***

“Wow. You got two collaboration stages. Amazing, eonni!” Yeri cheered as she looked at our practice schedule.

“I’m worried, though,” Irene eonni chimed in. “You’re forgetful as I am,” she said, drawing laughter from the younger members.

“Kkangseul, be sure to practice hard and don’t mix up the steps,” Wendy reminded and I just nodded.

The four of them went to bed early because we just finished filming our music video for our next comeback. Even if I want to sleep, I can’t since today was scheduled to be our practice for the KBS and SBS Gayo Daejun. Yes, I was picked in both dance collaboration stages and I am really happy despite of the exhaustion they’ll bring.

It was already 7 AM when I decided to prepare my things. Our manager drove me to JYP Entertainment building for the recording of our cover of Infinite-sunbaenim’s song, Be Mine, along with Chungha, Momo, SinB and Yoojung. I arrived a little early but one of the managers guided me to the recording studio. Without anything to do, I listened to the song once again and practiced my part.

I watched over it, your love, the long farewell

Rather than always getting hurt, this is better

Look at me carefully, it’s because I don’t like you crying

Being hurt is tiring, yeah,

Every time I see you like that

It was actually easier since we only got a solo part of one line since we’ll only cover the first verse, the chorus and the rap part at the last.

Be mine, I love you, okay?

I worry about you, okay?

I’ll take care of you until the end

You know me, right?

You saw me, right?

I’ll protect you until the end.

When the chorus played, I actually have no idea why, but Jimin-ssi came into my mind. What had happened in the bookstore and on the bench replayed in my head and I fought the urge to smile.

Luckily, the rest of the girls arrived one by one, preventing me from going nuts. JYP-sunbaenim personally observed us and that made us really nervous and worried, even Momo who was more familiar with him.

I was glad when my part was over and I felt like a huge burden was removed from my shoulder when I stepped out of the recording room.

“Whoa. Eonni, your voice is so good,” SinB praised and that made me smile.

“Thank you. You too,” I said in return.

After four hours, our recording has finally ended and we were just waiting for JYP-sunbaenim’s final comments and touch-ups when my phone suddenly vibrated. I sneakily checked it while he was still listening to the chorus part.

A reminder popped to my screen and I realized it was already noon and our practice for the dance collaboration in SBS Gayo Daejun was scheduled at 1 PM.

I felt dizzy for a moment. I need to get out of here at 12:30 PM if I want to be on time since the we’re going to practice at SM. Worried, I nervously chew my fingernails, hoping that JYP-sunbaenim will adjourn us quickly.

“Okay,” he suddenly said, turning around at us. We immediately sat straight and put our attention to him. “I think the song is already perfect. Good work, ladies.”

We sincerely thanked him for monitoring us and we were really grateful for his efforts. After that, I bid my goodbye to them and ran toward the exit.

I was so glad that my manager was already waiting for me in front of the building. I immediately got inside and told my manager to step on the gas. My eyelids were starting to get heavy since I had no time to sleep after filming our music video. With the remaining time before the practice, I was planning to sleep along the way, however, due to a minor accident in the road, I got distressed and to add more problem, we got delayed. I was late for about fifteen minutes.

My heart was pounding so hard when I reached the practice room. Gathering all my remaining strength and sanity, I knocked on the door and opened it slowly.

They were already practicing and some of them glanced at me. The dance instructor looked at me and luckily, she was also our choreographer for new song so she understood why I was late.

“Okay, guys,” she said, turning off the music. “Eat and rest first for an hour. I’ll teach the remaining parts after that. Dismissed.”

“Yes, seonsaengnim!”

Hyemi eonni, the choreographer, approached me and smiled at me.

“You can rest for now, Seulgi.”

“Thank you, eonni.”

Some of the idols stepped out of the room to eat and some decided to stay. My eyes wandered around and I was surprised when I saw someone looking at me.

Jimin-ssi . . .

I averted his gaze as my heart pounded against my chest. Yes, I said that I was excited to see him again, and when I learned that he was included in the lineup, I was thrilled. However, seeing him in a crowd of idols made me feel weird. Maybe because I became used to seeing him alone spontaneously.

My head was already spinning due to sleepiness so I dragged my feet toward the hidden corner. This corner was a famous place for SM idols when practicing since we can rest here without getting caught because you can’t see someone here if you’re looking from the center area.

I sat against the wall and sighed heavily. I was so exhausted but I need to stay awake for the practice. My eyes were threatening to close when I heard someone sitting next to me. I turned my head and when I saw Jimin-ssi, my body went rigid.

“Sorry, am I bothering you?”

“Ah. N-not really.”

I was at the peak of drowsiness but my anxiety kept me awake. Being alone with him in a small space like this made me nervous.

“I just want to say thank you,” he softly said while looking at his hands. “I mean, what had happened last time . . . I was worn out and I hadn’t noticed that I was already asleep after exercising.”

Even though it was a bit dim in this area, I can saw him blushing from embarrassment, maybe because he fell asleep, though that was normal since he said that he was dead tired that day.

“Sorry for inconveniencing you that time and thank you for letting me rest,” he sincerely said while looking at me and both his eyes and tone made me restless.

“It’s okay. No worries,” I said in return.

We stayed quiet after that and I felt the tension rising once again but my exhaustion and lack of sleep was winning. I felt lightheaded and my eyelids were really getting heavier every second.

“—okay?” I thought I heard his voice so I turned to him.

“Hmm? Are you . . . I’m sorry,” I whispered, my head was already rocking on its own. “I . . . I . . . uhm . . . what was that again?”

I don’t know if I was just hallucinating or what but I saw him smiling at me, as if I just said something funny. But that was impossible since according to my members, I was the ‘no jam’ in our group.

“Sorry,” I said, my voice trailing off due to extreme tiredness. “I’m . . . sleepy . . .”

My eyelids were only a few millimeters away from closing and I felt my head rocking back and forth every second when I heard him say something.

“I think it’s my turn now,” he said. I urged my eyes to open and if I wasn’t this sleepy, I would’ve panicked when I saw him just a few centimeters beside me.

“What are you . . .” I didn’t finish my question because he held my head and gently put it on his shoulders.

“You have less than an hour to sleep. Is that enough?” he whispered.

“Mmm,” I mumbled as my head comfortably sat on his shoulder.

“Rest. I’ll watch over you.”

And that was the last thing I heard before falling into slumber.

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