Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was one of those rare days where there were no schedules, no practice sessions, and not even an appointment to get your hair done (your manager hinted at trying out a new colour, but even that wasn’t set in stone). 

You were lounging around on the living room sofa, playing that really popular game that Chaehyun is obsessed with. You weren’t much of a gamer yourself but you admit that this was simple enough to understand. You were in the middle of waiting for your first ever fish with the rod you proudly made when a shadow suddenly hovered over you. 

You yelped. 

The fish got away. 

Before you could even begin to groan at the missed opportunity, an apologetic voice entered your ears. All sense of annoyance went out the window as you looked up and met with the sight of your favorite maknae sheepishly standing near the sofa with a pamphlet in her hands. 

And that was how you ended up in the middle of a crowded plaza in Dongdaemun, willingly letting Yeseo lead the way through the vast pop-up flea market. The summer heat did little to drive away the many shoppers digging around for good deals. 

You didn’t expect to buy anything other than some ridiculously cheap oversized tees and sweats to wear for your practice sessions. 

That was when you saw it. 

It sat inconspicuously by the feet of an elderly man watching over the stall, his hands resting on a cane and quietly listening to a small portable radio by his side. 

The typewriter fits right in with his other wares, consisting mostly of old trinkets and vintage gadgets.

You couldn’t help but be mesmerised by the colour—a very beautiful and vivid light blue shining under the sun’s rays. 

It reminded you of your favorite flower. 

Forget-me-nots.

You bought it without a moment’s hesitation. 

After hauling your shopping back to the dorm alongside Yeseo, you lifted the typewriter out from its box (the elderly man was kind enough to pack it nicely inside, much to your delight), and placed it gently on the coffee table in the living room.

The other girls were intrigued for the most part by your “interesting” purchase, surrounding the table with curious eyes.

Dayeon quipped out loud that it came from the same time period as Yujin. 

That earned her an eerily threatening smile from the latter. Dayeon immediately kept her mouth shut afterwards. 

Hikaru, ever so touchy, asked what you were going to type out on it as she fiddled with the keys.

You shrugged your shoulders. You haven’t thought that far yet. 

They left you on your own to figure out what to do with it. 

Hopefully, it wouldn’t be just a fancy paper-weight. 

You started out by typing random words on it.

It then turned into sentences.

And then it became a shopping list.

Once you were satisfied with the list, you checked the time. Still daylight but dinnertime was approaching soon. 

You snatched the list off of the typewriter, got up, and hurried over to Xiaoting's room.

The redhead seemed startled by the sudden invitation (or it might have been because you bursted through the door a little too forcefully), but happily agreed to go grocery shopping with you. The supermarket trip was smooth sailing, though you did have a small argument with her over whether to get the level 1 spicy mala sauce or the extreme spicy level.

In the end, you got both. You couldn't resist Xiaoting's cute whining. Your unnie could be absolutely adorable and you hated how much it worked so easily on you.

You mentally noted to yourself to not use the wrong one and risk burning your tongue off when you cook dinner later. 

The typewriter was left untouched for a while. Work schedules picked back up again. Most days were tiring but nothing you weren't accustomed to before. But like any other job, there would always be days where things wouldn't go as smoothly. 

A new choreography to learn within a few weeks. Short timeframes were something you and the rest of the girls were already accustomed to. It didn’t mean that mishaps wouldn’t happen.

Someone would be a second off-beat. Someone else would get a step wrong. Another would get disoriented with the changes in position. Add multiple rounds of redos and there was bound to be a member who would at least be a little frustrated. You did your best for today, but even an idiot would notice the tension in the air once practice was finally over. 

You went over to a corner with your water bottle and gulped down every single drop. From the corner of your eye, you watched as your leader crouched down in front of a very tired and very sunken Bahiyyih. You softened your gaze over at your two members; Yujin softly encouraging her and even reaching out to hold her hands, gently caressing the ridges of her knuckles. 

Your eyes then scanned the practice room and landed on the rest of the girls in different states of rest and exhaustion; Xiaoting catching her breath as she rested her head on top of her knees, Mashiro and Chaehyun sat back-to-back drinking from their bottles, Dayeon was spread out on the floor like a starfish, while Hikaru and Yeseo took to playing a mini game of rock-paper-scissors to assign someone to buy ice-cream for the rest. The youngest always had a knack with these types of games, as she smugly patted a defeated Hikaru on the cheek. 

At least those two were good at keeping the mood light. 

Closing your bottle shut, you wondered if there was anything you could do to make that uncomfortable air from ever happening at all.

When you returned home that night, the air was lighter but definitely not normal. Sure, most of your members already got over the tolls of the long day, but not everyone felt the same. 

You sneaked a glance at Bahiyyih while removing your shoes at the front door. You knew all her smiles—your favorite being the smug little grin she does whenever she cracks a snarky joke out of nowhere and everybody just burst into explosive laughter. 

The current smile she wore didn’t reach her eyes, even as Hikaru tugged on her arm, insisting they eat the extra tub of mint chocolate ice-cream she bought from her trip to the convenience store earlier. The blonde reluctantly agreed, willingly getting dragged into the kitchen without as much of a chance for her to put her belongings in her room first. 

You couldn’t help but chuckle at those two; always attached to the hip. 

Heading towards your bedroom, your gaze fell upon the lone typewriter resting on the study desk over by the corner of the living room.

And then a thought hit you like a homerun. 

You weren’t going to sleep just yet. 

You snuck into Bahiyyih’s room when no one was around and placed a folded-up paper flower in her bag.

Dance practice the next morning went better than expected. Probably the best session you ever had, and that was saying a lot. 

The energy was up! 

Everyone was in-sync! 

Even your dance instructor was impressed (and she was the strictest teacher you’ve ever had). 

Laughter and goofy dance moves that were definitely not in the choreography spread like a wave amongst the members when breaktime came.

It was a relief to see some semblance of normalcy after what happened the day before. You felt a lightness in your heart seeing Bahiyyih with a genuine smile on her face again. 

You were casually practicing the moves again in front of the mirror when you had the distinct feeling that someone was watching you. A blur of blonde from the corner of your eye turned around just as you landed your gaze at them. 

You thought nothing of it. 

You stood in the bathroom, staring off into space as you brushed your teeth. Something about the day you just had felt different from the rest. 

It not only left you in good spirits, but it got you thinking about the typewriter again. As if there was an itch you needed to scratch but in the form of written words. 

Your ponderings grounded to a halt when you heard knocking from behind you and a familiar voice asking if they could come in.

You made a sound of acknowledgement and in came Bahiyyih carrying a stack of freshly-cleaned towels. You observed her from the reflection of the mirror, putting the towels neatly on a rack. You thought nothing of it, continuing to brush your molars, when a body of warmth pulled you in from behind and wrapped you in a cocoon of embrace.

Well, this was certainly nice.  

A small squeeze and a word of thanks whispered into your ear later, she left you on your own again. 

Toothpaste foam dripped down your chin and unceremoniously dropped onto your pyjama top. 

Maybe you should write more secret notes to your members.