"One more time, please!" the director says while focusing the camera onto Momo.
She's been busy with the shooting of her Performance-Project lately. Right now, it's 10 PM and Momo has been practicing for five hours. She has a shooting every second day, and between those days, she goes to the JYP building to practice her dancing. This routine started a few weeks ago and Momo never dares to miss a day. She wants to give her fans the best performance, even if it means that she has to dance until she faints.
"Cut!"
Momo holds her position for one more second before almost dropping onto the floor. She pants deeply, her legs barely holding her up as she tries to fix her breathing.
"Good work, Momo. We are done for today! Have a good rest of the night," the director says as the cameras get shut off one by one.
"You..." she takes a deep breath, "too."
Momo bows to the whole crew, thanking them between her hard panting, almost chocking choking on her words. Then, she drags herself to the changing room, totally exhausted. Momo thinks she has been getting more tired than usual lately, but she ignores it. She has convinced herself that she has to just deal with it.
In the room, she finally manages to catch her breath before changing out of her dancing clothes. However, as she's undressing in front of the mirror, she notices something she hasn't quite noticed before. My ribs are so visible.
Actually, Momo has always had ribs that are more on the visible side. She loves going to the gym to keep her beautiful form, and even building a six-pack. But it has never looked this extreme. It's too much. Also, her abs slightly faded away, leaving a flat stomach with easy to feel bones. She doesn't go to the gym that much anymore, so she wonders when she lost that much weight. Even though she's slightly worried, she convinces herself that it's nothing to be worried about. No one will notice. I have to keep on dancing. I can't give up now, right? I can't disappoint anyone.
After changing, she rushes to the studio's exit. Luckily, the apartment of their group isn't far away, so she walks and walks, her thoughts taking over her mind.
The members are scattered around the apartment. Nayeon is in her room, sleeping. Chaeyoung and Dahyun are in the kitchen, preparing snacks for their movie night. Right next to the kitchen is the living room, where the other five members are huddled up on the couch.
"Does anyone know at what time Momo is done with her shooting?" Jeongyeon asks.
The girls have been missing the dancer ever since her crazy schedule started. In the beginning, Momo always asked to leave a little earlier just so she could join the daily movie nights, but nowadays, Momo has not even been showing up for dinner, forget movie nights.
"She usually finishes at ten and arrives here by half past ten. She should be here soon," Dahyun says.
Dahyun knows Momo's daily routines. It's not a lie that she's been in worry about her girlfriend for a long time now. She always suggests Momo to not go all out during practice, and every time, Momo's reply is telling Dahyun that she already doesn't practice hard.
Who are you trying to fool? I know you're drenched in sweat and exhausted after those practices. You never know your limits. I hate that about you. Dahyun would never dare to say these thoughts out loud, not wanting to risk Momo getting sad. She avoids everything that would make the the older one upset, especially during these difficult times.