it's systematic, it's hydromatic (sooyoung/yoona)
it's systematic, it's hydromatic
sooyoung/yoona; pg-13; 4,411 words
high school au
Shim Changmin terrified her.
Maybe her overactive imagination was to blame. Maybe it was her father’s fault for beginning her education in horror films at a way too young age. Whatever the reason may have been, it didn’t stop Yoona from freezing her her seat whenever he tried to conjure up the emotion to replicate Danny Zuko’s infamous, but flawed and cliché, charisma. No matter how hard he tried, or how long her attempt went on for, he never really seemed to hit the nail on the head. Anytime he actually latched on to something that could work for a scene, it was disconcerting and… it wasn’t right. Mrs. Tredoni or Michael Myers could put on a better show of emotional than he could.
Maybe Dr. Loomis had actually been hunting down Shim Changmin over all those years. Maybe Shim Changmin was actually Michael Myers. Maybe he’d managed to find the technology for time travel. It was possible and made more sense than anything involving that Druidistic cult from the fifth sequel
… Unless the Druids knew how to time travel too. Oh God, what if he was part of a cult?
Im Yoona shuddered at the thought as she scurried to collect her belongings - her purse, her scarf and gloves, and her script that she’d somehow managed to dismantle during the forty-five play practice. She hadn’t even realized that she’d been slowly, but surely, removing pages of her script until she had whacked poor Lee Jinki across the face with one during Changmin’s unsettling practice rendition of “Greased Lightning”.
“It’s systematic, it’s hydromatic.” More like scarring and horrifying. She was surprised that she’d done nothing more than whip her arms back in terror; she was at liability to physically jump out of her skin sooner or later. She could feel it. It was only a matter of time.
She needed to get out of there. She needed to go home, take a bath and practice her lines with pre-Scientology era John Travolta oppa. Because it was better talking her television screen than it was trying to communicate with Changmin.
Grabbing the final few script pages off of the theater stage floor, Yoona reached up to brush a loose strand of hair behind her earlobe, pushing the papers into a random sections of her binder. God, she was going to have to go through the entire thing later and reorganize it all. All of this was far more complicated than she’d thought it would be, and for a role that she hadn’t even been that interested in. Sandy Olsen? The blonde, clean cut Australian girl? She was awful at doing accents and she’d never even been a Sandy fan. She’d always been more of a Rizzo or Frenchy girl.
Whatever, there was no use whining over it. She was grateful that she’d even been cast, especially with the likes of drama legends from her school like Choi Sooyoung and… well, Choi Siwon but he wasn’t exactly going to school anymore. (He couldn’t really let of it, he just sat around and watched practices and cried sometimes, it was sad, but also… kind of hilarious.)
Moving forward to grab her winter jacket off the backrest of her chair, she found herself stopping dead in her tracks when a hand brushed against her forearm. Her breath caught in her throat - Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, it was him. This was it - he was finally going to do it. She was as good as dead. A million thoughts begun to rush through her mind - thoughts that were sure to be her last.
“Forgive me, father, for I have sinned. Please, don’t let me go to hell. I know that I haven’t always been the best person and I’ve only prayed, like, one time in my life but that doesn’t mean I don’t totally hate you! And I didn’t mean it when I said that I didn’t know if you existed. And I’m sorry for making out with Kim Taeyeon last week when I should have been in my Trigonometry class. I tried to hold myself back, she just has such a nice butt, and…”
Just as she was preparing herself to turn around and face the Grim Reaper, she heard a soft laugh - soft… and feminine. This doubled with her body registering the warmth that the hand on her arm was radiating off - a warmth that she was pretty sure a human ice cube like Shim Changmin could never possess.
Shoulders falling in relief, she finally turned to face the person hovering behind her, the corners of her lips quirking upward into a curious smile. “Sooyoung-ah.”
Choi Sooyoung. The best comedic and improv actor that had graced the stage of their school’s theater in the last few years. Choi Sooyoung, who was also able to put on a beyond convincing dramatic performance. Choi Sooyoung, who had somehow managed to find the perfect balance between being respectful and knee slapping funny. (At least, Yoona had slapped her knee a few times when being within ear’s distance of one of her jokes.) Choi Sooyoung, who was in possession of a pair of, possibly, the most mouth watering stems she’d ever laid her eyes on.
Choi Sooyoung who she may have had a little bit of a crush on, but that was irrelevant.
“Im Yoona,” Sooyoung greeted, right eye closing shut into a quick wink. One thing that Yoona had always admired about her was how comfortable she was around everyone, whether she’d just met them or been by their side for years. She treated everyone as an equal - and it was flattering that she hadn’t been an exception to that. They’d never been the best of friends. Probably because this was her first time actually participating in one of the school’s productions, rather than just watching from afar and wishing that she could partake, but that didn’t mean they’d never spoken before this point.
She’d totally borrowed a pencil from her once.
Her eyes lingered on the Sooyoung, waiting for her to move her lips again; to say anything at all, but all she seemed to be doing was examining her. Looking her up and down as if she was trying to put her finger on something but couldn’t exactly figure out what. Or maybe she was checking her out. (Wishful thinking) Finally she heard Sooyoung clear her throat, a smirk creeping across her lips. “You’re not the biggest fan of Changmin oppa, huh?”
