AFTER STAGE 01. You've Got a Friend
4xU. The ComeBack: AWARD SHOW SEASON!AFTER STAGE 01. - You've Got a Friend.
With the ending of the showcase, there was a lot of hustle and bustle backstage with getting the caked makeup off, the outfits back in their places, and of course, the high of officially debuting soaring backstage.
"How could you not tell us they were coming!" Sang Mi whined into the camera that Su-chin was holding, capturing the aftermath of the exciting debut. "I would've been much more prepared for the dance if I did!"
"Ah, but that was the point, wasn't it?" Su-chin laughed, looking around and finding JJ and Chase blotting Clara's eyes, who was still b with tears that her brother actually came to her debut showcase.
"H-he said he c-couldn't make it --" Clara blubbered again, overwhelmed before JJ hushed her again, smiling at the camera. A barrage of knocks interrupted the small party the girls were having, and a male voice asked, "Are you all decent?" to which Sophia responded with a resounding, "ARE YOU" because she knew that voice.
"I'll take that as a yes." Sungjae grinned as he opened the door, letting all the surprise guests file in to properly congratulate their individual member.
"No more Kriang, got that?" Chase glared at Suga, but he just smiled that wide gummy smile and patted her shoulder. "Sure, sure," he waved it off, pulling his cap further on his head. "You ready to go?"
"You're leaving?" Sophie looked over at Chase gathering her things, pulling her hoodie on and her mane up in a ponytail. She smiled, "Yeah, I promised Yoongi that I'd actually help on his... project." She paused, looking over at him before grinning. He rolled his eyes, smiling all the while, and motioned for her to hurry up.
"Fine, be that way." Sophie pouted, but Chase gave her a quick hug and whispered, "Have fun with him~" which was totally uncalled for in the younger's opinion, and Sophie was quick to swat Chase away as she laughed, disappearing out the door with Yoongi.
Su-chin was at the door immediately, yelling about her schedule within the next day, which reminded everyone that it was a good time to head out and spend time with their friends before their hectic debut schedule sunk in. As everyone was starting to leave, JJ noticed that Hyuk was apologizing to Venus.
"I'm really sorry, I've got a schedule for --"
Venus shrugged, "It's okay Hyuk... I really appreciate you coming, though." Hyuk smiled brightly, "Of course! Anything for a friend!" He waved, seeing her off and saying his goodbyes to JJ as he left. JJ paused for a moment, letting Venus sluggishly gather her things.
"Hey Venus," JJ waited until the younger looked at her, "Why don't you come with me and Krystal? We're going to SM for a bit before getting something to eat."
Venus paused, considering her options. Everyone else had already left. She didn't want to be alone in the dorms, and JJ ... was really kind, after all. "Okay." She nodded, following her bandmate out to meet her sister and into the car.
AT THE SM BUILDING...
"Congratulations, CONGRATULATIONS~" Naeun's ears were assaulted by a chorus of very loudly, off key (and on purpose too, she knew very well) male voices as she entered the SHINee lounge room. The four who weren't her brother grinned at her, Key holding a cake with a candle on it and the other three urging her to blow it out and make a wish for her career. Her brother stood by her side, playing innocent.
"You totally planned this." Naeun smiled, swatting her brother. He dodged, laughing at her and urged her to make a wish before the wax of the candle had run into the cake. Thinking for a minute, Naeun pondered over her wish, before settling on it and blowing it out, thanking her friends as they all started to sit down around the cake, getting forks out and devouring the thing.
"It looked incredible on V App, you two were perfect at our dance, but that's to be expected, huh?" Jonghyun praised, making Minho laugh. "Our sixth member, Lee Naeun!" It wasn't far off, after all, the girl had been around the group since debut and when in the practice room, would learn the dance to their title track alongside them (if only to show off a little on how fast she picked up on these things). Naeun shovelled a piece of cake into , taking in the dessert and the boy's comments on the tracks, the concept, and everything.
"Did Gyuri say anything?" Taemin asked, and Naeun nodded, pulling out her phone and showing the lengthy, happy, "Congratulations, I'm so proud of you" spiel of a text that her best friend had sent earlier while going for another bite. The idol diet she was on was terrible, and so what if cake wasn't on her approved list, she was going to eat it. Taemin smiled, happy that even through the drama, Naeun had kept her best friend. He knew how hard it had been for his little sister when the disbandment happened. But that was the past, both Gyuri and Naeun had a bright future ahead of them and he smiled brightly.
