sweet scent of grapefruit and currant left behind with every step the pink-haired girl took as she fidgets with the lock of her door, struggling to find the hole in the darkness of the night. When she finally opens the door and stumbles into the living room, her rather annoyed girlfriend waiting on the couch doesn’t fail to take notice of the smile playing upon Soyeon’s lips that’s been refusing to disappear even since that coffee date with Qri.
“Where were you all evening?!” Eunjung questions right away, her arms crossed over her body.
“More like where were you?” Soyeon retorts just as quickly, mimicking the gestures of the other and failing to waste time on getting shocked by the fact that she found Eunjung in her house. “I waited hours for you in the park where we were supposed to meet and not only didn’t you fail to tell this idiot not to wait for you, but you also didn’t pick up your phone!”
“I was busy” is all Eunjung can come up with as an excuse, and it throws Soyeon off more than she would’ve expected.
“Yeah, busy,” she repeats, taking a few steps closer to her girlfriend. “You’re always busy Eunjung, aren’t you? This wasn’t the first time you set me up. You’ve been being secretive for the past weeks, Eunjung, and I am no longer tolerant of that. What’s going on?”
“Nothing, I was just…” Eunjung starts, her lips squeezed together as she seemingly looks for another excuse. “Really, I was just busy. There are some things going on in the company right now.”
“And why don’t you ever tell me that? Instead of letting me wait for you all alone, you could send a text or call that ‘hey, today’s not cool, let’s just see each other at your house?’, maybe? Or would that be too much to ask since you’re so busy?”
“I did call you,” Eunjung points out. “You didn’t answer.”
“You called me four hours after we were supposed to meet!” Soyeon opens her arms, a helpless expression on her face. “Don’t you think that’s a little bit late for a warning that you are too busy to come?”
“You know what? I’m sorry, Soyeon,” the younger sighs, reaching out to take her girlfriend’s hands, lacing their fingers and Soyeon lets her do it. She doesn’t speak, but she lets those plump lips of Eunjung’s touch hers although she doesn’t kiss back.
And when she closes her eyes, everything suddenly turns into pastel pink.
*
In the next morning, it’s her shivering that wakes her up. Pulling the perfectly white cotton blanket over her completely naked body and wrapping it around herself, she leaves her still-sleeping girlfriend in the bed and waddles into the kitchen as quietly as possible.
“God, where’s the coffee…”
Setting up the coffee machine, she walks back to the room to get her phone before returning, her fingers absent-mindedly flipping through her emails and mentions on Twitter, taking some moments to have the courage to open her text messages, Qri’s words from yesterday echoing in her head as she does so. (“Let’s do something different: instead of switching numbers, how about you give me yours and I’ll randomly contact you somehow!”)
The last text is the one Eunjung had sent her yesterday, saying to meet in the park at 2pm.
Letting out a sigh so soft even she barely hears it, she opens the cupboard to take out her favorite, “Queen of Effing Everything” mug.
Before she reaches it, her hand stops in the air midway and she hesitates only a few seconds before grabbing the only pink mug she has.
*
“Sorry babe, I can’t make it tonight,” rings Eunjung’s voice from the other side of the line and Soyeon stifles a deep sigh that threatens to escape.
“I see. Busy again?”
“Yeah, something came up at work. I tried dropping the case but no one else wanted to take it. I’ll make it up for you, okay? Come over at 8.”
“Sure,” she says but her voice is empty. Eunjung ends the call and the line goes silent.
Her girlfriend has set her up, again.
Not being able to hold it back anymore, she lets out an exaggerated sigh and hurriedly leaves the restaurant.
*
She doesn’t know what she’s expecting when she walks through the two oversized squirrel-shaped bushes (the park’s designer sure as hell had a taste), but her eyes scan the area almost immediately, looking for something familiar apart from the precisely placed flower beds all around or the fountain she used to cool off in so many times when she was a kid.
But there’s nothing pink popping up in her perspective besides some of the previously mentioned flowers and the high-waisted pencil skirt of a girl walking her Samoyed dog a few metres away from her.
She turns around, not even denying the disappointed feeling in her chest when she feels a sudden buzz coming from her bag and she reaches into it maybe a little bit too eagerly.
[text; ] Meet me in the cafeteria in 20 minutes?
It takes no more than a split second for a smile to replace the saddened expression on her face as she heads towards the place their first date had taken place.
*
“So, you got set up again? Girl, you must be doing something wrong.”
“Shut up,” Soyeon shoots Qri a look, making her snicker.
“Thanks god you have someone whose timing is just perfect and is also fun to be around.”
