Chapter 7 - Will-o'-the-wisp
“So how old are all of you? What’s the age order in our group? I know I’m the youngest,” she said with a sheepish smile, “but I wanna know more about you,” Eunchae continued, suddenly all shy again. She quickly returned to munch on her snack.
Y/N was quick to answer, much to the surprise of the others girls, “Sakura unnie was born March 19th 1998, Chaewon unnie was born August 1st 2000, uhm… Yunjin was born October 8th 2001, Kazuha was born August 9th 2003, and I was born March 13th 2001.” The five girls stared at Y/N in shock after she just casually listed all their birthdays. Y/N didn’t even look up from her sandwich.
(A/N: I randomly chose this birthday bc it had to be during spring and 13th bc of Taylor Swift lmao idek.)
“And you, maknae?” Yunjin playfully asked, still amused by Y/N’s.
“November 10th 2006.” Eunchae laughed while still having some food in her mouth.
“Oh my. A 2006 liner. I’m gonna faint,” Sakura pretended to faint. Wow, there was an 8-year age gap between the oldest and their maknae. Sakura would be lying if she didn’t have her doubts about this dynamic. Don’t get her wrong, she’d love to be a helpful and caring older sister, but she was scared for Eunchae being in this industry. After all, she debuted as a child herself. The other girls except Kazuha showed visible signs of discomfort at the age revelation. They all knew they had to protect their two youngest members from this evil industry.
“Hehe,” Eunchae showed her gummy smile, hypnotizing the other girls. She’s the cutest. Hopefully this won’t hurt her.
“C’mon girls, fighting!” the instructor returned to the room, signaling the end of their short break.
“Urghh,” Chaewon exhaled loudly.
“LET’S GOOOO!” Yunjin, suddenly energized, chanted. Lmao.
The first days and weeks went by, and with the final lineup this meant more intense and demanding practice hours. One major benefit came from all these sessions, though, all the girls grew closer already.
As they saw each other all day every day, they grew comfortable with one another. Chaewon was right, there were starting to be a little family. They could rely on each other and went through everything together.
Especially the snack and water breaks were the highlights for obvious reasons. Y/N was secretly glad she got to train longer with Sakura, Chaewon, and Yunjin because she couldn’t handle being brought into a brand-new, already-established team. She felt sorry for Kazuha and Eunchae, it must be so hard for them. They blend in well, but joining last? Y/N had so much respect for their youngest.
And although she’d met her last, Y/N actually found it easier to talk to Eunchae than to Kazuha. While she can’t quite put her finger on it, she thinks it’s due to her natural cuteness. The five girls were instantly smitten by their maknae’s adorable smile. Especially Yunjin, she treats her like a princess. It’s precious to watch, honestly.
After the last session of the day, Eunchae scooted over to an exhausted Y/N sitting on the floor, scrolling on her phone and reading messages. Eunchae turned to Y/N with a mischievous glint in her eye. “So, Chaewon unnie is your bias, huh?” she pointed to that infamous photocard in her phone case she had yet to remove.
Y/N felt her face flush bright red. Oh, hell no, not again. I really have to remove it now.
“Yeah, I just think she's really cool,” she mumbled, feeling embarrassed.
Eunchae giggled. “Don't worry, I won't tell anyone” she jokingly promised, giving Y/N a playful nudge.
“So you liked Iz*one? Did they make you wanna become an idol?” the maknae asked.
“Yeah, they actually did,” Y/N said with a nostalgic smile, “them and Yunjin unnie, actually. I watched their survival program and thought ‘wow’ this is incredible.” Somehow it felt like a lifetime ago already.
“Who inspired you to become an idol?”
“Seventeen sunbaenim. Yeah. I like them a lot.” Eunchae said with a smile forming on her face.
“Oh, wow really? I love Seventeen. They’re one of my favorite boy groups. I can’t believe they’re our seniors.”
“You like them too? Who’s your bias?” the maknae excitedly hit Y/N on the shoulder.
“Oh definitely DK. His voice is amazing,” she laughed and Eunchae chimed in.
“Favorite girl group? Besides Iz*one, I mean,” Eunchae shot another question. Y/N liked this. She loved talking about Kpop with someone. Obviously, they will be Kpop idols themselves, but there is rarely much time to talk about other groups during their intense practice cycles. Hell, Y/N can’t even keep up with all of her faves’ content at the moment.
“TWICE!” Y/N shouted a little too loud. “I’m sorry,” she apologized for shouting and covered her mouth, Eunchae let out a laugh.
