The party had been over for more than a week, but Dahyun's mood was still underground and she was more grumpy than ever. Jeongyeon had been knocking on her best friend's bedroom door for ten minutes without receiving any response and decided to wait her in the living room.

She found Nayeon sitting on the couch, concentrating on the cell phone screen 'what do you watch with so much attention?' Jeongyeon sat down next to her and took a peek.

Nayeon put the phone between them and showed her a video where a group of girls were dancing 'we have to learn this choreography by the end of the month, whoever gets the best evaluation will be entered in the first competition to which our school has been invited' she scratched her nose and smiled 'Momo is killing us with dance rehearsal, but it's exciting to have to compete'

'What good news, where are you with the choreography?' Jeongyeon asked as she looked at the screen 'it seems really difficult'

'We know how to execute half of it without making mistakes, but we are still a bit inaccurate so it will definitely take some time. Anyway, I guess Dahyun is ignoring you again, she started acting like that to me and Jihyo too. In my opinion she suffers so much because she cannot admit that she is in love, even with herself. I would like to help them, but both my sister and Sana are stupid'

Jeongyeon nodded 'I have nothing against what you said. Where's Jihyo? She is usually home at this time of the day'

'She took her camera and went out, every now and then she needs to let off steam by taking pictures and she also manages quite well' Nayeon smiled proudly 'my sisters are great'

'You are great too, even if you are the most idiotic of the three' she laughed when Nayeon pinched her leg 'I advise you not to physically attack me, I could fight back and I don't think you would get out alive'

Nayeon smirked 'not if I hit you in the head and make you pass out. You are strong, not invincible'

'Sure, who knows why I've never lost to anyone. Anyway, are you busy? I should go to the hairdresser and I would be very bored alone'

'I'm free, I'm only busy in the afternoon. What do you have to do? A hair dye?' Nayeon became curious.

Jeongyeon shook her head 'I have to cut it, it has grown too much' she took a lock of her hair and looked at it thoughtfully 'I am a bodyguard, I should have short hair'

Nayeon raised her eyebrows 'this is the biggest bull I've ever heard, I don't know who put this idea in your head, but it's nowhere written that you have to have short hair' she Jeongyeon's hair softly 'your shoulder length hair looks good and, if I can tell you, you are beautiful'

Time seemed to stand still as their gazes met and Jeongyeon's heart began to beat faster. Nayeon had paid her a sincere compliment and was the first person, other than Sana and Dahyun, to speak to her without any fear of being hit.

'And if your hair bothers you while you're working you can just tie it up. Turn your back' when Jeongyeon did what Nayeon said the latter took off the hair elastic from her wrist and tied Jeongyeon's hair into a low ponytail. She got up and took her to the bathroom to look in the mirror 'seen? You look great'

Nayeon's smile was contagious and Jeongyeon smiled too 'you convinced me, I'm not going to cut it. Thanks Nay'

'You don't have to thank me Jeong, but if you really care to do it keep calling me that, I like how you say it'

Nayeon's phone rang due to a notification 'Momo anticipated rehearsal, I have to hurry or I'll be late' she replied to the message with an emoji and ran to get her backpack, putting the things she needed in a messy way'

'Take your time, I'll take you. How long do we have?'

'Half an hour, but there is traffic at this hour'

They did everything in a rush and Nayeon was able to arrive two minutes early 'you saved me, I owe you a favor' she got out of the car and smiled at her savior before closing the car door.

Jeongyeon watched Nayeon enter the school, with a smile on her face, unaware that Tzuyu had seen the entire scene.

At the same time Jihyo was walking around the park, stopping every two seconds to take pictures. She had already photographed an elderly couple from behind, a little dog rolling on the grass and some flowers, but she couldn't feel satisfied, so decided to go and look for something interesting in the streets of the city. There was fantastic sunshine that day and her mood was great, so much so that even taking pictures of road signs made her feel good. 

A guy in a peaked hat approached her with a serious look by placing himself between the camera and the wall that Jihyo was trying to photograph 'my bosses were waiting patiently for you to go out, it really took me a long time to find you' 

Jihyo lowered her camera and took a step back, immediately realizing she was in trouble 'who sent you to find me?' 

'I think you know very well, but I'll give you a clue: the two brothers you robbed last year. They want the money they gave you back, right away' 

'I didn't rob them because I didn't know I was photographing my sister and I don't have that much money, I can't pay back even if I wanted to. In any case I don't have to return anything at all, I did what I was asked to do, so we're even' 

The guy put his hand on the camera lens and squeezed it 'maybe I haven't made it clear: give me that money or I'll assure you you'll have a bad quarter of an hour. I don't like hitting women, but orders are orders' he took the camera from her and dropped it to the floor, cracking the glass of the lens and that of the small screen 'how clumsy I am, I hope you saved the photos somewhere, ' 

Jihyo had tears in her eyes, there was no problems with the photos, she had saved them all on the computer the night before, but her heart seemed to skip a beat because seeing her beloved camera on the ground made her sad 'was it really necessary?' she asked in a faint voice. 

'Obviously, one has to hurt the heart first and then the body' he was ready to hit her right in the face, but stopped when someone tapped his shoulder. 

