Watching

Chungha/Nayoung

They just kind of ask at one point, go around in a circle to figure out how many siblings each of them had. Not all of it makes sense - certainly Yoojung could have easily passed as a younger sibling and Sejeong for the oldest - but nothing draws as many raised eyebrows as Nayoung as the youngest of her family.

For the girls who mostly know each other from a distance barred by competition (since you could be friendly but still hold back, that much they knew), this is the first time they get to get together, the eleven of them, no cameras, just them.

“Really?” Somi looked just that little bit flabbergasted, though really not as flabbergasted as Chungha is sure some of the others will be when they find out that Somi is the eldest child.

Nayoung shrugs, “Yeah.”

Sejeong tilts her head, “I can see it.”

Chungha finds herself nodding, “Mmhm.”

Doyeon grins, “Unnie is adorable.”

That statement clearly catches Nayoung by surprise as her eyes widen before she ducks shyly and laughs that slightly self-conscious awkward laugh of hers that Chungha has heard so many times though goodness knows what there is to be self-conscious about proportions and skills like those.

Chungha watches Jieqiong squeal and hit Nayoung on the arm.

Mina beams and Chungha smiles.

“Kids, let’s go!”

Mornings are the worst, Chungha thinks.

Mornings are terrible, only surpassed by nights-that-turn-into-mornings on days where they only get single hours of sleep.

She tugs on the nearest pair of socks, which happen to be grey, throws on a pair of jeans and a loose top. It will probably not be too cold today and she can easily toss on a jacket. She would normally spend a little more time planning her outfit (a little more being perhaps a whole two minutes more) but today they are running slightly late on Nayoung time.

Chungha grabs her bag, checks her hair on her phone and scoots to the door where she is immediately beset by Somi.

“Morning,” Somi wraps her arms around Chungha’s waist.

“Mm,” Chungha says, patting Somi on the head. She nods at Nayoung who is trying to look over them and see if the Fantagio girls are going to emerge any time soon.

Nayoung’s lips purse.

“I can go check on them,” Chungha says.

Somi shrugs, “Sohye and Kyulkyung-unnie are up. They’ll probably be out soon.”

“We’re going to be late,” Nayoung’s frown deepens.

Chungha kicks her shoes off, shrugs out of Somi’s arms and scoots past the oncoming Jieqiong towards the Fantagio room.

“Girls,” she knocks on their door then eases it open.

Yoojung is sitting dazed on her bed in her pajamas while Doyeon is at least half-dressed in pants and her pajama top.

“We’re leaving in a minute,” she says.

“Oh shh-,” Yoojung leaps up and scrambles around the room, throwing things into her bag and looking for articles of clothing. She ruffles through a suitcase and throws a long sweater out onto the bed on top of her phone and charger.

Doyeon tugs a blouse on, tucks it into her pants and then starts to pack her own things.

“I'll be outside,” Chungha says before Yoojung strips to change.

She slides out of the room to come face to face with Nayoung.

“Uh,” she says, face awfully close to Nayoung’s shoulder, “They'll be out in a minute?”

Nayoung looks at her, nods then turns to leave in search of Sohye. She pauses at the corridor.

“Thanks Chungha.”

Chungha shrugs and heads back to the main door where Somi flings her arms around her shoulders. Nayoung’s bag starts ringing with ‘Hold On’.

“You should pick it up, unnie,” Jieqiong says between yawns, “that uh-”

“Ringtone,” Somi says.

“Yeah that’s the manager.”

“I'll get it,” Nayoung says, materializing behind them with Doyeon and Sohye in tow, “Someone go get Yoojung please.”

Chungha nods, catches Nayoung’s small strained smile.

Chaeyeon finds it easiest to snuggle up to Nayoung, Chungha realizes, watches Chaeyeon lean on Nayoung’s shoulder, wrap around her arms, put their hands together.

It’s been hard for Chaeyeon.

