"You know, JaeJae, I still dance sometimes, so if you ever need help with your solo or anything, I'd be happy to look over it for you!" Yeonhee said cheerily, still clinging tightly to Jaehyun's arm.
"Uh thanks but I'm good. Also no one calls me JaeJae anymore." He said awkwardly.
"That's exactly why I call you JaeJae, it's our thing, remember?"
"Uh, no-"
"It's fine, let's go and check up on your solo, hmm?" She smiled, dragging him towards their practice room.
//
"So his girlfriend is really here now? After all that?" Jaemin asked as he tossed Hyemi her bottle.
"Yeah, right as I was starting to think there was a chance for us." She said, taking it from him with a grateful smile.
"Well don't give up hope yet, you never know what might happen, plus Yuta did say that their relationship is pretty rocky." He replied, pulling her to her feet.
"Yeah I guess...but I don't just want to be a rebound."
"True, you're so much better than that." He said with a nod. "Come on, dont get sad. Let's run this duo again to get your mind off of things." Jaemin continued, changing the subject as he turned on their music for the hip-hop duo they had started.
Hyemi smiled. She loved dancing with Jaemin. There wasn't the same chemistry as there was with Jaehyun, but he made her laugh and have fun. The two of them had a very similar dance style and it made their duets look so smooth. Their vibe and energy just hit different.
"Nice one!" Jaemin said once they had finished, high-fiving her. "I hope we make it to nationals, it would be so cool to compete this duo."
"I know right, we just have to do well at sectionals."
"Well-"
Jaemin cut off as the door opened, Jaehyun walking into the room. Hyemi instantly lit up, a smile on her face as she was about to greet him, but stopped once she heard obnoxious giggling coming from behind him and soon Yeonhee followed. Hyemi rolled her eyes, making eye contact with Jaemin who gave her a sympathetic glance.
"Hey, Hyemi. What are you two working on?" Jaehyun asked, breaking out into a smile once he saw her in the room.
"Oh, Jaemin and I were just working on a hip-hop duo for fun, just incase we need one for nationals." Hyemi replied, tossing Jaemin his towel.
"Aw that's so cute!" Yeonhee exclaimed, looking at Hyemi with a sickeningly sweet smile that was 100% fake. "You little first years think you're good enough to do a duo at nationals, aww. Let the good dancers handle that, sweetie." She said, patting Hyemi's head.
"I don't really like it when my boyfriend loses." She added under her breath with a glare, too quiet for Jaehyun to hear.
"Actually, Yeonhee, they're both-" Jaehyun started but Yeonhee cut him off again.
"It's so nice of you to let the first years compete, JaeJae, you were always such a sweetheart." She said, turning to him and clutching his arm again.
Hyemi's face hardened into a scowl as she stared at them. Jaemin noticed Hyemi's expression and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the door.
"Wait, where are you guys going?" Jaehyun asked, turning around so quick that Yeonhee stumbled off of him.
"Why does it matter, Jaejae, we're going to be busy since I'm gonna help you with your solo!" She said, quickly regripping onto him.
"We'll, uh, we'll leave you to your practice. Have fun together." Hyemi said bitterly, quickly turning to leave.
"Wait, Hyemi-!"
Hyemi door shut just as Jaehyun called out for her, quickly walking down the hallway with Jaemin.
"I'm sorry about that, Hye, that girl is terrible. I don't know how he stands her." Jaemin said, rubbing her arm.
"I don't know either but maybe that's what he likes. Maybe I was wrong..."
"Don't let yourself get too down, you never know. But if that's true, then it's his loss. He can go and f- hold on." He cut off as his phone was singing nonstop.
He quickly pulled it out of his pocket, reading the messages before looking at Hyemi with a guilty expression.
"What is it, Jaem?"
"Uh... I kinda, um, have a date with uh Yeji right now..." he stuttered out with red cheeks. Hyemi's eyes widened as a smile grew on her face.
"OH MY GOD YOU GUYS ARE DATING?!"
"Maybe... but I don't want to just leave you when-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, go!"
"A-are you sure? I can-"
"Nope. Go. I'll be fine! I'm so happy for you guys! Have fun! But not too much fun." He rolled his eyes as she shot him a wink, pushing him down the hallway to go and find her.
