Soojin doesn’t know how long she’s been in the practice room, but she hasn’t stopped dancing ever since she stepped foot into the room. Her playlist just kept going, and her body just kept moving. 

Only when the lights switched on, and the music was lowered, did Soojin stop dancing to see who had interrupted her. 

“Woah,” Lisa and Chungha chuckles at the glare Soojin throws at them, “don’t kill us.” 

Soojin groans, letting her body finally relax, and falls to the floor in heavy heaves of breath.

“How long have you been here? It’s only noon and you already look dead.” Lisa asks, putting her bag down and joining Soojin on the floor, as they both look at the ceiling. 

Soojin turns to glance at the grinning Lisa, before she positions her head back towards the ceiling, and covers her eyes with her forearm. “Before the sun came up.” Soojin says tiredly. 

“You skipped your classes?” Chungha asks, a motherly nagging in her voice. 

Soojin lets out a tired hum. 

“Aw, Seo Soojin. What’s gotten you so down?” Lisa scoots her body closer to Soojin, throwing her arm and leg over the younger woman’s body. “Ew, and sweaty.” Lisa playfully says, earning a glare from Soojin. 

“I’m not feeling down. I’m just tired from dancing.” Soojin responds. 

“You shouldn’t have skipped your classes. You do know the requirements of our team, Soojin.” Chungha mentions, as she stretches her arms and legs to loosen her limbs. 

Soojin sighs, “I’m not failing any of my classes, Chungha, don’t worry.” 

Chungha only hums in response. 

“Okay, so what’s wrong?” Lisa asks again, propping her head onto her hand. 

Soojin sighs, knowing Lisa’s persistence whenever Soojin was in a bad mood. Soojin wasn’t as close to the dance captains as she was with Yuqi and the gang, but Soojin trusted them. They were good people. Reliable people. Soojin genuinely formed a bond with them, and cared for them immensely. 

“I don’t know.” Soojin genuinely says. 

Lisa raises a brow at her, “you don’t know?” 

Chungha joins them on the floor, “that serious, huh?” 

Soojin blinks, “what are you guys doing?” 

“Listening,” Lisa says in an obvious tone, “we’re playing therapist right now.” 

Soojin rolls her eyes, “it’s not that serious, relax.” 

Chungha scoffs, “not that serious? If it wasn’t that serious you wouldn’t be so bothered by it. You’re Seo Soojin. The most unbothered I know.” Chungha nudges the younger woman playfully, a teasing glint in her eyes. 

Lisa scoffs, “please, that whole unbothered facade doesn’t go through me. She’s a total softie.” 

Chungha chuckles, “I’m well aware. I was just feeding her big ego.” 

Soojin rolls her eyes, throwing Lisa’s leg off of her middle and sitting up. “Just—,” a sigh escapes her lips, and she closes again with a moody expression. “Shuhua—,” Soojin pauses again, clicking her tongue in frustration. 

Lisa raises a brow, “Shuhua?” 

“Is she one of the many,” Chungha heaves a sigh, “many… girls you’ve been ing?” 

Soojin grimaces, “don’t… don’t say it like that..” It didn’t sound right, but Soojin knows she wouldn’t have defended the other woman she’s slept with in the past, because well, she just didn’t care. 

“How else am I supposed to describe that? I mean, that’s how you talk about your relationships. It’s just . A good —,” Chungha reasons, a genuine confusion, and sort of offended look on her face for having been called out about something that she shouldn’t have been pin pointed. 

“It’s not just—,” Soojin throws them a frustrated look, and Lisa and Chungha exchange knowing looks of their own.

 A realization. 

“Oh.” Lisa bites her smile from forming. 

“Oh? Oh what?” Soojin blinks. 

“Before I relieve you of your frustration and denial,” Lisa scoots towards Soojin, the latter giving her a suspicious and judging look. “What? What are you doing?” Soojin leans back as Lisa comes closer. 

“Oh, I wanna get in on this too.” Chungha’s mouth opens in a grin, a childish laugh escaping her lips, as she also scoots towards Soojin. 

The two older women immediately trap Soojin in the middle of their bodies, enveloping her into a crushing squeeze, cheeks against cheeks. 

“Oh, our sweet, sweet, stupid Soojin.” Lisa cooed. Soojin blinks, eyebrows furrowed, as the words register in her mind.“Why am I stupid?” Soojin tries to turn to look at the two, but the tight hold prevents her from doing so. 

“You’re so stupid. Dense, actually.” Chungha agreed with Lisa, “oh, and oblivious is another one.” Lisa adds. Soojin clicks her tongue and wiggles her body until the two older women finally let her breathe in her own bubble. 

“Calling me names is not very therapeutic for me. Very counterproductive, actually.” Soojin grumbles, crossing her arms in a huff. “You two would make terrible therapists.” She points her finger towards Chungha and Lisa. 

“Anyway,” Chungha rolls her eyes, “I’ve never met this Shuhua girl, but it seems to me that she’s not like the other girls you’ve slept with.” Chungha pokes Soojin’s arm, and the younger girl frowns, covering the spot that was poked with her hand in a rubbing motion. 

“I care about her. She’s my friend.” Soojin reasons. 

Lisa snorts, “yeah, you’re stupid.” 

Soojin glares, “Lisa!” The whine leaves her lips all too adorably, which elicits another laugh from the latter. Lisa reaches over and pinches Soojin’s plump cheeks, much to Soojin’s dismay and resistance. 

“Sweetie, you care about her.” Lisa repeats Soojin’s words back to her. 

“You,” Chungha points her finger at Soojin, staring her dead in the eyes, “care about Shuhua.” 

“Y-Yes… I care about her.” Soojin echoes. 

