strawberrymiya

MIYA

The two of you had been casually talking in the waiting room; you found taking your mind off of going on stage helped make your nerves bearable. However, you saw concern rise on Miya’s face as you kept fumbling your words and physically shaking. Interrupting you to ask if you were alright, you told her about your nerves, trying to play them off, but Miya wasn’t one to let this go. She instantly put her arm around you in a tight side hug, squeezing you and assuring there was nothing for you to worry about; your fans already liked you, after all. From that day on, Miya always gave you a gesture of reassurance before you went on stage, and you were thankful to have an older sister figure in her.

SEOKYOUNG

You were sat alone in your thoughts - mulling over everything that could possibly go wrong in this performance - when you felt a hand fall on your shoulder. Startled, you looked up to see Seokyoung taking a seat next to you; she’d noticed you looking tense while she was getting her mic fitted and wanted to know if you were okay. Contemplating for a moment, you felt as if you trusted her enough to tell her how scared you were of being on stage, feeling tears sting your eyes as you failed to keep your composure. Seokyoung took your hand in a death grip, letting you lay your head on her shoulder as she calmed you and promising she was right there with you. She didn’t let go of your hand until you were on stage.

SEORYOUNG

This was routine to you now. Before your first ever busking performance pre-debut, you had confided in your leader about your stage fright, approaching her away from the other members as you felt embarrassed. Seoryoung immediately understood you, taking your hands in her own and encouraging you to take deep breaths, asking you to keep your mind on performing what you had practised and not the eyes staring at you. Your leader now made sure to do this with you before every performance, finding you backstage and simply asking you to take deep breaths, making sure that you knew she had every confidence in you.

ANNE

As you went through your usual pre-show bout of nerves, sat in the corner of the waiting room desperately analysing the choreography and planned camera angles from your earlier rehearsal footage, you couldn’t help but notice Anne observing you out the corner of your eye. You glanced up and met her gaze, but quickly looked back down as you saw the concern she wore on her face. You knew she must have gathered you were nervous. As you walked to the stage with your members, Anne placed a hand comfortingly on your arm, telling you she loved you and you were going to give a great performance. There was an unspoken understanding between the two of you, and you felt safe knowing she had your back.

MINJU

Minju was scarily intuitive; once she noticed you breathing heavily staring at the stage monitor, she was immediately at your side asking what was wrong. You shakily told her how much anxiety you were getting watching the audience filter in, the crowd looking larger than what you thought you could handle. Her hands gripped your shoulders, and she looked you straight in the eyes. She didn’t hesitate for a moment before telling you how amazing a performer she thought you were, and how much she loved your part of the song, and that the audience would too. She then began playing around, messing with Miya and making you laugh, easily taking your mind off the growing audience you would have to face.

SOSO

It just so happened that at your biggest performance venue yet, you were in makeup with Soso. Both of you were eerily quiet, the only voices coming from the makeup artists asking you to look up or down, until the girl in the chair next to you broke the silence by asking, “are you nervous?” You made eye contact with her, swallowing a lump in your throat before nodding. Soso looked back at the mirror, sighing and admitting she felt the same. After a moment, she stretched her hand out to you, gripping it tightly as you both promised to do this performance together, knowing you would both be fine as long as you had each other.

LENA

The panic suddenly crept up on you; you needed to get away from your members and staff. You ran into the bathroom, forgetting that Lena had previously gone in there herself. Cluttering into her, you apologised and tried to hide the fact you were hyperventilating, but Lena had noticed. She stilled you, worry in her voice as she asked what got you so panicked. The words spilled out of you in a rush, and you unloaded all your anxieties about being on stage to the maknae. She looked surprised, but instinctively made eye contact with you, getting you to breathe deeply with her. Once you had calmed, she assured you everything would be okay, hugging you tightly and reaffirming her faith in your performance ability.

MIYA

You were slightly startled by the sound of Miya shouting your name as she burst into the kitchen. Admittedly, the yelp you let out when the knife you were chopping with sliced your palm open was a touch overdramatic, but she had rushed in panicking as if you’d been attacked by a serial killer. Upon figuring out what had happened to you, Miya took hold of your uninjured hand and tried to pull you out the house, insisting on driving you to the hospital. When you refused, she ultimately patched you up herself, pouting and telling you to never scare her like that again.

SEOKYOUNG

Things had been going completely fine; Seokyoung had been showing you some choreography in the practice room she rented for the day. She turned her back to check her phone, and you attempted one of the more complicated moves yourself, only to land badly on your ankle. Seokyoung whipped round as she heard the thud, rushing over and helping you up. Despite her small stature, she held you up with your arm around her shoulders, and helped you to sit down and raise your leg on an opposite chair. She gave you a reassuring smile, squeezing your hand and planting a kiss on your forehead, before dashing off to get an icepack.

SEORYOUNG

You and Seoryoung were clearing out your attic, looking for stuff to donate to the local charity shop, when you went to pick up a box one handed without even looking. It turned out to be full of heavy hardback books, causing your wrist to snap and twist in an extremely painful way. Seoryoung hurried over, trying to conceal the extreme concern on her face, as she asked for every detail on what had happened and the pain you felt. Once understanding it was most likely a sprain, she calmly led you down the ladder and called for a taxi to take you to the hospital, silently praying you weren’t in too much pain.

ANNE

Anne had told you to be careful when you had mentioned you were cleaning the top of the bathroom cabinets. The surface you had been balancing on was slippy, so you fell, clipping your head on the corner of the cabinet before blacking out. The next thing you remember is seeing Anne’s face as you woke up, her dabbing your wound with a damp dish cloth. She explained how she’d heard you fall, and rushed upstairs to find you unconscious. She’d carried you downstairs to lie on the couch, and did the best she could to treat your head. As you assured her you were okay, she gave you a tight hug, holding back tears in relief.

