“They’re here, they’re here.”

Jihyo’s whisper traveled all throughout the room – to Nayeon, who was at the door, to Tzuyu, who was in the dark, secluded corner checking her phone, and to Dahyun, who was happily humming to herself, strolling beside the glass walls. They snapped to attention, and gathered beside Jihyo, who was still sitting where they had been two hours ago. Two hours ago.

The other team was late by a whole two and a half hours. Nayeon wondered if they’d be able to see the steam coming out of her ears when they arrived.

Slowly, the organizers started to enter the room, yawning and slumping into their chairs behind tables piled high with contracts and other paperwork. Nayeon looked over to her manager, who had been standing in the hallway all this time and was now in the room. She nodded, heading over to the organizers and beginning to sort out the papers.

“Okay, Tzuyu, Dahyun, you two go and start warming up. In ten minutes we’ll rehearse.” Nayeon crossed her arms, turning her back towards the two younger members, who had already scampered off to an empty space to start warming up. “Jihyo, you and I will greet the other team.”

“You’re not planning to...” Jihyo trailed off, before meeting Nayeon’s eyes, her eyes serious. “Don’t tell me you’re going to talk to them about this.”

“Of course I will, who do you think I am?” Nayeon raised her eyebrow, her arms squeezing against each other more tightly. “I’m not going to scare them off, if that’s what you’re wondering. They’re probably little kids, for all we know. Little fetuses.”

“Don’t get in over your head, Nayeon,” Jihyo warned, though she was smiling warmly. She knew Nayeon wasn’t going to be cocky; she was better than that. Nayeon always kept her guard up, but remained humble, even when she was pitted against kids years younger than her.

Jihyo suddenly straightened, a small polite smile plastered to her face. Her eyes were directed over Nayeon’s shoulder, indicating that the other team had arrived. With an exaggerated sigh and a heave of her shoulders, she turned around, eyebrows furrowed.

She was not prepared for the sight that greeted her.

Five girls, all seeming like they were around Nayeon’s age, trotted into the room, silent and serious. None of them were smiling, and there was no glimmer of laughter in their eyes. For the first time in Nayeon’s life, she felt a shiver go down her back. How could people be so...cold? She could practically feel an icy wind blow through the room with their entrance.

The girl leading the pack was definitely not the team leader. She was short, perhaps about five feet two inches, if Nayeon were to estimate, and had jet-black shoulder-length hair resting loosely on her shoulders. Her arms and legs were more muscular than the other girls in the team, yet she looked like a five year old kid. She looked innocent and playful, despite the frown on her face. The second and third girls, fortunately, looked a bit older, one with short blonde hair and the other with long brown hair. Brown hair girl looked like a squirrel and blonde hair girl looked like she could break into an ostrich run without warning. There was nothing too special about them, but damn, blonde hair girl had some good legs. The fourth girl had straight light brown hair, and looked very muscular – more than the midget – and was built well. She didn’t seem like the type to be in cheerleading, though.

And then came in another girl. The last one in the team. Wavy brown hair reaching to the small of her back, frozen brown eyes sweeping across the room. Back straightened, chin up, shoulders set back. Yet there was something hesitant in her stride. Shy, humble, quiet. Confident, bold, absolutely beautiful. was puckered into the smallest of pouts, and her gentle features seemed to grace the room. This was definitely the team leader.

Nayeon couldn’t avert her eyes. She didn’t even know her jaw had dropped until she felt Jihyo’s hand under her chin, pushing it back up. With difficulty, she dragged her gaze from the other girl and stared at Jihyo. “No one told me that we would be against...”

“Myoui Mina?” Jihyo offered, examining her nails with boredom sketched all over her face. She obviously didn’t have any interest in the other team, or the team leader in particular. Nor did Tzuyu and Dahyun, Nayeon observed, as they stayed focused on their warmups, only sparing half a second’s glance towards the other team. “Team leader of our competition. Another small cheerleading group. But they’ve been to nationals. They’ve been to practically everything we have, just at a later time. They won, too. Never beat our record, though. Oh, and we’ve been to a few more events, maybe one or two, so don’t get so disappointed.” She nodded to the other team members, who had settled down in chairs. “Short girl, her name’s Son Chaeyoung. She’s Tzuyu’s age. Apparently they went to the same school when they were seven. I don’t think Tzuyu remembers her, though, because Chaeyoung left after two months. Blonde girl is Yoo Jeongyeon and brown haired girl is Minatozaki Sana. Both of them are a year younger than you. Sana’s from Japan and joined the team only three years ago. But she’s the second best cheerleader in the team. The muscular girl, she’s Hirai Momo. She’s also a year younger than you. Gave up hip-hop dancing for this. Rumor has it she’s dating Jeongyeon; that’s why she joined the team. Then Myoui Mina, the team leader. My age. Seventeen.Very successful, if you ask me, but awfully humble, quiet, and polite. Crazy about competition, though it doesn’t look like it.”

Fiesty. Yet quiet. But fiesty nevertheless. Nayeon liked fiesty girls. Did that equate to Nayeon liking Mina? Hopefully not, because Mina was the competition and Nayeon would crush her like a bug. Leave her in the dust as an utter failure, while Nayeon walked away, smelling of sweet success.

As Nayeon continued to watch the other team, a random thought popped into her mind. She wondered if Mina smelled expensive. She certainly looked expensive.