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"... respectful and sweet ..."

nari was still talking about minjun. correction. she was still defending minjun. dom didn't get it. who in their right minds would defend their ex? better question: "why are you still friends with an ex?"

this was nari they were talking about. if minjun had broken her heart, she'd make his life a living hell and dom wouldn't hear the end of it. if she'd broken minjun's heart, then she wouldn't want anything to do with him because that chapter of her life was over. it didn't make any sense. there was something more that she wasn't letting on—

"what?"

dom didn't know much german, but he's sure that he'd caught the words date me. he stared at her through his sunglasses, his heart thundering in his ears as his brain worked over time to connect the dots. nari randomly bringing up her ex ... talking highly of him ... defending him ... then telling dom to date her ...

oh.

that must be it.

dom's fingers fell from the paper straw. a flicker of hurt crossed his eyes, mimicking the way his lips pressed into a line. his jaw was set, and he looked as rigid as ever.

"i'm not going to be your rebound," he said slowly, quietly, measuring out each syllable with great care to avoid letting on how hard her request punched him in the gut. had this been anyone else, dom would've spat fire at them for the audacity.

but this was nari.

for a second, she just stared at him, the words not quite landing, as if her brain needed an extra moment to catch up with what she’d heard. “my… what?”

the confusion on her face was immediate and genuine. she had no idea what he was talking about suddenly. she’d mumbled so impulsively that she hadn’t fully registered what came out of her own mouth, let alone what he added right after. it just made no sense, in any reality, that dom could think even for a second that he could ever be a mere… 

“rebound?!”

her eyes widened, posture straightening as the meaning finally clicked in her mind. her lips were parted in disbelief, letting go of the straw she’d been biting on. a small chuckle escaped her, more incredulous than anything. she was stunned, to put it simply. what kind of alternate reality did dominic ahn live in?

“oppa, i wasn’t…” she paused, exhaling through her nose as she searched for the right way to explain without making it worse. a slight panic overcame her at first. the urgent need to correct his train of thought, to plead, to make sure he couldn’t be seriously thinking she was that kind of person. not to him, never to him. 

but then embarrassment took over, followed by annoyance. because didn’t he have ears to freaking listen to her? to understand from her tone that what happened with minjun was of so little significance that she didn’t care at all? that they remained friends because the feelings never really went beyond that, and that ‘dating’ had meant practically nothing?

no, of course. he had to misunderstand. had to make her look like a silly little girl incapable of making rational decisions. he was reacting exactly like she feared. like an overprotective brother. not like a… man.

but he couldn’t stop trying to peek at this weird relationship between nari and dominic, of all people. it was such an odd combination, considering everything the guy did since he got to the dorms. it just didn’t make any sense, in his opinion, that a guy like him would be friends with such a sweet girl like nari.

“the guy hates me, apparently.” minjun shrugged his answer, making a face as he remembered everything dom did the past weeks - from their kitchen interaction, to him just acting as if on the edge and thinking all his members were the enemy. one thing was being overwhelming, another thing was to look like an insufferable person. “well, i think he hates everyone in the team. by the way, does he know about…us? like i said, he hates me.”

she stopped there, not wanting to sound like she was scolding him for feeling how he felt. she just hated when people she liked felt some type of way about themselves, fighting the urge to grab them by the shoulders and shake them until they gained some confidence. but she had learned it wasn’t how that worked. the only thing she could do was… to listen, to be there. 

at the mention of dom “hating” him, she snorted before she could stop herself, quickly covering her mouth. “okay, sorry, it’s not funny. but also… it kind of is.” she shook her head, still amused but a bit more serious. “he doesn’t hate you. he just… looks like he does. that’s his default expression when he’s stressed. he gets all stiff and scary and looks like he wants to murder you.” her gaze darted away for a second, fondness sneaking in without her permission. “i’m sure he’ll… come around, if you guys are patient.”

when minjun asked about them, nari straightened up a little, suddenly alert of every shift in her facial expression. “he knows, i told him, otherwise it would’ve felt like i was… lying.” she could very well have chosen not to say anything, considering their relationship had been sweet but not exactly passionate or life-altering in terms of feelings. but perhaps the twisted part in her brain wanted to see how he’d react. 

... not that he knew what nari was looking for, but surely, nari would want more than nice. when they were kids making up scenarios and playing pretend, she was always the princess, the fairest in the land that had many stuffed animal suitors, and yet she always chose the prince or the knight in shining armour ( played by yours truly ) who wasn't always nice. at least, not to the other suitors.

but dom wasn't a prince. and minjun wasn't the giant teddy bear suitor that was his eternal enemy. still. minjun?? what??? it would've been fine ( he supposed ) if nari were more nonchalant about it, but he caught how her eyes darted away. and then how she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear like she always did when she was nervous—what was she nervous about, though? nari was rarely nervous.

unless.

unless.

she still had feelings for minjun.

