Chapter Text
If you could ask Soyeon again if she wants to group up for the song project with Minnie, Miyeon, Shuhua, Soojin and Yuqi she would definitely disagree knowing how it will end. And it’s not because she hates them, of course not, they are her closest friends… Maybe apart from Yuqi. She didn’t really have sympathy for that girl, mostly because of her resentment and dislike towards popular people in the school. And the younger certainly fell into the category. Soyeon found them to be more fake than the other. From experience. The only reason the Chinese even stuck around is because she’s a childhood friend of Shuhua’s. And that would be fine, Soyeon doesn’t have a problem with ignoring someone, but it’s the fact that Yuqi wouldn’t stop bothering her at any given chance. Maybe she enjoyed getting on the olders nerves.
The opportunity though, was too hard to pass. 50% of the grade from music theory and composition? Recommendation sent by the judges to bigger music companies? Who in the right state of mind would decline that? Every contestant in the project has to choose their partners to make a group, create a song from scratch, and later two individuals from the said groups have to perform it on a stage. It didn't matter who's in which grade, everyone could participate. And this factor made it instantly official that these six girls would team up and destroy the competition.
The division of elements in the song was easy for them as well. Minnie and Yuqi were masters at writing lyrics, it came to both of them very naturally. Soojin was the greatest dancer, her flow never missing a beat, so she took care of the choreography. Miyeon and Shuhua, the divas and fashion icons, made sure the outfits as well as the stage were on spot. And of course, Soyeon that loved producing, made the beat, but also helped to tie everything together into a one, amazing, performance.
The worst part was choosing two of the six to actually do the performing. So they all sat down together on one couch, and carefully listened to the song with vocals which Soyeon provided as a template. Everyone was dead silent, stressing over the need to choose perfect vocalists.
As the song ended, no one said a word not being sure if they should speak up first. The atmosphere was thickening with every passing second, so Soyeon decided to talk first. She cleared her throat to get everybody’s attention.
“So… What do you guys think?”
Minnie's mouth opened up real fast but she didn’t say anything, quickly backing up and scratching the back of her head. Miyeon could only purse her lips and tap nervously on her knees, while Soojin looked away pretending she hadn't really heard the question. The only ones left who excitedly looked at the korean were Yuqi and Shuhua.
“I think-”
Yuqi started but was shortly interrupted by her friend who almost jumped out of her seat abruptly.
“-YOU AND YUQI SHOULD TOTALLY DO IT!!!!”
She said with a smile plastered on her face while everyone else sighed in relief that there was someone who got the courage to admit it. Soyeon's face instantly dropped at these words, while Yuqi was in shock. It wasn't sure if it was a positive or a negative one though. Minne was the next one to say something.
“Oh god, thank you for saying that Shu. You just saved us from the inevitable.”
Soojin and Miyeon nodded, finally relaxing with the thought that neither of them had to say these words. Soojin looked quickly at Soyeon and then at Shuhua, and then confirmed the youngest’s and Minnie’s opinion.
“Yeah, I have to agree with Shu and Min. Your pair of voices fit almost too perfectly.”
Soyeon could not comprehend what was just happening. Is this some kind of a cruel joke? Her and Yuqi? Out of every pair they could possibly choose? She quickly shook her head from disbelief.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, right?”
Shuhua slowly sat down in her place, now realizing that her opinion, even if true, was going to cause troubles. Yuqis face wasn’t really readable. Miyeon’s expression turned into a really worried one.
“Soyeon, listen… They are right. We know that you and-”
But she got cut off by the producer just as she was about to mention her and the chinese girl’s name in one sentence again.
“No, no, no, no, no… Are you all joking? This was supposed to be a pair that has good chemistry together! Me and Yuqi literally share none. I don’t want anything to do with her.”
Yuqi, feeling offended, finally spoke up.
“YAH!!! I’M LITERALLY IN THE SAME ROOM YOU KNOW???”
She yelled at the older but fixed her posture and glanced at the rest of the girls.
“But I do, painfully, have to agree with Sy on that one, I don’t want to sing with her ass either.”
