“WHY don’t you try kissing other people? I’ve fooled around so many times sometimes I don’t get excited anymore. I guess kissing so many people would make you lose that kind of feeling.”

Taeyeon’s words echoed at the back of Seulgi’s mind after she heard those challenging words from Joohyun.

“Go ahead then. Kiss me.” Joohyun was looking straight into her eyes. The young director didn’t seem like she would lose this staring contest.

Seulgi's eyes lowered and landed on those red lips of Joohyun. She suddenly felt hot when she was just shaking in the cold earlier. She felt the need to wet her lips which she did right away.

Joohyun’s heart started racing even more after seeing how Seulgi her lips. She believes the camera and the mic in their room aren’t working yet so it would be safe. What she was worried about was the members. 

‘I hope there’s a long line for the food!’ Joohyun chanted internally.

“You’re really acting like a fox now, Director.” Seulgi whispered while looking back and forth to Joohyun’s eyes and lips. 

“And so?” Joohyun sneered. “Are you going to kiss me now or you were just bluffing earlier?”

Seulgi just smirked. “So, you’re really okay with kissing in public places, aren’t you?”

Joohyun’s cheeks blushed so hard that Seulgi noticed it right away. The bassist subconsciously moved a bit closer as a reaction to that blushing.

“I don’t like you the same way, Director.” Seulgi uttered in that husky voice which brought pain to Joohyun’s heart. “I don’t like you anymore. Are you okay with an empty makeout?”

Seulgi’s brows twitched a bit when she felt Joohyun’s hand on her hand. “Oh?”

“I still like you, Seulgi.” Joohyun looked at her with those gentle yet determined eyes. “I probably like you more than before so for me it isn’t an empty makeout. Who knows your feelings for me will be awakened?”

“Like? Still as confident as ever, huh?” Seulgi tilted her head to the side. “I guess giving it a try won’t hurt.”

“How long are you going to talk? Just shut up and kiss me.”

Seulgi’s eyes darkened in that command. She let go of all her hesitations and slowly closed the already small gap between their lips but—

“ACK, sh**al!”

The two froze in their places before their lips even touched after hearing that loud curse from Seungwan. They both turned to the other girl who was also frozen by the door. The other younger girls had their eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. Minjoo even almost dropped the lunchbox that she was holding. Thankfully, Yujin was there to catch it.

“For someone who serves in the church, you curse quite loudly, Seungwan-ah.” Seulgi distanced herself from Joohyun. She then gave back Joohyun’s phone. “If Sooyoungie heard that I am sure you’d get a smack.”

“I-I can’t help it! I was surprised!” Seungwan cleared as she tried to compose herself. “S-Sorry, we arrived at a bad time.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Seulgi just stood up and walked towards the stiffened girls. The bassist stopped in front of them, giving them that curious look. “What? Give way. I have to go out.”

“W-Where are you going?” Seungwan asked.

“Restroom.” Seulgi coldly answered. “Gonna wash my hands.”

“A-Ah!” 

The youngsters immediately made way for Seulgi and the bassist could only sigh on how awkward they were. “It’s not what you think. Stop looking at me like that.”

With that, Seulgi just walked away and after she was gone, the gang immediately went to Joohyun as if they were hungry hyenas. Joohyun feared for her life for a second.

“W-W-What was that, Unnie!?” Minjoo turned into the frog meme again. “What was that? What was that!?”

“Were you guys going to kiss!?” Jimin was doing those tiny hops. “We just left to get some food!”

“Exactly!” Seungwan even sat on the floor in front of Joohyun. “What the hell was that!? You made me curse out of nowhere!”

“C-Calm down…” Director Bae weakly uttered as she massaged her temple. “I was surprised as well. I didn’t expect that it would happen in the short time you guys were out…”

The young director felt her temperature by her neck and she literally felt burning but releasing cold sweat at the same time. “She was trying to intimidate me but of course I didn’t back down so I back and…”

Joohyun relayed what happened as if she was a teacher telling a story to preschoolers. Ryujin was just silently listening, she was by the door on the lookout for Seulgi’s comeback. 

