Youkyung was in full panic.

She was clutching her hair as she watched Big Bang performed centre stage with a heavy load of charisma and actual freaking talent. She gritted her teeth as she watched all of the members play on respective instruments and actual choreography that made her scared for the her chances of victory. She was at the edge of her breath, and she knew she was bound to faint at any moment, which could potentially affect the score of her performance. 

In contrast, the rapper of the group was laying her small form on half of the sofa while resting her head comfortably in the crook of her new beneficiary’s neck. She sighed in content and nuzzled her face further into the new girl’s long, sweet-smelling, raven hair. Jimin had perchance upon the younger beauty while she was driving one angry night, where she nearly crashed into the taller while she was stomping across the street in her own blind rage. Jimin was ready to yell at the girl’s insolence, but when she saw the puffy red eyes that looked out of place on the gorgeous woman’s face, the top madame walked out of her car and brought her into the side seat.

As she continued to drive, after an awkward silence they both slowly opened up to each other, finding that they both had been wronged and left with a broken heart. Despite the cold atmosphere outside of the car, they both felt stuffy and heated within the car, to the point where Jimin had to find an abandoned parking lot (easily done in the night) and had to stop and breathe lest she accidentally falls asleep on the wheel. Seolhyun understood well what Jimin was feeling, to such an extent that they both instantly pounced on each other without any need for words.

And that was how they both sat warmly with each other on the couch backstage, closed off to the worries of the drummer. Yuna was the only one who kept her cool despite the dreaded worry in the pit of her stomach. She was quietly analysing the way Big Bang performed and seeing how it compares to AoA’s performance. Her eyes were always moving, always scanning, and she was always visualising how AoA could improve themselves against them while writing down all of her thoughts in a notepad. She knew this was supposed to be the leader’s job (either Jimin or Youkyung), but they’re both preoccupied.

She can’t help but notice how each Big Bang member was always captivating the audience somehow, even the drummer (Daesung, was it? Yuna asked herself). Not only was he playing along with an energy, but he also had actual lines that allowed him to be seen by the audience, which she thought would have hindered his attention, but it still worked in his favour without clashing with the other members. Everyone in Big Bang had their place to shine, and they utilised their off times to keep the audience hype well. 

Youkyung should try to reach to the audience more, Yuna noted. She’s obviously better in skill, but she doesn’t attract much crowd hype.

She looked to the other members and watched how they interacted with the crowd. Despite having instruments, they all were able to lean in and just almost touch the hands of their audience. It was a genuine thrill the fans felt, increasing the already high excitement people had for their performance. 

However, who struck her the most was the tallest member, the one that Choa was dating.    Despite his lack of (excited) movements, he counteracted the lameness of awkwardly bobbing to the music while playing the guitar with sheer handsomeness and charisma. Yuna guessed that there were more people silently rooting for him than the entire band combined (except maybe for the leader and keyboardist, G-Dragon).  

Yuna was frantically scribbling notes when Mina returned from dropping Choa off at the cafe. They both nodded each other in usual greeting as the bassist joined her keyboardist in observing the band. Mina looked to see her girlfriend leader at the edge of fainting, and quickly hugged her from behind to calm her down. She buried her face in the drummer’s shoulder, causing both of them to smile. Youkyung was able to breathe slowly, the stress slowly leaving her. She cursed Choa for leaving early, but checking up on a cafe when it was left to the newest employees sounded like a valid reason to leave. In truth, Youkyung was glad that Choa wasn’t able to see this weaker side of herself, but she knew that ahjumma had leftover mother instincts from the recent acquisition of a boyfriend. The last thing the stressed drummer needed was a overly protective mother.

“I’m so sorry but I love you, da geojitmal!” 

