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“Unnie, please, let’s take a break” Bahiyyih groaned to Dayeon. The entire group was on edge: either tired, unmotivated, or frustrated from their all-day practice.
“We have another practice session with instructor-nim in the morning! He’s going to kill us if we can’t get the choreo right,” the brunette responded.
“I understand, but I don’t think we can continue like this. I can barely feel my legs, Youngeun can’t keep her eyes open, and Shiro unnie is practically passed out on the floor. We’ll probably be better off tomorrow if we just rest now.”
“How can we rest when our comeback is near? We chose to be idols so we need to push ourselves, even if we’re tired.”
Bahiyyih sighed, making her way to the older.
“I just think we should cool down. We worked hard today.”
“Worked hard? We can’t even get through the song once without someone messing up!”
“Unnie, do you really think that staying late for practice in this condition will prevent us from messing up? We’ll end up doing worse in the morning from our lack of sleep!”
“Hiyyih, Dayeon, please calm down.” Yujin finally spoke up, tired expression on her face.
The two girls ignored the leader, continuing to argue with one another.
“Hiyyih, why do you have no ambition?”
“Of course I have ambition! I’m just trying to think of our health.”
“Bullshit! You just want an excuse to end practice.”
By this point, the other members had turned their attention to the two girls who were shouting at each other.
“It’s not an excuse! It’s a valid reason!”
“Well, some of us had to lose days of sleep and train nonstop just to get where we are. I guess you wouldn’t know, all you needed was a famous brother.”
Dayeon regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.
Hurt flashed across the blonde’s face before tears started welling up in her eyes. She held her head down, seemingly trying to hide the tears.
The members looked at Bahiyyih in concern. They knew how insecure she was about her place in the group, doubting if she deserved to be a member at all.
Dayeon felt another wave of guilt pass through her. She stepped toward the younger.
“Hiyyih, wait, I’m sorry….”
Bahiyyih backed away, facing Dayeon once again with red-rimmed eyes. “Why?” she asked, choking on her words. “After all, it’s true, isn’t it?”
With that, Bahiyyih ran out of the practice room.
“What the hell, Dayeon?” Hikaru shouted. She was about to go after her friend before Dayeon gently grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Let me go and talk to her,” Dayeon pleaded.
“No!” The younger screamed, yanking her arm away. “You’re going to make her feel worse, she needs comfort!”
“Karu, please, I’ll sort things out. I promise.”
“I don’t trust you!”
“Hikaru…” Yujin warned quietly. Hikaru relented, not without rolling her eyes. Yujin wasn’t stern often, so she knew not to go against her word.
Before Dayeon left, Yujin quickly whispered to her.
“Don’t let this happen again.”
“I know, unnie. I’m sorry”
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”
Dayeon barely heard the older’s words before she ran outside to find Bahiyyih.
°°°°°
The tears wouldn’t stop.
Bahiyyih looked up to Dayeon, as both a friend and idol.
She didn’t know that the brunette felt this way all along.
“Why couldn’t I have worked harder? Why did I have it so easy? If I actually had talent, people wouldn’t say these things. Even my own members know it. I don’t deserve to be here.”
Bahiyyih walked along, not knowing where her feet were taking her. She couldn’t bring herself to care.
“They’re probably better off without me, anyway.”
°°°°°
“HIYYIH!”
Dayeon spotted the Bahiyyih in the distance, rushing over to her. At the sound of Dayeon’s voice, the younger halted in her steps but didn’t turn back.
Out of breath from running, the older girl stood in front of Bahiyyih, staring as the latter refused to make eye contact.
“Hiyyih, please look at me.”
Silence.
Dayeon brought their foreheads together, hoping it would comfort Bahiyyih.
After a few moments, Dayeon spoke again, voice soft. “Angel, can I see your face? Please?”
Bahiyyih nodded before slowly bringing her head up. Dayeon wiped the tears from her face.
“I’m sorry,” Bahiyyih said quietly.
Dayeon’s heart shattered at the words.
“Hey…” the brunette started. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I should be the one apologizing to you.”
“I went against your word even though you were leading our practice. I constantly drag the group down because I can’t keep up. I should’ve waited longer to debut, my spot should’ve gone to someone more capable. I’m sorry.”
Dayeon felt tears prick in her own eyes the more the younger spoke. Why did she feel this way about herself?
She immediately engulfed Bahiyyih in a tight hug.
“Hiyyih, that’s not true. You earned your spot in the group. I was so blinded by my anger that I tried to bring up your brother just to hurt you. I went way too far and I’m so sorry for that. I didn’t mean a word of what I said.”
The brunette felt her clothes get soaked from Bahiyyih’s tears. She rubbed her thumb across the younger’s back to soothe her, encouraging her to cry as much as she needed.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Dayeon continued. “I wish you saw yourself in our eyes. You’re so talented and kind, I can’t imagine our group without you. Please don’t ever think you’re any less. I’m sorry I even brought it up…”
Bahiyyih rested her head on Dayeon’s shoulder. After crying for a bit longer, she responded. “It’s okay, unnie. I’m usually good at controlling my emotions, but what you said in the practice room made me feel insecure.”
“I know I hurt you with my words, so I promise I’ll be a better unnie in the future. I’ll always make sure to take care of you and be someone you can lean on, not someone who causes you distress.”
“Thank you, Dayeon unnie. I promise to talk things out with you instead of fighting.”
“Of course, I hate fighting with you.”
“Me too. Now, we should probably get back to the practice room. The others are probably wondering where we went.”
°°°°°
When the two returned to their practice room hand-in-hand, the group knew that everything would be okay.