"So, still a 'cute' girl group, huh?" Taemin began, which made Naeun immediately go into the obviously rehearsed spiel of how it was fitting for their kind of group, but she truly believed it, he noticed, which only made him smile wider.
"Just teasin' sis. Hey, we should see Jongin soon, by the way, even though he's probably with his girlfriend right now," Taemin rolled his eyes. Naeun wanted to bite back that Taemin would be the exact same way if he were dating someone, but decided to remind him, "No, Krystal's with JJ right now, remember?"
"Oh yeah... Anyways, back to celebrating your debut! Let's go, we'll buy all the meat you can eat!" Onew offered, standing up and offering a hand to Naeun. She smiled, taking it, attempting to brush off the familiar feeling of someone else who was close, but all too far away most days. Naeun grinned, "Will you buy me chicken then? And soju?" She did a little aegyo too, just for the added effect. Key groaned.
"Look at this, we've spoiled her and she thinks she can get whatever she wants."
"Aw, oppa, it's not that I think I can, I know I can~" She teased, laughing as Key made an indiginant sound and the rest laughed. While tomorrow would be hectic and she'd surely be tired, she was happy that she could spend the evening with people she loved and who supported her.
FURTHER DOWN THE HALL...
Venus was... starstruck. Oh yes, she was happy that she wasn't stuck in the dorms, but here she was, with JJ and Krystal hovering over one phone, trying to talk to Jessica, and she was sitting on the other side of the room with none other than Amber Liu herself. Amber had come to their showcase too, surprisingly, and wanted to celebrate with the three afterwards.
More importantly, she was in the SM building where EXO practiced. More specifically, SEHUN of EXO might be in this building and she was ready to pass out. She was not prepared to meet the idol she admired so much, regardless of her having debuted before him. So she tried focusing on talking to other admirable idol, namely the one who was currently making faces at her. Venus couldn't help but laugh at the strange antics of Amber.
"Aha! Knew I could get you laugh." Amber grinned, and Venus cracked a smile back. No wonder she was the best friend of everyone in the industry. Something about Amber made her feel relaxed and actually wanting to interact with everyone. "So, usually people would ask about the after rush of debut, but I'll give that a rest because you'll hear it so many times in the upcoming weeks. More importantly: What animal do you think represents you the most?" Venus couldn't help but be caught off guard at the strange question.
"Well, I think that I'd be a...Panda." She nodded, after all, they were her favorite animal. Amber giggled at that, "That's so cute! Okay, come over here, Panda!" Venus scooted closer cautiously, wondering what the older girl could want.
"Llama and Panda selfie, is that cool?" Amber held up her phone, and she hesitated. It wasn't that she wasn't cool with it, she just didn't like taking pictures. Su-chin had to bribe her to go for photoshoots and the like, and even though once she got into the groove she was fine, it didn't mean she by any means enjoyed it. "I..." Venus began, but reconsidered, "Sounds good." She nodded. JJ and Krystal had hung up the phone as Amber and Venus tried finding a good pose for them to do, but both ended up making derp faces.
"...I actually like this, honestly." Amber managed to say before laughing, looking at the picture. "It suits us, right?" She grinned, and Venus couldn't help but laugh. It was typical that her face would be a strange one, but it did fit. She nodded in agreement, and Amber saved the picture as the two sisters joined them, ready to make the most of the time they had left before going back to the dorms.
DURING AMBER AND VENUS.
"It's so hard to get ahold of her these days, geez." Krystal rolled her eyes, attempting to Facetime the oldest of the Jungs once more. She and JJ had wanted to talk to Jessica for weeks now, but with the older's schedule in China and even back in America being so hectic, it was hard to get ahold of her at a decent hour for all of them.
"Hello?" It was faint, but both sisters jumped at the sound of their sister's voice. "Jess!" JJ greeted enthusiastically, and the three shared a moment of relief of hearing all of them together. Not quite what they would've wanted, but due to circumstances, it'll have to do. Jessica laughed as the two complained about the lack of updates they had gotten from her.
