◸ chapter | no. eight ◿
‹ ETHEREAL › shincom's first girl group / revamped 。chapter eight
of longing & blushes
August 11th, 2016
Tightly, as if she was afraid the precious existence in front of her would disappear, Saeron held the hand of the person with peachy pink cheeks closer to her beating heart, “I missed you, Sejeong” she muttered, almost inaudible.
“I missed you too,” the older girl whispered as she brought, the younger girl’s hand to her lips, softly placing a kiss on it, “A lot.”
A soft shade of pink covered Saeron’s once pale cheeks at the sudden display of affection, trying to conceal them, she tilted her head and cleared , “I like spending time with you,” she stared at the ground, “Even if we don’t have a topic of conversation.”
“I like it too,” Sejeong said, “I like it a lot.”
Moments like these. Moments that Saeron truly cherished. Moments she wished to have with her members. However, moments that seemed to stand further and further away from the girl’s expectations as the relationship she slowly was building with them was growing colder, tenser and weaker.
Nevertheless, she understood why their relationship stood on shaky ground. Like a storm, she came unexpectedly, dwindling the group’s dynamics. Despite there being a bond between the four original members, Jangmi and Meilin relied on each other, as did Dajung and Kyulbin. She, on the other hand, relied on no one for herself for she had no one else. Just a mere months ago she had ten other individuals next to her, ten pairs of shoulders to cry on. Now, she stood alone before the daunting world.
But perhaps she wasn’t as alone as she thought. After all, she had Sejeong even if they no longer spent every waking moment together.
“I.O.I’s stage is soon,” Sejeong got up, dusting the imaginary dust off her black jeans, “And you still need to fix your hair, and I need to give both of my babies’ moral support,” Sejeong extended her hand, “Let’s be quick.”
With a grunt, Saeron grabbed the older girl’s hand, “All that you should be doing right now, unnie, is resting while spending time with Gugudan,” she complained, “Not giving mental support to people that don’t even appreciate it.”
“Are you talking about Somi?” Sejeong questioned, to which Saeron responded with a nod, “She’s a child, she doesn’t know anything.”
No one could foresee the culmination of, perhaps, the most beautiful friendship to have blossomed in survival shows – SaeMi, the two beautiful trainees from JYP that conquered the hearts of every Sixteen and Produce 101 viewers. Especially, in such a shattering glass way.
Betrayal is the standard response to unexpected situations in which the only reproduced feeling is jealousy. However, it indeed wasn’t the response Saeron expected from the person she esteemed the most, the person she practiced with, the person she shared her dreams with, the person she shared her hardships with – Jeon Somi, a girl with a heart as pure as the first snow.
Through thick and thin, through Sixteen and Produce 101 the two stood by each other, despite the public wishing a derail to happen between the two on camera. But just like the winds destroy dandelions, their friendship was recklessly torn apart for one of the sides could not bear the thought of one being seen as superior.
With a sharp knife, Somi stabbed Saeron’s unaware back, causing the crumbling of a once perfect, or perhaps beyond perfect, friendship. However, that was part of the past, for happiness to prevail, Saeron knew it would be best to forget the person she stargazed with, but not even once she thought of how difficult such task would be.
It was tiresome pretending that someone that once filled her days was no longer beside her. It was excruciating to know that due to the actions of one single individual her life had been completely altered. It was beyond the bounds of possibility to pretend Somi was nothing but a mere stranger. It was anything but facile to erase someone from her life and memories.
“I was thinking we could have coffee,” Sejeong stopped mid-sentence, noticing Saeron had spaced out, “What are you thinking about? You seem lost,” the girl spoke as she frantically waved her hand in front of Saeron’s face, “Are you okay?”
Being broken from her trance, Saeron shook her head letting out a soft laugh, “Sorry,” she scratched the back of her neck, “I was just thinking about something,” Sejeong smiled at the younger girls’ actions, “When would you like to have coffee?”
“Perhaps tonight? I don't have any schedule to follow right now so I have plenty of free time,” Sejeong questioned, “If you can’t it’s okay, I know you are extremely busy these days, after all, you just officially debuted. We can always plan it through texts or calls.”
Saeron rummaged through her brain, searching Ethereal’s schedule, “I have time tonight.”
A wide grin formed on Sejeong’s soft features, “It’s a date then,” before Saeron had a chance to respond, Sejeong bid her goodbyes, “I’ll see you around, baby.”
“Yeah,” a blush crept upon Saeron’s cheeks once more, “I’ll see you around too.”
Flustered, Saeron hurriedly entered Ethereal’s dressing room as she hid her rosy cheeks behind her red hair.
“There you are,” a voice called out, “We were wondering where you were,” Saeron glanced at the couch and there she encountered Kyulbin who rested her head on Dajung’s knees, next to her was Meilin and Jangmi chatting with one another “As soon as I.O.I’s stage comes to an end, we will perform. We were somewhat worried you wouldn’t make it on time. ”
Saeron smiled, “Sorry, I was with Sejeong and lost track of time.”
Glancing around the dressing room, she heaved sigh proceeding to sit on the lonely chair that faced the TV watching the performance that was currently airing, ‘Lip 2 Lip’ by 9 Muses A.
The relationship she shared with the remaining Ethereal members hadn’t altered since the day they had their first meeting despite feeling slightly more comfortable around them. It wasn’t that she didn’t try to get close to all of them, they were just different from what Saeron expected to encounter. Too different.
Jangmi who had initially attempted to befriend the younger girl and allow her to feel at peace as she was the leader of the group, had cooled down since the day she learned about the close friendship she shared with her boyfriend, Taeyong. Meilin, on the other hand, had no apparent intentions of befriending her from the start which she understood as the older girl is afraid of strangers, or so it seemed like. Dajung stood in between, hesitant to approach her but still trying to kick-start a conversation through mundane happenings such as the quantity of sugar she preferred in her milk, if she had any food allergies and so on. However, they never surpassed the status of small talk for Dajung lacked the social skills to do such thing. Kyulbin, perhaps an angel in disguise, peacefully watched over the younger girl, often preparing her meals before heading to school and brushing her hair as she slept. Simple acts out of kindness that Saeron deeply appreciated.
Wandering in her thoughts, time passed by, not noticing I.O.I’s performance and the loud cheers that echoed in the silent dressing room.
“Saeron,” Kyulbin called out, “We have to get on stage.”
The younger girl flashed Kyulbin a small smiled and nodded as she got up, “Let’s go then.”
Closely following the other girls, Saeron hesitated to inform the girls of her upcoming plans, “I’m going out tonight, is that okay?”
“With who?” Jangmi inquired, a prominent frown quickly forming in the girl’s features, “You just debuted are you that willing to put your entire career on the line for a date?”
Saeron cleared and scratched the back of her neck, “Sejeong,” Jangmi squinted her eyes, “And it’s not a date. It’s a conversation among two people that competed against each other and ended up becoming friends.”
“Oh,” the oldest exclaimed, embarrassment taking over her features as she realized her useless overreacting, “I hope you have a good time then.”
Seojun who stood nearby the stage patted the girls’ backs, attempting to pep them up, “Perform well."
(Irene-Rose,Seulgi-Louise,Wendy-Kenna,Joy-Kyulbin,Yeri-Skye)
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