Work Text:
200711.
“Oh shit.” Jinsoul mumbled, resisting the urge to slam her head onto the hard surface of the desk before her. (She’d done it once in a VLive long ago in her extreme embarrassment at her own aegyo, and since then, she’s seen an avalanche of memes everywhere. Jinsoul really didn’t expect to go viral for that.)
Whining, Jinsoul leaned under the desk again, wide eyes peeled for any glints in the darkness. She’s checked every corner of the underneath of this desk, inspected every nook and cranny, but to no avail. The girl groaned loudly, burying her head in her palms, fingers running through her (finally) black hair.
When the company had announced that she could finally dye her hair back to her natural colour for their comeback with “So What”, Jinsoul had screamed in excitement and happiness. Finally, no more dragging herself to the salon for countless root touch ups, countless times of bleaching to get that signature blonde. After that initial wave of joy had washed off, it was quickly replaced with worry. What if Orbits couldn’t recognise her without her blonde hair? (When Jinsoul first made an appearance with her newly-dyed black locks, she noted, with pride, that she had nothing to worry about.)
Speaking of Orbits, with the members’ combined brain cells, they had come up with the idea of going on VLive to do an Awards Ceremony for Orbit’s 2nd Anniversary. And so, LoonaTheDorm was lively, overwhelmed by noise, at this hour. The members had dressed up, ready to head out to the BBC Building.
“Jinsoul unnie, why are you under the desk?”
At the sudden voice speaking right behind her, Jinsoul yelped in surprise, jolting out of her thoughts. Forgetting her current position, Jinsoul straightened up only to feel her head colliding against the corner of the desk.
“Oops...sorry for scaring you unnie.” A bright-eyed, smiley face Yerim quickly rushed to rub at Jinsoul’s pounding head, already used to the older girl’s natural clumsiness.
“Owwww…” Jinsoul whined, stumbling to her feet clumsily.
“Were you looking for something, unnie?” Yerim asked. Jinsoul peered at the half-ajar door of their room. The black haired idol rushed forwards, slamming the door shut with a loud bang. Yerim watched with a perplexed expression as Jinsoul collapsed to her knees, crawling on all fours around the room like some kind of feral animal. For a second, Yerim wondered if Jinsoul had finally hit her head so hard she lost all her brain cells.
“Uh….unnie? What are you looking for?” Yerim stepped forwards.
“Yerim, you can’t speak a word about this yet, okay?” Jinsoul muttered, scouring under the bunk beds.
“About what? To who?”
“I lost my ring.” Jinsoul said sadly.
“Oh, you can always buy a new one, unnie! I know this shop…” Yerim started.
“No! No, no, no, no, no. Not just any ring. I lost the couple ring I got with Jungeun…” Jinsoul wailed, flopping onto the bed like a rag doll. Jinsoul watched with a teary gaze as Yerim’s eyes widened almost comically, her lips parted into an ‘O’.
“You’re so screwed, unnie.”
....
Jinsoul kept her eyes trained to the floor as they piled into the van, remaining uncharacteristically silent as the rest of the members clambered noisily into the vehicle, settling to their assigned seats. Jinsoul had always sat with Jungeun. On the plane, in the van, there was no doubt they were placed together.
On normal days, Jinsoul would be overjoyed, plopping beside Jungeun and they could talk about everything and anything. Jinsoul’s favourite was when Jungeun would fall asleep when they were out past 10pm, and snuggle into her shoulder like a baby. (Jinsoul refused to admit how much she loved the feeling of the smaller girl on her shoulder.)
But today, after almost overturning the whole room with Yerim as her assistant but still finding no sign of the ring, Jinsoul was terrified. Even if she was to run out to the nearest jewelry store, she would not find a ring like the one she lost. Alas, she had gotten the rings with Jungeun while they were out on a stroll to the night market in another country.
