“You’re going to be okay right?” Eunhwa worries, hands flittering over Liqin’s face like a mother hen. She goes from fixing the Chinese girl’s fringe to straightening out her shirt before moving her hands back in front of her nervously. “Do you have everything? An extra water bottle? Sunscreen? A hat?”

                “She’ll be fine unnie,” Solbi rolls her eyes from her spot on the couch next to Ina. Liqin smiles gratefully at Eunhwa before nodding to indicate that she had brought everything. 

                “They’re in my bag,” Liqin answers anyways, ignoring Solbi and Ina’s sarcastic remarks about Eunhwa acting as if Liqin was a preschooler off on her first day at school. “What are you guys going to be doing while I’m gone though?” 

                “Practicing the choreography,” Ina rolls her eyes. “We’ll miss you lots then, Solbi just doesn’t have the patience to teach like you do.” 

                “It’s not my fault you always get the counting wrong,” Solbi shrugs. 

                “We’ll be fine,” Eunhwa continues as Ina and Solbi get into yet another friendly argument. “What about you? On that show with all those seniors... What if you get injured? That would be terrible... You know SHINee sunbaenim’s Minho got hurt–” 

                “Don’t worry,” Liqin smiles softly, patting Eunhwa on the shoulder. “I think I’m fine for the physical aspect. I’ll learn to warm up to the seniors though, I hope.” 

                “Oh goodness whose idea was it to let you go by yourself? One of us should have came with you,” Eunhwa bites her lip, beginning to worry again. 

                “Dream Team only wanted her unnie, remember?” Ina lolls her head back to stare at the duo by the hallway. “It’s not very fair that Liqin gets to go on a variety show by herself first but whatever. That’s the way the world works.” 

                “But still,” Eunhwa frets, twisting her hands in her nervousness. 

                “Eunhwa, you weren’t even this nervous when you girls were debuting,” Sanghee arrives on scene, having taken a phone call outside. “Now we have to hurry up and go or else we’re going to be late.” 

                “Bye guys! I’ll see you afterwards,” Liqin smiles in an attempt of being strong, but Eunhwa continues fretting nonetheless. Eventually, Solbi and Ina trap Eunhwa on the couch while Sanghee pushes Liqin out of the door. Laughing softly at Eunhwa’s antics, Liqin settles into the car as Sanghee drives to the filming site. Biting her lip nervously, Liqin sighs as she looks at the sunny day outside. It was busy, everyone was enjoying the hot summer weather while they could, but Liqin couldn’t help but feel worried. 

                Of course, she had tried to remain strong before, if she had been worried, Eunhwa might have fainted from anxiety, but she was still nervous. Like Ina had said, it was Cosmos’ first time on a show, and it would be a solo appearance by Liqin nonetheless. Although she had confidence in her athletic abilities, Liqin wasn’t sure how to be funny or how to interact with the other idols that would be on the show. It was a kind of rookie special, with lesser known groups or recently debuted groups being invited onto the show. Something like the 100 vs. 1 episode they did before but this time it was more focused on girl groups fighting it out. From what Liqin knew, there was one representative from each team, and for some reason, the Dream Team producer had picked Liqin. 

                “How are you feeling?” Sanghee asks as the car turns out of the highway. The filming location wasn’t too far from their dorm, something Liqin wasn’t sure if she should be happy about or not. On one hand, it gave her less time to think and prepare for the shoot (although she hadn’t gotten much sleep anyways, so technically she had had all night to think) but it also meant she wasn’t cooped up in a car for so long. And no offense to Sanghee, but Liqin still felt a bit awkward around the manager – despite them being together quite often, Liqin always felt like she still had something to prove to Sanghee and still saw her as a kind of professional authority figure. 

                “I’ve had better days,” Liqin responds honestly, eyebrows furrowing as they approach the site. There were a couple other vans there, leading Liqin to believe that some of the other groups had already arrived. 

                “You’ll do fine; you used to exercise a lot before right?” Sanghee comforts her, parking the car and unlocking the doors. 

