Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Everyone, this is a reminder that during the fansign, we ask that you refrain from unnecessary contact with the idols or from engaging in inappropriate behavior. Cameras are to remain in your seats, and bringing a device with you to record during the signing is not allowed. Any violations or actions deemed dangerous to the artist will result in removal from the premises. Please be sure to follow any instructions from staff or security when moving through the line. Thank you for continuing to support blueshift and their future activities."

Nien hears the cameras clicking and the audience murmuring from her seat on stage. The girl group she’s part of, blueshift, is here for a fansign and promoting their latest comeback. All of them are seated in a line, black sheets covering the table in front of them. Seven spaces lined with markers and compact handheld mirrors in front of them, along with water or whatever drink they’d brought in.

Today, Nien toys with the middle of the straw for her water bottle. Two fingers pinch the plastic and roll it between the pads of her index and thumb, while the other hand remains steady at the base of the bottle.

“No coffee this time?” Jiyeon, her roommate, chimes in from her left with an iced tea in front of her.

“If I want to actually sleep tonight, no coffee.” She takes a sip, letting the cool liquid travel down her throat and placing it back down on the table with a thunk. “Gotta make the most of our one-day break.”

Jiyeon’s posture slouches for a moment, only for her to straighten up again at the sound of the cameras clicking. “Right. Sleeping in tomorrow. You are not dragging me outside again.”

“Is it really dragging you out if you let me?”

“I didn’t wanna go…”

“D’awww, c’mon. Don’t be like that, Dojoon. You had fun!” Nien reaches over and lightly nudges her shoulder with her own.

Just as Jiyeon is about to reply, Nien feels a sharp kick to the right side of her shoes. While it wasn’t strong enough to hurt, the action and sound of shoes clacking was enough for her to snap her gaze over.

“They’re coming up,” mutters Kotone, who hadn’t even bothered to look at her. Her eyes are instead focused on her right, where the fans are starting to come up to get their albums signed.

Is she serious?

Honestly, she’d pointedly ignored and forgotten that the younger girl was sitting next to her today. And, apparently, she was right to do so. She wouldn’t even look at her! She even kicked her! Why should Nien acknowledge her presence when Kotone is hellbent on ignoring her as much as possible?

Despite the irritation flaring, Nien is all too aware of the fansites with their cameras already filming every single one of their moves. The cameras click and flash practically every other second. It takes every ounce of self-restraint for Nien not to frown and kick her back immediately.

“A tap on the shoulder or something would’ve been just fine, y’know.” She says, voice low but just enough for Kotone to hear. The fans are getting closer and the sounds of Jiwoo and Shion talking with them are much clearer.

“I’ve been trying to tell you for the past few minutes. You couldn’t hear me over the sound of your own voice.” Kotone huffs, side-eying her. “Your fault.”

What the hell?!

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), Nien does not have the time to turn and jump Kotone for that one. She can, however, mentally throw around the cartoonish image of her groupmate around like one of those marketable plushies in her mind. The fans have reached them now, which means it’s pretty much constant signing and chatting until they reach the end of the line. Thankfully, this is the part that Nien enjoys—talking with fans and getting to know them better, or chatting with the regulars.

Now, Nien isn’t nosy. … Okay, well. She is, but this time, she wasn’t eavesdropping on purpose!

Because of how close all of them are in proximity, she’s able to hear conversations both Jiyeon and Kotone are having with the people in front of them. It’s strange, really. Kotone always talks with the fans so nicely—smiling, laughing along with them, and pulling silly antics every so often. Nien is much more used to the blank faces, glaring, and scowls she gets.

It’s one thing to be another faceless fan and play things up for the cameras. It’s another thing to be someone’s groupmate and basically live with them 24/7. She’s so irritating. So what if Nien didn’t hear her the first few times earlier? God forbid a girl talk with her friend and be invested! Besides, why is it her fault that Kotone kicked her?

Whatever. She shouldn’t let Kotone ruin her day even more than she already has.

After an hour, they finish the actual signing of the albums themselves and proceed to the photo-taking segment. Also known as the part where they get to mess around for the cameras, interact, and do fan service with whatever props their fans had taken the time to submit for their boxes.

So, Nien shuffles around between members — she poses for cameras propped on stands with Shion, gets into a swordfight with Jiwoo, drives Kaede around in a mini toy car, and initiates a fake proposal to their leader, Yooyeon, using a comically large ring. That last one was definitely fan service, Nien thinks she heard a couple of himejoshis in the crowd yell when they almost “kissed”. All in all, not doing too badly. She has to pause, of course, to pose for her regular fansites as well. Dressed in various headbands and plushies of broccoli and Pompompurin in her arms, she’d say it probably looked really cute. If anything, she's just happy that her fans are happy.

With that out of the way, it only leaves two people as the options for her to talk to before they have to perform their comeback song. Naturally, Nien frolics over to Jiyeon! …After putting on the ridiculous red dog onesie someone brought for the fansign with the help of their manager.

“Who… brings this to a fansign?” Seoyeon mutters, helping zip up the onesie with a frown.

“I dunno. Do ya think it looks cute?”

“It’s a little ridiculous.” The shorter girl’s lips are pressed into a thin line.

“Booo. You gotta have more fun, Seoyeon!”

“I’m your manager.” Despite the deadpan tone, she moves to brush off some dust on the back. Nien is 90 percent sure she felt her play with the tail for a second.

“We’re still the same age!”

Jiyeon, on the other hand, is open about her amusement when she catches sight of Nien scurrying over to her. Her laughter draws the attention of a few other members, who seem just as amused by how violently red the onesie is. A couple of the members come to pat her or play with the loosely hanging tail on the back. She does a little dance and strikes a few poses for the cameras with Jiyeon, who seems to enjoy squeezing her, before she walks off.

“Are you gonna dance later wearing that?” Kotone’s voice suddenly comes through from her side.

When did she get here?

When Nien turns to look, she’s met with a stare. Kotone’s facial expression looks unimpressed, bordering on judgmental, as she eyes the vibrant costume with the tilt of her head.

“Maybe. I think the fans would find it funny at least.”

“I don’t want to trip on your tail while we’re dancing.”

“So now you care about stepping on me after you kicked me earlier?” Nien raises a brow.

“It wasn’t that hard.” Kotone shakes her head. “And still. It would be bad if your costume made it hard to move.”

Nien takes her job seriously, yes. But this was a bit much.

“Lighten up, will you? Have some joy! Have some whimsy!” She isn’t sure what comes over her, but she brings up her hand (paw?) and puts it on Kotone’s shoulder. “I see you put on those headbands and hats when we do this. And you have your shark onesie at home, too! How’s the costume any different?”

Kotone looks at her and blinks. Her eyes trail down to where Nien’s paw rests on her shoulder. There’s a long pause—almost like she might be considering what Nien had just said. But then, she sighs and shakes her hand off her shoulder, leaving Nien’s arm hanging. “Just be careful and don’t get in anyone’s way.”

“Yeah, but—“

Kotone cuts her off mid-sentence by just... walking off. What the.

Nien frowns a little, watching her go off to talk to Kaede about something. Again? She started the conversation and wouldn’t even properly end it!

Seoyeon starts yelling directions for them to gather up and put the boxes off to the side to keep the stage clear. So, she should really decide if she’s gonna dance in this onesie or not. If Kotone doesn’t want to play around with her this time, then whatever. It doesn’t matter, anyhow.

Apparently, she couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Management wants all of us to come in for a meeting in five.” Yooyeon’s tired eyes cast over the rest of the members in their dorm living room. Nien swears she feels her gaze linger for a beat longer before she turns again, looking for their manager.

There’s a collective murmur that spreads immediately when their leader walks off, seemingly to find their manager.

Kaede crunches on a shared bag of chips, giving the chopsticks between her fingers an experimental tap before diving in again—something about not wanting to get the crumbs on her hands.

“Why do they want all of us?” She asks, crunching on another chip.

“I’m honestly not sure.” Shion murmurs, looking around at the rest of them uneasily. “Did we do something?”

“Nah, I think we’re okay.” Jiwoo stretches her limbs out on the couch. Then, she looks between Kotone and Nien, making a gesture with her hand. “It’s those two that are in trouble.”

Nien makes a face. Glancing at Kotone, the other girl is still pointedly looking away. Though this time, she sees the way the other girl chews on the inside of her cheek. “What? Why are we the ones in trouble?”

…

One of the staff members presses play on a video when they're all sitting at the table. In an ironic twist of fate, the seating arrangement is the same as the last fansign. It’s a clip pulled off Twitter from that very same day.

Someone had posted a portion of her and Kotone talking while she was in that ridiculous suit. The conversation is inaudible, but the facial expressions are telling—from the crease in Kotone’s brows and the frown on Nien’s face—they had gotten careless. Thousands of views, reposts, and comments flood the post itself.

All seven of them say nothing when the clip ends. Their main PR manager, Hanbin, speaks up. He sits on the other side, leaning forward with both elbows on the surface of the table. “So, as you can see, the video has spread a lot more than we were able to contain.”

Jiwoo snorts. Yooyeon gives her a pointed look. “…Sorry.”

Shion raises her hand. “Shouldn’t we just let it pass?”

“We would, but,” Hanbin sighs and scrolls so that the monitor shows the comments. “Articles are coming out and saying that you girls don’t like each other.”

[@onionbbangz]: nien’s kicked puppy expression T_T;; why would she do that
[@tonetonetime]: guys kotone’s just not affectionate w the members all the time…

[@263870_kgnmk]: i knew they all hated each other. always had a bad feeling about this group.
[@jiseoyeonz]: op delete they’re getting so much hate dfhgbjdfhbg :(
[@tovizu]: wait, this visual chemi… yall… anyone else lowkey seeing the toxic coworkers yuri meal?

They scroll past articles poking at their group’s teamwork and professionalism, involving other members who aren’t even part of the video. One comment calls Yooyeon a terrible leader and questions her ability to keep the group steady. Another says Jiwoo, Kaede, and Shion are all at odds with each other and are trying to steal each other’s lines. Countless people are questioning their genuine bonds with each other.

Any sense of easy-going energy immediately dissipates, replaced by an uncomfortable silence. It’s one thing to be directly coming for her and Kotone. It’s another thing to involve her friends, who have nothing to do with this. Nien feels her heart sink like a pit in her stomach.

She winces, casting an apologetic look towards the rest of the members. Her eyes land on Kotone—her expression undoubtedly concerned. She spots the way her hands wring themselves around each other underneath the desk, teeth chewing on the inside of her cheek. The comments and articles, from what Nien could see, were particularly harsh on her—they call her heartless, selfish, spiraling into rumors about being hard to work with.

Sure, she’s had her fair share of mental insults she’s thrown at the girl, but this was going too far. Even if the two of them don’t specifically get along, she’s never been genuinely malicious. Not to mention, Nien would be an idiot if she didn’t see the way Kotone cared for the other members. The press doesn’t know her well enough. It’s different when Nien insults her, alright?

She clears her throat, piercing the suffocating air that had overtaken the room. “…Sorry for being careless. What can we do?”

“I’m sorry too,” Kotone says, finally looking up from the hole she’d been burning into the table.

At that, Hanbin’s resolve hardens. “Don’t worry. We have a plan.” He turns and gestures for one of the staff members in the corner to come out. “Mayu, Sohyun. It's time.”

From the side, two women suddenly come forward and stand to Hanbin’s right. The shorter one, Mayu, nods her head. Nien recognizes her and the woman next to her; they’re the main people who help them film the YouTube content for their fans. Both of them seemed to have a say in helping with the subtitles/editing, especially the taller one next to Mayu, Sohyun.

Nien has had a few conversations with Sohyun outside of the usual questions from the ‘PD’ for the video. She’s nice—a bit quiet—but always kind in her responses.

“We noticed you two don’t… exactly get along. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be an issue. We don’t expect you girls to be best friends.” Sohyun’s voice comes out calm, but not unkind. Steady, like always. “But with this clip blowing up, people are starting to notice and are even finding other clips as ‘evidence’.”

She then gestures to Mayu, who stands next to Hanbin with a clipboard. “We talked with PR, and they’re gonna get some sort of statement out and put out a warning for defamation. With how much everything is blowing up, we know there have been some harsh things surrounding blueshift’s image.” A pause. “We have a plan, but it only works if everyone is on board.”

“Anything works.” Kotone is the first to say something and, begrudgingly, Nien finds herself agreeing.

“Yeah. Just tell us what we need to do to fix it. We’ll do anything.”

For the sake of the group and her friends, they needed to put an end to all the negative talk surrounding them. She’ll do anything, really.

Mayu glances at Sohyun and Hanbin before looking back at the girls. “We think it’d be for the best if Kotone and Nien started doing some fan service together. To help disprove the rumors.”

Anything but that.

“...Excuse me?” Nien blinks once. Then twice. “Can you say that one more time? I don’t think I heard correctly. Are you suggesting that we—”

Kotone’s expression twists into a large frown. “Are you expecting me to do that with her of all people?”

