Soju or any type of alcohol had been strictly prohibited by their company, being one of the many things they couldn't do in their contracts right beneath 'you agree to give all control of your youth to the agency for the sake of profit', but this time they had Kyulkyung and Eunwoo had miraculously managed to convince Nayoung to let them have this small celebration. So Kyungwon found herself in a cramped karaoke room with nine other girls--only one of them not underage--with a small glass of bitter alcohol held tightly between her fingers as she watched Yebin completely ruin over a song. Okay, letting the '98 line drink was a more than unwise decision. Wasn't this illegal?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Siyeon sneakily lift the edge of a glass to her lips with an uncertain expression on her face. "Oh hell no." She immediately moved and snatched the beverage out of the teenager's hand and fixedly glare down at her.

"Yah! You spilt some on me!" The girl groaned from her place on the red leather couch, sandwiched between a very drunk Nayoung who shouted along with Yebin's earsplitting screams and a traumatised looking Sungyeon.

Kyungwon raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Is it 'Yaja time' or what?" She pressed her knuckle on Siyeon's forhead and knocked it backwards so that the younger girl's head tilted backwards from the force. Ignoring the insisting whines, she downed both drinks in her hands and then moved to place the glasses very far away from Siyeon so she wouldn't get another chance of breaking the law. Though she wasn't much of an example herself.

As she attempted to get back to her place by the door, she almost got hit in the face by a flying hand which she dodged narrowly. Eunwoo had been dancing wildly to Yebin's rendition to 'Tears', Kyulkyung looking just as intoxicated as her as both of their cheeks grew redder as time went by, and had forgotten that this room was meant for six people, not ten. It had already been a long night, and her body was already so sore that every time she moved she felt like she was older than she really was, so she eventually gave up on keeping by the rules and surrendered to a bottle of soju that had been pushed into her hand by Minkyung.

The two hadn't talked much after that private training session, what with individual practices for solo performances and her seperate studies that she had to complete due to her father's insistance, so their relationship was still in a place of awkward small talk and uncertain smiles. However, now that their performance evaluation was finally put behind them, they certainly had more time in their hands, most of which Kyungwon definitely wanted to spend getting to know the tipsy girl laughing whole-heartedly as Yebin tripped over the tea table's leg and falling right into poor Sungyeon who looked like she was hardcore judging everything and everyone in this room. So much for Kyla being the most savage.

"Cheers to a great performance, Kyungwon-ssi." Minkyung gave her a lop-sided smile whilst lifting another green bottle identical to hers. "You're so gonna debut."

Smiling widely, she tapped the edge of the drink against the former's and quickly threw her head back to take a large gulp of the sour taste that tingled uncomfortably against . "I could say the same to you," she paused, admiring the way the purple and pink lights that came from the spinning disco ball hit the girl's face and gave her a mysterious look. "and please drop the honorifics, Minkyung-ah."

Unexpectedly, Minkyung chuckled and leaned in slightly, staring into her eyes with a glazed look over her own. "Okay, Kyungwonnie."

A breath escaped her parted lips as the girl leaned away and took another swig of her maekju, quickly moving to join Nayoung who was struggling to keep on her own two feet when she danced (was she dancing or convulsing?). Kyungwon stopped her brain from going into override, quickly identifying the movement as a loss of balance and willingly consumed the lasts of the alcohol before moving to take the mic from Yebin's clumsy hands when the conglaturatory music played loudly from the speakers beside the television. There was no way she was leaving this room sober after that.

Maybe she had too much fun, because she woke up to a body pinning her to the hard surface of the floor, legs tangled with the person's and chin resting on top of their head. Groaning from the killer headache and the literal pounding in her head, she let her head fall to the side and try to strain her blurry vision to make out where she was and who the hell was on top of her.

She was met with the sight of the side of a black couch along with a hand hanging off of the side of it not too far from the end of it, where she supposed that someone else had fallen asleep, and if she moved her head to face the other side she would be able to see a small television placed beside a slightly ajar door that had its lights turned off. Kyungwon narrowed her eyes when she found the clock and looked at the time, her headache increasing in intensity when she read that it was already twelve in the afternoon and thanking the lord that today was a Sunday, which meant that the girls didn't have school today.

A mixture of a groan and a whine was let out when she suddenly became aware of the cold feeling of wetness on her chest. By now she had already identified the person rudely sleeping on her, so she lightly shoved the girl off of her mercilessly and slowly pushed herself up to find how her blue shirt had darkened further because of the drool. "Jung Eunwoo." She growled at the younger girl who had immediately cuddled up to the side of the couch as if seeking its comfort to replace the body she had iously been laying on.

