“How long can we keep going on like this?” Sana murmured, her fingers gently carding through Dahyun’s silky black locks. All nine of them were milling about one of the practice rooms of the JYP building, lounging around on the floor or taking gulps of ice water as they took a brief break from rehearsing.

She and Dahyun were huddled up in one of the far corners of the room, Sana leaning back against the wall. Dahyun’s eyes were closed, her head resting on the older woman’s lap. Strands of her jet black hair stuck to her forehead and she was still breathing rather heavily from the new choreography they were learning.

Despite her exhaustion, the younger woman still managed to hear the quiet desperation of Sana’s voice, sending a wave of alarm to rush over her. After knowing Sana for the past three years, Dahyun had rare ever heard the other woman sound so dejected before.

Flicking her eyes open, Dahyun gazed up at the older woman with a hazy, transfixed look. She took in the Japanese woman’s flawless features, fighting the urge to reach up with her hand and trace the lines that made up her face. She was so beautiful, so goddamn beautiful. Even with the dark circles underneath her eyes and her lopsided specs falling down the bridge of her nose, nothing could mask her beauty.

As if reading Dahyun’s mind, Sana gently cupped the side of Dahyun’s cheek, thumb rubbing circles into the tender skin just above the younger woman’s cheekbones. “Sometimes I feel like we’re falling apart,” Sana whispered, biting her lip. It looked as if she were fighting back tears, her eyes sparkling beneath the room lights.

“One by one. Just look at us, Dahyun-ah.” Sana gestured out to the room with her free hand, shaking her head. “I am looking,” Dahyun murmured, unable to shake herself away from staring at Sana. The Japanese woman rolled her eyes, letting out a small giggle. “Not just at me, silly,” she said, giving Dahyun’s arm a gentle push.

A blush was lighting up her cheeks. “Go on,” Sana muttered, nodding towards the other side of the room. “Take a gander and tell me nothing’s wrong with this picture.” Obliging to the older woman’s request, Dahyun propped herself up on one elbow, lifting her head up to scan her surroundings.

Nayeon was leaning up against the water dispenser machine, water bottle in hand. There was a vacant look in her eyes as she fanned herself and took sip after sip of the cooling liquid. Her face was pale with exertion, as if she would fall to her knees any moment. Dahyun frowned.

Beside Nayeon, Jeongyeon was sitting on the floor next to all of their bags, head held in her hands. A moment later, Nayeon bent down and rested a hand on her back, running her fingers over the material of Jeongyeon’s shirt. When the blond haired woman finally lifted her face, a grateful expression plastered across her chiseled features as Nayeon passed her the water bottle.

Just a few feet away from where Dahyun and Sana were, Tzuyu and Chaeyoung were huddled up on the middle of the floor, using balled up sweatshirts and jackets for pillows. Tzuyu had one arm slung over Chaeyoung’s waist, holding the shorter girl in place protectively. Both of their eyes were closed, their chests rising and falling in sync, fast asleep.

Momo was dancing off to the side, still rehearsing the steps to the choreography for their next comeback, Dance the Night Away. A trickle of sweat ran down her neck, and although each of her movements were slowing down with fatigue, Momo kept at it. She only stopped once Jihyo came up behind her, put her hands on her shoulders, and whispered something into her ear.

Nodding her head along to whatever Jihyo was saying, Momo straightened and headed over to where Mina and Jihyo had been sitting on the couch, munching on snacks. Wordlessly, Mina patted the cushion beside her and the dancer all but collapsed onto it, nuzzling her face against the fabric of Mina’s t-shirt.

Jihyo followed suit, flopping back down on the sofa with a sigh, watching as Mina wrapped an arm around Momo’s fallen figure. Their leader leaned her head against the back of the couch cushion, a hand coming up to massage her temples. Dahyun watched as Mina leaned over and whispered something into Momo’s ear that sounded a whole lot like, “You’ve been doing so well, my dancing machine…rest now,” but she couldn’t have been sure.

Momo responded by snaking her arms around Mina’s waist, burrowing her face deeper into Mina’s neck. As if sensing being watched Mina looked up, meeting Dahyun’s curious gaze. A soft, tired smile twitched at the Japanese woman’s lips before her attention returned to Momo, dragging her fingertips over the dancer’s arms in a soothing manner.

“See?” Sana breathed, leaning her head against the wall. “We’re all a mess.” Before Dahyun could think up of a reply, the door to the practice room opened and their manager strode in.

“Good work today, ladies!” Sadness Manager said, clapping her hands together. She looked around the room but her enthusiastic expression quickly faded.

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung jerked awake at the sound, leering up from the floor with wary looks. “You’ve done so well with learning the choreography that we’ve decided to let you guys go home early and rest,” their manager smiled, trying to pump some energy back into them. Everyone gave her a dazed look, too tired to even reply.

“The car’s waiting out front whenever you’re ready.” With that being said, their manager her heel and walked out of the room. The door gently clicked shut behind her, and it was as if the spell of exhaustion had been broken. Nayeon was the first to stand, releasing her hold on Jeongyeon to reach for their bags.

Jihyo pushed herself up off of the couch with a soft groan, rubbing at her sore calf muscles. “Come on girls,” the leader said, slowly making her way over to where Tzuyu and Chaeyoung had laid back down. Once she reached them, she prodded the pair with the tip of her shoe until they sat up. “The sooner we get down there, the sooner we’ll be able to fall asleep in our own beds.”

Before their leader could walk over to them, Dahyun forced herself up from Sana’s lap, missing the sensation of the older woman’s fingers gently moving through her hair. Following suit, Sana stood and made her way over to the pile of their bags, Dahyun slowly trailing behind.

As she dragged her feet, Dahyun noticed the way Mina attempted to coax Momo off of the sofa. She was whispering Japanese into Momo’s ears while caressing the hand encircled around her waist. She gently tugged at the dancer’s fingers to gently pry her off and tried to hide the smile spreading across her face when Momo held her closer instead of getting up.

The moment seemed strikingly intimate to her, and Dahyun quickly averted her eyes. She couldn’t explain why but looking at them, she had felt as if she were intruding on something she shouldn’t have been. For a moment, she feels a tug at