[[YENA’S POV]]

 

The staffs entered the studio and started to arrange all the seats and tables for the trainers or judges. One of them announced, “The first batch of trainees that will perform, please come here at the backstage. Please be careful on your way down.”

 

The three of us looked at each other and gave one another a nervous smile. We carefully walked on our way down. As we went to the backstage, the staffs assisted us for the preparation of our performance. After that, they led us to the standby area. I was standing beside Si Hyun and we’re both facing Yi Ren. We had a small talk and I playfully joked around a little bit to ease the tension and nervousness that was visible on our faces.

 

“By the way Yena, what happened earlier?” Si Hyun put her right hand on my right shoulder.

 

“About what?” I looked at her. I hoped she never asked about ‘THAT’.

 

“You know, when the Stone Music trainees entered the studio, you were really surprised. It’s my first time to see you that surprised. I even asked you ‘What is it?’ but you never answered. Your eyes were fixated at them when they were still deciding which seats they would take.”

 

Oh crap. She asked about it. I’m D-O-O-M-E-D.

 

“You still stared at them on their way up. Your expression was funny by the way. When they were about to sit down, they were looking on us, and you kinda froze there. I don’t have any idea who you are looking at because I was busy quietly laughing at your unreadable expression on your face. I was surprised when you suddenly turned your head on the big screen at the front. Your eyes were really wide and you started to murmur some random words very fast, and I couldn’t even understand what you were saying. I don’t know if you’re saying some prayers or rituals. Looks like you’re possess or something” Si Hyun continued. She covered with her left hand and she’s trying her best not to laugh so hard.

 

I was looking at the floor to hide my embarrassment. Si Hyun removed her hand on my shoulder and putted it on her stomach. She’s really trying her best to hold back her laughter. Yi Ren was just chuckling and awkwardly quiet today, maybe because she’s just nervous.

 

 

She came closer.

 

 

 

She lifted my chin up.

 

 

 

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked while looking at her empty eyes. She’s just quietly fixing my bangs. She just nodded and didn’t say any word.

 

 

 

“There you go.” She finally met my eyes and smiled at me.

 

 

 

“Oh. Thanks.” I shyly smiled back at her. Most of the time, she and Si Hyun always messed up my bangs every time we teased each other. That was the first time for a long time we’ve been friends, she did that to me.

 

 

“Trainees, please enter.” We heard the soft voice inside the main studio. Yi Ren held my arm and Si Hyun immediately composed herself after laughing so hard. We quickly went inside.

 

Our nervousness became extreme when we’re on the stage, but we’re doing our best to hide it by giving our cheerful personalities to the audience. We could really feel that all of their eyes were on us, including, you know,… hers. I’m trying my best not to look farther because there’s a possibility that if I met her eyes again, I might mess this whole thing up. They interviewed us a bit and we started our performance.

 

Thankfully, I didn’t mess up. We all did our best to give a good performance. While the trainers were having a quick discussion for our grade evaluation, I took a quick peek on where Yuri was sitting at.

 

 

 

I saw her friend pointing at me.

 

 

Did I saw it correctly? Was she really pointing at me? I partially turned my head to my left at Si Hyun and to my right at Yi Ren, to check if it was really me they were really pointing at. I looked at them again and it seemed like they were teasing each other. I immediately returned my looked at the trainers when Trainer Bae Yoon Jung started speaking.

 

 

 

What the hell was that for?

 

 

We went backstage to put the sticker of our grade on our name tag. I got an A. Yi Ren and Si Hyun both got B. I was little sad because my friends and I were not in the same class, but we still got each other’s back and I hope they got an A too on the re-evaluation. The staff then led us to a small room for a quick backstage interview. They interviewed me first and then Si Hyun. Few minutes had passed during Yi Ren’s interview, the lights suddenly went off. It was completely dark inside the room. I panicked a little bit because I got easily scared by everything. The staff the flashlight app on her phone, we waited for about ten minutes until the electricity came back, but it didn’t return. So the staff led us outside the room, because there were emergency lights in the hallway so we can partially see. The staff left us for a while and went somewhere else to know what’s happening.

