twelve.
. • -
《 right beside you 》
ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : Vanilla - KAI
1:45 ───ㅇ───── 3:29
⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻
{ POOL PARTY ATTIRE + HAIR }
AT LAST, the day that Jin had been looking forward to had come.
After an intense mission and the first elimination of the season, the remaining crews were presented with a chance to have some real rest and relaxation.
What better way to do so than with a pool party in their honor?
Jin couldn't remember the last time she had been to a pool, so to be able to go to one with all the other crews and her own crew was something that excited her.
It was their time to have harmless fun together. No competing, no fake drama, no real drama, just fun.
After everything that everyone had gone through during the K-pop Deathmatch Mission, this was certainly what they all needed.
Jin had gathered with the rest of her crewmates and changed into her swimsuit and cover-up clothing alongside them, then they all headed over to the location of the pool together.
Upon arriving, they found that they were the fourth crew to arrive. MANNEQUEEN, 1MILLION, and JAM REPUBLIC were already there.
Jin's eyes lit up with excitement almost instantly.
The pool was humongous, there were various floaties just waiting to be used, there was along wooden swing hovering over the pool, and last but not least, there were cabanas for each crew.
The place was gorgeous. Just looking at it filled Jin to the brim with feelings of eagerness and joy.
Some cheers came from the other crews as D-COY made their appearance, Jin chuckling silently to herself whilst her crewmates began to wave and pose before actually walking into the place.
"Oh my God!" R.2 exclaimed excitedly as she marveled at the large pool presented in front of her very eyes.
"It's so large." Gigi remarked.
"Look at all the floats and the water guns!" Yeong pointed out excitedly as she grinned widely.
"We're about to have a field day." Gigi chuckled.
"Walk with speed. The faster we get to our cabana, the faster we get to play." Jin told the girls, smiling a bit as she led them over to the cabana that had her crew's banners adorning it.
Once they made it, Jin's crewmates put down their items and began to take off their cover-ups rather quickly, as they all seemed quite eager to get in the pool.
Gigi took Yeong by the hand and immediately dragged her into the pool with her, both girls laughing happily as they swam around in the water.
Meanwhile, R.2 was quick to rush over to the pathway leading to the swing, a big smile plastered on her face as she began to lean back and forth while standing on the wooden surface.
"You're not going to swim, Soul?" Jin asked Soul, who was still sitting beside her at the cabana.
"No, I don't feel like it at the moment." Soul replied as she shook her head, gently kicking her feet in the water.
"Well then stand up. At least put some sunscreen on." Jin said as she stood up and held up a bottle of sunscreen.
"Right, I almost forgot." Soul said, giving a quick bow of appreciation before opening the bottle and putting some sunscreen on her hand before applying it to the most exposed parts of her body.
"I've got your back." Jin said as she took the bottle from Soul, squeezing some sunscreen onto her fingers before lathering Soul's back and the back of her legs with it.
"What about you? You're not going to swim either?" Soul asked as she rubbed up and down her left arm.
"I will in a minute." Jin replied, Soul giving her a nod of understanding.
"I'm going to go pick up some drinks." Soul said, snapping her fingers before pointing to where the cooler was, then she walked off.
Jin nodded and sat back down, holding a pillow on her lap as she waited for Soul to return.
Whilst waiting, she began to gaze at all the other crews who had arrived and as she did, she began to smile subconsciously. It was so nice to see everyone enjoying their break and having a good time.
Everyone was either swimming, relaxing, or playing with their water guns.
Jin felt like it was almost impossible to not bond over dance.
Even if they were all in a competition, dance was such a fun and amazing thing and it really brought people together.
Jin felt like this whole experience was healing her.
After a few seconds, she glanced at the water guns her and her crewmates took from home and she decided to pick one of them up, using water from the pool to fill it.
"Back." Soul said as she returned to the cabana with two sodas, holding one out to Jin.