“And I’ve always thought it was me who was arrogant.”
“Oh, come on,” Qri rolls her eyes, lifting her hand and brushing her thumb quickly along Soyeon’s bottom lip (to wipe off the leftover coffee), “you know it’s true.”
A short-breathed “Yeah” is all the black-haired girl can muster as the spot that had met Qri’s fingers starts to burn.
*
Qri immediately notices Soyeon’s uneasiness as she looks at the time on her phone for the sixth time within the past five minutes.
“You’ve got some place you need to be at?”
“Yeah, actually,” Soyeon replies, putting her phone away. “My girlfriend promised to prepare me dinner as compensation, but honestly, I’m just tired of her shit.”
Soyeon notices the short gasp the other takes and cocks an eyebrow.
“So I was right after all.”
“About what?” Soyeon blinks and there’s a small smile appearing in the corner of Qri’s lips.
“That you have a thing for girls.”
And before she realizes, Soyeon mirrors her smile.
*
It’s way past 10pm when Soyeon crashes into her girlfriend’s house and the look Eunjung wears seems way too familiar.
“Where the fuck were you again?!”
“With someone,” slips past Soyeon’s lips before she could think it over and she immediately regrets it as she sees Eunjung’s face light up with anger.
“Someone?!” she thunders, stepping closer to Soyeon. “Are you cheating on me?”
“Would you even care if I were?” Soyeon keeps eye-contact. “Don’t you think that you should stop keeping our relationship on that level where we only spend time together in the evening?”
“I’ve told you I’m busy, how many times do I have to repeat myself?”
“I don’t believe you, Eunjung.” Soyeon shakes her head. “I called your boss right after you set me up.” It was Qri, actually, but she doesn’t want to throw that into her girlfriend’s face. “He said that you haven’t put your feet into the office for almost a week now.”
Eunjung flinches; it lasts only a second, but Soyeon notices it and knows it’s true.
“So tell me, Eunjung: what is it exactly that keeps you from spending time with me like normal couples do? Or should I say ‘who’?”
Eunjung parts her lips to speak, but no words come out. The apologetic look on her face is more than enough, though, for Soyeon to shake her head.
“Goodnight, Eunjung.”
She turns around and leaves the house and only then does she allow her tears to escape and roll down her cheeks.
Blurred vision, she quickly reaches for her phone and searches for the contact “Pink-Haired Girl” before typing a hurried message.
[text; ] Can you meet me at the bench we first talked at in 15 mins?
*
She spots Qri sitting on that special bench already when she enters the park and the sight of her makes her heart twist a little. It hurts, but only slightly and it’s one of those good kind of pains.
“Hey, what’s up?” Qri asks immediately as Soyeon plops down next to her, clearly not in the brightest mood.
“Just had a fight with Eunjung. Nothing serious.”
“The tears that have already dried on your cheeks tell me otherwise.”
Soyeon looks up, her eyes meeting the pair of Qri’s, her now grey-blue-ish circle lenses almost vibrating in the dark.
“Would you mind staying with me for a while?”
Qri doesn’t make a snarky comment when her voice breaks. She doesn’t tell her how much of a whiny baby she is. She just smiles and nods, and spreads her arms, offering Soyeon the shelter in which she feels safe, happy, and for the first time in a long while, wanted.
*
When she wakes up, she’s almost blinded by the sudden and overwhelming amount of pink in her vision and she has to keep her eyes closed for another couple of seconds before she can open them again. Sitting up in an oval-shaped bed with dark pink, fluffy blankets and white, even fluffier pillows, she looks around and tries to recall the events of last night.
“Good morning, Cinderella,” Qri appears in front of her, handing Soyeon a mug of steaming liquid that smells like coffee.
“You mean Sleeping Beauty?” she takes the mug, taking a quick sip and welcoming the warmth spreading through her body.
“You need to work a little bit on the ‘beauty’ part to deserve that nickname,” Qri sticks out her tongue and Soyeon snorts, almost choking on her coffee. The other female giggles and sits next to her and suddenly Soyeon realizes that she’s wearing nothing but a rather see-through pastel pink night gown. She swallows hard, but Qri doesn’t seem to notice it, thankfully.
“Thanks for letting me stay here.”
“No problem at all. But next time, please try not to kick me off the bed.”
Soyeon blinks. “We slept in the same bed?”
Qri seems confused. “Of course. Do you think I would’ve let you sleep on my couch like in those horrible romance movies?”
“In movies, it’s usually the host who sleeps on the couch.”
