The words on the paper Nayeon’s manager handed her were bold and seemed to jump off the page, as if they were teasing her. She took one look – and her heart sank.

Jihyo’s hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality from her brief jump into depression. Dahyun and Tzuyu stood in front of her, both of them wearing sympathetic yet grim frowns. “We knew this would come eventually,” Jihyo said gently, prying the paper from Nayeon’s hand and setting it on the table. “We prepared for it, didn’t we?”

“Don’t worry, Nayeon,” Dahyun added, wringing her hands. “We were up against them four months ago, right? We’ve been in this position before.”

“But everything’s changed.” Tzuyu stared down at the floor, her voice flat. “Dahyun, everything, every single little thing, has changed. Do you think we can go up against them like this?”

Another competition was scheduled for two weeks from that day. It was Nayeon’s team...against Mina’s team. Of course. The harsh, cruel irony was disappointing, but not surprising in the slightest. Jihyo was right; they had known this was coming. But Nayeon hadn’t expected it to come so soon!

Knocks on the door startled them all out of their daze. Jihyo crossed the room and opened it, and in burst Momo, Jeongyeon, Sana, Chaeyoung, and Mina, all of them with teary eyes. A small part of Nayeon’s mind found this incredibly amusing. The first time they had all met each other, for their very first competition against each other, Mina’s team were cold and silent. Now, they were emotional, crying, and as loud as humanly possible.

No legible words were exchanged – just a mad dash across the room to where Nayeon’s team was standing and another rush of tears. Nayeon took a step back, feeling detached from the whole scene, like she was watching it from above. Her head felt like it was underwater. She watched the different teams mingle as easily as if they had known each other for years. Chaeyoung comforting Tzuyu, Dahyun smothered by Sana, Momo and Jeongyeon hugging Jihyo.

And Mina. Myoui Mina, the love of Nayeon’s life, walking towards her. Mina’s arms were tightly wrapped around herself, and her face was pale. She stopped in front of Nayeon. Quietly, Nayeon outstretched her own arms, bringing Mina close to her chest and her hair. Muffled sobs arose from the other girl, and as much as Nayeon wanted to cry, she didn’t. She wanted to scream.

Someone else may have found it a humorous scene. Two teams, crying because they were up against each other. Nayeon didn’t find it funny. Not even the deranged, small part of her mind found it funny anymore. It was cruel. It was terrible. It was obvious, at this point, that both teams were extremely close to one another. Why else would they accompany each other to different competitions and cheer each other on? Why else would they always be seen in public, all nine of them, laughing and enjoying themselves? Why the hell would they be pitted up against each other, even after all this?

“What are we going to do?” Mina whispered, her voice choked with tears. Nayeon didn’t reply, only kept Mina’s hair soothingly. She didn’t know what they could do, other than continue on with the competition. There was no way to back out of this. They had to do it.

Only one team would win. That was also on Nayeon’s mind. And as much as she didn’t like to admit it...

...her team was going to win, and she would make sure of that.