“I don’t know whether to punch you both or get us into a group hug.”

Youkyung narrowed her eyes to the two guitarists. When she heard about the commotion that happened from Yuna and saw the way both were distant from each other during band practice, despite also hearing about how they resolved their issues before last week’s practice. It’s the rehearsal before the competition, and last week’s practice went without a hitch. It was perfect in fact, with everyone performing their parts skilfully while practically blinding Youkyung with such blinding smiles. Maybe she should’ve realised that their smiles were a bit too bright and that last week’s session was a bit too perfect. 

She gritted her teeth and could feel her jaws tensing from the suppressed anger. It would do no good to blow up right before the performance, where she would need all energy she has to perform her best to kick the asses of the competition in front of the judges (especially those Big Bang bastards). She’s not letting a simple love conflict (make that multiple love conflicts when considering those Big Bang bastards again) get in the way of her making it big in the music industry. Even if she was a drummer, she could at least get her name out there and be recruited into an awesome band. It wasn’t that AoA is a bad band, but there Youkyung figured that she should look for greener pastures when her temporary band mates bail for other endeavours. She had nothing against them for doing so, since she understands the different backgrounds they all come from (and also that her long time crush had sort of dragged them along to the band practices). 

Regardless, Youkyung was incredibly stressed since it was the day before the performance, and and she wants everything to be perfect beforehand to minimise potential mistakes. She was one wrong sentence from jamming sticks up someone’s-

She felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to sigh out the inner stress. Choa and Jimin also sighed in relief, thankful to Mina that their lives weren’t cut short at that moment. Mina proceeded to hug the drummer, burying her face in her beloved leader’s back. Youkyung gasped and widened her eyes when she felt the back of her shirt become warm and wet.

“Can we not do this?” Mina’s voice was quiet, further muffled with her face in Youkyung’s back. Only her crush could hear her, with the rest slowly moving back to their places in the studio. “Can we save this until a-after the competition?”

It was Mina’s turn to gasp and widen her eyes, when she felt herself in the vicelike grip of her leader. Her wet eyes were filled again with hope, and she smiled when she felt her shirt become warm and wet. She even felt the clench of Youkyung’s jaw and the way she tried to bury her head in her chest. 

Choa was unsure on what to feel. She wasn’t sure if she should join Jimin and Yuna in awkward confusion as they shuffled around the instruments and silently practiced their parts, their eyes darting anywhere but the middle of the studio where tears were being exchanged. On the other hand, she could have stared in awe with her hands on her cheeks, hiding the rising blush that came from the birth of a beautiful couple that was happening right before her eyes. There was a third option, which was to confront Jimin on her recent shift in behaviour from being normally warm to arctic snowstorms within a day (that is, giving chillingly cold shoulders after a lot of hugs during the time after the crying session).

“Practice dismissed.” Youkyung’s curt announcement snapped Choa from her thoughts. “You all have the recordings, so if you need more practice, you can on your own time. Just…”

Youkyung looked down to Mina’s lustrous, raven hair. Her eyes were lost, staring into an unknown distance.

“Be ready for war.”

Everyone gave a silent nod before filling out quietly. They weren’t ready to argue that tomorrow wasn’t a “war”, especially since Youkyung was being emotionally vulnerable. Mina was always there when Youkyung was at the point of breaking, and she’s always there to pickup the pieces when the the drummer shatters from the constant pressure and stress she sets upon herself. It had been like that since the band began, and Youkyung knew since the beginning that this event was a long time coming.

They were left alone in the studio, tears silently shed for each other.

Outside, Yuna was looking at her two seniors arguing as she hid behind Jimin’s car. She had worry in her eyes as Jimin spat at Choa about how “she was there for her since the beginning”, hoping that the older saw it and acted upon it. Choa countered by saying how she did “react” in a platonic way, causing Jimin to scoff a full circle. Yuna’s eyes quaked at the sight of what she thought was the most solid friendship shattering in front of her eyes. Her heart shattered along with the other two when she heard Jimin had enough.

“Just leave!” Jimmy stomped into her own car, her rage. “And leave me with my broken heart for your handsome toy!”