“Unnie!” Jungeun called, the signature toothy smile on her face as she waved Jinsoul over excitedly. Forcing out a smile, Jinsoul made her way to the back of the van, sitting down beside the brunette.
“Look at what I found!” Jungeun immediately leaned closer, her arm pressing against Jinsoul’s. A phone was thrust into her face, a video of an adorable puppy playing on the screen.
“Cute right?” Jungeun took the phone back as the video ended, swiping on the screen. In spite of her state of extreme nervousness and guilt, Jinsoul couldn’t keep a wide smile from forming on her face. If it was up to her, Jungeun looked as cute as the furry puppy in the video. (Maybe even cuter.)
“Is there something on my face?” Jungeun asked, an eyebrow raised. Only then, did Jinsoul realise she had been staring into Jungeun’s face intently. Drawing back, Jinsoul met Jungeun’s eyes, which were shining in amusement.
“Yes there is. Beauty.” Jinsoul said, her usual greasiness showing again. Instantly, the rest of the members around them erupted into an uproar. Jinsoul didn’t even know they had been listening. (Oblivious, as always.) Jungeun roared in laughter as Sooyoung loomed up over the seat behind Jinsoul, giving her a good smack on the head. Jinsoul rolled her eyes, fighting to keep her own laughter from bursting out as she turned to grapple with Sooyoung’s lanky arms. Chaewon was screaming out her displeasure of Jinsoul’s cheesiness from the front of the van, Hyejoo agreeing to whatever she was saying with short grunts.
When Jinsoul finally pushed Sooyoung back into her seat, and the members had quietened down, the older girl turned to see Jungeun smiling knowingly at her. Jinsoul grinned back, nudging Jungeun with an elbow. The brown haired girl (Jinsoul noted that Jungeun had her hair up in her signature half-tied-half-down style, her personal favourite) rolled her eyes, but sighed in content as she let her head rest on Jinsoul’s perked up shoulder.
Jinsoul forgot about the lost ring on their drive to the BBC building.
…
The VLive was in full swing, everyone chatting as they worked on the award certificates for their precious Orbits. Jinsoul found herself staring at Jungeun throughout the broadcast, trying to not show her displeasure as Jungeun and Jiwoo held hands and giggled. They were childhood friends, after all. It was normal for them to do this, especially since Jiwoo was so affectionate.
The memory of the lost ring came back to Jinsoul in a flash, and she tensed up again. She tried to play her nervousness off, leaning down to write on the certificate. As Jinsoul scribbled away on the paper, her mind drifted back to where they bought the couple rings.
[ They were in Bangkok, Thailand, to film the music video for So What. Everyone was almost bouncing around with excitement, having been a long time they had gone overseas for filming. The trip started off well for Jinsoul, the managers putting Vivi, Jungeun and her in a row on the plane. Jungeun had predictably fallen asleep on her favourite shoulder during the flight, and Jinsoul had given up trying to fight her own sleepiness, and fell asleep with her head against Jungeun’s.
Filming was tough yet fun, as they braved the sweltering Thailand heat for cool shots. Jinsoul was confident the music video would turn out like a masterpiece.
“Jinsoul unnie, do you wanna go for a stroll?” Jungeun had asked. It was evening, and everyone was back at their hotel, save for Yerim and Hyunjin, who were still hard at work filming their scenes. Jinsoul was exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to retreat to her comfortable hotel room, take a relaxing cold shower, and curl into the fluffy bed. But then again, Jinsoul would do anything for Jungeun.
“Sure!” Jinsoul replied, seeing the happiness that sparkled in the younger one’s eyes. After changing out of their performance outfits and into casual clothes, the duo exited the hotel, walking aimlessly on the foreign streets.
“Where are we going?” Jinsoul asked cheekily.
“I saw a night market nearby when I was out with Jiwoo earlier. Let’s go look around?” Jungeun suggested.