"I've been watching Instagram and Kpop Blogs for updates about you more than my actual phone, where it should be!" JJ scolded, and she could practically hear the amusement rolling off of Jessica.
"Sorry, sorry! I've just been really busy with Blanc and Eclaire, not to mention the variety shows in China taking up a lot of filming time." Jessica attempted to soothe her two younger sisters. Krystal scoffed, "Still! Message or call us once in a while, will you!"
"Maybe if someone wasn't on their phone with their boyfriend~" Jessica certainly knew how to get under the youngest Jung's skin, because immediately Krystal went bright red and sputtered, trying to disprove her, but ultimately failing and deciding to change the subject, "Anyways, did you watch Jinny's showcase?"
"Of course I did." Jessica's answer was immediate, even a bit offended that she would ask such an obvious question. JJ smiled, glowing with pride, knowing full well that even though Jessica was hesitant about JJ continuing her dream after the fiasco at SM and SNSD, she fully supported her sister in her dream and career. "So, what did you think?", JJ wanted to hear her eldest sister's thoughts, she'd already gotten Krystal's, after all.
"How was it being on stage with Taeyeon, Krys?" Jessica's voice was greatly amused, but JJ didn't miss the telltale bitter note holding over her former groupmate's name and appearance. Krystal rolled her eyes. "That's not what Jinnie asked!"
"Okay okay, honestly, I liked the overall idea of your debut. I'm really, really proud of you, Jinnie. I'm more excited for this sub-unit though. It's really early, don't you think?"
JJ shook her head, "No, after all, the original group... They want to do this. And the three of us joining want to do it too. It's the least we can do for the fans who've stayed on till now."
Krystal giggled, "Always thinking of the fans. Oh! How'd you like the surprise?" And the conversation continued, giggling and laughing over the funny moments and letting all three discuss future plans to keep in touch more regularly, taking a screen shot (as proof, Krystal claimed, but both of the older girls knew that this would find its way onto her lockscreen and perhaps even onto social media) and eventually saying their farewells, since JJ's stomach growled loudly enough for pretty much everyone to hear.
"We'll talk soon, okay? You've got a busy time coming ahead, but you'll be great! Krystal, congrats on your casting in that movie. I'll be sure to see it as soon as it comes out!" Jessica promised, and the three sisters lingered, not quite wanting to hang up yet. With fond (and slightly teary) farewells, they hung up, and Krystal and JJ took a minute to compose themselves.
The Jung sisters always kept their promises, no matter how hard it may be. They'd see and talk to Jessica soon, and hopefully see her before the year was out. Linking arms, the two girls caught the attention of their two fellow group mates, heading out for food, fun, and gossip until their curfew told them to go home.
AT A RESTAURANT...
"Oh my god stoooooooop." Sophie whined, hiding her face and Sungjae made yet another stupid face with his chopsticks, laughing loudly at his friend's embarrassment. "You're so embarrassing, why do I associate you out in the public eye?" She bemoaned, only to break into giggles and Sungjae got closer to her face, widening his eyes and looking into her own.
"It's because I am the best, of course!" Sungjae grinned, putting his chopsticks down on his plate. "I had to get you to laugh, it's nice seeing you smile after all of that seriousness you had to have for training and the showcase." Oh, there's Sophie's heart flipping over and under again. How did he manage to do that to her with two sentences? It should be illegal, in her opinion.
"Sooo... what'd you think of the showcase? Of our songs?" Sophie asked, tapping her fingers against the table. He paused for a minute, rewinding the night in his head. Sungjae seemed to be finding the words to use, and it made her worry. Did he not like it?
He finally opened his mouth and Sophie found herself leaning forward to make sure she caught everything, "I thought... It was good. You were incredible, Sophie." There goes her heart... again. Seriously, can he stop? "What's with the refusing to dance with me though? After all I've done for you!" He feigned to be hurt, clutching his heart. Sophie played along, gasping dramatically, "How dare you! You of all know of my sheer, absolute laziness!"
The two held their poses for a moment, staring at each other intensely before bursting into laughter all over again. Seriously their waitress and the surrounding patrons of the open patio chicken and beer place were looking at them strangely, but the two couldn't care.
"How're the boys? How come they didn't come tonight?" Sophie managed to ask once they had settled down. Though she wouldn't say she was super close to all of the members of her friend's group, they saw her often enough that she did consider them friends.
