mei silently watched as her friends solemnly entered in the hospital room she was staying in. turns out, her injuries were more severe than they've thought— the girl strained a few muscles due to how she forced herself to finish the entire performance and needed months to recover, which meant for the girl to sit out on the schedules until she fully recovers.
❝why do you guys look like the world ended?❞ she questioned her close friends carefully, slightly worried about their very noticeable disappointment and upset. the dong didn't really have the time to watch the live because of the constant check ups the nurses had done to her.
heejin plopped herself beside the older and gently wrapped her arms around her, tucking her face on the older's neck. ❝we lost.❞ haseul finally announced to their missing member on the finals, sitting on the couch with a sigh. the chinese raised an eyebrow at her words, petting the jeon's hair while at it. ❝lost?❞
❝we placed second.❞
meizhen suddenly grinned with enthusiasm after a moment of silence, surprising the girls because it is dong meizhen we are talking about. she doesn't smile nor show enthusiasm often. ❝hey, second place is impressive enough!❞ choi yerim pouted sadly and snuggled on the other side of the dong, finding comfort in the warmth of the figure skater. ❝but we wanted to go back here and tell you that we placed first..❞ mei gave a reassuring smile, looking at her members as well with a faint sense of pride.
❝second place is enough for me, i know enough that everyone did their best to prove that loona is loona to the public. it's fine even if we lost the first place, you all are satisfied with your performances, aren't you? also, don't we have more things to look forward to? the comeback and the usa world tour. so don't be disappointed, think more positively and you'll forget about it soon.❞
the dong shrugged her shoulders casually and lied down on the hospital bed, comfortable as she shifted her arms to embrace the two members beside her. ❝it's just the start for us.❞ mei smiled softly and threw a fist up in the air as if she was cheering, the others laughing and following soon with their whooping and cheering. laughters rang throughout the room whilst the chinese observed the now chattering and energised girls with a satisfied look.
as long as they were happy, she is too.
❝oh well, now that's over, i heard that the teaser will be released tomorrow?❞ the dong changed the subject completely, initiating a conversation with them once more. sooyoung hummed and drummed her fingers on the couch's arm rest, nodding in confirmation.
❝we've heard about it as well. i just hope that orbits likes it just as much as we do.❞ meizhen chuckled and bent slightly to reach for her blanket to cover her bandaged legs, only for jungeun and hyunjin to do it for her instead.
yeojin carefully fed the 98 liner a slice of apple they bought on the way, it was personally peeled and sliced into pieces by kahei. the chinese shook her head in slight disbelief and munched on the apple, sitting up once again; letting heejin and yerim take a much needed nap on the private room's bed peacefully.
❝i'm not that hurt for you guys to take care of me like this, you know? it's just my legs that is injured. and of course, they will like it, soo. since when did we have a bad album?❞
jeong jinsol slightly laughed at her words, responding. ❝it's rare for you to be this badly injured. let us take care of you for once in our life, zhen.❞ the other only waved her off, letting out a deep breath. ❝do whatever pleases you, sol.❞ jiwoo gave her another slice of apple after noticing that the one year older girl was done eating the previous one, to which she gratefully received.
