A few days before the KCON LA Concert that was the upcoming Sunday.

I.O.I’s subunit which consists of Nayoung, Chungha, Kyulkyung, Yoojung, Sohye, Doyeon, Somi and Chaeyeon (who finished all of her DIA activities) had a schedule for a Pancoat photo-shoot.

The three other I.O.I members were going to arrive in LA later than the rest since Sejeong and Mina were still busy with Gugudan activities, while Yeonjung couldn't meet up either. The main vocalist with cider vocals had been newly added to Starship’s rookie girl group Cosmic Girl's as the 13th member.

-

Chaeyeon's P.O.V

I could tell YMC seemed surprised at my management for even agreeing to let me join I.O.I activities earlier than the other Jellyfish and Starship girls.

The truth is, they let me go earlier because of me.  I begged my CEO Kim Kwangsoo a million times because I’ve missed doing activities so much with the girls. I kept repeating and complaining about the backlash I received all because he made me promote with DIA fairly early, only one month after I.O.I’s debut. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have so many damn anti’s and been branded a ‘traitor’ for a short period of time. He says every negative attention is good attention. Whatever.

As I arrived at the photo-shoot location, the subunit girls enlightened that they were already there an hour before by text messaging.

Cameras were flashing, the lights were very bright and I see the leading two girls; Doyeon and Kyulkyung modeling together first.

It was like a flashback to the old days when it was typically Kyulkyung and I being paired up for these commercial shoots as we are the "main visuals.”

I can slightly see the sight of the two flirting and joking.

They're so close, putting their arms around each other’s shoulders making me feel displeased for some odd reason.  I tried to stay positive and maintain a smile since I'm good at hiding my emotions because you know, I’m an actress and all.

Promptly, Kyulkyung and I lock eyes from across the room and I have a little fear that she caught me staring at the both of them.  I looked away immediately, but it’s too late she layed her eyes on me and runs off the set towards my direction.

"OH MY GOD, CHAEYEON UNNIE!" Kyulkyung shouts enthusiastically to my surprise. 

She looks like some sort of puppy that’s finally reunited with her owner again after a long day of work. Interesting way to describe it right...? But it was true.

If she was a type of puppy, I can without a doubt picture her wagging her tail devotedly.

Anyways, ugh.

Why do I find her so cute lately?

"Joo Kyulkyung, we're not finished shooting yet!" The photographer yells at her, which startles me.

And Doyeon simply just face-palms, standing there.

“Jesus...!”

“I know you missed her a lot, but Kyulkyung unnie you need to get back here right now!” Doyeon warned her partner while stomping her foot toughly at the same time.

All I could do was sigh and laugh a little nervously at the situation, because I did not know what to do.

In the mean time, Kyulkyung is fully oblivious and doesn’t know any better.

When I was normally around, she wouldn't be causing some sort of hectic scene.

Doyeon and I unexpectedly make eye-contact and her face lights up as well.

"Oh!”

“Hi there Chaeyeon unnie!" She waves with her wide duck smile.

It seems she has figured out why Kyulkyung is the way she is right about now.

I return a smile back at my towering dongseng who keeps getting taller every time I see her.

But looking back at Kyulkyung, I can tell she didn’t hear a single word coming from Doyeon or the photographer's mouth.

She continues to try and converse with me.

"I've missed you so much Chaeyeon unnie!"  Kyulkyung says kindly, embracing me in one of the most warmest hugs up to date.

I blush rosy cheeks in embarrassment and literally everyone in the room is staring directly at us.

"Oh my…."

"You surprised me Kyulkyung-ah.”

“I-I missed you too of course. " I replied almost in terror, patting her on the back lightly.

She really is a pup though.

Kyulkyung giggles and slowly let’s go of me.

Her lovely eyes are so charming, I could stare into them for a long time.

Wait what?

I need to snap out of it.

I shake my head and clear my throat.

"Hey… did you totally forget we are at work you senseless girl?"

“Act professional for once!” I remind Kyulkyung a little harshly, poking her squishy right cheek and I also look her directly in the eyes to mean business.

Kyulkyung pouts and scratches her head, trying to calculate what I just told her. 

She turns her head to scan her surroundings and finally notices that all the staff members were staring at us this whole time with wide observations and jumbled eyes.

