Has Soyeon ever told anyone how she’s so damn attracted to the Producer Yuqi?

The way Yuqi commands everyone and strictly regulates every preparation, how her brain works with bizarre yet intriguing ideas, and the way her keen observation skills proudly show from how she would direct their voices, pronunciations, and even their slightest slangs.

Yuqi could be arrogant, but in Soyeon’s eyes, she was absolutely charming.

“Yuqi ya,” Soyeon called as soon as she entered the younger girl’s studio. “You look like you’re mourning.”

Clad in a black hoodie, black jogging pants, black cap, and black facemask-- basically, Song Yuqi was the epitome of the color of darkness.

The Chinese snickered upon the Korean’s jest and quickly retorted, “And you look like a kid,” without even glancing at the older woman.

Soyeon could only roll her eyes at that.

Dressed in an oversized hoodie, teddy bear printed pants, paired with fluffy slippers, Yuqi merely stated facts about Soyeon’s… fashion taste. Compared to her, the Korean would rather wear comfortable clothes than look cool-- or as if she was grieving.

Soyeon decided to spare the younger girl with her teasings, however. After all, she’s here because she needed something from Yuqi. And that something was honestly a request the Chinese deliberately refused countless times. It even came to a point where both of them were arguing on top of their lungs because neither wanted to cooperate! Nevertheless, Soyeon wanted to try her luck again.

“So, I wanted to ask you something,” She started, biting her bottom lip as she settled herself on the couch behind Yuqi’s swivel chair, the lyrics of HWAA Chinese version resting dutifully on her lap.

“If it’s about changing your rap part to something you can easily pronounce, no. I can’t, Soyeon. We talked about this already.” Yuqi’s voice was unwavering. Monotonous even. The moment Soyeon entered her studio, she expected the older woman to bring up the same issue once again. Soyeon could be very stubborn if she wanted to.

Thankfully, Yuqi was as resolute. The only person who could clash and disagree with the Jeon Soyeon head to head. Needless to say, Yuqi was obviously the softer between them. Sooner or later, the Chinese would find ways to compromise, or, as Soyeon had previously mentioned, Yuqi lacks firmness in most of her decisions.

Keyword. Most.

Yuqi was very adamant about making Soyeon rap her lines she specially translated for the older woman. She didn’t spend hours and hours of sleepless nights thinking of the best words or phrases that perfectly convey Soyeon’s message in consideration with the melody, the rhythm, rhymes, and especially, Soyeon’s struggle with the speech. Yuqi was awfully aware of how hard it was to rap in a language you barely understood, let alone pronounce! So Soyeon’s constant protests irked Yuqi a lot. Despite being a native Mandarin speaker, translating songs without losing their essence was never a walk in the park. Especially those, damn, ing raps of Jeon Soyeon!

“But I really can’t pronounce these! It’s so hard!” Soyeon whined and handed Yuqi her messy copy with several highlights and notes on each lyric. As a rapper, she needed words she can easily utter to have a smoother and engaging flow. “I told you when I make lyrics, I always consider if the members can articulate it--”

“And you think I don’t?” Yuqi interrupted, her voice dropping more than usual, indicating that she was either pissed, fuming, intolerant or merely all of the above.

Pouting, Soyeon replied, “You know that’s not what I meant--”

“But that is what you’re making me feel, Soyeon.” Slamming her pen on the table, Yuqi vehemently turned her chair to face the Korean. For a moment, her eyes displayed an exasperated fury before she closed them, in a deep breath while repeating calming mantras in her head. She’s too stressed right now to even start an argument all over again with Soyeon.

But then again, Soyeon could be the perfect embodiment of stubbornness. She didn't become their leader for nothing.

“That is what you are feeling, Yuqi ah,” She retorted, rolling her eyes. “I already told you that’s not what I meant! I just want---”

“There!” Yuqi cried out. “There you are once again being selfish! Always wanting it your way!”

Soyeon gritted her teeth. “I’m just expressing my frustrations.”

“And I already told you, that’s the best I can do! We’ve gone through this over and over again, Soyeon. I’ve done a myriad of revisions only for you, and you still keep on saying you can’t! Seriously, are you even trying!?”

Clenching her fist, Soyeon tried opening to counter. But no words came into her mind because, frankly, Yuqi was right. She just couldn’t admit it to herself.

“You see, Soojin was also having a hard time with her parts. But did you see her coming to me every single day to revise her part every single time? No! She was trying her best!” The last part of Yuqi’s sentence came out as a croak. All these built-up frustrations sent her to the edge, and Soyeon was clearly one of the main reasons. She just wanted Soyeon to see her efforts, too.

“I am doing my ing best, Soyeon! And I understand your struggles because, frankly, rapping is a lot more difficult than singing. I know that. I ing know that!”

This wasn’t the first time Soyeon heard of Yuqi’s outburst, but it was the first time she saw the profound exhaustion in the Chinese’s eyes, together with the tears of frustration that now flow freely in her cheeks. Wiping it with her thumb, Soyeon moved closer and cupped Yuqi’s face firmly between her hands. She noticed the large eyebags that meant the Chinese wasn’t getting her usual hours of sleep, the deep frown lines that indicated stress, and, most significantly, the absence of spark in her orbs.

Giving up never existed in Yuqi’s vocabulary. But this time, Soyeon could feel the weight of fatigue carried by the Chinese ever since their comeback. After all, despite not leaving the younger girl’s side, the feeling of comfort from her family was still different from the love she could provide to fill the void in Yuqi’s homesick heart.

I should’ve been gentler, Soyeon thought ruefully.

“Don’t do this to me, Soyeon,” Yuqi muttered, moving away from their leader’s warm touch. “I don’t have time for this.”

After finishing her sentence, Yuqi reverted her focus on her work and intentionally ignored Soyeon despite the ache in her heart to just crawl back into the Korean’s caring embrace. They’ve had enough conversation about the subject the past few weeks now, and no matter how Yuqi tried her best to fix Soyeon’s problem, the Korean kept on bothering her to change her parts over and over again. She had enough of that already, like how she’s too washed-out of Soyeon’s perfectionism.

Including in their relationship.

On the other hand, Soyeon stayed rooted in her seat, racking her brain of something she could say that could somehow ease up the tension. Again, she didn’t mean to provoke the younger girl, but she was also aware of how Yuqi could be impatient. In fact, she’s honestly surprised the Chinese never yelled at her at this point.

“I’m sorry…” She muttered, unable to think of any words of comfort. Despite being called a genius rapper, Soyeon honestly at talking feelings. “I… uh… I’ll be in the practice room.”

Soyeon waited for a few seconds in hopes of getting a reply. But she only received a cold shoulder from the girl, and not even a short acknowledgment was heard. Broken, she sighed and proceeded to leave the studio, glancing one last time at the black figure before finally closing the door.

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