Chapter 1: Stuck in a Hotel Room
Summary:
The story begins! Each girl on TripleS gets locked in a room with a girl from Stayc in a quick 'escape room' type challenge and ice-breaker. Who are the first badge winners?
Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Stuck in a Hotel Room
A van drove into the entrance of the hotel, the manager driving the van lowered the passenger side window. The doorman waved at the driver, “Can I help you?”
It was already dark, getting late on a Friday evening. “TripleS is here for the special event?”
The doorman leaned into the van and handed the driver an envelope. “Go around to the parking garage and go down to the third level. Drop them off at the elevator and give them this envelope.”
The manager grabbed the envelope and waved back. He followed the man’s directions into the parking garage. He got out of the van and opened the side for the girls. They silently climbed out of the van. The manager helped them pull their bags out of the back, making sure all six were accounted for. He handed Yooyeon the envelope. Suddenly the silence was over.
Seoyeon said, “Why give it to her?”
“Duh…” said Yooyeon.
Jiwoo said, “She knows stuff…”
“I know stuff!” countered Seoyeon.
The manager closed all of the doors of the vehicle, climbed back into the van and quickly drove off.
Jiyeon said, “What you know is how to be noisy.”
Yooyeon handed Seoyeon the envelope. “Fine… you read it. Since we have now be left alone in this sketchy parking garage.”
Mayu said, “Every parking garage is sketchy, and scary, and dark, and scary.”
Seoyeon tore open the envelope and unfolded a piece of paper. “TripleS. One of you get into the elevator with your bag and go to the 8th floor. Then the remaining girls should press the ‘up’ button again and when the elevator returns, another girl should enter and go to the 8th floor. Repeat until you have each made your way to the 8th floor, individually.”
Mayu grabbed Yooyeon around the waist and whined, “Please don’t leave me alone in the parking garage… PLEASE…” Still holding Yooyeon she jumped up and down in a mini tantrum, locks of blond hair bouncing around.
Jiyeon observed Mayu’s behavior and decided she deserved the same. She grabbed Sullin around the waste, “Hey… me either…”
Sullin looked at her like she was an alien.
Seoyeon said, “Yooyeon, this already isn’t going well…”
Yooyeon sighed, “Dear lord, please everyone calm down…”
Jiwoo said, “This is why she got the envelope.”
Seoyeon said, “You know we are already competing, the order we do this is bound to be important.”
Yooyeon agreed, “Clearly.”
Jiwoo looked directly at Yooyeon, “What’s the plan, boss?”
Seoyeon glared at them both.
Yooyeon giggled, “Missing Chaeyeon at this point, no?”
“No… Nice try though.”
Yooyeon said, “Let’s send the scaredy cats first, just to get that out of the way. Then you and I. Then Jiwoo and Sullin.”
Seoyeon asked Sullin, “Would you be upset by being left in the parking garage alone?”
Sullin shrugged. “No?”
Jiwoo said, “Maybe she didn’t understand.” She switched to English, “Parking garage alone?” she asked Sullin.
Sullin smiled at her coyly. “Oh, that’s what you meant… Still no?”
Seoyeon said, “Alright! Settled then! Mayu go!”
Mayu pressed the button on the elevator. “Wait, I have to get in there alone? What if the lights go out? What do I do when I get to the 8th floor?”
Yooyeon said, “There is still time to get Chaeyeon here?”
The elevator made a ridiculously loud ding and the door opened. Seoyeon pushed Mayu and her roller bag into the elevator. The door closed again before she could whine much more.
***
On the 8th floor, the elevator opened and Mayu was greeted by an excited Kim Jiwoo. Jiwoo was wearing jean shorts and a half-zipped up blue hoodie over a white camisole. Her hair was up in pig tails cascading down each shoulder. “Mayu! I’m Jiwoo! Welcome to the hotel!”
Mayu suddenly looked less afraid and ran out of the elevator with her suitcase. She smiled at Jiwoo. Mayu was wearing an outfit similar to Jiwoo, a yellow and blue sweater over a yellow camisole and a denim and blue fabric skirt.
“Damn… you’re cute,” said Jiwoo.
“Thank you!”
“I’m excited to get to know you better, but for now, I’m required to show you to your room.”
“I get a room?”
“For now…”
“A temporary room?”
“For now…”
“You don’t know anything do you?”
“I know you’re cute!”
“Good enough…”
Knowing she was in a bit of a hurry, Jiwoo did the routine she had practiced before Mayu arrived. She scanned her key at the closest room, opened the door, and held it to let Mayu inside, making sure her roller bag successfully followed her, then waited for the door to click behind after it closed. The door hadn’t closed behind Mayu for more than ten seconds when the elevator already opened again.
Jiwoo thought to herself ‘fast elevators, less talking…’
This time a skinny, yet muscular, girl smiled brightly. She was wearing a tight denim skirt and a white knit camisole with black trim. She jumped out of the elevator forgetting her bag. They she ran back in and grabbed her bag and jumped out again.
“You must be a dancer…” asked Jiwoo.
“I am! I’m Jiyeon!”
“Nice to meet you Jiyeon. The elevator is too fast, please follow quickly.” Jiwoo led Jiyeon to a room across the hall from Mayu. She did her routine again. She quickly ushered Jiyeon into her room and then ran back to the elevator just in time for the door to open again.
‘This procedure seemed much better on paper, I’m already hungry’, thought Jiwoo.
Seoyeon excitedly left the elevator and gave Jiwoo a hug. Seoyeon was wearing a grey transluscent long-sleeve tee shirt, just barely allowing a hint of navel and her bra to be visible. She was also wearing denim shorts. “Spill it! What do you know Jiwoo?”
“I’m in a hurry and I’ll soon need cookies, follow me…” She hurriedly led Seoyeon three doors down the hallway, ushering her inside.
“You must know something!” protested Seoyeon.
Jiwoo smiled as the door closed behind Seoyeon, then she ran back to the elevator in time to meet Yooyeon. Yooyeon gave her a much tighter hug, “Jiwoo! So nice to play with you again!” Yooyeon was wearing a green knit halter top and denim shorts.
“Yeah yeah… We’re in a hurry, follow already!” She led Yooyeon to the room across the hall from Seoyeon. Yooyeon looked at her expectantly, but she quickly ran back to the elevator, leaving Yooyeon alone as the door closed.
Jiwoo made it back in time to see the elevator open. Jiwoo saw Jiwoo.
Lee Jiwoo said, “This is a bit awkward.” Lee Jiwoo was also wearing denim shorts with a white and black striped tee shirt. It might have been normal sized on a short girl, but on Jiwoo much of her belly was visible.
“Why did you steal my name?” asked Kim Jiwoo.
“Why did YOU steal MY name?” replied Lee Jiwoo.
“I was born first…”
“My parents had my name picked out for years.”
“Well, I’m ‘previous winner’ Jiwoo and ‘now in charge’ Jiwoo. Follow me…”
Jiwoo ran to the next room, other Jiwoo had to use her long legs to catch up, dragging her suitcase behind her. Jiwoo ushered Jiwoo into Jiwoo’s room. Jiwoo ran back to the elevator.
She waited, wondering why the elevator wasn’t coming. “Did I count wrong? Was that six?” Finally, the elevator opened.
Sullin framed her face, “You summoned a Thai princess?” Sullin was wearing a white camisole with black trim, similar to Jiyeon’s. She was wearing denim shorts.
“You’re late…”
“I thought it would be funny to make a dramatic entrance.”
“I see…” Jiwoo looked her over. “Okay, follow me!” Jiwoo led her to the last room and pushed her suitcase into the room behind her. Jiwoo then pulled out her phone and sent a text.
***
The van containing Stayc sat at the side entrance to the hotel. The concierge chatted with their manager until he received a text. He then said, “Girls! Come check into our amazing hotel!”
The manager got out of the driver’s seat and along with the concierge, helped the girls out of the van and loaded all of their roller bags onto a luggage rack. He rolled the luggage rack to the main elevators and handed J, the girl nearest to him, an envelope. Stayc’s manager went back to the van and drove off.
The lobby was quite busy with various guests, but no one seemed to notice the group of pretty girls coming in the side entrance. A few guests did go past them to the bank of elevators.
J quickly handed the envelope to Sumin, but Sieun intercepted it. “I’ll open it!” she said excitedly. Sumin shrugged at J. “Stayc. One of you get into the elevator with your bag and go to the 8th floor. Then the remaining girls should press the ‘up’ button again and when the elevator returns, another girl should enter and go to the 8th floor. Repeat until you have each made your way to the 8th floor, individually.”
Sumin said, “Interesting, well, let’s just go in age order like usual.”
Isa said, “No…”
“No?”
“This order is going to be important for something, our opponent is cagey, we need to be smart about this!”
Sieun said, “Come on, Chaeyoung, this competition or whatever it is hasn’t even started yet, why does it matter?”
“Sieun… We are getting into an elevator and going to a certain floor, alone… it has clearly started.”
Sumin said, “I’ll go first!”
J said, “There are a lot of people in this lobby, if we don’t hurry, we are going to get recognized.”
“Okay Chaeyoung, you seem to know everything about what is going on, you decide who goes when.”
Isa said, “Seeun, go first.”
Seeun looked offended, “No! I don’t want to go first! What are we even doing here?” She grabbed on to Isa’s shoulder.
Isa patted her on the head. “This is going to be fun. It is okay. They won’t be expecting you to go first. Go on!”
Sumin pressed the elevator button, smiling at Seeun. She even helped pull Seeun’s bag off of the luggage rack. When the door opened, Sumin pushed Seeun’s bag into the elevator and Seeun skulked in just in time to beat the doors closing on her bag.
Sieun pressed the button again, as instructed. “Who is next?”
Isa said, “You, Yoonie, Me, Sumin, then J.”
J sighed, “Not age order and I’m still last…”
Sieun patted her on the back. “Maknae struggles are real…” J put her head on Sieun’s shoulder.
***
Kim Jiwoo waited excitedly for the elevator to ding again, but when it did she jumped two feet into the air, still surprised. She got her balance again and waited as the door opened. She saw a very shy girl, looking as though she just took an elevator into the abyss. “Hello?” the shy girl asked. Seeun was wearing a long fitted white translucent shirt over a white tubetop and blue jeans.
Jiwoo said, “Come on, come on, you can’t be shy like this, or it is going to be a long two days for you. Come out here. Hurry hurry.”
Seeun grabbed her bag and tentatively exited the elevator, almost getting hit by the doors closing because it took her so long.
“I would comfort you and give you a hug because you are quite pretty, but there is no time. Hopefully you like who you are getting stuck with!”
“Stuck?” asked Seeun as Jiwoo opened the first door and ushered Seeun inside. Jiwoo waved at her as the door closed behind.
Jiwoo was ready this time, she beat the elevator by thirty seconds. Or maybe Stayc just wasn’t very good at calling an elevator.
This time an excited Sieun jumped out of the elevator. She hugged Jiwoo as if they were best friends. “Nmixx Jiwoo! I feel like I know you, I’ve heard so much about you!” Sieun was wearing an adorable, but not very ‘competition friendly’ silky white skirt, white tube camisole with a tiny pink and white cropped sweater over it. Her long bright red hair was up in pig tails.
“Wait, you have? How?”
“Secrets…”
“But you told me about it, so it is no longer a secret.”
“Ooopsie!” said Sieun with a huge smile.
Jiwoo scowled and led Sieun to the second room and opened the door. “You get this one…”
Jiyeon was standing right at the door, she had been looking out the peephole. Jiwoo said, “Oh, you two seem perfect for each other, have fun!” She closed the door after pushing Sieun and her bag inside.
Jiwoo returned to the elevator, Stayc was indeed a bit slow in calling it, likely being extra dramatic. Jiwoo shook her head at thoughts of Sieun as the door opened to a bubbly Yoon.
Yoon jumped up and down, making even perky Sieun seem as tired as Sullyoon. She bounded toward Jiwoo and gave her a massive hug and peck on the cheek. “Jiwoo! We’ve never met, but I feel like I know you, I’ve heard so much about you!” Yoon was wearing a very short tan miniskirt easily showing her black safety shorts and a flowing brown, grey, and white patterned top.
Jiwoo tried again to get information out of Stayc. “What, you have? How?”
Yoon looked like a teenager that had been scolded. “Oh, right… not allowed to say…”
“Well, you have fun, make sure you kiss the girl in your room like you just did to me…”
“I will!” said Yoon.
Jiwoo let her into her room, making sure the door closed behind her and her luggage.
She went back to the elevator. This time Isa appeared. As the door opened, Isa made a finger heart and said, “I’m Stayc Isa! Love me!” Isa was wearing a brown shoulder-less top, asymmetrically flowing down her waist over short denim shorts.
Jiwoo said, “Oh, okay… you win elevator greeting!”
“Badge?”
“No, but I’m happy to see that someone on your team cares!”
“Oh, don’t worry, they’ll care soon. Nice to see you again My-jjyu!” Isa walked forward and winked at her.
“Wait, how do you know my nickname?”
“Oh Hon, Isa knows all…”
Jiwoo led her to her room. “Wow, you sure are something. Well, I think you are going to love your partner. Have fun!”
Isa went inside her room, “Wanna do a dance challenge with me?”
As the door closed, Jiwoo quietly said, “Maybe?” She ran back to the elevator.
A confused Sumin was standing in the elevator. She grabbed her bag and pulled it out. Sumin was wearing a pink thick camisole and a white skirt.
Jiwoo said, “Which one are you?”
“Sumin?”
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“Am I supposed to? I really don’t know what’s going on?”
“Do you like tall girls?”
“I guess?”
Jiwoo smiled and led her to her room. Sumin went in, Jiwoo made sure the door shut behind them.
She went back to the elevator one last time. A pretty, bright face greeted her as it opened. The pretty face said meekly, “Hello? I’m Jang Yeeun. Who are you?” J was wearing a tan top with a black sweater over it and a black skirt.
Jiwoo said, “Who are you?”
“I just said… Jang Yeeun.”
“I thought you were supposed to be J.”
“I’m J.”
“Oh, your real name isn’t J?”
“Whose real name is just J?”
Jiwoo smiled at her. Then she led her to the last room. Sullin was watching through the peephole and the door nearly knocked her over when it opened. She started laughing as Jiwoo made sure J and her bag got inside and closed the door.
Jiwoo quickly texted Haewon, ‘They are all here.’ And then Kyujin, ‘You remember when to throw the switch, right?’ Haewon responded with a ‘thumb’s up’ emoji and Kyujin responded ‘duh’.
Suddenly a friendly voice came over the hotel intercom and flooded through all of the hallways in the hotel.
“Hello! My name is Oh Haewon. Today, my job is famous hotel MC. Please excuse this interruption, there is no fire or emergency. I would just like to greet you and welcome you to this fine establishment. Spend lots of money in the restaurants and gift shops! If you are just a normal guest, you can ignore the rest of this announcement. Have a wonderful day!”
Suddenly Haewon’s voice changed to a somewhat sinister sounding somewhat male voice somewhat resembling Haewon’s voice. “The twelve of you just beginning your stay are about to experience your first game. I hope you have met your partner well, because this is where things get interesting.”
Full of giggles, Kyujin threw a bank of switches on a panel in a maintenance closet. The entire hallway of rooms lost power, but not the lights in the hallway itself.
Haewon continued, “Mwaahahaha. Somewhere in your room are hints to a code. The code is a five, six, or seven digit number. When you think you have figured it out, tell the Nmixx member standing at your door, they will let you out of the room you are now locked in. Both members of the fastest team get an individual badge. Both members of the slowest team get a punishment. Don’t worry, we will let the last team out of their room after the 5th team escapes. You won’t be locked in there forever. Mwaahhhahahaha.”
All of the Nmixx members now gathered in the 8th floor hallway, one member at each room, waiting for someone to shout a code at them.
***
Since Seeun was the first Stayc girl to get to her room, she and Mayu had a bit of time to get to know each other.
Mayu was sitting on the bed as Seeun entered. Mayu quickly stood and bowed to her. “I’m Koma Mayu. TripleS Mayu, S16! Nice to meet you!”
Seeun smiled shyly, “Oh, hello, I’m Stayc Yoon Seeun. You are so cute!”
“Thank you! You are very pretty.”
“Forgive me, I’m a bit shy in situations like this.”
Mayu waved her hand at Seeun, “Nono, don’t worry!”
“Do I detect a bit of an accent?”
“Oh yes, I’m Japanese!”
“Right… Koma… Your hair confused me.”
Mayu showed off her long locks, “Yes, I’m very blonde right now, do you like it?”
“Yes! You look like a princess!”
“Has Stayc ever promoted in Japan?”
“Oh sure, many times. I love Japan.” Seeun walked forward to the window, and pulled the curtain back except there was no window. “I guess we’ve been given the cheap room.”
Mayu giggled.
“Is your Korean good? Do I need to talk slower?”
“Nono! It is good!”
Seeun asked, “How did you get picked to go first? Rock, paper, scissors?”
“No… I didn’t want to be in the parking garage alone, so they sent me up first.”
“Parking garage? We started in the lobby.”
“Interesting… Were you scared to be alone?”
“No, honestly I wasn’t really paying much attention how they picked, something about strategy and needing to outthink TripleS, blah blah.”
“I see… Yooyeon and Seoyeon really want to win.”
“Yeah, Chaeyoung gets very competitive and often just wins things without even knowing how or why.”
“Must be nice. You don’t ever win?”
Seeun smiled, “I just want everyone to be happy.”
Mayu smiled and nodded. “I like you.”
After a few moments of awkward silence in the lull of the conversation, Haewon’s announcement started, and the lights went out. Totally not suspecting that was going to happen, Mayu immediately started crying.
Seeun said, “Oh no… Are you scared of the dark?”
“Yes!” said a sobbing Mayu, “I don’t like scary things.”
“Well, it’s okay, I’m the only one in here with you and I’m not scary.”
Mayu didn’t say anything.
“Miss Mayu, we need to figure out the code, then you can leave the scary room?”
Mayu sobbed, “You just said you weren’t scary!”
“Right… oh dear… how do I get in these situations?”
Seeun’s eyes started adjusting to the dark slightly. She could barely make out the form of Mayu sitting on the bed, the only light in the room was a tiny red dot on the smoke alarm at the ceiling.
“Well, I guess I’m going to try to find the code, okay?”
“Okay,” Mayu sobbed.
“Or would you rather I just sat in bed with you until everyone else is finished?”
“That isn’t fair to you, you can try.”
“Would it be better for you if I just quietly did my thing, or would you like to know what I’m doing?”
“You’re so sweet. You can talk if it makes you feel better, at least I know you aren’t dead.”
“Right…” Seeun spun around, trying to figure out what the heck she was supposed to do. “Oh my god! You dummy!” she said.
“I’m really not dumb…”
“Not you Hon… me… I just remembered something. Can you move over a bit, I’m going to put my suitcase there on the bed.”
Mayu shuffled across the covers. Seeun grabbed her suitcase, making sure it was actually hers and got it onto the bed. She had opened it in the dark before, when searching for things in a hotel room just like this when trying not to wake the other members.
She quickly opened the bag and dug through until she found her cosmetic pouch. She unzipped it and pulled out a small circular object that fit in the palm of her hand. She opened it and it suddenly produced a substantial light in the total darkness. “Lit compact mirror!”
Mayu clapped.
“Is this enough light for you to feel more comfortable helping me?”
“Yes, I think so!” said Mayu, “What do we do now?”
“I guess search through all of the drawers and closet for clues.”
Mayu started crying again.
“No?”
“You know they put scary things in them!”
“I don’t know if your opinion of Nmixx is accurate or not, but I guess we will find out before the night is over…”
Seeun flipped her mirror away from her face and used it as a light while opening all six dresser drawers. She reached into one of them and pulled something out. “Interesting, Twice Sana photocard. This must be a clue.”
“Nothing scary?”
“Only if you are afraid of Sana, which seems odd.” Luckily Sullin wasn’t in the room.
She then opened the closet. Stuck to a clothes hanger with tape was a picture. Seeun shined her light on it, trying to figure out what it was.
“Zombie? Did it infect you?” asked Mayu.
“It is a full-page picture of an audience? Maybe at a Twice concert, I see Twice bongs.”
“But no Twice members?”
“No, just Once.”
Seeun went back to searching, she went in the bathroom and shined her light around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. She wondered if she would have to unfold every towel and move everything around, if she didn’t find anything soon, she would come back and try that.
She went back to the main part of the room and opened the microwave. Then she opened the refrigerator. “Oh!” she said.
“Are you dead?” asked Mayu.
“No, I just wasn’t expecting a roll of paper to be in the fridge.”
“Another clue?”
Seeun took the rubber band off of it and unrolled the paper. She read it in Korean:
“It's useless to be mad at things that ruined your mood
When it’s unsolvable as you think
Temporarily take a deep breath
Whatever they say
Don't be shaken
Shout out loud
With the only voice in the world, yeah.
One…”
Mayu whined, “Please hurry… it is getting darker…”
Seeun said, “Crap, I think my compact is dying. These are clearly song lyrics of some sort. So Twice song… why the fan photo? Oh, maybe it is a fan song? Twice fan song with a number in the lyrics? Or title? Does it start with one?”
Mayu was quiet.
“Early early. Like 2016, I wasn’t even a trainee yet, but my older sister loved Twice. Twice’s first fansong… ONE IN A MILLION! I remembered it!”
Seeun ran to the door and shouted, “ONE MILLION, One… zero… zero… zero… zero… zero… zero…”
A muffled voice said, “That’s it! You got it! Come on out!”
Mayu jumped out of bed and ran toward Seeun’s almost dead light and grabbed her tightly around the waist as a new crack of light filled the room and the door opened.
***
Jiyeon stepped back with a coy giggle of someone being caught at the peephole. Sieun’s bag was in front of her and Jiyeon grabbed it and wheeled it to the back of the room.
Sieun said, “I’m Park Sieun! So nice to meet you! How pretty are you?”
Jiyeon bowed, “Oh please, someone as perfect as yourself shouldn’t be able to call me pretty.”
Sieun squinted, “I am perfect!” She laughed at herself. Sieun saw that Jiyeon thought she was being serious. “I’m kidding… you are prettier than me…”
Jiyeon’s eyes got as big as the personality that just entered the room.
“Why are your eyes so big?” asked Sieun.
“Only when I make them that way…” Jiyeon squinted a bit so they weren’t so big.
Jiyeon noticed Sieun was now looking through her. She turned around, hoping that Sieun was truly looking at something behind her. They both saw 8888 written in lipstick on the upper corner of the mirror.
Sieun asked, “Did you do that?”
“Me? No…”
They both got close to the mirror and looked at the strange numbers for a bit, occasionally sneaking a peek at each other as well.
Then, Haewon’s announcement started and then the lights went out.
Jiyeon’s hand instinctively grabbed Sieun’s. Sieun smiled, but obviously Jiyeon couldn’t see it.
Sieun asked, “Are you scared of the dark?”
Jiyeon pulled her hand back. “No no. Sorry to grab you, just habit. I’m always surrounded by twenty-three girls, I tend to grab random arms when excited or nervous.”
Sieun grabbed Jiyeon’s hand. “Don’t be shy! I don’t bite!”
“It’s just… you’re kind of famous…”
“So are you?”
Jiyeon said, “I guess we are supposed to do a thing? This lipstick clearly means something?”
Sieun said, “Yes! Let’s get some badges! What would we do with a number? Is it part of the answer?”
“I don’t know… numbers are not my friend.”
“Should we split up and look for clues?”
“Okay, sure…” said Jiyeon. “But how can we look in the dark?”
“What might 8888 do in a hotel room?”
Jiyeon looked at the microwave and pressed buttons, but it didn’t have power, so nothing happened. Still, she opened it. “Sieun? There is something in the microwave. It smells good.”
Sieun was pulling drawers open in the center of the room and slowly made her way to Jiyeon’s voice and form very barely illuminated by the fire alarm’s tiny red light. “I smell it! Apples?”
“I’m kind of scared to put my hand in there… Wait, don’t hotels have safes, maybe 8888 could be the code?”
Sieun hugged her partner. “You’re so smart!” She opened the closet and dropped to sitting on her butt on the floor. The safe’s display was still illuminated. She put the code in using the keypad and hit the ‘open’ button. There was a click and she pulled the tiny door open. “Flashlight!” she said.
“No shit?”
Sieun giggled.
“I hope you don’t mind if I curse.”
“Of course not!” Sieun switched on the flashlight. “We can see! Now what is hiding in that microwave?”
Sieun hopped up and shined the flashlight in the microwave. Jiyeon’s eyes got even bigger. “PIE!”
Sieun pulled out a plate with a slice of apple pie. “This might have been in there for a month, or I would quickly eat it.”
“Indeed,” agreed Jiyeon.
“First clue, a slice of pie… I’m going to look in the drawers again, now that we can see.” Jiyeon huddled close to her new friend. One of the drawers had a small calculator in the back corner.
Sieun handed it to Jiyeon. Jiyeon said, “Oh no, more numbers? Where is Yooyeon when I need her?”
“Yooyeon is good with numbers?”
“Yes, she is epically smart with stuff like that.”
“Interesting, good to know!” Sieun went back to the closet and shined the light all around, but didn’t see anything of interest.
Next the pair went to the bathroom. There was a piece of paper taped to the inside clear glass panel of the shower enclosure. Jiyeon opened the shower and pulled off the piece of paper, Sieun illuminating it for her.
Jiyeon sighed. “W.t.f.” It was a drawing of a circle one might see in a geometry text book with lines indicating radius, diameter, circumference and a tangent line all present. A number was written in red pencil pointing to the radius and another to the circumference. Written at the top of the paper was C = 2 * pi * r.
Sieun said, “With the clue in the microwave, the answer must be pi! Everyone knows pi is 3.14.”
Jiyeon said, “I guess I’m not everyone… but I do pay attention to things and the MC clearly said that the answer was at least five digits.”
Sieun held the flashlight under her chin to make herself scary and made a creepy face. “I Got it! We can use the calculator with the given circumference and radius with that formula to calculate pi.”
“We can? Damn, I’m glad Yooyeon didn’t get this room, she would win for sure. Jiwoo, math free room for Yooyeon please!”
Sieun said, “Pi = C/2*r.” Jiyeon grabbed the calculator that she had put on the bed. Sieun pointed, “This number divided by 2.” Jiyeon plugged it in. “Divided by this number!”
Jiyeon said, “3.1415926.”
Sieun used main vocalist voice with a slightly piercing tone. “Our answer is 3.1415926, or as much of that as necessary!”
Their door clicked open and a voice said, “Girl… you should call out numbers for a living.”
***
Seoyeon was only slightly shocked when Yoon dropped her suitcase, tripped over it and bounded toward her with arms open. She said, “Oh okay…” as Yoon hugged her as though there were best friends, and of course kissed her on the cheek.
As Yoon let go, Seoyeon was a bit shell-shocked and wasn’t sure what to say.
“Oh, I’m Jayoon! You can call me Jayoon! Or just Yoon!”
That was enough of an ice breaker, “Oh, convenient, we are team Yoon. I’m Yoon Seoyeon.”
Yoon held out her hand for a high-five but it was a bit too high for Seoyeon to actually reach. Instead, Seoyeon pointed to her hand and said, “You’re tall.”
“Of course I am!”
“Anyway… what do you think we’re supposed to do in here?”
“Two pretty girls stuck in a hotel room. Isn’t it obvious?”
“No?” said Seoyeon, the most expressive yet scared look she could muster.
“Bummer. I mean, I showed up dedicated to winning, but you are kind of cute.”
Seoyeon decided to get Yoon’s head out of the gutter. “Tell me a lot of secrets about the other Stayc girls. I need ALL of the juicy things I can use against them later. Go!”
Not one to think before talking, Yoon proudly started spouting secrets, “Seeun is too shy to be good at anything. Sumin and Sieun will argue the entire time. Sieun and Chaeyoung… Watch out for them.”
“What do you mean watch out?”
Yoon winked. “Watch them…”
Seoyeon had no clue what she was talking about. Then Haewon’s announcement played and the lights went out.
Yoon started cracking up laughing.
Seoyeon asked, “Are you going to kiss me again?”
“Yes! But later!” she kept giggling.
“Why are you laughing? We need to figure out this number.”
“Don’t worry, Yoonie’s got you…”
“What?”
Yoon had already picked up her suitcase and put it on the bed and started unzipping it. She grabbed a cosmetics purse and threw it at Seoyeon. She obviously had no idea it was flying toward her and it landed on the floor next to her. Yoon said, “Open that, there are three AAA batteries in there! Retrieve them cutie!”
“Am I really being bossed around by this strange girl?” she mumbled to herself. She picked up the pouch and opened it. “Is there a pack of four or six?”
“No, they are loose.”
“Who keeps loose batteries in their cosmetic pouch?”
“Shut the criticism Chaeyoung…”
“I’m Seoyeon?”
Yoon had successfully retrieved something from her suitcase and stood next to Seoyeon, tapping her feet. Seoyeon handed her the batteries one-by-one, interrupted by a lip gloss by accident.
Yoon shouted, “Tada!” The room was bathed in the white light of her Nmixx lightstick.
Seoyeon was now actually amused. “Brought that to suck up to our hosts?”
“Yes!”
The pair quickly tore apart the room. On the top shelf of the closet, Yoon was just tall enough to find a piece of paper. Seoyeon found something in a drawer.
Seoyeon said, “I think I found an album, bring the lightstick over here!”
“I found a piece of paper.” She took the paper to Seoyeon. They looked at the ‘album’.
Seoyeon said, “Oh, DVD. Goldeneye?”
Yoon pointed to the numbers on the front, “James Bond… 007.”
“Ah!”
Yoon flipped the paper around so they could see it. It was a picture of a piano.
Seoyeon said, “Number of keys on a piano?”
“Eighty-eight? But what order do those numbers go in, should we just try a shout a few things?”
“Luck is not your friend. Skill is your friend,” said Seoyeon, obviously learning from Hyeju’s casino.
Yoon opened the microwave and then the fridge, finding a post-it note inside the fridge. “I’m so brilliant… no one would have ever found this in there in the dark.”
Seoyeon grabbed it out of her hands. “Underscore underscore underscore blank underscore underscore? 007 then 88? That easy?”
Yoon shouted, “Our answer is 007 88!”
The door clicked open and a female voice said, “Correct!”
***
Isa gracefully managed to get herself and her bag into the room and ran to Yooyeon to give her a hug, something she had been waiting to do for some time now.
Yooyeon stepped away from her before she could hug her and pointed to the mirror. “Look! 8888 written on here in lipstick. Obviously a clue.”
“Good find. Just like YOU are a good find.”
“Wow, that might be the worst attempt at flirting ever…”
“How do you know I’m flirting?”
“Soomin tries to flirt with me 24/7, it’s not that hard to figure out…”
“But I don’t TRY, I only successfully flirt.”
“I don’t really think that’s right…”
Isa grabbed her own chin and shook it, “What did Sullyoon and Sullin do to me? I’m losing my edge!”
“Hmmm?” asked Yooyeon. “Can we focus on winning for now?”
“Ah, an opening later!”
“If you focus on winning, right now…”
Isa sighed at her as they stood next to each other staring at the lipstick. Then Haewon’s announcement came on and the lights went out.
Isa said, “Winning focus… that’s obviously the combination to the safe in the closet. It surely has battery backup when the power goes out.”
Yooyeon ran toward the closet and opened it, tripping hard and running her hip into the side of the countertop. “Oww.” She paused. “No, you can’t rub it later…”
She opened the closet door, bent over and quickly put the code into the safe, pulling out her flashlight reward. She clicked it on.
“See…” said Isa.
Holding the flashlight, Yooyeon opened the fridge and then the microwave. There was a 4x6” photo on the turntable of the microwave. Yooyeon quickly picked it up and looked at it under the light. “Baby picture?”
Isa said, “Shine that light over here!” She was opening the drawers. “There is something in this one. A photocard.”
Yooyeon shined the light where Isa was searching. Isa held it up. “Yeji?”
“Oh?” Yooyeon looked closer at the baby picture. “I guess this is probably Yeji too.”
Isa said, “Yeji’s birthday maybe? Do you have any clue when her birthday is?”
Yooyeon shook her head. “There has to be another clue.”
Yooyeon went back to the closet, she hadn’t looked in there with the flashlight. “Hanging right here…”
Isa came over to the closet. It was the May page of a calendar with an X on the 26th. Isa pointed, “May 26?”
Yooyeon said, “Wanna guess the year?”
Isa said, “2000?”
Yooyeon shouted, “Our answer is 1999526.”
A faint voice with an Australian accent said, “Naurrrr. That is incorrect.”
Isa shouted, “2000526.”
The voice said, “That is correct!” and the door clicked open.
Isa grabbed Yooyeon’s wrist. “You need to learn to trust me.”
Yooyeon glared at her, “Do I now?”
***
Sumin wasn’t expected to be so quickly herded into the room and had a difficult time making sure herself and her bag stayed upright. Lee Jiwoo saw her and ran to help.
Jiwoo said, “Hi Sieun’s friend!”
Sumin looked at her after the strange greeting, “Wow, you are tall…”
Jiwoo bowed. “Lee Jiwoo! Nice to meet you.”
“Bae Sumin, same!”
“This is slightly awkward.”
“I think that is probably the point.”
“What should we do?”
Jiwoo smiled, “Stand around awkwardly until something happens. So, we don’t ruin any expectations.”
Sumin nodded and they awkwardly stood there, occasionally looking at each other. Then Haewon’s announcement started and the lights went out.
Sumin said, “That’s unfortunate.”
“For real, now no one can see that we are standing here awkwardly.”
“I guess we should search for something?”
“Oh, okay. Sure…”
They both slowly moved about the room, not really daunted by the darkness, but obviously unable to search efficiently. Jiwoo asked, “Not afraid of the dark?”
“Nah, you?”
“No, but I’m just afraid one of those crazy Nmixx girls put something nasty in one of these drawers and I’m going to put my hand in it.”
“Are you finding anything?”
“Too many things?”
“What?” Sumin made her way over to the drawers. Jiwoo handed her three pieces of paper she found in three different drawers. “What are we going to do with these in the dark?”
Jiwoo said, “See that tiny light up there?” She pointed to the fire alarm, not that Sumin could see what she was doing.
“Yeah?”
“I think I can reach it? If I stand on the bed…”
“Well, be careful.”
Jiwoo climbed onto the bed and Sumin handed her one of the pieces of paper. Jiwoo got her face as close to the smoke alarm as possible and held up the paper. “Boys!” she said.
“How many?”
Jiwoo moved the paper around. “Seven? I think it might be BTS?”
Jiwoo dropped that paper and Sumin handed her the next one. Jiwoo squinted with one eye and did her best to examine this one. “Oh, power rangers!”
“Six of them?”
“Yes!”
They switched to the last paper. “Dogs… a lot of them. That Disney movie maybe?”
“Oh, Dalmations? 101?”
“Sure, sounds right.” Jiwoo jumped down off of the bed.
“Now what?”
“We found numbers, but what order do they go in?”
“There must be another clue…”
Jiwoo searched over the closet, because she was tall and could search the entire thing. Sumin felt around in the microwave and then the fridge. “Wait!” She shouted. “Should there be a post-it in the fridge?”
“You wouldn’t think so!” exclaimed Jiwoo.
Sumin grabbed the post-it and handed it to Jiwoo who climbed back up on the bed.
Jiwoo said, “Why did they write in pencil? It is difficult to see. There are two lines. Underscore underscore underscore plus underscore times underscore. Then one underscore underscore underscore one. I think…”
Sumin jumped up and down a few times. “Okay okay… say it again to make sure I’m right!”
Jiwoo read it all again.
Sumin said, “Three underscores has to be 101 and the single underscores are 6 and 7. So six times seven is 36, plus 101 is 137?”
“6 times 7 is 42.”
“Oh duh, 143. Then add a one to each side? 11431?”
“That seems… that can’t be right.”
Sumin yelled, “Our answer is 11431?”
A voice on the other side of the door asked, “Are you asking or telling?”
Sumin yelled louder, “TELLING!”
The door clicked open. “That is correct!”
Jiwoo jumped off of the bed and gave Sumin a hug.
***
The door opening bumped Sullin on the nose and she was rubbing her face while giggling. J started giggling also as she got her bag inside. “Are you okay? What did you see?”
“You… I should have learned not to spy,” she said, giggling harder.
J bowed, “I’m sorry… I’m Yeeun, nice to meet you!”
“I’m Sullin! Nice to meet you also.”
“Your accent?”
“Yes, I’m Thai.”
“Oh, interesting… How is your Korean?”
“Just okay…” Sullin thought the opponent didn’t need to know any more than her own teammates…
As J was the last girl, they didn’t have much time to talk and Haewon’s announcement quickly started and the lights went out.
They both quickly sat on the bed.
J asked, “Do you have any clue what we are supposed to do?”
“None…”
“Should we just sit here and look pretty until the lights come back on?”
“We will be scolded for not trying,” said Sullin, trying to sound serious.
“I’m not really in the mood to try.”
“You are going to fail at badgewars.”
“You aren’t trying either?”
“Actually… Let’s get back at those Nmixx girls for all the things we are going to have to do later.”
“Huh?” asked J.
***
Briefly back in time a few minutes: Out in the hallway, each Nmixx member waited patiently at a door. Kyujin got the correct answer from her door first and opened it. An excited Yoon, carrying a lit Nmixx lightstick bounded out of the room and hugged Kyujin, a stunned Seoyeon followed her out.
Seoyeon didn’t even realize they had won before Lily was opening her door also. Yooyeon and Isa stepped out, they saw Yoon and Seoyeon had already won and looked down. Lily hugged Yooyeon. “You missed it by about two seconds.” Yooyeon was scared to glance at Isa, but still did. If she had listened to her… Luckily, she was extra cute when wrong. Isa winked back and smiled.
Bae opened her door next and Sieun and Jiyeon emerged. Sieun said, “We got third, solid effort!” Jiyeon gave her a high five.
Jiwoo opened the first door next. Seeun poked her head out. “Is there any hurry for us to emerge?”
Bae said, “No? Why?”
Seeun saw two girls with flashlights and one girl with a light stick. She stepped forward much too quickly for a shy girl and ripped the lightstick out of Yoon’s hand and went back into her room to get Mayu. She pulled her new friend, tears still coming down her face, out of the room. Yooyeon, Jiyeon, and Seoyeon all saw her and ran to her and gave her hugs.
Jiyeon said, “She really hates being scared.”
Seeun said, “It’s okay, I solved it and got us out of there.”
Sieun asked, “You did it alone?”
Seeun nodded. Isa and Sieun looked at each other, impressed by their teammate.
Finally, after first scolding Sumin for her answer, Haewon let out the next-to-last team. Sumin and Jiwoo emerged.
Jiwoo said, “Where the fuck did they get flashlights?”
Sieun ran to Jiwoo and gave her a hug. “You solved it with no light?”
“There was a light, in the fire alarm.”
Sieun laughed, “You held all of your clues up to the fire alarm?”
“Tall girl powers?”
Sullyoon stood by her door waiting impatiently. “Sullin… I’m going to fall asleep…”
Haewon said, “We can just open it, they lost.”
Sieun said, “Poor JJ.”
Sullyoon shook her head, “My Thai princess…”
Isa said, “OUR Thai princess.”
Sullyoon scanned the key and opened the door. “Losers… come out come out…”
No one came out.
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. Here is the first poll dedicated to this story! This week's poll: (May 24 - 31): https://forms.gle/GJTFuzGfKJfDEsni7
Chapter 2: Kyujin Is Expecting a Delivery
Summary:
Each girl gets their 'secret mission' and are introduced to the prizes for winning the badge war. Kyujin's game begins as the girl's have to drive a child's electric car through a course populated with annoying Nmixx 'obstacles' while carrying some packages.
Chapter Text
Chapter 2: Kyujin Is Expecting a Delivery
A beam of light from the hallway through the doorway was the only illumination into Sullin and J’s room. Sullyoon took two steps into the room, but not as far as the bathroom door. “Sullin?” she asked shyly.
Haewon pushed by her rudely. She went straight for the fridge and pulled out a drawing. “This was my room! I drew these beautiful hills in watercolor!” She opened one of the dresser drawers, “I bought this postcard of LA when we were there last year for myself and donated it to this cause! There is a cast photo from 1990 with Jennie Garth and Shannon Doherty wrapped around the hair dryer… Where are you losers?”