“…and yes, it doesn't seem like the Teddy Bear is back. I was talking to the Wolf.” Joohyun let out a sigh. “But who knows something might spark if we really kissed? Thank you for cursing that loud, we got interrupted.”

“Sorry, Unnie.” Seungwan apologised while scratching the back of her head.

“I—C… No matter what you think of it, it was a wasted opportunity, am I right?” Joohyun said as she leaned forward to her dongsaengs. Everyone was nodding their heads in sync as if they were Joohyun’s disciples.

Surely, Joohyun’s relationship with the band members deepened and got stronger with this O:TBR (OPLAN: Teddy Bear Rescue). She opened up to them a lot. She used to be the private person that doesn’t even share anything about her romantic relationship but here she is now, acting like her age in front of them and even consulting them when in need.

“It’s okay~” Joohyun just smiled at them to comfort them. “There will be a lot more chances ahead!”

Seulgi, on the other hand, found herself staring at the mirror once again. 

“What on earth was that, Kang Seulgi?” she asked herself followed by a tired sigh. She then lifted her hair a bit to uncover her ears and she could only roll her eyes in disappointment when she saw how red her ears were. 

“This doesn’t seem like I am killing my feelings at all. Director Bae is now out of the kiss list.” She finally proceeded to wash her hands when Kim Chaewon suddenly walked into the restroom. The two looked at each other through the mirror and the younger girl froze at the sight of Seulgi.

“What?” Seulgi coldly asked. 

“S-S-Seulgi-unnie?” The vocalist called. She could feel her heart beating fast. She could still remember the fright Seulgi induced her back at the holiday they had. 

“It’s me. I just cut my hair and you don’t recognise me anymore?” Seulgi turned off the faucet and quickly dried her hand.

“Of course, I recognise you with this cut!” Chaewon exclaimed with her fists gathered by her chest. “But where are your glasses? Why did you cut your hair? What—”

“Why do you have a lot of questions?” Seulgi’s shoulders dropped as she turned to Chaewon. “I had LASIK and I felt like cutting my hair, that’s all.”

Seulgi was about to go out but Chaewon stopped her again with another call. Seulgi turned back to the girl whose eyes were misty and looked like pleading. “What?”

“Unnie… I’ve been wanting to talk to you. I’ve been wanting to ask you something.” Chaewon held her breath for a moment as her hands balled into fists. “D-Do you think Yujin and Minjoo will be able to forgive me? J-Just like the way you forgave Seungwan-unnie?”

Seulgi fell silent for a moment. She looked at the ceiling as if she would be able to find the answer there. Her brows twitched into a frown for a short while, her lips pressed together as she contemplated. 

“Sorry, Chaewon.” Seulgi shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know how I should respond to that. I don’t want to give any opinion to important matters like that at my current state. Ahn Puppy told me that I am probably being blinded by something. You don’t know what kind of words are lingering in my lips right now. I am not the one you should ask about this.”

“Seulgi-unnie…” Chaewon called before gulping. ‘She didn’t deny Seungwan-unnie’s deed. She usually protects Seungwan-unnie when this topic is brought out but she didn’t shield her!’

Seulgi shrugged her shoulders once more, now with that mischievous smile on her face. Chaewon suddenly felt her body hair rise. ‘W-Who is this? She isn’t drunk, right? Is this really Seulgi-unnie?’

“If you don’t want to go crazy then don’t ask advice from me~” Seulgi just waved her hand as she walked away, leaving Kim Chaewon astonished that she forgot the main reason when went to the restroom.

🎵 CALLED you for the first time yesterday~ 🎶

A loud cheer was heard from the audience when the lights went back on. The cheer got louder when they saw the change in the formation. The main vocalist was playing the drums while the drummer was holding the mic. The appearance of a new charming guitarist made the surprise a lot more better.

🎵Finally found the missing part of me~🎶

Yujin’s close up flashed on the monitor and her fans got even more crazy. It is a free song selection for the first part of the third round and the Overtime Band chose [Lovebug] by Jonas Brothers. They thought that doing an English song would not only show that they can go international but they would also promote the language skills of their company.

It was Yujin’s recommendation thinking that Seungwan would slay it with her English but after what happened to her and Minjoo, Seungwan actually recommended that she sing the song herself as a surprise for Minjoo.

