YOonji

The day of the Idol Star Athletic Championship was already promising to royally .

It had begun the night prior, when Shigure's flight got delayed for a whopping 13 hours, and the Japanese girl stumbled into their dorm close to three in the morning, tired both physically and mentally. Yoonji was still up, as usual, working out a few words that stuck in her head into a pattern of a chorus, but she was an expert of operating on minimal amount of sleep. Evidently, Shigure wasn't. She muttered something relatively close to, "kill me in the morning" before leaving her suitcase in the living room and splattering on the couch, falling asleep in a matter of seconds. That was the point when Yoonji realized tomorrow wasn't going to be fun.

It continued in the morning, when their hidden ace had woken up all sick and feverish. Aeri had emerged from the room looking as pale as Voldemort; dark circles the size of a small dog, skin scolding hot to the touch. The seven girls present could only observe as she plunked on the floor in the center of the living room and announced in a croaked voice, " me in the ."

Yup, she couldn’t help thinking, ISAC was going to be just splendid.

Well, Yoonji didn't know if the younger girl really was their ace, as she hadn't seen her in action. But after returning from training for the relay race, Ardene and Xiuying had filled them up – with a lot of unnecessary exclaims – about how great Aeri was at running. The blonde girl herself had stated that she was in the running team of her middle school, but so far Yoonji hadn't seen any proof and so she chose to stay skeptical for the sake of not getting disappointed later on.

It continued when their manager had entered their apartment in a somewhat (very rare) good mood, but when he settled his eyes on the decaying form of Arora's main rapper, the scowl on his face reappeared quicker than Chaerin starts fangirling over Kim Jisoo. A quick glance towards her direction, and Yoonji immediately knew that he somehow thought it was her fault.

"Why is she like that?" after calling her to a more secluded area – this time, the kitchen – Cheolmin questioned in a tone that was a bit more accusing than necessary.

Yoonji had the very strong urge to roll her eyes. "She woke up like this. We took her temperature; 38.2 Celsius."

Cheolmin remained composed, but during her – rather short – time of communicating with  their manager, Yoonji could already pick up the slight movements that indicated the man was nervous, or thinking about how to get out of a ty situation. A twitch of eyebrow here, a slight sigh there. Cheolmin glanced once again towards the living room (Where Ardene was trying to reanimate the corpse of Aeri), before taking quick strides towards the sick girl.

"How are you feeling Aeri?" he crouched in front of the girl, voice gentler than Yoonji was expecting.

Aeri had made the effort to look somewhat okay. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Do you want to skip today?"

"I'm not skipping ISAC."

"But unnie, you're sick!" Seoyeon tried to argue.

"There's no way I'm skipping. I've trained for this for the past two weeks; I'm not going to just skip because I'm feeling a little unwell."

"Unnie –"

"Seoyeon. Don’t."

The tone of Aeri's voice was definite, and there was no point in telling her that looking like a living corpse was not 'feeling a little unwell'. Yoonji debated whether she should say something as a leader, but there really wasn't anything to say. Aeri had never looked so stubborn, and there was probably something to provoke such a reaction (she really doubted it was that semi-rivalry between her and Jungkook, there must've been something deeper). So Yoonji chose not to delve into the blonde's business. God knew she hated when people delved into hers. Well, if god existed, that is.

Cheolmin decided not to do anything about it as well, although Yoonji doubted it was for the same reasons. Raking a hand through his hair, he looked over Aeri one last time before seemingly reaching a decision. "Fetch some advils." He instructed, and Xiuying quickly followed his command. "Bring the whole pack." He called after her before directing his cold gaze towards the sick girl. "If you start to feel worse, or if you feel like you can't record anymore, you tell me, got it?" it was uncharacteristically nice, but then he added, "We don't need a fainting scandal like F(x) had."

Aeri nodded, taking the two pills and glass of water their maknae had retrieved and swallowing the medicine.