From back out in the hallway, Seoyeon shouted, “90210”!
Yooyeon pushed her. “Too late…”
Jiyeon couldn’t handle the curiosity and took a step into the room past Sullyoon.
Haewon was still just a shadowy form standing by the dresser when a very large Thai girl sprung out from behind the bed toward her. Haewon screamed loudly at the sudden attack and fell over, now a Thai girl on top of her.
J skulked out of the bathroom, similarly intending to scare someone. She was just about to shout toward Jiyeon when Jiyeon saw her, was startled, and jumped into her arms, legs straddling her waist.
J said, “Oh hi…”
A frightened Sullyoon jumped two steps to the side and said, “Who jumps on the zombie that is attacking you?”
Jiyeon turned toward Sullyoon. “TripleS… we’ll hug anything.” She turned back toward J who was still stunned, and still carrying a Jiyeon. Jiyeon nuzzled at J’s ear and said, “Your hair smells amazing.”
J said, “Thanks… the things you typically hug don’t have hair that smells amazing?”
Out in the hallway, at Haewon’s scream, Mayu latched on to the nearest thing. Sieun. Sieun looked over at her and smiled. She figured there was no reason to protest the locks of blonde hair hanging over her, mixed with her own bright red ones, so she just put her arm around Mayu. “Are you scared?” she asked.
Mayu nodded, “That girl screamed loudly.”
Isa said, “Sieun, why are you wearing a Japanese girl?”
Sieun shrugged both arms in disbelief, Mayu still attached to her waist tightly. “Why not?”
Lee Jiwoo was not pleased with Mayu and squinted at her, but Mayu paid her no attention. Jiwoo hugged Sieun’s other side, just because.
Seeun said, “Now she is wearing a tall girl also. What even is this?”
Back in the room Sullin giggled from the floor. “Oh! Hands! Oh, okay!” Sullin and Haewon helped each other up. Haewon was obviously not shy about how she did that.
Haewon said, “Wow! You are…”
“Here we go…” said Sullyoon.
“HOT!”
“Sullin… why would you jump on her?”
“Yoona… it was supposed to be you… you were supposed to be worried about me and come to save me…”
“Well…”
Haewon felt Sullin’s butt again. “HOT!”
Sullyoon said, “That’s my girlfriend’s butt you are touching!”
Lily and Isa both felt the need to enter the room and see what was going on.
Sullin giggled.
Kim Jiwoo said, “Did Yoona say girlfriend?”
Kyujin said, “Don’t worry your pretty little face twinsie. It’s a thing.”
Haewon said, “Girlfriend? What the fuck?”
Sullin said, “Yoona is exaggerating a bit…”
Isa said, “They’re just friends.”
Lily said, “I have a stick, do I need to hit Haewon and drag her out of here?”
Yoona pointed at Sullin, “When Haewon is looking at you, you are MY girlfriend.”
“Who is complaining?” said Sullin.
Isa said, “She’s apparently going to be your girlfriend a lot this weekend… can I get some girlfriend too?”
Sullin smiled at Isa also.
J was still holding Jiyeon. Jiyeon said, “Would you like to enter this potential melee? I will hop down.”
J carried Jiyeon out into the hallway, now having more fun with the situation. Seoyeon grabbed Jiyeon and pulled her off of J. Yooyeon said, “Don’t be inappropriate with the opponent.”
Jiyeon pointed to Mayu.
Seoyeon said, “Yooyeon, this isn’t going very well so far…”
Sumin and Seeun were holding hands, just taking it all in, not really sure why they were there.
Yoon was generally ignoring everything that was happening. She spied Bae looking off into space in the hallway. Yoon walked up to her. “You’re tall..” she said.
Bae snapped out of it, “No.. you’re tall…” Bae looked her up and down. “Why are you taller than me? It is forbidden…”
“You’re pretty…”
“You’re a suck up…”
Yoon gave Bae the side eye. “Is it working?”
“Maybe…”
Haewon said, “Okay girls… everyone out in the hallway. We have an event going on here…”
Kyujin asked Haewon, “Should I go get ready?”
“Yes! Go for it!”
Kyujin literally ran to the elevator and pressed the button. When it arrived, she hopped into it and disappeared.
Haewon said, “Just to review! Sullin and J are the losers of the first event. We will tell them their punishment in a bit. Yoon and Seoyeon won! They get the first two badges!”
Seoyeon held out her expectant hand to Haewon. Haewon slapped it. “I don’t have them here, you’ll get it soon enough…”
“Where is it?”
“In a few minutes, we’ll be going to our ‘home base’ for the next two days. You’ll see soon.”
“Why is everything soon and not now?”
Yooyeon grabbed Seoyeon and pulled her away from Haewon, “You are antagonizing the judges again…”
Lily said, “Everyone… come down here!” Stayc and TripleS make their way to the room Lily was standing outside of. She scanned her card and opened the door. “Inside this room is a basket containing twelve secret missions. Each one of you will receive one. If you successfully complete it, you get a badge. They will not be easy. You have to keep your mission secret.”
Bae said, “If we catch anyone cheating at this, or any game for that matter, you are instantly eliminated from being able to win the big solo prize.”
Seoyeon said, “Which is?”
Yooyeon tapped Jiyeon on the shoulder and Jiyeon put her arms around Seoyeon from behind, one around her waist and one hand over her mouth.
Lily giggled and continued, “Pull a mission out of the basket. Read it. Show it to the camera that is watching so there is record of it and then put it in the trash basket in the room. The camera is watching, don’t cheat and look at any other missions that haven’t been pulled yet OR the ones that have already been pulled. Seoyeon seems to be busy, so Yoonie, you pull first!”
Yoon jumped into the air, turned on her Nmixx lightstick and winked at Bae. She then went into the room and Lily closed the door behind her.
The girls all stood in silence waiting for Yoon to emerge. They were pretty sure at one point they heard her laughing. Finally, after about two minutes, she emerged from the room, waving her lightstick around literally cackling in glee.
Isa had grabbed Sullin’s hand and was holding it when Sullyoon wasn’t looking. Sullin turned to her, “Wow, is that Yoon girl for real?”
Isa sighed hard. “Yup…”
Seoyeon broke free from Jiyeon. “Yoon, can I please have the lightstick? I assume there is no light in there?”
Haewon said, “Lily, how did you expect them to see in there?”
Lily said, “Naurrrr, they were all supposed to find the flashlight… 8888…”
Yoon gave Seoyeon the lightstick. Seoyeon said, “Don’t need a stupid flashlight, I have this dolphin thing.”
Yoon said, “That’s mine. Also, it’s a whale, not a dolphin.”
Haewon clapped for Yoon.
Lily said, “Are we sure it’s a whale? It could be a dolphin…”
“LILY…”
“I’m just saying…”
Seoyeon went into the room and came back out, total game face. Even Yooyeon couldn’t tell whether she liked what she got or not.
Haewon said, “Chaeyoung? Yooyeon?”
Isa said, “Go ahead.”
Yooyeon was still holding the flashlight from their room. Lily let her into the room and she exited a minute later, cool as Seoyeon. Lily asked her, “Good?”
She only smiled. She exuded awkwardness around Lily but also wasn’t giving anything away about the secret mission. She handed Isa the flashlight.
Isa went into the room and came out with a smile. Sullin grabbed HER hand this time. “What did you get, bestie?”
Jiyeon said, “Sullin… when did you get an Nmixx girlfriend and Stayc bestie?”
Jiwoo defused the situation, grabbing Sullin’s hand away from Isa. “Not any of your concern, she is my girlfriend and bestie right now…” Sullin pretended she didn’t understand any of the Korean that was flying around.
Haewon said, “Sieun or Jiyeon?”
Sieun had the flashlight, so she went first. She also exited with a fairly big smile.
Jiwoo said to Sullin, “The Stayc girls seem to like what they are seeing, I’m not as scared anymore.”
Seoyeon and Yooyeon looked at each other. Jiwoo was happy that she successfully baited them into doing that, watching them hard. “Nevermind…” she said.
Sieun handed Jiyeon the flashlight, she went into the room and then emerged. She did a beautiful pirouette on her way back out.
Haewon said, “Seeun and Mayu?”
Seeun said, “Oh, okay, I guess I’ll go. Sieun, can I borrow the flashlight?”
Sieun asked, “How did you solve the thing by yourself with no flashlight?”
“I had a lit compact mirror in my suitcase.”
“Oh, smart…”
Mayu attached herself to Sieun’s waist again. “Sorry I let down your groupmate.”
Sieun patted Mayu on the head. “Why are you so cute?”
Mayu smiled at her brightly.
Seeun returned with a stunned look on her face.
Jiwoo said, “Uhoh…”
Seeun handed Mayu the flashlight. Mayu let go of Sieun and walked to the door.
Lily asked, “Mayu, do you want me to go in there with you?”
“Is anything going to jump out from under the bed?” asked Mayu meekly.
“Naurrrrr.”
“I’ll be okay. I’m trusting you!”
“Haewon, is anything going to jump out from under the bed?” asked Lily to reaffirm.
“How the hell should I know?”
Mayu just glared at Haewon.
Haewon shrugged.
Mayu entered the room and returned without incident. On her way out she made a huge gesture with her hands, pointing them to the sky. She shouted, “I’M SCARRED FOR LIFE!”
Haewon said, “You’ll heal fast when you hear about the prizes…”
Mayu latched onto Sieun again.
Jiwoo said, “Mayu… Why are you ignoring your team for that red girl?”
Mayu turned to look at Jiwoo. “Hush, leave me alone… You can’t go a few hours without getting a Mayu hug?”
Sieun turned to look at her also and winked and stuck her tongue out at Jiwoo a bit, then licked her lips.
Sullin saw it and shook her head.
Haewon said, “Sumin and Jiwoo!”
Jiwoo looked at Sumin who just shrugged. Jiwoo went into the room. Lily said, “You’ll need a light!”
“I’ll just hold it up to the fire alarm, it’s a thing now. I like to be consistent.”
Mayu let go of Sieun and handed her the flashlight, “Don’t say I never gave you anything.”
Jiwoo entered and returned, coy smile on her face. She handed the flashlight to Sumin who went in next. She exited with a dazed look on her face.
Isa gave her a hug. “You okay?”
“This is a lot…” said Sumin. Seeun clapped, “Glad I’m not the only one.”
“Don’t worry girls, I’m sure the prizes will be worth it!”
Bae looked at Isa and nodded to reassure her.
Haewon said, “Losers next!”
Sullin said, “Go ahead Yeeun.”
J said, “NO, you go.”
Sullin shrugged. “Alright.”
Sullin borrowed a flashlight, went into the room and then returned.
She handed J the flashlight. J just stood there.
Sieun said, “Yeeun, are you okay?”
She pointed to Haewon, “This one keeps calling me a loser.” She pointed to Isa, “This one kept saying how fun this was going to be.” She pointed to Sullin, “This one convinced me to sneak up on someone and scare them for no reason.” She pointed to Jiyeon, “This one jumped into my arms for no reason.”
Lily said, “Awwwwrrrrr. This one is escorting you in the room to pick up the last ‘secret mission’!”
Lily gave Haewon a look and ushered J inside the room, closing the door behind her.
Isa said, “She’ll be fine… She’s having fun.”
Seeun grabbed Isa’s hand. “Stop holding that enemy Thai girl’s hand and hold mine, I’m your girlfriend…”
Sumin said, “Can we stop traumatizing the maknae?”
After about two minutes, J emerged from the room. Intentional or not, her face was emotionless.
Haewon said, “Okay, everyone has their mission! The ‘secret missions’ cannot be used until tomorrow. I want everyone to enjoy the game tonight without worrying about it.”
Lily said, “Naurrr, yesterday you said you want them all to have nightmares the first night about how they are going to get that badge…”
“Lily…”
Lily smiled.
“Let’s go to home base! To the elevator!”
Yooyeon asked, “Are we going one at a time again?”
“No! Let’s all pile in!”
Sullyoon said, “Oh no…”
They all piled into the elevator. Sullyoon turned red and just barely fit as the doors closed.
Sullin said, “You okay hon? Scared of elevators?”
“No… I’m scared of being stuck in here with 100 other girls…”
Isa said, “Oh come on… I’ll make it worth your while if we get stuck.”
Sullyoon covered her eyes with two hands with crossed index fingers.
Her luck was successful and the girls piled out of the elevator safely.
Haewon said, “Everyone, welcome to the fourth floor! Home base! Better known as… does everyone smell it?”
Jiyeon said, “I can still smell Yeeun’s hair.” J looked at her strangely.
Kim Jiwoo said, “Cookies?”
Bae asked, “Do you really smell cookies?”
“No… just wishful thinking…”
As they walked down the hallway away from the elevator, it hit them all. Lee Jiwoo shouted, “THE POOL!”
Haewon opened the door to the pool walked into the room a few meters and the girls all stood around her.
“This is home base. There are several lounge chairs over there for relaxing between competitions, of course you can swim if you like. There are lockers over there if you want to put stuff in them. I’ll have the staff bring your suitcases down and we’ll keep there here as well, so you always know where everything is. Your phones will also always be in your lockers, you can c heck them between games if you need.”
She motioned to two girls in hotel staff garb who took a luggage rack back to the elevator to get the bags.
Haewon continued, “I’m going to tell you about the prizes in a minute, but first here is a brief schedule of events. It is already 22:00. There are several major games and a few minor games, like the one you just completed. There are actually six major games, each Nmixx girl created and will run one. Kyujin’s game will be first, and we will do that tonight. That will be all for today.” Haewon then said in English, “Everyone can get a night’s sleep.”
Seoyeon corrected her in English, “Good night’s sleep?”
“My English works just fine.”
Yooyeon looked down, “Oh dear…”
Haewon continued again, “Then tomorrow, we will have games all day, then another night’s sleep and then closing ceremonies on Sunday.”
Sieun said, “HAEWON! Tell us about the prizes!”
“Each member of the winning group will receive a HUGE gift card to ‘Olive Young’, Korea’s number one health and beauty store and ‘Numbering’ one of Korea’s leading jewelry brands. You will also win one custom pair of ‘Gentle Monster’ prescription sunglasses of your choice from their catalog. The winning group will also win a two-night stay at this very hotel. You can enjoy the hotel without the stress of Nmixx barking at you. It will include full use of the swimming pool, workout rooms, spa, and free meals at any of the hotel’s restaurants for the ENTIRE weekend. You can hang out with your group members, or alone, totally up to you.”
Sumin and Seeun suddenly seemed more interested.
“The individual badge winner, whether from the winning group or not, gets TWO entire outfits donated from Miu Miu. You can pick whatever you like from their entire catalog. The total worth of this prize might even be more than the group prizes combined. Wonyoung and Ella Gross have to give that stuff back after they are finished modeling it, the winner will be able to wear it as though they can afford it!”
J said, “Okay fine… Haewon is right. I’m into it. Get out of my way. I’m going to win.”
Isa clapped for her maknae.
Jiyeon shouted, “Good luck! Stayc is dumb! We are going to win this.”
Mayu said, “Miu Miu!”
Yooyeon and Seoyeon looked at each other and gave each other a high five.
Haewon said, “That’s why the secret tasks are a bit… difficult… And don’t forget, Seoyeon and Yoon are already one step ahead.” Haewon grabbed two flashlight badges from a giant pouch and handed them to both girls.
Yoon giggled at Seoyeon. “Flashlight… Ironic… you’re welcome.”
“Shut it tall girl… I’ll thank you after I win Miu Miu.”
“I hope the bleach didn’t fry your brain as much as it fried your hair,” retorted Yoon.
Isa grabbed Yoon’s arm and pulled her away from Seoyeon. “Let’s not start any fist fights before the games even start.”
“What? I was flirting with her… She’s my ‘stuck in a room’ buddy now…”
Haewon got a message on her phone. “Everyone! The first game is ready! Let’s go!” Haewon led the horde of girls to the elevators and took them down one floor to the third floor. This was the conference floor of the hotel. She led them through a side entrance into one of the ball rooms. All of the Nmixx girls other than Sullyoon scattered. Sullyoon herded Stayc and TripleS into the ball room.
The large ball room had a temporary wall that could be opened and closed to divide the room in half. It was currently present, making two skinnier ballrooms. At the far end was the main entrance of the ballroom with three large doors. Behind the door was the ‘greeting area’ of the ballroom, where people gather before entering the main ball rooms.
The side of the ballroom everyone was in had three roads marked off with wide masking tape. There was a large area at the back of the room that was made to look like a parking lot. There was a large box in the center of the parking lot. On either side of the box was a Lamborghini. A small, electric, replica of a Lamborghini designed to seat one child. The side doors flipped up, somewhat like the real thing.
Mayu said, “LAMBORGHINI! Fancy!” She ran to the red car on the left, Seoyeon following closely behind. Sumin was very excited about the green one and looked it over closely.
Sullyoon said, “Mayu likes that one, so TripleS on that…” She realized that no one in Stayc or TripleS was paying attention to her, other than Sullin. She sighed and pulled out a microphone and clicked it on. Suddenly the room was filled with Sullyoon’s voice.
“TripleS on that side, Stayc on this side!”
Mayu jumped at the sudden loud noise; she wanted to run to Sieun, but she was too far away. She hugged Yooyeon instead.
There were a lot of things to examine and there was no girl that curiosity didn’t get the better of. Isa said to Sullyoon, “Standoffish shy girl… why are there wagons and skateboards?”
Again, Sullin, and now Isa were the only girls paying attention to Sullyoon. She tapped on mike which made a horrible noise.
“Excuse me…” she said softly, yet it reverberated through the ballroom. All of the girls stopped what they were doing and stared at her.
She pulled out a piece of paper and read some things. “My maknae sister, Kyujin, has a bit of a habit with her online shopping. Today she has ordered some items and it will be your job to deliver them to her. Who will be better at delivering her packages, Stayc? Or TripleS?”
Seoyeon and Jiwoo started shouting like cheerleaders, “Triple! S! Triple! S!”
Obviously, Yoon and Sieun weren’t going to let that go and they both started cheering ‘STAYC GIRLS’!”
Sullyoon tapped on the mike again, efficiently ending the cheering. “Umm…” She looked back at the bit of paper she was holding. “Right, so… both groups have the same equipment, a fancy electric car, which must be used to deliver the packages. You also each have a wagon and a skateboard and some lengths of rope should any of those things be useful. You will go in sets of two girls. One girl drives the car and MUST carry or be attached to the package. Another girl will help as lookout, spotter, and for defense.”
Seeun asked, “Defense?”
Sullyoon said a bit too loudly into the mike, “Mmmhmmm.” She continued with the script. “The car MUST stay on the road. Sullyoon. That’s me. Has a remote control to both cars. If anyone does anything dumb or illegal, or leaves the road, she… that’s me… can switch off your cars like the bad children you will probably be. I added that part.”
Sullin grabbed Sullyoon around the waist, “What if I love you?”
Yooyeon, still with a Mayu attached to her, grabbed Sullin and pulled her away from Sullyoon, “Not the time…”
Yoon shouted, “NOT FAIR! SUCK UP ON THE OTHER TEAM!”
Isa ran over and grabbed Sullyoon around the waist, “What if I love you?”
Sieun said, “Chaeyoung… leave her alone… she’s trying to do a thing.”
Isa said, “I’m just shutting up Jayoon…”
Seeun said, “Can we focus on driving this car?”
Sullyoon said, “Decide who your pairs are and who is driving in each pair. When I start the timer, you grab a package out of this giant box, currently closed so you can’t see the packages. The road goes out of this side of the ballroom and around the greeting area and then into the other side of the ballroom where Kyujin is waiting for her packages.”
Seoyeon said, “Where are Jinsol and Jiwoo? Are they going to do something dumb to us?”
“Umm… I cannot deny that Jinsol and Jiwoo might do something dumb. They are Jinsol and Jiwoo. Hurry up! Figure out your pairs!”
An unamplified voice of Jiwoo shouted from the greeting area, “Everyone in this hotel can hear you Seol Yoona…”
Sullyoon said, “Mmm…”
Both groups briefly chatted.
“Who is going first? Remember, only the driver of the car can touch the package, the other girl can only spot and defend.”
Yooyeon was still whispering to Seoyeon, “I don’t understand half of what she is saying…”
Seoyeon asked, “How can you not understand, it is loud enough to wake the dead…”
“I can HEAR, I just don’t UNDERSTAND why it matters…”
Seoyeon raised her hand, “I’ll drive first! Sullin will defend me.”
Sullin said, “I will?”
“Yes, you are large. Do a good job…”
“It is true, I cannot fit in that car…”
Sieun raised her hand and said, “I’ll drive first! Yoonie will help me!”
Sullyoon said, “Smallest girls driving first. Is that smart? We’ll see!” She motioned for Sieun and Seoyeon to stand by the box. Then she counted down, “Three… two… one… GO!”
Seoyeon pulled open the flaps of the box and they both looked at the packages. “What the fuck?” she asked.
Sieun first reaction was, “HOW CUTE!” She grabbed a giant, girl-sized, stuffed monkey.
Seoyeon stared into the box for a while. She picked up a giant six pack of paper towels. “Would she really order these? Please…”
Sullyoon said, “Jiwoo is messy. Yes, she would…”
From the greeting area, Jiwoo shouted, “YOU AND JINSOL ARE MESSY.”
Sieun got into the car, flipped the door down, closing it, and pulled the monkey onto her lap, it didn’t fit and was laying over the steering wheel.
Sullyoon said, “You can’t drive like that…”
Yoon shrugged. “I can’t help…”
Sieun scrunched up as far as she could, the steering wheel uncomfortably at her chest and managed to stuff enough of the monkey between her back and the seat that it hopefully wouldn’t fall out.
Seoyeon got in and sat the paper towels on the door and back of the car, she had to grab onto the cellophane holding the package together though, or the entire thing would easily tip off.
Sullin said, “Should we prepare the wagon for that?”
Seoyeon said, “NO, I’m going.” She pointed to Yooyeon, “They are going to need it though.”
Yooyeon said, “Of course we are…”
Both girls started their cars and drove off.
Sullyoon said, “There are three speed settings, make sure you are on three for this part.”
Both girls looked down. “I am?” said Sieun.
“So am I?” said Seoyeon.
Yoon and Sullin started laughing hysterically at how slow the cars were moving. Sullin said, “Yoona can run faster than this…”
Sullyoon said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Yoon said, “They are going to have to speed up the film or all of the YouTube viewers are going to fall asleep…”
About halfway down the ballroom, there were two sharp 180 degree curves before the road started going straight toward the doors to the greeting area. Sieun did a good job managing the curves, though she did have to go even slower, to the second speed setting for a bit. Seoyeon had no intention of slowing down, and trying to steer with one hand, her paper towels fell off of the car. She had to stop the car, hop out and grab her paper towels, and then get back into the car which gave Sieun a solid lead.
Sieun arrived at the door to the greeting room, Yoon following behind. There was a bar across the door, similar to limbo. It was at a very inconvenient height, just barely clearing the car. Jiwoo jumped out from behind the door. “Good luck getting under that! Oh, a monkey! I want it!”
Yoon slid under the limbo bar and jumped into action. Jiwoo’s eyes got big as Yoon was suddenly in front of her and grabbed her in a bear hug. Yoon shouted, “YOONA! IS THERE ANYTHING I’M NOT ALLOWED TO DO TO JIWOO?”
A loud voice echoed through the rooms, “Umm… hmm… no?”
Yoon shouted, “OUR MONKEY!” and started pecking Jiwoo on the face with kisses.
Sieun stopped the car and got out, making sure the monkey could clear the bar alone in the car. She started the car from along side it, her hand on the gas pedal and walked it through the doorway that way. She then hopped in and resituated the monkey. Yoon successfully made Jiwoo rethink her life choices and the pair was off, heading to the other side of the greeting room.
Seoyeon wasn’t too far behind and made it to the other door. A wild Bae appeared and stood in the middle of the road, Seoyeon had to stop, nearly hitting Bae’s knees with the car. “I’m tall and not moving.”
Seoyeon asked, “Are you going to steal the paper towels?”
“Come back with something I want…”
“You’re just going to stand there?”
“Yup… Guess you’ll have to back up and go around me.”
Seoyeon cursed at her under her breath and put the car in reverse. The first time she backed up, she steered the wrong way when she went forward again and almost ran over Bae. Bae shook her finger at Seoyeon. She backed up again, this time she got it right and ‘sped’ off around Bae. Sullin was following along, trying not to giggle the entire time.
Sieun arrived in the center of the greeting room just before Seoyeon. The two roads coming from the right went up substantial ramps before meeting and crossing, then going down a ramp on the other sat. Lily sat under the ramps like a troll under a bridge. Lily waved at Sieun, she said in English, “Helloooooawwwwrrr.”
Yoon did a threat assessment at Lily and was wary of her, she threatened to kiss her just for good measure. Lily ignored her.
Even on speed setting three, the car did not have enough power to make it up the ramp. A frustrated Sieun said, “OH MY GOD.” She got out of the car, and did the same thing she had done earlier to get the car under the limbo bar, this time physically helping the car move up the ramp. She got back in at the top of the ramp and shouted “Wheeeee!” as the car glided down the ramp with her and her monkey.
Seoyeon arrived at the ramp. Sullin also saw Lily and wasn’t sure what to do. Seoyeon got out, threw the paper towels in the seat and then pushed the car up the ramp and back down again. They she got back in, rebalanced the paper towels and headed toward the bank of three doors toward the other side of the ball room, still behind Sieun.
Sieun made it through the door on the other side unhindered and at the far side of the ballroom saw Kyujin standing on a stage. There was a cul-de-sac circle in the road in front of the stage. Before that, three roads converged into one and standing at that convergence point was… Haewon… carrying a nerf rifle, doing her best to look threatening.
Sieun pointed at Haewon. “Yoonie! Get that Nmixx girl!” Haewon was no stranger to Yoon’s hugs and kisses from a party almost a year ago. Yoon, however, did not appreciate being shot by nerf objects and Haewon continually shot toward her and fended her off long enough to not get kissed. It did, however, distract Haewon enough that Sieun and the monkey slipped through.
As Sieun was making her way around the cul-de-sac, Seoyeon entered the room. Sullin also saw what was going on. Haewon reloaded, letting Yoon run off after Sieun and started firing at Seoyeon.
Seoyeon said, “Stop that! You big CHAEYEON LOVING PERVERT!”
Haewon shrugged. “I’m not big?”
Sullin ran in front of the car, shielding Seoyeon, who was still tightly holding on to the cellophane of the paper towels with one hand. Sullin got peppered with nerf objects, but Seoyeon made it through.
Haewon said, “Sorry, I like to play rough with my crushes.”
Sullin winked at her. “Good luck being rough with both of us when Chaeyoung comes to save me.”
Haewon pointed the rifle down, lost in some inappropriate thoughts. “Oh?”
Sieun made it to the end of the cul-de-sac and threw the monkey on the stage to Kyujin. Kyujin pointed to the center road, “Great success! Follow that one back to the start!”
Sieun said, “I have to go all the way back?”
“There are more packages to deliver! They need the car!”
Seoyeon was driving up behind her, Sieun started the car moving again, Yoon still giggling at how ridiculously slow it was.
Seoyeon and Sullin followed suit though Seoyeon had to get out of the car to get the paper towels onto the stage. She quickly turned and started heading back to the other side.
Waiting for their groupmates to return, Yooyeon whispered to Mayu, “Hey, go distract Yoona. Just like we practiced.”
Mayu got a huge smile on her face and ran over to Sullyoon. She asked, a bit too close to the microphone, “Have you ever kissed a Japanese girl?”
Sullyoon wasn’t sure what to make of the strange blonde creature questioning her, so just answered the question honestly. “Umm… Does a Thai girl count? Oh wait! Sana! Yes, I have!” She then realized that everything she said just echoed through the entire room. A chorus of “OOOO” erupted from a distant Jiwoo, Bae, and Lily. Sullyoon turned three shades of red and then turned off the mike.
While she wasn’t paying attention, Yooyeon examined the other packages carefully. She then went to Jiyeon. “There were only five packages in there, three now. There must be a small one under whatever that huge thing is.”
“What if something else is going on?”
“Spend the extra few seconds to check. A small thing will give you a huge advantage for your round.”
Jiyeon smiled and gave Yooyeon a ‘thumbs up’.
Sieun brought the car triumphantly down the center and then over to her team a solid ten seconds before Seoyeon. She got out of the car and ran into Isa’s arms who congratulated her and patted her on the head. Sumin and Seeun congratulated her as well, J gave Yoon a high five.
Sullyoon said, “Next girl! Go go go!”
Isa said, “Sumin! Go!”
Sieun said, “Nono, save her for the last trip, she is lighter. Seeun go!”
Seeun said, “Lighter? Rude…” She reached in and pulled out the smallest thing she saw, a largish sweater box. Seeun got in the car, moved uncomfortably forward like she saw Sieun do, and put the box on the seat behind her back. It didn’t really fit, but kind of wedged itself beside her. She started the car and it started moving forward, J ‘ran’ after her.
Sullyoon turned the microphone back on and said, “Oh! Seeun has gotten the box of couples’ PJ’s. Kyujin loves being couples with another member, wearing the same PJ’s. I wonder who she has in mind for these?”
Seoyeon got out of her car, Yooyeon gave her a high-five and a wink, indicating that she had everything under control and they were in good shape.
Jiyeon ran to the box and moved the largest thing in there, there was an envelope under it. “Jiwoo! Help!” she screamed. Jiwoo ran over to the box. With her height, she helped Jiyeon jump into the box. Jiyeon grabbed the envelope and leapt out of the box, Jiwoo catching her and helping her land on the other side. She similarly jumped into the car and started moving. Jiwoo followed her.
Sullyoon announced, “Jiyeon found the ‘Olive Young’ gift card she intends to give to one of her family members with an upcoming birthday. Don’t lose it, it is important!”
Seoyeon said, “Gift card? I had giant paper towels…”
Yooyeon pointed her finger gun at Seoyeon and shot her with a wink.
Although Seeun had a bit of a head start, Jiyeon drove the electric car as if she was good at driving children’s cars. She perfectly went around the tight curves without slowing. Seeun and J made it to the limbo bar. J wasn’t really sure what to do about Jiwoo who looked at her menacingly. As menacingly as a puppy can look at you. J laughed at her, keeping herself between Jiwoo and Seeun in case Jiwoo tried something. Seeun was able to get down in the car and put the flat package on herself and make her way under the bar without too much difficulty. It did slow her down a bit.
Jiyeon had no issues backing up and making her way around Bae. Lee Jiwoo said to Bae, “You’re tall.”
Bae said, “No you…”
“No you…”
“No you… also, my Jiwoo is prettier than you.”
“No me…”
“Not you…”
She kept Bae busy by pressing her argument button.
Jiyeon and Seeun approached the ramps nearly simultaneously. They both got out of their cars and pushed them up the ramp. Seeun was still just barely in the lead and made it to the top first. Jiyeon waited patiently for her to pass, ready to keep going quickly after she passed. Seeun didn’t notice, but Jiyeon saw Lily acting suspiciously, coming out from under the ramps. She quickly shouted, “JIWOO!”
Just as Seeun made it to the bottom of the ramp, Lily jumped out and reached into Seeun’s car picking up the PJ’s. “Obviously these are actually for me!”
Seeun stopped the car and said, “What the fuck? The troll under the bridge took my package! Yeeun! Get her!” A startled J ran after Lily...
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. You guys will choose the winners of Kyujin's game! This week's poll: (May 31 - June 7): https://forms.gle/bav2u5fmgANnaEDXA
Chapter 3: J Has Mixed Feelings about Being Stuck with the Enemy
Summary:
Kyujin's game comes to a conclusion. Will Yooyeon be able to win it? Or will she come up short... Then J gets kidnapped by TripleS and Sullin by Stayc. The dynamics of each room are interestingly different.
Chapter Text
Chapter 3: J Has Mixed Feelings about Being Stuck with the Enemy
Lily was a bit surprised that the maknae suddenly took off after her and she weaved her way toward Bae’s door.
Lee Jiwoo had mostly ignored Jiyeon’s cry and was still standing next to Bae. She instinctively put her tall form in the door opening. It was the opponent’s package, but it wasn’t fair that Lily took it, and Sieun might have been watching. How much to interfere though? All of these things crossed through her mind in those five seconds.
Lily approached Lee Jiwoo. “Jiwrooooo, you move! These couple’s pajamas belong to me!”
Jiwoo stepped aside, more because she saw J about to lunge through the air than because she wanted to let Lily go by her.
Lily gasped as J jumped, grabbed her around the torso, and flung both of them to the floor. “Owwwrrr!” said Lily.
Seeun shouted, “Bae! Can I leave the track to get the package?”
Bae said, “Girls yes, cars no! She can’t bring the package to you, also, she seems to have an Australian girl package right now also…”
Lily lay still only whimpering, “MY PAJAMAS…” J made sure Lily didn’t get up. Seeun ran over and grabbed the package, running it back to her car, now at the bottom of the ramp on the far side.
Jiwoo looked over to the ramp and realized Jiyeon and her car were no longer even in the room. She said, “Shit… I’m dead…” and ran after her.
Jiyeon literally just ignored Haewon as she unloaded round after round, most of them hitting Jiyeon or the car. Haewon stopped to reload and Jiwoo finally came bursting into the room.
She scolded Haewon, “Hey, stop shooting her…”
“You’re late tall girl.”
“The proper way to address me is: tall, lanky, hottie. Or any of its variants.”
“Meh,” said Haewon, making sure her rifle was reloaded. Jiwoo ran off after Jiyeon to make sure she got the gift card delivered to Kyujin successfully. Kyujin clapped as she received her gift card and congratulated Jiyeon for a job well done.
J got up off of Lily. Lily hopped up as well and gave J a hug. She said, “You’re soooooorr cute… sticking up for your partner like that…” J looked at her like she had two heads, one mean troll PJ thief head and one overly nice main vocalist head. She shook her own head in disbelief and ran off after Seeun.
Seeun was approaching Haewon and slowed down because she already fired two shots at her. J ran right up to Haewon. She ripped the rifle out of Haewon’s hands and threw it to the ground. “I’m not in the mood for anymore Nmixx… stuff…”
Haewon looked at her, impressed. Then she looked down at her rifle and giggled. “By the end of the weekend, I fear you won’t be editing out your curse words anymore…”
Jiyeon now had a significant lead and was heading back to the start. Seeun saw her and started the car moving again. J joined her and they delivered the pajamas. Seeun threw them up on to the stage. Kyujin clapped and congratulated her. J stared at her like she had two heads as well. Seeun was nearly in tears. J patted her on the head and the two ‘sped’ off back to the other side.
Back at the starting pad, Sumin and Isa were talking strategy as Sieun recounted how the car handled and what was lurking on the other side. Yoon got bored of this and meandered over to the TripleS side. Yooyeon and Mayu were waiting right at the box quietly and patiently ready to go. Yoon stood with Seoyeon and Sullin.
Yoon asked, “Have you ever dated a tall girl?”
Sullyoon’s voice echoed through the room, “Stop hitting on my girlfriend.”
Yoon shouted, “I’M TALKING TO THE BLONDE!”
Sullyoon turned off the microphone, “Oh sorry, continue!”
Seoyeon said, “I went out with Lee Jiwoo a couple of times.”
“Not your groupmate, a DATE.”
“How tall is a tall girl?”
“Can’t you just answer a flirty question without needing specifics?” asked a flustered Yoon.
Seoyeon looked at her and shrugged. Sullin said, “Even if she really liked you, you are the enemy to Seoyeon, and are going to be the enemy for several days. She isn’t going to flirt back with the enemy.”
Sumin yelled, “JAYOON! Come here!”
Yoon said, “I’ll be back in a few minutes to try again…” She ran back over to the Stayc side as Jiyeon and Jiwoo were closing in on the starting area.
Jiyeon got out of the car, “I got you a HUGE lead… DON’T… MESS… UP…”
Jiwoo said, “Lily got you that lead…”
Yooyeon said, “Yooyeon told you to find the small thing in that box, how about my credit…”
Mayu shuffled her feet quickly in place, “LET’S GO!”
Yooyeon looked in the box, “The giant thing, or that bag of something?”
Seoyeon said, “What is it?”
Yooyeon tried to pick it up, “Big bag of rice. Not sure I can lift it…”
Jiwoo said, “Get the box?”
“I guess…”
Sullyoon’s microphone came on with a loud click. “This is Kyujin’s new closet organizer system! She is very excited to take everything out of her closet and put it all back in a new order. She may spend a week or two planning where everything is going to go.”
Yooyeon did her best to lift the last package out of the box, it was almost 1 meter by 1 meter, by 30 centimeters.
She got it up over the side of the box and onto the wagon. It didn’t fit in the wagon, but it laid on top, somewhat supported. Mayu grabbed the rope and together they tied a knot around the wagon handle and through the hole in the back of the seat of the car. Yooyeon got in the car and started it. “Mayu, you remember what to do with Haewon, right?”
“Yes!” she shouted excitedly.
Seoyeon watched as the car moved and then the rope, and then finally the wagon. “Too much slack, why is it so long?” she shouted after them.
Yooyeon turned around and looked at the two meters of rope between the wagon and the car. “It will be fine…”
Seeun and J returned, just as Yooyeon started off.
Sumin fairly easily lifted up the rice and got it onto the skateboard. She tested it to see how well balanced it would be. She shrugged but wouldn’t do much good to worry, so she went with it.
Sullyoon said, “Kyujin is hungry. For whatever reason, she bought enough rice to feed an entire concert hall.”
Seoyeon said, “Wow, Sumin easily picked up that thing Yooyeon said she couldn’t lift, now SHE’s worth flirting with…”
Yoon looked at Seoyeon. “I CAN LIFT IT!”
Yoon walked over to the bag on the skateboard as Sumin was trying to figure out where to attach the rope. Sumin said, “DO NOT TOUCH THAT!”
Yoon said to Seoyeon, “I’ll show you later!”
Seoyeon winked at her, her plan to stir up chaos only partially successful.
Sumin finally got the rope looped around the skateboard, got into the car and started moving forward. The rice balanced okay, until she had to go around the curves when the skateboard tilted enough to the side it nearly touched the ground. The rice never fell off, but she had to go fairly slowly.
Yooyeon had to stop the car and set the package vertical to get it through the door, then lay it back on the wagon horizontal, then get back in the car. Her lead was already slightly shrinking as she approached Bae. The slack in the rope was actually helpful because she could back the car up enough to go around Bae and then just pull the wagon along after, although the wagon did nearly take out Bae in the process. Mayu played cute and helped Bae get out of the way of the wagon and not fall.
The ramp was a different story, she managed to get the car going down the ramp and the wagon stuck going up the ramp, neither of them able to move. She got out of the car, “Lily… help me!”
Lily said, “Sorry… I’m worthless without my PJs.”
“Wouldn’t you like to steal this closet organizer?”
Lily snorted, “Naurr….”
Mayu poked her head in under the ramp to observe the troll. Mayu made a heart to her, using both hands. Lily said, “Awww…” and made a heart back. “Cute! Yooyeon! These new girls are an upgrade!”
Bae shouted across the room, “I hear you dissing my mistress!”
Finally, with brute strength, Yooyeon got the wagon to the top of the ramp, made it back into the car and carefully pulled the wagon down the ramp. The wagon ran into the back of the car, but the entire thing was safely moving forward in a generally straight line.
On the other side, Isa stayed in front of Sumin, keeping herself between Kim Jiwoo and the car as Sumin got out of the car to maneuver it under the limbo bar. Luckily the rice on a skateboard was no issue here.
Isa said, “Hi Jiwoo, I hear you suddenly think you are Nmixx visual but we all know you will never measure up to the real visual.”
Jiwoo looked stunned, “The fuck is that supposed to mean?” Jiwoo put her hands on her hips and glared at Isa. Enough of a successful distraction to make sure Sumin made it past unbothered.
Sullyoon said, “Alright, everyone else, let’s follow along and see who makes the final delivery first!”
The rest of Stayc and TripleS followed Sullyoon, picking up Bae and Kim Jiwoo along the way.
Sumin didn’t have any more trouble getting up the ramp than any of the earlier girls, she got out and pushed and the skateboard followed right along. It almost tipped over when the skateboard flew down the ramp on the far side, but it hit the car and Sumin just kept going.
