"Oh, JaeJae there you are!" Yeonhee approached Jaehyun and Hyemi as they walked into the practice room for morning rehearsals, the rest of the team already there and stretching.
"I was just getting the team all warmed up for you and- oh." Yeonhee cut off seeing Hyemi standing there. "Don't worry, Jaejae, I'll take care of this." She said, smiling at him and walking next to Hyemi, gripping her arm.
"Come on, little first year, dont bother Jaehyun, he's got actually important stuff to deal with." Hyemi cringed as Yeonhee pulled at her arm.
She rolled her eyes, releasing Jaehyun's hand while Yeonhee literally clawed at her. As Hyemi moved to take a step away from him, Jaehyun gripped her hand tighter, pulling her back to his side.
"Dont touch her, Yeonhee." He said with a low voice, getting the attention of everyone in the room.
"What? JaeJae, I just don't want her bothering you. Don't waste your time with-"
"The only one bothering me, is you." He said coldly, shutting the girl up.
"W-what?"
"I also heard that you've been telling people that I'm your boyfriend? How many more times do I need to tell you this , we are not getting back together. End of story."
"B-but Jaejae..."
"Enough, Yeonhee. You're distracting my team and making everyone uncomfortable. Please just leave." He said with an exasperated sigh.
"B-but what about sectionals? Don't you want my help? Your solo still needs work and the group dance is a mess-"
"I think we're doing just fine. I can run my team, believe me. And as far as my solo goes," he turned to smile down at Hyemi. "I have Hyemi."
"The little first year? Have you lost your mind? She can't even dance!"
Hyemi was getting pissed off and she couldn't hold her tongue anymore, steeping away from Jaehyun's side and walking straight up to Yeonhee.
"Okay, listen here you entitled, delusional, psycho bitch, I've heard enough. Don't come for me or my team when you can't even walk straight. If you think you're intimidating us, sorry to break it to but your not. All we see is a desperate girl who couldn't take a hint if her life depended on it. So get out. You're embarrassing yourself."
Yeonhee glared at Hyemi, her jaw dropped at the younger girl's words. Around the room, her teammates exchanged happy glances, smirking proudly at Hyemi for sticking up for herself.
"Jaejae! Are you really going to let her talk to me like that?" Yeonhee exclaimed, giving one final desperate look at Jaehyun.
He just smirked, walking up to Hyemi and throwing an arm around her shoulders.
"Yeah I am, because she's right. And, for the record, this little first year is ten times the dancer you ever were."
With a indignant huff, she turned, pouting as she stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. The room fell into silence as the member processed what had just happened.
"Damn, Hyemi, I didn't know you had that in you." Yuta said, breaking the silence.
Instantly all the others started chuckling and smiling, talking amongst one another.
"Thank god that bitch is gone, thanks for finally getting rid of her, Jaehyun." Sana said with a grateful smile.
"Don't thank me, thank Hyemi, she's the one who made me realize how much it was annoying y'all." He replied, looking down at her.
All the members cast her grateful smiles as they continued to warm up, Jaehyun leaving her side after giving her arm one final squeeze and going to stretch as well.
"Ooh so the plot thickens." Jaemin said, walking up to her with a playful smirk.
"Shut up...." she mumbled out with red cheeks.
"He kicked out that bitch for you. I think that's gotta mean something."
"He did it for everyone, not just me."
"Mhmm sure he did."
"Oh stop, let's go warm up." She said, rolling her eyes and dragging him to the side of the room.
- - -
"So, you showed up." Jaehyun said as Hyemi walked into the studio early the next morning.
"You asked so here I am." She relied, dropping her dance bag on the bench.
"I'm glad. I've really missed our mornings."
He replied, standing up from his stretches.
"Me too, it's been a long week."He smiled at her response as he walked up to her, staring into her eyes. "So, uh, you wanted me to take a look at your solo?"
"Oh, yeah right." He said quickly, snapping out of it. "With sectionals only two days away, I really need your final notes. I want to make sure Yeonhee didn't screw things up too badly."
The two of them laughed as Hyemi went to cue up his music.
"Well, damage control is one thing I can do. Let's see it."
- - -
"Thanks for all your help, Hyemi. I'm so glad that we reworked the beginning, Yeonhee's choreo was terrible." He said, taking the water bottle from her hand.
"You could say that again." Hyemi mumbled. "But it looks great. Definitely first place worthy."
"I hope so. But I'm feeling good about this. I think we're gonna do well this year."
"That makes one of us."
Jaehyun recoiled at her words, staring at her as if she was crazy.
"Oh come on, the group dance looks great! You're doing a great job, you have nothing to worry about." He said, playfully nudging her shoulder as the took a seat on the floor together.
"Have you even met me? That's basically all I ever do. Hyemi isn't Hyemi without uncontrollable nerves." She giggled out.
"Oh please, nothing is uncontrollable for you. You're one of the strongest people I know. Plus, I think we're gonna crush it." He said with a reassuring smile.
"Since when we're you this confident about sectionals? Wasn't it just a few weeks ago when you were literally freaking out about this?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Well that was before I saw the dances." He replied, rolling his eyes as if it was obvious. "I always get nervous early on because I don't know where we'll be in the future. If I knew that our dances were gonna look as good as they do, I wouldn't never panicked. I owe a lot of that to you."
"Well we wouldn't even be here without you. You're a way better captain that people give you credit for, you're literally the reason we do so well. I know you love it."
"I do." He nodded back. "And I know what it's like to be nervous for something when it matters a lot to you. I feel pretty confident, sure, but those nerves will always be there."
"I just hope they don't affect my performance. We all need to be on our A game."
"We will be. You're amazing, Hyemi. I say this as a friend, captain, snd fellow dancer. Don't doubt yourself."
Jaehyun saw the expression on her face and knew that, despite his words, she wasn't convinced. Hyemi tried her best to internalize what he was saying, but the doubts were still there, coming up with every possible situation gone wrong.
"Look, you trust me, right?" He said, lightly gripping onto her hand.
"Of course." She replied without hesitation.
"Then it's time to start trusting yourself. Because I do. And it takes a lot to earn my trust."
She smiled, looking away from him to hide her red cheeks as he rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand.
"And hey," he used his other hand to gently grab her chin, turning her head so she was looking right at him. "If you start to feel those nerves, just look at me. Think of us and this moment right now and know that I think the world of you, I wouldn't put you on that stage if I didn't. No matter what happens, I'm here for you. And I'll continue to be here for you, sectionals champions or not."
She felt her heart rate slow and her breathing relax, the feeling of nervousness slowly fading into the background as she stared into his eyes. Everything around her went silent and in that moment it was just the two of them. Neither one of them moved, the intensity of the moment drawing them into one another.
But of course it wouldn't last as Hyemi's phone began to ding. Instantly the two of them snapped out of it. Jaehyun moved his fingers from her chin and released her hand as she went to grab her phone.
It was just a text from her mom wishing her luck before sectionals since she didn't want to bother her the day of. Hyemi rolled her eyes with a smile, sending her mom a quick 'thanks' before putting her phone down.
"Sorry about that...." she trailed off as she walked back to Jaehyun, who was now standing.
"No worries, the others are gonna be here soon anyways. You feeling better?" He asked with a smile.
"Yeah, a bit."
"Good. And remember what I said, if you feel those nerves, just look at me. I'll always be rooting for you."