You shot awake, blinking your eyes tiredly as your brain started turning on, processing you were in the studio once again. You straightened your back up, hearing satisfying cracks as you stretched your limbs out, a groan coming out of your lips before your body flopped back to a relaxed state, back hunched forward slightly while your arms hung in the air.

You stared at the screen for a few seconds, blinking before running your hands over your face, trying to wake yourself up before checking the time, number changing to 6:34 in the morning. You stood up after saving your work, popping some gum in your mouth before leaving for the dance studio, meeting the girls’ tired faces as you greeted them.

“Where were you last night?” You turned to Irene while hugging Wendy, the six of you waiting for your choreographer, “I was at the studio, I slept on the couch though don’t worry…” Irene pouted but nodded, happy that you were at least not lying.

 You smiled at her, moving to start stretching with the girls while Wendy took a seat on one of the couches.

These days you became more honest, trying your best to be open with the girls and the first step you decided to take was to stop lying. So far it was going well but it had only been a month since Daegu…

You kept yourself extra busy these days, either at the gym, the studio, the dance rooms or in a meeting. The girls were starting to miss you too, barely getting to see your face even if you lived in the same apartment, they were also seeing the differences your new way of life took on your body.

Your waist was definitely thinner, veins much more defined now and your arms and legs were slightly more built, not to mention the overall toning of your body increased too, whether it was due to the fact that you were barely eating or the endless hours in the gym, they wouldn’t know but while they were impressed, they were also worried on how your body might take the increased workload.

You spread your legs on the floor, elegantly setting yourself up in a split as you turned your back left and right before putting your upper body flat on the ground, stretching your arms as far as you could for a few seconds before you felt hands on your lower back, pushing you forward.

You turned to meet Irene’s bare face, her hair slightly falling front of her face as she wordlessly pushed you. You decided to say nothing, seconds of silence passing between the both of you before you moved to do the same time to her, finally hearing her speak up, “How are you?” “I’m good, you?” “Worried…” “Over?” “You.” You let out a sigh, moving away from her as she turned back to meet your eyes, sharing a look before the both of you wordlessly moved outside, the rest of the girls understanding not to interrupt.

You closed the door behind you, Irene crossing her arms while you leaned against the door, “What are you worried about?” “You’re overworking yourself these days Y/N/N…” A sigh left your lips, tying your hair up into a high ponytail before moving closer to her, resting your hands on her arms while staring at her right in the eyes, “I promise I’m not. It just helps keep my mind off of things… plus the harder I work, the more likely we are to comeback soon…” “I don’t care about our comeback Y/N, I care about you!” “Unnie… Trust me, this is for the best…” She pouted, arms moving to wrap around your waist making you giggle, “Have you seen what’s happening online?” You hummed as an answer, tucking her hair behind her ear, “And how are you taking it?” “I mean… it’s whatever… I don’t wanna cry on camera and I’ve never cried on camera. I’m not gonna start now…’

As soon as Sulli’s documentary came out, the internet was aflame, remembering her and honoring her and for some reason, mad at you for not crying?

“I mean… during shooting I teared up… but… I just wiped them away? It’s meant to be about her… I don’t get why people are mad at me…” Irene nodded at you, bringing you closer, “They’re just trying to find something wrong, you did what you were comfortable with and that’s ok. I know it was hard for you…” You gave her a tight-lipped smile, wrapping your arms around her neck while she snuggled into your chest.

“Let’s get to dancing then?” You groaned while she dragged you back to the studio, her laugh filling the hallways while you mumbled under your breath.

.

.

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The girls sat around the kitchen island, finishing up their breakfast, Chaeyoung stuck to her phone as she typed away with a bored face. Lisa layed her head on the girl’s shoulder, eyes turning to her phone screen making her brows furrow, “Who’s that?”

Rosie just hummed, shrugging her shoulders, “Jaehyun…”

Lisa shot up, quirking a brow at her, “What?” “What?” Chaeyoung turned her eyes to Lisa, confused, “Why are you talking to him?” “Why not?” “Cause those aren’t the texts you would send to a person trying to be your friend?”

