Soulmates - Cai Bing

5. Cat Eyes

Over the next few days, your mind was consumed with thoughts about Cai Bing. You couldn't stop thinking about her. You couldn't stop thinking about the evening you guys had shared.

It still blows your mind how easy it was to open up to her, especially when you rarely talk about your feelings with others. It was your first real conversation with her, but it felt like you had known her for years.

You couldn't wait for the connect mission d-day because all you wanted to do was to see her again.

Your heart drops when you remember how there's going to be a one month break after the connect mission is over. During the break, the show will air for the first time while voting for the first elimination round begins.

While you understood why the break was needed, you were bummed that it meant you wouldn't be able to see Cai Bing for a whole month.

At least they will get some rest you thought.

The whole car ride to Mnet studio, you were so excited!

You were looking forward to seeing the other trainees like You Dayeon, Kim Dayeon, Ziyin, Wen Zhe, Yurina, Xiaoting, Jiwon - literally all 99 of them. You bonded with a lot of the girls the day you stayed behind to help them. They felt like friends already due to the closeness in age.

But there was only one girl who you were dying to see. You were SO giddy at the thought of finally being able to see Cai Bing again.

You arrive at the studio. Once you drop your stuff off in your waiting room, you head straight to the stage area.

You're the first master to arrive so you have some free time before the final camera rehearsals start. You looked around for Cai Bing and the rest of the HYLT team but she doesn't seem to be here yet.

Someone comes and places their hand on your arm. You turn to look and it's Jiwon.

"Annyeong Jiwon ssi, have you been well?" you ask her.

"Ne~ I've been looking forward to seeing you again, what have you been up to? she responds.

Thinking about Cai Bing, you thought to yourself.

You continue to chat with Jiwon for a bit, not noticing that someone was staring right at you two.

"YAH what are they talking about?" Cai Bing asks her teammate, Xiaoting.

Why is she talking to my Y/N? I thought she wanted to see me again? Cai Bing furiously wondered.

You spotted Cai Bing talking to Xiaoting. You wanted to go to her immediately but you didn't want to be rude and just cut your conversation with Jiwon short.

Jiwon ends up leaving as she has to go meet up with her group. Before she goes, she asks you to speak casually with her. You agree and part ways.

The dance masters have now made their way to rehearsal, you say a silent blessing when it was announced that one of the vocal masters are running late.

You eagerly walk up behind Cai Bing and say hi. She greets you back but you notice that she isn't as cheerful as she was before. You make some small talk and you soon wonder and worry that something is wrong.

Oh no...does she not want to see me? you ask yourself.

You don't realize that she's actually just a little jealous of your conversation with Jiwon and how touchy and flirty Jiwon is with you.

You don't even realize that Jiwon has been flirting with you. Your members always tease you for being the most oblivious one in the group.

"Gwenchana (are you okay)?" you ask Cai Bing as you place your hand on her back. You see her soften up and you see her furrowed brows relax.

She replies and reassures you that she's fine. You guys begin chatting again, like you did the other night.

You each share what you've been up to the past few days. You guys have a nice catch up. You ask her how she's feeling for the performance and try your best to reassure her worries.

"You're going to do great, don't worry. You're a natural, just do it like how you've been practicing. Hwaiting" you say as you grab her hand and give it a squeeze.

Only this time, you didn't let go right after. You held onto it.

Before you can ask her another question, you hear the announcement that the final camera rehearsal was going to begin.

"It was so nice to talk to you again" you say to her. You wish her good luck and you give her hand one last squeeze before letting go.

You start walking to your seat where you and the masters will be monitoring the rehearsal. As you walk, you turn back around to see where Cai Bing went.

She's still standing where you left her, staring at you with those warm but killer cat eyes. You smile at her and your eyes meet. She smiles warmly back at you before she quickly turns away to head back to her team.

You greet the other masters and take a seat. The final camera rehearsal begins and you put all your focus into monitoring each stage. You jot down notes after each team's performance so you don't forget what feedback you want to give them.

Some teams did great while others had you a bit worried. After the rehearsal ends, you and the masters split up to find the trainees.

You guys wanted to give them some last minute tips before filming was going to start. You also wanted to give them more detailed and tailored feedback, specific to what struggles they were facing.

You guys could only give general feedback during the rehearsal but now you could take some time with each team and help them one last time before the mission starts.

You make your way through each team, giving them some last minute advice. You also wanted to keep them in high spirits and you didn't want them to lose their confidence. You reassured them that they would do great.

Above anything, you wanted them to enjoy the stage. You remind them that having fun and truly enjoying their performance was the most important thing.

It made you sad and worried when you remembered how this would be the last stage for a lot of these girls.

After a quick break, you guys get the announcement that the connect mission was going to begin shortly. You start to head over to the master's table but you spot Cai Bing not too far away.

You walk up to her quickly and put your arm around her.

"Don't be nervous, you're going to do great. Just try to enjoy it. I know I'll enjoy watching you perform. Every time I rewatch your first performance, I still go crazy over you. Jiayou (good luck)!" you say to her.

You pull her into you and you wrap your arms around her, hugging her tight.

For a split second, you almost gave her a peck on the cheek but you caught yourself and held back.

What was I just about to do? you asked yourself frantically.