opposites attract (t-ara, qri/soyeon)
opposites attract
group: t-ara
pairing: qri/soyeon
length: ~4,500w
notes: shy!Qri was so unreal but it was so exciting heuheu, ah my otp. also, there's a very mild M content at the end but overall, it's pg-13. -3-
Park Soyeon lives for the adventures. She’s not afraid to crawl out of her comfort zone go to extreme extents, trying her limits all the time just to make sure her life wouldn’t be as boring as those of most young adults nowadays. She’s the type to easily remove her USB stick from her computer without selecting the option from the task bar that lets you safely remove it, the one who would bravely run through a road filled with fast cars that could hit her any second without even looking around, the one who would happily try out bungee jumping and jump off the highest cliff available with a wide smile on her face, the one who would stroll in the city full of gangs, murderers and all kinds of criminals all by herself, without having any sort of weapon to defend herself with.
Lee Qri is the type of girl who drives in a relaxed pace, the one who would look around at least three times, both to the left and right before she crosses the zebra and the one who would check repeatedly if she locked her door before finally leaving her house. She’s not the one to talk back to others, or to talk in general; she likes to remain hidden in the background and use that as an advantage to observe those surrounding her, collecting every piece of information about the individuals and storing them in her brain precisely in case they would come in handy later. She rarely drinks alcohol and even if she does, she always stops before she would have too much and basically the only extraordinary thing in her life is her job.
And being a barista slash dancer teasing the crowd at a bar is far, far more than she would ever agree to do under other circumstances, but life has never been about what people wanted to do but whatever they were supposed to do to make their ends meet. The world’s has long been known to be all about money and Lee Qri didn’t really have a choice either if she didn’t want to end up on the streets - which, obviously, wasn’t on that small virtual list of all the things she wanted to achieve in her life.
Park Soyeon’s first impression she makes when she enters the bar she’s been a regular at is that instead of the usual crew of entertainers, there’s one new face she doesn’t remember ever seeing before. She swears that the girl is a new addition to the workers; she would surely never forget those adorable features, her large, beautiful eyes, the apricot pink colored locks that fall over her shoulders in an elegant, princess-y way and that one small cute mole on the tip of her nose as she notices it as soon as she gets closer.
Soyeon’s welcomed by the ones she already knows and she greets all of them happily, throwing an arm around one, pecking the cheek of the other, ruffling the hair of another with a huge smile plastered on her face and she sits down on the bar stool. Her friends start talking to her, but she hears none of their words as her attention focuses purely on the new girl standing no more than a meter away from her, her back facing her as she’s busy preparing one of the drinks a rather aged and disgusting man had ordered.
“Sso, I asked you something,” one of the baristas pinch her arm and she finally awakens from the distraction and looks at her, flashing an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, Hyomin,” she says in a sweet voice and nods towards the new girl with her head. “Fresh meat?”
“Ya, she started yesterday,” the girl nods and shoots a smirk. “Interested?”
“We could say so,” Soyeon pokes her lips into a pout and pulls one of her favorite rings off her finger to fidget with it, her eyes wandering back on the pink wonder once again. “She got a name?”
“Qri, I believe,” Hyomin shrugs lightly, clearly not that hyped up about her - but Soyeon thinks that’s perfectly fine. Dealing with competition has never been exactly a problem for her, but now she feels that it’s better if she has less of them or totally none. “It’s not her real name but I forgot what the real was. She said she’s called like that because she’s ‘Cutie Pretty’,” she snorts and Soyeon’s eyebrow travel high up.
“Oh, is that so?” she murmurs absent-mindedly when suddenly, the girl turns around and she has the opportunity to see her gorgeous face again. High cheekbones, somewhat pale skin, perfect eyeliner and a pair of light brown circle lenses - Geo Angel Brown, perhaps, Soyeon takes note mentally. She can’t help but pull off an amused smile at the sight of the small mole and she shoots Hyomin a look. The barista immediately recognizes the sign and rolls her eyes, mouthing a short ‘good luck’ before turning around and subtly taking her leave to leave the two alone.
“Hey there,” Soyeon starts and the adorable one lifts her gaze, her eyes pointing at the one calling before she flashes a confused frown.
“Me?”
“Yes, yes, you,” the red-haired nods repeatedly and gestures with a finger for the other to come closer. “I’d like to order a drink.”
“Oh-Oh! Y-yeah, sure, just a minute,” she mumbles and turns around, standing in the same position for a few seconds before she faces Soyeon again. “I’m sorry, what did you say you wanted?”
“I didn’t say it,” she grins and presses her lips against each other to keep herself from laughing. The girl’s shyness and slight scatterbrain-ness amuses her, she finds it somewhat cute, especially that small blush that draws itself over her cheeks after Soyeon speaks. “I’d like to have a Margarita. Without sour mix, please.”
“Coming up!” the girl bows her head and clears her throat, turning again to start gathering the ingredients while still staying close to Soyeon and the woman fancies that. She slides her arms over the counter and crosses them, her head tilting to the side as she refuses to stop following the girl’s movements with her eyes.
“So, what’s your name, new girl?” she asks and the girl looks up, staying silent for a few seconds before she lets out a sheepish laugh, her hands continuing to prepare the cocktail.
“Qri. I’m Qri.”
“You have a cute name,” Soyeon compliments and she loves when the previous blush returns, making Qri to turn around to hide it. It’s extremely cute, she thinks and she takes the glass with her drink by leaning over the counter (even though she doesn’t need to), only to become so close to Qri that their noses touch; a split second, but it’s enough for the barista to flush once again and lift her hand to uncomfortably comb through her straight locks.