“He asked for my number, I gave it to him…” “Didn’t Y/N tell you to stay away from him a while ago…?” “So?” “Chae.” “I’m just saying, we broke up… haven’t talked to her since Sooyoung Unnie’s birthday and I didn’t talk to her before that…”

“Didn’t you two say you were gonna stay friends?” “We also said we’d stay together…” “Chaeyoung.” “What?” Jennie got a text from Do-kyung, calling the three girls as they set off to the company, Lisa just glared at Chaeyoung, nudging her slightly, “We’ll talk about this later.” Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, following Jennie and Jisoo out the door while Lisa walked behind her.

Truth was she knew exactly what she was doing and she knew that it was wrong. As soon as she walked into your dorm and saw you after almost a month, she realized how much she really missed you, and it didn’t help that she wanted to give you back your things.

The four of them walked in to the dorm after Irene opened the door, greeting the older girl as she took their presents and set them on the gift table. They all greeted everyone, Lisa and Jennie looking around for you making Irene yell out your name, “Coming!”

You fixed up the candles on the cake you made, making sure it looked as perfect as possible before moving out of the kitchen to set it on the table, meeting the girls of Blackpink. You smiled, setting it down carefully before moving to hug them, Jennie and Lisa clinging to you making you giggle before you pushed them off of you, hugging Jisoo before awkwardly moving to Chaeyoung sending her a tight-lipped smile before wrapping her arms around her, giving her a squeeze before letting go.

You offered them drinks, pointing out that they could have some snacks and drinks before excusing yourself to answer a call, Yeri leading them to the couches as they got to talking with the other guests, “Why’s Y/N so like… stressed?” Seulgi rolled her eyes, giggling slightly before answering Jisoo, “She’s just excited… She wants everything to go perfect.” “She planned this?” Wendy nodded, sipping on some champagne, “She always throws the parties for our birthdays and it’s always a surprise. I don’t know how she does it but every year she figures out a new way for us to not find out.” Chaeyoung hummed, the only thing on her mind was how you’d already changed.

Your body was somehow even more godly than before, your skin was glowing and you just seemed better from first impression. It also made her realize how much she missed you, that two second hug you gave her made her remember the way your arms wrapped around her when you would sneak over to take naps at her place, that dimpled smile she’d seen on her phone for the past few weeks was finally in front of her after so long. God she was in love with you.

“GUYS SHE’S ALMOST HERE!” Everyone got in position, while you moved to close the lights, “Remember, no poppers, say surprise but don’t scream or she’ll get scared…” You shut them off, finding your way behind the couch and somehow by the will of god, you ended up right next to Chaeyoung, “Hi…” You could see her features outlined by faint light, the scent of roses and vanilla filling your senses once again making your heart patter a thousand times in a second, the familiar feeling making your chest tighten slightly before you let out a little “Hi” in reply.

“You nervous?” You nodded before remembering that she couldn’t see you, internally smacking yourself on your head before replying, “Yeah… I want this to go well…” “Who’s she with?” “I got one of her hometown friends to come… so she thinks that was the surprise and they’re spending the day together. She just called me to let me know they’re a few minutes away…”

“How are you?” “Yeah… doing good.. trying to get better… you?” “Yeah you know… keeping busy with work and breaking records, the usual…” You giggled slightly, clearing your throat, “Well I’m very happy you’re breaking records…” “I was wondering if we could ta-”

The sound of the door opening made everyone quiet down, interrupting Chaeyoung’s words as the sound of shoes got closer, the lights turning on making everyone pop up, Joy screaming with a hand over her heart making you smile, “Surprise Unnie!”

She grew a smile after calming down, still wide open as she saw everyone who was fit into the tiny lounge, “Guys!” The members moved to hug her, everyone awing at the moment as she kissed your cheek, thanking you, “Everyone put in effort, it wasn’t just me!” They couldn’t help but roll their eyes, smiling at how cute you were acting as you pulled Sooyoung to meet everyone.

The party continued on smoothly, people getting drunk and dancing, music booming through the apartment. You were giggling while sipping on some Soju, mid conversation with Hyo-seob before feeling yourself getting dragged to the makeshift dance floor as Lisa grabbed your wrist, yelling out a sorry to him as he laughed before talking to Sooyoung.

Lisa planted her arms on your shoulders, hips moving side to side with a smirk on her face making you giggle as you wrapped your arms around her waist, the both of you vibing to the music, falling in sync as you sang along.

She turned in your arms, your eyes widening when she started throwing it back on you, your hands holding her hips while letting out yells of her name, the girls giggling at the two of you while your mouth hung open in fake shock.