MINJU

It was your own fault for looking down at your phone while you were crossing the road. Fortunately, you were meeting Minju on the other side, so she had noticed and shouted at you to get out the way before the speeding truck drove into you. In a panic to move, you tripped forward, dropping and cracking your phone and scraping your knee. It stung like hell, but it was better than being hit by a vehicle. Minju pulled you up by your arms, grabbing your phone and helping you into her house where she cleaned up your knee, giving you a plaster and a “magic kiss” better. Once you confirmed you were okay, she began reprimanding you, giving you an earful about road safety and how frightened she was in that moment that something could have happened to you.

SOSO

Helping Soso cook your Saturday night dinner was a regular part of your shared routine, but there was a reason she was the one in charge. Somehow you picked up the pan of boiling water at a dodgy angle, causing it to spill all over your forearm. All you could focus on was the pain of your flesh burning, you barely even noticed Soso going into military mode; silently and expertly treating the scold to relieve the pain and prevent scarring. As the pain eased, Soso gave you a tight side hug and peck on the cheek, asking you to be more careful.

LENA

A calm, relaxing, summers day with your girlfriend had to be rudely interrupted by a persistent bee buzzing round your ear. On instinct you went to swat it, angering the creature and causing it to sting you on your elbow. The panicked gasp that came out of Lena would have made anyone think she was the one who got stung. You tried pulling the stinger out while Lena was asking you a million questions, terrified that you might be allergic. The pain was getting too much, so Lena hastily took the stinger out of your elbow, asking you to look up how to treat it properly so she knew exactly what to do. Once it was sorted, she clung onto you and buried her head in your neck, whining about how worried she was about you.

With the final beat of the song, your morning practice was over. You and Minju had decided on doing a dance cover together of a recent song, so had been learning the choreography since the early hours. Most of it was down; there was still a few grey areas that needed refining, but first you had to eat something.

“Are you coming to get lunch, Minju?” You asked your dance partner.

Minju’s eyes were fixated on her phone as she picked up her bag, “I can’t, Seoryoung unnie wanted to try the new lunch menu at the restaurant down the road, so I’m meeting her there,” she then turned her head towards you, “you want to join?”

Raising a smile, you declined, “Miya unnie made us a packed lunch this morning.”

You watched Minju’s face turn into a smirk, “oh, well you enjoy then.”

“Thanks, you too.” You replied.

The two of you parted ways once you stepped through the door; Minju walking towards the lift while you travelled the short distance to your girlfriend’s practice room. Miya had put your lunch in the fridge when you arrived that morning, but it would be rude to open your half without her.

Placing one hand on the door handle, you were about to raise your arm to give a gentle knock on the door, when you heard something out of the ordinary. Out of the ordinary for Miya, anyway. You heard singing. Specifically, Miya singing. This almost never happened.

Rather than interrupting her, you decided to hold on and let her finish the song she was practising. You felt a little guilty secretly listening to her, but the occasion was so rare.

For such a confident and charismatic performer, Miya was extremely shy about her singing. She had sung during your trainee days for evaluations and basic singing lessons, and of course sang her parts in GWSN’s songs, but in general she liked to stick to dance and rap. When pushed to sing, she would either not take it seriously, or point blank refuse. There was nothing for her to be shy about; you were a group of singers after all, but it wasn’t what she was most comfortable with, so none of you ever pushed her beyond her limits.

You always felt she should be more confident with her voice. Sure, she wasn’t as amazingly talented as Seoryoung or Lena, but then again who is? She had a very sweet and soothing voice; an extreme contrast from her usual girl crush style. It made you smile to hear her sing with such confidence at this moment.

Lost in your thoughts, you barely registered the sound of movement coming from inside the room, and that she had finished the song. Before you could move away, she opened the door and immediately met your gaze. Upon spotting you, her eyes widened and her cheeks immediately flushed. There was no hiding that you had heard her.

“I wasn’t listening!” You blurted out in an attempt to calm her down; you felt she could get upset by the invasion of privacy.

“How long have you been there?” Miya inquired, her voice quiet and timid.

“I’m sorry,” you said, “I haven’t been here long, I promise. I finished practice with Minju and came to see if you wanted to get lunch.” A look of guilt formed on your face as you explained, Miya looking increasingly more embarrassed. She smiled slightly, amused by how awkward she felt, as she banged her forehead on, and stared at, the doorframe in regret. You simply put an hand on her shoulder, “it’s okay, unnie, you sounded good!”

“You don’t need to make me feel better.” Miya replied, still staring into the doorframe.

“I’m not trying to, I like your voice,” you clarified, gently holding onto her hand, “come on, let’s go get lunch.” Giving you a nod, the two of you made your way to the cafeteria.

——————————————————————————

“So, how come you were singing?” You asked. The two of you had been pretty quiet since coming to the cafeteria, only speaking a few words to each other when dividing up the packed lunch Miya had made for you. Maybe if you got her to talk about it, she’d feel less awkward.

Miya gave you a shrug, scrunching her face slightly as she poked at her cold pieces of chicken, “just felt like trying it, I don’t know.”

You took a bite of the lunch Miya had made for you, “I thought you didn’t really like singing all that much.”

“I guess I do enjoy it,” Miya replied, “I’m just not very good at it, that’s why I don’t like doing it around the rest of you.”

Your head turned towards her, giving her a pout, “you are good, you just need more confidence in yourself.”

“Hi!” A voice broke into your conversation. Both of you looked up to see Lena sitting down across from you, putting her lunch on the table.

“Hey, where’ve you been this morning?” You asked the maknae.

Lena opened her lunch box and picked up her chopsticks as she spoke, “I had a singing lesson. Seonsaengnim is joining me for lunch, if that’s okay.”

You gave a slight smirk to Miya, “oh that’s no problem.” Miya responded with a look of slight panic in her eyes, concerned about what you were implying.

“What were you two doing this morning, then?” Lena asked.

