C H A P T E R S E V E N
Go on your path, even if you live for a day
Do something, put away your weakness

"So, what song should we do?"

"Hm... I don't know. Something y?"

Sumin blankly stared at the grinning Chinese man as he wriggled his eyebrows at her, rolling her eyes to look at Mark for his opinion. The trio were in a circle in the middle of an empty practice room - the blonde had pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and was sitting with her knees pulled to her chest, head resting on her hand. Jackson was lying on his side, in his signature 'draw-me-like-one-of-your-french-girls' pose, with his cap turned backwards whilst biting his lower lip.

"y... hm... what about Troublemaker?

"Seriously?" She frowned, sliding the shades back down to her nose and pouting. If there was anything she was feeling at that moment, it was definitely not y.

"Oh come on Mini, you look hot in those sweatpants- ow!" Jackson rubbed his bicep where the blonde had er punched him and scowled. "Hey, it's not my fault I have some sort of supreme liver or something! Don't be jealous!"

"Do you want to die!?"

"Guys, calm down," Mark sighed, rubbing his temples. Of course he just had to get stuck with these two, getting at each others throats like cats. He couldn't think of any worse pair - and yet, at the same time, they were probably also the best.

Jackson Wang had made a name for himself as 'wild and y', with not a care in the world about how stupid he looked and childish he acted. So, naturally, people were drawn to his jokey charm as well as his outrageous good looks, despite being a foreigner. Mark himself was from oversees, and the two had similar interests, so they hit it off straight away.

Lee Sumin, on the other hand, could be brutally honest and had a short fuse with people she didn't like, so he noticed that the other trainees tended to keep their distance unless she approached them first. But once she spoke, she was funny and friendly with a sharp tongue, and could be a fierce friend in tough situations. Nothing seemed to scare her - apparently not even the resident Queenka, Seo Minji.

But it seemed that a pleasant friendship was not meant to be between the two, and whenever they were in the same room it was always accompanied by some sort of squabble. It was only when they performed did anyone see why the two could actually get along - animosity was forgotten, and they worked in a sort of sync that was probably a bit eerie to anyone inspecting.

Sumin complained, sticking out her bottom lip. "Mark-oppa, I feel like a pack of gazelle are stampeding through my head. I don't think I'm capable of being y right now."

"I don't know, I feel like this kind of suits you," he said honestly, leaning back on the palms of his hands. 

"Yeah, you can be the boss, push us around a bit while we try to 'seduce' you."

"Is that meant to be a compliment?" She asked flatly, narrowing her eyes and nudging her shades forward.

"Everyone likes it when the girl takes charge," Jackson commented with a smug grin, and SuMin shot him a glare.

"You are rotten."

Groaning, Mark stood up and brushed down his pants, turning to walk away. They wouldn't get anywhere whilst she was in a bad mood and Jackson was adamant in teasing her. "Ok, I'm going. Call me when you decide on something, or when you're feeling better - whatever."

"Oppa-" The door swung shut and the blonde groaned, turning to look at her teammate sulkily. "Great. So what do we do now?"

The Chinese man shrugged and Sumin threw her hands up in a childish protest, rolling backwards to lie flat on the floor. She covered her face with her hands, pushing her sunglasses onto the top of her head and rubbing a bit of life back into her cheeks. Honestly, she just wanted to sleep. And if her practice was going this bad, she really hoped the poor lilac haired girl was doing ok with her partner.

"What are you thinking about?"

Distracted from her thoughts, she moved her hands from her face and opened her eyes, squinting as they adjusted to the shadow hanging over her. Jackson was hovering, hands either side of her head, with a curious look on his face; she froze at the position, her hands thankfully still covering her cheeks so the rising blush didn't show.

"Yah, what are you doing!? Get off me, pabo!"

"No," he replied, frowning.

The two stared each other down, Sumin glaring at him furiously, before she couldn't take his gaze anymore and looked to the side. "I was thinking how much I want to go to sleep. Wondering if Aeri-ssi is ok. And how much I hate you, of course," she added, turning back to pout at him and shove him to the side.

He watched her sit up and return her sunglasses to her nose, wrapping her arms around her knees to stare off into the corner. Sighing, he scratched his head guiltily. He was partly responsible for her bad mood. "Wanna go grab a coffee or something?"

Her head snapped towards him in surprise, jaw slack for a moment before she