                “Still do,” Liqin answers simply as she jumps out of the car. Nervously following Sanghee, the two make their way towards the producers near the front of the set. They check in, Sanghee talking briefly to the director, before Liqin is hauled away by the stylists on set to change. She was given a blue athletic short sleeve shirt along with a matching pair of shorts. Changing quickly, Liqin puts her hair in a ponytail before being directed into the waiting area – a cluster of white tents to keep the idols and other staff members out of the sun. 

                “Unnie!” turning her head at the sound, Liqin immediately smiles when she sees the familiar face. “I didn’t know you were coming too,” Shiah smiles when Liqin greets her. 

                “Same here,” Liqin laughs gently, “it’s nice to see a familiar face.” 

                “Were you nervous?” Shiah asks, leading Liqin back to the area where she was sitting. Luckily, the label, ‘Cosmos Liqin’ was right beside the one that read, ‘Oh My Girl YooA’. Off to the side was another name tag, this one reading, ‘CLC Seungyeon’. 

                “Kind of,” Liqin admits. “Hey, does this mean we’re a team?” she points out Shiah’s blue shirt, along with the matching name tags on the chairs. “And are we supposed to put this on?” 

                “I think we are,” Shiah replies. “I think I saw Umji ssi from Gfriend wearing orange and Lovelyz’s Mijoo wearing green.” Grabbing her nametag, Shiah turns around before holding it out to Liqin. “I was actually just going to put this on, can you help me?” Nodding, Liqin takes the name tag and waits for Shiah to slip her hands into it. Tying it around the back, Liqin waits for Shiah to grab her own nametag and do the same before they settle down and wait for their last member. 

                As Shiah leads the conversation with a story about her other members, Liqin breathes a sigh of relief. She was worried that she wouldn’t know anyone, but things had worked out. After their backstage video, Cosmos and Oh My Girl had met a couple more times during music shows and had eventually, like they promised, exchanged phone numbers. While Liqin ended up talking to Hyejin since they were both quiet and got along, Shiah came pretty much second along with Yoobin as they were both more reserved and calmer in nature. So it was quite nice to know that Liqin would be spending the whole day with Shiah – despite the fact that she still had another seven girls to meet and try to get along with. 

                “Hello,” a voice speaks up, causing the two girls to stop their conversation. “I’m CLC’s Seungyeon, nice to meet you!” Liqin observes as the dark haired girl bows. She too, is dressed in blue and smiles at Liqin when they make eye contact. Bowing in greeting, Shiah stands up to help Seungyeon put her nametag on while the new addition to the team makes small talk. Liqin smiles, joining in every once and a while, but mostly letting the other two girls do the talking. Soon enough, the PD calls everyone to the main filming site and Liqin follows Shiah as they file towards the field. 

                “Alright,” the director starts while the girls finish quieting down. “Today is a kind of team battle. There will be a series of games which will award you points, these will be important later on. The final battle will take place on the obstacle course you see behind you. One team will run through the course, while another team representative will chase them. Based on the amount of points you get, the chaser will have to wait a longer or shorter amount of time before they can start running, is that clear?” Nodding along with the other girls, Liqin waits around for the cameras to start while the director continues giving instructions. 

                “We’re going to start now!” a writer calls from the side, and the set immediately quiets down. As the cameras start to roll, the MC at the front begins speaking. The girls wait off to the side, waiting for their cue to enter the screen. For now, Lee Changmyung takes the stage, talking about the summer season. 

                “Alright,” Changmyung clears his throat. “Now, with the summer season comes a variety of things, ice cream, good weather, and most importantly of all, the summer of fun. With that, we’ve invited a variety of girl groups today to help heat up the weather! Welcome CLC, Cosmos, Gfriend, Cosmic Girls, Lovelyz, A.DE, Gugudan, and April!” Upon hearing their names, the girls run onto set, smiling and waving at the cameras. Liqin, following Shiah, ends up standing beside her and the member of A.DE. They wave a little more before Changmyung takes the lead again. “Alright, so let’s begin with introductions hm?” Pointing to the left, Seungyeon begins talking. 

