"Step left, step right, then turn. No, turn. Turn, Jinsol."
Fuck. Jinsol tries to execute the spin on the tip of her left toe, only to trip over her own feet again, catching the mirror to keep herself from falling. Through the reflection, she can see the dance instructor sigh, while the other members readjust their poses, pretending that they aren't frustrated at Jinsol's eighth attempt at the turn.
It's not even complicated. She's definitely done more difficult dances, but today—ugh. It's like she has two left feet and a serious case of brain fog. She hasn't been able to get anything right all day.
Frustrated, Jinsol slumps over, resting her hands on her knees.
"Let's take a break," the instructor says finally. She feels him pat her shoulder sympathetically. "I'll see all of you back in an hour."
The other members murmur in assent; they've been at it for five hours straight, and the better dancers like Hyejoo, Jungeun, Yerim, and Sooyoung are tired, their moves not as sharp as they were an hour ago.
Speaking of better dancers... Jinsol raises her eyes, her gaze meeting Sooyoung's through the mirror. There's a wrinkle between Sooyoung's brow, which Jinsol has come to recognise as irritation at not being able to progress as fast as she'd like. Well, too bad. The team is as strong as its weakest member, or whatever the CEO used to tell them predebut.
They stare at each other while the others file out through the door with their water bottles. She doesn't notice that someone's come up to her until Jiwoo's reflection covers her line of sight, making Jinsol jump.
"You okay?"
Jinsol shakes her head. The embarrassment of holding everyone back is still fresh in her mind, not to mention the annoyance that's written all over Sooyoung's face.
"I'm fine," she says. "It's just a bad day. I'm going to clear my mind a little; see you in an hour."
She hurries out of the practice room, brushing past Sooyoung as fast as she can, heading for the one place she knows she'll be left alone: her vocal room.
--
Or at least, that's what she thought.
"Can I come in?"
Jinsol jerks around from where she's been trying to watch dumb cat videos to clear her mind. Sooyoung is leaning against the doorframe—when had she opened the door?—head cocked curiously at her.
Jinsol's tempted to say no. All she wants is some time alone to not worry about the concert, not think about the new comeback song that's got her tripping over her own feet like she hadn't been dancing daily for the past seven years.
"Yeah," is what she says instead, something in the pit of her stomach stirring.
Sooyoung takes a step into Jinsol's vocal room and closes the door quietly behind her.
"Where are the others?"
"Lying around," Sooyoung says nonchalantly. "I think some of them might be on vlive for a bit."
They fall silent. Sooyoung is eyeing Jinsol with casual interest, as though her eyes haven't been on her since the first mistake of the night.
"You seem stressed," she says. "You okay?"
Jinsol sighs and turns around, showing Sooyoung her back. "If you're here to nag at me, I don't really want to hear it, okay?"
She's expecting Sooyoung to retort, or even tell Jinsol that she just needs to work harder and longer. Because that's how Sooyoung works—harder and longer until there's no one else who can do it better than her.