“Thank you. My name is Soyeon,” she continues, willing to keep the conversation going even though the other seems sort of reluctant to do so, something which Soyeon debates whether is because of her shyness or the potential dislike towards herself but she decides that the latter one is less rational. Qri’s lips curl into a small smile and she nods and that one smile is more adorable than any other Soyeon has ever seen.
She has to get this girl.
“Have you already performed?” she suddenly asks and Qri blinks in confusion before she understands the question and lightly shakes her head, twisting a strand of hair around her finger to play with it as she answers.
“No, not yet.”
“Are you going to tonight?”
She just shakes her head again.
“Ah, what a shame,” Soyeon says with genuine disappointment as she takes a few sips from her drink. “I really wanted to see you dance.”
“I’m dancing tomorrow,” she says out of the blue and it surprises the girl herself just as much as it does Soyeon. Qri clears her throat again and looks away, her cheeks being painted with a dark tint of red again and Soyeon can’t help but let a joyful laughter escape her.
“Well, that’s perfect. See you tomorrow, then, Qri-sshi,” Soyeon stands up, shooting a charming smile as she finishes her drink and turns around, leaving the bar without saying any more.
*
This is all new to Lee Qri.
She wonders why this is even happening and where are these feelings coming from, but she can’t deny the growing excitement inside when she thinks of seeing that girl again. Besides that excitement, however, there’s a mild fear building up as well as she starts to panick; what if she messes up her performance? What if the lack of her dancing skills will be displayed so obviously that Soyeon gets completely turned off by it and never returns to the bar ever again?
As she realizes the amount of questions akin to these, she shakes her head rapidly. Why does it even matter? It’s not like she would ever have a chance. It’s not like this would be love, and Qri would never start dating with anyone she doesn’t love. Finding someone attracting is not enough and she knows that perfectly, yet her heart keeps pounding faster and heat creeps over her cheeks every time the face of the red-haired appears in her mind. She’s never seen such an endearing and interesting woman before, not that she had seen so many as she rarely met new people, but she knows that Soyeon’s special. In the meaning that there’s just something about her, perhaps the fact she's so outspoken, so brave, everything she's not that Qri finds more magnetic than others, more thrilling, more inviting.
Now the only thing she needs to believe in that Soyeon’s reason for flirting her yesterday - it was flirting after all, wasn’t it? - is something that would provoke her to make the first move which could lead to something Qri’s wanted to be part of for so long after so many lonely years.
Because, if she doesn’t make the first move, Qri never would.
*
There’s obviously no reason for Soyeon to having chosen an outfit that’s probably one of her hottest ones and the most reliable when it comes to the need of creating a nice cleavage pleasant to everyone’s eyes. She obviously didn’t spend an hour spraying, combing, curling, straightening and perfecting her hair only because she was in the mood to do so. And she obviously didn’t apply a little bit more make up than usual, but still making sure it would look natural, either.
No, the reason obviously wasn’t Lee Qri, not at all.
But it’s hard to deny that the first thing her eyes catch upon entering the bar is the figure of the pink-haired girl behind the counter, whose gaze seems to find Soyeon’s almost immediately. The girl looks away, but the short eye-contact makes Soyeon happy as she knows the other’s been waiting for her just as much as she’s been craving to see her again as well. With relaxed steps, she approaches the counter and sits down five stools further away from Qri, her eyes catching the glimpse of the disappointment that flashes upon the barista’s features only for one second as she sees that Soyeon doesn’t settle close to her. The red-haired is barely able to hide her amusement as that reaction is exactly she wanted to get with this small trick to figure out whether the other would approach her first.
For a short while, she’s sitting alone on the stool with her phone in her hands, pretending to be completely disinterested in everything around her even though deep inside, she wonders why she hasn’t been found by Qri yet and the lack of her attempts causes a slight disappointment to spark. That is until finally, she sees something pink sneak into her peripheral vision and soon after, the familiar, somewhat high-pitched tone speaks.
“I thought you said you wanted to see me dance, didn’t you?” There’s slight resentment in Qri’s voice and it puts a smirk on Soyeon’s face as she looks up from her phone, putting it away slowly.
“I did. Are you dancing? It doesn’t seem like that to me.”
Qri parts her lips but closes them, biting down the words she was about to say and Soyeon wonders what they could’ve been.
“It’s because you’re not paying attention so I wanted to…” she starts again but she realizes that this is perhaps worse than what she originally wanted to say so instead, she just sighs and shakes her head. “Nevermind. Sorry to bother you.”
When Qri tries to go away, Soyeon stands up and grabs her wrist, pulling her closer and as both of their bodies lean over the counter, there becomes only a small amount of space between their faces. Soyeon feels the warmth of the other’s breath on her lips and her eyes unconsciously falls on the pair of Qri’s own before the barista clumsily takes a few steps back, looking down, probably to hide the flush Soyeon’s used to seeing now.
“You’re not bothering me,” she says, a wide smile growing on her face. “I was just simply curious whether you would interact with me first without me approaching you. It was worth the wait.”
Qri lifts her head, a confused frown evident upon her features as she crosses her arms over her chest.
“So you just used a trick on me?” Soyeon hears some sort of sharp tone in her voice, but it’s so obviously forced that she has to laugh.
“I did. What’cha gonna do about it, princess?”
Qri squeezes her lips together, looking busy trying to find a proper comeback but she fails and instead just shrugs her shoulders and when she speaks again, her voice is filled with insecurity. “S-so, would you like to s-see me?”
