𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐀𝐓 [𝟏] 𝐃𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐯𝐮 || 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏

POV Shizuka

To be honest, starting 2021 in such a chaotic way, I have no idea what the future holds.

Especially when I see the six members of my group destroying our dorm. Ha-yoon and Ji-yu lying on the floor, while the youngest, Hae-ji and Daiyu, are doing karaoke filled with high notes but mostly a lot of voice cracks, and finally Mi-cha trying her best to stop her laughter after Sumalee accidentally walked into the glass door as I came in.

And there's me, standing at the front door, holding a bag of noodles in one hand and the dorm keys in the other, contemplating the disaster the girls managed to create in the twenty minutes I was gone to buy the noodles that Ji-yu had forgotten to get this morning.

- "Are you kidding me?" I sight, going to the kitchen.

- "Oh, you're back, Shizuka!" Mi-cha exclaims, finally having caught her breath.

She comes closer and gives me a sparkling look. She jump around, humming along to the music playing on the TV.

- "Please tell me Sumalee isn't drunk?" I ask, noticing three open bottles on the table.

I had asked the eldest to watch over the group, so if she's drunk, it's going to be a problem.

- "Only drunk on sparkling water."

I panted and start boiling water, with Mi-cha helping me. She explains that Ha-yoon drank two of the empty bottles, and the third was shared between her and Ji-yu.

- "You two shared a bottle?"

- "Yes, but apparently Ji-yu handles it less well than I do."

We both look at the couch, where Ji-yu had finally managed to sit, holding her head and mumbling incomprehensible words.

- "Can't wait to be nineteen just for that" Daiyu says, leaving the mic to come see what we're doing. "Honestly, it must be amazing to drink alcohol without getting carded."

- "I'll still card you."

She laughs and grabs one of the noodle boxes before adding, glancing at the drunk brunette:

- "It's going to be hilarious when we have to go to practice tomorrow," she says, pointing at Ji-yu and Ha-yoon, the only blonde of the group.

I laugh, thinking about our seniors's reaction. They will probably laugh when they see us tomorrow, if they aren't exhausted from be drunk too.

We're currently preparing our album which will be released in a few days, and one of the songs is a collaboration with a group from one of our agencies: Stray Kids. Everything is ready, we just have to learn the dance for the song  titled "Hot Chocolate."

- "Hae-ji will show up with a hoarse voice and Sumalee with a bruise on her forehead," Mi-cha laughs, hearing yet another voice crack from the brunette.

- "She's scared of loud noises, but if she's the one making them, it's not a problem," Daiyu remarks, her mouth full.

We all laugh, before Sumalee bumps into me to reach the fridge, and I can't help but comment:

- "Be careful," I sight.

- "You're exaggerating, I barely touched you," she mumbles, grabbing an ice pack and placing it on her forehead.

I roll my eyes, finishing the rest of the noodles in my box before throwing it away.

I never really got along with her, even during the survival show. Honestly, it started badly from the beginning of the show, when they had the eleven girls from JYP meet the eleven girls from Big Hit. They paired us up to get to know each other, and we were unable to communicate, neither of us knowing Korean or each other's language, and having only a poor level of English. From that moment on, I started learning Thai, but I never got the chance to use it because we never had another full conversation outside the survival show.

Since then, there's always been a tense atmosphere when it's just the two of us. We don't show anything in public, of course, but once in private, the jabs and remarks fly. So much so that the other girls are now used to it. When we meet with Ha-yoon, the three of us being the songwriters and lyricists, Sumalee and I always argue.

In three years, we've learned to tolerate each other, but any difference between us is a source of conflict, especially our different agencies.

Our group formed from a survival show in 2018, a collaboration between JYP and Big Hit Music. Sumalee, Ji-yu, and Ha-yoon are from JYP, and Mi-cha, Hae-ji, Daiyu, and I are from Big Hit. Sumalee always said she didn't understand why JYP decided to collaborate with Big Hit, as it wasn't one of the most famous agencies. I remember the first thing she said to me in English: "You may be the best trainee from your agency, and I'm the best from mine, but we have nothing in common, believe me."

Oh well, I guess there are worse relationships. We can still get along in the presence of others, we just avoid being alone together.

- "Is there any left?" Sumalee asks, nodding toward the box I just threw away.

- "Yes, everyone has one."

I slide one of the boxes toward her, and she thanks me with a nod before preparing her meal. These were the only interactions we had in private, and it suited us both.

- "Hae-ji, come eat too," Mi-cha calls, preparing a box of noodles for her.

The youngest finally stops singing and devours the box in under three minutes, under the astonished gaze of Daiyu, who was struggling to finish hers.

- "Why don't you offer some to the girls?" Sumalee asks, referring to Ji-yu and Ha-yoon.

- "They'll spend the night puking."

The four of us laugh, before Ji-yu and Ha-yoon join us, each pouring themselves a glass of water. I discreetly hide the two remaining boxes, before grabbing the last bottle of alcohol, and serving Sumalee and Mi-cha. Daiyu and Hae-ji, still underage, take a soda and we toast together, before the evening winds down.

▪︎▫︎▫︎▫︎▫︎

And it started around one in the morning when Ji-yu and Ha-yoon began monopolizing the bathroom, and Hae-ji fell asleep on the couch. We then started cleaning up the dorm, which was littered with confetti and wrappers.

- "What time do we have to be there?" Sumalee asks, opening a new trash bag.

- "Nine."

I hear Daiyu whine while grabbing an empty sour candy wrapper, and I add:

- "We were supposed to be there by seven, but Chan asked if we could push it back since they were also having a party."

I ran into the Australian earlier when I came back to our dorm. We live in the same building, with two floors. The ground floor and the rooftop are the only places we run into each other, as they live on the second floor, and we live on the third.

- "It's funny to collaborate with them when we've been friends since our debut," the Thaï girl says.

We finally finish cleaning up after her comment, and we go to our respective rooms: Sumalee, Ji-yu, Daiyu, and Hae-ji in one, and Mi-cha, Ha-yoon, and I in another.

Well, Ha-yoon and Ji-yu will probably spend the night lying on the bathroom floor.

- "Hey, don't you think it's weird?"

- "What?"

I turn around and look at Mi-cha, sitting on her bed, holding a photo frame. It's a picture of the seven of us, shortly after our debut. We're all standing outside, in front of fans who had come to see a mini concert.

- "That was three years ago."

- "A lot has changed since then."

She laughs and puts the frame down before burying herself under her blanket.

- "Especially my haircut, long hair isn't for me. Long live the shortcut."