The four of them looked at each other in silence, no one daring to say a word.

On the inside, Jihyo and Lena were celebrating, while Nayeon was trying to bite back a smile at Sana’s request. Well, it was more of a demand, but who was she to say no to Sana (she could have totally said no).

“Guys?” Sana sought a response from her group members. She really hadn’t known what had spurred her to suggest such a change, but she knew she was going to teased about it by Nayeon. And Sana had seen the teasing smirk on Jihyo’s face too, when she put her suggestion out.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea.” Jihyo teased, earning an elbow to her ribs from Sana.

“Honestly, I think it’s a smart choice. You two would obviously show more chemistry since you’ve known each other longer.” Lena nodded, agreeing with Jihyo.

“Alright my Romeo, let’s go.” Nayeon chuckled as Sana groaned at the name, pulling her to the side. “You sure you’re okay with this?”

“Mhmm.” Sana grinned.

Nayeon couldn’t pass the chance to further than she had already. She looked so adorable and cute when she blushed out of shyness. She was extremely glad Sana had voiced out to be her Romeo because she really didn’t want to be the one to kiss Lena.

“Even the kiss?” Nayeon eyed Sana for a change of reaction. Sana only blushed deeper, ready to smack Nayeon for turning her into a blushing and speechless mess.

“Stop pushing it.” Sana growled.

“Fine, fine. I’m sure Lena–”

“Nayeon.”

Nayeon raised her eyebrows at Sana, surprised to be cut off, only for the realisation to dawn on her – Sana was jealous. She was definitely not expecting that to show up after whatever altercations had arisen between them ever since they’d become roommates. It was clear as day; the glares that she gave Lena, the stopping of their roles, the want to be Romeo – this was glorious.

“Are you guys ready?” Jihyo called out, breaking the two out of their moment. “Let’s get the camera rolling.”

“How did you know the plan would work?” Lena whispered to Jihyo as Nayeon and Sana moved in position.

“Read the signs. Tell me you didn’t realise that Sana was glaring at you the entire time this morning, or that Nayeon kept glancing towards Sana?” Jihyo snickered.

“Yeah – but you had this plan in mind from before?” Lena frowned.

Jihyo smiled, thinking back to how this all even started. “A little birdie told me.”

“Was it Momo? Or Mina?” Lena shook her head at the realisation.

“I’ll leave it up to you to guess.” Jihyo laughed, moving to press record.

---

Momo was lying on her bed in the dorm, staring up at the ceiling while her mind was swarming with plenty of worries. She really hadn’t meant to spill things when Jihyo had sat with her during lunch time a week ago.

“Are you sure it was a good idea for me to tell Jihyo about Nayeon’s weird feelings for Sana?” Momo groaned.

Mina chuckled at her misery, tossing her a bar of chocolate. “I told her about Sana too, remember? And it’s not like we said anything unnecessary. It was just the honest truth. They have been acting weirdly ever since they had their truce.”

“But… it’s not really our place. I feel like we imposed on their relationship.” Momo huffed, taking an angry bite out of the chocolate.

“Look, Jihyo isn’t going to push their faces together and make them kiss. And, the two of them won’t even know we told them anything! Stop worrying so much!” Mina discouraged, sighing before moving to Momo’s side and pulling her off the bed. “Come on. You need to release this stress.”

Momo remained flustered as Mina pulled her out of the dorm room, hand covering her wrist. Where was this girl even taking her? She blindly let Mina guide her, apologising to students if she bumped into them a little too hard.

“We’re here.” Mina cheered, still holding on to Momo’s hand.

“The arcade?” Momo gasped. “They have Dance Dance Revolution!”

Unknowingly, Mina was caught off guard as Momo pulled her along to the machine. She hadn’t touched one since she’d been in Japan – and that was when she was still a teenager. It’s been years since she’s danced on it again. After school, her group of friends used to hang out at the arcade and always took over the machine.

Mina watched in amusement as Momo’s eyes lit up when she stepped up on the machine, making her feel happy for choosing the location to destress Momo. Personally, she was an avid gamer and spent her holidays cooped up in her room or out at the arcade breaking high school students’ records. And, she might have also seen Momo dance a few times – seemingly unconsciously because she still hadn’t known that Mina had seen her sway to the beat of some cheesy love song.

It was much more hilarious trying to watch Momo match the beats to the song she’d chosen, as she decided to choose a hard level – and heavily regretted it. She was totally off-beat and missing each step, resorting to stomping on all of the steps on the floor as quickly as she could. But, Mina could tell that Momo was at least less worried about the outcome of Nayeon and Sana’s situation going on. At this rate, she’d have to think of something every day to distract this goofball in front of her, until the duo returned.

“Momo, you really . Why did you even decide to choose a hard level?” Mina shook her head as Momo blushed in complete embarrassment.

“I was having fun…” Momo pouted, making Mina squeal internally at her cuteness. Though, that changed so quickly, seeing Momo run her hand through her hair and tie it up in a ponytail. God, this girl was going to be the death of Mina. “You know, if you’re so critical of my poor coordination skills, how about you come up on this one.”