“That’s the main reason I’m here, yes,” Soyeon beams, nodding and Qri does the same. This is the first time the barista’s smile is so happy, so bright, it causes a tingling sensation somewhere in Soyeon’s tummy and she’s amazed how short time it took Qri to induce such feelings. This girl really is something and now that she finally seems to have a hold of her, she’s not willing to let go.
One of the dancers, Eunjung jumps off the counter when the songs finishes and as she notices Soyeon, she immediately leans over to pull her into a tight hug. Soyeon, somewhat surprised, but happily laughs, squeezing the friend she hasn’t seen for a few weeks now. Qri stops next to them and Soyeon can see darkness flash in her eyes upon their contact. Would it be possible that she was jealous?
“Long time no see gurl,” Eunjung chuckles and cups Soyeon’s face with both of her hands to pull her in for a quick peck on her lips, something that’s been their habit ever since they knew each other and something that makes Qri hold her breath right next to them. Soyeon laughs again, but there’s a new distance she keeps from Eunjung when they pull away and even if the dancer notices, she doesn’t address it.
“How does it feel to be back into the groove, Hahm?” Soyeon asks, smiling widely and the other shrugs.
“Nice, I guess. Getting paid is always a nice thing, y’know.”
“True that, my friend,” Soyeon nods then looks at Qri, whose gaze is firmly fixated on the ground. “Anyway, I gotta go. Need to watch a cutie perform,” she says, pointing at Qri with her head and Eunjung turns, flashing the pink-haired a grin.
“Ah, the new girl. Qri, right? Ah, I wish I could’ve been there when you applied, but I guess I’ll just watch you now,” she winked and Qri chuckled awkwardly.
“Thank you, Eunjung-sshi. Can’t wait to work with you, your skills are amazing.”
“Nah, I just have too much free time, but thanks ya.” She salutes. “Alright then, you two go do your business and I go do mine. See ya later, chicks.”
Soyeon waves a hand then looks at Qri, not sure whether she should hope that the jealousy vanishes now or still feel amused by it. She decides not to spare more time to debate on that and when the song starts and Qri hops on the counter, she sits down close to her but not too close so she would have a nice view.
It’s a song that starts out slowly at first and Qri’s fingers wrap around the pole placed right next to the counter to climb on it while Soyeon watches her intensively. As soon as she starts moving around the pole, Soyeon feels mesmerized by the sight; Qri’s moves are so powerful and yet elegant, she manages to mix the two and do the choreography perfectly. She swings around the pole so naturally that Soyeon can’t keep her eyes off of her as she twirls, throws a leg in the air then another before making a perfect body wave. Charisma is radiating from all over her and when she locks eyes with Soyeon, there’s fierceness and something else in that look she gives her.
By the time the song ends, Soyeon’s lips are slightly parted in amusement and it doesn’t take her too long to join the loud cheer Qri receives after her performance - everyone is more than satisfied with what they had just seen and they all call out the dancer’s name but she listens to only one of them and the fact that it’s her makes Soyeon’s heart flutter in a way she almost believed she would never.
When Qri walks out from behind the counter and passes by Soyeon, she doesn’t forget to whisper her number into her ear and Soyeon doesn’t hesitate to quickly type them down before she walks off.
*
Lee Qri can’t stop staring at her phone.
Each time she hears a buzz, each time her ringtone starts playing, she hopes that it’s her.
But she hasn’t called yet, and she’s already starting to regret ever giving her the phone number.
It was such an uncharacteristic move, to come to think of it. It all started with her performance; when she first stepped on the counter, she didn’t plan on putting so much energy and… what do they call it? Fierceness? Fierceness into her dance. But as soon as she touched the pole and her eyes fell on the girl that kissed the one person Qri liked, something clicked in her brain and things just followed naturally.
She surely wasn’t herself in those five minutes and now she wondered if it had been a bad move, if it had been something new Soyeon wasn’t used to see from her, a not-exactly-shy Qri and she could only hope that it didn’t lower her chances. She would’ve never tried to flirt or even interact with any girl she liked ever again if she found out she had murdered the odds herself.
When there’s another buzz, Qri shivers and she’s too afraid to look at her phone for a few minutes. She just sits there on her bed and stares at the evil device from afar before she lets out a whine and plunges forward to check the message.
When she sees it’s from an unknown number, she breathes heavily before rushing through the message with her eyes.
[ text; ] Tonight at 7pm. Come over, let’s have a movie night.
She stares at the address given to her and that one letter, an ‘S’ at the end of the message and she feels her heart beating so fast that it’s fearful it ends up jumping out of her chest. Qri suddenly wraps her phone close to herself, her eyes falling shut and a wide smile forming upon her lips.
Seems like giving Soyeon her number wasn’t a bad move after all.
*
It’s the same shyness that surrounds Qri’s entire being that she had seen on the first day she met her when she steps through the door of Soyeon’s apartment. Soyeon watches as the girl lets her eyes scan the area, innocent admiration twinkling in her eyes as she does so and it takes no longer than a minute before Qri puts her feelings into words.
“Your place is beautiful. It’s so modern and all, you must be rich.”
“Let’s just say I have some money,” Soyeon shrugs, not wanting to talk about her financial state as she’s always considered money to be nothing more but a tool some people took way too seriously. She plops down on the couch in the living room and gestures Qri to do the same who obediently settles down next to Soyeon. She avoids to make an eye-contact, leaning more towards appreciating the place and the nice interior than Soyeon and she doesn’t like that. One of the reasons she invited her here was to break through that shell Qri had built around herself and her boundaries that was her shyness and she wasn’t willing to stay put and wait for it to dissolve by itself.
