The KARA girls had just arrived at the studio to meet with the SHINee boys to decide on what to do for their collaboration.

“The boys are on their way back from another schedule so you guys can just hang out around here for a bit first,” their manager told them. The girls nodded and looked around the room a bit. Nothing was really special about it. It was a regular dance studio with a wall of mirrors in the front. There was a stereo system in the corner of the room and a washroom.

“Nicole!” Hyoyeon called, poking her head out from the dance studio.

“Oh hey!” Nicole said, running over and giving her a quick hug.

The SNSD girls were in the practice room next door when they heard that KARA came.

“Nicole!” Tiffany shrieked, running over to give Nicole a hug too. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re doing a collab with SHINee for Christmas,” Nicole chirped out happily.

“Ou~ a collab with a boy group,” Sunny teased as the girls all laughed.

The SNSD girls smiled and greeted the other KARA members before turning back to Nicole. Gyuri was busy talking to Jiyoung and Seungyeon about something, while Hara stood awkwardly on the side, unsure what to do.

Nicole pulled Hara over and introduced her to the SNSD girls, “This is Hara!”

“Hey! I’m Tiffany,” Tiffany gave the girl one of her eye smiles.

“N-nice to meet you!” Hara stuttered.

“Wow! Your eyes are so pretty,” Jessica said, staring at the girls face closely.

“And you have such nice skin,” Yuri said, feeling Hara’s cheeks.

“Your skin is more smooth than mine!” Hara said, blushing.

“I heard you and Seungri from Big Bang are good friends!” Sunny asked curiously.

“We used to go to the same school,” Hara answered. Nicole smiled and walked off a bit from the girls to leave them to talk.

“So, what are you guys planning to do for the collaboration?” Hyoyeon asked, pulling Nicole to the side.

“Well we’re not sure yet. We’re supposed to be deciding with them today.”

“They’re really nice and funny guys. You’ll have fun,” Hyoyeon smiled.

The girls began to quiet down a bit when they heard loud male voices from down the hall.

“Man I’m so tired,” a voice groaned.

“Me too, Taemin,” someone agreed.

“Yeah well we’re going to see KARA soon, that should waken you up,” another voice said.

“If you want to pretty~ Everybody pretty~” someone began to sing.

“Shut the hell up, Jonghyun,” an irritated voice snapped.

“Why the hell are you was such a pissy pussycat, Key?” Jonghyun said, just as they turned into the studio. Key was in the middle of rolling his eyes when he ended up walking into Jonghyun’s back.

“Yah! Don’t just stop all o-” Key froze too when he realized why Jonghyun stopped. Onew ended up walking into Key’s back which resulted in Minho walking into Onew’s back and Taemin walking into Minho’s.

Everyone in the room froze and turned their attention to the boys who had decided to join them.

“You guys are late!” Yuri said.

“Yeah! And why are you guys just standing there, have you never seen girls before?” Sunny laughed. Jonghyun shook his head slowly, still in shock.

The SNSD girls exchanged glances and giggled.

“Well we better get going then,” Tiffany said, as the girls formed a train and slipped pass the SHINee boys.

“Have fun,” Seohyun smiled.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Hyoyeon warned them as she passed by.

The only ones left in the room were the SHINee boys standing awkwardly by the door and the KARA girls who were still standing there, staring at them with wide eyes.

“Well then,” Gyuri said, as the girls quickly formed a line and greeted, “Annyeonghaseyo! KARA imnida!”

Onew was the first to snap back to reality as he stumbled foreward, causing the Seungyeon and Jiyoung to giggle a bit.

“Annyeonghaseyo! Shiny SHINee imnida!” he said by himself. He looked back at s and nudged them. They all snapped out of it and bowed, stuttering things the girls couldn’t hear. After 5 minutes of awkward silence, they decided to all just sit down and talk.

“So um… should we start by introducing ourselves?” Onew said, trying to break the awkward tension.

“Alright, well I’m Gyuri.”

“And I’m Seungyeon.”

“I’m the maknae, Jiyoung.”

“Hara.”

“I’m Nicole,” she said, glancing at Key who was looking at her before looking away.