No one knew that it would be Yujin singing, even Joohyun didn’t know anything about the surprise. During the rehearsal, it was also Seungwan who sang but Yujin reviewed everything including how the camera work would go and how the in-ear works. The program staff was surely surprised but they managed to proceed in accordance with the rehearsal. 

🎵Now I'm speechless. Over the edge, I'm just breathless. I never thought that I'd catch this lovebug again~ Hopeless, head over heels in the moment. I never thought that I'd get hit by this lovebug again~🎶

Yujin finally located Minjoo in the crowd and gave her a wink. That wink made their fans crazy including Jimin who couldn’t stop violently giggling as she shook Minjoo by the shoulders. Minjoo was dumbfounded while Joohyun was left in the bitter part of the fruit again since Seulgi was looking everywhere but at her.

With Ryujin in-charge with the rhythm and Minjeong doing the lead, the short instrumental came in. Seulgi’s playful bass made the audience grooved with the music while Seungwan was looking so cool with the hand percussion shaker. 

Yujin continued to sing for Minjoo with Minjeong and Seungwan doing the backup vocals. All attention was really on them. Their opponents who were watching them at their own waiting rooms could only either shake their heads in disbelief or just stare at the monitor knowing that they were competing with a band full of surprises. 

During the bridge, Ryujin imitated the bubble popping sounds through her lips which made the judges lose their minds because of  their creativity. Seungwan slowly let go of the hand percussion and readied the drumsticks.

🎵 Hopeless, breathless, baby can’t you see? Now I’m! 🎶

The whole studio started to jam when the rock instrumental part of the song came in. Everyone was surely having fun while playing the song. Seungwan worried about Seulgi but she was not acting like a zombie that time. Though she wasn’t giving that crescent moon eye smile of hers, she was still smiling and vibing with the song and that was enough for now for Seungwan.

Yujin was really feeling it that she ran towards Minjeong’s side and started singing with her. 

🎵 Now I'm speechless. Over the edge, I'm just breathless. I never thought that I'd catch this lovebug again~🎶

She then ran towards Seulgi and Ryujin as she sang the next part of the chorus. The two were  singing with her even though they didn’t have mics of their own. 

🎵 Hopeless, head over heels in the moment. I never thought that I'd get hit by this lovebug again~🎶

Yujin turned to Seungwan who was also feeling the drums that time. The youngest then turned back to the audience before singing the last line of the song. She pointed towards Minjoo before she gave her a finger heart.

🎵 Oh-oh~ Lovebug again~🎶

There was a loud roar of cheer for the band after they finished their performance with a bang. The judges gave them a standing ovation and Taeyeon could also be seen clapping in satisfaction after that performance. 

Of course, they were praised by the judges but even though it was really a good performance, they still gave them some points where they can do better. And with Seulgi’s ‘glaring at one section’ getting popular at the past rounds, they couldn’t help but to wonder what happened that she didn’t do the same thing this time. The bassist was of course praised for her upgraded visuals and the audience cheered when that was mentioned, but the judges couldn’t help but to be curious about what happened to the glare.

Seulgi just smiled before answering, “I guess my eyes aren’t for one section anymore.” An answer that made her followers lose their minds (including Joohyun who felt like she was shot with millions of needles). 

Ryujin was praised by the judges for her fantastic debut, in awe not just of her guitar skills but also with the consistent bubble popping sound that she did. The rhythm guitarist was so happy to be praised that she beamed a smile, showing her whisker-like dimples. The fans found another person to follow. 

The band was praised abundantly but the production team was surprised to see that they were ready to be in another war after they went backstage. They just gave each other a fist bump before going back to their waiting room with serious looks on their faces. 

When they were asked about it during the interview, Seungwan just said one thing that made people respect them even more. 

“We don’t have the leisure to be confident and comfortable.” Obviously reflecting on what Taeyeon told them during her visit. 

They met the other three girls on their way back to the waiting room on the hallway and Jimin could only just push Minjoo to Yujin. Minjoo fell right into Yujin's arms which earned her a suspicious look from Jimin. “I only used like one percent of my force and you already flew like that?”

“W-What