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And one and two and three and fo-
"Ugh!" Hyejoo groaned in frustration. She bends down with her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.
How long is she gonna be like this? Forgetting the steps, messing up her parts. It won't be a surprise to her if she finally gets kicked out of the group for making too many mistakes during their dance practices.
The others were taking a break, and eventhough she was invited to join them, Hyejoo politely declines and decides to stay back and continue practicing the coreographies for their debut songs. She wanted to make sure that she remembers the coreographies perfectly and not make a single mistake.
She leaned against the nearest wall and slides down to the floor, facing the row of wall mirrors.
No matter what, Hyejoo can't help but feel stressed and frustrated. She tries to resist but it got the best of her. What with all of their busy and packed schedules. And all of the schoolwork she had missed due to preparing for their debut concert was just adding fuel to the fire.
Her head throbbed. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around it and buried her head into her knees.
Everything was just so frustrating.
A few days ago, she had borrowed Jinsoul's iPad to read about LOONA online and see what others thought of them. Most of them were just nice comments. Praises about their beauty and talents. Hyejoo even laughed at some of the comments that she finds amusing. Unfortunately, there's always a bad to a good, like there is a good to a bad. The kind of bad that always spoils everything.
She really did try to ignore those kind of comments and get hurt, but some things just can't be ignored. It bothered her a lot.
Eventhough she knows that their fanbase, Orbit are always there to defend and support them but Hyejoo can't help but start to believe all of those harsh comments.
She lifts her head a bit, only letting her eyes be visible.
Was she really not worthy to be in LOONA?
Is she really just a plain girl who has no talent in dancing and singing? Just all visual?
As Hyejoo was deep in thought, she hadn't notice someone entering the practice room. It was when she felt a freezing coldness strike her cheek, was she brought back to reality.
She flinched in response, annoyance visible on her face. She looked up, ready to smack someone, when she finally noticed who the person that had just entered the practice room was.
Sooyoung was squatting in front her, smiling, while holding a bottle of water in each hand.
Hyejoo's face softened and a half-smile replaced the annoyance that plastered her face a while ago.
Sooyoung gestures one of the two bottles to Hyejoo and she gladly accepts. Sooyoung then postioned herself beside Hyejoo, also pulling her knees to her chest.
There was no communication between them. Just silence.
Hyejoo started to play with the cap of the water bottle, twisting it open and closing it back.
"You know you can tell me."
Hyejoo whipped her head towards the older. She was taken aback.
She atleast expected Sooyoung to say,
Are you okay?
or
What's holding you up?
But no.
Sooyoung just went straight to the point that Hyejoo was caught off-guard.
As Hyejoo parted her lips to say something, Sooyoung cut her off.
"And no lying, Hyejoo-ah. I know you better than that."
Hyejoo reunited her lips, pulled her knees closer to her chest, and rested her chin on top of her knees, her gaze on her shoes.
"I don't know if I can take it anymore, Unnie," Hyejoo muttered, barely. "I'm scared that I might not be able to be the Olivia Hye that everyone expects me to be."
"What if they don't like me, Unnie? I already know that some people don't."
Sooyoung stayed silent.
Hyejoo was afraid of what she was about to say, but at the same time, she was desperate to hear Sooyoung's words. She wanted her to something that could give her relief.
Finally, after a while, Sooyoung spoke up.
"You know, it doesn't matter if they don't like you. That's just how it is," Sooyoung said. "Some people like you, some people don't. And it's okay."
"You don't have to be what people expect you to be. You just have to exceed their expectations with the real you."
Hyejoo looked at Sooyoung. Sooyoung gave her a soft smile and continued.
"Show them 'Son Hyejoo' instead of 'Olivia Hye'. Sure, that's what they know you as, but that's just a title. A name. And not.. you."
"Sure, it gets a little hard sometimes. Our packed schedules. You guys and school. Having to juggle that all by yourself is not easy, trust me. I learned it the hard way." Sooyoung smiled, remembering how hard it was when she was Hyejoo's age.
"There's a reason why we live together in a dorm, you know?"
Sooyoung looked at Hyejoo straight in the eyes.
"Never keep everything to yourself. Tell us, Hyejoo," Sooyoung said, a hint of desperation in her voice. Hyejoo tried to avoid her gaze, looking anywhere but at Sooyoung.
"We are always there for you if you need us. Don't act like we're strangers, okay? 'Cause if you're having a hard time, then we'll just have to go through it together." Sooyoung gave her a warm smile.
Hyejoo finally looked at Sooyoung in the eyes and engulfs her in a hug. Sooyoung was taken by surprise but hugged back.
"Thank you, Sooyoung-unnie," Hyejoo said, still hugging Sooyoung.
"Anything for you, Hyejoo-ah."
Sooyoung finally broke their hug and stood up, dusting off her jeans. She then gave Hyejoo a hand, which Hyejoo gladly accepts.
"Now let's go see the others. They said that our manager decided to let us go home early," Sooyoung said. "If I hadn't gone looking for you, we probably would've left you here and Haseul would've freaked out."
The girls giggled and left the practice room.