                “Crystal clear! Annyeonghaseyo, naeun CLC’s Seungyeon imnida!” Seungyeon grins, playfully winking at the camera. Changmyung nods, talking to Seungyeon a bit about her group and last comeback, before moving onto the next girl. It continues like this for a while, each girl getting a chance to promote their group and secure screen time, before it becomes Liqin’s turn. 

                “A-ah,” Liqin stumbles, flushing slightly when the camera turns to her. “Past the stars! This is Cosmos! Annyeonghaseyo, naeun Cosmos’ dream girl, Liqin imnida,” Liqin bows. She blinks anxiously when what seems to be a drawn out silence stretches out, before Changmyung steps in and grins at her reassuringly. 

                "Liqin ssi! Cosmos just recently came back right?" he starts, leading with the usual questions he had asked the other girls. 

                "Yes, we just released our music video and will be appearing on music programs starting this week," Liqin nods, smiling a little when she sees a couple cameras focusing on her. 

                "So your song, Colour it hasn't been performed live yet?" Changmyung asks, and Liqin begins to get a feel as to where this way going. Shaking her head no, Changmyung grins widely. "Then let's get a sneak peak at the choreography huh? Could you do that?" 

                "O-of course!" Liqin squeaks, fumbling slightly at the sudden request. Luckily enough, most of the other girls laugh and she sees some of the spectators on the side giving her a thumb's up. Happy at the support she was receiving, Liqin steps forwards confidentally and dances along to the chorus of Colour before the music stops and she bows. 'Thank you!" 

                "That was really nice, a great song, make sure to listen to it everyone!" Changmyung compliments, pointing at the viewers with a cheeky expression. Liqin nods, stepping back into line and waits for the rest of the girls to finish introducing themselves. After the rules are explained one more time and the teams are split, Changmyung comes around again. "So girls, who do you think will be the strongest and weakest players?" 

                "I think it's Liqin unnie," Yewon says shyly. "I've seen her on broadcast and she seems really dainty." 

                "Kind of delicate in a way," Mijoo agrees, and Liqin merely smiles awkwardly in response. 

                "Is that true?" Changmyung motions for Liqin to come forwards, and she does so carefully. Unluckily for her, she ends up tripping over her shoelace and stumbles. Blushing as the people around her laugh, she quickly bends down to tie her shoelace. "Looks like they might be right," Changmyung grins. "Nevertheless, let's do our best shall we?" 

                An hour into the shoot, Liqin was dripping with sweat but going strong. They were on their last game before the actul obstacle course, and her team was doing quite well. Only one member of each team could participate in each game, and Seungyeon and Shiah had played the first two games (log rolling and a foot race). Although they had both done well, the Blue team hadn't gotten first place in any games, putting them at a slight disadvantage. 

                "Alright girls, this time we'll be playing on these bars here," Changmyung calls. He points at a set of bars, just a little higher than the average height so most of the girls would have to jump to reach it. "I'm sure you've seen this all on TV programs but here are the rules. Once the bell rings, the two players will jump and grab onto the bar with their hands. Then, using their feet or whatever else, they'll try to bring the other member down. Got that?" Nodding, Changmyung clears his throat and continues. "To decide the order, we'll be drawing straws, Those with the same number will compete against each other. This means one team will be able to get a free pass to the finals." 

                Stepping forwards, Liqin draws one of the three sticks first, followed by Mijoo and Yewon. Smiling at them, she reveals her stick, a number 1. Mijoo reveals hers to be a 0 while Yewon shows off a matching 1. Putting the sticks back into the bucket for the staff member to take away, Liqin looks back at Shiah and Seungyeon and receives a powerful fighting cheer back. Blushing slightly at the loud noise and attention, Liqin waves her hand quickly to quiet them down – only for them to increase their efforts. 

