1x1 daices. x tsunami,

[tsunami,]

emmie
↳ feeling: embarrassed, stressed, flustered


emmie's eyes had been directed down at the floor, face burning as she wished she would just melt into the puddle she had just created on the floor. that’s when she hear a familiar raspy voice in her ear and felt herself being pulled off the ground. her eyes shot open in surprise when she realized who was helping her up. she felt her heart hurl itself against her chest, her mind unable to register what was happening. she had been expecting one of her groupmates to help her up, not someone from the other group, and especially not the girl who she had the most complicated relationship in the world (or at least that's how it felt) with. "i- um, thank you." she barely managed to squeak out. this is bad, this is so bad. emmie thought, trying not to lean on the other girl too much out of embarrassment (and also because she thought her heart was going to burst) but failing miserably because she couldn't really stand on her own.

as they made their way out of the room, emmie turned her head away from the cameras, too embarrassed to even try and fight it. she couldn’t even bring herself to crack at smile at mimi’s comment.

as the sounds of the shutter clicks faded away, emmie let out a small sigh of relief to be away from all those prying eyes. when she heard mimi speak again, she cursed herself for getting so worked up from their close proximity but she quickly became confused when mimi began apologizing. why is she apologizing? oh gosh, does she think it’s her fault that i fell?? before she could begin to explain, they had reached the rec room and mimi was already speaking again. ”ah, yes. thank you so much. you really didn’t have to go this far.” a moment passed, emmie still, yes still, trying to process what had just occurred. as she began to open her mouth to explain to mimi that it wasn’t her fault, she had already scurried out the door after telling she was going to get some ice and apologizing once again.

as she waited for mimi to come back, emmie dropped her head in her hands and shook it. how could she let this happen? she’s taken worse falls than this before and came out scot free but then one tiny trip and suddenly she couldn’t stand? that’s the fickle frailty of the human body for you.

when she came back in with the ice and first aid kit in hand, emmie couldn’t help but feel a little guilty when she heard her apologize again. she seemed to be really beating herself up over it, but it really wasn’t her fault. was this really the same girl she disliked so much only two years ago? the girl helping her right now seemed a little different in her eyes, though she couldn’t put her finger on it. mimi’s dress looked really good on her, and when she had helped her up earlier, emmie could smell her perfume. it was nice, kind of citrusy? wait, no eunha get it together, this is not the time to be thinking about how nice she smells.

”yes, i’m okay. it’s no biggie, i’m sure it’s not as bad as it looks.” she replied with a small smile as she tried to lighten the mood despite the throbbing in her foot. she accepted the ice with a “thank you” and moved to place it on her ankle. “i’ll probably need to get it wrapped later but for now i think it’ll be okay.” time seemed to pass really slowly in the rec room. a quiet buzz got her attention and she glanced at mimi’s phone as she showed it to her. she let out a small sigh. “can we just... stay here for a little bit? i’m exhausted of making a fool out of myself.” she said with a weak smile. then, another apology came and emmie couldn’t take it anymore.

“it wasn’t your fault!” she blurted out, a little bit louder than she had been expecting. blame it on her nerves. “sorry, i didn’t mean to raise my voice but it’s making me feel really bad. i just kinda.. tripped on myself i guess? gosh that make me sound so silly but that’s really what happened.” she continued, her eyes watching the girl’s face for a reaction. ”i’m really sorry if i made it seem like it was your fault. i was actually on my way to talk to you. i just- i wanted to apologize for last week. i was sticking my nose into your business and i’m sorry if i upset you.” emmie felt a new flare of heat on her face as she squirmed in her seat while she waited for a response. oh no she probably thinks i’m so lame now... but honestly, i wouldn’t blame her. wait a minute. why did she care so much about what mimi thought of her? she was just an old rival, right?

”i really appreciate your help though! i really am feeling a little better. um, i’m also really sorry about your dress.” she added, brows furrowing as she noticed the darker stain on mimi’s black dress. she bit her lip, her eyes tentatively moving up to meet hers. she really didn’t want to make things more awkward but she couldn’t live with herself if she had kept letting mimi think she was to blame.

[daices.]

✦ MIMI ✦
〘 feeling ↠ tense, betrayed 〙
- - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - -

“can we just... stay here for a little bit? i’m exhausted of making a fool out of myself.”

Mimi blinked, expression softening a touch. "I- yeah, of course." She uttered quickly, raising a hand as if to pat Emmie in comfort before thinking better of it. Clenching her hands together and fidgeting instead, she settled into a relatively comfortable (or at least, not uncomfortable) silence.

Until, of course, it was cut by her apology, and then Emmie's outburst. Mimi startled slightly; she rarely heard Emmie raise her voice like this. The last time had been when she had intentionally tried to get a rise out of the shorter girl. It took Mimi a few beats to overcome her shock and process the jumble of words, staring at Emmie with surprise. When she did process it, however, Mimi felt herself beginning to flush to the tips of her ears.

Quickly, Mimi turned away. No weakness, she couldn't show any weakness.

But she had essentially just showed her protective side to her former rival -nono, now Worst Enemy- and had shown so much concern only to find out it wasn't her fault. This is fine. This was fine! Mimi didn't care that her gruff and tough persona that she had used liberally since her trainee days was ruined. She basically just carried her Ultimate and Biggest Enemy Ever in the Whole Entire World out of the company gala in front of everyone, god, even the cameras- Why didn't Emmie say anything earlier?