Sungjae shrugged, "Dunno. They're always off doing something. Hey, you done yet?" He poked her last piece of chicken with a chopstick, eyebrow raised. Sophie humphed and grabbed the piece with her hands, biting into it. "No!" She said with full. Sungjae just laughed again, drinking the last of his beer as she finished eating.
"Let's go!" Sungjae seemed eager to go, and Sophie protested, "We haven't paid yet!"
He hurried up to the cash register, placing down fourty thousand won before Sophie could even reach for her purse. "Sungjae!" She tried, but he cut her off, "It's my treat, okay? You won't have to worry about anything tonight." And while she attempted to swallow her heart back in so she wouldn't shove the organ at him and demand he take it already, he got his change and was dragging her out the door. Once her heart was properly swallowed and she silently threatened it to stay there or she'll get someone to put it in a box where no one can get to it, she looked around. "Why are we headed towards the Han River Park?"
Sungjae rolled his eyes, "Just follow me! You ask too many questions, woman."
"Excuse you?! I think--" Sophie began, but with a firm glare from him, she clamped shut, "Fine. I expect full answers when we get to... wherever we going."
It continued in silence for a few minutes, before Sungjae stopped by a small pebbled path. He turned to her. "Do you trust me?"
"Huh?" She looked up at him with an eyebrow raised.
"Do you trust me?"
Sophie let out a quiet, "Yes." and Sungjae smiled. It wasn't a stupid grin either, it was a genuine smile that really she couldn't argue when her heart leapt back up into . "Okay, I'm going to use that trust right now. Close your eyes."
"But --" "Please, Sophie?"
"...Fine." She closed them, and Sungjae held her hand and she suddenly was so focused on how soft his hands were that she didn't even realize where they were going.
"Okay aaaaand -- open!" As she did, she gasped in surprise at the scene before her. All around were fairy lights and the members of BtoB standing around a cake with.... what probably was a pretty candle but now, it was mostly melted. "Congratulations, Sophie!!!" The group chorused, and Sophie would swear up and down that she didn't cry, but a few tears did prick at her eyes. "You guys... You jerk!! You lied to me!!" She quickly turned to Sungjae, punching his torso half-heartedly as they all laughed.
"Not funny..." She pouted, letting Sungjae put an arm around her, leading her towards the cake. "Make a wish for your career, Sophie!" He urged, "While there's still some candle left!"
"Hey, who's fault is that?" Changsub protested, and Sungjae immediately pointed at her. "She eats really slow!"
"It was free food! I wasn't going to just inhale it. Free food has a different, more delicious taste than food you buy yourself." Sophie shot back, before closing her eyes and thinking about her wish. Smiling, she blew the candle out and the boys cheered. "Let's enjoy cake now!"
Sophie sat at the picnic table with her friends, smiling widely and thinking that she truely was happy, no matter the hardships she had gone through before. To be here, it was totally worth it.
"Okay, but what about this?" Chase reached over Yoongi to adjust something on the screen, playing back the beat to him. He shook his head, pausing it again.
"Nah, something's off. Really, Chase, it is. What could it be?" He ran his hands through his hair, huffing heavily at the problem. Chase messed with her ponytail again, settling back into the chair next to him. "Don't know... This is so annoying." She sighed. A grunt in agreement was all she got as he slipped his headphones back on, listening to them in a new form in case that would reveal anything new.
"Hey, Chai-noona, Yoongi-hyung -- wait, you're still working?" Jimin peeked in, round cheeks puffed out in a pout. "We wanted to help celebrate Chai-noona's debut, but at this rate you'll both be up all night with work!"
"Aw, you cutie!" Chase was immediately up and over to the younger, cooing over him. Jimin blushed, and they would've seen Yoongi glare over if they hadn't been so busy with each other. "You can just call me Chai, or Chase, okay sweetie?" She offered, and Jimin nodded obediently. "Okay..."
"Ten minutes?" Yoongi looked over, "You know that's not nearly enough time to do anything to this track --"
Chase waved him off as she passed by, "We work better when there's a fire under our asses. Let's move on from this track and come back in five minutes."
"And work on what?" Yoongi glared, but allowed her to come over, before just sitting on him and pulling up another track in the file saved 'MIXTAPE2K16'. He grunted under her weight, but made no move to get her off of him.
