Jenny Zeng's POV
The moment I saw Yu Yan walk into the Ambush on All Sides room I got excited, until I realised that she actually hadn't chosen between Xiaotang and I.
I knew there was a chance that she would choose Xiaotang, who was ranking higher and had a specialty in Chinese dance. But I held on to the tiny, tiny chance that she would choose me, based on the fact that we had known each other from a previous survival show.
I admit it, I was shocked when I saw how low Yu Yan ranked in the first eliminations knowing how talented she was. The reason I wanted her to join my team was because I wanted her to show off her talents, so that the Youth Producers could see her like I did. She deserved more.
But of course, I couldn't let her know that was the reason. I wouldn't hear the end of it afterwards.
Yu Yan's eyes flickered between me and Xiaotang, assessing which group to pick. There was a hint of a smile on her face, and I knew her well enough to know that she was up to something.
"Well, I was going to choose Zeng Keni but-
My heart felt like it had dropped into my stomach. This was it. She wouldn't be the one to join my team, and I would lose the chance to collaborate with the one girl I really admired on the show.
"Okay, I choose Zeng Keni," she announced, embracing me in a hug.
I hugged her back, although trying to keep a cold face while I did so. I can't believe she tricked me into thinking she'd join the other team. Sometimes she really annoyed me, this girl.
As the other trainees started slowly filing in, Yu Yan held onto me tightly and I tried to act nonchalant. Reveal. Nothing, Zeng Keni.
We were soon joined by Roada Xu, Joey Chua and Kay Song. And of course, the next stage was the part allocation. We had a battle for Centre, but it was clear that everyone agreed Yu Yan should be the centre. I was really happy for her to finally show her talents.
The parts were divided and eventually, we began to learn the dance moves. I really liked dance and had been doing it for a long time, so to me even with the hard choreography I didn't find the moves that difficult.
However, it was obvious that Joey Chua was struggling and Yu Yan soon joined her, guiding her step by step. Part of me was heartened to see her kind act but part of me was annoyed.
She hadn't talked to me at all since we had gotten into the teams. Not that I necessarily needed her too. Not like I missed her or something (A/N: sure Jan)
I called the group to a "meeting", which wasn't really a meeting since we'd already been in the same room anyway. I wanted to see how we were doing with the first verse.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8," I announced, prompting my team to get into the formations as we began the music. I kept a close eye at the mirror, to see which parts needed improvement.
"Yu Yan, you're not doing this move right," I pointed out. In actuality, she was doing the moves perfectly fine. I simply wanted to talk to her, to see why she wasn't speaking to me at all.
My other team members continued to practice the prechorus again and again, as I approached Yu Yan who had a frown on her face.
"I don't understand, what was I doing wrong?" She asked me, perplexed.
"Here," I put one hand on her hip and one hand on her arm, hearing a sharp intake of breath. "This part, you need to make it more exaggerated."
She tried it again in front of the mirror and I nodded my head in approval at her "improvement". Time to move on to the questioning. "Are you okay? You look like something is bothering you?"
At that, her facial expressive once again turned impassive, taking on the "Cold Yu Yan" look that the trainees often joked about. "Why do you think I'm bothered by something?"
"Your lips quiver when you're nervous or upset," I replied. "Your nose sometimes scrunches up a bit too and you've touched your glasses approximately 10 times in the last 5 minutes which you only do when something's bothering you."
I had noticed these things during the previous show we were together on. In these aspects, she hadn't changed at all and I found it somewhat endearing.
Not that I'd let her know.
Yu Yan raises an eyebrow. "You're very observant."
I shrugged. "I guess I am. Now tell me, what are you thinking?"
She leaned close to me, to the point where we were almost pressed up against each other, whispering into my ear, "It's Joey Chua. I'm worried that she won't be able to keep up, and I think we should slow down the pace a bit to help her."
Right. Joey Chua, the girl you were so extremely close to when you were helping her before?
I pushed down this twinge of annoyance. What was I thinking? Joey was our teammate, of course I should help her. Though it felt somewhat bitter hearing her name come out of Yu Yan's mouth.
"Of course," I replied. "I agree, let's slow it down to go over each step together." (A/N: what a simp XD)
Yu Yan cracked a smile, the first one I saw from her since we had started practice. "Thank you for being so considerate!" She embraced me, putting her arms around me in a hug and playfully rubbing my belly.
Yes, I know I had amazing abs. But of course, a girl had to be humble.
I tried to break free from her embrace, playfully feigning annoyance when I tripped over her shoe. Of course, it just had to be my luck as I fell, with Yu Yan still holding onto me tightly at the moment.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, as I collided against the ground with Yu Yan landing on top of me. Ouch.
She laughed. "You've grown taller." Her long hair was brushing against my face, tickling me as I tried to get out of her grasp.
"And you've grown heavier," I grunted out trying to displace her. To my surprise, she had now purposefully pinned me down.
"What... did you just say?" She said in a low voice.
I didn't respond, still struggling to get up now that I've realised how close in proximity our faces were to each other. I could see her eyes twinkle in amusement. I've done it, I've gotten Yu Yan to get out of her shell. Now I needed to get up.
She shook her head at my attempts. "You know I'm stronger than you. And also," she continued. "TICKLE ATTACK!"
My eyes widened. No, she knew I was extremely ticklish-
Her fingers relentlessly ticked my sides as she held me down and I couldn't help but burst into laughter. I swear to God, if she doesn't get off right now-
I heard a whistle as Yu Yan abruptly stopped tickling me and stood up, as I recovered from the tickle attack. Of course, the culprit was Joey Chua, who had been standing there while I was relentlessly tickled. She was flashing one of her famous Joey Chua smirks, eyes darting between Yu and And I as if in an insinuating manner.
I blushed in embarrassment, hiding my face in my hands because I NEVER blushed.
Yu Yan meanwhile was standing there with a smile on her face and I regretted unleashing the crackhead side of her because I knew once it came out, there was no controlling it.
I turned back towards the front of the room, towards the mirror. "Okay, let's go over the prechorus again," I told the team, pretending that I didn't see Yu Yan making a funny face behind me.
This was going to be a long three days.