"Thank you." Jin said appreciatively as she took the soda from Soul, who sat down beside her and sipped from her can.
The members of Wolf'Lo soon arrived, an eruption of coolness taking over the atmosphere due to their presence.
Jin couldn't help but chuckle at Baby Sleek's newfound aura. She seemed to be holding a bit of a sexy vibe to her as she moved. Perhaps it was the K-pop Mission that changed her.
"Are you excited for your 'bebe' to join the pool party?" Soul asked her teasing question in a casual tone before sipping her soda.
"Can you stop?" Jin asked her.
"I'm not doing anything. Just asking." Soul said nonchalantly as she smirked and kept drinking.
"All of you play too much." Jin mumbled with a sigh as she began to drink from her own can.
Soul glanced over at Jin while she was sipping and happened to spot the Kuromi bracelet adorning her wrist.
"Hey, that's a cute little charm on your bracelet." She remarked as she pointed at the bracelet. "Can I see?"
"Yeah." Jin said as she switched the hand she was using to hold her can, now giving her accessorized wrist to Soul for her to look at.
"Kuromi? That's cute. Is this a new bracelet?" Soul asked.
"Mm-hmm. I went shopping with Bada yesterday." Jin answered truthfully. Maybe a bit more truthfully than she should have.
"I demand your pardon?" Said Gigi, Jin looking down at the pool and spotting the girl floating by the edge of the pool, right in front of D-COY's cabana.
"Shopping?" Soul asked, meanwhile, Deep N Dap had just made their appearance at the pool.
"Yes. Relax. After the elimination battle, she asked me if I wanted to go somewhere with her and I agreed. She took me to a plaza, we shopped, ate, then she took me home. That's it." Jin explained calmly.
"That's it?" Yeong questioned as she swam over.
"That-- That's basically a date. That's basically a date." Gigi blurted quickly.
"No, it's not. Dates are for people who are dating." Jin said.
"Okay, but why do you think people ask other people who they aren't dating on dates? Because they want to date that person!" Yeong stated.
"Well, she didn't say she was asking me out on a date. We were just hanging out." Jin retorted, her expression unamused.
Soul then looked at Jin's bracelet again. "I think I've seen that design before on the internet. Doesn't it come with a My Melody one? Or was it the Cinnamoroll..? Ah..." Soul questioned.
"My Melody." Jin stated.
"Mmm, so if you have the Kuromi bracelet, does Bada have the My Melody bracelet?" Soul asked.
Jin inhaled as if she were about to say something, only to hold herself back quickly.
"She does, doesn't she?" Gigi asked loudly with her brows raised high.
"Okay, wait--" Jin began to say.
"Don't you know how common it is for couples to wear matching things?" Yeong asked with a smile and a laugh.
"Friends can have matching things..." Jin mumbled as she crossed her arms.
"Oh, my God!" Gigi groaned as she rolled her eyes.
A minute or so went by with the girls still debating whether or not Jin and Bada's time together at the mall should be classified as a date.
Then, the members of BEBE finally arrived to the pool party.
Jin peeked over at the entrance when she saw it opening, and she was pleasantly surprised to see BEBE entering while wearing shorts and matching checkered shirts, as well as small animal packs that contained water for their water guns.
Jin smiled instantly at the sight of them and the little bodyguard theme they had going on.
"Your girl is here." Gigi teased, Jin rolling her eyes at her.
After BEBE had finished setting up, there was an immediate attack on Bada, who was shielding her crewmates from all the water being splashed at them.
She ended up running away rather quickly though, leaving her crewmates to get soaked.
She did something similar when her crewmates all agreed to jump into the pool together one after another.
When it was her turn, she grinned and attempted to run away again, her crewmates all splashing her with water as a playful punishment.
Jin was smiling from ear to ear watching Bada, so much so that she had almost forgotten to get in the water herself.
Her crewmates had all dispersed to go play in the water and talk to other crews while she finished up her soda.
By the time she did, she had been approached by someone else. Someone that wasn't from her crew.