It’s been hard for all of them, really, but harder for Chaeyeon, having to be shuttled constantly between two groups and way too much work. It’s not sorry that Chungha feels for Chaeyeon, because this is what they want to do but she worries sometimes.

But Chaeyeon has Nayoung. They all have Nayoung.

Nayoung is a rock.

Chungha smiles inwardly at the pun but Nayoung really is a rock when they need her to be one. Sejeong is a kind listening ear, giver of advice, commiserator and empathizer but Nayoung is there, always there, always solid, always present, always reliable.

It’s a little different.

Their lives have changed so much in such a short span of time that having a constant, having something to hold on to is wonderful.

Chungha holds on to Nayoung being there, sleeping early, waiting for them by the door, herding them to and from the car, answering all the ‘tell us more about your song’ questions.

She clings to the content silence of them chewing on dried sweet potatoes in the room in the evening.

Yoojung is just naturally made for squishing, Chungha decides, not that there’s anything inherently squishy about her but her smallness and her smiles and her eyes are incredibly endearing that one cannot help but want to squish her.

She knows that she is not alone in thinking this way. She’s seen Sejeong ruffle Yoojung’s hair, Chaeyeon wrap her arms around Yoojung’s waist, watched that episode where Somi basically squished her face against Yoojung’s.

And now Nayoung will not let go of the Daeng.

It’s adorable.

She watches Nayoung wrap herself around Yoojung, latching on and refusing to release her, the two of them waddling like penguins in their parkas until they fall to the floor in a little heap.

She laughs, laughs as Sejeong also laughs.

It’s something Nayoung’s been doing lately now that they all know each other so much better, miss each other so much more - a lot more hugging, snuggling, touching. Chungha cannot say that she has been on the receiving end of a lot of that but she knows the other girls appreciate it, this bunch of crazy touchy-feely beagles (led by Her Royal Highness I-Love-Butts Kim Sejeong).

She watches Nayoung snuggle Yoojung, watches her slowly rock the Fantagio girl from side to side and cannot help the smile that comes to her face.

“Unnie,” Jieqiong says when Nayoung has left the room to shower and they are the only two in the room.

“Hm?”

Jieqiong puts her hand on Chungha’s knee, leans over and nuzzles into the crook of her neck.

Chungha smiles, the Beagles love their snuggles and she has grown to appreciate their touchy-feeliness.

She pats Jieqiong’s head.

“Unnie,” Jieqiong says.

“Yes?”

Chungha runs fingers through Jieqiong’s hair, waits for her to continue.

“You’ve been-”

The door opens and Nayoung steps in, hair up in a towel. Her eyes flick to them, first to Jieqiong then to Chungha. An expression Chungha cannot place crosses Nayoung’s face before she sits on her bed and begins unwrapping her hair to let it dry.

“The shower’s empty,” Nayoung says.

Chungha nods, pats Jieqiong’s head once more then gently pushes the younger girl away from her.

Jieqiong pouts then grins, turning to Nayoung.

Chungha sees Nayoung’s eyes light up, wishes she knew what Jieqiong was about to say next.

Chungha always watches the other girls dance if she gets the chance to and the opportunity truly arises when they start working on Whatta Man.

Sohye is still learning but she has interesting ideas and Produce 101 must have somehow stripped most of the fear and hesitation of performing on stage that ordinary people usually have. Perhaps she never had that, Chungha does not know.

The Beagles dance well. It sounds strange but beagle-ness directly helps with being less restrained and less self-conscious when dancing.

Doyeon is all arms and legs (in the best possible way) and deer in the headlights but she works hard, hits what she needs to hit and shows no shame on stage whatsoever.

Somi can do anything. That girl is born to be a performer and it shows in her eyes and her moves and her willingness to be as crazy as she wants to be.

Yoojung is the best - a consummate actress, she flips a switch when she starts, kills the moves, has the facial expressions to match, works hard, so hard.

Jieqiong has the skill and the smolder when she remembers to turn it on, could work a little more on connecting her moves to make it all look that little bit easier - such a large part of the work they do is to make it look easy.