..........

..................................

"i don't like him." he didn't even know the damn guy!!! never mind the fact that nari was trying to change the subject to his debut—who cared about his debut when there was a more pressing issue at play??? "you can do better." it sounded a little judgmental. okay, it sounded a lot judgmental, because he was judging her. what happened to flying to england to marry one of the princes there? ( totally not the reason dom studied there, by the way. that was a total coincidence. )

dom stared at her. a thousand fake scenarios of them together ran through his head like war flashbacks—them holding hands, them going on dates, them ki—GOD NO!!! he reeled back in his seat as if he had been struck by lighting. it damn near felt like it too.

he busied himself with his chocolate shake. tore at the napkin. put his sunglasses back on because he did not want her to stare deep into his soul and see how ... flustered? ... disappointed? ... heartbroken? he was.

“what?” she echoed, brows furrowed as she tried to follow the dizzying turn his mood had taken. “oppa… it wasn’t serious. we were practically kids, it wasn’t–” she let out a breath, shaking her head as if suddenly deciding she should not be apologizing or justifying herself. “why are you acting like this?” but he kept going, as if he didn’t even hear her. each new line from him only deepened her confusion. ‘i don’t like him’. ‘you can do better’. he said it so firmly, so decisively, that she could only stare at him with a baffled expression on her face.

“you don’t like him? i can do better?” she repeated, the words sounding even more judgmental and wrong now that she was hearing them coming out of her mouth. “you don’t even know him! for the record, he was very respectful and sweet! she got defensive, not necessarily to defend minjun’s honor, at least not entirely. it was also to defend her own honor, because the way dom was speaking… it was as if she were some kind of airhead who couldn’t be trusted to make the right decision for herself. who did he think he was, acting all high and mighty like that? 

“it ended, we stayed friends, that was it! no need to make it such a big deal. and don't be mean to him!” she watched him tear at the napkin and drink the milkshake with urgency, his sunglasses suddenly back on as if he couldn’t even bear to look at her. it made her want to scream… or cry… or both. but mostly it made her feel… weird. she couldn’t shake off the part of herself that felt happy at the thought of him reacting strongly. if he didn’t care, that would be a worse sign, right? she just couldn’t be sure of his motive, and that’s what ticked her off. “don’t scold me like i’m a little kid.”

but he couldn’t help a soft smile to spread when he heard nari coming inside, not even waiting for his permission, just like she always did. it was a welcomed interruption anyway, even if he did avoid her sometimes when he was at the company.

don’t get him wrong, he had nothing against her, on the contrary, nari was a sweet girl, they had a great time together when they dated. but minjun felt he acted badly towards her, even if he never meant it - his parents taught him to always be honest with people, and he felt he failed her on that. sure, things were now on those comfortable levels, but he felt something was still missing.

“i can’t seem to dance properly these days.” he found himself saying, looking at her through her reflection, before walking to where the sound equipment was and cutting the music off. “are the coaches making you rehearse until late again? it’s past curfew for you, isn’t it?”. 

his question about curfew earned him a guilty grimace, and she decided not to respond. technically, was there a curfew when it came to practice? it would be different if she were out partying, but she couldn’t remember the last time she got scolded for staying late at the company. 

nari had almost lowered her guard before minjun poked her shoe and repeated the nickname. her whole soul left her body as she felt her entire body flush, from her toes to the very tip of her head. “stop!” she hissed, her face crumpling in horror as she hid half her face behind the water bottle. “i’m not even supposed to call him that anymore.” he said it sounded cute when they were kids, but not so much anymore. ugh, what was she supposed to do? call him dominic? she’d rather have died.

“there’s no secret,” she said, peeking from behind the bottle, eyes squinted as if unsure whether she can trust minjun or not with any information at all. “… mostly.” she paused, putting the bottle down and holding minjun’s gaze, almost defiant, as if she wanted to prove that there really was nothing there. “it’s just… oppa’s debuting and he’s been…” she searched for the right word. “overwhelmed. pretending he isn’t.” judging by minjun’s reaction, dom seemed to have made a peculiar first impression.

and nari brought it to life.

she peered at the line nari had pointed out, comparing how she always heard it in her head versus nari singing it. she nods. "i see what you mean. i'll see what i can do. maybe it's nothing more than a melody shift..." it was a good catch.

her fingers press against the fabric of her shirt, rubbing her chest at the thought of nari singing again. "ah, i'd get butterflies again. your singing is just too good," she says, mostly jokingly but understanding that there was a lot of truth to those words. she's not sure if she wants to dive into the feeling. "truthfully... i just... kind of stop. i don't go past this. i think it's because i was always scared to fail but hearing you...."

the words linger in the air for just a moment. ruby gives nari a smile. "thanks to you i think i could actually make a song. for real!" she looks down at her book. all of her songs, sitting in the draft space for so long. not a single one making it to final composition. how many would she be able to make?