Emmie had it out for her still. More than ever, really. That was the only conclusion.

"Am I being taken for a ride, Song Eunha?" She rumbled, voice barely above a whisper. "Clumsy little Emmie, stealing the hearts of everyone around her. I apologized so many times- I'm..."

She flinched, retreating within herself further when Emmie mentioned last week. But of course she had to be all sweet about it. Perfect, pretty Eunha, not a blemish anywhere, not even on her soft and caring personality. "You've been 'sticking your nose in my business' all this time, Eunha. We're in the same company. We trained together. It's basically impossible to not be in each others' business."

Mimi couldn't take it any more. Could Emmie not see? Not see how magnetic she was, how she outshone everyone around her? How no matter how hard Mimi tried, she just couldn't compare? She had to fall back on her wild, bombastic actions, her atypical concept to gain any leverage. Mimi could feel everything she had repressed from last week and right now rising in her throat like an uncontrollable wave.

"It's so effortless for you. How do you do it? Everyone loves you and you don't even need to try; one smile and they're completely smitten. So nice, so kind- 'I'm sorry if I upset you, Mimi. Is your dress okay, Mimi?'" Mimi barely knew what she was saying at this point, rambling while her brain buffered. "I can't do it like you. 'Mimi, don't talk like that, that's awkward. People already think you sound like a man.' 'Mimi, no guy's gonna like you when you're taller than them; stop wearing heels.' 'Mimi, why aren't you wearing heels? Stop dressing like a guy.' 'Mimi, you're too tense when you dance; why can't you dance more like Eunha-unnie?' Even after- after two years, nothing has changed. I'm still off center. Can't compare to beautiful Eunha, with her stupid pretty eyes and stupidly soft blonde hair and dumb fairy dress. You don't even need a lot of makeup to take my breath aw- to be breathtaking. I can't even help someone properly."

Mimi trailed off, suddenly exhausted. She'd beat herself up about laying herself so bare like that later, when she was alone in bed and the dark hid whatever expressions were on her face. She couldn't even pick out individual sentences she said at this point.

She chuckled darkly. "My dress is fine. Thanks." She added, almost like an afterthought. Mimi fell into a silence, checking her phone instead. "They'll be here soon, probably. There's only so many places here someone could rest and recuperate." Mimi was mean, yes, but she wasn't a monster; as much as her body screamed at her to get away, get anywhere but here, she still wasn't going to leave an injured girl alone in a corporate building after hours, no matter what was going on.

[tsunami,]

emmie
↳ feeling: tense, uneasy, conflicted


emmie winced at mimi's words, shrinking back into the couch and casting her gaze down to her lap. "no, i- i didn't mean to-" she cut herself off when mimi began speaking again. she's right. i was just trying to make excuses for myself. what was i even trying to accomplish by going up to her like that?

mimi's words hit emmie like a truck, full force and heavy. she never even considered that the other girl may have thought that way about not just about her, but about herself as well. the mimi from emmie's memories always seemed to be unfazed by anything and everything. unlike herself, who would get frantic after one misstep, mimi seemed to always be able to maintain her composure no matter what. maybe that's why emmie had felt so compelled to say something when she saw mimi leaning over the sink like that that day. the tall, straight-faced, 'too cool for you' girl she remembered was suddenly standing in front of her with an expression she had never seen on her before and emmie just didn't know what else to do.

though emmie was clearly not happy that mimi was upset, she couldn't help but feel a little... relieved? this girl that she felt never spared her anything other than a sharp glare or teasing comment in her direction was actually more of, well, a girl, than she thought. she wasn't this unbreakable wall that emmie used to see her as, she had insecurities and worries just like her. she couldn't blame her for feeling that way. what emmie couldn't understand though, was how people could say such things to mimi. her voice was unique and never failed to get her attention. her height was one of emmie's weaknesses (not that she'd ever admit that). her style was one that emmie could only dream of pulling off and suited mimi in more ways than one. she was an incredible dancer too; that's why they had been so competitive wasn't it? emmie was just about to reply when she realized what mimi had just said. wait, did she just call me beautiful? she felt her face burn yet again. no, stop getting so flustered eunha. so what if she might've called you pretty? there are more pressing matters to be worrying about right now...

she couldn't bear to look mimi in the eye. no, she didn't deserve to. she offered a weak nod when mimi told her that people would be there soon. she was glad that mimi didn't leave her alone despite everything that just happened. she honestly wasn't sure if she would've been strong enough to do the same if the roles had been reversed.

"i get it if you don't want to listen but i can't just sit here and not say anything." she began, fingers twiddling in her lap as she mustered up the strength to continue. "i really didn't mean to make you think it was your fault. you really were a big help to me and again i'm really sorry and i-" she paused to take a breath. "i- i never knew you had to deal with all that." she stammered. "but i guess that was kinda the point considering we've been competing all this time and everyone knows that the worst thing you could do is tell your opponents things like that." a weak laugh, an awkward shift in her seat. "this might not mean much coming from me, but i've never seen you as anything but strong. i envied the way you always managed to stay composed no matter what. you're an amazing dancer too y'know. there would have been no reason for us to compete if you weren't. i always considered you an equal, that's why i had to work so hard to try and come out on top. and not to mention your rapping skills. your voice, it suits you and your role." she offered, her voice low and hesitant.

