Today was Valentine’s Day. All of the girls in the company were preparing for their gifts to be given to their favorite trainees who went through the same exercises with them. All except one. 

 

This certain girl had arrived two hours ago and was standing in front of one of the wall mirrors for a single purpose. Today is the day she will make her crush notice her once and for all. Despite the weird outfit she’s in of course.. 

 

A fish outfit named Nemo. 

 

For months people have been shipping her with her best friend Yves, but what frustrates the child the most is that her crush seemingly doesn’t seem to take any of her advances seriously. 

 

---

 

“JinSoul unnie, here’s a dry towel for you!” The girl excitedly hopped to the side of the drenched trainee after several hours of dancing non-stop.

 

“Thanks, but you don’t have to.” The girl nonchalantly placed the object over her shoulders, with the girl beside her barely containing her screams as she watched her crush use her personal item so well.

 

___ 

 

“Chuu, wanna go get water with me?” The dark-haired trainee smiled a little as she asked the younger girl to accompany her to the water cooler just a few steps outside their training rooms. 

 

“I would love to!” The girl then signaled to the other girls in the same room as her, trying to collect as many bottles as she could before walking together with her older senior. 

 

___

 

“Did you collect any chocolates this year?” JinSoul spoke as she cleared her bag for any leftover chocolate she received throughout the year from the other girls. 

 

“Yeah! I’ve got two. Both are from my close friends, who joined LOONA before I did.” Chuu thought about her answer carefully before speaking up. 

 

“Oh.. You mean Yves and another girl? May I know who she is?” The blond-haired girl poked at one of the choco-teddies placed on the table. 

 

“Kim Jungeun. Also known as Kim Lip, who was the girl before you, if I’m not wrong.” Chuu giggled at the stage-name her childhood friend was given. 

 

“Ah, Lip. No wonder you two seem close.” The girl’s voice wandered off towards the end, sparking interest in the penguin. 

 

“JinSoul unnie, are you alright?” Chuu watched as the senior stood up from the ground and faced the mirror once more. 

 

“Don’t worry about it too much. I already have someone else I like.” The penguin tried to save the situation but to no avail. 

 

“Hmm.. (Must be Yves)” The blue-betta stared at herself blankly in the mirror. 

 

---

 

Shaking any further doubts, the ‘fish’ sat in the training room waiting for her crush to appear in front of her. But what happened next seemed to annoy the hell out of the girl. 

 

“Oh-! Jiwoo, what are you doing dressed up like that?” Her friend from the same dancing academy found an empty spot near the girl and sat down beside her. 

 

“It’s none of your business.” The penguin was starting to get pouty as the girls around them were giving them glances, as well as chatters among them, rose increasingly. 

 

“Why are you so cold towards me lately?” Yves held out one of her hands and placed it on the girl’s face, knowing the latter wouldn’t reject her. However, she was shocked when she felt her hand being swatted away in that instant.

 

“Can’t you see that I’m already dressed up for someone else?” The girl was starting to get teary and the swan instantly knew what was going on.

 

“Why didn’t you say that earlier? I could’ve cheered you on.” Yves’ eyes turned into those of a first-love and whispered some techniques and as well as some words to the now-jittery girl when she heard that the person in check is going to come in soon enough. 

 

“Off you go! Don’t forget to give me credit as well!” And with that, the penguin is now on her own, standing outside of the room in an awkward outfit.

 

As the girl stood at the same spot with ideas flying across her brain simultaneously without a reason, her name was called out by a familiar voice. Before her brain finished processing the next few seconds, she found herself in the arms of her crush, who was staring into her eyes with profound concern. 

 

“Chuu, are you sick? You were just standing there for a long time. If you’re too tired to train today, you don’t have to com-” JinSoul suddenly fell silent as her eyes wandered over the penguin’s outfit. 

 

“Is.. Is-that-.. Are you dressing up for me?” The light bulb in the blue-betta’s mind lit up. Slowly realizing the situation she was in, she let out a soft chuckle. 

 

“Chuu, you could have just given me some chocolates to celebrate the occasion.” The older girl continued to wear a smile on her face as she refused to let go of her grip on the flustered penguin. 

 

“Please cuddle me a little longer..” The penguin squeaked when she felt her body drop a significant amount as the blue-betta tried to gather her remaining strength to hold the girl up a little longer. 

 

“Sure, but uhm.. I’m getting old. Please be considerate for me too..” Both girls screamed a little when the fighter fish ran out of fuel.. Not before an extra hand held the tired trainees up. 

 

“You two okay there?” Yves appeared out of the blue. Despite not really liking how the swan grabbed the penguin tightly on the wrist, JinSoul was thankful how Chuu didn’t end up getting hurt due to her terrible endurance. 

 

“She’s fine, thanks.” JinSoul quickly pulled the fish ‘look-a-like’ closer to her as she eyed the third-party carefully. 

 

“It’s alright, she’s just a close friend of mine.. In fact-” Chuu stopped speaking mid-way, worried that her crush might avoid her the moment her true feelings get revealed. 

 

“I like you, Chuu. So seeing you putting in the effort to make me notice you makes me extremely happy, here’s a forehead kiss, if you may like.” JinSoul then went in closer to the penguin and pecked the girl directly in the middle of the forehead, with her bangs covering it up after she was done with it. 

 

“Uhm.. So does that mean it’s mutual?” Chuu was still dreaming. She couldn’t believe any of what happened became true for her on that day. Especially months after she joined the girl group that her crush was in. This day was extremely phenomenal for her.  

 

“I’m sorry.. I’ll just go get my bag real quick.” With that, the penguin flew out of the arms of the blue-betta while avoiding the other trainees during their break-time. 

 

“See what I told ya? That girl is really something eh?” Yves laughed before leaving an equally flustered fish behind as she continued working on her dance moves for the upcoming project.