Nayeon woke up in bed, feeling emptier than a bag of air. Saturday's happenstance was still fresh in her mind, that unnecessary argument between her and Jeongyeon replaying constantly like a broken record. Pounding her head with the base of her hand, she wanted it to stop. A slight sting came to her chest as the memory came back to her in a heated flash. Jeongyeon's words resonated through her head.

Not everything is about you, Nabongs.

Her words cut deeper than a knife. Watching Jeongyeon leave her confounded in the parking lot made her feel insignificant. It was like at that moment, Jeongyeon's world no longer revolved around her and Jihyo replaced her, being the brightest star in her galaxy. She seemed like she had Jeongyeon wrapped around her finger and ever since they met, Jeongyeon's interest transferred to her. Nayeon knew she shouldn't feel that way and she had nothing against Jihyo. But that hole in her chest started forming as soon as Jeongyeon kept slowly slipping away from her grasp. Now, the pair weren't speaking to each other and passed by like it was nothing.

Momo couldn't get through to either of the two. Both of them being the utmost of hardheads, they were set in their own ways. They won't talk to each other unless the other one initiates it. Since it didn't look like any of those kids were about to break away from their tough shells and make up with each other, Momo couldn't do anything about it. Talking to both of them didn't do much good either. Jeongyeon would rant about how Nayeon was being selfish and Nayeon argued how Jeongyeon should be more considerate with how she feels.

Today was the moment Nayeon had anticipated for some time. With all the emotional stress she inquired from Jeongyeon, the realization that she was to sing the National Anthem at Friday's football game nearly slipped her mind. She hadn't practiced since that one time when Jeongyeon came over, but according to Momo, Nayeon's vocals were phenomenal that practicing wouldn't be needed. Even so, Nayeon was a greater wreck than before.

During times of crisis, Jeongyeon would be her go-to for almost anything. The incompatible feeling of complete isolation foreign to Nayeon and thinking about Jeongyeon never speaking to her scared Nayeon to death. Momo became her designated emotional-supporter and half of the time, Nayeon bawled her eyes out while Momo shushed her and rubbed her back. She was never really keen with words and comforting people wasn't her area.

Another tear was about to slip when her phone sent out a small ding. Recollecting herself, she cleared , vigorously kneading her face out of frustration. The day was already starting off poorly and she hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. With a heavy sigh, Nayeon threw the covers from her body, her feet hitting the floor to look for her bedroom slippers.

Just then, she remembered about the text message. "Oh, yeah. Alexa, read the text message out to me."

"One new message from Jeong: Hey, good luck today <3 Sent 3 minutes ago."

Nayeon took a sharp intake of breath. She felt that familiar gutted sensation like getting hit in the stomach. Hearing the voice enunciate the less than three, the heart emoji, made Nayeon a tad bit livelier. It could be a sign that in a way, Jeongyeon was implying that she wanted to make amends and stop whatever nonsense caused them to distance from each other. The animatronic voice awoke Kookeu, who perked up by looking at his conscious owner.

Nayeon picked him up and asked in a doughy tone, "Should I reply to Jeongyeon, Kookeu?"

The dog panted in reply, breathing loudly with his tongue sticking out. He let out a tiny bark, staring back at a hopeful Nayeon.

"But then if she texted me good luck this early then that would mean she still isn't gonna talk to me in person."

At that point, Nayeon wasn't waiting for Kookeu to bark a response to her. She continuously the back of the dog and slowly his eyes would flutter, about to relax into another nap. Nayeon groaned and slammed both of her fists on the bed. She had decided not to reply to Jeongyeon's text. Thinking of a deeper explanation for it started to make Nayeon anxious. She hated the sudden wall that was built between them.

"Jeongyeon, you stupid idiot. Let go of your pride." Nayeon's words were slightly muffled into the sheets.

Kookeu nearly jumped out of his fur when Nayeon slammed her fists down. He snapped at her, springing off the bed and trotted back to his.

"Ahh, sorry Kookeu. You're not mad, right? You're gonna help me pick out a good outfit and not take revenge on me by making me go out looking like a clown even though I feel like one." Nayeon's apprehension only heightened. 
















 

Besides not speaking to Jeongyeon, Nayeon started driving to school. Momo had offered to pick her up but Nayeon declined, taking many factors into consideration. For starters, Momo lived farther away from the school than both Nayeon and Jeongyeon combined. Plus, Momo had a heavy amount of absences and would often by late to class. There were times where she doesn't come to school until lunchtime and continues the rest of her classes. It wasn't the same as car rides with Jeongyeon. There was just something about Jeongyeon trying to get Nayeon's feet off the dashboard and them arguing at stoplights about when the light was going to turn green that made Nayeon beam up. She felt safe with Jeongyeon. Momo was a reckless driver, too.

Setting her foot into the building, Nayeon received quite a few greetings. Some would smile at her as she went for her locker. Being acknowledged for whatever reason Nayeon had yet to be aware of made her suspicious. Tzuyu must've done something that has to do with me. Nayeon twisted her combination on the lock, popping it right off. She lazily felt around for her English book, stuffing in the rest of her notebooks she'd later come back for.

The last of her textbooks went in when a light tap came on to the locker to the left of her's. Nayeon exploited the element of surprise and no longer jumped at any surprise sound or encounter that she met. Tzuyu's a bit softer today, I assuming she just finished stealing some kid's lunch money. She closed her locker and grabbed her bag, facing in the direction of the tap.

"Hey, Nayeon. Just wanted to say good luck today at the game. I kinda heard you practicing during lunch. You sound really great!"

Nayeon didn't expect anyone to be so kindly upfront with her. No one had ever spoken to her besides Jeongyeon and Momo, now Jihyo. This voice wasn't a stranger to her either. Racking her brain for the many voices she's heard before, Nayeon felt like she's encountered this person's presence wasn't new. She knew it was a girl, and from the low sound, she was extremely soft-spoken and quiet.

Squeezing her eyebrows together, to the point where she looked mad, Nayeon had the name on the tip of her tongue.

"Oh thank you, M--"

"Mina! There you are! We were just heading to.." Tzuyu appeared from a corner, her posse and Sana right behind her like a pack of fleas. "..the field."

Tzuyu's enthusiastic holler towards her friend slowly descended into a faint and confused whisper. The sight of someone from her crowd mingling with the likes of Nayeon, rubbed Tzuyu the wrong way and she didn't like seeing the counter one bit. It took her a solid minute to gather what was happening and even then, she wasn't sure what was going on between the two.

Nayeon could feel the dismissive towering of Tzuyu's shadow over the both of them. Mina shrunk behind her books, feeling incompetently smaller in size compared to Tzuyu's figure. Sana, and a few other people from Tzuyu's ensemble stood there, waiting for Tzuyu to make the next move.

Tzuyu put on an expressed that faked amusement. She tilted her head to both sides, cracking her neck so loudly that it echoed through the hollow corridors.

"What-what the is going on?" She wildly swished her hand back and forth to Nayeon and Mina.

"I-I-I was just complimenting Nayeon on her vo--"

"COMPLIMENTING HER? For what? Being blind?"

Before Mina could get a word out to manifestly answer her rhetori