A week later.

Chaeyoung

“Do you think Nayeon’s been acting...weird these days?”

Chaeyoung looked up from her phone, with which she had been busily texting Jeongyeon. The other members were making preparations to return to the dorm, and Jeongyeon was in charge of making sure everything was fine, so of course Chaeyoung would be relaying any news and information to the older girl. But any lingering thoughts of this matter vanished when Chaeyoung saw Mina’s expression.

Worry.

It had been quite a while since Chaeyoung saw that once familiar look on Mina’s face. Ever since then, Mina had been all sunshine and rainbows, never stopping to worry over the smallest thing, like she would before. All smiles and kisses, laughs and hugs, and Mina had become talkative. Talkative! Of all things, she talked more!

And now she was worried again?

Taking a deep breath, Chaeyoung gestured for Mina to sit beside her. Mina did so, quietly shutting the door behind her and seating herself next to Chaeyoung. Gently, Chaeyoung threw a hand around Mina’s shoulders and pulled her closer to herself, so that Mina’s head would be resting on Chaeyoung’s shoulder. “What’s happening?” she asked, rubbing Mina’s arm to calm her down.

Mina sighed. “It’s Nayeon. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but she’s been acting different recently.” She let out another deep sigh and straightened, entwining Chaeyoung’s hand in hers as soon as the other’s arm fell off of Mina’s shoulders. “I think she knows.”

Chaeyoung stifled the urge to say, Well, duh. At this point, even a blind man could see that there was something going on between Chaeyoung and Mina. They had completely given up on hiding it from Nayeon, and now were just waiting for the oldest member to confront them. They weren’t worried. Mina wasn’t worried.

Or so Chaeyoung thought.

“What else would you expect out of kissing me right in front of her?” Chaeyoung said, only half-joking. Immediately, she knew she had made a mistake saying that, as Mina’s eyes started to become clear and glossy, and her nose wrinkled up. Chaeyoung backtracked quickly. “I was just kidding, Minari! Don’t get so offended. But you have to admit, though,” she added, looking at Mina with what she hoped was a serious expression. “We both knew this was coming sooner or later. Nayeon would eventually know, and if you’re right, well then, here we have it.”

“I didn’t think she’d find out so quickly, though,” Mina whispered, facing the ground. Chaeyoung could only stare at Mina incrediously. Really? Geez, Mina. Issues much?

Mina was just extremely worried, was all. She had no idea how Nayeon would really feel, and Mina hated hurting other people. After silently berating herself for insulting Mina, Chaeyoung turned back to the other girl, smiling reassuringly. “Trust me, Mina. Nayeon isn’t going to be hurt, and if she will be, she won’t let on to it. And she’ll get over it soon. Don’t beat yourself up over her, you made your decision. You can’t change it.”

“Right,” Mina sniffed, managing a small smile of her own. Chaeyoung beamed. Progress. “Now, what did you mean by she’s acting weird?”

Mina ran her tongue over her lips – a habit Chaeyoung found oddly seductive. Thoughts that could only be described as “not decent for anyone below the age of 18” ran through her mind every time she saw Mina do it. But now was not the time. She pushed the thoughts away and listened to Mina.

“I mean...she’s more...loose, I guess? Relaxed? Almost as if she knows what’s going on and she’s gotten over it. She even, uh, teases me sometimes, saying that she thinks I’ve been...chaeting....”

Chaeyoung rose an eyebrow. “Chaeting?”

“Yes, chaeting,” Mina affirmed. Chaeyoung wanted to burst out in laughter at the ridiculous term – it seemed like Nayeon had indeed found out – but Mina looked like she wanted to cry. “She teases me a lot about you now. And she doesn’t seem hurt, or jealous, or anything like that. She just...it’s weird.”

“Then she’s found out,” Chaeyoung said simply. Yes, Nayeon knew. There was no hiding anything from her. And the best part was that Nayeon probably didn’t care either. If she was hurt – like Chaeyoung had said before – then she had gotten over it. Everything was fine.

Except the teasing.

Chaeyoung knew how far Nayeon could go with teasing. She didn’t prank people as much as Jeongyeon liked to do, but when Nayeon started teasing someone, it wouldn’t end for days. And sometimes (more like usually) ended up in someone’s feelings getting quietly hurt. They wouldn’t let it show, but they’d be hurt. Chaeyoung could say this from experience; after she had illegally streamed Carol, Nayeon wouldn’t let her hear the end of it. Every single day, Chaeyoung would have to go through endless teasing about how she might be gay. And Chaeyoung turned out to be gay. But at the time, it ended in misery for the young girl.

So, the teasing was all they had to deal with.

And Mina wasn’t alone, for she had Chaeyoung, who could combat Nayeon with things of her own.

She had taken notice to how often Nayeon would call Momo, and how often Momo would mention Nayeon.

Do your worst, Nayeon.

Do your worst.

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so basically this is a filler chapter lmao sorry about that. and at this rate the story's writing itself, because originally i hadn't planned for this chapter to even be a chapter...nor did i plan for michaeng to find out. but this way, it adds some humor into the story and lightens everything up, which is what i wanted it to be. i really wanted this to be a light hearted, fluffy story but ofc i put some angsty stuff in it ;-; also. did y'all notice the namo ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

there are only a few chapters left till the end btw...

thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed and continue to enjoy!