Startled at her straightforwardness, Yoona raised a hand upward, waving it dismissively (almost frantically). “Ah! I…, no? I mean, no, I don’t not like him or anything, he just kind of…” She trailed off, trying to find the right way to explain her almost debilitating fear of him without… making it seem like she was convinced he was a serial killer in the making.
“You’re afraid of him.” The smirk that had been playing across Sooyoung’s lips only grew larger as Yoona’s expression changed into something like surprise. Could this girl read minds? “I don’t blame you, he doesn’t exactly accommodate to new people - or anyone, or try to make them feel comfortable around him. He’s always been like that.”
“I can’t tell if he’s concentrating on trying to memorize his lines, or thinking up ways to murder me.”
The words rushed out before she could stop them - a deep scarlet flush spreading across Yoona’s cheeks. Shit, Sooyoung was probably going to think she was a total psycho now - totally paranoid and out of her mind. But it wasn’t like she thought she was at risk of being murdered by everyone! It was just with him! She just had to find a way to explain that to her…
Before she could begin coming up with good excuses for what she’d spit out, her thought processed was cut short by another laugh - much more prolonged, louder. Her gaze drew up toward the face of her company - catching the bright smile that she was flashing at her. “That’s cute, you’re funny.”
She was cute? And funny? What a double whammy - she could feel her heartbeat begin to pick up at the strangely timed compliment.
“Maybe you’re not completely wrong though.” What? Yoona’s eyes widened at the second half of Sooyoung’s response - fear clouding over her eyes. Did she know something that she didn’t? Jesus, what if Changmin already had some sort of track record that no one but this poor, innocent… sex goddess of a girl knew about? It would have terrible to have to keep a secret like that.
Wanting to reach forward and hug the other Sooyoung, to tell her how brave she was for keeping such an terrible, terrifying (and totally unconfirmed) secret to herself, Yoona felt herself freezing once again as Sooyoung took a step closer to her, bringing her lips mere inches from her ear. “Maybe you’re right, maybe he has killed someone,” Sooyoung whispered at her. Yoona’s breath hitched, but as soon as that same fear had started to take over, a new hearty laugh echoed through the room. “But not really. He’s so lame. You know what he does when he’s not at school? He sits in his room and watches the favorite animes over and over… and over again. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m guilty of doing the same every now and again, but… whatever you think about him? Whatever you’ve heard? It’s all talk. If anyone’s going to have a murder rap sheet in this cast, it’d probably be me.”
Choi Sooyoung? Killing someone? The thought alone was enough to make Yoona laugh - she wasn’t sure that was amusing to her, and not scaring the shit out of her like to did with Changmin but… it just did. “Okay, so you’re the dark and mysterious one in this equation, got it.” She smiled back at Yoona, reaching an arm backward to grab onto the other half of her coat, shrugging it over her first arm awkwardly in the space between the two of them. “I have to get going though, sorry. The lines can’t practice themselves - especially when I’m doing both parts.” She felt her eyes roll back into her head at this admission. She hadn’t exactly told anyone yet that this was how she’d been preparing for the play: all by her lonesome. But why should she have? It’d just cause ruckus amongst the other cast members which would probably lead to them forcing her to work with Changmin and… no. She… no. She didn’t want that.
Sooyoung quirked an eyebrow as Yoona finished placing on her coat, moving to work on the first of a small handful of large buttons on the top of it. As she begun at the bottom, it took all the resistance in the world not to melt into a puddle of herself as Sooyoung moved forward and started to work on the top one. “You’ve been practicing with yourself? That’s kind of sad,” she paused as she moved on to the second button. “But impressive. Why haven’t you asked anyone to help you out?”
Yoona pondered the question for a moment. Why hadn’t she? It wasn’t like she was shy.
“I don’t know, I just… haven’t? I guess I didn’t want to be an inconvenience. It’s my first time working with you guys, I don’t want to seem… uh…,” she trailed off, trying to find the right word. “Needy?”
As Sooyoung finished the third button, her hand meeting Yoona’s momentarily at the center of the coat, she gave another smile - this time much softer. “Needy, no. There’s nothing wrong with asking for some extra help.” Pause. “You know, I’d be down for working on lines with you…, if you’re into that sort of thing. I know that I don’t really look like a Danny Zuko, but I’ve been told that my impression of an Eastern American male is completely convincing? Someone totally mistook me for Joe Pesci once.”
… Choi Sooyoung was offering to help her with her lines? Yoona felt her mouth begin to water at the thought. Time alon with Choi Sooyoung? How could she turn that down? She’d be crazy to.
“Ah, I don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re the perfect Danny.” She smiled up at Sooyoung, taking a few steps backward in the direction of the exit. “Thank you? I’d really, really appreciate that. I was starting feel really Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde-y, it wouldn’t hurt to have… a reason person to practice with.” Because, as much as she would have liked it to be true, her television wasn’t a real person. This wasn’t Videodrome.