“Of course.” Jinsoul nodded. She didn’t really have a set location she wanted to go anyways. Having Jungeun with her was enough. Jinsoul felt the brunette walk closer to her, her hand gripping onto the fabric of her hoodie. Feeling her cheeks flushing, Jinsoul let her arm fall slack, and Jungeun immediately intertwined their fingers together.
The night market was much more crowded than they thought, the colourful lights illuminating the night, vendors yelling out promotions, tourists snapping away with their cameras. Jinsoul held onto Jungeun tighter, not wanting to lose her amongst the bustling sea of people.
“Unnie, doesn’t this look pretty?”
Jungeun was standing at a jewelry store, staring at one of the gleaming accessories displayed on the vast table. With the kind vendor’s permission, Jungeun picked up a ring. It was an elegant silver, a thin band of crimson running through the middle of the metal fashionably. To Jinsoul, the ring suited Jungeun perfectly. The brunette slipped it on her ring finger, letting out a cry of elation when it even fit her size.
“It looks great on you.” Jinsoul nodded in approval, holding up her thumb.
“Oh wait, I have an idea!” Jungeun exclaimed, turning back to the vendor. She gestured to the shiny ring on her finger, then pointed at Jinsoul’s blue hoodie. Fortunately, the vendor understood, turning around and fumbling for something.
“What did you ask for?” Jinsoul, confused as always, asked. The vendor swung around, a similar silver ring in his hand, except instead of red, this one had a blue band around it. Squealing, Jungeun took the ring, grabbing Jinsoul’s hand to slip it on. Gasping, Jinsoul wondered if the vendor could tell their finger size just by looking. The ring fit her nicely.
“Should we get couple rings? We already have the couple bracelets.” Jungeun said shyly.
“You look so happy, there’s no way we’re not getting this.” Jinsoul shot back, smirking as she fished in her pocket for her purse. Before Jungeun could whine and insist to pay for this, Jinsoul silenced her with a finger to her lips.
“You paid for the bracelets, Jungie. Time for me to return the favour.”
When they got back to the hotel late at night, Jinsoul was drained. Jungeun seemed tired too, considering it was way past 10pm. Judging from the rambunctious sounds they could hear through the other member’s hotel rooms, none of them were asleep yet. As expected, really.
“Goodnight, Jinsoul unnie.” Jungeun mumbled sleepily, stepping forwards to hug Jinsoul. The older girl wrapped her arms around Jungeun’s shoulders, nuzzling into her soft hair. Jungeun sighed, her head tucked into the crook of Jinsoul’s neck. For a moment, Jinsoul wondered if she had fallen asleep in her arms.
“Goodnight.” Jinsoul planted a light kiss against Jungeun’s head, stepping back slightly. Jungeun nodded, waving as she retreated into her shared room with Jiwoo. Jinsoul opened the door to her room, met with a pillow hurled at her face by a laughing Chaewon and Sooyoung. Instantly, all traces of fatigue disappeared from her body as she leaped into the fray of the pillow-fight battle. ]
Back to the present, Jiwoo was sharing an interesting story of how she had brought home a slug, and might or might not have adopted it. Jinsoul still had to somehow break the news to Jungeun that she had lost that precious ring they had bought in Bangkok. If it wasn’t in their dorm room, Jinsoul had no idea where it could have been. Maybe if she confessed to losing the ring on VLive, then maybe Jungeun wouldn’t bite her head off in front of Orbits. That sounds like a good plan. If Jinsoul broke the news to Jungeun in private, the younger girl might slap her. (She wouldn’t. Jinsoul is just dramatic and overthinks.)
“I lost that couple ring that I got with Lip…” Jinsoul blurted out. Jungeun whirled around to stare at her. From the corner of her eye, Jinsoul could see Yerim glance between the 2 of them.
“Unnie….” Jungeun whined. Jinsoul internally panics, and nervously laughs. She can’t make eye contact with Jungeun, so she glues her eyes to her IPad instead.