Yooyeon was nervous, losing more of her lead as she had to stop the car and again set the package vertical to get it through the door, then lay it back on the wagon horizontal, then get back in the car. She couldn’t let Haewon ruin this. Luckily Mayu was on top of things and ran into the room ahead of her.
Haewon pointed the rifle at Mayu. Mayu quickly unzipped her jacket and pulled up her camisole revealing her bra, she unhooked the bra at her back and let one boob fall out. “I’ve heard about your weaknesses,” she taunted.
Haewon could only say, “Oh hi…”
Yooyeon continued on down the road getting close to the stage, but Sumin was right behind her.
Isa stopped at Haewon and Mayu. “Oh thanks, I was going to do that also.”
Haewon said, “Shut up Chaeyoung… you’re ruining the moment. Your boob is boring.”
Isa said, “I mean, you can’t beat a cute Japanese breast, now can you?”
As the rest of the girls came into the last room, Mayu looked back at them and quickly got her bra situated again and jacket zipped back up.
Haewon said, “I’m so going to shoot you all!” Mayu and Isa ignored her and hurried toward Kyujin at the stage.
Yooyeon was not careful getting the box back on the wagon, rushing after going through the door, and it was slightly off center. When she made the sharp turn to go down the middle road it slid off and she had to stop and recenter, letting out a flurry of expletives in the process. Sumin officially caught up to her. There wasn’t enough room on the road for two cars side-by-side and the one that made it first was probably going to win.
Isa saw the upcoming fray and ran forward to stand in front of Yooyeon’s car. “Stop!” she said in English, pretending she was a police officer.
Isa, and a lot of other people along the way, underestimated the blonde Japanese girl. Mayu charged her with a scream of, “I’m cute!” She grabbed Isa around the waist, pulled her out from in front of Yooyeon’s car and the pair of them fell over beside the road.
Smothered in a mass of blonde hair, Isa said, “You are quickly becoming my favorite TripleS member!”
Sullin yelled, “I HEARD THAT!”
Yooyeon got onto the final road first, but there was a problem, her car was first, but Sumin’s car and the skateboard was in between Yooyeon’s car and the wagon. As they got to the cul-de-sac, Sumin started screaming at her, “Get out of my way, get out of my way!”
Yooyeon had a plan and suddenly stopped. Sumin banged into her, and came to a stop also.
Sullyoon said, “Hmmm, ummm, there seems to have been a collision! Also, Chaeyoung might be making out with Mayu.”
Sieun came running over to Mayu and Isa. “Hey! She’s mine!” she shouted. No one was sure which girl she was referring to.
During the collision, Sumin’s skateboard hit her car and tipped over. Yooyeon started moving again, but Sumin had to get out and fix her rice. Yooyeon made it to the stage first and managed to get the closet organizer on the stage in front of Kyujin, just as Sumin got there, picked up the rice and heaved it up on the stage as well, just three seconds behind.
Kyujin said, “The winner is! TripleS!”
Yooyeon fell over and splayed out on the floor. As Jiwoo, Mayu, Sullin, and Jiyeon all cheered for their teamwork, Seoyeon stood over Yooyeon. “YOU ALMOST LOST THAT FOR US!” she scolded.
Seeun started crying for real. Mayu saw it first and ran and gave her a hug. Seeun said, “Awww.”
“You made sure I was okay when I was crying, I’ll do the same for you.”
“You sure are cute…”
Isa replaced Mayu, giving Seeun a serious hug, holding her head tightly and patting it. “Hey sister, it is only the first game, you can’t be crying already…”
She cried into Isa’s shoulder, “It is all my fault! If I hadn’t let Lily steal the PJs, we would have won.”
Lily walked up to them, “I’m so sorry Seeun. There was nothing you could have done, I was going to steal the PJ’s from whoever happened to have them. It had nothing to do with you… I feel so bad…”
Lily gave Seeun a hug also.
Sieun said, “Yooyeon was correct earlier, she figured out that there must be a small package. Jiyeon finding it and then being a really good driver is why they won, not because of Lily.”
Yooyeon sat up. “THAT!”
Seoyeon gave her a hand and helped her stand up, patting her on the head.
Lee Jiwoo said, “Good teamwork girls!”
Isa said, “You got lucky… several times. That won’t keep up for long.”
Jiwoo walked over to Sieun and put her arm around her. She stared at Isa and asked, “Who is lucky?”
Isa wagged her finger at Jiwoo.
Sullyoon said, “The first competition is over! It is now my favorite time of the day! Bedtime!”
The girls all made their way back up to the pool on the fourth floor.
Haewon said, “Jinsol, explain what is happening next…”
Bae looked at Haewon, “Why? You do it…”
“I’m tired…”
“You get to see a boob, and now you’re tired?”
“Maybe…”
Kyujin stepped in front and said, “Everyone, thank you for playing my game. I hope you all had fun.”
Sieun, Jiwoo, Mayu, and Sullin clapped that they had fun.
Yoon said, “Didn’t enjoy…”
Seeun said, “Me either…”
“Or me…” said J.
Kim Jiwoo said, “We didn’t enjoy any of the games we lost either. You’ll enjoy tomorrow. Unless you just keep losing…”
Kyujin said, “Ignore ‘glass half empty’ Jiwoo, I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun tomorrow.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Does that make ME ‘glass half full’ Jiwoo?”
Sieun laughed, “You’re so witty…”
Seoyeon said, “No she isn’t… Yooyeon, what did Jiwoo do to this girl from the other team?”
“How the hell should I know? Sullin? What did she do?”
Although almost blurting out ‘tongue hockey’, Sullin just faked looking confused and said, “Sorry? You spoke too quickly…”
Yooyeon shook her head, “Kyujin, please continue…”
Kyujin clapped, “Alright! You are all about to head to your hotel rooms back up on the eighth floor where we had the first competition! There won’t be enough room in your rooms for your bags, so Stayc head off to the changing area over there.” Kyujin pointed to a room on the left. “And TripleS over there.” Kyujin pointed to a room on the right. “And change into your PJs!”
Sumin asked, “There won’t be enough room in our rooms for our bags? What does that mean?”
“Oh right, Stayc will be staying in one room and TripleS will be staying in one room, but they are a bit small.”
Yoon asked, “One room? Like the ones from earlier? Six members in there?”
“Nope! Only five members.”
Seoyeon said, “Okay, now I’m confused also.”
“Please be quiet until I’m finished…” Sullyoon and Bae snickered at Kyujin struggling to herd girls. “EPIC TWIST!” said Kyujin.
The girls all stared at her quietly, waiting for her to explain.
Kyujin smiled, now properly the center of attention. “The two last place finishers from the first game, J and Sullin, are going to be kidnapped by the other team.”
J got a horrified look on her face.
“J will be staying with TripleS tonight and Sullin will be staying with Stayc.”
Yooyeon said, “Six girls in that tiny room? So we don’t get any sleep? That’s your evil plan?”
Kyujin snickered, “Evil? Why wouldn’t you sleep?”
Jiyeon said, “Mayu snores…”
Mayu pushed Jiyeon, “I DO NOT!”
Sumin said, “We are all going to be crammed into that tiny room until morning?”
Kyujin clapped, “Yay! It seems everyone understands! Think about it Sumin, J will get to infiltrate the enemy and learn all sorts of things!”
Sumin shook J, “Are you going to learn all sorts of things?”
J was still standing there, her mouth partially open. Sumin said, “It seems unlikely…”
Lily chimed in, “She totally jumped from out of nowhere and tackled me. She’ll be fine, you should give your maknae more credit.”
J snapped out of it, “YEAH! Give me more credit!”
Kyujin laughed, “Don’t worry J, I never got invited to anything until recently. Everyone go and change into your PJs!”
The girls grabbed their bags and scattered to their changing rooms, returning wearing various PJs.
***
Haewon herded Stayc and Sullin into room 803. Isa and Sullin, holding hands, went in first. Haewon was having less luck with the rest of the girls, however.
Sieun pointed at Haewon, "You better make sure my Yeeun is okay with those strange girls."
"I'm sure she can take care of herself."
Seeun pouted, "Haewon... this room is too small for six girls, it is designed for one or two girls, or boys... NOT SIX."
"Shy girl... get cozy! Like you haven't all fallen asleep together on a bed too tiny for you all to fit."
Yoon shouted, "I'm OVER Nmixx... I wish we were competing against you. BUTT KICKING!"
"Annoying girl... you're annoying."
Sumin said, "I really don't like you. Why are you such a guy?"
Haewon felt her own boob. "Nope! Shooooo! Get in there before I get angry!"
With a massive sigh, Haewon shut the door behind them. Across the hall at 804, Kin Jiwoo held the door open as TripleS and J wordlessly filed into their room. Jiwoo made sure the door shut behind them.
Jiwoo said, "Stayc is a bit noisy."
Haewon asked, "You didn't get a single complaint?"
"No... Did you see their promotions where all twenty-four of them were laying all over each other? You know how long that must have taken to film. I don't think they are bothered by this in the slightest."
"Advantage TripleS!"
***
Stayc and Sullin looked around the room. Isa said, "Well, it is going to be tight, but at least the lights work now."
Seeun looked at Sumin, "What's the plan boss?"
Sumin asked, "Why do I have to decide?"
Yoon looked at Sieun, "What's the plan, boss?"
"Do we really need a plan? We are going to go to sleep," said Sieun.
"I think we need a plan," said Sumin.
"BUT you don't ever want to MAKE the plan."
"Why should I have to MAKE the plan?" asked Sumin.
"Because you are the one that wants the plan... so get making..."
"Seeun also wants a plan."
Sieun face palmed. Sullin was moving her head back and forth, doing her best to follow the comedy of Sieun and Sumin barking at each other. Isa grabbed her hand again. Sullin asked, "Is it always like this?"
"These two bickering? Yes, yes it is."
Sullin looked at Isa, "Bickering... I don't understand..."
"Arguing back and forth..." said Yoon.
Sullin shook her head like she didn't understand. Isa looked at Sieun to gauge how far she was going to let this go and said, "If we want Sullin to understand, we need to talk slowly and make sure she can follow."
Sieun was about to say something, but thought better of it. She went back to bickering with Sumin about how to come up with the non-existent and unnecessary plan.
Sullin whispered into Isa's ear. "You are funny."
"Why am I funny?" she whispered back.
"You are all important big hot Isa when you are mostly alone, but among the rest of Stayc you are just a cool cat."
Isa smiled at her and made cat ears with her fingers. "Watch what happens..."
Isa said loudly to interrupt, "I think the plan should be that Sullin sleeps by herself on the couch. The rest of us can pile onto the bed, it is large. Anyone that doesn't want to be on the bed can find a spot alone on the floor."
Sieun clapped, "Done!"
Sumin said, "That plan sucks..."
Yoon said, "We can't all fit on the bed, why is that fair?"
Seeun asked, "Sullin is our pretty guest, but that shouldn't earn her the opportunity to be alone on the couch..."
Isa whispered into Sullin's ear again, "See... they are immune to my charms. They don't just do whatever I say like everyone else does..."
Sullin whispered back, "Poor baby cat..."
Isa pouted. "You're welcome for what is about to happen."
"Eh?"
Sumin said, "Here is what we're doing. Sullin gets the bed. She can have whoever she wants on the bed with her, probably Chaeyoung since they know each other. Sieun is short, she can sleep alone on the couch. Yoon can fall asleep anywhere, she gets the floor."
Seeun said, "Good plan!"
Yoon agreed, "Let's do it!"
Sullin shrugged and hopped onto the bed and crawled to the middle. Seeun and Isa joined her on either side. Sieun settled on the couch and Yoon took the bed spread off of the bed and a pillow and cuddled up on the floor.
Sumin sat on the side of the bed. "I'll get the lights."
Sullin asked, "Wait, so soon? Should we chat and get to know each other?"
Yoon sat up, "NO! We're on to you! You are trying to keep us up so we don't get enough sleep!"
Sullin shook her head, "Say slower?"
Sumin turned off the light and pillows started flying around on the bed as the girls got situated under the covers. Sullin stayed in the middle of the bed laying on her side facing Sumin, Sumin lay on the right edge. Isa cuddled with Sullin from behind, and Seeun cuddled with Isa from behind.
After about five minutes, Sumin flipped over, facing Sullin. She poked Sullin on the shoulder, but Sullin was still awake and smiled at her even before she got poked.
Sumin whispered, "Hi... I'm Sumin. Nice to meet you."
Sullin put her face as close to Sumin's as possible, so she could easily whisper. "Your team is fun."
"I don't know about fun, but they are my life, so I love them dearly."
"Chaeyoung told me that you were the strongest voice when she was struggling before debut, in making sure she is where she is now. She really loves you for that."
"Awww, she told you that?"
Isa's arm reached over Sullin and pushed Sumin away from Sullin. "Stop bothering and go to sleep."
Isa spooned Sullin in closer to her and Sumin turned back over with a giggle.
***
Across the hall, TripleS filed into the room and stood in the bit of open floor space, still mostly quiet. J was looking around nervously. Jiyeon grabbed her hand. "I won't jump on you again, unless you want me to, but maybe you and I can be fren-emies?"
J smiled at her and nodded.
Lee Jiwoo was dismayed that the supposed leaders of this rag-tag band of girls weren't saying anything, so she started, "How do we assign sleeping spots?"
Jiyeon said, "Let's just do Assemble25 style!"
Mayu agreed, "That sounds fun!"
Seoyeon and Yooyeon looked at each other. Yooyeon shrugged. Seoyeon asked J, "Yeeun, will you be able to sleep if your pillow turns out to be another girl?"
J answered, "I guess? I mean I can sleep anywhere really."
Jiyeon said, "I would offer myself as pillow, but I'm a bit bony."
Yooyeon said, "Don't worry, there are probably enough real pillows to go around. Let’s make sure Yeeun gets one if she wants it."
Mayu nuzzled up to J and motioned that she wanted to put her head on J's shoulder, but J was too tall. J bent her knees a bit and Mayu smiled and put her head on J's shoulder, testing out her pillow potential.
Seoyeon said, "Alright, everyone stand on the couch and coffee table, let's pull the spread and sheets off of the bed and put it all on the floor.
Seoyeon worked hard destroying some maid’s hard work and randomly distributed it all on the floor. Yooyeon badly wanted to straighten and flatten, but instead she threw all of the pillows on the floor as well.
With reckless abandon, Jiwoo jumped onto the floor and sprawled out her long legs and arms. J watched as the other four girls joined her on the floor, making an intertwined pile of TripleS, hands going random places with frequent giggles. J was now the only one standing. Jiyeon sat up and motioned for her to come sit. Jiyeon opened her legs and J carefully sat between them facing away from her. Mayu climbed on to J's lap, straddling her. Together, Jiyeon and Mayu played with J's hair, making nice braided pig-tails for her. Jiwoo was the only one with arms long enough to reach the light switch and she switched them off and one by one TripleS and J fell asleep.
***
Back in the Stayc room, at 7:00 am a very loud alarm started blaring in the room. Yoon jumped up from the floor, "THE FUCK IS THAT?"
Sumin said, "Oww, why so loud? Where is it?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" yelled Yoon.
"Stop screaming..."
Yoon scrambled around, found a hidden alarm clock in the closet and managed to switch it off.
Sullin flipped over to whisper something into Isa's ear, which had been there when she fell asleep, "Hey hottie, you are very warm." She realized too late that she said that to Seeun, who was somehow cuddling her from behind instead of Isa. Seeun let go of Sullin also startled, thinking she was cuddling with Isa. "Oh sorry... also... hi..." They both started giggling.
Sullin sat up to see what had happened. Isa and Sieun were on the couch together, Sieun mostly on Isa because there was barely enough room for one person on that couch. Isa looked over at her, realizing she had been caught.
Sullin said across the room, "Empty space looking pretty full this morning."
Isa smiled cutely and made cat ears back at her.
There was a loud knock on the door and a loud voice with a suspicious Australian accent said, "Mixx-Keeping!"
Yoon opened the door a crack. Lily said, "Don't hate the messenger. Everyone get up quickly, we are wanted by the pool!"
Yoon glared at Lily for an uncomfortably long time though the crack in the door, waiting for the rest of the girls to get up and come to the door.
***
In 804, J had fallen asleep with Mayu's belly as her pillow and Jiyeon draped over top of her. When the hidden alarm clock went off, J quickly sat up and screamed, "What the fuck?" Jiyeon rolled off of her.
Jiyeon and Mayu both giggled at her. Jiwoo laughed and said, "Stayc girls are a bit twitchy..."
Seoyeon said, “We’re calm cucumbers as long as it isn’t that horrible alarm from our real badge wars!” TripleS girls all shuddered.
Yooyeon searched for the alarm clock, found it in the closet and turned it off.
There was a knock at the door, in a voice resembling a maknae, "Mixx-Keeping! Your presence is requested by the pool!" Yooyeon opened the door, but it only opened slightly because she had put the chain across the opening. She looked at Kyujin with one eye.
Yooyeon said, "One minute!" She shut the door and unhooked the chain as the rest of the girls got up and made a single file line at the door, J in the middle. They wordlessly walked to the elevator and rode it back to the fourth floor.
***
Stayc and Sullin arrived at the pool first, Lily led them past the pool to the end of the room where Jiwoo, Bae, Sullyoon, and Haewon were waiting for them. They stood there patiently for a few minutes until Kyujin led TripleS and J down the other side.
Yoon said, “What? They got to sleep longer?”
Haewon barked back, “Yes, they earned an extra five minutes by winning Kyujin’s game.”
“Barely winning…”
“It was five minutes…”
Sumin was holding one of Sullin’s hands, and Isa the other. Seeun, not to be outdone, was hugging her from behind.
On the other side, Jiyeon stood next to J, making sure she didn’t feel lonely, but J kept looking over at the rest of Stayc doting on Sullin.
Kyujin said, “Go on! You can return to your team!”
J bolted away from TripleS as fast as she could and into Sieun’s arms.
Sieun said, “What did they do to you?”
“Accepted me as one of their own, made sure I was comfortable, and cutely styled my hair!”
Yoon scrunched up her nose, “Horrible heathens!”
Sullin gave Isa and Sumin a hug and then turned to Seeun. Seeun gave her a hug and wouldn’t let go. “Don’t leave us!”
Sullyoon said, “Uhoh, Sullin was her perfectly lovable self. Think of all the TripleS secrets she told to Stayc.”
J pushed Seeun off of Sullin. “Hey! Hug me!” Seeun reluctantly let go of Sullin and hugged J.
Sullin ran past Sullyoon on her way back to her group. She said in English, “Talk slower, I didn’t understand.”
Sullyoon stuck her tongue out at her.
Seoyeon said, “Not to attack you all, like our opponents seem to want to, but where did Nmixx sleep last night?”
Nmixx took turns looking at each other. Haewon decided she would have to be the one to break the news. “A suite… on the top floor… three bedrooms… quite a view…”
“I slept in a pile of girls, pajamas, and pillows?”
“Sounds amazing! You obviously don’t need a view in that situation…”
Yooyeon said, “But Jiyeon is bony.”
Isa said, “Okay, we are all standing in our pajamas next to the swimming pool. Now what?”
Kyujin and Jiwoo went to the side of the room and got a familiar looking cork bulletin board. They wheeled it forward to the rest of Nmixx.
Yooyeon excitedly made R2D2 sounds.
Kim Jiwoo said, “No ‘Star Wars’ this time…”
Yooyeon boooooed.
Haewon and Lily fetched a cart with a wide variety of random things on it, including folding chairs, a folding table, water bottles, ping pong balls and paddles and several other smaller unrecognizable things. They wheeled it in front of the cork board.
Jiwoo and Kyujin rotated the cork board, essentially flipping it over. There were twelve pickets, one with the face of each competitor across the top of the board. Hanging in the middle were twelve large unlabeled envelopes.
Bae said, “Since the individual prize is two Miu Miu outfits, we thought it would be fun to play a series of physical games to determine what everyone will be wearing for the day!”
Seoyeon said, “Did she just say what I think she said?”
Sieun said, “Come on… it will be fun!”
“You’re okay with letting Haewon pick what you’re going to wear for the REST OF THE DAY?”
Yooyeon asked, “Lily… you were okay with everything that is about to happen?”
Lily looked at her surprised, “Yauuuurrrrrrr, of course! We came up with all of these games as a group!”
“You know what is in every one of those envelopes?”
“Most of them?” She smiled at Yooyeon, then looked down, then looked up and softly said, “Miu Miu!”
J innocently asked Yoon, “You’ve hung out with Haewon, why is everyone so worried about everything she does?”
Isa said, “Her nickname is ‘Hornywon’, but seriously, she is a lot of fun and I’m sure she will be fair.”
Sumin said, “I already don’t like her constant flirting. Not one bit…”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Today… Hornywon is not on trial. Although that might be an interesting activity for the future. Today we are having a badge war!”
Lily said, “She’s obviously no worse than Chaeyoung…”
Isa gave herself cat ears with her fingers and smiled cutely, “What did I do? Little kitty me?”
Yoon said, “Difficult to decide which of them should be on trial really…”
Sieun used main vocalist voice and shouted, “HUSH EVERYONE! LET’S PLAY!”
Lee Jiwoo clapped for Sieun, mostly just because she was Sieun. Jiyeon and Mayu were standing together holding hands taking it all in. Sullin was doing a great job pretending that she had no idea what anyone was saying.
Haewon and Lily set up the small folding ‘tea’ table and two folding chairs on either side of it. Haewon said, “First competition, one member of Stayc and one member of TripleS will have a little arm-wrestling ice-breaker! As this game unfolds, you will see there is a ton of strategy buried in it. Being first winner is quite the advantage. Probably…”
J leaned on Sumin. “I don’t think I like her either.”
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll: (June 7 - June 13): https://forms.gle/6h7tkhmBJPb6JPfw9
Chapter 4: Yooyeon Has a Bad Feeling, Again
Summary:
The wake-up/ice-breaker challenges get underway. The girls discover that it will also determine what they are wearing for the day. The competition is fierce and the outfits are... Nmixx.
Chapter Text
Chapter 4: Yooyeon has a Bad Feeling, Again
Haewon stared at J and Sumin commenting about herself and said in English, “NOT whispering, wrestling…”
Sumin glared back at her, J looked down embarrassed.
Haewon made a huge motion with her arms. “Each team pick your warrior! Let’s go!” Today, all of Nmixx were wearing dark grey sweat-like pants with a white stripe down the side and various versions of grey or white long-sleeved sheer crop tops.
The girls were all beside the long axis of the pool in a side area where Nmixx had moved out the lounge chairs normally present so there was room for both groups to huddle as well as for the corkboard and the game itself. Windows along the wall were all covered by shades. The floor around the pool was paved with large ornate blue tiles.
Stayc and Triple S both formed a huddle. On the TripleS side, Sullyoon and Kyujin wandered over to have a listen. Sieun said, “Chaeyoung?”
Isa nodded. “Sure. I’ll do it.”
J said, “I’m stronger than her?” She pointed to her biceps.
“Are you now?” asked Isa.
“Of course?”
Seeun said, “I agree with Sieun, let’s let Isa do it. She’s more…”
“More what? Why does she always get to do everything?”
Sullyoon and Kyujin had a look at each other and tried not to giggle at definitely never having a similar conversation.
Sieun said, “She just wins without trying… Let her arm wrestle…”
J sighed, “Fine…”
At the TripleS huddle, no one was talking. Lily and Bae went to investigate. Bae put her head into the huddle and looked around to try to determine if they were using some manner of hand signals, or a high frequency dog whistle to communicate. She couldn’t find anything.
Lily said, “You need to choose?”
Seoyeon scolded her, “Quiet!”
At that point, Stayc had clearly chosen Isa and was not quiet about it. With this information, Yooyeon smiled and immediately started, “Do we try to beat Chaeyoung?”
Seoyeon said, “No. Let’s do second best?”
Yooyeon pointed to Mayu, “You’re up!”
Mayu cutely said, “What? Me?”
Yooyeon said, “I’m a weakling.”
Seoyeon said, “Me too…”
Jiwoo said, “My arms are too long, can’t get leverage.”
Sullin said, “I’m too shy… I’ll just giggle at Chaeyoung and she’ll win.”
Jiyeon flexed her bicep. “I’m first best.”
Isa had already sat down at the table. Mayu reluctantly joined her in the other chair.
Isa smiled at her, piling on the obvious flirt with some sly winks. Mayu reflected them back, making sure she was as cute as she could possibly be as well. She wasn’t a stranger to what Isa was up to, and was likely just as good at it.
Haewon said, “The fuck is going on at this table?”
Lily said, “A proper mating ritual.”
Sullyoon said, “Mayu has no hope of resisting.”
Jiyeon countered, “Isa obviously hasn’t experienced the will of a cute hot Japanese girl!”
Haewon said, “Wrestle already… that’s the true mating ritual…”
Isa put her elbow on the table, Mayu put her arm on the table as well and they gripped hands. Mayu was actually slightly taller than Isa, their arms were almost equal length, it seemed a fair fight.
Haewon said, “Go!”
Isa pushed into the Japanese girl, thinking she might topple easily, but was met with solid resistance. Isa put everything she had into it and was making a bit of ground, but Mayu squealed and did her best not to lose leverage. Isa said, “Aren’t you a little hottie when you’re struggling?”
Mayu immediately fought back stronger, nearly getting Isa’s hand back over to her side. As though Sieun scripted it, it was far from easy, but the advantage Isa had was stamina. Mayu fought and fought, but after about thirty seconds, she overexerted herself and Isa gave one final push and won.
Haewon said, “Chaeyoung wins! But damn… that was already epic and it was only the first match… It is going to be a crazy day!”
Seoyeon and Yooyeon ran over to Mayu to make sure she was okay. Mayu said, “I’m so sorry…”
Jiyeon said, “Don’t be silly! You did great!”
Seoyeon said, “We got their best at everything out of the way. Now we can beat the rest of the peons one by one.”
Lily said, “Oooooooorrrr.”
Isa ignored Seoyeon and looked at Haewon. “What did I win?”
Haewon said, “You, my dear… can go get an envelope from the corkboard and give it to whoever you want. Friend or foe. They are then stuck with that envelope. There will be no switching or swapping. Once you get one, you get it. Go peak at them, there are things are written on the side attached to the cork. Pick the one you want and give it to whoever you want.”
Isa sighed. She made her way to the cork board and looked at each envelope.
Yooyeon said, “Lily… I have a question?”
“Yeearrrr?” said Lily.
“Wait until she chooses.”
Isa said, “I know what you’re going to ask, stunningly gorgeous and smart, yet unfriendly girl. Guessing there is a badge in one of these also?”
Haewon said, “There is indeed a badge. You may be giving someone on the other team a badge without even knowing it.”
Yooyeon shrugged at Lily.
With another sigh, Isa chose and grabbed an envelope, unpinning it from the board and bringing it back to the table. “This one says ‘Haewon’ on it.”
Haewon said with a wink, “Look at the best starting with the best.”
“Thank you for reaffirming how full of yourself you are. This is obviously the worst outfit and most likely to also have a badge to compensate. Since I competed against Mayu, I’m going to give it to her. Hopefully she doesn’t hate the outfit as much as we all assume she will and will thank me for the badge.” Isa handed her the envelope.
Mayu smiled, not sure whether to hug her or hit her. She just stood there.
Seoyeon said, “This game is already freaking me out and it is the simplest thing ever and isn’t even really one of the main competitions.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “What did you expect when you agreed to this? This isn’t some ex-Loona silliness in the party room, we BROUGHT it.”
Lily looked down, still feeling a bit guilty, “Miu Miu?” she offered sheepishly.
Haewon grabbed a pair of ping pong paddles and two balls. “Next?”
The groups huddled again. Well, Stayc huddled. Jiyeon didn’t even bother and just walked to the front.
Yoon said, “This is all me!”
Sieun said, “No, let me do it! We might need you for something that requires height.”
“What if we need you for something that requires short?”
“You’re not funny.”
“Let me do it!”
“Okay…”
Yoon ran out of the huddle and stood next to Jiyeon. Jiyeon snickered at the tall girl next to her. “You remind me of our Jiwoo, that ball has a long way to fall to the ground. Then you’ll have to run after it and you’ll trip over your own feet and fall down, like she does.”
“Excuse me?” said Lee Jiwoo.
Sieun said, “We’ll deal with Jiyeon later Jiwoo.” She looked right at Jiyeon, “You are still centimeters taller than me and are making tall jokes at Jiwoo. YOU’RE TALL.” Jiyeon was a bit taken aback by Sieun so easily standing up for Jiwoo and attacking her.
Haewon handed Yoon and Jiyeon a paddle and ball. Jiyeon instantly started bouncing the ball without Haewon even saying anything. “This is what we are doing, right?”
Haewon said, “Wow… okay… sure… GO!”
Jiyeon started bouncing it even a little higher, still unfazed enough to smile at Yoon until she looked over and saw that she hadn’t even started yet.
Yoon started bouncing the ball and was doing okay, but unlike Jiyeon bouncing at exactly the same height and pace, Yoon was a bit all over the place. She did quite well, lasting a solid minute, but Jiyeon’s wrist was still going and she was still smiling at Yoon.
Just as predicted, when Yoon finally dropped the ball, she accidently kicked it and went running after it before it went into the pool, nearly tripping over her own feet. She proudly snatched it up and showed everyone she got it.
Jiyeon just kept bouncing. She pointed at Stayc with her other hand. “The rest of you want to come challenge me? I can do this for some hours.”
Haewon said, “Jiyeon wins!”
Yooyeon rushed over and grabbed the ball out of the air. “Hey, no taunting, the rest of us have to battle them still…”
Jiyeon handed Haewon the paddle and shrugged.
Haewon laughed, “Jiyeon! Choose an envelope and a victim!”
Jiyeon carefully looked over the remaining eleven envelopes. “Hey, can I keep it for myself?”
“You may!”
Jiyeon took the pin out of an envelope and carried it back to her group. “I’m going to keep this one.” She pointed to a little drawing on the back. “I think I know what this is.”
“Defensive strategy for the ping pong girl! Next up!” Haewon grabbed six water bottles, filled to varying degrees and sat them on the decorative tiles making up the floor outside the apron of the pool. She sat three bottles on one side, three on the other, all toppled over on their sides.
The girls immediately knew what it was and both made a huddle. Stayc learned to keep the huddle quiet from now on. After about ten seconds, Seeun and Sullin emerged from the huddles.
Seeun got on her haunches behind her bottles and rolled up her long pajama sleeves, Sullin did the same behind hers. Haewon shouted, “Go!”
It took Seeun three tries to flip the first bottle, to cheers from Stayc. It took Sullin six tries, but she got her second bottle after two flips and it took Seeun four. They were neck and neck on the last bottle, it didn’t have much water in it and was difficult to flip. Finally, Sullin landed hers. She ran into the huddle of TripleS girls to cheers. Seeun just sat down behind her bottles.
Seeun asked, “Guys… why do I suck at everything?”
J went over and helped her get up. “You don’t! Hey, at least that mean troll didn’t steal one of your water bottles this time… You lost fair and square.”
Lily said, “Naurrrrr.”
Seeun looked at J, “Thanks?”
Haewon said, “Super hot girl that should be Haewon’s girlfriend and not Yoona’s… go get an envelope!”
Sullyoon said, “Her name is ‘Thai Princess’, and YOU LOSE, at your imaginary girlfriends!”
Sullin smiled at Sullyoon on her way to the envelopes. She looked through them quickly. She unpinned one and brought it back. “I’m going to do what Chaeyoung did and give this one to Seeun. But I picked Sullyoon’s, I’m sure her outfit is sensible and she will treat you well.”
Sullyoon hid her face and Seeun looked over at her, not having a slightest bit of Sullin’s confidence.
Haewon said, “Next! Jegichagi!”
Sullin said loudly in English, “NOOOOOOOOOO” as bad memories from ‘Badge War 3’ rushed through her mind.
Stayc girls were startled. Sieun asked, “Are you okay Sullin?”
Lee Jiwoo said, “We can’t explain because it hasn’t aired yet, but very traumatic experience for her and a nearby jegi.”
Haewon dangled both jegis in front of her face. “Who is it going to be?”
Sumin asked, “We can’t repeat, right?”
“Not first time through!”
Sumin asked Sieun, “Should I do it? Yeeun? Do you care?”
J said, “I can do it, but probably Sieun.”
Sieun said, “I’ll do it!”
On the other side, it was between Jiwoo and Seoyeon. Seoyeon said, “What exactly are you waiting for Yooyeon? Is there anything you will actually be good at?”
“Of course!”
“What is it?”
“It is coming!”
Seoyeon looked at Jiwoo, “I’m not going to be great, can you do it?”
Jiwoo said, “Sure, I’ll give it a try.”
Jiwoo and Sieun met next to Haewon, hugged and then stood next to each other.
Haewon said, “I want to see three solid kicks, no accidently hitting your ankle or knee. Got it?”
Sieun and Jiwoo both gave Haewon thumb’s up. Haewon said, “Go!”
Jiwoo had no issues hitting it perfectly the first time, but her long leg had trouble getting into position for the second hit. Sieun hit it once badly three times in a row, making Stayc very uneasy about choosing her. The fourth time she hit is perfectly the first time and three times after for four solid perfect hits.
Sullin said, “I HATE YOUR STUPID KOREAN GAMES. JEGICHAGI… Ugh!”
Jiwoo shrugged and returned to TripleS, defeated. Sieun gave her a hug before returning to high-fives from Stayc. “You killed that!” said Isa.
Haewon said, “Go get an envelope Sieun.”
Sieun quickly ran over to the board and looked them over. Sieun giggled and pulled off an envelope. She handed it to Sullin. “I think this symbol is dice. I don’t know what that means, but anything random cannot be good. You gave one to Seeun, so back at you…”
Isa facepalmed.
Sullyoon giggled, “Still a bit jealous?”
Sieun said, “I told you why I picked her.” She ran back to Stayc, obviously annoyed.
Haewon said, “Now, the opposite of jegichagi, gonggi!” She pulled a small wooden box containing five ‘stones’ with different symbols and colors.
J and Sumin looked at each other. Sumin pointed to herself and J nodded.
Similarly, Seoyeon stood next to Yooyeon. “Is this the thing?”
Yooyeon shook her head ‘no’.
Seoyeon sighed loudly. “I guess it is me…”
Sumin and Seoyeon sat on the ornate tile floor in their PJs, just across from each other, one leg bent in, the other bent out. Seoyeon said, “Rules?”
Haewon said, “Nope! Figure something out.”
Seoyeon said, “Are you good at this?”
Sumin shook her head, “Nope”.
“We go back and forth if there is a miss? First girl to ten?”
“Who goes first?”
“Do you want to go first?”
“Sure!”
“Oh, okay…”
Sieun cheered a bit for Sumin.
Haewon gave Sumin the gonggi stones. Sumin dropped them, picked up one at a time in round one, picked up two at a time in round two, picked up three then two in round three and then tried to pick up four and missed one. She handed the stones to Seoyeon.
Seoyeon breezed through the first four rounds, but failed to balance all five stones on her hand and then only caught four. She handed them back to Sumin. “My hands are too small for this…”
Sumin smiled at her. This time she made it all the way through and got her five points. Seoyeon then matched her.
The rest of the girls were standing around watching intently, being mostly quiet. Sieun shouted, “Let’s go Sumin! This one is for the win!”
Isa said, “Don’t stress her out…”
Sumin did well until round four, she made a bad grouping when she threw the stones and couldn’t pick up four at once. She handed them to Seoyeon. TripleS was dead quiet. Seoyeon made it through and scored five more points to win with ten. TripleS was no longer quiet, cheering loudly.
Sumin went back to her group. “They are killing us at everything…”
Isa hugged her, “They’re not! It’s just about even! It’s okay! Calm down! They have a head start at all of this competition stuff. We’ll get there!”
Haewon said, “Seoyeon! Pick an envelope!”
Seoyeon looked them over and pulled one down. “I have someone in mind for this! I’m not sure exactly what the symbol is, but it has Sieun written all over it.” She handed it to Sieun.
Sieun looked at the envelop and shrugged.
Haewon said, “Yooyeon and J, go down there!” Kyujin ran down the side of the pool a ways, grabbed the cup full of ping pong balls and motioned for them to follow. They looked at each other and reluctantly walked together toward Kyujin.
In the meantime, Bae put two square plastic containers on the table. She took a sharpie and labeled one ‘Yoo’ and one ‘J’. She then held up a towel in front of them with one hand, so no one could see except her, and she placed the containers where she wanted them with a sly smile.
Seoyeon asked, “What the heck is this?”
Haewon said, “J and Yooyeon will hold a ping pong ball together with their lips.”
Yoon said, “That’s a pair versus pair challenge…”
“Hush… they will hold the ping pong ball from where they are and make their way to the table. When they get to the table, Jinsol will pull away the towel and they will need to figure out a way to get the ping pong ball into their container, no hands. If they both fail, they go back to Kyujin and start again.
Yooyeon looked at J. “Do you care if I accidently kiss you?”
“YES!” said J.
“I was kidding… but sheesh…”
“I didn’t have time to brush my teeth this morning with all of the alarming and ridiculous Nmixxing. Sorry!”
“Well, me either…” said Yooyeon.
Jiyeon said, “Yooyeon’s breath is always minty!” Seoyeon turned to look at her.
Isa shouted, “Yeeun, you were right, we should have switched these two… She really wants to kiss me.”
Yooyeon pointed at her. “Keep trying…”
Sullin said, “Oh dear… Yooyeon, don’t poke her…”
Kyujin picked up a ping pong ball and held it between them. J was slightly taller than Yooyeon, but not enough to cause her any problems. J tilted her head and they both kissed the ball and Kyujin let go of it.
They took their time to get to the table, but made it quite easily. They didn’t have much clue what to expect when they got there and both were a bit surprised when Bae suddenly moved the towel. They both got excited when they saw they were nearly over both containers and dropped the ball too early and it bounced on the table, tiles, and rolled to the edge of the pool.
Bae snickered and held the towel up again while moving the containers around. Yooyeon and J went back to Kyujin, who gave them another ball. Yooyeon held out her hand to J. “Look, ignore when she pulls the towel away. Keep it right in the center until we are over the containers, then anything goes.”
J nodded and shook her hand. They kissed the ball and walked it back to the table. Bae pulled the towel away and they ignored her until they were over the containers. J looked down and her container was right in the center, Yooyeon’s was off to the right a bit. J pulled back and the ping pong ball fell directly into it.
J returned to a now cheering Stayc. Yooyeon returned to a Seoyeon eager to say something about her ridiculous strategy. Yooyeon put her finger on Seoyeon’s mouth.
Haewon said, “Yay! Maknae! Go pick an envelope!”
J ran over to the board, quite excited. She looked over them and chose the “Bae” envelope. She handed it to Yoon. “I feel like Bae is tall like you and maybe whatever she would choose to wear will look good on you?”
Yoon was far from convinced.
Haewon said, “Okay, we are going to do it all one more time! But with only six envelopes left, you will only need five games. You cannot repeat who played each game, it has to be a different girl from each group. Yeeun, as last winner, you get to pick the next game.”
Isa said, “Come huddle, let’s chat!”
“No! She picks the game right now.”
J said, “I’m going to arm wrestle! I’m not afraid of any of the TripleS weaklings.”
Without a word, Jiyeon grabbed a chair that had been moved away from the table, put it at the table and sat down with a sly smile.
J timidly did the same on the other side.
Seoyeon said, “Hey J. Did you ever feel a muscle of a ballerina?”
“No?”
Seoyeon giggled with an evil laugh.
Sieun said, “Ignore her! She’s just messing with you!”
J and Jiyeon both got into position. Haewon said, “Go!” J resisted for three seconds before Jiyeon slammed her hand into the table.
“Oh my…” said J.
Sieun said, “Still ignore her, but I guess she wasn’t messing with you…”
Jiyeon smiled cutely and walked over to the board. “I kept one for myself last game, I’ll donate this one to Stayc. You were just over here Yeeun, you see anything you like?”
“No!”
“Come on, pick… I’ll bring it to you.”
“I guess Kyujin…”
Jiyeon grabbed Kyujin’s envelope and handed it to J.
Haewon said, “Jiyeon! Pick the next contest!”
Jiyeon thought for a bit. “Let’s do the kiss thing again.”
Isa clapped, “Me! Me! Sullin! Sullin! Come here!”
Sieun said, “No! She did that so you would insist on doing this and then you can’t do any of the other games you can easily win.”