"You know, for a grumpy grandpa, you sure are a pushover." She teased, grinning back at him. He rolled his eyes, "Whatever. What are we working on?"
"Our track, of course. Something we both know what part we need to work on. Now, if we were to place this cool beep loop in the beginning--" She added something to the beginning, letting it play as he listened.
"And what if we placed the chords here --" "With your-" "-my voice singing here, it'd be perfect." They finished together, and shared a moment of pride when listening to the beginning.
"That's good, that's really, really good. Add that loop as an underlay to the other verses, let's see how that works," Yoongi reached around her, arms on either side of her waist as he messed with the screen as well, and soon they were looking at a nearly completed track once Jimin came back in, this time with J-Hope and Jin in tow for backup.
"Now?" The two looked over from their position, not surprising really anyone. Chase was affectionate, and while Yoongi was a hardass, he was known to be a softie and especially one to Chase.
"You brought the only two people who'd be able to drag us out, so obviously whether we want to or not, we're going." Chase smiled, bounding over to hug the two other boys. Yoongi saved the file before standing up, lazily striding over, hood over his bleached hair.
"Namjoon bought drinks, and Taehyung's got your English single playing full blast, he really loves it." Jin noted, leading the two down the hallway, and she almost glowed with pride.
"Thanks! Really, Sophie and JJ helped us with the English on it, and Namjoon too, honestly, we couldn't have done it without them --" She was cut off with a loud, "CONGRATULATIONS~" with somethign soft and squishy being shoved into her face. The entirety of BTS laughed at their friend, and Taehyung held the now destroyed piece of cake in his hand. "Say something to our fans and yours, Chase!" Namjoon gently pulled on Chase's wrist, putting her in front of the camera. It was either V app Live or for their Youtube channel, and Chase wiped away some of the frosting before speaking.
"Ah, hello ARMY, I'm 4xU's Chase, please excuse my face --" She on her thumb to get the icing off, then swiped off more as she continued, "Thank you to BTS and everyone for supporting my uhm, re-debut, I guess, and thank you all for getting me cake, even though I'm mostly wearing it now." She was given a napkin to wipe more off by Jungkook, and they laughed as she continued to clean her face. Yoongi then spoke up, "We hope that 4xU has a very successful career for many years, and that we have many opportunities to interact with each other."
She nodded after crumbling up the napkin, "I also hope that BTS gets a lot of support and love in their future projects, as well as myself and my group getting to interact with you. Please look after us well!" After that, the questions of 'which songs did you like' (Jungkook, Jimin and V really liked Just Go! and 'I Did It', Jin loved the trio's song) and 'what are you guys looking forward to the most' ('I'd like to hear Noona's voice more~' V admitted bashfully, and Chase was flattered, honestly) were asked, and Chase just couldn't help but grin the entire time that she spend at BigHit. It didn't last long, though, because during a conversation Yoongi got struck with inspiration on how to fix a track, and dragged Chase back to the studio.
"He gets you all the time, Yoongi-hyung, you should share!" J-Hope teased as they headed down the hallway, and Chase yelled back, "I promise I'll come back to you, my Hope!"
"My Reality!"
"HOSEOK, WAAAAAE~"
"Which movie do you want to see?" Yuna looked over, her mask muffling her words, but the routine so ingrained into their minds that Sang Mi knew what she was asking. She looked over the the choices, her nose scrunching up at the limited availability.
"We could see a movie that's been out a while. What about The Mermaid? That Chinese movie? It seems really popular, and it's got Korean subtitles." Yuna pointed out, and Sang Mi agreed, following her friend up to the ticket counter. Before Yuna could pull out her purse, though, Sang Mi slid forward the amount of won needed for their tickets.
"You didn't have to, Mimi..." Yuna seemed almost bashful or shy at her friend's gesture, but Sang Mi simply smiled, "It's the least I could do. I know you're tired from preparing for your own comeback, but you still came anyways." Yuna smiled back, linking arms with Sang Mi as they entered the theater.
"I'll buy the drinks, if that's okay? I can't have you spoiling me all the time." Yuna insisted, going in line to buy two cokes, and even though it was a close call of being recognized by the cashier, she scampered off to Sang Mi, eager to get into the dark theater where no one would be able to see their faces.