Cheolmin's ice gaze went over each of them, stopping momentarily on Shigure's exhausted face but not commenting on it (apparently he was pretty good at keeping grudges, even if it was against 158 centimeters of pure joy), before sighing. "The stylist team is going to be here in five minutes."

And that was all they've heard from him for the next two hours.

The stylists were especially horrified by the state of Shigure and Aeri, but make up did wonders to how they looked. If it wasn't for the occasional cough and stumbling, no one could notice that there was something wrong with their rapper.

It felt somewhat wrong, though. Even if it was completely Aeri's choice, it still felt very similar to what everyone feared idols went through – when they were forced to work under horrible conditions and management (basically everything SM was notorious for). But Aeri made a choice, Yoonji had to remind herself, and she should respect that. Maybe a true leader would've interfered. Yoonji didn't give a . She had her own codex of what was right and what was wrong. Freedom of choice and respect were very high up her list.

After everyone was ready, the eight of them assembled in their minivan (that Xiuying had dubbed the Mystery Mobile), and then Arora was off to ISAC.

94 minutes later (yes, Yoonji kept track), they arrived at Goyang's indoor Gym, where cameras were already positioned and producers were already freaking about yet another small thing that went wrong. Fans were already lining up, gazing hopefully at the horizon in hope to catch a glimpse of their favorite artists. Everyone and everything was loud and busy and energetic around them.

Once again Yoonji questioned her decision to become an idol.

Certain members of Arora, on the other hand, were quite… satisfied with the setting.

"Holy , look how many people are here!" Chaerin's face was glued to the Mystery Mobile's window, her eyes wide and tracing the constant movement on the outside.

The two youngest girls of Arora mimicked her. "Do you think some of them are here because of us?" Xiuying asked wistfully.

"I can see an Arora sign!" Seoyeon exclaimed, and everyone in the van turned their heads to where the tanned girl was looking.

It was oddly satisfying. Watching the sun symbol plastered in the spot where the O should be, waving along to the movements of the teenage girl’s hands… it felt oddly good. Quite narcissistic, but satisfying.

As they got out of the car and advanced towards the gym, more and more banners of Arora’s came into view. They were, by no means, as frequent as BTS’ or Kara’s or even EXO’s (and they weren’t even attending ISAC… those fangirls were insane), but Yoonji could count at least twenty. Which, all considered, was a pretty big deal. Cheolmin had lectured them about not having a successful debut, but here there were, people who enjoyed their debut and loved the music she created.

She glanced towards their manager, who was walking awfully close to Aeri, hands twitching as if ready to steady her and prevent her fall at any given moment. Cheolmin had made sure they knew the company thought they were a disappointment, but not even once had he said what he himself was thinking. He was, just like Mamamoo illustriously put it, Mr. Ambiguous -  He clearly wasn’t all that fond of them, but certain things (like now, when he was kind of nicely taking care of Aeri) made his image of a stern cold man waver, if only slightly.

Perhaps he was tsundere. That seemed about right.

The Goyang Indoor Gym was, sadly, even more packed than the street.

Aeri, after a single glance at everything that was going on, groaned. “Where are my pills?”

Yoonji couldn’t agree more.

The opening ceremony was rather dull - all of them entered the hall in a miserable imitation of the olympic games (honestly, someone was taking themselves way too seriously), and then the idols scattered over the large area, awaiting the beginning of the first event - ssireum, so far the only good thing that happened today. Pretty girls in tight clothing wrestling each other… yes please.

The eight of them positioned themselves on the matt, close to the actual ring where the event was meant to take place. It appeared as if they already weren’t alone. Block B, Vixx, BtoB, Monsta X, B1A4, GOT7, even their own labelmates… all of them were present as well, sitting as close to the ring as possible.

Such was the power of girl on girl. Yoonji could relate on a spiritual level.

“Seriously Namjoon!?” Apparently Ardene couldn’t understand the fascination quite as well. The look on the New-Zealand-born’s face was that of utter betrayal. “And you too Mark? Really?”

