Jealousy

Dahyun's Birthday V-Live had just finished and Jeongyeon found herself in the restroom, fiddling with the clip of the neck brace. The girls minus Chaeyoung- who had somewhere else to be- decided to surprise her and join her in celebration of her 22nd birthday. She removed the neck brace beforehand, not wanting to bother their fans with her neck brace while they were live. She wanted them to focus on Dahyun instead of worrying over her.

The other members had already gone, probably waiting in the van downstairs since she said she had to go to the bathroom. Nayeon offered to go with her but she declined. She was beginning to regret her decision now. She was trying to close the neck brace but she couldn't see behind her, the mirror in front of her not really helping. She could only see her annoyed expression glaring back at her. Grunting in annoyance, she exited the restroom still holding on to the clip.

It was a stroke of luck that she found Mina walking down the hall.

"Minari!" she called.

Mina turned around and found Jeongyeon clutching onto her neck brace. No words were needed, she knew Jeongyeon needed help clipping it on. She approached her unnie and began to take the neck brace from Jeongyeon's grasp.

"Gomawo, Mina-yah," Jeongyeon said as she heard the clip being successfully close. "Aish, why did I have to be injured now?"

It happened a day after Chaeyoung's birthday, they had been filming for their music video and halfway through their dance in the chorus part, she felt numbness from her ears down to the nape of her neck. She was rushed to the hospital for that. The doctor diagnosed her of a herniated disk. She didn't really know what that meant but she knew it probably wasn't good.

This greatly annoyed Jeongyeon as it effectively impeded her ability to dance. While she is still able to perform, she had to be cautious with her neck as she couldn't risk worsening her injury. It can heal on its own but she has to wear a neck brace occasionally to help speed up the process.

"Gwaenchanha, unnie," Mina consoled her. "I'm sure you'll get better in no time."

Jeongyeon smiled at her then reached for Mina's hand. "Gaja! They're probably waiting for us."

They exited the building holding hands. The V-Live went longer than expected, the sky was beginning to darken. The sun hadn't fully sunken yet, painting the somewhat cloudy sky with an ombre of apricot, cerulean, and midnight blue.

They found their van waiting for them out the lobby, Jihyo and Nayeon were leaning on the hood and Jihyo held a phone near her ear. Nayeon had her arms crossed with a frown on her face. Once she caught sight of them, she tapped Jihyo's shoulder to call her attention. Jihyo put down the phone when she saw them walking towards them.

"Ya, what took you so long? I was about to call!" Jihyo whined.

"Mianhe, I had trouble closing my neck brace. Minari had to help me," Jeongyeon said.

She noticed Nayeon's piercing stare towards their clasped hands. At this, she immediately let go of Mina's hand. The action caused Nayeon to look up at her. Jeongyeon gave her a sheepish smile, feeling awkward at Nayeon's gaze. She was surprised when Nayeon rolled her eyes at her then entered the van.

She turned to Jihyo, frowning. "What's up with her?"

Jihyo shrugged. "Beats me. Why don't you ask her about it?" After giving Jeongyeon a knowing look, she entered the van, leaving Jeongyeon and Mina in confusion.

"Is Nayeon-unnie mad at us?" Mina asked nervously.

"Don't worry, it's probably only me," Jeongyeon pat her head. "You did nothing wrong."

"You didn't do anything either! Why don't I talk with unnie?"

Jeongyeon shook her head. "No need, Mina-yah. I can handle it. Thanks for offering, though."

She then entered and sat at the back of the van where Nayeon was seated since the other seats in the front were already occupied by Sana, Momo, Tzuyu, Dahyun, and Jihyo. She sat beside Nayeon who was avoiding her gaze and Mina sat on her other side.

The drive back to the dorms was quite tense with Nayeon ignoring both of them. Jeongyeon was quite miffed at her attitude. Her holding hands with Mina may be a possible reason for her displeasure but she's sure Nayeon didn't even like her that way. Jealousy was out of the question. So apart from that, Jeongyeon has no clue as to why their oldest was giving them the cold shoulder.

Mina fell asleep on her shoulder halfway through the drive and leaned on her shoulder. She wrapped an arm around the blonde's shoulder, brushing her hair from her face. It was at this moment when Nayeon decided to talk to her again.

"Do we have a problem, Yoo Jeongyeon?" Nayeon asked in a low voice, her arms were crossed and she was looking out the window. Despite feeling annoyed, she wasn't selfish and didn't want to wake Mina up with unnecessary noise.

Jeongyeon couldn't exactly turn her head with her neck brace even if she wanted to. She continued to look forward, a frown had marred her face. "Shouldn't I be asking you that, Nayeon-ah?" she replied, her voice lowered as well, almost a whisper.

"If you didn't want my help, you could've just said so."

"Mwo?!"

She could see from the corner of her eye that Nayeon turned to look at her, her face blank. "Is something going on between you and Mina?"

Jeongyeon was taken aback. She didn't expect this coming from the bunny. "What makes you think that?"

"You've been pretty close with her lately, more so than usual. And even a while ago when you I offered to accompany you to the restroom, you declined. But if it was Mina, it's okay? Be honest with me, Jeongyeon-ah."