"you look really nice today. not that you don't always look nice, of course, you've never looked less than beautiful in my eyes." she added quietly. that last part was supposed to be for herself but her mind was fried from processing all this new information. wait wait wait what did i just say?? her eyes widened in surprise at her own lack of thinking before she spoke. "wait i didn't mean- well no, i did mean it. i just- i mean-" she stopped, unable to come up with the correct words. she groaned and dropped her head into her hands once again, no longer caring that mimi was watching. she was exhausted, and at this point, there was no turning back.

"sorry." she mumbled through her hands, refusing to look up and show mimi her cherry-red face. she felt like a child that had just gotten scolded by their teacher.

a moment passed by, emmie taking the time to regain her composure. she didn't want to look like a complete mess when the others arrived. soon enough, she heard frantic footsteps coming down the hall. hayeon burst into the room, the rest of her groupmates and their manager in tow. "oh gosh eunha are you okay?" she rushed over to emmie's side, taking emmie's face in her hands to look at her. "poor baby. we're going to get you to the hospital right away. " she cooed, looking back at their manager who nodded in response. "thank you for taking care of our emmie." hayeon said with a quick bow as she turned towards mimi. emmie offered a small smile and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "i'm okay, unnie." for once she didn't want hayeon to baby her like she usually did, not when mimi was watching.

[daices.]

✦ MIMI ✦
〘 feeling ↠ flustered, embarassed 〙
- - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - -

Mimi was still hinding behind her curtain of hair, but her hands stilled their fidgeting as she listened. She almost let out an incredulous laugh when Emmie complimented her, but- was she being serious? Mimi glanced at Emmie quickly. The injured girl's expression was nothing but sincere. Mimi bit her lip, scrambling to even remember the word vomit she had just spit out.

Listening to Emmie's words was uncomfortable, but strangely not repugnant. It was almost like the feeling she got in the middle of the summer and the ac wasn't working- was she?? Blushing??? Mimi clapped her hands to her cheeks, wincing at the abrupt movement. It was over when Emmie went on to call her beautiful. Her. Her??? Beautiful. Mimi looked at Emmie in shock.

"M-me? You think-" Mimi ducked her head slightly. If she wasn't blushing before, she definitely was now; she could feel the warmth down to the tips of her toes. "But you... you're the one that's beautiful. Everytime I loo-"

She quickly choked on her words, both figuratively and literally, as the rest of M3RCY burst through the doorway. Sputtering as she scrambled to her feet -somehow it felt like she was being caught with her hand in the cookie jar, sitting so close to Emmie- Mimi quickly grabbed her heels, looking away.

"Um... Feel better. I... Thank you." She murmured, voice barely audible above Emmie's clamoring roommates. "I'll see you later, Eunha." Leveling her a faint smile, Mimi quickly rushed out the door.

It seemed "later" meant "less than two weeks"; the company liked the collab so much -and so did the fans, it seemed- that their company was holding a whole variety show for it. A few weeks in a large villa, living with the other group and doing fun challenges seemed like a good respite from promoting, at least, and Mimi thought it would be fun. Not only that, but Mimi had been meaning to talk to Emmie again. She had been unable to stop replaying their last meeting in her head, even dreaming about it once; that had been... Strange. Strangely nice. And she also wanted to make sure the girl was okay, even if the injury was due to clumsiness and not Mimi's fault. Really, she saw Emmie in a newer, softer, kinder light; revealing her insecurities had actually been good in the long run. She even suffered through another phone call from her mother complaining about her placement in the collab without feeling too bad for herself. And also Emmie called her beautiful. Why did that affect her so?

Mimi was pulled out of her reverie by one of her members pointing out the window. The villa was actually pretty nice. Piling out of the van with the rest of her members and the mountain of luggage five twenty-somethings girls working in the idol industry were wont to have, the five of them meandered through the bright white and warm beige halls, directed by staff down the left upstairs hallway to the bedrooms delineated for Hilight.

"Do I have to share a bed with you?" Mimi snarked, staring at Jia already sprawled across the entire bed, even though it was meant for two.

The aforementioned girl rolled over and made an exaggerated kissy face at Mimi. "Muah~ I'm sorry if I'm not who you actually want to be sharing this bed with. You'll just have to settle with me for now~"

Mimi felt her right eye twitch. "What. What does that even mean." All she got was another blown kiss in response.

"Oh dumb, awkward Mimi, baby; you'll see! You'll see."

Mimi barely had time to dwell, however, as soon they were unpacking everything and greeting the other group in the common room. No rest for the wicked, it seemed; they were immediately thrown into an activity. Introductions, and then the leaders of M3RCY and Hilight were reading off the first activity. "You know M3RCY and Hilight for their contrasting concepts; cutesy versus girl crush. What happens if they switch? Hilight will try to woo the audience with aegyo, and M3RCY will make them swoon with greasiness!"

"Ooooh no. Oh no." Mimi shared equally panicked looks with her groupmates. Mimi didn't have a cute bone in her body. She didn't even like wearing a dress most days. But she had to admit, it was funny hearing Miyoung's voice crack as she strained for a childish voice, and Jia's vehement refusal ("Oppa~ do you- nonono I can't do this nope"). She was too busy laughing, tears in her eyes, and forgot that she also had to go when Miyoung tapped on her shoulder, giggling.