“Well, Minju and I were working on a cover together.” You answered with a smile, before giving a gesturing look to Miya.

Lena also looked over at Miya, “what about you, unnie?”

Miya stabbed at another piece of chicken, visibly nervous, “I… I was practising a song.” She stuttered out.

“You were both in the practice room?” Lena glanced between the two of you, not understanding how you could have been practising two different songs in the same practice room.

“She wasn’t dancing.” You stated, holding back a proud smile. You wouldn’t tell Lena what Miya was doing if it would make Miya more uncomfortable; you wanted her to tell Lena herself.

“No, I wasn’t,” Miya took a deep breath, lifting her head to look at Lena, “I was singing in my room, actually.”

The maknae’s face looked surprised by the information, “really?”

“Is it that shocking?” Miya whined, leaning back in embarrassment.

“Yes, you literally never sing, unnie.” Lena laughed, taking a bite of her lunch.

“She sounded great,” you interjected, earning another sigh of embarrassment from Miya, “but she doesn’t think she’s good enough to sing properly.”

“Why don’t you take a couple of singing lessons?” Lena suggested, “seonsaengnim wouldn’t mind seeing somebody other than me and Seoryoung unnie.”

Miya scrunched her eyes together, visibly distressed, “I can’t do that, it’s been so long since I had a singing lesson I don’t think I even spoke korean then.”

“There’s no harm in it,” you assured her, “you’ll be fine, it will help boost your confidence, maybe you could do a cover to post online.”

Another figure proceeded to join you at your table: your singing teacher. She was a kind and welcoming woman, who would always take extra time and care to make sure all of you were comfortable and confident with what you were doing during lessons. There was no doubt in your mind Miya would feel fine taking extra lessons with her.

“Hi, seonsaengnim!” Lena greeted.

The teacher smiled at the three of you, taking her lunch out, “how are you two doing this morning?”

“Good, thank you.” You responded, you and Miya giving her a nod. Miya then looked down at her lunch, poking at it again, trying not to make eye contact with the teacher sat across from her.

“Uh, so, seonsaengnim, Miya unnie wanted to ask you something.” Lena teased, grinning straight at Miya. Miya sharply made eye contact with the maknae, startled by her encouragement.

The teacher gave Miya a warm smile, “everything alright, Miya-ssi?”

“Oh, um, yeah, so, um…” Miya began to stutter again, fumbling over various words trying to build the confidence to ask, “I was wondering if I would be able to get a couple of singing lessons?”

“You want lessons?” the teacher asked in surprise, slightly choking on a piece of her lunch.

“Is that not okay?” Miya looked worried.

“No, it’s fine,” the teacher confirmed, her face relaxing, “I’m just not used to you asking to see me.”

You politely interrupted, “Miya unnie was thinking of doing a cover, but she wants a little more confidence before she tries it.”

“Ahh, I see,” the teacher nodded, understanding, “well, just put your name down in one of the timeslots next to my door, I’d be happy to see you.” Miya gave an uncertain smile, before the four of you finished your lunches.

——————————————————————————

A couple of days later, the time for Miya’s first singing lesson since she was a trainee had come. You and Lena walked her there; Miya keeping a death grip on your hand out of nerves.

“You’ll be fine, unnie.” Lena assured, as the three of you approached the studio.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to come in with you?” You asked, giving Miya a comforting look, “I can tell Minju we can practise later.”

Miya fiercely shook her head, “no, don’t worry, I’d rather not have anyone in there, I’m nervous enough to sing in front of seonsaengnim, nevermind you two.”

“That’s okay, we’ll support you in spirit!” Lena exclaimed, a bold look of enthusiasm on her face.

You saw a small panic wash over Miya’s face as she asked, “you won’t be able to hear me from downstairs, right?”

“Not if we’re practising to music, don’t worry.” You confirmed, smiling.

“I can just watch (Y/N) unnie and Minju unnie practice too,” Lena added, turning to you, “is that alright?” You nodded.

“Okay, good luck Miya unnie!” You said, as the three of you stopped outside the door, “don’t be nervous, you’ve done this before, seonsaengnim isn’t going to judge you or laugh at you or whatever you’re worried about, you’ll be fine.” As you spoke, you placed your hands on Miya’s shoulders, making direct eye contact with her. You were really hoping to drill a little confidence into her before her lesson started.

Miya gave you a nod, smiling nervously, “thank you.” You gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, before stepping back next to Lena.

“Enjoy your first day of school, Miya unnie!” Lena chimed, an enormous smile on her face.

“Lena ya!” Miya shouted, laughing at the maknae’s remark as she stomped slightly in frustration.

Lena gave a real statement of encouragement once she had stopped laughing, “unnie fighting!” She gestured her fist as she spoke, causing Miya to do the same back.

After exchanging one last “love you”, you walked off with Lena to the lift as Miya entered the teacher’s studio. Watching her walk through the door as the lift closed, you silently wished her luck again, hoping she would be okay.

The two of you met Minju in the practice room. You and Minju continued your dance practice, making sure the music was loud enough so you wouldn’t hear anything from upstairs. You were quickly beginning to pick up the choreography more, so took a few moments to relax with Lena, discussing how you thought you would dress and style your hair for the cover to fit the original.

A couple of hours passed, and you were soon greeted by Miya joining you in the practice room, “hey!” she announced.

You looked over at her with a smile, “hi Miya unnie!” You practically skipped over to her, eager to hear about her lesson, “so how did it go?”

“It was a little terrifying,” Miya stated, her face ever so slightly red, “but seonsaengnim made me feel a lot more comfortable about it, so I think it went well.”

“That’s good, I’m glad!” Lena spoke, still sat on the couch scrolling through outfits on Minju’s phone.