                "Alright, so it seems that Umji ssi and Liqin ssi will be up first – with Mijoo ssi getting to sit back. Isn't it interesting how those that said Liqin ssi was the weakest are up against her?" Changmyung laughs. "Let's see if Liqin ssi is really as weak as she looks. Let's get started!" Nodding and shaking hands with Yewon, Liqin stands under the bar and prepares herself. Tucking her shirt into her shorts, Yewon does the same and they both stand slightly crouched, waiting for the bell. 

                The second the bell rings, Liqin reaches up and easily grabs onto the bar without having to jump. She hears a small voice at the back of her head that sounds suspiciously like Solbi screaming about how being so tall was unfair before she pulls her legs up and wraps them around Yewon. The other, shorter girl, was still in the process of securing her grip on the bar, making it easy for Liqin to pull her down. Breathing in deeply, Liqin concentrates and brings herself up, over the bars. She uses her legs and body weight to push down on the other girl, and Yewon is down on the floor within seconds. Balancing on the bar for a couple more moments, Liqin eventually jumps down gently onto the mat and helps Yewon up – apologizing and helping the girl fix her hair. 

                "Oh my goodness," Changmyung merely states, eyes widened with shock. The other girls around have similar shocked expressions on their face, and Liqin merely blushes as they move to compliment her. "No offense to Umji ssi but that was the fastest I've ever seen a girl win! Looks like Liqin ssi is completely different from her appearance," Changmyung commentates, still slightly surprised at the outcome. "Now, Mijoo ssi, you saw what happened, how do you plan to win?" 

                "Well Liqin ssi is very tall," Mijoo starts off. "Which is why she could reach the bars before Umji ssi could stabilize herself. I'm really quick though, and I have good muscles from dance so I'm sure I'll be able to outmanouver her." 

                "And you Liqin ssi? Anything to say?" Changmyung turns, allowing Liqin a chance to speak. 

                "I dance too," Liqin says determinedly. "And I used to be on the Australian national junior swim team so I'm pretty strong too." 

                "The national junior swim team?" Changmyung exclaims, and Liqin blushes as the set begins chattering. "That is absolutely amazing, looks like we shouldn't judge people based on their appearance. And with that, let's get started on the second round!" 

                Stepping up to the mat once again, Liqin prepares herself as Mijoo does the same. Once the bell sounds, Liqin reaches up and gets up first. True to her word however, Mijoo soon follows, much faster than Yewon had been. Nevertheless, Liqin easily pulls herself up and over the bar, sitting on it with her legs on either sides, and leans forwards to use her hands to peel Mijoo's fingers off. Not giving up without a fight, Mijoo brings her legs up and wraps herself around the pole as well, but eventually, Liqin's strength wins over. Liqin scoots over until she's sitting directly on top of Mijoo, and unwinds her feet to push down on the other girl's thighs. Once Mijoo's legs faltered and began to fall, Liqin easily unwrapped Mijoo's fingers as well and the younger female falls to the ground.

                “A-MAZ-ING,” Changmyung chants into the microphone as the staff and other girls alike applaud Liqin. Flustered, the tall girl drops to the ground and covers her face while bowing towards the camera. Running up to Mijoo, Liqin helps her up and continues bowing, awkward apolies flying from her lips as Mijoo merely laughs. There’s a hint of disappoint and regret in her eyes though, causing a wave of guilt to hit Liqin. Maybe she should’ve just let her win, after all, it was just a show. Liqin could already start to hear the multitude of haters who would be shaming her online for not letting Mijoo win but before she could get caught up in her own thoughts, Changmyung announced her team as the winner and they moved on to the next game.

                “Alright kids,” Changmyung starts half an hour later after the staffs had finished setting up the final course. “This is it, our final round. Winner takes all – the other games were just to get extra help for this one. Let’s reorganize the results, Team Green is leading with three points, Team Orange has two, and unfortunately, Team Blue only has one. These points will be allotted to time on our course. Here’s how it works, there are five stages, the first you’ll have to dodge the sporadic blocks which will randomly move in and out. Second will be running along a slowly turning log – there are ropes hanging from the top, you can choose to use them if you want to. Third is a jumping course, you’ll have to use the rubber balls as footholds and get to the other side. Fourth are three continuously spinning platforms, jump from each one to the other. And finally, the last one is a series of monkey bars. When you get to the end, press the button and that will record your score. If you fall from the course and land in the water, you’re out. The team that has the fastest score will win.