"OooOooOooo~ It's our favorite grumpy rapper's turn~"

Mimi swallowed, throat suddenly dry, mind suddenly blank as she stared down the impassive eye of the camera. For some reason, Emmie's face flashed in her head.

Here goes nothing. Mimi grabbed the tips of her hair before bringing them near her mouth, pulling her expression into an exaggerated, doe-eyed pout. "Unnie~~ won't you go on a date with me~?" She whimpered, bottom lip jutted and trembling for good measure.

Right after, Mimi spun around, thudding her head on Jia's shoulder as her group nearly fell over laughing, delighted squeals ringing through the air. "Kill me. Just kill me now." She despaired, limp and defeated. She didn't even want to see her groupmates' aegyo at this point, or even M3RCY's girl crush concept; she was going to be haunted by this, forever and ever.

[tsunami,]

emmie
↳ feeling: excited, blessed, panicked


luckily for emmie, the hospital said there was minimal stretching of ligaments and no actual tearing so she would be fully recovered in about three weeks time. what was unfortunate though, was that she'd still have to wear her boot when her group would appear on the variety show. she looked down at it with disdain. the clunky thing had just been an extra layer of protection as her sprain was fairly mild, but she was told not to remove it for at least two weeks. although the pain had almost completely subsided, the emotional impact that night had made on emmie was far from gone. she had replayed the scenario dozens of times since then and found herself wondering how mimi was doing. she didn't really get a chance to say goodbye last time with all her group mates fussing over her.

well, she didn't really have to wonder for too long. the time between what emmie would begin to refer to ask 'the incident' and the variety show passed quickly. as the van pulled into the the villa's gated driveway, emmie's eyes widened at the grand sight before her, a rush of energy coursing through her. after they were shown to their rooms and got settled in, emmie plopped on the nearest bed and fell backward, embracing the feeling of the soft duvet. then, she felt a weight to her right and picked her head up to look. she found herself face to face with chaewon, her eyes staring right into hers. "what's on your mind?"

"well, if i'm being completely honest, i'm worried our manager will find the snacks i hid in my luggage." she laughed. it was a poor attempt to evade answering, but she tried it anyway.

chaewon gave her a playful shove. "you know that's not what i meant. what's up with you and that girl from Hilight? you've been running into each other an awful lot." emmie paused, contemplating how she should answer.

"we've just been... catching up. it's been two years since we saw each other after all. plus, she was a big help when i hurt my ankle." she smiled sweetly, standing up from the bed and brushing down her plaid skirt. "i can hear hayeon calling for us. let's go!" she grabbed chaewon's hand and pulled her out the door.

bowing in greeting to the other group, they were quick to get them started with their first activity. aegyo? she was going to get to see mimi do aegyo? she wasn't sure if her heart could handle that. hearing the girls from Hilight made her giggle. it seemed so out of character for them. she had watched all their music videos before and they all looked seemed so cool but now here they were, making themselves cringe. emmie loved seeing this side of them too though. when it was finally mimi's turn, emmie shifted in anticipation.

"unnie~~ won't you go on a date with me~?"

suddenly, emmie didn't mind if she died and went to heaven right then and there. she watched mimi's expression turn defeated less than half a second after the words left her lips and couldn't help but laugh. the hilarity ensued as the rest of Hilight's member's went. then, it was M3RCY's turn. this was about the time that emmie began to panic. suave? what did that even mean? how was she supposed to do that??

of course, she was the first to go. she seemed to be a bit down in her luck these day. emmie stared straight into the camera's large, black eye and furrowed her brows in concern.

"excuse me… i’m a bit lost. can you give me directions to your heart?" she ended by shooting a smirk and quick wink towards the camera, cringing internally at herself. the moment the camera left her, she slapped her cheeks and squeezed her eyes shut. really eunha? all you could think of was some silly pick up line?

hayeon came over and gave her a shake. "aw baby, i didn't know you had that in you. don't worry though, you already have my heart." she teased, feeding off of emmie's embarrassment. emmie stuck her tongue out at her in response before settling herself to watch the rest of the members. by the end of it, her chest hurt from laughing so much.

"alright, alright. that was a good warm-up, wasn't it? now it's time for... the pepero challenge!!" the leaders were clearly having a bit too much fun.

"for this, we decided to do things a littleee bit different. you see, our lovely viewers watching from home were asked to make the pairs for this round."

emmie was jittery with excitement. this sounded like it was going to be fun. or at least, really interesting.

"our first pair is..." they checked the phone in their hands with the real-time rankings on it. "mimi and emmie!"

emmie stopped clapping. what? what did she just say? she took back her previous thought that this was going to be fun. now she was nervous beyond reason. she hadn't even had the chance to speak to mimi since they arrived and began doing these bizarre activities and now they were going to have to do this challenge together? not to mention it was one that involved their faces being in close proximity. she glanced at mimi to see how she would react as she tried to keep her nervousness from showing with a smile on her face.

[daices.]

✦ MIMI ✦
〘 feeling ↠ absolutely mortified 〙
- - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - -

As much as Mimi wanted to dig a hole and bury herself forever, watching Emmie pull off some smooth pick up line was too good of an event to pass up. Turning but still huddling close to Jia, Mimi watched with widening eyes as Emmie uttered her pickup line, leveling a smirk at the camera. Mimi let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, before biting her lip. Why was her mouth suddenly dry?