“So, when do we get to hear you sing?” Minju inquired with a smirk. You had explained to her what Miya was doing before today’s practice had started, of course making sure Miya was alright with her knowing first. She remained respectful of Miya’s boundaries and not wanting to be heard during her lesson, but was a little eager to hear what she had been working on.

Miya looked at the floor shyly, pressing her lips together, “not yet, I don’t think. I might have another couple of lessons before I’m ready to show anyone.” Minju nodded in understanding.

“Hey, I’m proud of you.” You spoke to Miya, planting your hands on her sides.

“You are?” Miya looked back at you, gently pulling on your hands and interlocking her fingers with yours.

“Yes, it makes me so happy to see you a lot more confident,” You comforted, tilting your head slightly, “so, do you want to see what Minju and I have been working on?” Miya grinned, giving you an enthusiastic nod. Releasing Miya, you turned to face Minju, who was getting up off the couch to go to the speaker and put the music on. Miya took Minju’s spot next to Lena, and you and Minju took your start positions.

——————————————————————————

Sat alone in the practice room, you monitored yours and Minju’s dance cover on the camera, still wearing your cover outfit. You and Minju had filmed the cover in the early afternoon, so it would be ready to post tomorrow. Now it was evening time, and most of your members and staff had already gone home to eat dinner, but you were still waiting for Miya to come out of her afternoon singing lesson. You monitored the footage wearing earphones, so you wouldn’t hear Miya’s lesson.

Suddenly you felt a hand touching your arm; you looked up from the video to see Miya smiling at you. “You busy?” she asked.

Taking your earphones out and setting the camera down on the table, you shook your head, “not at all, how was today’s lesson?”

Miya stepped round and sat next to you on the couch, “really good, actually. I’m definitely getting more confident about the idea of groos hearing me sing.”

“That’s good!” You beamed, twisting your body round to face her and positioning your elbow on the back of the couch, “I’m glad they’re giving you confidence, I always had faith in you.”

“Thanks.” Miya shifted towards you as well, fiddling with her hands as she sheepishly made eye contact with you. Her gaze softened after a moment of silence, as her hand reached up to play with a strand of your hair, “you look really pretty.”

A shy grin appeared on your face, “thanks. The hair was Minju’s idea, Soso did our makeup at lunch.”

“It looks great, did filming go well?” Miya questioned.

“It went fine, took a few takes but we’re happy with it.” You replied, nodding with satisfaction.

Miya gave you a pleased smile, “that’s great, I’ll watch it when you post it.”

You sat up slightly, “anyway, speaking of covers, have you decided what song you’re going to sing yet?”

Miya glanced down at her lap, thinking, “I had a couple of ideas, but I think I know which one I’m leaning towards.”

“What song is that?” You asked.

“Oh, you wouldn’t know it,” Miya stated, “it’s a japanese song, I used to listen to it a lot a few years ago.” She again avoided your eyes.

“Well, if you won’t tell me,” you leaded, leaning forward slightly and resting your head on your palm, “would you show me?”

Miya shot you a look of surprise, “you want to hear it?”

You gave her a warm smile, “yeah, as long as that’s okay. You know I won’t judge you.”

A nervous laugh emitted from your girlfriend, before she took a deep breath, “okay, I can show you.”

“Great!!” You clapped happily, before standing up and grabbing Miya’s hand, “come on, get your mic, do it through the speakers.”

Miya stood up slowly, tensing up a little, “the speakers? Are you sure?”

“Unnie, there’s no one here now, you don’t have to worry about being heard, it’s just me here.” You assured her, taking hold of her other hand and squeezing them comfortingly.

“I guess so.” Miya reluctantly agreed.

You promptly let go, reaching down and picking up the camera, “I’ll film it as well.”

“You’ll what?” Miya stuttered, looking visibly more nervous the more you went on.

“It would be a good idea to hear yourself back, right? Has seonsaengnim done that with you?” You convinced.

Miya fiddled with her hands again, “no, she hasn’t. Would it really be a good idea?”

Clicking through the camera settings, you answered, “yes, it would, if you’re going to post a cover, you’ll have to film yourself sooner or later, why not now?”

“I’m still not sure, I’d be so embarrassed watching myself.” Miya admitted.

“Okay, how about I turn the lights off?” you suggested, “that way you can’t really make out your features, but you can see your performing style, would that make you feel better?” You gave Miya another warm smile, trying to calm her nerves. Her expression melted, and her shoulders relax, visibly admitting defeat.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go get set up.” Miya wandered over to the music deck, picking up her green microphone from the shelf and pulling her track up on the system. You continued to adjust the camera, pulling the table out closer to the centre of the room, and positioning it on top to film Miya.

“I best leave the logo lights on, so we don’t bump into anything.” You spoke, switching the main lights of the room off. The spotlights on your company logo provided enough light so you could see where you were going, but when stood in front of them, most features would be difficult to make out.

“That’s fine.” Miya agreed, a hint of worry in her voice. She was clearly still nervous. You strode over to her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder.

“Miya unnie, I promise you’ll be alright,” you assured. Her gaze turned from the floor to you; even in the dim light, you could see she was nervous. You moved your hand from her shoulder to the side of her face, lightly grazing her cheek with your thumb, “don’t even think about it, just focus on something that makes you happy. If you get embarrassed watching it back you get embarrassed watching it back, but then you will know how to improve so you don’t get embarrassed watching yourself. I believe in you, okay?”

Miya only nodded slowly in reply, her fingers loosely holding on to your wrist. You gave her a short kiss, then walked back over to behind the table. Miya pressed a button on the sound system and wandered to the centre of the practice room in front of the camera, having put the song track on a loop so she could start from the beginning. She looked across at you, her fingers clutching onto the bright green mic. You sent her a smile as you pressed record on the camera. Miya smiled back at you, before her face faded back to sincerity as the song started.