With that she started the car and drove off. Luckily it was still early in the evening so that the streets were a bit safer to traverse on foot, which Choa and Yuna did in silence. Yuna looked to the older with a worrying pity as Choa walked with her head ducked down, looking only at the concrete she stepped on, as if looking at the path would help her walk her way home. It took an hour and a half for them to even reach their side of the city, but by that time, Yuna saw a sight which relieved her heavily. 

The “handsome toy” walked out of a convenience store in sweatpants and a fitted t-shirt, giving a perfect view of his well-toned upper body. Yuna quickly patted the Choa’s back, the older who was practically drooling over the sight of the lover she was separated from for 2 weeks.

This meeting was long overdue, Yuna thought to herself, as she left the two in their own world forged by their tight hugs on each other. She was already quite a distance ahead of them, however she quickened her pace (with a thick blush) when she heard her older friend moan quite loudly, which stood as a shocking contrast to her screams of anger and anguish she was so used to hearing the past two weeks. 

She walked up to a 4-way on the road just as the green light blinked red. She waited in the cool, night air, exhausted not only from the day’s work (studying for her master’s, the job at the cafe, the band rehearsal), but also from the emotional drama that she just witnessed. Despite the severity of all that happened, she still felt the tension, like more bad things are to come.

Just then, she felt someone shove past her aggressively, causing her to almost fall back. 

“Don’t ing chase me you cheater!”

Yuna looked to see the source of hostility, which was at the (beautiful) back of a girl stomping away (in a fashion that reminded Yuna of Jimin). She looked to the other side to see Hyejeong running past her, panic on her face as she chased the stomping girl.

“Seolhyun, please!”

Seolhyun only stomped faster, to the point where she started picking up the pace and started running away from her taller adversary.

“Leave me alone!” Seolhyun’s voice, even though continually growing farther, was still loud enough for Yuna to hear. “I don’t want to see you again, you ing cheater!”

Yuna released a tension-filled sigh, opting to lean against the pole for stability while waiting the light of the crossroads to go green. 

Choa’s not gonna like this, Yuna thought simply, too exhausted to think about anything else. She looked up to the night sky, scanning the black sky for the rare occurrences of bright stars. When she finds a large cluster of them together, she smiles simply and sighs again, though this time she could feel the tension within her release. The chaos finally settled, and the peace of the night overtook the exhaustion of her limbs and her mind. Just then, another person walked up to her, waiting for the same light to change. Yuna leaned to get a closer look at the girl’s face past her long hair that covered it, only to find out it was Chanmi from the cafe. 

Chanmi’s eyes flashed a sparkle of recognition at when saw Yuna’s face looking at her, and smiled tiredly at her. They both saw how fatigued each other, and acknowledged it by smiling tiredly. Chanmi randomly laughed, causing Yuna to join along.

“Rough night?” Yuna tried to be sympathetic to the younger, but only saw the smile vanish into a dark look. Chanmi instantly became tight-lipped, and her eyes lowered to the street. The light flashed green and they both walked along, Chanmi instantly jetting off in an extremely fast walk. Even when she was tired, Yuna sped up to meet with Chanmi’s pace, recognising she ed something up.

“Sorry,” Yuna apologised quickly, quickly becoming breathless with that one word as she was almost at the point of running to catch up with the younger. “I was just trying to make small tal-“

Chanmi suddenly stopped. Yuna nearly crashed into the younger due to the unexpected halt, and instead slipped in front of her to see what was wrong. Her heart fell and crack when she Chanmi’s red eyes and the tears that fell down her cheeks. Yuna instantly hugged her tightly, hoping to be able to comfort the poor university student. She just started relishing her freedom, and this seemed to be her first tragedy outside of her home.

“What happened?” Yuna's voice was quiet, but audible enough for the Chanmi to hear. “IS there anything you want to-“

“I’m a home wrecker,” Chanmi yelled into Yuna’s chest. “I shattered that couple! I destroyed a beautiful pairing!”

Chanmi gripped onto Yuna’s sleeve. 

“Seoljeong broke up because of me!” She wailed once more into Yuna’s heart before breaking down further.