Seoyeon gave Jiyeon a high five. Ignoring Sieun as usual, Sullin and Isa were already heading toward Kyujin as Bae moved the chairs and scratched out ‘J’ and ‘Yoo’ and replaced it with Isa and Sull.
Isa looked into Sullin’s eyes.
Sullin asked, “Are you really doing this right now?”
“Is Yoona watching?”
Sullin looked over at her. “Of course…”
“Kiss me right now, before we start, and I’ll let you win.”
“Are you being serious?”
“Kyujin is my witness.”
Kyujin shrugged.
Sullin stepped forward to Isa, put her arms around her neck and kissed her solidly. Isa made sure their lips were solidly together for twelve seconds and then let go with a cute smile. Yoon stepped in front of Seeun and J, blocking their sight of the event.
Sieun shouted, “Yoona… control your girlfriend…”
Sullyoon shouted back, “You control YOUR girlfriend!”
Seeun and J looked at each other, no idea what was going on. J finally grabbed Yoon and pulled her out of the way. “What is wrong with you? Get out of the way!”
Kyujin sighed and held up the ball. Isa and Sullin both kissed it and walked it down to the table. After Bae moved the towel, both girls looked down. They maneuvered the ball right over Sullin’s container and let go, dropping it in.
Isa said, “Oops!” and walked back to Stayc.
J gave her the meanest look, not really able to believe she would just let the opponent win.
Haewon said, “Sullin! Pick an envelope!”
Sullin grabbed the envelope with an obvious symbol. “It’s a butterfly! For you Chaeyoung!” She handed it to Isa.
Kim Jiwoo said, “We should have just let the winner pick an envelope for the loser. That’s all they keep doing.”
Haewon said, “That is messy at the end and many times that is not what they have done, are you not paying attention?”
“Hungry…” said Jiwoo.
Haewon sighed, “Sullin! Next game!”
Sullin said, “Well I’m not choosing jegichagi… so water bottles…”
Haewon fetched the water bottles and put them down in their places.
Yooyeon said, “Most likely to be able to do this?”
Seoyeon pushed Yooyeon forward.
Seeun said, “I can’t do it again, Sumin?”
Sumin agreed and got on her haunches next to Yooyeon. Sumin got the first bottle on the second try and the second bottle on the second try before Yooyeon finally got the first bottle. Sumin finished on the second try of the third bottle.
Sumin jumped up and down. “I made up for Chaeyoung being whatever the heck that was!”
J and Seeun gave her high fives.
Yooyeon said, “I can’t do anything anymore. I’ve been possessed by the wives.”
“And badge war 3”, added Mayu.
“Yes… and that…”
Sumin got an envelope with a strange symbol on it, she had no clue what it might be. “I’ll keep this for myself?”
Haewon said, “Interesting choice! Pick the next game Sumin.”
Sumin said, “Jegichagi.”
Yoon said, “I can’t do that… my legs don’t move like that.”
Sieun said, “I already did it…”
Seeun got huge eyes and said, “Me?”
On the tripleS side, they had a similar conversation. Seoyeon asked, “Can you do it Mayu? Jiwoo can’t, so it is you or me.”
Mayu said, “I’ll try…”
Seeun and Mayu both grabbed their jegi. Seeun asked, “Would you rather do this? Or be locked in that dark room?”
Mayu said, “I’m going to kick your ass right now.”
Seeun looked at her like she kicked her puppy.
Mayu ran over to her and gave her a big hug. “I’m kidding! They make me do things. They call it ‘smuck-talk’.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Smack!”
“Smuck-smack?” asked Mayu.
Sullin said, “I REALLY have no idea what is going on right now.”
Seoyeon said, “Kick the damn jegi!”
Haewon, laughing, counted down, “Three… two… one…”
Both Mayu and Seeun started trying to kick it, always kicking it forward and then having to go get it. Mayu started to get the hang of it a bit, imagining it was the bean bag without the silly streamers, like she used to kick with her friends in Japan. Seeun kicked it high and totally behind her head and was too distracted by laughing at herself when she went to get it. Mayu was routinely kicking it twice, but missing it the third time. Then Mayu finally got it all three times.
Seeun looked down. “I’m getting used to losing.”
Mayu ran over and gave her a hug again.
Sieun said, “If all you have to do to get a hug from the Japanese girl is lose, I guess I should try it.”
Mayu said, “Aww, you don’t have to!” She ran over to Sieun and hugged her next.
Isa said, “She’s like Yoon with kisses.”
Sieun said, “Except people actually want her hugs!”
Yoon ran toward Sieun trying to peck her cheek and Sieun ran away from her, carrying Mayu with her.
Haewon said, “Hug girl! Pick an envelope.”
Mayu let go of Sieun and ran to the board. “Who doesn’t have one?” she asked.
Haewon said, “Seoyeon, Yooyeon, and Jiwoo.”
Mayu said, “I’m going to give Kim Jiwoo’s envelope to…”
Lee Jiwoo walked up to her to accept it. Mayu darted around her and gave it to Seoyeon.
Lee Jiwoo shrugged at her. Mayu said, “We can’t be that predictable…”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Jiwoo is going to be disappointed!”
Sullyoon said, “Wait, which one?”
Kim Jiwoo just shook her head.
Haewon said, “Mayu! Next game!”
Mayu said, “Umm, bounce the ping pong ball?”
Haewon said, “Alright! This is the last game. The last envelope automatically goes to the last girl.”
Sieun jumped forward to quickly get a paddle, excited to bounce.
Seoyeon said, “Me or you want to battle your supposed date, again?”
Jiwoo said, “Not supposed. Is. Was… Hopefully will be again…”
Seoyeon said, “My question?”
Sieun was staring at both of them, smiling widely and singing “Poppy poppy love love” to herself.
Yooyeon said, “Why do I feel like this is one of the most important matches of the day?”
Seoyeon looked at her, “Because it is picking YOUR envelope, Sherlock.”
“Oh right…” Yooyeon giggled.
“You ARE becoming like Xinyu…”
Bae ran over and kissed Yooyeon on the cheek. “Nope… sure isn’t my mistress. Still yours Lily…”
Isa stood in front of Lily. “No Lily here! Guess she’s mine!”
Sieun started bouncing the ball on the paddle to get some practice in and tune out the ridiculousness.
Seoyeon said, “Hey, no practice! I’ll do it!” Jiwoo happily stepped backward.
Sieun grabbed the ball. “Looks like I’m pretty good!”
Seoyeon scrunched up her nose.
Haewon said, “Ready?”
Both girls got ready to drop the ball on the paddle.
“Go!”
Sieun started bouncing easily and steadily. Seoyeon was doing okay, but she often had a suboptimal bounce and would have to recover. She did so several times, but finally after about thirty seconds, she had a really bad bounce and the ball hit the tiles and bounced into the pool.
Sieun hurriedly grabbed Lily’s envelope and gave it to Jiwoo. “I hope it is good!” she said, giving her tall ‘date’ a hug.
Haewon ran to the board and grabbed the last envelope. She handed it to Yooyeon along with a small plastic disk. Yooyeon was startled by the addition, but played it cool and stashed it in her PJ pants pocket with no one noticing.
Haewon said, “Next, we will open the envelopes and get everyone suited up…”
Sieun said, “One minute!” She motioned for Lee Jiwoo to follow her and stood right at the edge of the pool.
She said, “Can I get one more hug?”
Jiwoo was suspicious that she was already trying to beat Isa at something, but when Sieun asks for a hug, there was no way in hell she was going to say no.
Sieun went to hug her with one arm, “Please don’t hate me! I’ll jump in and save you if you can’t swim!” With the other arm she pushed Jiwoo as hard as she could into the pool. Totally not expecting that particular action, Jiwoo fell into the pool with a scream and a giant tall-girl splash.
All other conversations stopped as the girls looked over at what just happened.
Sieun shouted to Jiwoo, “Can you swim?”
Jiwoo only said, “WHAT WAS THAT?”
“Don’t hate me! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine…”
Sieun smiled and ran to Haewon. “SECRET MISSION BADGE PLEASE!”
Isa said, “Are you kidding me?”
Mayu said, “Oh my… no shit?”
Seoyeon said, “So much for that relationship. Jiwoo just got pushed into the pool for a badge, by her supposed GIRLFRIEND.”
Jiwoo shouted, “RELATIONSHIP IS OVER, CHAEYOUNG SHE IS ALL YOURS AGAIN!”
Seeun looked at J, “The fuck does that mean?”
J said, “How should I know?”
Haewon opened a pouch hanging on her side and handed Sieun a badge. “Sieun did indeed have the ‘secret mission’ to push someone into the pool and accomplished it VERY early. Everyone cheer for Sieun!”
While everyone cheered softly, Jiwoo swam to the ladder and started crawling out of the pool, soaked PJ’s and hair.
Sieun ran over to make sure she got out of the pool okay. “Look, I knew you would forgive me, and we are about to change clothes anyway, so it would be a good time. Please don’t hate me.”
“I don’t hate you. But I really want to grab you and make you as wet as I am. But I’m going to be NICE, unlike you… and not do that… right now…”
Sieun said, “Aww…” and then realized she probably overstayed her welcome and returned to Stayc.
Jiwoo stood by the pool, wringing out her PJ’s. She motioned to Haewon. “Go on…”
Haewon said, “It is time to get everyone dressed for the day!”
Yooyeon tugged on Seoyeon’s shoulder, “Please, please let me say it…”
“No! There is obviously no Star Wars here today…” said Seoyeon.
Mayu said, “Just let her say it…”
Yooyeon said loudly, “I have a BAD feeling about this!”
Bae and Lily fetched a hotel cart suitable for hanging clothing and garment bags. Hanging from it were eight plastic garment bags, each likely containing an outfit. They rolled it over to everyone.
Yooyeon and Seoyeon counted them, “Why only eight?” asked Yooyeon.
J watched the TripleS girls like a hawk, “They are over there counting something, why?”
Seeun shrugged.
Haewon said, “We’ll start with the easiest. Who got the envelope with a symbol that looks like… pajamas?”
Jiyeon jumped forward with her envelope. “This one?” She showed it to Haewon.
Haewon took the envelope from her. “That’s the one! Congrats, you get to stay in your pajamas all day!”
Jiyeon excitedly jumped up and down, showing off her blue flannel PJs. “Wait, don’t I get to open the envelope?”
“No… it is empty… we only need what is written on the back.”
“That’s dumb… it’s an envelope.”
Yooyeon yelled, “Jiyeon!”
“You can go sit down and relax for the rest of this competition. But don’t get too comfortable with all of the arguing.”
Jiyeon smiled at her team, who were less enthused, grabbed one of the two folding chairs and took it over to the side out of the way and sat down.
Haewon said, “Next, we’ll go through the Nmixx outfits. Kyujin is first. Who got Kyujin?”
J stepped forward. “Relaxed pajama girl gave me this. It better be good.”
Haewon took her envelope and Kyujin motioned for J to come over to the luggage rack, proudly pointing to the plastic garment bag in front. Both teams watched intently, as the first outfit could very well indicate whether Yooyeon was correct to have a bad feeling.
J took a breath, grabbed the zipper, and pulled it down. She looked in the bag, there were two things clipped to a hanger. “Where is it?” she asked.
Kyujin grabbed the hanging bits of fabric. “It is my preferred workout gear! Yoga pants and a sports bra.”
J said, “Where’s the rest?”
“Oh right!” She reached to the bottom of the bag. “This fell off. A cute matching jacket in case you get chilly.”
Kyujin handed the jacket to J. “You realize I can barely wear this, right? It is your size.”
“Oh sorry, don’t worry, the bra and yoga pants are ‘one size fits all’ and they are thick enough you won’t need underwear.”
J looked over at her team, ready to strangle Isa that any of this was happening.
Seoyeon said, “Kyujin usually is first naked at these parties, be glad you got anything at all…”
Kyujin smiled at J, zipped up the bag and handed it to her. J threw the bag over her shoulder and walked back to her group, trying to decide who to kill first.
Haewon said, “Who got Kim Jiwoo?”
Seoyeon said, “That is me…”
Jiwoo motioned for her to come over to the next bag. Seoyeon also took a breath and pulled down the zipper. On the first hanger was a fairly ordinary white tee shirt, but on the front was a large red heart with writing on the center, ‘I Love Jiwoo’.
Seoyeon said, “I can’t wear this, the drowned rat over there is going to come over and hug me.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “I didn’t anticipate the name confusion, obviously you only love me.”
“Do I?” asked Seoyeon.
“You will when you look at the rest!”
Seoyeon pulled the shirt off of the hanger and behind it was another hanger with tiny denim ‘booty’ shorts. Seoyeon laid them over her butt. “Really?”
Jiwoo said, “Your ass is going to look fantastic!”
Mayu and Yooyeon were laughing.
“Just wait?” said Seoyeon, pointing to both of them.
Jiwoo said, “There is another sports bra to wear under the tee shirt and some underwear.”
Seoyeon felt around the bottom pulling out the bra… and a white thong. “Dear lord…”
“You can’t have your underwear showing in booty shorts!” said Jiwoo.
Seoyeon threw everything into the bag, zipped it up and carried it back to her group. She looked at J, “Still feel bad?”
J shrugged, not sure which outfit was worse.
Haewon said, “Who got Bae’s envelope?”
Yoon stepped forward. “Yeeun gave me this. If there are booty shorts, I’m going to make her stare at my ass for the rest of the day.”
Bae said, “I would never!”
Yoon walked over to Bae. She felt the bag from the outside. She said, “I seem to have the opposite problem as Yeeun and Seoyeon…” She pulled the zipper down as hard and dramatically as she could.
She was correct, there was quite a bit of stuff in the garment bag. It was all yellow. She glared at Bae and pulled it out of the bag. It was an adult onesie chicken costume. It was mostly yellow but with a white belly and a hood with eyes, a beak, and a chicken comb on top. It even had yellow slippers. She said, “Okay, I guess I can rock this…”
“It fits me, so it should be okay on you also! There are Haewon’s favorite while cotton Calvin Klein panties and bra to wear under. In case you want to partially unzip and be ‘sexy chicken’. Oh, and yellow socks!”
Yoon put it all back in the bag and carried her bag back to Stayc. “How are you feeling about your yoga pants now, Yeeun? And giving me this?”
“I feel nothing…” hissed J.
Haewon said, “Yay for Jinsol’s yellow! Now who got Sullyoon?”
Sullyoon scurried over to her bag with a smile. Seeun timidly joined her. Sullyoon said, “You can thank Sullin later because this is GREAT!”
Seeun smiled timidly. “You open it…” she said after watching the horror on everyone else’s faces as they opened a bag themselves.
Sullyoon pulled it down. “It is Sana’s outfit from ‘Cheer Up’ era!”
Seeun said, “Oh?”
“It is the actual outfit she wore on MCountdown.”
Seeun wasn’t sure how to act. She pulled out the white shorts. “These were tight on Sana, they are going to be really tight on me.”
“They have some stretch, you’ll look fantastic!”
Isa said, “Girl… your legs in those, Haewon will leave Sullin alone and go after you.”
Haewon looked inquisitive, “I will?”
Seeun looked through the rest, a white crop top and a blue and white jacket. White panties, a white nylon tube top and yellow socks were also in the bag. “Okay well, it’s an honor. I guess…”
Sullyoon smiled as Seeun walked away with the bag.
Haewon said, “My dear Mayu! Bring me my envelope!”
Isa clapped loudly, hoping it was as good as she expected.
Mayu walked up to the bag and punched at it a few times to see if anything was in there. “It’s empty…” she said.
Haewon said, “Chaeyoung wishes, but not quite!”
Mayu pulled down the zipper, hanging on a single hanger was a blue water-pattern bikini and wrap.
Haewon said, “It is from Shein! You are going to look amazing!”
Mayu might have turned white, but she was already quite pale. She grabbed it. “It’s a good thing I’m a Japanese girl and not particularly shy about such things…”
Everyone clapped for her generally positive attitude as she carried the bag back to her group.
Haewon said, “When it comes time for pool fun, you will be ready and can just sit over there like Jiyeon is now!”
“Are you going to stare at me, Sullin, or Seeun?” she asked Haewon.
“I have two eyes…”
Lily snuck up behind Haewon and covered her eyes with her hands.
Blind Haewon said, “But wait! Feel around in the bottom of the bag, Mayu!”
Mayu said, “Eh?” She shyly put her arm into the bag, more worried about something grabbing her arm than having to wear that bikini. Then she said, “OH!” and pulled out a badge.
“I hate to validate everything Chaeyoung assumed, but… Of course, the winner of my outfit gets a badge as well!”
Mayu jumped up and down a bit. “I have to do that now, because I won’t be doing it in a bit. I got the bikini badge!”
Haewon said, “Lily is next! Who has Lily?”
A still dripping Lee Jiwoo walked up to Lily.
Lily said, “You are going to love this! Also, I forgot to put this in there! You might get itchy without it.” She threw a tiny white camisole at Jiwoo.
Jiwoo said, “This isn’t going to cover anything on me, my torso is long…”
“Get excited! Let’s open it!” Lily opened the zipper on her own, Jiwoo still figuring out how she was going to wear that camisole.
Inside on the hanger was a quite large and quite ugly sweater, unattractive diamonds of red, orange, black and tan, all knitted together. “Isn’t it beautiful?” asked Lily.
“Well, it’s not a bikini, so yes, yes it is…”
Lily said, “There are black leggings in there for you also!”
“This camisole, a sweater, and leggings… That’s all?”
“Naurrrrr. The leggings are quite shear, so there are safety shorts also!”
“Okay…” Jiwoo zipped it all back up and carried back to the puddle she was standing in earlier.
Haewon said, “That is all of the Nmixx outfits. Two more hanging here, only a few more things to do! Who had the one that is a hotel lanyard?”
Sumin said, “Oh, that’s what it is?” Sumin handed the envelope to Haewon.
“This is the one!”
Sumin unzipped the bag revealing a black pencil skirt and black dress shirt, both with red and white checkered trim.
“You are now hotel staff! It comes with benefits and distractions!”
“It does?”
“You might find some distractions later, but reach into the pouch on the skirt.”
“Okay…” said Sumin. She opened the zipper and pulled out the ‘hotel staff’ badge. “I GET A BADGE?” she shouted.
“You do! The second of two badges for this round. There is a bra and panties in the bottom, they should fit you well.”
Sumin quickly zipped everything back up and returned with her bag before Haewon changed something. She was certainly one of the happier customers.
Haewon said, “Last bag! Who got the moth?”
Isa stepped forward, “Moth? Sullin told me it was a butterfly. Why is it a moth?” Sullin covered her face with her hands.
Haewon said, “I fear something bad might have happened in your bag.”
“Of course it did…” said Isa. She pulled down the zipper. She pulled out a black knit top that had large irregular holes and was mostly see through. Under it was a pair of denim shorts with a massive hole in the front of the right leg and another in the side of the left leg, not much holding the shorts together.
Haewon said, “We’ll be kind and you can wear whatever undergarments under that that you have in your suitcase or are currently wearing.”
“Thanks… Okay, I’ll rock this!”
Sieun said, “Damn, that’s going to be hot…”
Yoon said, “Calm down…”
Out of hanging bags, Haewon said, “Yooyeon, Sieun, and Sullin, you three get to have some fun now!”
Yooyeon looked at Seoyeon. Seoyeon just looked down. Yooyeon shouted, “I TOLD YOU I HAD A BAD FEELING!”
Badge summary: Seoyeon 2, Mayu 2, Yooyeon 1, Jiyeon 1, Jiwoo 1, Sullin 1 (TripleS 8 total); Yoon 1, Sieun 1, Sumin 1, Yoon 1 (Stayc 4 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll: (June 14 - June 21): https://forms.gle/2p2DPZt883UEz8ME8
Chapter 5: Kim Jiwoo is Hungry
Summary:
Sieun, Sullin, and Yooyeon get their clothing settled and all of the girls change into their new 'outfits'. Then they move back to the conference area for Jiwoo's event! An epic cooking competition. First up, a pre-competition.
Chapter Text
Chapter 5: Kim Jiwoo is Hungry
Haewon said, “Sullin and Sieun, go get your suitcases please!”
As Sullin and Sieun scurried off, Yooyeon somewhat followed them. “Haewon… should I get mine also? Since they are?”
Haewon asked tersely, “Is your name Sullin or Sieun?”
“I mean… I should still probably get my suitcase? Right?”
“You stand still… or I’m going to give your advantage to someone that deserves it!”
“Advantage? Okay okay…” Yooyeon walked next to Haewon and stood calmly as Sullin and Sieun rolled their suitcases to the corkboard.
“We are going to start with Sieun! Since she won both of her competitions. How many did you win Yooyeon?”
“None…”
Sullin said, “Wait, I won two also? I’m as good as Sieun?”
Sieun gave Sullin a look, “You wish, Thai Princess…”
Haewon moved to stand between them. “Okay okay… your two envelopes have no interactions between them, so it doesn’t matter who goes first.”
Yooyeon said, “I have a magnifying glass!”
Lily suddenly showed up behind Yooyeon and put her arms around her from behind. “Dear… Haewon is getting frustrated with you, which isn’t good for anyone.” Yooyeon grabbed Lily’s hands in her own.
“About time you get over being awkward…”
“Ssshhhh.” Lily untangled their arms and went back to standing with Bae and Kim Jiwoo.
Haewon said louder than last time, “We are going to start with Sieun! What is on your envelope?”
Sieun took her envelope to Haewon. “I’m not sure, maybe a creepy little doll?”
Kim Jiwoo said, “It’s not creepy…”
Sullyoon added, “I told her it was creepy also…”
“It’s not creepy!”
Haewon said, “We are about to determine how creepy it is! It is indeed the doll envelope. Sieun is going to be someone’s doll and they get to dress her.”
There were some ‘ooos’ and ‘oooohs’ from the audience.
Sieun made a cute face and said, “I’m a doll no matter what I’m wearing!”
Haewon continued, “Who is the girl that will get to dress the doll? If you got the secret doll token, please step forward.”
The girls all turned to look at each other, wondering what the heck Haewon was talking about. When the amount of dramatic pause grew tedious, Yooyeon pulled the plastic token out of her pocket and looked at it. It was some manner of Barbie currency. “I HAVE IT!” she yelled.
Seoyeon said, “Oh, interesting twist!”
Isa said, “Sure is…”
Jiyeon asked, “What exactly did Yooyeon… loser at everything so far… do to win that?”
“Got the last envelope handed to her,” said Haewon.
Lee Jiwoo asked, “Why reward losers?”
Sieun said, “You aren’t going to win everything. Like I am. You might regret your words.”
“Personal quest activated, regret less words than Sieun. Would you like to say any more words about pushing me into the pool?” Jiwoo tippie-toed over toward Sieun and wrung some water out of her hair in her general direction.
“Will you soon be dry enough for me to hug again? I know you love my shortie hugs!”
Jiwoo made a face. “Sure…”
Mayu ran up to Sieun and hugged her. “I’m not wet!”
“Keep hanging out with her and that could change…” said Jiwoo. Mayu ran back to TripleS.
Haewon said, “Sieun, please open your suitcase. Yooyeon, you can pick four things out of her suitcase which will become her outfit for today.”
J said, “Oh my… that strange TripleS girl can totally screw Sieun…”
Seeun said, “I don’t think I like her.”
“Me either.”
Sumin said, “Wait to judge, she might be totally nice about it!”
Yooyeon started looking around in Sieun’s suitcase. “Jiwoo? What should I pick?”
Haewon said, “No help! You choose!”
“She already kind of looked like a doll yesterday with that skirt and tiny sweater thing. What to do, what to do…”
Sieun stood there smiling, waiting for Yooyeon to do something.
“Okay, these are swim shorts, right? You need to wear them so Jiwoo can push you in the water sooner.”
“Yes… they are…” she answered.
Yooyeon threw them at her. Sieun caught the bright red swim shorts and put them on her shoulder.
Seoyeon smiled at Yooyeon, now certain she wasn’t going to be extra nice to her opponent.
Yooyeon threw the white pair of safety shorts at her that she was wearing under her skirt yesterday, also. “You can’t really wear these with those, you’ll have to pick. Shame…”
Sieun was now becoming a bit annoyed, but did her best to stay calm.
Yooyeon said, “Why did you bring two tee shirts? That seems overdone. Here…” She threw both tee shirts at Sieun.”
J said to Sumin, “ARE YOU JUDGING YET?”
Sumin growled, “Yes, yes I am…”
Yooyeon made her way over to Seoyeon and gave her a high five at turning the four items of clothing into two.
Haewon said, “Well… Sieun is going to be ready to go swimming early with Mayu! How cute!”
Mayu clapped, trying to make Sieun smile. It eventually worked.
Haewon said, “Sullin! Your turn. Open your suitcase please and reveal your envelope!”
Sullin said, “I had this. I think it is probably dice?”
“It is! Your clothing will be determined randomly!”
“Oh, okay…”
“Specifically for later games, but I will use early now, we have photocards! There are twelve here, one for each girl. I will pick a girl.” Haewon shuffled and pulled a photocard out of the center of the stack. “First card! Lee Jiwoo!”
Jiwoo ran over to Sullin’s suitcase. “What do you want Hon?” she asked.
Haewon said, “Oh no… that is not the true essence of random.”
Jiwoo asked, “What exactly is the true essence of random?”
“Pick two things. We will flip this now extinct American penny to see which she will wear.”
Jiwoo sighed, then asked, “Can I have that when we’re done? It will be a collector’s item, what year is it?”
Haewon said, “CHOOSE!”
Jiwoo started sifting through Sullin’s suitcase. “Girl, there’s not much in here.”
“I’m Thai, I travel constantly, even before group activities started. I’ve learned to travel light.”
Yooyeon said, “Unlike Sieun bringing two of the exact same tee shirt?”
Sieun held up both tee shirts. “THIS one has a HEART and says I LOVE YOU. THIS one has a cute unicorn and a rainbow. FUCK YOU!”
Sumin and J clapped for Sieun. Yooyeon looked down and tried not to laugh.
Jiwoo said, “Can different people I love please try to be nice to each other? Sheesh…” She pulled out a bathing suit and a pair of safety shorts. “Would you like to get ready to go swimming with Sieun and Mayu, OR protect yourself so Haewon can’t see anything she isn’t supposed to see.”
Haewon said, “I’m supposed to see everything. Heads bathing suit, tails safety shorts.” She flipped the coin and caught it, then laid it on her other hand. “Tails! Booooo.”
Jiwoo threw the safety shorts at Sullin.
Sullin said, “Thanks love!”
Jiwoo stopped at Haewon, “If you look at the tails side, there is a little tiny Abe Lincoln in there!” Haewon shooed her away.
She pulled out the photocards again. She pulled one out from the center. “Next is: Seeun!”
J said, “Give her two more pairs of safety shorts!”
Seeun said, “I’m not going to be rude like the other team. She’s done nothing but smile kindly at me, and not reject my cuddling overnight, I’m sure she is a delightful Thai girl.”
Sieun said, “She’s not! Did you see her kiss Chaeyoung?”
Seeun walked over to the suitcase. Mayu said, “Dark buddy… be kind… we’re not all snakes like Yooyeon and Hayeon.” Seeun had no idea who Hayeon was, but giggled anyway.
She asked, “You only have one bra in here? What did you wear under that shirt from yesterday?”
Sullin said, “Tube top, I just kept it on under my PJs.”
Seeun said, “Well, here’s the bra, I’ll give you a couple of chances to get it. And the white top from yesterday, it is very stylish with the black trim.”
Haewon said, “Top is heads, bra is tails.” She flipped the penny. “Heads! You get the top! Burn that bra! Your chest is going to be so hot in that top without it…”
Seeun looked at Haewon like she was crazy and dropped the bra back in the suitcase.
“Next girl!” Haewon pulled out another photocard. “Next is: Oh dear… Sieun…”
Sullin covered her face with both hands.
Isa tried hard not to evil giggle.
It took Sieun about two seconds to find what she wanted. “Look a tee shirt. Look Yooyeon, it is purple and has a giant white heart on it. Very similar to mine. How ironic. But bigger. Much bigger. And we have the bathing suit, obviously you can’t wear it and safety shorts, OR a tee shirt and that top you already have.”
Sullyoon and Isa kept making eye contact, trying to keep their faces neutral. Yooyeon was doing her best to hide behind Lee Jiwoo.
Haewon said, “Tee shirt heads, bathing suit tails.” She flipped the coin, “Tails! You got a bathing suit!”
Sullin said, “Just leave it in there, I’m going to wear the safety shorts.”
“No no, you get it. It matters.”
“Oh, okay.”
Sieun threw the bathing suit at her and giggled on her way back to J and Sumin who gave her high fives.
Haewon said, “Last girl! Let’s hope she’s friendly!” She pulled out a photocard, “Next is: Sumin! Not friendly!”
Sumin went to look at what was left. She said, “I’m not a monster, you don’t deserve that Haewon girl to be staring at your chest any more than anyone else.”
Haewon said, “I’m standing right here…”
“I’ll give you a chance at the bra, or, your denim shorts from yesterday?”
Sullin nodded and clapped.
Haewon said, “Bra is heads, shorts are tails.” Haewon flipped the penny, “Heads! You can cover your boobs, but no pants!”
Sumin threw the bra to her.
“Sullin is done! That leaves Yooyeon!”
Yooyeon handed the envelope to Haewon, “Magnifying glass.”
“Right! You’ll have to search hard for your outfit, Sherlock.”
“Eh?”
“You can pick whatever is left from Sieun or Sullin’s suitcase. Three things.”
“Every one else got 4?”
“You can have four, but you’re going to have to search for the 4th. Or you might prefer to trade one of the three for a replacement.”
Sieun let out a loud chuckle.
Yooyeon sighed, and started looking through the suitcases. “Sullin’s stuff is too big and Sieun’s stuff is too small…”
Sullin said, “Oh, she can’t have the bathing suit…”
Yooyeon snorted, “Like I can wear that…”
Sullin shrugged.
“Well, Sullin’s jeans, no way. Maybe the jean shorts are stretchy enough. Sieun’s skirt or shorts, um no... won’t even go around my waist. This tube top will probably work.” Yooyeon stretched it to see how far it would stretch. Sullin’s tee shirt is too big, but that will work. “No one around here wears any underwear?”
Sullin said, “A pair of safety shorts and a pair of panties should have been plenty!”
“Okay, I’ll take Sieun’s tube top, Sullin’s shorts, and Sullin’s tee shirt.”
Haewon said, “Good, would you like an opportunity to get some panties? Or search around the pool for a fourth item?”
“Ugh… I need underwear please. I can trade something for some underwear?”
“I’ll ask you three simple questions to see how observant you are, Sherlock. If you answer them all correctly, you can turn something you have into a pair of panties.”
Yooyeon threw Sieun’s tube top at Haewon. “Here… smells like ‘Teen Fresh’. No thanks…”
Sieun shook her head.
Seeun asked, “What are the chances she’ll get all three?”
“Pretty good actually, they claim she’s a smartie pants. Hottie-smartie pants…” said Isa.
“Why did I ask YOU?”
Haewon said, “Question one. What order did you go up in the elevator last night before the ‘locked in a hotel room’ challenge, in your group?”
“Mayu, Jiyeon, Seoyeon, then me. Fourth!”
“Correct! Question two. What was the proper answer to the hotel room that Haewon prepared?”
“90210!”
“Correct! Question three.”
Seeun moved away from Isa and closer to Sumin, then asked her, “Wait, are we supposed to be paying this much attention to everything that is going on?”
Sumin said, “Just pay more attention than Jayoon and we’ll be fine.”
Yoon said, “At least challenge yourself a bit…”
Haewon continued, “How many kilograms did Kyujin’s bag of rice weigh? It was written on the bag, or maybe you have purchased a bag of rice that large before?”
Yooyeon looked down, “Oh…”
Seoyeon said, “You tried to pick it up!”
Haewon said, “No helping! Or she loses the shirt and gets nothing!”
Yooyeon said, “I’ve seen 50 kg bags of rice, but there is no way me or Sumin could have lifted that. I’m going to say 25 kg.”
“Correct! Find Yooyeon some panties!”
“Phew…”
Seoyeon and Jiwoo rushed forward and gave her high-fives.
Jiyeon said, “You realize you are getting excited that she changed Sullin’s tee shirt into panties?”
Jiwoo turned around, “It does sound a bit ridiculous…”
Seoyeon said, “We celebrate the small victories which lead to big victories!”
Sullin added, “And wearing panties under my shorts. Thanks!”
Haewon said, “You all have clothing! Head to your changing rooms and change into it! There is a box of safety pins in each room if you need to keep anything from falling apart, or falling out… In the meantime, our Jiwoo needs to go make sure everything is ready for her challenge.”
Kyujin said, “And Kyujin!”
“And Kyujin!”
Kyujin and Jiwoo left the pool and headed toward the elevators.
Haewon and Lily whispered amongst themselves.
Sullyoon sat down on the floor where she was standing and rested.
Bae said, “It is like 9 in the morning…”
“I’m tired…” said Sullyoon.
Bae sighed at her and spied her victim. Jiyeon was sitting calmly on a chair in her PJ’s taking it all in. She approached and raised an eyebrow. “Who are you again?”
“Ji Seoyeon, but someone took my name, so I just go by Jiyeon now.”
“Are you good at competition.”
Jiyeon was silent, as though she knew something she wasn’t allowed to say, she smiled at Bae.
“You replaced my mistress?”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Her and Sohyun are married, and… Oh nevermind…”
Jiyeon just smiled, giving Bae the full advantage of her huge eyes.
“You are very good at driving, arm wrestling, and bouncing a ping pong ball.”
“Apparently.”
“What are you aware you are good at?”
“Dancing!”
“Ah, yes, I could tell by your posture.”
“Ballet!”
“Mmhmmm.” Jiyeon couldn’t tell that Bae was jealous, but Bae was jealous. “Well, I was discovered by JYPE by doing nothing other than hanging out with my friends at school and was signed instantly.”
Sullyoon shouted, “Yeah… and we’ve had to put up with her ever since…”
“You were only signed for your face,” Bae shouted back at her.
“She’s jealous of your gorgeous eyes and perfect posture, Jiyeon.”
Jiyeon was enjoying Nmixx shouting at each other. “Oh?” she asked, making her eyes even bigger.
Isa was the first to return from the Stayc changing room. The very holey black shirt showed every bit of her lacey white bra. The hole in the front of her denim shorts showed the entire front of her right upper thigh, the hole on the left side showed much of her butt and some of her white lacey panties.
Sullyoon stood up and bowed to her.
Haewon said, “Sure, she stands up for Chaeyoung…”
Isa did a spin, showing off her outfit.
Lily said, “Those shorts turned out really good Haewon.”
“Yeah they did… Did you need to use any safety pins to hold them together?”
Isa said, “No, I don’t think they will break. But if they do, Yoona will help me put them back together.” She stood next to Sullyoon. Sullyoon’s eyes occasionally wandered to one of the holes. Isa smiled each time to make her feel suitably uncomfortable about it.
Sieun followed Isa out of the changing room not long after. “Damn Chaeyoung, your ass.”
Sieun was wearing the red swimming trunks and the tee shirt with the rainbow unicorn.
Isa asked her, “No underwear at all?”
“Don’t need with the trunks, and they are longer than the safety shorts and don’t show anything, so I went with them. This shirt won’t show anything, but the lack of support is… disturbing…”
“Pretend like you are really going swimming!”
“In a white tee shirt with no bra?”
“Nevermind! Don’t tell Jiwoo!”
Mayu and Yooyeon came out of the other side next. Haewon, Sieun, and Isa all cheered loudly for Mayu. Yooyeon pretended they were cheering for her, doing a bow, but Sullin’s shirt was large and nearly showed her boobs through the collar down the front and then Sullin’s shorts nearly fell off of her waist. She had to stop in her place to rearrange herself.
Mayu continued forward to Jiyeon. She had the wrap around her waist.
Haewon said, “That bikini is PERFECT on you! Amazing!”
Mayu carefully bowed, not too confident in how well the bikini actually fit her chest.
Sieun said, “You do look amazing!”
Isa added, “Wow!”
Bae said, “Your skin is nearly transparent. I think if we shined a bright light on her, she might disappear!”
Jiyeon stood up and fixed Mayu’s blonde hair, making sure various strands were in the correct place. “You are a hottie!” she said.
Yooyeon also made her way to Jiyeon and Mayu. “These shorts keep falling down.”
Haewon said, “Good thing you won those panties! Did you try the safety pins?”
“Yeah. I’m smart, but you would have to be an engineer to use safety pins to keep this on my butt.”
As if on cue, Sullin came out of the dressing room. Sullin was wearing her white top from yesterday, but instead of the tube top, was wearing a bra, which was showing through the thin white shirt. The shirt was also cropped above her navel and her black safety shorts displayed the form of her thighs and butt fully.
Yooyeon pointed to her Sullin’s butt. “That…”
Sullin stood next to Sullyoon. Sullyoon kept looking back and forth between Sullin’s butt and Isa’s. Sullyoon shook the cobwebs out of her head, she tapped Sullin on the shoulder. “Hey, come here a minute!”
They walked behind the corkboard for a brief talk. Sullyoon said, “Hey, I have an idea!”
“Uhoh…”
“For real!”
“Okay, tell me…”
“Operation ‘get Sieun a girlfriend’!”
“Isn’t that what already got her into this situation?”
“A REAL girlfriend, not Chaeyoung.”
“Oh, okay… not Jiwoo either?”
“After the pool incident? Do you really think that is going to last?”
“No… I think Jiwoo’s infatuation with her is probably still in the pool.”
Sullyoon whispered loudly into Sullin’s ear, “MAAAAAAAAA YOOOOOOOOOO.”
“Maybe this isn’t the right event for you to be matchmaking?”
“They obviously already like each other. Come on… isn’t she perfect for her?”
“No… but I’ll help if that’s what you want.”
“Let’s try!” said Sullyoon excitedly.
J came out of the dressing room and walked by Sullin and Sullyoon. “WHY is that TripleS girl talking to that Nmixx girl! That should be illegal!”
Everyone turned to look at J. The resulting ‘J distraction’ allowed Sullin to wander back to TripleS undisturbed.
J was wearing the black sports bra, which was a bit too small, but actually did wonderful things to her chest well-proportioned chest. She had the jacket on, but it was centimeters from even beginning to close. The yoga pants were also a bit small, very tight and showing every curve of J’s thighs and butt.
Lily said, “Oh, hi!”
Haewon said, “WOW! Our maknae’s outfit suddenly went WOW on your maknae!”
Sieun stood in front of J. “Stop looking!” J got shy and hugged Sieun from behind, but bending over to do that just made her butt stick out a bit and look even hotter.
Yooyeon said, “Lily? Really?”
Lily said in English, “Sorry sorry. Haewon’s disease spreads sometimes… During yoga…”
Seoyeon and Jiwoo were the last two to emerge from the TripleS side. The ‘I Love Jiwoo’ tee shirt fit Seoyeon well, and the booty shorts fit her even better.
Isa whistled at her as she walked by. “The butts are out when Nmixx picks the clothing…”
When she made it over to TripleS, Yooyeon and Jiyeon both immediately spanked either side of Seoyeon’s butt hanging out of those shorts.
Jiwoo followed behind Seoyeon at some distance, probably staring at her butt also. Jiwoo had her own problems, though. She was rocking the ugly sweater, but the leggings clearly didn’t fit her tall form. They ended about halfway up her calves and stretched a bit thin became quite transparent. She arrived at TripleS also, raising her eyebrows at Mayu.
Yooyeon poked her belly. “Let me see!”
Jiwoo lifted the ugly sweater, she actually had the safety shorts on over the leggings, which looked a bit ridiculous. She also somehow got the camisole on her body, but it fit like a tube top and was super short on her torso.
Yooyeon giggled. From Jiwoo’s vantage point, she could nearly see all of Yooyeon’s chest through the collar on Sullin’s tee shirt. Jiwoo pointed. “You might put a safety pin on the collar or something?”
Yooyeon grabbed the fabric to gather it and then her shorts nearly fell down. “Sullin’s clothing would only be worse if you were wearing it.”
Jiwoo nodded.
Out of nowhere, I quite large chicken ran out of the Stayc dressing area. Its first target was Bae, it began pecking her on both sides of her face.
Lily asked Haewon, “Naurrrr, should we save her?”
“Nah, she probably deserves it. It was her idea. Remember her first try was a quokka costume but it didn’t exist.”