Jeongyeon scoffed, her mood worsening. "Are you even hearing yourself? Why in the world would you think there is something between Mina and I? We've always been close, you know that. The only reason I've been closer with her lately is because I want to make sure she's okay especially with her anxiety and all. And even if I did feel something towards her, I could never do that to Chaeng. You know how much she likes Mina."

"So you do feel something for her?"

"Unnie!" Jeongyeon snapped, feeling incensed. She was on the verge of exploding and she didn't want that happening with others around. Taking a deep breath to calm down, she continued, "Believe whatever you want, I don't know why I even need to explain myself to you. It's not like we're dating."

"What if I told you I was jealous?"

Jeongyeon's eyes widened at the statement and she fought to keep a blush from her face- only to fail miserably. Her heart beat began to accelerate, she could almost hear it hammering through her chest, loud and clear. Her throat began to dry and she had to cough a little before speaking. "Don't try to play games now, Nayeon-ah."

A hand made its way to grip her own. She was able to look down albeit a little stiffly and saw Nayeon's bigger hand clutching hers.

She heard Nayeon sigh. "Mianhe, Jeongyeon-ah. After what had happened last year, it's understandable that you'd give more attention to Mina. I shouldn't have accused you both but I couldn't help it. I used to be your number one and I just wanted it to stay that way. I was selfish."

Jeongyeon smiled, eyes still fixed on their intertwined hands. She squeezed Nayeon's hand. "What are you talking about? You are my number one. Always had been and always will be." After a short pause, she added, "If it makes you feel better, I did regret declining your offer to go with me to the restroom. Trying to close my brace on my own is a pain in the neck... literally."

Nayeon giggled at that. "That does make me feel better. That'll teach you not to be stubborn next time. It was just your luck Mina left something and had to go back inside the building."

She knew Nayeon was smiling now. The bunny lay her head on her shoulder, still holding onto her hand. They sat in silence after that, content in the fact that they were okay now. A few minutes later, Jeongyeon could hear Nayeon's breath even out and she knew her unnie had fallen asleep. But Jeongyeon couldn't bring herself to sleep, she wasn't tired anyway. And even if she wanted to sleep, a thought was preventing her for doing so.

If Nayeon felt like that towards her and Mina's closeness, was Chaeyoung bothered as well?

She needed to talk to her dongsaeng to clear any worries and suspicions the cub might have.

They soon arrived at their dorm. The others began to exit the van. Extracting her hand from Nayeon's grasp, Jeongyeon gently patted Nayeon's and Mina's thighs to wake them up. "Ya, wake up, you two. We're here."

Mina opened her eyes and yawned. She lifted her head from Jeongyeon's shoulder and stretched. While she was doing this, Jeongyeon was still trying to wake Nayeon.

"Aish, this bunny. Wake up!"

Mina giggled at the scene. "I'll be going ahead, unnie. Good luck waking her up!"

"Wha- jinjja?! You're leaving me with her, you albino penguin? Neomuhae!"

Mina was still giggling as she jumped out of the van and she hollered back, "Jeongyeon-unnie, fighting!"

Jeongyeon clicked her tongue. Now she was left with Nayeon who still remained unresponsive. She wrapped her arm around Nayeon's shoulders and gently shook her. "Unnie, wake up. I know you're tired but you can continue sleeping in the dorm. It's better to sleep in your bed. Come on."

Nayeon groaned and wrapped her own arms around Jeongyeon's waist. With a sleepy voice, she muttered, "Can't we just stay here? You're so comfortable, Jeongyeon-ah."

Jeongyeon had to take a deep breath lest her heart would start to beat erratically again. With how Nayeon was pressed up against her, the latter would surely notice.

"Fine. You asked for this."

Jeongyeon's arm that was around Nayeon's shoulders dropped down to her waist and she dug her fingers in her side. Nayeon held back a giggle as she recoiled and grabbed Jeongyeon's hand. She still refused to raise her head from Jeongyeon's shoulder.

Jeongyeon became relentless. She managed to pull her hand away from Nayeon's grasp and went back to tickling her side. Nayeon yelped at that. She tried to pry Jeongyeon's hand away from her again but the latter managed to dodge her attempts.

What Nayeon forgot was that Jeongyeon had two hands. While she was focused on the one tickling her, Jeongyeon's other hand attacked her other side.

"Jeongyeon!" Nayeon squealed loudly and she bolted upright, squirming. "Ya! Hajima!"

Jeongyeon guffawed at Nayeon's struggle. With Jeongyeon's stronger, lankier build, Nayeon stood no chance of escaping her clutches. One does not simply mess with Yoo Jeongyeon and Nayeon was learning that the hard way. In desperation, Nayeon raised herself from a sitting position, placed her knees on the seat to brace herself, and pushed Jeongyeon's shoulders. The push was strong enough to send Jeongyeon on her back.