The Bangtan Boys and GOT7 always stuck around together when it came to mutual appearances (as Yoonji learnt long ago from Namjoon), and this time the two seven-member groups sat next to each other as well. Located dangerously close to the ring’s outer corners, they were sitting just in front of Arora, so Yoonji couldn’t see what Namjoon and Mark Tuan’s faces looked like when her member accused them. The only indication to any emotion was when the BTS leader asked quite worriedly, “You’re not participating in this, are you Dean?”

“Fortunately, no. Our residential saccharine, ice brick and wannabe animal enthusiast are representing Arora with pride.”

While Yueliang didn’t look all too offended, Seoyeon and Chaerin both looked scandalised by the nicknames.

Namjoon’s tone became much more calmer. “Good.”

“What do you mean ‘good’ you ert!? Do you get off from watching girls beat each other? That’s horrible.”

“We’re weak men, Ardene.” BamBam commented, and no regret whatsoever sounded in his accented voice. “We’re weak.”

As more time passed, more of the idols gathered around the ring, and the outer space was completely surrounded by people. The anticipating crowd became even louder, with fans shouting out encouraging words for their favorite participants. Seoyeon, Chaerin and Yueliang already departed to get ready for the entering ceremony (as this was the first time the ssireum event was taking place, the organizers wanted to do something special), and the remaining five girls settled into an awkward silence. Luckily the gym was loud enough to mask it, but Yoonji could still feel the tense atmosphere between them.

Even though Aeri looked better, she still coughed now and then, and every time she did she disguised it by looking anywhere but her members so they won’t suspect it was her. But Yoonji noticed.

Shigure… Shigure was apparently still pissed. Even though two weeks passed since the argument between Yueliang, Shigure and the rest of Arora, but apparently the blonde dancer hadn’t forgotten about the ordeal. While she was less triggered, there was still a reluctant irritation that radiated from the blonde. That, combined with the lack of sleep and unusual atmosphere didn’t make Shigure the best conversationalist at the moment.

It didn’t stop the maknae - bless her - from trying.

“So unnie, how was the trip to Japan? You didn’t get the chance to tell us!” As always, Xiuying tried to keep the atmosphere light and pleasant.

Shigure, on the other hand, wasn’t in the mood. “It was fine. We came in third place.”

“Wow! Unnie, great job!”

“It’s the first time in three years that we didn’t get first place.”

“Oh.” It kept the Chinese girl quiet for about a second. “You know unnie, I watched your competition online, but then it gotten really late and I was tired from practicing so I kinda fell asleep, and then…”

Xiuying continued occupying the Japanese girl, and the tension slowly regressed, if only in the slightest. Yoonji let out a breath; an awkward moment passed successfully. Even if it wasn’t her doing, she still considered it a small leader victory.

Aeri was on the verge of falling asleep, but Yoonji decided that it was better that way; as the ace she needed to be fine during the running competitions, and in her state she needed all the help she could get. So Yoonji let her sleep. Ardene, in the meanwhile, was conversing excitedly with Mark Tuan, apparently forgetting about her disappointment earlier with him. All around them people talked and enjoyed the gathering, and she couldn’t help feeling a little lonely. For the first time Yoonji really wanted Chaerin to not participate in the girl on girl thingy.

“Don’t you want to do something about her?”

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the voice of Namjoon. Apparently he was no longer talking to Jackson, his observing eyes concentrated on the not-quite-there form of Arora’s main rapper. He then lifted his eyes to look at her, and suddenly Yoonji felt the all too familiar sensation of carefulness she always felt when he was talking to her. Like he was expecting her to suddenly jump and attack him, or become the cheerful, optimistic young girl she once was but would never be again. She hated that feeling so ing much.

“No.”

Namjoon raised his brows. “Are you sure? I mean you’re the leader, don’t you -”

She cut him abruptly. “Don’t go there, Namjoon. Just don’t.” Was she being extra difficult today? Possibly. 