Jin happened to notice a presence in her peripheral vision, so she turned her head and looked over whilst grabbing the side of her sunglasses and pulling them down slightly.
"Hey, Jin." Greeted Bada as she stood in front of the leader of D-COY, waving her hands at her.
Wordlessly, Jin stood up and grabbed one of Bada's wrists, staring at it intensely while Bada's expression faltered.
"Uh, hello?" She spoke with evident confusion.
Jin looked and saw that Bada was still wearing her My Melody bracelet, to which she flicked the charm with her thumb to show Bada what she was looking at.
Jin then nodded and began to sit back down, up until Bada had grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her right back into her.
"No greeting? No 'hi'?" Bada asked with a chuckle as her arms wrapped around Jin, who was smiling slightly as she briefly looked to the side before looking up at Bada.
"Hi, Bada." Jin greeted her as she patted her arm gently.
"Do you want to play in the water with me?" Bada offered as she held up the water gun in her hand.
"Sure. Give me a second." Jin said as she stood up, taking off the button-down and the sweatpants she was wearing over her swimsuit.
Bada exclaimed and blinked rapidly before looking away briefly and scratching the back of her neck, waiting until the girl had folded her clothes and set them down.
As Jin turned to face Bada again, she was abruptly met with a splash of water to the face, Jin quick to exclaim and turn her head away.
"Bada..!" She yelped as she held her hands in front of her face, Bada grinning wickedly as she stopped the spraying of water temporarily.
Jin wiped her face with her hands, sighing through her nose. Then, she picked up her water gun and began to walk toward Bada.
"Hold on, hold on!" Bada laughed as she began to step back, shooting water at Jin again.
Jin used her free hand to shove Bada's gun away, throwing her aim off. Then, she started to fire water at Bada to return the attack, Bada squealing as she attempted to run away.
"Hey!" Jin called out to her, smiling as she began to chase Bada around the pool while firing her water gun.
Both girls had a little water gun battle as they circled around the pool, both of their crewmates attempting to assist them by splashing pool water on the opposing leader.
Jin's water gun soon ran out of ammo, but that somehow did not stop her from getting closer to Bada.
She continued to shoot the last few droplets of water in her gun until she was right in front of Bada, who was laughing devilishly as she continued to squirt water onto the girl.
Bada then exclaimed and shielded her head with her arms as Jin began to lightly wack her with her water gun.
Jin giggled quietly, seeing how she had successfully gotten Bada to turn her gaze away from her.
Taking her chance with the taller girl distracted, Jin dropped her water gun to the floor before throwing herself into Bada, tackling the girl into the pool.
Some playful exclaims and laughter was heard coming from the other crews as they witnessed the girls shrieking and crashing into the water.
When they resurfaced, their arms were around each other tightly, Bada pulling her sunglasses up to her forehead as she laughed while Jin pushed some of her wet hair out of her face.
Gigi and R.2 had taken notice of this, as Gigi had been pushing R.2 on the swing.
R.2 gasped before letting out a laugh as she pointed at the leaders and looked at Gigi, who's jaw was toward the floor.
"My eyes..." Jin mumbled with a chuckle as a grin spread across her lips, water droplets sliding down her face and dripping into her eyes.
"You poor thing." Bada teased her as she brought her hands up to Jin's face, using her thumbs to gently wipe her eyes while Jin held her by the waist.
"Bada, I can't see." Jin said as her hands frantically moved along Bada's back.
"Hold still." Bada chuckled as she wiped Jin's eyes a little bit more, trying her best to be careful. "Better?" She asked as Jin slowly opened her eyes.
"Mm-hmm." She hummed with a few nods to confirm her answer, her eyes fluttering as small bits of water fell from her eyelashes.
"Cute." Bada remarked playfully, Jin tilting her head with unamused expression before shoving Bada's arm.
