“Excited?” A wide grinning Doojoon asked as he walked, with a little jump in his step, beside a calm Junhyung

“Well, you obviously are” Junhyung replied at the over-excited leader

Doojoon chuckled, “Is it too obvious?”

Junhyung just raised his eyebrows, it was a dumb question to ask

Doojoon got the hint and immediately tuned it down—as much as he could—straightening his clothes and walking normally

“So,” He continued, “I heard you came home early last night, something happen?”

Junhyung stiffened at the memory, “I didn’t want to overwork myself, plus we have this first interview so I couldn’t afford to be tired” He said, quickly recovering

DooJoon bought it

“Interview!! Interview!! Our first Interview!!” Yoseob yelled happily as he zoomed past the two, arms clinging around a tired-looking Dongwoon who was walking just a bit further from them.

“Seobie!” Doojoon yelled, just as loud and suddenly just as hyper too, “You jerk, you! Wake up earlier next time so we can all walk together!”

Yoseob just grinned in reply, now swinging his free arm around Doojoon’s and pulling him closer.

Junhyung just stared as the trio’s pace hastened and they were now skipping further and further away. Junhyung, on the other hand, slowed his pace to a leisurely stroll as he followed after the three—who were now being caught up by a frantic Kikwang yelling “Don’t leave me!”

Everyone seemed themselves, still quirky, still silly—still normal. Yet, why was he so affected? Why did he feel as if he was the only one being pressured? The only one… changing?

****

“Tsk. Him and his perfectionist ways. I’ll never understand why someone would want to put extra pressure on themselves, it’s just making your life harder”

Hyuna’s ears perked up at the description, it was all too familiar.

“W-Who are you talking about?” She stuttered, a failed attempt at trying to pass off as sounding casual

“Why?” Sohyun asked suspiciously, “Who do you think it is?”

Hyuna threw her arms in front of her defensively, “Just curious.”

“Sohyun, don’t be mean, she’s your unnie” Jihyun said, “and Hyuna, haven’t you been paying attention to the conversation at all? You seem distracted.”

“Ah, no,” Hyuna replied quickly, “Just didn’t get much sleep last night…”

She shuddered slightly as she remembered the previous night. She didn’t know what in the world had possessed Sohyun to suddenly act the way she did. She was interrogated to no end—with questions she deemed useless, unnecessary, and uncalled for—and even when she tried to ignore the younger one, it only resulted in a pillow fight she had always managed to lose at.

Hyuna glanced at Sohyun at the memory and caught a tiny sly smile form on the Maknae’s face, making her wonder what crazy things were going on in her mind.

“Be sure to rest properly, we can’t have you so lacking in energy.” Jihyun said sternly before quickly adding in a lighter tone-- “It’s no fun”

Hyuna smiled and nodded slightly in response. Aside from Sohyun, she was closest to their leader, Jihyun. And she was glad to have her as a leader. She was always concerned for the members and although she seemed quite off at times, she was actually very observant. And the girls would follow her words respectfully, knowing she only thinks of their welfare.

But more than that, she seemed to not mind Hyuna’s silly antics and whiny tendencies. And that was one of the many reasons she was particularly attached to her.

“We were talking about TaeKyung, by the way” She added, “You know, Jang GeunSuk’s character in his new drama”

“Ahh…” Hyuna muttered, “Figures.”

“Why?” Sohyun started again, “Hoping it was someone else?”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Hyuna shot back

“Seriously,” Jihyun stopped the two, “What is up with you two!?”

Hyuna simply pouted, turning her head the other direction. First, Sohyun took her night from her, and now, she was being irritatingly antagonistic. Hyuna just didn’t get it.

“Probably the lack of sleep.” Gayoon suggested as she walked into the studio with Jiyoon following close behind, “It can turn the straightest person irritable”

“Lack of sleep?” Jiyoon asked, not following the flow of the conversation

Jihyun nodded her head towards the other two, “Those girls”

“Aww, maknae’s fighting?” Jiyoon said, walking closer to the three and sitting on the floor beside Hyuna, who greeted her with a quick smile before turning her face back into an angry pout.