The song she was singing was a chill, R&B song, and from the lyrics you understood, had a deep and emotional meaning. Miya may have been a huge kpop fan, but she had taste in very relaxing and slightly darker music from her home country. As she sang the lyrics, you could make out she was feeling and conveying the emotions of each word through the dim light. She truly had nothing to be nervous about; you could notice an improvement between the singing you’d heard in her practice room to what you were hearing now, so the lessons had done exactly what they were supposed to. You couldn’t help but raise a smile watching her sing; seeing her sincere and almost vulnerable made your heart flutter. She may have been a charismatic girl crush during most of her performances, but this was the real Miya.

She sang the final lyric, and the instrumental came to an end. Her performer state immediately broke as she scurried over to the music deck, putting her mic back and switching the music off before it looped again. You stopped the camera recording, and turned the main lights of the room back on. As you looked over at Miya, you noticed her cheeks were once again flushed.

The two of you met in the centre of the room as Miya sheepishly asked, “did you like that?”

You beamed at her, unable to contain your excitement, “yes, it was amazing! You did so well, unnie, I’m proud of you.”

Miya let out a cute laugh, shy at your compliments, “thank you.”

“Do you feel better now that you’ve sang in front of me?” You inquired.

“I do,” Miya replied truthfully, smoothly holding the middle of your back and decreasing the space between you, “I did what you said, and it worked. Thank you.”

Tracing your fingers up Miya’s upper arms, you smiled at her lovingly, “I’m glad.” Gradually, you both leaned in, your lips softly meeting. Sinking into it more, you extended your arms around her neck as you pulled each other closer; you felt any tension Miya had left easing away.

You swiftly pulled back, raising your eyebrows at her, “shall we go watch the video?” Miya rolled her eyes, groaning.

Letting go of her, you began to drag her by the wrist over to the couch, “come on, you have to watch it!”

The two of you broke into a small fit of laughter as you strode over to the couch, half dragging Miya behind you. You weren’t worried about pushing her too far by making her watch it; if she could see in herself what you saw in her, she would have nothing to worry about.

Plonking yourselves down on the couch, you picked up the camera and pressed play on the video. Miya’s features were very difficult to make out in the dark, but you saw her wincing slightly at the footage out the corner of your eye. You positioned your free hand on top of hers, patting it comfortingly. As the video went on and the song got going more, you felt Miya’s body relax a little next to you. Maybe watching the video is giving her more confidence about her vocals, you thought.

“What do you think, then?” You turned your head to Miya once the video has finished.

Miya took a moment, pondering what she had watched, “it’s better than I thought.”

“There you go!” you exclaimed, lightly nudging Miya on the arm with a grin, “I told you it was a good idea, you’ve come so far.”

“Thanks,” Miya said with an air of uncertainty, “I’m still a little worried about filming a cover, though.”

“How so?” You asked.

Miya’s gaze turned down to her hands, as she picked at her nails, “I usually feel a little awkward watching myself perform like that, I just feel like I come across a little forced. There I wasn’t even thinking about it, so I liked how that came out, but filming something like that the way Seoryoung usually does makes me cringe at myself a little.”

Pressing your lips together, you thought hard for a few moments. You wanted to provide Miya with a better solution than simple encouragement. She was a great performer, but she had her strengths, and she knew that. If she had doubts about showing her genuine self in her performance, her nerves would get in the way of it more. You had an idea.

“Why don’t you post this video?” You suggested, gesturing the camera in Miya’s direction.

“That video?” Miya reiterated, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I mean you said yourself you liked it, nothing went wrong. I can tell your sincerity in this video, and if that’s what you want to show to groos, then this is perfect, and if you’re still worried about your performance style, it’s all dark so nobody will be able to pick at things.” You explained your idea to her with a smile of enthusiasm.

Miya paused again, considering her decision before she answered, “yeah, I think I’d be okay with that. I mean, people don’t know it was you I was thinking about, right?”

Your eyes widened at her words, “excuse me?”

A guilty laugh came out of Miya, as she leaned forward slightly, “oh, yeah… when you said think of something that makes you happy… I thought of you.” She pushed her shoulders together, avoiding eye contact with a bashful smile.

“Oh, you’re so sweet!” You pulled Miya into a side hug, wrapping your arms round her shoulders and resting her head into your neck. She squeezed you back, holding on to your waist, as you left a kiss on the top of her head, causing her to let out a shy giggle.

“So you really think I should post that?” she asked again, and you gave her a nod, “okay, I’ll wait a couple of days though, you still need to post your cover.”

You grinned, remembering what you and Minju had prepared and why you were dressed the way you were, “ahh, yeah. Looks like we’ve both been busy.”

“Mhmm,” Miya nodded, before looking up at you, “maybe next time we could do something together?”

“Singing or dancing?”

“Anything,” Miya stated, snuggling into you further, “I just want to cover something with you.”

Tightening your grip on her, you accepted her offer, “yeah, that’d be nice.”

The two of you stayed close like that a little while longer, until you thought it best to get some dinner. Your mind wandered to possibilities of songs for you and Miya to cover together; with her new found confidence for singing, you had plenty of options. Of course you had many chances to cover things with her, but you still wanted whatever you chose to be perfect. The fact she now had a lot more self esteem warmed your heart, and it made you happy that she wanted to share that experience with you. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, you happily walked off into the night together.

Previous part: Beautiful memories Next part: TBA

You propped your feet up on the table with a sigh. You switched them round, putting one leg on top of the other as you mindlessly stared at the adverts showing on the TV. Boredom sucked. Leaning your head back on the couch, you took to wiggling your toes as an attempt to entertain yourself. Things had been quiet for the past few days; Lena had locked herself in her studio to “work on something”, as she had informed you. You only saw her when she emerged briefly for snacks, or if the two of you crossed paths getting ready for bed. Lena was always one to fully immerse herself into songwriting when she got an idea, but she had never shut herself away for this long. Whatever was keeping her in there so long, you wished she would work it out so you had someone to talk to.