The chicken wasn’t done, however, and made sure to give plenty of pecks to every Nmixx in the room before finally standing still next to Isa, Sieun, and J.
Finally, Sumin and Seeun appeared as well. Sumin looked quite believable as hotel staff. Seeun seemed quite shy in Sana’s shorts.
Sullyoon clapped, “You both look amazing!”
Haewon said, “Damn, those shorts do great things to Seeun’s hot thighs.”
Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone alarmed. She checked her messages and proudly announced. “The pool will miss us, but we will be back. For now, we are back to the conference rooms, Jiwoo’s event is ready!”
Seoyeon said, “Oh, event? Fancy!”
“Everyone to the elevators! There is a box over there with slippers for traveling between floors, and so you don’t slip on the tiles, especially if you are wearing socks.”
The girls all found slippers that fit them and made their way to the elevators.
***
They all filed into the West Ballroom, which had been converted into a… kitchen? There was a large wide countertop with three barstools behind it. Behind that was a large cooking area with a sink and two cook surfaces. Behind that was a pantry stocked full of spices, sauces and dry goods. In the front of the room was an array of twenty chairs for the ‘audience’.
Kim Jiwoo was standing at the large countertop. The rest of Nmixx took sat down in the ‘audience’ area. Jiwoo motioned for the competitors to walk up to her. The twelve of them stood around the countertop. Jiwoo said, “Most of you look ridiculous, grab one of those!” She pointed to a rack at the side with aprons hanging.
Isa said excitedly, “ARE WE COOKING?”
“Yes! My challenge is an epic cooking competition! I am, of course, HUNGRY.”
Yooyeon said, “Oh dear, I…”
Seoyeon swatted her on the back of the head. Yooyeon smacked her butt in return. All of the girls grabbed aprons and distributed them. They looked a bit odd wearing their outfits with an apron. Yoon had to throw back her chicken head before putting the apron on.
Kim Jiwoo said, “Before the actual competition, we are going to have a pre-competition. There are twelve stations scattered around this work area and the main work area at the stoves. Everyone find a station, any order is fine, you don’t have to be standing next to your group member.”
The girls silently split up, each standing at one of the stations. It was eerily quiet as the girls contemplated the challenge.
“Everyone that nervous about cooking?”
Sieun said, “Actually! Speaking of cooking! Is Nmixx ever going to feed us?”
“Honey… please… You are pulling at my heart strings. After my epic cooking competition, the hotel will serve brunch to all of us!”
Sieun clapped.
Lee Jiwoo turned toward Nmixx sitting in the audience area and said, “Yoona? Is there alcohol in this kitchen? Can we make sure Sieun doesn’t accidently drink any alcohol?”
Sullyoon said, “Umm… I don’t know. Ask Jiwoo…”
Sieun ran from her station and punched Jiwoo in the shoulder, then quickly ran back.
Yooyeon asked Seoyeon, “What’s up with that?”
“I don’t know… Very… very… interesting…”
Jiwoo said, “Currently no alcohol.”
Jiwoo gave Jiwoo a ‘thumbs up’.
“Look over your stations. You should find the following. A knife and a peeler, a potato, two scallions, two bowls and three eggs. Is anyone missing anything?”
There was more silence.
“Also, don’t worry. Kyujin was in here a long time and cleaned everything… All food safe! Here is the task. You have to crack and separate three eggs, yolks in one bowl, whites in the other. Then you have to peel the potato and cut it up into something resembling French fries. Then both scallions need to be sliced as thinly as possible. You will have five minutes.”
Jiyeon said, “Five minutes? Yooyeon won’t even have figured out which side of the knife to use in five minutes.”
“I guess she won’t be winning anything then… will she?”
Yooyeon glared at Jiyeon. Other than wearing a bikini under her apron, Mayu was excited and ready to go, as was Seoyeon. Jiwoo, Jiyeon, and all of Stayc seemed a bit apprehensive.
Isa said, “I’m sorry to be that person, but I’m allergic to eggs. Is it okay if I wear gloves?”
Jiwoo said, “Oh right… It is going to be hard to separate eggs and such with gloves on.”
Isa shrugged, “It is what it is.”
Jiwoo searched the pantry and there was indeed a box of plastic gloves. She threw them to Isa. Isa quickly punched the top of the box open and pulled out two and put them on. “Ready!”
Jiwoo said, “Start in three… two… one…” Jiwoo started the timer.
There was a flurry of stationary activity as all twelve girls started peeling, slicing, and cracking eggs.
Isa said, “Sieun! Sing something!”
“Oh, right… got it! ‘You can call me reckless’.” J added ‘ZIG-ZAG’. ‘geop eopshi deonjin road map…’ J filled in ‘ZIG-ZAG.’
Yoon said, “Nono, sing something good…”
Lily leaned over to Haewon, “They are better than you and Jiwoo.” Haewon stuck her tongue out at her.
Sieun said, “Seeun! You’re Sana! Give us some Twice!”
Seeun said, “Okay, I guess… ‘Let’s dance the night away. Let’s dance the night away…’
Lee Jiwoo said, “How are they talking and singing while doing this? I would be bleeding for sure…”
Jiyeon said, “Yeah! Stayc shut up!”
Yooyeon was on her haunches behind the counter laughing at something.
Mayu and Sullin were going about their business, pretending there was no one else in the room.
Finally, Kim Jiwoo called, “TIME! Utensils down! Okay, I’m going to judge everyone’s station. You get a score from one to five for each of the three items.” Jiwoo grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil to make herself look officially important.
She walked up to J’s station, closest to her. “Can still see your butt with that apron on, I have no idea why Kyujin doesn’t look that good in her own clothes.”
Kyujin shouted from the audience. “What? Shut up!”
Jiwoo pointed at J’s butt. An annoyed J pointed to her eggs.
“Okay, eggs, a bit of shell there! I don’t like crunchy in my scrambled eggs. Otherwise separated okay, that’s a three. Scallions, a little rushed, pretty big slices, that’s only a two.”
J became more annoyed.
“Potato, peeled well, these fries still have some bits of eye in them and they are random sizes, but I’ll give you a three. J gets eight!”
Next was Sumin, Jiwoo looked over everything, “Eggs are nice, but you got some yolk in the whites, they will never whip like that. That’s a three. Scallions, average I suppose, could be thinner, but better than J’s. That’s a three. Potato was peeled cleaner, fries still are random sizes, I guess I can push it to a four. Sumin gets ten!”
J shrugged at Sumin, still annoyed. Sumin gave her a hug.
Jiwoo wrote down all of the scores and moved on. “Chaeyoung is next! You did this with those gloves that barely fit?”
Isa held up her still-gloved hands.
“The eggs are perfect.” Jiwoo stuck her finger in the yolk bowl to determine how much white was in the yolks. Jiwoo looked under the counter, “Do you have a personal chef hiding under here?”
Sieun said, “Chaeyoung is best cook ever!”
Isa said, “I can’t eat many things, so I have to cook for myself to survive.”
Jiwoo held up a scallion slice. “I can see through this!” She lined up the fries next. She picked them all up and showed J and Sumin how they were all the same length, “Damn… Chaeyoung gets a fifteen!”
Sumin said, “Because we’ve NEVER been told how much better Chaeyoung is than us at ANYTHING before.”
Jiwoo shrugged, “I wouldn’t have just said that.” She pointed to her notepad, “But numbers don’t lie!”
J picked up a sad thick French fry of the wrong length and started to throw it at Jiwoo, but Sumin stopped her.
Sullyoon leaned over to Kyujin. “All of Stayc and much of the free world knows that Chaeyoung is a fantastic cook and easily the best in Stayc, why are we doing this?”
Kyujin said, “Hey… have some faith in My-jju!”
Sullyoon wasn’t convinced.
Jiwoo wrote down Isa’s scores and moved on to Sullin, the next station. “If you are going to be Yoona’s girlfriend, you better be able to feed her.”
Sullin smiled and nodded excitedly. Jiwoo said, “No yolk or shells in the whites, but you went a bit fast for the yolks, there is a lot of whites in there.”
“Maybe next time give me six minutes?”
“Yoona, your girlfriend is a smart ass. I’ll give you a four. Scallions not great, look rushed, I’ll give you a three. Potatoes, peeled well, but all different sizes, that’s a three. You get a ten, I guess that’s good enough for Yoona.”
J said, “You know, maybe we like different sized fries?”
Sullin added, “Yeah, who cares what size they are?”
Jiwoo scoffed, “You girls… if they are different sizes, they will cook at different rates, some of them will be overcooked and some will be undercooked at the same time.”
Bae shouted, “Jiwoo makes a cooking challenge and for a week she is an insufferable food snob. My apologies… We have all suffered.”
Jiwoo ignored her and moved on to the next station. “Yooyeon! I saw a lot of laughing over here, what could possibly… oh…” Jiwoo looked down and saw two eggs broken on the floor. “Is there anything you would like to say about this?”
“No?” said Yooyeon, still giggling.
Jiwoo looked in the bowl, there was one egg cracked, but both the white and yolk were in the same bowl. “Well, that’s a zero…”
Yooyeon pointed to the scallions. “I get berated by Wav whenever I cook on camera about my knife technique, but I’ve been practicing! Having this nice sharp knife, unlike things in the TripleS kitchen makes it easier also.”
“Oh, they don’t give you girls sharp knives. Can’t blame them. Well, the scallions are nice, but not as good as Chaeyoung’s, I’ll give you a four.” Jiwoo picked up a half peeled and otherwise whole potato. “This is all the further you got?”
“I was laughing. And Stayc was singing.”
“Congrats, you get a whopping four points.”
Yooyeon smiled.
Isa said, “It’s okay! I still think you’re hot!”
Yooyeon looked down.
Sullin yelled, “Did you get egg on my shirt?”
“No…” said Yooyeon. “And I put the apron string through a belt loop of your shorts, before tying it. They stay up now!”
The next station was Jiyeon. Jiwoo asked, “Are you as good at cooking as everything else you have won?”
Jiyeon smiled, “You tell me! You’re giving out the numbers.”
“Good answer! The eggs are fine, a bit of yolk in the whites, that’s a three. The scallions are average, that’s a three. The French fries are nice, I’ll give you a four! That’s ten!”
“Tied with Sullin? I’ll take it!”
Jiwoo walked to Seeun’s station. “Well, I don’t see any eggs on the floor, because there are three uncracked eggs here. And you didn’t get to the scallions either?”
“I guess I lost track of time.”
Jiwoo sighed.
“But look! I focused on the potato! Look!”
Jiwoo looked at the fries. “I mean, they are good. Okay, you get a four. But that’s all.”
Seeun clapped for herself, seemingly happy with a four.
“You realize this is a competition, right?”
“Yes! I made French fries from this potato without hurting anything and in FIVE minutes! I’m happy!”
“Wow…” Jiwoo moved on to the next station.
Lily said in English, “Pupperwoo! Your Gordon Ramsey impersonation is hilarious!”
“Who?” shouted Jiwoo. She moved to the next station. “Mayu! Famous bikini chef!”
Mayu bowed, still holding her knife… in case Jiwoo gave her a bad score.
Jiwoo said, “You’re really good! Four for the eggs, four for the scallions and three for the potato. That’s eleven!”
Mayu was happy with the score and put the knife down and clapped for herself.
Jiwoo moved to Seoyeon’s station. “This appears to be the grouping of TripleS members that can cook.”
Jiyeon said, “Hey, just because Yooyeon is on my side, you can’t say rude things.”
Seoyeon started laughing. Jiwoo said, “I thought this scoring would be fun, but it is actually getting tedious. You get a four for the eggs, four for the scallions, and four for the fries, for twelve total.” Seoyeon clapped for herself.
Jiwoo moved on to Jiwoo. “Fake Jiwoo… This potato is the worst I’ve seen, of all the ones that were actually cut.”
“Well, I’m better than Yooyeon. I can go home now.”
“Two for potatoes. The scallions aren’t bad I guess, I’ll give you a three. I see yolk and shells in here, you only get a two for the eggs. That’s a seven.”
Lee Jiwoo shrugged.
Sieun was next in line. Sieun excitedly said, “Look at my eggs! I’ve done this twice before! So, I’m already good at it!”
Jiwoo said, “Okay, they are nice, I’ll give you a five.” She pointed at the scallions.
“I took a lot of time to be good at the eggs, and then realized I had to race through the scallions, and then didn’t get to the potato.”
“The scallions aren’t bad, I’ll give you a three, but you don’t get anything for the potato, that’s eight. You still beat Yooyeon and fake Jiwoo.”
Lily said, “Interesting how Stayc just focuses on being good at one thing, while multitasking!” Like usual, she giggled at her own funny observation. No one else seemed to think it was funny.
Kim Jiwoo moved on to the last station. “Jayoon! What’s your story?”
“I did stuff. I’m a yellow chicken.”
“Well, what is up with these scallions, they are like two centimeter long slices? Where is the other one?”
“I cut them on a bias, isn’t it pretty? Also, I accidently ate the other one.”
“You ate an entire raw scallion?”
“Yeah? So?”
“You get a two for scallions. Why did you cut the potato in this direction, the French fries are so short…”
“I like my fries short… Sue me…”
“I mean, at least you have fries and they are all the same size, I’ll give you a three. The eggs are a bit of a mess, you get a two. That is a seven.”
Haewon said, “Jiwoo! Tell us who won! Other than Isa!”
“Well, here are the scores. Stayc: Isa fifteen, Sumin ten, Sieun and J eight, Yoon seven, and Seeun four. TripleS: Seoyeon twelve, Mayu eleven, Jiyeon and Sullin ten, Jiwoo seven, and Yooyeon four.”
Seoyeon said, “YES! I came in second highest! I should get a badge for that!”
Jiwoo said, “Try again…”
“Our total is higher! All of TripleS should get a badge for that!”
“Try again…”
“Just fricking tell us…”
Jiwoo giggled. “The actual competition will be two girls from Stayc versus two girls from TripleS. It is going to be your best member and your worst member.”
Yooyeon asked, “So the pre-competition picked the members?”
“No… well… yes… I mean sort of…”
Lee Jiwoo raised her hand, “Jiwoo!”
Haewon shouted, “Stop interrupting her!”
Jiwoo put her hand down quickly.
Kim Jiwoo said, “You probably assumed the competition was to determine who was best, but no… only worst. And it worked perfectly! Yooyeon and Seeun will be the ‘worst’ two members.”
Seoyeon said, “Damn, didn’t see that one coming, not going to lie.”
“As for the best, each group can choose! You can certainly use my numbers, but you can choose who you want.”
“And badges?” asked Jiwoo.
“Three up for grabs in this competition!”
“Dang, only three?” asked Sieun.
Sumin said, “Obviously Chaeyoung will be our ‘best’.”
Isa bowed and everyone clapped for her.
Seoyeon looked at Mayu. “Me or you?”
Mayu agreed, “Sure, I don’t care. I’m happy to do it. But…”
“But?”
“I already feel a little strange doing this wearing a bikini, actually cooking? I don’t know…”
“Okay, I guess I’ll do it!”
Everyone clapped for Seoyeon.
Kim Jiwoo said, “Chaeyoung and Seeun versus Seoyeon and Yooyeon! Cooking for badges!” Jiwoo did a little dance, very excited for her own competition.
Badge summary: Seoyeon 2, Mayu 2, Yooyeon 1, Jiyeon 1, Jiwoo 1, Sullin 1 (TripleS 8 total); Yoon 1, Sieun 1, Sumin 1, Yoon 1 (Stayc 4 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll: (June 21 - June 28): https://forms.gle/HXKuMeBpoTKKVvHXA
Chapter 6: One Kim Jiwoo is Never Enough Jiwoo
Summary:
The cooking competition between Isa and Seeun and Seoyeon and Yooyeon gets underway. Also, a surprise judge appears!
Chapter Text
Chapter 6: One Kim Jiwoo is Never Enough Jiwoo
Kim Jiwoo said, “Some staff is going to be coming in to clean up after… Yooyeon… Keep your aprons on for a bit, if you don’t want to be walking around in bikinis.”
Yooyeon said, “I’ve been made an example of.”
Mayu said, “Cry me a river.” She made sure her apron and wrap were working in harmony.
Four people, wearing hotel uniforms just like Sumin, came in and packed up everything in each station and cleaned up various messes, where appropriate. Two of them carried out things that was no longer needed and two stayed next to Jiwoo.
Jiwoo said, “Isa and Seoyeon. I’m going to give you five minutes to plan your menu. The pantry is stocked full of spices like salt, pepper, red pepper, cinnamon. It also has soy sauce, fish sauce, things like that. It also has dry goods like sugar, flour, rice, pasta, and things like that. You will each make a list of any perishables, or anything that wouldn’t otherwise be in the pantry, and your staff will go and get them for you. Be thorough, you only have one trip, if they don’t bring it back, you are stuck without it.”
Seoyeon said, “Are…”
Lee Jiwoo interrupted her and raised her hand, and as though being scolded at some other time for being too timid when raising her hand, she shouted, “JIWOO!”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Sorry Seoyeon, my imposter seems to have a question.”
Seoyeon just looked at Lee Jiwoo, unamused.
Lee Jiwoo asked, “Are you going to tell them what they are actually doing soon? The suspense is killing us. The look on Yooyeon’s face…”
Yooyeon pointed to her face, “What look?”
Seoyeon said sarcastically, “What a brilliant question, why didn’t I think to ask that…”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Oh right, my bad. I get a little ahead of myself sometimes.”
Bae said, “Better than when your head is behind yourself.” She was the only one that got it, or laughed.
Kim Jiwoo continued, “Your task will be to cook the three judges a two-course meal in thirty minutes. You have to make a main course; the other dish can be either an appetizer or dessert. Any questions?”
Isa said, “That’s too easy. What’s the twist?”
Sullin said, “Twist? What’s a twist?”
Kim Jiwoo looked offended, “A twist? Why would there be a twist?”
“Every cooking competition I’ve ever watched always has a twist, SPILL!” said Isa.
“Not a twist, just a bit of an extra challenge. Since this is an international hotel that serves food to people from all over the world, they only other rule is… you cannot make any Korean dishes.”
Sullin said, “OH! Twist!”
Seoyeon said, “No Korean food?”
Jiwoo said, “We’re in Korea, all the food here is Korean. But you cannot make any Korean dishes. You can use kimchi to make something else, but you can’t serve us kimbap.”
Isa said, “Us? So, you are going to be one of the judges?”
“Obviously.”
“And the other two judges are?”
“SECRET! Any other questions?”
Everyone was quiet.
“Both of these fine staff members have notepads for you to write down your ingredients so there are no misunderstandings. Your five minutes to plan your menus starts NOW!”
Isa looked over at the two staff members. She quickly scurried over to the one that was a young male and grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to the countertop where Seeun joined them as well. You know what Isa wasn’t going to miss the chance to do? Flirt to make sure she got the best cucumbers.
Seeun said, “What’s the plan Mommy Isa?”
She shook her head, “I don’t know. I was thinking of things to make, but the twist worked as intended. Any thoughts?”
“No, just whatever you think would be good!”
“And we have to be able to pull it off in thirty minutes, I want simple, we don’t want to be scrambling around at the end and not finish something.”
“You really do watch food competitions?”
Isa nodded, ‘yes’. “How about Vietnamese?”
“Do you know it?”
“I like the sauces. I think I can do ‘bun thit nuong’.”
“Are you trying to impress Sullin?”
“She is Thai…”
“It all sounds the same…”
“The Americans call it ‘vermicelli bowl’. Thin rice vermicelli with toppings. And then I’ll do a summer roll to go with it?”
“Summer roll appetizer?”
“Oh! Appetizer AND dessert!”
“What did you say earlier about planning too much? You know I’m going to be ZERO help.”
“You are our secret weapon?”
“I’m no secret, and no weapon…” said Seeun with a shy smile.
“You’re better than Yooyeon.”
“Okay, maybe I am.”
Isa winked at the male staff member and then grabbed the pen and notepad out of his hands and started writing down ingredients. She went over the food prep in her head very carefully, making sure she didn’t forget anything on the list. When Jiwoo announced that there were thirty seconds left, she went over each ingredient with the staff member, to make sure he understood.
***
Seoyeon and Yooyeon huddled at the countertop on the other side. After Isa grabbed the first staff member, the other staff, a shy young lady, made her way to Seoyeon and Yooyeon.
Seoyeon said, “Alright smartie pants, what should I make?”
“Right… Convince me to tell you what to make, then when you lose it is all my fault. Nice try!” said Yooyeon with a smile.
“Isn’t it going to be your fault if we lose anyway?”
“And all you when we win?”
“Of course.”
“Make something you like? Seems sensible.”
“Cheese tteokbokki!”
“Except not Korean?”
“I don’t even know how to do that? Should I just grill a burger or something?”
“What kind of cheese is on cheese tteokbokki?”
“Mozzarella.”
“Like pizza cheese?”
“Sure… pizza cheese…”
“Italian cheese ttokbokki?”
“Use pasta instead of rice cakes?” asked an excited Seoyeon.
“Yes! But wait, that is actually considered a side dish, isn’t it?”
“Okay, I’ll add… bacon… and instead of eggs… hmmm.”
“A vegetable?”
Seoyeon got close to Yooyeon’s ear, “Jiwoo hates vegetables. Advantage TripleS.”
“Ah!”
“Mushrooms? Are mushrooms vegetables?”
“Clearly not…”
“Check!”
“What about the appetizer?”
“Oh, I got that. I’m making a dessert. I have a plan that contains another plan.”
Yooyeon just looked at Seoyeon and shook her head. She pointed to the pad the staff girl was holding. The girl handed it to Seoyeon and she started writing down the ingredients. She pointed out one particular ingredient. “You have this, right? asked Seoyeon.
“Yes. How ‘good’ does it need to be?”
“The cheap stuff is fine, as long as it is drinkable, I can’t promise you’ll get any of the bottle back, if you know what I mean…”
The staff girl shrugged and grabbed the list as Jiwoo called time.
***
The two other staff members came back and made sure the work surfaces were all clean and sanitized. After about ten minutes, the two staff members in charge of ingredients also came back with a shopping basket each and put the basket down on each respective side.
Haewon said, “Chaeyoung is feeding rabbits with a lot of carrots and cucumbers, and beans…”
Isa said, “Jiwoo… Is the audience allowed to shout at us during the competition?”
“Afraid so…”
Seoyeon held up the bacon and cheese. “Carrots? OR BACON AND CHEESE?”
TripleS all clapped for Seoyeon. Stayc booed, especially Sieun.
Seoyeon held up a bottle of rum. “Sieun, maybe you would like to change your boos into encouragement and come get a few drinks of this rum?”
Lee Jiwoo said, “SEOYEON!”
Sieun said, “I just might!” and started getting up.
Sumin grabbed her tee shirt and pulled her back down. “No!”
Mayu said, “Fuck, I’ll drink it!”
Seoyeon frowned at Mayu and quickly grabbed the bottle and put it back in the shopping basket. She said to Yooyeon, “We’ll have to work on this plan more later.”
Sullyoon leaned over to Sullin, “What is she up to?”
“It seems a lot of crazy people have plans for Sieun…”
Sullyoon scrunched up her nose at Sullin.
Jiwoo said, “Before the chefs get too far into their ingredients, I think it is time to say… “ALLEZ CUISINE!”
Yooyeon said, “The fuck does that mean?”
Jiwoo started the timer.
“Oh, okay. We’re starting. Seoyeon! What do you want me to do?”
Seoyeon said, “Cook the pasta, grate the cheese, chop the walnuts and slice the bananas. Gogogo!”
“What the fuck, Seoyeon. I don’t know how to do any of those things!”
“Yes, you do, you do them all the time. You’ll be fine.”
Isa heard Yooyeon whining on the other side. There was no time to come up with an inappropriate comment about Yooyeon whining for her instead. She went right to Seeun with a knife and a carrot.
Seeun asked, “What should I do?”
“One task at a time. Finish it, finish it well, and then I’ll give you a new one.”
“Okay…”
“I need these carrots julienned and I need them as soon as possible.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Shhh. Watch. You need to cut a few of these into tiny thin strips.”
“That’s going to take longer than thirty minutes.”
“Seeun. That’s the last time I’m going to listen to you put yourself down. We got this.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
Isa took the carrot and made a long slice down the side, removing about an eighth of the carrot and leaving a flat surface. “Wow, this knife is epic!”
“Aren’t you going to peel it?”
“Nope! No need!” She made a similar cut on both sides perpendicular to the first cut leaving a box of a carrot. “Then make a slice along the side as thin as you can to make a long flat strip of carrot.” Isa did just that. She then laid the strip down on the cutting board and cut long thin strips. “Done!”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
“There are plenty of carrots, we only need about a half cup of really good strips. Experiment for a bit, just don’t cut yourself. But I do need them as fast as you can.”
Seeun put her head down and tested out the knife, making a few cuts way too big, but getting the hang of it and then grabbing a new carrot for herself.
Isa sighed, knowing she wasted too much time on that, she probably could have just done it herself faster. She just had to trust in her faith that Seeun could pull it off.
Jiwoo said, “I’m going to have two spies getting more information about each dish. Are your microphones working?”
Haewon said, “Mike CHECK!” which reverberated through the entire ballroom. Haewon cackled at herself into the microphone and made her way to Seoyeon.
Lily said, “I’ll speak softly…” which was also loud. Jiwoo found a dial under the counter to turn down the volume.
Lily tried again as she approached Isa. “I’m supposed to interview you now! What are you making? Can you walk us through what you are doing right now?”
Isa said, “The plan is to make Vietnamese noodle bowls with charbroiled chicken and some spring rolls, or are they summer rolls? I can never tell the difference.”
“Very interesting! Do you make Vietnamese food often?”
“Nope!”
“Tell the audience specifically what you and your helper are doing!” said Lily.
“Seeun is making julienned carrots, I’m boiling some rice wine vinegar and sugar and then I’m going to pickle the carrots. While I’m waiting for this to boil, I need to pound out the chicken and get it sliced so I can marinade it.”
Isa pulled off a bit of plastic wrap and laid it down on her cutting board. She then put down a boneless chicken breast. She pulled off another bit of plastic wrap and put it on top of the chicken. She looked around, not finding anything she might typically use for such a thing, so she grabbed a small frying pan. She gave Lily a serious look and said, “I suggest you step aside.” She started pounding on the chicken breast with the frying pan.
Lily jumped aside, but resisted the urge to scream bloody murder.
Haewon said, “Chaeyoung is worried that chicken is still alive. What are you making, Seoyeon?”
Seoyeon said proudly, “Cheese NOT-tteokbokki.”
“And what makes it not tteokbokki?”
“No rice cakes, we are going to use pasta. It will be Italian rather than Korean.”
“I see. What specifically are you doing right now? And what is Yooyeon? Not doing?”
Yooyeon was watching Isa thoroughly pound two chicken breasts.
Seoyeon said loudly, “YOOYEON IS BOILING WATER for the pasta.”
Yooyeon snapped out of it and made sure the heat was on high and the lid was on the soon-to-be boiling water.
Seoyeon continued, “I’m cooking the bacon, without splashing too much grease on my ‘I love Jiwoo’ shirt. Then I’m going to make the sauce for the tteokbokki. NOT-tteokbokki.”
Haewon made her way to Yooyeon, “What are you going to do next? If I may take my life into my own hands and ask?”
“I think I’m supposed to do that thing Chaeyoung is doing to the chicken, except to these walnuts.” She held up a container of walnut halves.
Seoyeon said, “Hon, you can use a knife, just be careful and figure out how to do it with them not going all over the place.”
“But hitting with the frying pan looks so rewarding…”
Seoyeon yelled, “WALNUTS! CHEESE!”
Yooyeon dumped the walnuts out on her cutting board and tried cutting them with the knife, proceeding to chase walnut bits all over her station.
Haewon said, “Don’t try this at home, kids!”
Lee Jiwoo shouted, “You’ve got this Yooyeon! Teach those walnuts a lesson!”
Sieun shouted, “Not as good as getting spanked by Chaeyoung with a frying pan!”
J put her head on Sumin’s shoulder. “She didn’t really just say that? Who even is she?”
Isa quickly pulled off the plastic wrap and started cutting up the chicken into bite-sized strips, gathering it all in a bowl. She then threw the cutting board into the sink and washed her hands.
Lily said, “Look at Chaeyoung! Safety first kiddos!”
Isa ran to the pantry, grabbing the soy sauce.
Lily followed her, “What are you doing now?”
“I’m going to marinade the chicken?”
“Spice mix?”
“No, the simplest thing ever.”
“Which is? I’m pretending to host a cooking show here…”
“I don’t want to tell them.” She pointed to TripleS.
Lily said, “I don’t think Seoyeon is going to marinate her cooked bacon.”
“Fine… two parts orange juice to one part soy sauce. Works on anything, steak, chicken, fish…”
“Ooooohhhrhrr, interesting!”
Seeun said, “Chaeyoung! I think I have enough carrots!”
After getting the chicken under the marinade and into the fridge, Isa ran to Seeun. “Nice work! Do a cucumber like that, you don’t have to make it as thin though, little sticks. The pickling juice is almost ready.”
Isa pulled the pickling liquid off of the flame to allow it to cool a bit.
Lily asked, “You can pickle in thirty minutes?”
“Not ideal, overnight would be better, but it will do.”
“What are you going to do next?”
“Get water boiling for the rice noodles and make some sauces!”
“Ooooohr, what sauces?”
“A peanut sauce for the spring rolls and nuoc cham for the noodles.”
“Nuk jam?”
“Something like that, yes…”
“I’m still trying to host a cooking competition.”
“Right, sorry, I’m doing a lot right now Lily… It is fish sauce and lime juice and sometimes sugar and hot peppers. Shit… Seeun. How are the cucumbers? I need lime juice, can you please juice a few limes next?” Isa ran to the station with all of the dishes and pots and pans and found a lemon juicer and ran back to Seeun, sitting it down next to her.
“Yeah. The cucumbers are done.”
“Seeun, you are doing great. Please juice four limes. Quickly. I need the juice. Then cut another cucumber, but even bigger sticks. I will be easy.”
“Yes Ma’am!” said Seeun, obviously gaining confidence.
Seoyeon finished with the bacon and started making her sauce for the not-tteokbokki. “Yooyeon! Is the water boiling?”
“Yes! This stove is crazy hot.”
“That’s good, but I miss-timed it a bit, I need the pasta fast. I got a few varieties, please use the spaghetti, it will cook the fastest. Please hurry! Then cheese!”
Haewon said, “It sounds like you are making her do everything?”
Seoyeon pointed her knife at Haewon and shouted, “NO BACON FOR YOU!”
Haewon walked over to Yooyeon. “Why is she making you do everything?”
Yooyeon threw the pasta in the pot, boiling water splashing everywhere with a lot of hissing as it hit the hot stove. She quickly covered it and pretended she meant to do that. She pointed to walnut bits all over her cutting board. “Look! Now I’m supposed to grate cheese. I don’t even know what that means.”
Seoyeon sighed, “Dear lord, get the cheese, get the grater. It is a metal thing with holes, you rub the cheese over it, to grate it… You’re supposed to be smart!”
Haewon said, “You are supposed to be smart.”
Yooyeon stomped off to the pantry. “Grater… wtf…”
Haewon returned to Seoyeon. “So, tell the audience what’s in your sauce?”
“Why? You know… usual things… chicken broth, gochujang, soy, sugar, red pepper flakes.”
“I see…”
Lily went over to see what Seeun was up to. “Why are you doing that with one eye shut?”
Seeun laughed at herself. “It is hard! I accidently shot myself in the eye with lime juice… It burns…”
“Naurrr. Do you need the medic?”
“No… I’m fine…” She stopped juicing and started laughing at herself.
Isa said, “Love you hon, but I need that lime juice.”
“Come get it! I can’t give you the bit that’s in my eyes though…”
Isa ran over and fetched the lime juice. “Are you okay?”
“Yes…”
“For real… I need you to do the most important thing now?”
“Oh, okay.” She opened her eye and tried to massage out the lime juice with the side of her hand.
Isa grabbed something out of the shopping basket and put it down on Seeun’s work area. “Ever want to be scientist?”
“What?” asked Seeun, looking like a deer in headlights.
Yooyeon said, “Why can’t I work on that side?”
Isa said, “Sure… now you want me…”
“That’s not… Nevermind…” lamented Yooyeon.
“This is rice paper, it is what you wrap the summer rolls in.”
“Oh right, I know it. Why are they hard?”
“It comes like this, you have to soften it, but I don’t know how and the writing on this package is all in Vietnamese.”
“I can’t read it either…”
“Get a bowl. Put some water in the bowl. Put in one of these and see how well it softens up. Try with room temperature water and try with hot water. Figure out how fast it softens. It has to be soft enough to roll, but not soft enough to fall apart. I think it only takes a few minutes in the water. Please figure it out!”
“Chaeyoung… this is important.”
“Yeah, ignore Lily and hop to it!”
“Yes Ma’am!” Seeun quickly found two shallow bowls and filled them with water, trying not to spill them as she returned to her station.
Isa said, “Lily! I’m going to cook the chicken, please come watch me.”
Lily said, “Actually cooking?”
Isa shouted, “How much time?”
Jiwoo said, “Eleven minutes!”
Isa got the chicken out of the fridge put the pan on the stove, “Okay, I’m going to wait one minute. Got to wait until the last possible moment so it can marinade longer.”
Lily pointed to the pan, “What kind of pan is that?”
“Grill pan… it has lines so you get grill marks when you don’t really have a grill.”
“Nauuurrrr?”
Haewon said, “Cooking chicken is boring. What are you doing Seoyeon?”
Seoyeon said, “Fingers crossed the pasta is ready.”
“You aren’t going to have Yooyeon test it?”
Seoyeon took off the lid resulting in a burst of steam and foamy pasta liquid. She stuck a fork into the pasta and pulled out some spaghetti. She forced an entire strand of pasta into her mouth, which was way too hot.
“OWWWW.”
“Don’t burn your tongue…”
“NEED TO WIN!”
“Well, how is it?”
“Slightly under, but it will cook a bit in the sauce, so I’m going with it.” She put a colander in the sink and dumped the pasta and water into it. She quickly ran some cold water over it, waited impatiently for it to drain, stomping her feet up and down in the process. She then ran the pasta over to her large pan of boiling sauce and dumped it in. She gave it a stir in the beautiful red sauce. She topped it with the bacon and some mushrooms she had sliced earlier. “Yo! I need that cheese!”
Yooyeon said, “I didn’t think ahead that I might need to get the cheese from here to somewhere else.”
“Fricking pick it up!”
Yooyeon gingerly picked up the mound of grated cheese in both hands and carried it to Seoyeon.
“I swear to God, if you drop that…”
“Where?”
“In the pan!”
“I’ll be dropping it!”
“Drop it in the pan!”
Yooyeon sighed and dropped the cheese. Seoyeon used her hands to distribute the cheese around the pan. She then put a lid on the pan and turned the heat to low.
Haewon asked, “What’s next? I don’t see any hint of an appetizer or dessert.”
Seoyeon said, “Yooyeon, please peel four bananas and then slice them long ways ONCE. Like for a banana split.”
Seoyeon ran and got a fresh frying pan and dumped two sticks of butter and a large mound of brown sugar into the pan.
“Whoa… obviously dessert,” said Haewon.
Seoyeon held up the bottle of rum. “AND RUM!” She winked at Sieun.
On the other side, Lily watched as Isa put the chicken pieces on the grill pan a few at a time. She cut through the first few pieces with a knife to make sure they were fully cooked. After repeating this several times, she put all of the cooked chicken on a plate and covered it with foil.
“What’s next?” asked Lily.
Isa said, “Seeun! Did you figure it out?”
“I think so! Should I soak them?”
“Not yet… Right before… Please cut the mango and kiwi into sticks. You’ll have to peel those.”
Lily moved to stand next to Seeun. Seeun grabbed the mike attached to Lily’s collar. “Hey everyone, I’m the STICK lady.” She giggled at herself.
Sullyoon said, “Sieun… that girl is delightful. Why haven’t we met her until now?”
“Because she’s delightful? Protecting her from Nmixx and TripleS!”
Yoon said, “Until you failed RIGHT NOW.”
Sullin said, “I like her too, she’s a good cuddle.”
Haewon said into her own mike, “I like her legs.”
Isa shouted, “Everyone leave my stick girl alone for six more minutes please!”
Yooyeon said, “I’m the ‘cheese and walnut girl’, everyone love me?”
Lee Jiwoo, Jiyeon, Mayu and Sullin all clapped for her. “We love you ‘cheese and walnut girl’!”
Isa opened her own pot of boiling water and dumped in a huge brick of rice noodles. She then started soaking some rice paper.
Seeun said, “Warm water, twenty seconds is plenty.”
“Really, that fast?”
“Yeah.”
“I would have had a huge plate of rice mush, good job!”
Seeun gave her a high five. She put down the knife, forgetting she was cutting a kiwi.
Isa said, “Hey hey, don’t stop. We’re almost there!”
Isa dumped the rice pasta into a colander just like Seoyeon did with her pasta, also washing it with cold water, but for much longer.
Lily said, “Why wash it? It was just in water?”
“Stops the cooking, so it doesn’t get mushy and isn’t super hot to handle also.”
“I see.”
Isa got the mass of rice pasta into a bowl and gathered the pickled carrots and cucumbers, some chicken sliced extra thin, some tofu, and some mung beans. She soaked a sheet of rice paper, then soaked another. “I think I’m going to double it, I’m not going to be good at rolling these…”
“Just like sushi!” said Seeun.
“Not really.”
Isa soaked two rice papers and laid them on top of each other on Seeun’s cutting board. She piled on a bit of rice pasta, a handful of pickled carrots and cucumbers, some chicken, one stick of tofu, and a sprinkle of mung beans. She then carefully rolled it like a package, tucking in the ends. “Not perfect, but it will do.”
Jiwoo announced, “Four minutes left!”
Isa said, “Watch me!”
Seeun watched intently as Isa made two more rolls.
“I have to go fill up the vermicelli bowls. Please make three rolls with noodles, pickled carrots and cucumbers, two pieces of mango and a few kiwi sticks. Got it? There’s enough to mess up a few.”
Seeun said, “Got it!”
Isa took her chicken and started assembling the vermicelli bowls. Non-pickled cucumbers and mung beans on one side, noodles on the other side. She topped it with the chicken and some pickled carrots, then some mint sprigs.
On the other side, Haewon asked, “What’s going on over here?”
Yooyeon shouted, “DONE!” This time she was prepared and had cut the bananas onto a plate. She couldn’t avoid being a comedian and threw one banana peel at Haewon’s feet. “Don’t fall!”
Seoyeon grabbed the bananas and threw them into the butter, sugar, and cinnamon mixture boiling on the stove. She opened the not-tteokbokki pot to make sure the cheese was melted and turned off the burner. “I need a lighter!”
Yooyeon said, “I saw a torch!”
“Can you start it?”
“Can I start a torch…” Yooyeon ran to the pantry and grabbed the torch she had seen earlier. She turned the valve and pulled the trigger instantly making a bright blue focused flame on the end.
Haewon was sniffing the pan with the bananas. Seoyeon said, “Stand back!”
Haewon shuffled back, but was very interested in the butter, sugar, and cinnamon mixture. Seoyeon stirred in about half the bottle of rum. She then grabbed the torch from Yooyeon and set the entire mixture aflame. The audience cheered at the flaming bananas.
Lee Jiwoo said, “Winners! What a show!”
Kim Jiwoo said, “One minute! Better get that plated or it doesn’t count!”
Luckily Seoyeon had already set aside the three dishes for both the main course and the dessert and her and Yooyeon quickly got all six dishes plated.
On the other side Seeun managed to make her own three rolls, they got two rolls onto each plate with two small dishes of sauce. Isa also finished with the noodle bowls, putting each bowl onto a plate and sitting a small dish of nuoc cham next to each one.
Both sides had ten seconds to spare, making sure all of the dishes were tidy as Jiwoo called time and shouted, “Time’s up! Utensils down!”
Yooyeon and Seoyeon gave each other high-fives. Seeun ran into Isa’s arms. “Chaeyoung! That was so much fun!”
The crowd cheered for the chefs.
Yooyeon asked, “Are we done? I can go sit down now?” She inched toward the audience.
Kim Jiwoo pointed at her. “You! Stay put!”
