Perception

Chapter 1

While she stood there panting and tear-stained, her phone began to ring, signalling that there was someone calling her. She wiped the tears off her cheeks and cleared her somewhat sore throat before she whipped out the phone from the left pocket of her black hoodie.

The caller ID read:

"TWICE나연언니"

She sighed despondently. She was reluctant to answer it but she knew that if she didn't, the bunny wouldn't stop calling her. That was one of the qualities she found endearing and irritating in Nayeon- she was relentless and doesn't have the word "stop" in her vocabulary. Resigned to her fate, she tapped the answer button and held the phone near her ear.

"Yeoboseyo?"

"Ya, Jeongyeon-ah! Where are you?!" a somewhat shrill voice was heard from the phone.

"Just... around, unnie. I'll be back before midnight."

"Aish... what's wrong? You've been pretty distant lately, everyone's worried about you."

"It's nothing, Nayeon-unnie, I'll be going soon. Talk to you later!"

"Ya!"

Before the older girl could disagree, Jeongyeon ends the call and puts the phone back in her pocket. She takes one last look at the view of the city presented before her then turns around and starts walking towards the exit.

She was dreading to get home. Aish, what would happen once she arrives? She sure as hell won't be able to get peace and quiet with nine of them living in one place.

She desperately needs someone to talk to but how would they react? Sure, the l***q+ community has been prominent in this decade but not everyone can accept them. Would they accept her? She wasn't even sure if this is what she wants for herself.

The heart wants what it wants, I guess, she thought as she descends the flight of stairs, intent on going home.

...

As soon as she opens the door to their dorm, her friends crowded around her.

"Ya, where the hell have you been?!"

"It's late, where did you go?!"

"Did you go eat jokbal without me?!"

"Aigoo, what's going on?"

"Hyung!"

"Aish, this ostrich!"

"Ya, stop pushing!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Jeongyeon exclaimed, causing everyone to immediately quiet down.

"I just went for some fresh air around the studio, I know it's late but I did tell Nayeon-unnie that I would go home before midnight so don't worry, and no, I did not eat jokbal or anything else while I was out," she said in one breath, shooting Momo a meaningful look as she shared the last statement.

Momo scratched the nape of her neck at this and gave her a sheepish smile.

"Unnie, are you sick or something?" Dahyun asked, tilting her head in a confused stance.

"Of course not, why would I be?" Jeongyeon replied, frowning.

"You've been acting weird lately, hyung," Chaeyoung narrows her eyes at the older girl, as if judging her.

"Aniyo, I'm just feeling tired."

"So you are sick," Sana accuses, a small gasp exiting her lips.

"For the last time, I am not sick!"

"I don't know, you look sick to me," Tzuyu pipes in, her hand coming up to put her palm on Jeongyeon's forehead, obviously checking for her temperature. Jeongyeon just batted the taller but younger girl's hand away, her face scrunched up in a scowl.

"Okay, whatever you say. Can I please just go to bed now? It's been a long day."

"Arasseo, arasseo. Have you eaten yet?" Jihyo asked.

"I'm not hungry."

"You feel tired and you're not hungry. Are you sure you're not sick?!" Momo exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Jeongyeon groans and hits her forehead in frustration.

Just as she was about to snap at them, she heard a defeated sigh and a voice, who had been eerily silent the whole time, saying, "Come on, yeorobun. Let's leave her alone for now."

She looked towards the direction of the voice to see the reason for her tiredness- lack of sleep- lately. Nayeon had her arms crossed as she regards Jeongyeon with a calculating look. Jeongyeon takes an unconscious step back as she feels the older girl's eyes on her. Nayeon rarely looks this serious with them, it was usually their leader, Jihyo, who would give them this look.

Nayeon gave her a tight smile then stepped forward to embrace Jeongyeon. She then turned her head to whisper in Jeongyeon's ear, "Welcome home." Pulling back, she added, "Get some sleep, you look like you need it. And if you feel hungry in the middle of the night, don't hesitate to call me. Arasseo?"

Jeongyeon shot her a grateful smile, a warm feeling settling in her belly. This was one of the reasons she loved Nayeon. Despite her usually acting immature like a fake maknae, she still has her moments.

"Gomawo, unnie," Jeongyeon said, her throat a little tight. Then without much protest from the others, she silently walked past them towards her room which she shared with Momo.

