It was 10pm. I had just ended my radio schedule which was also my last schedule of the day. I waved a good bye to all my members before we each all went into our respective vans. I sat on the passenger's seat, and I waited for my manager to take the wheel.
I just ended my schedule, see you in 30 mins? I sent her a text.
I got a reply almost immediately. Ok!
I smiled to myself, my thumb hovering around her profile icon before I finally locked my phone, tucking it inside my pocket.
"Hyung, would you mind—" I didn't even have a chance to complete my sentence. I saw my manager looking up at me over the rearview mirror with a smirk.
"Okay, okay. One hour." He said, emphasising on the one.
I chuckled at him before ultimately agreeing to it.
"Same place?"
I hummed as a yes in response.
The car ride was relatively short since the distance between the broadcasting company and her dorm weren't too far apart. When my manager successfully drove into the carpark, he parked right outside the lift lobby.
I immediately whipped out my phone from my pocket to inform her I was already here. She was online when I texted her, and she replied with another Ok! Which successfully brought a smile onto my lips. When she went offline, it was a sign that she was already on her way down.
We were at the car park of Red Velvet's dorm. It would have been more convenient for her if I was to go up, but they had a rule to not let anyone visit their dorm which I very much appreciated the respecting of boundaries.
My manager lowered the engine and gathered his belongings. "Call me when you're done," he said before exiting the van. I made an 'OK' sign with my fingers. With that, he exited the van and closed the door with a bang.
I drummed my fingers on the armrest along to an unknown beat. I sensed my heart beat increasing for every second that passed, an uncontrollable reflex that occured every time I was meeting her.
The car door slid open moments after, and I turned my head to look at her. She hopped right into the van and closed the door after her in a fast motion. She was wearing a pair of fake glasses, and her face was mostly covered with a white mask. She paired a black cardigan along with a baby pink top. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun with her baby hair flying in all directions.
She removed her mask upon seeing me, and her eyes immediately turned into crescents, disappearing. I could feel the ends of my lips stretch upwards too. Maybe this was why everyone commented how much we resembled each other.
"Hi," I managed to say, as if it was my first time speaking to her.
She chuckled at my greeting, shaking her head in disbelief, a grin still lingering on her lips when she did that. "How was your day?" she turned sideways to look at me properly.
I turned my body to her too, so I could put all my attention on her. I thought for a moment about the day's schedules, events, anecdotes that I could share and so on. I pretended to do a thinking motion, my index finger on the side of my forehead.
"Since today is Friday... we went on Music bank," I began. "Then we had a radio schedule, which was what I just came back from."
I liked how I didn't have to dive into details because Seulgi could relate to me. Most of my schedules were things she'd experienced before, so she could empathise with me.
"I got teased a lot by Jinyoung too," I commented, sounding a little childish. "He kept telling me to stop whenever I tried to make jokes."
Seulgi laughed at me and she rested her palm on my cheek, caressing it softly with her thumb rubbing against my eye bags.
"You must be in a really good mood to come up with all your lame jokes." She said, her eyes twinkling under the dim car lights.
"What about you?" I was more curious in learning about her day than sharing mine. I took her hand away from my face and interlocked it. I still liked the warmth she provided, the feeling of happiness I feel whenever I see her small hand under mine. All the descriptions about how it feels like a missing puzzle that you've finally found were real.
She thought for a moment in the comfortable silence. "We finished our recording for the sub-unit!" she exclaimed excitedly. Her face lit up and I unknowingly smiled. This was why I said I was a fool in love.
"I wished our promotions could overlap though..." she murmured.
"I will only be promoting till next week." I hated to tell her that. I wished our promotions could overlap too, so I could see her more often.
"That sucks," she whined, pouting. She looked up at me with those innocent eyes, those crazily attractive monolids which was what made her stand out from the rest.
"But hey, you have to enjoy your promotions," I reminded her. "Rookie Seulgi." I teased. She was debuting in a sub-unit with Irene and that made her a newbie all over again.
"I will!" she concurred. "JB sunbae."
I chortled, squeezing her hand a little tighter.
We decided to watch our favourite movie, Before Sunrise at the back of the car. We sat side by side in the backseat, her body leaning towards me while I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. The tablet balanced itself on the armrests between the two seats in the front, playing the movie.
She removed her glasses and I gently took it away from her, putting it on my side, making a mental note to return it to her later.
It's crazy how similar we are. Before Sunrise was an individual favourite to us of all time, but now it became a shared favourite which made it more special to us. This was already our second time watching it together, but everything continued to feel new with Seulgi.
We were barely halfway through the movie when I heard soft snores coming from her. Her head had dropped to my chest and I did not want to move so as to not disrupt her. My heart clenched seeing her take the effort to meet me even though she was probably very tired from her recordings and practice. I gently moved her head away from my chest and let it rest on the headrest instead. I searched for my phone and noted the time: 11.45 P.M.
I texted my manager instead, and he said he would come over soon.
"Seulgi-ah." I said in a low voice.
Her eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the lights which I had just turned on. She rubbed her eyes groggily, wrapping her arms around my waist and digging her face into my chest. "Five more minutes."
My heart softened at the sight of her. I patted her back slowly to a steady beat. I gave her three minutes instead as I knew it was getting late.
When the time was up, I called her again and she lethargically pulled away from me. With her eyes still half-opened, she fumbled for her mask before hooking it across her face. I simply gazed at her, finding her every movement cute and comical.
"Text you tomorrow!" I chimed and waved.
She nodded and left the van groggily, and I watched until she got into the lift safely.
When I wanted to move to the front seat, my hand unexpectedly touched a plastic object. My eyes looked down and I realised I had forgotten to return her fake glasses to her. Shrugging, I took the glasses and placed it on my lap the whole ride home.
Did you see my glasses? I chuckled the moment I saw her text the following afternoon.
We were walking back to the waiting room right after our rehearsal and it was timely how the hallways were all cordoned by white walls. I asked Bambam to take a photo of me in the glasses and my blue suit. Grinning to myself, I pressed send.
A/N plus points if you knew what photo jaebeom sent! + talk to me about jaegi & gotvelvet on my twt! @omgjjong :')
