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something changes when seungwan has her hair cut.
it wasn't even that big of a deal, at least to her, but everyone seemed to think it was something on the level of life-changing. her acquaintances would shower her with compliments, gaze directed at how the ends of her hair fell feather-light on her shoulders.
“it suits you really well, you know.”
seungwan tried her best not to make a face, but she was pretty sure she’d failed. “thanks.”
the younger girl only frowned and straightened up in her seat across seungwan, the school cafeteria mostly noisy but yerim’s presence still big and bold (and frightening). “what’s wrong with you? just take it. accept it. I’m really not giving any more.”
“thanks, yerim.” seungwan looked down at her salad, unused to the length of the hair that blocked her view.
she didn’t even jump when a piece of macaroni found its way to her face from yerim’s fork; she just flicked it away with a smile that was trying not to be amused at the child trying to pick a fight. at least yerim was still mostly herself, if a bit bitter about giving her praise and erasing the icky feeling as soon as she could.
joohyun, too, would hum and tuck a few strands behind one of seungwan's ears when the latter missed a few while tying it. “stressed?” she asked.
seungwan stopped biting her pen, not realizing how she practically chewed through it. “a little.”
“let me get you some coffee,” joohyun said, and let her fingers linger on seungwan’s scalp. she only let go when she stood up and walked towards the table for free library coffee.
joohyun’s hand found its way back in between a few wayward strands as soon as she sat down again, and seungwan would have been amused if it wasn’t distracting.
“sorry,” the older girl had whispered when seungwan told her. “it just looks so fluffy. you’re like a shaggy haired puppy.”
seungwan sputtered as quietly as she could and glared. “shaggy?! I—”
“hush, puppy. get back to work. your deadline is tonight.”
seungwan huffed out and fixed the glasses settled upon her nose, trying her best to ignore joohyun’s giggle, no matter how tiny and therefore cute it was. the older girl was weird about the hair too, but only in that she’d wanted to touch seungwan a lot more than usual.
but the gaze that froze her veins despite their overpowering heat— those were seulgi's. seulgi and her razor sharp stare, when seungwan walks into their shared dorm room after that lunch with yerim and study session with joohyun.
"seungwan." seulgi is almost whispering. it sends a shiver up seungwan's spine.
the older girl has apparently arrived back from spending the weekend at ansan for her brother’s last birthday before he leaves for the military, so this is the first time seungwan sees seulgi in four days, and hell. nothing’s changed, except— seulgi is staring at her.
the older girl steps closer from where seungwan has stood frozen by the door, in the same trance seulgi seems to be stuck in; although while seulgi’s is due to surprise from seungwan’s new hairstyle, seungwan’s is due to just generally being around the older girl. “you look… wow.”
“thanks,” seungwan quickly replies, and though she’s heard it countless times over the past few days from different people, it’s not surprising at all that it’s seulgi’s opinion that leaves her breathless. “it’s, well. it was getting long, and you know how split ends can be. I didn’t like going around like that, just the very thought of it, and I just wanted something different.” something to change. “I think.”
seulgi’s face softens into a wide grin from its intense focus. “I think it looks great. I’m jealous, I want to do something different too.”
an image of seulgi flashes in her mind and she says the thought before she even fully wraps her head around it.
“what was that?” seulgi implores, leaning closer.
“I... I said that you looked really cute with bangs. like your hairstyle last semester. so.” seungwan admits, feeling the heat rise up from her neck and reach her ears. she clears her throat. “but, anyway. how was ansan?”
“oh! it was great!”
something definitely changed: the way seulgi looks at her and how her eyes roam over her thin bangs and how they shaped her face. she was probably just getting used to it, not expecting much of a difference in seungwan after four days apart. it was reasonable, and seungwan didn’t even know what came over her when she just chopped it all off, but if it caught seulgi’s attention like this, if it changed anything at all… she’ll take it.
and of course, while some things change, some things also stay just the same. seungwan watches and listens as seulgi, bubbly and sunshine-bright seulgi, unknowingly takes her place as the center of seungwan’s universe again.
then seulgi's phone rings— with the caller ID showing sooyoungie ❤️ as the older girl smiles and picks it up with a hey, babe — and the world around seungwan falls and shatters once more.