“i don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit,” she admitted, leaning in just a little, as if sharing a secret. “the idea is already there, the feeling is there…” she paused, then huffed a tiny, crystalline laugh. “and butterflies are good, aren’t they?” she said, tone teasing but with a sincerity beneath it that she couldn’t hide as well . “it means i made you feel something.” that was nari’s goal when revealing her voice to the world. make people feel something. that, and being praised, of course.

"what i dislike the most about the weather lately is how it changes within an hour. it can be warm enough for merely a sweater, and then suddenly you're wishing you had a scarf and gloves." she shakes her head, offering to grab the girl's jacket to put in the paneled closet near the entrance. her eyes light up at the reveal, playfully peeking into the girl's bag to check out her taste in sprinkles. she finds herself gravitating towards the candy eyes. "tea sounds like a lovely idea. are you more floral, or citrusy? i swear my tastebuds have changed. i can finally understand the floral teas, and the cup looks so pretty when it's loose leaf."

while minseo lays out the tea tins, nari sits on the bar stool she’s offered. she finds herself tucking her hands between her knees to warm them up as she watches her friend work. “both are fine, but i like floral more though. maybe jasmine?” 

it started when minnie had playfully taught the girls part of the gnarly choreography. someone had gotten impressed with how well minnie managed to bounce it and suddenly minnie was teaching nari how to as well.

"simple stuff first. you need the basics down before you do different positions," she exhaled, knowing that this was going to be a workout. "get in like a light squatting position... yeah, back straight." minnie leads by example, of course, so nari could copy the form.

"we're going to focus in this area." she encircles her lower back area with her pointed finger. as she demonstrates the movements, her finger followers. "lower part only. lift and lower....lift and lower. just get that motion down first."

minnie had to start somewhere. just like nari, she was vaguely intimidated by the move. she would do it jokingly until a friend pointed out that she was kind of good at it. minnie became a little more interested and invested some time how to properly do it. now she was a bit of a menace about it.

the gnarly choreography had been really fun.

"you have a cute butt nari~ you should know how to use it!" minnie giggled. "you can even buy specific pants to help make it look even rounder."

still, she’d been fascinated by the way minnie moved so freely and so unapologetically. watching her was a treat, both for the eyes and for her own sense of freedom. she was growing into a young woman now, discovering herself, finally out of her parents’ grasp. so what if she wanted to feel a little sexier, or just let loose a little and have fun?

“unnie!” she whined softly in the middle of laughing, covering her face with both hands as her cheeks flushed. “you can’t just say that so casually!” she wanted to protest, say it wasn’t true, but that would be pointless. when she peeks through her fingers, she saw that minnie was still smiling, playful but encouraging. that sight alone made nari take a deep breath with a new resolve. if minnie could make this look fun and natural, she should at least try.

“okay, okay,” she muttered, positioning herself again. “lower back, right? lift and lower…” she moved carefully at first, almost robotically, like she was thinking too hard about very motion. her posture was perfect, as always, but maybe overly so. the telltale sign of a ballerina who was terrified of doing something inelegant. she caught sight of herself in the mirror and groaned, but refused to give up.

( it mirrored the same proud feelings from back then, when he would watch the venue entrances for nari's arrival so he could hurry over to help her down the stairs. his sisters teased him relentlessly about it, but dom didn't care. not when he was able to stand by nari's side. )

these feelings only dissipated when she dropped minjun's name. "yes," he confirmed. then he frowned, because it didn't seem like nari was looking for a confirmation. if anything, the way she trailed off at the end implied there was more that she wanted to say but— ... but what?

her first instinct was to deflect. “do something?” she repeated, meeting his eyes briefly only to dart them down again. “no, not at all. he’s very sweet.” at least to her. she couldn’t testify for everybody else, but he’d never been anything but nice and respectful with her. a small laugh escaped her, meant to be light but sounding suspiciously nervous. she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. a very telling sign to anybody who knew her closely.

her throat suddenly felt dry, and she took a sip of her drink before going on. while she would very much have liked to brush the subject off and switch to something else, there was something in dom’s gaze that let her know it would come back up again eventually. he was debuting with minjun after all. wasn’t it better if she told him herself, rather than wait until he learned from someone else? not that it should have mattered, really. but to her, it did. it always did.

“a few years ago, we… dated, i guess.” she didn’t guess, she knew very well. it was admittedly one of her ‘longer’ relationships. a few months, though she couldn’t recall anymore how long exactly. it hadn’t been the life altering, heartbreaking romance she read about in novels. mostly sweet, safe, fun. they parted amicably, no big dramatic fight, neither left torn up about it. she hesitated before going on, searching for the right phrasing. “just wanted you to know, in case it was brought up, somehow.” she decided to leave the ‘take care of him’ for another time. 

