Ryujin was hesitant to go to practice because she had not even told her parents yet that she made it into the dance group. But sooner or later, she will have to let them know why she will be staying back in school very often. Maybe if I stand here outside the room for a long time until it's over, the coach will just kick me out she thought.

"Shouldn't you also be in training now? Were you also running late and trying to think of an excuse?"

Ryujin was startled by the voice. It was the junior who recently transferred to their school. She had an amused expression on her face. "Ah... N-"

"It's alright! It's day 1 so I'm sure they'll let us off the hook. It'll be alright!" the girl said with a smile.

It wasn't alright. The seniors were glaring at them especially after everyone had to do more drills as punishment for the two members being late.

-

The group was huddled in a circle and the members were told to introduce themselves and what they like doing outside of dancing.

"I can go first," Yeji said, being the natural leader that she is. "I'm Yeji and I like being on time," she finished with a glare sent towards the two juniors who seemed to cower at the sight of her fox eyes.

She then looked to Solar on her right, giving her the silent cue that she wants her to go next. Solar sighed inwardly, "I'm Solar and I'm more confident in singing than dancing." Yeji rolled her eyes at the statement but it's true. Solar can sing, SING.

"I'm Hwasa and I like to eat."

"I'm Wheein and I like Hwasa." This earned the girl an elbow to her rib. "Ouch! What???"

The girl called Hwasa glared at the smaller girl next to her and whispered with exasperation, "They said say what you like doing outside of dancing."

Wheein made a face of realisation. "Oh right, right," she said nodding. "I'm Wheein and I like doing Hwasa," she proudly corrected herself. Hwasa groaned and hid her face behind her palms while the rest of the group burst into laughter.

"I'm Chaeryeong and I like Lia," the girl said glancing at her two friends next to her who appear as if they just stopped functioning altogether. "Kidding, I thought we're doing confessions here. I'm Chaeryeong and I like to draw."

Lia was still trying to process what she heard when their coach cleared as a sign to keep going on with the introductions. "Uh... I'm Lia and I..." she glanced to her left, "IreallylikeChaeryeongtoo and I like to shop."

Chaeryeong thought she was going to pee her pants from feeling so giddy.

"I'm Ryujin and I'm not friends with these two. Also, I like to play the guitar."

"I'm Yuna and I like to watch dramas." She looked at the rest of the group, "Like this kind of drama."

The coach rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe she had to deal with a group of the best dancers she's seen but also  the dumbest people she's met. She could feel her migraine creeping in.

"I'm Moonbyul and I would like to meet some new friends because I just transferred to this school."

Solar leaned closer to Yeji and whispered, "She's the one I was telling you about."

Yeji whispered back, "I still prefer Ryujin's style better but they're both good. Are they siblings? They both have whiskers when they smile."

Solar shrugged. "I don't think so. The Ryujin girl has been studying in this school for a while but blue-haired girl only transferred recently."

"Still not happy they were both late. I hope it doesn't happen again or I will send you to nag at them," Yeji said.

Solar looked like she was ready to slap her, "The heck you mean?!"

Yeji smiled, "Well, you are very good at it!"

"Well, you are good at mucking things up so I had training," Solar retorted.

"Hey!"

The next day, Ryujin and Moonbyul were the first to arrive at the studio.

-

Practices had been cruel but the group still managed to hang out afterwards since they all seem to get along really well. They always find themselves at some fast food chain close to their school.

"Solar-unnie is tiny but she always acts like she isn't and keeps going at the back of every formation," Moonbyul had gotten into the habit of teasing Solar. To Yeji's surprise, her best friend had not murdered the younger girl yet.

The group was laughing along when Yeji noticed that Ryujin was quieter than usual so she got up and sat in the space next to Ryujin.

"Hey, you okay?," Yeji asked. She noticed that the other girl was looking a little pale.

Ryujin nodded and answered, "Yeah, just a bit tired." She smiled but Yeji could see it was forced so she decided to bring her palm against Ryujin's forehead to check her temperature.

"Jesus Christ, you're burning!" Yeji said, her voice dripping with concern. She stood up and gathered Ryujin's stuff.

The younger one looked confused and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to make sure you are going to get home safe so you can rest and get better," Yeji said as she hung Ryujin's bag on her shoulder. She turned to the group who noticed the little commotion on their end of the table, "Sorry guys, I'm going to drive Ryujin home. She's not well. Solar, would you like to come with us so I could drop you off too?"

Solar shook her head, "No it's okay, I think it's out of your way."

Yeji was about to argue that she doesn't mind when Moonbyul said, "I can drop Solar-unnie off."

Yeji thanked her before leading the sick member to the carpark and into her car.

-

The ride to Ryujin's house was quiet. Yeji thought the other girl must have been feeling horrendous during practice but not once did she hear her complain or show any sign that she was struggling to keep up. She really works hard huh. She glanced at the other girl who was looking out the window.

"Hey, the traffic is a bit heavy so you can nap. Your address is on the GPS anyway so you don't have to stay up to give directions," Yeji suggested.

Ryujin turned towards the older girl, her head feeling fuzzy. Usually, she will fight to stay up when she's on the passenger seat. Something about being respectful to the driver. But she was feeling quite sick so she didn't have the energy in her to keep her eyes open so she just nodded and succumbed to sleep.

When they arrived, Yeji was hesitant to wake Ryujin up, afraid that she might make her feel worse, but she knew she had to. Yeji placed a hand on Ryujin's shoulder and she felt how high the younger one's temperature was. "Ryujin, wake up. We're at your house now," she said as she ever so slightly tapped Ryujin's shoulder.

Ryujin slowly opened her burning eyes and mindlessly opened the door to get out of the car. Yeji quickly opened her side and grabbed Ryujin's belongings from the back seat.

"You should stay at home and rest tomorrow. Or see a doctor," Yeji said as they reached the front gate and handed Ryujin's stuff back.

"Yeah," Ryujin weakly said. "Thank you. I hope you don't catch this bug from me."

Yeji smiled. Ryujin was sick and here she was thinking about Yeji's well-being instead. "It's okay, I'm not weak."

Ryujin raised an eyebrow, "Are you calling me weak???"

Yeji snickered. "Silly, still competitive even when you're not well. You do know that you're so sick you sound as intimidating as a month-old baby, right? Get inside and get some rest now." She said as she waved goodbye to the other girl.

-

Ryujin woke up in the middle of the night and felt like she had swallowed barbed wires. On top of that, it felt like she had just fallen off a building with every single one of her joints so sore and she could feel her body temperature was soaring. She was in hell. Or at least she felt like so.

She reached out for her phone to check what time it was. 02:08AM. There were a few messages. The members messaging in the group chat wishing for her to be well soon. Chaeryeong and Lia messaged her separately but basically saying the same thing. And then Yeji.

11:29PM YJ-unnie : Hey, I hope you're sleeping now and that this text won't wake you up but I really hope you feel better soon

11:34PM YJ-unnie : Sorry to bother you again, I just want to say I don't want to see your face tomorrow x

11:35PM YJ-unnie : OMG that sounded so mean. I just meant please stay at home until you're well enough to be back in school - let alone to practice

01:06AM YJ-unnie : I really hope you're okay. I worry about you.

Ryujin felt something different after reading the last message. But she blamed it on being sick and decided to respond to the messages in the morning so she let sleep take over once again.