"Stop breathing like that on me, you weirdo. And stand up by yourself." She was interrupted by Jia's voice blaring right next to her ear. Jerking upright and clearing her throat, Mimi felt the strangest compulsion to fix her hair, tugging on the collar of her blouse. Somehow she had begun leaning on Jia while watching as well. But the rest of M3RCY were all smooth yet funny in their own rights, and Mimi laughed merrily along, thoroughly enjoying herself. Cackling at the next game, she waggled her eyebrows suggestively at Miyoung, sticking her tongue out and winking.

"Come here, Miyoung-ah~~~ come give... What. Us? The fans voted for us? Why?" Mimi choked out, expression changing from salacious to panicked in a split second. She looked at Emmie helplessly, looking akin to a fish out of water.

"Does it have to be us?" Mimi glared when Jia turned and gave her a not-so-discrete wink, one of the staff trotting over to hand her a box of pocky.

"No switching!" The leader cheered blithely.

Mimi growled, roughly ripping open the package and withdrawing a stick. With the staff and camera all looking at her, Mimi was in o position to throw a temper tantrum and leave, not at this point. Turning to Emmie with a much softer, slightly apologetic expression on her face, Mimi shrugged weakly. "I... uh." Why was it so awkward all of a sudden? Everyone knew this game, she had to play it with her groupmates on occasion and had never had this reservation. Maybe it was their history; yes, that was it. Going from yelling at someone to playing the pepero game with them was definitely quite a shift; it would make anyone feel a little weird.

"Hurry up and get on with it!" Miyoung called from the side. God- her groupmates were enjoying her discomfort. "I'm going to kill you." Mimi mouthed in response, whipping her head back to glare, receiving nothing but jeers and gleeful laughs in response.

She shuffled forward, meeting Emmie somewhere in the middle, trying to ignore the camera drawing closer and their groupmates huddling closer in delighted curiosity. She could feel her heart somersaulting in her throat, her blush crawling down to her neck; god, they were so close. She could count every eyelash, if she wanted. She scanned Emmie's face, trying to suss out how the blonde was feeling, but quickly decided better of it when she just kept noticing detail after detail on her frustratingly pretty face.

"Let's just get this over with, yeah?" Mimi murmured, quickly putting the treat between her lips, one hand mindlessly grabbing Emmie's, gently pulling the shorter girl a little closer. Closing her eyes meant that Mimi could devote more to attention to her own racing heartbeat, her clammy hands, and Emmie's perfume, but she didn't think her heart could handle staring at Emmie's face a mere inch from her own.

Mimi slowly bit her way along the stick, trying to focus on anything but what was happening (the ever crescendoing squeals of the spectators was definitely not helping), brain whirling through half-formed thoughts so fast she could barely settle on one. And then she felt something against her lips that was definitively not a thin, chocolate-flavored biscuit; something soft, with a hint of sticky gloss. The cries around her reached a fever pitch, punctuated by gasps of shock.

Oh no. Oh no.

Mimi jerked back with a gasp, barely remembering to catch the remaining nub of cookie, as per the goal of the game.

"They kissed!!! Oh my god, they kissed!!" Someone crowed. "Who's going to be able to beat that??? Why'd they go first?" Yelled another. Mimi barely heard any of it, almost like she was listening through a fog, unable to look away from Emmie's face. And then it all came crashing down, and Mimi realized how close they were, how she was still holding Emmie's hand- springing away, she unceremoniously thrust the cookie morsel at Jia, who was twirling a ruler with a bright smirk on her face.

"Four millimeters! Wow, you two really went all out, huh?" Jia continued. Mimi shot her a death glare, quickly retreating. She tried to concentrate on the rest of the challenge, but it took all her willpower to not blush every five seconds, gaze flitting anywhere but Emmie.

They won, and each got a box of pocky. Mimi was going to hunt the producers down and kill them. It seemed like the staff new that, given how quickly they packed up after the conclusion of the game and the filming for the day.

[tsunami,]

emmie
↳ feeling: shook, awkward


she's holding my hand! emmie was convinced; this was some big man in the sky's way of making up her public humiliation from a week ago to her. her heart thumped as she looked up at mimi with wide eyes. "y-yeah." she sputtered, trying to keep her cool.

she could barely focus on the task at hand. the giddy squeals and cheers from the sidelines, not to mention the threating red light on the camera that told her everything that was happening was being recorded, and there were many, many, more people watching than just those in the room. emmie could only watch as mimi's face slowly came closer and closer to her. she couldn't close her eyes, she couldn't deal with not knowing exactly what was going on. but then, as the two girls slowly came closer, emmie realized that if they didn't stop soon, they were going to end up... making contact. the panic swept in, but with no way to stop, all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and wait for what she figured was the inevitable.

her eyes flew open the instant she felt something that was definitely not the biscuit on her lips. it was only for a split second, but emmie knew better. this was going to become a moment that would live on forever through the fans but also in her mind. the girls pulled away in an instant, mimi catching what was left of the stick. as mimi quickly dropped her hand and turned her attention to her leader, emmie was left frozen in place. she couldn't help but touch her lips with her hand. that.. that really happened, didn't it? a wave of heat rushed over her. she could barely hear what the others were saying with the way her heart was pounding.