“Hehe oopsies.” She responded, smiling like a foolish dork.

“This is completely your fault though.” She whispers in my ear with a playful but slightly angry tone.

“W-What, my fault?” I coughed, arching my eyebrow.

I’m so very confused about her accusation.

“And why is it mine exactly...?” I crossed my arms, conveying her a dangerous glare.

Kyulkyung takes one step back and looks at me up and down with her big doe eyes, and doesn’t even answer my question, she left me dumbfounded.

She then jolts back to Doyeon's right-hand side and bows a dozen times to the photographer showing that she’s deeply sorry.

"My apologies sir! " She salutes and looks determined now.

"Aigoo.”

“She can be pretty clumsy sometimes, please forgive her," Doyeon added, messing up Kyulkyung’s hair at the top of her head.

“Tick tock.”

“Time is money, Kyulkyung-ah.” He responded, pointing at the rolex watch on his wrist sternly.

"It won't happen ever again, I pinky swear!" Kyulkyung promises, showing remorse and special aegyo toward the crew.

In the end they quickly smiled, forgiving her and had to retouch her makeup so they could proceed with the shooting.

I think I just stood there for a good minute with a huge grin on my face without knowing.

To be honest, I guess the true reason she did get into trouble was because she was so excited to see me...

I should’ve been more careful and stayed cleared out of her sight so she could focus on work better. 

Anyways, I guess she was right, it was partially my fault.

But why does that make me so happy?

God, I’m weird for thinking this way.

Even though she's the weird idiot here... My attractive idiot.

At this exact moment, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind, making me jump.

I quickly turned around to see who it was, and it’s none other than a red-headed Somi. 

“Oh, hey you little monster.” I greeted her, but she doesn’t say anything back.

She instantly grips my hand, dragging me by force towards the direction of the dressing room where the other members were getting their hair and make-up done.

"Chaeyeon unnieee!!!”

“Welcome back to the team."

“Woot woot!” Somi shouted at the top of her lungs, throwing her arms up at the same time.

It was so loud that it pierced my eardrums and it began to hurt.
"Yah keep it down will ya kid?” I advised, pretending to act like I was going to beat her into pulp, but she flinches.

“Thank you for the warm welcome though." I smiled, and she lit up like a baby.

This was such a rare moment where she actually looks like the real maknae.

"Oh hey Chaeyeonie,”

“Are you super excited to go to LA with us or what?" Chungha asks, still getting her hair curled.

She’s also munching on some sweet potato chips that she offered but I kindly rejected.

"Of course Chungha unnie!” I answered, pinching her hamster cheeks.

“You know I obviously wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“I really can't wait to spend more quality time with you girls and have a blast!" 

We actually have our own chatroom on Kaokao Talk just for the eleven of us girls ever since Produce 101 ended.  It’s where we talk about simply anything from the types of food we like, boys, girls, who messed up the choreography during practice, basically just about random stuff and anything.

Currently the topic was different plans and ideas of what activities we should do together in LA before the big concert.

The very first few things that were mentioned was to go to Disneyland, Santa Monica Beach/Pier, Universal Studios, then afterwards maybe take a hike up Runyon Canyon Park so we can get a closer look at the Hollywood sign.

We were going to take tons of photos and videos this time.

To make amazing memories together since we didn’t really get to do that in Paris, which the girls and I were very regretful of. 

I was a little jealous of Somi that day even though she didn’t get to perform with us. 

Instead she got to spend the whole day with our manager to explore Paris because she was too young to work in France.

And ever since I was a young girl, I’ve always dreamt to go to LA one day.  Seeing it in movies and T.V shows had an illusion of such a beautiful dream. How could you not want to go? Now is my chance, and I can’t be anymore grateful for this opportunity.

-

The eight of us were finally done with shooting when the client was satisfied with the outcome of our photos.

We headed back in the black van to go to the Gangnam dorm where the seven of the girls still live together. 

To try and stay close with them, I’d occasionally drop by to spend time with the girls as much as I possibly could.

The girls had told me during the ride they still haven’t even finished packing yet since they’ve been crazy busy practicing for the sub-unit’s debut song titled “Whatta Man.”