“I’d rather die,” Qri lets out a dramatic sigh. “Does it perhaps bother you?”
“Sleeping with you? No, not really,” Soyeon shakes her head then feels a rush of blood in her cheeks. “I didn’t mean it like that. Just, you know… casual sleeping.”
“I didn’t think of anything else,” Qri quirks an eyebrow, and Soyeon can see that she’s hiding a smile. “But now that you mention it…”
“No, no,” Soyeon quickly interrupts. “I seriously didn’t mean it in a dirty way.”
“Too bad, I was getting used to the idea.”
Soyeon just blinks and it’s Qri who breaks the silence with a giggle.
“Close your mouth, Soyeon, you look strange. If you want me to close it for you, you just have to ask.”
Soyeon immediately closes her parted lips and clears her throat, looking away in pure embarrassment. When did Qri become so flirty? It made her slightly uncomfortable, although the reason was unknown to her; was it because she practically still had a girlfriend, or because she actually liked it?
If she wanted to be honest, it was probably both.
“I should probably go home,” Soyeon speaks as she finishes her coffee and gives the empty mug back to Qri.
“Why are you in a hurry?”
“I’m…” Soyeon stops, struggling to come up with a proper and believable excuse. “I need to talk to Eunjung.”
“Are you going to break up with her?”
“Do you want me to?” Soyeon suddenly asks, and she’s just as surprised as Qri.
“I mean,” she furrows her eyebrows, “d-do you think I should…”
“I do want you to break up with her, yes,” Qri answers Soyeon’s previous question, causing the black-haired girl to flush slightly. “She doesn’t treat you right and based on your words, she’s basically admitted to cheating on you. Why would you be with such a girl?”
“I guess you’re right,” Soyeon nods and Qri smiles, standing up.
“I’m going to gather your stuff then.”
As she turns to leave the room, Soyeon finds herself unable to keep her eyes off of the female’s long, slightly toned legs and she wonders how it would feel to touch them.
*
The door closes and there’s a very unsettling silence falling on the room, worse than any other silences Soyeon has ever experienced.
“I really did love you, Soyeon. And I am sorry.”
As Eunjung’s last words echo in her head, she realizes that there’s no sadness in her heart.
There’s only relief and something else.
Hope.
*
It’s almost 4 in the morning when Soyeon rolls on her other side for the hundredth time that night and grabs her phone, quickly typing a message to the last contact and also the contact she’s texted the most in the past week.
[text; ] I can’t sleep. When I close my eyes, I don’t see black, but pink.
A few minutes pass before the familiar buzz comes, signaling an answer.
[text; ] Are you implying something there? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Soyeon cracks a smile before answering.
[text; ] Not that all. It’s not you whose name in my phone is the pink-haired girl after all.
[text; ] Wait-is my name in your phone really that? I’m offended, black-haired girl!!!
[text; ] Do you want me to make it up to you?
[text; ] Right now?
Soyeon heart skips a beat before she types an answer.
[text; ] If you want to.
Those few seconds it takes for the reply to arrive seem like an eternity, but when it does, she deems that time worth it.
[text; ] Yes, I would love to.
*
Soyeon is not even surprised to see Qri wearing the same night gown again after opening the door. For a second, her breathing accelerates and she gasps as she steps inside, quickly forcing herself to regain control over her body.
But her attempts fail as soon as Qri takes her hand, the softness of her skin becoming the only thing with a purpose in her mind for the next few seconds as she is lead into the bedroom she’s now in for the second time in her life.
They both sit down and Soyeon looks around the room, taking some time to scan the surroundings properly this time. She’s actually surprised that although the walls are painted the same pastel pink Qri’s hair is, and pink is still the most dominant color in the room, there are some pieces of furniture that are either white, or purple-ish and Soyeon feels like her entire first impression of this girl has collapsed. Her eyes soon wander on the said girl’s figure, her gaze lingering a little bit too much at the soft curves of her body the night gown has made perfectly visible to public eyes and for a second, Soyeon feels joy to have the honor to see her this way.
“So, how exactly are you planning to make it up for me?” Qri asks, interrupting Soyeon staring-session and she’s secretly glad she does so.
“What do you want me to do?”
“You don’t even have any ideas?!” Qri’s voice go even more high-pitched than it already is. “I’m disappointed, Miss Park.”
“You should feel happy I’m keeping you company when you’re unable to sleep.”
“Isn’t that you?” Qri cocks an eyebrow. “The one who couldn’t sleep because was missing some pink delight from her life?”
Soyeon has to swallow. “You are the one who also replied my text in no less than two minutes.”
