A/N: Enjoy everyone~~~

~

It didn’t take long for Jung Eunwoo to realize that certain aspects of her life had changed, and those changes had taken her off guard just a little. Now, however, it bothered her. A lot. Eunwoo hadn’t fully grasped what had changed until one day she had thought carefully about it after a day of filming for Produce 101. It all had to do with one person. Zhou Jieqiong. Her fellow label mate, better known as Pinky, was the one behind the past few weeks of awkwardness.

Pinky had always been clingy, not in a bad way however, the girl just had a habit of sticking around people. And, the person she stuck around the most was Eunwoo. Honestly, Eunwoo didn’t think much about it. She didn’t hate it nor did she feel any particular feeling of love towards Pinky’s habit. But, nowadays she had noticed that Pinky wasn’t always beside her whenever possible anymore.

“Pinky-yah” Eunwoo called out, “Can you help me find my lip balm?” she asked as she looked around the waiting room for the Carmex lip balm she had received from the Produce 101 staff. After seconds of silence she looked up, finding it weird that Pinky hadn’t replied yet. However, she was hit by the reality that Pinky wasn’t even around her. She scanned the room looking for the slightly taller girl, only to find her all the way across the other side of the room. She let out a sigh and decided to just look for it herself.

Eunwoo wasn’t sure if it was because of the lip balm or because of her gradual realization of how much she hated that Pinky was becoming physically distant, but Eunwoo could feel her frustration build up as she continued to search the room for her lost object. Why was she even wasting her time looking? She could just ask the staff for another one. No, she didn’t want that though. She had shared the lip balm with Pinky before. She didn’t want another lip balm.

“Are you looking for something?”

The voice had snapped Eunwoo out of her intense hunt for the lip balm, as she straightened up and glanced over at the source of the voice. “Oh… Nayoung unnie” it was difficult hiding the disappointment in her voice, considering she had a little hope that maybe it was Pinky – but who was she kidding, she’d be able to recognize Pinky’s voice from miles away.

Im Nayoung gave a faint smile, “Are you not happy to see me?”

Eunwoo shook her head, “No. It’s not that, I’m just a little tired from looking for my lip balm,” she explained with a sheepish smile.  

“Oh?” Nayoung looked at the younger girl and noticed something was off, “Is something missing?”

“Yeah, my lip balm.”

“No, not that. But like something is missing from you” Nayoung tried her best to convey the feeling as she thought hard about what Eunwoo was like before today. Did Eunwoo usually wear a hat? Was it her clothes? Or, was it her hair? It wasn’t. “Oh” Nayoung’s mouth dropped a little as she finally recalled, “Pinky is missing from you.”

Eunwoo blinked at the statement, “What?”

Nayoung smiled, proud of her feat in figuring it out, “Pinky is usually with you isn’t she? That’s why it felt weird because she’s not with you today” Nayoung explained.

“Oh…” even Nayoung is picking up on it now. Eunwoo gave a quick glance at where Pinky was, “She’s been busy… you know, Grade A people tend to be more intense” Eunwoo came up with the worst explanation but hoped it’d convince Nayoung, but more so herself.

“Well I’ll tell you if I come across a lip balm,” Nayoung said before leaving off for her stage rehearsal.

Eunwoo smiled, “Okay thanks.” Maybe she should just take a rest from the lip balm and from thinking about Pinky. She sighed again, “I’ll just go to the toilet for a bit then,” she whispered to no one in particular. She headed towards the door to leave but was startled when another hand had reached for the doorknob at the same time.

“Are you going to the toilet?”

It was Pinky. Pinky was talking to her. Eunwoo froze for a second, it seemed like it was their first time talking. She looked up at the girl who was smiling back. Had Pinky always been this beautiful? Eunwoo forgot for a second just how pretty Pinky was.  

Pinky opened the door, seeing that Eunwoo had pressed the pause button in her life and wasn’t moving. She let the dazed Eunwoo out first before closing the door behind her, “Were you looking for something?”

Eunwoo gained back her senses and nodded, “Yeah…” Pinky had noticed? Was she watching the whole time? Eunwoo could feel the urge to break into a little smile, but refrained from it.

“Did you lose the lip balm?”

“Yeah…” Eunwoo replied as she walked down the corridor to the toilets with Pinky in tow.

Pinky simply nodded and glanced at Eunwoo, who seemed a little more moody than usual. It’s not like Pinky hadn’t realized their recent distance but Eunwoo had never seemed too pleased with Pinky being around her all the time. It wasn’t easy for Pinky to stay away from Eunwoo, but it seemed like the slightly older girl wanted some space. But, now that they’re back by each other’s sides the atmosphere had gotten a little awkward.

“Are you on purposely staying away from me?” Eunwoo asked amidst the silence.

“What?” Pinky couldn't even react yet.

Eunwoo stopped walking and turned around, making Pinky halt her steps as well. “Are you on purposely avoiding me?” she asked again.

“No?” Pinky didn’t mean for it to sound like a question but it just turned out that way.

Eunwoo nearly swerved off track, seeing Pinky’s little falter just now. The girl always seemed so carefree and happy all the time; Eunwoo really liked the energy that surrounded Pinky. She cracked into a little smile and turned away, “Help me find my lip balm.”

“Oh” Pinky reached into her pocket, “I already did… that’s why I was asking.”

“Yah!” Eunwoo turned back around, “You should’ve told me earlier!” she slapped the girl on the arm, “Do you know how frustrated I became looking for it?” she took the lip balm from Pinky’s hand and couldn’t help but notice how soft the other’s skin was as their hands brushed against each other.

Pinky laughed at Eunwoo’s sudden outburst, “Why would you get so stressed over a lip balm? You can always just ask the staff for another one.”

“No” Eunwoo replied short as she put the lip balm into her pocket.

“Why not?”

“Because I shared this one with you,” Eunwoo answered softly.

Pinky leaned in to hear better, “What?”  

“Because I shared this one with you,” Eunwoo repeated, except this time a little louder.

Pinky’s smile widened, “I could just use your new one again.”

“You’d do that?”

Pinky nodded, “Of course. We share lip stick all the time too anyway.”

“Then…” Eunwoo wasn’t sure why was so loose today but she asked a question she had never planned to ask any time soon, “Then would you kiss me?” She regretted it the moment it slipped out. Way to ruin a friendship, she thought to herself.

“Sure” Pinky replied almost instantly.  

Eunwoo’s eyes widened with shock, “W-what? No way…”

Pinky gave a chuckle, “Want one now?’”

“What?” Eunwoo still couldn’t comprehend the situation. It went nothing they way she had thought in her mind.

“A kiss” Pinky said, “Do you want a kiss now?”

“I…”

Pinky decided to stop teasing Eunwoo – although, most of the time Eunwoo is the prankster – and smiled, “How about this then? Do you want to date first?”

“I…” Eunwoo couldn’t think of a happier moment in her life, “I do.”

Pinky’s smile soon became a childish grin as she reached over and intertwined her fingers with Eunwoo’s, “When did you realize you liked me?”

“Since a while ago…” Eunwoo replied, trying to regain her cool.

“You must’ve hated it this past week then.”

Eunwoo frowned, as she thought back, “Just don’t leave my side from now on.”

“I won’t.”