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"oh, good morning yoongi oppa." chaerin greets the male once she sees him enter the building. it was quite early, 6 am to be exact and the newly formed group are currently preparing for their upcoming debut, working hard on producing songs and dance practices. so far, they have started on the recordings of their songs, and today was the day were they will be practicing the choreography for their debut song titled 'no more dream'.
the boys have started to warm up to her, the awkward tension from before disappearing. they have gotten to a point where they would tease and play with her whereas before it was difficult to even strike a conversation. but out of all of them, yoongi hasn't let his guard down yet, refusing to accept that a girl is added to what was a boy group. he is mad at bighit's decision, but he couldn't do anything about it due to his desire to debut.
"morning," yoongi mumbled half-heartedly, not sparing the girl a glance before walking past her. the action he did is what he does everytime chaerin tries to talk to him. she is used to it, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt any less.
she sighed, turning away from the rapper. the girl's eyes then landed on hoseok's from the other side of the room. the both of them smiled bitterly.
•
"okay, so for this step we go 1, 2, 3 before pausing and then continue again with 1, 2, 3." hoseok explains, body moving with the numbers to show the steps.
the rest of the members move, some clumsily following the steps while some did it perfectly, already memorising the steps that are shown in the video. they separated from their original positions, wanting to perfect the movement before going back in to do it with the whole group. some like to practice without the mirror to focus on the rhythm of the song while some like to face the mirror, watching the way their body move and their expressions. chaerin preferred the latter. her eyes didn't move from her reflection in the mirror, inspecting her own dance to see if there's anything to improve. she had already memorized the steps since she had finished her recordings early.
once she is satisfied with the lack of errors in her dance, she helps the others who are still struggling with the dance. chaerin teaches the steps slowly, making sure that they understand it before covering the rest of the choreography.
a couple hours goes by. glancing to his watch, hoseok perks up and started clapping to get his friends' attention. "we should start dancing with the whole group. if possible, i want to get it over with quickly."
the rest agreed, getting into their positions and danced like they'd practiced. it was a little awkward listening to their own voices through the speakers but they got over it quickly. some time into the practice, the camera crew walked in. they wanted to film them practicing so that they'll be able to provide their fans with some new content. thankfully, the practice went well with little to no errors. although it was tiring, chaerin could feel herself having fun the longer the practice went on.
"okay let's take a break guys," the camera crew announced, allowing them to immediately plop down onto the floor, taking in the much needed air and rest from the multiple takes of the same video.
the group didn't hesitate to do so, gratefully taking the offer and laying down on their backs. they are drenched from head to toe in sweat and chaerin cringed at the feeling, wanting nothing more than to just shower. she search through her bag, pulling out a towel and dabbing it onto her skin. it didn't help much but at least it got rid of the annoying feeling of sweat on her face.
"rinnie-ya." jin called, passing a bottle of cold water to her. she thanked him, instantly downing the entire bottle.
jin perks up suddenly, slapping her arm in a way that told her to hurry. "look, look, look."
obeying jin's request, she follows the direction of his fingers, eyes landing on a familiar pale figure. he pulls out something out of his bag too, smiling at the item.
chaerin smiled wide at that.
"he's drinking that chocolate milk that you gave him this morning!" jin quietly squeals, shaking the girl's arm even more. she giggled, shaking his hands off of her.
"it's just a drink. he didn't even know i was the one who gave it to him."
it was true. chaerin would leave little gifts for yoongi throughout the whole week wether it was a simple chocolate bar or a sweet drink– usually flavoured milk. her observant eyes had noticed that yoongi had been stressed out a lot and she wants to take his mind off of it by giving him sweets and candies. she plans to keep it a secret since she knew that yoongi doesn't really like her that much and she didn't want to know what his reaction would be if he knew.
"i know, but leaving it by his backpack when he was rushing to leave was a smart move. he just grabbed everything he could and stuffed it into his bag." taehyung dutifully reports, sitting down beside chaerin and leaning his shoulders on her.
she shrugged. "it's still a wonder how he didn't ask who gave those to him."
"yoongi is a dumb butt, it'll take slower for him to realise." tae said, earning a hard slap on his thigh.
•
the next morning, the group are going through the same routine again; wake up, eat, practice, and go home. chaerin could feel herself becoming sluggish and sleep deprived since they only have a couple of hours to sleep before waking up early and coming back home late, but she doesn't complain. it's only the start of their career life and she wouldn't want to have it any other way.
she made sure to wake up a couple minutes earlier than yoongi so that she wouldn't get caught. typing in the passcode to the boys' apartment, she slipped in as quietly as she could. their apartment was left the way it was yesterday and she noticed yoongi's bag on the kitchen counter. placing a carton of cold chocolate milk strategically against his duffle bag, chaerin tip toed out of their apartment and out of the front door, now on her way to the company.
seokjin came out of his room seconds later, rubbing his sleep-ridden eyes. he walked over to the kitchen for a glass of water before he got ready for the day. on the way, his legs stumbled a bit here and there, sleep still clouding his vision like a thick fog. jin cursed inwardly when his legs got caught in the rug that resulted in him tripping forward. acting fast, he grips onto the marble countertop, but not before knocking over an item on it. glancing over the small space, he noticed the beverage that chaerin had placed near the rapper's bag laying on the floor. he picked it up.
'this must be from chaerin.' jin thought.
"oh it was you, hyung?" a groggy voice sounded from behind him. turning, his eyes land on yoongi's bare face, a surprised look crossing his features.
"huh?" jin's eyebrows furrow. the younger gestures to the carton of milk in his hands.
"was it you who have been giving me random treats these past few weeks?" yoongi steps closer, eyes trained on the item in his hyung's hand.
the older's expression morphed into an understanding one. "ah! no, no. it wasn't me, this is from rinnie-ya. she's the one who has been giving you these."
yoongi stills. it was from chaerin?
