[A/N]

Sooooooooo you know how I said that this would be the final edit for this chapter?

Well, I lied.

If you've noticed, I've separated the chapter and made it a two-parter. I felt that was the more 'correct' way to do things, so I did it. I might change it back or add more to the chapter if I change my mind or randomly get inspiration.

And no, this story is not dead. I've just been busy with work and school starting back up. I haven't gotten any inspiration to write much more. I've decided to post this story since I've constantly been reworking these chapters. I've revised this chapter alone about 20-30+ times already, and I STILL want to add more content, fix grammar, etc., on this.

If you have gotten updates from this story, but haven't seen anything, apologizes.

And well, LET'S GET IT.

“So? How'd you like that?” She grinned widely, clasping her hands together, looking in expectation.

The duo was situated in the back of the minivan cuddling (more like Momo latching onto Jieun’s arm, but details) on their way to their destination.

“Aish unnie, you could’ve just asked in a more normal way!” Jieun complained once she got out of the order’s grip and smacked Momo's arm, in which the latter yelped. “Like, 'hey maknae wanna go grab dinner?' Now I gotta make it up to the members laters, or they’re gonna be sulking for days on end!” Jieun grumbled off, not wanting to look at the person who caused her all this unnecessary trouble.

“You know I’ve got a flair for the dramatics, Ji,” she latched the younger's arm again in an intertwined fashion, but not before she whipped her hair dramatically like in one of those hair commercials.

That fabulous hair smacking the younger right in the face, which she bit down and pulled on to with no plans of letting go.

“OWWWWWWW, let go, model-chan!!!! You’re gonna scalp meeeeee,” Momo whined out in pain as the younger continued pulling, trying to vent all her frustrations out on the woman.

Jieun and Momo's relationship was really unique. It was weird, funny, overly dramatic, and many other similar adjectives.

Their topics would vastly range in subject matter, with a main sequence following what they're talking about. It would range from anything and everything they always wondered about or is stuck in their minds.

In a way, it was to alleviate those thoughts that boggled their minds, to clear up and get rid of those intruding thoughts, to collect and sort out their ideas and help them stay focused for the day and maybe, just maybe get an answer to what they pondered about.

It was a thought-provoking exercise that broke the monotony of idol life of doing the same thing over and over again, even if it was a random conversation between each other most of the time.

It kept things interesting, kept their brains alive and creative, and most of all, it was fun and exhilarating with how sudden things were. It kept them both on their toes.

It was something they can both look forward to every day.

From the ongoing, miserable routines that they have to do on a daily; It’s pretty refreshing to have these sorts of late-night arrangements with one another, even if it's a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing.

Alone with each other, side by side in a cruel world that's meant to break you down.

Getting away from responsibilities as idols just for one night. Away from catering and pandering to their fans, away from all the judgment of faceless nobodies behind a screen. Away from creepers constantly trying to find their personal info, to even stalking them. Away from all of them, even for just a little while. Getting away from being members of a top girl group of a leading company for one night.

All the pains of such an unfair world are washed away as the duo are at one another’s side.

Giving each other quiet reassurance that everything is going to pass, it'll get better eventually over time, that there’ll be a brighter future.

It was pretty poetic now that she thinks about it.

In the bustling streets of Seoul, as they sat in the vehicle going to their destination, just vibing and being comfortable with each other. The atmosphere made Momo nostalgic bringing her back to the time she and the maknae first bonded.

[FLASHBACK START]

Momo and Jieun groaned at the upcoming chore they had to do.

They didn't have much food or snacks since they recently moved into their new dorm. So someone needed to get groceries for their new dorm while the others unpack and clean. Since they both lost in Rock Paper Scissors, they were paired up to go to a nearby store.

Going into this task, they knew it was going to be painfully awkward. The duo has never been alone together. So when Momo and Jieun found out that they were paired together, they grimaced.

During EIGHTEEN, Jieun and Momo were pitted against each other as rivals alongside Jihyo. When they were announced in the group's final lineup at the end of the show, they didn't overthink it much.

But now that all the adrenaline is gone and they sobered up from the show's hype, it left nothing but awkwardness between the two of them. Not to mention that their first impressions of one another were hard to get rid of.

Momo knew nothing of the youngest except that she was exceptionally gorgeous, super talented, and reached number one in the show, and the same goes for Jieun as well. She only knew Momo as an exceptional dancer, her dance rival, and the person who came back in the final lineup due to PD-nim's recommendation.

Nothing else besides that.

Thinking back about the survival show, Jieun couldn’t conjure up any other memories besides her supposed rivalry between the Japanese member and the now dubbed leader. EIGHTEEN was such a blur to her as all she could do was focus on the task at hand and doing whatever it took to survive, even if things were stacked up against her.

'Well, just got to it up and deal with it,'  the both of them thought as they resigned to the positions they were forced into while they got on their shoes and out of the dorm.

The journey to the convenience store was relatively uneventful. They walked quickly to their destination to get this task over with. That summer night felt oddly calm and quiet as they could only hear the cicadas chirping in these usually bustling streets of Seoul. It was somewhat peaceful for once, though it was near dawn when they came out, so that could be the reason why the roads were so empty, probably.

When they reached the store, Momo randomly went off to god knows where while Jieun was diligently checking off the list of groceries and snacks they needed to get.

While fetching the items, she was surprised when she heard a few clunks and saw green bottles placed in their cart's basket adding to the weight.

Jieun knew what it was but didn't think much of it. She reasoned that maybe the older was going through some things and needed a stress reliever.

She shook her head and refocused on the task.

After buying everything, they decided to take a break outside the store and get a couple of snacks to chow down before returning to the dorm.

