Soojung stole a brief glance at the clock hanging on the wall and noted it was already past midnight. She clenched her teeth and forced those aching limbs to dance less awkwardly. She knew she wasn’t the only one who was tired. Then, the music was abruptly stopped by Mijoo who sighed for the umpteenth time that night. Mijoo has the strongest dance background in the team and it was also why she was in charge of the choreography.

“Let’s take a 15 minutes break.” She said simply.

It was evident that she was getting annoyed at the multiple mistakes made hours into the practice. Soojung collapsed on the ground and heaved a sigh of relief, glad that they finally had a short break. Sweat was trickling down her face and she could feel her soaked shirt against her skin. Dance was never really her thing. However, she was trying her very best not to bring down the group. Opening her eyes, Soojung watched Ji Ae pant heavily from the dance routines. Ji Ae looked up and met eyes with Soojung who flashed a weak smile. She then emotionlessly slid a bottle of water across the ground to Soojung. Soojung sat up and gulped down the water thirstily before mouthing a quick ‘Thank you’. Ji Ae merely nodded in return. Soojung then looked over to Ji Ah who was still busy texting on her phone.

“You okay?” Soojung tore her gaze away from Ji Ah.

She looked up and saw Myungeun extending her hand.

“Want to practice together?” she offered.

Grabbing her hand, she pulled her up. Before Mijoo returned, the girls turned up the volume and practiced on their own. Mijoo stood outside the studio and watched them practice. A small smile graced her lips as she saw how they were trying their best despite the tiredness. She observed how Soojung hesitantly dances to the beat and how Ji Ae misses the quick beat by half. She saw how Myungeun puts in too much energy at the wrong part and how Jihye and Ji Ah missed a step or two. She could also tell Jiyeon was uncomfortable with the choreography. Then, she decided.

“Hey!” She excitedly called out as she entered the room.

“Let’s change the dance.” Mijoo said.

“Why?” Soojung asked, confused.

“You girls should have said if you’re uncomfortable with the y concept.” Mijoo reprimanded lightly in a joking manner.

“How should we change?” Jihye asked.

“Solo parts.” Mijoo said with a bright smile.

Mijoo explained the overall idea of how each of them would dance to a solo part that would highlight their individual charms. After which, they would all come together for the powerful dance part they practiced. With that, Mijoo began helping each and every one of them come up with dance moves from different genres.

“Soojung, what kind of dance are you good at?” Mijoo asked with a bright smile.

“Actually… None.” Soojung scratched her head unconfidently.

“Come on, don’t say that of yourself.” Mijoo punched her arm lightly.

“Let’s think of one together.” She grabbed her by the shoulder, taking Soojung by surprise.

Soojung secretly wished she could be like Mijoo. She had a way to make people comfortable and she was effortlessly good in dance. Soojung thought she was polar opposite from her.

 It was 3AM and the final choreography was finally completed. The girls headed back to their dorms with towels hanging from their necks. Myungeun ran to the front and stopped them from walking. She then took an exaggerated sniff in the air.

“We all smell the same.” She said with a serious expression on.

They all laughed at her remark and Soojung felt light out of a sudden despite the tired night practice and aching muscles.

“I will be going off first.” Ji Ah abruptly said.

“You’re not going back to the dorm with us?” Mijoo asked in surprise.

She nodded and sat at the bus stop.

“I am waiting for someone.” She said and looked around.

“We will go ahead first then. See you!” Mijoo waved and the group continued walking back to dorm. 

“I wonder who Ji Ah is meeting so late at night though.” Myungeun scratched her head.

Subconsciously, Hoya came into Soojung’s mind the moment Myungeun said that.

“Do you have any idea?” Myungeun asked, turning to Soojung and the rest.

Shaking her head almost immediately, Soojung avoided Myungeun’s gaze with a half-hearted smile.
 

-

“I will be dismissing class earlier today because I understand you guys have to prepare for the quarterly dance talents test. All the best for tomorrow!” The dance instructor said.

“Thank you instructor.” The class bowed and class was dismissed.

Mijoo ran out to catch the instructor with the other girls from the group catching up from behind.  

“Instructor.” She called out.

“Yes Mi-?” he looked at the girl before her. He knew she was her student but he still couldn’t remember her name.

“It’s Mijoo, sir. I wanted to ask about our group mate, Yoo Ji Ah.” She informed.

Soojung was certain she noticed the instructor’s eyes shift uncomfortably when Mijoo mentioned Ji Ah’s name. Ji Ah had been missing their dance practices for the past few days. The instructor had said she fell ill for the past few days but the girls didn’t find her in the dorm. Tomorrow was the test and the girls were feeling uneasy about Ji Ah’s absence.  

“Let’s talk in private.” The instructor said with a sigh.

“To be honest, Ji Ah has been officially withdrawn today.” The instructor began after the doors closed.

“What?!” The girls shouted in unison.

“We received an anonymous letter from a person called ‘H’ that Ji Ah is in a complicated relationship with some of the higher management personnel in the company. After investigating during the past few days, it has been confirmed. Therefore, the company has officially terminated her as our trainee. I guess you’d have to do without her for the test.” He said.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Mijoo asked.

