It was tense. During the day the girls spent all their effort in learning the new group formations and special dance breaks created by their choreographers. They had little breaks in between and only stopped to snack on little bits of bread to keep them going. It was hectic to say at least. But they knew that this is what it took to rise to the top and with that in mind, they fought through the sweat and pain and continued to practice making all their fans and haters alike, gasp at their performance they were going to put on.

When it hit 10’Oclock at night, all the girls were dismissed and were aloud to go home and rest up. Only two girls remained in the practice room. The very same girls who dreaded having to talk about making up a duo dance without being too obvious about their feelings.

‘’I want you two to have a deep talk and when I come back you guys better have in mind what you want to convey in that dance.’’ Their instructor said sternly, closing the door loudly, leaving them staring at their shoes like a couple of statues.

Chaeyeon was the first to move from her spot. Opting to slid her back down the huge mirror they often faced in endless practices. Sakura sat down where she was and played with her shoe laces, they both didn’t talk for a solid 5 minutes.

The older girl spoke up first, her voice timid and serious. Chaeyeon didn’t like the tone at all, she wanted the playful Sakura to talk to her.

‘’I don’t want to do anything too hard…I’m afraid I might make you look bad in front of all those people. What if I mess up? That would really be bad for our group….’’ She admitted. Sakura had these thoughts every time they performed. She didn’t want to let her group down but at the same time she wanted to challenge herself to prove the haters wrong. In fact, she was looking forward to performing Rumour at MAMA Japan because she wanted to see all those reactions to her hard work.

However, this was different. This was different in its own right. She was going to dance with Chaeyeon. Lee Chaeyeon of IZ*ONE. One of the leading talented dancers of the new generation of K-pop. Fans around the world wouldn’t take lightly to this, she knew she was going to be judged by their fellow artists as well. Normally she wouldn’t care about such expectations but ever since joining a K-pop group, her standards have now been adjusted to fit the local system. Half-assed movements in her routines were a great hinderance to the overall result. She wouldn’t dare half- this once in a life time opportunity to dance with someone as important to her as Chaeyeon.

Chaeyeon, on the other hand, was more worried about conveying the right feelings through the dance. She was hard stuck on how she could possibly explain to her best friend how her feelings were more than just friendly and how she had wanted to just swoop her up and shush her with a kiss. But it wasn’t as simple as that. She couldn’t just waltz on stage and announce her feelings in front of the widespread public. No. It would never be that simple.

The experienced dancer wanted to wipe that frown off her crush’s face. When Sakura got like this, she had the other girls to back her point up, saying how the oldest Japanese member shouldn’t worry about such things. But she was by herself this time. By herself in a room with just Sakura. She felt useless just looking at the older girl break down in front of her. If she was honest, she couldn’t quite understand why Sakura was so careful about this performance compared to others. Sakura just seems like the type to get on with it and try the best that she can.

‘So why would this be any different?’ Chaeyeon thought to herself. The younger girl started doubting their feelings. ‘What if she doesn’t want to dance with me? What if it’s because she doesn’t really like me that much and now, she feels burdened? It would be really awkward to have a stage dedicated when you don’t like the other person all that much….’

Inside, Chaeyeon felt like she was suffocating. She couldn’t breathe with all this tension in the room. Her doubts were making her feel like she was being weighed down by a boulder and she was known to fly off like a feather. This wasn’t like her. She hadn’t even been outright rejected yet but she was feeling like she had just been dumped by a long-term lover.

The Korean girl couldn’t take it anymore and held her chin up high as she spoke to her crush. ‘’Sakura.’’ She called out. As soon as Sakura made eye contact with her, she wanted to back down immediately, but she held it in and carried on. ‘’I like you. I want everyone to know that.’’ Chaeyeon wanted to smack herself for being too vague and when Sakura gave her reaction, she wanted to dig a hole and hide.

‘’Eh? Well I like you too but isn’t that what we’re stuck on?’’ The oblivious Japanese girl tilted her head adorably and Chaeyeon couldn’t concentrate with all that cuteness radiating off Sakura like that.

‘’No-no, I mean, yes b-but I like you…’’ She stuttered. Inside, she wished she had Yujin’s confidence when it came to talking to people or just Yena’s forwardness to be able to confront someone.

Even Sakura got a little bit frustrated on what Chaeyeon was trying to say to her. ‘’I know that, I like you too but that still doesn’t solve how we want the people-‘’

‘’I like you as more than a friend!’’ Chaeyeon blurted out, her eyes tightly shut and her fists clenching her oversized t-shirt into a bunch inside her hands. The sudden outburst left Sakura completely stunned to silence and she took a few minutes to process what her friend had said to her.

Sakura wasn’t saying anything, so t