“Cool!” Yoona eyed the other Sooyoung as she begun to move in the opposite direction, not exactly sure where she was going, but who cared? All the mattered was that they had a da-… okay, no. Not a date. They had a date to hang out, that was it. If it was a date, she would have alluded to that and, anyway, she wasn’t even sure if Sooyoung was into girls like that. “I have to go back home and put together dinner for my parents fast, but I could meet up at your place at, like… seven or eight?”
Nodding her head enthusiastically in response, Yoona moved a hand into her coat pocket, pulling out her cell phone - secretly thankful that the cast and crew had been told to give out their numbers to each other during the first day of practice. Quickly typing out her home address, she sent the text to the girl a mere ten or fifteen feet away from her, craning her head back up to give another quick, final smile. “There you go. My parents are usually gone but the door should be unlocked? You text me when you’re close by.”
Turning her back from Sooyoung, she started to stride toward the exit, a satisfied smile crossing her features as she finally reached the door - hand grazing the handle. As soon as the smile had appeared, it was erased by the distant echo of Sooyoung’s voice.
“We can just make it a sleepover then. See you later!”
Yoona wasn’t sure if the blood had drained from her face entirely, or if it had flooded over it so rapidly that all her nerves had went numb. Raising her hand awkwardly up into the air, her thumb jutting out in a “thumb’s up”, she finally opened up the door, stepping through the metal beams and allowing it to shut before pressing her back against the nearby wall. Letting out a shallow, shaky breath, her hand gripped around her cell phone. A sleepover? What did that even mean?
♡♡♡♡
“Sorry, Travolta. We’re on the outs tonight.”
The slapping of bare feet against the wooden flooring of Im Yoona’s bedroom would have been enough to raise questioning from her mother and father - if they hadn’t been out for their weekly noraebang date. After she got home from school or practice, with the exception of scourging their fridge for something to snack on, the teenager usually confirmed herself to her bedroom to marathon whatever genre of film struck her fancy that particular evening or to attempt and catch up on dramas.
This usually involved her ass being glued firmly to the top of her bed sheet - the only noise coming from within the four walls of her room coming from the rustling of a hand inside the packaging of a bag of snack chips, or the chattering of people on her television (or the sound of a car crashing into another poor fictional character on whatever given drama she was watching; it was only a matter of time before something of the like happened on every show). She only ever left her room to get more food, check to see if her cat was breathing on the other end of the room (he was so overweight, it was only a matter of time before he’d end up suffocating himself on his own body or furballs) and pee.
A schedule like this probably would have seemed boring to anyone else, but it was exciting as fuck for her. It was all she wanted out of life - well, with the exception of a few other things.
To become an actress, and make out with Choi Sooyoung.
The first aspiration was now in her grasp fully: she was an actress, officially, now that she’d actually be cast in something. Not only cast though, but as the leading lady. The second one? It was attainable - maybe. At least she could try and be friends with the girl.
Yoona stopped what she was doing (dusting) to go over the scenario from three hours earlier. It was hard to believe grasp onto the fact that it’d actually happened. When she’d stepped into her home, she’d wondered momentarily if it’d been nothing but one of her typical daydreams but Sooyoung texting her back to further elaborate on this “sleepover” she wanted to do gave her reason enough to believe that she’d be completely awake the entire time. That this was the real thing.
She just wasn’t sure yet why Sooyoung wanted to have a sleepover with her. Did people their age still do the sleepover thing? She was pretty sure that she hadn’t either had or been invited to one since junior high school. Not that was complaining, or afraid that something would interfere like her parents (they didn’t give a fuck if someone stayed the night, they were “cool and casual”, or… tried to be), because she wasn’t. It was just all so sudden and…
The familiar ringing of her text tone caused Yoona to jump upward, her phone flying out of her grasp and sliding across the floor under her bed. Letting out a small yelp, she dove down toward the ground, her arm stretching under the bed to retrieve what she had lost. Eyes squinting as she brought the screen back to life, she read the message she had received not once, but two, three, four, five times over before bringing herself back up to her feet.
I’m outside, should I just come in???
Hesitating for a moment, her fingers finally took control of the situation by moving across the keyboard, replying with a simple “yes” before the phone fell from her grip against, this time onto the comforter of her bed
Eyes flickered from one end of her room to the next as she heard the familiar sound of her home’s front door opening and closing. It wasn’t spotless but… it couldn’t be. She didn’t want Sooyoung to think that she was going out of her wayto make things clean for her… that would have been weird, right? And it’d probably just make things awkward, which she didn’t want. Everything had to be cool. Super cool, and…
“Hey.”
Head turning to the side, almost taken aback by the drop in formalness in the tone of her friend (?), she took in the sight in front of her. It was nothing out of the ordinary - it was just… Sooyoung
Alright, she was kind of leaned against the doorframe seductively but that may have just been her imagination getting the best of her again, and that bag she was carrying with her looked like it could have been heavy. Yeah, that was totally it. It was heavy.