 

“Yena gets scared so easily. She held my arms tightly. Look at this” Si Hyun showed the red marks on her skin that I accidentally made when I freaked out when the lights suddenly went off to Yi Ren. I was just hiding behind Yi Ren’s back. Yi Ren was laughing so hard while observing Si Hyun’s arm.

 

“Wow. You finally laughed. You were so quiet a while ago before the performance.” Si Hyun continued. I looked at Yi Ren’s face from behind her shoulder. “I agree. I like it when you smile though. You’re pretty when you always smile.” I added.

 

She turned her head at me then smiled “Really?”

 

I nodded.

 

Si Hyun suddenly held both the back of our heads, and tried to kiss us. Fortunately, our lips didn’t touch. That’s how we tease and annoy each other. Si Hyun immediately ran away while laughing so loud inside the partially dark hallway. We chased her, but we couldn’t find her. We noticed that we’re in a different place inside the backstage. It was more crowded. We looked around for Si Hyun. Yi Ren and I decided to go on separate ways so we could find Si Hyun quickly. In the middle of the searching, I suddenly heard Yi Ren’s voice from afar.

 

 

“ Help me.”

 

 

“Where are you? What happened to you?” I gave up searching for Si Hyun, and I decided to look for Yi Ren instead in this big crowd.

 

 

“I’m here. I’m here!”

 

 

I just followed the voice because I really couldn’t see properly because it was dark.

 

 

I partially saw someone on ground.

 

 

 

I grabbed her hand and lifted her up.

 

 

 

“Are you okay?

 

 

“Yes… yes. Thank you so much.” She replied. Someone accidentally pushed her from behind. I grabbed her with both of my arms so she wouldn’t fall again.

 

 

Wait.

 

 

 

She’s not Yi Ren.

 

 

Because Yi Ren is taller than me, and this girl is smaller than me.

 

 

But this voice…

 

 

I know whose voice is this.

 

 

 

I heard this voice many times before.

 

 

Oh no. Wait. Is this…..?

 

 

*LIGHTS SUDDENLY CAME BACK*

 

 

There were three things I wanted to avoid at all cost and I noted it inside my mind at the backstage before our performance. First, do not forget the choreography and the lyrics. Second, do not make enemies. And lastly, avoid meeting her eyes.

 

 

.

 

 

I badly messed up the last one.

 

 

“Yu… yu… yur… yuri?”

 

 

I could see the reflection of myself in her eyes. This was my first time to look at someone else’s eyes that I could see myself in it. It was very close.

 

 

 

My heart was beating fast..

 

 

 

She suddenly pulled me much closer..

 

 

 

Then she slowly lost her grip on my arms.

 

 

 

I held her tight.

 

 

 

She actually fainted.

 

 

“Help! Help!” I shouted. I quickly carried her aside and sat her down on the floor. I leaned her on the wall. One staff came to us with a plastic cup of water in her hands and she fanned her using the papers the staff was holding. Another staff came in and cleared the space so she could breathe. I stood up and I watched her closely.

 

 

“Yuri! Oh my god. Yuri! Is she dead ?I mean.. Uhh. I mean alive? What happened?” This trainee ran towards us and I knew she’s Yuri’s friend because she’s from Stone Music. I read her name on her tag. She’s Lee Sian.

 

 

“Uhh. Yes.” I giggled. “Fortunately, I was there and I hugged her tight so she didn’t fell a while ago. She really looked exhausted. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why she fainted, but I think she’s gonna be fine. Don’t worry.” I smiled at her with assurance.

 

 

“This is gonna be Yuri’s best day of her life.” She smirked.

 

 

“Uhm. Excuse me?” I looked at her with confusion.

 

 

“Uhh. I mean memorable. Because you know, this is the first time she fainted. So it’s memorable for her.” She awkwardly replied.

 

 

Someone grabbed my arm, and I turned around.

 

 

“Yena, come on. We need to go back now. The staff is looking for us.” Yi Ren seemed so uncomfortable.

 

 

“Oh okay. I need to go now.” I said to Sian.

 

 

“Okay Yena. I’ll take good care of Yuri for you.” She smirked and she gave me two big thumbs up.

 

 

I smiled back at her.

 

 

It looked like she knew something.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

[[YURI’S POV]]

 

 

“Yuri-yaaah! Yuri-yaaah!”

