Work Text:
JEEMIN’S POV.
“alright, cut!” our dance instructor lowered the tablet that was used to record our practice.
we hold our ending pose before we broke apart gasping for air. timebomb is surely the most tiring choreo compared to our others songs, though drip came close to stealing my soul after countless of it’s rehearsals.
koko collapsed to the floor, her arms and legs sprawled out similarly like a starfish. her expression screamed both exhaustion and bliss as she pressed herself against the hopefully cool tiles. saebi shortly joined her after she gulp down a bottle of water, closing her eyes as she composed her breathing. she looked two seconds away from dozing off, and i wouldn’t have blamed her.
i slumped down not far from them, leaning back against the mirror wall as i watch everything that is occurring inside the room. i slowly regained my vision after it being spirally blur from whipping my hair too much, but that’s literally the choreo itself.
i didn’t have the energy to stand up and grab myself a drink, much like koko who is still motionless on the ground. well, i’ll survive either way, it’s not like a mild dehydration can kill you instantly.
my eyes stared straight to the members who is huddled up on the water sanctuary, which is just a table with a bunch of water bottles. some of them, surprisingly, still have the ability to discuss and talk with each other while a one or two were busy chugging down a five hundred milliliters water bottle.
i overheard bits of mai and jungeun’s conversation. they were critiquing a part of the routine but ultimately decided there was still time to fix it. they planned to address it later during monitoring.
jiyoon sat quietly on a single chair, fidgeting with her phone. her face was blank, devoid of expression, her eyes darting around the screen.
then there is sarang, who currently has her back on me, tilting her head up, obviously drinking. her shoulders shifted slightly after she finished, the bottle crinkled faintly in her grasp as she twisted the cap closed. she finally turns around to reveal the quite red face she got from the practice.
i watched her absentmindedly, not out of any real curiosity, but because she was just there. her eyes flickering to the people near to her first, then our dance teacher, down at the soulless bodies on the ground, and finally landed on me, although her gaze was shorter than the others before.
she looked away with some purpose i didn’t care enough to figure out. my head feels light and dazed to even function properly, i think i really need to close my eyes for a moment. i trust the others that they’ll wake me up when necessary.
with nothing left to guard, i let the world turned into a peaceful black void where i can only hear my heartbeat pounding faintly. you can still hear things around, but it’ll soon fade away as time goes by.
my breath turns slow and long in a short period of time, head already growing heavy as it oftenly slides down from my resting position. somewhere in my remaining consciousness, there’s just a bit of hope to not cause a snoring session or any questionable sleeping habits.
it was minutes of calmness before i heard a short squeak from that shrill voice that never fails to make me laugh.
“HEY! that’s really cold!”
with a weak smile, i opened my eyes out of curiosity. koko was rubbing her belly with an exaggerated pout, lifting her head just enough to glare at whoever had dared disturb her dramatic sprawl. i silently wheezed even from what she does with herself, but then i saw another person beside her who was clearly not saebi.
“hehe, sorry,” sarang giggled, her dimples deepening adorably as she apologized. each of her hands holding a cold dripping bottle which i assumed she just mischievously put on top of koko’s tummy while she was unaware.
“bad woman.” koko briefly muttered before dropping her head back to the flat floor again.
sarang simply smiled and place one of the water bottles besides koko. “this is your drink by the way.”
“oh really?! thanks a lot!” koko perked up instantly, snatching the bottle and downing it like a lifeline.
with the commotion ended satisfyingly, my eyes grew heavy again as it forced me to shut it down.
i thought i would wake up to my name being called for the group monitoring, but…
“jeemin unnie,” a soft voice called.
my eyes blinked opened to see the person beside me. i shifted my head slightly to the left just to find sarang crouching down, her smile filled more with guilt for waking me up.
“eh, here,” she hands out a water bottle that she has been holding for earlier, never expecting that it would be for me but i’m more than happy to accept it.
i looked down at the offered item before taking it gratefully “aw, thanks…”
her face beamed bright as if my reaction had validated her effort. she shifted to sit beside me as i seriously chug down the water like my life depends on it, and wow, what a drink.
i exhaled from relief. “you’re very considerate aren’t you?”
“well, i just think that you and ko-chan didn’t have the energy to grab it.”
“but you’re tired too?” i laughed, trying to defy her logic.