Continuing to watch Sooyoung in silence as she moved further into the room, using the back of heel to kick the door shut behind her (maybe she should have been suspicious of that, but it wasn’t strange for someone to want a door to be shut, right? Drafts could get in), dropping the bag at the edge of her bed. Clearing her throat as Sooyoung sat onto the corner of the mattress, sending her that same smile she had a few hours beforehand, she finally retained the ability to speak back up. “Hey! I wasn’t really sure what you meant by this “sleepover” thing, but I assumed it was, like… a sleepover, sleepover? I brought some snacks into the room, and… Vita500?”
God, she was so lame. Snacks? Why did she have to say that she had snacks for them?
“Awesome. I was hoping you’d have something to snack on. I kind of ran short of money on the bus ride here and I’m… starving. I’ll buy the snacks next time, though, promise.”
Next time? There was going to be a next time? This time hadn’t even started yet.
That probably meant things were looking up, right? She was happy with everything?
Feeling a boost of confidence at this, Yoona smiled forward before stepping to the side and grabbing her script binder, finishing off her journey as she made her way to the bed, taking seat next to Sooyoung. “Okay, so…, where did you want to start with this? Should we just go from the beginning, or… maybe try some of the harder stuff? Not that any of it’s that hard. I’ve seriously watched the movie and productions of the play fifty times through over the last three weeks, I know both versions like that back of my hand.”
… did that sound conceited?
Pursing her lips together at the thought, she quickly moved in to (possibly) redeem herself. “Not that I’m saying I’m… good at any of this stuff, because I’m really not. I just… memorize things easily.”
“No, you’re good at it! I’ve been watching you during practice. You caught on really quick to everything and… you have potential, Im Yoona.” Eyes moving from the glossy front of her binder to Sooyoung’s face, she attempted to memorize the smile that graced her features. It wasn’t much different from any of the others she’d given her that day, but there was something about this particular one that she didn’t want to forget. Maybe it was because it was linked with a compliment and, if that was why, maybe it was selfish to do so but she couldn’t help it. It was just too beautiful.
“Thank you,” she replied back simply, her fingers sliding under the cover, flicking to the first page before remembering: it wasn’t going to be the first page, everything was a jumbled mess in there. Frowning somewhat at the realization, she gave a small shrug of her shoulders. “I forgot that I tore out half of these things like a total dumbass earlier. Can we just share your script?”
And it was with that that something changed about Sooyoung’s face. The smile that had rested there seconds before was replaced with a smirk - soft but sly, as if she knew something Yoona was totally unaware of. Which wasn’t too far off. She wasn’t sure what was going on her, or why Sooyoung was looking at her like she hadn’t eaten all day.
“Yoona…, I have to own up to you about something.” Head tilting to the side, Yoona quirked an eyebrow in curiosity, simply nodding her head to give her the “go”. “I… kind of, sort of… didn’t bring my script with me?”
A wave of confusion crashed over Yoona at this admission. She hadn’t brought her script when they were hanging out to… go over lines? Jesus, had she memorized the entire script or something? Was she really that good of an actress?
Yoona asked herself this question, knowing it was probably the most logical one. Sooyoung was some sort of acting prodigy, that’s what it had to be, because any other possibility that may have been running through her head was way more far fetched than the latter.
“You didn’t? Did you want to… go off script or something?” Oh god, of course she wanted to go off script if she didn’t bring her script. She was so stupid.
Sooyoung laughed again and it was like music to her ears, similar to the tune an old, favorite music box from her childhood had played for her. It was beautiful and nothing like a Goblin score (which was what she heard whenever Shim Changmin was around). “No, I was thinking something else, but if that’s what you want to do…”
Fear gripped onto Yoona as Sooyoung turned her frame at an angle away from her, wondering what exactly she meant by “something else” before letting out a rushed, “no!” … Jesus. She was just going to end up embarrassing herself. “I mean…, no…ooo. I’m down for anything, I’ve been practicing way too much lately anyway. I’ve kind of worn myself out on it, what did you have in mind?”
And before she could fully register the mischievousness glint in Sooyoung’s eyes, a hand was latched to her shoulder blade, the nail of a thumb digging into the top of her collarbone. She could barely allow the dilation of Sooyoung's pupils to sink into her before the space between them was sealed. She attempted to catch her breath through a clash of teeth and tongue as he hand slithered around the slim waist of the other, eyelashes fluttering shut as her back hit the soft of her comforter.
She wasn’t sure how long they were like that for - seconds, minutes, hours - an electric spark traveling through her system, setting off a fuse between the plush of Sooyoung’s lips.
Finally, she pulled back, unable to keep herself going much longer on the minuscule amount of air stored inside her lungs. Her eyes popped open and took in Sooyoung as she dropped at her side, Yoona’s hand still trapped under her body. The two kept like that for a moment - silent and still, panting in an attempt to gain back the composure they’d both lost before a question begun to pose itself inside Yoona’s mind once again.
She had far too many questions, she thought about things too much. She should have just went with the “flow” and not risked ruining the moment, killing the buzz but she couldn’t stop herself from saying at least something. “I wish you were my Danny.”
It was better than questioning the entire situation, right? It was simple. It was honest, and it’d made Sooyoung laugh.
“Well, I am your Rizzo… and, you can’t deny there was some sort of spark there. Sandy totally wanted to tap that.”
