Work Text:
Lily had a system.
Write the song.
Pretend it wasn't about anyone.
Hand it to Haewon.
Watch Haewon circle random lines and offer feedback while completely missing the point.
Repeat.
It had worked for years.
Mostly because Haewon read every single thing Lily wrote.
Not some of them.
Not the finished versions.
Every version.
Every half-finished verse scribbled in a notebook at two in the morning. Every voice memo. Every line Lily almost deleted before deciding it was worth saving.
Haewon always read them.
And, naturally, Haewon always had notes.
"You used 'sky' three times."
"It's a good word."
"It's becoming a crutch."
"You're becoming a crutch."
Haewon had laughed so hard she nearly fell off the couch.
That was how it always was.
Lily wrote.
Haewon read.
It was one of the few constants in their lives.
Schedules changed.
Hair colors changed.
Entire years passed.
But somehow Lily always ended up sitting beside Haewon, waiting for her opinion.
This time was supposed to be no different.
Supposed to be.
Unfortunately, Lily had made one critical mistake.
The song was too honest.
—
The next afternoon, Haewon sat alone in the dorm living room.
Lily's notebook rested open in her lap.
Most of the song was familiar territory.
Beautiful imagery.
A little wistful.
Very Lily.
Then she reached the chorus.
And paused.
Her eyes narrowed.
Once.
Then twice.
Then a third time.
"Huh."
The chorus wasn't subtle.
So, Brown Eyes, I'll hold you near
'Cause you're the only song I want to hear
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.
The kind of thing that could be interpreted a hundred different ways.
Except...
Haewon knew Lily.
Better than anyone.
Lily didn't write vague emotions. She wrote people.
Every song had a face behind it.
Every line had a reason.
And suddenly Haewon found herself wondering who this one was about.
The thought shouldn't have bothered her.
But it did.
More than it should have.
A lot more.
—
Three days later, it was still bothering her.
Which was ridiculous.
Completely ridiculous.
Haewon was a grown adult.
Not a jealous teenager.
And yet, "Who is it about?"
Lily blinked.
They were sitting in a practice room after rehearsal.
Haewon had been staring at her for at least five minutes.
"What?"
"The song."
"What about it?"
"Who is it about?"
Lily immediately looked away.
Suspicious. Extremely suspicious.
Haewon's stomach dropped. "Oh my god."
"What?"
"There IS someone."
Lily laughed.
Too quickly.
"No."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm not."
"You literally cannot make eye contact with me."
Lily's gaze snapped toward the ceiling.
Haewon pointed.
"Case in point."
Lily groaned.
"You're impossible."
Haewon leaned forward.
"Who is it?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
Haewon narrowed her eyes.
Lily narrowed hers right back.
Neither spoke.
Eventually Lily cracked first.
"Why do you care so much?"
The question hit harder than expected.
Because Haewon didn't actually know.
Or rather, she didn't want to know.
So she looked away.
And changed the subject.
—
The answer arrived completely by accident.
A week later.
The members were filming content.
There was a lot of waiting around.
A lot of sitting.
A lot of boredom.
Which was how Haewon ended up scrolling through old photos on her phone.
Most were normal.
Schedules.
Food.
The members.
Lily.
Also Lily.
And more Lily.
Actually, why were there so many pictures of Lily?
Haewon paused.
Then kept scrolling.
Lily asleep during a flight.
Lily laughing so hard she was crying.
Lily singing in the studio.
Lily reading.
Lily smiling at her from across a restaurant table.
Haewon froze.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
A memory resurfaced.
A line from the song.
Then another.
Then another.
The way Lily described feeling understood.
The way she described safety.
The way she described wanting to disappear from the world with one specific person.
Things clicked.
One after another.
Like dominoes.
The late-night songwriting sessions.
The endless coffee runs.
The way Lily always saved her a seat.
The way Lily looked for her first in every room.
The way Lily smiled differently around her.
The way Lily had refused to answer.
Because if the answer had been anyone else, she would have said so.
Haewon's heart stopped.
Then immediately started racing.
"No way."
The realization hit all at once.
Not slowly.
Not gently.
Like a truck.
"Oh."
Oh.
—
Lily found her on the dorm balcony that night.
Haewon was sitting on the floor wrapped in a blanket.
Thinking.
Which was dangerous.
"Lily."
The older woman looked down.
"Hi?"
Haewon patted the space beside her.
Lily sat.
Immediately suspicious.
"What's wrong?"
Haewon stared at the city lights.
Then took a breath.
"The song."
Lily groaned.
"Not this again."
"It's about me."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Haewon didn't even need to look.
She knew.
Because the silence said everything.
Slowly, she turned.
Lily looked horrified.
"Oh my god."
The words escaped Haewon before she could stop them.
"It IS about me."
Lily covered her face.
Which was not helping.
At all.
"Lily."
Nothing.
"Lily."
Still nothing.
"Lily."
A muffled noise emerged from behind her hands.
Haewon laughed.
A little helplessly.
A little breathlessly.
Because suddenly everything made sense.
Every confusing feeling she'd been carrying for months.
Every moment that felt too important.
Every time she'd looked at Lily and felt something she couldn't quite name.
Until now.
"Oh."
Lily peeked through her fingers.
"Oh?"
Haewon smiled.
A nervous smile.
One she rarely wore.
"I think I wrote a song too."
Lily blinked.
"What?"
"Not an actual song."
"Oh."
"A metaphorical song."
"You're making this worse."
"I know."
For a second, neither spoke.
The city hummed quietly below them.
Then Haewon reached over and pulled Lily's hands away from her face.
Immediately.
Dangerous.
Because Lily's eyes were beautiful.
And because Haewon suddenly understood exactly why every love song she'd ever written sounded the way it did.
"I think," Haewon said softly, "if someone wrote a song about me like that..."
Lily looked ready to combust.
"...I'd probably be in love with them."
The world seemed to stop.
Lily stared.
Haewon stared back.
"Really?"
The question came out impossibly small.
Haewon's chest tightened.
"Really."
Lily laughed.
Half relief.
Half disbelief.
Then covered her eyes again.
"Oh, thank god."
This time Haewon laughed.
A full laugh.
Bright and warm and impossible to hold back.
And when Lily started laughing too, it felt strangely familiar.
Like coming home.
Like finding the missing piece of something you'd been carrying forever.
Maybe that was what the song had been trying to say all along.
Not that Lily wanted to escape the world.
Just that wherever she ended up, Haewon had always been part of the destination.