It was Christmas Eve. The day they had given up their souls for; depleting their health by countless amounts of midnight practices until someone appeared telling them to “shut up, I’m trying to sleep.”   It was the day of the first regional competition. If they passed it, many more would follow before reaching the finals and meeting Bs face to face.   “Oh my God,” Kibum exclaimed out loud when he arrived at the station, their meeting point. His jaws dropped wide open, dramatically releasing his bag to the floor for added effect. He could not believe his eyes.   “Do you like it?” Maerin asked, proudly stretching her sweater to flaunt the horrible design. The white unicorn against the bright pink color would’ve stand out on its own, but considering its horn and four legs popped out from the sweater, it stood out too much.   “I despise it.”   “Why? Imagine it galloping around when we’re moving to the music later,” Maerin demonstrated by jumping a little, the 3D unicorn legs flapping like distorted spaghetti strings. Watching the devastation on Kibum's face was precious.   “Go back to the dorm and change,” he demanded, his face becoming sickeningly pale. The fashion disaster actually hurt his eyes.   “The sweater is adorable. I would’ve worn the same one too if I had it,” Taemin added.   Whether his intention was to defend her or to annoy Kibum on purpose, Maerin smiled anyway. Though she was glad he didn’t wear another sweater, or they’d look incredibly stupid together.   “There’s no time for that, anyway,” Hyunmi interrupted, retrieving Kibum’s bag from the floor before anyone could snatch it. She then turned to the group who had arrived before them and did a quick head count.   “We’re missing Biah,” Yerin announced before Hyunmi was done counting, knowing it could’ve taken forever.   “What? Where is she?”   “We tried calling her phone, but no answer,” Rika said, holding her phone up as proof.   “What about her roommate, Chiyeon?” Heejin just remembered.   “I don’t have her number. Anyone?” Rika asked, staring at the others.   Seulyi grabbed her phone from her clutch and dialed the number instantly.   “Should I go back and pick her up? I can drive to Lotte Mart later so it will be faster,” Hyunmi suggested. They agreed to take the train together because it was more cost efficient, and they could have a last minute practice.   “I can-” Myungsoo was about to volunteer to accompany her when someone else interjected.   “You’ll be late. You can’t go back,” Woohyun said, stopping her by her arm. Right at that moment, their designated train pulled up on the platform, opening its door for them.   “But what about Biah? She won’t know how to get to the venue. She never rode the public transport before,” Hyunmi said, worried the pink loving girl might get lost instead. Or worse, follow a stranger into the car if he offered a pink colored candy.   “What? She never used a public transport before? Do such people even exist?” Minhyuk laughed, thinking she was joking. But seeing the sternness on the girls’ faces, he quieted down. “You’re serious.”   “She has very overprotective parents,” Mira explained him briefly.   “We need to go before the door closes. Come on, come on,” Jaehwan shouted, being the first to jump into the train.   Minhyuk couldn’t hear the rest of the story as he grabbed Mira’s hand, as natural as a couple would, and led her inside. The skinship had almost become normal, though every touch left a flutter sensation like the first time they held hands.   Nearly twenty others followed from behind, Chanyeol being the last one to jump inside before his long legs got caught between the doors. They looked around for an empty spot, but after Heejin kindly gave up her seat for an elderly woman, decided to keep standing.   “Oh, Chiyeon!” Seulyi exclaimed out loud when her call got through. She set her phone on speaker for everyone to hear.   “Hey, I haven’t slept for long since drama practice ended at 5 AM today,” Chiyeon mumbled, her voice dead tired.   “I’m so sorry, but you’re our only hope,” Seulyi said desperately. “Is Biah there?”   There was some silence and static noises. They assumed Chiyeon was scanning Biah’s bed before replying. “Yeah, she’s here. Why?”   “We have a performance today and she’s kinda late,” Yerin added, though really, Biah was extremely late.   They heard Chiyeon yawn. “Biah felt sick since yesterday morning, so she couldn’t make it.”   “What?!”   “Tell her to get better soon. Drink lots of water,” Rika said worriedly.   “But why didn’t she tell us anything if she felt unwell since last morning?” Minhyuk posed a very good question, naturally turning to Mira who usually had an answer for everything. But she shrugged as well. They had taken a day off from practice to save their voice, not to get sick in secret.   “Said she thought she could recover by today. But she wants to sleep and apologizes for not being able to make it,” Chiyeon said, her voice trailing off into a mumble. “If that’s all then I…”   They heard more rattling noises from the other side, followed by a long silence.   “Oh my gosh, she fell asleep talking to us!” Heejin remarked, not knowing whether to find this funny or worrying.   “We must’ve been really boring,” Minseok said, making a very lame joke, which not even Maerin or Hyunmi laughed at, and they usually laughed at everything. Instead, it was Heejin who received his humor and giggled.   Seulyi shut off the phone and tugged it back. She looked at Hyunmi turning pale. “We lost one member. What now?”   The answer was clear, but not one Hyunmi liked. They had prepared everything using a proper timeline, and yet, last minute incidents messed everything up.   “We need to redistribute the lyrics,” she said reluctantly, hearing others gasp in surprise. “Is anyone familiar with Biah’s part during the bridge?”   Sungjong kept quiet, staring at Jineul. In an ideal situation, Jineul would volunteer to take the role and be the hero of the day. Sadly, this wasn’t a Hollywood movie, and Jineul’s past stopped her from performing on stage. He wished to call her name, to nominate her, but he didn’t. He respected Jineul’s decision enough to let her be. Maybe she’ll find courage another time.   “I’m so sick I don’t even know how to sing my own parts,” Seulyi commented. Her voice was a little nasally, like a frog was stuck in .   “Cough drops?” Sungjong offered, holding an opened package of lemon flavored cough drops. He then continued distributing it to everyone else.   “I can sing it, but I’m singing the harmonies for that part,” Maerin said, remembering practicing this part over and over again in order to get the harmonies right. At night she would ask Eun for help by singing the main melody for the bridge as she tried singing the higher harmony for it. Wait...   “Eun can do it!”   The girl in question widened her eyes, feeling her breath caught in . She did not know how to respond other than by hyperventilating, a clear plea not to involve her.   “I… I can’t,” she said, looking horrified.   “Are you saying this because you don’t know how to sing it or because you’re afraid of making mistakes?” Woohyun asked, his tone stern but kind, like he knew what she was thinking.   Eun shut her eyes. Considering she had helped Maerin so often, the part was embedded in her memory. But so was her solo part, and even until the last second, she never got it right.   Woohyun knew her answer, and lightly tapped Hyunmi’s shoulder. Leaning closer to her ear, he whispered, “This is the part where you give her a pep talk.”   The proximity of their distance made her blush a little, losing focus on the issues. “W-Why don’t you do it yourself?” She asked in the most composed way possible, ignoring the drumming of her heart.   “Because if a male and a female give each other pep talks, feelings may get involved. We don’t want that to happen now,” he explained.   Hyunmi frowned. “But you give me pep talks all the time.”   “I guess feelings got involved then.” He grinned, nudging his head to Eun who was still in a dilemma.   Hyunmi pressed her lips together, stopping herself from forming a coy smile. She turned to Eun and rested a hand on her shoulder, regaining focus even though her heart still fluttered. “Eun, it’s natural to be nervous, and we won’t force you if you don’t want to do it. But remember, we give you tasks we know you are capable of doing.”   Eun’s eyes widened, slowly coming to a realization she was afraid to accept. “You actually think I can do it?”   “Yes, of course you can! I’ve always focused on my own parts, so I don’t even know how to sing other people’s parts,” Seulyi told her with a small laugh and ended up coughing and sneezing, clear signs of her cold.   “I couldn’t even try other parts since my adlibs were difficult enough,” Mira added, watching as Eun stared at them with big fragile eyes. “Don’t worry, you’ll do well.”   “But, what if I don’t?”   Hyunmi patted the girl’s back. “You’ll do much better than you think.”   With that, the train came to a halt at their next stop. Chanyeol was the first again to get off, leading them through a crowd of people. His tall height made him easy to spot, preventing anyone from getting lost.   “So, does this mean I got the part?” Eun asked in confusion.   “I guess you did,” Minseok answered with an encouraging smile. He waited for the remaining girls to get off before following.   “It’s really admirable you even practiced that part. Let’s all do our best, and enjoy this experience. It’s not everyday we get to join competitions like this,” Heejin said, giving the girl a side hug as they got off the train together.     The front of Lotte Mart was crowded with a sea of audience, whether intentional or unintentional. An empty stage was set up in front of the building. A man wearing a Santa outfit stood beside it with a mic in his hand. He seemed to be talking to a few other people who were most likely the judges.   “I guess votes from random bypassers aren’t the only factor to win,” Heejin said quietly, not knowing whether this was reassuring or not.   “I wasn’t nervous before, but I am now. Mira, hold me,” Minhyuk spoke a little dramatically, feigning an exaggerated distress as he searched for Mira’s hand.   “What?” She asked, not concentrating on him when she studied the judges’ expression. Her heart flinched when Minhyuk wrapped his fingers around her. “W-what are you doing?”   “I’m nervous,” he whimpered, his voice a higher pitch.   Mira stared incredulously at him, then at their intertwined fingers, then back at him. “And this is supposed to help you calm down?” She frowned, giving their hands a light swing.   “Yes. Being with you makes me feel at ease, so just…” Minhyuk trailed off his sentence, gulping down his saliva to get rid of any nervousness. The grip around Mira’s hand tightened, no intention of letting her go.   Mira’s expression softened when she saw Minhyuk’s surprisingly nervous state. He seemed so playful all the time she didn’t even think he was capable of being this anxious. She faintly felt the pulse throbbing from his wrist. The poor guy was terrified, and she had the greatest urge to cradle him and reassure him things would be alright. Technically she could, and in everyone else’s eyes it would seem normal. But she wondered what Minhyuk would think through his eyes.   “Oh, our teachers are here,” Seulyi pointed out when she saw Leeteuk approach the table of the judges.   “Do you think they’re bribing the judges in our favor?” Jineul asked casually.   “What? That could get us disqualified,” Rika said with a scandalous gasp, hoping that wasn’t the case. Judging on Jineul’s growing smirk, she seemed to have no objection to the consequences.   “Mr. Jung and the Moonbucks owner are here too,” Seulyi remarked again.   “Mr. Jung is here?” Yerin asked, a sudden increase of excitement in her tone. Her fingers quickly combed her hair to perfection, straightening her dark maroon sweater which looked very plain compared to Maerin’s 3D unicorn sweater.   Chanyeol saw the subtle change in her movements and frowned. “You already looked pretty before,” he told her earnestly.   “That won’t be enough,” Yerin said, reapplying some lipgloss on her lips, making them extra shiny.   “You look like you’re about to seduce a guy,” Chanyeol continued commenting, and there was obvious mockery in his tone.   “You’re not wrong about that.” Yerin puckered her lips together to evenly spread out the red shade. She then grinned at Chanyeol and lightly patted his shoulder. Her attention turned to Yunho, who seemed to be glancing towards their direction. When he spotted her, she’d like to believe he was smiling at her.   Chanyeol may seem foolish, but he ain’t a fool. The more he looked at Yerin, the more he realized her crush towards their teacher wasn’t merely a crush. It seemed she was actually hoping for something more beyond a student teacher relationship, for something forbidden.   Chanyeol also knew, Yerin would never see him the way she sees Yunho.   Leeteuk walked up to them, Yunho and Sungmin trailing behind. He had that big grin plastered on his face, and they anticipated an inspirational talk.   “You’ll be the first one to go up.”   As everyone else whined, there was only one person who cheered.   “Seriously, this isn’t the time to be the goodie two shoes, Hyunmi,” Kibum told his friend, sighing out loud at their misfortune.   “No, this is good,” she began, the excitement starting to rub off. “It’s a psychological trick, people tend to remember the first and last presentation the most. We’ll set the bars high.”   “When you say it like that, it does sounds appealing,” Taemin commented hesitantly, slowly being swayed by her belief. He didn’t know whether her argument made sense or if she was naturally convincing.   “We practiced everything a hundred times, so there is nothing we should fear,” Myungsoo added.   “I love your excitement, Myungsoo,” Hyunmi said, casually patting his shoulder to show gratitude. She didn’t know the touch signalled an entirely different message to him, flustering him.   Seulyi witnessed the entire thing, feeling a sting of pain wrenching her heart. It was impossible to deny the one sided affection happening before her eyes.   Turning around, she noticed Woohyun looking at the same sight, though his expression remained unreadable. Knowing the entire club dubbed him and Hyunmi as the parents of Crescendity, Seulyi suddenly wondered how he felt.   “Jealous?” She asked.   Woohyun turned to her, feigning confusion. “About what?”   “Them.” Seulyi cocked her head sideways, refusing to look at Myungsoo’s attempts to gain Hyunmi’s attention. Her heart couldn’t handle the sight.   Woohyun was silenced again, instead replying with a question of his own. “You like Myungsoo, don’t you?”   He was so straightforward it made Seulyi gulp in shock. She needed an ally, and Woohyun was perfect for the role. Considering her feelings were exposed, she may as well acknowledge it. “Yes.”   Woohyun raised his ey