Well, she couldn’t deny what was unabashedly true.
sooyoung/yoona; pg-13; 4,411 words
high school au
Shim Changmin terrified her.
Maybe her overactive imagination was to blame. Maybe it was her father’s fault for beginning her education in horror films at a way too young age. Whatever the reason may have been, it didn’t stop Yoona from freezing her her seat whenever he tried to conjure up the emotion to replicate Danny Zuko’s infamous, but flawed and cliché, charisma. No matter how hard he tried, or how long her attempt went on for, he never really seemed to hit the nail on the head. Anytime he actually latched on to something that could work for a scene, it was disconcerting and… it wasn’t right. Mrs. Tredoni or Michael Myers could put on a better show of emotional than he could.
Maybe Dr. Loomis had actually been hunting down Shim Changmin over all those years. Maybe Shim Changmin was actually Michael Myers. Maybe he’d managed to find the technology for time travel. It was possible and made more sense than anything involving that Druidistic cult from the fifth sequel
… Unless the Druids knew how to time travel too. Oh God, what if he was part of a cult?
Im Yoona shuddered at the thought as she scurried to collect her belongings - her purse, her scarf and gloves, and her script that she’d somehow managed to dismantle during the forty-five play practice. She hadn’t even realized that she’d been slowly, but surely, removing pages of her script until she had whacked poor Lee Jinki across the face with one during Changmin’s unsettling practice rendition of “Greased Lightning”.
“It’s systematic, it’s hydromatic.” More like scarring and horrifying. She was surprised that she’d done nothing more than whip her arms back in terror; she was at liability to physically jump out of her skin sooner or later. She could feel it. It was only a matter of time.
She needed to get out of there. She needed to go home, take a bath and practice her lines with pre-Scientology era John Travolta oppa. Because it was better talking her television screen than it was trying to communicate with Changmin.
Grabbing the final few script pages off of the theater stage floor, Yoona reached up to brush a loose strand of hair behind her earlobe, pushing the papers into a random sections of her binder. God, she was going to have to go through the entire thing later and reorganize it all. All of this was far more complicated than she’d thought it would be, and for a role that she hadn’t even been that interested in. Sandy Olsen? The blonde, clean cut Australian girl? She was awful at doing accents and she’d never even been a Sandy fan. She’d always been more of a Rizzo or Frenchy girl.
Whatever, there was no use whining over it. She was grateful that she’d even been cast, especially with the likes of drama legends from her school like Choi Sooyoung and… well, Choi Siwon but he wasn’t exactly going to school anymore. (He couldn’t really let of it, he just sat around and watched practices and cried sometimes, it was sad, but also… kind of hilarious.)
Moving forward to grab her winter jacket off the backrest of her chair, she found herself stopping dead in her tracks when a hand brushed against her forearm. Her breath caught in her throat - Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, it was him. This was it - he was finally going to do it. She was as good as dead. A million thoughts begun to rush through her mind - thoughts that were sure to be her last.
“Forgive me, father, for I have sinned. Please, don’t let me go to hell. I know that I haven’t always been the best person and I’ve only prayed, like, one time in my life but that doesn’t mean I don’t totally hate you! And I didn’t mean it when I said that I didn’t know if you existed. And I’m sorry for making out with Kim Taeyeon last week when I should have been in my Trigonometry class. I tried to hold myself back, she just has such a nice butt, and…”
Just as she was preparing herself to turn around and face the Grim Reaper, she heard a soft laugh - soft… and feminine. This doubled with her body registering the warmth that the hand on her arm was radiating off - a warmth that she was pretty sure a human ice cube like Shim Changmin could never possess.
Shoulders falling in relief, she finally turned to face the person hovering behind her, the corners of her lips quirking upward into a curious smile. “Sooyoung-ah.”
Choi Sooyoung. The best comedic and improv actor that had graced the stage of their school’s theater in the last few years. Choi Sooyoung, who was also able to put on a beyond convincing dramatic performance. Choi Sooyoung, who had somehow managed to find the perfect balance between being respectful and knee slapping funny. (At least, Yoona had slapped her knee a few times when being within ear’s distance of one of her jokes.) Choi Sooyoung, who was in possession of a pair of, possibly, the most mouth watering stems she’d ever laid her eyes on.
Choi Sooyoung who she may have had a little bit of a crush on, but that was irrelevant.
“Im Yoona,” Sooyoung greeted, right eye closing shut into a quick wink. One thing that Yoona had always admired about her was how comfortable she was around everyone, whether she’d just met them or been by their side for years. She treated everyone as an equal - and it was flattering that she hadn’t been an exception to that. They’d never been the best of friends. Probably because this was her first time actually participating in one of the school’s productions, rather than just watching from afar and wishing that she could partake, but that didn’t mean they’d never spoken before this point.
She’d totally borrowed a pencil from her once.
Her eyes lingered on the Sooyoung, waiting for her to move her lips again; to say anything at all, but all she seemed to be doing was examining her. Looking her up and down as if she was trying to put her finger on something but couldn’t exactly figure out what. Or maybe she was checking her out. (Wishful thinking) Finally she heard Sooyoung clear her throat, a smirk creeping across her lips. “You’re not the biggest fan of Changmin oppa, huh?”
