"You're drinking milk again?"

A shadow fell over the girl sitting down, leaning against the mirror. She focused her gaze on her outstretched legs, sore and throbbing from the nonstop dance session. There was a brief pause for the girl to respond, but she simply remained silent and dug her fingers into the small carton of milk between her hands. Why me?

"I doubt you're going to grow any taller,"

The shadow looming over her quickly diminished as Mijoo crouched down next to her.

"Baby Soul unnie."

Baby Soul refused to even look towards Mijoo's direction, but she could see the younger girl's smug expression from the corner of her eye. She hated how her body would react whenever Mijoo was present, how it felt like there was a flurry of feathers rushing up from the pit of her stomach, tickling her insides all the way to her heart, where it would dance around ceaselessly. She especially hated how she even dared to like this sensation. If only it wasn't for Lee Mijoo.

"Shut up."

"Don't be upset, unnie. You're cute this way." 

Baby Soul huffed, bringing the carton up to her lips, hoping it would help hide the blush growing among her features.

"Are you mad?" Mijoo asked, tilting her head and spilling her long, soft hair onto Baby Soul's bare arm. She flinched only slightly in reponse, imperceptible to Mijoo's eyes currently trained on her face.

"Why would I not be?"

"I don't know... Because I'm cute?" Mijoo squeezed her eyes shut and pushed her index fingers into her smiling cheeks in such a way that inclined Baby Soul to look at her, and then regret it, because now she really wanted to hit her.

"You're not cute."

Mijoo's hands immediately dropped to her sides, and her smile fell into a frown.

"You don't think so?" Why did I have to say that?

"Why should my approval even matter to you?"

Their eyes met, and Baby Soul was caught off-guard.

"Because I want you to like me."

"Alright everyone! Break is over!" The dance trainer announced, clapping his hands and calling for the girls' attention. "Back on your feet, let's go!"

"I need to talk to you after this." Mijoo muttered as she rose to her feet, then offering a hand for Baby Soul to grab onto. The older girl set her empty milk carton down by her side and stood up, blatantly ignoring Mijoo's expectant palm and walking past her to where the rest of the girls were. Mijoo followed her wordlessly, taking one final lingering glance at her before turning around and settling in her starting position.

"Because I want you to like me." What is that supposed to mean?

"Dance practice is done for the day! Good job, girls! You can all go home now!"

"Finally! I thought my legs were going to fall off."

"I'm surprised mine are still intact."

"I'm hungry, how does that barbecue down the street sound?"

"Hey, we're on a diet, remember?"

"Oh darn."

In the midst of the ringing chatter and shuffling of sneakers against polished hardwood, Baby Soul intended to make an undetected escape, hurriedly shoving her arms through the sleeves of her sweater, wrapping her scarf around her neck, and slipping through the door.

"Soojung unnie!"

"Yes?"

Mijoo narrowed her eyes at the "crystal" of her group, dabbing at the gleaming spots of perspiration on her forehead.

"Are you my unnie?"

"N-No...?" The poor girl stuttered.

"Then why did you answer?"

"Because my name is Soojung..."

"Well, you're not the one I was looking for." Mijoo scanned the room from left to right, but she could not find the girl she needed to see. "Where'd she go?"

"Um, I think she left as soon as practice ended."

"Alright. Thanks, Soojung!" Mijoo rushed past her groupmate and through the door in a matter of seconds.

"Y-Yeah..." Soojung said to no one in particular.

"What was that all about?" Jisoo craned her neck, peering through the open door and watching Mijoo's figure fade away with distance.

"I have no idea, but I wish her luck."

Mijoo sped up as she caught a glimpse of a familiar scarf going around the corner. Although practice wearied her out quite a bit, she couldn't afford to back down, not when she finally gathered up her courage. Fortunately for her, it was late and there weren't many people around so she was able to pursue her target without further limitation.

Baby Soul heard the light, quickening footsteps behind her but hoped that it would not be who she was expecting. But of course, the universe didn't work that way.

"Unnie."