“I’m Onew,”

“Jonghyun here.”

“I’m Minho”

“Maknae Taemin.”

“And Key.” Nicole looked up timidly at him, feeling her cheeks heat up.

“We saw a picture of Taemin when he dressed up as girl before! He looked so cute!” Hara said, pointing at Taemin who covered his face in embarrassment.

“Ugh! They made me do it!” Taemin cried, pointing fingers at his hyungs.

“You agreed to it,” Onew said.

“Yeah, you even checked yourself out in the mirror too,” Minho added. Taemin’s jaw dropped in response as everyone laughed.

“Okay guys. What do you guys think we should do for this?” Seungyeon asked, trying to actually get some work done.

“How about we just dress up as Santa and throw candy out?” Minho said.

“Santa’s a boy though! We can’t dress up as Santa!” Jiyoung said.

“Then how about you girls wear a red nose and be rudolph,” Jonghyun suggested. The girls frowned.

“We’ll look silly!” Gyuri said, crossing her arms.

“I think it’s sort of cute,” Jonghyun said.

“Why don’t you guys dress up as rudolph and we’ll be Santa then,” Hara grinned.

As everyone was discussing, Nicole and Key were the only quiet ones. Nicole kept her eyes down as she played with her fingers, glancing up at Key occasionally. He looked so different from before. His hair changed, and he definitely grew taller. He seemed more mature and quiet than before. She didn’t like it. It made her feel more distant from him; like he’s a complete stranger. He was anything but a stranger though. He kept looking at her and it made her heart skip a beat every time their eyes met.

They all stopped talking and turned their attention to their two maangers who had just entered the room.

“Since you guys are taking forever to decide what to do, we just decided for you guys,” KARA’s manager said.

“SHINee will start by singing Silent Night and then KARA will come out later and you guys will sing Jingle Bell Rock together. You guys will have to get in pairs though,” the SHINee manager announced.

They all sat silently as they suddenly decided to take interest in staring at their hands and the ceiling.

“Let us know when you guys have decided,” SHINee’s manager said as the two of them left the room.

“Well then…”Jonghyun said, not liking the tension in the air.

“Kay, so who’s going to pair up with who?” Gyuri asked as they all exchanged looks.

“Well the maknae’s can be a pair of course,” Onew said looking at Jiyoung and Taemin. They exchanged looks and shrugged, not having a problem with it

“Next, the shortest people in the group should pair up,” Seungyeon grinned looking at Gyuri while Onew threw Jonghyun an evil smile.

“Yah!” Jonghyun said looking for something to throw at Onew.

“Since you two seem to be compatible with each other already, you two can work together,” Gyuri said to Seungyeon and Onew, flipping her hair back.

“So that just leaves us?” Hara said, pointing at herself and looking at Minho, Key, and Nicole.

“Just do rock paper scissors and the losers will pair up and the winners can pair up,” Jonghyun said, leaning back on his hands.

Nicole and Hara did rock paper scissors while Minho and Key did rock paper scissors. Both Hara and Minho cried out victoriously while Key and Nicole were frozen with their scissors still sticking out.

“W-wait! Best two out of three!” Key stuttered.

Nicole felt a bit offended by how desperate Key sounded. Did he not want to pair up with her that badly?

Minho sighed and complied with Key, but the outcome was the same. “See hyung, I still win.”

Key shot daggers at Minho for bragging and rubbing it in his face. Minho held up his hands in defence and laughed, not wanting to anger him further.

“Have you guys decided yet?” KARA’s manager said, coming back in the room.

When they nodded in response, he smiled, “Great! You guys can start practising and then we’ll see each other again next week to start practising the placements. Right now, you girls have another schedule to go to.”

“Already?” Hara said. The girls looked at the clock and realized that their hour and a half had flown by. They all stood up and bowed, saying their goodbyes as they left their dance studio.

Key watched Nicole’s turned back hoping that she would turn back. Once. Just once would be enough for him. And she did. But her eyes weren’t gleaming or shining with happiness like they once were. They were filled with sadness and disappointment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Okay let’s see you guys sing Silent Night first,” SHINee’s manager told them.