“You’re not exactly sunshine and rainbows with me either.” She turns and glares, arms crossed.

“Uh. The rest of you guys can go.” Sohyun gestures to the rest of the group. “Business is basically the same as usual for everyone else. Just try to be yourselves and don’t say anything about the articles or comments, alright?”

The rest of the group nods and starts to file out. The sounds of the chairs sliding out and dragging against the floor only add to the growing argument between Nien and Kotone. The two girls don’t even seem to register that the others are leaving, still bickering when Yooyeon makes sure everyone else is out of the room. Sohyun talks to Seoyeon as she follows them up to the door. She casts a glance to both Yooyeon and the manager, a sympathetic look before it shuts—the sounds of the argument turning muffled and unclear.

They make their way back to the elevator and ride it back up to their dorm—once they leave the stuffiness of the meeting room, the tension seems to release. Jiwoo cracks a joke to Jiyeon that has her laughing so loud, it might as well have bounced off the walls. Meanwhile, Kaede talks with Seoyeon. Probably to ask about dinner if Yooyeon had to guess. At least the rest of the members were in higher spirits.

Yooyeon suppresses a sigh. Seoyeon had given her a heads-up about the contents of the meeting—manager to leader privileges, she’d supposed. She lets her shoulders sag for a moment, replaying the past 20 minutes in her mind. Would things really be okay? Maybe this could’ve been avoided if she’d been more proactive in Nien and Kotone’s festering tension. Perhaps she’d been naive to think their see-saw of squabbling and icing each other out wouldn’t catch up to them.

“They’ll figure it out.” Shion’s voice pulls Yooyeon out of her thoughts—light, airy. She hadn’t noticed her matching pace with her steps until now. “They always do.”

“Yeah. I think everyone’s gonna be okay,” is what she settles on, pressing forward. “We just have to follow through with our part.”

“What about you, though? Are you okay?” Shion, ever-perceptive, only eyes the eldest with concern seeping through her irises. It feels almost ironic that their youngest is the one trying to check in. But that’s Park Shion—kind and considerate to a fault.

“I’m okay, Shion. Thank you for asking.” Yooyeon can’t help but smile at that. If Shion were shorter than her, she’d ruffle her hair right about now. Instead, she puts an arm around her shoulder. “But let’s forget about that stuff for now. Do you have any food recommendations tonight? I think dinner sounds great about now.”

“Ah!” The question makes the younger girl’s eyes light up as she starts a detailed ramble about the foods that suit the current weather.

Yeah. Yooyeon thinks they’ll be okay. Probably.

.
.
.

“Wooooow. So now it’s my fault? All of that wouldn’t have even happened if you didn’t kick me under the table that day, y’know?”

“Guys…” Mayu tries to interrupt.

“You’re still on about that?” Kotone scoffs, “I barely kicked you. It was a tap. Quit overreacting.”

“You shouldn’t have even kicked me in the first place! I can’t even go five seconds without you judging me all the damn time.”

“That’s because you’re always up to something dumb. I wouldn’t be judging you if you used your brain for more than ten seconds.”

“I literally do?!” The volume in Nien’s voice has amplified tenfold now, flaring with indignation. “Who helped you solve that puzzle during our last variety show, huh? I was the one who figured out the second half of the riddle!”

“I was surprised, honestly.” Kotone looks amused now, almost snickering at how worked up the other girl was getting. “I thought all the bleach and hair dye finally killed off whatever brain cells you had left.”

“Guys…” Mayu tries again.

“What the—” Her jaw drops, and the crease between her brows only tightens. “If that’s the case, then you’ve gotta be going deaf from all the holes you’re poking into your ears for those piercings. Every time I need to talk to you, you always ignore me!”

“That literally makes zero sense.” Kotone deadpans. “You have nearly as many piercings as I do. I’m just choosing to ignore y—”

“Guys!” Hanbin claps his hands together loudly. It effectively cuts the brewing argument short, only for both of them to point at each other with a synced-up “She started it.”

“This is exactly why we need you guys to do this.” The PR manager sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s a miracle we’ve gotten this far without you two getting exposed until now. Do you guys want all of this to be over or not?”

“Fine.” Nien huffs, muttering under her breath and scooting her chair a few inches away. Kotone only mirrors the action, scowling.

When the room is filled with silence again, Mayu takes it as her cue to continue with the plan. Sohyun sets up the laptop and PowerPoint on the board. The projector flickers and broadcasts the screen in sporadic blinks until it fully loads with the first slide.

“Alright. Before we start,” Mayu stares at them, a stern expression replaces any sense of apprehension from her attempts at silencing them previously. “We don’t need a scandal of you guys faking a friendship on top of all of this. Both of you need to be on board. If either of you doesn’t take it seriously, it all falls apart. I don’t think anyone wants to make the current situation worse than it already is.”

Nien spares a glance at Kotone’s nodding. The mocking expression from earlier seems to be long gone, replaced with resignation. At the very least, she doesn’t look happy with the setting either. God. They really are doing this, huh?

A final sigh tumbles out before she says, “Yeah. I’m in. Let’s do this.”

“Perfect.” Mayu clasps her hands together and nods at Sohyun to move on to the next slide. Hanbin visibly relaxes in his seat, swiveling the chair to get a look at the new material on screen.

“So. With all the formalities out of the way,” A sigh. “I’m gonna be honest, we have our work cut out for us. Nobody’s going to believe any of this is real if we immediately start pushing content of the two of you. It will feel very, very fake.”

To prove her point, the screen displays a few posts about them and their fans talking about how they’re an ‘underrated duo’ from before this incident. “Like seriously. You guys only have two selfies together. One of them is the mandatory ones the PR team asked to help with promo last comeback.” On the right side, the photo in question is pulled up for everyone to see. Mayu points at it with a frown. “You two aren’t even smiling here. It just looks like you guys stood next to each other for a second to snap a photo and immediately left. Can you guys try to take a nicer one at some point?”

Nien grimaces—she remembers that exact scenario happening on the day of that photo. Neither of them had been happy about being paired up, but they grit their teeth and took the picture under the guise of their concept being ‘cool’. She remembers turning her back to Kotone and only watching her jacket shoot from the sidelines.

“But, like I said, it won’t be believable if we start immediately pushing content so…” The slide changes again, but this time, it’s a list of bullet points on how to be friendly with someone.

• Treat others how you want to be treated.

• Listen when the other person is talking.

• Be open and honest.

• Accept the other person for who they are and support each other.

• Be nice.

The list of bullet points keeps going. There are terrible stock images littering the sides to prove their point. Stick figures hugging, images of actual people talking and putting their arms over each other’s shoulders… Nien feels almost appalled. Was it really that bad? It couldn’t have been that bad.

It’s Sohyun who chimes in this time, “Mayu and I were thinking that you guys start slow. Try not to… sigh or take obvious deep breaths before talking to each other. Honestly, you guys need to start looking at each other more in general.”

“I don’t do that…” Kotone goes for a weak argument, only to be met with a deadpan stare from Sohyun.

“Really. Why don’t both of you try to do it without sighing right now?”

Nien’s brows slant, giving Sohyun an ‘are you serious?’ look. Kotone must be doing the same, because she only gestures for them to try even more. God, whatever.

… sigh.

WAIT.

“Case and point.” Sohyun’s sharp-eyed gaze is quick to point out their (apparently) simultaneous blunder. Both of them slump over with varying degrees of displeasure. “Look. We’re not asking you guys to do anything too crazy yet. Look at each other every so often. Mention each other on Fromm. Maybe give the other a water bottle or a snack or—or something I don’t know.”

Hanbin nods. “I’ve seen too many memes of people drawing the red lines of you guys ‘looking’ at each other, but your heads are in opposite directions.”

“Just don’t expect it to happen right away,” Kotone mutters, already slumping down to rest her chin on her palm like they were in the middle of listening to a boring lecture.

“Am I the only one who’s worried about the fact that I heard a ‘yet’ in there?” Nien turns to look at the girl next to her, wide-eyed and gesturing at the women standing in front of them. “Yet? What do you guys mean by yet?”

Kotone’s eyes narrow as the information processes. Recognition floods in, making her sit up and stare. “Wait—”

“Anyway,” Mayu redirects them back to the topic. “We were thinking, once you guys are comfortable existing in the same spaces, we could get some more duo content together. We can start slow with a few TikToks before pairing you guys up for the group vlogs or just more exclusive content with the two of you. If the fans really love it and it seems genuine, it would probably fully disprove all the controversy right now.”

“But—”

“Nope! Don’t wanna hear it.” Hanbin pops the ‘p’, swiveling the chair to face them. With most of the other staff also cleared out, it’s obvious that their meeting has become much more informal by now. Seriously. They’re plotting a fake friendship. “This was the best the three of us could come up with instead of ignoring the rumors and making it worse. Unless either of you has any better ideas.”

Hsu Nientzu and Kamimoto Kotone are about to engage in a fake friendship for the cameras. She finds herself sighing for the nth time today with her eyes closed. Is this what her life has come to? A PR friendship?

Sohyun turns off the projector. The PowerPoint disappears and takes the god awful Friendship 101 notes away.

“That was a two-slide presentation. You didn’t even need to—” Kotone sputters but ultimately groans again. “Actually. I don’t even want to think about it. Whatever.”

“For now,” Mayu continues, “Just focus on getting used to being around each other. Maybe you guys could even try to talk some more. With minimal arguing.”

“Why do I feel like you guys are treating us like kids?” Nien frowns, watching the three of them start to collect their things.

“Because you two are acting like kids.” Hanbin doesn’t miss a beat, zipping up his bag with an air of finality. “Do you guys have any other questions?”

“...When do we start?” Kotone eyes them warily. Neither of them had brought a lot into the meeting besides what fit in their pockets.

“As soon as you leave the room!” Mayu chirps.

Slowly, Nien’s head turns to look at Kotone, who looks just as apprehensive. They could do this. Maybe.

.
.
.

(The walk back to the elevator by themselves had been eerily quiet. Nien almost forgets Kotone is walking with her until they enter it. It takes every bit of effort not to stand as far as humanly possible from her groupmate.

Nien fidgets with the ends of her sweater as they stand in the middle of the elevator. After Kotone had punched in their floor number, all they could do was stand and wait. Only the low sounds of what she thinks is generic, DMCA-free music play in the background.

“So—”

“Um—”

“Oh—”

“Wait—”

Irritation already surges in, Nien groaning. “Jeez, quit cuttin’ me off.”

“Me? You keep doing it, too!” Kotone immediately retorts and turns to glare. The proximity makes her tilt her head up to meet the taller girl’s gaze.

“Well, maybe if you—” Just as Nien is about to blow up Kamimoto Kotone in her mind and in real life, she feels a presence. Flashes of their meeting return to her memory—almost as if Mayu, Hanbin, and Sohyun were watching.

…

They were arguing, again. Less than 10 minutes of being left alone, and they’re already back to their old ways.

Nien presses her lips together in a thin line, facing forward again. “We shouldn’t be fighting already.”

“Right.” Kotone exhales and lets her head hang, effectively breaking the steely look she wore earlier. “God, I can’t believe we have to do this.” Petulant. Nien doesn’t need to look to imagine the frown that takes hold when she mirrors her in facing forward.

It’s silent again. The music and the hum of the elevator do very little to change the fact that this has to be the longest elevator ride of her life right now. She’s half convinced that the universe is purposefully slowing down time so that she has to sit in this stupid boxcar with Kamimoto Kotone and be reminded that once they leave, they have to actually get along. The sheer awkwardness dredges a collective ‘ugh’ from both of them.

They’re so fucking screwed.)

Days pass with very little fanfare. They fall into the usual routine of avoiding each other. Although when they happen to catch each other, they’ve come to a silent agreement not to say anything—they can’t fight if neither of them talks, right?

For her sanity, Nien decided to stay off social media in the meantime. Hopefully, Kotone had done the same. Although it’s no surprise that management is still trying to encourage her to interact a little more with her during schedules or music show performances. Still, they haven’t done much. It almost feels like nothing has changed apart from picking fewer fights. That thought alone should have been enough to set off an alarm.

On the third day of the typical radio silence, there’s a knock on the door of her shared dorm room that startles her from watching a YouTube video on her phone. The sound makes her twist her body in bed to get a good look at the door, head tilting up to the right, and she removes her earphones. Just as she’s about to ask who it is, a voice calls out.

“It’s Kotone.” The person—Kotone—supplies from behind it, slightly muffled.

Oh.

Jiyeon, from the top bunk, haphazardly shimmies so she can lean over the side to look at Nien in her bottom bunk with widened eyes. She starts making frantic hand gestures and mouths a ‘You guys are talking?’ without falling off. It’s a miracle she hasn’t somehow landed on the floor yet.

Nien shrugs, making a confused expression and mouthing back a ‘Not really.’

Kotone knocks one more time. “I know you’re in there, Unnie. I can hear your bedsheets shuffling.”

Shit.

Jiyeon shoos her with her hands and tries to flop over to the other side, as if pretending not to be there at all.