Startled at her straightforwardness, Yoona raised a hand upward, waving it dismissively (almost frantically). “Ah! I…, no? I mean, no, I don’t not like him or anything, he just kind of…” She trailed off, trying to find the right way to explain her almost debilitating fear of him without… making it seem like she was convinced he was a serial killer in the making.
“You’re afraid of him.” The smirk that had been playing across Sooyoung’s lips only grew larger as Yoona’s expression changed into something like surprise. Could this girl read minds? “I don’t blame you, he doesn’t exactly accommodate to new people - or anyone, or try to make them feel comfortable around him. He’s always been like that.”
“I can’t tell if he’s concentrating on trying to memorize his lines, or thinking up ways to murder me.”
The words rushed out before she could stop them - a deep scarlet flush spreading across Yoona’s cheeks. Shit, Sooyoung was probably going to think she was a total psycho now - totally paranoid and out of her mind. But it wasn’t like she thought she was at risk of being murdered by everyone! It was just with him! She just had to find a way to explain that to her…
Before she could begin coming up with good excuses for what she’d spit out, her thought processed was cut short by another laugh - much more prolonged, louder. Her gaze drew up toward the face of her company - catching the bright smile that she was flashing at her. “That’s cute, you’re funny.”
She was cute? And funny? What a double whammy - she could feel her heartbeat begin to pick up at the strangely timed compliment.
“Maybe you’re not completely wrong though.” What? Yoona’s eyes widened at the second half of Sooyoung’s response - fear clouding over her eyes. Did she know something that she didn’t? Jesus, what if Changmin already had some sort of track record that no one but this poor, innocent… sex goddess of a girl knew about? It would have terrible to have to keep a secret like that.
Wanting to reach forward and hug the other Sooyoung, to tell her how brave she was for keeping such an terrible, terrifying (and totally unconfirmed) secret to herself, Yoona felt herself freezing once again as Sooyoung took a step closer to her, bringing her lips mere inches from her ear. “Maybe you’re right, maybe he has killed someone,” Sooyoung whispered at her. Yoona’s breath hitched, but as soon as that same fear had started to take over, a new hearty laugh echoed through the room. “But not really. He’s so lame. You know what he does when he’s not at school? He sits in his room and watches the favorite animes over and over… and over again. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m guilty of doing the same every now and again, but… whatever you think about him? Whatever you’ve heard? It’s all talk. If anyone’s going to have a murder rap sheet in this cast, it’d probably be me.”
Choi Sooyoung? Killing someone? The thought alone was enough to make Yoona laugh - she wasn’t sure that was amusing to her, and not scaring the shit out of her like to did with Changmin but… it just did. “Okay, so you’re the dark and mysterious one in this equation, got it.” She smiled back at Yoona, reaching an arm backward to grab onto the other half of her coat, shrugging it over her first arm awkwardly in the space between the two of them. “I have to get going though, sorry. The lines can’t practice themselves - especially when I’m doing both parts.” She felt her eyes roll back into her head at this admission. She hadn’t exactly told anyone yet that this was how she’d been preparing for the play: all by her lonesome. But why should she have? It’d just cause ruckus amongst the other cast members which would probably lead to them forcing her to work with Changmin and… no. She… no. She didn’t want that.
Sooyoung quirked an eyebrow as Yoona finished placing on her coat, moving to work on the first of a small handful of large buttons on the top of it. As she begun at the bottom, it took all the resistance in the world not to melt into a puddle of herself as Sooyoung moved forward and started to work on the top one. “You’ve been practicing with yourself? That’s kind of sad,” she paused as she moved on to the second button. “But impressive. Why haven’t you asked anyone to help you out?”
Yoona pondered the question for a moment. Why hadn’t she? It wasn’t like she was shy.
“I don’t know, I just… haven’t? I guess I didn’t want to be an inconvenience. It’s my first time working with you guys, I don’t want to seem… uh…,” she trailed off, trying to find the right word. “Needy?”
As Sooyoung finished the third button, her hand meeting Yoona’s momentarily at the center of the coat, she gave another smile - this time much softer. “Needy, no. There’s nothing wrong with asking for some extra help.” Pause. “You know, I’d be down for working on lines with you…, if you’re into that sort of thing. I know that I don’t really look like a Danny Zuko, but I’ve been told that my impression of an Eastern American male is completely convincing? Someone totally mistook me for Joe Pesci once.”
… Choi Sooyoung was offering to help her with her lines? Yoona felt her mouth begin to water at the thought. Time alon with Choi Sooyoung? How could she turn that down? She’d be crazy to.
“Ah, I don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re the perfect Danny.” She smiled up at Sooyoung, taking a few steps backward in the direction of the exit. “Thank you? I’d really, really appreciate that. I was starting feel really Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde-y, it wouldn’t hurt to have… a reason person to practice with.” Because, as much as she would have liked it to be true, her television wasn’t a real person. This wasn’t Videodrome.