"emmie~" hayeon called, clearly amused. emmie snapped out of her daydream, realizing she was still standing there. she quickly spun on her heel and scurried back to rejoin the ranks. her first instinct was to bury her face in the shoulder of her nearest groupmate, who offered her a gentle pat on the head to console her despite still laughing. this is it, my life is over. how am I supposed to face her now? is it just me? am I overreacting?? gahh

she watched the rest of the girls take their turn from behind the shoulder of chaewon, who she knew was going to have ball teasing her when this was all over.

when all the fun and games finally finished, the leaders came back around to make another announcement. "good work today, girls! you're all free to relax and explore the villa as you please. we won't torture you with anything else for today but of course, don't have too much fun." emmie could feel hayeon's gaze burning holes in the side of her head.

she clutched the box of pocky she had received as her prize, shooting a pointed glare in her leader's direction. suddenly, she was exhausted from all her nerves. finally, some free time.

maybe i should talk to her? we haven't really had a chance to speak since ... 'the incident.' emmie contemplated. she just wanted to make sure they cleared everything up, to give her some peace of mind. it wasn't that she just wanted to spend some time alone with mimi, they just had things to discuss, that was all. emmie had nearly forgotten about their little kiss at that moment. emphasis on nearly. the moment began to replay unconsciously in her head. mimi holding her hand; it didn't feel awkward at all, almost natural. mimi's face mere centimeters from hers; her eyelashes were so long. mimi's lips...

she stopped herself. she knew if she kept going with that train of thought she would never be able to look mimi in the eye ever again.

when the girls got back to their room, emmie quickly got changed into something more comfortable. now that there were no cameras rolling, she felt much more at ease. she shimmed into an oversized hoodie and a pair of shorts before sprawling out on the bed.

"sooo, how was it?" she heard a voice ask. she had been hoping she would get a break, but clearly chaewon had other plans.

"what do you mean? it was just an accident. it could have happened to any of us." she argued, half trying to convince chaewon and half trying to convince herself.

"mhm okay. and if it did happen to anyone else, do you think you would have reacted the same way?"

"of- of course." she stammered, knowing that she had unwillingly fallen into chaewon's trap.

their conversation was interrupted (much to the relief of emmie) by hayeon telling them to meet her downstairs. the leaders had decided it would be fun to have the two groups hang out together before bed with the pressure of anyone else watching. just some quality girl bonding time.

once downstairs, emmie made a beeline for the couch, grabbing a pillow and clutching it to her chest. she was trying to mentally prepare herself for seeing mimi again after that whole fiasco. after taking a deep breath, her gaze swept across the room until it found its target.

it's now or never. she thought as she rose from the couch. with slow, cautious steps, she made her way over to mimi. (after all, she had learned her lesson about walking too quickly, specifically in the direction of mimi.)

"hey! that was a.. good game back there." she began, her cheeks turning from soft pink to cherry red when she realized how that might have sounded. her gaze flittered from the marble floor and up towards mimi's face. "i- i mean... anyway! i, um, just wanted to talk to you. are we- are we good?" she asked, silently cursing herself for not being able to come up with a better way to ask her that question. good? are we good? what kind of question is that eunha?? she couldn't help it. she had begun to come to terms with the fact that she always seemed to lose her ability to speak eloquently when she was around mimi.

[daices.]

✦ MIMI ✦
〘 feeling ↠ awkward, flustered 24/7 〙
- - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - -

Mimi breathed a sigh of relief when they were all released; finally, she'd get some time to relax. That didn't stop her teammates from heckling her mercilessly, jostling her as they traveled back to their rooms in a haphazard herd.

"Wow, Mimi-unnie~ was that your first kiiiiiss?" Haemi, their maknae teased, poking Mimi's cheek. "Look at her blush, you can see it through her makeup!" Jia cackled. "Shut up. Shut up! All of you. I'm gonna murder you all." Mimi hissed through clenched teeth, but none of her members were cowed in the slightest, all of them laughing as they stumbled their way to the rooms; they all knew Mimi was soft underneath her gruff shell. "Oh no, Mimi's scaaaawwy, should I ask Emmie-unnie to make you stop??" Miyoung simpered, creating another chorus of laughter.

Mimi slammed the door after her in protest, ignoring Jia's giggle. Taking off her makeup and changing into an oversized tshirt and sleep shorts, Mimi sprawled onto the bed, about ready to doze off. "So like, what's really happening between you two? You and Emmie." Jia's voice sounded, right next to her ear.

"Let me sleep, please... Also nothing! Nothing is happening." Mimi grumbled, rolling away from the other girl.

"Oh yeah? Look at this." Mimi flinched away as a bright phone screen was shoved in front of her face, accompanied by shoves on her shoulder. She definitely wasn't going to be getting any sleep. Blearily opening her eyes, Mimi bolted upright, grabbing the phone when she realized what she was looking at. "What...? What is this? Are people shipping us?" Incredulity filled her tone as she scrolled through the twitter thread that Jia had open. There were endless screencaps of her helping Emmie when she hurt her foot, but there were also photos of their trainee days -Mimi cringed; she had forgotten about her short hair during then, but also how had they even found these photos and videos??- and even some fanart. Mimi flipped the phone to show one of these to Jia, jabbing a finger at her in a suit crowding a white dress clad Emmie against some wall. "What. How did you even find this?"

Jia hummed, shrugging. "Oh hey, that's a good one." She mused, reaching over and heart-ing the image. Mimi sputtered, quickly drawing the phone out of arm's reach. "What are you doing??"