“I’m just trying to help you, Yoon.”

It made Yoonji roll her eyes. “We had a thing going on, Namjoon, when we acted as if everything was sort of okay by ignoring it and avoiding the problem. That’s what grownup people do. Why for ’s sake do you feel like you need to screw it every time?”

Namjoon just shrugged, clearly not in the mood for confrontation, which was damn good. Yoonji wasn’t in the mood either. She would probably have to deal with taking care of her members for the entire day (especially with Aeri and Shigure), so she needed to keep her strength.

“How’s the album coming along?” She decided to ask nonchalantly, now that they agreed to be chill.

“Pretty good, pretty good. How’s that song you were working on?”

“The progress is nonexistent. I’m too busy to work on it these days. Apparently I switched from being an idol to being a babysitter for seven.”

“I feel you. I truly, deeply feel you.”

It looked as if Namjoon wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by a young looking guy who exclaimed, “They’re coming!” and then everything around them was roaring.

Accompanied by teenage boys who looked on the verge of passing out from hormonal overdose, the girls who were participating in the ssireum event entered the hall.

Ardene immediately burst out laughing. “Look at Yueliang! She looks like she’s about to murder that little boy!”

Yueliang indeed looked most displeased by the fact that she was forced to hold hands with the teenage boy, but she tried her best to mask her displeasure for the sake of being on TV. And while she might’ve fooled the audience, Arora knew better. If she was forced to hold his sweaty hand a minute longer, Yueliang might murder the poor little fellow. It was damn hilarious.

It also helped that the main focus was clearly not on the Arora girls. The epitome of every male’s fantasy; EXID, Nine Muses, AOA and Girls’ Day all entered the stage accompanied by loud cheering and screaming. Yueliang, Seoyeon and Chaerin, in comparison, looked like they were all there by accident.

“Who are they going up against, remind me?” Yoonji asked, her eyes trailing the forms of her members as they took the spot designated for the athletes. Chaerin’s face gave up how nervous she was, even though she was smiling excitedly and talking quietly to Seoyeon. Yueliang, as the complete opposite, looked like she dominated the stage and deserved every ounce of attention she was receiving.

But then Kyungri of Nine Muses stepped on the opposite side of the ring, and the three girls of Arora visibly gulped. Back at the matt, the rest of the group mimicked them. “Oh boy.” Shigure groaned. “Who’s idea was it to put us against Nine Muses!?”

“Aren’t they all like more than 170 centimeters tall?” Ardene complained, running a hand through her hair. “Chaerin, Seoyeon and Yueliang together barely make it to 170.”

Yoonji knew this day was going to . From its very beginning it was obvious that nothing good would come out of it. Well, at least she wasn’t the one getting beaten up.

But then one of them wasn’t so easily put down.

“WHOO ARORA GO LUA GO C-RIN GO SKY YOU CAN DO THIS BEAT THEM TO THE GROUND! LET’S GO ARORA! ARORA! ARORA!”

All of them - Yoonji, Ardene, Shigure, Xiuying, Namjoon, the rest of BTS and even some of the other idols - turned their heads in absolute shock.

Aeri was standing up - no, she was jumping around, yelling out encouragements with such fervor that Yoonji almost forgot that this was the girl that resembled a walking corpse this morning. A look of sheer determination adorned her pale face, and for some reason it was a scary sight. A zombie on its way to devour another brain… yup, that was a rather accurate description.

The girl seemed to realize she was the center of attention, and she looked around with a surprised expression adorning her face. “...What?”

“Weren’t you sick, like, four minutes ago?” Yoonji raised a curious brow.

“There’s no time to be sick. We need to win this, and it’s not going to happen with you lazy asses not cheering. I needed to step in. So come on, where’s your spirit? Do it after me, GO LUA GO C-RIN GO SKY ARORA ARORA ARORA ARO - “

And then Yueliang was splattered on the matt by a smug Kyungri. Chaerin followed closely after. Aeri’s cheers died down.