She inched back to Seoyeon. Seeun latched onto Isa’s side like she was the last girl on the planet.
Jiwoo said, “Your food is getting cold, so let’s quickly introduce the judges! The first judge is the multi-talented and strikingly beautiful, Kim Jiwoo! ME!” She cheered for herself. Kyujin and Sullyoon cheered a bit also. Jiwoo took the first judge’s seat.
After sitting, Jiwoo said, “And our second judge! The multitalented singer, media mogul and young entrepreneur, Kim Jiwoo!”
The door along the side of the ball room opened and Chuu came running into the room. She was wearing a casual long white dress, both cute and summery.
Yooyeon said, “Kim Jiwoo again?”
An annoyed Lee Jiwoo said, “ANOTHER JIWOO?”
Seoyeon said, “Chuu? IS THAT CHUU?
The audience all clapped as Chuu bowed and took the second judge’s seat.
Kim Jiwoo said, “Rude… no one clapped for me…”
Chuu pushed Jiwoo, “I’m so much better than you.”
“WE’RE THE SAME!”
Lee Jiwoo said, “I’m taller than both of them combined?”
Chuu asked, “Who is that?”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Imposter-woo.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Booo.”
“And our third judge! Executive chef of one of the restaurants in this very hotel, and person actually qualified to judge this event! Kim… Ji… Hyung…”
The girls all booed at the letdown of not having another Jiwoo. Jihyung sheepishly walked into the room, bowed to all of the girls and took the third seat. He leaned over to Chuu and asked, “Is that one blonde girl wearing a bikini?”
Chuu nodded excitedly, “It appears to be true!”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Here is how judging will work. Isa and Seeun will present their dishes. We will all taste and give them a score from 1 to 5 for taste, originality, and execution, including how well they used their sous chef…”
Seoyeon said to Yooyeon, “Your presence is going to screw me again…”
Jiwoo continued with a smile, “Then Seoyeon will present her dishes. Isa, bring us your food!”
Isa motioned for Seeun to grab the dishes with the rolls and Isa grabbed the bowls, sitting one in front of each judge, careful not to spill the small bowl of sauce. “Today, we made for you an appetizer, main course, and dessert!”
Jiwoo interrupted, “Just so the other judges are clear, I told them to make an appetizer or dessert, not both.”
Chuu asked, “Oh, overachiever?”
Isa smiled at Chuu and winked. Nothing a little flirting couldn’t help with. “So, we made a Vietnamese dinner for you! The appetizer is a spring roll filled with chicken and tofu, bean sprouts, cucumber, pickled carrots and wrapped in rice paper. Please try it first with the bowl of peanut sauce next to it. The main course is a rice vermicelli bowl with chicken and finely shredded pickled carrots and cucumbers. The dessert is a similar summer roll, except instead of being filled with chicken and tofu, it is filled with mango and kiwi. It also has a bowl of peanut sauce, but it is slightly different than the appetizer peanut sauce.”
Jiwoo said, “Too many vegetables!”
Yooyeon gave Seoyeon a high-five.
Chuu said, “Shut up and eat them. A few carrots aren’t going to kill you.”
“You’ll feel bad if they do.”
Chuu and Jihyung dipped the appetizer roll in the peanut sauce and didn’t stop, repeating three times until it was gone. Jiwoo dug into the vermicelli bowl.
Isa said, “Oh, I forgot, there is nuoc cham for the vermicelli, please pour it into the bowl before eating.”
Jiwoo tasted the nuoc cham with a finger and then went ahead and poured it into the bowl. Jihyung dove into the vermicelli bowl also. He asked, “Should I make comments?”
Jiwoo said, “Yes, of course! Let her know what you think about her food! Especially if you don’t like it.”
“I like it all, but I will nitpick, I think that’s what I’m supposed to do at a competition?”
Jiwoo nodded emphatically.
“The rice paper isn’t quite right, it is a little sticky I think. But you rolled them well.”
Isa said, “It is the first time I ever rolled it like that and we weren’t sure exactly how long to soak so I doubled it so it would at least look good.”
“Oh, okay. Impressive then. The peanut sauce is amazing. The chicken is seasoned very well. It all is fine. I’m not like ‘WOW’ about anything, but it is a very solid meal.”
Sieun shouted, “They only had thirty minutes, no prep time, and couldn’t make anything Korean. If we hadn’t chosen Isa as our representative, you would probably be dead right now…”
Jihyung looked back at the girl screaming at him. She realized she was being a bit out of order and smiled cutely at him. Mayu waved to distract him.
Chuu said, “I LOVE this dessert roll, and the peanut sauce is truly different from the appetizer!”
Jihyung tried them each again on his finger, “The dessert peanut sauce is sweeter?”
Isa said, “Yes, I added some honey.”
“In otherwise savory peanut sauce? Wow… I’m totally stealing that.”
Jiwoo said, “The chicken is really good. And I love the dessert roll, even if there still seem to be beans in it.”
Chuu said, “Sous chef?”
Seeun bowed to Chuu.
“You are the worst?”
“I… um… well…”
“Okay, tell us what you made here?”
“I julienned the carrots…”
Jihyung picked up the carrots out of his bowl and looked at them closely. “The worst chef on your team cut them this well? By hand?”
Seeun nodded. “Isa showed me how. Also, I cut all of the cucumbers, mango, kiwi, and experimented with how best to soak the rice paper, because Chaeyoung wasn’t sure.”
Chuu said, “Wow, that’s impressive. Everyone shut up while I finish eating this.”
Jiwoo said, “Seoyeon’s food is getting cold, lets try it, and then you can finish whatever things you like.”
Jihyun was getting the hang of ignoring Jiwoos. “She cut these and you still had time to pickle them?”
Isa nodded, “Yes, I showed her how to do that first thing and I immediately got the pickling liquid boiling and then when they were ready, I threw them into it and let it all cool down.”
“Smart! She’s really good!”
Sumin, Sieun, J, and Yoon all cheered and shouted, “Mama Isa!”
Seoyeon said to Yooyeon, “Go on, say it…”
“Say what?”
“You have a bad feeling…”
“I don’t? Ours is really good and you made fire bananas…”
“Oh dear…”
Jiwoo said, “Seoyeon! Bring your dishes!”
Seoyeon and Yooyeon served their dishes to each of the judges. Jiwoo said, “Please tell us what you made for us today!”
Seoyeon bowed, “First of all, no vegetables in any of these dishes, Miss Jiwoo.”
Jiwoo poked Chuu. “Look at the respect I’m getting from this one.”
Chuu said, “Make sure it doesn’t taste like poo before you call it respect…”
Seoyeon said, “I made a main course and dessert. The first dish is called ‘Cheese NOT-Tteokbokki’. It is spaghetti in a tteokbokki-like sauce and topped with bacon and mushrooms and mozzarella.”
Jihyung asked, “So cheese tteokbokki is usually thought of as a side dish, is replacing egg with bacon enough to make it a main dish?”
Seoyeon was pretty quick on her feet. “Well, my family has CERTAINLY eaten cheese tteokbokki as a main dish, but I added the bacon just to make sure.”
Yooyeon said, “Yooyeon suggested it.”
The judges dug into the tteokbokki. Jiwoo ate the cheese and bacon off of the top. Chuu did her best to swirl noodles, but it was saucy and she flung some red sauce toward Jiwoo.
Jiwoo said, “I’m not going to invite you to judge any more cooking competitions.”
“If I thought there was going to be another one, I would be more careful.”
Jihyung used a knife to cut his cheese, bacon, and pasta to make sure he got a solid bite of everything at once. He said, “So… this sauce is essentially a classic cheese tteokbokki sauce?”
Seoyeon nodded.
Kim Jiwoo held up her hand. “Oh! Mr. Chef! Are you going to say it is too salty?”
Chuu said, “No such thing as too salty, this is fucking good. You can come cook for me any day TripleS girl.”
Seeun felt Isa tense up a bit standing around listening and put her head on her shoulder to calm her.
Jihyung said, “So the sauce would be perfect for rice cakes because they would absorb a lot of the saltiness, which the pasta didn’t do. And then you added bacon as well, so it is quite salty.”
Jiwoo said, “Describe your dessert.”
Seoyeon said, “I believe in America or Europe, don’t know, they call it ‘Bananas Foster’. Bananas cooked with caramel sauce and flambéed with rum.”
Chuu said, “RUM?” She slid the first dish aside and dug into the bananas. She downed an entire banana. “Um, blonde girl… if this singing gig doesn’t work out for you, you can be my personal chef.”
Jiwoo said, “Personal chef of an ex-Loona girl, sounds… Nevermind… I will add that she did set the bananas on fire and it was quite a show.”
Jihyung said, “Nice! My only comment is that you should have cooked it just a bit more, or put in just a bit less sugar. The bananas are fine, but the sauce is a bit grainy.”
Jiwoo said, “Yooyeon, please tell us which things you did for these dishes?”
Yooyeon said, “I sliced the bananas, chopped the walnuts, grated the mozzarella and cooked the spaghetti.”
“Okay great! You four can go sit down with the others while we have a chat up here about your scores.”
J, Sumin, Sieun and Yoon all got up from their chairs and ran to give out hugs to Isa and Seeun. The TripleS side was a bit more subdued, Seoyeon and Yooyeon sat down with little fanfare.
Jiyeon asked, “Did you have fun at least?”
Seoyeon said, “It was okay… at least we didn’t make any epic mistakes.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “You sure impressed a Chuu!”
“Yeah, but not so much the actual chef. Should be interesting.”
***
Up at the counter, Jiwoo said, “Alright, lets give them each a score of one to five for taste. Thoughts?”
Chuu immediately said, “Seoyeon gets a five from me. That was amazing, I would eat that all day, every day.”
Jihyung shook his head, eager to disagree.
Jiwoo said, “Let her finish. What about Isa?”
“It was just okay. I think three?”
Jihyung finally found his opening and said, “I can understand why you liked it, but most people would agree it was too salty and I don’t like grainy bananas. I also loved Isa’s peanut sauces, she made them unique and different, plus nuoc cham?”
Jiwoo said, “We are only judging taste right now though.”
“I would give them both a four. What do you think Jiwoo?”
“I don’t like carrots or cucumbers, so Isa is at a disadvantage. But I know that’s me and probably not fair to judge her for it.”
Chuu said, “Seoyeon was obviously kissing up to you, knowing you didn’t like vegetables.”
“I might give her kudos for that when we discuss execution, but it isn’t fair for taste. I don’t mind grainy bananas, but the tteokbokki was way too salty. I think maybe Seoyeon 4, Isa 3 is a fair compromise.”
Jihyung wasn’t happy.
Jiwoo said, “Okay, lets see if creativity goes any better. Chuu?”
“I mean, pretty standard dishes. What would we give creativity points for?”
Jihyung said, “The bananas foster was creative, and doing the flambé was a plus, but I have issues with her tteokbokki. It was obviously tteokbokki, just without the rice cakes. Korean.”
Jiwoo asked, “Korean ‘tteokbokki with pasta’ instead of an Italian pasta and cheese dish with a tteokbokki-like sauce?”
“Yeah. Anyone in this hotel right now would take one bite of that and say Korean cheese tteokbokki.”
“Any pluses or minuses for Isa?”
Chuu said, “It was a perfectly executed, just a bit plain, Vietnamese dish. It looked attractive on the plate. Nothing out of the ordinary, but solid.”
Jiwoo said, “Okay, I agree, so Isa 4, Seoyeon 3? We are back to being tied?”
Chuu said, “Execution! I like planning executions!”
Jiwoo looked at her namesake with wide eyes. “Okay, so any execution issues?”
Jihyung said, “I wasn’t able to watch, so you should probably judge this best. For Isa to execute all of those things, she had to have everything perfect down to the minute, including pickling and marinade. Very impressive. Seoyeon obviously had no major issues, but executing those two dishes was fairly simple.”
Jiwoo said, “I think this guy has a crush on Isa.”
He squinted at her, “I’m going to put carrots in your omelet at brunch.”
Jiwoo zipped up her lips.
Chuu said, “What happened with the sous chefs, are we judging that here?”
Jiwoo said, “Yes. Yooyeon did fine, but was left to fend for herself, which is fine because she’s smart and figured it all out. Isa was super supportive of Seeun who was quite tentative at the beginning, taught her how to do a crazy difficult task at the beginning and she executed it and obviously had a great time. Plus she did the rice paper experiment also.”
Chuu said, “So execution Isa 5, Seoyeon 3? Stayc wins?”
Jihyung seemed pleased with the result.
Jiwoo said, “Okay! Let’s go tell them!”
***
The pair of Jiwoos and a Jihyung got up from their chairs and walked to the girls all sitting in the audience. Chuu kept staring at Mayu.
Jihyung pointed to Yoon, “Is that girl a chicken?”
Yoon had stolen some safety pins and spent much of the time ‘watching’ the cooking competition ‘editing’ her chicken suit. The zipper down the center was now open all the way to her navel. Yoon pointed to her chest.
“With its bra showing?”
Yoon winked at him.
Jiwoo said, “We have a winner of my event! I hope everyone had fun. With a score of 12 to 10, the winner is… STAYC!”
Stayc formed a giant huddle and jumped up and down for a bit.
Lee Jiwoo said, “They had a clear advantage for this one. We shouldn’t get upset about it.”
Seoyeon said, “Can you at least tell me why I lost?”
Chuu said, “Are you sure you want to know?”
“Of course.”
Yooyeon covered her ears.
Chuu said, “You won taste 4 to 3. But you actually lost a point because the tteokbokki was too salty.”
Jihyun said very quickly, “I have to talk fast to get words in between Jiwoos, I thought Isa should have gotten four because the sauces were amazing and the bananas were also grainy.”
Jiwoo pushed him. “Stop flirting with Isa.”
“Chuu is flirting with the blonde girl.”
Chuu said, “I didn’t yet… thanks for ruining it…”
Jiwoo said, “I apologize, Mr. Jihyung, this is why we don’t typically invite outsiders to these things. Even a fine gentleman such as yourself falls prey to Kpop girl issues.”
“I do feel a bit strange,” he said.
Chuu continued, “For creativity, we all had a problem with the tteokbokki being tteokbokki when you weren’t really allowed to make tteokbokki, so Isa won 4 to 3.”
Jiwoo said, “Then for execution, Isa did amazing things with the time she had. Not that Seoyeon did anything wrong, but she accomplished a lot more. And…”
Yooyeon put her hands tighter on her ears.
“She treated Seeun better and got a lot more out of her, specifically things crucial to making the food. Even when she was super timid and shy and worried at the beginning.”
Seoyeon said, “I see.”
Before she could say anything else, Chuu ran over and sat on Seoyeon’s lap. “So… about being my personal chef.” Chuu happened to see down Seoyeon’s back at her butt sticking out of the booty shorts. “Yeah… I’ll pay well!”
Jiwoo said, “Well, it is time for the other Jiwoo…”
Lee Jiwoo raised her hand, “Jiwoo!”
“Are you going to complain because I’m ignoring that you are a Jiwoo or do you actually have a question?”
“Yes! Badges?”
“As I was saying, it is time for the other Jiwoo and Jihyung to leave us.”
Chuu asked, “Awww, can I stay for brunch?”
Jihyung said, “I have to go supervise the making of said brunch. I will check in on Isa… I mean you all, afterward to see how you enjoyed.”
Isa winked at him and shot him with a finger gun. Jihyung quickly ran out of the room.
Jiwoo said, “To address imposter Jiwoo’s point, there are three badges that go to the winners.” Jiwoo opened a pouch on her belt and pulled out three badges with a frying pan on them. “One for each of you.” She handed one to Isa and one to Seeun. “And… for losing the pre-competition, but then helping to win the challenge, Seeun gets two total!” She handed the third one to Seeun.
Seeun hugged Isa tightly. Isa patted her on the head, “You deserve it kiddo! Congrats!”
Seoyeon pulled one of Yooyeon’s hand off of her ear. “You would have gotten two badges.”
Yooyeon scoffed at her. “Chuu is sitting on your lap right now…”
Seoyeon shrugged, not sure what to do about either problem.
Badge summary: Seoyeon 2, Mayu 2, Yooyeon 1, Jiyeon 1, Jiwoo 1, Sullin 1 (TripleS 8 total); Yoon 2, Seeun 2, Sieun 1, Sumin 1, Isa 1 (Stayc 7 total)
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Chapter 7: The Return of the Bae Bucks
Summary:
Brunch proceeds with someone accomplishing their 'secret mission' and one table of very agitated girls. Bae's event then starts as she introduces her Bae-rrific trivia. With a lot of surprise twists, of course.
Chapter Text
Chapter 7: Bae Bucks!
Kim Jiwoo checked her phone and shouted, “Time for brunch!” The girls all got quiet. “Oh, everyone listens to me with the power of food!” said Jiwoo with a smile.
Yoon yelled, “Hungry!”
“We are going to go next door to the north conference room. There are three tables set up in there. Your seats are ASSIGNED! Please follow the assignments!”
Sieun said, “Assigned? Assigned by who?”
“What difference does it make?”
Yoon put her arms around Sieun, “Don’t worry! I’ll make sure she behaves! Please just feed us!”
TripleS had all gotten up out of their seats and were inching toward the door.
Lily turned her microphone from the cooking competition back on. “I believe this impending stampede may be a safety hazard, so we are just going to call the first table to go in for now.”
Jiyeon pushed Jiwoo and Mayu pushed Sullin, just because, making Lily correct.
Sumin asked, “Why are we being treated like children?”
Jiwoo pointed to Jiyeon and Mayu with both hands, towering above them.
Lily said, “Sieun, Mayu, J, Bae, Jiyeon, and Kyujin. You are all at the yellow table, please head over to the north conference room.”
Jiyeon and Mayu looked at each other and decided to race to the door, ran into each other at door, Jiyeon making it in just ahead of Mayu, and then raced to the conference room. They ran inside, waved at two of the staff members from Jiwoo’s event, who tried hard not to stare at Mayu’s bikini, and quickly found their seats. They were already seated and giggling at each other as Sieun, J, Bae, and Kyujin arrived. [The order around the table is: Sieun, Mayu, J, Bae, Jiyeon, Kyujin.]
There were indeed three circular tables, each set for six diners, except the middle table which was set for seven.
Sieun grabbed Mayu’s hand as she sat down. “I’m next to you! What a coincidence!” She thought for a few seconds, strange looks crossing her face. Coincidence?
Jiyeon asked, “How did I get isolated between two Nmixx members? One of them isn’t even very friendly.”
Bae gave Jiyeon a strange look.
Kyujin said, “Oh, she’s friendly. She just jealous of how pretty and talented you are.”
“Oh, okay, good!” said Jiyeon, giving Bae a wink.
J sat quietly, Sieun didn’t seem like she was going to be much up for chatting with her, sitting next to the hot Japanese girl. She just sighed at her plight.
***
Back in the other room, Lily announced, “At the green table in the middle, we have Sullin, Sullyoon, Sumin, Lee Jiwoo, Seoyeon, Chuu, and Kim Jiwoo. Head on over!”
Lee Jiwoo said, “All the fricking Jiwoos at one table?”
Sullin grabbed Sullyoon’s hand as they walked out of the room. Chuu also grabbed Seoyeon’s hand, pulling her along. “New friend! Move faster!”
Seoyeon looked at Lee Jiwoo, pleading for help. Lee Jiwoo just shook her head, up and down then left and right.
After walking into the room, they all got seated at the table at the appropriate name plate [The order around the table is: Sullin, Sullyoon, Sumin, Lee Jiwoo, Seoyeon, Chuu, and Kim Jiwoo]. Sullin looked at Sullyoon, “Did you pick the seating?”
“I might have had some influence.” She beamed a smile back at Sullin.
Lee Jiwoo pointed at Sullyoon, “Why did I not get to sit next to Sieun? I’m stuck next to Jiwoos and Seoyeon’s butt.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Sorry imposter, you got pushed into the pool, you need to forget about her. She’s also moved on with the Japanese girl.”
Lee Jiwoo sighed and although Kim Jiwoo wasn’t being particularly nice, she recognized that she wasn’t wrong. She turned to Sumin. “So… Sumin.”
Sumin looked at her expectantly. Jiwoo held out her hand. “I should get to know the extra staff around here, I suppose.”
Sumin looked at her smugly. “Well, tall girl wearing an ugly sweater and not much for pants, it is my pleasure to meet you.” Sumin grabbed her hand and shook it.
Lily and Haewon entered the room, linked arm in arm, followed next by hot-chicken Yoon. They sat at the blue table. Sana-Seeun was staying as close to Isa as possible, but Isa was ignoring her trying to make conversation with Yooyeon. Yooyeon did her best to answer Isa’s questions with no more than one word, making it seem like she was very distracted holding up her pants with one hand and gathering the top of her shirt so no one could peek down it with the other.
Yooyeon saw she was seated between Isa and Seeun AND was the only TripleS member at the table. She let out a long sigh. [The order around this table is: Isa, Lily, Yoon, Haewon, Seeun, Yooyeon.] Yoon turned around and realized Chuu and Seoyeon were sitting behind her. The wheels started turning, but then stopped turning as food was imminent.
Kim Jiwoo said loudly, “Everyone?” It was already fairly quiet, so she didn’t have to try very hard to get everyone’s attention. “While Sumin seems very happy in her fancy outfit, unfortunately, two staff members is not enough to serve us, so Sumin will have to fulfill her staff duties that come with the best outfit and a badge.”
Sumin looked down.
“Sumin! Please join the other two staff members and they will give you instructions.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “I was TRYING to make a friend! Why do you have to ruin everything all the time?”
From the blue table, Yooyeon shouted, “Jiwoo! Calm down!”
Sumin said to Jiwoo, “Sorry! Hopefully I’ll be back and we can chat?”
Jiwoo gave her the ‘quite unlikely, you are very screwed’ look.
Sumin trotted off to the other two staff and grabbed a tray. The three of them approached the yellow table. The female staff member said, “We have water and milk,” pointing to her own tray, “coffee,” pointing to the male staff member’s tray, and “freshly squeezed orange juice” pointing to Sumin’s tray. “What would everyone like?”
The two and a half hotel staff members got the yellow and green tables served drinks and then approached the blue table. At the green table, Sumin was growing increasingly nervous at the simple task of serving orange juice, but no one else noticed, as she was the only Stayc member at that table. At the blue table Sumin stood behind Haewon, holding the pitcher of orange juice precariously above her head. Yoon immediately noticed that something was up and tried to get Seeun’s attention, but failed. She scooted away from Haewon a bit in her chair, making sure none of her chicken was dangling near to Haewon.
The female staff member pointed out each drink and Haewon asked for coffee and Sumin had to get out of the way of the male staff member, set on giving her coffee. Yooyeon was the only girl at the blue table that asked for orange juice. Sumin made her way to Yooyeon, trying to summon the strength, imagining how well Sieun just pushed some tall girl into the pool. She started filling up Yooyeon’s glass and tipped the glass over with the tip of the pitcher’s mouth and a half of a glass of orange juice splashed onto Yooyeon’s, well Sullin’s, shirt and shorts.
The room suddenly went quiet as the female staff member gasped.
Yooyeon got intensely angry, “DID YOU REALLY JUST DO THAT ON PURPOSE?”
Lee Jiwoo laughed, “Yooyeon! Calm down!” she snorted back.
The female staff member looked horrified, “I’m so sorry! We didn’t train her very well!”
Yoon said, “Oh Hon, you did fine, she did that on purpose.”
Sumin pointed at Haewon. “I was going to get you… It is a good thing you don’t like orange juice…”
“What did I do?” asked Haewon, trying not to look at Seeun’s thighs. Seeun had her hands over her eyes, shocked at Sumin’s behavior.
Sumin continued, “BADGE! Now!”
Haewon giggled and opened her belt pouch. “Sumin did indeed have the task to be like Bae and spill a drink on someone. Coincidence you also had the opportunity to serve drinks, the game gods are on your side today!” Haewon handed her the badge. She quickly put it in her pocket and then helped the female staff member fetch napkins and help Yooyeon clean up a bit.
Chuu said, “Damn Jiwoo, this game is intense…”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Right… girl that grew up with Hyeju, Heejin, and Yeojin…”
Chuu ignored her and turned to Seoyeon. “So! Personal chef?”
Yoon turned around to Chuu and tapped her on the shoulder. Chuu turned to look who was tapping her on the shoulder. Yoon said, “Stick with the hot chicken, Chuu-baby. I’ll make sure we both get fed, if you know what I mean.”
Chuu looked at Yoon, intrigued. Seoyeon looked at both of them, horrified.
Seeun shouted, “WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ALL OF MY GROUP MEMBERS?”
Isa shugged, looking down Yooyeon’s shirt as she blotted orange juice. “I’m perfectly normal.”
Haewon said, “Don’t worry shy girl, we have plenty of plans to trigger Chaeyoung later.”
Isa cooly, calmly, and cutely just shrugged.
***
Brunch was served ‘family-style’. Sumin and the two staff members brought out serving trays of bacon, sausage, individual eggs omelets with a variety of ingredients cooked into them, a giant bowl of cut up fresh fruit and several bowls of yogurt. The girls all helped each other get all of the items they wanted to eat and chatted about various things.
Sieun monopolized Mayu’s attention, not that there was really any competition for either of them from anyone else at that table. Bae talked with Jiyeon for a bit, but actually ended up being more interested in J. J wasn’t too sure about Bae’s sense of humor, but Bae eventually got her to laugh, which made Sieun smile. That left Jiyeon and Kyujin to talk, they exchanged a lot of stories about their trainee days and especially dance classes. They are both fairly easy to get along with and they both did just that.
Sullin and Sullyoon didn’t really intend to talk much, how would that even be possible at a table with both chatty Kim Jiwoos. They simply enjoyed each other’s company. When Sumin returned after getting the food all served, she did manage to continue her conversation with Lee Jiwoo again. Seoyeon was shockingly the fish out of water at that table, trying to hide from Chuu and occasionally inserting herself into Lee Jiwoo and Sumin’s conversation.
Seoyeon said, “You have guts Sumin, I’m impressed.”
Jiwoo said, “Of course my new friend goes all cray cray, like my old new friend did earlier. At least it wasn’t at me this time…”
Sumin said, “But hey, we are safe to hang out with now! We got our badge.” She pointed to Seoyeon, “She might strike at any time…”
Jiwoo said, “Oh, I know… no one is safe around anyone in this room… Luckily I’m tall and perceptive!”
Seoyeon said, “As you were falling horizontally into the pool, what exactly did you perceive?”
“Haha, funny girl…”
At one point, Kim Jiwoo leaned over to Sullin and said loudly, “SO! You’re MY Yoona’s girlfriend?”
Sullyoon buried her face in her hands.
Sullin said, “I’m not going to lie, our relationship status has been blown a bit out of proportion.”
Jiwoo looked at her, a bit stunned. “Those were some complex words you used…”
Sullin said, “Umm… well… I have to study hard to please my girlfriend, Sullyoon!”
Sullyoon peeked out of her hands.
Jiwoo wasn’t fooled, “You can just say stuff and then later say you didn’t understand. I’m on to you… Anyway… Yoona is mine and she knows it. Back off Thai girl…”
Sullin aggressively corrected her, “Thai PRINCESS!”
Sullyoon smiled at Sullin and patted her on the hand.
***
Later, after finishing her food, Sullin got up and stood behind Sullyoon, making it look like she was just giving her a hug from behind, but whispering into her ear. “Your plan to get Sieun married seems to be working.”
Sullyoon whispered back, “Of course it is. She is cute, hot, and nearly naked.”
“And you sat them next to each other.”
“Shhhhhh.”
Mayu happened to look over at Sullin and smiled at how much she obviously liked Sullyoon; but then Sieun saw Mayu looking at Sullin and looked over as well. Sullyoon instantly blushed and Sieun gave her a look.
***
At the blue table, when Yoon wasn’t doing her best to insert herself into either Chuu or Seoyeon’s conversation to flirt with either of them, she started twenty questions with Lily and Haewon. “So!” she proudly announced to Lily.
Lily said, “So good to see you again Jayoon! It has been a yearrrrr!”
Yoon said, “I don’t think we’re really allowed to talk…” she noticed Seeun and Yooyeon, AND Isa were listening intently to her since she accidently announced herself too loudly. She thought fast on her feet. “… anyway, so how is your and Haewon’s relationship doing?”
Lily looked at Haewon and then Isa who was still sitting there looking calm and cute.
Haewon obviously wasn’t going to say anything, so Lily said, “We are always fighting over who is actually Nmixx leader of course.”
“In bed? Come on, spill something good. You two have to be more than just groupmates.”
Isa smiled deeply. “Yoonie has a hidden talent. She makes up relationships in her head that don’t exist and then blackmails you to give her stuff so she doesn’t expose your relationship that doesn’t exist.”
Haewon said, “I’m pretty sure that is a mental illness, not a talent.”
Yoon looked horrified, “To be well fed? Of course not…”
Seeun was a bit horrified at the line of questioning, but was not shocked that Lily and Haewon could have been a thing. She said, “Jayoon… are you talking about me and Chaeyoung like that again?”
Isa said, “Yes, don’t talk about me and Seeun like that…”
Yoon said, “Right… You and Sieun… I mean Seeun…”
Lily pointed to Yooyeon. “I’ve had a thing with Yooyeon, wanna blackmail ME?”
Yooyeon wasn’t in the best of moods, but did smile at Lily. Then she blurted out, “Lily and Haewon love each other deeply. Lily is horrified every time Haewon looks at Sullin or Seeun’s legs and Haewon has scarred Lily so deeply, she isn’t really sure what a relationship actually is.”
There was stunned silence at the table.
Seeun cracked up laughing and clapped, “Damn Yooyeon! You are an epic actress! That was great!”
The entire table, other than Seeun, quickly stood up and left their table. Haewon said, “Well that was interesting…”
Kim Jiwoo noticed the sudden girls standing and said, “Wait, brunch isn’t over yet? Where are you going?”
Lily said, “Whoever designed the seating at the blue table is fired!”
Seeun was the only one that stayed sitting, hoping everyone would return to her.
Isa followed Yooyeon across the room and whispered in her ear, “I so want to jump on you right now, sticky ill-fitting clothing and all.”
Yooyeon turned to look at her. She wasn’t sure how to react, but this time at least she was one hundred percent sure Isa wasn’t just saying things, she obviously meant it. Yooyeon decided on, “Seems like maybe you have some group issues and scars of your own that you need to clean up.”
“Whenever you’re ready!”
Yooyeon walked away from her, zigzagging back to the green table and stood behind Lee Jiwoo. Jiwoo wagged her finger at Isa still following from a distance, who had returned to calm and cute cat.
Kim Jiwoo shouted, “Well, my time in charge is just about over. I have one more task before I hand everything over to Jinsol for the next event. There is no requirement to do this, but each girl can request five minutes in private with one other girl. Relax with your groupmate, suck up to an Nmixx member. Do whatever with Chuu… Whatever you want. One girl. Five minutes. Nmixx members not requested will be watching and timing. Do NOT interrupt any girls that are talking alone, or you will be punished.”
Sieun helped a confused Mayu stand up and pulled her over to Jiwoo. “I want five minutes with Mayu.”
Yoon pointed at Lily and Haewon. Haewon looked at the hot chicken with daggers in her eyes.
Isa was next, “I want Sullyoon please.”
Sullyoon looked up, “What?”
Jiwoo said, “Oh? Drama? Trouble in paradise? Interrupting Sullin and Sullyoon?”
Isa looked at Jiwoo expressionless, “Please?”
“Granted!”
J said, “Can I have five minutes alone with Bae?”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Oh? Someone likes Jinsol? How is that possible?”
Seeun said, “Awwww, maknae?”
J pointed her finger at Seeun threateningly, who then chuckled to herself.
Seoyeon, Chuu, and Yoon all gathered. Chuu said, “Well, I’m leaving soon. One of you want me for five minutes?”
Seoyeon asked Jiwoo, “Can I have five minutes with Yoon?”
Jiwoo said, “Really? Yoon?”
Yoon shrugged.
“Okay, granted.”
Chuu shrugged also. Jiwoo said, “Sheesh Jiwoo, you’re so bad at everything they both want each other now instead of you.”
“I’m cursed. But now they are BOTH in my book.”
Jiwoo said, “Uhoh… You’re in an ex-Loona girl’s book. Can someone please erase my memory so I have no idea what just happened? In case of future catastrophe?”
Seeun said, “All of you girls are such good actresses!”
Jiwoo said, “Anyway… anyone else want time with any girl who is left?”
Lily said, “Yooyeon?”
Yooyeon said, “Don’t take this the wrong way Hon, I’m sticky and depressed, I want to be at my best for you. Later, okay?”
Lily gave her ‘thumbs up’.
Jiwoo said, “Alright! We don’t have many pairs, so go out in the hallway on different sides of the room where you can’t see or hear each other. I’ll give you five minutes and twenty seconds so you have time to find your spot. GO! Oh, come back when you are done or when I scream TIME!”
Isa and Sullyoon, Sieun and Mayu, Seoyeon and Yoon, and Bae and J all found a spot on opposite hallways.
***
J found herself constantly struggling between just wanting to go home and trying to figure out how to have fun at this ‘event’. Now she was alone with Bae in a poorly lit hallway, questioning her choices. Bae looked at her expectantly.
“What?” asked J.
“This was your idea. What’s up?”
“I don’t know… I thought maybe you liked me. You talked to me instead of that ballerina girl.”
“Bold maknae? Sure, you didn’t just want to look impressive in front of your groupmates? Wrangling little Bae for five minutes?”
“Fine, that too. But, do you think I’m cute?”
“No!” stated Bae definitively.
“Oh…”
“I think you are stunningly gorgeous and hot wearing Kyujin’s extra-small workout gear.”
“Oh? So, you’re… gay?”
“Yeah?” asked Bae.
“Just making sure.”
“Do you want to make out?”
“I don’t know how to do that…”
“Oh Hon, stick with me. I’ll show you!”
“Are you an expert?”
“Umm… no, but I’ve had some recent training, so that’s something.”
“Okay. What kind of girls do you like?”
“The first girl I kind of fell for was a Japanese girl. The second was a Chinese girl.”
“I’m just Korean.”
“I should explore more things from my own country! What kind of girls do you like?”
“I don’t know really. Still trying to figure it all out.”
“’I don’t know’ describes me perfectly! I’m a bit quirky.”
“Well, this has been fun. Maybe we can talk more… later?”
Bae nodded. J did a one-eighty spin and walked back toward the conference room.
***
Isa led Sullyoon a little ways down the hallway and motioned for her to sit.
“What?” asked Sullyoon.
“You like to sit to recharge. Sit…”
Sullyoon avoided eye contact with Isa and sat down on the floor, her back against the wall. Isa sat facing her. Isa grabbed her hand. “Look at me…”
“What do you want?” asked Sullyoon a bit annoyed, finally looking into her eyes.
“I feel really bad about the energy between you and I right now. It breaks my heart that you can’t even look at me.”
Sullyoon sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m being ridiculous. You did nothing wrong. I’ll stop.”
Isa grabbed Sullyoon’s other hand, now holding both. “What is it? What are you so afraid of?”
“You’re a lot. I don’t need what you’re selling.”
“I’m not going to psychoanalyze what you need in the four minutes we have left. But you’ve been around other girls selling a lot. What is it about ME?”
“It’s not just you. Yeji too…”
“Oh Yeji… Not one of the ones I was thinking about…”
“If I’m not careful around you, I would fall into a giant pit and you could destroy my entire world.”
Isa couldn’t shake the surprised look off of her face. “So, you could fall in love with me?”
“Who wouldn’t?”
“You don’t love Sullin?”
“Of course. But that’s a love I can control. I can let it simmer, I can let it flame, I can turn it off. If tomorrow we decided we shouldn’t ever see each other again, we would be sad for a few days and then life goes on and we would quickly forget about each other. We’re friends, we want to build something together. Maybe we’ll deeply love each other in the future. These are all the things that Pirada is.”
“But I would steal your heart and it would never be the same.”
“Maybe…”
“Or you are just afraid of that, whether it could actually happen or not?”
“Maybe, what difference does it make if a fear is rational or irrational?”
“Seol Yoona… you are quite the trip.”
Sullyoon shrugged, but squeezed Isa’s hands.
“We’re almost out of time. But right now. No bad energy. Don’t be afraid of me, I’ll behave. You’ll behave. Stop breaking my heart by ignoring me, there’s nothing worse.”
“Again, I’m sorry. Also, I was very jealous of you and Sullin. Didn’t help matters.”
“Which one of us are you jealous of?”
Sullyoon ripped one hand away from Isa and pointed it at her nose, “NOT BEHAVING!”
Isa giggled and stood up, pulling Sullyoon to her feet.
***
Sieun and Mayu walked hand in hand to a nice spot. Mayu asked, “What’s up?”
“I really like you!” said Sieun.
“And?”
“You’re so cute!”
“And?”
“Yoona and Sullin are up to something, I can feel it in my bones.”
“Come on, you couldn’t think of a third nice thing to say?”
“Sorry I’m like this, but they have been pushing us together. They are up to something.”
“I don’t need any push.”
“That’s not the point…”
“Okay, I’ll stop interrupting you. What are you proposing?”
“Let’s give them some of their own medicine.”
Mayu looked at her expectantly.
“Why don’t you try to seduce Yoona? She doesn’t let many girls do that. See how far you can get.”
Mayu looked at her certainly intrigued by her new friend’s ‘approach’. “I see where you are going with this. I’ll follow you there. But…”
“But?”
“Two things. First of all, promise to me right now that when these games are over, we’ll exchange numbers and be friends.”
“Worried you’ll suddenly fall in love with Yoona and never think of me again?”
“No, because second. Let me seduce Sullin instead. Yoona hasn’t even looked at my chest or butt in this bikini once. I have Sullin HANDLED.”
“Do you now…”
“Been wanting to try some things for a while.”
“This is unexpected. But fine. One and two: Accepted!”
Mayu gave Sieun a hug. She said, “Is it nice not having a bra on? I’m so going to get revenge for Jiwoo and get you wet wearing that white tee shirt with no bra.”
After letting go of Mayu, Sieun looked around the hallway as though she lost a puppy. “Cute sweet Mayu? Where are you? I know I left you here somewhere?”
Mayu giggled and walked back to the conference room, motioning for Sieun to follow.
***
Seoyeon pushed the hot chicken out of the conference room and they stopped just outside the door. “If we just talk here we get extra time!”
“Extra time for Yoon kisses!”
“That’s not why I requested you.”
“You might get them anyway!” The hot chicken puckered up.
“Look… I have a proposition for you.”
“Okay fine… what is it?”
“Let’s form an alliance!”
“A what?”
“An alliance!”
“Why do I need an alliance? You are the enemy. I have five other people I’m already forced to be in an alliance with.”
Seoyeon pointed to her butt, “But you think I’m hot, I thought maybe we could help each other.”
Yoon puckered up.
“FOCUS!” said Seoyeon way too loud.
“Sorry. For real, tell me why we need an alliance.”
“Nmixx are tricky. Think of it as: outsmarting the game.”
“They aren’t that tricky. There isn’t that much to outsmart…”
“Look, if you hear anything about the game, either about your own team or my team, or the games in general, then... You tell me, and I’ll do the same for you, if I think it will benefit you.”
Yoon used her height and just stared down at Seoyeon. The chicken was obviously still a bit confused.
“Trust me?” asked Seoyeon.
“No?”
“Okay, I see you have no interest in this. Will you do it if I let you kiss me?”
Yoon was suddenly interested. “Kiss AND I need snacks later. Any food you can smuggle would be appreciated.”
“Damn, I should have just started with that.”
“Obviously.”
Seoyeon pointed to her cheek. “Fine, go on with it…”
Yoon pulled back her chicken hood entirely and went to peck Seoyeon’s cheek. Except obviously that wasn’t going to happen and she grabbed Seoyeon’s chin, turned her head and kissed her on the lips.
Seoyeon did put much into it, but she also certainly didn’t back up or push Yoon away. After about ten seconds, Yoon let go of her face and put her hood back up. Seoyeon stood there and stared at her oversized chicken alliance member. She could only giggle at herself and turn and open the door to the conference room. Yoon had to fix her chicken head, which required unpinning and re-pinning some bits around her neck, so the entire stylishly unzipped costume didn’t fall off of her body. She got herself straightened and went back in the conference room.