After Jaemin left, Hyemi was all alone, still excited for her friends, but alone nonetheless. With nothing left to do, especially since today happened to be their day off from practice, Hyemi went home to get in some much needed studying.
- - -
For the next few days, Yeonhee hung around. Having graduated and currently working as a model, she had time to spare and the school didn't mind having her around, so she followed Jaehyun everywhere.
She was at all of their practices, inserting her two-cents on everything they did. Hyemi thought she saw Jaehyun rolling his eyes and trying to brush her off, but Hyemi didn't know if it was real or just her hopeful mind tricking her.
Yeonhee constantly picked on her and Jaemin, talking down to them and annoying the hell out of Hyemi, but for the sake of teamwork, she kept her mouth shut. She saw that all her teammates hated the girl too, and constantly shot her and Jaemin sympathetic glances.
Hyemi had also yet to speak privately to Jaehyun again, every time she tried, Yeonhee interrupted them. She even stopped their usually morning meetups, instead getting permission from Taeyong to use his practice room since Yeonhee kept crashing her and Jaehyun's rehearsals.
It was about a week since Yeonhee had shown up, and Hyemi woke up early to go for a run before school. She put on her shoes, bidding a quick goodbye to Chaeyoung and the other girls before grabbing her bag and heading out.
She ran around the city, taking in the fresh air and giving her muscles some much needed stretching and exercise. After running for about five miles, she came to a stop to catch her breath. She looked around and noticed she was outside of the cafe that Jaehyun had taken her to.
Hearing her stomachs growling, she decided to stop in for a quick drink. After ordering, Hyemi walked over to a table by the window, quickly checking the time before pulling out her notebook to get some studying in.
"One cafe americano!"
"Oh, thank you-" as she looked up, she saw a familiar face looking down at her. "Jaehyun?"
"Hey. Is this seat taken?" He asked, pointing to the seat across from her.
"No, go right ahead." He smiled at her, pulling out the chair and taking a seat as she closed her notebook. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I saw you through the window and thought you could use some company, it's been a while since we talked. Have you been avoiding me?"
Hyemi's eyes widened at his question, quickly shaking her head to try snd play it off.
"Of course not, why would you think that?" She asked, putting down her drink.
"You stopped coming to our morning practices."
"Oh, uh, I haven't been getting much sleep because of school lately, so I haven't been able to get up as early. Sorry about that." She lied, hoping he wouldn't pick up on it.
"Hmm, thats funny, because I swore I've been hearing our group dance song coming from Taeyong's practice room..." Jaehyun said, staring her down.
Hyemi instantly tensed up, knowing he caught her as her cheeks reddened.
"Come on, Hyemi, I thought we agreed to tell eachother when stuff was bothering us, so what's up. Why have you been practicing on your own? Did I do something?" He asked, looking at her with genuine worry that made her heart flutter.
"No, it's not you just... look. It's not my place to tell you who to date or things like that, but I know I'm not the only one on the team who feels this way." She let out a sharp exhale.
Now or never.
"Yeonhee is horrible to practice with. I can't stand being around her. She's constantly picking on Jaemin and I, her choreo notes are terrible, she doesn't seem to know anything about technique, and her corrections make no sense. She's a distraction and is making everyone uncomfortable. I get that she's your girlfriend so you-"
"Wait, what? Yeonhee isn't my girlfriend." Jaehyun said, cutting her off and staring at her with a shocked expression.
"Huh? But she called you her... a-and the way she's acting with you..." Hyemi trailed off, still confused.
"She's my ex, Hyemi, and I've been trying to shake her for years. She's going to be gone in two days and she's so fucking annoyingly persistent that I just let her be."
"Oh..."
"Plus, there's someone else I like." He said, staring at her.
"Oh, uh, that's um... that's nice." Hyemi didn't know what to say.
"I'm sorry that she's been such a nuisance. Believe me that I can't wait to get rid of her too. And I'm sorry that she's gotten in the way of you and I. But I'll fix this."
"Jaehyun, it's fine. It's only two more days and-"
"It's not fine. She's getting in the way of our team's success and she's been making you uncomfortable. I'll fix this today. I promise." He said, smiling at her before offering her a hand to help her stand.
She took it, letting him pull her to her feet and drag her out of the shop. When they got outside, she expected him to let go of her hand, but he continued to grip it. Hyemi felt her cheeks heat up as they walked hand in hand back to school.