Crisis

A/N: You guys don’t know how happy I am that Doyeon made it into IOI…Just to note, I reference a lot of things that happened during Produce 101 episodes and behind-the-scene clips in this chapter (and the story in general) so you’ll have the much better reading experience if you’ve watched all of that. Warning: things are getting much gayer (and kinkier?) from this point onwards.

Despite everyone’s claims that Produce 101 was a cruel program, Kim Doyeon had to admit things were going pretty darn well for her. All of the Fantagio girls survived the first elimination rounds, she was on the same team as Yoojung for the Position challenge, and every moment was a blast on Team Bang Bang.

Well, there had been a little blip when Doyeon had accidentally tripped and pulled Yoojung down onto the dance floor, giving her friend a pretty nasty looking bloody nose. Doyeon had worried that Yoojung might have broken her nose (“On your s,” Dani had repeatedly emphasized for some reason), but luckily, Yoojung had returned with only a bruised cheek.

Other than that, things are pretty great. Doyeon thought absently, eyes following Soyeon as she gyrated her hips to Right Round.

All of the trainees in the Dance group had gathered to show Kahi and Bae Yoonjung their choreographies, but the trainers decided to have a dance battle first, something all of the trainees more than happy to partake in.

While Doyeon loved dancing, she had to admit freestyling was kinda, way past her level of experience, Dani too. Subsequently, Doyeon and Dani placed themselves at the side wing of Yoonjung’s team, opting to spectate.

Chungha-unnie’s looks great today, Doyeon thought as Chungha proceeded to wreck Soyeon with a 5-hit combo of Dance Goddess moves and an Jiggle finisher.

Briefly, Doyeon frowned, almost certain that if Haerim could read her mind, she would’ve burst into the room hollering, “Gaaaaaaaaaaaay—”

—But it was totally normal for girl, straight or not, to appreciate another girl’s beauty. After all, girls were always asking each other to judge each other’s hairstyles and makeup. It wasn’t weird at all for a straight girl like Doyeon to appreciate how nice and firm Chungha’s was. These were definitely typical Straight Girl Thoughts.

Dani, much less straight than Doyeon, was a little less reserved about her appreciation of Chungha’s . “I would give up my entire life’s saving to touch Chungha-unnie’s !”

Doyeon perked up when Yoojung and Jungmin stepped forward. Fortunately for her, Yoojung was on Kahi’s team, giving her a clear view of her best friend. At Fantagio, they never had dance battles, so Doyeon was eager to see Yoojung freestyle.

Doyeon grinned when CL’s Baddest Female coincidentally came on—it was no secret that Yoojung practically worshipped the ground CL walked on. Jungmin twirled her hair flirtatiously, Yoojung smiling innocently at her advances.

Doyeon almost squealed at how cute Yoojung’s giggle was when Jungmin kissed her finger and bopped Yoojung’s nose with it. Doyeon was biting her knuckle to keep herself from running over and hugging her adorable best friend like a stuffed animal when Dani nudged her roughly.

“Here it comes, here it comes.”

Choi Yoojung’s infamous Expression Switch, Suhyun had dubbed it early on. Currently it had two settings: Cute and Badass, and it was flipped towards Badass as Yoojung swaggered towards Jungmin, pulling roughly at her shirt collar.

Doyeon joined in on the cheers as Yoojung pumped her arms and legs in tandem, ripping apart the dance floor—she hadn’t expected Yoojung to be this good. But then again, her best friend was always full of surprises.

“Holy ,” Sohye gaped.

“Damn girl, work it!” Sua cheered.

“Where the hell are these moves coming from?!”

Doyeon heart swelled with pride hearing the other trainees compliment Yoojung’s dancing. That was her Super Best Friend rocking it out there. yeah.

She strained her ears to hear what Jungmin had to say as Sua brought her back from the dance floor.

“She’s so hot…”

Doyeon froze.

Did Jungmin just call Yoojung…hot?

Her tiny, cute best friend…hot?

