catnipz

best part

minji found herself alone in the empty recording booth once again.

she had been practicing her vocal techniques and lines for their upcoming comeback, which was set to release in about one month.

papers were scattered all throughout both the desk and music stand, and her usually neat and precise penmanship were reduced to tiny scribbles only legible to herself.

minji was sick. she had a fever, not bedridden high but high enough to make every action of hers uncomfortable.

and even though her other group members told her not to do anything and rest up for the day, minji being the stubborn girl she is, ignored them against their better judgement.

while the rest of newjeans were upset with minji, among them, haerin was probably the most frustrated. being the most observant one in the group, she saw how much the oldest had been pushing herself the past few weeks and wanted her unnie to rest.

across the table, minji lifted her phone to reveal the time, 9:04 pm.

the girl still had 26 minutes left in the booth, and she couldn't find the willpower to continue practicing for their comeback in her current condition.

With a heavy sigh, Minji set her phone back down on the cluttered desk. She leaned back in the recording booth's chair, her head resting against the cool glass wall. The dimly lit room seemed to close in on her, and the distant hum of the recording equipment felt like a distant echo.

knock, knock

what if she spent the remaining time playing rhythm hive instead?

knock, knock, knock

she could finish upgrading all the members from s rarity to r rarity.

knock, knock, knock, knock

or better yet, she could take a nap!

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK—

minji turned 180° towards the door, sliding across the floor in her swivel chair.

the girl slowly unlocked the door, opening it ever so slightly before a shorter girl barged right in, causing minji to slide back in her chair.

"hanni, bro, what are you doing here?"

the vietnamese girl held up a bag, showing that she had dinner packed for minji.

"as your best friend, i had to make sure you weren't rotting or something."

minji slid her swivel chair closer to hanni, offering up her seat and getting another swivel chair that was off to the side.

"thank you, have the others eaten yet?" minji asked. "have you eaten yet, hanni?"

the younger 04 girl gave minji an exasperated yet caring look as she settled into the swivel chair that minji provided. she set the bag of takeout food onto the desk, stacking the papers neatly and putting them away first.

"of course we've eaten," hanni replied with an eye roll. she pauses before continuing, "everyone's worrying about you y'know? especially haerin."

minji untied the small knot that kept the dinner secure, "how is she? we haven't talked at all today since this morning..."

hanni shakes her head, "i could tell, dance practice earlier was brutal. she was picking at her food earlier too— why didn't you pick up our calls for dinner?"

unpacking the dinner, minji replies, "producer-nim wanted to redo a few parts, it took a little longer than we'd expected, sorry."

hanni sighed out as she watched minji take a bite of her dinner, the girls had cooked dinner together — it was chicken pasta alfredo.