between the spolight - purinz ✧

closer than ever.

chaewon's pov —

the day of the photoshoot for you & me arrived quicker than i'd expected. i felt the familiar flutter of nerves as i walked into the studio, my thoughts racing. yunjin and i had been making progress in practice, finding a rhythm that worked, but this was different. posing for a poster was another layer of intimacy that i wasn't sure we were ready for.

the studio was bustling with energy—stylists rushing around, cameras being set up, and lighting being adjusted. as i stepped further into the room i spotted yunjin talking to the photographer, her back to me. she looked calm, as she always did, but i could tell by the way she stood—her shoulders just a little too stiff—that she was just as anxious as i was.

"chaewon, you're here!" one of the stylists called out, ushering me to the back to start hair and makeup. i sat down, glancing in the mirror at my own reflection, trying to steady myself. we had to look like we were in sync today, like we were completely comfortable with each other, and no one could know how far from that we still were.

as the makeup artist worked on my face, i kept replaying the hug in my head—the way yunjin had finally softened, even if just for a moment. it had felt like progress, but in the days since, things between us had slipped back into their usual guarded tension. we were working together, sure, but we weren't friends—not yet, anyway. i wasn't sure if we'd ever get there.

when i was finally ready, dressed in the sleek, white outfit the concept demanded, i made my way to the set. yunjin was already in front of the camera, her expression composed, her light outfit matching mine almost exactly. she glanced over when she saw me, and for a second, our eyes met.

"ready?" she asked, her tone neutral, but not unfriendly.

i nodded, trying to push down the nerves. "yeah, let's do it."

the photographer clapped his hands together, calling us both into position. "alright, ladies, the concept here is intense chemistry—like you're drawn to each other but holding something back. tension, but with heat. i want it to feel like there's an electric pull between you two."

i swallowed hard, glancing at her. she was staring straight ahead, her face a mask of focus. the way the photographer described it, the energy he wanted us to portray, was exactly what we'd been trying to work through in practice. close, but not too close. connected, but still distant. it felt like a metaphor for the push and pull we'd been navigating since day one.

yunjin moved first, stepping into the light and turning toward me. i followed, positioning myself just a breath away from her, our bodies angled as if we were about to collide but hadn't yet. the camera clicked rapidly, capturing every second as we held the pose.

"closer," the photographer instructed, his voice directing us like we were pieces on a chessboard. "i need you to look like you're just about to touch."

i took a small step forward, and yunjin did the same. the space between us shrank until there was barely anything left. i could feel the heat radiating from her, the closeness making my skin prickle with awareness. it was strange—standing so close to her, our faces inches apart, as if we were supposed to be something we weren't. my eyes locked with hers, searching for some kind of anchor, but all i found was that same guarded distance she always carried.

"good, that's perfect!" the photographer called out. "now, tilt your heads like you're about to kiss."

i froze for a second, but i quickly recovered, angling my face just slightly toward her. yunjin did the same, her breath mixing with mine in the narrow space between us. the moment stretched on, longer than it should have, the intensity building with every click of the camera.

i could feel my heart racing, and i wondered if she could too. despite everything—despite the tension, the awkwardness, and the unresolved mess between us—there was something undeniable about standing this close to her. the chemistry that had been so hard to find during practice felt like it was right here, sparking in the space between us.

"hold that!" the photographer said, his voice excited. "this is perfect."

but it didn't feel perfect. it felt charged, like we were walking a fine line between something real and something we were both faking for the camera. i wasn't sure which was more unsettling—that we had to act like this, or that it was starting to feel too real.

finally, the photographer clapped his hands. "great! let's move on to the next pose."

we both stepped back, breaking the tension, and i let out a breath i didn't know i'd been holding. yunjin's face was still composed, but there was something in her eyes—something i hadn't seen before. it was brief, just a flicker, but it made me wonder if she had felt the same strange pull i had in that moment.

we moved through the rest of the photoshoot in a daze, following the photographer's instructions and adjusting our poses without much thought. but the whole time, i couldn't shake the feeling of that moment—how close we'd been, how much it had felt like we were balancing on a razor's edge.

when it was finally over, and the photographer called for a break, i turned to yunjin, my heart still pounding. she was already walking off set, her usual cool demeanor firmly back in place. i watched her go, unsure of what i was supposed to feel—relief? frustration? something else?

as i sat down, sipping water and trying to gather my thoughts, i realized one thing: whatever this was between us, it wasn't simple. and no matter how many times we practiced or posed together, we weren't going to figure it out overnight.

but that moment—when we were so close i could feel her breath on my skin—it made me wonder if maybe we could figure it out. it we could somehow turn all this tension into something more than just a performance.