Dani burst into laughter beside her. “What’s with that face, Doyeon? Can’t believe that someone else thinks your girlfriend’s hot?”

Doyeon gaped and she struggled for words, now completely distracted from the dance battle. “What—bu—no! Yoojung is an amazing dancer, but she’s—she’s not…hot! And we’re best friends, not girlfriends!”

“You need to get your eyes checked,” Dani laughed, before roaring in approval as Mina began waacking in front of Sohye.

Scoffing, Doyeon looked back to Yoojung, who was, well, as cute as ever, laughing and applauding Sohye’s attempt at dancing. She furrowed her eyebrows, unsure of where Jungmin and Dani were getting the idea that Yoojung was hot.

She would’ve mulled over it some more, but Me Gustas Tu came on next and Doyeon dropped everything to throw herself into the mass of dancing trainees. This was Doyeon’s jam and no one could beat her at rocking GFriend’s moves. Move aside, es.

“Let’s go from the end of Seokyung’s solo into Yoojung’s part one more time.”

Doyeon dropped into a squat to Chungha’s left and Somi’s right, smiling when she made eye contact with Yoojung through the mirror.

Once Team Bang Bang was appropriately positioned, Chungha nodded her head towards Park Soyeon, who pressed play on the sound system.

Bang Bang there goes your heart (I know you want it)

Doyeon narrowed her eyes as she swung her right arm overhead, popped her hip out, and kicked out the opposite leg. This part had been a huge pain in her until Yoojung had helped her out with it, and Doyeon smiled proudly when she moved in perfect synchronization with the rest of the team.

Back back seat of my car (I’ll let you have it)

Her eyes flickered briefly to Yoojung, who moved smoothly into her position at the center. Doyeon placed a hand on Dani’s shoulder, tilting her head in confusion when Yoojung’s Expression Switch suddenly flipped to something that was neither Badass nor Cute.

Wait a minute let me take you there (Ah)

Wait a minute till ya (Ah)

Doyeon's jaw went slack as Yoojung brought her hand up, beckoning all of them with a sultry, half-lidded gaze. Yoojung smirked slyly at their reactions and Doyeon didn’t even notice that the entire team’s jaws had dropped in perfect sync. She gaped even more when Yoojung seductively bit her lip and finished off with a mischevious wink.

“Holy !”

The music abruptly cut off and Team Bang Bang and Soyeon snapped their heads towards the rest of Team Growl, who had just returned from their break.

“Yoojung, what the was that?” Sua yelled in disbelief. “You’re like, twelve years old, you are not allowed to be that hot!"

Doyeon remained glued in place and her eyes wildly darted between Sua and Yoojung, the latter having covered her face in embarrassment. She had to be dreaming. Did Yoojung really just try to seduce everyone in the room?

“Holy , man!” Gaeul cheered. “That was like, the hottest thing I’ve ever witnessed.”

“But actually what the hell, Yoojung?” Dani shoved Yoojung playfully. “Where did that expression come from all of the sudden?”

The rest of Team Bang Bang seemed to have recovered, Chungha looking over Yoojung in amazement while Somi, Eunbean, and Seokyung were excitedly batting at the flustered girl. Well, everyone except Doyeon, who stood numbly in place with in a perfect ‘O’.

“I was just trying out something new,” Yoojung said bashfully, squirming under all of the attention. “…Did it work well?”

“Uh, yeah.” Soyeon said. “That was literally an expression worth one hundred thousand bonus votes.”

“Doyeon-unnie looks like she just creamed herself!” Somi cackled, and Doyeon jolted when thirteen pairs of eyes suddenly fell on her. Team Growl burst into laughter.

“No—I mean—wow—uh” Doyeon spluttered, face hot. She was completely blindsided by the sequence of events. “I mean—I’ve practiced with Yoojung a lot and I’ve—I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Doyeon caught Yoojung’s sheepish gaze and she shook her head in disbelief. What the hell was that? More importantly, what had the other trainees said? “Wait, what did you guys say? That Yoojung was hot?”