Two minutes later, Nine Muses were announced the winners of the match. For once Arora was united as one; all adorning a gloomy expression on their faces.

The day just kept getting better and better.

ardene

“Look at them. Just look at them. How smug they are. Those es.”

While in fact the ironically eight members of Nine Muses looked like they were having fun, smug wasn’t the word that came to mind. Ardene didn’t care. Neither did the others.

It turned out there was something that could unite Arora together. Their hate for losing.

“What are they giving them to eat at their agency?” Chaerin rubbed her head, still sore from when she hit the matt earlier on. “They look so graceful and thin, but it’s all an act. They’re bodybuilders in disguise.”

Ardene couldn’t help sparing another glance towards the tall women. She tried to remind herself that it was just a stupid Idol competition meant for fans’ entertainment. But then one of the muses looked at them and giggled, and Ardene’s blood boiled. Why did all of them were so short!? Why oh why did Namjoon steal all the height genes from the family gene pool!? Was it revenge because she took all the visuals?

“Maybe they pitted us against them as a joke.” Yoonji offered dryly. “All of us combined can’t reach Kyungri’s shoulders.”

“Actually I’ve been told that I’m going to be over 170 centimeters long.” The maknae said.

“Why couldn’t have this day come sooner? We might’ve been able to beat them then.”

Their bad mood was probably noticeable. Other groups eyed them warily, and as Ardene scanned the stadium, she knew the audience was beginning to notice as well.

Pulling a smile as sincere as she could, she whispered. “We need to pull our together. Everyone’s watching.”

The other seven girls became self-conscious at once. Yueliang nodded in approval and smiled as well. She was surprisingly good, when she wanted. “Act natural.”

“How?” Seoyeon asked.

Yueliang sighed, like she always did when she judged Seoyeon but couldn’t say anything to the tan girl because she loved her too much. Ardene noticed it usually followed by a playful roll of dark eyes. “Like you always do, Seoyeon. Smile and be all cheery and stuff.”

“Oh. Okay!”

“What are we going to do? I can’t let my pride get hurt again.” Shigure hissed through her teeth. Her smile, on the other hand, didn’t look too real. Ardene had the feeling the Japanese was talking about the competition with Frontrunners again, the one where they didn’t place first.

“No pride will be getting hurt today.”

How was it humanly possible for Aeri to look so… fine, when she was half-dead not even an hour ago? While she was still pale as , it wasn’t a sickly white color anymore, and her eyes looked much more warm and alive. She even stood firmer and stronger, and although she coughed now and then, she looked okay. Then she took two pills from her pocket and gulped them down with water, and suddenly it was obvious what was the cause for the sudden improvement.

“You know, these aren’t tic-tacs.” She remarked, pointing at the blonde’s pocket where she knew more pills lay.

“Yah, weren’t you sick like a second ago?” Chaerin raised her eyebrows.

“There’s no time to be sick.” Aeri said, determination setting her eyes ablaze. “We have a race to win, and I’m going to make sure it happens - “ the healthy tint that was slowly coming back to her face was suddenly replaced by a green hue. “Right after I’ll visit the toilet.”

With that the blonde rapper was off.

“I’ll go hold her hair and make sure she doesn’t faint from over-vomiting.” Yoonji sighed in defeat. Never had she looked so much like she regretted the moment she was born (or made leader).

The six remaining girls watched them disappear amidst the crowd of mingling idols. “Yeah… I wouldn’t count on her.” Yueliang said.

“Might as well have some fun before we die of embarrassment.” Shigure nodded in a rare agreement between China and Japan. Her eyes scanned the perimeter of the stadium before settling on a group of boys. Seventeen. “I’ll go say hi to Soonyoung and Minghao. Kwoka, you wanna come?”

Ardene rather liked how her nickname for the maknae had settled nicely within the group. It gave her a sense of accomplishment.