“How could you?” Jungeun continues. Jinsoul tries to maintain her cool.
“We never got to show them off…” Jinsoul could practically hear the pout in Jungeun’s voice, as the younger girl turned to the camera to make crying sounds.
….
After saying goodbye to Orbits and ending the VLive, the members stretched their arms over their heads, standing up.
“Were you joking back there?” Sooyoung whispered. Jinsoul clutched her IPad to her chest, still not daring to look over at Jungeun.
“No, Soo! I legit lost the ring.” Jinsoul groaned, doing her eyebrows-slanting expression. “Yerim helped me search the room, and we couldn’t find it anywhere!”
“Jungeun looks disappointed.” Sooyoung said softly. Jinsoul glanced over her shoulder. Jungeun was heading out of the practice room with Vivi, her head hanging low and eyes downcast.
“Shit…”
“You know how much Jungeun cares about things like this, how could you lose it, dumbass!” Sooyoung hissed playfully.
“I didn’t mean to…I was wearing it, then it was suddenly gone from my finger!”
“Girls, we’re leaving!” Their manager called, head poking in from the door. Sooyoung and Jinsoul hurriedly gathered their belongings, rushing down the stairs to the waiting van.
“You better fix this fast.” Sooyoung mumbled, giving Jinsoul a comforting pat on the shoulder before climbing into the van. Jinsoul stepped in after her fellow 97-liner. Jungeun was in her usual seat, her eyes closed as she leaned her head against the window of the van. Yerim shoved Jinsoul forwards from her seat, eyes encouraging her to sit next to Jungeun.
Hesitantly, Jinsoul slid into her seat. Jungeun didn’t turn over to acknowledge her presence like always. Maybe she was sleeping already. As the van drove along the road, the bumps made Jungeun’s head knock into the glass pretty hard. It looked painful, but the brunette still had her eyes closed and arms folded over her chest.
“Do you…” Jinsoul’s voice died in her throat. Covering up her awkwardness with a cough, the black haired girl retreated to lean back in her seat, not wanting to bother Jungeun.
….
Jungeun retreated to her room without saying good night to Jinsoul. The black haired girl sat sulking on the couch, watching as the maknaes argued loudly while playing a game on their mobile phones.
Even as the maknaes slowly hugged her goodnight and disappeared to their rooms one by one, Jinsoul stayed curled up on the couch, scrolling through her mobile phone. She had been looking up for couple ring designs. She could secretly buy a set to surprise Jungeun, and to make a grand apology for losing hers.
There was the soft creaking of a door opening, but Jinsoul’s eyes stayed glued to her phone, thinking it was Heejin or one of their other late night-owls coming out for a drink.
“Unnie?” That voice was definitely not Heejin’s. Jinsoul scrambled on the couch, her phone slipping out of her hands. Jungeun stood at the doorway of her room, dressed in her pyjamas and watching with slight amusement as Jinsoul unintentionally juggled with her phone.
“Jesus…” Jinsoul muttered as she finally gained control of her phone. The older girl looked sheepishly at Jungeun, shoulders tensed.
“I’m so sorry, Jungie! I didn’t mean to lose them, I swear to God I put it on early this morning when we were preparing to leave, but the next second, it was gone! I searched the whole entire room for it, even under the table and under the bed, you can ask Yerim if you don’t believe me, she helped me look for the ring. I don’t know where else it could be but I will try---” Jinsoul’s rambling was cut off when Jungeun stepped forward to place a soft hand against hers.
“I’m not mad at you.” Jungeun smiled reassuringly.
“You’re not?”
“I’m just disappointed.” Jungeun admitted. Jinsoul glanced down at the hand rubbing against hers. On the ring finger, was a familiar ring, silver with a crimson band in the middle. Jinsoul felt guilty all over again.
“I’m sorry.” Jinsoul sighed, flipping her hand over to lace her fingers with Jungeun’s, relishing in the familiar warmth. The brunette sat down on the couch, prompting Jinsoul to sit down beside her. Jungeun played with Jinsoul’s fingers on her lap.