“Uh, yeah,” Soyeon repeated. “That was hot as hell.”

The rest of Team Growl nodded alongside their leader. Doyeon gaped for the third time that minute. “What? That’s—that’s—but Yoojung’s cute, not hot.”

“News Flash, Doyeon,” Dani draped an arm over Doyeon’s shoulder and grinned wryly. “People can be cute and hot.”

“But—she's—”

“I think Yoojung-unnie’s cute and hot!” Somi wrapped her arms around Yoojung from the behind. Yoojung blushed and laughed awkwardly, keeping her gaze on the ground. Right now, she was the perfect definition of Cute, and twelve other people were trying to add Hot to that? Doyeon gawked at all of them.

“Queen Derp's having a crisis,” Sua snickered at Chungha. “Maybe you guys should take a break, it looks like two of your teammates are malfunctioning.”

“Sure, sure,” Chungha laughed, looking them over. Her gaze lingered a beat longer than necessary on Doyeon, as if searching for something. “We’ll break for thirty minutes, alright?”

“I’m gonna go crawl into a hole and die,” Yoojung said quickly, scurrying out of the room. The rest of her team respected her wishes to die of mortification alone.

Doyeon merely flopped onto the ground, slowly shaking her head.

“You guys think Yoojung is hot.”

“Mmhmm.” Somi nodded as she, Dani, and Soyeon sat down around her.

“Even though she’s not hot—she’s tiny and cute.”

“She’s tiny, cute, and hot, Doyeon,” Dani sighed. “What’s so hard to accept about that?”

“It’s—This is all just so weird to listen to!” Doyeon burst out. “This is my best friend you’re talking about!”

“So what?” Soyeon shrugged. “If anything, you should feel flattered that twelve girls think your Super Best Friend is hot, whether or not you guys are straight.”

“This basically means you all think Yoojung’s…y…!” Doyeon grimaced, feeling like she was sinning by just putting Yoojung and y in the same sentence.

“Pretty much,” Dani’s -eating grin widened. “I’d totally…Bang Bang her.”

“Oh my god.” Doyeon threw her hands in the air as Somi and Soyeon erupted into laughter and exchanged high fives with Dani. “I can’t even tell if you guys being serious right now!”

Soyeon recovered first, pulling on Doyeon’s wrist to keep her from storming off. “I think you’re the one who’s actually being too serious right now, Doyeon. This is the first time I’ve ever seen you so riled up.”

“Yeah,” Somi nodded. “Why do you care if Yoojung-unnie’s hot or not?”

Doyeon paused, now unsure of why she was so bothered by this whole issue of Yoojung being…hot. Huffing, she sat back down. “I don’t know…It’s—it’s just—“

“—You don’t wanna admit that you want Yoojung to 'Bang Bang all over you'? Y'know, 'she'll let ya have it.'”

“Unbelievable.” Doyeon threw her hands in the air again as Somi and Soyeon erupted into laughter again and exchanged high fives with Dani. Again.

This time, Doyeon really did storm off, scowling. She ignored the calls of Soyeon and Somi and slammed the door behind her.

“My best friend is not hot,” she repeated to herself as a mantra as she briskly walked through the hallway.

Her face was burning with…embarrassment? She couldn’t tell, but if she were being honest, nothing made sense right now. All of the trainees suddenly agreed that her small and adorable best friend was y, of all things! Even more, Doyeon was upset enough about it to have stormed out of a conversation with her closest friends, something she’d never done before.

Doyeon counted her blessings when she entered Bang Bang’s dorm room and Yoojung wasn’t digging her own grave there. She flopped onto her bed and landed face-first into her pillow.

Just what was Yoojung to her?

An hour later, Doyeon exhaled deeply and put down her pencil. She lifted the piece of notebook paper in front of her and looked it over.