Xiuying seemed unsure. “I don’t know, Unnie…”

“Aren’t you a really big fan of Seventeen though?” Chaerin’s eyes glinted with dangerous curiosity.

“Exactly!” was that a blush detectable on the young girl’s cheeks. “I don’t want them to be disappointed…”

Chaerin’s eyes turned to small fires. “No one hurts the maknae.”

Ardene was a bit less of a psychopath (if only slightly), so she tried to act less intimidating. “You’re too precious to be disappointed in. And if for some reason they’ll be complete daft... we’ll be glad to remind them their place.” For some reason it came out a lot scarier than she intended.

Xiuying stared in complete and utter admiration. “Unnie, you’re so cool.”

“Ooh, Xingxing let’s go talk to Yerim!” Seoyeon exclaimed, and without waiting for a reply grabbed Yueliang’s arm with surprising strength (perhaps if she was first in the Ssireum competition everything would’ve gone differently?) and dragged her reluctant form towards the girls of Red Velvet.

Chaerin and Ardene were left alone.

“You can leave me too, that’s alright.” Chaerin proclaimed dramatically, wiping a fake tear. “I’m the idol-friendless member of Arora, I shouldn’t fight my fate.”

“Unnie, you’re friends with BTS.”

“Bangtan don’t count.”

Sometimes this unnie could be… Ardene just shook her head. “You could help Yoonji with Aeri.”

“Ah, no. Puke and I don’t mix well.”

“Then go talk to Jungkook or something.”

“But Jungkook is busy with Yugyeom, and you know the power of boy on boy. It’s monstrous.” Ardene gave her a skeptical look. “Alright, alright, I’ll go. Just please, no Bang Death Stare. It’s not as effective as the original, but it’s still spooky.”

Chaerin left as well, and Ardene glanced around, searching for the tall, lean frame of her cousin. Namjoon was, as expected, spotted with Jackson Wang.

They were a weird pair, that was for sure. The pheromones were detectable from miles away. Namjoon was weird, Jackson even weirder. Sometimes all she could do was just stare at them and whisper to Mark that she wants her eyesight back.

Slowly making her way to Namjoon, she couldn’t help rolling her eyes. Damn. She loved her cousin, really. But he was weird (and that was coming from someone who had seen Chaerin in action).

“Yup, they’re weird as .”

Ardene almost screamed. Mark started laughing his off.

He looked exceptionally good today, but such was expected from a visual. Those bastards had a tendency to look good in everything, even if it was a pair of sweats. And the melodic sound of his laughter was sweetly contagious… No. Bad thoughts. Bad thoughts!

Ardene really hated when her mind betrayed her like that. Mark and she were friends, good friends at that, and thoughts like that were most unwelcome.

To distract herself, she hit him on the shoulder. “.”

“That almost hurt.” He smiled his sweet smile and Ardene groaned. Mark mistook it for annoyance. “What? Too aegyo?”

Too hot. “Yeah. You at it.”

“Not anyone can be BamBam.”

Ardene chuckled. Beckoning the older male to follow her, she started making her way towards the weird duo again. “Your comeback is in less than a month, right? How’s the preparations?”

“So far so good. Have you heard our song yet? PD-nim thinks it’s going to be a hit, but honestly we thought our previous song was going to top the charts and it didn’t, so I don’t know…”

For a group under one of the big three, GOT7 was surprisingly struggling. Well, of course, it was nothing compared to Arora and even less known groups, but Ardene remembered the late night talks with Mark, when she was still a trainee and he had yet another song that failed to reach Park Jingyoung’s expectations. If she put it like that, their groups weren’t all that different.

“How much did you sell?”

“The title song sold a little over 210,000 copies. The album around 100,000.”

… And there was that difference.

Mark seemingly read her mind. “It’s not that high for a boy group, you know.”

Ardene just shook her head. “You’re the definition of first world problems.”

Namjoon, who finally tore his head from Jackson’s , noticed them at last. A dubious expression crossed his face, and he raised a brow. “Since when do you two hang out by yourselves?”

