"Okay, let's try with the music this time!" our choreographer was all smiles. We hadn't had a good dance practice in weeks, but today we were all on top of things. He played the music for Infinite's Before The Dawn. Today was the day we finally mastered the scorpion move. It took a lot more leg muscle than Infinite let on, but we managed. Our final obstacle was synchronization. We all had different interpretations of the tempo, clearly. So, we had been practicing without the music, following the tempo of our choreographer. After our tempo practice, though, we got a lot closer to nailing it than we had before. We had edited a few of the moves to make up for the three members we lacked, and watching it in the mirror actually made it look pretty cool. When we finished, we held our positions until the choreographer cued us.
"That was ALMOST perfect," he said brightly, "You should definitely tell your Infinite friends."
Jaesoon blushed. Since meeting Dongwoo, they had done nothing but text, all day every day. They didn't have a lot of free time, though, and since Sungyeol and Dongwoo had escaped, they were on a sort of lock down.
"You should tell Infinite's manager to let them come watch," Miyeon laughed.
"I've already talked to their choreographer, he wants to see my abridged version," he laughed, "Only because we're pretty good friends."
"You're friends with Infinite's choreographer?" I asked.
"You guys are a bunch of fangirls," he shook his head.
"I want to meet Myungsoo," Song-E folded her hands and bounced slightly.
"I still haven't met Hoya," I pouted, "I tried but Sungyeol keeps getting all jealous."
"They're planning a comeback, but don't tell anyone I told you," Jiyoon said casually, "Seriously, if anyone found out, they'd trace it back to me and I'd be dead."
"A COMEBACK?" Miyeon began to squeal excitedly.
"Dongwoo already told—"
"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US?" Song-E pointed her finger at Jaesoon, "THAT IS VALUABLE GROUP INFORMATION. Next time, don't keep secrets."
"Sungyeol didn't tell me anything!" I pouted.
"Well Dongwoo and Jaesoon are going to get married so—"
"You're so full of crap, Miyeon," Jaesoon nudged her.
"Okay ladies, take a water break, I can't deal with your fangirling," the choreographer said, "We'll come back and see if we can't make this perfect. Then take the afternoon."
Jiyoon laughed, "Excuse me? Take the afternoon? Like, they can go home?"
"That's what I said," the choreographer didn't even blink, "They had a good practice today, we made a lot of progress, no need to start something new today?"
"And if they were debuting say, oh I don't know, in two months? Would they get to go home early?" Jiyoon sounded more bitter than usual today.
"Well, no. But I haven't gotten any wind of the debut being bumped up, so… they can have the afternoon," the choreographer stared blankly at Jiyoon. She hated being undermined like that, so she just crossed her arms and walked out. The four of us looked at each other. Miyeon and I were scared, Jaesoon was trying not to laugh, but Song-E looked worried.
"You know, there's a very clear reason they made you leader, unni," I said. Song-E wasn't really listening to me. She grabbed her bottle of water and followed Jiyoon out into the hallway.
"Do you think we're in trouble, unni?" Miyeon asked Jaesoon.
"Do you think Jiyoon is mad at us?" I asked her, too.
"Hell, I don't know," she said, smile fading, "Let's just see if Song-E finds out anything."
"Didn't Jiyoon say something about a board meeting this morning?" I asked, remembering her being frantic at breakfast.
"Oh, that's right… You don't think they're going to drop us, do you?" Miyeon bit her lip.
"No," Jaesoon said without budging, "We're way too talented. It's probably another budget thing. You know how they always worry about money."
I nodded and checked my phone. Dongwoon and I were talking about Beast's upcoming comeback.
( We chose our title song. It's awesome. )
"Beast chose the title song for their comeback," I smiled.
"Tell them we want to hear it!" Miyeon said eagerly.
( When do we get to hear it? )
( When we release it… ;P )
"Dongwoon said we can't hear it until it's released," I pouted.
"Use your maknae charm on him. It always, always works," Jaesoon said, "But you have to wait until you're there in person."
"Right! Maknae charm! I'll get us that song."
Miyeon and Jaesoon went to stretch in the corner and I heard the door open again. Song-E came back in looking even more worried than before.
"Did Jiyoon tell you anything?" I asked, since no one else seemed to notice she was back.
Song-E looked at me, then forced a smile, "Everything's going to be fine."
"Is it that bad?" I asked. Song-E patted my shoulder and went to join Miyeon and Jaesoon.
My phone vibrated again, but this time it was Sungyeol.
( My manager's letting us go out tonight. Do you and the other girls wanna come with us? )
Any worry that I had vanished.