Choi Yoojung Is:

- Cute

- My Super Best Friend

- Very Smol

- The Nicest Person Ever

- A Great Hugger

- Occasionally Emo

- Funny as Heck

- Super Shy Around Strangers

- Someone To Be Protected

- Someone I Can Always Rely On

- A Crybaby ~~Sometimes~~ ~~Most of The Time~~ All of The Time

- The Best at Expressions

- Super Talented

- Hot?????????

Doyeon frowned at the last line. Writing a list of Yoojung’s qualities had helped her calm down, but she was still unsure about where she stood on Yoojung’s alleged…hotness. In the end, she really couldn’t figure it out without someone else’s help. She folded the sheet into her pocket and pushed herself away from the desk.

“I have a feeling I’m going to regret this…” Doyeon sighed, heading towards the Vocal practice rooms.

“Haein-unnie, do you want a cracker?”

“Thanks Hyeri, lemme give you a kiss as a thanks~”

“U—Unnie!”

Haerim rolled her eyes as Hyeri giggled and playfully swatted Haein away. While she was thankful Team Me Gustas Tu had finally sorted out their issues, she wasn’t sure how much of an improvement their current situation was. Haein’s Bossiness had transformed into Touchiness—exclusively with Hyeri—and with every passing minute, Haerim felt more and more like she was watching the beginning of a low-budget lesbian film.

Haerim supposed that being subjected to Haein and Hyeri’s PDA was some sort of weird karmic punishment for pooling money from 59 trainees at the expense of her friends’ ualities. She was just beginning to repent for her sins when Doyeon popped into the room.

“Hi guys. Oh good, you’re on your break,” Doyeon smiled awkwardly as Haein’s Skinship Meter with Hyeri approached Over 9000. “Can I borrow Haerim-unnie for a bit?”

“Oh gods, yes,” Haerim answered on Haein’s behalf, quickly ushering Doyeon out of their practice room.

Closing the door behind her, Haerim sighed in relief. “Wow, I don’t know how much more of that I could’ve taken. What’s up?”

“I just wanted to get some…advice? I guess.” Doyeon led her to the end of the hall where to Haerim’s surprise, Soomin was waiting for them at a table.

“Hey,” Soomin said as Haerim sat down next to her Doyeon sat opposite them. “Are Yoojung and Yejin coming too?”

“No, Yejin’s too…innocent for this discussion, and well, Yoojung…” Doyeon trailed off, wringing her hands nervously.

Haerim and Soomin exchanged puzzled looks. Sure, Haerim had bet on Doyeon to come out of the closet first and confess to Yoojung, but she didn’t expect it to happen so soon. After all, it had barely been two days since Doyeon had so confidently said, “You know Yoojung and I are straight.”

Haerim stealthily switched on her smartphone’s voice recording app. Then she casually leaned forward, both elbows propped up on the tabletop. “Soooo, this is about Yoojung, then?”

“Yeah…” Doyeon’s expression soured, and Haerim’s heartstrings tugged for the poor girl. Coming to terms with being gay really wasn’t easy. “I’m going to tell you guys something and I need you to tell me your honest opinions, alright?”

“Sure, sure,” Soomin encouraged her, actually looking stunned for once. Haerim’s grip on her phone shook as Doyeon opened up a sheet of paper. Had Doyeon really come to terms with her uality and also prepared a coming out speech to boot?

“Okay, here goes,” Doyeon inhaled sharply. Soomin and Haerim leaned forward.

“Choi Yoojung is…cute. Yes or No?”

Haerim’s face slammed against the table. Of course. She knew Kim Doyeon was slow, but this slow? If Doyeon was just coming to terms with the fact that Yoojung was cute, Haerim could kiss her money goodbye. Before she could scream in frustration, Soomin clamped a warning hand on her shoulder.

“Of course she is Doyeon,” Soomin started carefully. “And we know that you already know that.”