“So, are you here only to stare at my beautiful apartment or because you actually want to hang out with me?” Soyeon asks, somewhat demands and Qri seemingly notices the half-sharp tone.
“Sorry,” she murmurs and offers a bright smile. “To hang out, of course.”
“Good,” Soyeon mimicks the smile and pats Qri’s thigh lightly. The action makes the other to flush, but it’s not as intense as before anymore. “Do you want me to make us some hot chocolate?”
“Hot chocolate sounds nice,” Qri nods and Soyeon stands up, walking over to the kitchen to prepare it. A few seconds later, the pink-haired girl is standing next to her, attentively watching whatever Soyeon’s doing to make the hot chocolate and the other’s smirk obviously tells her that she enjoys the attention.
“Are you always so quiet?” Soyeon asks and Qri murmurs something inaudible before clearing her throat.
“Y-yes, most of the time. I’m not really interesting so I prefer to stay silent and just keep track of what people around me say or do.”
“Nice hobby,” Soyeon nods as she puts the two mugs of milk into the microwave. “That means you always know everything about everyone, don’t you?”
“We could say that…” Qri says softly, chewing on her lower lip. “That sounds kind of bad, though. It makes me feel like a stalker.”
“Well aren’t you one?” Soyeon laughs and Qri does the same, albeit her tone being somewhat awkward on the contrary to the lightness in Soyeon’s.
“Anyway,” Qri furrows her eyebrows, trying to change the topic so they wouldn’t have to talk about her. “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a psychologist,” Soyeon says and the answer catches Qri off guard. It’s unexpected and her feelings are clearly reflected on her face because Soyeon cracks up. “You would’ve never believed it, would ya? But yes, I’m a school psychologist. I’m on a few months break, though, because I’m doing several language courses right now and I can’t keep up with all of them at the same time.”
“What languages?” Qri asks curiously, her eyes landing on Soyeon’s slender fingers as she pours the powder of hot chocolate into both of the mugs.
“Japanese, Mandarin, German and Icelandic.”
“Woah, that’s very impressive. You learn all of these?” Qri blinks and Soyeon nods. “Icelandic?”
“I live for Iceland. My favorite country, I hope to visit it sometime.”
“That’s a great dream. I’m sure you’ll be able to achieve it.”
“You should come with me when I go,” Soyeon looks up, a small smile playing upon her lips. Qri responds with a sheepish smile and looks away.
“That would be lovely.”
Soyeon hands one of the mugs to Qri and they walk back to the couch, sitting down on it again in silence. Both of the girls remain drinking without saying any word for a while before Qri puts down her mug and lifts her gaze to plant it on Soyeon.
“So, you said movie night…” she starts and Soyeon looks up, placing her own mug on the coffee table as well. “What are we planning to watch?”
“Whatever you want to watch,” Soyeon replies and she inches closer to Qri. The pink-haired holds her breath but doesn’t pull away and in the next second, she feels the touch of Soyeon’s thumb in the corner of her lips. The small contact causes a heat to rush through her body and Soyeon leans even closer, her finger still lingering on Qri’s lips.
Their eyes lock and Qri takes a deep breath, her cheeks burning from the heat as she silently appreciates every small part of Soyeon’s face. Those big, doll-like eyes, the perfect curve of her nose and those thin, bright lips and suddenly, she feels like drowning. When Soyeon leans in, she automatically closes her eyes and the sounds of her rapid heartbeats echoing in her ears, she holds her breath once again as the other replaces her thumb with her own lips.
It lasts for one mere second and then Soyeon pulls away, but it’s enough for Qri to completely lose her ability to think rationally and all she does is releasing the breath she was holding and looking at Soyeon who doesn’t look back at her. Qri swallows hard and watches the other as she takes the remote control in her hand and turns on the tv, supposedly starting to look for a channel but Qri doesn’t see any of them all. All she really cares about is Soyeon herself, the girl who managed to create butterflies in her stomach with her mere existence, whom she has this painfully intense craving for, for those lips that touched hers just a minute ago.
Before she realizes, she’s already too late to turn back as she crawls closer to Soyeon and wraps one of her arms around her, her lips pressing on the soft skin on her neck. Soyeon turns around with a surprised look, but the feeling is soon replaced by contentment as her lips curve into a smile and she snakes her arms around Qri’s neck.
And their lips meet again, this time in a proper kiss, a kiss that’s more passionate than any other they have ever experienced, a kiss that’s filled with all the words they were unable to say before and they don’t want to let go of each other.
Soyeon’s hot breath against Qri’s skin feels so nice she breaks their kiss only to feel it again and slides her hand down her lover’s bare back. She looks up to lace her eyes into the pair of the heavily panting Soyeon’s own and she waits for her to stabilize her breathing before she kisses her, softly, sweetly. Soyeon rolls off of Qri and snuggles closer to her, their naked bodies pressing each other on the bed and Qri leans into the other’s embrace, placing her head on her chest while she draws random figures on her lover’s bare stomach.
“You’re not that shy after all, aren’t you?” Soyeon suddenly speaks and Qri looks up, an amused grin stretching her lips.
“It’s only because I’m with you, my Sso.”
“And you should never, ever leave me, my Kyul. Can you promise me?”
Qri shifts and brushes her lips softly against Soyeon’s before whispering between them.
“I promise.”