“That couple ring was special to me.”
Jinsoul blinked at the sudden seriousness that had seeped into Jungeun’s soft voice.
“That day that we bought it together, in Bangkok. I realised something important.” Jungeun said slowly, lifting her head up to meet Jinsoul’s eyes. The older girl gulped, feeling her heart pounding rapidly in her chest.
[ After buying the rings and walking around, revelling at the local delicacies at the Bangkok Night Market, they decided to head back to the hotel.
“Wait. Unnie let’s take a picture?” Jungeun held out her phone, already in selfie mode. Jinsoul nodded, happily engulfing Jungeun in a back hug. Her arms encircled around the smaller girl’s waist, and she rested her chin snugly against Jungeun’s shoulder. Jungeun felt warm and fit in her arms perfectly, so Jinsoul let out a happy whine against the younger’s neck.
Jungeun held up the phone, and they grinned brightly, the camera catching the vivid lights from the night market behind them. Jungeun looked beautiful, one hand holding up her phone skillfully, the other hand grasping onto Jinsoul’s arm tightly. Her brown hair cascaded down her shoulders and back, and Jinsoul found herself burying her face into her aromatic soft hair. The black haired girl swayed them back and forth, making Jungeun erupt into giggles. Soon, Jinsoul found herself laughing along for absolutely no reason at all, until they were both almost wheezing for breaths and holding onto one another for support, eyes filled with tears of mirth.
Jungeun held out her palm, making Jinsoul place her palm against hers. Their newly-bought rings shone in the semi-darkness, the red and blue contrasting each other nicely. (When BBC first told Jinsoul she would be the blue to Jungeun’s red, she had punched the wall in happiness.)
Seeing Jungeun stare at their matching rings and looking generally so soft under the night lights, Jinsoul leaned in, planting a soft kiss against the shorter girl’s forehead. It was quick, Jinsoul pulling back hastily in case Jungeun didn’t like it. (The girl was sometimes affectionate, but sometimes a tsundere that screamed whenever Jinsoul touched her.)
However, when Jungeun looked up at her with the biggest beam Jinsoul had ever seen on her, her cheeks and ears a vibrant red, the black haired girl mentally congratulated herself for mustering up the courage to do that. ]
“I like you.” Jinsoul beat Jungeun to it.
“I like you a lot, Jungie.”
The silence that followed was almost suffocating. Jinsoul was already starting to overthink. What if that wasn’t what Jungeun was going to say? Maybe Jungeun just wanted to say she realised Bangkok is her favourite holiday spot, or something along those lines.
“Um...shit...I’m so sorry--” Jinsoul started, already beginning to stand up. She could lock herself in her room and cry into her blankets over her unrequited love. But Jungeun grabbed her arms, forcefully pulling her back down onto the couch. Before Jinsoul could say or do anything, Jungeun was already pressing their lips together. Flustered, Jinsoul was like a plank of wood at first, stiff and unmoving. Jungeun wrapped her arms tightly around Jinsoul’s waist, trying to ease her up.
Finally, the older girl relaxed, closing her eyes and deepening the kiss. Jungeun’s lips were sweet and soft, and Jinsoul felt herself smiling uncontrollably against those lips. Her hands came up to cup the younger girl’s cheeks, feeling Jungeun lean into her palms.
“Be my girlfriend?” Jinsoul asked breathlessly when they finally parted. Jungeun hummed, resting her forehead against Jinsoul’s.
“Only if you buy us new couple rings.” Jungeun uttered teasingly.
“Deal.” Jinsoul chuckled.
“Then yes. I’ll be your girlfriend, idiot.” Jungeun laughed giddily, swooping in for another kiss.
In the room behind them, the other 10 residents of the dorm fist-pumped the air silently, letting out noiseless whoops of excitement for the new couple.