“Yeah, that’s right…” Doyeon nodded tensely. She slumped forward before running a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry guys, I just need you to bear with me here. I just made a list because I’m trying to figure things out and this was the only way I could think of doing it and—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Soomin said and offered a comforting smile. Or at least Haerim guessed she did, as her face was still connected to the table. “Keep going.”

“Okay, thanks,” Doyeon took a deep breath. Haerim slowly raised her head.

“Next: Choi Yoojung is…my Super Best Friend. Yes or No?”

Haerim’s face slammed against the table again.

“...Next: Choi Yoojung is…super talented. Yes or No?”

Haerim was about two seconds away from crying in frustration.

“Yes, she is,” Soomin had single-handedly answered Doyeon’s exhaustive list of Yoojung’s Obvious Qualities, as Haerim had remained remarkably useless the entire time.

“…Okay...Next: Choi Yoojung is…hot. Yes or no?”

“What?” Haerim’s head whipped up from the table so quickly Soomin and Doyeon recoiled in surprise. “What did you just say?”

“Just answer the question,” Doyeon said carefully, her lips pursed.

So this was the reason Doyeon had gone through that damn list for the past ten minutes. Before Haerim could respond, Soomin squeezed her thigh to grab her attention. Let me handle this, her eyes read.

“Well,” Soomin looked up thoughtfully, or at least she acted like she was deep in thought. Haerim mentally thanked all of the acting classes Fantagio had given them. “Yeah, I’d say she is, mostly when she’s dancing, though.”

Doyeon looked at Haerim expectantly, and Haerim raised an eyebrow. Apparently for this question, she needed Haerim’s opinion too.

“Yeah, Yoojung’s hot.” Haerim answered truthfully. “Like, she’s a cute weirdo most of the time, but she’s hot as hell when she dances. How else could she have earned the center position in Pick Me?”

“I…see.” Doyeon looked down, her expression still clouded with uncertainty. “Then, does that mean you two also think Yoojung is…y?”

Haerim grinned, more than satisfied with the ‘Rated 15 and Over’ path the conversation was taking.

Soomin snorted. “Of course, those two words kinda go hand in hand. But I think we’re ignoring the more important question here—do you think Yoojung’s hot?”

Doyeon bit her lip, crumpling the edges of her paper. “…I—I don’t know. I mean, Yoojung’s always just been Yoojung, y’know? But we had this dance battle today and people were talking about how hot she was and then she showed off this—this crazy expression during practice earlier and it was so weird ‘cause I just—I just never, ever would have thought of her—my best friend—that way.”

“Are you afraid that if you think Yoojung’s hot, it’ll mess with the purity of your Super Best Friendship?” Soomin suggested.

“No—I mean—I don’t know. But I really don’t think she’s hot.” Doyeon grabbed her hair and groaned. “What does it even mean when you think someone’s hot?”

“It means that you’d bang ‘em,” Haerim shrugged.

“But...But like, everyone in Team Growl and Team Bang Bang said Yoojung’s hot.” Doyeon paled and Haerim bit her tongue to keep from cackling.

“You’d be surprised at how, well, not straight everyone is here,” Haerim smiled sweetly. Including you, my tragic, gay friend.

Before Soomin could offer her thoughts, Haerim theatrically gasped in false realization. “Oh, I get it now—you’re afraid to admit that you’d totally Bang Bang your Super Best Friend!”

Doyeon’s chair clattered against the floor as she abruptly stood up.

“You did not just make that pun,” Doyeon breathed. She slowly backed away, shaking her head. “You know what? Just—just forget it.”

“Doyeon—” Soomin started.

“No—whatever, everything’s fine, thanks for the help,” Doyeon said flatly as she spun on her heel. “Bye.”

When Doyeon angrily rounded the corner out of the hallway, Soomin glared daggers at Haerim. “’You’d totally Bang Bang your Super Best Friend’? Seriously? Doyeon really looked torn over this!”

Haerim glared back with equal intensity. “I know you wanted to ease Doyeon into the realization that she’s as straight as a rainbow, but did you see how much denial she was in? She couldn’t even admit that she thinks Yoojung’s hot!”

