young & wild | chaeyu

eighteen ; heartache

 "Dahyun, pay attention. This part's important," Momo told her with a serious expression. Dahyun tilted her head, her brows furrowing together in confusion.

"Of course," Dahyun agreed. "It's all important."

Momo nodded absentmindedly, not meeting Dahyun's part. "Yeah." Again, Momo demonstrated the dance move in question. "Got it?"
The brunette girl looked down. "Yeah," she answered, her response short and at a whisper. "I got it."

Momo looked at her expectantly. "So?"

Exhaling softly, Dahyun imitated Momo half-heartedly. She knew the dance they were learning was meant to be powerful and deliberate, unlike the more delicate and elegant dances that Dahyun preferred, but she still felt sluggish as she executed the move.

"No. That's wrong."

Dahyun looked at Momo, feeling a wave of hurt running through her at Momo's unexpectedly harsh words. She met the raven haired girl's eyes with a feeling of strong irritation filling her. What had she done for Momo to act so rude and standoffish? She'd been nothing but jerky and cold the whole morning they'd been practicing. Dahyun could deal with a bit of grumpiness, but this was very different than what she normally got from Momo.

"What?" asked Dahyun, holding her eye contact with the taller girl. She didn't mean to sound so much like a kicked puppy, but she couldn't help it. Momo and her had become good friends over the last few weeks since they'd met, and she valued her opinion quite a bit, especially when it came to any kind of dancing.

Momo looked away, at least seeming somewhat ashamed for her uncharacteristically harmful words. "Be angrier," she mumbled. "Be angry at me. Then do the move, with your anger. And power. Don't be elegant. This isn't the kind of dance where you get to mess around and act all pretty ."

Dahyun inhaled sharply. "Why did that sound like you're insulting me?"

A tense silence filled the small dance studio. Finally, Momo managed to reply, though Dahyun could tell by her reddened ear tips that she was embarrassed and angry.

"I'm not insulting you. You just need to try dances besides the pretty ones."

Dahyun rolled her eyes, not able to take Momo seriously anymore. "Okay, whatever. So I'm pretty."

Momo tensed. "I didn't say--"

"I wasn't done," interrupted Dahyun, raising an eyebrow. "So I'm pretty and have a preference in the type of dance I do. That doesn't explain why you've been acting so weird and standoffish all morning. I haven't done anything wrong, but someone clearly has."

Slowly, Momo sat on the floor, her legs criss-crossed over each other. She rested each of her elbows on her knees and propped her head up with her hands. Dahyun felt her heart melt at the sight of Momo, so small and sad looking.

"B- Momo..." Dahyun stumbled over her words, hoping that Momo hadn't noticed the way she'd had to correct yourself.

Unfortunately, she had. "What'd you almost say?" asked Momo, perking up slightly with curiosity.

Dahyun sighed. "Nothing," she lied. "I just tripped over my own words. But Momo... Has anything happened? You just seem so upset. I want to help."

"Okay," the soloist said quietly, moving her hands to her lap.. Truth to be told, Dahyun was a little surprised. She'd thought that it would be harder than that to get Momo to talk, but it seemed that Momo had wanted to get something off her chest the whole time.

"Before you say anything," Dahyun said, taking a seat on the floor across from Momo. "I just want to let you know that I'll talk to you, okay? Please don't stay quiet when you want to talk. Okay?"

"Okay," Momo murmured, her eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

Dahyun instinctively reached out, gently taking Momo's hand in her own. Immediately, Dahyun felt her heart began to race at her own impulsive action. Stop it, she told herself. She already not you, she loves Jeongyeon. And she's an idol. And your friend. Stop it. Besides, Dahyun was straight as an arrow. She couldn't be... into girls that way. The money her family provided her with was the only reason she was holding on, and they didn't take nicely to people like Jeongyeon and Nayeon and Momo and Chaeyoung. If only they knew more about who ran the company... Well, Dahyun could only pretend to be oblivious and hope for the best.

"I'm kinda upset," Momo confessed softly, her gently accented tone bringing Dahyun out of her chaotic thoughts, though Dahyun still found herself wondering a second later what her father would think if he knew she was comforting a gay girl.

"What about?" asked Dahyun.

Momo's expression hardened, and Dahyun felt Momo's hand tense against her own. Dahyun gently squeezed Momo's hand, her heart jumping when the distraught idol returned the motion.

"Jeongyeon." Momo exhaled roughly. "I knew she didn't really like me from the beginning, she was just playing along with my flirting or whatever. But when she told me she didn't think she was working with Nayeon, but was afraid to break up with her... I got too bold and started to believe it wasn't the tragic unrequited love thing I always run into. To be fair, Dahyun, I even asked her out. Did I ever tell you that?"

Slowly, Dahyun shook her head. "No." Momo had told her a little about how she liked Jeongyeon and thought that Jeongyeon seemed to have a thing for her as well. But Momo had never said much about it, and Dahyun had always been too afraid to press for details. Besides, it was a topic she didn't like, either.

"It was great," Momo said quietly. "No one recognized us either. Which is both good and bad," she laughed a little. "I had fun. We ate lunch together a few times after that, too. They were dates in every aspect other than what we called them. Jeongyeon insisted she didn't want me to be a rebound. I didn't mind that. Things were going so great, really, I was confident that she liked me like I liked her.

"And then she broke up with Nayeon for good and... well... I felt a little bad, because break-ups, especially one-sided ones, aren't very fun. But mostly, I was happy. Maybe Jeongyeon would finally go on a real date with me now that she was single."

"But..." Dahyun said quietly. "Then you had to fly back."

"Not back," Momo chuckled. "I'd never started there in the first place. But yeah, I had to fly here. And suddenly there was so much work and stress and this language. I still can't really write it well. The characters are easy, and talking is becoming a lot easier, but actually writing the words is so hard. But anyways, Jeongyeon got all distant. And I can tell she misses Nayeon. And she agreed to a real date, finally, then canceled it last minute. And she is extra harsh on me, and acts like I'm doing everything wrong.

"She probably just wants the best for you, Momo."

Momo shrugged. "I hoped that was it, but today she talked to me. Before practice. She said stuff like it was wrong of her to have led me on, and that she wasn't interested anymore. As if she ever really cared about me as anyone other than an idol under her wing. It's just frustrating, the way she only cared for me when she was in Japan. Now that she's got Nayeon, she doesn't care. And it makes me so mad. At her for making me think I had a chance, and at myself for believing anyone would want to date me."

Dahyun looked down, trying to prevent herself from blurting out how she liked Momo, how she wanted to take her dates and hug her and hold her hand.

"I'm sorry," Dahyun told her quietly. "That's rough. But trust me Momo, anyone should be grateful to have the opportunity to date you." I would be.

"I'm not sure about that. But thank you, Dahyun. I'm lucky to have you as my friend."

a/n 18: okay i want itzy to comeback :((( i told myself i'd stan if i liked their comeback, but they haven't had one. on another note, (g)i-dle is having a comeback soon! the teasers are gorgeous, yuqi, soojin, and shuhua especially got my attention

what is your favorite (g)i-dle song? mine are latata, maze, and put it straight/say no.