“But I thought you girls went to sleep early” Gayoon said, finding a spot on the studio floor beside Jihyun, “You left before the drama even finished”

Hyuna turned to Sohyun, and seeing the younger girl’s expression turn eager to reply, she quickly stepped in “I got a call!”

Sohyun turned to her questioningly, “From!?”

“My… My mother. She was wondering how we… were and stuff. It was really late so… And I couldn’t say no, I haven’t contacted her in forever since promotions started”

Sohyun narrowed her eyes suspiciously and Hyuna just laughed awkwardly

“You should wake us up next time” Jiyoon said, finally breaking the tension “I miss talking to your mom!”

“Haha,” Hyuna relaxed, “Yeah…”

“Girls!” Their manager called as she stood in the doorway, “Break’s over, your new choreographer’s waiting in the 3rd floor dance room.”

“We’ll be right there” Jihyun said, “But isn’t that the boys’ practice room?”

“Yeah,” Their manager replied, “He’s going to be choreographing for both of you but the boys should still be in their first interview so he’ll be helping you girls first”

They all nodded, getting up to follow their manager out of their dance studio and up to the third floor, all of them wondering what kind of person this new choreographer was.

“And Hyuna, you head over to the recording studio, Hong CEO wanted to see you about something”

“Me?” Hyuna asked, a little surprised

“Yeah,” Their manager said, “Just head over to the dance studio when you’re done”

Hyuna nodded slowly, a mix of nervousness and excitement running through her. She didn’t want to be without her girls but she was also curious about what Hong CEO wanted to talk to her about. In a recording studio, no less.

She watched as the rest of the girls waved her goodbye— “We’ll see you in the studio later!”—and disappeared into the staircase before she headed the opposite direction towards the main recording studio.

The walk there was lonely.

She was always quick to feel lonely. But this wasn’t the worst it had gotten. She slowed her pace as the memories from her wonder girls days flooded back. The walk leaving the studio that one last time in JYP, knowing she wasn’t ever going back, knowing she would no longer be a part of the group, was the loneliest walk of her life.

She was in a better place now, she encouraged herself.

She wouldn’t be abandoned again.

****

“Junhyung,” Doojoon lectured, “You should talk more next time, don’t make it so hard on the interviewer”

“What?” Junhyung defended, “There’s six of us and I answered everything she asked from me”

“Yeah, with one word responses!” Doojoon argued, “What are you going to do when the press comes out portraying you as a cold prince?”

“Well, they wouldn’t be half wrong” Junhyung grinned, liking the prince part

“Junhyungie!” DooJoon whined, using his aegyo as a last resort

“Ugh,” Junhyung said, immediately turned off, “Don’t do that Hyung, it’s disgusting when you do”

There was only one person who he could stand whining—or more like, who whined to no end that he would find it weird if a day passed without one complaint—and that person was not Doojoon

“Why?” Doojoon asked, now clinging to Junhyung’s arm “It works when Hyuna does it!”

Junhyung did a double take, startled at the mention of her name when he was just thinking of her, “Wha—?!”

“YooHoo~!!” Yoseob suddenly in, jumping onto Junhyung’s other arm, “What’s this? What’s so funny, Doojoon-ah? Why am I not included?!”

When skinship was involved, Yoseob was always the first to come to mind.

“Seobie-ah” Doojoon said, “Don’t you think Junhyung was being too quiet in the interview?”

“Yes~!” Yoseob responded happily, “It makes him come off as cold!”

“And indifferent” Hyunseung added from behind them, Kikwang nodded beside him

Dongwoon, who was busy listening to something on his ipod, took off his head phones to add to the conversation, “Rude too!”

“Yah! How is it rude?!” Junhyung defended, suddenly the object of bullying among the members—it wasn’t a position he was used to. He was usually on the other end of the bullying.

The rowdy group laughed loudly all the way up until they reached their third floor practice room, all of them suddenly stopping short and quieting down as Yoseob opened the door to the large interior surrounded by walls of mirrors.

“Uh…” DooJoon didn’t know exactly what to say

“Hi” A slim tall guy standing in the middle of the room said, “I’m Prepix. Your new Choreographer.”