And from that day, Qri believes that her life would never be that relaxed ever again.
group: t-ara
pairing: qri/soyeon
length: ~4,500w
notes: shy!Qri was so unreal but it was so exciting heuheu, ah my otp. also, there's a very mild M content at the end but overall, it's pg-13. -3-
Park Soyeon lives for the adventures. She’s not afraid to crawl out of her comfort zone go to extreme extents, trying her limits all the time just to make sure her life wouldn’t be as boring as those of most young adults nowadays. She’s the type to easily remove her USB stick from her computer without selecting the option from the task bar that lets you safely remove it, the one who would bravely run through a road filled with fast cars that could hit her any second without even looking around, the one who would happily try out bungee jumping and jump off the highest cliff available with a wide smile on her face, the one who would stroll in the city full of gangs, murderers and all kinds of criminals all by herself, without having any sort of weapon to defend herself with.
Lee Qri is the type of girl who drives in a relaxed pace, the one who would look around at least three times, both to the left and right before she crosses the zebra and the one who would check repeatedly if she locked her door before finally leaving her house. She’s not the one to talk back to others, or to talk in general; she likes to remain hidden in the background and use that as an advantage to observe those surrounding her, collecting every piece of information about the individuals and storing them in her brain precisely in case they would come in handy later. She rarely drinks alcohol and even if she does, she always stops before she would have too much and basically the only extraordinary thing in her life is her job.
And being a barista slash dancer teasing the crowd at a bar is far, far more than she would ever agree to do under other circumstances, but life has never been about what people wanted to do but whatever they were supposed to do to make their ends meet. The world’s has long been known to be all about money and Lee Qri didn’t really have a choice either if she didn’t want to end up on the streets - which, obviously, wasn’t on that small virtual list of all the things she wanted to achieve in her life.
Park Soyeon’s first impression she makes when she enters the bar she’s been a regular at is that instead of the usual crew of entertainers, there’s one new face she doesn’t remember ever seeing before. She swears that the girl is a new addition to the workers; she would surely never forget those adorable features, her large, beautiful eyes, the apricot pink colored locks that fall over her shoulders in an elegant, princess-y way and that one small cute mole on the tip of her nose as she notices it as soon as she gets closer.
Soyeon’s welcomed by the ones she already knows and she greets all of them happily, throwing an arm around one, pecking the cheek of the other, ruffling the hair of another with a huge smile plastered on her face and she sits down on the bar stool. Her friends start talking to her, but she hears none of their words as her attention focuses purely on the new girl standing no more than a meter away from her, her back facing her as she’s busy preparing one of the drinks a rather aged and disgusting man had ordered.
“Sso, I asked you something,” one of the baristas pinch her arm and she finally awakens from the distraction and looks at her, flashing an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, Hyomin,” she says in a sweet voice and nods towards the new girl with her head. “Fresh meat?”
“Ya, she started yesterday,” the girl nods and shoots a smirk. “Interested?”
“We could say so,” Soyeon pokes her lips into a pout and pulls one of her favorite rings off her finger to fidget with it, her eyes wandering back on the pink wonder once again. “She got a name?”
“Qri, I believe,” Hyomin shrugs lightly, clearly not that hyped up about her - but Soyeon thinks that’s perfectly fine. Dealing with competition has never been exactly a problem for her, but now she feels that it’s better if she has less of them or totally none. “It’s not her real name but I forgot what the real was. She said she’s called like that because she’s ‘Cutie Pretty’,” she snorts and Soyeon’s eyebrow travel high up.
“Oh, is that so?” she murmurs absent-mindedly when suddenly, the girl turns around and she has the opportunity to see her gorgeous face again. High cheekbones, somewhat pale skin, perfect eyeliner and a pair of light brown circle lenses - Geo Angel Brown, perhaps, Soyeon takes note mentally. She can’t help but pull off an amused smile at the sight of the small mole and she shoots Hyomin a look. The barista immediately recognizes the sign and rolls her eyes, mouthing a short ‘good luck’ before turning around and subtly taking her leave to leave the two alone.
“Hey there,” Soyeon starts and the adorable one lifts her gaze, her eyes pointing at the one calling before she flashes a confused frown.
“Me?”
“Yes, yes, you,” the red-haired nods repeatedly and gestures with a finger for the other to come closer. “I’d like to order a drink.”
“Oh-Oh! Y-yeah, sure, just a minute,” she mumbles and turns around, standing in the same position for a few seconds before she faces Soyeon again. “I’m sorry, what did you say you wanted?”
“I didn’t say it,” she grins and presses her lips against each other to keep herself from laughing. The girl’s shyness and slight scatterbrain-ness amuses her, she finds it somewhat cute, especially that small blush that draws itself over her cheeks after Soyeon speaks. “I’d like to have a Margarita. Without sour mix, please.”
“Coming up!” the girl bows her head and clears her throat, turning again to start gathering the ingredients while still staying close to Soyeon and the woman fancies that. She slides her arms over the counter and crosses them, her head tilting to the side as she refuses to stop following the girl’s movements with her eyes.
“So, what’s your name, new girl?” she asks and the girl looks up, staying silent for a few seconds before she lets out a sheepish laugh, her hands continuing to prepare the cocktail.
“Qri. I’m Qri.”
“You have a cute name,” Soyeon compliments and she loves when the previous blush returns, making Qri to turn around to hide it. It’s extremely cute, she thinks and she takes the glass with her drink by leaning over the counter (even though she doesn’t need to), only to become so close to Qri that their noses touch; a split second, but it’s enough for the barista to flush once again and lift her hand to uncomfortably comb through her straight locks.
