9.30 PM. Haru tossed her microphone on to the couch beside her and rubbed her hands over her eyes and cheeks with a sigh and stretched her back. She’d been at it for nearly three hours.

There was only one more week until the August monthly assessment and Haru, who wasn’t participating in the dance routine, was doing her own individual practice, hoping her singing would be enough to impress President Yang. She inspected her left wrist, which now out of its bandage, was almost completely healed. Haru’s stomach rumbled and she laid her hands over it, “Ugh, so hungry…”

As if the Gods had heard her, the door opened and Eunbi poked her head through with a grin, “Haru-ah, the boys ordered pizzas, come and have some,”

Haru was already at the door the moment the word “pizza” left Eunbi’s mouth and the two girls hurried over to the dance studio where all the trainees had gathered to eat. The studio was heavy with the smell of cheese, tomato sauce and baked dough. Haru greeted the other trainees who were all seated around the boxes of pizzas on the floor and quickly took a plate to pick up two slices at once. She spotted Areum sitting alone on the benches without any pizza, so she wandered over and took a seat beside her.

“Why aren’t you sitting with the rest of them?” Haru asked Areum as she tore a bite away from the slice of pizza in her hand, trying her best to break the long string of cheese that hung between and the pizza slice.

“No reason,” Areum shrugged but watched closely as Haru slurped up the cheese that was hanging off the sides of her pizza slice.

“You’re not eating?” Haru turned to look at Areum, full. She frowned upon seeing Areum staring at her pizza and continued, “Don’t tell me you’re not eating because pizza is junk food.”

“It’s unhealthy!” Areum countered testily and looked away.

Haru rolled her eyes and shoved her plate with her second slice on to Areum’s lap and responded, “Don’t be stupid, you can’t not eat. No one can survive off sandwiches and salad all day every day. And if anyone here could do with some junk food, it’s you.”

Areum looked down hesitantly at the slice of pizza and with a loud sigh, lifted the slice to , the taste of cheese and dough making her let out a grunt of enjoyment, “Mmph, this is good,”

Haru smiled over at Areum, happy to see her enjoy something other than leaves for once. She left her seat to grab another slice for herself and rejoined Areum on the benches away from the other trainees who were noisily chattering.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Haru wiped with a serviette and curled one leg under the other, turning to face Areum, a playful grin on her face. “How are things going with Junhoe?”

Areum finished her bite before snorting, “As good as they can get with someone like him,”

“What’s it like?” Haru continued, nudging Areum with her elbow craftily.

“He’s annoying as hell and won’t leave me alone or stop teasing me over everything,” Areum shot a death glare at Junhoe’s back.

“Oh and now look at him,” Areum continued to stare at Junhoe, who was sitting with Eunbi and bantering with her. “He flirts with everyone thinking he’s so good-looking… Tch, what a joke!”

Haru flicked her eyes between Junhoe and Areum before saying, “So… You’re jealous?”

Areum’s head snapped around and to look at Haru disdainfully, like she had said something offensive, before she retorted, “No! I wouldn’t want him even if he threw himself at me.”

Haru chuckled to herself at Areum’s riled up response before changing the topic, “Well what about Bobby? Do you still like him?”

Areum set down her empty plate and wiped her fingers carefully on a tissue before sweeping all her long black hair over one shoulder. With an attitude, she responded airily, “I don’t even know anymore to be honest. I mean, yes… But also no,”

“No?” Haru repeated and lifted her eyebrows.

“Well I feel like there’s no point liking him because he so obviously has a thing for someone else,” Areum answered pointedly, turning to face Haru with a straight face.

“Dahye right?” Haru sighed. She turned to look over at the trainees, spotting Dahye sitting with Hanbin and Donghyuk. As if he felt her watching, Hanbin’s head turned and the two made eye contact. Flustered, Haru quickly turned away, her heart rate already speeding up.  

“What?” Areum scrunched up her face in confusion.