The both of you saw the camera being pointed at you, Yeri laughing behind it as the both of you continued dancing.

Chaeyoung stared at you with Jealousy, wanting your attention on her, wanting your arms wrapped around her, wanting you to be smiling at her.

She felt Sooyoung pull her to the floor, putting on a smile for the birthday girl as they started dancing.

The party came to an end, you bidding bye to the guests as you led them to the door, Irene with a proud smile on her face as she watched you be the perfect host. You finally moved back to them after making sure they got safely into the cars you had set up to send them back home, already knowing everyone was gonna get drunk out of their minds.

You flopped back onto the couch, Sooyoung’s arms already open to catch you as your head landed on her stomach, cuddling up to the girl as everyone finally relaxed.

“Did Naeyeon leave already?” You nodded at Yeri, rubbing your eyes, “Yeah they left a while ago, Jihyo texted me that they got home safe.” Chaeyoung cleared , calling your name while everyone fell into conversation with Joy’s friend, getting to know the girl.

You turned to her, humming as you moved closer, “What’s up?” “I wanted to… give you back your things…” Your face fell for a second, swallowing the lump in your throat before nodding to her.

The both of you walked into your room, the girl carrying a bag filled with your hoodies, sweaters and t-shirts, not even realizing how much of your closet she’d stolen. “Here you go…” You smiled awkwardly, taking the bag from her as you moved to your closet to put them back in, “So you excited for like… your album and stuff?” “Mhmmm… it’s exciting and the pre-orders are huge…” “Yeah I heard. I’m proud of you.”

The both of you fell back into silence, sitting next to eachother on your bed awkwardly before she cleared , moving her hand slightly closer to yours, biting your lip at the action as you stretched your pinky even closer.

You could hear your heart hammering against your chest, Chaeyoung no different when she felt your skin against hers, finally connecting your hands as she laced her fingers with yours, a feeling of finally being able to breathe as air filled her lungs.

Immediately calming down as she gave you a little squeeze, “I miss you… a lot…” “I miss you too…” “Did we… do you think we messed up?” You stayed silent, thinking over a few seconds, “I don’t know… I think… we just rushed into it… Maybe in the future… we could try again. I want to try again.”

“Then why don’t we?”

You grew quiet again, wondering what was best for the both of you right now, “I think we just need sometime right now you know? Me and you are both busy right now… really busy and I think for now, we should just take it slow.”

You felt the grip on your hand loosen slightly, hearing her hum making you panick, “Not like- not like we wouldn’t- Uhm… I want to be with you but… I also want to be good for you and for that to happen I think we should just wait a bit.”

“But how long is that gonna take?” “Chae I’m trying for you, I promise I am but please just wait for me?” “How is that fair to me? Why do I have to wait?” You let out a sigh, turning to meet her eyes, your throat constricting up immediately before nodding, “Yeah it’s not…” “Why won’t you just be with me?”

You looked at your joined hands, noticing she took off the ring making you hide your own as you covered your free hand with your thigh, “We’re both not ready yet Chae…” “We can make it work!” “And how did that turn out the first time?”

She frowned, feeling anger slightly run through her, an hour ago, you were care-free dancing along with everyone and laughing and here you were trying to tell her you still weren’t ready for a relationship. “Are you just playing with me?” “What-” “Are you like? Leading me on?”

“Chae ofcourse I’m not, I told you I never wanna hurt you and I mean that.” “Then why do you keep pulling this ?” You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath as you tried to control yourself, “I’m seriously trying my best…” She got up, feeling her hand move away from yours making your stomach drop, taking quick steps to your door as she wiped her tears away, “Then try harder.”

The six of you just got done with practice, sweat fresh as you layed down on the cold wooden floors, Irene passing out water bottles, thanking her before your head hit against the floor once again.

Heavy breaths were the only thing that could be heard as the five of you rested, Wendy taking it slow today as she tried to get back into the idol routine. Hyejoo walked into the room, checking up on all of you, Irene listening to her as they discussed schedules while the rest of you decided to rest up, sitting on your phones, Yeri on the couch next to Wendy while you rested on the floor while sitting against it.

Yeri’s hands braiding strands of your hair as you scrolled through social media, a picture of Chaeyoung popping up making you click on her profile, scrolling through her photos making Yeri quirk up, “I see you’re still whipped.” You rolled your eyes, continuing to stare at the s