“Cool!” Yoona eyed the other Sooyoung as she begun to move in the opposite direction, not exactly sure where she was going, but who cared? All the mattered was that they had a da-… okay, no. Not a date. They had a date to hang out, that was it. If it was a date, she would have alluded to that and, anyway, she wasn’t even sure if Sooyoung was into girls like that. “I have to go back home and put together dinner for my parents fast, but I could meet up at your place at, like… seven or eight?”
Nodding her head enthusiastically in response, Yoona moved a hand into her coat pocket, pulling out her cell phone - secretly thankful that the cast and crew had been told to give out their numbers to each other during the first day of practice. Quickly typing out her home address, she sent the text to the girl a mere ten or fifteen feet away from her, craning her head back up to give another quick, final smile. “There you go. My parents are usually gone but the door should be unlocked? You text me when you’re close by.”
Turning her back from Sooyoung, she started to stride toward the exit, a satisfied smile crossing her features as she finally reached the door - hand grazing the handle. As soon as the smile had appeared, it was erased by the distant echo of Sooyoung’s voice.
“We can just make it a sleepover then. See you later!”
Yoona wasn’t sure if the blood had drained from her face entirely, or if it had flooded over it so rapidly that all her nerves had went numb. Raising her hand awkwardly up into the air, her thumb jutting out in a “thumb’s up”, she finally opened up the door, stepping through the metal beams and allowing it to shut before pressing her back against the nearby wall. Letting out a shallow, shaky breath, her hand gripped around her cell phone. A sleepover? What did that even mean?
♡♡♡♡
“Sorry, Travolta. We’re on the outs tonight.”
The slapping of bare feet against the wooden flooring of Im Yoona’s bedroom would have been enough to raise questioning from her mother and father - if they hadn’t been out for their weekly noraebang date. After she got home from school or practice, with the exception of scourging their fridge for something to snack on, the teenager usually confirmed herself to her bedroom to marathon whatever genre of film struck her fancy that particular evening or to attempt and catch up on dramas.
This usually involved her ass being glued firmly to the top of her bed sheet - the only noise coming from within the four walls of her room coming from the rustling of a hand inside the packaging of a bag of snack chips, or the chattering of people on her television (or the sound of a car crashing into another poor fictional character on whatever given drama she was watching; it was only a matter of time before something of the like happened on every show). She only ever left her room to get more food, check to see if her cat was breathing on the other end of the room (he was so overweight, it was only a matter of time before he’d end up suffocating himself on his own body or furballs) and pee.
A schedule like this probably would have seemed boring to anyone else, but it was exciting as fuck for her. It was all she wanted out of life - well, with the exception of a few other things.
To become an actress, and make out with Choi Sooyoung.
The first aspiration was now in her grasp fully: she was an actress, officially, now that she’d actually be cast in something. Not only cast though, but as the leading lady. The second one? It was attainable - maybe. At least she could try and be friends with the girl.
Yoona stopped what she was doing (dusting) to go over the scenario from three hours earlier. It was hard to believe grasp onto the fact that it’d actually happened. When she’d stepped into her home, she’d wondered momentarily if it’d been nothing but one of her typical daydreams but Sooyoung texting her back to further elaborate on this “sleepover” she wanted to do gave her reason enough to believe that she’d be completely awake the entire time. That this was the real thing.
She just wasn’t sure yet why Sooyoung wanted to have a sleepover with her. Did people their age still do the sleepover thing? She was pretty sure that she hadn’t either had or been invited to one since junior high school. Not that was complaining, or afraid that something would interfere like her parents (they didn’t give a fuck if someone stayed the night, they were “cool and casual”, or… tried to be), because she wasn’t. It was just all so sudden and…
The familiar ringing of her text tone caused Yoona to jump upward, her phone flying out of her grasp and sliding across the floor under her bed. Letting out a small yelp, she dove down toward the ground, her arm stretching under the bed to retrieve what she had lost. Eyes squinting as she brought the screen back to life, she read the message she had received not once, but two, three, four, five times over before bringing herself back up to her feet.
I’m outside, should I just come in???
Hesitating for a moment, her fingers finally took control of the situation by moving across the keyboard, replying with a simple “yes” before the phone fell from her grip against, this time onto the comforter of her bed
Eyes flickered from one end of her room to the next as she heard the familiar sound of her home’s front door opening and closing. It wasn’t spotless but… it couldn’t be. She didn’t want Sooyoung to think that she was going out of her wayto make things clean for her… that would have been weird, right? And it’d probably just make things awkward, which she didn’t want. Everything had to be cool. Super cool, and…
“Hey.”
Head turning to the side, almost taken aback by the drop in formalness in the tone of her friend (?), she took in the sight in front of her. It was nothing out of the ordinary - it was just… Sooyoung
Alright, she was kind of leaned against the doorframe seductively but that may have just been her imagination getting the best of her again, and that bag she was carrying with her looked like it could have been heavy. Yeah, that was totally it. It was heavy.