A grumble came from below. You glanced down at your stomach, then up at the clock; it was dinnertime already. You were itching to get out the house, so decided to get some cup ramen from the local convenience store. Switching off the TV, you leapt up and made your way to Lena’s home studio. It wouldn’t hurt to ask if she wanted to join you, right?

Approaching the door, you gave two light knocks, not to startle her, just to let her know you were there. You heard a faint voice answer from inside, so opened the door. You were greeted by Lena’s back; she was sat at her table with her songwriting book open, pen in hand, her guitar resting on her lap.

“Lena, I’m going to the convenience store for dinner, you want to come with?” you asked casually, gently trying to persuade her to leave her studio for more than two seconds.

“I’ll just get something later, thanks.” Lena answered. She didn’t even turn to look at you.

A pout formed on your face, and you took a couple of steps further into the studio, “are you okay? You’ve been in here for days.”

Lena began to note something down in her book, “I’m fine, just working on something.”

A sigh escaped your lips, like a reflex, “Lena, you can take a break. Just half an hour, come on, I’m bored with you being stuck in here.” You felt frustration creeping up inside you as you spoke.

“Look, I’m sorry you’re bored, but if I take a break, I’ll lose my motivation.” Lena spoke, continuing to note something in her book.

“You can’t even look at me when you’re speaking!” You began to raise your voice, feeling offended at how Lena was shutting you out, “a break would do you good, you can’t overwork yourself like this. Just come and get some dinner with me for 10 minutes.”

She finally turned to look at you, her eyes narrowed in frustration, “(Y/N), I can’t take a break, I can’t go get dinner with you, I need to focus on this, okay?” She turned back to look at her notebook.

You took a moment of pause, thinking. You sat on a spare stool, adjacent to where Lena was sitting, “well you could at least show me what you’ve been working on.”

“No.” Lena immediately snapped back, taking you by surprise. She shut her book, closing her body inwards, as if trying to hide something embarrassing from you.

“Oh come on, Lena!” You raised your voice again in disbelief. It made you angry that Lena was pushing you away this much, especially since she was usually so eager to show you songs she had been working on.

Lena turned to you again, visibly annoyed, “listen, it’s not finished, it’s not right, I don’t know how to get it right, I don’t want to show you, I don’t want to take a break from it, I’m not going to entertain you while you’re sat around bored, so just leave me alone to work on this!”

Her outburst only made you more angry; you really couldn’t see why she was so insistent on keeping herself in this studio. You argued back, “why are you shutting me out? I’ve barely seen you for days, you’re like some kind of hermit, it can’t be that important!”

“Not important?” Lena leaned away from you, appalled by what you had said, “this is my passion! It’s also my job, in case you forgot. It might not be important to you, but it’s important to me, I cannot believe that you would even think that! Unless you’re really a narcissist.”

“I didn’t mean that,” you started, trying to calm your own voice down to ease the tension, “I just meant that you’re prioritising this song, or whatever if it you’re doing, over talking to people, or eating properly. I miss you, am I not allowed to miss you?”

Lena huffed, re-opening her book and picking up her pen, “well thank you for missing me. I’m fine, I just want to finish this, so I’d appreciate if you didn’t come in here telling me what I should and shouldn’t do, okay?”

“Don’t be like that, Lena.” You groaned, rubbing your eyes with the palms of your hands in frustration.

“I was perfectly happy until you came in here.” Lena spat at you, resenting how much you had interrupted her work flow.

“I only wanted to ask if you wanted to get some dinner!” You defended.

“And you couldn’t take no for an answer, could you?” her eyes shot at you with anger.

You rolled your eyes. Sure, you were being pushy, but you wanted her to relax for a while after so many days of constant work. Standing, you held up your hands, giving up, “you want to be alone? Fine!” You swiftly exited the room, slamming the studio door behind you.

——————————————————————————

You mindlessly poked at the steaming cup of ramen, not taking a single bite. Sat outside the convenience store, you wondered why you’d even bought it; you were too angry to eat. The argument replayed over and over in your mind. You felt guilty about some of the things you said, but in that moment, you felt too proud and stubborn to immediately walk back home and apologise to her. Your eyes glanced around the busy street, watching people walk in and out of restaurants and convenience stores getting their dinner. Your stomach rumbled again.

Giving in to the hunger, you took a few swift bites of your ramen. It was still quite hot, but you didn’t care about it mildly scolding the inside of your mouth. Without thinking, you took your phone out of your pocket and placed it on the table, clicking the screen open. No message from Lena appeared. You locked the screen, poking at your ramen once again. How could you apologise to her? She was the one that shut you out. Then again, you were the one to raise your voice first.

While mulling over whose fault the argument really was, a voice broke through your thoughts, “want some company?”

You looked up to see Lena, who had an awkward smile on her face. Giving her a small nod, you gestured for her to sit down. She slowly pulled out the plastic chair opposite to yours, sitting down silently, staring at the table. The both of you sat there for a few moments; Lena fumbling with her hands, you continuing to push the ramen around with your chopsticks. Neither of you dared to make eye contact.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

Those two words came out of both of you at the same time. As you spoke, you looked up at each other, the jinx of your words causing both of you to give a slight laugh, easing the tense atmosphere.

You pushed your chopsticks into your ramen cup, shifting the food away slightly away from you. Before Lena could speak, you began to apologise, “I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have come in there and started going off at you because I was bored. If you need to work on something, the last thing you want is some idiot coming in getting angry at you.”

“No, it’s alright,” Lena began, giving you a reassuring smile, “I shouldn’t have been so cold with you. You were only trying to get me to relax, right? I was taking it too seriously. I’m sorry I pushed you away.”

Showing a sympathetic smile, you responded, “I just didn’t want you stressing and overworking yourself, you know, I’ve been worried about you the past few days.”