Lisa rolls her eyes, “okay… so what's your dilemma? You two care about each other and you’re sleeping together?” She breaks it down for Soojin, already knowing what the problem was, but wanting Soojin to come to terms with it herself. 

This was a big step for Soojin. A big sense of realization, and character development. Everyone close to Soojin knew that, but they were just patiently waiting for her to get to the same page. 

“Shuhua said… she said she broke my rule.” Soojin slowly says, and they seemed to understand right away what she was talking about. “Like Lia did?” Lisa questions. 

Soojin nods, “yeah… but… it’s… different.” 

“Because you care about her.” Chungha states, and Soojin nods again. 

“Oh… you’re so stupid.” Lisa clicks her tongue, shaking her head in disappointment. Soojin turns to her with a straight face, “I will choke you.” 

Lisa sticks her tongue out, “try me .” 

Soojin rolls her eyes, groaning and laying her body back down onto the floor. “What am I supposed to do?” 

“Are you kidding me? You like her back. That’s—,” Chungha’s hands flail around, trying to find her words, “that’s literally never happened before. Like ever. Your reputation as this hotshot player that only s around, is thrown out the window!” Chungha looked at Soojin with wide eyes, and Lisa’s grin flashed as bright as the sun. 

“And we couldn’t be more proud!” Lisa squeals, “I knew this day would come sooner than we thought! Taeyong owes me fifty bucks.” 

Soojin still remains unmoving on the floor, her head clouded with a dozen thoughts, as she stared blankly at the ceiling. 

“Jin, this is easy. If you like her back, then what’s the problem?” Chungha shrugs. 

“I-I don’t even know if I like her like that. I’ve never—, I-I don’t do that. I just know I care about her. We’re friends.” Soojin sighs, covering her face with her hands. 

“Okay, you’re friends. What’s the problem?” 

Soojin sighs, “I don’t want to hurt her. If she has feelings for me, wouldn’t being friends make her feel worse?” 

“What about you? How do you feel?” 

“It doesn’t matter—,” Soojin pauses her words, staring at the hand that was held up in front of her, “don’t even finish that sentence, Seo Soojin.” Lisa firmly says. 

“Babe, you can’t control what you feel. Your heart,” Lisa places her hand on Soojin’s chest, “is the only thing that your mind can’t overpower. I mean, you may convince yourself otherwise, but what you feel for that girl…. it will be there whether you choose to acknowledge it or not.” 

“Take your time, Jin. I just hope you do what’s best for your heart.” 

_

When Shuhua opened her door and found Jeno and Yuqi holding paper bags filled with junk food and her favorite ice creams, she couldn’t help, but immediately crack a smile. 

“It’s a bestie kind of night.” Jeno says as he walks through the door, stopping only to place a kiss onto Shuhua’s forehead, before making his way further into the apartment. 

“We brought all your favorite chocolate goodies, baby. It’s going to be a good night.” Yuqi winks at Shuhua, walking in after Jeno. 

“I was just gonna read my book, but this sounds better for a Friday night.” Shuhua giggles, sitting in between Jeno and Yuqi on the couch, who had already helped themselves to the ice creams in the bag. 

“How are you holding up?” Jeno asks first. 

Shuhua shrugs, “I don’t know. I’m not heartbroken or anything.” 

“Then would it be totally inappropriate if I made a bet with Yuqi right now?” Jeno asks, an expectant look on his face. Shuhua gives him a look of disbelief, “yes, Jeno. It would be inappropriate.” 

Jeno curses under his breath, scooping another spoonful of chocolate ice cream into his mouth. 

Yuqi chuckles, “I’m not at all surprised how your little dynamic with Soojin turned out.” 

Shuhua gives her a look, “really?” 

Jeno hums before Yuqi could reply, “yeah, I totally understand what she means. Soojin is a very well rounded person. y, talented, family oriented, definitely knows how to make you feel special—, well with the way you describe her in bed—,” 

Shuhua groans, “okay, okay, I get it. She’s perfect and I’m one of the many girls that fell into her trap.” 

Yuqi snorts, “honey, it’s not a trap if both of you weren’t expecting it. That’s one of the beauties of hookups. It has the potential for a beautiful love story.” 

Shuhua frowns, crosses her arms, and snuggles into Jeno. “Yeah, well, it’s not sunshine and rainbows over here.” 

Jeno hands Shuhua her own ice cream tub and spoon, “it’s more thorns and broken glass actually.” 

“Your nerdy and poetic bookworm is showing, Shuhua.” Jeno points out jokingly. 

“Soojin is a good person, Shuhua. I hope just because your arrangements didn’t work out, doesn’t mean your friendship is over.” Yuqi says, moving to place a comforting hand onto her baby cousin’s thigh. 

Shuhua heaves a sigh, “I know she’s a good person. And I care about her. I feel like I’ve come to terms with it not working out faster, than I had realized that it was just more than just for me. I mean, I knew what Soojin’s terms were.” 

“And you’re still going out with Karina on Saturday?” Jeno questions. 

Shuhua shrugs, “I’m not doing anything wrong if I do, right?” 

Yuqi shakes her head, “of course not, baby. Just… be careful with your—,” Shuhua smiles and cuts her off, “with my heart.” She finishes for Yuqi. 

“Maybe Karina can give you that romance novel type of love that you’ve always wanted.” Jeno says, spoon off of any trace of ice cream, waving in the air to match Jeno’s words. 

“I stopped looking for that a long time ago.” Shuhua says, “not because I lost hope in it, but because I know it’ll come when the time and person is right.” 

“Your heart is so pure, you know that?” Yuqi smiled adoringly at her, raising her hand to ruffle Shuhua’s hair.