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Dabin has a problem. Well, a couple of them really; first off, she's sick. She supposes this is karma for one off-hand comment she made way back about having an "immune-system of steel" and claiming to be immortal -- she sorta blames it on the high of "Bboom Bboom" becoming super popular and finally getting their manager to treat their group to fried chicken. This brings her to her second problem -- she's pretty sure Jiyeon's a little mad at her because she passed her germs on to her when they got into a little kiss-battle during the aforementioned fried chicken celebration.Jiyeon's always been ridiculously squeamish and just so darn entertaining whenever PDA was involved, so Dabin took it upon herself to pepper her with kisses while she was holding a drumstick in one hand and her drink in the other, rendering her defenseless. Now, Jiyeon's been quarantined with her -- there was no point in getting the others sick after all, especially since Jiyeon shared a room with two out of their three English speakers. And now, her third problem -- the group's other English speaker and the one who's been occupying her thoughts for a good while now. "Jiyeon-ah. You awake?"She's pretty sure she hears a mumbled "No" from the blanket burrito in the adjacent bed and she's also pretty sure that the burrito shook its head no. "Come on, I'm sorry for getting you sick, alright?" she pleads, making sure to give her voice that extra-pitiful hoarseness for effect. "S'okay. M'not mad." Jiyeon responds, wriggling out from her blanket. "Just still tired. And weak." "We need to take our antibiotics in an hour.""Yeah.""...""Eonni, you did not wake me up just for that, did you?""No, no," Dabin says. Dammit, Jiyeon was too sharp sometimes -- it was like living with a police inspector. "I just -- can I ask you a question?"Jiyeon gives her a small smile. "Sure.""Do you...I mean...you know when we do the fanservice thing?"Jiyeon's nose scrunches. "Mmm. Yeah, what about it?""Its...do you really don't like it?" Dabin asks, phrasing her question slowly. "I mean...it's just...it's not that big a deal, right?"Jiyeon sighs and rubs the back of her neck. "No, I guess not. I just...I'm not used to it, y'know?""It's just some harmless fun." she prods, enjoying the way Jiyeon's face flushes. "Other groups are much more fanservice-y than us."Yeah well, I find it kinda gross."Dabin smirks. "What, two girls kissing?"Jiyeon looks affronted. "No, I mean kissing in general. It's just so...messy. Look what it got us!""You said you weren't mad!""I'm not!"They dissolve into giggles as Dabin throws a pillow at Jiyeon's bed. Jiyeon props herself up on her elbows and looks at Dabin. "What brought this on, eonni?"Dabin shrugs, feeling her smile deflate. "I kinda get it, y'know. Kissing should be special.""...okay?""I mean, we keep doing it and it's fun and the fans like it but...what if it loses its meaning?""I'm...not sure I follow, eonni.""...Jiyeon-ah, can I tell you a secret?"Dabin tilts her head and watches in fascination as Jiyeon starts squirming under her gaze. "Um...sure, Dabin-eonni.""...I think I might...have a thing for...Nancy."Dabin feels the room spin and she would very much like to blame it on her being sick but the truth is, it was a pretty common reaction for her whenever she thought about Nancy these days. Nancy, kind, beautiful, talented and gorgeous Nancy, who was also still a good few months away from turning eighteen. It sort of dawns on her that she's just told Jiyeon, aka Miss PDA-phobia, about a highly inappropriate crush on her female and underage group mate. "Everyone does, eonni. She's a nice, talented kid." Jiyeon says carefully, her eyes locked with Dabin. She kind of wants to strangle Jiyeon right now because she's really going to make her say it out loud, huh? She's so getting a kiss again -- maybe she'll get Ahin and Joo Won to help out too. "Jiyeon-ah, don't make me say it." she whines, a bit of practiced aegyo coming out. "What?" Jiyeon says, her voice gentle. "I don't mind, you know.""She's...she's underage.""She'll be eighteen in a few months.""I just don't want to come out like some sort of predator."Jiyeon lets out a snort and Dabin glares at her. "You're not -- you're not a predator, eonni. Four years isn't a huge age gap. That's like a senior dating a freshman. And besides, you two already make a good couple, even as friends.""...I can't stop thinking about her."She spills her guts out to Jiyeon for a good minute or two. Jiyeon, on her part, is a surprisingly good listener and very comforting. "I can't tell her," Dabin mutters, hugging herself. "It'll ruin everything. It'll ruin the group, everything we've worked so hard for --"Jiyeon nods, her eyes downcast. "It might. But this isn't good for you, eonni. You can't just keep stuff like this to yourself and expect it to go away.""I'm not, though. I've got you, Jiyeon-ah." Dabin says with a watery smile. "I'm really sorry I got us both sick."Dabin is surprised when she feels a feather-light peck on her forehead and she sees Jiyeon smiling at her. "Did you just...?""If you tell anyone, I'll deny it. They'll never believe you." Jiyeon sing-songs, sauntering back to her bed and switching on her tablet.