“You’re right, I was getting so worked up about it. I should have been less strict on myself, working like that, I was never going to write something good.” Lena admitted, nodding with an awkward smile on her face, gaze fixed on the table.

You leaned closer to her, resting your chin on your hand, “and you know I didn’t mean what I said, right? About it not being important. I know it’s important to you, and it’s important to me because it’s important to you.”

Lena looked up, smiling shyly at you in response, “thank you.”

With the tension eased, you picked up your chopsticks and took another bite of ramen. You glanced over at Lena, thinking that she must be hungry too, “you want some?”

“It’s okay,” Lena answered with a smile, “I don’t like the kind you buy, anyway.”

You gave her a look of fake offence, smiling as you joked with her, “how dare you, this is delicious.” You took another sharp bite of ramen, locking eyes with Lena. She leaned forward in amusement, laughing at your antics.

She then stood up, holding her hand out to you, “come on.” A confused noise came out of you, your mouth still full of food. Lena continued, “it’s okay, you can keep eating your nasty ramen, just come with me.” She grabbed hold of your free hand, pulling you to stand up. You placed the chopsticks in the cup and picked up the ramen, carrying it and your phone with you in one hand as Lena lead you home, her hand keeping a firm grip on yours.

Once you made it home, Lena took you straight into her studio. She let go of your hand, gesturing for you to take a seat on the spare stool. Lena sat at her table again, picking up her guitar and opening her book to the page she had been working on. An excited smile formed on your lips as you took another bite of ramen.

“I want to stress that this is unfinished, and I might change some things.” Lena informed you as she adjusted the capo at the top of the guitar neck. Her cheeks began to flush slightly, as if nervous to show you what she had been working on. You didn’t say a word, only giving her a warm smile as a form of reassurance as you set your half eaten ramen cup on the floor.

Adjusting herself, Lena slowly got into playing for you what she had wrote. Her eyes were glued to her notebook, occasionally taking a brief pause to make sure she was strumming the correct chord, or singing the correct lyric. It was bitty and unpolished, but Lena was still pouring her heart into what she was singing. Her nerves seemed to ease the more she got into it, visibly relaxing as you watched her intently. Although you’d listened to her sing so many times, her honey like vocals were so perfectly soothing, adding to the sweetness of the lyrics she was singing.

Lena finished the performance, and you immediately gave her a small congratulatory applause, your face beaming. Lena turned to you, her smile widening at your enthusiasm.

“That was so good! I really like it!” You told her.

“Really?” Lena sighed in relief, “I thought it was so messy.”

“Well of course it will be messy, you still need to get used to playing it if it’s brand new, don’t be so hard on yourself.” You said with a comforting smile.

“I’m not sure on this bit, though,” Lena started, turning back to her notebook and replaying a short section of the pre-chorus, “I don’t think it has the right feeling for what the lyrics are expressing.”

You leaned closer, turning your head to inspect the book, “let’s have a look.” Lena turned the book to give you a better view, and you studied it for a few moments. You didn’t know much about songwriting, but you wanted to at least try and help her, “well, how about you do this bit up the scale, rather than down?”

“So you mean like…” Lena nodded in understanding, once again wielding her guitar and playing the section you had marked out the way you had suggested. She tried it a couple of times, a pleased smile forming on her face, “like that?” She turned to you excitedly.

“Yeah, that’s great!” You beamed back.

“Oh my gosh, thank you, that’s been bugging me for ages!” Lena set her guitar down, leaning it against the table, before pulling you into a tight hug. You smiled, squeezing her back with content.

“You okay now?” You asked, pulling back slightly to look at her.

Lena smiled and nodded again, “yes, I’m good. I’m so sorry for earlier, again.”

Shaking your head, you replied, “It’s fine, I’m sorry.” You both laughed, crushing each other in a tight side hug. You turned your head to her, “you want me to let you carry on with this?”

“No, I think I’ll take a break,” Lena stated, “I still need to get something for dinner.”

The two of you stood up and began to leave the studio, you picking up your ramen, “I’ll finish this, then.”

Lena rolled her eyes, grinning, “well I’m definitely not having ramen for dinner.”

“Um, excuse you.” You feigned offence again, taking a large bite of your food. Lena sighed and laughed at you, switching the light of her studio off and closing the door.

“Well don’t hog all the popcorn!” You shouted, amused laughter escaping you as snatched the bowl from Chingyi’s hands and took a handful of the snack for yourself.

Chingyi tried to look offended, but the way her lips curled to hold back a smile gave it away, “as if you didn’t have the whole bowl to yourself during the last movie.”

You and Chingyi had been dating for a couple of months. The first two weeks consisted of simple, formal dates, but once you discovered you had a similar taste in movies, you made Saturday night your official movie date night if you had no other plans. You always went to Chingyi’s house; she had the bigger TV and a corner shop close by full of ideal snacks. The bus was your route there and home, should you be too tired to drive or if the two of you felt like drinking.

“I only had like two pieces, I was still finishing my chicken wings.” You defended, taking a mouthful of popcorn.

Reaching over to take the bowl back, Chingyi whined, “give me some!” You simply lifted the bowl up, stretching your arm so Chingyi couldn’t grab it. You and Chingyi burst into laughter, both scrambling in a bid to keep the snacks for yourselves.

You used your free hand to catch Chingyi’s forearm that was reaching for the popcorn, pulling it away from the bowl before stating, “you can have it if you give me a kiss.”

Without hesitation, Chingyi jumped forward and planted her lips on yours, lingering through a smile as you submitted to her and lowered your arm, allowing her to reclaim the snacks. She pulled away with a smirk, looking right at you as she ate a large mouthful of popcorn. You couldn’t help but find her adorable.

Both of you began to focus on the film again, but your mind wandered to how long you had before the last bus home would leave. You glanced at your phone screen, your eyes widening as you noticed how late it was. The last bus would be coming in 10 minutes.

“Oh, I have to go!” You exclaimed in a slight panic, jumping up off the sofa and rushing to grab your things.