As they were waiting for their ramen to heat up, Momo went and grabbed a few bags, opening them up, revealing those green bottles again.

The girl nearly poured out the whole bottle into the two paper cups and urged the maknae to drink some with her. “Hirai-san, you do realize that I’m a minor, right? What would the press say about you giving drinks to a minor?” The maknae politely declined since she knew the after-effects that the alcohol could do to people. She knows about the side effects of the alcohol and how it messes with the senses and increases reckless behavior, as shown by her manager at the time or from random pedestrians on the street who were knocked out cold with those same bottles scattered around them.

Also, having an idol that has recently debuted in a highly anticipated group amongst the Big 4 companies would be catastrophic. Drinking illegally as a minor would lead to rumors and threats spreading about her being some sort of Iljin thug that would definitely bring bad press to the group.

She didn't want that.

But it seems that Momo didn’t care about that.

“Please, Jieun-sshi, I just have this weird feeling that we need to do this to be more open to each other. I don’t want to be uncomfortable with you, especially since we’ll be working together for a long time. This will be my first time too…” Momo opened up, not making eye contact with the younger, in favor of finicking with the bottle cap off of the bottle, but her attempt didn't work. "Also, we just debuted, so it should be fine with the paparazzi," she tried to convince her after looking up at her unwilling expression while she looked around and didn’t see anyone in their vicinity.

"But we're a part of JYP, one of the Big 4 companies, so there would be a lot of attention on us, especially as a fourth-gen group and being the first girl group debuting from the company in a long time,” she declined again with a sigh. “Also, there could be undercover reporters that we don't know of,” she pointed out.

They went back and forth, but in the end, Jieun accepted the cup. Jieun wasn’t sure how it turned out this way. Maybe it was because Momo kept reassuring her with those evil, soul-crushing puppy eyes, or perhaps it was because she unknowingly wanted to be closer to someone else that wasn’t her childhood best friend or Tzuyu. Maybe it was that she was exhilarated by the fact she was rebelling for the first time in her life, doing something Jieun actually chose to do instead of someone telling her to do it (besides Momo). Maybe it was out of pure curiosity with how she’ll act when she’s drunk, or perhaps because she was too tired to argue back. Perhaps it was a combination of all those things altogether.

'Here goes nothing…'  she followed the older's actions and cheers before taking the whole drink in one shot. She immediately felt sick and recoiled from the unknown feeling she was having, needing to cough haphazardly from downing the entire cup. One-shot became another, and another until they went through all the bottles they bought.

The night continued on, with their ramen left untouched that night.

[FLASHBACK END]

“Unnie!” Momo snapped out of her thoughts. “Yah, you stopped talking. Are you okay? What’re you thinking about?” And Momo realized that their faces were way too close for comfort. Wonder and concern were painted on the models' face, she could see the light dimples on her cheeks to the slight mole under her eyes, and the intoxicating scent of her perfume left her in a daze.

“Just reminiscing the first time we got close to one another.” Momo had a wistful smile on her face as she looked away to try and hide the flush that was burning her face.

“Hmm, fun times, right?” Jieun had a reminiscent smile on her face as she went back to those memories.

“Yeah…” she softly smiled as she placed her head on the taller’s shoulder. Remembering that was when she learned that Jieun was a heavyweight and also the first time she puked.

But still a memorable night together.

“Yeah... thinking back to those times, I sometimes wish we can go back, where we didn’t have these hectic schedules. When our lives were simple. Where all we had to think about were evaluations. Things were simpler back then...” Momo kept reminiscing back to the old days, where all they had to worry about was lessons and memorizing dances.

And now the members had so much responsibility that they almost have to second guess everything they say, act, and even ridiculous things like where they look!

Every single action they do is criticized under a tiny microscope. There is no room for error just when they’re idols under the spotlight.

But Jieun vehemently disagrees.

“I personally do not want to go through all the blood, sweat, and tears and unneeded stress again. Do you really want to go back to a time where you’re uncertain if you’re even going to debut or not? Where you’re stuck in a limbo of deciding to quit or keep pursuing your dream even when there’s a huge chance that you won’t get it?" She questioned.

"I’m just thanking my lucky stars that we are even in this position in the first place,"

Jieun continued, "While it's nice to look back at the past and remember it fondly, you need to keep your head up high and move forward. I will not trade all our experiences and heartache to do this all over again. We’re at the top of our careers nee-chan. We're still in our prime and are getting better every day. I don’t want to go through all those years of hardships all over again,” She passionately said, looking directly into the olders' eyes. Jieun even mentioned the olders’ pet name, which she typically reserves only for her whenever they're alone together.

Momo softly smiled at that. But from her sentiments, it seems that Jieun did have those same thoughts and insecurities, but she decided to keep them where they were; in the past.

If she didn't, she assumed, she would let those wondering thoughts run rampant, with the result of leaving her stagnant. But as the Captain and Second Leader of the group, she had to pick the members up, empower, elevate, and grow them, and walk them through this uncertain road, together.

Momo will walk to the ends of the earth with her dongsaeng and her members, she decided.

She already made her mind when she had returned to the group, and it never changed.

Momo hummed, still sporting that wistful smile on her face, before turning into a more teasing grin.

“…Ara ara, our dongsaeng is quite a philosopher, isn’t she?” she accepted her statement. She decided to cuddle more into her embrace, inhaling the models comforting scent as the two were still on their way to their destination. She felt warm inside, knowing that she wasn’t the only one who gets that way. But she didn't want the younger to know about her other worries, thinking back to her actions earlier that night.

Internally, Momo was a tad bit ashamed of how flamboyant she was in ge