Soyeon just rolled her eyes at the overdramatized comments Yuqi gave. She looked with pleading eyes at Minnie, and later at Miyeon.
“Can’t you and Minnie do it? Please, you two are such good vocalists!”
Both of them could only sigh, but it was the Thai who responded.
“We may be, but it doesn’t change the fact that your vocals match the best for the song. All of us realize you two don't get along too well, but there’s still time before the show! You can just, I don’t know… talk it out? Or something?”
Minnie wasn’t even sure on what advice to give to the two, since no one really understood their beef. It just happened and neither of the four knew why. Soojin stood up from her place, came up to Soyeon to pat her on the back as a form of mental support, while Shuhua and Yuqi started to talk in Chinese, or rather, argue. Probably about the same thing that the rest of the girls tried convincing the rapper into.
“Yeah, Minnie’s right you and Woogs should really talk your... issues out. For the sake of all the work we put together into this.”
Soojin said, very slowly and calmly, carefully choosing her wording so the raven haired girl wouldn’t freak out or be too dramatic about the idea of resolving her conflicted relationship with the younger brunette. Sadly it did not work, rather added more fuel to the fire that was burning inside Soyeon.
“Wha- WHAT? NO!? no! I don’t have anything to talk about with this FUCKING IDIOT!!”
She exclaimed, raising her voice on the last two words to make sure her younger schoolmate heard, as she stood up sharply from her seat, grabbing her stuff and storming off aggressively to her dorm. It didn’t take long for Yuqi to take off as well, leaving the rest of the girls by themselves.
“FINE, FINE!!!! LEAVE WITH THAT STUBBORN ASS OF YOURS!!! UGH!!!”
Shuhua screamed after her childhood friend, and then sprawled in her seat crossing arms in annoyance, while the rest of them, feeling defeated as well, looked at each other nervously not knowing how to convince these two to make up with themselves.
“I can’t believe them guys! They are ruining our chances in the competition!! Because of some dumbass problems they can’t address!! IT'S SO- UGH!! I DON’T EVEN HAVE WORDS.”
The youngest started, still feeling the rage caused by the argument she just had with Yuqi.
“Eh… I think there is only one option that can make them do what we ask. We can use… force. Either they go together on a playdate, since both of them decided to act like children, or we kick them out of the group… And also let’s already address the fact that we will need someone to keep their eyes on them, or they will just leave that meeting or better, they won’t show up at all.”
Minnie announced bluntly, tired of the whole situation.
“You do know that if we kick them out, we won’t win either way right? There’s no way we can find two other people in five days and make a new song.”
Soojin asked.
“I know, but if we are convincing enough, they might believe it. We can tell them we already found a replacement. So they either go dating, or can say bye-bye to the prize. And we all are aware of how much they care about their grades being as high as possible. They will do anything to not miss this chance.”
Minnie replied as the rest of the girls nodded in approval of her words. Then the singer looked and pointed swiftly at Miyeon and Shuhua.
“You two know them the longest, so I think you should be the ones that talk with them about it.”
The youngest could only groan, irritated, but she didn’t disagree with the singer, while Miyeon’s expression sank in a span of a second hearing these words.
“But- You all know I’m bad at lying! Soyeon surely won’t believe me. I may know her best but she knows me too…”
The oldest pouted, not wanting to disappoint her other friends.
“It’s not exactly a lie… more like… you know… omitting the truth? Well either way, I think if you say we want her out, it will hurt her ego and she won’t even have a single thought about this being just a set up.”
Minnie responded, putting her hand on Miyeon’s shoulder as a form of encouragement. Shuhua on the other hand, stood up from her place on the couch, rolling her eyes at the thought of having to argue with Yuqi again.
“Okay guys, I will go talk with Miss I-know-better-than-everyone-else. Wish me luck… It might take a while. Oh, and by the way, a heads up, ignore the screaming. OKAY BYE!!!”
She said as she closed the door with a loud noise. Soojin and Minnie’s eyes averted back to Miyeon again. The oldest sighed, slowly standing up still being quite unsure of the plan having any chance to work.
