map on your face | summerz

I

The air of the practice room is thick, making it all the more difficult for the five girls to catch their breath as they slump into a pile on the floor, worn-out sneakers squeaking against the hardwood and laboured panting echoing off of the walls.

Claustrophobic.

That's how Kazuha feels. As if the four soundproof walls are about to cave in on her, the sweat sheening her forehead and the clamminess of her hands growing damper with each passing second. Her head is spinning, and Kazuha thinks that this is probably what being drunk feels like, although being sober for the past nineteen years of her life. The rusty ceiling fan creaks at every ninety degrees, making for an awfully irritating alarm, the screeching bringing Kazuha back to reality as she feels the weight of a hand splayed across her exposed stomach. It tickles, and she's forced to let out a wheezy breath in defeat as she identifies the owner of the surprisingly small hand. It's Chaewon, she realises, and the bobbed girl's hand twitches uncomfortably above the textured surface of Kazuha's toned abdomen, causing the taller girl's breath to hitch unknowingly at the sensation of the girl's nails grazing against her bare skin. Chaewon, in Chaewon fashion, doesn't notice the increasing blush staining the younger's cheeks, instead removing her hand promptly to gently run it through the black locks of hair ending just below her chin in a sharp cut.

And of course, Chaewon is the first to rise; the leader of the world-renowned girl group and the most driven member of the bunch in general, although she flops right back down the wall the moment she even attempts standing up, her legs giving out as if they're made of jelly. Yunjin lets out a high-pitched guffaw, unable to offer any other words as she struggles to inhale and exhale at an even rate. Being a member of le sserafim is hard, to put it straight.

Kazuha lazily watches Soyeon, foremost their friend, professionally their performance director, as she grabs the polaroid camera Kazuha is completely sure has run out of film and rushes back to the pile of corpses in the centre of the room. Eunchae hurriedly covers her face with both hands as soon as she catches onto what Soyeon is trying to do, fixing her hair subconsciously with whatever remnants of energy she has left after the tenth run-through of their debut song without a break.

Soyeon tuts as a complaint, "These are your memories guys, they should be real. You, leave your hair alone." She points to the youngest trying to look presentable and Eunchae accepts defeat, letting her hair gather above her head like a birds' nest. Kazuha giggles when she turns to look at the younger girl, the sight reminds her of medusa and soon enough they all break out into laughter, creating the perfect opportunity for a candid photo full of wide smiles and messy hair. Soyeon clicks a few polaroids, leaving them to rest scattered on the counter in the corner of the room for them all to laugh at later.

"That's it for practice today. You did well, I'm proud of you." Soyeon dismisses them all, and those five words are music to Kazuha's ears, probably everyone's ears she reckons.

Kazuha stands up with the members, turning to walk to her personal locker and retrieve her belongings before a firm hand on her forearm stops her in her tracks. "I think we should work on that one move a bit more, everyone else is free to go." Soyeon announces with a stern voice, and the embarrassment fills Kazuha before the dread does. Her body is beyond worn-out from dancing for seven hours daily non-stop, she could faint any second now. But being the obedient trainee she is, Kazuha nods before getting into formation as the other members hurry to bow and leave for the day. She can't exactly say no, she's in no position to, but god she wishes she could. Just for today. However, Kazuha willingly took the responsibility that came with deciding to leave her academy in the Netherlands and ballet behind for life to live as an idol in South Korea, so it's only fair she has to deal with the consequences of practicing overtime and sleep deprivation.