“Thank you. My name is Soyeon,” she continues, willing to keep the conversation going even though the other seems sort of reluctant to do so, something which Soyeon debates whether is because of her shyness or the potential dislike towards herself but she decides that the latter one is less rational. Qri’s lips curl into a small smile and she nods and that one smile is more adorable than any other Soyeon has ever seen.
She has to get this girl.
“Have you already performed?” she suddenly asks and Qri blinks in confusion before she understands the question and lightly shakes her head, twisting a strand of hair around her finger to play with it as she answers.
“No, not yet.”
“Are you going to tonight?”
She just shakes her head again.
“Ah, what a shame,” Soyeon says with genuine disappointment as she takes a few sips from her drink. “I really wanted to see you dance.”
“I’m dancing tomorrow,” she says out of the blue and it surprises the girl herself just as much as it does Soyeon. Qri clears her throat again and looks away, her cheeks being painted with a dark tint of red again and Soyeon can’t help but let a joyful laughter escape her.
“Well, that’s perfect. See you tomorrow, then, Qri-sshi,” Soyeon stands up, shooting a charming smile as she finishes her drink and turns around, leaving the bar without saying any more.
*
This is all new to Lee Qri.
She wonders why this is even happening and where are these feelings coming from, but she can’t deny the growing excitement inside when she thinks of seeing that girl again. Besides that excitement, however, there’s a mild fear building up as well as she starts to panick; what if she messes up her performance? What if the lack of her dancing skills will be displayed so obviously that Soyeon gets completely turned off by it and never returns to the bar ever again?
As she realizes the amount of questions akin to these, she shakes her head rapidly. Why does it even matter? It’s not like she would ever have a chance. It’s not like this would be love, and Qri would never start dating with anyone she doesn’t love. Finding someone attracting is not enough and she knows that perfectly, yet her heart keeps pounding faster and heat creeps over her cheeks every time the face of the red-haired appears in her mind. She’s never seen such an endearing and interesting woman before, not that she had seen so many as she rarely met new people, but she knows that Soyeon’s special. In the meaning that there’s just something about her, perhaps the fact she's so outspoken, so brave, everything she's not that Qri finds more magnetic than others, more thrilling, more inviting.
Now the only thing she needs to believe in that Soyeon’s reason for flirting her yesterday - it was flirting after all, wasn’t it? - is something that would provoke her to make the first move which could lead to something Qri’s wanted to be part of for so long after so many lonely years.
Because, if she doesn’t make the first move, Qri never would.
*
There’s obviously no reason for Soyeon to having chosen an outfit that’s probably one of her hottest ones and the most reliable when it comes to the need of creating a nice cleavage pleasant to everyone’s eyes. She obviously didn’t spend an hour spraying, combing, curling, straightening and perfecting her hair only because she was in the mood to do so. And she obviously didn’t apply a little bit more make up than usual, but still making sure it would look natural, either.
No, the reason obviously wasn’t Lee Qri, not at all.
But it’s hard to deny that the first thing her eyes catch upon entering the bar is the figure of the pink-haired girl behind the counter, whose gaze seems to find Soyeon’s almost immediately. The girl looks away, but the short eye-contact makes Soyeon happy as she knows the other’s been waiting for her just as much as she’s been craving to see her again as well. With relaxed steps, she approaches the counter and sits down five stools further away from Qri, her eyes catching the glimpse of the disappointment that flashes upon the barista’s features only for one second as she sees that Soyeon doesn’t settle close to her. The red-haired is barely able to hide her amusement as that reaction is exactly she wanted to get with this small trick to figure out whether the other would approach her first.
For a short while, she’s sitting alone on the stool with her phone in her hands, pretending to be completely disinterested in everything around her even though deep inside, she wonders why she hasn’t been found by Qri yet and the lack of her attempts causes a slight disappointment to spark. That is until finally, she sees something pink sneak into her peripheral vision and soon after, the familiar, somewhat high-pitched tone speaks.
“I thought you said you wanted to see me dance, didn’t you?” There’s slight resentment in Qri’s voice and it puts a smirk on Soyeon’s face as she looks up from her phone, putting it away slowly.
“I did. Are you dancing? It doesn’t seem like that to me.”
Qri parts her lips but closes them, biting down the words she was about to say and Soyeon wonders what they could’ve been.
“It’s because you’re not paying attention so I wanted to…” she starts again but she realizes that this is perhaps worse than what she originally wanted to say so instead, she just sighs and shakes her head. “Nevermind. Sorry to bother you.”
When Qri tries to go away, Soyeon stands up and grabs her wrist, pulling her closer and as both of their bodies lean over the counter, there becomes only a small amount of space between their faces. Soyeon feels the warmth of the other’s breath on her lips and her eyes unconsciously falls on the pair of Qri’s own before the barista clumsily takes a few steps back, looking down, probably to hide the flush Soyeon’s used to seeing now.
“You’re not bothering me,” she says, a wide smile growing on her face. “I was just simply curious whether you would interact with me first without me approaching you. It was worth the wait.”
Qri lifts her head, a confused frown evident upon her features as she crosses her arms over her chest.
“So you just used a trick on me?” Soyeon hears some sort of sharp tone in her voice, but it’s so obviously forced that she has to laugh.
“I did. What’cha gonna do about it, princess?”
Qri squeezes her lips together, looking busy trying to find a proper comeback but she fails and instead just shrugs her shoulders and when she speaks again, her voice is filled with insecurity. “S-so, would you like to s-see me?”