...

Sunlight came from the window and shot right at Jeongyeon's sleeping face. She grimaced at the morning glare of the sun, waking up from her slumber. Since her bed was near the window, she got up without opening her eyes and angrily swiped at the curtains to cover the sunlight then plopped back into bed, groaning all the way.

"Ya, it's about time you woke up," she heard a rather loud voice beside her bed.

Jihyo, she recognized immediately. Still without opening her eyes, she retaliated, "Don't care... need sleep."

"Aish. You're lucky we don't have anything to do today. It's already past 11, you haven't eaten anything since last night, you missed breakfast, and, not to mention, you've been asleep for twelve hours. The others are worried, you know," Jihyo rambled.

Jeongyeon didn't bother to answer her, thinking that she would go away if she ignored her. She heard Jihyo sigh then said, "Nayeon-unnie was crying last night."

At this, Jeongyeon bolted up from bed, her eyes wide in shock as she looked at Jihyo with bleary eyes. "Mwo?!"

Jihyo just gave her a smug look. "I was kidding, Jeong."

Jeongyeon clicked her tongue at that then lay back down the bed, hiding under her comforter in embarrassment at getting caught.

"I know something's up, Jeong. You can't hide anymore."

Jeongyeon just ignored her, hoping that, this time, she really will go away if she stayed that way.

"It's about Nayeon-unnie, isn't it?"

Nope, still not talking, Jeongyeon thought.

"I noticed you've been avoiding her more than us lately, Jeong. You like her, don't you?"

Silence still. Aish, this girl, Jihyo thought. Fine, you asked for this.

Aloud, she said, "Okay. You don't want to talk? I'll tell Nayeon-unnie you have a crush on her."

She then turned around to walk away but felt a hand enclose around her wrist. She smugly looked back at Jeongyeon who had a grimace on her face.

"Please, don't," she pleaded as she let go of Jihyo, her eyes and tone of voice dripping seriousness and defeat.

"Okay, then. Talk and don't leave anything out," Jihyo demanded, taking a seat on Jeongyeon's bed. She could see Jeongyeon still hesitate so she added, "I know you need help trying to figure all this out, okay? But I can't help unless you tell me everything, Jeong."

She is as every bit as relentless as Nayeon, Jeongyeon realized. Not surprising as they're the most competitive members of the group.

Jeongyeon sighed in defeat. "Fine. Hmm... where do I start?"

She paused. Thankfully, Jihyo remained silent, sensing that the older girl needed time to remember whatever it was she was supposed to remember.

After a while, she said, "I'm not really sure when I started to like her but... I knew I started to treat her differently before our second tour."

"Jinjja?! That was so long ago! Now that I think about it, both of you were acting weird that day and we assumed you fought or something. Aish! It's about time you cleared the air about that, don't you think?"

"Arasseo. Now let me speak."

Jihyo giggled a bit. "Mianhe!"

Jeongyeon just rolled her eyes.

...

"Jeongie!" a loud squeal of her name made Jeongyeon turn around just in time to see a bunny-like energy ball sprint towards her and embrace her tightly.

"Ya, Nayeon-unnie! I can't breathe!" she complained while trying to push away aformentioned girl from her.

Letting go of her, Nayeon just smiled and said, "Oops! Mianhe."

"Aish... what's gotten into you today?"

"I'm just really excited we get to perform together. Why? Aren't you glad to perform with me?" she said the last part, pouting and tilting her head to the side, in an obvious attempt to pull an aegyo.

Jeongyeon just rolled her eyes at this. "Ya, stop that. We're going to start soon." Of course I'm happy about it, I just hide it better than you.

Just as she said that, several people- Back-up dancers, she thought- had entered the spacious studio that they were currently occupying. It was the first practice session for their cover of "My Ear's Candy" that they were to perform on their tour. They were without their other members today as they had separated into various groups and so were practicing separately. Jeongyeon forgot how they had ended up in their respective groups. She supposed she had spaced out since by the time the meeting had concluded, Nayeon had started to bother her again, obviously excited. It was then that she found out that she and Nayeon were paired up to perform a special stage that they were to prepare.

Jeongyeon had to listen intently to their choreographer as she explained how their performance was going to go for them. She found it unnecessary, however, since the song they were to perform was already popular and everyone probably knew the steps for it that they only needed their placements and formations.

