Returning to the dorm for our last week of promotions, it felt like being back in middle school, going to a friend's place for a sleepover when I started to unpack my suitcases in the living room. The managers went to my dorm for me and brought me my suitcases back that held my clothes. While I unpacked, I played English songs through the tv and I suddenly froze up hearing the infamous intro for the song, Baby by Justin Bieber.
The next thing I heard were rushed footsteps and I burst out into laughter, seeing Chaeyoung run into living room. Just before the song officially started, I immediately stopped myself from laughing and started dancing with her.
"You know you love me! I know you care! Just shout whenever and I'll be there!" We weren't really singing, it was more of a screaming the lyrics until our lungs gave out.
By the time we reached the chorus, Nayeon and Jeongyeon walked out of their rooms, all complaining already without even looking at us.
"Be quiet!" Nayeon yelled and whined after. But of course, we didn't listen. So we just continued screaming the lyrics as they watched, scratching their ears every other second. When we got to the Ludacris' rap, Chaeyoung and I faced each other, moving our heads wildly. She actually rapped the whole thing I just yelled out gibberish, making the others in the room laugh.
The rap had passed and I inhaled before the chorus started again but as I did so, I started choking up because of how dry my throat's been.
"Ah! See what happens when you yell too much?" Jeongyeon started scolding me while Nayeon went to the kitchen to grab me a glass of water. The song still played and Chaeyoung fell to her knees, laughing hysterically at Jeongyeon and I.
"Thanks." I coughed once more as Nayeon handed me the glass. I took large gulps and sighed in relief once I placed the glass back down.
"You aren't even done unpacking- why are you so slow?" Jeongyeon repeatedly made a tsk sound and gestured Chaeyoung to help her.
"You know, with each time you act like a mother, you really do remind me why so many of your fans have mommy issues." I commented and Nayeon laughed while Jeongyeon threw a pillow at me.
"Yah, help me with your things. Put them back to their original spots." Jeongyeon said as she pulled out a small pile of clothes out from the suitcase and handed it to me.
"Yes ma'am." I saluted her, holding the pile with one arm before walking to our room.
"Great performance by the way." Momo commented the moment I walked inside. She had laid back on her bed while she held her phone near in front of her face. I chuckled, looking at her as I walked to the drawers.
"Why thank you. Nayeon was annoyed but Jeongyeon was the one to scold me." I chuckled and I pulled open the drawers, placing my shirts inside.
"She wasn't too harsh on you was she?" I heard her get up from the bed and the next thing I saw were her arms wrapping around my waist and I felt the side of her head leaning against my back.
"No, no." I shook my head and she hummed in content.
"Good." She said and I closed the drawers. "You won't be gone for too long will you?" She muttered and I looked at the wall.
"You can't put a due date on mental health eonnie." I chuckled as I turned around and she pulled her head away.
"I know... but still, I can't help it but miss you already just by thinking about it." She frowned, cupping my cheek with one hand and roaming the back of my head with her other.
"The same goes for me too." I sighed softly and now I realize how close we were. There was no way to describe exactly how comforting it felt when she massaged the back of my head. We stayed for a few more seconds and I eventually felt my eye lids slowly come down. Her hand that rested on my cheek made its way around my neck and the movement made me open my eyes once again. I saw the look in her eyes that she gave me and it was as if time had stopped for her.
"I don't know if this is the right time to tell you this..." She mumbled, looking into my eyes and I furrowed my brows.
"Tell me what?" I asked and she looked back up at me.
"I think what I'm doing is proof that actions speak louder than words." She chuckled, and pulled me closer to her.
All of a sudden, the door was knocked on and Momo pulled away from me rather quickly.
"Who is it?!" Momo asked in a loud tone so that she could be heard through the door. She was returning to her bed while I glanced over at her.
"It's Chaeyoung!" We heard from outside the door.
"And Sana!"
"And Sana's come to help also." Chaeyoung said and I walked over to the door, opening it.
I smiled softly as I watched them walk in and place the stacked piles of clothes they held into the drawers. When Sana had finished, she immediately turned around and tackled me into a hug.
"Do you have to go to Canada? There's so many countries that you could go back to." Sana pouted as she clung onto me.