“That’s the main reason I’m here, yes,” Soyeon beams, nodding and Qri does the same. This is the first time the barista’s smile is so happy, so bright, it causes a tingling sensation somewhere in Soyeon’s tummy and she’s amazed how short time it took Qri to induce such feelings. This girl really is something and now that she finally seems to have a hold of her, she’s not willing to let go.
One of the dancers, Eunjung jumps off the counter when the songs finishes and as she notices Soyeon, she immediately leans over to pull her into a tight hug. Soyeon, somewhat surprised, but happily laughs, squeezing the friend she hasn’t seen for a few weeks now. Qri stops next to them and Soyeon can see darkness flash in her eyes upon their contact. Would it be possible that she was jealous?
“Long time no see gurl,” Eunjung chuckles and cups Soyeon’s face with both of her hands to pull her in for a quick peck on her lips, something that’s been their habit ever since they knew each other and something that makes Qri hold her breath right next to them. Soyeon laughs again, but there’s a new distance she keeps from Eunjung when they pull away and even if the dancer notices, she doesn’t address it.
“How does it feel to be back into the groove, Hahm?” Soyeon asks, smiling widely and the other shrugs.
“Nice, I guess. Getting paid is always a nice thing, y’know.”
“True that, my friend,” Soyeon nods then looks at Qri, whose gaze is firmly fixated on the ground. “Anyway, I gotta go. Need to watch a cutie perform,” she says, pointing at Qri with her head and Eunjung turns, flashing the pink-haired a grin.
“Ah, the new girl. Qri, right? Ah, I wish I could’ve been there when you applied, but I guess I’ll just watch you now,” she winked and Qri chuckled awkwardly.
“Thank you, Eunjung-sshi. Can’t wait to work with you, your skills are amazing.”
“Nah, I just have too much free time, but thanks ya.” She salutes. “Alright then, you two go do your business and I go do mine. See ya later, chicks.”
Soyeon waves a hand then looks at Qri, not sure whether she should hope that the jealousy vanishes now or still feel amused by it. She decides not to spare more time to debate on that and when the song starts and Qri hops on the counter, she sits down close to her but not too close so she would have a nice view.
It’s a song that starts out slowly at first and Qri’s fingers wrap around the pole placed right next to the counter to climb on it while Soyeon watches her intensively. As soon as she starts moving around the pole, Soyeon feels mesmerized by the sight; Qri’s moves are so powerful and yet elegant, she manages to mix the two and do the choreography perfectly. She swings around the pole so naturally that Soyeon can’t keep her eyes off of her as she twirls, throws a leg in the air then another before making a perfect body wave. Charisma is radiating from all over her and when she locks eyes with Soyeon, there’s fierceness and something else in that look she gives her.
By the time the song ends, Soyeon’s lips are slightly parted in amusement and it doesn’t take her too long to join the loud cheer Qri receives after her performance - everyone is more than satisfied with what they had just seen and they all call out the dancer’s name but she listens to only one of them and the fact that it’s her makes Soyeon’s heart flutter in a way she almost believed she would never.
When Qri walks out from behind the counter and passes by Soyeon, she doesn’t forget to whisper her number into her ear and Soyeon doesn’t hesitate to quickly type them down before she walks off.
*
Lee Qri can’t stop staring at her phone.
Each time she hears a buzz, each time her ringtone starts playing, she hopes that it’s her.
But she hasn’t called yet, and she’s already starting to regret ever giving her the phone number.
It was such an uncharacteristic move, to come to think of it. It all started with her performance; when she first stepped on the counter, she didn’t plan on putting so much energy and… what do they call it? Fierceness? Fierceness into her dance. But as soon as she touched the pole and her eyes fell on the girl that kissed the one person Qri liked, something clicked in her brain and things just followed naturally.
She surely wasn’t herself in those five minutes and now she wondered if it had been a bad move, if it had been something new Soyeon wasn’t used to see from her, a not-exactly-shy Qri and she could only hope that it didn’t lower her chances. She would’ve never tried to flirt or even interact with any girl she liked ever again if she found out she had murdered the odds herself.
When there’s another buzz, Qri shivers and she’s too afraid to look at her phone for a few minutes. She just sits there on her bed and stares at the evil device from afar before she lets out a whine and plunges forward to check the message.
When she sees it’s from an unknown number, she breathes heavily before rushing through the message with her eyes.
[ text; ] Tonight at 7pm. Come over, let’s have a movie night.
She stares at the address given to her and that one letter, an ‘S’ at the end of the message and she feels her heart beating so fast that it’s fearful it ends up jumping out of her chest. Qri suddenly wraps her phone close to herself, her eyes falling shut and a wide smile forming upon her lips.
Seems like giving Soyeon her number wasn’t a bad move after all.
*
It’s the same shyness that surrounds Qri’s entire being that she had seen on the first day she met her when she steps through the door of Soyeon’s apartment. Soyeon watches as the girl lets her eyes scan the area, innocent admiration twinkling in her eyes as she does so and it takes no longer than a minute before Qri puts her feelings into words.
“Your place is beautiful. It’s so modern and all, you must be rich.”
“Let’s just say I have some money,” Soyeon shrugs, not wanting to talk about her financial state as she’s always considered money to be nothing more but a tool some people took way too seriously. She plops down on the couch in the living room and gestures Qri to do the same who obediently settles down next to Soyeon. She avoids to make an eye-contact, leaning more towards appreciating the place and the nice interior than Soyeon and she doesn’t like that. One of the reasons she invited her here was to break through that shell Qri had built around herself and her boundaries that was her shyness and she wasn’t willing to stay put and wait for it to dissolve by itself.
