As promised, you spent more time with Seulgi when you got back. She took you to the BBQ place not too far from the dorm because she had promised to treat you wherever you wanted to eat, and that was where you wanted to go. It was nice to catch up, just the two of you because even though you lived together, you didn't really interact much so it was nice to talk more deeply about both of your lives and whatever problems you both might have. At some point, Seulgi brought up a topic that you were completely unaware of.

"So, I have been asked to do a special stage for the upcoming award we're going to attend." Your eyes widened in surprise, squeals escaping your lips. You tried to hold it in but what can you do, you were excited for your sister.

Seulgi laughed out loud at your reaction, actually putting down her chopsticks so she could put a hand over to cover her loud laughs. 

"Unnie!" You were still wide-eyed at this point. "That's amazing! Why didn't I know about this?!" 

She laughed again before cooling down and giving you her signature grin. "You've been away for a week and I didn't want to tell you over the phone! You actually would've been mad if I did." 

You paused. "True. You do know me after all," you couldn't help but tease. 

That got her to hit you on the arm which caused you to laugh. "But seriously, that's amazing. You deserve it, Unnie." You honestly couldn't help the proud look and love eyes you were giving her. 

If the fans saw you they would've thought Seulgi just told you she was in love with you or something. 

Seulgi couldn't help but coo. "Aw, you're too sweet, Eli-ah. Thank you." 

You gave her your dimpled smile. "Well, what are you going to be doing then? Singing? Dancing? Both? Are you going to collaborate with anyone?" It sounded like you were interrogating her it was quite funny. 

Seulgi giggled. "Slow down, Eli. I'll tell you everything, okay? Continue eating before that gets cold," she reminded before nodding towards the food in front of you. 

You agreed, picking your chopsticks back up. "Right. Please continue," you gestured for her to continue while resuming your eating session. Seulgi just shook her head in amusement. 

"I was asked not too long ago, as you know, and they've asked me to actually recruit whoever I want to perform with me." She grinned towards you as you let out a muffled, excited squeal. 

"Have you decided on who you want to perform with?" you asked after you swallowed your food. You honestly couldn't wait to see your sister perform on stage where she belongs. You hoped she would be dancing as that was your favourite type of performance of hers. You loved to see her dance because her love and passion for performing just shine through when she does. 

"At first, I thought I should perform with Joohyun-unnie but then I've always performed with her, you know? We've had duets since before we even debuted and I wanted to try something new," she paused and you couldn't help but hold your breath in anticipation, "then I thought about Seungwan but then again, I've had duets with her before so that was a no. So I tried to picture what I really want to do, what I want to showcase for the world to see and I could immediately see who would be on that stage with me." 

You couldn't hold it any longer. "Who, Unnie?" 

She gave you a sweet smile that gave you the answer. "You." 

You gasped in surprise as you dropped your chopsticks. "M-me?" you stuttered. 

Seulgi giggled. "Yes, you." 

"But... but..." you sputtered, "why me?"

Seulgi shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, we've never performed together before, just the two of us, and I really want to see my little sister up there with me. What could be a more perfect setting than that?" 

You stayed silent and Seulgi knew what you were thinking immediately. She might be slow sometimes but not when it comes to you.

"I meant what I said, you know. I immediately saw you on that stage with me, performing a dance routine that I have created and you will get to showcase your charismatic, deep voice there. You're perfect for it." She looked at you with the most sincere gaze you've ever seen. It's not like you doubt her or anything, it's her choice that you're questioning. 

"Still, why? I'm not the best dancer and my voice is not that special, Unnie. Why would you want to showcase that?" Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you stared at her. You couldn't help but wonder. 

It was her turn to be confused. "Why wouldn't I? Because you're not the best dancer, you worked so hard that people think that you were the lead dancer, right after me. Your voice makes our group sound unique and you have a really nice, deep voice that not many idols have," she paused, trying to make you digest what she was saying, "why wouldn't I want to show the world how talented my little sister is?" 

With that, you couldn't help but feel touched. Here she was, one of the best dancers and idols in the third generation, trying to convince you to perform with her because she thought you were the perfect person to do so. 

You couldn't love your sister more, at this point. 

"Seulgi-unnie, that means a lot coming from you," you took her hand in yours, "when do we start?" 

She let out a gasp then a squeal, standing up from her seat to hug you tight. 

"Thank you, dongsaeng. This means a lot to me." 

You hugged her back, smiling against her shoulder. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I won't let you down." 

Hearing that, Seulgi hugged you tighter whilst shaking her head in disagreement. "I know you won't." 

When you agreed to this, you knew it wouldn't be easy. It was hard enough for you to pick up new dances, let alone to do it in such a short period of time. This performance was so close to your comeback that you had to learn two new dance routines that were equally difficult and had completely different vibes. Seulgi's known for her strong, masculine dance moves (more like boy groups) and you totally vibe with that except you're not as good as her so if you want to look at least equal next to her, you would have to work a lot harder than you usually do and that's saying a lot. 

"Eli, have you taken a single break since you started?" Irene found you in the studio you've booked for the rest of the night, trying to perfect your dance moves for the special performance. 