Admittedly, she had a much difficult time becoming close with the female trainees after she had debuted. It was the reason she had jumped at the opportunity to be a part of LGC Girls. At the time, she found it to be such a shame that @lgcxnari hadn't been able to join them, but she knew the girl's time would come with the perfect project for her. It was not a secret that she doted on the younger girl. At times, she felt like Nari was even more mature than her, but she had matured herself in the past year or so. However, her excuse had always hilariously been that their age difference was too minimal for it to be meaningful enough.

she’d always liked how easy it was to be around minseo. there was the familiarity of coming from a similar background, but none of the cold detachment. minseo acted sisterly without ever being patronizing, which nari appreciated very much. “something cold in this weather? i’m not built like that,” she teased with a laugh. she was already wearing three layers, and it wasn’t even winter yet. “definitely something warm, please! maybe tea?” 

dom took off his sunglasses, and it wasn't because nari pointed it out, but because he needed to rub his eyes—a bad habit. one of many. now with debut on the horizon, he was noticing all the little things he'd do that netizens would most definitely point out. "you know versus?" of course, nari knew versus. it was one of legacy's groups. she wouldn't be a very good trainee if she didn't.

his hand lowered. he now stared at her with bloodshot eyes, dark circles, and a tired look of a man who lost ten years of his life battling stress and insomnia. it was the worst he'd ever appeared in front of nari. if he wasn't so out of his head, he would've cared a lot more.

her smile faltered into something more gentle, dropping the sarcasm she might have displayed otherwise to tease him. she knew when to pick and choose. “wait,” she said again, leaning forward across the small table as if about to whisper something highly confidential. “you’re mean you’re debuting? in versus?” a real smile formed this time. “oppa, that’s… huge! congratulations! from your tone, i thought someone had died…” her voice was warm, but there was still a hint of concern in her voice.

yet a year later she was still too scared to bring it to composition.

"okay, sounds like a plan." she sits patiently, listening to nari sing but not watching her as she does. her mind was on the lyrics, the sound. her brain was going a mile a minute but when her eyes lift to look at the other, everything stops.

it was like everything deafened and ruby suddenly couldn't keep track of where nari was in the short verse. to say her voice was heavenly felt like an understatement. nari was making the verse come alive and ruby was so grateful but also so very distracted with how peaceful nari looked as she sang. the dimple threatening to show every few words sung was what distracted ruby the most. nari was a painting, a mosaic, a carefully crafted creation met with the meticulous hands that were akin to ruby's: unwavering and diligent but not stopping until perfected. ruby was convinced nari was made special by the gods. that was the only explanation.

she had sat there dumbly for a few moments. shaking her head to physically get her mind straight got her right back on track. "that was, wow, that was great! it really was. i feel like that's exactly how i wanted it to be performed...."

she glances down at the lyrics again, tracing a fingertip along one of the lines. “hmm,” she murmurs, thinking aloud. “maybe here?” she points at a phrase near the middle, “this part could breathe a little more? it would give the listener a moment to feel what you just said before you move on.” when she looks back up, she’s smiling. “but honestly, that’s just me being picky,” she adds with a small laugh. “it’s your song, ruby. you tell me how you want it to feel, and i’ll follow your lead.” she’s not yet a songwriter herself, so she doesn’t quite know the process behind creating a song, let alone trying to bring it to life through another person. 

( kids liked sonic the hedgehog right? ever since the movie brought back the hype. )

daon was such a sweet kid, ruby didn't mind losing in the foot race. when she (finally) catches up, she gives daon a big hug. "you're so great! keep up the good work, super daon!" she lifts the curtains to allow daon in the booth first. she enters with nari after.

"you know, i always wanted a little brother myself. i never got to have one. my mom was one and done with me," ruby says with a sigh. "she always said life was perfect with just the 3 of us but all of my cousins were here in south korea. i was lonely. i feel pretty disconnected because i'm... a foreigner, you know? i don't relate to them as much." but she gives daon a loving gaze. "but hanging out with daon makes me feel like i do have a little brother. it's nice. he's a good kid."

of course her interactions with daon would be different than what nari experienced. ruby only got to have fun and play with the young boy. to actually experience the tantrums, the late nights, etc. that would be a lot different. but it wouldn't mean that ruby would love him any less.

inside the booth, she sits to one side of daon, the cramped space filled with warmth. she listens to ruby’s words settle, her smile gentle but faltering a bit as she realizes that her friend is mistaken about how she’s related to daon. it’s not ruby’s fault of course. “i don’t know what it’s like to be an only child, but you’ll never be lonely as long we’re here! daon is lucky to have you around,” she says after a moment. “you’ve been really good to him.”