“Aha. I see you’re not just a super fan of Iz*one after all,” the youngest teased her.
“What can I say? Once for life,” Y/N casually shrugged and let out a laugh.
“Who’s your bias? I like Jeongyeon and Dahyun sunbaenim.” (A/N I made this up, I couldn’t find anything about her bias lol)
“I like Nayeon and Mina sunbaenim the most,” Y/N said with a dreamy look on her face.
The two of them continued to chat and bond over their shared love of K-pop, eagerly discussing even more of their favorite groups and songs. Y/N was grateful to have found someone who understood her passion for music and idol culture… yk... from a stan perspective.
“Another day, another slay,” Yunjin sang as she made her way into the dance studio earning a chuckle from Y/N who already sat on the floor. This woman. Today’s choreography would be hard. Especially for Y/N who was still struggling with it. Today, the members would work on “Blue Flame” again. While it was one of her favorite songs and choreographies, something didn’t work for her. And only her.
As the positioning had already taken place for the most parts, now it was time to perfect and clean up the movements. After the warm-up, the girl started off strong, but then she messed it up again. Y/N was struggling with her feet (A/N ?? How do u describe it lmao) during her own (… ) and Kazuha’s chorus parts.
“Girls, let’s take five!” the instructor ordered a break and walked over to Y/N. Y/N stood there and exhaled loudly, clearly disappointed in herself.
“Look, Y/N, why don’t you ask one of the members to help you? You and I have been struggling so much with this, maybe you’ll get it from them. I’ll have to make a phone call anyway. I’ll be back soon,” the instructor suggested. Y/N nodded in return, ashamed to ask for help, again.
As she looked for Chaewon she noticed the other members were gone, except for Kazuha who quietly sat in the corner, water bottle and phone in each hand.
“Kazuha-ssi? Can you help Y/N out?” the instructor instigated and exited the room.
“You need help? Is it the steps on our parts?” she asked shyly. Of course, she noticed her mistakes.
“Yeah, sorry. Do you mind showing me again?” Kazuha didn’t reply, she just smiled at her and stood up. Beautiful smile.
“Okay uhm. Just watch? Or do you want me to watch you first?” she adorably asked. Y/N found it endearing how she asked what Y/N preferred instead of just doing it “her” way.
“Watch me maybe?” Kazuha nodded and went to grab the remote. After a moment, she turned the music on and skipped the verses to get to Y/N's part. She watched Y/N closely.
Y/N stumbled on the steps again. After a second, Kazuha stepped forward and bend down.
“Uhm… only with this!” she pointed to Y/N’s heel. “Don’t tap with your whole foot,” she stared at Y/N intently.
“Try it again.”
This time she did it correctly, but Y/N almost lost her balance. She blushed, how embarrassing.
“Watch me. Look at my back,” Kazuha offered with a frown. Oh.
As Y/N watched closely, she couldn’t but stare at Kazuha’s toned form. Her shoulders, her lower back. Wow. She was beautiful. Most idols were, but she was on another level.
“See?”
“Oh, uhm no, can you go again? Sorry,” Y/N blushed.
Kazuha giggled and turned back around. This time, Y/N focused on the task at hand.
“I have to use my upper body too?”
“Yes, you have to rotate with your shoulders too. Try it. Focus on fluidity.”
Y/N did as she was told, but she rotated too much. Kazuha stepped in and put her hands on her ribs and lower back to steady her. “See? Like this,” she rotated her upper body just as much as necessary.
Y/N, trying to maintain composure, nodded nervously. As they moved through the steps a few times, Kazuha stood behind Y/N and her hands lightly guided Y/N's posture, and for a moment, time seemed to slow down.
Y/N, flustered and feeling her heart race, managed to stammer out, “Th-thanks, Kazuha. I think I'm getting it now.” She turned around to break off the contact but had the opposite effect as Kazuha moved forward and they both collided with Kazuha’s hands on Y/N’s hip and shoulder. Their faces way too close to each other. Uhm.
However, before Kazuha could respond, Y/N swiftly extricated herself from Kazuha's gentle grip, her blush intensifying. With an awkward half-smile, Y/N mumbled something about needing a break and practically fled the dance studio.
Kazuha, oblivious to Y/N's odd behavior, watched her leave with a frown that disappeared as quickly as it arose. She was completely unaware of the adorable commotion she had unintentionally caused. After she took another sip of her drink, she just continued with the practice on her own.
What the hell was that. Y/N had no idea what just happened.