A/N: It's kinda hard trying to keep things within the proper timeline since this is the first time I made a fanfic that doesn't already have a plot that I can just follow and change to suit how I want my story to progress. I wanted the events from the timeline to be close to exact since I want this fanfic to be as realistic as possible but this is proving to be impossible since I've only joined the fandom like a month ago. Thus, I still have a lot to learn especially when it comes to TWICE so I apologize beforehand for any inconsistencies that might pop up.
...
Washing her hands on the sink, Jeongyeon was fixated on the mirror in front of her. She dried her hands with a towel hanging from the rack to her left then ran a hand through her long, blonde hair. No one was around yet as they were still out and about, they might still be in the salon or doing their own errands.
She had just come straight back from the salon. Her hair had grown long during the absence of Mina and she decided to keep it at that length. What she changed, however, was the color. Dying her hair blonde wasn't anything new, she'd had the same color before but now it looked different on her somehow and not just because of the length. She couldn't quite put a finger on what was different, though.
She was snapped out of her musings when she heard the bathroom door slightly open. From the mirror, she saw a head peak through the door, wearing a toothy grin and was immediately floored.
It was Nayeon. Still grinning, she opened the door wider to give Jeongyeon a better look at her and gave a twirl, obviously showing off her new look.
The last time Jeongyeon saw her, they were together as a group in the salon, getting their hair done before they start filming for their comeback. Nayeon had still been in the waiting area, content to let her other members go first and just flipping through fashion magazines. When Jeongyeon was done with her hair, she had opted to go home right away to clean their dorm which the others had left in quite a state that Jeongyeon couldn't think of anything else while she was getting her hair done. So she wasn't able to see what Nayeon would have looked like after cutting her hair.
Jeongyeon turned around with a stupefied expression on her face. She couldn't help but think that seeing Nayeon in person made her look ten times better, if that was even possible.
It was obvious she just came from the salon as the long hair Jeongyeon was so used to seeing was gone, replaced by a shorter above-the-shoulder length style along with side bangs that frame her forehead rather perfectly. She was wearing a simple, form-fitting white dress she had obviously just bought.
Jeongyeon may not be the type to fall in love just by looks... but damn, she felt herself fall harder. She looks perfect, she thought.
Nayeon's grin widened at the sight of a gaping Jeongyeon. "So? What do you think?"
"You-" Jeongyeon's voice had been embarrassingly raspy as she spoke so she cleared her throat before trying again. "Y-You look fine."
Nayeon gave a pout at that and hit her arm lightly. "Ya! Is that all you can say?"
Jeongyeon rolled her eyes. She was thankful for that, though, as Nayeon acting like that finally gave her the confidence to say what was really on her mind. "Arasseo. You look really pretty."
The bunny smirked arrogantly and brushed her hair off her face in a flirty way. "Don't I always?"
Jeongyeon scoffed and raised a brow at the older girl's antics. "Then why bother asking?"
"I already know I'm pretty, I just wanted to make sure you knew it, too."
Jeongyeon laughed out loud at that, wheezing. "Ya, why are you always so full of yourself?"
Nayeon just stuck her tongue out in response. Jeongyeon clicked hers, muttering, "Childish, too."
She was then surprised as Nayeon stepped closer towards her and leaned closer to her face. Jeongyeon leaned her head back so their faces would be inches away rather than centimeters away. Her heart began to beat wildly at the close proximity and she could feel her face heat up. She turned her head to the side so Nayeon wouldn't see her face reddening but the latter grabbed her chin to look into her eyes.
"M-Mwoya?" Jeongyeon tried to say in a firm voice but she ended up stuttering.
Finally, Nayeon let go of her face and leaned back. However, she began to caress some strands of Jeongyeon's blonde hair that went over her shoulder. Nayeon smiled at her while still looking into her eyes and said, "You look really good in blonde."
Jeongyeon blushed harder at the compliment and coughed awkwardly. Turning away from Nayeon, she cleared her throat and said, "G-Gomawo."
Nayeon giggled at her and pinched her cheek. "You're cute when you're shy."
Jeongyeon brushed her hand away, frowning then sidestepped her to exit the bathroom. Nayeon followed her out, stating, "By the way, they want us in the dining room, we ordered jokbal and ramyeon."