“True, true…” Qri trails off, her head falling to the side as she curiously eyes Soyeon. “What my reason could be?”
“Perhaps you were also missing some color from your life,” Soyeon hums, unconsciously inching closer to the pink-haired girl.
“Everyone sees black when they close your eyes, so I don’t think that would be a valid reason for me,” Qri points out, squinting her eyes slightly. “Everyone besides you, of course. What kind a person would see pink when they close their eyes?!”
“The kind who misses a pink-haired girl?” Soyeon murmurs softly and Qri smiles.
“Is that so?” she says quietly, her hand reaching up to trace along Soyeon’s cheekbones, and the younger girl shivers from the contact.
“I’ve always wanted to ask…” Soyeon starts, leaning into the other’s touch and even closer to her. “Why pink?”
“It’s a bright, happy color. It’s somehow unique, and it also helps me keep some bits of my childhood and past self. It’s also pretty,” Qri explains, her nose touching Soyeon’s only barely.
“Just like you,” she says and Qri chuckles, her eyes closing tightly.
Then their lips touch, first just lightly, getting to know each other before pressing against each other hard, engaging in a soft, but passionate kiss that’s sweet like pink cotton candy and mysterious like a black night that frightens and attracts at the same time, the latter gaining dominance soon as they deepen their kiss and their fingers lace into each other. It ends quite quickly, but when it does, both girls are out of breath and it takes a few seconds before one of them can speak.
“I wanted to ask you, ‘why black?’,” Qri mutters and Soyeon hums along, pressing her forehead against the other’s. “But I figured it out on my own. Black is the color of the unknown and a mystery that is yet to be solved.”
Soyeon hums again, her lips trailing along Qri’s jawline, and the older gasps, her eyes closing.
“But most of all, black is the absorption of all colors, including pink. And that’s exactly what happened, Soyeon.”
The black-haired girl pulls away slightly, her eyes meeting Qri’s.
“There’s no turning back now then, is there?”
Qri smiles lightly, her lips pressing a soft kiss on Soyeon’s.
“No, there isn’t.”
group: t-ara
pairing: soyeon/eunjung & soyeon/qri
length: ~4000w
notes: written for my dearest mia unnie ♥ i sincerely hope you'll like it baby!
For the hundredth time in the past hour, Soyeon flips her phone case open, just to make sure for the hundredth time that both the place and the time is right and that it’s not her fault that she’s still sitting alone in the park, her girlfriend nowhere to be found. She doesn’t even try calling her anymore; she knows she wouldn’t pick it up anyway just like she hadn’t in the past hour.
Did something happen? she wonders for the hundredth time as she stares at the text message Eunjung sent her yesterday, telling Soyeon to meet her tomorrow - aka today - in the park at 2pm; and no, she didn’t remember incorrectly, Eunjung really did say 2pm and today as Soyeon noted it for the hundredth time.
So, the question was still standing: where was her girlfriend and why wasn’t she picking up the phone?
Soyeon’s patience had a limit and now it was on the way of reaching the threshold of that. As another sigh leaves her lips, she takes a look around the park once again, hoping for a familiar figure to pop up somewhere in her periphery.
And it does; but the familiar figure’s owner is not whom she’s waiting for but someone whose name she doesn’t even know, yet it would be a miracle to mistaken those shimmering pastel pink locks (god, how much she hated the color pink and every shade of it) for something else.
As the girl turns around, Soyeon allows herself to stare at her for a while, wondering why she’s been still here, almost in the same spot for possibly hours now. She remembers coming here, sitting down on this bench and seeing the pink-haired girl lazying around on the bench across from her and she believes for a second that she’s not the only one having been set up. Of course, there’s no proof at all that the other girl is waiting for somebody just like her; but the assumption makes her heart settle just a tiny bit.
“Your staring is quite intimidating, ever heard that before?”
“Your sudden appearance is rather intimidating, ever heard that before?” Soyeon reacts to the high-pitched voice seconds before she raises her eyes and meets a pink hell of hair staring into her face and only then does she realize that the hair is complimented by a rather pretty face, something which she had seen quite a lot of times in the past hour and the realization hits her so hard her body jerks - all this happening within the close interval of 3 and 5 seconds.
The girl cocks one of her - what a surprise - pink eyebrows.
“There was no need to demonstrate that so intensively.”
“I just didn’t know it was you,” Soyeon breathes before realizing what she had said, as if she actually knew who this person was.
“Me as in?”
