Everything was a lot better now.

That was what Yuri had decided, while walking through the tight hallways of backstage with Jessica hooked on her arm.

It was narrow and cramped; even with all nine of them lined up in a single row and squashed to the side— as close to the wall as possible— there was still barely any walking space. She was pretty sure that hallways like this weren’t meant for any more than five people. Much less nine.

Such were the flaws of the architecture of most backstages.

Even so, Jessica didn’t seem like she had any plans of letting her go any time soon, only sticking even closer when idols came bustling down from the opposing end.

Not that Yuri minded or anything. Just that… It was such a long time since they last been this comfortable with each other after that whole... fight.

It felt nice. Being on friendly terms with her again— being able to laugh, smile and joke around once more.

She missed it— missed her— and she was just glad things was finally looking up for them.

But deep down, she knew. No matter how much it seemed like it, it was never going to be the same.

Ever.

Not ever since.

However still, there were just some things that wouldn’t change. Like the fluttering of her heart at the sight of her smile. Or the flipping of her stomach and the pleasant shiver down her spine whenever she came too close for comfort.

Things like this, she would simply have to bear with it and hope— pray— that one day, it’d fade away.

But something told her that it would never leave her.

Yuri blinked, snapping out of her daze.

The mindless chatter droning away in the background had seemed to increase by ten folds. It could only mean one thing—another idol group was currently occupying the same hallway and was most likely heading their way.

From the shrill squeals and girly giggles, Yuri knew for sure it wasn’t a boy group.

And for that she was thankful.

Male idol groups were mostly a rowdy bunch and loud. Very loud.  You could hear their deep, booming baritone from two to three floors away and that was not an exaggeration; they were probably the reasons why the waiting rooms were soundproofed in the first place. Not to mention, they were usually far too enthusiastic to her liking and could be quite a handful to deal with at times.

Glancing up, she recognized the group to be the one that had briefly greeted them during the ending of the award show earlier.

Fresh faces, bright smiles and sparkling eyes filled with much innocence and hope. Looking at them, had struck a sentimental chord deep within Yuri as they reminded her so much of how they were like, four years ago.

Back when they were still the newbies of the industry, fresh out of training and barely knowing how to float— ever so naïve and earnest.

Little did they know it was going to be a harsh, cruel road ahead of them.

Noticing the nervous, sheepish smiles the girls had on as they neared them with every approaching step, Yuri offered a friendly smile in reassurance, as did with the rest of the other members.

After all, it was a pretty nerve-wrecking thing to be greeting your seniors, impromptu or planned. But for some reason, it only seemed to stir up the anxiety within the newer group.

Were her eyes playing tricks on her, or did that one girl look as if she was taking cover behind one of her members?

They can’t possibly be that scared…

Can they?

 “Hello,”

Greetings and bows were soon being thrown from left to right, now that both groups were within close vicinity.

“Hello again!” Tiffany laughed, grinning. She was probably the most eager to receive them amongst the rest of the members who merely smiled and nodded politely.

“Congratulations on your win,” Yuri smiled, and looking up, she realized it happened to be the same girl who was hiding behind her member earlier.

Now that she was no longer obscured, Yuri could see that she was tall, maybe just an inch shorter than herself, tanned and pretty. A mature, refined kind of pretty that reminded her of Seohyun in a certain way.

Probably one of the Unnies of the group?

The girl appeared really tensed though, eyes darting and falling onto everything except for Yuri herself. But when they landed on her at last, she had immediately averted them away.

“Thank you,” the girl mumbled, lips curving into a forceful smile as she gave a short bow.

Yuri felt the grip on her arm tighten imperceptibly, and it suddenly struck her that Jessica was still latched upon her arm.

 She paused, watching as the girl scurry off with the rest of the group.

“Ah, am I being disliked?” Yuri murmured musingly, brow raising in slight amusement.

“I’d think otherwise…” She caught Jessica muttering lowly under her breath.

Looking down at her curiously, she was met with a dark look, which faded quickly as soon as she had noticed it.

“Hm?”

Jessica rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Come on, let’s go.” She grunted, tugging her along. “Sometimes I wonder if you’re really that dense or you’re simply just faking it.”

Yuri laughed, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know, you tell me.” She grinned.

Needless to say, she only got a groan and a playful nudge back in response.

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A/N: Well, I said it'll be short. But I'll try to keep the updates quick for this. :)