Chingyi paused the TV, a look of confusion and worry on her face, “why, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just don’t want to miss the bus.” You answered, checking you had everything in your bag.

“But my favourite part is coming up.” Chingyi pouted in protest.

You slung your bag over your shoulder, speeding back to the sofa to pick up your phone, “I’m sorry, if the takeaway had come earlier we wouldn’t have had to start the first film late.”

A hand grabbed onto yours, “at least stay for this part.” Chingyi’s eyes went puppy dog on you, trying to persuade you to stay.

“I can’t,” you started, trying to resist looking at her face, “if I don’t go now I’ll miss the bus, then I’ll be stuck here all night.”

“Then stay here tonight!” Chingyi suggested in the spur of the moment, tugging on your hand.

You paused, turning your head to finally look at her, “what?”

Her enthusiasm faded, suddenly unsure of what she just asked you, “you could stay here tonight. I know we haven’t done that before, but I think we’re comfortable enough to do so? It’s okay if you’re not, I just don’t want you to leave yet.”

A smile cracked on your face, flattered by her sentiment, “I don’t have stuff I would need though, I don’t have anything to sleep in.”

“You can borrow some of my pyjamas,” Chingyi assured, “I’m sure they’d fit you. I also have some mouthwash since you don’t have a toothbrush.”

This made you smile even more. You really hadn’t reason to decline, “okay!”

Chingyi jumped up with excitement, throwing her arms around you and spinning you round, “that’s great, this is going to be so fun!”

You matched her enthusiasm, your face beaming, “I know!”

“Okay, enough of that,” Chingyi stated, abruptly letting you back down, “let’s watch the end of this.” She pulled you back on to the sofa and pressed the play button, triumphant. Before you turned your focus back to the film, you observed how her face glowed, knowing you would be sleeping over for the first time. You smiled at her, then turned your attention to the TV.

——————————————————————————

Strutting out of the bathroom, you dramatically struck a pose in Chingyi’s bedroom door frame, wearing a matching pair of white pyjamas covered in a pineapple print, “how do I look?”

Chingyi, wearing a tiger onesie herself, glanced up from where she was busy making her bed to look at you, “wow! You look so good, it’s stunning! Who are you wearing?” She matched your dramatisation, pretending to take photos of you with an imaginary camera.

“I am wearing a number from the Wang Chingyi collection,” you responded, trying to change your voice to sound like a posh supermodel, “it’s called… pineapple nights.” You accentuated your words with a hair flip, making Chingyi crack and burst into laughter. You joined her, your body relaxing as you wandered over and caught her in a side hug.

“Do they fit you?” Chingyi inquired.

You smiled, nestling your head in her shoulder, “yes, they fit perfect, and they’re so comfy.”

“You can keep them,” Chingyi suggested, “I bought them a few years ago and just never really wear them. Plus they look so much better on you.”

A confused smile rose on your face, “they’re pyjamas, how can I look good in them?”

Chingyi’s head turned to face you, a pout showing, “you look good in everything, shush.” She gave you a quick peck on the lips before speaking again, “should we get into bed?”

Giving her a nod, you released her from the hug as she took your hand. She let you choose which side you preferred, then got in the other side herself. The two of you crawled under the covers and magnetised towards the middle of the bed, allowing you to wrap your arms around each other in a close and cosy snuggle.

“In case you were concerned, I’m a quiet sleeper.” You informed Chingyi.

“Oh, I know,” Chingyi remarked, a knowing grin on her face, “you fell asleep during The Intervention, remember?”

You paused for a moment in thought, before the memory clicked in your brain, “oh yeah, I remember. I really did almost miss the bus that night.” You and Chingyi both laughed remembering the events; how you fell asleep on Chingyi’s shoulder and she didn’t have the heart to wake you up. Eventually she did, once the film ended, but it ended up being a rush to gather your things and make it to the bus stop.

After your amusement settled, Chingyi began twirling a piece of your hair with her finger, “you know, you’re really pretty without makeup.”

You felt your cheeks blush as you smiled, “really? I was thinking the same about you.”

“Really?” Chingyi replied back, her face in disbelief. You nodded, and Chingyi gave you a quick kiss of thanks on the top of your head.

For a little while, you and Chingyi led in silence, simply enjoying each other’s proximity. You felt yourself growing extremely tired in the comfort of Chingyi’s arms; the way her fingers gently played with your hair and the pressure of her chest rising and falling next to yours was slowly lulling you into a deep relaxed state.

Before you drifted off, Chingyi’s voice broke through the silence, “what do you want for breakfast tomorrow?”

You looked up at her, “why, what do you usually have?”

“Anything really,” Chingyi shrugged, “but I want to make you whatever you want.”

Your face heated up again, “you want to make me breakfast?”

“Of course!” She confirmed, beaming, “we could have eggs, or shao bing, or pancakes?”

“Wouldn’t shao bing take a long time to make?” You asked, concerned about how long a tired Chingyi would have to spend in the kitchen just to make it.

“I don’t mind,” Chingyi assured you with a smile, “I like making it even first thing in the morning. But we can have whatever you want.”

Your eyes trailed down in thought, before answering, “pancakes sounds good.”

Chingyi grinned, pulling you closer in excitement, “pancakes it is!” She gave you another kiss on the cheek, making you laugh. She then leaned away for a second, turning out the lamp on her bedside.

The two of you fell silent again, both of you closing your eyes in content. As you both gradually began to fall asleep, you naturally broke away from each other’s hold for a more comfortable sleeping position, remaining close enough that you were both still fairly centre of the bed. With the lights turned off, you noticed the pale moonlight seeping through the window, perfectly adorning the magical feelings Chingyi gave you. Her bedsheets were so soft and cosy, the fact you were in a foreign bed didn’t affect your sleep, and you rested peacefully the entire night with her by your side.