Sighing, Kyungwon decided to be productive since all life inside whosoever's house this was was dead. With a glance, she caught sight of Nayoung collapsed on the black couch with mouth slightly open and soft snores coming from her while on the ledge of the window--which was wide enough for someone to sit in comfortably--lay a curled up Yebin adorned with a blanket wrapped around her, jaw completely slack.

After accidentally walking into the bathroom--where Kyulkyung lay beside the toilet, Yewon's head resting comfortably on her hip--she finally found the kitchen and dining room and frowned as the light stung her eyes. She hadn't wanted to disturb the sleeping girls in the bathroom and had given up on searching for the medicine, which meant that she had to resort to drinking a couple glasses of water to at least attempt to rid herself of the horrible taste in before moving to inspect the fridge and cupboards to see if she could find helpful ingredients to make hangover food, preferably haejang-guk. It had become her favourite. She usually ate her brother's leftovers when he prepared it for himself after a night out--which happened occassionally--when she had time to be home and be with her father.

Sadly, whosoever's kitchen this belonged to had a very limited variety of ingredients so she resorted to making a simple soup and hoped that it would have the same effect. The kitchen was small, so if she took three or four steps from the farthest counter she would already be standing in the open doorway, making it perfect for one person to move around the narrow space. From what she had seen, the living room, that also had a table pushed into a corner to make it a dining room, had been small and confined, and she had only seen one more door aside from the bathroom door which only consisted of a toilet, a sink, a shower and two sleeping girls, which meant that it was probably the bedroom. When she moved out from her apartment she shared with her family, she wouldn't mind living in a condo like this. It was large enough for one person to live in it comfortably, though it would most likely be a nuisance if there were more than one trying to live in here.

Unfortunately for the owner, she probably had nine other girls in every corner of her house.

"Good morning." A hoarse voice snapped her out of her thoughts as she was absentmindedly putting water into a pot she had gotten from the cupboard she forgot to close.

Without turning, she replied. "It's afternoon, techincally." Kyungwon had been around these girls long enough to memorise their voices, the way they all spoke and their speech patterns, so she knew that it was no other than Kim Minkyung standing behind her stretching her already long body.The way that the girl's voice sounded strained, but only in the slightest, gave her actions away.

With a chuckle, Minkyung playfully pinched her side which caused her to lurch sideways and spill some of the water on the counter. "Sorry then, smartass."

Finally sparing a glance at the girl, she almost collapsed right then as she was attacked with perfect 'I-woke-up-like-this' visuals: tousled, dark hair that contrasted against her pale skin, cat-like eyes lazily staring at her through her long eyelashes and a spirited grin that revealed her perfectly white teeth. Right, she forgot that they were all trainees at an agency and that idols had to be attractive. Thankfully, she wasn't as obvious as Yebin with her unconditional love-sick act that she always put on when Minkyung was around and managed to flash her a crooked smile before placing the pot on the stove and cranking up the heat hastily.

She now stood beside Minkyung, who was in the middle of taking a glass out of a higher up cupboard. They shared the enclosed space in silence for a while, Kyungwon fixing her stare on the water, impatiently waiting for to it begin to boil while she ignored the other's strong presensce; ignoring how their bodies brushed against each other's whenever the taller girl moved to the sink and back to the fridge.

"Here," She almost jumped--almost--when Minkyung appeared in her line of vision while holding a pack of pasta in her hands and a kind smile on her face. "I don't want to just have liquid when my stomach is literally empty." She explained, swinging the bag between her two fingers teasingly.

"Who said I was sharing?" Kyungwon scrunched her nose, but still took the already open pack from her hands and tilting into the boiling water carefully so it didn't splash on her hands. She didn't want to burn her hands when she probably still had to play piano, seeing as the company evaluators had liked her performance.

"Jeez, you're so-"

"Alphabet letters? Really?" Kyungwon interrupted, laughing slightly as she recognised the shapes that began to appear on the surface.

Minkyung's face reddened slightly when she realised that Kyungwon was laughing at her and immediately became defensive as she hit the chortling girl's shoulder harder than normal. "Y-yah, it's normal and...and..."

"And totally not childish, right?" Kyungwon teased, smiling cheekily at the embarrassed girl, who mumbled an insult and instantly left her side, disappearing out of the kitchen and to wherever it was that she had gone to.

With her mood slightly better, even though the headache was still there and the daylight from the window hurt her eyes, she continued to watch over the boiling pasta before moving around the kitchen to try to find something for the broth. She shuffled through the things in the shelves but came up empty handed, so she decided to crouch and look at the lower cabinets. Her fingers found some chocolate treat that she hadn't had in forever due to the company's strict rules about dieting and eating healthily, but she decided to allow the bad part of her conscience to take over her, quickly stuffing the sweets in the pocket of her jeans.