"Arasseo... wait, don't you need to change first, though?"
"Oh... right." Nayeon chuckled sheepishly.
"Come on, let's go to your room. I'll wait for you."
She followed Nayeon out of the room and into the big room where Nayeon stayed. She sat on the latter's bed and grabbed Kkaeng-i, Nayeon's stuffed bunny, hugging it. "Annyeong, Kkaeng-i! How have you been?"
While Jeongyeon was talking to the stuffed toy, Nayeon had pulled out a pair of grey sweatpants and a white oversized shirt from her closet then disappeared into the bathroom to change.
Once she had gone, Jeongyeon addressed Kkaeng-i in a lower tone of voice, "Kkaeng-i, don't be mad, but... I really like your Nayeonie." She then grinned, feeling sheepish talking to a toy but continued, "What do you think would happen if I confessed?" She stared into the bunny's beady little eyes, as if expecting it to answer.
She stayed like that for a few moments before Nayeon's voice pierced her musings. "Ya, don't stare at him like that. He might melt."
Jeongyeon turned to look at her, slightly startled. She hadn't noticed Nayeon come out of the bathroom, already changed and holding onto her discarded dress. Even when wearing simple, everyday clothes, Jeongyeon found her breathtaking. This was again one of the things she liked about Nayeon. She is never unattractive... at least in her eyes.
Looking away before Nayeon noticed she had stared at her a little too long, she cleared her throat. "Gaja, I'm hungry." And without waiting for Nayeon's reply, she gently placed Kkaeng-i on the bed and left the room.
Nayeon scratched her head, frowning. She looked at Kkaeng-i on her bed. "What's up with her?"
She was met with silence.
...
They were in the packed changing room on standby. It was the second day of filming for their music video and everyone was still vibrating with eagerness from the first day.
Tzuyu and Momo had just finished their unit filming and had returned to the changing room. The next to film were Dahyun and Jihyo so they exited the room. Since Jeongyeon was bored just waiting in her chair, she and Momo decided to spectate the unit filming and followed after Dahyun and Jihyo into the set. Standing near the director's lounge, they were chatting with the managers when she sensed someone approaching them from behind.
"Ahh!" Nayeon appeared beside her, trying to scare them and only succeeding halfway.
Momo screamed in fright. "Unnie!" she howled, scowling at the oldest member and stomping away. Nayeon just laughed loudly at her.
Jeongyeon, however, was unfazed. She had already anticipated the jumpscare as she noticed the managers glance behind her and smirk. She just turned to look at Nayeon with an unimpressed expression.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked the bubbly girl.
"Nothing," Nayeon replied, smiling playfully and swaying, obviously doing another aegyo.
Jeongyeon snorted. "You look drunk doing that," she teased and snickered at her own quip.
Nayeon's smile instantly disappeared from her face and she slapped Jeongyeon's arm. She then turned away, pouting, and crossed her arms. Jeongyeon laughed once again before wrapping her arms around Nayeon's waist.
"Arasseo, arasseo. Mianhe, Nayeonie," she cooed, rubbing her cheek against Nayeon's.
The bunny just ignored her, still pouting. Internally laughing, Jeongyeon decided to play along and sighed in a theatrical manner. "Mianhe. What can I do to make you forgive me?"
Nayeon turned her head to look at her with a gleam in her eyes. "Ppo-ppo," she murmured, pointing to her cheek.
Jeongyeon couldn't help but burst out in laughter. She let go of Nayeon's waist to clutch at her abdomen which was aching from laughing. Nayeon whined at her and slapped her arm a few times, making Jeongyeon shrink away, still laughing.
Soon, the director had announced that they were going to start filming and she slowly lost her laugh. She turned to look at the set and instantly froze. She had to grab the chair in front of her, feeling her knees go weak. The crew had brought in a rather large white horse and she vaguely remembered them mentioning it's name was Maximus. But Jeongyeon couldn't bring herself to care about it's name.
