we the cursed, nct dream ✔

part sixty-one

⇉ the one on grad.

part sixty-one

"I still think the pink is hideous."

"Didn't Han say it's just your body doing something random with the excess power?" Livi asks, running a brush through Juno's thick locks.

"Yeah. Still."

"And do you hate it because you think it looks bad, or because the color reminds you too much of Reina?"

They lock eyes in the mirror.

Juno looks away first, mumbling, "How do you always know what I'm feeling before even I know what I'm feeling?" Then, quieter, "You and Donghyuck do that so much."

Livi leans down, bumping Juno's cheek lightly with her own. "I guess I just know you like that."

Juno's lips twist into a smirk. "Bitch, you're my soulmate."

"Bitch, I know."

They laugh. Then Livi asks, "Are you scared?"

"Of what?"

"I don't know. Growing up." Livi picks up the brush again. "I feel like we haven't had much time to think about the fact that we're actually graduating today. We leave this place in four days."

"It does freak me out," Juno confesses, "but after going to school here, somehow that became the least of my worries. Right now, I just want to go." But Juno knows that home will never be as it was, she will never be as she was, after everything that she has been through here. Besides, things haven't been entirely resolved yet.

"I get that." Livi puts the brush back down. "What style do you want?"

"I don't know. A fancy knot? I don't feel like having it in my face." Juno recedes into her thoughts for a few silent seconds. "What do you plan on doing? After we get out of here, I mean."

Livi hesitates. "Well... my parents let me apply to this hotshot design university in Paris. Somehow I got in."

"Wait. What?" Juno looks up at her in wonder. "Really?"

"Mhm."

"Did you have to do a portfolio or something?"

"Yeah, and apparently it made the cut."

"And you kept this from me? It's a huge deal!"

"It wasn't on purpose. You had your things to deal with. Besides, it's not a huge deal. I don't really care where I go; I just want to get out of this little pocket of the world. Experience and explore somewhere different." She pauses. "I have family in France, and I've been there before, so it should be fine." Livi sighs. "Thinking about the future gives me anxiety, so I try not to."

Juno is silent for a beat. "I get it. But you shouldn't worry. I know you're going to be phenomenal at whatever you do."

"You have too much faith in me."

"You have too little faith in yourself."

They smile at each other in the mirror. Livi chuckles suddenly. "Do you remember when we hated each other?"

"What do you mean? I still hate you."

"As if."

"Yeah, I'm lying." Juno inclines her head up to look at Livi properly. "I love you, dude."

Livi's lips twist. "I've always been babe, now it's dude? Have I been demoted?"

"Yes."

"Which loser stole my spot?" Livi eyes Juno, brows raised. "Don't tell me it's that Haechan boy."