She heard footsteps enter the kitchen so she immediately jolted up and hastily closed the cabient door, guiltily looking at Minkyung who had returned with a box in her hand and squinting eyes that were full of suspicion. Kyungwon tried not to immediately admit what she had done as the girl made a show of sighing and tutting at her, disappointment showing in the way her shoulders dropped. "I was going to give you some medicine to help with the hangover, but seeing as you decided to steal from me I guess you won't be getting any..." The girl scowled at her lightly, refilling her cup with water and dropping one of the tablets into before swallowing the liquid in one go.

Kyungwon wasn't usually one to beg without being blackmailed or tortured prior to a situation, but the thumping in her head was making her brain feel weak so there was no way she was going to let this chance go. "No please, I'll return it, just give me the medicine." She shuffled to where the Minkyung stood with her icy glare, though she could tell the girl was having fun with the way her eyes glinted with mischief.

"It won't be that easy, Kyungwon-ah~" The girl shook her head, a sadistic smirk on her face that made said girl flinch at the harsh expression. "Get on your knees and beg for forgiveness."

At that, Kyungwon scoffed, backing off and crossing her arms in defiance to the beautiful girl in front of her. "You're crazy, there's no way I'm doing-"

"Alright then, I'll just put this back to-"

And it was then when Kyungwon lost all her dignity and fell to her knees, grabbing Minkyung's in turn to keep her from turning away while she internally willed herself to pretend that she was regretful. Clenching her teeth, she managed to utter: "I'm sorry, I won't steal from you ever again, I'm sorry," after getting that out of the way, she tilted her head back to stare hopefully at the pensive girl who looked fixedly at her. "please give me the medicine?"

Minkyung playfully gagged at the display of 'aegyo', putting the glass back on the counter before placing a hand on the top of her head slightly awkwardly. "There, I like it better when you're shorter than me." The girl gave her her best eyesmile, which made Kyungwon glad that she was already on her weak knees.

Frowning, she stood from her shameful position and grabbed the green plastic cup that she had claimed as hers when she first drank out of it and refilled it with water, then taking a tablet from Minkyung's outstretched hand. She then returned to the stove, where Minkyung stood overlooking the water, and jumped onto the counter. The two began to talk about random things comfortably, as if they had been close friends for a long time, Minkyung looking up from where she moved to prepare the broth that Kyungwon had failed to remember while the latter admired the other's movements around the small space. Though she ignored the way her heart drummed in her chest and her palms became sweaty.

When she almost lost her balance and was near to falling from the counter, she felt Minkyung take a hold of one of her flailing hands to help her move back into her previous position, giggling and telling her to be more careful. The action only made the consistent thumping in her chest to increase as she stared back at Minkyung shamelessly. And it was impossible for her mind to not go into override when the girl kept the loose grip on her hand as she resumed their conversation, fingers distractedly threading and unthreading hers.

The moment was ruined, however, when Siyeon walked into the kitchen mid-yawn and stared at them for a longer time than usual. "Oh wow," Kyungwon felt herself glaring at the youngest as a Chesire-cat like smile formed on her face. "I never thought domestic 2kyung was something I needed but it certainly is a great thing."

Her glare intensified when she felt Minkyung's fingers slip from hers, immediately feeling the loss of warmth. "Shut up, you delirious crap." The latter snapped before moving to get bowls from a cabinet.

Siyeon's eyes met hers, and the small girl bounced happily to her, coming to a stop between her legs. "Come on unnie, don't be mad that I know things when I see them."

Kyungwon pushed her head away as it tried to rest itself on her chest, bickering along with the younger girl while Minkyung observed them amusedly out of the corner of her eye. Eventually, she gave up and let Siyeon, who took this as a personal victory, cuddle up to her with her arms wrapped tightly around her body. Did the girls see her as their personal teddy-bear?

After Siyeon came Yewon, who blinded them with her radiant smile that was way too bright after what happened yesterday--though Kyungwon understood because the girl didn't drink like the rest did. "Good morning, unnies... and Siyeon." Yewon greeted Minkyung with a large bear hug which the latter responded to eagerly, and then moved to attatch herself onto Kyungwon after pushing her leg open further to make space for both her and Siyeon. She silently thanked that Kyulkyung had forced her to become more flexible, otherwise she would be in a lot of pain right now. Siyeon wrapped her arm around Yewon and the two practicaly suffocated her, her desperate eyes meeting Minkyung's who stood there giggling.

"Don't just stand there, help me." Kyungwon managed to get out, though muffled by Siyeon's hair.