Mina was about to deny Momo, but she was given the puppy eyes and Momo’s puppy eyes couldn’t really be denied. Momo used that on her a little too much – and it worked every single time as well. The duo smirked as they gripped the back bar, getting ready for the duel of their lives. The countdown begun and they turned to face the screen.

“Loser buys dinner?” Momo suggested.

“Loser buys dinner.” Mina smirked, agreeing to the terms.

---

“Okay – all we have left is the kiss. Do you guys want to work on it today? Or tomorrow?” Jihyo asked Nayeon and Sana, who had finally relaxed from their acting.

“Huh? I’m exhausted from today.” Nayeon whined.

Sana nodded in agreement, legs feeling so sore from standing up for so long. Being Romeo was absolutely exhausting. Well, she did get to say cheesy lines to Nayeon that flustered her on more occasions than she expected. It was a little bit of a payback from the teasing she got from her for calling out to be Romeo.

“We’ll call it a day then. How about dinner?” Lena offered, earning hums of agreement from everyone else.

“I’ll wash up first and then come down.” Nayeon sighed, massaging her shoulders.

Sana looked to her in worry, but it was quickly brushed off by Nayeon, who simply offered her a cheeky smile.

“Hmm… I’ll come down with you later then too. You guys head there first.” Sana grumbled as Jihyo wiggled her eyebrows at her.

As Jihyo and Lena left the two of them, Nayeon and Sana walked in silence towards their dorm room. Nayeon irregularly massaged her shoulders, dropping her hand when she realised that Sana’s gaze was on hers. She had no idea why it was hurting so much; she only leaned forward on the balcony and that shouldn’t have caused her shoulders to be in so much. And the pain wasn’t even decreasing, but steadily increasing, like a throbbing ache.

“What hurts?” Sana worriedly asked as she noticed the frown on Nayeon’s face. They’d reached their room but she could tell Nayeon’s mind was elsewhere.

“Just a little bit of shoulder pain.” Nayeon was quick to shoot down Sana’s worries again, smiling as she opened the door for them.

Though, Sana heard the wince that escaped her lips when she bent down to pick something she’d dropped on the floor, and she knew it was just ‘a little bit of shoulder pain’. Letting her shower first, Sana rummaged her bag for the inflammatory cream she always carried around with her (she was clumsy sometimes, okay). As soon as Nayeon popped out of the shower, towel around her neck as she aired her hair, Sana froze for a few seconds before her brain finally processed what she was meant to do.

“Nayeon. Come sit here.” Sana pointed to the carpet in front of her.

“Huh? Why?” Nayeon maintained a defensive stance towards Sana’s sudden request.

“Pull up the back of your shirt, too.” Sana sighed, waiting patiently.

“What?!” Nayeon crossed her arms over her shirt.

“Get down here. I know you’re in pain.” Sana glared, pointing in front of her again.

Nayeon gulped, nodding immediately as she didn’t want to get on the bad side of Sana before the night ended. She really thought she kept her pain under wraps.

Carefully, she lifted up her shirt, pulling it over her head. Thankfully she hadn’t made the mistake of forgetting to wear a bra – she would’ve been extremely embarrassed if that had happened. Nayeon winced as the cold gel hit her back, Sana’s warm fingers helping the feeling of discomfort. Slowly, she rubbed the gel into her shoulders, and Nayeon sighed blissfully at the feeling. She was extremely grateful that Sana was even willing to give her a massage.

“You better not sleep on the couch at all at night.” Sana growled, digging her fingers into the knots of Nayeon’s shoulders.

Honestly, she thought she’d feel awkward massaging her roommate’s shoulders, but Sana was more concerned about the heavy nots that she was just managing to unwind.

“Thank you.” Nayeon sincerely mumbled as she pulled her shirt on again. “I feel better already. If you have anything to ask of me, I’m in your debt.”

“Good. You better take care of yourself more. And… I’ll keep that in mind.” Sana scolded before heading in the bathroom to freshen up.

Nayeon remained taken off guard by Sana’s aggressive behaviour all night, wondering where all of the scolding was coming from, but also appreciating it. She patiently waited for Sana, as her mind wandered off to the events of today. There was plenty of accidental touches and bumping and shy grins exchanged but she had no idea what any of it meant. If she were to be honest, she was scared of the shooting of the kissing scene. It was definitely going to make things awkward between them – even more than before.

Sana finished showering, saving Nayeon’s thoughts from delving deeper into the possible ruining of their ‘relationship’.

“Dinner?”

“Dinner.”

Miraculously, the dinner was filled with jokes and laughter, rather than awkward silence – surprising both of them. Nayeon and Sana had gone off some tangent about online shopping and there was no coming back anymore. They’d even gotten to eating dessert together; that’s how long they spent talking to each other. There had been some sort of shift between the duo from the events of the past few days, and they both picked up on it.

“That was a delightful dinner.” Sana confessed, as they entered their room again.

“I think we’re getting better at this whole roommate slash friend thing going on.” Nayeon chuckled, making Sana laugh as well.

The two gazed at each other for a few moments, tension suddenly increasing in the room with the heated glances.

“About being in that debt. I have something I’d like to redeem.” Sana nervously asked, rubbing her neck.

Nayeon nodded, indicating for her to go ahead.

“Can you kiss me?”