Everything went without a hitch, Jeongyeon assumes they would be able to finish learning the choreography within the day and she was right. Once they had finished learning the choreography, they practiced with the music. She had been aware, from the start, that she and Nayeon were going to have frequent physical contact with each other, such as the theme of the performance. She had already prepared herself mentally for those moments.

Why would she see the need to do that though? They were friends, no malice should be present even when they performing on-stage... not to mention perform somewhat sensually. It was just a performance, anyway. Right?

Sadly, it was not how it was supposed to be. You see, Yoo Jeongyeon had just recently admitted to herself that she had a crush- a HUGE one- on one Im Nayeon. She wasn't aware how it started, maybe it has always been there... but she knew it was there. And she had just finally stopped denying to herself of that fact.

What Jeongyeon failed to anticipate, however, was that while her brain had been prepared, her heart wasn't. During the last part where she and Nayeon were to approach each other and embrace, her heart started hammering through her chest and her eyes were immediately locked towards the older girl's full, red lips. She gulped and raised her eyes to meet Nayeon's, praying to God Jihyo she didn't notice that she had been staring, much less where she was staring. To her embarrassment, Nayeon's eyes held a mischievous glint in them.

"See something you like, Jeongie?" Nayeon teased, smirking.

Jeongyeon gulped again. By this time, the music had already ended and they were still hugging. She took notice of this and immediately let go of Nayeon. Turning around without a word, she ran towards the exit with Nayeon and the others calling after her. She continued running until the nearest restroom and locked herself in. As she leaned forward panting over the sink, she took deep breaths and placed a hand over her chest, trying to calm her racing heart and wiping the sweat she had worked up a while ago from her brow. She looked up to see her red face in the mirror and frowned. Turning on the faucet, she splashed the cool water on her warm face.

The silence lasted on for a few moments. She had already calmed down and finished wiping her face when there was a knock on the door.

"Jeong?" It was Nayeon.

Jeongyeon inwardly sighed. "Yeah, I'm here. I just needed to wash up. You should go back, unnie."

"No need, the choreographer called it a day and sent everyone home. Can I come in?"

It took Jeongyeon a few seconds to compose herself and fix her appearance before she unlocked the door to let Nayeon in. The older girl entered slowly, taking slow steps then closing the door silently before turning to look at Jeongyeon who was still looking at the mirror in front of her.

"Gwaenchanha?"

Jeongyeon turned to look at her and gave her a forced smile. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Nayeon just regarded her with a bored look. "Ya, I'm not a pabo, you know. I know something's bothering you. You know you can tell me, right?"

Jeongyeon smiled sheepishly at her. "Mianhe, unnie. I just have a lot on my mind right now. I-I'll tell you when I'm ready, okay?"

"Is this about our performance?"

Jeongyeon was taken aback. "What makes you say that?"

"It's about the end part, isn't it? I know you're not comfortable with physical contact but I didn't know you'd react to it that way."

"Aniya! I'm fine with it, really."

"If you're not comfortable with it, we can change it, you know."

"There's no need for that, unnie. I'm really fine with it!"

"Then why'd you run out after that part?"

A lump formed in Jeongyeon's throat. What was she supposed to say to that? She couldn't tell the truth even if she wanted to and she couldn't bullshit her way out of it because, really, WHAT WAS SHE SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THAT?!

Fortunately, Nayeon could sense her inner struggle and decided to just drop the issue. She gave a sigh and said, "Arasseo, I won't push." She then took Jeongyeon's slightly cooler hand in hers. "But remember: I'm always going to be here if you're ready to talk."

Jeongyeon gave her a genuine smile this time, her heart beginning to flutter again. This is yet another reason why she found herself drawn to the bunny in front of her. These rare thoughtful moments of hers made Jeongyeon all fuzzy and warm inside in a rather uncomfortable way.

Nevertheless, she appreciated Nayeon and it was about time she expressed it. "Gomawo, Nayeon-unnie."

After that day, she had learned to reign in her emotions and try not to be affected too much every time they were together. She was successful for the most part... almost too successful, to the point that she would ignore Nayeon at times. She knew Nayeon noticed it but, thankfully, the older girl didn't confront her about it.