“One sec!” Nien calls out, rolling out of bed with a groan. Fuzzy socks hit the floor and slide along the wood. It takes two steps to reach the handle. Her fingers grasp around the metal and twist.

Tugging the door open reveals Kotone standing out in the hallway, wearing a grey checkered flannel over a similar-colored graphic t-shirt and sweats. Thankfully, it isn’t too large a contrast to Nien’s own sweats and hoodie. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

. . .

They both stand there. Nien doesn’t know how long either of them will stay silent. The frown on her face stretches a little wider, and she tilts her head. In front of her, Kotone huffs, pursing her lips. The divot between her brows is one that she’s accustomed to seeing—typically when she’s irritated enough to spew something equally annoying back at her. This time, it looks like she’s trying not to do exactly that.

The microwave in the kitchen dings distantly. This is getting ridiculous.

“Was there… something you needed, or are we just going to stand here until our legs fall off?” Nien finally says, making a gesture to her with her hands.

“Shut up, I was getting to that,” Kotone deflates. “I was thinking we should talk about our situation.” Her eyes dart to the side before flickering over to spot Jiyeon’s bun poking from behind one of the top bunk’s bed frames. “Alone. Preferably.”

“Huh.” Nien’s brows lift, a surprised scoff leaving her lips. “And here I thought you were gonna avoid me forever, Tone.”

“Don’t act like you weren’t—Ugh, whatever. We don’t have time for this.” Kotone groans, already turning to leave. “Are you coming or not?”

“Whoa, whoa! Jeez. Gimme a second.” Nien leans backward just to say a ‘be right back’ to Jiyeon, who was probably eavesdropping on the whole thing, before trotting after the other girl.

“You seriously couldn’t wait a couple more seconds?” It doesn’t take long for her to catch up and match Kotone’s strides as she predictably leads them towards her own dorm room.

“Your legs are long. You can use them.” She casts one look over her shoulder. “Aren’t you the one known for running fast?”

They pass by the kitchen, where Jiwoo is having her own lunch and YouTube session, and wave before she returns to watching. Eventually, they reach the room. Kotone doesn’t think twice before opening it to reveal a neatly kept interior and gesturing for her to come inside.

Yooyeon’s and Kotone’s things hang off opposite sides of the room. It’s a cute mismatch of items in clean sections. Nien lets her eyes run along the corkboard of photos pinned onto the wall, Yooyeon’s Hangyodon merchandise clashing with Kotone’s Kuromis, the humidifier decorated in stickers on a desk, a small rug for the floor, and the rack of shoes in the corner.

It’s the first time she’s ever been inside fully or could get a good look at the room, really. Usually, she avoids this room like the plague unless she really has to talk to Yooyeon. And yet, both Nien and Kotone are sitting on the rug with their backs against the lower bunk bed, staring at the desk in front of them.

“Look. I don’t wanna do this. I don’t think you wanna do this either.” Kotone says with an exhale.

“No kidding.” She mutters, picking at imaginary dust on the fuzzy carpet below.

“I thought it would be good to talk about any boundaries. Things both of us aren’t comfortable with or are absolute dealbreakers.”

Huh. It’s incredibly considerate—enough for Nien to turn and look at her in genuine surprise.

“Quit staring at me like that.” Kotone grumbles, “It’s the responsible thing to do. You and I hate this. Let’s not make it worse than it already is. Besides, it’d be better to get it out of the way before we have to start… being public.”

Ugh. She had a point. Their next public schedule is slotted for tomorrow, and the PR team has been nagging about their supposed plan. Nien leans back against the bed frames again. “I hate to admit it, but you’re right. We should talk about it. Anything immediately off limits?”

“I don’t do skinship often. They might ask us to, but it’ll take a second for me.” There’s a pause before she visibly shivers at the thought of it, making a face. “Just don’t do anything crazy, yet.”

“Whoa. Okay. First off, I already knew you didn’t like that stuff. Second, what’s with the face?” Nien raises a brow.

“If you try to kiss me, I will do everything in my power to dodge it.”

At least ten different emotions cycle through her face before she basically makes a horrified expression and a gagging gesture. Both of them? Kissing? Nien's entire body goes rigid trying to shake off the lurch in her stomach at the thought. “Ew. I would rather die than kiss you. I was thinking maybe a hug at most.”

“Glad to know we’re on the same page. I don’t wanna kiss you either, but you do it to the other members, so I had to make sure. But,” Kotone frowns. “I feel like I should be offended by the expression you just made.”

Nien’s face falls. “Are you seriou—YOU MADE A FACE FIRST?”

Kotone sticks her tongue out at her.

Like the mature adult she is, Nien… exhales and pinches the bridge of her nose. She doesn’t turn away or stick her tongue out back at her. That would be immature. “You’re so annoying.”

“Says you.”

“Whatever. I can’t think of anything for myself right now. I guess we can just keep updating it as we go.” The next exhale feels like steam is coming out of her nostrils and ears, but Nien forces it down with a plastered smile.

Surprisingly, the taunting expression on Kotone’s face turns serious—a look that feels reminiscent of whenever she and Kaede are monitoring their practices and correcting issues with the choreography. “Are you sure?”

It’s enough to make her smile from earlier falter. “Yeah. I’m good for now.”

The other girl’s gaze remains on her for a beat longer. The seconds feel like minutes, eyes narrowed as she considers Nien’s words—perhaps gauging how truthful she’s being at the moment with piercing brown eyes. It’s the longest she thinks she’s ever stared at Kotone, even including the awkward mishap by the door earlier.

After what feels like another long minute, Kotone disengages back to her original spot with a, “Just say something if you remember anything else.” The previous expression is long gone, almost as if it hadn’t been there in the first place.

“Yeah, you too.” Nien releases a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She wills herself to look elsewhere, landing on the jacket hanging off the back of the desk chair. Moving on. “Anyway, I think we should practice being around each other.”

“What?”

“Just think of it like any other rehearsal,” Nien shrugs. “We can’t keep having these conversations that look like we both want to be literally anywhere else. Let’s at least break the sighing habit.”

“This is so stupid.”

“We’re gonna look even more stupid if we mess up.” She counters.

Her eyes land on the corkboard of photostrips—spotting one lone copy in the corner. Most of them had been Yooyeon and Kotone. However, there had been one group photobooth picture that they’d taken at Shion’s insistence just before their debut. It remains pinned, with a sticker decorating the perimeter. Nien and Jiyeon have their own copies up in their dorm, too. Her eyes wander along the smiles on everyone’s faces—even her own and Kotone’s. They’d been better back then, at least.

“For the record, I don’t like you.” Nien starts, ignoring the noise from Kotone’s side, “Obviously, you don’t like me either. But if there’s one thing I know we can agree on… we love performing and we love our members. Right?”

“...Yeah.”

“Nobody would be here if we didn’t believe in that dream. And it wouldn’t be fair if we took the others down with us. We’ve all worked too hard to get here. So,” She finally looks over. Kotone stares at her with a complicated expression, lips pressed into a thin line. “Truce? Just so we can fix this mess.”

A long pause fills the room. Kotone looks down at her lap, hands wringing around them and flexing. Nien recognizes the action—once in the meeting room, a few times when she’s deep in thought after practice.

“Fine.” She looks up. “How are we doing this?”

“I’m so glad you asked.” Heh. A smirk curls at the edge of her lips. “Staring contest? We set a timer for how long we can keep it up without sighing or looking away. The loser has to buy the other a snack from the convenience store across the street.”

“Really. Is that the best you could come up with? Very mature of you.” Kotone deadpans.

But Nien expected this reaction. In fact, all she has to do now is push the right buttons. “What? Scared you’re gonna lose?”

Kotone’s face hardens.

3.

“Well?” Nien only widens her grin. “I’ve been craving those cream buns they sell. Or maybe I should pick something else?”

2.

There’s a noise that sounds like halfway between a scoff and a laugh.

1.

“Start the damn timer.”

.
.
.

(Kaede trudges into the living room after a much-needed nap. Bleary eyes blink several times to clear the haze of sleep from her sight, one hand moving to rub at her eyes.

“Good morning.” Jiwoo nods at her from her place on the couch. In front of her are textbooks and her laptop on the coffee table, her iPad sitting in her lap, and an Apple Pencil between her fingers. College work, Kaede assumes. The afternoon sun peeks through the gaps of the windowsill and casts the brunette in yellows and golden hues. “Had a good nap?”

Kaede watches as the corners of her lips tug up into a smile. She can’t help but send a small one back, heartstrings tugging faintly beneath her pulse. “Yeah. Shion woke me up so I wouldn’t mess up my sleep schedule. I just wanted some water.”

“I’m glad. Shion’s always considerate like that.” Jiwoo’s smile widens, eyes softening with something knowing in her irises. “Especially with you.”

Her mind flashes to just 10 minutes prior—the image of Shion gently shaking her awake and making her lift her head from her lap comes to mind. Kaede’s smile widens for a fraction of a second. “Yeah. She’s… really sweet.”

Jiwoo lets out a noncommittal hum, seemingly returning to scribbling down notes for work. Suddenly, she perks up again. “Oh! I made cookies the other day, if you or Shion still want some. They’re in the kitchen.”

Shion would love that, which is more than enough for Kaede to bring them over. “Yeah sur—... What are they doing?”

When Kaede finally rips her attention away from Jiwoo, she spots Nien and Kotone sitting at the kitchen counter, staring at each other. They keep alternating between reaching for bites of their food, but never breaking away, even as they eat. This is the longest Kaede has ever seen them acknowledge each other’s presence.

After the whole meeting and the argument that followed soon after, she hadn’t expected them to change drastically or anything of the sort. Their strange interactions and tension had been around for a while now. This, however, was… new. And a little weird.

At the question, Jiwoo looks over and snorts, going back to writing on her iPad. “They’re practicing staring at each other, I think.”

Kaede watches as Nien reaches for another bite of food with her chopsticks. In a stroke of fate, the food slips off and lands on the counter almost in slow motion, making her gasp and look down.

For a moment. There’s silence. Nien’s widened eyes stared at the food with a huff. And then, as if realizing, her gaze snaps back up. “Wait—”

“Ha.” Kotone stands up, pointing at her with her index finger from across the table. A triumphant grin crosses over her features and cements itself there. “You lose. You’re helping me restock the jelly snacks I keep in my bag.”

Nien sighs dramatically, head in hands. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” She then just moves to pick up the piece that had fallen onto the table and sets it to the side of her plate.

Kaede walks around them and grabs the cookies for herself and Shion on the other counter. She’ll come back for the water when her hands aren’t full.

When she turns around, Kotone has fully stood up from her seat and starts doing the equivalent of emoting on a corpse in a video game, still standing in her spot across Nien in the kitchen.

Weirdos.)

They start small. It’s seeing who can hold the door open for the other person first or Nien passing Kotone a marker when hers runs out just as they’re almost done with signing every album. Or even waiting until the cameras are on to see who can initiate for the fans first. Somehow, the younger girl keeps managing to one-up her.

Besides, Nien knows Kotone can do fanservice if she wants to. She’s seen her messing around with Yooyeon and Jiyeon before, especially the latter half. The burner account she uses to peek at the fans’ reactions had said everything when her whole suggested timeline was full of the duo’s photos together. Something about looking like a soft launch.

Meanwhile, she has other photos and clips of dodging affection from Kaede and Jiwoo, who love messing with her. Anybody with Shion ends up looking at her fondly, and her clips with Yooyeon are, admittedly, funny. Nien refrains from cracking a grin when she scrolls past another clip from a live at the dorms.

It’s a little weird seeing how bright Kotone’s smile is with all the members except for her. The ones Nien receives are always practiced and mostly polite. Which is whatever, really. They’re doing this as fanservice. So, if she’s going to be like that, then Nien shouldn’t care either. She’ll just make sure that hers look less awkward than Kotone’s!

It may be a strange competition despite their truce, but Nien isn’t going to let herself lose to her no matter how many times it means she has to see her stupid face in a day. And, then again, trying to quit ribbing at each other in between the gaps without a buffer would never have worked.

Their efforts still teeter toward stilted in public. Sometimes, Nien doesn’t know where to put her hands, or Kotone’s scowls cast over the quickly plastered smiles she puts on when she looks at her—but they’re trying more actively. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?

(“What is this? The art of fanservice 101?” Nien tilts her head at the screen projected in front of them. On the screen is a list of things to do for fanservice. Some of the suggestions are vague—like what the hell does, ‘Make gay tension’ even mean?—or they’re painfully direct.

“Well, yes. I made it up.” Mayu offers with a shrug, bringing her laser pointer dot back onto the last bullet point that reads ‘Be Creative’. The older woman had called them in for an extra meeting over the weekend for 'brainstorming'.

Nien turns her head in Kotone’s direction only to find an equally confused and mildly concerned expression as she speaks up. “Are you even allowed to be telling us to do this stuff? Isn’t this kinda…?”

“Yeah, Mayu-nim, I didn’t know what you did in your free time after filming us for work, but this is…” Nien squints, “This is something. What does 'be creative' even mean here?”