She could almost feel a slight ache on her left leg and had the urge to rub the dent that she had received there. Ever since a certain incident a few years ago, she had been terrified of horses. She completely forgot that they were going to bring a horse on set. The staff had already mentioned it beforehand so she could avoid the horse during filming, knowing that Jeongyeon was going to be uneasy around it.
She felt someone grasp her hand. She turned to look at who it was and saw Nayeon looking at her, worried. The older girl must have sensed her fear and anxiety as she began to pull her towards their changing room, ignoring the concerned queries of Momo and the staff around them. Upon entering the room, Nayeon had her sit down on the couch and handed her a bottle of water which Jeongyeon gratefully took. While drinking, Nayeon was rubbing her back soothingly and squeezed her hand.
Once she had stopped drinking, Nayeon asked, "Gwaenchanha?"
Jeongyeon nodded shakily, smiling. "Gomawo, unnie."
The exchange hadn't gone unnoticed by the other members. Sana approached the two with a frown on her face. "Unnie, what's wrong?" Chaeyoung, Mina, and Tzuyu who were nearby had heard the exchange turned their attention to them.
Nayeon wrapped an arm around Jeongyeon's waist as she answered, "She saw the horse."
Sana gasped a little then sat down beside Jeongyeon and pulled her in for a hug. "Uljima, Jeongyeon-ah!"
Jeongyeon slightly pulled away from her and retorted, "Ya, I'm not crying!"
Tzuyu and Chaeyoung didn't bother approaching them. Tzuyu couldn't even if she wanted to as she was in the middle of having her hair fixed but was looking anxiously at Jeongyeon from the mirror in front of her.
Chaeyoung, however, had a slightly indifferent reaction to them and scoffed. "Aish, hyung, you already knew they were going to bring in the horse for Dahyun-unnie and Jihyo-unnie's unit filming. Why did you go out there?" This earned her a slap on the shoulder from Mina.
"Chaeyoung-ah, can't you spare some compassion for Jeongyeon-unnie? She looks really shaken up," Mina chided, sitting on the coffee table in front of Jeongyeon.
She then grabbed some tissues out of a box one of the staff handed to her and wiped a bead of sweat from Jeongyeon's forehead. The action surprised Jeongyeon, making her flinch a little, as she hadn't noticed she was sweating. After a second of recollecting herself, Jeongyeon shook her head at them. "A-Aniyo. You don't need to worry about me."
"Are you sure?" Nayeon asked, brushing a strand of Jeongyeon's blonde hair from her brow.
"Ne. I-It just startled me, that's all. I'll be fine, I promise," Jeongyeon nearly begged, hoping they'd just drop the issue. She couldn't bear to look at them. She didn't want to see the look of pity on their faces. She was known as one of the most dauntless in TWICE and for good reason. She felt embarrassed for them to see this weaker side of hers. Don't get her wrong, she liked being shown compassion as much as any other person. She rarely needed it though so whenever she was being shown this much attention, it makes her short-circuit.
Come on. Suck it up, Yoo, she admonished herself. Don't let them see you like this.
Nayeon, Mina, and Sana glanced towards each other with matching frowns on their faces. Mina had then shot Chaeyoung a rather pointed look to which the latter responded with an apologetic smile.
The reason why Chaeyoung seemed to be unbothered by Jeongyeon's current predicament was the fact that she knew Jeongyeon was tough and resilient. She really wanted to comfort her No Jam hyung but figured Nayeon, Mina, and Sana worrying about her was enough. It didn't mean she liked playing the bad guy, though, especially in this kind of situation.
Tzuyu, on the other hand- after seeing three of her unnies fretting over Jeongyeon- decided that everything was being taken care of and returned to being the unbothered queen that she is.
Jeongyeon abruptly stood up, startling the three girls surrounding her as she sniffed and wiped her clammy hands on her outfit. She gave them a smile that was obviously forced and stammered, "I-I'm just going to the restroom." And with that, she left without giving them a chance to protest.
Sana attempted to follow her but Nayeon grabbed her arm and shook her head. "Ani. Let's give her some space for now."
As Sana sat back down on the couch, they all stared at the door from which Jeongyeon exited. Nayeon brought her hand to her chest, her heart beginning to feel uneasy with worry for her friend.
I really hope you're okay, Jeongie, she thought.