𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 ˢᵛᵗ

twenty seven ♬

We arrived at Pledis by late afternoon. Youngpil dropped Hana and I off by the front entrance before driving off into the parking complex. The two of us hurried inside, narrowly missing the rain that was set to start any minute. Sat in seats by reception was Mingyu and Wonwoo, who's head perked up when they heard us come through the doors. Mingyu shot up immediately and rushed over like a puppy, Wonwoo sauntering behind him.

"You're back!" He squealed, hugging me tightly as he jumped excitedly. I smiled and patted him back.

"Well done Chae-ri," Wonwoo said, beaming proudly at me.

"Thanks Wonwoo," I replied. "And as for you Mingyu, I got you a little gift."

I presented him a box of his favourite chocolates with a flourish. Somehow I had convinced Youngpil to make another pitstop so that I could buy these. And now it seems as though that small break was worth it, as Mingyu engulfed me in another hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" He exclaimed happily. "Everyone's upstairs waiting for you. The staff said we could celebrate your win."

The boys took my suitcase and led me to the elevator. Soon enough, we reached the practice room where everyone else was waiting.

"SHE'S HERE!" A voice yelled. I knew instantly that it was Seungkwan's. From across the room, I noticed Bo-ri seated alone boring holes right through me with hateful eyes. Eventually I split off from Wonwoo and Mingyu to go with Soonyoung, Seungkwan and Seokmin who brought me over to the table filled with food.

"Bet you missed us like crazy," Seungkwan said, picking up a salmon sushi roll. "Especially me."

"No way," Soonyoung butted in, munching on a tuna roll. "Chae-ri definitely missed me the most, right?"

Soonyoung sidled up to me, wiggling his brows which made me laugh. Seokmin stared him down, sulkily grabbing a plate to pile on food with.

"You're both wrong," I answered. "I actually missed Seokmin the most. And Jeonghan. And Mingyu, Josh, Vernon, Jun, Minghao, Wonwoo, Chan, Jihoon and Seungcheol."

"That's everyone but us!" Seungkwan huffed, snatching a spring roll for his plate.

"You're real mean Chae-ri," Soonyoung pouted at me. I stuck my tongue out at him teasingly which made pout even harder. Soonyoung grabbed Seungkwan, who was in the middle of scoffing down another sushi roll, by the shoulder and stormed off leaving me and Seokmin alone.

"You did well on the show," He said, offering me the plate of food he'd spent choosing minutes before. I accepted it but didn't eat anything yet.

"Everyone keeps saying that," I mumbled. "But what did I even achieve? I lost nearly every challenge and I didn't win."

"So what if you didn't win?" Seokmin said, stealing a tempura off of my plate. "You got recognised by the big shots. Isn't that your dream? To have your talent and music acknowledged by others?"

"I suppose. Thank you Seokmin."

He smiled and told me he was going to go over and speak to Minghao, who was dancing the hardest I'd ever seen him dance before. I knew that was a lie as I watched him waltz straight over to JJ, sitting at a table far away from Minghao. Firstly; When did those two get so close? Secondly; Why did he lie to me? Anyways, I took that as an opportunity to scan the room for Jihoon, but I couldn't see him anywhere.

Shortly after leaving me, Jeonghan joined my side with a drink in hand.

"When will you two just say you love each other?" He joked annoyingly, giving me a mischievous knowing grin. "Okay okay, I'll stop. Where were you though? I thought you were supposed to come back in the morning."