It wasn’t the first time they’d been left together to practice in the training room—But it had certainly come to be a rare occurrence lately, what with their debut coming up soon. 

The progressively dwindling moments were not much of a problem for Eunseong, but she had to admit that there was some special kind of peace weighing over her shoulders whenever she and Goeun were engaged in some kind of one-in-one bonding time. 

It offered a unique kind of quiet, where the room would only echo of the skidding of sneaker soles, sometimes the occasional heaving and huffing from excessive dancing—some sort of short discourse, and jokes thrown around here and there, accompanied by dry laughter—not out of sardonicism, but of shortness of breath.

Goeun would offer her a tight-lipped smile, and Eunseong can’t help but feel the corners of her lips tug up a little—and it’s due to this fond memory, of those days when she’d find the older girl intimidating, because of the royally sophisticated way she liked to carry herself. 

But when one genuinely got to know Na Go Eun, she was a whole organized array of complexities compiled into one human being. In every beautiful way, she was unpredictable—like a pleasant guessing game. 

The different level of comfort was the type that would only appear in a bond lasting for five years, and it was easily one of the things Eunseong was proudest of. 

(And though she’d never admit it, maybe she did feel this tightness in her chest whenever Goeun fondly referred to her as a soulmate. Eunseong only wished she could vocalize that endearment out loud. )

Today seemed to be different though, as the usually polite expression on the older’s face was nowhere to be found—instead, replaced with one of vacancy, thoughtful and pensive. 

And Eunseong could tell, because Goeun’s shoulders seemed to tense up a little—and there was also the way she seemed to be staring at nowhere in particular, back flushed gently against the dirty mirrors of the RBW dance room.

Eunseong only stared at the older girl from the center of the room, halfway into finishing the contents of her water bottle which might become an issue later, as she was still rather thirsty from practice, and the dispenser was in a different room—and she’d really rather not leave Goeun alone in a room, especially not when RBW building grounds were vacated by (supposed) supernatural spectres that go against the laws of nature—

Okay, ghost stories were childish—but doors don’t open and close by themselves all of a sudden in different intervals of time, alright? in RBW building grounds, that was kind of some common experience already. 

Anyway, back to Goeun, who was still blankly staring at God knows where, and Eunseong might have also been staring at her for the past five minutes now, but she would never admit to it out loud.

Clearing , she’d break away from her own gaze and make her way towards the older girl—plopping down unceremoniously next to her—and she would usually be more wary of the way she acted, but there was some sort of benefit in being around someone she was this comfortable with. 

This effectively breaks Goeun out of her stupor, and she blinks—eyelashes fluttering curiously as she turned to face Eunseong with a surprised expression. 

(Again, Eunseong fights the urge to smile fondly at the way the older girl tilted her head all cutely in confusion.)

“So—” Eunseong starts, and her brows knit together instinctively out of worry. “You’ve been.. quiet. I mean, a lot more than usual.” 

And she silently prays Goeun knows exactly what she meant, because Eunseong wasn’t really one of many words—and she’d usually rely on the person she’s in discussion with to completely get her point, because long, winded explanations are irrelevant. 

Realization flashes through the older girl’s eyes, as she blinked again.

“Oh, yes— Sorry.” Goeun sighed, and her lips part slowly to form an apologetic smile, echoing a certain civility that was probably kind of her trademark at this point. “Just.. thinking.”

Eunseong would have left it at that, because she’s never really one to ask unless her members came to her themselves, but she finds herself asking anyway. 

“Penny for your thoughts?”

As if on reflex, the older girl turns a little pink at the question—and Eunseong immediately feels as if she’d overstepped, which kind of bothers her because she was trying really hard not to be that kind of person.

“I mean, if you’re comfortable.” The younger girl follows after, turning away to avoid Goeun’s gaze. 

“No, no. I’m comfortable,” Goeun protests, waving a hand dismissively as she laughs awkwardly. “It’s just, it’s kind of.. odd.”

“Odd how?”

The older girl clears at that, and Eunseong finds the unfamiliar tension in the atmosphere kind of suffocating—because she’s not used to this, and she’s more used to cuddling up to her older friend’s side for warmth when the air conditioner of the dance room is blasting up a little too hard. 

“It’s—.. Er, about love.” Goeun starts. “What do you think of it?”

Had Goeun still been drinking from her water bottle, she probably would’ve spat out the contents of her drink all comically—like from those cartoons on the television they’d often watch on movie night, and laugh at childishly, because really, one never really grows out of a certain sense of humor. 

But she chooses to humor the older girl, because Eunseong knows Goeun doesn’t confess to things like these openly, and she’s the type of person who’d rather keep to themselves and if Eunseong is deemed trusted enough to get ahold of this valuable piece of personal information, she wasn’t going to take that opportunity for granted.

“Well..” She starts, and out of instinct, she rubs the back of her head all weirdly. “We’ve spent five years training together, so I don’t think I’m any more qualified to know a thing about love than you are.”

A beat of silence, and Eunseong kind of cringes, because she’s sure that was not the kind of answer Goeun was expecting. 

But Goeun hums in understanding, because that’s generally how she is, and the younger girl finds that quality attractive in an endearing sense. 

“Well, uhm—” the younger girl continues, and she knows she’s scrambling to break the awkward silence that has settled—which was uncool, and it was totally not the vibe she’d wanted to give off in any type of situation, but she does it anyway. “How about you..?”

Goeun acknowledges her with another thoughtful gaze, and there’s something in the way that the older girl seemed to look at her—all soft and warm, that made her insides kind of flutter. 

(She wonders if Goeun looked at their other members the same way, and for some reason, that thought doesn’t sit well with her.)

“I don’t know either,” The older girl shrugs. “But.. I guess there’s a unique sentiment attached to every action. You feel your chest tighten when you’re around the person, you feel warm, and you smile reflexively—”

“Are you in love with someone?” Eunseong cuts off, and she didn’t really mean to put that accusatory edge to her tone—she doesn’t like how those words escaped her lips like second nature. “I mean, we’re debuting soon, and—”

“No, I know.” Goeun frowns, and the patch of skin between her eyebrows seemed to crease together a little bit in dismay. “.. I’m just.. saying, I guess.”

The uncertainty in the older girl’s tone leaves Eunseong’s throat a little dry, but she leaves it at that—and she isn’t even aware of it, but her face is kind of a little warmer than she’d liked it to be. 

She doesn’t like the fast-paced beating in her chest, as well as the slowly bubbling realization in her head that might have been there for longer than she could remember, but she doesn’t think she’d be able to come to terms with it anytime soon. 

Because, okay. Maybe the thought of Goeun feeling these things for someone else, it doesn’t sit well with Eunseong. She doesn’t know why, it’s just—kind of.. that way. Like the circle of life, the natural order of things—and Eunseong was meant to naturally be with Goeun.. as her soulmate. 

Not in a creepy sense, of course—she’s just.. kind of more possessive than she’d like to admit. 

“Okay, stop frowning, you.” Goeun sighs, pinching Eunseong’s cheek—and it makes the younger girl’s cheeks flush a little bit. “If I were to .. fall in love, I don’t think it’d be with just anyone I’ve known for a short duration of time.”

“What do you mean by that—”

“I mean, we should go back to practicing now.” Goeun shook her head, retracting her hand, and pushing herself back up to stand on her feet.

(Eunseong kind of whimpers a little from the sudden lack of touch, but she’d never admit it.)

Okay, she kind of admits it, from the frown lines starting to form on her face.

“You’re such a bully.”