"It's either my dad or my family members." I said and she looked up at me. Everybody knew just how bad my family really is. Both my mom's and dad's side. It wasn't just the dad's side this time.
"Good call." She nodded and I chuckled softly.
"And if you're worried about the time zones, you'll be fine, I always stay up until 5 anyway." I shrugged and she smacked my arm.
"Yah, don't do that okay? You know how worried I get whenever you stay up that late, especially when it's several nights in a row too." She said and I nodded. I glanced over at Momo and I noticed her looking back at me with a sentimental tone in her eyes. My smile dropped but as Sana looked up at me, I picked up my smile and turned back to her. I kissed her forehead and Sana let out a small squeal, her smile beaming.
——
"You do know Once will wonder why I'm not gonna join some shows of the tour for a while right?" I looked over at Yongjin as we played video games together in the living room.
"Once said they'll wait for Mina, they'll wait for you too." Yongjin said, glancing at me.
"Now missing the whole award show thing, I honestly could care less about a fake gold trophy being handed to me because a song I made earned me a million dollars." I chuckled as I shook my head. "What I'm worried about is how the girls will do when two members aren't active. You know how close we are."
"Where are you trying to go with this?" He asked, pausing our game.
"I know I'm leaving for my own good, but while I'm gone, please take extra care of the girls." I looked at him and he nodded.
"Hey." Nayeon walked out into the living room and I looked up at her while Yongjin resumed our game.
"You doing okay?" I asked her and she sat down on the couch behind me.
"Yeah, I'm just glad you're back with us right now." She answered, placing her hands on top of my shoulders. Yongjin and I were versing each other in a game named Tekken, the fight between us got exciting since we were both at low health. We tried cheating, pushing each other in hopes of getting the other to drop their controller. Nayeon laughed, entertained at our potentially dangerous tactics and after a few seconds, I finally beat him fairly this time and he laughed, falling to the side.
"Yeah!" I yelled and Nayeon laughed, seeing how excited I was. He laughed, putting the controller away and stood up from the floor.
"I'll just go to the bathroom." He told me and I nodded. When he had left the area, Nayeon then sat down beside me and I turned my head to her, looking away from the tv screen.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your dad by the way." She looked at me as she grabbed my arm and hung it over her shoulders.
"He's strong. He's only started recovery but he's gonna do everything he can to get back up on both of his feet as quick as possible." I shrugged, sitting closer to her as she leaned her head on my chest.
"It was always fun whenever he visited you." She commented and I held in my smile as the thought of an old memory came to me.
"Y/N! You got this!" I hear two loud voices, one coming from my friend Ava's and the other being from my dad. I held in my smile, not wanting to change my expressions right before our stage. The music started and the crowd in front of us cheered. To think this was my last stage before JYP had chosen who would be part of the debuting group or not, it was a bittersweet moment. I knew that I wasn't going to debut since I was too young to but getting the chance to finally come back home to my mom after school like most kids did rather than go to the trainee company made me feel better.
But we know how that turned out.
"You know, I'll be missing you a lot." She muttered, watching me fiddle around with the menu screen.
"Yeah, I'll be missing you a lot too." I smiled softly and she grabbed the controller from my hand. Then she grabbed my chin with her index fingers and thumb, turning my head to her.
"I'll wait for you." She told me and I looked into her eyes, getting nervous all of a sudden at how she looked at me. As if she was holding herself back and from the many times she kept glancing down at my lips, it was obvious what she wanted to do at that moment. Now, did she meant she would wait for me until I went back home? Or did she meant it as waiting for the right time for us to be together? I can only assume that if I had asked, she'd probably say both.
I felt my lips get dry and I subconsciously licked them. She pulled my chin towards her, ready to kiss me until we both heard footsteps. Nayeon immediately let go of me and I gulped, slowly pulling away from her and grabbed my controller.
"Y/N- what are you doing?" Jeongyeon said, noticing how we pulled away from each other just as she walked inside.
"She's mine." Jeongyeon looked at Nayeon and the older one started teasing her. Eventually, the two started fighting each other, and by fighting each other, they slapped their hands against each other like 4 year olds.