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Nancy's not having a good day. It's not exactly an uncommon thing; being an idol was fun and all, but it was also a ton of work - you had to smile through sleeplessness, hunger, annoyance, irritation, heartbreak -She takes a deep breath to calm herself. Normally, if she was feeling down in the dumps, she needed only to turn to one of the girls; Jungahn-eonni was always ready with advice, Ahin-eonni with a healthy snack to share and Dabin-eonni-Dabin-eonni. That was the problem, wasn't it?Nancy was suspecting something for a while and she knows she's young and she can be stupid and moody sometimes but - Dabin-eonni had been avoiding her. For a few weeks now. What did she do? She'd been racking her mind, trying to find out what Dabin-eonni was mad at her for, especially because Dabin-eonni wasn't exactly the passive-aggressive type and would've let anyone immediately know if they did something to piss her off. Nancy was angry at first - can't exactly apologize for something if she didn't know what she did, right? Every time she'd try to catch Dabin alone, she'd make up some lame excuse about being tired or dizzy or having a headache or -"Stupid," she grouses to herself in the empty hallway, glaring angrily at her reflection on the glass of the vending machine. She'd been stewing in her anger and of course, Hyebin-eonni noticed and sent her off to get a snack, chalking up her grumpiness to low blood sugar. Now, she has a precious half-hour break before they drive off to their next performance and she's wasting it having a staring contest with her reflection."What did I do?" she asks the vending machine, before shaking her head, feeling even dumber than before. Nancy knows she's being irrational - it's not Dabin -- Dabin-eonni's fault she's sick and as a result, is yet again unavailable to talk to. She misses Dabin.She knows how childish she's being, it's only been three and a half weeks, but she misses when it was her that Dabin-eonni used to talk to and confide to and kiss and call pretty.Now though - it was always Jane...Jane-eonni that Dabin hung around with; it was Jane-eonni who she always seemed to be talking to in hushed whispers, Jane-eonni who she tackled out of nowhere for a surprise kiss, not that Jane-eonni appreciated any of them.She feels awful because up until a short while ago, she considered Jane-eonni a super cool big sister, someone to look-up to and emulate. "Excuse me, are you using the machine?"Nancy startles out of her melancholy and locks eyes with the girl beside her. Everyone made such a huge fuss about her looking like Dabin-eonni but Nancy's never really taken the time to compare them -- Chou Tzuyu has the same aloof presence that Dabin-eonni could exude on command on-stage, but up close, they also both have a remarkably similar "deer-in-the-headlights" impression. Tzuyu bites her lip uncertainly and Nancy tilts her head, appreciating the action (it's nothing like when Dabin does it) before snapping to attention and bowing deeply."Sorry, Tzuyu-sunbaenim, I-I was just about -"She feels two hands on her shoulder and she looks up to see Tzuyu, eyes crinkled (Dabin's eyes were sharper, and they didn't crinkle the same way) and looking adorably flustered."No, it's alright. I was actually having some trouble deciding which snack to get."Nancy swallows and rubs her arm awkwardly; even if Jungahn-eonni insisted that Twice were all a bunch of dorks and weirdos just like them, it was still Twice-sunbaenim, the nation's girl group, allegedly generating enough revenue to keep JYP afloat for an entire decade. She's watched Sixteen, thank you very much, she's watched their various stages and "Heart-Shaker" had been totally her jam for a good week.She swallows, trying to maintain her composure. "I like the chocolate fish biscuits." Tzuyu's nose scrunches (...not the same...similar, but not the same). "I can't have any dairy. Diet season again."Nancy lets out an incredulous laugh. "Diet? You? No offense, sunbaenim, but are they insane?"She appreciates the way Tzuyu's face turns an especially fetching shade of pink, shaking her head. Feeling bold all of a sudden, Nancy makes her decision; she pulls out a crisp bill, inserts it in the machine, gives Tzuyu a bright smile and selects the shiny yellow package with a smiling fish in the front. The snack falls with a soft plop in the dispenser and Nancy takes the bag, beaming happily at Tzuyu."You want to share?" she asks with a sly grin. She arches her shoulders and flips her hair for effect, putting on a practiced smile, the kind that cameras zoom-in on. Tzuyu's eyes are fixed on the snack and Nancy takes the time to appreciate just how beautiful Chou Tzuyu is - Tzuyu, who is only a year older than her, who is here right now, talking to her, like a normal human being -"Share what?" Nancy feels herself lurch back into reality, bowing reflexively as she recognizes the owner of the new voice - Son Chaeyoung looks out of breath and runs up to Tzuyu, giving Nancy a cursory glance and stilted smile. Nancy feels herself blush when Chaeyoung puts a hand on the back of Tzuyu's neck, stands on her toes and kisses the taller girl straight on the mouth. Not a fanservice kiss either -- Nancy swears she sees Chaeyoung flick her tongue into Tzuyu's mouth and the quiet whine that emanates from Tzuyu does nothing to dissuade her suspicion. Chaeyoung grins at Nancy, a little