                Now, you’re probably wondering about the extra time, well, one player from the team will be running – but there will also be another player from another team chasing. This player will wait ten seconds before going, but depending on your rank, an extra two seconds will be added on. Team Orange will get six extra seconds, Team Green gets four, and Team Blue gets two. Is that clear?” Changmyung pauses, looking at the camera but also turning back to check on the girls. Everyone nods their heads before moving to the waiting area. Team Green wins rock paper scissors and starts first, and after drawing sticks, Team Blue is chosen to chase them.

                “Whose going to chase?” Shiah asks nervously. “We have to be good. We have the highest chance of losing since we only have two extra seconds.”

                “So someone strong and fast has to chase and make sure no one gets to the end. Hopefully we’ll be able to be the only ones to finish the course,” Seungyeon nods. “I think we can switch players though so if you get tired or think you can do better, there’s always a second chance.”

                “True, how about Liqin unnie goes?” Shiah says, turning to Liqin – who merely looks back at her in surprise. “She was really good at the other game, and this looks like it needs a lot of endurance and speed.”

                “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea!” Seungyeon cheers. “Unnie is tall so she’ll be good at running too. How about it?”

                “A-are you sure? What if I mess up?” Liqin worries, shaking her hands in front of her face. “If the chaser falls off then the runner will be free to finish the course as leisurely as possible!”

                “Then we’ll switch out unnie, it’ll be fine,” Shiah says comfortingly, rubbing a hand on Liqin’s shoulders.

                “For sure,” Seungyeon laughs. “You’ll do great unnie, we’re cheering for you!” Seungyeon does a little wiggle dance in the spot, causing both Shiah and Liqin to laugh before the tall, Chinese girl takes a deep breath and agrees. With that, the girls are herded towards the obstacle course and each take a couple turns, testing it out and getting used to it, before Team Blue and Team Green get into position.

                Standing at the edge of the obstacle course, Liqin takes a deep breath as she reties her hair. Mijoo is standing a little ways in front of her, jogging in place from nerves, as Changmyung does his spiel to the camera. Liqin is trapped in a small cage-like structure, the door – according to the production staffs – would open after the time was up, but for now, Liqin presses her right hand against it, trying to cool down. Jumping slightly when Changmyung finishes talking, she watches as an overhead camera pans over to her, and attempt to smile and wave at it. After a loud countdown, the alarm rings and Mijoo sets off.

                The lithe girl quickly makes it to the middle of the first course before Liqin can even process what was going on. Unluckily for her however, a middle section block pushes out, blocking her path. Panicking over whether she should crawl under it or wait for it to go in, Mijoo’s time slowly ticks away before she manages to get past it. Smoke shoots out from the firework capsules next to Liqin’s cage and another alarm sounds, signaling the end to Mijoo’s extra six seconds. The cage door, as promised, flings open as Liqin pushes forwards. As she approaches the first course, Mijoo finally makes her way through the blocks and is approaching the log. Gritting her teeth, Liqin runs through the course, long legs making quick work of the stretch while her luck wins out as she makes it past with fairly no obstacles coming out to block her path.

                Reaching the log, Mijoo is around the middle portion, struggling as she tries to hold onto the rope and balance on the continuously spinning object. Taking a deep breath, Liqin reaches forwards to grab the first rope, and begins making her way across. The whole course was an easy matter, it was best to keep moving and not to get confused with the different direction of the log, yet it was also easier to do so if you were shorter – considering you had a lower sense of balance. Liqin, being tall, knew she was disadvantaged at this, but she also – thanks to her years of swimming – had quite a bit of muscle in her shoulders and arms, allowing her upper body to keep her balanced. Just as Mijoo makes her way to the end of the platform, Liqin forwards and taps her on the shoulder, effectively ‘catching’ her. Mijoo screams, falling to the ground, as another alarm buzzes – signaling the end of the trial.