The girls watched with admiration in their eyes as the boys sang with angelic voices none of them would thought they had. When they ended, the girls applauded for them.

“That’s pretty good,” their manager nodded in approval. “Jonghyun you need to practice some more on the words though. Key can help you.” Jonghyun nodded.

“Now for the the next part…first you guys will all just sing in a line, boy girl boy girl order, okay? Doesn’t really matter who stands next to who. Get in a line right now,” KARA’s manager directed. They all quickly fell into a line just as they were asked. Key was standing at one end and Nicole was standing at the other, beside Taemin. “Okay, then when you guys start singing the verse, you’ll do it in pairs. The girls will be on one side and the boys will be on the other side. Get into your partners first.”

Nicole looked over at Key and walked over to him shyly. The two of them nodded awkwardly at each other and stood beside each other, leaving a large gap between them. They still haven’t said a single word to each other yet.

“Okay, now you stand here and you stand here,” the manager’s said as they ordered them into their positions.

“It will be in the order you guys are in so remember where you’re standing,” SHINee’s manager said.

“Gyuri you’ll sing the first line with Jonghyun-sshi, Seungyeon and Onew will sing the next and then Nicole and Key will the last. Hara, Minho-sshi, Jiyoung, and Taemin-sshi, you guys can just do a little dance thing together,” he told them.

“Let’s do a run through first just to practice the beginning first.” Onew suggested.

The managers nodded and they all got into their positions. Everything went smoothly besides the large gaps left between all the members at the beginning.

“You guys are going to have to stand closer than that if you all want to fit on the stage,” SHINee’s manager told them.

“Remember that for next time, now you guys can start practising with your partners and decide what you guys are going to do when it’s your turn,” KARA’s manager told them before going off to the three pairs with singing parts and giving them their lines.

Nicole and Key stood in their spots, away from each other, as the other partners got together to discuss.

“What are you guys waiting for?” SHINee’s manager said to the two of them.

Key and Nicole looked at each other and back at the ground.

“No need to be shy. Now hurry up and come up with something so you guys can start rehearsing,” the manager said as he pushed the two together.

“So…what do you want to do?” Nicole asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” he answered in a dull voice.

Nicole’s lips pressed into a thin line, feeling more and more like they’ll never be able to talk normally again.

“For those of you who are singing, I’ll make it easier for you guys. Just concentrate more on singing instead of on the dancing part,” SHINee’s manager said, resulting in a groan from the other two pairs who weren’t singing.

By the end of the session, Nicole and Key came up with nothing. They hadn’t talked or done anything besides watch the other groups.

“Let’s see what you guys have,” their managers said when their practice session was almost over.

Nicole and Key watched as the two singing pairs went before them. All they really did was bounce on the spot and sing. Key leaned into Nicole slightly and whisper, “Just bounce on the spot and sing like them.”

Nicole was a bit surprised by how close he was for that brief moment but quickly composed herself and nodded. They did the same as the other two pairs who sang before them, trying to not seem awkward at all. They sighed in relief when their turn was over and the last two pairs went. Their managers, however, didn’t look very happy with what they saw at the end of the session.

“You guys did fine,” KARA’s manager said, pointing at the two dancing pairs who smiled proudly at their compliment.

“But you guys,” SHINee’s manager looked at the three couples who were singing, “Can you guys try to seem a bit happier? And don’t just bounce on the spot and sing, make some eye contact with each other or something. Do a little dance? I feel awkward just watching you guys.”

“Sorry,” they all apologized.

“We’ll see guys next week then,” KARA’s manager said, signalling for the girls it was time to leave. They said their goodbyes to SHINee and the manager and followed the manager out.

“Nicole wait!”

Nicole felt her heart stop for a second. Was he actually talking to her?

She turned around slowly and saw Key approaching her. A part of her was too scared to listen to what he had to say next but a bigger part of her was curious as to what he had to desperately tell her.

He stopped in front of her and looked down at her. She looked up at him with wide eyes, waiting anxiously for him to say what he wanted to say. Her eyes softened when she saw the corner of his lips curve up slightly, “Let’s just try and do our best okay?”