Continuing to watch Sooyoung in silence as she moved further into the room, using the back of heel to kick the door shut behind her (maybe she should have been suspicious of that, but it wasn’t strange for someone to want a door to be shut, right? Drafts could get in), dropping the bag at the edge of her bed. Clearing her throat as Sooyoung sat onto the corner of the mattress, sending her that same smile she had a few hours beforehand, she finally retained the ability to speak back up. “Hey! I wasn’t really sure what you meant by this “sleepover” thing, but I assumed it was, like… a sleepover, sleepover? I brought some snacks into the room, and… Vita500?”
God, she was so lame. Snacks? Why did she have to say that she had snacks for them?
“Awesome. I was hoping you’d have something to snack on. I kind of ran short of money on the bus ride here and I’m… starving. I’ll buy the snacks next time, though, promise.”
Next time? There was going to be a next time? This time hadn’t even started yet.
That probably meant things were looking up, right? She was happy with everything?
Feeling a boost of confidence at this, Yoona smiled forward before stepping to the side and grabbing her script binder, finishing off her journey as she made her way to the bed, taking seat next to Sooyoung. “Okay, so…, where did you want to start with this? Should we just go from the beginning, or… maybe try some of the harder stuff? Not that any of it’s that hard. I’ve seriously watched the movie and productions of the play fifty times through over the last three weeks, I know both versions like that back of my hand.”
… did that sound conceited?
Pursing her lips together at the thought, she quickly moved in to (possibly) redeem herself. “Not that I’m saying I’m… good at any of this stuff, because I’m really not. I just… memorize things easily.”
“No, you’re good at it! I’ve been watching you during practice. You caught on really quick to everything and… you have potential, Im Yoona.” Eyes moving from the glossy front of her binder to Sooyoung’s face, she attempted to memorize the smile that graced her features. It wasn’t much different from any of the others she’d given her that day, but there was something about this particular one that she didn’t want to forget. Maybe it was because it was linked with a compliment and, if that was why, maybe it was selfish to do so but she couldn’t help it. It was just too beautiful.
“Thank you,” she replied back simply, her fingers sliding under the cover, flicking to the first page before remembering: it wasn’t going to be the first page, everything was a jumbled mess in there. Frowning somewhat at the realization, she gave a small shrug of her shoulders. “I forgot that I tore out half of these things like a total dumbass earlier. Can we just share your script?”
And it was with that that something changed about Sooyoung’s face. The smile that had rested there seconds before was replaced with a smirk - soft but sly, as if she knew something Yoona was totally unaware of. Which wasn’t too far off. She wasn’t sure what was going on her, or why Sooyoung was looking at her like she hadn’t eaten all day.
“Yoona…, I have to own up to you about something.” Head tilting to the side, Yoona quirked an eyebrow in curiosity, simply nodding her head to give her the “go”. “I… kind of, sort of… didn’t bring my script with me?”
A wave of confusion crashed over Yoona at this admission. She hadn’t brought her script when they were hanging out to… go over lines? Jesus, had she memorized the entire script or something? Was she really that good of an actress?
Yoona asked herself this question, knowing it was probably the most logical one. Sooyoung was some sort of acting prodigy, that’s what it had to be, because any other possibility that may have been running through her head was way more far fetched than the latter.
“You didn’t? Did you want to… go off script or something?” Oh god, of course she wanted to go off script if she didn’t bring her script. She was so stupid.
Sooyoung laughed again and it was like music to her ears, similar to the tune an old, favorite music box from her childhood had played for her. It was beautiful and nothing like a Goblin score (which was what she heard whenever Shim Changmin was around). “No, I was thinking something else, but if that’s what you want to do…”
Fear gripped onto Yoona as Sooyoung turned her frame at an angle away from her, wondering what exactly she meant by “something else” before letting out a rushed, “no!” … Jesus. She was just going to end up embarrassing herself. “I mean…, no…ooo. I’m down for anything, I’ve been practicing way too much lately anyway. I’ve kind of worn myself out on it, what did you have in mind?”
And before she could fully register the mischievousness glint in Sooyoung’s eyes, a hand was latched to her shoulder blade, the nail of a thumb digging into the top of her collarbone. She could barely allow the dilation of Sooyoung's pupils to sink into her before the space between them was sealed. She attempted to catch her breath through a clash of teeth and tongue as he hand slithered around the slim waist of the other, eyelashes fluttering shut as her back hit the soft of her comforter.
She wasn’t sure how long they were like that for - seconds, minutes, hours - an electric spark traveling through her system, setting off a fuse between the plush of Sooyoung’s lips.
Finally, she pulled back, unable to keep herself going much longer on the minuscule amount of air stored inside her lungs. Her eyes popped open and took in Sooyoung as she dropped at her side, Yoona’s hand still trapped under her body. The two kept like that for a moment - silent and still, panting in an attempt to gain back the composure they’d both lost before a question begun to pose itself inside Yoona’s mind once again.
She had far too many questions, she thought about things too much. She should have just went with the “flow” and not risked ruining the moment, killing the buzz but she couldn’t stop herself from saying at least something. “I wish you were my Danny.”
It was better than questioning the entire situation, right? It was simple. It was honest, and it’d made Sooyoung laugh.
“Well, I am your Rizzo… and, you can’t deny there was some sort of spark there. Sandy totally wanted to tap that.”
Well, she couldn’t deny what was unabashedly true.