“Don’t be greedy, you already have Jackson to yourself.” Mark said.

“You have him for yourself all the time, I only get him during combined schedules.”

“Mommy and daddy, please don’t fight.” Jackson whined jokingly, before pointing an accusing finger at the BTS leader. “And why are you so eager to hang out with me all of the sudden? You never answer my calls and always say you’re too busy to meet!”

Namjoon looked scandalised. “What? When do I do that?”

“All the time!”

“He’s right, Oppa.” Ardene smirked, folding her arms on her chest. “I saw you do that.”

“AHA! The truth unveils!”

“Thanks cousin dear…” Namjoon’s expression indicated he thought she at the very least sold military secrets to North Korea.

She smiled angelically in return. “Anytime.”

“I still love you Joonie, you’re the number 1 in my heart.” Jackson said cheekily before noisily planting a kiss on Namjoon’s cheek. Female screams erupted from the bleachers above. Jackson smiled all-too-knowingly. That guy knew how to play the crowd. “Hyung, did you played Ardene our new song yet? It’s really good and the choreo is swoon-worthy.” He enthusiastically told her. “We already filmed the music video and it’s awesome. I look super hot, and damn, my acting skills are top notch.”

Ardene chuckled and looked expectedly at Mark. “I wanna hear the song.”

He glanced towards the bleacher nervously, where hundreds of fangirls monitored their every move. “Not now, I don’t want to be the one who leaks it accidently.” He leaned in a bit closer, trying his hard to obscure his mouth. “But later today, at the after party.”

What. “Afterparty?”

“You didn’t tell her Namjoon? How inconsiderate of you.” Jackson shook his head in fake disappointment. “There’s always a party after ISAC, and it’s lit. Not as wild as the MAMA after party, but you can’t have it all.”

“You knew about this and didn’t tell me?” Her cousin just shrugged his shoulders. “And you all have been to those parties?”

“Of course. Our managers usually pick us up around 5 a.m and try not to give us any schedules afterwards.”

Interesting. Very interesting. “Does Cheolmin know about this?”

“Probably.” Namjoon said. “Our manager probably talked it over with him beforehand.”

Ardene had so many questions. Who was organizing it? How the companies simply allowed for such an event to take place? How had the paparazzi never published anything about it? So many questions buzzed around her mind, but at that very moment Yoonji made her way towards them, her expression gloom as ever, and Ardene didn’t get the chance to ask.

“Don’t. Just don’t. I don’t want to talk about it.” She warned, running a hand through her hair. “The 60 meter run is about to begin.”

“Aeri..?”

“Is feeling better. She’s over there.”

Aeri indeed looked like she was feeling better. Standing amidst the other girls who were competing for the gold, she looked much healthier. Color had returned to her cheeks and her eyes didn’t look dull anymore. “How many more advils did she take?”

Yoonji sighed. “From what I’ve seen, two. Could be more. That girl is way too competitive for her own good. I mean, she’s so reserved when we’re together, and now look at her, a knigh defending our pride...”

“She’s showing us more of her real self.” Ardene replied. “It’s a good sign. She’s warming up to us.”

“If warming up means letting me hold her hair as she vomits her guts out then I’d rather her stay cool.”

Ardene couldn’t help laughing.

Slowly, more and more members of Arora flocked the area, anticipating the competition with eagerness. Shigure and Xiuying returned first (with the younger girl looking rather pleased and happy. Arden guessed the meeting with Seventeen had gone quite well), with Chaerin following along with Jungkook and Yugyeom closely after. Yueliang and Seoyeon were the last to arrive, and upon arrival the Chinese girl raised her eyebrows.

“She looks like she’s not about to die at any given moment.”

“The magic of advil.” Yoonji commented dryly.

“I really hope she does well.” Seoyeon said wistfully. “Unnie wanted this so badly.”

“Don’t raise your expectations, chocolate.” Yueliang said.