Haru blinked at Areum, momentarily forgetting their conversation before finally collecting her thoughts and replying, “Bobby likes Dahye. I’m pretty sure at least.” She lowered her voice and leaned in, “I mean, don’t tell anybody else this, but I think they used to be a thing, only he still can’t get over Dahye,”

Areum looked downright perplexed at Haru’s response. She shook her head quickly, “Ah, I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t know if he had a thing with Dahye or not, but I do know that I’m not blind to see that it’s not Dahye who he likes,”

It was Haru’s turn to falter. She recalled all the times she felt an immense amount of tension between Bobby and Dahye, even though they never spoke, and the last time when Bobby had vaguely told her he was falling again. He meant Dahye didn’t he?

Areum noticed Haru’s silent confusion. She rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue impatiently, “God how could a person as smart as you be so thick? I’m not gonna say who I think it is because you need to find out yourself, and because I’m pretty certain it’ll be completely obvious soon enough,”

Haru opened to respond but before she could say anything Bobby’s voice called out, “Ya! Haru, Areum! Come over and join us. We’re playing games!”

The two girls stood up and joined the circle of trainees. “What game?” Areum asked as she sat down beside Haru.

“I know! Let’s play ‘Of Course’!” Yunhyeong suggested with a large grin. (A/N: For those who don't know the game, the aim of the game is to basically to take turns saying things to the person you're up against to try and make them hesitate or not be able to quickly respond with "of course". If the defending person cannot agree to what the attacking person says, they lose. It sounds stupid especially for those unfamiliar with it but it's a very popular game in Korea and is hilarious but also savage lmao. Koreans love it.)

There was a loud outbreak of conversation, call outs of disapproval and cries of approval from the rest of the trainees.

“Ay, that could be dangerous,” Yoonhee, who was sitting beside him, nudged him with a smile.

“I agree,” Jinhwan knocked Yunhyeong over the head with his palm.

“I think it’s a good idea!” Eunbi called out. “I mean, it’s a good time for us to vent at each other without consequences right?”

“Haru would sweep up all the wins, that we already know,” Areum bumped her shoulder against Haru’s, a mischievous smile pasted across her face.

The room erupted into laughter and even Eunbi snorted with laughter.

“Ya!” Haru shoved Areum, her eyes shooting daggers into her. Areum only laughed louder and threw her arm around Haru’s neck even when Haru tried to break free.

“Alright, alright, let’s play ‘Of Course’,” Bobby finally spoke over the top of the ruckus. “Who wants to go first?”

Haru, who at first was nervous about the result of such a potentially controversial game, ended up rolling on the floor in laughter as the iKON members paired up to call each other out on their habits and dissed each other with pure savagery. The jokes were plentiful, the outrageous comments ample and the side splitting laughter and reactions even more abundant as the game continued. Some of the attacks were so brutal – especially between the boys - Haru thought a fight would break out but it never happened as everyone quickly made up with each other afterwards. The maknae Chanwoo’s turn elicited much excitement as he called on the leader Hanbin. Even the usually calm and collected Bora proved to have a sharp mouth and quick wits as she won over Eunbi in a battle between the two oldest female trainees. Hanbin and Bobby’s face off was equally hilarious to the spectators and in the end, Hanbin won over Bobby by immaturely asking him, “You know we can hear you fart in your room from the kitchen right?” making everyone collapse with laughter and Bobby gaping dumbstruck, attacking Hanbin whilst protesting that it’s not that loud. Needless to say, everybody was in good spirits as the game progressed.

“Alright, Junhoe you should have another go,” Donghyuk, who laughed the loudest out of everyone, prodded Junhoe forward whilst he fanned his reddened face. “Choose somebody you want to roast,”

Junhoe smirked, his hands behind his back and head pointed downwards. Without looking up he said, “Go Areum, come out,”

The trainees began to whoop at the first boy-girl competition. Areum scowled but with an air of defiance, stood up from her spot and marched up in front of Junhoe, “Ready to be burnt to a crisp?”

“Don’t be too full of yourself,” Junhoe only smirked back at Areum.