“No need to be so formal.” Mayu waves her hand dismissively, “I’m so glad you asked! “I do think this sort of awkward back-and-forth bit you guys are doing is good. It just might help to have something a little more yuriful…”

The next ten minutes were dedicated to watching their senior girl group's fansign clips, creating their own fanservice. Unsurprisingly, it was obviously exaggerated, but, at the very least, you could tell that the members were amicable. The range of fanservice went from silly fansign interactions to… things that even Nien finds herself raising her eyebrows at. Smiles that leak too much affection, eyes that stare for seconds longer than necessary, and constant, constant skinship.

What person describes their ideal type as more of searching for someone that invokes the feeling in their chest when they hear another member’s laugh???

Is that how far they were supposed to go?

When the meeting wraps up, Mayu ends with, “You guys are doing great so far! Just keep it consistent and try not to kill each other with some of this stuff. It might do you more harm than good.” A pause. “And, if I can suggest one last thing…”

“You’ve been doing that this whole time, what’s another?” Kotone sighs, one hand on the doorknob. Nien stands right next to her, having gotten out of her seat too late to beat her.

“It might be a bit less awkward if you guys try to get to know each other outside of all this. But that’s up to you two. I wouldn’t wanna burden you guys even more.”

As if this whole situation hadn’t been a weight on their shoulders from the start.)

“She said we should try to get to know each other better, but that means I have to spend even more time with her.” Nien lets out an exaggerated groan from her bed. On top of the sheets, she flops over in a starfish position and stares up at the bottom wooden frames of Jiyeon’s bunk bed.

“I dunno.” Her roommate sits on the circular rug of their floor, arms and legs extended together in a stretch. “I kinda think she has a point.”

Nien gasps and sits up so fast she nearly smacks her head into the frames. She snaps her head over, mortified. “Betrayal! Betrayal from my dearest Dojoon?!”

Jiyeon doesn’t humor her theatrics other than a noise of acknowledgment, shifting into a split stretching position with ease. “I barely saw you guys interact without beefing before all this happened. It really might help if you guys actually tried to get to know each other and get used to being in the same proximity.”

“But that means I probably have to say something first.” Nien laments, posture slumping into something shrimp-like. “And I have to see her stupid face when we’re not even on the clock!”

“You see her ‘stupid’ face at the dorms every day regardless, dummy.” She pauses. “Honestly, it really is a miracle nobody noticed you guys until now.”

“But—”

“The sooner you guys get into the groove of this and convince everyone, the sooner you both can go back to ignoring each other.” Jiyeon immediately cuts her off, “I’d say go back to normal, but having both of your best friends constantly fighting gets tiring. It would be nice if you guys tolerated each other.”

“Awww, wait.” Nien’s voice softens as her mouth twists into a pout. “You think I’m one of your best friends?”

“If you don’t text her by this weekend, you’re not getting my leftover broccoli when we go out to eat.”

The room falls deathly silent.

“Can you pass me my phone by the outlet?”

Jiyeon and Mayu had a point, unfortunately. The more Nien thinks about it, the more sense it makes. They had to at least tolerate each other if they had any hope of being less awkward on camera. Kotone definitely wouldn't be the one to ask her first. So, it's up to her.

hsu nientzu: r u doing something
worst person ever: wrong number

Nien gapes at her phone screen in disbelief. Needling Kotone into spending time with her outside of their schedules seemed to be going about as well as she'd imagine. But, she isn't one to give up so easily. Her brows crease, thumbs hovering over the screen with a frown tugging at the corners of her lips.

hsu nientzu: tone
tone
tone
tone
tone
tone
tone
worst person ever: what
hsu nientzu: hang out w me
worst person ever: no
hsu nientzu: why
worst person ever: busy

Nien glances up from her phone and sees Kotone sitting two seats away, tapping away on her phone and mindlessly nibbling on a pack of barley stick snacks. Even from this distance, she can hear the low audio of the game she's playing. The quiet pings ring clearly in conjunction with the hum of the air conditioner above them.

“Busy, my ass.” She groans, extending her leg out from under the table and gently knocking at Kotone’s chair leg with a wooden thump. “What are you even doing?” The pink-haired girl adds with a sigh.

The noise and vibration make the other girl lift her eyes away from her screen. The barley stick snack juts out from the corner of her mouth. When Kotone fully turns to say something, her free hand moves up to hold it in place with her elbow against the top of the table. "None of your business."

"C'mon…" Nien frowns. Instead of letting Kotone's words deter her, she gets up and shuffles into the seat next to her. In her haste, she misses the way Kotone's eyes widen when she leans in closer. "Is your game really that much more interesting than me?"

"Wait—"

Nien gets a peek at the screen—displaying a low-quality advertisement game—before the screen tilts away, out of her view. She snaps up to look at Kotone once more, catching the mild mortification spreading across her face like wildfire. "You play these?"

"Yes," Comes out in an embarrassed hiss. In an attempt to redirect her attention elsewhere, she focuses on the stick snack now in her hands. In between aggressive crunching, she adds, "They're good for passing the time, okay?"

"Aren't these like," Nien makes a gesture at the phone, "Usually super annoying to play through? Like they're never as advertised and always filled with even more ads."

The capybara on Kotone's screen continues to swing its sword in circles. Upon further examination, multiple creatures stand on squares, firing at enemies or chests for gold coins. When the chests split open and spill with gold, she buys another one to upgrade the original capybara. Having two to combine seems to improve their skills and give them a whole new ability.

Chew. Swallow.

"Yeah, but…" The rest of Kotone's sentence comes out inaudible despite sitting next to her.

"What? Sorry. I can't hear you." Another advertisement interrupts the gameplay and rolls across the screen.

"I just watch more ads to get boosters and make the game easier to play." Kotone exhales, shoulders slumping with her posture in defeat. "I've invested too much into the game to quit, and it… gets fun after a while."

"Pff—No, no. Uh. It's fine that you're a loser." The Kotone in front of her looks so earnestly pathetic—pink-tipped pierced ears and head hung in defeat over something so trivial—Nien presses her lips together to hold back a laugh. She likes being on this end of the teasing much more. "Were my texts interrupting one of your ads?"

"Shut up." Kotone sets her phone down and scoops the crumbs from her snack off the table and into the remaining open plastic. It crunches when she gets the last of barley's remains, balling it up to be thrown away later. "You know, this really doesn't make me want to hang out with you more."

"Whaaaat? Not even if it's to get you your prize from our staring contest?" Nien raises a brow. "I haven't forgotten!"

.

.

.

"Y'know, if it's this easy to bribe you to come with food, I would've started with that," Nien says as they stand in the convenience store. The overhead fluorescent lights dangle above them, and the speakers play the latest hit on the charts. In their haste to leave, they'd gone for the simple approach: ball caps and masks over their faces, unnoticed by the cashier scrolling on their phone at the counter.

Kotone squats down in front of the aisles next to her. She holds two packs of jelly in her hands from the small boxes on the shelf, inspecting both of them. "I'm pretty sure you're the same, too."

"Well—" Nien opens her mouth only to close it again. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Anyway," She crouches down with a grunt so she can look over at the items in the other girl's hands. "What are we thinking?"

"Why?" Kotone squints at her, almost suspicious.

She almost wants to sigh at the pushback, but she holds it in. They won't get anywhere with constant bickering, so she'll be nice. Nien makes friends with people all the time. Surely, she can do this. …Right?

"Can't I be curious? Just tryin' to make conversation." Nien shrugs, "You've been looking at that for a while. Plus, I'm the one paying for today."

A long pause follows. Kotone continues to scrutinize different packages of jellies, picking up and setting down their packets. Nien almost thinks she won't get a response until she eventually picks up the original two again. "I was figuring out which flavors I like and can share with the members if they want some."

"Oh. " While waiting for a response, she'd been sifting through some of the snacks in front of them on her own. The wrapper in her hands feels spiky, poking indents into her palm. It's a nice sentiment, one that she probably should've expected, but actually telling Kotone that would be insane. So, instead, she says. "I'm just surprised you're not trying to make my wallet cry for this. You're kind of a softie, huh."

Nien nearly topples over when Kotone pushes her shoulder. "Can you just help choose a flavor and go buy something for yourself already?"

"Ack. Geez, fine. Fine." She sighs, readjusting her balance before glancing at the packages still in her hands. "Just go with the strawberry flavor. Everyone likes strawberries. Easy."

"Are you sure that's not just because you like strawberries?"

"Well—" Nien looks at her, jaw hanging slightly. "Wait, you remembered that?"

"If it's not broccoli, it's strawberries. You've talked about it a lot." Kotone keeps her eyes on the jelly packet, putting down the other one in favor of the strawberry one. The packet is decorated in whites and pastel pinks, featuring a clear circle in the center to showcase the mini wrappers inside. "But that flavor for this brand is good. That works."

Instead of giving her any time to respond, Kotone stands up and holds out a hand for her to take. "C'mon. Your turn to get something for yourself."

Hands clasp. Warm, splintering goosebumps up her arm.

Nien looks up to see Kotone pointedly looking away to avoid her gaze. The words tumble out before she can stop herself. "D'aw. I didn't know you were actually paying attention to me after all this time, Tone."

"I could drop you when I pull you up."

"You wouldn't."

"I could."

"No, 'cause if I got genuinely injured, you'd probably feel bad." There's a cheeky grin on her face.

"I would not." Kotone sighs. "Just get up already."

Nien lets herself get pulled up on wobbly limbs with a grunt, and they start heading for a different section of the store. "That actually kinda hurt. Man. Am I getting old?"

"Yeah. You're old." Kotone snorts, her free hand coming up as if covering her mouth on instinct. "I think I heard your knee crack there."

"What the—Okay, you're not supposed to agree with me. We're less than a year apart!" Nien complains, only to get a shrug in response. "Boo. You actually hate me."

"Yeah. You suck."

"Man, whatever. You suck, too." Nien shakes her head, eyeing the shelves lined with triangle-kimbap in front of her. "I'm going with something salty. Since that's how you just made me feel."

"Really. I made you feel salty?"

"Yeah. Totally salty. I'm getting hung out to dry and becoming cured like herring." She lets out a dramatic whine before an idea strikes her, grin widening instead. "Herrinien. Heh."

"Did you just—" Kotone cuts herself off, shoulders hunched like she's holding something back. "Did you just make a really bad pun of your name and herring? Like the fish they use to make gwamegi?"

"What about it? It's not fishy to make puns. I do it all the time." Nien plucks an abandoned nearby basket for them to use and tosses her kimbap in. Kotone's jellies follow soon after.

"You're… so dumb."

"I think you just lack joy and whimsy in your life, Tone. I'm funny!" Despite the mask, Nien can tell that she's making a face.

Kotone jabs a thumb over her shoulder. "Kaede asked me to get something for her earlier. I'm gonna go grab that."

She could respond normally to that and wave her off. But, she's already orchestrated her response, and watching the way the other girl's annoyance makes itself present throughout her whole body is too good a reaction to pass up. "Well, when you're done, just let minnow. I'm hungry."

Kotone's brows crease, and she pulls her mask down with her index finger only to frown at her with squinting eyes. "…Just for that, I'm gonna walk extra slow on the way back."

(They meet at the tables at the side. Nien eventually caved and dragged Kotone into halving a bowl of instant noodles with her. The cup sits between them, two sets of chopsticks taking turns grabbing noodles. Jiyeon had suggested they try to talk over a meal or something. This had to be close enough, right?

"So, why jellies by the way? I always see them with you. Like in your bag and stuff." Nien asks, unwraps the kimbap, and takes a huge bite.

"We're always on the move with schedules and promotions. This is like the snack you can eat when you just need to nibble on something and get rid of being hungry for a second." Kotone reaches to take another helping of the noodles. "What about you? Why the ramen suddenly?"

"I heard somewhere that sharing a meal is usually a good way to find at least one thing in common. Plus, I like this ramen too. Goes well with the kimbap."

"That's… true." Kotone cracks a smile. "The ramen is pretty good too."

"Ohoho, you smile now?" Nien grins, leaning forward to get a better angle at the sight.

Kotone immediately tries and fails to stretch her smile into a more neutral expression. She leans back, trying to avoid her gaze. "No."

"Dude, I can see it though."

"Anyway," Kotone ignores her, "It's good. Salty, but that's a lot of instant noodles. I'm surprised you didn't get something spicier."

"We're sharing. I know you don't eat spicy stuff." Nien shrugs and reaches into the bowl after her. "Besides, I like both. I think more vegetables would be good, but the kimbap works too."

For a few minutes, there's only the sound of them eating. Wooden chopsticks provided by the convenience store scrape away and finish up what little remains of the cup until it's mostly leftover soup.

Kotone coughs, trying to clear her throat. She glances around, likely contemplating grabbing a water. Now is probably a good time for her to bring that out.

Nien reaches into her plastic bag on the side and slides a small bottle of apple juice across the table. "Your stupid jug that takes up like half the fridge is almost out. Thought you might want this for now."