***
While Seoyeon and Yoon were occupied elsewhere, Chuu gave Kim Jiwoo a hug and thanked her for brunch. With some waves from other girls, the female staff member escorted her back to the lobby and she headed off to her schedules for the day.
After everyone returned to the room from their five minute encounters, Haewon said, “Everyone, follow me back to the ballroom!”
For some reason she had a flashlight and led them out of the conference room and down the hall to the ballroom where Kyujin’s game was held last night. The girls all gathered in the ‘greeting area’ and then Haewon opened the door to the ballroom and everyone entered.
It was very dark. The partition down the center, dividing the ballroom into two, had been removed. The room now seemed gigantic, even in the dark. Haewon used her flashlight to lead the girls up to the area where Kyujin’s stage was located.
Yooyeon said, “I smell so many things.”
Seoyeon said, “Plywood?”
“Chocolate?”
“Orange juice?”
Yooyeon pushed Seoyeon, “That’s me…”
Suddenly, a spotlight pointed on the stage revealed Bae, then three gigantic LCD screens behind her all lit up at one. Bae shouted into her microphone, “WELCOME TO BAE-RRIFIC TRIVIA!”
The center screen showed a hundred different pictures and videos of Bae, each of the side screens showed the title of the event, which was apparently ‘BAE-RRIFIC TRIVIA!”
Bae continued, “I am your host! BAE-RRIFIC!”
Haewon immediately shouted back at her, but without a microphone, “I’m not calling you that…”
Sullin looked at Lee Jiwoo, “rrific?”
Jiwoo shrugged, “No clue…”
Lily, always needing to make sure everyone understands, said in English, “She’s ‘terrific’ so it’s BAE-rrific!”
Sullin and Jiwoo both exchanged looks again.
Bae continued again, “Please divide up into your groups and I will explain the game.”
TripleS quickly shuffled to the right side area in front of the stage and StayC to the left.
Seoyeon and Isa were both looking at the other side of the ballroom trying to figure out what was going on over there, there seemed to be large areas that were curtained off.
Bae continued again, “BAE-rrific Trivia is very simple! One of these screens will have a list of all of the categories. The team going first will choose a category. I will then ask six questions from that category. They will generally increase in difficulty from the first to the last. Both teams will assemble their girls before I start asking questions, in whatever order they wish. One Stayc and one TripleS member will then compete for each question. The first question is worth one point to whoever gets it correct, the second question two points, and so on to the sixth question being worth six points. If neither girl gets it correct in five seconds, neither girl gets the points. Any questions?”
Lee Jiwoo raised her hand, but there was no light on the audience, so Bae didn’t see her. Instead Yooyeon just shouted, “Do I have to pound on a damn bell to answer a question this time?”
Bae giggled, “Good question! I would like to honor the fine graphic design staff of this hotel that had to work with BAE-rrific for many hours to accomplish the amazing multi-media game you are about to play. We have legit buzzers. It will show a light on the screen for whoever buzzes in first.”
“Fancy…” said Yooyeon.
“Shall we begin?”
Jiwoo was still standing there with her hand up. Sullin said, “Jiwoo Hon… did you want to ask something?”
Jiwoo had forgotten her hand was up and quickly put it down. “Oh… I mean is there really any point?”
“Probably not,” agreed Sullin.
Bae said, “Our hot game show model, Sol, will reveal the categories!” Bae ran to the right LCD screen and waved her hand across it. Nine categories appeared one-by-one in spinning purple boxes that gradually slowed down so what was written on them could be read.
There were some grumbles from the crowd.
Bae ran back to the podium in the center of the stage. “Today’s theme! JYP-Entertainment!”
Isa said, “Of course it is…”
Seoyeon gave Isa a cool smile as though she had prepared for such a thing. It was unclear whether she actually had or not.
Bae said, “Since Sumin got her ‘secret badge’ Stayc is no longer behind, we will choose randomly to see who gets to go first and choose the first category. The winner of this game gets six badges, one badge for each member!”
Isa pointed to the side of the room. “This is simple and straightforward… What is going on with all of the stuff on the other side of the room?”
Bae said, “BAE-RRIFIC TRIVIA! Choose a member for rock, paper, scissors!”
Isa and Seoyeon met in the center in front of the stage.
“BAE-RRIFIC TRIVIA! Go!”
Isa threw stone and Seoyeon threw scissors. Isa returned to Stayc victorious, everyone cheered. She didn’t consult with the members at all. “I’m going to choose Nmixx to get it out of the way. Who even recognizes they exist on the same board with Twice and Itzy?”
“Rudeness from the players and we haven’t even started yet… NO POINTS FOR YOU! Choose your order.”
Stayc briefly huddled. Isa asked, “Did anyone think to study about Nmixx for an obvious Nmixx trivia?”
The girls all shook their heads at her. Sieun asked, “Is it going to be like music? Or member facts?”
“Who knows…” said Isa.
Sieun said, “I’ll take six.”
Isa agreed, “Okay, I’ll do five.”
Yoon said, “Four!”
Seeun and Sumin looked at each other. Sumin said, “J one, Seeun two, me three.” They formed a line in that order.
TripleS had already formed a line with no discussion. Sullin, Jiyeon, Mayu, Jiwoo, Yooyeon, Seoyeon.
Bae said, “Hot model Sol! Reveal the first question!”
Bae ran to the left LCD screen and waved her arm across as the Nmixx category appeared with six boxes beneath it. She ran back to the podium. “Kyujin, please give them the buzzers, let’s try them out!”
Kyujin ran over with two objects roughly the size of a pen, handed one to Sullin and one to J.
Bae said, “Try them out!”
J forcefully pressed on her buzzer, the entire center screen turned pink and displayed STAYC on the center. J was shocked and impressed by the power of her buzzer.
Sullin carefully pressed it, nothing happened. She more forcefully pressed it. Nothing happened. She stepped up to the stage and pointed it at Bae. “BROKEN”, she said in English.
“It’s okay Thai Princess, when one is successful, the other gets locked out for ten seconds.”
Sullin pressed it again and the screen turned blue and displayed “TRIPLES”. Her teammates all clapped for her.
“The lesson here?” Bae asked her.
Sullin said “Lesson?” as though she didn’t understand.
Bae aggressively pressed an invisible buzzer she wasn’t holding, “FASTER!”
Sullin smiled at her.
Bae waited for the center screen to reset and then the first question appeared on the right LCD screen. The text appeared as Bae said, “First question! Here we go! Which Nmixx hit requests: ‘Let me be your superhero!’”
J quickly buzzed in, the middle screen turning pink and displaying a giant Stayc. J turned around to her lined-up members, “Look at how good I am!”
Sumin said, “You have to answer the question…”
J quickly turned back around, “Sorry, I forgot. ‘O.O’.
Bae said, “Correct! Stayc gets the first point. Sullin, you don’t even listen to your girlfriend’s music?”
Sullin said, “Umm…” and cutely ran to the back of the line.
Bae said, “Question two, Jiyeon vs. Seeun. Which Nmixx member was discovered and won a training contract with JYP on Kpop Star season 4?”
Neither competitor buzzed in. Jiyeon seemed to have no clue, Seeun was doing a lot of thinking, making wild motions with her arms. She finally buzzed in.
Bae said, “Seeun! Are you going to answer, or are you just conducting an orchestra?”
Seeun said, “Does it make you happy to make a comment about everyone before they answer?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. I’m guessing Lily.”
“Correct! Good guess! Stayc 3 points, TripleS 0. Next question, Sumin vs. Mayu. Haha, Haewon wrote this one. In which NMixx hit is the attention on Haewon’s part at the beginning lessened by a rude, yet possibly cute Jiwoo interrupting with ‘ZIGZAG’?”
Sumin immediately buzzed and shouted, “Dash, I wanna dash!”
“Correct! Stayc 6 points, TripleS 0. TripleS is making me sad. Would anyone like to say anything?”
Seoyeon realized that the rest of Nmixx was suddenly being very quiet. She looked around, realizing none of them were watching the game.
“Question 4: Yoon vs. Jiwoo. Tall girls rock! Ugh, Sullyoon wrote this one… Which member went on a VLOG camping trip with Sullyoon, but Sullyoon claimed she had to set up the tent entirely by herself.”
Yoon and Jiwoo looked at each other. Yoon said, “Sure, my question isn’t about music… Like I have time to watch Nmixx contents.”
Jiwoo said, “Yeah… Do you realize how much I have to be on camera myself, not to mention watching Yooyeon ‘cook’ and Japanese girls doing Japanese girl things?”
Seoyeon and Yooyeon were making wild gestures at Jiwoo. She just stared at them.
Bae said, “Well, neither of you get any points. No need to tell what the answer was...”
Yooyoon grabbed Jiwoo and pushed her to Seoyeon, who then pushed her back. Yooyeon said, “THE ANSWER WAS BAE! She gave you a hint that it was her before she even asked about the question by complaining about it…”
Jiwoo said, “Oh? Fine, you go answer one…”
Yooyeon and Isa got ready to answer.
Bae said, “Question number five! Which Nmixx song and fan favorite has lyrics written by Day6’s YoungK?”
Isa rang in quickly. “Run for Roses!”
Bae said, “This girl knows her Nmixx!”
Yoon complained, “I do too… you just asked me the wrong question…”
“Well, Stayc 11, TripleS 0. There is no need for the final question.”
Seoyeon said, “Yes there is… read it… There is going to be some hidden thing with total points or hidden points, or some stupid thing… read it…”
Sieun made her way to the front and shrugged.
Bae said, “Okay… Question six. Which song on Nmixx’s latest album is Sullyoon’s favorite and has an epic modulation after the first chorus?”
Seoyeon said, “Nevermind, that’s impossible.”
“Sieun?”
“No clue, I haven’t had a chance to listen to NMixx’s last album. I’m very sorry.”
Bae said, “Hot model Sol, do your thing!” She quickly ran over to the right LCD and pointed at the NMixx box. It turned pink, indicating that Stayc won that category.”
Seoyeon said, “So we get to choose the next category.”
Yooyeon said, “You realize we totally knew that that was going to be a thing and prepared for it and still got our butts kicked.”
“It isn’t my fault Chaeyoung is smarter than you and the sixth questions are going to be impossible. And we prepared for things like what is Jinsol’s favorite color?”
Everyone in TripleS and Nmixx shouted, “YELLOW!” at the same time.
Bae said, “Quite the bit of strategy to decide who answers which question, isn’t it Sol?”
Bae jumped next to herself, now Sol, “Sure is!” She jumped back to being Bae.
Seoyeon repeated, “So we get to choose the next category?”
Bae said, “Probably… but first…”
“Here we go…”
Stayc was standing in a close huddle, excited to see what was about to happen.
Bae quickly ran to the side of the stage, down some stairs and over to the unlit side of the room where a spotlight suddenly beamed down on her. She said, “Hello everyone! I’m Bae! Please remember me! It is time for the losers to earn some ‘Bae Bucks’!”
Yooyeon said, “The fuck?”
Jiwoo sat down on the floor.
Jiyeon said, “I’ve only been watching her run around up there like that for one category and I’m already tired.”
Seoyeon said, “Told you…”
Bae continued, “Some friends have requested some odd jobs they need accomplished over here. Depending on how good you do, you get paid some ‘Bae Bucks’ or maybe a lot of ‘Bae Bucks’, or maybe no ‘Bae Bucks’”.
Jiyeon shouted, “THEN WHAT?”
“After the trivia competition is over and we know the winner, we will have a little auction where everyone can spend their ‘Bae Bucks’.”
Jiyeon shouted again, “FOR WHAT?”
“You might buy some badges, or some new clothing choices… or some food!”
Yoon said, “Snacks?”
Isa said, “Do not get excited about things the losers have to do. We’ll just keep winning over here.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Bae said, “TripleS, come on over and see what the first task is!”
Sullin and Mayu pulled Jiwoo up from the ground and the six of them hesitantly made their way toward Bae.
Bae pulled down the first curtain, Kyujin was standing behind, surrounded by some piles of wood and various tools. “Kyujin’s closet organizer is not what she expected, it doesn’t fit in her closet. She has to tear out all of the existing shelves and build some new ones. Who will help her the most?”
Yooyeon said, “I should have had more fun during cooking…”
Jiyeon said, “This is at least as dangerous.”
Mayu asked, “Should I be using power tools while wearing a bikini?”
Seoyeon said, “How about we take Twice trivia a bit more seriously…”
Stayc watched them, partially happy, mostly horrified.
Badge summary: Seoyeon 2, Mayu 2, Yooyeon 1, Jiyeon 1, Jiwoo 1, Sullin 1 (TripleS 8 total); Yoon 2, Seeun 2, Sumin 2, Sieun 1, Isa 1 (Stayc 8 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll: (July 5 - 12): https://forms.gle/R89jhhJ8JtZs6Q4F8
Chapter 8: Jayoon: Chicken, Dinosaur, and IT Specialist
Summary:
Bae-rrific trivia continues with questions about Stray Kids and the Boss himself! The losers are requested to hang a shelf, babysit some children, paint something in a closet, and assemble some dilapidated computer equipment. Who turns out to be best at trivia and random odd tasks?
Chapter Text
Chapter 8: Jayoon: Chicken, Dinosaur, and IT Specialist
TripleS made their way to Kyujin. She was standing in front of six stations, each a mock up of her closet with a back wall and two side walls. Next to Kyujin was a male hotel staff member.
Kyujin said, “I will start by introducing my friend John. This is my friend John…” She pointed to him.
Sullin suddenly said, “John! I’m John!”
Lee Jiwoo patted her on the head, as no one had any clue what she was talking about.
Kyujin continued, “John will be helping you cut your shelf, he is the only one allowed to use the table saw. Otherwise, there is a pile of wood shelves here, you each get a tape measure, level, a rechargeable screwdriver and some screws and pencils. There is a pile of shelving brackets over there. There is also a diagram of my closet, indicating where the studs are in the wall. Each of your stations is exactly the same. You have ten minutes to make and hang a shelf. Any questions?”
Jiyeon asked Mayu, “Do you have any clue what we’re supposed to do?”
“Vaguely,” said Mayu.
Jiwoo asked Yooyeon, “You got this?”
“Sure… I can’t be worse than cutting up those walnuts.”
Kyujin said, “GO!”
Jiwoo ran to the pile of wood, “Don’t forget! Measure twice, cut once!”
Stayc had also formed a semi-circle around the outside of the stations to watch. Sumin cheered, “Someone might know what she’s doing!”
Jiwoo said, “I used to help my grandfather do stuff like this. I was his favorite.”
J said, “Because you are tall…”
A thought crossed Jiwoo’s head and her mind went blank for a second, “No… that’s surely not the only reason…”
Sieun said, “Short girls get no love for hanging stuff on a wall. Or much of anything…”
Sullin, Yooyeon, Jiyeon, and Mayu all approached the wood as well. Mayu was about to grab a plank, but Yooyeon stopped her and whispered, “Watch Jiwoo first.”
Seoyeon took a totally different tactic and approached John, “Hi, I’m Seoyeon. I’m an Idol. Do you like my shorts?” She pointed to her butt.
He looked at her like she was on drugs.
“You are going to help me do all of this, right?”
He shook his head no. Kyujin giggled.
“Worth a try…” She grabbed a plank, nearly whacking Jiyeon in the shoulder and took it over to the floor in front of her station. Jiwoo had done the same.
Jiwoo looked at the diagram and then grabbed her tape measure and measured her closet from wall to wall. She then got a pencil, measured her board and marked the length of the shelf on both the top and bottom of the board. “Why do I feel like there are at least ten people watching me?”
Kyujin said, “Eleven.”
Yooyeon learned enough to get started. She stopped watching and decided to get her own board. Jiyeon, Mayu, and Sullin did the same.
Seoyeon elected not to measure her board and simply held it up to her walls, making a mark on each side of the board somewhat near where the wall would be. While Jiwoo was ‘measuring twice’, Seoyeon quickly ran her board over to John.
“Cut!” she said and handed him the board.
He laid it on the table saw. The board sitting flush against the back guard, the two lines she had drawn with her pencil were far from straight.
“These lines are not straight, where do you want me to cut? Here or here?” He pointed to a cut on one side of the line, and a cut to the other side of the line, easily half a centimeter difference.”
“How should I know?” she asked.
“Okay!” he said and turned on the saw. Seoyeon’s eyes got huge as she covered her ears with her hands and watched John cut down one side.
She screamed at him, “WAIT!”
He was preparing to make the second cut, but stopped and turned to look at her.
She screamed, “THAT WAY!” pointing to the side of the board toward the first cut. He moved the board a bit and cut down her ‘line’ cheating to the side she indicated. He turned off the saw, blew some sawdust off of the board and handed it to her.
Jiwoo was standing there waiting, followed by the other four girls, all of which obviously only had to make one cut to their boards. They each followed Jiwoo, drawing a straight, true, line at possibly the correct measurement. He cut them happily one after the other.
Mayu was last. She said, “I’m cute! Please cut mine well!”
He did not miss that she was wearing a bikini. He said, “Miss, yours seems a bit shorter than the other girls, I don’t know if that is good or bad?”
“Shorter than the tall girl?”
“Yes…”
“FIX!” she said cutely.
He shrugged and cheated a bit to the direction he thought was probably correct, mostly ignoring her line.
Seoyeon saw him giving her preferential treatment. “I’M ALSO BLONDE! And you can see my butt too!”
He ignored her.
Jiwoo said, “She’s cute…”
Seoyeon made a meeper face. “I’M CUTE!” She took a careful look at the diagram, trying to figure out where she was supposed to put her brackets.
Yooyeon went back to watching Jiwoo. Jiwoo figured out where the brackets were supposed to go and drew a mark on the bottom of the shelf where the center of the bracket should be. She then placed a bracket, marking the two screw holes with the pencil, then she did the same to the other side.
Yooyeon saw enough and started trying to figure out where to mark her own board. She missed Jiwoo double checking how far apart the screw holes were from bracket one to bracket two, for both sets.
Jiwoo was the first to use the rechargeable screwdriver. She quickly put in all four screws, securing both brackets to the board. She then used her tall girl powers, put the level on the soon to be shelf, put four longer screws in her teeth and held the board to the wall with one hand, screwdriver in the other. She got it as level as she could before her arm got tired and drove the screws into the wall.
Jiwoo was finished before Kyujin gave a two-minute warning. The other girls were still struggling with their shelves at one minute warning, but all of them managed to finish before she called time.
An excited Kyujin said to John, “Should we have a look?”
“Maybe it is better not to,” he said honestly.
Kyujin pointed to Seoyeon, but he walked to Jiwoo’s station instead. Kyujin followed him.
He tested the shelf with the level and then pulled down on it and pushed up on it to test stability. “This one is level, the correct dimensions and all four screws are indeed in a stud. I couldn’t have done better myself.”
Jiwoo bowed as Sieun and then the rest of Stayc gave her a round of applause. “I will be thanking my grandfather for whatever I’m getting for this and will dive into why I’m his favorite just after.”
Next, he went to Sullin’s station. Sullin said, “HI JOHN! I’M JOHN!”
He said, “The length is correct, but I don’t think it is level.” He put the level on the board and Sullin burst into laughter.
“Oh! I used it the other way. Hahaha.”
He stood it up on its end, “Like this? Well that sort of works, but that bubble is for measuring plumb like the wall.” He showed her the wall was plumb.”
Seoyeon said, “Sure, Sullin’s butt gets attention, I got nothing.”
J and Seeun did the ‘bubble bubble bubble’ dance at the trigger word.
John said, “It is a bit off level, you couldn’t store any balls up there. But not too bad, solid effort.”
Sullin clapped for herself.
Next, he went to Mayu’s station. Seoyeon said, “Here we go…”
“Cute girl in a bikini. You didn’t measure well, your shelf is way too short, it was supposed to be about 33% bigger. I fixed it a bit, or it would have been even shorter. Because of that, it doesn’t really fit the space and somehow you managed to get one bracket in a stud, but then the other one isn’t.”
Mayu bowed to him. “Thank you for your constructive criticism, but I like short shelves!”
Next, he went to Yooyeon’s station. “Did you use the level at all?”
Yooyeon looked down, “No… I don’t have enough hands… How am I supposed to hold six things with two hands, one of which is my right hand and doesn’t do much? And I also have to hold my pants.”
He looked at her, not impressed by her excuses. “Anyway, the length is correct, but it isn’t level. You also used long screws to screw the bracket into the shelf and all four broke through the top of the shelf. It will certainly damage Kyujin’s things.”
Yooyeon looked at him dead serious. She pointed to them. “I did that on purpose. It is a build in run maker to make your nylons more stylish.”
He just stared at her.
“Would you believe… If you lay a table cloth on it, the little bumps the screws make keep stuff on the shelf to counteract that you think it isn’t level.”
“Ma’am. Level is not a state of mind, it is a state of matter, determined by this tool.”
“I can’t argue with this. Would you believe…”
John waved her off and moved to Jiyeon’s station. Jiyeon’s board was the correct length, and the shelf brackets were attached to the board well. But they were at the wrong spot and didn’t line up with the studs. She also used short screws which wouldn’t have made it to the studs if they were in the correct spot. He grabbed the shelf, impressed that it was even holding on to the wall at all and just ripped it right off of the wall.
Jiyeon clapped and jumped up and down. “This man is so strong! Impressive!”
She realized that no one else was buying it and just went and hugged Yooyeon instead of being like Yooyeon and trying to argue anything.
Finally, he looked at Seoyeon’s station. “Did you measure anything?”
She looked down. “Yes, with my eyeballs.”
The shelf ended up too long and the only way she could fit it on the wall was at an angle.
“Your tall friend who is good at hanging a shelf told you to measure twice and cut once.”
Seoyeon stuttered, “It was difficult to believe she would be good at it, so I decided to flirt with you instead of listening to her.”
“You did everything mostly right, but the shelf is at an angle and the brackets are at an angle and maybe one of them is in a stud.”
“At least two are.”
“Should I pull it off of the wall to check?”
“No.”
John bowed to Kyujin and Kyujin said, “Everyone, thank John for helping us today, he will be leaving with his power tools now!”
The girls all cheered and clapped for John, Sullin cheered, “John! John! John!”
Seoyeon said, “Wait, now what?”
Kyujin said, “I will use John’s advice to decide how many ‘Bae Bucks’ to give each of you for hanging a shelf for me. He was kind and went in order of his favorite down to Seoyeon, which makes it easy for me!”
Seoyeon sighed.
Kyujin got out a stack of monopoly money and handed Jiwoo 500 ‘Bae Bucks’. She handed Sullin 400, Mayu and Yooyeon 250 each, Jiyeon 100, and Seoyeon 50.
Yooyeon said, “Monopoly money?”
Kyujin reiterated, “’Bae Bucks’!”
Bae shouted, “Everyone come back, it is time for more Bae-rrific trivia!”
Stayc gathered on their side, TripleS on their side. Bae asked, “TripleS! As losers, you get to choose the next category!”
Without even consulting, or pretending she cared what anyone else wanted, Mayu loudly shouted, “TWICE!”
An X appeared over twice and Bae said, “Twice it is! Let’s start! Choose your order and grab your buzzers!”
Seoyeon said, “Who said you could pick?”
“Me…” said Mayu.
“We didn’t say you could pick.”
“What would you have picked?”
“Twice.”
She looked at Yooyeon, “What would you have picked?”
“Twice…” said Yooyeon.
She looked at Seoyeon, unamused.
“I guess you’re answering question six,” said Seoyeon.
Yooyeon said, “No, she should answer five. Let’s not even bother with question six.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah…”
“Sullin on question six?”
Sullin said, “I’m going to shock and amaze!”
They got into order, Jiyeon, Jiwoo, Seoyeon, Yooyeon, Mayu, and Sullin. Stayc had a very brief conversation and got into the order: Sumin, Seeun, J, Yoon, Sieun, Isa.
Bae pointed to the screen and the first question appeared. “Jiyeon and Sumin: Which Twice song says: ‘I wanna know haru jongil utgo ittaneunde; I wanna know sesangi da areumdapdaneunde, I wanna know know know know’.”
Jiyeon instantly ran in, Sumin just after, a fraction of a second too slow, “What is Love?”
Bae said, “One point for Jiyeon!”
Sumin said, “Sorry, I knew it, I’m just too slow.”
Isa said, “Don’t worry! We’ll get them!”
Bae said, “Jiwoo versus Seeun.”
Jiwoo said, “Sure, I have to battle Sana for a Twice question…”
Seeun got shy and waved her hands.
Bae continued, “Which country is Tzuyu from?”
Seeun just beat Jiwoo. “Taiwan!”
Bae said, “Correct! Stayc 2, TripleS 1. Third question, Seoyeon vs. J. Which member trained for ten years before debuting with Twice?”
Seoyeon quickly rang in before J, “Jihyo!”
“Correct! Stayc 2, TripleS 4. Fourth question, Yooyeon vs. Yoon. Which member sang the song ‘Beyond’ on the Moana 2 soundtrack?”
Yooyeon and Yoon looked at each other, both had narrowed it down to a few choices, but weren’t sure. Yoon decided to go for it, “Nayeon?”
“Correct! Nice job Yoonie! Stayc 6, TripleS 4.”
The rest of TripleS clapped as Mayu took her spot in front.
Sieun asked, “Big Twice Stan?”
Mayu bowed. Sieun took her place in the front also, Stayc cheered for her, just to counter what was going on on the other side.
Sullin said, “First girlfriend fight of many!”
Sieun said, “I’ve known her for like ten minutes.”
Bae pointed the board, “Mayu vs. Sieun, question five. “In which country was Mina born?”
Sieun immediately buzzed in, “Japan!” She looked around trying to figure out why the fifth question would be so easy.
Mayu was giggling and concentrating hard on her buzzer, pressing it over and over again until the lockout was over and it finally worked. Then she finally shouted, “AMERICA!”
Sieun put her hands over her eyes. “Oh crap, I forgot… She is Japanese, but was born in the USA.”
Mayu said, “Sorry girlfriend!”
Sieun wordlessly walked to the back of the line. J hugged her, “It’s okay! Don’t worry, we will get the last question!”
Bae said, “Stayc 6, TripleS 9. Last question, Isa vs. Sullin.” Sullin was making rude and funny faces at Isa who was just being calm and cute. “Question six! Which Twice member’s hobby is collecting perfumes and body mist?”
Sullin shouted, “OH MY GOD!” She quickly rang in. “SANA!”
Bae said, “Correct! TripleS wins the ‘Twice’ category!”
Isa stood there a bit in a daze. “Best friend? How did you know that?”
“She told us at Christmas… I mean, lucky guess, one out of nine chance I guess…”
Isa nodded, her assumption being correct about Sullin meeting Sana at a previous party. No one else caught on at all.
Bae said, “Well, it is time for Stayc to earn some ‘Bae Bucks’”!
A door opened and closed from the ‘dark’ side of the room.
Stayc made their way in that direction, J said, “Did I just hear…”
TripleS followed behind them, anxious to see what was about to happen. Bae ran down the stairs at the side of the stage and up to the second curtain, past the woodworking challenge. Bae pulled down the curtain and standing there was Sullyoon surrounded by ten five- and six-year old children.
J said, “Dear lord… what a nightmare…”
Sieun and Isa both clapped, “Children!”
Seeun grabbed Sieun’s hands, “Don’t make loud noises and scare them…”
“They are children, not cats. You can’t just scare the whole bunch of them.”
One child immediately started crying.
Seeun wagged her finger, “Nice job Sieun…”
Isa said, “Do you see what Yoon is wearing?”
Yoon giggled, unhooked a few safety pins and zipped up her costume, flipping the hood over to go from slutty chicken to normal chicken.
One little boy watched the transformation and started jumping up and down and pointing, laughing at the chicken.
Sullyoon said, “This challenge has already begun. Stayc has fifteen minutes to linger with these children. Each of them is carrying 100 ‘Bae Bucks’ that they can do with what they please. Bye!” Sullyoon quickly ran out of the pack of children, the one that was crying started wailing loudly.”
Without a word, or hesitation, Isa walked into the pack of children to find the one that was crying, she identified the girl and sat down on the floor in front of her. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong with you?”
“I MISS… MY… MAMA…”
“It’s okay pretty girl, you only have to stay with us for a bit, then you can see your mama.”
“NOW!” she screamed.
“When I’m upset, I find a good friend and hang out with her, do you have any friends here?”
“NO!”
Not having any friends seemed to check out, as the rest of the children seemed annoyed by the crying and screaming.
“What does your mama do for you that you love so much?”
“She plays with my hair and gives me ice cream.”
“Child… now you’re making sense. Sit down in front of me!” The little girl begrudgingly sat in Isa’s lap and Isa started braiding her hair.
***
Yoon clucked her way to the group of children and the little boy that watched her earlier grabbed two friends and they ran to and started jumping on the chicken. One of the boys yelled, “You aren’t even a chicken, you’re a girl!” Yoon did her best to walk away from the crowd with one boy attached to one leg and two others pushing and kicking at her.
She made a very loud “CLUCK! Stay still!” All three boys actually stopped what they were doing, but the other children were also startled and Isa’s poor girl started crying again.
“I’m going to tell a joke,” stated Yoon. All three boys stared at her, waiting to hear this joke.
She was pleased that she had their attention, so she made up a joke quick, “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
One boy said, “To get to the other side… you’re dumb…”
“No… Try again…”
The other boy shrugged, “I don’t know… tell us why…”
“Because Sieun and Chaeyoung are on this side and being scary.”
The three boys looked at her, unamused.
“Okay okay, I’ll try again. A chicken, a duck, and a little boy walk into a… farm. The chicken and the duck beg the little boy to feed them. The chicken asks for corn, the duck asks for fish. The boy asks, ‘what am I going to eat’? The chicken and duck look at each other and both say ‘BEEF’.”
Two boys looked at each other and said, “This chicken is dumb, let’s go find that pretty one!”
“Okay!” agreed the other boy and they both ran off.
The third boy said, “Wait, is the joke over?”
Yoon said to him, “What do I have to do to get you to give me your ‘Bae Bucks’?”
He motioned for her to lean over. He whispered in her ear, “I’ve always wanted to ride a chicken, they claim it is like riding a dinosaur!”
Yoon had a lot of questions about who made this claim, but decided not to waste an opportunity. She knelt down and let the boy climb on her back and then ran around the room wildly.
***
Sieun took a cue from Isa and sat down on the floor. “Would any other little girls like their hair done? I’m better than Chaeyoung!”
One little girl walked up to her curiously. “You are wearing clothing for swimming! Will you take me swimming!”
“Sorry… I’m not allowed. I hope you get to play in the pool later though!”
The girl looked over at Isa and the crying girl. “Do I have to cry to get my hair done?”
Sieun giggled, “No! You are so cute! I’ll braid your hair!”
The girl sat in front of Sieun and she started braiding her hair. After thirty seconds the girl said, “I’M BORED!”
“Would you like me to sing something while braiding? I’m in the Kpop group Stayc!”
“NO SINGING!”
“What things do you like to do while you are in the pool?”
The girl suddenly got excited and went on for ten minutes about every time she has ever been in the pool.
***
Three children cornered Sumin. “Do you work here?” asked one of them.
“Umm, why?”
“Take me to my parents!”
The other child said, “I’m hungry! Feed me!”
The third child said, “My parents paid a lot of money to come here and you aren’t very helpful.”
Sumin said, “How about we play a game?”
The children quickly agreed and Sumin and the three kids had a good time playing ‘red light – green light’.
***
The last two girls saw Seeun and J slowly approaching behind the rest of the Stayc members and ran right to them the way cats immediately sense the people in the room that don’t like cats and run right to them.
The one girl simply stopped and laughed at J and said very loudly, “WHY AREN’T YOU WEARING PANTS?”
Seeun started cracking up laughing at her critique.
The other said, “Hey, aren’t you in Twice or something? My sister loves them, but only old ladies like Twice now.”
J snickered back at Seeun. “I have chosen not to wear pants because this is my workout gear.”
The girl looked her up and down. “You need PANTS and a SHIRT!”
Seeun said, “I’m not in Twice, I’m in Stayc. Would you like us to sing and dance for you?”
The girls looked at each other, surprised by the sudden admission.
Seeun looked at J and they quickly performed the chorus of ‘Teddy Bear’ to cheers from the two girls.
***
Sullyoon was standing by Bae, telling her stories of getting the children into the ballroom quietly. She decided she should probably go check on how well Stayc was doing. She saw the overall scene playing out, one girl with Isa, one with Sieun, two with Seeun and J, three with Sumin and three with Yoon.
When two of the boys with Yoon quickly ran over and took up two more spaces on Isa’s lap without warning, the entire demeanor of the room changed. The two girls with Seeun and J left them after their performance was over and hugged on Isa as well. Sumin saw Isa swarmed in children and kept her own children too busy to want to leave her.
Sullyoon slowly walked around and made eye contact with Isa, still braiding the crying girl’s hair, though she was now humming to herself instead of crying, four other random children just wanting to sit in her presence. Sullyoon beamed her a smile, fairly sure that Isa surrounded by children was the most angelic site she had ever seen. Sullyoon instantly blushed and made her way back to Bae. Even heaped with children, Isa surely didn’t miss Sullyoon’s reaction.
TripleS was watching as well. Jiyeon said, “Sumin is smart, she is easily keeping them occupied with games.”
Yooyeon said, “Better than the chicken, that’s for sure…”
Sullin said, “Chaeyoung just calls them to her like a goddess with animals in the middle of the forest.”
Seoyeon said, “It is impressive.”
Mayu said, “I kind of want to go sit on her lap too, am I children?”
Jiwoo said, “She’s overrated.”
Yooyeon said, “I agree with Jiwoo.”
Mayu said to Seoyeon, “I’ll race you to her lap. I’ll grab one boy and fling him aside, you grab the other. The girl can stay for now.”
Seoyeon gave her a high five. Jiwoo and Sullin both watched, wondering if they actually might not be kidding and suddenly run over there.
***
Finally, Sullyoon shouted, “Time is up! Children! Give each of the Stayc members your ‘Bae Bucks’, however you like!”
The children’s parent’s faces suddenly started appearing in the door on that side of the ballroom. The children quickly started throwing their ‘Bae Bucks’ to Isa and then ran to their parents.
Yoon’s one child riding on her back gave her 50. The two girls that Seeun and J performed for felt bad for them and gave them each 50 (100 total). Sieun’s little girl gave her 100 for not singing. Two of Sumin’s children gave her 100, the third only gave her 50 because she didn’t feed him and he wanted to give the last 50 to his parents (250 total). Everyone else handed Isa their cash and she made a total of 500.
***
After the children all found their parents, Stayc got up and recovered a bit and then Bae called them back to the stage. “Stayc, pick the next category!”
Sieun asked, “Are we going to do all nine?”
Bae said, “No…”
Sumin asked, “Well how many are we going to do?”
“No…”
Isa said, “Not nine, so probably five or seven as long as we keep it close.”
Sieun said, “Well, no need to be that strategic about what we are picking if there are only five.”
Yoon said, “I looked around when I was carrying that child around, there are five curtained areas over there.”
Sumin said, “It is a hint, but something could easily happen outside of this room also.”
Yoon nodded.
Sieun asked, “Itzy?”
“Seems obvious. Yoonie, you pick.”
Yoon looked right at Bae and shouted, “TRUE JYP TALENT! STRAY KIDS!”
Bae said, “Ouch, dissing Twice like that, you might upset Mayu…”
Mayu put up her fists and pretended to fight Yoon.
“Set your orders!”
Isa said, “Well, the sixth Twice question was not impossible, so do we want Yoonie last for this?”
Sieun said, “Yeah, sure…”
Stayc lined up: Sumin, J, Sieun, Isa, Seeun, and Yoon. TripleS didn’t discuss much and lined up: Sullin, Jiyeon, Jiwoo, Yooyeon, Seoyeon, and Mayu.
Bae said, “Question one! Sumin vs. Sullin! Which member can speak Korean, English, Japanese, and a bit of Chinese?”
Sullin buzzed in first, “Felix?”
“That is incorrect. Do you know Sumin?”
Sumin said, “Bang Chan?”
“Correct! One point for Stayc! Question two, J vs. Jiyeon: Which Stray Kids song states ‘Man, I’m not sorry, I’m dirty; keep on talking, we don’t play by the rules’?”
J rang in quickly, “Thunderous!”
“Correct! Three points for Stayc! Question three, Sieun vs Jiwoo: “This member left the group in 2019 and has since had a solo release?”
Jiwoo looked at Sieun, but obviously had no clue. Sieun’s wheels were turning and then she finally remembered his name, “Kim Woojin!”
“Correct! Six points for Stayc! What’s going on TripleS? Really no boys over there?”
Yooyeon took her spot at the front of the line and said, “Continue, hot model Sol.”
Bae shook her head, “I’m Bae-rrific, you aren’t even paying attention… Sol is over there. Isa vs. Yooyeon, question four: This member’s nickname, as given to him by the other members, is ‘Squirrel’.”
Isa didn’t know, and it took a few seconds, but Yooyeon finally rang in with a guess. “Han?”
Bae said, “You got one! Six points Stayc, four points TripleS, can they make a comeback? Question five, Seeun vs Seoyeon: What year did Stray Kids release their song ‘God’s Menu’?”
Seoyeon ran in quickly, but then stuttered. “Twenty…”
Bae stared at her, waiting to call it correct or wrong.
She meekishly asked, “Twenty?”
Bae said, “Correct!”
Seeun said, “Dammit! I knew that!”
Seoyeon said, “I was pretty sure it was during the pandemic.”
“Yeah…” said Seeun.
Bae said, “TripleS could win this if no one knows question six! Stayc six, Triple S nine.
Yoon said, “Oh, I know.”
Seoyeon said, “The chicken thinks she knows Stray Kids! Prove her wrong Japanese girl!”
Mayu jumped forward and made a cute face at Yoon. “What happened to slutty chicken, I like your bra.”
“Oh, do you now?” asked Yoon. She quickly threw the hood back and opened the zipper again, affixing a few things with safety pins.
Bae said, “Jeez. Okay, question six, Yoon vs. Mayu: This member spent a short period of time living in America when he was 6 years old.”
Yoon instantly buzzed in, “Hyunjin!”
Bae said, “Nice! You got it! Stayc wins!”
A dejected Mayu turned to her team. “I’m sorry, I knew it too…”
Seoyeon shouted to Bae, “Your sixth question has become too easy.”
Bae said, “Slutty chicken beat her to it, what do you want from me? Stayc goes back in the lead, two points to one!” Bae ran over to the side stairs and over to the third curtain that looked remarkably similar to the first. A bit out of breath, she said, “TripleS! Come here!”
The six of them made their way to Bae, Stayc following behind, Sullyoon and Kyujin behind them.
Bae pulled down the curtain and Lily was standing at a setup very similar to Kyujin’s closets. Lily said, “Unlike Kyujin’s carefully organized closets, mine are mostly empty because other girls have ‘borrowed’ all of my things. I would like to hire a painter to paint a pretty thing for the back wall of my closet. I will stare at it often and I’m paying well!”
Yooyeon said, “Lily Hon… If I come to your bedroom, I won’t be painting…”
“Naurrrrrr…” said Lily.
Isa grumbled to Yooyeon, “You ignore me, but actually flirt with the Australian girl…”
Yooyeon continued ignoring Isa. Seeun put her arms around Isa to comfort her.
“Anyway…” continued Lily in English, “Who will be my favorite painter?”
TripleS all moved closer. The closets were indeed similar, but there was a chair in each one so the girls could sit while painting the back wall. There was a bench with six palettes and a massive variety of acrylic paints to choose from and a variety of brushes of different sizes and cups of water. Each closet was also painted a different color background to start.
“Everyone! Choose your closet!”
Sullin and Mayu both ran to the purple one like two children after the same candy bar.
Sullin said, “Purple!”
Mayu agreed, “Yes! My favorite color! Let Mayu-chan have it!”
“I need it!”
“No me!”
Jiwoo and Jiyeon used the distraction to choose the white wall and green wall respectively.
Seoyeon said, “Mayu? Is it worth it? Just pick blue…”
Mayu ran her hand up Sullin’s shirt, tickling her sides, then conceded and moved to the blue. Seoyeon chose the orange and Yooyeon the black background. Lily said, “You have twenty minutes! You don’t have to worry about fine details, just give me a good idea what my closet would look like if you painted it! Go!”