As the previews and before the show ads rolled across the screen, they made idle chatter, talking about shenangians that certain members had been getting up to, as well as future schedules, but Yuna knew as well as anyone else who was Sang Mi's friend that even though she was excited; she wanted to experience her last night as a normal being as normal as possible. She didn't know when she'd get this chance again.
The movie, despite a few comments about how pretty the main actress was, a few funny bits at the time of a joke or a pun that they had come up with, was quiet and calm, something that Sang Mi couldn't be more thankful for. She loved that Yuna understood her more than as an idol friend. It was rare to have a friend in the industry as firm as this one, in Sang Mi's personal opinion.
They excited the theater, laughing and chatting again, before Sang Mi's phone rang. "Hello?" She answered, phone inbetween her cheek and shoulder as one hand was currently intertwined with Yuna's and the other checking to where her keys hid in her bag this time.
"Mimi, it's Su-chin, just letting you know that we need to be at the M!Countdown arena by 10am, okay? Oh and, I hate to ask, but I'm currently getting JJ and Venus... Could you possibly pick up Clara? She's at --"
"Pledis?" It was an obvious guess, and Sang Mi smiled. "Yeah," Su-chin seemed amused as well, "I'm sorry, do you mind? I know you're out with friends, but --"
"It's fine, Su-chin." Sang Mi dismissed it, "I've got a license after all, and I'm sure Clara would love to talk to Yuna before I drop her off." A sigh of relief on the other line was heard. "Thank you so much-- Oh gosh darn it! I missed my turn, I got to go, thanks again Mimi!" And the line cut off, making Sang Mi chuckle.
"Gotta get the little one?" Yuna tugged Sang Mi's hand gently to get her attention, and she nodded. "Yeah, you mind? I'll drop you off right after."
"Of course not!" Yuna smiled brightly, and Sang Mi returned the smile before heading towards the parking lot to her car.
AT PLEDIS...
"I'm so, so proud of you." Jeonghan smiled fondly at his little sister, who was curled up in his oversized hoodie in the dorm room. "You said that every three minutes since we came here..." Clara blushed, snuggling further into her sweater cave.
"I mean it! You were so good, mom and dad said so too, and the boys watched it, of course, and they'll be back from practice soon --" As the saying goes, mention the devil and the devil shall appear, twelve boys stumbled into the dorm, carrying assortments of food and shouting choruses of 'congratulations!' to their little sister figure. Clara's face burned, and she pulled the hood over her head to cover herself. She could disappear like this, right?
Seungkwan was having none of that, though, plopping down next to his best friend and hugging her tightly, "You did soooo good! I loved it!" He praised, not helping her bright red face.
"When's your first stage?" Seungcheol asked, leaning over and handing her a triangle kimbap, which she took and immediately started unwrapping, "Tomorrow at M!Countdown..." She quietly revealed, before taking a large bite of the kimbap, chewing slowly and Jeonghan looking at her proudly, "You eat so well, Little Rabbit~"
"You keep babying her, she's practically a woman!" Seungkwan cried dramatically, and Woozi rolled his eyes, "She's only 16, leave her alone, Seungkwan!" And the group bickered and chatted amongst themselves, leaving Seungcheol and Jeonghan with Clara, and Seungcheol kept pulling out triangle kimbap for her to eat as everyone ignored her.
"And they say I baby her." Jeonghan teased Seungcheol, who just smiled and handed Clara her third one. She happily unwrapped it, not even noticing the ever quiet Chinese member coming and sitting near them. Jeonghan noticed, of course.
"Minghao, how was practice?"
The Chinese boy smiled, "Good, I think? Hoshi-hyung got onto us for messing up the second chorus choreography, but we'll get it tomorrow, I think." Jeonghan nodded, understanding the pressure. They were having their own comeback schedule pushed on them, and he was thankful that his company allowed him to see something as important as his little sister's debut showcase.
"Minghao!" Clara finally swallowed the last bit of her kimpbap, smiling before saying, "Nĭ hăo ma?" Her tones were shaky, but Minghao's face split into a fond grin. "Wǒ hěn hǎo, xièxiè. Nǐ ne?"