'What's going on here?' Jihyo immediately recognized the voice and, when she saw the girl in the face, she ascertained that the girl was Sana: she had her hair tied in a high ponytail and was wearing a tracksuit 'does that sound like the way to behave with a girl? Maybe your mom gave you too few spankings when you were a child' 

The guy turned to her and gave her a glacial look 'your mother didn't teach you to mind your own business I see. Maybe I should correct you, what do you think?' he smirked and cracked his fingers. 

'Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you, you look skinny' Sana retorted without a hint of fear, she was just annoyed by the situation. 

'You can only imagine that a girl can hold her own against me' he approached Sana to punch her, but she gave him a well-aimed kick on his family jewels. 

'First rule: if he's a man, hit him where he hurts the most' she said as if she was repeating a rhyme and then pushed him, knocking him to the ground 'second rule: throw him to the ground and, if he has the strength and the audacity to get up, hit him in the face without mercy. Do you want to get up and try your luck? I'm good with my fists' 

The guy realized that he had no hope against her and that a groomed by his bosses would be better and less humiliating than being beaten and ran away as soon as he managed to get up. 

Sana picked up the camera and handed it to Jihyo 'are you okay? That idiot didn't hit you, did he?' 

'I'm fine, thanks for helping me' she replied by taking the camera and checking the damage, saddened 'it's broken, great' added with irony. 

'I'm very sorry, but maybe it can be fixed' Sana put a hand on her back to comfort her 'what matters now is to protect yourself, you need to talk to your sister' 

'I don't even think about it, don't tell her anything, it's something I have to solve by myself' Jihyo looked at her seriously 'I'm serious, I'm grateful to you for helping me, but mind your own business. Dahyun doesn't have to know anything' 

'What do I not need to know? Dahyun positioned herself next to Sana, albeit at some distance, and looked at her sister seriously. 

Jihyo panicked 'what are you doing here?' 

'I received a message saying that someone wanted to hurt you and with the location attached. It took me a while because I was still in my pajamas, but luckily nothing happened to you. I was worried' 

The look Jihyo gave to Sana was cold 'you two don't have the courage to look each other in the face but did you have the audacity to write her to get her here? Do I have to remind you it's none of your business?' 

Dahyun's gaze was serious 'don't blame who saved your , are you two years old? Grow up Jihyo. Let's go to the company, we will find someone to protect you until I find who is trying to harm you' 

'It doesn't exist, you can't control me' 

'I can and I will, I won't let anyone hurt you' Dahyun looked determined. 

Jihyo, on the other hand, was angry 'I've spent my whole life tied to our father's will and you think I'll let you treat me the same way as him? You both have a bad mania for control, like father like daughter' 

Those nasty words hung in the air and Sana was temped to slap Jihyo, but held back because it was none of her business. She wanted to hug Dahyun and console her, tell her it wasn't true and her sister didn't really mean those words, but she stayed where she was. 

'If this is what you think of me, I suppose there is nothing I can do about it. I'm going home, don't be late or Nayeon will worry' Dahyun slowly took the camera from Jihyo's hands 'thanks Sana, I owe you a favor' she said mechanically and walked away silently, her heart threatening to shatter. 

At the dance school, things were not going better: the four girls had rehearsed the choreography several times and had done a simulation of a competition together with other groups, but they had lost miserably and all their nerves were on edge. 

'If we continue like this they will never allow us to participate in the real competion, my older sister's team performed much better than us' Momo said with despair, wiping the sweat from her forehead 'Tzuyu, you made the most mistakes of all, what's wrong with you?' 

The younger looked uncomfortable 'I'm sorry, I'm a bit distracted today, but I promise to work harder in the next few days. I apologize' 

'Don't be sorry! A bad day can happen sometimes' Nayeon smiled reassuringly 'we still have time, we'll be able to perfect the choreography' 

'Maybe if you spend less time with that bodyguard and start concentrating it would definitely be better' Tzuyu said with seriousness and annoyance. 

Nayeon looked confused 'what are you insinuating? I spent the whole morning watching the video of the choreography' 

'You've known me longer, yet you've never smiled like that with me' as soon as she said those words she immediately regretted it. 

'Tzuyu, I met both of you on the same day and to be honest in not so pleasant ways. You practically insulted me and Jeongyeon almost hit me with her car' 

'Seriously, did you almost get hit by Jeongyeon?' it was Mina who spoke, she had an amused look. 

Nayeon laughed 'I swear to you, she even yelled at me from the window. It was funny when my sister got out of the car and introduced us, but that didn't stop her from continuinig to call me an idiot' 

Mina and Momo giggled and asked more questions, while Tzuyu was silent. She couldn't understand why she felt jealous, after all she and Nayeon had been together for almost two weeks, it wasn't enough time to be jealous. Or maybe yes? Tzuyu told herself she was not entirely wrong in feeling jealous, she had seen the way Jeongyeon had looked at Nayeon. 

'Would you like me to take you home tonight? Tzuyu took her girlfriend's hand and smiled. 

Nayeon smiled too 'obviously! If you want you can stop for dinner, Dahyun and Jihyo will certainly like it'

When she made that proposal Nayeon could not imagine she would find a tighter air than a violin string at home and that she and Tzuyu would end up eating the two of them alone in the kitchen.