Bada raised her brows at the girl's action before she did the same thing back, shoving Jin by her shoulder. Then, she began to splash a bit of water at her.
"Hey, hey, hey." Jin exclaimed with her hands out, Bada giggling at her. "Truce."
"Truce?" Bada asked as she kept splashing the shorter girl.
"Bada, truce!" Jin spoke more loudly as she waved her hands around.
"Okay, fine." Bada complied as she tossed her arms around Jin once more, Jin turning her head away as she smiled and reciprocated the gesture. "I'll come back for you." Bada threatened her playfully.
"And you'll lose." Jin said as she turned her head forward again, feeling Bada's body pressed against hers as they floated in the pool with their legs gently kicking the water. "Again."
"I didn't lose! You cheated!" Bada claimed.
"No. Uh-uh. No." Jin denied as she shook her head.
"Yes. Uh-huh. Yes." Bada retorted as she nodded her head in response to Jin, leaning just a bit closer to her.
Before Jin could say something else, a clear beach ball suddenly landed right beside her and Bada, causing her to flinch and grasp the taller girl tighter as her head went closer to her chest.
"Sorry!" Capri shouted as her and Soul waved their hands, asking for the ball back.
Bada lifted the ball and tossed it back toward the girls who were playing with it whilst Jin was gazing around, spotting a big seashell float that wasn't being used.
Abruptly, she took a deep breath and held it before sliding out from Bada's arms and swimming underwater.
"W-Wha... What..?" Bada exclaimed in confusion and surprise as she looked around rapidly.
She then spotted Jin resurfacing a few feet away from her, climbing onto the seashell float.
Jin took a moment to settle herself, shifting onto her back and propping herself up with her elbows as she gazed around to check on her crewmates.
They all seemed to be having a great time.
Soul was playing volleyball with some other crews and she was chatting up Capri a lot.
R.2 was playing on the swing with Harimu, laughing loudly with the energetic young girl from 1MILLION.
Gigi was having a water gun fight with some other crews, her hair and the backwards cap on her head completely soaked. She seemed to have taken a liking to Chocol of Wolf'Lo.
Yeong was chatting peacefully with some other crews while floating inside of a swimming ring. She was getting along with JAM REPUBLIC pretty well and she was using all of the English she knew while communicating with them.
Jin then heard some commotion coming from nearby and she looked over, spotting Kirsten laying on a pool float while people from other crews splashed water at her aggressively.
Redlic then came over and flipped Kirsten's floatie, causing her to fall into the water with a big splash.
Jin rose her brows at the sight and was quick to start using her hand to move her float farther away from the others.
Abruptly, she felt her float hit something behind her and she turned her head to look back, assuming that it was the edge of the pool.
"I told you I'd get you back!" Bada shouted as she slid her hands beneath the float in an effort to flip it over.
"Bada!" Jin shouted right before crashing into the water, some laughter emitting from other women as they witnessed Bada's attack.
Jin emerged from the water quickly, brushing her hair back before immediately splashing Bada with water.
Bada exclaimed and laughed as she turned her head away and began to splash Jin back, causing a large amount of water to spray around.
Whilst the girls were having their little splash fight, Yoonji had been swimming by and she let out an exclaim as some water got in her eye.
Bada noticed this and grinned as she began to shoot Yoonji with water from her gun, amusement filling her face as she goes for her next target.
Almost instantly, Yoonji turned her back on Bada before swinging her hands backwards, aggressively splashing her and Jin with water without holding back for a second.
"Hey! Hey!" Jin chuckled as she climbed back onto her floatie and pushed herself a few inches back, trying to escape the madness of Yoonji's attack.
"Coming through!" Yeong shouted, her legs dangling off the pool ring she was sitting on.
She sipped from the can of soda in her hand whilst her float slowly traveled by the girls of BEBE and MANNEQUEEN who were having their water war.
When the splashing had relaxed a bit more, Jin decided to push her float back over to Bada.
