Chaeyeon's POV:

It was our final performance for the entire five day affair with MAMA '18 we were all tired by the back-to-back performances we've been having over the last five days. Akihabara, Tokyo was such a tease, staying at the hotel, it excited everyone for our impending trip to Kagoshima Prefecture, birthplace of their mother, Kura-chan. Everyone was hyped and couldn't wait to finish tonight's schedule. We're performing first today with another extended play La Vie en Rose this one was remixed especially for MAMA '18 again the VTRs were shot back in Korea, showing all our triumphs as trainees. It was crazy how Kura-chan looks at the VTR, she looked soft and the last part she was looking back towards me and waiting for me to approach her while the rest of us runs to her to join her upfront. Then after that VTR plays, La Vie en Rose the remix will start playing. We are atop some moving boxes. Kura-chan flanked center Wonyoung to the right. Though this was the case, she was still star of the song.

The choreography I did was meant to showcase her beauty, it just so happened that there were four visuals in the team. We also had a prop we will be using by the end of the song, a red hanky that we will use for our ending choreography. We worked hard for this day, we ultimately skipped today's rehearsals because our kids are looking dead tired already. It was honestly the least thing I could do for them after they've worked hard through out the last two months since we've debuted and got the nomination. We've been monitoring fans' comments and views on the practice video we've put out for MAMA '18, we've received excited comments, some overly hyped, I must admit, but it put the whole group at ease, knowing we're putting our best foot forward coming into MAMA '18.

I looked at everyone being their chaotic selves, despite us sharing a room with the forty eight group who were looking distressed with all the chaos our group's been causing, Yena and Yujin alone is a chaotic duo, like the god of destruction and war, imagine all eleven arguing to themselves, it'd be so exhausting. Sakura was giggling at the others, while Kwangbae had her head over Kura-chan's shoulders being her quiet self. Unamused about the others being so noisy and rowdy. Looking a tad bit bored at the team's antics. Currently half of the team were playing the mafia game, save for the three of us who only looked at everyone in the room silently. Until Minju came to get Kura-chan to play with them, she indulged the kids, Kwangbae Hyung and I declined them. Minju volunteered to facilitate the game, since she loses anyway pretty fast. Everyone gangs up on Minju on a round of mafia, always suspecting her to be the mafia when she would either be the police, doctor or an innocent citizen.

JoYuriZ to be specific were the ones who always targets Minju for elimination if one of them were the mafia. So, Minju being the sensible woman that she is, opts to facilitate the game, being narrator of the mafia game. Kwangbae puts her head on my shoulders, I was two inches taller than Kwangbae Hyung, so it felt natural to me, unlike Yujin who was WTC Tower One or Wonyoung who was WTC Tower Two. The two twin towers were always clingy to everyone in the team. Sensing a sigh from Kwangbae, I looked down to her as she looked up to me. I offered her an encouraging smile. I raised an eyebrow to her, which told her to spill the beans she's been keeping to herself.

"How do you know you'll be accepted by your parents?" She asked me, her eyes looking afar, going through Minju as if the kid was invisible.

"Hyung? Me? You know my parents are supportive. They support whatever and whoever I do." I chuckled at the last statement.

"But seriously, how do you do it?" She asked me again.

"Hyung, tell me honestly, do you even see yourself with her?" I asked her.

"I do. I see myself with her in the future, near and far." She replied to me.

"How does that feel Hyung?" I asked her again.

"Scary, Unsure, Fearing of my parents' comments? But at the same time exhilarating and exciting, I feel nothing could go wrong." She replied.

"Happy and content. Yeah definitely and certainly happy." She followed up.

"And your heart wants to do what?" I asked her again.

"To love her freely and proudly." She answered me.

"Hyung, I would say follow your heart, parents be damned, your parents have made a choice to let you live, they maybe mad at the moment, because let's be honest, you are their only daughter, you have two brothers, remember? They wanted what they thought was best for you, but now that they're seeing you don't want the life they wanted you to live, it is your turn to trust your instincts, fight for what you want, in this case it's her. If your parents will hate you, then it isn't your loss, you're an artist now, you can pay for rent next year, you can leave and even repay your parents. If they'll drive you away, remember we are family, everyone in IZ*ONME loves you, who needs parents when you have us? Your chosen family." I replied to her with a pause.

"We will die in each other's arms, you, me, everyone. We are family, bonded under one goal that was to debut and now to entertain our fans, we are family that we chose to form a bond with, if you ask me, we don't need our parents dictating what comes in our lives, they don't have the right to control us. They only had a responsibility to raise us and hope we turn out well, apart from that we don't owe them anything. Because if you look at it, it wasn't your fault why you are you, why you love another woman. It was their fault for giving you life, you didn't want to live this life to begin with, I mean who wanted to be a lesbian to begin with? It's full of judging eyes, full of fake love, full of fake people, using and abusing out hearts, it's tiring being a lesbian." I followed up laughing at her.

Because it was true, none of us chose how we turned out, we only felt and pursued. We might've pursued the wrong people according to society, but at least we'd never cheat, well Kwangbae Hyung doesn't cheat, but I did, earning me a one way ticket to hell as early as now. Regardless, my Hyung doesn't deserved to be bothered by her doubts, if her parents and siblings won't accept her then my team will. Because we are her chosen family and family doesn't let anyone suffer alone. We'll go through everything with or without our own families behind us, Kwangbae Hyung needed to know that she got us and we got her back.

"I'm really grateful to have you and the rest of the team, Chaeyeon-ah. Thank you for the talk, I feel lighter now." She said smiling at me.

"What's your plan for the princess-queen consort?" I asked her.

"I... I actually got her a christmas gift, for our first christmas together in Japan. I just don't know when to give it." She replied.

"Give it to her once we get to Kagoshima tomorrow, right after the tea ceremony." I replied to her.

"What did you buy her?" I followed up to her inquisitively.

"A charm bracelet from Pandora, I plan to gift her the charms for every milestone we reach, like birthday celebrations, christmases and new years, stuff like that." She replied.

"Wow! Clever idea, may I steal your idea and use it?" I asked her.

"Of course! Duh!" Kwangbae replied rolling her eyes at me.

"Hyung, thank you for existing in my life, I know I caused a lot of neglect, but I promise to make it up to you guys. Starting pre-debut, when Kura-chan arrived." I replied to her.

"Sheesh! We let you be, because we understood your pain, having met you permanently damaged from G's cheating on not one but ten men, the loss of your first love Yerin and then the loss of your two unnies in training, that was hard, Jjaeyeon. We didn't know how to tell you everything will be alright, when we ourselves were also affected by the deaths of the two unnies. I just hope you'd always tell me what's bugging you, instead of screaming and shouting your petty little , my gadniss Jjaeyeon! You're no cool during that time, no wonder Minju gave up on you. LOL." She said laughing slightly at me.

"But, we stayed. We let you be, no matter how hard it was to stay by your side, we chose you, because we knew you're worth the wait. We hoped to see you smile, Kura Eomma seemed to have succeeded in plastering a smile in your face. Whipped." She followed up in a teasing tone.

"Thank you, Kwangbae Hyung." I replied to her.

"Always welcome, our Jjaeyeon, who's a twenty something man, that's so cool