“The pink-haired girl,” she snaps immediately, her distaste for the said color faintly showing in her tone but the other woman breaks into a laughter that’s so soft and so ladylike that Soyeon is confused for a second whether she’s actually sitting in front of a princess or a civil.
“I guess I get that a lot,” the other says, turning around and carefully placing herself down on the bench next to Soyeon, “but my name is Qri.”
“Ever thought of shaving that into your hair? Perhaps that would make you not only the pink-haired girl, but the Girl Who Has Her Name Shaved Into Her Pink Hair.”
“Very funny, black-haired girl.”
Soyeon shrugs her shoulders. “Just thought I’d help with an idea. Name’s Soyeon, by the way.”
“Did you get set up?”
The sudden question makes Soyeon choke on pure air and Qri happily helps her by slapping her back a few times, but it takes her a rather long minute before she can force out an answer.
Yes, I did. My girlfriend said to meet me here more than an hour ago, she’s still not here and she also doesn’t pick up her phone, she thinks bitterly.
Instead, she only says, “No. Did you?”
The quirked eyebrows betray Qri’s doubts regarding the reliability of Soyeon’s answer but she doesn’t comment on it. She shakes her head. “No, actually, I just broke up with my girlfriend. After getting slapped hard on my face two times, I didn’t want to go home with reddened cheeks so I decided to stroll here for a while.”
Soyeon blinks, her eyes subconsciously focusing on Qri’s cheeks to check them for any signs of redness, but the girl looks away and she wonders whether it’s purposeful.
“Sorry to hear that,” she says and then something clicks in her. “Wait, girlfriend?”
“You heard it right,” Qri nods and Soyeon blinks again, unsure how this girl succeeded in making her confused so many times in less than five minutes.
Whether it’s pity or guilt (or the beauty of the pink-haired princess, though Soyeon would never consider that an option), but something makes her let out a sigh and admit it, “Actually yes, I got set up.”
“I know,” Qri simply says and it doesn’t even surprise Soyeon anymore. “That’s why I came here to tell you that you should stop waiting and just go home.”
“And who are you tell me what I should do?” Soyeon snaps but she regrets it almost immediately.
Qri doesn’t even flinch. “It would’ve been just a suggestion. And also, it gave me a way to somehow start a conversation with you.”
“And why would you want that?”
“I don’t know,” Qri shrugs casually and there’s a look in her eyes Soyeon can’t understand. “How about we go get some coffee and figure out?”
And to Soyeon’s huge surprise, she finds herself cracking a smile and nodding.
*
She still remembers the sweet scent of grapefruit and currant left behind with every step the pink-haired girl took as she fidgets with the lock of her door, struggling to find the hole in the darkness of the night. When she finally opens the door and stumbles into the living room, her rather annoyed girlfriend waiting on the couch doesn’t fail to take notice of the smile playing upon Soyeon’s lips that’s been refusing to disappear even since that coffee date with Qri.
“Where were you all evening?!” Eunjung questions right away, her arms crossed over her body.
“More like where were you?” Soyeon retorts just as quickly, mimicking the gestures of the other and failing to waste time on getting shocked by the fact that she found Eunjung in her house. “I waited hours for you in the park where we were supposed to meet and not only didn’t you fail to tell this idiot not to wait for you, but you also didn’t pick up your phone!”
“I was busy” is all Eunjung can come up with as an excuse, and it throws Soyeon off more than she would’ve expected.
“Yeah, busy,” she repeats, taking a few steps closer to her girlfriend. “You’re always busy Eunjung, aren’t you? This wasn’t the first time you set me up. You’ve been being secretive for the past weeks, Eunjung, and I am no longer tolerant of that. What’s going on?”
“Nothing, I was just…” Eunjung starts, her lips squeezed together as she seemingly looks for another excuse. “Really, I was just busy. There are some things going on in the company right now.”
“And why don’t you ever tell me that? Instead of letting me wait for you all alone, you could send a text or call that ‘hey, today’s not cool, let’s just see each other at your house?’, maybe? Or would that be too much to ask since you’re so busy?”
“I did call you,” Eunjung points out. “You didn’t answer.”
“You called me four hours after we were supposed to meet!” Soyeon opens her arms, a helpless expression on her face. “Don’t you think that’s a little bit late for a warning that you are too busy to come?”
“You know what? I’m sorry, Soyeon,” the younger sighs, reaching out to take her girlfriend’s hands, lacing their fingers and Soyeon lets her do it. She doesn’t speak, but she lets those plump lips of Eunjung’s touch hers although she doesn’t kiss back.
And when she closes her eyes, everything suddenly turns into pastel pink.