Sneaking up behind the girl, she grabbed her by the back of her shirt and shook her around aggressively, Bada yelping as she looked back at Jin and grinned.
"That is the last time you disrespect me." Jin said with a small smirk as she tugged Bada back, the taller girl sputtering slightly.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Bada shouted as she turned around to face Jin, grabbing Jin's arm and pulling her hand off her shirt. "I can still tip you over again." She said.
"I'll drown you." Jin threatened her.
"So violent." Bada exclaimed. "I'm not worried. I know you love me too much to kill me." She said teasingly as she folded her arms on top of Jin's leg and leaned her chin on one of her arms.
"Ugh." Jin groaned as she rolled her eyes jokingly.
"Ugh." Bada mocked her in a playful manner, rolling her eyes dramatically to imitate her.
Jin chuckled quietly and brought her hand over to Bada's face, lifting her sunglasses from over her eyes and placing them above her forehead.
Her eyes were then locked onto Bada's once they were in her view, Bada's lips curving upward into a smile as she stared back at Jin.
Jin's eyes traveled up and down Bada's face. They always seemed to dilate with adoration every time they were set on the leader of BEBE.
Jin slowly smiled as her hand went to Bada's cheek, her fingers brushing a strand of wet hair off her skin.
She could feel Bada's nails lightly running on her thigh as Bada turned her head and leaned her cheek against her arms, her touch sending tingles and sparks through Jin's body.
Her gaze that lingered on Bada swelled up with all the awe and admiration she had for her. Oh, how reckless she wished to be.
The weight of unspoken feelings loomed over them like a dark cloud on a rainy day, just waiting for its time to let loose. However, now was not that time.
Jin tore her eyes away from Bada and looked at over at some of the other women, which gave Bada the perfect opportunity to poke her in the stomach a little bit.
"Ah!" Jin exclaimed as she jumped and rapidly propped herself up with her elbows, Bada snickering quietly.
"You play too much." Jin said as she used her finger to playfully nudge Bada's forehead. "I'm hungry." She muttered.
"Come on then. Some fresh food just got put out." Bada said as she grabbed Jin's float before swimming toward the edge of the pool and pushing Jin's float along.
She then climbed out of the water and helped Jin out, guiding her over where the food was being cooked.
After Jin got herself a plate, she approached the table she had spotted Gigi eating at, sitting with her and eating the meal she had picked up.
Jin could hear the climatic peak of DJ Snake's 'Taki Taki' blaring from the small speaker Gigi had brought with her to the pool, her body instinctively swaying to the beat whilst she ate.
Bada smiled and stood beside Jin's chair, lip syncing a bit as she did some Latin dance moves where she stood.
Jin looked Bada up and down, chuckling as she turned her head away before getting up, unable to resist the opportunity to dance with her.
As she thought earlier, it was impossible to not bond over dance.
Bada cheered excitedly as her and Jin began to perform the same moves as one another, mirroring each other. Some of the other women cheered and some joined the two leaders in their dancing.
"Spin! Spin!" Bada said as she let go of Jin's hand, the girl doing a quick twirl around. "Ayy!" Bada cheered, Jin chuckling as she kept dancing, occasional picking up some of her food to bite while she moved.
The song soon switched to KAI's 'Vanilla' and a few cheers erupted here and there.
Some of the girls were dancing and singing along to the soft, smooth melody of the song, the aura having changed to fit the relaxing tune.
Gigi began to sing the lyrics from her seat, trying to be as loud as possible while waving her finger around to hype the other women up. Her vocal range was about as high as Harimu's, which says a lot.
Jin could feel her limbs moving involuntarily due to muscle memory kicking in. The choreography to the song was in her head the moment she heard the first few seconds.
Bada noticed her and enthusiastically joined her in her actions, singing along with her as both girls danced together.
Jin's lips began to curve up but she tried her best to hold herself back. Her joy was reaching its crescendo as Bada danced right beside her, the girls moving seamlessly together to the rhythm and the notes.