"Oh, I mean you like her, don't you?" Jia said, so nonchalantly that it was basically the same as if she had asked what Mimi wanted for lunch and not like dropped a live bomb into Mimi's lap.

"Um- as a friend!?!?" Mimi exclaimed, voice almost a squeak. Jia merely shrugged and hummed dubiously. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Mimi sprawled onto the bed, crowding Jia off of it.

"Okay, grumpy-pants, whatever you say. Anyways, Hayeon and I decided it would be a good idea to have some cross-group bonding time, so get up; we're meeting M3RCY downstairs." Jia snatched her phone back, and a ping from Mimi's phone confirmed that message, sent to the Hilight groupchat. Mimi was basically dragged downstairs, Jia fisting Mimi's shirt. Still grumbling, Mimi made a beeline for the fridge, rummaging for a drink, or some food- after such a morning, she was starving. A pause, and Mimi opened her package of pocky; at least she wasn't wasting food.

"O-oh! Um. Hey." Mimi turned around, an apple in one hand and pocky in another. She coughed awkwardly, face flushing immediately when Emmie mentioned the game, immediately thinking about how Emmie's lips felt- no. Nonononono. Mimi discretely pinched herself, scrambling to reply. "Um! Yeah. U-uh. Good game." She mumbled, compulsively taking a bite of her apple.

"Are we good? I-I mean. Yeah. I'm good. Or- I uh, hope we're good?" Mimi continued, looking contrite, embarassment about her stuttering compounding on her existing embarassment. "I'm uh, I feel like I should... Apologize, for how I acted last time. Um, I shouldn't have blown up at you like that. Forgive me."

Come on, Mimi; small talk. You can do small talk! "So um... How have you been? I hope your ankle is doing okay?" She nodded towards the brace Emmie had on. "How long until you can use your foot?"

"Also uh- they stocked the fridge. Um, if you were hungry; there's a lot of cooking ingredients though, I think they might want us to cook at sometime. Um-" Mimi quickly shifted to the side, motioning to the still open fridge, before quickly taking a large bite of her apple to stop her rambling.

[tsunami,]

emmie
↳ feeling: a lil giddy, shy, sleepy


"nooo, no no, don't apologize. if anything, i'm kind of glad you did." emmie said with a small smile tugging at her lips. "it was a much needed wake-up call for me. i hadn't been very considerate of your feelings and i guess i never realized how things may have been from your perspective."

her smiled widened. "i'm glad we got that all sorted out though! it's been on my mind since then but now my chest feels much lighter." though it really was true that emmie felt a lot better now, she was also trying really hard to create a more lighthearted atmosphere. she felt like every time they were near each other, they both tensed up. maybe it was out of habit, but emmie figured it was time to let those bad habits die now so that they could work on building a better relationship. it also may have been because emmie had gotten a glimpse at a side of mimi that she had never seen before, and she would definitely be lying she if she said it didn't make her want to learn more.

she glanced down at her ankle at mimi's comment. "my ankle and i have been doing just fine. the doctor says i just be good to go in another week."

her gaze shifted towards the fridge following mimi's movement. "i think i'm okay for-"

"hey, lovebirds! would you be dears and make us some popcorn while you're in there? we're going to watch a movie!"

emmie's eyes widened in surprise at the comment. her head snapped to the left towards the living room, her eyes darting from face to face to see who would've said such a mortifying thing. all she got as an answer was a chorus of laughter from the other girls, clearly having the time of their lives teasing them. the warmth that spread across her cheeks had become a familiar feeling by now. "um, well, i guess we're watching a movie." she offered sheepishly, moving towards the cupboard to look for the popcorn packets.

she unwrapped one of the packages and set it into the microwave, the gentle hum stark in contrast to the sound of her heart thumping rapidly. all she could do was stand near the machine and wait, not fully confident in her ability to strike up another conversation after that comment was made. clearly, she was letting it affect her more than she probably should, but she wondered how mimi felt about it. maybe she was the only one that was feeling some type of way.

the sudden, obnoxious beeping from the microwave indicating it was done shocked emmie from her thoughts. she quickly took the bag out and dumped the popcorn into a large bowl before putting the next one in.

when the microwave went off a second time and the popcorn was safely in the bowl, emmie moved towards the living room. "shall we?" she asked mimi with a smile, holding one bowl in each hand.

as emmie approached the living room, she made eye contact with chaewon who was staring at her with a suspiciously large grin on her face. she set the bowls of popcorn on the table and walked towards her. just as she was about to sit down though, she felt herself being pushed away. "wha- what are you doing?"

"sorry sweetie, this seat is reserved. you're going to have to sit over there." chaewon pointed to the love seat to the right of the couch. "luckily, it has two seats. one for each of you!"

it took a lot of willpower for emmie not to jump on chaewon and give her a good shake. "right... thanks for being so considerate." she shot chaewon a i'm so going to get you back for this look to which she responded by blowing her a kiss and collapsing in a fit of giggles.

well, there was no helping it. "i guess those seats already have our names on them." she chuckled nervously, turning and plopping down onto the love seat. she took one of the pillows and held it tightly to her chest. she needed something to occupy her hands or else she would've spent the rest of the night fidgeting with her fingers in her lap.

as the lights were dimmed and the movie began playing, emmie slowly began to more at ease. though, try as she might to concentrate on the movie, she couldn't help but notice the pretty girl sitting next to her out of the corner of her eye every so often.

soon enough, the events of the day began to take its toll on emmie. her eyelids slowly got heavier and heavier and she found herself moving in and out of consciousness. at one point, she felt her head move to the side, falling slowly, until it hit something kind of hard, but not uncomfortable. there was a faint scent coming from it; was it citrus? she knew someone that often smelled like that. ah, it didn't matter. she was just happy to finally get some shut-eye. she snuggled closer into her mysterious pillow, blissfully unaware that she had just fallen asleep on mimi's shoulder.

