They only speak to each other when they have to.

"You're standing too close to me." Jiae mutters to the girl standing to her right. Their shoulders are brushing and although it is the slightest physical contact, Jiae hates it. She straightens her fingers out when she feels the urge to curl them.

Mijoo remains motionless, and only her lips move. "I can't help it. It's a group picture."

"Still. Move away." Jiae's voice is low but firm and demanding. Next to Mijoo, Yein overhears the older girls' conversation. She lowers her head, shifting uncomfortably.

"I don't want to be near you either."

"Then move elsewhere." Jiae says through her teeth.

Mijoo turns her head, giving Jiae a challenging look that sends surges of anger throughout her body. The latter's fingers instantly curl into a fist. "Make me." For a moment, Jiae imagines what it'd feel like if she were to connect her fist to Mijoo's face. She'd never been involved in any physical altercations, but she's certain that her hand would hurt afterwards. If she could punch Mijoo right now, she would. But she can't. She simply can't hurt her this way. It's not enough.

It's not enough for Lee Mijoo.

From the other side of the group, their leader can hear their conversation as well. "Cut it out, the both of you. Mijoo, come here and stand next to me." Mijoo obeys Soojung's command without hesitation, finally moving away from the area of conflict. As she does this, she deliberately bumps her shoulder against Jiae's. The older girl swallows the curse that threatens to spill from her lips, opting to glower at the younger girl instead.

They don't talk much.

Not anymore.

They never did, really.

It's always been like this.

They clashed the moment they met.

"Did you meet the new trainee?" Jiae's friend asks as they stretch together. The other girl sits behind Jiae, placing her hands on her back and pushing her forward. Jiae shakes her head in response. "Good. I think you should stay away from her. I heard she's arrogant as hell."

Jiae lets out a groan as she bends forward. "You know, everyone loves to exaggerate and talk . It can't be that bad." She murmurs under her breath.

"Maybe you should see for yourself then. She just came in - the one in the gray sweater." 

Reluctantly, Jiae peers up, her eyes finding the new trainee rather easily. The first thing Jiae notices about the girl is that she has a pretty but kind-looking face. Her head is lowered and she avoids eye contact with the other trainees. Outer appearance alone, Jiae doesn't see what the deal is. The girl doesn't seem to be bothering anyone. In fact, she's all alone in the corner of the practice room, her loner aura warding everyone else away. Before she realizes it herself, Jiae gets up and dusts herself off. "I'll talk to her."

As Jiae approaches her, the new trainee doesn't even spare her a single glance. Jiae sits near her on the floor and continues stretching from where she had left off. She waits for the ideal moment to initiate a conversation, perhaps when they make eye contact. However, the girl treats her like she's invisible, like she's not even there, and it's only slightly irking to Jiae at first. Jiae assumes that it'll eventually come to an end. She can't ignore her forever. But the senior trainee soon realizes that the newcomer has no intention of speaking to her whatsoever.

"Hi. You're the new trainee, right? I'm Yoo Jiae." The girl doesn't react at all, like she hadn't heard Jiae, but the latter is quite certain that she heard her. "Hello? I'm talking to you. What's your name?" It's quite unfortunate that Jiae has a short temper, but a better temper wouldn't have helped anyone in this situation anyway. "Don't ignore me. I'm just trying to befriend you - "

The girl surprises Jiae when she suddenly faces her, meeting her gaze. She has a kind-looking face overall but Jiae finally notices her cold, lightless eyes. "My name is Lee Mijoo, and I don't want to be your friend. Don't talk to me again."

An offended Jiae immediately rises to her full height, glaring down at the other girl. Mijoo is expressionless and unfazed even in the face of Jiae's anger. Jiae can't believe it. Who would behave in this manner to someone who was only trying to befriend them? "No one is going to like you if you act like this."

"Tell that to someone who cares."

They were doomed from the very start.

Even before Jiae had a chance to realize how she truly felt.

Some events in one's life are inevitable.

"Don't sit next to me." Jiae instantly says as Mijoo takes the seat right beside her, out of all the other seats she could've sat in. All the tables in the company cafeteria are currently occupied by at least one person, but Mijoo could've easily chosen a table where Jiae didn't sit at.

"Don't talk to me." Mijoo mutters in return, picking up a banana from her tray and peeling it thereafter. She doesn't even look at Jiae when she says this. She never really looks at Jiae, but they always end up near each other somehow, like some dark, twisted destiny.

No more words are exchanged after this, and the girls eat their lunch silently. Later, they would have to return to the practice room for evaluation by the trainers. They are two of the few trainees that were told they are set for debut - which also means that they are two of the trainees ostracized by everyone else who did not receive the same good news. Jiae thinks this is the reason why Mijoo comes to her in particular: the enemies of your enemies are your friends. Although what they have is far, far from being remotely considered 'friendship'.

"Enjoying your lunch?" One of the jealous trainees comes sauntering by the table Jiae and Mijoo are sitting at. Jiae can tell from the girl's tone of voice alone that she is feeling bitter. She chooses to target Jiae first, standing around the girl like a human-sized mosquito. "Since you'll be making your debut, you'll get to eat better food than the rest of us, right?" The girl lets the words sink in before she parts her lips to add on and Jiae prepares to counter it, but the both of them are surprised when a banana peel comes out of nowhere and hits the girl in the chest. There is a small bit of banana on the front of her shirt now, and gapes open at this.

"You." The shocked girls turn toward Mijoo, who narrows her eyes menacingly (and also happened to be eating a banana earlier). Jiae swears she hears the other trainee audibly gulping. "Get the hell away from us and stay away. Next time it won't just be my leftover lunch that I throw at you." The girl looks indignant for a split of a second before she scurries off to sit with her friends.

Although one would expect Jiae to be grateful towards Mijoo for helping her in that situation, the older girl actually hated how Mijoo intervened without permission. Jiae would've dealt with the girl just fine on her own. She didn't need help. Especially from Lee Mijoo, of all people. "Why did you do that? What, do you think we're friends now?"

"We're not friends. I hate you all the same. I only chased her away because I can't ingest or even keep anything down with that repulsive creature around."

"Well that's good, because you're not likeable at all."

"It's funny how you lecture me about being likeable