She Said, You Can Ruin Me

Friendly Crush

Exy realized something had changed since the night she stayed at Moonbyul's apartment.

She remembered everything about that night. Although, the memory returned to her slowly, not the day after, but five days after.

They filmed another episode of Second World and kept friendly interaction with each other. But Exy can feel Moonbyul actively pursuing friendship with other contestants, as if she was trying to level out her friendliness equally to everyone.

During the first filming after that night, Exy was anxious to meet Moonbyul. She was very surprised to receive a warm hug and happy chatter from her senior. She felt relief and engaged in enthusiastic conversation about the competition.

But after Moonbyul loss in this round, she knew she can't hang out again with the disappointing atmosphere surrounding her sunbae. It was confirmed later by text, when Exy asked Moonbyul out for a hangout, but got turned down because the latter wanted to focus on practice to get a better result on the next performance.

So another week passed by without much interaction with Moonbyul.

By the time they filmed the semi-final episode of Second World, Exy felt she might not be that special to Moonbyul after all.

She heard from the dressing room gossip that Jimin had a fun night out with Moonbyul. Moreover, when MC Pink Villain was asking about whose first impression betrays their real impression after they get to know each other, Moonbyul picked Jimin and mentioned that she's turned out to be cute instead of cold and cool.

Exy didn't like that development.

At all.

She started to feel agitated and jealous because things didn't go her way. Up until now, Moonbyul hasn't given any positive feedback on Exy's confession. It seemed like both had an unspoken agreement to sweep things under the rug for the duration of filming together.

So Exy stayed out of Moonbyul's hair for a while. She kept a professional friendly outlook whenever there was a camera between them.

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After the final round and ultimately Moonbyul's victory, the whole crew were having a get-together.

There was plenty of food and alcohol. From the filming crew, the judges, the idols, the managers, to the random on-site staff were all enjoying the feast in one of the ballrooms of the same building they filmed Second World.

The gathering lasted for one hour before everyone decided to call it a night.

The after-party though was exclusively made for only the judges and idols. That's exactly when the drinking got serious and the phones were locked inside a compartment as a safety precaution. They took the party to a different venue.

Exy was seating in between Mimi and JooE in an exclusive restaurant in downtown Seoul. She had fun throughout the after-party too, but she had to be the first one to leave, due to her WJSN schedule tomorrow morning.

On her way back to WJSN dorm in her manager's car, her phone rang. To her utmost surprise, 'Moonbyul Unnie' appeared on the screen.

"Hello?" Answered Exy.

"I know you're not dense," Moonbyul sounded drunk and upset.

"I can feel your awkwardness and anxiety resonating in some of our interactions." She continued, "But tonight is my victory, can you at least act like you like me as much as you confessed that night?" Moonbyul's tone was bitter.