The group stumbled into the room messily, a mix of embarrassment and sheepish grins on their faces.

“It’s good to see I’ll be in charge of such an energetic group of young boys.” Prepix said, laughing when he saw them stumble in, “Looks like it’ll be a fun ride. Be nice to me, please” He bowed at the last word in a formal greeting

The boys all suddenly bowed even lower, “N-No, it’s a great honor to work with you!” DooJoon said loudly, earning nods from the rest of the group

“Aww, why so silent all of a sudden?” Prepix said, motioning for them to stand straight, “I liked the loud group I heard on their way here. What happened to them?”

“Yeah, seriously” Jihyun said, causing the boys to whip their heads her way—they hadn’t noticed that the girls were in the room until she talked “We could hear you coming from a mile away”

DooJoon scratched his head “Hehe…”

Prepix smiled, “Well, introductions first and then we’ll get started right away. The girls are nearly done with their lesson so you could wait on the side if you want”

The boys nodded, formally introducing themselves with their names and ages one by one from Doojoon to Dongwoon before huddling over to a corner and sitting down to watch the end of the girls’ practice.

Junhyung scanned the room quickly, he had noticed it right away, Hyuna was missing. He swallowed hard.

He knew she would never miss dance practice for anything—especially if she found out there was a new routine to learn and a new choreographer to teach it.

He wondered through all the scenarios running rampant in his mind—He shouldn’t have left her to go home alone, it was the dead of the night and freezing cold, too. Maybe she caught a cold, or she might’ve been kidnapped. But the girls would’ve said something if she was missing, right?

He tried to calm himself down, thinking rationally about what could’ve happened. The thought that it might’ve been his fault made him nervous.

“Hyuna…?” He voiced questioningly, directing it to everyone

“Missing” Kikwang answered right away, grinning smugly at his “smart” answer

“No duh, genius” Junhyung retorted

“Hong CEO wanted to see her about something, apparently” Jihyun said as she picked up her things, ready to leave

“Ooooh,” Yoseob taunted, “Someone’s in trouble~!”

“Oh,” Junhyung felt relieved, “So it was like that”

“Why?” Sohyun asked, trying not to sound suspicious, “Needed to talk to her?”

“No,” Junhyung replied quickly, “Just thought she wouldn’t miss dance practice for nothing”

“Yeah, she didn’t look like she wanted to go either” Jihyun added, “And Sohyun, will you stop sounding like your interrogating everyone you run into?”

Sohyun chuckled, joining the rest of the girls as they headed out the studio

“Thank you for today, Prepix Oppa” Jihyun said, addressing the choreographer. The girls bowed one last time before heading out.

“Hyuna, hmm?” Prepix muttered, more to himself, “I was really looking forward to meeting her today. Bummer.”

“You… you’re a fan?” Junhyung asked casually

“Haha, you could say that” Prepix replied, “I’ve monitored her performances so far and I’ve heard praises from Hong CEO about her talent. You could say I’m just interested”

Junhyung smiled stiffly, and here he thought he was really going to get along well with their new choreographer who seemed to possess a wicked sense of humor, much like him.

“Careful about that, Prepix Hyung” DooJoon said, “This guy here’s overprotective of Hyuna”

“Oh?” Prepix asked, looking at Junhyung interestedly, “Really now?”

“We’ve known each other for a long time, now” Junhyung replied, “She’s like a younger sister to me”

“The hardest position to be in” Prepix said, a little mysteriously, earning a look of confusion form Junhyung

“Yeah, we’re all kinda protective of our fellow label-mates” Yoseob added, “Theres a kind of sibling rivalry between us for Hong CEO’s love but outside of the company, we all feel a kind of obligation towards them”

“It’s a little weird” Doojoon said, agreeing with Yoseob “We feel like we should protect them from other groups who might have their eyes on them”

“Does that go for choreographers, too?” Prepix asked, Junhyung raised his eyebrows at him before Prepix added slyly; “Just kidding~”

The guys chuckled lightly, “Ok, fun time’s over. Let’s get started” Prepix said, walking over to the middle of the room

The guys obediently followed.