 

 

 

“Yuuurriiii. Wooohhooo! Can you hear meeee?”

 

 

 

I slowly opened my eyes.

 

 

I saw Sian’s weird creepy face staring at me.

 

 

 

So I closed my eyes again.

 

 

“Yaah! Don’t pretend you didn’t wake up! I have good news for you.” She handed me the plastic cup of water. I opened my eyes again. I still felt a little dizziness.

 

“What the hell. Can’t you just ask me first if I’m okay?” I suggested then took a sip of water.

 

“Why would I? I still could see that you’re alive though.” She replied. I playfully hit her arm. She helped me stood up from the ground. The staff called us to go back inside the main studio to continue the filming.

 

“Anyway, do you remember anything a while ago before you passed out?” Sian asked me while we’re walking on our way back. She’s really anticipating my answer. I took my time thinking about what happened.

 

Hmmm. About what happened?

 

 

What the hell really happened again a while ago?

 

 

 

Oh .

 

 

I remember.

 

 

“What you were thinking right now is right.” Sian teasingly winked at me. I playfully hit her arm again. She really loved to tease me a lot about Yena. I didn’t have any idea why she always did that to me.

 

We reached the studio, but we didn’t enter yet. We’re just standing on the side. We were waiting for the performance of this group of trainees to end so we wouldn’t interrupt the ongoing filming. I mindlessly looked at Yena’s direction. I couldn’t understand why my mind automatically looked for her. Suddenly, I felt two hands behind my back on my cheeks and turned my head back again at the stage.

 

“Yuri. You’re too obvious. Sensei will teach you later how to stare without being caught”

[[a/n: Sensei (Japanese word) = teacher]]

 

Sian winked at me and I softly hit her with my elbow. I lightly shook my head while biting my lower lip. This girl was really unbelievable. The performance and grade evaluation ended. We quietly walked on our way up. I saw Yena taking a quick nap. She must be really tired. I really wanted to personally thank her for what she did for me a while ago. When we both sat down, we saw Gyu Ri and Eun Young were worried at us.

 

“What happened to the both of you? Why did it take so long before you guys came back?” Eun Young asked.

 

“Something interesting happened.” Sian replied enthusiastically.

 

“Really? What is it?” Gyu Ri joined them.

 

I’m just listening to their conversation because I’m still recovering myself. I’m not in the mood to talk about it yet so I’ll just let Sian do the talking, even if I knew I shouldn’t let her because she spilled so much information.

 

“This is what happened.” Sian turned to Eun Young and hugged her dramatically and she acted she fainted while on Eun Young’s arm. Eun Young was confused and had no idea what Sian was doing while Gyu Ri was holding her laughter. I put my hand on my face to hide my embarrassment. I really don’t know what to do with Sian anymore. This girl was really a crackhead.

 

The filming continued. Every time passed by, I started to lose control of my nervousness.

 

“Next batch of trainees, please come down.” The staff announced. We’re about to perform next. My hands were shaking a little bit when we stood up. I saw Sian turned her head at me with a creepy smile to check if I’m looking again at Yena. I poked her head back. Seriously this girl, she always told me not to be so obvious when looking at Yena but she’s actually the one who’s making it more obvious. I saw her waved at Yena, and Yena politely waved back. What the hell. Since when did these two become close? We carefully walked our way down and went to the backstage.

 

“Trainees, please come in” Trainer Soyou said.

 

We heard other people talking about us. Well, not clearly but we know they were. The judges interviewed us a bit then we started the performance.

 

After the performance, Trainer Lee Hong Ki asked me to sing any song because they wanted to evaluate my singing skills. I paused for a while and led the crowd to clap along with me. I started to sing.

 

In the middle of my solo performance, I got motivated when I saw her happily clapping along. It felt like she blessed me with her vibrant energy. After my solo performance, the trainers were having a quick discussion.

 

“We’ll now announce the individual grades for Stone Music trainees.” Trainer Cheetah announced.