Kotone regards the bottle with widened eyes. She keeps looking between Nien and the drink before sighing. She reaches for her own plastic bag and rummages through some other items—presumably something for Kaede—and produces a cream bun. Her arm extends, setting it down on Nien's side. "Here."

"What's this for?" Nien raises a brow.

"You said you were craving it, didn't you?" She pushes it closer. "Just take it as a thank you. For the juice."

"Uh. Okay, I guess. Thanks, Tone." She makes a face but accepts it anyway, adding it to the extra snacks in her plastic bag for later.

…

"That was really weird to say."

"…That was really weird to hear."

They finish the rest of their food in silence. Barring the awkward thank-yous, the air doesn't feel as tense. They learned a bit about each other today, despite all the bumps. When they get home later and return to their rooms, Nien sees her phone light up with a text from Kotone.

worst person ever: thanks for today

Annoying as it is, maybe hanging out with Kotone isn't so bad.)

With their promotion period in full swing, it was inevitable that they’d be forced to get bigger with their fanservice sooner rather than later. Honestly, it was a bit ridiculous. Nien still keeps a mental counter of how many times she looks in Kotone’s direction.

They’d kept up the staring contest practices despite the immediate laughter from the other members and agreed on a half-hearted truce, at least for now. Despite all the teasing, the practice was working. As of the pre-recording, she’s worked herself up to five separate times, three of which she’d gotten a look back with minimal to little sighing.

Currently, all of them are standing outside, waiting as all the fans pile into the open space in front of them. The mini fan meeting had been scheduled for the break between the end of the pre-recorded stage and the live stage. Because of how early the members and fans had to arrive just for the prerecording, it’s typical for there to be some extra amenities for their troubles.

They stand in two pairs and one trio. With the presence of Mayu and Sohyun sans Hanbin (who mainly stays within the offices), it’s no surprise that she and Kotone are paired up to help announce the lucky draw winners for a few special gifts.

Seoyeon flits around the groups, checking in on mini microphone packs with the help of another manager. Meanwhile, she spots Jiyeon and Jiwoo huddled together to fight against the cold air. Yooyeon stays with Kaede and Shion, still fiddling with the sacred portable microphone in the eldest member’s hands.

Nien always hopes the coffee from the trucks at least tastes good and keeps the fans warm on windy days like this. With the clear sky and sun shining above them, the cool breeze is usually a welcome addition to the weather. Today, it decides to be much more of a nuisance, continuously blasting the cold air against them.

She’d been lucky this time to get a singular braid. All Nien had to watch for were the occasional pink strands of her own hair framing her face, getting blown out of place. Kotone, standing to her left, battles a bigger problem.

For the stage recording, she looked perfect—long brown hair down in waves and tucked behind her ears. Simple, but with impact, just as Nien had nearly always spotted her at the dorms. Outside, in the unforgiving wind, she’d been subjected to her hair flying every which way.

Kotone makes a displeased noise as another strong gust from their right messes up the strands of hair she’d meticulously put back in place. A frown crosses over her features as she looks back up at her bangs and brings her hands back up to fix them. This is the third time in the past five minutes that she’s gone back to fix it.

In the background, she can hear the fans starting to arrive and taking their seats on the pavement in front of them. The familiar camera shutters and murmurs of the audience grow while the staff directs them.

Nien hesitates, feeling her arms hovering at her sides. The girl next to her still fumbles, and she successfully resists the urge to sigh. The cameras keep clicking. They were here to fix their image, right? Instead of overthinking, she extends her hand out to tap on Kotone’s shoulder, making the brunette turn. Be creative, or whatever Mayu told them.

“What?”

“Let’s swap spots.” It’s phrased more like a statement than a question, especially as she gently tugs the shorter girl towards her. When she’s close enough, Nien lets go and maneuvers around from behind her until she’s now on Kotone’s right side. For good measure, she stands closer to her and angles her body at a 45-degree angle to block the incoming gust of wind from hitting her.

While she’d gotten lucky with her hair, she hadn’t with the outfits. The stylists wanted to dress them in their own school uniforms. Unfortunately for them, it meant skirts. The cold air prickles goosebumps along the skin of her legs when the next gust of wind hits her. A shiver rolls down her spine, and Nien’s shoulders hunch inward, hands balling into fists.

“Thanks,” comes quietly from Kotone, head tilted up to look at her. When the wind hit, it seemed like she moved a bit closer. With their positioning, the space between them couldn’t have been more than a foot away. They aren’t fully touching — nothing more than brushing clothes — but there’s still slightly more warmth than before.

“Don’t mention it.” Nien busies herself with waving at the fans, keeping her voice low. “You were just going to keep doing that the whole time. It would’ve been annoying to watch, and you would’ve complained.”

Kotone scoffs, clearly trying her best not to let her expression twist into a frown. But, instead of arguing, she decides to wave at the fans, too. The cameras continue to capture each moment. With both of them so close to each other, it’s impossible not to be in the shot. In the background, they spot Mayu with her camera in hand. The other hand is trying to gesture at both of them.

But even with both of their squinting, they can barely make out what she’s trying to tell them. The crowd is much more sizable now—the last bits of people trickling in. The flashes and camera clicking are much more apparent in the way various fans call out to the members and try to get their attention.

“Should we do a pose together?” Kotone asks after finishing a pose for a nearby camera.

She glances over at Mayu’s positioning, camera still fixated on them. “Sure.”

They shuffle slightly, trying to angle themselves for a photo together. The crowd’s murmuring gets louder. If her ears haven’t betrayed her, there might have been a few gasps. She tries to ignore the way more cameras turn to take photos of a ‘rare’ occurrence since the release of all the articles, and focuses on the pose. Nien does, however, manage to sneak a peace sign behind Kotone’s head with her positioning.

A minute passes before they resume their previous positions again—Kotone on the left and Nien on the right, still angled to block the incoming wind. When she leans forward to get a look at the other members, Yooyeon makes a gesture to her with the microphone pack in hand—a passing motion.

Ah.

With the groups settled, she and Kotone will read the numbers out last, after Jiwoo and Jiyeon. Perhaps they were too lazy to take out the rest of the packs and use one for each group. You’d think that the company would make enough money to do that. Yet, here we are.

From the corner of her vision, she can see Kotone flagging down Seoyeon for something. However, another gust of wind blows, making her squeeze her eyes shut at the cold air against her skin once more. It’s enough to pull out an instinctive, uncomfortable grumble from her lips, cringing until it passes.

Kotone clears her throat. Nien blinks her eyes open, now seeing a yellow blanket outstretched to her. “Here.”

Her eyes flick to the blanket and then back up to Kotone, who stares at her with a slightly embarrassed expression. “Hurry up. If you get sick, you’re gonna complain and pass it onto the rest of us.”

She mimics Nien’s own words from earlier, pointedly angling so that the fans wouldn’t be able to read her lips.

“I’m not that bad.” She counters, hesitating to take the blanket from her. “What about you?”

“They’re bringing another one. Don’t worry about it.” Kotone waves her off with the other hand, only shaking the blanket out to her more for her to take. “I owe you. For blocking the wind.”

“Oh. Thanks. I guess.” Nien takes the blanket from her carefully. If there’s anything she’s sure of, it’s that the other girl is stubborn. Right now, she seems rather adamant about making her use it first.

If this is all for the sake of the fanservice, Nien’s a little impressed. If she’d been a fan watching them, she might have even thought she actually cared. At least, as much as a fake PR friendship could allow someone to care, anyway. Kotone doesn’t say anything after, and Nien takes it as her cue to wrap the blanket around her waist. The fuzzy fabric feels soft and immediately provides her with some relief from the cold.

“Sorry that took so long to get to you guys,” Seoyeon’s voice from behind nearly makes her jump. She hands Kotone a blanket to cover up as well. “I was looking for the extra ones in the van. You guys okay?”

At the mildly stressed expression on their manager’s face, Nien nods and gives her a thumbs up, grinning. “Yeah, we’re okay. Thanks, Seoyeon. You’re the best!”

The rest of the mini fan meeting goes well without many hiccups. The mini microphone kept giving noisy feedback if they brought it too close to themselves, but otherwise, they were able to thank the fans and announce the lucky draw numbers without much more interference. Though when the wind blows harder, she swears Kotone shuffles just a little closer to her again.

Promotion schedules proceed as usual. They continue their small moments of fan service wherever they can sneak them in. Kotone hands Nien a water bottle during a fansign. When the shorter girl nearly trips, Nien is there to help stabilize her. Within just a couple of weeks, she spends more time at Kotone’s side in public than she has in the past year.

The longer they continue these small gestures, the more natural it starts to feel. Most of it doesn’t come without some sort of bickering or mocking, but nothing like before. In fact, the bickering seems to be the only way they can get through without losing more of their sanity. With check-ins from the PR team, they seem to be doing well, graduating from their two Fromm photos together to a Twitter timeline of their antics posted by various fansites at events.

Today, they’re getting ready for another live music show performance. The stylists all flutter around the members. Other staff fumble around for microphones and ensure that logistics are settled and proceeding as planned.

Jiwoo and Kaede sit in their chairs in front of a mirror for touch-ups on their makeup, having just returned from an interview done by the idol MCs for a new segment the channel was hosting. Jiyeon left for the bathroom five minutes ago. Meanwhile, Sohyun holds up the camera and interviews Yooyeon and Shion for content. It leaves Nien to plop down on what remains of the free space left on the green room’s grey couch. Kotone sits on the other side, nibbling on what looks like a jelly snack.

The smooth cushions give way to her weight when Nien scoots in and tries to settle comfortably. Wordlessly, Kotone doesn’t even look up when she holds out the jelly snack to her. Instead, she chews on the snack in her mouth and scrolls away on her phone, one-handed.

Nien accepts the jelly with a shrug, unwrapping its contents and popping it into her mouth before reaching for the other wrapper (presumably Kotone’s) and crinkling it with her own. The plastic crunches in her palm, slightly pointy corners poking at her skin before she chucks it into the mini trash bin under the table. It’s a sweet, peach-flavored snack that hits her taste buds.

It’s a strange habit that’s formed ever since they started this whole mess: they keep sharing food as an olive branch. If there’s nothing to talk about (and to avoid arguing), they just eat. Perhaps it’s because there’s really nothing to complain about when it comes to good food or snacks, but something about it always manages to curb any extra squabbling.

In the middle of their supposed ‘no talking’ time, Nien spots Mayu from the side of the room. Equipped with a small camera similar to Sohyun’s, she looks around until her gaze lands on Kotone and Nien on the couch. She starts speed-walking to cross the room more quickly. Normally, the smile on the older person would be a welcome sight. But right now, Nien knows that it only means something is going to happen.

“Hey, you two!” Mayu chirps. “I just wanted to say that you two have been doing a good job with the fan service so far.”

“Thanks…” Kotone, having put down her phone, has an apprehensive expression on her face. It seems like she’d picked up on the impending and inevitable ‘but’.

It’s too soon to be hopeful, but Nien asks anyway. “Yeah, thanks. Is it looking any better?”

Mayu hums, noncommital. Instead, she works on the camera, pressing some buttons she can’t see to turn it on. “A little better, but we still need another push to promote more of your content, so,” the camera points up at them without the blinking red light on, “while Sohyun is still recording for the others, I figured now would be a good time to get some more clips of you two.”

“What should we say…?”

From behind the camera, Mayu waves a hand. The dot on the side starts blinking red. “Honestly, just the usuals! Anything you’re excited about for this promotion, anything the fans should look out for?”

“Well—” Kotone starts, but isn’t able to continue when Sohyun appears from behind. She wears an apologetic expression, one hand holding onto a camera of her own. Even further behind her, Yooyeon and Shion are watching from their original spots in the room.

“Sorry, do you guys think you can move over a little? I tried angling around so we wouldn’t catch you two in the back, but it would help if—”

“Wait.” Mayu perks up like a lightbulb turned on above her head. The look in her eyes is enough to make Nien glance at Kotone, meeting an equally concerned expression. “I have an idea. But, you two need to stand up for it.”

She ushers them both up and gestures for both girls to move closer to each other. “So, since Kotone’s collar is a little messed up right now…”

The comment makes Kotone’s head snap down to try and look at the fabric, but ultimately struggles to catch sight of it. Nien spots the way the normally clean and crisp cut collar is flipped up, slightly lopsided. Honestly, she hadn’t noticed it until it was pointed out. “I was thinking if we can catch Nien fixing it for you during the interviews, we can point it out with the editing or it would be a pretty obvious clip for fans to look at.”

It doesn’t really sound like they have much of a choice.

“So,” Nien turns to face Kotone, who looks like she’d want to be anywhere else. Her hands are clasped around the hem of her shirt, tugging slightly. “Do I just…?”

The taller girl brings her arm up and reaches for her collar. She keeps her gaze on the fabric, fumbling with it. Meanwhile, Kotone remains stiff and deathly still, her chin tilted up and eyes staring at the ceiling like she’s holding her breath. When it’s successfully back in place, Nien steps back and turns to look at Mayu, “Like that?”