One of the perks of being in the group was that they let me listen to a sneak preview of it before anyone else.

The song sounded remarkable and the choreography that Chungha created was flawless as well, as expected of our God Chungha. 

I’m sincerely thrilled for them, and I know they’ll do unbelievably well in their comeback, but at the same time I can’t help but feel a bit distraught that I wasn’t able to take part of it.

I had already finished packing my things at my dorm beforehand already. 

All of the girls sat around in a circle in the middle of the living room, asking each other for advice on what essentials they should bring, wear, etc. Normally we’d have stylists for this kind of thing, but the girls wanted to dress themselves for LA.

Meanwhile I just sat there on the sofa watching a drama called Beautiful Minds which was superb, but sadly underrated.

I’d occasionally glance over at Kyulkyung rushing in and out of her room, anxiously trying on loads of different outfits. 

“Alright, how about this?” She’d ask Somi, and the maknae would just shake her head and reply, “Next.” Kyulkyung would get sulky afterwards every time and walk sheepishly back to the room to change into a whole entirely different outfit. I’d just let out a little ghost smile every time she did.

After the longest time, probably an hour or so, I was patiently waiting for her to come out again and she finally did.  The door opens gradually and this time she came out wearing a shoulder-less top paired with a denim skirt and my goodness she looked stunning. 

“C-Chaeyeon-unnie.” She spoke nervously and approached slowly.

Somi wasn’t here, she had left to the convenience store with Sohye to buy some ramen cup noodles to snack on and bring to LA in case they got hungry. Kyulkyung wasn’t aware she took too long, so the friend she went to advice for was gone.  I was the only one in the living room while Doyeon and Yoojung were in ‘our’ room, and Nayoung and Chungha in theirs.

So it made sense that she requested me for guidance instead.

“Ah… Yes?” I finally replied.

“Uhm, h-how do you think this looks?” She asks me, shyly looking to the side. 

“It’s not too bad right...?”

I smile and acknowledged, “Kyulkyung, you look gorgeous as always.” I gave her the okay hand gesture and she smiled gleefully.

“Thanks Chaeyeon!”

“You’re way better than Somi.” She cheers, running back to her room in a flash.

How to describe it...

She looked so feminine, which was a unique side of her I adored because it was infrequent. Kyulkyung is typically a tom-boy that appears feminine and girly on the outside, but her true colors are of a 4d beagle which pleasantly shocked all of us during Produce 101.

It’s so nice that she can act like herself, instead of pretending to put on a chic image like some others I know.

Abruptly, one of our managers barges through the front-door and hands us each a unique looking luggage that we can all customize ourselves to our liking.  It was sponsored by some brand and fortunately I had a simple task of just transferring my clothes to the new luggage.

Anyways, when going to the airport, it’s essential to wear clothing that will look preferably nice. The reason being is not only will hundreds of our fans will be there to take our photos, but news journalists as well.

They may write articles about how you might be an upcoming style icon or a plain fashion terrorist.  The day before, my management was contacted by Jessica Jung’s brand: Blanc & Eclare to ask if I could wear her white dress to the airport and they gladly accepted since it was cute.

-

Location: Incheon Airport

As the driver pulled up to the departing section, of course like I said before there would be a massive sea of fans, news photographers, and journalists, all lined up from across the street just to see us.

Kyulkyung and the other girls hopped off the van first, and I was last to exit since Yoojung and I sat at the very back.

The girls and I lined up side by side to wave and smile for the fans.

Somi was pulling me to her so we could take pictures together.

“Unnie, common and smile for the cameras.” She says grabbing me by the waist.

I automatically look over to my left where Kyulkyung was and she's giving me an intriguing look, signaling me to move and stand beside her instead, but I couldn’t.  Somi was clinging onto me and I really did want to be next to her... but I had no courage for some reason.

Kyulkyung shrugged and walked up ahead with Doyeon as a substitute, while Somi held my hands securely as we made our way through the jam-packed airport.

I jump a little when the fans start shouting and chanting “Chaemi! Chaemi!”

Somi was crazy overjoyed by the love we’re receiving, “Look, the fans love us together Chaeyeon-unnie!” She whispers softly in my ear, and I didn’t know how to respond so