"Hey, guys… you wanna go out tonight?" I asked and passed around my phone around.
"Where are we going?" Song-E asked with a smile.
"Who cares? I'm in!" Miyeon said excitedly.
"Jae-jae?" I asked Jaesoon.
"Well, duh," she laughed.
I texted Sungyeol back.
( All four of us are in. Where are we going? )
( We all want to go to a club! Can we meet you at the café by your building? )
I felt giddy for some reason. Sungyeol and I hadn't made any plans since having lunch, and I worried that he decided I was no fun or something. Besides, I had never been to a club. Oh wait…
( I don't know if I'm old enough to go to the club. ; n ; )
( Doesn't matter, you're with us. )
"Um.." I coughed, "They want to go to a club."
"How are we supposed to get in? None of us are old enough," Jaesoon pouted.
"Sungyeol said it doesn't matter because we're with them. Do they get special idol treatment or something?"
"Keep your voice down," Song-E said, "We'll be able to get in but we have to make sure Jiyoon-unni doesn't find out."
"Are you going to invite Gikwang?" I whispered.
"No, he needs to get his rest. They've been kicking their butts lately, I haven't even been over there in two days." I pouted for her and she just shrugged, "It's life. We have a date tomorrow."
We all smiled and giggled. Date. They were dating. How precious.
Miyeon sighed, "I want to invite Taec, but they're working on a comeback, too!"
We all stared at her angrily, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? YOU DIDN'T TELL US THAT."
She smirked, "Just found out today."
"And you were getting all mad at me!" Jaesoon defended, "Miyeonie was harboring important information, too!"
"You two sicken me," I pretended to be upset and glared at them while I sipped my water. Sungyeol texted me again though, and I felt the bubbles again. I was calling my feelings "the bubbles" because when he said something or texted me, I felt like bubbles filled up in my stomach.
( So are you coming? Meet you at that café at 9? )
"Is nine okay?" I asked quietly. Everyone nodded.
( 9 is good. See you then. Don't be late this time. )
( I won't! In fact, just to prove a point, I'll be early! )
I smiled to myself before the choreographer called us back to our battle stances—I mean, positions. After three more BTDs, we had finally perfected it. At least for the day.
"Great job, kiddies. Now collect your things and go home. And REST because we're starting a new dance tomorrow. A real dance. An ATM dance. So, if you guys care about anything I say at all, go home and use your free time to rest."
We all agreed, but inside we were laughing.
As we were leaving, Song-E asked, "Jinhwa, you wanna come with me to the Cube building? I wanna stop in and see Gikwang."
My stomach flipped, "Yeah, do you think they've eaten anything yet?" It was 1:30, but knowing them, they hadn't eaten at all.
"Call Dongwoon. Anyone else want to join us?"
Miyeon and Jaesoon were both silent. Things with Doojoon had gotten even more awkward over the past few days. He told Miyeon one thing and Jaesoon another thing. I wasn't clued in on the details yet, but I was waiting on Dongwoon to tell me. All I knew was that, according to Jaesoon and Miyeon both, it would take a while for them to trust Doojoon again. As for each other, the two were as close as ever.
"Miyeon and I are getting our nails done, actually," Jaesoon said after the awkward silence.
"Okay, then we'll just meet you two at home later," Song-E smiled and we parted ways after saying goodbyes. The four of us were weird. We always said goodbye like we were leaving for months, even if we'd only be apart a few hours. For four girls who do everything together, it was always a big deal to be separated.
Once we were on the way to the Cube building, Song-E sighed.
"Something wrong unni?" I asked.
"Don't get mad at me…" she began.
"I'm listening."
"Dongwoon wants me to talk to you," she said cautiously. I was quiet, waiting for her to go on. "About Sungyeol."
"We're just friends."
"I know that," Song-E said, "But he asked me to try to convince you not to let yourself fall for him or something."
"You honestly think—"
"I'm not the only person who sees your face when Sungyeol texts you."
I scowled, "Why does it matter? If I end up liking Sungyeol then I can't help it."
"I know, I just want you to know that Dongwoon is really nervous about it," Song-E said, still cautious.
"He shouldn't be," I said quietly, "But how am I supposed to figure out my feelings if all I know is what it feels like to be friends with Dongwoon? I'm not going to hold back because he can't make up his mind about me. About us."
"You're too smart for your own good, maknae," Song-E sighed, "I know where you're coming from, and I'm on your side. As long as you realize that—"
"That Dongwoon and I are like two peas in a pod?" I smiled.
Song-E continued, "That you'd be putting a lot on the line for a guy you just met if you gave up on Dongwoon."