“Alright… I guess we have no other choice so I better get going too… But I really don’t know how this will turn out, knowing Soyeon’s temper.”
She nervously smiled at the two, still having a tiny bit of hope they might want to switch places with her.
“Good luck, you will need it.”
Minnie gave her a thumbs up, and Soojin only waved her goodbye as she slowly left their dorm.
Soyeon was pacing back and forth in her room for some time now, muttering something, mostly swear words, under her nose from time to time. No fucking way they all teamed up on her. Seriously, her and that loudmouth?? This is the most absurd thing she heard in a while. It’s hard to be in the one room with the brunette let alone perform together. What are they gonna do now? Give up on the project? The one that took so long for them to make? Just because they can’t choose a different pair? Soyeon's internal debate was interrupted, when she heard a knock on her door.
“Soyeonie?? Can I come in??”
She sighed in relief when she heard it was her roommate, Miyeon. The producer could only open up for her, and then collapse on her bed, still annoyed by what happened.
“I still can’t believe you also thought this was a good idea, you know? Like? What the hell?”
Soyeon snorted, as she still was not over what happened half an hour ago.
“But, anyway, did you find a new fitting pair?”
Miyeon could only gulp, as her stress took the best of her.
“Well… actually… there’s something I need to tell you.”
Soyeon, feeling the sudden seriousness in her friend's tone, instantly pulled herself up. She remained silent, letting the older continue.
“We all decided that… If you don’t want to make up with Yuqi and perform with her… We are forced to kick you both out. And before you ask, yes we… um… quickly found someone as your replacement. And… we are willing to take this risk… for the sake of our own grades…”
Miyeon said very slowly, but she instantly looked away when she was done, fiddling with her fingers preparing herself to stand Soyeon’s abrupt and intense answer.
Did Soyeon hear that right? Kick her out? How could they even consider that? After the long process they all went through? and already found a replacement? This fast? No way that this is happening right now. She was actually flabbergasted. And what is she supposed to do now? The producer had so many questions right now, but did not ask any of them, too stunned to speak. So she decided to analyze her current ground. If she continues to disagree, she can forget 50% of the grades… as well as a chance to be more recognized by music labels… And if she agrees, she will need to actually talk with Yuqi. For more than 10 seconds. There was a really long silence, the rapper was really fighting with herself inside. Moral code, or the prize… moral code or the prize… Finally, the answer was clear and simple. But it was really hard to say out loud. So it came out from her mouth almost like a vomit.
“...Okay. I’ll do it. I will talk with her.”
Miyeons eyes were wide open the second she heard the answer. Maybe she was hallucinating? Was it that easy to get Soyeon into agreeing for that playdate? But as soon as her brain fully processed what the younger just said, she smiled widely in excitement, her confident extroverted behavior coming back in a span of seconds.
“REALLY? OH THANK GOD, I THOUGHT YOU WILL SCREAM THAT THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE DOING THAT AND THAT WE ARE SO RUDE TO MAKE THIS AN OPTION AND- WELL-”
But she got cut off by the pessimistic, defeated voice.
“-but I really can’t promise anything, Miyeon. You know more than anyone what my attitude towards people like Yuqi is.”
Miyeon, in her own world already, only registering her best friend agreeing, rushed to Soyeon taking her hands in hers almost jumping excitedly looking like she's about to explode from happiness.
“It’s gonna be okay I’m sure!!! We will set you both up on a date!!! Then you can just simply talk and have fun and eat and well… anything else you wanna do!! Every conversation is better with food by the way!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SOYEONIE!!! I'M GONNA GO TELL THE OTHERS!! YAY!!”
And with that massive and quickly said string of words, the energetic quokka left faster than she entered, very content to tell the other girls good news about their plan having chances of succeeding. As soon as Miyeon took off, the realization hit Soyeon, her mind finally comprehending what the oldest said. But it was kinda too late to back down now.
“Hold on- A what now???”
She asked out loud, even if there was no one to answer, really dumbstruck.