“Well…” Mayu makes a noise, her free hand coming up to make a so-so gesture. She has the sense to at least seem a little apologetic. “It just looks a little awkward. Try to relax a little more, Kotone.”

“Does it have to be Nien fixing my clothes?” Kotone mutters, clearing her throat. One hand moving to adjust her collar for herself, “Why can’t I do it?”

“Hm… Try it? I just thought it might be easier with the heights.” Mayu takes a step back, peering at them through the camera lens as if checking how it looks.

The unintentional jab at their heights, coming from the shortest among them, has Kotone scowling briefly. Nien snickers but immediately shuts up when she gets a glare.

“Come closer.” Pushes out of her teeth in a gruff tone, rough around its edges like she’d been forcing it out as quickly as possible.

“So pushy,” Nien has it in her to tease a little, grin tugging at the corners of her mouth as she ruffles up her own collar for their staged clip. If they were doing all of this, she might as well have fun. “Not even a please?”

“Shut up.” She comes closer anyway, making Kotone roll her eyes. “Let’s get this over with. Please.”

They stand there again, this time with the positions reversed. Mayu watches them as they continue to go through the motions. Nien makes the effort to keep her eyes on Kotone this time, even if the girl is concentrated on ‘fixing’ the fold. She only spares the taller girl a few glances until she’s finished.

“Hm… I think this works.” Mayu looks to Sohyun, who makes a complicated expression. The other girls seem to be looking in their direction, too. Nien makes eye contact with Jiyeon, who had been silently communicating with Kotone from across the room. When she tilts her head, Nien shrugs.

“I think if you guys made it a little more intimate, it would have more effect.” Sohyun ends up saying after a pause, eyes widening when both Nien and Kotone snap their gazes over. “I mean! This is fine as is. It just might be a little more believable if it felt less strained. But don’t worry about that. Just stick to what you’re comfortable with! We, uh, should probably finish these interviews anyway.”

The two videographers scuttle away back to Yooyeon and Shion, saying something that Nien can’t hear. Instead, she ruffles her clothes again and turns back to Kotone, who’s already staring.

“They really want us to start doing more, I guess.”

“I’m not that surprised,” Kotone says, taking a peek in the direction of the camera every so often. “I do.. have an idea.”

“Oh?” Nien tilts her head.

There’s a sigh—almost a grimace—before she’s able to reign the expression in. “You just have to trust me.” Is all she gets as an explanation before she follows up with. “Camera’s on.”

It’s just like acting for a music video. All Nien has to do is play her part—which is apparently pretending to reach for her phone on the table before Kotone grabs her attention with a tap.

The shorter girl steps forward and brings her hand up to adjust her collar. Up close, she’s able to see exactly what the stylists had chosen for her makeup today. Nien’s eyes wander along the curve of her irritatingly pretty lashes and the individual sparkles dotting across her eye shadow and under her eyes that highlight and accentuate the features. And, of course, she feels the way the pads of her fingers brush heat where the shirt meets the skin of her neck.

Overall, it’s just vexing to know that Kotone has to look good, too. Logically, she knows that’s a given. They’re idols. But it doesn’t stop Nien from scrutinizing the details out of pure annoyance.

The fabric of her shirt feels stuffy. Heat around the rim where the other girl’s fingers tug and pull at the clothing. Her hands fumble a little, making Nien release a chuckle—tongue in cheek and pulse thrumming when her finger slips and accidentally presses directly against her skin. “Nervous?”

“Shush. Just let me do this.” The immediate glance Kotone gives her, although brief, feels like it’s pinning her against a wall—a 'warning'—before she goes back to fixing her collar.

As if not satisfied with her work, she hears Kotone click her tongue and mutter under her breath. There’s a moment of pause as if she’s considering what to do. Her eyes flick back up to meet hers—if Nien looks any closer, watching the way her pupils shake and the slight tremble in her hovering hands, she’d almost think that Kotone genuinely felt nervous. So, she offers the brunette the slightest nod and smile for reassurance.

Then, there’s fingers reaching for the black tie around her neck.

One hand clasps around the top knot, firm against her chest. Nien’s heart jumps at the sudden impact. Sohyun’s voice rings clear: make it more intimate. Nien knows the role she's been handed all too well.

So, when the other hand trails to the bottom tail and tugs to make it tighter, she lets herself get pulled even further into her gravity. This is something people would want in fanservice, right? If Nien's heart ticks a beat faster in consequence, she'll shove it down.

The proximity, now shortened, blocks out even more of her view—keeping the other girl right in the main focus of her vision. It’s the closest they’ve ever stood next to each other, perhaps the pre-recording incident being a near second. Kotone stares at her face, long enough for her to catch that she deliberately trails her eyes over every detail and swallows.

Almost like magnets, their eyes meet. Dark brown irises peer at her with some hesitation, evidently trying not to make it obvious that they’re aware of the third all-seeing lens in the background. All Nien concentrates on keeping her gaze steady and tries not to let her own eyes wander further down the bridge of her nose and the blush blended over her cheeks. Instead, she focuses on the way her hair frames her face, tracking the movement of the strands with the slightest shake of her head.

They hold it for a few more seconds before Kotone gives the tie one last tug and tucks it back into place on her chest. “There. That should be good.”

“Thanks.” Nien manages a small grin, hopefully visible enough for the camera when they go in for editing later. Her heart pounds in anticipation, resisting the urge to look at the camera for confirmation. "Let me just…"

Before she can pull away, Nien reaches to delicately wrap around her wrist to keep her from leaving. Her right hand draws up and moves to 'adjust' the shorter girl's bangs, fingers brushing over strands of soft, shiny hair meaninglessly.

"Is this really necessary?" Kotone mumbles, keeping still.

"Trust me, this'll look good." If anything, it's a better angle for her to work with. No fluttering lashes or sparkling eyeshadow to stick out in her peripheral vision. When she's finished with her work, Nien can't even tell the difference between the before and after. If all goes well, nobody else can either.

It's Kotone's turn to clear her throat, stepping away when she's released from her grip. "Thanks."

"No problem," Nien coughs once and reaches down to pick up both their phones, holding Kotone's out for her. “Hopefully, that was enough.”

From the corner of her eye, Nien can see Jiyeon’s face already—eyes widened and hand hovering over her mouth a little. Way to be subtle. Kotone takes the phone from her and releases a breath. For a moment, Nien almost thinks her face looks pink. But when she blinks, it's gone. Hm. “It better be.”

Thankfully, Sohyun gives them a thumbs-up from behind her camera and shifts angles as Yooyeon and Shion are talking, effectively keeping them out of view. Meanwhile, Mayu, with sparkles in her eyes, sends them an enthusiastic double thumbs up and mouths a ‘Good job’.

Nien wouldn’t even be surprised if she were plotting something else entirely already. They still haven’t done their mini-interview for the camera yet. But maybe this would suffice for now.

(“Sooooo, what was all that?” Jiyeon asks when they’re out in the hallway and waiting to go up to do their live stage.

“Mayu-unnie and Sohyun-unnie wanted more footage,” Nien says, watching as Kaede and Kotone film a dance challenge TikTok for their group’s page. “Said we should try to be ‘more intimate’ to be believable.”

“I can’t believe you’re taking the gay for pay route.”

“They’re not even paying me for all this. If being gay is supposed to give us money, they owe me 22 years' worth of it and counting.” Nien whines, moving to drape her arms around her friend. “I don’t even think it was that gay.”

“Sure it wasn’t.” Jiyeon attempts to peel her arms off of her, only making Nien hug her tighter.

“Blehhh. Don’t even joke about that. I wanna be able to eat after this.” She shivers. “I still don't like her. It's just funnier to be annoying. Besides, are people really going to believe that?”)

The answer to that question ends up being yes, somehow.

After all their attempts to stir up fanservice alongside their schedules, the first behind-the-scenes video for this era has been uploaded. Jiwoo insists they all watch it together in the shared living room of their dorm as a team bonding exercise. Nien thinks she wants to laugh at her misery.

“Are we all here and ready to start?” Jiwoo calls out. She straightens up her posture from her seat on the rug, one arm around Kaede, who has a bucket of popcorn in her lap. Jiyeon sits on Jiwoo’s left side and has her legs stretched out—something about wanting to stay flexible. Shion eyes them from her seat on the couch curiously, leaning back against the cushions.

"Uhhh…" Jiyeon cranes her neck back to look at the three of them behind her. "Still waiting on Yooyeon-unnie.

Of course, that means Kotone and Nien are squished together on the remainder of the couch's space. Thighs meet with sweatpants fabric against sweatpants fabric as they continue their game of annoying each other before the video even starts. Nien had knocked her slipper against hers, and suddenly it had become a never-ending cycle of knocking house slippers together.

Who started it? Scientists and historians will say it's unclear. Hsu Nientzu will say she wanted to bother her because whenever Kotone tries to look menacing, she makes a face so stupid she just has to see it again. And again.

Nien can barely contain herself from snickering when she hits her shoe for the umpteenth time. Kotone still takes the bait when she tilts her chin up with narrowed eyes and slightly puffed chest. "What the hell is wrong with you? I'm gonna push you off the couch."

"I didn't do anything." Nien looks up and away, suddenly fixated on the ceiling lamp. "C'mon, Tone. Everyone's waiting so we can watch the video together."

"Let's just play the video." Yooyeon interrupts them before they can go any further, taking the space next to Shion and gesturing at Jiwoo.

"Yeah, quit playing footsies back there." Kaede grumbles, "I can feel you guys moving around."

It takes a few more minutes of nudging at the elbows before they stop messing with each other and focus on the video.

As per usual, Sohyun and Mayu's editing of the footage turns out well. They're able to laugh at Kaede and Shion's impromptu flexing and strength contest, catch the pink sparkles of what's undoubtedly Mayu's work when Jiyeon starts to give them a 'tour' of a music show's cramped green room with Kotone, and the cut-ins of Jiwoo's homemade baked goods for the staff and managers.

The content proceeds as it usually does in their videos. After watching her own snack haul with Yooyeon, Nien almost forgets about their staged content. Almost.

The video cuts to the mini-fan meeting outside. To most fans, it's imperceptible. But, to the five other members encircling them from all sides, it only ends one way. Kotone and Nien are finally on screen together with the other paired groups in the background from that one windy mini-fan meeting. The caption mentions all the members fighting against the cold air, but that detail is quickly unnoticed as soon as Mayu's camera captures Nien shielding Kotone from the wind.

"Oooooh," Jiwoo calls out, turning her head to look at the two of them from the couch. The grin on her face says everything before she even opens her mouth. "I wish Nien-unnie would protect me from the cold…"

Nien casts one glance at Kotone, who tries not to laugh by reaching for one of the couch pillows and squeezing it between her arms. Hm. "Sorry, Jiwoo. Sadly, it looks like that's reserved for only Tone now."

"Excuse me?" Kotone gives her a mildly horrified look.

Nien pulls her mouth up into a grin. "Whaaaat? We're like fanservice partners now. Can't just go around annoying everybody."

"I can't stand you."

"Well, we're both sitting, so technically—"

"How would that even work? You're taller than her." Jiyeon interrupts, seemingly thinking out loud. "You'd only get partially covered."

"It's the thought that counts. Kinda." Jiwoo shrugs.

"Mmm.." Kaede hums, one handful of popcorn chewed and swallowed. "You're better for hugs, though. You're kind of like a big blanket."

"Aw, does that mean I give the best hugs?"

"No, that's Shion. You're like.. a close second." Kaede's response comes instantly as she turns to look back at the girl in question. The subsequent smile on Shion's face and the way she reaches out to pat her shoulder seem to make it all the more worth it.

"Thanks, Ede-unnie."

"Yooyeon-unnie…" Jiwoo complains, looking over for support.

From her spot on the couch, their leader had been quietly watching as usual. However, at the sight of her dejected posture, Yooyeon covers her mouth in a poor attempt to stifle her laugh. "Maybe let's just move on."

Jiwoo sulks but ultimately gives in. "Fine, fine."

The video continues, playing more snippets of their time between music shows this week. Nien, unfortunately, agrees that watching the recap together is fun. Typically, they'd all watch on their own time unless the company requests that they all react together. So, doing this outside of filming is nice.

"Oh my god, they really kept that in?" Jiyeon gasps from her spot on the floor, reaching over Jiwoo's lap to grab a handful of popcorn from Kaede's bowl.

… It's usually nice.

If they were already making fun of the scene earlier, the green room clip could cause a riot. Sohyun managed to cut around some of the awkward pauses and angle the camera to get the best view of Yooyeon and Shion, along with Kotone and Nien's stunt in the background. Even with their blurred figures out of focus, they're close enough to see exactly what's happening.

It's almost hilarious how quickly each cut shows a different moment of theirs. The camera catches Nien moving closer when Kotone's hands pulled at her tie, and the way she reached for her hand just before fixing her hair.

Part of her feels proud of how well it came out with the help of the editing. The other severely regrets it now that Jiwoo fully turns around to gape at both of them.