The game started and Junhoe was the first to attack, “You know you’re not as you’re not as pretty as you think right?”

Areum didn’t so much as blink, “Of course.”

“Good job, Areum,” Yoonhee stood behind Areum and massaged her shoulders. Haru bit her lip through a grin as she waited for Areum’s attack.

Areum looked at Junhoe, “You know that I’m out of your league right?”

All the girls shrieked with laughter and as Junhoe threw his head back with a laugh, the boys ran up beside him to pat him on the back and slap his shoulders, telling him to pull it together. Areum still wore an expression of pure nonchalance and even rolled her eyes.

With a sigh, Junhoe responded, “Of course.” He flexed his neck and cleared his throat before asking, “I’m a stubborn guy. So despite that fact… Let’s date.”

“Junhoe’s gonna win!” The boys were already celebrating loudly. “She can’t say yes to that easily!”

Areum flinched this time but she quickly recomposed herself and through gritted teeth replied, “Of course.”

“Congratulations to the new couple!” The celebrations on the boys’ side were in full swing before Areum cleared , signifying she still hadn’t attacked yet. Junhoe looked at her with a huge smirk on his face, clearly sure that he was going to win but Areum made eye contact with him and attacked, “Let’s break up.”

The room shook as the all the trainees collapsed in shock and laughter at Areum’s downright savage response. Junhoe stared blankly at Areum who pretended to drop a microphone and walked away with her hands up beside her, to the cheering of the girls. Goo Junhoe? KO.

As the laughter died down after what was considered the most entertaining round, Dahye stepped forward, “I’ll have a go. With Haru,”

Haru, who was sitting on the floor tiredly after laughing to the point of tears, felt like someone had tipped ice cubes down the back of her shirt. She stood up nervously. Dahye was standing in front of her with a smile on her face, one that was so friendly that Haru shivered. Amongst the trainees, two boys stopped laughing.

“Let’s be civil right?” Jinhwan nodded at both the girls, sensing the danger and seeing the faces of Hanbin and Bobby drop.

Dahye was the first to attack. She had her head down whilst she thought, lifting her face to look at Haru before asking, “You think you’re better than the other new trainees here don’t you?”

Haru gulped as the all the other trainees ‘ooh-ed’ loudly. She swallowed the lump in and responded, “Of course.”

Dahye was not playing nice. And even though Haru wanted to just lose so that this game could end, she couldn’t allow herself to wither up in front of Dahye. She met Dahye’s eyes and attacked, “Truthfully speaking, you’re not really sorry about laughing at me in my school uniform are you?”

Eyes flicked between eyes and the room hushed with a few shouts from the iKON members. Dahye grinned at the floor briefly but immediately responded, “Of course.”

Haru braced herself for Dahye’s attack, which she knew would be ruthless. Dahye, with a slight smirk on her face asked, “You’re confident around the guys because you think you’re pretty don’t you?”

Haru nearly scoffed. What kind of an attack is that? All she could sense from Dahye’s attack was jealousy and bitterness. She had worried for no reason. Without skipping a beat, Haru replied with confidence, “Of course.”

Her response was met with loud shouts and cheering, especially from Areum who was enjoying seeing Haru releasing her inner .

Haru thought about her next attack. When she got an idea she hesitated for a moment, worried it was too much but decided if there was a time to roast Dahye it would be now. Haru breathed out and delivered her next attack calmly, “You’re secretly jealous because I get more attention than you right?”

The reactions were getting bigger and Haru heard the boys voicing their opinions about how scary Haru could be.

Dahye looked taken back for a moment but immediately regained her poise to respond, “Of course.” Her face had soured since the beginning of the match but as she readied to deliver her attack, her expression grew more triumphant. Dahye folded her arms in front of her and asked, “You’re secretly upset that Hanbin chose me to be his partner aren’t you?”

The blow was lethal, leaving Haru reeling at the question. Haru stared agape at Dahye, whose smile grew with every moment that Haru remained silent. The others continued to whoop and cheer, some of them covering their faces with surprise. Har