Baby Soul cursed her short legs. Maybe she'd be out of the company building by now if they were a bit longer. All that milk she consumed, all for naught.

"Baby Soul unnie, can't you hear me?"

It didn't take much for Mijoo to catch up to her pace and walk beside her.

"Hey, are you ignoring me?"

Baby Soul trudged on without uttering a single word. Mijoo would have to give up eventually if she continued like this. Unless she was very determined. And she was.

Suddenly, Baby Soul found herself against the wall, with Mijoo's arms at her sides, trapping her in. The younger girl glared down at her, obviously not too pleased with the treatment she had received earlier. Baby Soul considered ducking under Mijoo's arm and making a run for it but the latter leaned in, closing the gap between them.

"I said that I needed to talk to you after practice. Why are you acting like this?" Baby Soul could practically feel the heat radiating off of Mijoo's body but it may have been her own as well, as the warmth traveled up, all the way to her face. Too close.

"What do you want?" 

Mijoo quickly examined their surroundings before replying, "About what I said earlier...that I wanted you to like me..."

Baby Soul waited quietly for Mijoo to finish, her heart running miles inside of her chest in anticipation.

"I..." Mijoo took a deep breath and Baby Soul held in hers. "I like you. I like you in that kind of way, and I've been trying my best to hold it in and ignore it until it goes away, but it just won't. It's fine if you hate me after this, or continue to hate me if you do already, but I just had to get it off of my chest. I realized that this won't go anywhere until I do something about it. I need to know, how do you feel about me?"

"I like you too."

Their eyes widened simultaneously as Baby Soul's response flowed out more smoothly than it should have, especially for something that wasn't meant to be said. had moved against her will, and she too, had laid her feelings out in the open. She parted her lips, contemplating whether she should retract her statement but it was much too late now. She slumped against the wall, surrendering to what ever fate had in store for her next.

And fate decided that Mijoo should take her into her arms and embrace her tightly, recklessly, and lovingly. They had never been physically intimate previous to this experience so Baby Soul initially froze, taken aback by the younger's sudden move. Despite the shock, Baby Soul leaned into Mijoo, nuzzling against the younger's warm, comforting body. She inhaled her trademark sweet scent, unconsciously sighing into her shoulder. This isn't too bad.

Mijoo pulled away to peer down at Baby Soul, grinning widely. "Should we date?"

After confessions like these, there was always the question of what to do next, and people normally waited before progressing but Mijoo dived right in. Baby Soul wasn't really expecting it, but Mijoo wasn't normal anyway.

"I...I need to think about it first." 

Although Baby Soul did return Mijoo's feelings, it would be a lot easier said than done to maintain their relationship considering the many obstacles and downsides that came along with it.

There was a flash of dejection across Mijoo's features before she hesitantly nodded. Baby Soul didn't think she'd ever feel bad for her annoying colleague but life was full of surprises, and this was her biggest one yet. She held out her small hand, albeit a bit cold as it usually tended to be.

"Shall we walk back to the dorm together?"

That returned the smile to Mijoo's face. The taller of the two excitedly took the shorter's hand, wrapping her warm fingers around Baby Soul's.

"Gosh, your hand is freezing. C'mere."

Mijoo pulled Baby Soul closer and placed their intertwined fingers into the pocket of her hoodie. The leader looked up at her groupmate in surprise, for the latter rarely made any caring gestures. Mijoo smiled down at her and rubbed her thumb against the back of her hand, making her skin prickle up for all the wrong reasons.

"I'll bring gloves for you next time."

"What are you doing?"

An oblivious Jiae appeared, and Baby Soul thanked goodness that she hadn't come earlier and overheard their mutual confessions. Approaching them from behind, the sugar lover of Lovelyz eyed their unusually close proximity and joined hands.

"This is weird. Are you two okay?"

The duo were known throughout the company for their bickering and clashing personalities, so Jiae's inquiry was justified. Flustered and afraid to raise suspicion, Baby Soul attempted to yank her hand away from Mijoo's but the younger girl firmly held their hands in place.

"We're fine. Baby Soul unnie is just cold." 

"Baby Soul unnie is always cold