They stood, locked in a glaring contest until Soomin finally turned away, exhaling roughly. “Fine, I guess Doyeon might need to be shoved out of the closet at this point. But it’s your fault that she’s probably never coming to us for advice again.”

At that, Haerim winced, feeling a little bit of guilt seep in. “I mean, she’ll probably forgive us once she hooks up with Yoojung, right?”

Soomin rolled her eyes and made her way towards Team Monster’s practice room. “Maybe if you apologize to her at some point. You know, karma’s a , unnie.”

Once Soomin closed the door behind her, Haerim stuck her tongue out in her direction.

Haerim made her way back to Team Me Gustas Tu feeling just a teeny bit like a ty person. When she opened the door, she was greeted with the sight of Taeha and Siyeon nowhere to be found and Haein clicking fuzzy handcuffs around Hyeri's wrists. At some point, Haein had put on a black leather suit (was that a whip on her belt?) and Hyeri some cosplay dress from a magical girl show Haerim vaguely recalled watching as a child.

“Oh—hee Haeem…Arryou dun tawttin tuh Doyuhh?” Hyeri asked through the Cutie Moon Rod held between her teeth.

Soomin’s words echoed mockingly through Haerim’s consciousness as Haein pulled her into the room. Karma’s a , unnie.

Doyeon bounced lightly as the deep bass of a club song remix coursed through her. Vaguely, she registered Dani leading her away from the line of trainees and towards the center of the dance floor.

“Go, go, it’s your turn!”

Doyeon startled when Bae Yoonjung suddenly pushed her forward and a wave of cheers erupted behind her. In front of her, Yoojung stood, a goofy grin plastered on her face.

“How do I look?” she asked, teasing.

“Like Choi Yoojung,” Doyeon laughed, remembering how displeased Yoojung had been the first time she'd given that response.

Yoojung smirked—Doyeon noted her Expression Switch had flipped on to Badass—and Badass Yoojung sauntered forward. Power flowed through her movements—through every wave and pop of her chest.

Doyeon tried not to blush, not used to being the target of Yoojung’s gaze when she was dancing like this. She swallowed when Yoojung suddenly began emphasizing the movements of her legs and hips. Her shirt lifted slightly and—

"Eyes up here.”

Doyeon flinched, embarrassed at being caught staring so indecently at her best friend’s exposed skin. Before she could apologize, Yoojung quickly closed the gap between them, roughly pulling down Doyeon by the collar of her shirt. Doyeon froze when Yoojung bit her lip and smirked at her with those half-lidded eyes. There it was again. Not Cute. Not Badass. But—

Yoojung wrapped one hand behind Doyeon’s neck and slowly trailed the other up Doyeon's stomach. She looked up at Doyeon through her eyelashes.

“How do I look?”

And Doyeon finally understood.

Hot.

As if reading her mind, Yoojung laughed, not bothering to wait for Doyeon’s answer as she began to pull away, her lips—

“Hot,” Doyeon finally breathed out.

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot—

She latched onto Yoojung’s waist, forcing their bodies back together. Yoojung smirked crookedly and ran her hands through Doyeon’s hair, bringing their faces together and capturing her li—

Doyeon’s eyes snapped open to darkness. She jolted forward, heart racing and fire coursing through her veins. She squirmed, feeling the warmth gathering in one area as the last scene of her dream repeated itself on loop in her mind.

Hot, hot, hot, hot—

Doyeon ripped her covers off, haphazardly gathering a new change of clothes and storming towards the washrooms as her mind replayed Yoojung her lips and pulling her into a—

Doyeon didn’t even bother getting out of her clothes and jumped straight into the icy spray of water from the showerhead. She leaned against the tiled wall and slowly slid to the ground, her jaw slack and her palm pressed against her forehead.

“.”

Next Time: Yoojung goes through another round of Education, courtesy of her Very Gay Unnies and The Internet.