What's After Like [M Reader X IVE (adult members)]

Chapter 3 - Yujin (M)

"Kitsch kitsch kitsch kitsch kitsch kitsch kitsch!"

The distinctive and impressively catchy (if slightly repetitive) notes of IVE's brand new pre-release song echo in your ears. You haven't spoken to any of the members today, or yesterday actually, which is possibly for the best given how utterly exhausted you'd been the morning after your 'gaming' session with Rei. At least today is a weekend and you don't have to work, which gives you time to catch up on some chores before enjoying a much-needed rest. Humming along to the addictive verses of their latest hit, you fetch another piece of clean laundry off the pile and fold it carefully. Altogether not the worst way to spend a bit of your afternoon, enjoying your favorite tunes amidst the wafting scents of detergent and dryer sheets. Your playlist shuffles forward, and the opening notes of 'After Like' echo around your building's laundry room, just loud enough for you to hear them over the dryer currently finishing your second load of clothes. Despite not wanting to annoy any neighbors that might be home, you can't help but sing along to another of IVE's engaging tracks, doing a passable job of imitating the main chorus before admittedly struggling to follow the pace of Rei and Gaeul's rap bridge. Not really caring, your volume only increases as you hit the final chorus, laundry briefly forgotten as a pair of socks becomes an impromptu microphone. "You-ooooo and I-hiiii is more than liiiiiiiikee!" Suddenly the door opens, and a second voice answers you with crisp, polished notes: "What's after like?" Slightly embarrassed, you spin around, already recognizing by her distinctive vocals the presence of IVE's leader, An Yujin. She leans against the doorframe, giving you an amused look. "Not the worst I've heard," she says with a grin, "but you probably shouldn't quit your day job."

"Not planning to," you reply, "but it's hard not to sing along to such a fun song." Yujin's grin widens at the compliment as you continue. "Surprised to see you in here though; I always assumed someone else took care of your laundry for you."

"Well they do, but I was passing down the hallway when I heard the music and just had to check it out." She advances into the room, the door swinging shut behind her. Apparently free of schedules for the moment, Yujin's dressed simply in a black skirt and a t-shirt that cuts off high enough to show a glimpse of her well-defined abs. "It's good that I found you though."

"Oh really?" Now you're curious, not that you'd be surprised if she was aware of what had transpired earlier this week between you and various of her other members.

"Yeah." She sits down in the second chair near yours, pausing for a moment before speaking again. "I know you're a fan of ours (great choice of course), so you know our Liz is really a great vocalist. Strong tone and just power for days. She can get amazingly loud sometimes." This is an interesting way to start the conversation, not that you're going to disagree with any compliment given to Liz's vocals. "But what you probably don't know," she continues, "is that my bedroom is the one just on the other side of the wall from your living room."

Now you're a bit confused by her roundabout logic. "I didn't know that, but I don't think I see what you're getting at."

"Maybe you should consider how those two facts might be important together, especially a couple of nights ago. When our Liz was away from the dorm pretty late...."

The conclusion hits you at last, but you'd already been prepared for the possibility she might know, so you merely fix her with an even look. "I see." The real question wasn't whether Yujin or anyone else in IVE would ever find out, it was how they would react to you afterwards.

"Now I might just have said nothing on the subject; I'm no moral police. But then the very next night, Rei went over to your place to play video games, and when she came back she was wearing your clothes." She's being extremely neutral in her tone as she walks through this train of thought, so you do your best to maintain a straight face yourself, daring her to get to whatever point she intended to make from this. "Here's the thing. I'm hardly gonna judge you or them whatever happened, but I am the leader of IVE, and that means it's my responsibility to protect the group. Part of my job is to make sure the members aren't getting into trouble, and part of it is also to evaluate any potential distractions. So let me ask you this clearly. Did you have sex with Liz and Rei?"