School canteen

6 girls were seated at a round table at the corner of the canteen. Sooyoung was sitting beside Yuri followed by Taeyeon, Tiffany, Jessica and lastly Sunny. Ever since the 6 of them got to know each other, they have been spending a lot of time together, during lunch breaks and after school when they all will walk home together. Sunny's house and Jessica's house is nearby to each other which is just one road away from Taeyeon's and Sooyoung's house (since they are neighbours) while Yuri's house is the furthest. (Tiffany is staying with Sunny.)

"Sunny-ah, the next few weeks, me, Taeyeon and Yuri might not be able to walk home with you girls after school. We might not even come down for lunch." Sooyoung informed her cousin.

"Waeyo?" Tiffany's loud voice intercept Sunny who was on the verge of asking. All of them turn to look at Tiffany who seems anxious about it.

"Are you sure you are skipping lunch, my dear cousin?" Sunny then asked Sooyoung.

Sooyoung frowned as if in deep thoughts with a finger on her chin, scratch the back of the head and sighed. "Okay. Maybe we'll still be here during lunch.' Taeyeon and Yuri started to laugh at Sooyoung, followed by Tiffany. When the laughter almost died off, suddenly Jessica started to laugh.

"Hahaha.. Sooyoung plan to skip lunch? So unbelievable." Jessica pointed to Sooyoung while the rest just shook their heads since they are used to Jessica's late reaction.

"We'll be busy for our perfor..." Taeyeon was trying to explain to Tiffany before Yuri cupped and chipped in. "Projects. What she mean is our peforming arts class projects." Yuri smiled at Tiffany who was looking at her suspiciously. Yuri quickly kicked Sooyoung's leg under the table, signalling that she needed Sooyoung's help.

"Yeah yeah.. Arrr we.. we have got some projects to handle before the end of first semester so we'll be busy.. very busy." Sooyoung tried to explain as confidently as she could.

"Okay. I guess we can't be of any help since we are not taking the same class with you. And Yuri, I think you should remove your hands before Taeyeon stops breathing." Jessica pointed to Taeyeon who still had covered by Yuri's hands.

"Oppssss.. Sorry Tae." Yuri quickly removed her hands before getting hit by the elbow from Taeyeon.

"Yah!! Are you trying to suffocate me? And what is that all about?" Taeyeon stood up and grabbed Yuri's collar, clearly pissed off with Yuri's action and also the fact that they had lied to Tiffany on her behalf without her consent.

"Taeyeon-ah, don't have to be so angry. Yuri didn't mean it and she had already apologised." Tiffany tried to persuade Taeyeon and calm her down. Seeing that there's no reaction from Taeyeon, Tiffany grabbed Taeyeon's arm and forced her to sit down. "Taetae, stop it."

"Taetae??" all eyes were looking at Tiffany including Taeyeon's who were shocked by the nickname but blushing at the same time.

"Wae? I can't call her that? I just find the nickname cute. Just like her." Tiffany smiled at Taeyeon who was slowing turning into a red tomato.

Sooyoung and Yuri starts laughing at Taeyeon and before Taeyeon could retaliate, the school bell rang to signal the end of lunchbreak.

********************************

At the dancing studio

"Taetae-ah.. will you like to have some potato chips?" Sooyoung teased Taeyeon as she tried to shove a bag of potato chips into Taeyeon's face.

"How about some drinks? Would you like to have some, Taetae?" Yuri played along with Sooyoung as she took out a bottle of water from her bag.

"Aiiisssh.. Will the two of you stop it already? You both have been teasing me since lunch break. Speaking of which, why did you lie to Tiffany, Yul?" Taeyeon folded her arms and looked at Yuri.

"I've already got my stage phobia to handle and I don't want further distraction from them." Yuri explained.

"Them or Jessica?" Both Taeyeon and Sooyoung said out Jessica's name at the same time and they continued to tease each other while waiting for Hyoyeon and Yoona to finish their classes so that they can start on their practice. 10 mins later, the door opened as Hyoyeon and Yoona walked in. All of them had actually met before a few times at Taeyeon's house since Yoona will sometimes come over to study with Hyoyeon but their meetings usually consist the normal greetings and a few sentences.

"Annyeonghaseyo, Tae-unnie, Yuri-unnie and Soo-unnie." Yoona bowed down and greeted them.

"Yoona-ah, I've told you so many times already. I'm the same age as you. You don't have to call me unnie." Sooyoung said to Yoona. Ever since the incident with Hyoyeon, Sooyoung has quickly explained to Yoona the first time they met with regards to their age.

"It's okay unnie. I'm already used to calling you that especially when Hyo also called you the same way." Yoona smiled at Sooyoung.

"Okay everyone, let's not waste any more time and start our practice. Taeyeon, will you be fine by yourself at the singing room?" Yuri asked.

'I'll be fine. I can still see you guys through the transparent panel so no worries." Taeyeon answered with a dorky smile. (The dancing studio have a small soundproof singing room whereby students who are having vocal lessons will not be interupted by students having their dancing lessons with loud music on.)

After one hour in the studio, the dancers stopped to take a break and to discuss further about their moves. All of them were really exhausted as they tried to put up a dance performance that will last for 5 mins.

"I.. I.. I think we need to change our plans." Sooyoung was totally out of breath. "We won't have enough stamina to perform like that throughout the 5 mins."

"It's true. Even I myself is already exhausted." Hyoyeon agreed to the suggestions.

"But what should we do?" Yoona asked while the rest tried to come up with ideas.

"Why don't each of you dance individually first for a few seconds before merging together and dance as a group?" Taeyeon said as she exited from the singing room to join her friends.

"Individually?Oh no no no... I don't agree." Yuri shook her head vigorously, totally against the idea.

"Actually that's a good idea, Tae. We can used up about 2 mins of the songs to dance individually before the main part. Come on Yuri, it's only for a few seconds. You just have to dance alone for less than 30 seconds.' Sooyoung urged Yuri on. "If you are still scared, you can perform after me. So Yoona will perform first, followed by me, Yuri then Hyoyeon. What do you think Yoona?" Sooyoung asked.

"I'm fine with any arrangement, unnie. Besides, it's only for a few seconds before we all will dance as a group." Yoona replied.

"Great. Since it's all settled, why don't we listen to Tae-unnie singing while we rest for a while." Hyoyeon smiled cheekily to Taeyeon who didn't expect to be asked to sing in front of them so soon.

"But I'm still not ready yet and I haven't fully memorise the whole song." Taeyeon tried to avoid the matter.

"Come on Tae. Just sing. We are all here to practice and help each other out in any way." Sooyoung encouraged Taeyeon as she massaged Taeyeon's shoulders, trying to calm her down.

"Okay, but I'll only sing the first few verse that I've practiced earlier on.' In the end Taeyeon gave in to her friends and sang a bit.

For the next two weeks, the girls got closer as they practiced hard for their performance almost every day at the studio after end of school. Sometimes they will even skipped lunch to catch up on their sleep since they were exhausted from all the practices. Weekends will be used to catch up on their studies and also to have group chats along with Tiffany, Sunny and Jessica who were still not aware about their friend's performance for The Summer Break Festival.