Smiles must be contagious because just his small smile alone caused her to grin from ear to ear. She nodded earnestly and turned to join her members and manager who were waiting for her outside.

Key stood frozen to the floor, staring at the empty door. He missed seeing that smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next two sessions went by smoothly. They managed to come up with something for their part and were less awkward with each other. Their conversations increased but were still limited to only talking about their performance. They didn’t dare to make jokes with each other, not sure if they were still in that comfort level with each other anymore.

Little did she know about the many nights he clutched onto his phone, debating on whether to call her or not. In the end, he didn’t. He was scared that she won’t pick up or even worse; find out that she changed her number without telling him. Her number was the only communication they had between them. He didn’t want to know he lost that too.

The next thing they knew, they were performing on stage together. The performance that the two of them have been looking forward to in so long. They did a great job together, not giving off an uncomfortable vibe between them at all. They even gave each other a high five. Sadly, the performance was short and it ended in a blink of an eye.

As soon as they were off the stage,both groups were rushed into their own change rooms to not block the other staff members and idols from getting on the stage and performing.

Key passed by KARA’s dressing room with the rest of the SHINee members, glancing inside to see Nicole sitting by herself.. Nicole just so happened to look up and caught his eye in the mirror. He stopped walking and continued staring at her, not sure about what to do in this situation. Should he just say hi or just keep walking?

When she smiled and waved at him, his heart made the decision for him. s stopped and turned back to check on what happened to Key, only to see him knocking on the door.

“What’s he doing?” Jonghyun asked Onew who just shrugged. They all saw Key walk into the room and decided to see who he was talking to. They saw that Nicole and Key were too busy having a conversation to notice them poking their noses in the room.

“Let’s just find him later,” Onew smiled, before turning his back and continuing to walk with the other members following behind.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hello,” she chirped.

“Where are the other girls?” he asked her.

“I think they’re all in the other room changing,” she answered simply. The two of them sensed an awkward silence begin to drawl on as the two continued to just stare at each other.

“Um…” Key said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Nicole giggled at his failed attempt of trying to lighten the tension.

“Can I talk to you for a bit?” Key asked.

“Um…sure,” Nicole said, biting her lip nervously. What were they going to talk about.

“How have you been?” he asked, taking a seat beside her.

“Tired,” she said, the smile slipping from her face. She was tired from the many hours of training they had. She was tired from their promotion activities. She was tired from only getting a few hours of sleep if any at all. She was tired from acting like didn’t miss Key. She was tired from acting like she wasn’t overly excited to see him every week. And she was tired from pretending that she wasn’t tired from all this.

“Yeah,” he agreed with her. He didn’t debut long ago but he was already exhausted from their schedules. But this was what he had worked so hard for. That was when he remembered what he had said to her a year ago. “I told you we would see each other on stage.”

“I know,” she managed to squeak out. She looked down at her hands, hiding her face with her hair. She felt begin to tighten and her eyes sting with tears. She missed him so much. There were so many times when she felt like giving up just so she could be with him. There was so much she wanted to tell him.

Key saw a tear drop from Nicole’s face and onto her hands, causing him to feel the sadness wash over him as well. He looked down at his clenched fists and mumbled loud enough just for her to hear, “I missed you.”

She wiped the tears from her cheeks and nodded to show that she did too. If she said anything, she knew that she would lose it. And it was impossible for her to lose it here.

“Let’s just try to start fresh okay? As friends,” he said, trying to sound more hopeful than sad. This was the only way for them to talk normally again. To forget everything that happened before and to just think about the present.

The sound of his heart pumping rang loudly in his ear as he waited in the long silence for her to give him some sort of response.

“Okay,” she whispered quietly, but he still managed to hear her.

As much as his chest hurt, he was able to smile a bit. He placed both hands on her cheeks and lifted her head to see her face.

“Don’t cry anymore,” he said softly, brushing away her tears with his thumb.

She could tell he was trying his best to be strong for her, that’s why he was forcing that smile even though his eyes told her that he wanted to cry as well. The least she could do was try and be strong for him. She reached her hands up, covering his. Looking him in the eye, she nodded. “I won’t.”