*
In the next morning, it’s her shivering that wakes her up. Pulling the perfectly white cotton blanket over her completely naked body and wrapping it around herself, she leaves her still-sleeping girlfriend in the bed and waddles into the kitchen as quietly as possible.
“God, where’s the coffee…”
Setting up the coffee machine, she walks back to the room to get her phone before returning, her fingers absent-mindedly flipping through her emails and mentions on Twitter, taking some moments to have the courage to open her text messages, Qri’s words from yesterday echoing in her head as she does so. (“Let’s do something different: instead of switching numbers, how about you give me yours and I’ll randomly contact you somehow!”)
The last text is the one Eunjung had sent her yesterday, saying to meet in the park at 2pm.
Letting out a sigh so soft even she barely hears it, she opens the cupboard to take out her favorite, “Queen of Effing Everything” mug.
Before she reaches it, her hand stops in the air midway and she hesitates only a few seconds before grabbing the only pink mug she has.
*
“Sorry babe, I can’t make it tonight,” rings Eunjung’s voice from the other side of the line and Soyeon stifles a deep sigh that threatens to escape.
“I see. Busy again?”
“Yeah, something came up at work. I tried dropping the case but no one else wanted to take it. I’ll make it up for you, okay? Come over at 8.”
“Sure,” she says but her voice is empty. Eunjung ends the call and the line goes silent.
Her girlfriend has set her up, again.
Not being able to hold it back anymore, she lets out an exaggerated sigh and hurriedly leaves the restaurant.
*
She doesn’t know what she’s expecting when she walks through the two oversized squirrel-shaped bushes (the park’s designer sure as hell had a taste), but her eyes scan the area almost immediately, looking for something familiar apart from the precisely placed flower beds all around or the fountain she used to cool off in so many times when she was a kid.
But there’s nothing pink popping up in her perspective besides some of the previously mentioned flowers and the high-waisted pencil skirt of a girl walking her Samoyed dog a few metres away from her.
She turns around, not even denying the disappointed feeling in her chest when she feels a sudden buzz coming from her bag and she reaches into it maybe a little bit too eagerly.
[text; ] Meet me in the cafeteria in 20 minutes?
It takes no more than a split second for a smile to replace the saddened expression on her face as she heads towards the place their first date had taken place.
*
“So, you got set up again? Girl, you must be doing something wrong.”
“Shut up,” Soyeon shoots Qri a look, making her snicker.
“Thanks god you have someone whose timing is just perfect and is also fun to be around.”
“And I’ve always thought it was me who was arrogant.”
“Oh, come on,” Qri rolls her eyes, lifting her hand and brushing her thumb quickly along Soyeon’s bottom lip (to wipe off the leftover coffee), “you know it’s true.”
A short-breathed “Yeah” is all the black-haired girl can muster as the spot that had met Qri’s fingers starts to burn.
*
Qri immediately notices Soyeon’s uneasiness as she looks at the time on her phone for the sixth time within the past five minutes.
“You’ve got some place you need to be at?”
“Yeah, actually,” Soyeon replies, putting her phone away. “My girlfriend promised to prepare me dinner as compensation, but honestly, I’m just tired of her shit.”
Soyeon notices the short gasp the other takes and cocks an eyebrow.
“So I was right after all.”
“About what?” Soyeon blinks and there’s a small smile appearing in the corner of Qri’s lips.
“That you have a thing for girls.”
And before she realizes, Soyeon mirrors her smile.
*
It’s way past 10pm when Soyeon crashes into her girlfriend’s house and the look Eunjung wears seems way too familiar.
“Where the fuck were you again?!”
“With someone,” slips past Soyeon’s lips before she could think it over and she immediately regrets it as she sees Eunjung’s face light up with anger.
“Someone?!” she thunders, stepping closer to Soyeon. “Are you cheating on me?”
“Would you even care if I were?” Soyeon keeps eye-contact. “Don’t you think that you should stop keeping our relationship on that level where we only spend time together in the evening?”
“I’ve told you I’m busy, how many times do I have to repeat myself?”
“I don’t believe you, Eunjung.” Soyeon shakes her head. “I called your boss right after you set me up.” It was Qri, actually, but she doesn’t want to throw that into her girlfriend’s face. “He said that you haven’t put your feet into the office for almost a week now.”
Eunjung flinches; it lasts only a second, but Soyeon notices it and knows it’s true.
“So tell me, Eunjung: what is it exactly that keeps you from spending time with me like normal couples do? Or should I say ‘who’?”