"why didn't she tell me?" he is conflicted. at one hand, he is extremely grateful for those little gestures of kindness since it did bring a smile to his face. but on the other hand, he felt guilty for ignoring and despising her when all she ever did was being kind to him.
"since you dislike her that much, i can already see your reaction if she gave it to you face to face." jin retorted, crossing his arms. that made him feel even more guilty. the fact that she willingly buys him all these treats with her own money despite her not having that much savings to begin with is something that yoongi couldn't look past.
sometime later, the group are now in the company's practice room.
"what're you doing, yoongi hyung?" hoseok greets, taking the spot next to him. yoongi could see the sweat trailing down the younger's neck as he fanned himself with a mini portable fan. the group are taking a break from practice, cooling down from the intense work. most of them are gulping down bottles of water while some are sitting down, like him. he watched as the only girl member in the group, chaerin, continued practicing. she works hard on getting every step right, refusing to stop until she's satisfied.
"nothing." he replies, taking a sip of the chocolate milk from chaerin. he noticed her eyes shifting over to him through the reflection, eyeing the beverage in his hands for a split second before focusing back on her dance. it was short, but yoongi could catch the small smile on her lips. she's probably happy that i'm drinking it.
chaerin stayed in her final pose of the dance for a while, catching her breath. she looks up from her position on the ground to see jungkook running over to her at full speed.
her eyes widened. "jungko–"
the male crashed into her. it wasn't a hard hit, but the force was enough to push them both onto the ground. luckily, jungkook managed to cover the back of her head with his hands before it hit the ground so that she wouldn't hurt her head. chaerin groaned but jungkook just smiled, hands wrapping around her smaller form.
"thank you for the snacks, noona! those are my favourite!" he shouted, clinging onto her tighter. his words catched the attention of the others who immediately began shouting as well.
"wait, what!"
"where's my snacks?"
"so unfair, rin!"
the said girl groaned again, removing jungkook's hands from her. she didn't get a second to cherish her freedom before someone wrapped their arms around her again, trapping her against their chest.
it was jimin this time.
"how come you never bought me snacks?" he whined. the other boys watched them, anticipating her answer. chaerin sighed.
"jungkook said those favourite snacks of his are rare to find so when i saw them the other day, i had to buy it. who knows when we'll find it again."
jimin just tighten his hold around her shoulders. "but what about me!"
"i ain't buying snacks for you. get it yourself."
the boy necked her, causing chaos when chaerin turned around and chased him to get revenge. jin and namjoon try to calm the situation while being hypocrites by shouting, adding into the loudness. taehyung, jungkook and hoseok cheered, egging the pair on.
yoongi just stared at the milk carton in his hands.
•
"you're going back home now, hyung?"
the question made yoongi turn around, seeing namjoon's head peeking out from the doorframe. he nodded.
"yeah, my work is done. what about you?" namjoon sheepishly smiled at his words. he steps out from his previous position from the door, revealing himself fully to the male. his hands rubbed the back of his neck.
"no, i was procastinating." he admits.
yoongi chuckled. "well, that's your problem. i'm gonna go now, don't stay here too late."
walking along the hallway, it felt a little scary since the building is empty– besides the few that stayed back – and the usual chitter chatter of the workers gone, leaving an eerie feeling to the work floor. yoongi could feel the goosebumps rising on his skin when he heard a sound similar to that of someone crying and sniffling. he didn't remember namjoon watching any kind of drama, and he certainly wouldn't produce a song with those sounds as the background– at least not without him knowing.
yoongi slowly turns his head towards the door closest to him. he could almost cry tears of relief when he saw someone through the slight crack of the door. the room was well lit, and it didn't give off a bad vibe to him so he carefully walked closer, observing the scene. the rapper recognised the person to be chaerin, her head tucked away in her knees. she seems to be crying, sniffling softly every now and then.
he hesitated before walking in. the girl looks up when she hears the door pushed open. her brown eyes widen once she sees yoongi standing at the entrance.
"o-oh, yoongi oppa. what are you doing here?" she wipes the tears away, mustering a crooked smile. yoongi sighed, crossing the room to sit beside her.
chaerin couldn't be more shocked when he rubs her back gently, in a way to comfort her. she stares up at him weirdly. he wouldn't even spare her a glance before and now he is sitting here, rubbing her back. yoongi notice the look she's giving him.
"i– uh, heard you crying from the hallway. i came to check up on you,"
she sniffles. "thank you, but..why? i thought you didn't like me."
yoongi nod slowly, hands now soothing down her hair. "i did, but it was because of a stupid reason. i'm older than you, yet i still act so childish. i'm sorry if i hurt you with the way i act,"
his words made the tears that she was holding in before to flow out, now crying even harder. yoongi panicked, thinking that he had made her cry.
"u-uh chaerin? please don't cry. is it because of me? i'm sorry if it's something i said." his hands hover over her shoulders in a wordless panic. the tears didn't seem to stop. yoongi tries to think of ways to calm her down. he's not very good at comforting people.
chaerin finally looks up from her knees, her tears stroking her cheeks. she opens her arms.
"can i hug you?" the girl asked, voice hoarse from crying. he stumbles back a little from the strange request.
for a while, yoongi hesitated before nodding, albeit a little awkwardly. he slowly wraps his arms around her torso, his body a distance away from hers. chaerin closed the distance, laying her head on his shoulder.
the rapper began humming a random melody, copying what his mother used to do to him when he was little. although a little out of tune, it was still comforting to hear. her body feels warm, and he begin to feel a bit comfortable, wrapping his arms around her tighter.
"you're not that bad." his voice was barely audible as he spoke into her hair.
➵
soft yoongi uwu.