She had lost all chances of survival when Eunwoo appeared at the doorway, bleary eyes immediately registering what was going on and jumping into the group hug behind the two youngest in the room. "Group hug." She tried to cheer as loud as her hangover allowed her, though still managed to make it pretty loud, much to the discomfort of Kyungwon and Minkyung.

Sighing, she met Minkyung's gaze. The girl wore a maternal expression while staring fondly, a warm smile absent mindedly on her lips while she chuckled at the excitable girls. The action unknowingly caused a grin to spread across her face as she hugged all three girls back, trying to wrap her arms around all of them at the same time and laughing softly when she caught sight of Yewon snuggling up to her with a tired expression on her face. It would've probably been wiser to catch up on more sleep, seeing as they didn't get much time to rest with studies and training going on simultaniously. The thought made her think that perhaps she hadn't made the right decision in taking this certain path and that it still wasn't too late to go back. She was still young, she still kept up with studying, maybe she would get accepted into a school if she was lucky enough.

The girls began to file out of the kitchen towards the living room, leaving Minkyung to pour out the soup into different bowls as evenly as she could. Kyungwon remembered something and gently placed her hand on the tall girl's wrist to stop her from pouring out the ninth ration. "Sungyeon took Kyla back to their dorm last night."

Minkyung's expression changed into one that read 'ah' before a mischevious look replaced it once more, the corners of her lips curling upwards. "More for us, then."

Kyungwon chuckled, shaking her head as the other girl poured the remains into the two mugs that she assumed was theirs while she began to carry two bowls out to the living room. Eunwoo was lounged on one of the two chairs at the small table glaring out of annoyance at Siyeon who had once again stepped out of her donsaeng zone and sat on her unnie's lap, Yewon smiling at the harmless banter and remarks being thrown around while Yebin had gone missing from her spot at the window ledge. She had no time to wonder about the girl's whereabouts when there were annoyed screams coming from the direction of the bathroom.

"Kang Yebin! You filthy, dirty scumbag!"

"Shut up! You're giving me a headache!"

"Kang! Don't you dare!"

"Aish don't-eugh."

Another shrill scream. "Don't throw up on me!"

Minkyung walked out of the kitchen, an entertained look on her face as they all heard the dispute between Kyulkyung and Yebin very clearly. Kyungwon smiled pityingly, knowing that the condo belonged to the former and that she would probably have to clean up Yebin's remains herself--unless she was ruthless enough to force the younger girl to do it herself, which she doubted seeing as Minkyung wasn't that harsh. After a lot of scolding, bickering and teasing they managed to gather everyone in the living room where they all contemplated in silence.

No one was really paying attention to the TV--apart from Yewon, who seemed to love every idol that appeared on the music show--all contemplating in silence. Kyungwon found herself sitting on the floor beside Nayoung's legs staring blankly at the screen that flashed bright lights at them.

"We should've joined that survival show." Eunwoo's voice tore through the silence, the comment causing everyone in the room to tense up as their attention directed itself towards the music show.

Kyungwon recognised the group of boys performing on the stage that they had desired to be on for years now, some people longer than others. The program 'Produce 101' had sent an invitation to their company two years ago to see if any trainees wanted to take part in the survival show, and they had all been tempted, but seeing as the whole thing revolved around battling 101 other perfectly talented trainees it had daunted them too much. They tried to ignore how the media went crazy with the group that the show had produced, 'IOI', and how another season was then created for the boys who were now on stage. Some male trainees had even gone to the second season and participated.

There was an unspoken agreement to never talk about regrets on not joining, on 'what if's and 'maybe's. Though Kyungwon knew that the rest of these girls felt the same as her: they had missed their chance to make it. How long would it take for their company to produce a group for them to debut in? Would they ever do it? And would they debut all of them? After all, Seventeen who belonged to the same company, had managed to make it big and were producing high income for their company, along with Nu'est, who had risen in popularity after their appearance on the survival show, so there was no point in them wasting more money on a girl group that could potentially fail, much like their female sunbaes had.

Her thought track always ended up in the same place: had she made the right choice?

She jumped this time, when she felt a hand land firmly on her thigh. Kyungwon turned to face Minkyung who stared at her with hard eyes and a serious expression, knowing that the other girl knew what was going through her mind. "Kang, don't back out now." She said firmly, her hand unconsciously tightening its grip on her leg.

Kyungwon stared back, surprised at the sudden statement. She felt Eunwoo's eyes boring into the back of her head and suddenly she was the centre of attention.

With a weak smile, she hesitantly placed her hand on top of Minkyung's and nodded. She hoped that that was enough assurance.

a/n: I'm sorry, the pace is so frickin slow and there may be some mistakes here and there, but this is all important for the plot so please just hang on a little more