Eunjung parts her lips to speak, but no words come out. The apologetic look on her face is more than enough, though, for Soyeon to shake her head.
“Goodnight, Eunjung.”
She turns around and leaves the house and only then does she allow her tears to escape and roll down her cheeks.
Blurred vision, she quickly reaches for her phone and searches for the contact “Pink-Haired Girl” before typing a hurried message.
[text; ] Can you meet me at the bench we first talked at in 15 mins?
*
She spots Qri sitting on that special bench already when she enters the park and the sight of her makes her heart twist a little. It hurts, but only slightly and it’s one of those good kind of pains.
“Hey, what’s up?” Qri asks immediately as Soyeon plops down next to her, clearly not in the brightest mood.
“Just had a fight with Eunjung. Nothing serious.”
“The tears that have already dried on your cheeks tell me otherwise.”
Soyeon looks up, her eyes meeting the pair of Qri’s, her now grey-blue-ish circle lenses almost vibrating in the dark.
“Would you mind staying with me for a while?”
Qri doesn’t make a snarky comment when her voice breaks. She doesn’t tell her how much of a whiny baby she is. She just smiles and nods, and spreads her arms, offering Soyeon the shelter in which she feels safe, happy, and for the first time in a long while, wanted.
*
When she wakes up, she’s almost blinded by the sudden and overwhelming amount of pink in her vision and she has to keep her eyes closed for another couple of seconds before she can open them again. Sitting up in an oval-shaped bed with dark pink, fluffy blankets and white, even fluffier pillows, she looks around and tries to recall the events of last night.
“Good morning, Cinderella,” Qri appears in front of her, handing Soyeon a mug of steaming liquid that smells like coffee.
“You mean Sleeping Beauty?” she takes the mug, taking a quick sip and welcoming the warmth spreading through her body.
“You need to work a little bit on the ‘beauty’ part to deserve that nickname,” Qri sticks out her tongue and Soyeon snorts, almost choking on her coffee. The other female giggles and sits next to her and suddenly Soyeon realizes that she’s wearing nothing but a rather see-through pastel pink night gown. She swallows hard, but Qri doesn’t seem to notice it, thankfully.
“Thanks for letting me stay here.”
“No problem at all. But next time, please try not to kick me off the bed.”
Soyeon blinks. “We slept in the same bed?”
Qri seems confused. “Of course. Do you think I would’ve let you sleep on my couch like in those horrible romance movies?”
“In movies, it’s usually the host who sleeps on the couch.”
“I’d rather die,” Qri lets out a dramatic sigh. “Does it perhaps bother you?”
“Sleeping with you? No, not really,” Soyeon shakes her head then feels a rush of blood in her cheeks. “I didn’t mean it like that. Just, you know… casual sleeping.”
“I didn’t think of anything else,” Qri quirks an eyebrow, and Soyeon can see that she’s hiding a smile. “But now that you mention it…”
“No, no,” Soyeon quickly interrupts. “I seriously didn’t mean it in a dirty way.”
“Too bad, I was getting used to the idea.”
Soyeon just blinks and it’s Qri who breaks the silence with a giggle.
“Close your mouth, Soyeon, you look strange. If you want me to close it for you, you just have to ask.”
Soyeon immediately closes her parted lips and clears her throat, looking away in pure embarrassment. When did Qri become so flirty? It made her slightly uncomfortable, although the reason was unknown to her; was it because she practically still had a girlfriend, or because she actually liked it?
If she wanted to be honest, it was probably both.
“I should probably go home,” Soyeon speaks as she finishes her coffee and gives the empty mug back to Qri.
“Why are you in a hurry?”
“I’m…” Soyeon stops, struggling to come up with a proper and believable excuse. “I need to talk to Eunjung.”
“Are you going to break up with her?”
“Do you want me to?” Soyeon suddenly asks, and she’s just as surprised as Qri.
“I mean,” she furrows her eyebrows, “d-do you think I should…”
“I do want you to break up with her, yes,” Qri answers Soyeon’s previous question, causing the black-haired girl to flush slightly. “She doesn’t treat you right and based on your words, she’s basically admitted to cheating on you. Why would you be with such a girl?”
“I guess you’re right,” Soyeon nods and Qri smiles, standing up.
“I’m going to gather your stuff then.”
As she turns to leave the room, Soyeon finds herself unable to keep her eyes off of the female’s long, slightly toned legs and she wonders how it would feel to touch them.
*
The door closes and there’s a very unsettling silence falling on the room, worse than any other silences Soyeon has ever experienced.
“I really did love you, Soyeon. And I am sorry.”