“So, are you here only to stare at my beautiful apartment or because you actually want to hang out with me?” Soyeon asks, somewhat demands and Qri seemingly notices the half-sharp tone.
“Sorry,” she murmurs and offers a bright smile. “To hang out, of course.”
“Good,” Soyeon mimicks the smile and pats Qri’s thigh lightly. The action makes the other to flush, but it’s not as intense as before anymore. “Do you want me to make us some hot chocolate?”
“Hot chocolate sounds nice,” Qri nods and Soyeon stands up, walking over to the kitchen to prepare it. A few seconds later, the pink-haired girl is standing next to her, attentively watching whatever Soyeon’s doing to make the hot chocolate and the other’s smirk obviously tells her that she enjoys the attention.
“Are you always so quiet?” Soyeon asks and Qri murmurs something inaudible before clearing her throat.
“Y-yes, most of the time. I’m not really interesting so I prefer to stay silent and just keep track of what people around me say or do.”
“Nice hobby,” Soyeon nods as she puts the two mugs of milk into the microwave. “That means you always know everything about everyone, don’t you?”
“We could say that…” Qri says softly, chewing on her lower lip. “That sounds kind of bad, though. It makes me feel like a stalker.”
“Well aren’t you one?” Soyeon laughs and Qri does the same, albeit her tone being somewhat awkward on the contrary to the lightness in Soyeon’s.
“Anyway,” Qri furrows her eyebrows, trying to change the topic so they wouldn’t have to talk about her. “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a psychologist,” Soyeon says and the answer catches Qri off guard. It’s unexpected and her feelings are clearly reflected on her face because Soyeon cracks up. “You would’ve never believed it, would ya? But yes, I’m a school psychologist. I’m on a few months break, though, because I’m doing several language courses right now and I can’t keep up with all of them at the same time.”
“What languages?” Qri asks curiously, her eyes landing on Soyeon’s slender fingers as she pours the powder of hot chocolate into both of the mugs.
“Japanese, Mandarin, German and Icelandic.”
“Woah, that’s very impressive. You learn all of these?” Qri blinks and Soyeon nods. “Icelandic?”
“I live for Iceland. My favorite country, I hope to visit it sometime.”
“That’s a great dream. I’m sure you’ll be able to achieve it.”
“You should come with me when I go,” Soyeon looks up, a small smile playing upon her lips. Qri responds with a sheepish smile and looks away.
“That would be lovely.”
Soyeon hands one of the mugs to Qri and they walk back to the couch, sitting down on it again in silence. Both of the girls remain drinking without saying any word for a while before Qri puts down her mug and lifts her gaze to plant it on Soyeon.
“So, you said movie night…” she starts and Soyeon looks up, placing her own mug on the coffee table as well. “What are we planning to watch?”
“Whatever you want to watch,” Soyeon replies and she inches closer to Qri. The pink-haired holds her breath but doesn’t pull away and in the next second, she feels the touch of Soyeon’s thumb in the corner of her lips. The small contact causes a heat to rush through her body and Soyeon leans even closer, her finger still lingering on Qri’s lips.
Their eyes lock and Qri takes a deep breath, her cheeks burning from the heat as she silently appreciates every small part of Soyeon’s face. Those big, doll-like eyes, the perfect curve of her nose and those thin, bright lips and suddenly, she feels like drowning. When Soyeon leans in, she automatically closes her eyes and the sounds of her rapid heartbeats echoing in her ears, she holds her breath once again as the other replaces her thumb with her own lips.
It lasts for one mere second and then Soyeon pulls away, but it’s enough for Qri to completely lose her ability to think rationally and all she does is releasing the breath she was holding and looking at Soyeon who doesn’t look back at her. Qri swallows hard and watches the other as she takes the remote control in her hand and turns on the tv, supposedly starting to look for a channel but Qri doesn’t see any of them all. All she really cares about is Soyeon herself, the girl who managed to create butterflies in her stomach with her mere existence, whom she has this painfully intense craving for, for those lips that touched hers just a minute ago.
Before she realizes, she’s already too late to turn back as she crawls closer to Soyeon and wraps one of her arms around her, her lips pressing on the soft skin on her neck. Soyeon turns around with a surprised look, but the feeling is soon replaced by contentment as her lips curve into a smile and she snakes her arms around Qri’s neck.
And their lips meet again, this time in a proper kiss, a kiss that’s more passionate than any other they have ever experienced, a kiss that’s filled with all the words they were unable to say before and they don’t want to let go of each other.
Soyeon’s hot breath against Qri’s skin feels so nice she breaks their kiss only to feel it again and slides her hand down her lover’s bare back. She looks up to lace her eyes into the pair of the heavily panting Soyeon’s own and she waits for her to stabilize her breathing before she kisses her, softly, sweetly. Soyeon rolls off of Qri and snuggles closer to her, their naked bodies pressing each other on the bed and Qri leans into the other’s embrace, placing her head on her chest while she draws random figures on her lover’s bare stomach.
“You’re not that shy after all, aren’t you?” Soyeon suddenly speaks and Qri looks up, an amused grin stretching her lips.
“It’s only because I’m with you, my Sso.”
“And you should never, ever leave me, my Kyul. Can you promise me?”
Qri shifts and brushes her lips softly against Soyeon’s before whispering between them.
“I promise.”
And from that day, Qri believes that her life would never be that relaxed ever again.