"Wǒ hěn lèi. Wǒ hěn gāoxìng jiàn dào nǐ...?" Clara trailed off, nose wrinkled. "That... wasn't quite right, was it?" Minghao laughed softly.
"It's okay. You did well. We'll look over your workbook next time. Get some rest, okay?" He instructed, and Seungkwan beamed, "Isn't he just the greatest ever?" He leaned into the two, eyeing the younger Yoon and the8. Minghao blushed a bit, but Clara just smiled and agreed. After that, of course they bombarded her with questions about her schedule, and were disappointed to find it full and rigid, meaning little time to see them again.
"I wanted to use you again in our new music video..." Jeonghan made a face at Mingyu, who had spoken. "That's my sister!!"
"H-hey, she's just easy to work with and fun to be around, that's all!" Mingyu quickly defended himself, ducking from the elder's protective brother wrath. Surprisingly, Clara wasn't overwhelmed by the thirteen boys crowded around her. They were all like her brothers and friends at this point, and she actually found comfort with all of them there. It didn't feel right with only a few of them, excluding when it was just her and her brother.
(akkinda!) yojeummarya naegamarya -- Clara dove for her cellphone, ignoring the cooes and screeches of "THAT'S OUR SONG THAT'S SO CUTE --" in favor of picking up the phone.
"A-ah, Sang Mi unnie! What is it?" She listened attentively to her leader and eldest member, before nodding, "Okay. I'll see you soon. Bye bye." She hung up, pouting a little. "Sang Mi unnie is coming to get me, we have to be at the station at 10 am..." While no one was happy, per say, they understood that the leader and the manager did have some final say at the end of the day, and Jeonghan and Seungcheol waited with her by the door of the building until Sang Mi came.
AT THE DORM...
"I can't believe you were in the audience and didn't tell me!" Tina fussed, unlocking the door and walking into the dorm. A lower chuckle followed her, and someone who was definitely not Taeyeon followed her into the apartment.
"My own boyfriend, keeping secrets from me!" She turned to him, making a mock face of anger, to which N just laughed again and gently kissed her forehead.
"I'm sorry," He said, mouth still pressed against her forehead, "But I wanted to surprise you and didn't want you to be nervous." Tina sighed, wrapping her arms around him, "I guess, you rascal." After spending an hour over coffee with her beloved cousin, Taeyeon had her own schedule in the morning, and bid her and N goodbye, leaving the two to some much needed alone time as a couple.
Tina untangled themselves from each other, heading to the kitchen and pulling out some snacks, "So, which drama are we watching until the girls get here?" Oh yes, their dates were quite simple. Usually including binging a drama at either of their dorms until members came back or it was too late to keep their eyes open.
"I say Reply 1988, you haven't finished it yet." N leaned onto the counter, smiling as he watched his girlfriend bustle around the kitchen. It was so wonderfully domestic and he cherished these moments with her the most. Simple, loving, and most importantly, together. She turned to catch him staring and made a face. He laughed.
"You've been hanging with Chase too much."
Tina scoffed, "You haven't been hanging with her too much." It was a really lame comeback, but in her defense, he was looking at her in that really special way that made her heart clench and yet pound at the same time. He did that to her a lot, honestly. Following her to the couch, he set up the episode he knew she was on and settled in with her, pulling her to him. She wiggled as she got comfortable, sighing in content as she found the perfect spot and began to become absorbed in the drama playing.
Two episode later, Venus and JJ came tumbling in with Su-chin on their heels. "Ewwwwwwwww~" Venus teased, grinning as she saw the two cuddling and JJ just smiling at the cute scene. Tina stuck her tongue out at Venus. "Let me enjoy my last night as a good girlfriend before I get too busy!"
"You're always the best girlfriend, though." N countered, and Venus made gagging noises from the kitchen. Su-chin shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Hello, Hakyeon." N waved at his girlfriend's manager. "Hi, Su-chin!"
"Not too late, now. Well, late enough so no one sees--"
"But not late enough so that he can't get home." Tina finished for Su-chin, smiling. "I know, don't worry."
"I suppose I never have to with you two." Su-chin sighed. "How the CEOs don't know, I'll never figure it out. You two are really good at this dating thing."
"We've been doing it for a while now," N started, "A year and a half, actually." Tina finished, her heart flipping again as N looked at her lovingly.