And with those last words echoing across the performance hall, the audience roared  with excitement at the ending of their concert with their last song. Youkyung gripped Mina’s hand tightly, to the point where both of their hands were slowly turning white. Mina, discomforted by the gesture, head butted her nervous lover in order to help regain her sense. She was also scared by the way the applause seemed to have a stronger appreciation for the competition, but what could she do? There were hundreds of them and one of her. Plus, it was only a matter of opinion, which caused her to sigh. She felt the same despair, no worse than the one Youkyung felt because the person she fought for so long seemed to have lost everything in a single moment. The tiny bassist buried herself in the drummer, hoping the drummer’s shirt wouldn’t feel the soft stains in her back. 

Yuna on the other hand stared with cold analysis. 

She leaned against the backstage wall while watching the crowd applause, only to smile at Big Bang as they walked in. It was only professional to greet your enemies no matter the outcome. Youkyung glared at the handsome boys (Jimin did as well, but she was too preoccupied by her Seolhyun’s warmth), expecting their leader to come gloat at her when she saw him approaching. Instead, she was shocked by the way he looked pained, as if his cracked, glass heart shattered into pieces. He only bowed and looked at her, as if looking for words to say. 

“I’m so sorry,” he said softly. “But I love you, Youkyung-ssi.”

Mina blinked once. Youkyung blinked right after her. Yuna covered her shock-slackened jaw with her prim hands at the words G-Dragon just uttered. Big Bang followed her lead. Jimin was too busy exchanging sweet nothing with Seolhyun to listen to what the leader of her rivals just said. However, when she heard the word, “love”, her neck snapped as her eyes widened and her nostrils flared. It took them all the same moment to realise the same, simple thing.

G-Dragon just confessed to his rival. Never mind that he used the corniest tactic of using a song lyric to confess, but the usually cocky just confessed to his rival! In front of her and her girlfriend!

“All the annoying tactics and the words hatred, da geojitmal,” he continued. “Da geojitmal. I just wanted to get your attention, is all. But I see it belongs to someone, so I wish you both luck.”

G-Dragon looked once to Mina with a sad smile and bowed, his demeanour classier than his outfit of an oversized, grey-blue t-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and a back-facing black cap gave away. He was the first to walk out of backstage and into the streets. The rest of Big Bang gave one look to each other before rushing out of the door, all of them, including the AoA members, hearing the sniffles and the tears out in the cold day. 

The girls stayed in an awkward silence.

“Well don’t I feel like such a ?” Youkyung smiled softly, betraying a small hint of pity for her rival. “He’s such a kid.”

“His fault for not confessing earlier,” Jimin retorted, looking annoyed after confession. “He only did himself the favour while guilt-tripping the rest of the us. Besides, you got Mina, so what’s the problem?”

Mina instantly tightened her hug on Youkyung, afraid that she’ll fly away for a love-stricken and heartbroken dragon. Youkyung looked back to her small lover and gave her a comforting smile. Mina looked up to see her lover’s soft and radiant features, before squeaking in shock when she felt Youkyung turn in her arms and feeling her lips being touched for an oh, so brief moment. Mina was numb, her mind fading into blank and her limbs weakening and her snapping shut at that one simple gesture. When the sensation faded, she opened her eyes to see Youkyung walking out of the backstage. Mina reached out for Youkyung, following her slowly with timid footsteps. 

She was not letting her little drummer go when she just beat her heart this hard!

Jimin could only sigh before looking up at Seolhyun. She was surprised when she saw the hard look on Seolhyun’s face, the way scars appeared at the edge of irises. Her lips were tightly bound to each other, forming a thin line on her face, and her eyebrows were furrowed in a horrid glare. Her breathing stirred a great anger from within her, as if each intake of air was filled with shards of glass.

Jimin sat up straight and composed her appearance, straightening her hair and her outfit. She looked worriedly at Seolhyun before reaching out a hand to her face. Seolhyun’s heart shot when she felt the gentle caress on her cheek, her neck snapping to the source of the hand. Tears welled up at the corner of her eyes and she buried her face in Jimin’s chest. Sobs racked straight to Jimin’s heart, paralysing  the rapper. She was at a loss for what to do. 

For a moment, Jimin thought she saw her loveable ahjumma.

For a moment, Seolhyun thought she saw Hyejeong.