 

 

“The one who got an A”

 

 

“is Trainee Jo Yuri”

 

 

I was really surprised. I didn’t expect it at all. I was just expecting I would get a B or C. Trainer Cheetah also announced the grade of my co-trainees. Gyu Ri got B while Sian and Eun Young got C. We went backstage to put the stickers of our grade on our name tag. The staff led us to the room at the backstage for a quick interview.

 

“Congratulations Yuri! This must be a double celebration for you.” Sian whispered at me while we were walking with her arm around my shoulder.

 

 

“What do you mean?”

 

 

“First, you got an A. Second, it means you will be together in the same class.”

 

 

 

Oh . She’s right.

 

 

I was so caught up with my emotions that it totally slipped out of my mind that Yena got an A too.

 

 

I froze for a little bit.

 

 

“Good luck Yuri. Don’t get too distracted at her so our trainers won’t scold you.” Sian teasingly patted my shoulder.

 

 

We went inside the room and we did our individual interview. After that, we went back inside the main studio again to finish the whole filming. When all trainees performed and got their own individual grade, the trainers announced the title of the track that we would all perform. It’s called ‘Pick Me! Nekkoya!’ We listened to it for the first time and we we’re really surprised when the song was a mixed of Korean and Japanese lyrics. We’re even much more surprised when they announced that we only have three days to memorize everything. Produce 48 is much more really difficult than Idol School. After that, we picked up our bags and went straight to the dorms. Our roommates were assigned at random, so I really had no idea who would be my roommates. While walking inside with bunch of trainee at the hallway inside the dorm, I suddenly bumped into someone and something fell off my bag.

 

 

“Oh. I’m so sorry.” She picked it from the ground. I looked at her face when she stood up, and I found out it was Yena. We were both surprised when we saw each other’s faces. She immediately turned her head down and observed the thing on her hand for a while before giving it back to me without looking at me. I accepted it back.

 

 

“Ummm. By the way, I would like to thank you for what you had done for me a while ago. I mean, you know.. at the backstage.”

 

 

“You… Yo.. you’re wel.. welcome.” She nodded and she still avoiding having eye contact with me.

 

 

“Is there anything I can do for you to repay your kindness?” I continued.

 

 

She didn’t respond.

 

 

“Ummm. To be honest, this hair tie is not mine. I just saw it at the parking lot outside.” I still resumed the conversation, because I really felt we were in an awkward situation.

 

 

“Thi.. thi.. this is miii… mine.” She murmured. She’s still staring at the ground.

 

 

“Oh. Really? Here you go. I’m happy this will return to its original owner.” I handed it back and I smiled at her even though I knew she won’t looked at me.

 

 

 

She looked at my hand, and she closed it with her hand.

 

 

 

I could felt the warmth of her hand on my knuckles.

 

 

 

What is this feeling?

 

 

 

It felt different.

 

 

 

 

Oh no.

 

 

 

 

Please no.

 

 

 

 

Not this time around.

 

 

She paused for a while and took a deep breath.

 

 

 

“Keep it.” She said firmly. I was surprised because she didn’t stuttered and murmured this time.

 

 

 

“I uhhh… But why?”

 

 

 

She took her time and she removed her hand off my hand.

 

 

 

“Keep it and take good care of it. That’s how you will repay my kindness to you.”

 

 

 

I nodded. “Okay. I will.” I kept on smiling at her even though my heart was going crazy. I couldn’t comprehend.

 

 

 

“Thank you so much for this.” I inserted the hair tie on my right hand.

 

 

 

She sighed before speaking up again.

 

 

 

“I wanted to tell you something.”

 

 

 

“Okay. Sure. What is it?”

 

 

She finally met my eyes.

 

 

 

It felt like everything was going through slow motion.

 

 

 

She opened and I heard her voice again.

 

 

 

“I like you.”

 

 

[[a/n: HOHOHO. I’ll try to update every two or three days. Because my plan is to finish this book before IZ*ONE debuts. But I’m not really sure yet. I hope you like this chapter because I really feel sick for two days already when I wrote this. I will rest again after I release this. Thank you for reading. I hope you like this chapter. Tell me your thoughts about it. xoxo]]

Follow me on instagram and twitter: @yenaxyuri

 

REFERENCES:

Stone Music Trainees Performance + Yuri's Solo Performance

 

Yena Clapping Along at Yuri's Solo Performance