                Crouching down next to her, Liqin awkwardly pats Mijoo’s shoulder, apologizing profusely. Eventually getting up, the other female laughs a bit, assuring Liqin that it was okay, but the salty taste of defeat causes her smile to drop after she turns away. A little put off, Liqin frowns slightly, but she can’t blame the other girl. It was just a game, but at the same time, who liked to lose? Definitely not Liqin that’s for sure. As Shiah and Seungyeon cheer enthusiastically for Liqin, the Chinese girl smiles slightly and, for once during the filming, feels comfortable in front of the cameras.

                They day continues, with the other teams chasing and running. Liqin sits out for the next couple rounds, letting Shiah and Seungyeon get their screen time, but no one breaks her record of fastest elimination. After a while, Shiah announces that Liqin should just continue chasing, and with Seungyeon hesitantly agreeing, Liqin ends up stopping the last members of both the Blue and Green teams from finishing the course. During their own trials, Seungyeon unfortunately falls off at the fourth course – scared by the approaching chaser – while Shiah finishes but with the lowest scoring time. Finally, Liqin stands up for her turn to run.

                “Ah, and here’s the main character for today,” Changmyung smiles brightly as Liqin awkwardly makes her way to him for her interviewer. “You’ve surprised everyone today I think, who would’ve thought such a quiet and feminine looking girl would be such a sport-dol huh?”

                “Even a rose has its thorns,” Liqin ends up saying. It’s cheesy, and makes her cringe a bit, but apparently it has the desired effect as Changmyung gives her a loud reaction. The girls off to the side clap as Liqin makes her way up to the starting point while Yewon enters the cage – chosen to chase after her. her lips, Liqin shivers with anticipation as she waits for the alarm to sound. It had been a while since she had competed competitively in a more sports-orientated activity, and honestly, Liqin had missed it. It reminded her of her days back when she swam, the excited hum on the day of the meet, and the few couple moments of calm anxiousness right before she started. Taking a deep breath, Liqin narrows her focus until she only sees the course in front of her and waits calmly for the alarm.

                As soon as the horn buzzes, Liqin sets off. She shuffle-runs past the first course, quickly ducking and crawling under blocks, wasting no time in waiting for them to back in. Although Liqin was quick though, Yewon is let out of the cage before she can finish the first course – courtesy of the measly two second time frame they got. Not letting it bother her, Liqin continues to the second course, taking in what she had learned while chasing the others, and quickly running through it. At a time in the middle, Liqin ends up forgoing the ropes in lieu of merely running across it. As she makes it to the other side without grabbing another rope, cheers can be heard off from the side. Liqin momentarily smiles as she imagines how that moment will probably be replayed and edited a million times, she focuses back on the course.

                Reaching the third course, Liqin bites her lip. The last time she had attempted this, she had almost fallen off – the balls were rubbery and round, making them unpredictable in terms of angles and sturdiness. Nevertheless, Liqin takes the course the same way she did the last one, without stopping and with a low center of gravitiy. Quickly jumping through the four balls, there’s a moment of slight panic when her foot slips, but she manages to awkwardly grasp the platform of the next course and drag herself back up. As she clambers onto the solid stage, she hears a loud splash behind her. Turning around, Liqin lets out a sigh of relief as she sees Yewon in the water. She had probably slipped and fallen, meaning that now Liqin didn’t have to worry about someone chasing her.

                Slowing down, Liqin examines the next course. There were three spinning platforms, also circles, that spun in different directions and at different times. Gritting her teeth – she had never been very good with motion sickness, Liqin jumps onto the first one. Getting up quickly before she could focus too much on being flung from side to side, she stumbles but manages to jump onto the next one. The last platform was a bit farther away however, and with the second one spinning faster than the last two, Liqin didn’t have much time to think. Time was another thing that was concerning her. As of now, one member from every team had completed the course, but unfortunately for Shiah, Team Blue wasn’t ranked very high. Call it pettiness or pure competitiveness, but Liqin sure as hell didn’t want to come in last.

