#supermau

“Yin, you’re making me sick!” YangYang called. He was watching her in the mirror as he took a break from dancing.

“I’m just…stretching.” She tried to lean backwards. “So that I don’t pull something during our practice.”

“We stretched too.” Xiaojun reminded her. “But we didn’t feel the need to do…whatever it is that you’re doing.”

“I thought you guys looked over the choreography for the special stage.” She released her back leg, easily springing to her feet. “We’re going to need to be really careful.”

“We looked over it, we didn’t memorize it.” Ten said, bending down to touch his toes.

“Oh. Well, it’s pretty intense so I think we should all work extra hard and-“

Lucas snorted. “Sure. Just get that out of your system before we go meet up with everyone else.”

She knew he was referring to their full group practice later in the day, but she didn’t quite get the rest. They were supposed to have a four-hour practice, so obviously there would be more stretching and hard work to come.

“What are you talking about?” She asked. “My stretching?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Just…what did you have for breakfast?”

“Green smoothie.” She bent to touch her toes, trying to let herself hang to loosen up her muscles. “Why?”

She couldn’t see Lucas as he winced and rolled his eyes. “No reason.”

“There’s obviously a reason.” She glared at him. “WinWin, tell me.”

“Do I have to?” The boy protested. “How do I always get roped into this?”

“Because I trust you.” She stood, flicking her hair backwards. “What is he talking about? And why will none of you make eye contact with me?”

WinWin frowned. “You know we love you, right Yin?”

“Obviously, I’m awesome.” She crossed her arms. “That doesn’t explain why none of you will look me in the eye.”

“You can just be…a little bit intense.” WinWin offered.

“Intense?” She tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“You know….” WinWin trailed off. “Kun, you’re the leader.”

Kun sighed. “Seriously?”

“I will beat the truth out of you if I have to.” YinYin was growing increasingly frustrated by how sketchy they were being.

Kun gave her a very forced smile. “Well…and don’t get me wrong, you’re such a boss. But sometimes you show up to practices and you…you know…bend yourself in half and have everything memorized and then can get a little….intense if someone can’t keep up with you.”

“Because I want us to be good.” She protested. “And what does intense mean? You guys keep using that word like you’re scared of insulting me.”

“Overly enthusiastic?” Ten suggested.

“Scary.”

“Borderline oppressive.” Lucas smirked.

“That’s not true!” She exclaimed. “The new boys said that I was really helpful.”

“Well that’s mostly because they’re terrified of you.” YangYang began, recoiling as her eyes narrowed. “And also…you’re a lot nicer to them than you are to anyone you’ve practiced with before.”

YinYin scoffed. “That’s not true. I’m professional, and I practice hard and I expect that other people do the same. But I’m not mean.”

“Your own boyfriend is terrified of you.” Xiaojun added.

YinYin’s mouth dropped open. “He is not!”

“So scared.” Hendery nodded. “You can actually see him sit up straighter when you walk into a room.”

“That’s because…he loves me.” She trailed off.

“No, it’s because you’re one green juice away from being a superhero and you terrify everyone around you.” Lucas laughed. “Even the other SuperM members.”

YinYin’s face fell. “Does…does everyone think I’m mean?”

“No one thinks you’re mean!” WinWin said quickly. “Just….”

“If you say intense, I will murder you.” She snapped, before covering her mouth. “Oh no, I am mean!”

“Maybe a little.” Ten smiled.

“This is awful.” She crouched down on the floor. “Why did no one tell me that I’m awful?”

“Because you aren’t awful.” Kun pulled her back to her feet. “You just expect everyone to work hard and do their best and push everyone to be better. We all appreciate that.”

“And for whatever reason, your boyfriend seems to like you despite your tendency to act like a drill sergeant.” Lucas added.

“We’re having a talk about this at practice.” She exclaimed as they collected their stuff. “I need to know exactly why everyone thinks I’m so scary.”

“Awesome.” YangYang said under his breath. “So glad we brought this up.”

“What was that?” YinYin asked.