JEALOUSY.

It was a word Kwon Eunbi was familiar with… she’s always experienced it—when people danced better than her, when they sang higher, when they were more beautiful, and when they debuted first. That was the kind of Jealousy she was used to.

This kind though… the kind that Lee Chaeyeon made her feel, almost made Eunbi want to dig a grave and bury herself alive.

It all started with that damned “Number 23.” of their trainer, Lee Hongki, in their auditions for PD48.

Chaeyeon’s dance skill, her charisma on stage, and the fact that she’s unaware of her effect on people made Eunbi resentful of the younger girl. She was jealous of the younger girl’s skills and the way the judges reacted to her, that was evident enough with how the producers edited her reactions for their ratings.

However, her bitterness slowly turned into admiration when they were teamed together for the first two evaluations of Produce 48. For how could Eunbi hate a person that was so hard-working and so humble? Especially with the way she looked in that damned doctor’s coat in her promotion video

It wasn’t as if Eunbi was intentionally watching videos of her established rival… it just happened to be on her recommendations, and how she wished she could unsee it. That video made Eunbi have thoughts that she would never say out loud, she didn’t know when she started having these kind of feelings for the other girl, she just did—and frankly she didn’t want it to stop.

CLIP: https://twitter.com/i/status/1246609207467499521

“Unnie! Let’s make a legendary performance!” In their 'Sorry not Sorry' group practice, Chaeyeon hugged her and that was when Eunbi felt her irrevocable defeat that would come in the form of Lee Chaeyeon. That was when Eunbi decided to let go of all her inhibitions and maybe just maybe, get Chaeyeon to like her back.

Eunbi’s first bout of real jealousy came during the time the last 20 contestants flew to japan to perform in AKB48’s fansign event. There was something in the way Lee Ka Eun held Chaeyeon’s hand and how Ka Eun commanded Chaeyeon’s attention the entire trip. Eunbi almost dragged Ka Eun and murdered her—and in her mind Eunbi already did a thousand times over, but no one would ever know that.

The nearer Eunbi came closer to achieving her dreams, she felt the dread overpower her desire to debut… she didn’t want to be a part of the 12-member group if Lee Chaeyeon wasn’t going to be with her. Eunbi desperately held on to the hope that Chaeyeon would debut with her, but her patience was constantly tested with the way their National Producers Representative, Lee Seunggi was announcing the ranks—the man had no shame, all for delay and ratings.

When Eunbi was called for the 7^th place, she breathed a sigh of relief and expressed her gratitude. She knew that Chaeyeon would be called for the top 5 so she was more than happy to take her seat and watch how Chaeyeon reacted to her name being called for 1^st place—that Eunbi was sure off. 

But when Chaeyeon’s face wasn’t shown for the top 4 trainees, Eunbi almost went down from her seat and punched Lee Seunggi, thankfully Chaewon—the person who knows her the most and was aware of her recent feelings for Chaeyeon, glared at her and prevented her from acting out.

Eunbi calmed herself, she was happy for the others—but without Chaeyeon, Eunbi didn’t see the appeal of spending 2.5 years in a temporary group, at least she would fulfil her lifelong dream right??

Eunbi gripped the edge of her seat when Chaeyeon’s face was shown in the screen for the candidates of the 12^th rank. That was when she started praying, quite effectively because Chaeyeon was called for the last place. Eunbi beamed, she would debut with the love of her life!, her crush…??

Eunbi raced down the stairs with all the other contestant finalists, they enveloped the crying Lee Chaeyeon in a group hug. Internally, Eunbi smiled—if this was how she was going to spend the next 2.5 years—she’d gladly do so.

There we go folks, just a brief background hahahahah! So busy with online classes!! I'm trying my best to finish everything my professors want and get onto doing what matters(kwonchaeing fanfics! hahaha).

Check out my other kwonchaeng fic: https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1435743/her-thief-in-the-night