"You guys are disgusting, ugh." Venus dramatically complained, and Tina was honestly happy for this. Venus usually shyed away from interaction, but thanks to JJ, she was starting to open up more. She made a reminder to thank JJ in private for this. N squeezed her waist softly, bringing her attention back to him.
"Hm? What is it, love?" She asked, and he shrugged. "Just wanted attention." He kissed her temple, and another louder, more obnoxious groan was heard.
"Hey Chase!" N didn't even need to look over his shoulder to see who it was. Tina just rolled her eyes. "Get a room, you two!" The Tai native complained, heading straight to the kitchen like Venus had.
Tina called after her, "We did until everyone came home!" And Chase came back with a carton of orange juice as the door opened again, signalling another arrival.
Sang Mi leaned against the couch, "You still haven't finished Reply 1988? What do you guys do in this time alone -- actually, scratch that, don't want to know, there are children present." She gestured to Clara, who peeked over and, seeing N, squeaked and scurried off into the kitchen.
"Who's a kid?" Sophie's voice came from the doorway, before leaning out and shouting, "GO HOME, YOOK SUNGJAE." and slamming the door for good measure. Su-chin pinched the bridge of her nose. Almost everyone was home, that's great, but my goodness they were being rowdy.
"Looks like date night is over." Tina sighed, sitting up from her position, and N had to agree. With all eight of the girls back in the dorm, it was more like chaos than a calm atmosphere. "Hey! Chase! That's everyone's orange juice, you can't just drink from it straight from the carton--" Sang Mi's voice was heard fussing at Tina's best friend, and she rolled her eyes. "Let me walk you out before helping Chase survive our leader's wrath."
N put on his shoes and put on his backpack, thanking everyone for letting him invade, to which there was more than likely an inappropiate response from either Chase or Sophie (it was probably both) and let Tina open the door to lead him out. The night air was just starting to get a chill to it, something both of them liked, and they relished in it before N had to go.
"I'll text you when I get back, okay?" He said, her head affectionately. Tina smiled and nodded, "Of course. I'll look forward to it." Before he went, he bent down and kissed her firmly, cradling her face in his hands before pulling away slowly. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving now!" He said, seeing his manager's car pull up. She watched him leave, waving good bye and watched the car drive off.
"Wow, you two really love each other." Tina jumped to see Naeun standing there, bag in hand and waving another identical car off, presumably her brother and his band.
"O-oh my god, Naeun! I didn't see you there--" She stumbled over her words, and Naeun snorted, "Didn't expect you too, you were kinda busy." Tina blushed in embarrassment.
"I don't mean it in a bad way, it's... nice, seeing couples getting along and sincerely liking each other." Naeun said, putting her bag on her shoulder as she headed towards the elevator. Tina followed, the quiet sinking in as they rode up.
"Did you have a good time tonight?" Tina asked, looking over at their dancer. Naeun nodded, "Yeah, it was nice. I ate a bunch of cake -- don't tell Su-chin." The two smiled and nodded together as a promise.
"It's okay, N and I ate some of the leftover snacks from confession night." Tina said, and Naeun laughed at that. "Gotcha. What'd you do?"
"Watched Reply 1988." "You still haven't finished that??" Naeun looked over in shock as the got off the elevator and Tina opened the door.
"TINA, HELP ME." "NAEUN, HOLD HER, SHE DRANK ALL OF THE ORANGE JUICE TO SPITE ME." The two looked at each other as the chaos overtook them once more. It was certainly interesting, their group dynamics. Off Stage was certainly different than On Stage, they'd say. But, who'd have it any other way?
| Author's Note | |
|---|---|
| I couldn't help myself I wanted people to have cute times with people important to them oops -- But gosh I love these characters so much, and I hope you guys do too (besides your own, obvs lol) More performances, variety shows, and introductions of love interests to happen soon, ooooo~ ^-^ (I hinted at a couple in here and might have failed ANYWAYS) Also, how to you feel about me using basic korean honorifics (if that's the correct term -unnie, hyung, nim, etc?) is that a little too 'eh' or what? I just thought of that while writing this and wanted your opinion... Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and let me know of any questions/concerns you have about your character or the story ^-^ | |
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I kept trying to write during school but it was not happening...
BUT, now that school's released me, I'm itching to write about all our girls again ;u;
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