[daices.]

✦ MIMI ✦
〘 feeling ↠ soft, panicked 〙
- - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - - ✦ - - - - -

Mimi gave Emmie a relieved smile, eyes crinkling; maybe this could be a new start. She could feel her nerves settling a little already.

"hey, lovebirds! would you be dears and make us some popcorn while you're in there? we're going to watch a movie!"

"Who was that?" Mimi bellowed, straightening and directing her most fearsome glare at the group gathered in the living room. Hilight was already immune to Mimi's fierce disposition, but it seemed like M3RCY had picked up on her "all bark, no bite" attitude, as there was no response except for laughter.

"Yeah." Mimi said to Emmie, a staggering contrast of volume to the yell from before. "The nerve of 'em, I swear..." She continued, trailing off but still muttering clear unpleasantries under her breath. She started after Emmie for a second, before thinking better of it; she wasn't some eager puppy, for godsake. And Emmie didn't need to be protected from the popcorn cabinet, of all things. Forcing herself to settle next to the fridge, she schooled her expression into clear nonchalance. What was she even doing? She never second-guessed like this. All of a sudden, too. "Sorry, I think my group's rubbing off on yours. I'll try to keep a leash on 'em all, I swear." Mimi joked, hoping to lighten the mood; she didn't like the stress that Emmie was wearing on her face. But- wait, why was she staring at her face? Don't be rude, Mimi. She berated herself.

"We shall." Mimi grinned, following Emmie. Her expression quickly soured, though, when her members saw them coming and all gave her identical sneers.

"Jia. What are you doing." She eyed her leader, positively lounging across a large half of a sofa, Haemi giggling at the end. "Move, dummy." Jia tilted her head in faux contemplation. "But if I move, then Emmie'll be all alone, won't she? You don't want that, do you?"

Mimi glowered. "What?" She quickly glanced to her right just to see Emmie get pushed from her seat, then pointed at a loveseat. "You guys. Really? Really."

Sighing in exasperation, she chuckled lightly at Emmie's comment, shrugging. "Yeah, guess so." Following dutifully, Mimi settled next to Emmie, impulsively throwing a hand over the couch behind Emmie... Before immediately mentally slapping herself. Stupid, stupid! What are you doing?? Just cause you do it with your teammates doesn't give you free range here! You literally just made up with her. But suddenly retracting her arm would also be awkward as well- what if Emmie thought she didn't want to sit there? Mimi gave Emmie a quiet smile instead, trying to calm both of their nerves.

The movie playing happened to be one she hadn't watched yet, and Mimi thanked the novelty for keeping her distracted; but during the slower beats Mimi had the strangest compulsion to glance to her right. A compulsion that she only gave into a couple times. Or maybe a few. Okay, a good handful but- it was only cause the movie was getting boring, really. Although she had to admit; Emmie clutching and fiddling with the pillow was extremely cute. Mimi was rather preoccupied with the climax of the movie when she felt a soft, warm weight settled against her side. Mimi only panicked further when Emmie positively snuggled in, head nestled right under her chin.

"WhatdoIdo whatdoIDO Jia please help what-" Mimi mouthed, looking at the aforementioned girl with wide eyes. Jia only stared at her impassively before turning back to the screen; okay. So she was being ignored; that was fine. That was fine! Mimi was surprised that her skyrocketing heartbeat didn't wake Emmie up as she put a hesitant hand on the girl's shoulder, later relaxing just enough to lean her head on Emmie's for a while. The warmth beside her was nice, really; Emmie's slight stature somehow fit perfectly, almost too naturally.

Soon, the credits began to roll, and everyone else began to pack up, cleaning popcorn kernels off the ground and rearranging the haphazardly thrown pillows. Mimi, however, was still very stuck; there was a crick in her neck from how hard she was trying not to move, one of her legs just shy of falling asleep. Watching in abject horror as everyone began to stream out of the room, basically leaving her to dry, she caught Miyoung's sleeve as she left.

"Help me." Mimi hissed. "I don't want to wake her up."

"Tough luck, huh? Being stuck on a comfy couch with your girlfriend." Miyoung bantered back quietly, snickering under her breath when instead of helping, she just handed Mimi one of the comforters resting on a couch and positively fleeing the room.

"She's not my...! Ugh." Mimi trailed off, resigned to her fate, carefully draping the blanket over the both of them. Emmie was... Honestly, she didn't know how someone could look nice sleeping -she could attest, her groupmates had so many blackmail pictures saved onto their phones it was scary- but Emmie somehow did it. Her relaxed expression only highlighted her fairy-like features, and Mimi couldn't help but scan the sleeping girl's face, a soft smile on her her own.

Lightly tucking a runaway strand of blonde hair behind her ear, Mimi rested her head on Emmie's. "Cute." She muttered, half to herself, before she slowly let drowsiness, then sleep, overtake her.