“This was supposed to be confidential but I’m telling you now so you can make adjustments for tomorrow’s test. Be thankful.” The instructor’s voice showed hint of annoyance.  

After the instructor left them to practice, Mijoo said a string of curse words and punched the door.  

“Be thankful. My ! What an irresponsible idiotic instructor and that , Yoo Ji Ah, she is seriously- ugh!” Mijoo yelled in frustration.

“Hey, we will be okay.” Myungeun patted her back.

“Don’t touch me. I need some time alone.” Mijoo said, brushing her hand aside.

Soojung looked around the room and she could tell everyone else was upset too. With that, their hard work and efforts for the past few days were wasted. They thought Ji Ah would definitely be back before the actual test so they kept the choreography the same. However, she betrayed them and now, they were at a loss. Soojung thought it was weird that she wasn’t angry at Ji Ah, like the rest. Even after everything Ji Ah did, Soojung knew that Ji Ah was not entirely bad. She merely wanted to debut, just like everyone else. She just wanted it too badly. There were days when Soojung saw Ji Ah practicing alone at the empty space near their shared dorm in cold weathers that made people shiver just by staying out. She sighed.

10 minutes later, Mijoo came back to the group and patted their backs.

“Come on! Brighten up~ We still have time.” She said brightly. The Mijoo they knew was back.

Soojung smiled at how the atmosphere in the room brightened up with her return. She began to brief them about the adjustments and how they’d be dancing tomorrow. The girls ended up spending the entire day practicing until they lost track of time.  

“Shhhh.” Mijoo hushed them as she heard footsteps.

The girls hid from the security guard’s torchlight as he shone into the room’s window. Myungeun tipped toed and hid behind the door, praying he wouldn’t spot them. As the sound of his footsteps become more distant, the girls looked at each other and burst out laughing. They were all in different weird positions in order to hide from the guard’s scrutiny. They looked really ridiculous.

That night, they slept together on the dance studio floor. It was cold but yet warm at the same time.

-

Soojung could feel her palms getting sweaty as she scanned the other teams. Their confidence and laughters made her feel even more nervous than before. 

“We will be okay.” Mijoo whispered to Soojung, squeezing her hand slightly.

Soojung forced a smile at Mijoo's words. Was it that obvious she was nervous? Maybe.

“Fighting!” They heard the other group from the other end of the corridor cheer out loud.

Mijoo then put her hand in the middle of the group and looked at the other girls. Putting their hands on top of one another, they shouted a loud ‘Fighting’ too.

“We can do this.” Myungeun self-assured out loud.

“Group 3.” One of the judges called out.

“Here.” Mijoo shot her hand up in the air quickly and walked in first. The others followed behind her. Soojung hung her head low as she quickly ran through the dance steps mentally in her mind. She looked up when one of the judges spoke.

“You may begin once you’re ready.” He then smiled. It was Hoya.

Soojung felt slightly at ease upon seeing a familiar face in the panel of judges. The 5 minutes of performance felt like a lifetime. Soojung was glad she didn’t make any obvious mistakes and Mijoo covered Ji Ah’s part perfectly. However, she knew they screwed up at the group part. The moment the music stopped, Soojung fixed her gaze on the ground again. She could feel her legs trembling slightly. Straightening and locking her knees, she willed for it to stay still. The judges clapped softly at their performance and began to give their remarks.

“It’s not bad but not good at the same time.” The first judge said harshly.

“It got really messy after the first chorus. What happened?” Another judge pointed out.

“One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.” Hoya counted.

“I thought you’re supposed to have seven members.” He said and the judges stirred in realization.

“One of our members got withdrawn from our team by the agency yesterday.” Mijoo said straightforwardly, staring at their dance instructor.

The dance instructor cleared his throat uncomfortably before speaking up, “Considering that, I guess you girls did quite a good job.”

The other judges nodded in agreement at his words and a small satisfied smile graced Hoya’s face. He looked at Soojung who returned a grateful smile. Thank you, she said with her eyes. She could vaguely read Hoya’s You are welcome.

“I saw the results...We got-” Jiyeon started calmly.

“What did we get?” Ji Ae gulped down her saliva nervously.

“We got the third position!” Jiyeon exclaimed as her eyes turned into beautiful eye smiles.

“Hey. Can I kiss you?” Myungeun turned to Mijoo who pressed her palm against Myungeun’s lips.

“Here you go.” She said, making everyone crack up.

That day, Soojung realized it was not getting first that made every droplet of sweat and effort worthwhile. It was the people that you fight along with that made everything worth it and enjoyable.  Hoya was talking to the other judges and his gaze fell upon a familiar someone who was laughing happily in the room. He was glad that it was not the usual tears he saw on her face but a beautiful smile. Secretly, Hoya was glad that he was part of the reason that made her smile like this.  

She didn’t have to know because he do and that’s good enough for him.  

Author's Note:
Finally, a new update! <3 I am sorry I took long~Hope you enjoyed the new chapter :]
I suppose you do realize the other Lovelyz members are making cameos here and there already!
This story is not so much about Hobabysoul or Gyusoul but a bit on Lovelyz’s predebut friendship.
Anyways, I created a new story called, 'Scarred Beauty' featuring mainly Myungsoo and Sunggyu.
If you're interested, do check it out :D