too casually for her liking, bows and wraps an arm around Tzuyu's waist. "Hi, Nancy, right? I'm Chaeyoung. Jungahn talks about you guys a lot."A spark of irritation flares up in Nancy - she had been doing nothing but talk to Tzuyu and Chaeyoung's little possessive theatrics were getting on her nerves. She's about to open her mouth to say something when she feels a sharp pinch to her side."Yo, what's up?" Jungahn says, having seemingly materialized out of thin air, a smile on her face though Nancy knew she was going to get a serious telling off later if that pinch was any indication. "I see the maknaes have met. You kids playing nice?""Yes, we were, actually. Nancy was helping me with what snacks to get." Nancy stifles back a laugh; how Tzuyu could say things with a bright smile and sound threatening at the same time was incredible. Chaeyoung was looking profoundly embarrassed, her hand slipping off from its possessive grip on Tzuyu's slender waist. "Oh. Um...okay. So...Nancy, right? It's-it's nice to meet you. Jungan here's told me lots about you."Nancy feels another painful pinch from Jungahn and feels similarly embarrassed because Chaeyoung wasn't exactly being possessive for no-reason; she kind of really wants to disappear right about now, because she knows that Tzuyu knows she was flirting and likely was just distracted by the promise of forbidden snack foods to notice at the time. "Chaeyoung, I'll call you later alright? Gotta get back to the girls; Hyebin-eonni just called manager-oppa and he's coming in a few minutes." Jungahn says, one hand wrapping around Nancy's wrist. "Besides, I heard this area was haunted."The shorter girl rolls her eyes. "Psh, haunted, yeah right, I'll believe it when I see-""Oof!"They all scream as a tumble of black hair and black clothing rolls out of an adjacent janitor's closet. Even Tzuyu looks genuinely startled for a moment and moves to shield Chaeyoung from the unknown entity. Nancy feels Jungahn tug on her wrist, screaming at her to run and not look back.Of course, she does look back and sees the hair-demon untangle itself into two people. Both are wiping their lips, looking very flushed and very guilty. Nancy also notices a half-eaten box of Pepero on the ground, which a shiny black boot then attempts to kick away. She starts to calm down as she recognizes the black leather outfits from Dreamcatcher's stage earlier that day. One of the girls, the one who attempted to kick the box of Pepero, bows deeply. "Um...hi, please dream of -""Bora, shut up!" The other one hisses. "Sorry about that, we were -""Just about to leave!" Nancy watches in fascination as she sees Dreamcatcher's red-haired leader sprint from down the long hallway, grab her two members by the collar, force them to bow, before dragging them away in a flurry of apologies and whining. "So...we really have to go now." Tzuyu says after what seems like an eternity. "It was really nice to meet you, Nancy.""And what am I, chopped liver?" Jungahn grouses playfully. "We'll catch up later, alright Jungahn-unnie?" Chaeyoung says with a grin. She turns to Nancy with a guilty smile. "It was - I'm so - It was nice meeting you. Thank you for taking care of Tzuyu."Nancy bows, feeling herself flush with shame. "N-no, it's alright. I'm a big fan of your group, sunbaenim.""Just 'Chaeyoung' is fine. 'Chaeyoung-eonni' if you want." "...okay. It was great to meet you both!" "Alright, say it.""Hm? I'm not saying anything."Nancy lets out a huff and glares at Jungahn. "Just do it. Tell me I'm being stupid and immature.""Eh, don't worry about it. You're lucky I came along when I did. You kinda suck at flirting.""How long were you watching?!" Nancy now wishes the place really was haunted and the ground would open up and swallow her. To her utter mortification, Jungahn flips her hair, mimes holding something in her hand and makes eyes at her. "You want to share? I can feed you if you want.""I didn't say that!" Nancy yelps, feeling her face burn as Jungan bursts into laughter. "I wouldn't - what if someone saw? I'm not stupid.""Relax, it's not like anyone minds. I don't mind.""...you don't?""Nah." Jungahn says, throwing an arm around Nancy's shoulder, giving it a reassuring rub. "Trust me, I've seen my share of sapphic-lovefests and I'm getting kinda used to it.""Mmmf." Nancy says, swallowing a lump in her throat. She's not going to cry - she's held off for so long, what with Dabin avoiding her, Jane-eonni stealing Dabin away, her spectacularly bad attempt at flirting."Let it out kid. We've still got fifteen minutes." Jungahn says, rubbing soothing circles in her back and Nancy caves, sobbing quietly into Jungahn's shoulder. "I-I just...I miss Dabin-eonni," she sniffles, her voice muffled against Jungahn's chest. "Why-why is she avoiding me?! I don't even know what I did and now all sh-she does is hang out with Jane-eonni!""Shhh...it's alright. Have you talked with her?" Jungahn asks gently, using a thumb to wipe at Nancy's wet cheeks. "Does she know?""I-I tried...b-but she...she won't even look at me anymore. It's like she can't stand the sight of me these days!""Hmm. Let me give it a try. I'll talk to her first chance, I get.""N-no, eonni, she might get even angrier at me, I...I c-can't...I don't think I can handle...""Hush, I'll be subtle. We'll find out what going on. I promise. Okay?""O-okay."