“i see myself not burdened by it, so why not?”
i teasingly scoffed “typical sarang.” but deep down, i was genuinely moved by her gesture.
we sat together in an oddly comfortable silence. our shoulders touched, but neither one of us leaned closer like we always do, maybe worried because we’re still sweaty from the practice, plus our body is still emitting unpleasant heat.
sitting here with sarang, who just moved me with her little caring acts, made me a little sentimental. it reminded me to what we’ve been through together.
at first, when i transferred from my old company to wakeone, everything felt so foreign. i barely had time to adjust before getting thrown into iland 2 . truthfully, it was rough. especially for someone like me, who’s not exactly a social butterfly. i was surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and my introverted tendencies took a massive hit.
i went through a survival show once, building impeccable bonds and friendships, only to find myself failing to debut alongside them. and later, i had to face another one like it.
at the company building, i didn’t interact much with other trainees outside of my assigned unit. evaluation days were the only real time i saw anyone else. so when the show began, i was far from confident about making new friends. on day one, i barely spoke. i’d nod, react when needed, but never say much.
i worried that my history might scare people off. i’d gained some attention from my previous survival show, and i feared it would make me seem unapproachable. but to my surprise, people reached out anyway. like saebi, for example.
that time, i didn’t notice sarang a lot but she was always the one starting conversations with me. she was clingy and touchy in a way that might’ve felt overwhelming to someone else, but i found it oddly reassuring. knowing someone felt comfortable enough to be that way with me. it’s almost like she knows i’m clingy too but don’t have the courage to show it to the people there just yet.
and then i got to be roommates with sarang which increased our closeness than before. we became more comfortable and familiar with each other, at least that’s what i felt at the time.
i acknowledged her as one of the the best trainees in the line up. she has a good grip in every field, dance, vocal, and even rap, a strong potential for an all-rounder. what makes me put even more respect to her is how ambitious and a perfectionist she is, which i find quite saddening.
when we went to the ‘ground’ level together, she was basically blazing with determination. really having no plan on staying there for a week and wants to eagerly ranked up again.
many things had happened between us there. from battling, fighting, disagreeing, and proving ourselves. but despite all of that hardship, we still seek each other’s help and support.
we might not be the closest in iland but hey, both of our name was called out in the end.
“congratulation, bang jeemin!”
“congratulation, ryu sarang!”
and there it is, the moment we officially became one in a group.
debuting was a dream come true, but i knew it was just the beginning. being a trainee was tough, yet being the idol itself is going to be much harder. and i came prepared for that, this is the path i’ve chose and responsible to take on. besides, i’m not doing this alone, i have the members that i can rely upon from now on and i’m more than grateful for them.
spending more time with the group brought us all closer, but something about sarang stood out. our bond grew deeper than i ever imagined. not that i didn’t get along with the others, but with sarang, it felt… different.
maybe it’s because of her presence that comes first whenever i felt down. she had this way of lifting people’s spirits effortlessly, knowing exactly how to comfort and inspire. increasing the ambitious spirits in us to achieve perfection but also the fun thrill that burst along the journey.
her little habits like throwing out hugs and leaning on people always made us feel at ease. for me, especially, it became something i looked forward to. it’s hard to picture the group without her. everything she does is so naturally charming and fun.
“okay everyone, please gather here, i have something to say.” our dance teacher instruction snapped me back to reality.
that’s when i realized i’d been laying my head on sarang’s shoulder the whole time.
“ah—sorry,” i pulled away quickly, embarrassed.
“hm? for what?” she asked, tilting her head, genuinely puzzled.
“for… leaning on you.” i hesitantly admitted. even i knew it sounded silly when i realized what i said, that was just us on daily basis.
“why would you even apologize for that,” she frowned with a chuckle as she shifted herself, preparing to stand up.
“because i was still sweaty and all of that…” i tried to explain, brushing my damp hair awkwardly.
“trust me, you’re fine.” she reassured me, unfazed. “i’m the one who was more worried that i’m still sweaty when you leaned.” she stood up.
“no! you felt nice.” i blurted out, a bit too quickly.
“that’s a relief then. i wouldn’t want people to be grossed out by me.” she reach out her hand, offering to pull me up.
“you’re seriously living up to your name.” i pointed out as i grabbed her hand to raise myself.
she just laughed, completely missing the weight of my words.
she’s the definition of love itself,
so full of it.