"I will when I finish, Unnie." You continued to focus on your dance. The performance was right around the corner and you didn't have a lot of time to perfect your dance, with your comeback and everything. That left you with practising right after comeback practices with only water breaks in between. You've been doing this for the past two weeks and Irene was starting to see the toll it had on you. 

Irene sighed but continued to watch you practice, noticing the fatigue on your face and the amount of sweat you were producing. When the song ended, she quickly went to the laptop attached to the speaker and stopped the music before it could start again. 

"Okay, break time. Come on, I brought you energy drinks." 

You heaved a breath before attempting to deny the break. "But Unnie—" 

"No buts, Elizabeth." Irene gave you a glare, making you sigh in defeat and walked towards her. "Come sit with me." 

You sat down whilst still breathing heavily, trying to sit upright so you wouldn't make your back uncomfortable. Due to the amount of dancing you've been doing, your back was starting to hurt and you had done nothing to fix it, except the stretching you do after every practice. You just had to power through it until the performance then you'd go straight to pilates or yoga. That always helps. 

You took the drink Irene had prepared and closed your eyes in bliss. Irene, on the other hand, kept a close eye on you and noticed how you wouldn't relax your posture, even when you were sitting casually. 

She immediately knew what was wrong. 

"Your back's hurting, isn't it?" 

Your eyes widened in surprise and you choked slightly on your drink before putting it down, wiping your mouth and trying to act nonchalant. "No, no, it's fine. Why?" 

Irene kept her intense stare on you, making you gulp. "You can't lie to me, Eli. I've been there before." 

You sighed, it really didn't take long for Irene to make you let down your facade. She knows you too well. 

 "It's hurting, right? It feels like something is stabbing your back constantly." 

You looked down before eventually looking into Irene's eyes. "Yes, Unnie. It hurts." 

Irene sighed, hating to see you hurt but she also understood where you were coming from. As she said, she'd been there before. 

"Why didn't you tell me? I would've helped you stretch or something so it wouldn't hurt as much." You could only look away, both of you knowing the answer to the question. 

"You gotta tell me these things, Eli-ah. Opening up, remember? You know I won't judge you." 

You still couldn't look her in the eyes. "I know, Unnie. I just don't want Seulgi-unnie to know and then feel guilty about it when it's not her fault." 

It was silent for a bit, Irene knowing you were right. Seulgi would feel guilty about it and probably force you to cancel the whole thing as she wouldn't want you to hurt any further. 

"Well, I know now so I can help you. We'll keep this from Seulgi but you have to promise me to take better care of yourself, alright? You look so exhausted Seulgi is probably already suspecting you're overworking yourself." 

You let out an exhausted sigh but nodded nonetheless, letting out a tired but genuine smile directed towards Irene. "I promise, Unnie." 

Irene finally let out a smile, side-hugging you. "Good, let's stretch your body then finish for the night. You already got the steps perfectly." 

You were about to protest but knowing she was giving genuine feedback, you agreed. Now you knew the extent of what Tiffany had said. She'd probably call you right after this. 

It was the night of the award and everyone was anticipating Seulgi and your performance. ReVeluvs had been tweeting and talking about this performance for weeks, saying how it was finally time for you to show the dancer side of you and how Seulgi chose the right person to perform with. You were thankful for both Seulgi and the fans. 

When all of you got to the venue, fans were screaming left and right and you couldn't help but feel nervous but happy at the same time. Seulgi knew you were nervous so she took your hand and hold it in hers for the duration of the red carpet, making the fans scream even louder and camera flashes happened faster. 

When it was time to go inside the venue, a fan screamed out "good luck for the performance, Seulgi and Eli! Not that you need it!" which caused both of you to look at each other and grin, waving to the fans in appreciation. That really boosted your confidence. 

Your performance would be towards the middle of the award shows and you would be getting ready about an hour before it, making you and Seulgi leave your group's table. Before that though, Irene made all of you huddle together in between the commercial breaks, not really caring about what the others would think. 

"Seulgi, Eli, enjoy your performance, alright? You both had worked so hard for this and you deserve every praise you'll get." She ended the speech with a sweet smile, making you smile back. 

"Don't worry about messing up, okay? We all know you'll do great and even if you do, we'll be proud of you both either way." Wendy gave her signature encouraging movements and smiled, making you grin. 

"Thank you, Appa," you couldn't help but let out, making the rest of you laugh with the loudest laugh being Irene's. The fans who heard it screamed in response. 

You wonder how they could hear anything at this rate. Everything was just so loud. 

Wendy just shook her head with a smile on her face, letting your joke slide. 

"Go kill it!" both Joy and Yeri screamed out, making the rest of you pump out and let out screams as well which led to the fans screaming. 

It was a funny chain reaction. 

"We love you. Go get ready." With that, both you and Seulgi got up and went backstage, not before you gave your "parents" a quick hug though. 

Right before you had to get up on the stage, you turned to Seulgi to see she was already looking at you. She looked you in the eyes, giving you her signature eye smile.

"I got this," both of you said at the same time, bumping your fists together.

All the support from your members and the fans made you nail the performance which earned you a surprising amount of praise, both from the people at the awards and the internet. 

You hugged your sister at the end of the performance. "Thank you, Unnie. You're the best." 

She hugged you back. "Wouldn't have it any other way."