“There’s a reason why she’s Arora’s hidden ace, Yueliang-unnie.” Xiuying was looking at Aeri, who was stretching, ready to get into position. “We’ve seen her run. Have some faith.”

And Ardene indeed had faith. As one of the three who had seen the blonde rapper in action, Ardene could proudly vouch that Aeri deserved completely the title of their ace. And while she had known beforehand that Aeri was in her middle school’s running team, never had she imagined that it was… Aeri was good. Really good.

Ardene just hoped that she’d still be good, circumstances considered. Honestly, even being half as good as she had been at the practice would be enough.

The whistle blew, and the runners took their respective positions.

The whistle blew again, and everyone started running.

Aeri started coughing.

“Did you see that?” Yueliang said. “That was our chance at winning. Please wave as it passes by.”

Aeri’s coughing fit lasted less than half a second though, and by the time the Chinese girl had finished talking, she was already sprinting as if her life depended on it. Swiftly passing a young girl with a bob haircut (Ardene didn’t know her name), Aeri continued running, all the while looking like a graceful swan gliding through the water.

It was rather satisfying watching the disbelief and shock appear on the other members’ faces. Ardene couldn’t help feeling smug.

“Holy... .” Chaerin had seemed to lose the ability to form words. Yoonji and Yueliang just stared, mouths agape.

“We told you she was good.” Xiuying smiled proudly.

The other spectators started to notice her as well.

“She’s like a gazelle… So stunning...” Jackson’s voice was filled with wonder. When Ardene turned to look at his face, he seemed to have found the meaning of life. “Who is she and how do I make my life about her?”

Passing over Kara’s Hara, Aeri only seemed to run faster and faster. The only remaining contestant, Dal Shabet’s Gaeun, had made the foolish mistake of turning around and glancing backwards. Ardene guessed that if she would watch the broadcast of the event she could pinpoint the exact moment in which Gaeun knew she was ed.

Half a second later Aeri passed over the older female. Another second passed and she crossed the finish line.

Another second passed, and she was drowned by the collective hug from Arora’s members. They yelled in excitement, and hugged Aeri tightly, and jumped up and down in total bliss. At that very moment, Ardene truly felt happy. Tiredness was forgotten. The bickering between Shigure and Yueliang forgotten as well. There were only them and the bliss of winning, even if it was only one of them that won. It didn't matter. Arora was on top, and it felt damn good. All of them felt that, united at last, even if only for seconds.

For once they actually felt like a team. 

A/N:

Aww Arora is finally united by the power of ISAC... not. Have no fear, a small win is not what's going to bring our squad together. Please, we have Yueliang and Shigure, it's going to take much more than that ;)

Can we please give it up for almost 6000 words? /claps/

So originally I wanted to end ISAC in one chapter, but it was getting long and I didn't want to post a chapter with 8000 words and then not update for two months... oh wait.
So sorry for the long wait guys, but life was so busy and I barely had time to sleep. I hope now everything'll be better and I'll have more time to write.

Also, forgive me for the cheesiness of the chapter, as well as the weirdness of it. My brain hasn't been working for the past month XD Problem is it's probably going to get even weirder from now on /sorry not sorry/

For anyone who hadn't seen ISAC before, Ssireum is an actual competition in it, and yes, during the introduction ceremony the idols really did walk with -looking teens and held their hands. I couldn't help imaging how Yueliang would react if she ws forced to do it, and so that scene was created! Also, Nine Muses had won the Ssireum event during that ISAC, if anyone's wondering.

The next chapter isn't going to take as long as this one - some of it is already written, and it's supposed to be super fun for me so yay! We'll have the second part of ISAC (it'll be much shorter, only the relay race is left) and then... then madness will occur. Stay tuned.

Merry (late) Christmas, Happy Hannukah and a Happy New Year to everyone ~ I'm probably going to update tomorrow again, but not with a chapter XD You'll see... oh, you'll see...