"I would never give up on Dongwoon," I said quietly. It was true. Dongwoon would always have a special place in my heart. But does that mean I would give up another opportunity, one that may actually really mean something, for something I can't even have?
I pushed the thinking out of my mind. I was just excited to see the boys.
When the manager let us in Beast's practice room, Gikwang lit up. "Jaa—" he started then Song-E started to blush, "Hey Song-E."
"Little maknae!" Dongwoon snuck up and hugged me around the neck from behind.
"Yaaaah, I'm not you're little brother!" I tried to escape from his death grip.
Suddenly, I knew why I was brought along. Gikwang and Song-E disappeared and I was stuck being everyone's distraction. That little—
"Jinhwa!" Yoseob was sitting in a rolling chair. He rolled over to where Dongwoon and I stood, "How's training? Oh, and I hear you're dating that guy in Infinite."
"You're just saying that to—"
"Mess with Dongwoon—"
"It's not nice," I pouted, "His name is Sungyeol and he's seriously just a friend of mine. Jaesoon is getting kinda flirty with one of the members, though," I laughed a little. Doojoon perked up and then looked at Yoseob as if trying to signal him.
"Which member?" Yoseob asked innocently. I didn't look at Doojoon, but I knew he was listening.
"Dongwoo," I said and cleared my throat, "They're actually going out tonight." I didn't bother mentioning that everyone was going out with Infinite, because I wasn't supposed to.
"What about Miyeon?" Junhyung asked, appearing out of nowhere, "Who's she seeing? Taecyeon from 2pm still?"
"They're not seeing each other," I said innocently, "They do hang out quite a bit though. They're close like me and Woonie." I chose now to look at Doojoon. He had been eating, and now he wasn't. A part of me felt a little bad, but another part of me had this strong urge to keep it up to protect my group. "But I can tell he really likes Miyeon."
"Does she like him?" Yoseob asked, "Cuz Miyeon is hot."
I laughed, "I don't know, probably. Taecyeon is pretty hot, too."
"What are you doing tonight, little one?" Dongwoon put his palm open on the top of my head and turned me to face him, causing me to ignore the rest of the group.
"I'm sleeping," I laughed, "Manager's orders!"
"You can sleep when you're dead," he smirked, "Come over."
"I can't tonight," I said and pouted, "I will soon."
Dongwoon nodded, "I'm proud of you. You're taking this seriously, that's important."
I could only smile. It was such a lie, and I felt bad about it. But Dongwoon probably wouldn't find out, and that was probably for the best.
Song-E and Gikwang reappeared and then she decided we needed to let them get back to work. I said my goodbyes to everyone, Dongwoon making sure he practically suffocated me in a hug before ruffling my hair.
"I told him we were going," Song-E said the minute we got outside.
"WAAHH! But I lied to Dongwoon about it, what if Gikwang tells him—"
"He won't, I already made him promise," Song-E said, "I just didn't want to lie to Gikwang about it. He wouldn't lie to me about anything."
I sighed. I was a terrible… friend.
It was getting closer and closer to time to meet Sungyeol, so I got ready. Miyeon helped me find some clothes to wear, because I had no idea.
"Taec and I go to clubs sometimes," she said smiling, "This! This is good!" She handed me a black, sleeveless shirt that gathered up the spin and had sequins going in straight lines down the front. She made me pair that with short white shorts and a pair of heels.
"Do I have to wear he—"
"Yes."
"But I'd rather wear these," I picked up my pair of black low-top converse.
"Wear the heels!"
"But—"
"If I were you," Song-E said, "I'd wear the heels."
I sighed and grumbled, but I agreed to wearing the heels.
Miyeon was already ready—hair, makeup, and clothes. She wore a tight blue dress that barely made it to her legs, but she wore black leggings to stay modest. Her hair was pinned half-back and curled slightly, and her makeup was smoky and club-appropriate.
Song-E went for something simpler. She wore a white tank top that had subtle green designs on it and a lacy back, jean shorts, and green converse.
"Why does she get to wear—"
"She's Song-E, she does what she wants," Jaesoon laughed from the doorway. She was wearing black skinnies, heels, and a silvery tank top. Her makeup and hair were also done. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she pinned her bangs back with a slight bump. Her makeup looked like it was just a lighter version of Miyeon's.
"Now I just look like I'm going to the park or something," Song-E laughed, "Oh well, I don't need to get hit on. I have a boyfriend."
"Don't you want to make all the boys jealous?" Jaesoon nudged her with her elbow.
"Not particularly," Song-E said with a chuckle in her voice, "Maknae, what are you going to do with your hair?"