"Okay, I'm going to get food." I cleared my throat, pushing me off the ground as I exit out of the game and changed the tv from the console back to the last channel that Yongjin was watching from before. I saw Tzuyu walking there too and I smiled, seeing her.
"Ah, there you are." I walked to her, joining her at the kitchen and she looked over at me.
"Were you looking for me?" She asked and I shook my head.
"No, I just wanna get away from those two." I answered, gesturing to Nayeon and Jeongyeon who still were slapping their hands against each other. She chuckled in disbelief, watching the two eldest with a weirded out look on her face.
"Wanna come to my room? You can deal with those two later." Tzuyu said, grabbing some food from the fridge and I nodded. She walked away and I followed her. But before we reached the hallway, I tapped on her back and she turned around.
"Yeah?" She asked and I cupped my mouth with both of my hands.
"Jisoo eonni! Jeongyeon and Nayeon are annoying me again!" I yelled and ran to Tzuyu's room and I heard her laughing behind me.
"Yah! I told you two-..." We then heard Jihyo's loud voice the moment we entered the room and there we saw Dahyun laying on her bed.
"Just remind me to have you around when I need help to get Sana and Momo off me." Dahyun commented and I let out a small laugh, falling back on Tzuyu's bed. Tzuyu sat down beside me and handed me a bag of chips before holding onto her own.
After I had opened it and started to eat, I saw Tzuyu lean back against the wall. I laid the bag on my stomach and leaned back onto her, laying my head on her lap. I grabbed my phone and saw I had a text from my mom.
I'm so happy you're gonna go home take care of your father
I grinned, reading over the words and started typing back.
Yeah me too, you're fine with this again right?
Of course ❤️
I stared at my phone, continuing to place chips into my mouth.
To my surprise, Taehyun texted me.
ur mom told me u were coming to visit your dad WOOOOOOOOOO
I chuckled, reading his text as the sound of his voice flowed into my brain. It was just those types of texts where you really could hear someone's voice when reading their texts.
You still keep in touch with my mom?
Wait why do you even have her number in the first place?
I furrowed my brows, wondering why he had her number. He never talked much to my mom when we were kids.
it's a long story heh
I have all the time in the world
it was nothing weird i swear
Could've said literally anything else but okay
basically u changed ur number and so i wanted to get ur new one, so i texted ava and being the forgettable one like always, she gave me ur mom's number
Please don't tell me you texted her something embarrassing cause you thought it was me
no no i just said hey y/n and she said it was her and i was like oh shit so i asked her for ur number and she ended up giving it to me
You had me worried lmao
and that's the story lol
Okay okay I believe you
okay when u get here, i wanna surprise ava
All of a sudden?
she hates surprises but it's u! plus shes gonna cry and its great to film whenever she cries
Wow what a role model you are
ikr im so great
I'm assuming you're gonna be picking me up from the airport?
yeah :)
damn gtg i'll text u when im free idk
Okay okay bye
I set my phone aside and started eating the rest of my chips, finishing rather quickly.
"Who was that?" Tzuyu asked, looking down at me.
"Taehyun." I answered and she nodded.
"Wait, didn't a guy named Taehyun entered our fansign once and you two were scolded for being too loud?" Dahyun looked up from her phone and I stifled in my laughter at her memory's random timing.
"Yeah." I nodded.
As Taehyun sat in front of me, I sneaked one last glance at the female fan and I noticed him doing the same. We turned our heads to each other and burst out in laughter when we realized what we did. Our laughter was silent but we were hitting each other's arms.
"You were checking her out too right?" Taehyun asked and I nodded. My eyes were shut from laughing and I heard him laugh again as I smacked his arm.
I opened my eyes, my laugh dying down and he started calming down too. But as we looked at each other again, there was a second of calmness before we burst out into laughter again and I stood up, wanting to calm down as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, he lifted his knees up, pinning them against his chest as he laughed, pointing at me.
"Stop being so loud." One of the managers warned me and I quickly regained my composure, apologizing. I quickly sat back down and told Taehyun I got scolded.
"Oh, shit, sorry." He replied and I chuckled, waving it off.
To think him and Ava would be the two people to take care of me.