                With that resolve, Liqin launches herself onto the next platform, miscalculating her strength and almost slides off. She manages to catch herself on the edge however, and stays sprawled, star shaped, for a bit before standing up and jumping onto the next stage. Shaking her head slightly and walking dizzily, Liqin manages to stand before the last obstacle, monkey bars. These were slightly different though, with the bars being attached to what looks like rectangular buckets of water. The minute you swung onto one, the weight from the body would move the bar, and thus, the water, and if you waited for too long, water would cascade onto you – causing you to fall. This stage however, was where Liqin’s long limbs came into handy.

                Easily jumping onto the first bar, Liqin swings forward, not having to reach very far as she catches herself on the next bar, and continues her rhythm until she lands on the final platform. Racing forwards, she presses the button happily and cheers when the fireworks of smoke beside her go off. Turning back to look at the rest of the girls, Liqin’s mouth drops as she sees her own time. 58.65 seconds – she had made it under a minute. Blinking rapidly as Shiah and Seungyeon run at her shouting, Liqin grins widely and shoots the camera a cheeky wink and a v-sign before she’s collected by her teammates.

                “That was amazing!” Shiah exclaims, piling praise upon praise on Liqin. The older girl blushes slightly, a little taken aback at the attention, but smiles happily when Seungyeon throws an arm over here. As they march back to the main filming area, the other teams congratulate Liqin with varying degrees of happiness. Some of the more laid back ones grin happily and compliment her speed and strength, while the more competitive idols stiffly nod (all out of range of the cameras of course) with a slight trace of bitterness in their eyes. Ignoring their stares – Liqin was used to that, it happened all the time at swim meets – she instead turns her attention to where Changmyung is closing up the episode.

                “Amazing, just unbelievable!” he coos, obviously pleasantly surprised at the last-minute turn around. If there was one thing people loved in entertainment shows, it was a surprising plot twist – especially that in the favour of an underdog – and Liqin was certain the editors would be crying in happiness at the footage.

                “And with that, our girl group special ends with the Blue Team’s victory!” Changmyung cheers. The camera turns to the three girls, and they immediately smile happily. Seungyeon does a goofy dance, pulling a weird yet cute face at the camera, while Shiah pulls Liqin into an excited hug. “The Blue Team has won a special prize for their efforts today! Not only will they receive a box set of home necessities,” the camera pans over to the small table set off to the size, b with three sets of toiletries, kitchen goods, and other various household trinkets, “but all three groups’ music videos will be played in full in between broadcasts this week! Congratulations!”

                Eyes widening, Liqin grins at the thought of exposure. She’s led over to their prize by Seungyeon, and receives her portion of the goods gratefully. As the last bit of ending music comes on and all the girls are given one more chance to appeal to the viewers, Liqin winks into the camera as she tries to juggle the various toothbrushes and toilet paper rolls in her hands. Exposure was amazing and all, but Liqin was just glad that she got extra towels. Now, at least, maybe Ina would stop stealing hers.

Ahh, I've been gone for so long (not really but it feels like it... it's been like, two months?) I feel like my writing and characterization has gotten rusty. This was mainly a Liqin focused chapter so I hope you guys don't mind but everyone will get a moment to shine I promise!

I have a couple more days (I think maybe another week?) of free time (meaning no major projects or tests on the horizon) so hopefully I'll be able to out another chapter and maybe a chapter for Suite... We'll see ;A;

I feel like I'm making the pacing of the story too fast but at the same time I don't feel like I have enough to write to drag it out without making it feel like fillers and stuff... *sighs* I guess that's the problem with writing such a long story.

Oh yeah, the next chapter is going to be a bit different. I've been wanting to add it in for a while but never knew where it'd fit so yeah. It'll give a different insight on how people are viewing Cosmos and the author of it will shift every so often (but the same author might pop up again). I'm being confusing and vague but I want it to remain a surprise aha.

Hope you're smiling!

~ Yun