Jeongyeon halted in tickling Nayeon's sides to try to stabilize herself, clutching at the back of the seat. However, she was unable to right herself when Nayeon grabbed her wrists and pushed her onto her back again, hovering over her. She brought Jeongyeon's wrists over her head, effectively immobilizing her. The action startled Jeongyeon and she froze, now noticing how close they are.

Nayeon was too close to be considered comfortable, the bunny was literally centimeters away from her. Jeongyeon was hyper aware of how Nayeon was pressed up against her, Nayeon's knee was between her thighs. Their noses were almost touching. She could feel Nayeon's breath fanning her face, panting from the tickling. She could smell Dahyun's vanilla birthday cake Nayeon had sampled earlier lingering from her breath. Instead of being disgusted, she was curious how that cake would taste like from Nayeon's lips.

Jeongyeon gulped at the various thoughts running through head at the moment and opened her mouth to say something before Nayeon cut her off.

"Don't move or I'll kiss you."

The statement caused Jeongyeon to pause and glance at Nayeon's full, plump lips. They had never looked so kissable, especially with the smirk present in Nayeon's features. Catching herself, she looked up at Nayeon's eyes which were honestly worse for Jeongyeon. Nayeon's walnut brown eyes shone brightly with mischief.

If that wasn't enough, Nayeon started to lean in. While one part of her knew this was just Nayeon teasing her, Jeongyeon's eyes widened in panic. She pursed her lips inwards and turned her head to the side to avoid Nayeon's lips from making contact with hers.

"Jeongyeon-ah! Nayeon-unnie!" a voice was heard from outside. "What's taking you both so long?!"

Nayeon paused, blinking. Jeongyeon took the opportunity to pry her arms away from Nayeon's grasp and push her away, sitting up in the process. Just as they were both seated upright and at a good distance away from each other, Momo peaked her head in the vehicle, scowling.

"There you are! What the hell were you both doing?" Momo demanded. "Jihyo made me stop eating to look for you two and you're here just staring at each other?! You couldn't have done that inside?"

"Ani, we weren't-"

"Arasseo, Momo-yah. Tell Jihyo we're coming. Mianhe," Nayeon said. She then turned to Jeongyeon and asked, "Gaja?"

Nayeon began to collect her things as well as Jeongyeon's and stood up while Jeongyeon gaped at her. Nayeon was really acting like nothing had transpired between them just a minute ago. Jeongyeon continued to sit there and gawk at Nayeon before Momo groaned.

"Ya, move already, Jeongyeon-ah! We have tteokbokki inside," here, Jeongyeon piped up at the mention of food. "And if you don't hurry up, there won't be any left for us!"

Jeongyeon suddenly forgot about what happened earlier. Standing up, she grabbed her stuff from Nayeon's outstretched arm then grabbed her hand, dragging her out the van. Momo had already gone ahead when she saw Jeongyeon hurrying. Nayeon laughed at their antics. Jeongyeon and Momo were two people from their group who loved food the most.

Jeongyeon dashed towards the dorm, dragging a still laughing Nayeon behind her.

...

Chaeyoung was seated on the couch, doodling on her sketchpad. Jeongyeon rubbed her hands together to get rid of the sudden clamminess that seeped through her palms. The other members had disappeared to their respective rooms which gave Jeongyeon the opportunity to approach her No Jam Bro without anyone eavesdropping on their conversation. God Jihyo knows how nosy they all were, especially Jihyo herself.

"Hey, cub," Jeongyeon sat beside her. "What are you doing?"

Small talk wasn't exactly Jeongyeon's forte, she couldn't think of anything else when she just wanted to blurt outright the reason why she approached Chaeyoung.

Still doodling, Chaeyoung responded, "Drawing designs for my clothes."

Here, Jeongyeon saw Chaeyoung's work and couldn't help but be impressed. "You've gotten better."

"Cut the crap, hyung. You have something on your mind and while I appreciate the sentiment, I know you're not here just to compliment my work." Chaeyoung was still focused on the sketchpad while she said that. Jeongyeon felt uneasy with how nonchalant she sounded. She hoped that indifference would remain even with the subject she had to bring up.

"Arasseo... um... so here's the thing. Nayeon kinda got mad at me a while ago and it was because she thought that... Mina and I-"

"-are dating and you're wondering if I have a problem with that too?" Chaeyoung cut her off, finally looking up at her.

Jeongyeon nodded her head hesitantly, somewhat relieved that Chaeyoung took that well. "I know we've been closer than usual lately but it's not because we're dating or something, okay?"

"I know. Thanks for taking my feelings into account but you don't have anything to worry about, hyung. Out of all the members, I trust you with her the most. Besides, I know you don't like her that way."

The declaration took Jeongyeon by surprise. Chaeyoung sounded so sure of her statement. Jeongyeon wondered why.

She smirked, her playful side deciding to make an appearance just now. "How do you figure?" Her tone was teasing this time, her earlier anxiety had disappeared after Chaeyoung's reassurance. "Mina is like my ideal type. For all we know, I might like her as more than a friend. What makes you think I can't fall for her?"

"Because you're in love with Nayeon-unnie."

The smirk slipped off Jeongyeon's face and was seemingly transferred onto Chaeyoung's features, making the cub look righteously smug.