"Dude…" Jiwoo says, eyes flickering between a facepalming Kotone and Nien's attempts at avoiding meeting anyone's eyes. "I'm kind of concerned by how normal you guys looked doing that."

"Are we sure you guys haven't done that before?" Kaede chimes in, one brow raised.

"Absolutely not—"

"Why would we—"

"Wait, let's check the comments." Yooyeon nudges Jiwoo's shoulder.

Kotone and Nien's complaints go unheard as everyone starts clamoring for their phones, screens pulled up to read the comments section more closely.

[@agajyu]: so happy to see the girls hanging out backstage <3
[@hsuperglue]: chemi so crazy it's the most replayed section on the youtube video
[@123IWANTYURI]: who else here in 2025?!
[@kaepyon]: girl it's still 2025…
[@swanjiseoz]: tone looked so shy letting nien have the blanket.. #need more pls
[@4YOOYE0N]: did anyone else see the way kotone started blushing when nien got closer and vice versa at 9:45 🤔🌈? their smiles are so shy oh my godddd my parents ><
— view all 137 replies

[@4YOOYE0N]: GUYS JUST BECAUSE I WANTED TO POINT SOMETHING OUT DOESN'T MEAN I THINK THEY'RE ACTUALLY DATING!!
[@evokvr]: this nien and kotone yuri is saur good.. @yooyeon if you need a beautiful butch…
[@kamitone11]: oh to be tugged from the tie by kamimoto kotone… nien you lucky mf
[@bbangshionnie]: always my girl shion at the scene of the crime😭
[@shiftbluu]: the girls' outfits for this stage are so nice!!
[@tovizu]: mr hetero over here looking at their outfits and not the yuri

With each comment, Nien feels her eyes widen, jaw dropping. Mayu's stupid plan was working. In fact, it was working almost too well. While it contained comments regarding the actual content of the video, this section clearly had been bumped to the top due to the high engagement. It's embarrassing to watch the fans pick apart each interaction. And, it's even more shameful when someone reaches for the remote to replay some of the clips to verify.

"Oh my god, Nien is kind of pink there, huh." Jiyeon gasps.

"Tone-unnie, why do you look so nervous?" Shion leans forward as if it would improve her vision.

Much to her mortification, Nien rewatches the clip. She isn't sure if it's because of the comments or the growing embarrassment at all the teasing, but it only affirms what apparently everyone else had been seeing. Now, she's had her fair share of joke flirting and being affectionate with the other members. It just never looked this bad on camera. All it does is bring forward a flash of memories from the afternoon—soft strands of hair and the firm grip around her tie—that strangely make her chest squeeze.

Nien hears herself laughing awkwardly, unable to find the right words to say. "That means all of our practice and meetings are working! It's not our fault we're doing our jobs."

"Gay." Jiwoo coughs out.

"Shut up." Kotone sits hunched over next to her, head in her hands with pink-tipped, pierced ears poking out. "This is a nightmare."

Kaede laughs loudly in front of them, doubled over and clutching her stomach.

"At least everyone seems to think you guys like each other?" tries Shion, leaning forward to look at the two of them.

"Don't look at me." Yooyeon says to Kotone, "I already admitted to kissing my friends on live, remember?"

Apparently, the response only made things much worse, prompting Kaede to laugh harder.

Nien tries to look to Jiyeon for some kind of support, only to see her friend completely preoccupied with Jiwoo giggling as she leans against her. Upon further examination, Jiyeon's cheeks are tinted pink, trying to make sure that Jiwoo doesn't hit her head against the corner of the nearby coffee table whenever she tries to show Kaede more of the comments.

She mouths a 'Sorry' at Nien before her attention gets taken away again.

With all of their options exhausted, all she can do is look to Kotone, who mirrors her tired expression. "They aren't gonna let us live this down, are they?"

All the conversations surrounding them start to overlap, still discussing the video or having moved on to something else. Nien watches as the other girl only lets out a sigh. A faint smile works its way up when she shakes her head.

"…Probably not."

"Why do we have to do this after practice when I'm all sweaty and gross?" Nien complains. The pink-haired girl lies sprawled out on the cool tiles of the practice room floor next to Kotone. The loose shirt Nien wears sticks to her back, and her bangs cling to her forehead. Ugh.

Cracking one eye open, she sees the brunette still sitting exactly where the air conditioner blows, eyes closed and making a meep expression.

"At least you realize you're gross." She doesn't bother to open her eyes, still trying to enjoy the cool breeze.

"Okay, first of all, rude." Nien lazily raises her hand to poke at her arm with her index finger, "Second, you're literally just as sweaty as me, which also makes you gross."

Kotone rocks to the side, letting her weight carry her back to her original position. "If anything, I'm less gross than you."

"Says who?" Both of Nien's eyes are open now, tone incredulous.

"Says me."

"That's not how that works!"

"It is now."

"Are you two sure you'll be fine waiting here?" Seoyeon still lingers, eyeing both of them with concern.

Practice ended about 15 minutes ago, and most of the members had decided they wanted to go home. Technically, they practiced even longer than they were supposed to, with Kaede and Kotone's insistence to get the formations clearer and sharper for an upcoming university festival. As much as Nien would have loved to go home with everyone else, Sohyun and Mayu had asked them to start filming a few TikToks together to add to the upcoming batch of reels to be posted soon. Might as well knock a few out now.

They hadn't gotten their "official" introduction as a duo with content just yet. But, with their continuing bits of small fanservice here and there, on top of the success of the latest video, they'd gotten 'approval' from the two content heads to film together more often.

The question catches both girls' attention. Despite the protest from her muscles, Nien sits up with a groan, turning so she can face their manager. "Yeah. We'll be done by the time you get back," She grins and makes a thumbs-up gesture with both of her hands for good measure. "Don't worry about it!"

"Saying 'don't worry about it' makes me feel like I should be worrying about it." Seoyeon's lips tug into a frown, eyes narrowing.

"Whaaaaaat?" Her lower lip juts out in protest, "We can handle ourselves!"

Their manager's eyes flit towards the girl next to her, as if looking for reassurance.

"Seoyeon-unnie, we'll be fine." Kotone makes a shooing motion. "Like you said, it won't be that long."

She sends them one last apprehensive stare before she sighs, shoulders slumping, "If you say so. Just call if you need anything."

"Hey, wait. Why'd you believe Tone and not m—"

"Bye, Seoyeon-unnie!" Kotone waves their manager off, pulling a pouting Nien further into the practice room.

It's another few minutes of getting Seoyeon to stop nagging, eventually ushering her out of the sliding door. With that out of the way, Nien and Kotone are left to their own devices—back to their original goal of filming content for the day before going home. Hands clasp, and they make their way back towards the center of the practice room, sneakers squeaking along white tiles.

"Did you watch the extra reels I sent you?" Kotone asks, trying to slide her phone into the ring-light phone stand now sitting in the center.

"Uhhhh…" The pink-haired girl looks away, making a face. "Yeah. Yeah, I did!"

"Really?" The phone clicks into place. Kotone turns around, one brow raised. "Which one do you think we should record then?"

Nien purses her lips. Her eyes stick to the ceiling, marveling at the cracks and the dust clinging onto the corners and— "Oh, y'know. The one. With the dance. And the music."

The other girl stares at her, unimpressed.

. . .

"Okay, okay. " Nien starts, sighing and head falling. Though she's quick to pick it up again, both hands raised, "In my defense, I opened the notification and got distracted by something else. And then I…forgot."

Kotone still says nothing, eyes narrowing. Nien squirms in place, fighting to maintain eye contact with her. She wasn't going to lose an unspoken staring contest this time! …Even if she's only mildly expecting to get chewed out again.

A second passes. Then another. Kotone keeps staring, marching right up towards her. The suspense makes Nien's eyes widen, taking a step back. "Wait, wait! You can't tell me you wouldn't be distracted by getting accidentally sucked into those random Minecraft parkour Reddit stories that never post the full thing!"

And then, something breaks. Kotone is the first to look away, making a noise that almost resembles a laugh. She presses her lips into a thin line and takes a breath. "What?"

"Y'know! The ones that are all read out in those monotone voice-overs. I swear some of them are really interesting!"

Nien blabbers on about all the recent videos she's gotten sucked into, but never sends other people—watch history probably ruined for the foreseeable future until she brings it back to its previous assortment of dance challenges, memes, or whatever else is trendy these days.

"And I'm just saying, no matter how ridiculous and cliché the story ends up being, you can't help but feel a little bad for the protagonist every time!"

It must have really sounded insane (or Nien just completely embarrassed herself) because Kotone's neutral expression wobbles until it breaks into a grin, and she laughs—loud, unrestrained, eyes curving up as if smiling with her.

It isn't the first time Nien has heard her laugh. She's used to hearing this sound around the other members and their antics. And even when she was pointedly trying to filter it out in the past, it always failed. Horrendously. Kotone's laugh has always been distinct. No matter how hard she tried, Nien couldn't ignore the sound.

Now, watching Kotone's glittering smile when she finally lets loose with a laugh that reminds her of early birdsong, morning dewdrops, and fresh air, something catches in her chest. It's a strange, sickly sweet momentary catch of breath, as if she's just learned how to fill her lungs with air. Ears ring crystal clear without the background static.

Perhaps something about the situation—ranting to someone about stupid Reddit stories of all things in the practice room—has Nien laughing too.

She forgets that this is the girl who's been a thorn in her side for months on end now, the one she's begrudgingly stuck with for the foreseeable future. In this moment, laughing with Kamimoto Kotone, the pretense and pressure of being an idol are gone. They're just two people giggling over something she can't remember. Nien can't bring herself to hate it.

"I didn't think you were going to defend yourself that hard," Kotone says later, still trying to catch her breath. "I was really just going to let it go if you stopped there."

"Hey. You were too quiet. I was expecting you to start complaining about me ignoring your messages."

"Oh, I'm still complaining." Kotone shoves her lightly. "I don't just text you for no reason. You'd better actually watch them next time."

"Yes, ma'am!" Nien salutes. "No more Niensense!"

"Pfft. Let's just—We have to record something."

They only end up recording two videos before Seoyeon gets back. Worth it, though.

Back at the dorms again, Nien lies next to Jiyeon in the bottom bunk. The springs squeak quietly as her friend shifts underneath her sheets. It was Jiyeon's turn to come down when they were "parallel playing". The younger girl sits and reads a book while Nien taps away at her phone, playing some cheap phone ad version of Tetris that Kotone nagged her into downloading a few days ago.

Speaking of the brunette, Nien hasn't seen her much today. A variety show had called for her and Yooyeon to appear, leaving the rest to have a day off. The last text she'd sent to the other girl was thirty minutes ago, right before she'd presumably started filming.

Annoying as it is, Nien isn't five seconds from clawing her eyes out whenever they spend time together. In fact, the previously nasty feelings she'd harbored towards the other girl had already transformed into something else entirely. It's something murky or falling within the in-between, tangible enough to be noticeable. They're long past the 'If-this-Fake-Sort-of-Not-Fake-Friendship-Blows-Up-We-All-Die' mutually assured destruction. In theory, she could just text again.

But doing that would mean admitting she misses her or wants to hang out with her even though they literally saw each other this morning. Because yes, they're friends, or something adjacent, and while Nien can admit it to herself, telling Kotone feels… It feels weird!

Stupid Kotone and stupid variety shows and—…And there she goes, thinking about her. Again. It had been non-stop chatter in her brain since she left. You'd think she'd be glad to spend some time away from her. But, for some reason, Kamimoto Kotone is actually a nice friend to have and hang out with. And now that Nien is bored and has time to herself, all she can do is think about her.

A nightmare.

When she loses for the 5th time trying to break her high score, Nien groans and sets her phone face down onto her pillow. "I need Kotone to stop being a genuinely likable person."

Jiyeon nearly drops the hardcover book in her hands, clumsy hands tapping along the shell until her grip secures. "…What?"

"I don't—I can't hate her." She turns, meeting her friend's stunned expression with a grimace. "She's actually really nice."

"Wait. You're serious."

"Unfortunately. I keep thinking of what to bug her with, even though she's busy with a shoot."

"Thank god." Jiyeon exhales, "My suffering is finally over."

"Your suffering!? I'm still suffering!" Nien sighs, letting her face drop into the pillow, muffled. "Is this really where I'm at right now?"

"I'm just confused," Jiyeon shifts, nudging her so they can both sit up against the wall next to each other. "I've always wanted to ask, but why do you even hate her in the first place?"

"Okay, I never really hated her. It's just…" Nien presses her lips together into a thin line and sighs. Talking about the reason now, after everything, feels stupid.

"Huh? Sorry, I didn't hear the last part. You were mumbling." Jiyeon shuffles onto her side so she can turn to look at Nien. "What did you say?"

"It's just…" She trails off into mumbles once more, inaudible even over the low hum of the air conditioner.

"Now you're just doing it on purpose," Jiyeon says flatly. "Is it really that b—"

"IT'S BECAUSE SHE ALWAYS GETS THE LAST BAGEL WHEN WE GO TO THE CONVENIENCE STORE DURING MUSIC SHOWS."