As Eunjung’s last words echo in her head, she realizes that there’s no sadness in her heart.
There’s only relief and something else.
Hope.
*
It’s almost 4 in the morning when Soyeon rolls on her other side for the hundredth time that night and grabs her phone, quickly typing a message to the last contact and also the contact she’s texted the most in the past week.
[text; ] I can’t sleep. When I close my eyes, I don’t see black, but pink.
A few minutes pass before the familiar buzz comes, signaling an answer.
[text; ] Are you implying something there? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Soyeon cracks a smile before answering.
[text; ] Not that all. It’s not you whose name in my phone is the pink-haired girl after all.
[text; ] Wait-is my name in your phone really that? I’m offended, black-haired girl!!!
[text; ] Do you want me to make it up to you?
[text; ] Right now?
Soyeon heart skips a beat before she types an answer.
[text; ] If you want to.
Those few seconds it takes for the reply to arrive seem like an eternity, but when it does, she deems that time worth it.
[text; ] Yes, I would love to.
*
Soyeon is not even surprised to see Qri wearing the same night gown again after opening the door. For a second, her breathing accelerates and she gasps as she steps inside, quickly forcing herself to regain control over her body.
But her attempts fail as soon as Qri takes her hand, the softness of her skin becoming the only thing with a purpose in her mind for the next few seconds as she is lead into the bedroom she’s now in for the second time in her life.
They both sit down and Soyeon looks around the room, taking some time to scan the surroundings properly this time. She’s actually surprised that although the walls are painted the same pastel pink Qri’s hair is, and pink is still the most dominant color in the room, there are some pieces of furniture that are either white, or purple-ish and Soyeon feels like her entire first impression of this girl has collapsed. Her eyes soon wander on the said girl’s figure, her gaze lingering a little bit too much at the soft curves of her body the night gown has made perfectly visible to public eyes and for a second, Soyeon feels joy to have the honor to see her this way.
“So, how exactly are you planning to make it up for me?” Qri asks, interrupting Soyeon staring-session and she’s secretly glad she does so.
“What do you want me to do?”
“You don’t even have any ideas?!” Qri’s voice go even more high-pitched than it already is. “I’m disappointed, Miss Park.”
“You should feel happy I’m keeping you company when you’re unable to sleep.”
“Isn’t that you?” Qri cocks an eyebrow. “The one who couldn’t sleep because was missing some pink delight from her life?”
Soyeon has to swallow. “You are the one who also replied my text in no less than two minutes.”
“True, true…” Qri trails off, her head falling to the side as she curiously eyes Soyeon. “What my reason could be?”
“Perhaps you were also missing some color from your life,” Soyeon hums, unconsciously inching closer to the pink-haired girl.
“Everyone sees black when they close your eyes, so I don’t think that would be a valid reason for me,” Qri points out, squinting her eyes slightly. “Everyone besides you, of course. What kind a person would see pink when they close their eyes?!”
“The kind who misses a pink-haired girl?” Soyeon murmurs softly and Qri smiles.
“Is that so?” she says quietly, her hand reaching up to trace along Soyeon’s cheekbones, and the younger girl shivers from the contact.
“I’ve always wanted to ask…” Soyeon starts, leaning into the other’s touch and even closer to her. “Why pink?”
“It’s a bright, happy color. It’s somehow unique, and it also helps me keep some bits of my childhood and past self. It’s also pretty,” Qri explains, her nose touching Soyeon’s only barely.
“Just like you,” she says and Qri chuckles, her eyes closing tightly.
Then their lips touch, first just lightly, getting to know each other before pressing against each other hard, engaging in a soft, but passionate kiss that’s sweet like pink cotton candy and mysterious like a black night that frightens and attracts at the same time, the latter gaining dominance soon as they deepen their kiss and their fingers lace into each other. It ends quite quickly, but when it does, both girls are out of breath and it takes a few seconds before one of them can speak.
“I wanted to ask you, ‘why black?’,” Qri mutters and Soyeon hums along, pressing her forehead against the other’s. “But I figured it out on my own. Black is the color of the unknown and a mystery that is yet to be solved.”
Soyeon hums again, her lips trailing along Qri’s jawline, and the older gasps, her eyes closing.
“But most of all, black is the absorption of all colors, including pink. And that’s exactly what happened, Soyeon.”
The black-haired girl pulls away slightly, her eyes meeting Qri’s.
“There’s no turning back now then, is there?”
Qri smiles lightly, her lips pressing a soft kiss on Soyeon’s.
“No, there isn’t.”