"Leave it the way it is?" I said unsurely.
"You need to get it out of your face," Miyeon said, taking the liberty to pin my bangs back, "And now it needs more volume."
I unpinned my bangs, "I'll leave it like this."
She pinned them back again, "But you'll get hot and sweaty."
"Then it won't matter if my hair has volume," I laughed and unpinned my bangs again."
Miyeon just rolled her eyes, "Okay, maknae, you're in charge here. You two finish your makeup and we can go!"
It was already close to 9, so Song-E and I didn't spend too much time on makeup so we could hurry up and leave.
When we got to the café, Sungyeol was already there wearing a hat and sunglasses even though it was dark. He motioned us to follow him without actually talking to us. Once we got to a less busy street, he took off his sunglasses smiled at us.
"You guys look great. Dongwoo is really excited to see you, Jaesoon," he smiled mischievously.
Jaesoon blushed, but it was subtle. I took notice that Sungyeol was wearing fitted black pants and a nice button up shirt. He looked… hot.
We met up with the other members outside the back of a club. Sunggyu was inside, talking to the manager who he supposedly knew. Miyeon started to get impatient.
"I never have this problem when I'm with Taecyeon," she said loudly on purpose.
"Miyeonie," I said quietly, "Be nice."
Dongwoo was talking to Jaesoon, who was now almost his height. I overheard only part of their conversation.
"…been to a club before?" Dongwoo asked.
"No, actually, this is my first time," Jaesoon wasn't as shy as she was the first day.
"Really? I bet you'll have a lot of fun."
"Do you always have fun, oppa?"
"When there's a pretty girl in my sight," he smiled at her, "So I'm guessing I won't have any issues tonight."
Jaesoon played dumb, "Yeah, I'm sure there are beautiful ladies inside."
"I was talking about you," he said, even though he knew she was playing dumb on purpose.
Jaesoon blushed slightly, even though she heard exactly what she wanted to hear.
"Jinhwa," Sungyeol grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door, "This is Hoya."
Hoya smiled at me and bowed slightly. I was speechless. Hoya was finally standing right in front of me.
"She's a big fan," Sungyeol said quietly to Hoya. I hit him. "Yah, what was that for?"
"You make me look dumb!" I said. "It's so nice to meet you," I bowed my head low for Hoya. He chuckled.
"It's nice to meet you, too. Are you ready for a fun night?" he asked, still smiling.
"Definitely!"
Finally, Sunggyu came out and began to let us inside. When Miyeon stepped up, the corners of his mouth rose into a smile.
"I don't believe we've met," he said, holding up the group from getting in.
"Miyeon," she said simply, "Nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine," he smiled fully, "See you inside."
Miyeon blushed a little and turned to look at me. I wiggled my eyebrows playfully at her and she bit her lip while smiling. She was instantly crushing. She already loved Sunggyu for his voice, but now she could see other things in him that she liked.
A hand snaked around my waist—a place where I wasn't expecting it. I looked up to see Sungyeol leading me straight for the dance floor. He smiled at me when we locked eyes. The bubbles came in like nothing I'd ever felt before. He leaned down to say something in my ear.
"Are you going to stand there looking dumb or are you going to dance with me?" even though he yelled it into my ear, I could barely hear him, so instead of verbally answering, I danced. Sungyeol's hands were on me practically the whole night. Whether they were on my waist, around my waist completely, or holding my hands, he was constantly touching me. I would be lying if I said I didn't like it. Jaesoon and Dongwoo, who were the two most likely to have been dancing, were instead at the bar talking. Miyeon danced with Sunggyu and Woohyun. Woohyun was all over the place in terms of dance partners, though. I would've liked to dance with Hoya a few times, but it looked like he had either left early or learned how to blend in really well. When I found Song-E, she was off to the side of the dance floor holding what I hoped was water. She was standing with Myungsoo and they looked to be pointing out things to laugh at on the dance floor. They were both laughing quite a lot.
"I'm going to get a drink, do you want anything?" Sungyeol said in my ear.
"I'll come with you," I said. He took my hand and pulled me through the crowd to the bar. He ordered himself something that sounded like it had alcohol in it, so I just asked for a bottle of water.
"That's no fun," he said with a smirk, "You're already out here, you might as well have fun!"
I looked over at Song-E again. If she was drinking water, it wouldn't be in a cup like that. I looked back at Sungyeol and sighed. He smirked successfully and ordered me a real drink. I would've been alright if that was our only visit to the bar that night. But many, many bar visits awaited us that night. But if I was already out, I might as well have fun.