That leaves Nayoung.

Nayoung understands how dance works and makes it work for her, but sometimes the self-consciousness sticks to Nayoung like glue, does not seem to wash off, winds its way into her movements and makes them just that bit different.

Chungha noticed it in Say My Name, watched Nayoung light up then close herself off for some reason halfway through which was a damn shame since the choreography was bomb and Mina slayed it so one can only imagine how good it would have been if tall lanky Nayoung managed to work it the way she had probably imagined it to be.

Fingertips was much better.

Chungha does not know why but if pressed she would guess that that Nayoung felt more relaxed, not having to be the leader with Heehyun on the team and not even having to worry about standing out too much with Sejeong on the team.

She watches the clip that Mnet put out for the individual trainees, finds herself smiling along.

“Hey,” Nayoung says through the darkness of their room as Chungha tugs her blankets over herself, settling in after a busy day of filming for Hit the Stage.

Chungha rolls over to face her, “hm?”

“Thanks.”

“Thanks?”

“For letting Yoojung join,” Nayoung says and Chungha hears a little rustling of sheets.

“Ah,” she says, “It was nothing. It was fun. She was great.”

Chungha doesn’t know why the words suddenly refuse to come out. Yoojung is wonderful and incredible and talented and hardworking and they had a great time practicing and dancing together. She would do it again any day, at the drop of a hat, in a heartbeat. She does not need thanks for this.

“She really wanted to,” Nayoung says, rolls over so Chungha can see the faint outline of her face in the dark, “you guys were incredible.”

“Thanks,” Chungha blushes.

“But really,” Nayoung says, “Thank you.”

Chungha thinks her smile doesn’t disappear till she falls asleep.

“You've been watching Nayoung-unnie,” Jieqiong says quietly, traces a pattern on the back of Chungha's hand.

They are in the unnie-line room again, this time Chungha with her hair now almost dry and Nayoung in the shower.

“I have?”

“Mmhm,” Jieqiong leans in.

“Well, she’s been doing a good job with the group,” Chungha says.

Jieqiong wiggles her eyebrows.

“What,” Chungha says, leans back.

“You’ve been watching her,” Jieqiong says, a small smile on her face.

“Ok...”

“Just thought you might want to know,” Jieqiong grins, wiggles her eyebrows again.

“Know what?”

They both turn as Nayoung enters the room.

“Nothing, unnie,” Jieqiong’s grin widens as she detaches herself from a rather dazed Chungha, “G’night you two!”

Nayoung frowns but waves her away, “Sleep early. We have an early schedule tomorrow.”

Jieqiong sticks out her tongue, “Yes mom!”

“G-Good night,” Chungha manages as the door closes behind them.

Nayoung turns her back to Chungha, rummages through her things for her sleeping mask. Chungha watches a drop of water bead and fall from her hair to the floor.

They finish their post-shower routines in silence, then Nayoung reaches for the lights, pauses.

“What were you two discussing,” she says.

“The group,” Chungha says and it is technically not a lie.

“Ah,” Nayoung says, turns the lights off, “Is there anything you would like to share with me about the group?”

“N-Not particularly,” Chungha mumbles, “we were just chatting.”

She hears the rustling of sheets then the placement of feet on the floor. Before she knows it, Nayoung is sitting on the floor by the foot of her bed, the dim light from a window casting a shadow of the bedframe by her.

“Is,  is there anything you would like to share with me then?”

“Well,” Chungha says, pauses, sighs and gives up, “Jieqiong thinks I’ve been watching you.”

The silence that occurs after is not at all reassuring. Chungha does not know what it means - not that she is really sure what she meant by her own statement either.

“Is that so?” Nayoung says just before Chungha gives in to the urge to leave the room immediately.

“I guess?”

“Ah,” Nayoung says.

Chungha wishes the Beagles were making some noise outside but they are not and the only sound that can be heard is the quiet pitter patter of her heart.

“Well I guess I’ve been watching you too,” says Nayoung.