For a moment, everything goes silent. The sounds of rustling around in the kitchen outside scratch at the words in a faint mumble. With a staggering amount of concentration, the noise almost sounds recognizable. Likely another member cooking or Jiwoo bringing out baking trays for her next project.

"Nien." A frown crosses over Jiyeon's face. "Are you serious?"

"If you really wanna know what happened…"

.

(Loud footsteps pound against the floor. The sound echoes throughout the halls as Nien weaves her way past the other people within the vicinity. She skids to a halt in front of her destination, shoes tripping over themselves to regain balance.

Her open palm presses on the glass door and nearly shoves it open. The bell above it chimes angrily as the rest of the room is revealed, and she steps in. Fluorescent lights reflect off the metal surfaces of small aisles, each row filled with various snacks and food. The center path connects each tiled step to the register booth flush against the wall, with a display case on the side for pastries. 

Nien almost releases the breath she’s been holding. Almost. 

Her eye twitches. 

It could have been anyone standing in front of that register and paying. Nien knows better than that—knows the back of that brown head of hair with a familiarity that already has the steam bubbling up her veins. Thirty minutes. She’s shown up thirty minutes early. She should’ve been here before her. 

And yet, with each passing step closer, it becomes unmistakably clear that it’s the one person Nien had been counting on showing up later. If there are any other customers, the noise fades into the background. 

“Thank you!” 

When the customer finally turns around, Nien finally catches her gaze. 

… 
Kamimoto Kotone, frozen in her tracks.  

The confusion only lasts for half a second before the recognition kicks in; The smile on Kotone’s face immediately melts into a frown when they make eye contact. She only gives Nien one look before she immediately brushes past. 

Seriously?! Not even a ‘hi’?!

All she gets is the sight of Kotone’s retreating figure again, moving further and further away. Nien spots the store’s usual brown paper bag in the other girl’s hand—the circular indent of the contents inside is the same as always. It isn’t until the door’s bell chimes with her exit and swings shut again that she realizes she’d be standing and staring in the middle of the store doing nothing. 

When she looks back, she sees the cashier staring at her quizzically, a polite smile on her face. Nien lets out a sheepish laugh before trotting up to the counter. “Sorry about that,” she leans back once to get a look at the display case, scanning its contents before sighing. “Are you guys out of bagels again?” 

The cashier has the decency to give her an apologetic smile. “Yeah. Sorry. We still have croissants left, though.” 

Sigh. Nien shoves down the grimace working its way up her features and plasters on her best smile. “That would be nice, thank you.” 

This happens every single time. Kotone shows up and takes the last bagel from the damn place. Every. Single. Morning. And somehow, they always bump into each other when this happens! As if the universe doesn’t hate her enough! Today, Nien even woke up early this time. No luck. 

She’ll have to see Kotone later when they get back to the green room. Things could not get any worse.)

.

"So, I'm just trying to understand," Jiyeon scoots to sit in front of her now, legs crossed, leaning forward, and hands clasped in her lap. "You held a grudge against one of our members for several months over… bagels."

"Look, I just—I've been really wanting that bagel and—Don't look at me like thaaaaat.." Nien whines, her head thumping against the wall when she leans back. "It's just so annoying! But I can't even be annoyed anymore. I can't hate her!"

"So… don't?"

"But—"

"Shouldn't this be a good thing? You guys aren't really pretending anymore, so there's nothing to hide." Jiyeon cuts her off, "It's nice that you're complaining about her less. And Kotone actually talks about you more often these days."

Okay, she had noticed herself complaining less about Kotone these days. But, for some reason, she hadn't considered the thought of the other girl doing the same. Kotone talks about her. About what exactly? Jiyeon would never tell her, and it's probably none of Nien's business. But that never stopped her from being curious.

"She talks about me?" Nien tilts her head. "About what?"

Her friend pauses, as if carefully considering her next words. A beat passes. "Just here and there about whatever you guys are up to. That's not really what's important." Jiyeon turns, one hand extending to pat her arm. "My point is that it should make your lives easier. I wouldn't think too hard about it. If you guys are getting along, then that's even better. Just embrace it. I think it'd be good for both of you."

With the way her friend stares at her—sincere and eyes pleading—Nien's resolve crumbles. Her shoulders slouch, sighing. "Yeah, yeah. You're right. I was just being petty. Tone's really not that bad. This is a good thing. We're… friends." Friends. Her mouth cups around the word and pushes out the syllable quietly. Strange and fits like a shirt too loose, but not entirely unwelcome. She and Kotone are friends, maybe, and not the fake kind. Hm.

"I think she likes being with you. I mean, clearly she's talking to you. And, she wouldn't let you drag her around or drag you around places outside of work if she didn't enjoy your company at least a little." The other girl says, now stretching her arms out with a grunt. "I'm honestly surprised it took this long. You two are pretty similar. I always thought if you guys could get along, you would be good friends."

Nien's mind flashes through their time together: convenience stores, green rooms, random mall trips, and practice rooms with just the two of them. With each fansign, event, and dragging each other out in between their schedules, she found herself enjoying the other girl's presence more and more. Evidently, it had been the same for Kotone—she'd have been blind not to notice. Nien exhales, shaking her head with a small smile. "Yeah, I know. She's actually pretty cool sometimes."

"I've been trying to tell you this for so long now!" Jiyeon immediately shoots up at that, unable to contain herself. "Can't believe all of this was caused by bagels. Like, seriously. Of all the things, bagels?"

Nien groans. "Have you tried those bagels? They're so good! I can't be mad that Kotone has good taste."

"You do realize we could just buy bagels from anywhere else, right?"

"It's not the sa—whatever." She huffs, gently shoving her side. "Enough about me. Can we talk about you and why you're in Jiwoo's hoodie again right now?"

Jiyeon's face flushes red—a similar shade to the oversized hoodie that swallows her frame. She sputters, making sounds of protest that are half coherent, half a random string of sound effects, until she settles on. "This is not about me."

"Well, now it is!" Nien grins, throwing one arm over her. "So, c'monnnn, I'm nosy. Don't tell me you think I didn't notice your crush on her."

The noise she gets in return is nothing short of mortified. Jiyeon hides her face in her hands, pink-tipped ears poking out from behind her hair. "It's not like that. We're just friends. Jiwoo and I just hang out!"

"Ah, yes. The very friendly act of her always giving you her clothes, baking stuff just because you asked her to, baking your favorites even when you didn't ask her to, taking you out on our breaks, and laughing at literally everything you do," Nien deadpans. "Totally platonic."

"You sound like Kotone right now." She mumbles, unwilling to meet her eyes.

"Good! See, at least someone else here isn't blind! And that's saying a lot since both our prescriptions are high!"

Jiyeon doesn't say anything. Instead, Nien's eyes squeeze shut when her pillow hits her face with a loud thump.

"Wanna say hi on Fromm?"

Kotone sits next to her in the van on the way to their next schedule. They'd been stuck in traffic for god knows how long—why the company had their activities for today at locations this far apart is beyond her. With this much time to kill and her hours of sleep severely lacking, a nap seemed like the best choice. At least, it would've been if she had managed to fall asleep. The car bumps in jagged motions along the road, making her hit her head against the window if she isn't careful.

Nien, arms crossed and leaning back into the car seat, cracks one eye open. "How'd you know I was awake?"

Yooyeon sits in one of two seats in front of them, busying herself with her phone. Jiwoo sits in the other, head resting against the tinted windows for support and eyes closed.

"You're too stiff." Kotone keeps her eyes trained on her phone screen—bright white illuminating her face as she types away. "And you kept moving around."

Huh. She blinks both eyes open this time, turning to stare. "Oh."

"Mmh." Kotone hums, "So, is that a yes? Or are you going to go back to looking constipated in your sleep?"

"What the—" Nien's jaw drops. The volume in her tone goes from loud to much softer when Yooyeon turns back to look at both of them, gesturing to a still sleeping Jiwoo with a frown. "…Okay, just gimme the phone already."

The next five minutes are dedicated to car voice note ASMR. Or: Nien and Kotone whisper and scratch and car seats and seatbelts as quietly as possible. Nestled into the backseats, they try to keep their voices low.

"Hi, everyone. Today, Tone and I are doing A.S.M.R." Nien punctuates each letter in her whisper and holds up the phone so that it's closer to the other girl's seatbelt. Despite the face she makes, Kotone drags her nails along her own seatbelt. The polyester webbing makes a funky noise with each scratch. Maybe they should've waited for Shion.

"Can you guys hear it well?" Kotone mutters into the mic, moving to tapping along the ends. In the middle of their attempt, she locks eyes with Nien. Both of them have to press their lips together so as not to make any loud disturbances. Kotone tries to keep going, but is caught in the awkward eye contact and ends up jerking away with a muted snort. Meanwhile, Nien coughs to try and hide her own laugh.

It comes out louder than she'd anticipated, making her snap her head towards the front. Jiwoo remains still, almost like a rock.

It wouldn't be the end of the world had she woken up, but that wouldn't stop her from feeling guilty otherwise. Then again, trying to do ASMR while your member is sleeping probably isn't the smartest choice either. Oh well.

They somehow rope Yooyeon into whispering a message for their fans with beating hearts, praying the noise won't disturb Jiwoo. Nien feels her pulse thrumming when she moves closer to Kotone, eyes flitting to the front and then back to her own hand, fingernails tapping along the other girl's phone case.

With each voice note, the responses from the fans in the chatroom move faster. The reactions are a lot of spammed laughing characters or people asking for more.

…

"You frown in your sleep, by the way," Nien says later, one hand holding the door open for Kotone to pass through first.

"What?" The brunette looks over her shoulder, pausing in front of Nien to stare.

"You said I looked constipated. So, you look pouty." She shrugs.

"It's not my fault you were basically glaring in your sleep."

"Should I be worried that you seem to be watching that closely?" Nien's lips tug up, expression turning almost playful. "Gonna finally try to kill me in my sleep, Tone?"

"Yeah, you caught me," Kotone exaggerates, rolling her eyes. The smile that creeps up her face is second nature, "My evil master plan to finally kill you in the car and pin it all on Jiwoo. I spent countless nights pondering and drafting the schematics… How could I have gotten caught?"

"Eh. I probably would've found a way to escape alive anyway." Nien shrugs, "I can be kinda smart sometimes!"

"Sometimes?" Kotone raises a brow.

"Woah. Hey. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Whatever you think it means," The brunette hums, as if considering her words, "Anyway, you're not that strong."

"Wh—You're just sayin' that 'cause I lost the wrestling event at ISAC." She had a point. Nien huffs and tries to walk faster. "Which was hard, by the way. I literally told everyone they shouldn't send me in."

"I heard you screaming from across the entire stadium. You'd think that with how loud it is, you'd get some sort of power-up from it."

"You wound me! I might not be the next boxing world champion, but I'd at least put up a little bit of a fight."

Kotone pulls a face. Nien slumps. She isn't going to win this. Is there even a way to? "Man. It's not like you would've won against them either."

"Yeah, but I'm not the one who's known for muscles and abs."

"You suck."

Kotone sticks her tongue out at her, and Nien doesn't stop herself from doing it back.

"For the record, we're stuck together all the time," She says later. And avoiding you before took a lot of effort goes unsaid. Kaede and Yooyeon's conversation ahead of them sounds farther by the second. "I'm gonna notice no matter what."

"I know." Kotone gives her one last once over, making a face that Nien doesn't quite understand. "You're just like that. I noticed too."

"Mayu really wanted to be here for this, but she's stuck in a different meeting with Hanbin today. So, it'll be just us three."

With the hype surrounding their duo steadily rising, the PR team finally decided it was time to film official channel content together. The two stand in front of the company van with Sohyun across from them. Both girls watch as she keeps fiddling with the camera in her hands.

"…Sounds about right," says Kotone, looking at their surroundings. Her fingers, absentmindedly, pinch and play with the single cut-crystal necklace Nien always sees her wearing.

"We're doing rollerskating today, right?" Cars drive past them. Nien thinks she sees a trio of crows poking at a piece of trash.

"Mhm. Nothing changes much from what you girls usually do for videos. Just remember to hit the points we talked about last meeting in the beginning. Everything else is up to you two!" A few more seconds pass until Sohyun lets out a pleased hum, pointing the camera up at them, no red recording dot blinking just yet. "Whenever you guys want to start."

"You ready?"

"I think we have to be even if we aren't." Kotone still fiddles with her necklace, the other hand now loosely hanging by her side.

"Well, that's true. But, at least we're doing it together?" Nien offers a small smile despite the anticipation crawling up in fuzzy goosebumps all over — it's their first time technically recording official content, and the nervous energy buzzes around them regardless of whether they want it to or not.

Kotone meets her eyes, managing a smile of her own. "Yeah. Together."

Nien flashes a thumbs-up to Sohyun, who counts them down.

3.

2.

1.

"…And we're recording." A button clicks, and the recording dot blinks bright red.