𝓐𝓷𝓽𝓲-𝓡𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓬

Jung Wheein

...Surprise...

WC: 1k+

Warnings: none

You knew where RBW was, you had passed the building maybe a million times now. But going inside never seemed like a viable possibility until now. Too bad you were running late. You rushed inside, eyes frantically scanning for a fellow dance crew member. Spotting one heading into a practice room at the end of the hall, you set off in their direction. She might kill me for being late – hopefully this is still a surprise...

The bright studio lights and mirrors greeted you upon stepping into the room, trying to hide the visible signs of having rushed to practice - out of breath and sweat sprinkled on your brow. Scanning the room full of masked people, you spotted Wheein in the corner sipping an iced coffee. Her shoulders slumped a bit, she looked spent already. She must've come in early to practice the choreo on her own before the crew got there. Making mental plans to show her a little extra care later, the sound of Yoonyoung clapping her hands rang through the room and interrupted your thoughts. Time to get to work.

Wheein hadn't noticed your presence until after Yoonyoung started showing her the group formations, but when she finally made eye contact with you in the mirror, you identified the shock and surprise on her face, even from behind the mask. With eyes widened and eyebrows raised, she shot you a look that said nothing but "what are you doing here??" When you broke the news to her a couple months ago that you weren't assigned to be part of her dance team for this comeback, she got a little mopey. Hopefully the surprise made up for it. Once she noticed you, she made it obvious that she knew you were there - each time your hands were near her during group choreo, she tensed, a bit flustered. You hoped it wasn't too distracting for her, but she seemed to be performing just fine – a seasoned professional at work. For the rest of practice, she couldn't stop trying to meet your gaze in the mirror while you snuck in a wink every now and then, a light blush spreading across her face that tinged her ears a cute shade of pink each time. Granted, no one could tell that the cause was you and not the exertion – water color demanded a ton of energy. The sheer difficulty of the choreography provided a challenge at first even for you, a professional dancer. How Wheein managed to dance to this and sing at the same time, you had no clue, but she'd kill it on stage regardless.

During the break, you casually strolled over to greet her, sneakers almost squeaking on the hardwood floor. While fully expecting a hug from her, she gave you a pouty look and proceeded to swing her fist to punch you in the arm, hard.

"Ow?!" That might bruise. Hopefully there's no sleeveless outfits for the live stages.

"That's what you get for nearly being late and not telling me the truth about being assigned to this comeback," she stated. But she smiled and threw her arms around you anyway, latching herself onto you. "I'm so glad you're here though," she muttered softly into your sweatshirt. Feeling the fluttery warmth in your body with your hands splayed across her back, you wanted nothing more than to kiss the top of her head to express it, but alas, both of you were technically working. Not the time or place.

Instead, you just smiled warmly and said, "Happy to be here with you. You're doing great," squeezing her a little closer before letting go and getting back to work. She seemed a little perkier for the rest of practice.

As good friends, Yoonyoung and Wheein usually operated on the same wavelength and this time was no different. Watching Wheein execute this choreo highlighted her skills as a dancer and Yoonyoung's as a choreographer. Seeing them work together mesmerized you, deeply humbled that you not only got to bear witness to this process, but also to participate in it. Even though MooMoo's would just see you as another backup dancer, getting to dance alongside Wheein for this huge milestone meant so much, but you actively tried not to dwell on this too often. If you did, it would usually bring you to tears with pride. She put in an insane amount of work over the years and it was finally coming to fruition. If only she saw herself through your eyes.

~~~~~~

Twisting the spare key in the lock and stepping into her place with dinner ingredients in hand, you stumbled upon a bit of a mess. Entirely understandable, it's not like Wheein had the bandwidth to clean right now. You picked up some of her miscellaneous dirty sweats from around the entryway and threw them in the washing machine. Plopping the groceries on the counter, you peered into the fridge, cool air greeting your skin. What had she been eating this entire time? Not much, apparently. Chopping up meat and vegetables and tossing them into a skillet with oil, you figured a big batch of this could last her through at least the rest of this week. You had nowhere else to be besides your joint schedules right now anyway.

The front door swung open and a huge sigh nearly drowned out the sound of the sizzling pan. Something fell to the floor, probably her bag. Her hands slid in from behind and came to a stop on your stomach, interlocking her fingers. Her front pressed into your back and she rested her head on your shoulder, taking the opportunity to gently kiss her head like you had wanted to earlier. She walked over to the fridge, sliding herself down slowly to sit on the ground, absolutely spent. Letting the sizzle of the pan fill the silence, you wordlessly finished cooking and packed it all up into individual containers, setting aside portions for the both of you.

You squatted down to join her on the floor, where she had dozed off leaning against the fridge. Food in one hand, you fanned it with the other, wafting the smell toward her while giving her several pecks on the cheek in quick succession. Her sleep-clouded eyes slowly fluttered open – sleepy Wheein was kind of your favorite, but she would never let you live that down if you told her.

"Sorry," she murmured, head rolling to the side. "I shouldn't be falling asleep when a beautiful person is in my home with dinner waiting for me."

"Right, but this hottie"— pointing a finger at yourself—"cooking you dinner isn't singing, dancing, filming, and interviewing all day," you chuckled. You set the food down to take her into your arms, her head resting in your lap. "I know it's hard not to be overly tough on yourself right now, but I hope you're taking the time to enjoy it too," your hands tenderly held her cheeks while gazing into her eyes to hit your point home. "You've worked really, really hard to get here, and I couldn't be prouder to work with you, dance beside you, and still get to come home at the end of the day to love you."

"Thanks for the reminder," she said bashfully, your hands warming from the heat building in her face. She sat up and beamed, "I can't believe that I get to promote with you by my side." She curtly added, "and that I didn't know until today that you were working this comeback with me," smile temporarily faltering to glower at you.

You gave her nothing but a sheepishly cheesy smile. "But you were surprised, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," she conceded, rolling her eyes. She took your hands in hers, stroking her thumbs over the backs of yours. "Seriously though, thank you. I'm really excited to finally show Redd to the world, but also... we're definitely doing something to celebrate when this is over."

"Each other?" you challenged, smirking mischievously. She proceeded to punch your arm again.

"Stop that, you sound like Byulyi."

"Fried chicken and soju?" you invited more seriously, eyes lit up and eyebrows raised. She leaned in and sweetly pressed her lips to yours.

"It's a date."