"This is your part!" Gigi exclaimed as she pointed at Bada before leaning her elbows against the table, eagerly leaning forward to watch Bada and Jin.
Bada chuckled and went along with the rest of the choreography, allowing her body to flow to the beat along with Jin's. Jin had to hold back a physical reaction.
At some point, Jin couldn't stop herself from chuckling silently as her and Bada got close and nodded in sync, which triggered Bada to giggle out loud. Hearing her laughter caused Jin to halt her dancing and turned her head away, muffling herself with her hand.
Bada grinned and bumped her arm against Jin's playfully.
After Jin finished her food, she gestured toward her cabana and told Bada that she was going to go rest for a bit.
Bada decided to walk her over despite it being a very short walk.
"Do your muscles still hurt a lot?" Bada asked Jin as they walked.
"Not a lot. They still feel a bit sore though." Jin answered truthfully.
"Mmm, I see. Should I give you a massage then?" Bada suggested teasingly.
"Tch..." Jin scoffed as she looked away and shook her head.
"It was a genuine offer." Bada said with her hands up in surrender.
"Oh?" Exclaimed Jin as she grabbed a towel and placed it over her shoulders before sitting down.
"You don't want?" Bada asked with a head tilt.
"Maybe if you hit me up later, I'll take you up on that offer." Jin replied as she placed a pillow on top of her lap.
Bada chuckled and nodded, giving Jin a salute with her two fingers before going off to join her own crewmates.
Jin's eyes followed her up until she was finally reconnected with her crew.
Soon, R.2 and Soul sat with Jin while Yeong and Gigi floated by the edge of the pool right by their cabana.
"You know, this pool party makes me nearly breaking my foot almost worth it." Gigi remarked.
"Almost?" Yeong asked.
"You try slamming your foot on the floor while wearing thin sneakers and tell me how you feel afterward." Gigi quipped, Yeong raising her hands in surrender as her elbows leaned against the edge of the pool.
"What is that?" Jin asked quietly whilst looking over at the big screen TV that was placed over at one side of the pool, causing her crewmates to do the same.
The screen had just been turned on and was now broadcasting.
"Hello, I'm Rie Hata."
"What?!" Yeong damn near yelled.
"They-- Rie Hata?" R.2 asked with wide eyes as Jin's brows rose.
"No-- I can't-- no!" Gigi exclaimed with a huge smile as she rapidly slapped Soul's leg in excitement.
"I'm here to tell you all about an important mission. The mission given to all of you who have survived this place is..." Rie trailed off before doing a little fake drumroll. "The Mega Crew Mission."
Everyone began to holler and cheer loudly now that the next mission was finally being revealed and announced to them.
"Well, welcome to hell." Soul muttered with a shrug whilst some women started to get closer to the TV.
Jin got up and decided to lead her crewmates over to the big screen as well, wanting to hear the announcement better.
"Mega Crew means a large performance with many crew members. For the Mega Crew Mission, we'll go to Korea as a judge." Rie added with a happy smile, causing the crews to all cheer again, some ladies even welcoming her already. "Now, let's start the Mega Crew Mission."
"This is gonna be hell. I'm just saying it now. That's what's gonna happen." Soul said as her and the rest of D-COY began to head back to their cabana.
"That could apply to every other competition though." Gigi stated.
"Yes, but I feel like the pressure is really high on this one. It's one thing to choreograph with your crew, it's another to choreograph with your crew and dozens of other people." Soul mentioned.
"She's right." Jin agreed as she nodded her head, looking down at her lap.
"Well you're not going to be alone in this, Jin. We're all here with you. We'll help you with anything you need." R.2 comforted Jin as she patted her shoulder.
"I know you will. Even then, we have to worry about a theme, who we're going to call up, how we're going to organize them... People probably expect a lot when it comes to this mission." Jin stated.
Yeong nodded before speaking. "We're going to ace it. Just have a little faith like you always do."
✾
𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚗