Chapter Text
One more shot then I'm quitting forever
Cross my heart, cross my fingers
Cross my heart, cross my fingers
They were having a great time, drinking soju and watching corny romance movies together to lift Rumi's spirits. Somehow Zoey had drained an entire bottle of soju by herself — which proves to be an exceedingly bad idea for her lightweight constitution. She's drunkenly giggling as she lays in Mira and Rumi's laps, typing away at her phone, thinking about her teenaged crush. Celine. Posters of the Sunlight Sisters in their heyday line her bedroom walls. Some of them her own posters, some of them from her mom who is the reason she got into the Sunlight Sisters in the first place.
Humming their hit songs as she thinks about all the cute and cool and sexy outfits Celine wore in her prime, the music videos of her dancing with the other two in her group, the interviews of her with Miyeong and them pressing just a bit too close to each other to just be friends.
The way Celine held Rumi protectively in interviews when she was still a kid. The way she braided Rumi's hair to look just like her mother's. The way Rumi braids her hair the same way even now, out of habit, as an adult. The way Celine always looks at Rumi with some deep sadness in her eyes, always seeing an echo of Miyeong in her.
Zoey opened up her photo gallery full of photos of the Sunlight Sisters, most of them cropped to focus in on Celine. Her hair perfectly framing her face. Her sparkling perfect Idol smile. The confidence she oozed with every pose.
Zoey thought she was typing her horny drunk thoughts into her notes app. She should have known better, she should have gone to her actual journal to write her thoughts down. She didn't realize in her drunken haze that she was actually sending every message to Celine's work phone.
Woke up this morning, the room was spinning
I don't remember what I did last night
Beg the ceiling for forgiveness
'Cause I don't want to remember what I did last night
"Let's talk about appropriate workplace language. Sexual harassment is never appropriate, especially in a professional setting. It doesn't always appear as an obvious form of misconduct, however. Sometimes it can appear as a casual conversation, or a text. It can be a conversation between two co-workers that makes you feel uncomfortable. Maybe these co-workers use phrases like—"
Celine clicks to the next slide of the presentation, stone-faced as the projector displays raunchy texts Zoey sent her, plain as day. Zoey shrinks in her seat, hiding her face in her hands. She wants to shrivel up and die from the embarrassment. She was drunk off her ass on soju when she sent those texts, can't Celine cut her some slack?!
"—baby girl."
Celine clicks to the next slide, showing another cropped screenshot of Zoey's texts.
"My favorite milf. Just one chance pretty please with a cherry on top."
Another click, another slide full of drunk Zoey texts. It's a miracle Celine can read what's on the screen with a straight face.
"Gagging on it. Bouncing on it. The things I'd do to you if you'd let me. I know where the clit is will you let me find yours."
Mira covers her mouth with her hand to muffle her laughter while Zoey crumples into her seat scandalized and Rumi glares daggers at them both. Rumi elbows Zoey and hisses at her 'That's my eomma, Zoey what the hell?!' and Zoey has nothing to say for herself.
Celine lets the last slide linger, waiting for Zoey to unravel herself from her humiliation before continuing. When Zoey dares to make eye contact again, she notices a bright glint to Celine's eyes. Her expression is stoic and measured, but something in her eyes tells Zoey she is taking particular pleasure from watching her squirm at being called out.
Finally she clicks to the next slide, voice as calm and measured as before, even with the twinkle in her eyes betraying that this isn't just an HR meeting for her. "And what does this kind of language cause? A hostile work environment."
"Messages like—" more clicks, more slides of Zoey's raunchy drunk texts.
"—more cushion for the pushing. Not. Appropriate."
Another click, another slide. "I saw you smoking outside. Could you put the cig out on me. Not appropriate, Zoey."
Yet another slide. This one makes Celine's stoicism crack, her lips pulling into the ghost of a grin. "Now this one, I don't even know what this means, but I can tell it was not appropriate. Zoey, care to explain what this acronym F-M-L-Y-H-M means?"
Mira is biting her lip to hold back her laughter, gripping the armrest of the chair she's in to steady herself. Oh this is hilarious —and humiliating for Zoey, but mainly hilarious. Rumi and Zoey are both beet red in embarrassment, but for wildly different reasons. Oh she knows Rumi is going to give her own chewing out later when Celine isn't there. Zoey crosses her arms and pouts, not wanting to give Celine the dignity of a response. She knows it'll just dig herself into a deeper hole.
"Well, Zoey? Are you going to tell me what that means or do I have to brave the internet to look it up? I already had to look up what milf meant for this presentation." There's a hint of a playful lilt in Celine's tone, behind the sternness.
Zoey mumbles out a response, but it's not intelligible enough, and so Celine clears her throat at her. "Try again Zoey, loud enough that I can hear it?"
"…it means fuckmelikeyouhateme."
"One more time, what was that?"
Zoey looks like she's about to combust. Her soul has left her body. Surely if they hadn't sealed the honmoon weeks prior, she'd be hearing Gwi-ma whispering in her ear. Slowly she enunciates the phrase out, sounding completely defeated and petulant.
"It means fuck me like you hate me. Happy?! I was drunk! I'm sorry!!"
Finally Celine's stoic facade cracks, she hides her mouth behind her hands as a chuckle escapes. "Okay, okay, I think I've made my point clear. Don't let this happen again, okay Zoey? Don't send messages like this to my work phone."
"Okay okay okay I get it!!!"
Celine dismisses them, she waits for Rumi and Mira to walk out of her office, but grips Zoey by the shoulder to hold her back. Her voice so soft and low by Zoey's ear sends a shiver up her spine. "If you want to talk dirty to me, at least have the decorum to send it to my personal phone. Or have the guts to say it to my face outside of work hours. Keep it professional while we're on the clock. You have a reputation to uphold. Remember that."
Zoey freezes. Her face had only just started cooling down from the embarrassment of this meeting, but now she's turning beet red again. Is Celine… is Celine implying she was into it?! All she can manage to do is dumbly nod and stumble after the other two girls when Celine finally lets her go.
Mira is still chuckling as Zoey catches up to them. She claps Zoey on the back, mischief in her eyes as she wraps an arm around her shoulder. "Wooow Zoey, I knew you had a crush on Rumi's eomma while we were still in training, but I didn't know you'd be this bold!"
"It was the soju talking! I swear!!! And don't pretend you didn't also have a crush on her when we were still pre-debut! I know you borrowed my photocards of her from her Sunlight Sister days!"
That makes Mira clam up and pout, and Zoey grins in angry triumph. Rumi rolls her eyes so far into her head that she almost fears they'll get stuck there. She really doesn't appreciate her bandmates flirting with her eomma, of all people. Rumi huffs as they all pile into the elevator, rubbing her temples to keep her cool.
"Zoey, Mira, please don't make things weird with my eomma. Please. We just got on speaking terms again."
"It's already weird. Too late for that."
"Really not helping Mira!" Rumi huffs at them both, dragging them by the ear back to their penthouse, giving them a good scolding as they go. They pass by Bobby who looks in concern and bewilderment as Rumi scolds the other two girls like she's their mom. Muttering to herself grumpily.
Bobby quickly decides the conversation is not his business when he overhears Rumi grumble 'Zoey, if I catch wind of you drunk texting my eomma again, so help me—'
When I was drunk I might have said some things I didn't mean
There's nothing wrong with you, it's something wrong with me
Zoey sulks the rest of that day, picks at her food at dinner, shuts herself off alone in her room to scribble all her woes into her journal. She swore up and down it was the soju talking that night she sent all those texts! She didn't need a chewing out by Celine and Rumi in the same day! She knew she was in trouble the morning she woke up and realized all the things she drunk texted to Celine's work number!
Ugh! Maybe she should swear off drinking entirely, or resign herself to only ever having one glass before cutting herself off, or labeling herself designated driver as excuse to never drink again. Sucks being a lightweight. Zoey looks up and makes eye contact with the wrinkled Sunlight Sisters poster she has taped onto her bedroom wall. The picture of a younger smiling Celine staring back, mocking her. She hides her face in the crumpled pages of her journal, groaning in embarrassed misery.
And then her phone dings.
She picks it up to see a notification… from Celine's personal number.
With baited breath, she opens the message, to see it comes with an image attachment.
Her hands are trembling as she waits for the image to load.
It's a selfie from Celine — Mira and Zoey had to teach her how to take flattering selfies during their pre-debut days — with her sitting at home with her work blouse half-unbuttoned so that the exposed skin dips below her sternum. She's posed in a seductive manner, one hand holding her phone so that her face is just out of frame, while her other hand pulls at her collar to reveal the lacey bra beneath her blouse.
The coinciding text sent with it says 'Like what you see? Now that we're both off the clock, that is.'
Zoey could have died in that moment. Her mouth waters as she burns the image into her retinas. Her elegant neck, the pronounced collarbones, her long fingers clutching the fabric of her blouse. The salt-and-pepper graying hair swept to one side, elegantly splayed over her shoulder. The subtle wrinkles in her hands and neck that betrayed signs of aging that somehow made her more enticing to Zoey.
Oh, Zoey is not getting any sleep tonight. How the hell is she supposed to respond to this?! Celine of all people, scolding her for workplace sexual harassment then having the audacity to send the person she scolded a sexy selfie! It's making Zoey's brain melt out of her ears!
She has to respond. She has to one-up Celine somehow. Now that she knows Celine actually is into it. That maybe, just maybe, she can act on her childhood crush without fear of said crush crushing her spirits. Again. Because she did turn Zoey down in the past. She heard Zoey's playful rambling about how much she loved her Sunlight Sisters era during their pre-debut days and politely told Zoey to tone it down.
Zoey pointedly did not ever let Celine into her room during those training days, not wanting Celine to see her veritable shrine of Sunlight Sisters posters and Celine photocards taped onto her wall. She was quick to take the posters down and pack them up a few days before their official debut, after the scandalizing experience of Celine coming into her room unannounced and staring at the shrine of herself facing her from the bedroom walls. Even now with her own space where Celine can't intrude, Zoey rarely lets the other two girls into her room. It's her space and if she has a weird teenage crush-level shrine to their technical now-boss, she doesn't need the other girls needling her for it. She's already kicked herself enough for it already. But even with the weird shame and embarrassment she feels about it, she can't bring herself to take the posters down. They have sentimental value!
If she is to send a selfie back, she has to make sure none of her posters get in the picture. What should she wear for it? Does she have anything sexy enough yet not so overtly revealing that it would constitute a nude? Maybe one of her costumes could suffice? No, that would mean leaving her room and possibly dealing with Rumi questioning her as to why she's going to their massive closet space for their litany of costumes for concerts and public appearances. No it has to be something she can put together from the wardrobe kept in her dresser in her room.
All of her pajamas are too comfy and baggy to be sexy, at least in Zoey's opinion. Baggy shirts, baggy pants, dammit now that she's going through her personal clothing she sees what Mira means about her having the fashion sense of a middle aged uncle who likes to go fishing. That, or a grandma in a tai chi class. She has only a few form fitting outfits, which all happen to be the ones for when they're trying to be low profile in public, so they're all really boring shades of beige or gray or white and black. Ugh. Maybe she could get away with just wearing a sport's bra as a top to be revealing but not too revealing?
Zoey pulls her T-Shirt off, looks down at herself and the sports bra she's in. It's a simple white sports bra, gives good support, but is not exactly a bra made for sexiness. It will have to do. Sports bra and sweatpants. Would it be too risque to put on a strap-on to wear under her sweatpants just to tease for the picture? No, too much, she doesn't know what Celine would be comfortable with yet.
Zoey lays back on her bed after smoothing out the sheets so it doesn't look like a tangled mess below her. Poses with her phone held above her head, trying to find the middle ground between playful and seductive. Is sticking her tongue out too silly? What about biting her lip? What if she cuts her face out of the picture entirely the way Celine did? Yeah, that sounds about right.
She poses this way and that on her bed, holding her phone so that her face is just out of frame, framing her slender shoulders and neck and showing off her sports bra and exposed midriff. Takes a few dozen photos to sort through and perfect.
Then another notification pops up on her phone in the middle of editing one of the photos. Another message from Celine's personal number.
'If me reciprocating your crush makes you uncomfortable, I can stop. I can back off and keep things strictly professional. Apologies for overstepping. I know there is inherently a power imbalance between us and I shouldn't take advantage of it just because you made some hasty comments while inebriated.'
It's hard to tell tone through text, but judging by the length of the message, it almost sounds like Celine is spiraling. It's been a half hour of Zoey trying to pick an outfit and take selfies to respond with, and in that time Celine must have been sweating bullets in anxiety of whether what she said and sent crossed a line.
Nonononono don't fuck this up Zoey! This is your chance!
Zoey finishes editing the sexy selfie of choice, types a message to Celine —'nono you're fine, keep going if you want, you know what they say, drunk texts are sober thoughts or something like that. I like what I see, do you like what you see?'—presses send. Waits with baited breath for Celine to respond.
The typing bubble pops up. Then disappears. Then pops up again. Then disappears. This goes on for several minutes, Celine struggling to draft an appropriate response. What if she ultimately says no? What if she sent that selfie and immediately regretted it? In all her interactions with Celine, she's seemed like such a reserved and withdrawn woman, very unlike her Sunlight Sisters idol persona. Very closed off, guarded, even moreso than Rumi. She can tell who Rumi got it from clear as day. Celine daring to send something even slightly risque must have taken a lot of guts on her part.
The ding of her response lights up the screen.
'I do like what I see. Is… is this okay? Won't this make things weird between us if I indulge you? This alone is a massive breach of professionalism on my part. I'm taking advantage of you like this. It's wrong of me. You're half my age, you're younger than Rumi! You're young enough to be my daughter!'
A pang of vulnerability evident in her text. Celine is nervous about this. Second guessing herself. Zoey's no longer second guessing, she's not letting this chance go to waste, fuck the consequences, fuck whatever weirdness this may cause, fuck whatever weird age gap power imbalance is inherent in their relationship, she has been obsessed with Celine as an idol for years and she is not passing up the chance to rizz her up! Heh, she probably doesn't even know what rizz even means, if she didn't know what milf meant before her little HR meeting.
Her fingers are a blur as she texts back, barely giving Celine a chance to breathe after sending her latest text. 'I'm already the weird one, what's a bit more weirdness into the mix? I'm an adult now, I'm 23, I'm not that starry eyed teen anymore! I can make my own decisions, fuck the consequences. How do you want this to go, Celine? How do you want me?'
…okay maybe she coulda phrased it less crassly, but dammit she's always had a motormouth and a sailor tongue and she's always struggled to hold it back for their public appearances. Her and Mira both had to go through a lot of media training so they wouldn't accidentally curse on live television. Rumi gawked at them early on in their training days when Mira openly cursed not just in front of Celine, but at her, and it was a miracle Celine kept her composure. She's scolded them many a time to watch their language and be respectful.
Fuck she's probably overthinking this like Celine is, but she's already pressed sent on her next text saying 'oops sorry for cussing I know you prefer me to watch my language.'
The typing bubble pops up and disappears several times again. Celine carefully drafting a response, or more likely just overthinking it and deleting it to start from scratch several times.
Finally another ding. Another reply from Celine.
'Meet me at my office tomorrow night after office hours. I'll be there. Huntr/x is still on hiatus for another two months, you don't have any public appearances planned during that time, Bobby and I made sure of that. We can discuss this more in person tomorrow. Be discreet.'
Zoey can hear her pulse rushing in her ears. Is this a date? What is this?! She send back a quick 'Ok, got it!' text and puts her phone on the charger for the night, trying to not follow the impulse to double text again. She can't get Celine off her mind, what must be going through her head, the mental turmoil her mentor must be going through about texting her like this. If Rumi is anything to go off of, Celine must be spiraling even worse than Rumi does. A lot of Rumi's mannerisms are practically copy-pasted from Celine and it shows. Rumi, the toned down version of Celine, in a way. No wonder Zoey likes them both.
Okay, maybe don't think about Rumi the way she's also thinking about her eomma. This is already weird enough as it is. Rumi had her weird thing with Jinu and she's been grieving ever since. Unwilling to move on from a literal demon man. Zoey and Mira have woken up many a night the past month to Rumi having night terrors, and rushing into her room to comfort her through it. They need to be there for her. She can't let her weird infatuations color her care for one of her best friends. Rumi needs her friend, not a weird creep maknae that has a crush on her.
Zoey doesn't sleep well that night. Tossing and turning in anticipation of the next day. The last text replaying in her mind. Be discreet. Discreet how? Dress low profile the way they do to avoid being swamped by fans in public?
When she finally falls asleep, she wakes up to the sound of Mira knocking on her door. Her voice muffled through the hardwood.
"Zoey, it's past noon! Are you going to join us for lunch or what? Or are you going to spend the whole day sulking about that HR meeting?"
Zoey groans, dragging herself to her feet, pulling her T-shirt back on since she slept in just her bra and pajama pants. She rubs the sleep out of her eyes and opens the door to follow Mira to the kitchen, where Rumi's setting out the takeout she ordered for them.
She finds herself unable to meet Rumi's gaze as she sits down to eat. Too many butterflies in her stomach about yesterday, and about the plans she has that she absolutely cannot let them find out about. If Rumi finds out she's still trying to rizz her eomma up she'll never hear the end of it. Rumi's already on edge because she's still deeply grieving the more-than-friend she lost, so this would definitely not help.
Secrets. Great. Just when they all agreed they were going with an open honest no more lies no more hiding policy with each other. But Zoey will tell them! Eventually. When she thinks they're mentally recovered enough to deal with another emotional bombshell dropped onto their doorstep.
I'm running dry from now on
How come no one believes me?
Believe me