The girls quickly started squirting paint onto their palettes. Yooyeon was struggling with not having enough hands again and just dropped Sullin’s shorts to the ground. “No outsiders around right now, if you guys see my panties, so be it…”
Stayc sat on the floor, generally quiet but grooming each other. Kyujin sat next to Sullyoon and occasionally had to poke her on the shoulder to wake her up.
Lily sat with Kyujin for a bit, until she called for a two-minute warning and then got up and looked at the paintings as time ran out and the girls stopped painting.
Lily stood behind Sullin first. “Thai Princess. What the heck is that?”
Sullin shouted, “PETER! Look it says Peter right here!” She had indeed written Peter under her painting of Peter.
Mayu said, “You WASTED the purple background on PETER?”
“He looks good on purple!”
Lily said, “Am I going to regret asking what Peter is?”
Jiwoo felt the need to explain and said, “Peter is Sullin’s emotional support cockroach… doll… thing… It’s a thing…”
Lily said, “Ohhhhr?”
“PETER!” shouted Sullin proudly again, pointing to Peter.
“Okay…” Lily moved to Jiwoo. “You started with white and drew some red markings, what is it?”
Jiwoo said, “I was drawing a hockey rink, but it was really hard to get the ellipse perfect and I wasted like ten minutes making it and didn’t have time to draw me skating! If I actually drew it for you, there would be stands and people on the ice… and me… But look! I used grey to make the ice look reflective!”
Lily said, “Right… well, I’m not going to say it wouldn’t be good if it was finished, but it is difficult to judge.”
Jiwoo pointed to Peter, at Sullin’s station next to hers. “Ice rink? Or cockroach?”
Sullin said, “Lily… I used three kinds of brown, red, yellow, and two kinds of tan to paint Peter!”
Lily said loudly, “Yoona! Your girlfriend is… interesting!”
Yoona woke up suddenly, “Umm yeah… Umm… she starts out shy and everyone thinks she is just this stunning Thai Princess, but once she breaks out of her shell… umm nevermind…”
Lily moved to Mayu. “What did you draw with your BLUE background?”
“Ugh… Stupid Peter… I used my bikini as inspiration and made an underwater scene with my BLUE background. See these is an oyster with a pearl and some kelp, we can dry it and make sushi, and here is a fish and I was starting to draw a crab, like in ‘The Little Mermaid’.”
Jiwoo looked over, “You know, a crab is just an aquatic cockroach…”
Mayu waved the paintbrush, still loaded with red paint at Jiwoo. Lily jumped back, afraid she might end up with a red steak across her belly.
Lily said, “It is nice. I think I would find it relaxing to have an underwater scene in my closet.”
Kyujin said, “Not when I’m her roommate, you know she’s going to sit in that closet and sing ‘Part of your World’ all fricking night.”
Lily immediately sang, ‘Wandering free, wish I could be, part of that world…’
Yooyeon grabbed Lily’s hand, “Hey hottie… come look at my mine!”
Sullin lifted Yooyeon’s shirt so Lily could see her panties. Yooyeon said, “MY PAINTING!”
Lily moved to Yooyeon. “You had black, so you had to do a reverse painting!”
“Sort of. My dream is to go skiing in Switzerland. So, I used the black background and drew some white and grey mountains. What do you think?”
“I love it! I think it would be very nice if you had a few more hours.”
Seoyeon said, “*cough* favoritism *cough*”.
“Naurrrrr, always fair I am!”
She moved to Seoyeon next. “You had the orange, not easy!”
“I love sunsets, so I made the bottom green with a dark grey sky at the top and used the orange for the sunset.”
“It is very nice! It also has a lot of potential! Okay, well, I think I have decided who I want to have paint my closet.”
Jiyeon said, “Yo! You forgot the ballerina down here at the end?”
Lily said, “Ohhhhr, I’m so sorry… What did you paint Jiyeon?”
“I had green so I was inspired by Bob Ross and painted ‘happy little trees’.” No one else had any clue what she was talking about.
Lily said, “Trees? But why are they happy?”
“The trees aren’t happy, but letting them tell you where to put them makes the artist happy! Just like drawing Peter makes Sullin happy.”
Sullin said, “Someone understands me!”
Lily said, “That’s very deep and your forest painting is very good. You should paint more often, you are quite talented…”
Jiyeon said, “But your favorite is stupid Yooyeon…”
“Naurrr! My favorite is Mayu! ‘wandering free… wish I could be… part of that world…’ she sang.
There were a lot of groans from Seoyeon, Jiyeon, and Yooyeon.
Lily said, “But the good news is that I’m going to distribute the ‘Bae Bucks’ to each of you. I don’t want to accidently squash anyone’s aspirations to become an artist. So, 250 to Mayu, 100 each to Yooyeon, Seoyeon and Jiyeon, and 50 each to Sullin and Jiwoo.”
Sullin cheered, “Peter made me 50 ‘Bae Bucks’! Great success Peter!” She patted her Peter drawing, but it wasn’t quite dry and she got tan paint on her finger.
Bae hopped up on the stage again, “Yo! Next round! Come here!”
Stayc helped each other stand up, requiring three total girls to get slutty chicken Yoon to her feet. TripleS cleaned up various bits of paint off of their hands and everyone met back in their spots in front of the stage.
Seoyeon said to Yooyeon, “You forgot your pants.”
“Whatever… who cares…” said Yooyeon.
Bae said, “TripleS! Pick the next category.”
Lee Jiwoo’s hand shot up and she said loudly, not to be ignored this time, “JIWOO!”
“Lee Jiwoo, the so-called imposter. How may I help you?”
“How many rounds is this? If there is the chance we are eliminated if we lose this round, we would like to know that.”
Yooyeon and Seoyeon clapped for Jiwoo.
“I don’t know,” said Bae.
Seoyeon asked, “What do you mean you don’t know?”
“If the crowd upsets me, maybe I’ll just end it now!”
Stayc cheered.
Bae said, “Choose!”
TripleS made a huddle. Jiwoo asked, “Itzy seems obvious?”
Yooyeon said, “Some of us know Yeji, I think most of us like Itzy, it is very obvious. Let’s do something crazy. Is there something that one of us is confident with and they won’t have a clue?”
Seoyeon said, “Solo? Like the only JYP soloist I know is Suzy.”
Mayu said, “She left JYP years ago.”
“Do you know anything about the boss himself?”
“No…”
Yooyeon shouted to Bae, “We choose JYP!”
Bae got a stunned look on her face. “No shit?”
“Sure, why not?”
Stayc immediately started chattering, the other girls trying to quiet Yoon.
Seoyeon said, “That chicken probably knows something again…”
Bae said, “Choose your order!”
Yooyeon agreed, “We just need to get number two or three right? Should I do three?”
Seoyeon said, “Wait…”
They pretended they were still discussing as Stayc lined up: Sieun, Isa, Yoon, Seeun, J, and Sumin.
Yooyeon nodded and TripleS then lined up: Seoyeon, Mayu, Jiwoo, Yooyeon, Sullin, and Jiyeon.
Bae said, “Very interesting! If you haven’t figured it out yet, the strategy is at least as important as the questions. Sieun vs. Seoyeon, question one: Other than JYP, what is another nickname used by Park Jinyoung.”
Sieun quickly rang in, “The Asiansoul!”
Seoyeon turned around and looked at Yooyeon. Yooyeon said, “You knew that right?”
Seoyeon said, “Sure…”
Bae said, “Stayc 1 point. Isa vs. Mayu, question 2: What is the most recent full-group Twice release that JYP is credited for lyrics, music, and arrangement?”
Mayu buzzed in, “Alcohol Free!”
Bae said, “Correct!”
TripleS all gave them high-fives.
Isa said, “Wow, bikini girl sure is the Twice stan…”
Yoon said, “Hush, I knew that too…”
Bae said, “TripleS 2, Stayc 1. Yoon vs Jiwoo, question 3: Name an American artist that JYP has producing credits for?”
Yoon quickly buzzed in, “Will Smith?”
Bae said, “Correct! The boss is going to be very happy with you guys knowing him so well!”
Isa said, “Okay Jayoon, that is impressive. How did you know that?”
“Oh Chaeyoung, if you only knew all of the things going on in my head…”
Bae said, “Stayc 4, TripleS 2. Seeun vs. Yooyeon, question 4: What year was JYP born?”
Seeun immediately sighed and tried to think whether she should just try a wild guess. Yooyeon was obviously doing math in her head and then buzzed. “1971?”
“Hmmm…” said Bae.
“Hmmm? What the fuck is that?” repeated Yooyeon.
“You got it! Just messing with you!”
Yooyeon fell to ground and rolled up in a ball.
Jiwoo said, “Hon, you aren’t wearing any pants… But congrats on the points and showing Lily your butt.”
Yooyeon quickly gathered her shirt and stood up before giving her groupmates all a high-five.
Bae said, “Stayc 4, TripleS 6. J vs. Sullin, question five: What year did JYP found his label and agency, first known as Tae-Hong Planning Corp?”
J and Sullin stared at each other, neither buzzing. Finally, J said, “I like Peter, you’re cool!”
Sullin ran over to J and gave her a big hug.
Mayu said, “Haewon isn’t here, but that’s a lot of pants-less legs hugging.”
Sullin let go of J and ran back
Bae said, “I guess no one knows, you don’t want to guess?”
J said, “The ridicule for saying something stupid isn’t worth the chance of getting it right.”
Bae said, “Haewon! Alert! This Japanese girl is trying to take your hornywon duties! Well, it was 1997!”
J said, “I was totally going to guess that! Not…”
“Still Stayc 4, TripleS 6. Can Sumin pull out the shocking win this round? Sumin vs. Jiyeon. Question six: JYP received his bachelor’s degree in 1996, what was his degree in?”
Jiyeon immediately buzzed in, “No clue, but I’ll guess business?”
Bae pointed to J, “See how you guess?”
J said, “Hugging the Thai Princess was still more fun.”
Bae said, “That is incorrect, however. Sumin, would you like to guess?”
Sumin thought for a bit. “Umm, accounting?”
“As rich as he is, you might think! But no! His degree is in geology!”
Yooyeon said, “No way!”
“Way! TripleS wins JYP and we are all tied at two categories each!”
Yooyeon said, “Wow, I got something that just turned out to be math, I remember my father saying he was X years younger than JYP and I just had to calculate the year. Plus, Mayu getting the Twice question. We were very lucky.”
Seoyeon said, “Jinsol is right, definitely more strategy than knowing the answers.”
Yooyeon disagreed, “Well you have to know some of the answers…”
“Someone does…”
Bae ran off of the stage and over to the fourth curtain. Stayc made their way over there. Bae pulled down the curtain and Jiwoo was standing in a circle of six desks. In the center of the circle were three boxes full of old and used computer equipment. Jiwoo said, “Yoona keeps wanting us to play some game with her tonight in our fancy suite, but the only computers they would let us have are this old stuff and we have no idea how to build a computer. We need to hire some IT support!”
Yoon looked at Seeun. “We should be able to do this?”
Seeun agreed. “I would think… If you weren’t dressed like a chicken and I wasn’t dressed like Sana.”
Isa said, “Girls… come here.” They all huddled.
Jiwoo said, “Hey! What is going on! Come over here so I can give you the rules!”
Stayc ignored her. Isa said, “Let’s show them what Stayc girls are all about. We’ll work together and just split whatever Bae bucks she is going to give.” The girls all agreed and put their hands into the center of the circle and shouted, “STAYC GIRLS!”
Jiyeon said, “That’s terrifying…”
Lee Jiwoo agreed, “I hope they don’t start doing that all the time now…”
Sullin said, “We could pretend we are a team too?”
Stayc finally made their way to Jiwoo.
Jiwoo said, “Here are some computers and monitors. There is a big box there with plenty of keyboards and mice. There is a big box there with lots of random cords, cables, and connectors. Each of you should build me a working computer at your desk. Speed counts, you have ten minutes. Go!”
Sieun said, "Okay Jayoon! Focus! You're in charge."
Yoon said, "Got this!" She pointed to the box of various cords. "Sumin, we need twelve power cords, six for the computers and six for the monitors."
Sumin said, "Alright," and started digging through the box of various cables.
"Sieun, look over the monitors. Bring us the most promising one to this station." She pointed to the first desk. "Chaeyoung, look over the CPUs. Seeun, go help her. That's the most important part, look them all over."
J said, "What about me?"
"You are in charge of the keyboards and mice, make sure each desk has one of each."
J saluted Yoon, "Yes Ma'am!"
Sumin said, "There aren't that many power cables in this box."
Sieun brought the first monitor over. She said, "There are ten monitors, some of them have the power cable still attached I think."
Yoon said, "Sumin, we might not need twelve, bring however many you find."
Seeun and Isa brought over one of the CPUs, Isa said, "There are ten of these also, all piled over there. I don't know what I'm looking for, but they are all slightly different."
"Knowing EVIL NMIXX, some of these probably don't work. Seeun, help me get this first one going, Chaeyoung, sit them all over there nice and pretty and I'll pick some out."
J said, "There's a lot of mice and keyboards, what am I looking for?"
"Do most of them have cords?"
"Some..."
"Start with those, we don't want to have to deal with batteries and cordless USB things, the ones with cords will just work with no effort."
"Got it!" shouted J.
TripleS watched intently as Stayc was doing a great job, the slutty chicken barking orders like she owned the place.
Jiwoo, Yooyeon, Seoyeon, and Jiyeon were sitting in an arc, Seoyeon put her arms around Yooyeon and put her head on her shoulder, notoriously unable to keep her hands to herself if there was a girl nearby. Sullin was sitting behind the four of them, Lily, Sullyoon, and Kyujin behind her. Mayu climbed onto Sullin’s lap, Sullin didn’t act like it was the slightest bit out of character. Mayu held on to Sullin tightly, occasionally glancing at Sullyoon and looking away shyly.
Seeun and Yoon got the first computer hooked up with power, monitor plugged into the video port and power, and J delivered them a mouse and keyboard, which Yoon quickly got plugged in. She pressed the power button and Seeun turned on the monitor. It quickly beeped, started, and booted up. Everything seemed to work.
Yoon said to Seeun, "Help Sieun with the monitors, we are going to plug them all into this CPU that we know works, to screen them all."
Seeun patted Yoon on the shoulder. "You're so smart! Occasionally..."
They set up a train where Sieun brought over a new monitor and Seeun took the one that they knew worked to one of the desks for final assembly.
Instantly there was a problem, the second monitor they brought had a video cable that didn't match any of the outputs on the CPU. Hot chicken Yoon cursed. "Sumin, are there video converters in that box, like HDMI to DVI or VGA?"
Sumin said, "Chicken... you are using words I don't understand."
Yoon rejected the monitor, they sat it aside and the next one Sieun brought had the correct cable and it worked. Yoon knew she was going to get into a situation where some combos were not going to work, so she said, "Seeun, test out this pair." The chicken ran off to the box that Sumin was sorting through. She found some various video cable converters in the bottom and gathered them.
Seeun said, "Yoonie, this monitor doesn't turn on."
"Are you sure you plugged it in?"
"Yoonie, come on..."
"Sorry! First question an IT personnel is required to ask."
Yoon rejected it and told Seeun to bring back the one she rejected a minute ago, she had the correct adapter and the monitor now worked perfectly.
In this manner, they found the six good monitors in the group of ten, and there were only six, two of them only displayed crazy lines across the screen and the other two didn't even turn on.
J also delivered a mouse and keyboard to each desk. After finishing with the monitors, Sieun helped Isa carry CPUs around and they quickly identified six good ones, several of them didn't boot as well.
Yoon and Seeun went to each desk, making sure there was a working computer. When Yoon was happy, she calmly walked up to Jiwoo and held out her hand. "Stayc has finished. Please pay us now."
Jiwoo pulled Yoon aside, "I appreciate how you girls all did that together, but you were obviously in charge and they would have been screwed without you. Don't you want a higher share."
Yoon said loudly, "Seeun would have figured it out, maybe just a bit slower. NO I DON'T DESERVED MORE THAN THEM. Pay us..."
Jiwoo said, "Okay... I hope you don't regret it later!"
"I'm a chicken. My bra is pretty and you can see it well. I just built six computers from random shit parts thrown around the hotel offices. We are answering overly hard questions about JYP things. WHAT IS REGRET?" said an agitated Yoon.
Jiwoo giggled at Yoon, as J ran over and grabbed her hand and pulled her away to verify the lack of potential violence. Jiwoo distributed an even 150 'Bae Bucks' to each girl. "I have another 100 here, are you sure you don't deserve it?"
Yoon said, "Fine, give it to me."
Jiwoo handed the extra 100 to Yoon and she promptly marched over to where TripleS was sitting and handed it to Seoyeon. She winked at her and returned to Stayc.
Lee Jiwoo said, "The fuck was that? Give me some? Ex-bestie Sieun! Give me some!"
Yooyeon said, "Kim Jiwoo... is she allowed to give away her money to someone on the other team?"
Isa said, "Aww, Yooyeon wants to give me some of her 'Bae Bucks'?"
"Nevermind."
Bae said, "Girls! Come gather!"
The girls all got back into their team spots for the next trivia game.
Bae said, "Hot model Sol, give the girls some news!" Bae ran over to the right monitor displaying the categories. "Alright Bae-rrific! Since the score is tied, this will be the last category for the winner of Bae-rrific trivia! Stayc, what will it be?"
Isa and Sieun looked at each other and both said together, "Itzy!"
Hot model Sol laughed hysterically, "Hwang gets to decide the winner and she isn't even here! Yeji power!"
‘Bae Bucks’ totals so far:
Lee Jiwoo 550, Mayu 500, Sullin 450, Yooyeon 350, Seoyeon 250, Jiyeon 200.
Isa 650, Sumin 400, Seeun 250, J 250, Sieun 250, Yoon 200.
Badge summary: Seoyeon 2, Mayu 2, Yooyeon 1, Jiyeon 1, Jiwoo 1, Sullin 1 (TripleS 8 total); Yoon 2, Seeun 2, Sumin 2, Sieun 1, Isa 1 (Stayc 8 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. Important question about who wins Bae-rrific trivia! Please participate in the poll. This week's poll: (July 12 - 19): https://forms.gle/uP9hXUu8FFd63a8x9
Chapter 9: J Spends 'Bae Bucks' for Bae
Summary:
Itzy trivia gets underway and a winner is crowned for Bae's event. The last 'losers' competition for 'Bae Bucks' heats up a bit. Then Bae's auction gets underway with Stayc spending a lot of their hard earned 'Bae Bucks' on some surprising things.
Chapter Text
Chapter 9: J Spends ‘Bae Bucks’ for Bae
Bae said, “Both teams! Decide your team order!”
Both teams huddled.
On the TripleS side, Jiwoo asked, “What’s the plan?”
Seoyeon said, “Try for five?”
Yooyeon said, “Don’t we all know the same amount about Itzy?”
Sullin said, “I know nothing…”
Jiyeon moved her hands to dance, “Cake cake cake cake…”
Sullin looked at her like she was crazy.
“She knows nothing,” agreed Jiyeon.
Seoyeon asked, “Put her first? Or sixth?”
Yooyeon asked, “Mayu, are you good with Itzy?”
Mayu said, “They aren’t Twice, but I know some things.”
Jiwoo asked, “Wait and see what they do?”
Yooyeon said, “Nah, no point. Let’s get in order.”
With just a bit of pushing and a few last-minute order changes, TripleS lined up: Sullin, Jiwoo, Jiyeon, Mayu, Seoyeon, and Yooyeon.
***
On the other side, Sieun said, “I think we are all about the same on Itzy.”
Isa said, “Yoonie and I might have a slight advantage.”
Yoon said, “I have a solid advantage. And I’m smart…”
Sieun asked, “Are you calling me dumb?”
“No…”
Isa said to Yoon, “If you think you are the best for this one, which question do you want?”
Yoon thought for a few seconds. “I guess five.”
Sumin said, “This is important, it could literally decide the entire weekend.”
Isa said, “We still have a long way to go, let’s not get silly about it. Yes, it is important, but let’s not be crazy hard on ourselves if we lose. We’re just doing the best we can.”
Seeun hugged Isa around the waist. “Yes Mamma!”
J asked, “Who is six?”
Isa said, “Someone that can maybe get lucky just playing percentages or guessing a number.”
Sieun said, “I’ll do it.”
Stayc lined up: Sumin, J, Seeun, Isa, Yoon, and Sieun.
Bae said, “Everyone seems to be ready! Here we go. Question number 1, Sumin vs. Sullin: What inspirational Itzy song states, ‘When there’s monsters on your ceiling, I’ll keep you safe and kkumel kkul su itge.’
Sumin immediately buzzed in, “Imaginary Friend!”
Bae said, “Correct! Stayc 1, TripleS 0.”
From the side of the stage, Sullyoon said, “All of Sullin’s friends are real, not imaginary.”
Sullin said, “Like Peter!”
Jiwoo doubled over in laughter.
Bae said, “Question number two, Jiwoo vs. J: Which Itzy member lived in Canada?”
J buzzed in quickly, “Lia!”
Jiwoo pretended like she was going to throw the buzzer across the room. “I was shocked how easy that question was and then my buzzer failed me.”
J taunted the tall girl, “Excuses excuses.” She then mimed falling into the swimming pool.
Sieun laughed, Jiwoo glared at both of them as she went to the back of the line.
Bae said, “Correct! Stayc 3, TripleS 0. They need to get back into this one! Question number 3, Seeun vs. Jiyeon: “What survival show did Ryujin appear on before debuting with Itzy?”
Seeun immediately buzzed in, “MixNine? Why is this so easy?”
Jiyeon just barely got beat as well. Jiwoo pointed to Bae.
Seoyeon said, “For real… this is rigged with the buzzers!”
Bae said, “Girls, I appreciate your competitiveness, but please, there is no rigging of the buzzers. Click faster! Stayc 6, TripleS 0. Question four, Isa vs. Mayu: Chaeryeong has two sisters and two family dogs that live with her parents, not on their own. What are their names?”
Isa didn’t ring, “Okay, now it got hard.”
Mayu ringed in, “Chaeyeon, Chaemin, Chaeri, and Chaeso!”
Bae said, “That is correct! Nice job! TripleS back in this, Stayc 6, TripleS 4.”
All of TripleS gave Mayu hugs. Jiwoo said, “How the heck did you know that?”
Mayu said, “They made it famous on a YouTube show a lot of idols go on. Chaeyeon said it first, then the host asked Chaeryeong about it when her and Yuna were on recently. I watched that episode. It is fun to say and easy to remember, ryeong, yeon, min, ri, so.”
Bae said, “Fifth question, Yoon vs. Seoyeon: Yuna always likes to make an entrance. What two different props did she use in the 2022 and 2024 world tours?”
Yoon quickly rang in. “2022 was a bicycle for ‘Maniac’ and 2024 was… a… shit… shopping cart?”
“That is incorrect. Seoyeon, do you know?”
Seoyeon put her head down, “Bicycle is correct, but 2024 was just a chair, like diamond shaped chair?”
“It was a diamond! TripleS goes ahead, Stayc 6, TripleS 9!”
Seoyeon fell down on the ground. Yooyeon helped her get back up. “How did you know that?”
Seoyeon said, “I’m not sure… I guess I watched it a few times?”
“How many is a few?”
“Sometimes YouTube just plays things and you can’t control it!”
Yooyeon said, “Seoyeon’s Itzy bias is revealed!”
Bae said, “Well, you never showed much interest in Yeji.”
Seoyeon said, “Hush… Lucy is intimidating.”
Sullyoon said, “Yeah she is…”
Bae said, “Sieun vs. Yooyeon for all of the marbles!”
Seoyeon got back into game mode. “You don’t have to get this, just make sure Sieun doesn’t.”
Yooyeon looked at Sieun, “And how exactly would I do that?”
“I tried to give her the alcohol… but no…”
Bae said, “Question six: How many music show wins does Itzy have?”
Sieun just glared at Bae, “Really?”
Isa said, “It’s a number, just guess! Try try try!”
Sieun buzzed in. “We have 21, so I’m going to say Itzy has… 42?”
Bae said, “OOO, so close… but no… TripleS wins Bae-rrific trivia!”
Sieun looked dejected, but shook it off like Isa told her to earlier. “Yooyeon? Do you know?”
“No no… I sure don’t.”
Sieun couldn’t not taunt her. “If you guess now and get it right, maybe Lily will give you a kiss.”
Lily said, “Nauurrrrrr!”
Yooyeon gave Sieun the side-eye and pointed toward the unopened, Haewon-containing curtain.
Isa made it worse, “Or I’ll give you a kiss whether you get it right or wrong…”
Seoyeon said, “Bae, tell us the answer and make Stayc go to their punishment!”
Bae said, “The answer was 48. Also, gathering ‘Bae Bucks’ is never a punishment.”
“You told Sieun her answer was ‘close’.”
“42 is close to 48.”
Hot chicken grabbed Sieun and Isa’s hands and started dragging them toward the curtain.
Bae quickly ran down the stage and stood in front of the last curtain. “I sure am glad I don’t have to do this anymore, I’m about to be more tired than Yoona.”
“PLEASE…” shouted Sullyoon from somewhere in the back of the group.
Bae pulled down the last curtain and indeed Haewon was standing there next to a middle-aged woman wearing a kitchen apron over jeans and a tee shirt. They were standing between three pottery wheels.
Haewon was about to speak and then moved her lips but nothing came out as though she had laryngitis or something.
Sumin said, “Haewon, are you okay?”
Yoon said, “She was fine like thirty minutes ago…”
Haewon pointed to the lady next to her. She started talking instead. “Hello, I’m Jiwon Jiwon.”
The Stayc girls all stared at her, then Seeun and J both poked Yoon. Yoon said, “Okay, fine… So what? One Jiwon isn’t enough, you have to be two Jiwons?”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Well, the number of Jiwons now equals the number of Jiwoos.”
Jiwon said, “Jiwon is a very common name, so I decided to double it to stand out.”
J said, “Like I’m JJ!”
Yoon said, “Our maknae is strangely relating to you. Please tell us why you are here and what is wrong with Haewon.”
“No one knows what is wrong with that one. But I’m here to give you a brief advanced pottery class!”
Sumin said, “Why advanced?”
“Because that’s what I teach.”
Seeun said, “We are barely beginners.”
“I did the beginner part for you, so now you are advanced.”
J said, “Why does this hotel often feel like some perverted alternate reality?”
Every other Stayc and TripleS member pointed to a random nearby Nmixx member.
Kim Jiwoo said, “Successful immersion. Thank us later!”
Jiwon said, “I need three girls to come sit at a pottery wheel please.”
Isa said, “I’ve done this before. Once…”
Seeun said, “Yeah, I’ve done it a couple of times.”
Yoon rolled up her chicken sleeves a bit, but couldn’t get them very far up her arm because the cuffs were slightly tight. She waddled to the middle pottery wheel and attempted to sit down at the bench behind it. It took her a couple of tries to get her chicken butt balanced on the stool. “It will take hot chicken a minute, please continue.”
Isa asked Jiwon, “Should the more experienced members go first, then the less experienced members?”
Jiwon said, “Oh Hon, it doesn’t matter.”
Isa and Seeun looked at each other and took the wheels on the ends.
Haewon said, “Hot tight shorts sitting on benches, yes please!”
Bae shouted, “You can’t talk…”
Haewon coughed and went back to being mute.
Jiwon said, “Other three girls, pick a partner!”
Sumin and J looked at each other as Sieun quickly ran behind Isa and sat on a second bench behind her.
Mayu said quietly to her group, “Oh my, are they doing to do that thing?”
Jiwoo asked, “What thing?”
“The ‘Ghost’ thing?”
“No idea what you are talking about.”
Jiyeon said, “Me either.”
Mayu hugged Sullin tightly. She gritted her teeth together in frustration. “We should have lost!”
“What is she talking about?”
J sat on a stool behind Yoon and Sumin sat behind Seeun.
Jiwon said, “I already threw and centered the ball of clay on the wheel. Each pair should work together now to make something nice for Haewon. I will give helpful pointers as I can. There is a bowl of water and several sponges and tools there for you to use. Drivers go ahead and get used to the pedal controls. At this point in the class, you want the wheel going at about half maximum speed.
Isa, Yoon, and Seeun stepped on their pedals, learning how much pressure to give to make it go at the correct speed.
J asked, “Miss Haewon, please tell us how you are judging us?”
Haewon shook her head ‘no’.
Jiwon said, “She told me that when you asked that, I was supposed to say that she is judging ‘all’.”
Sumin said, “So we are going to make something and have no idea what we are supposed to make. I’m starting to hate you more and more.”
Haewon cried some fake tears.
Sumin asked Seeun, “What do you want to do?”
Seeun said, “I think I can make a bowl.”
“Do you just want me to stay out of the way?”
“No, I have a feeling you need to help for whatever this judging is.”
J poked the chicken on the shoulder. “What are you going to make?”
“A beautiful, tall, ornate, VASE,” Yoon said in English.
“Umm…”
“You doubt me…”
“What should I do?”
“Pick one of these tools and do something with it.”
J started looking at the two wooden objects of various shapes but grabbed the metal pokey thing.
Isa and Sieun were quiet. Sieun moved her stool as close to Isa’s as she could, her braless chest already against Isa’s back.
Jiwon said, “Alright! Start when you are ready!”
Seeun immediately started her wheel and wet her hands and started working the clay up. Sumin made it her job to dunk her hands into the bowl of water and routinely wet the clay as Seeun did her thing.
Jiwon saw that Seeun clearly knew a bit what she was doing and went to help Yoon who was immediately forcing the clay upward too quickly. Jiwon helped her do it properly and then instructed J how to use her fingers to form what would be the opening as Yoon extended the ‘vase’ upward. They did their best to work together without touching each other much.
Jiwon took a peek at Isa, then went back to helping Yoon.
Isa also wet her hands and started moving the clay up to start forming her bowl. Sieun quickly wet her hands, but did not reach toward the clay. Instead, she put her wet hands on Isa’s elbows and caressed her forearms as Isa worked the clay. She got herself as close to Isa as possible, then wrapped one leg around Isa’s leg that wasn’t working the pedal. She extended herself as much as she could, continuing to keep her hands on Isa’s arms and nuzzling Isa’s neck with her chin.
Yooyeon slapped Mayu on the back of the head as she figured it out, “OH! Ghost! The movie!”
Mayu looked at her like she was the stupidest person on the planet. Seoyeon got it also. Sullin saw what was happening and tried not to gasp. She did find eye contact with Sullyoon, who shrugged.
Sieun put her hands on Isa’s hands, locking fingers and gently blew across Isa’s neck. Isa slowed down the wheel a bit, because she clearly wasn’t making a bowl like this and just let Sieun maneuver their hands in the wet clay. Isa occasionally murmured and closed her eyes.
As Yoon, with Jiwon’s help, was actually getting a bit of a vase shape, J was still holding the pokey metal tool. Yoon said, “Use that to make a line here.”
As J was just about to touch it to the clay in the spot that Yoon indicated, Isa let out a bit of a moan and J immediately looked over at them to see what the heck was going on.
Yoon grabbed J’s chin with her wet, clay coated hand and said, “No! Focus!”
The combination of what Isa and Sieun were doing, plus her now dripping chin and J accidently poked the metal tool through the clay and the entire neck of the vase cut itself off and fell onto the outside of the wheel. Jiwon managed to catch it before it got randomly flung off.
Yoon said, “YEEUN! My vase!”
Sumin whispered to Seeun, “Something is going on over there.”
Seeun said, “It’s okay, do what do we do whenever something is going on over there?”
“Go spy?”
“No… finish making a bowl… Put your palm here…”
Seeun moved Sumin’s hand where she needed it and helped her apply pressure on the inside as her own palm pressed on the outside and formed the bowl.
Haewon sat down on the floor in front of the three wheels, expecting Isa to shut hers off and turn around and jump Sieun at any point. Somehow Isa just closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Sieun’s hands and the clay, and Sieun’s lips occasionally on her neck.
Isa’s clay was taking a beating however, getting more and more irregular. Yoon stopped her own wheel as J was totally not paying attention and grabbed a towel to wipe her chin.
Haewon said, “Okay, that’s enough! I have chosen the winner!”
Seeun added a few finishing touches to her bowl before stopping her wheel.
Mayu grabbed Sullin around the waist, “Wow, those two are hotter together than me and you or me and Nien, or me and Chaeyeon.”
Sullin gave her a shy face.
Mayu looked into Sullin’s eyes. She gave her a characteristic half smile, now totally understanding what Sieun was saying about what Sullin and Sullyoon were up to. “NOW I GET IT ALL…” Sullin looked away.
All of Nmixx, as well as 'Jiwon Jiwon' had gathered on stage. Haewon said, “Everyone clean up and come over!”
Seeun was tickled by her bowl and couldn’t stop staring at it and smiling. She and Sumin cleaned up their hands. J kept hitting the chicken with the towel and asking if her chin had any clay on it.
Still very quietly, Sieun climbed off of Isa, helped her get up and they together used one hand towel to clean each other’s hands and arms as best as possible, with a lot of eye contact.
Isa held Sieun’s hand as they walked to the stage. She met eyes with Sullyoon and licked her lips while staring into her soul. Sullyoon blushed and Isa giggled, then made cool cat ears with her other hand as she realized Jiwoo and Bae were staring at her also.
Haewon said, “TripleS! Come get your badges!” TripleS formed a line in front of the stage and Haewon gave them each a ‘Bae-rrific Trivia’ badge.
She then said, “Now, for doing the hottest approximation of the scene from ‘Ghost’, Isa and Sieun both get 400 ‘Bae Bucks’.”
Sumin said, “Awww, ‘Ghost’. Okay, I get it.”
Seeun said, “Dammit, I want to do that with Chaeyoung! Wait, I’M DOUBLE PISSED because I made you a beautiful bowl. Jiwon needs to take that bowl and fire it and make you eat out of it EVERY DAY!”
Haewon said, “Shy girl gets a little hot about her bowl which is also hot.”
Seeun said, “No. I had fun. It’s all good. I’m not any kind of hot.”
“Yes you are.”
“Shut up.”
“Here, you can each have 100 ‘Bae Bucks’ for making me a nice bowl, which you might have assumed was the actual challenge.”
Jiwon said, "It was a really nice bowl, you obviously should have won".
Seeun and Sumin both proudly took their ‘Bae Bucks’ from Haewon.
Bae said, “It is time to have the auction, the final part of my event! But we are going to have it back up by the pool so that girls with bits of clay on them can get cleaned up first.” She pointed to Yoon, “NO CLAY on my chicken.”
Yoon still had some clay on her index finger and ran it along her chest over her bra, “How about here, Jinsol?”
Bae pointed to J, “Jayoon, do that to her.” J looked horrified.
Yoon stomped both chicken feet, “I DID THAT A MINUTE AGO, were you not watching?”
***
The girls left the ballroom and made their way back to the pool. Stayc stopped in the bathrooms to clean up any lingering clay. The area at the front of the pool had a lounge chair with beach towels and Kim Jiwoo handed each TripleS member a beach towel and motioned for them to sit down on the tile floor in a semi-circle. Stayc did the same. The Nmixx members other than Bae sat on lounge chairs behind the semi-circle of girls on towels.
Bae had repurposed the wagon from Kyujin’s event, it was also covered with a towel, concealing whatever was inside. She wheeled it to the front of the girls and sat a small folding table there as well. Bae pulled out a post-it note and read it, “Here are the current ‘Bae Buck’ totals. The winners: Jiwoo 550, Mayu 500, Sullin 450, Yooyeon 350, Seoyeon 250, Jiyeon 200. The losers: Isa 1050, Sieun 650, Sumin 500, Seeun 350, J 250, Yoon 200.”
Sumin said, “Of course, Chaeyoung in the lead for doing nothing but accidently winning.”
Sullyoon said, “Oh, she was doing something.”
Isa said, “I was doing a lot of things, thank you!”
Seoyeon said, “Just give her the badge and let’s move on with whatever is next.”
Bae pointed to her, “YOU are going to auction.”
“Yeah yeah, whatever. She has double everyone else, she can buy whatever she wants.”
“Why are my auctions always so contentious. Can’t you just have fun?”
Sullin leaned over to Yooyeon, “What was that word?”
Yooyeon asked in English, “Do you know what an auction is?”
Sullin shook her head ‘yes’ unconvincingly.
Bae pulled a sizable square box out of the wagon, wrapped in white paper, and sat it on the small table. “First item up for bid.” She turned it around and on the back was written, ‘snacks’.
Yoon said, “200! Please let me have it!” She waved the ‘Bae Bucks’ in the air.
J said, “Maybe you want to save your ‘bucks’ for something you can’t buy from a vending machine?”
Sieun grabbed the 200 out of her hand and handed her 100 back. “You start with bidding 100, maybe the kind TripleS members will let you have it for 100, then you still have 100!”
Yoon said, “Fine… I bid 100!”
Seoyeon said, “Yooyeon, make her spend the 200.”
Yooyeon said, “You do it?”
“She kind of gave me the bucks that I would be using to bid her up. Even I would feel bad about that.”
Lee Jiwoo glared at Sieun and said loudly, “150!” She gave Sieun a smirk and a smile.
Sieun said, “Bestie… what has become of us?”
Jiwoo said, “Really?”
“Don’t take out your anger for my required badge-winning actions on Yoonie.”
“Oops.”
Yoon grabbed her other 100 from Sieun and said, “200!”
Kim Jiwoo said, “I don’t care what anyone says, this Jayoon girl has stolen my heart, I might love her.”
Yoon looked at her strangely.
Sullyoon said, “Can you imagine the snack wars if these two were together?”
Yoon said, “I like a lot of chips. She won’t eat veggies.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “What? Potatoes aren’t vegetables…”
Lily sighed, “Naurrrr, please don’t start a conversation defining what is a vegetable by whether Jiwoo likes it or not.”
Yoon smiled, “I’ll eat fried carrots.”
Jiwoo said, “Gross…”
“Problem solved! Jiwoo, let’s hook up!”
Seoyeon said, “I thought you were trying to impress ME?”
“There is plenty of Yoon for everyone…”
Bae said, “Snacks for 200, is anyone going to steal them from Yoon. Perhaps just to throw them away and watch her cry?”
The girls all looked at Bae
“What? Come on…”
Before anything else could happen, Sumin hopped up from her towel, grabbed the box and handed it to Yoon. “NEXT ITEM!”
Yoon waved her 200 at Bae and Bae collected the bucks from her. Yoon opened the box. There was a bag of chips, a can of Sprite, some yogurt and fresh fruit and some Haribo gummies. Yoon tore open the bag of chips and started munching. With a mouth full of chips she said, “Go on! I’m out of cash!” She popped open the Sprite with loud fizz.
Bae said, “Alright, next item.” She felt around in the wagon under the cover and retrieved an envelope. She verified that is was the correct envelope and put it on the table. “This is some manner of gift card.”
There was some mumbling amongst the girls. Jiyeon said, “I bet that is really good.”
Seeun agreed and said in English, “Yes! I’ll buy!”
Sieun said in English, “You have to bid.”
“Buy!”
“No, bid.”
Bae said, “Let’s start the bidding! Does Chaeyoung want this gift card?”
Seeun said, “350!” waving it in the air, like Yoon had done earlier.
Sieun grabbed it out of her hand and gave her 100, “She’ll bid 100. Seeun, please don’t get upset if you don’t win this, you don’t have much cash.”
“Because you won’t let me bid 350!”
Bae said, “Seeun bids 100.”
Mayu said, “200.”
Jiwoo said, “300!”
Mayu asked her, “What are you doing?”
“What? I want it too.”
Mayu said, “Don’t ‘bid up’ someone on your own team.”
“Team? Is it a team gift card?” asked Jiwoo.
Sieun handed Seeun the rest of her cash and Seeun screamed, “350!”
Mayu asked Seoyeon, “Should we let her have it?”
Seoyeon said, “Sure… Stayc girls spending a lot and eliminating themselves from the good stuff.”
“What if there are only 3 things and we all go home with Monopoly money.”
Jiwoo raised her hand and said, “JIWOO!”
Bae said, “We are kind of in the middle of something?”
Jiwoo asked her question anyway, “Will there be a way to spend our leftover ‘Bae Bucks’ after the auction is over?”
“Perhaps.”
“And how many items are there?”
“There are ten things to bid on. So not everyone will win something.”
Sieun said, “Maybe you should have said that from the beginning?”
“Maybe I should have…”
Seoyeon said, “NMIXX AND THEIR FUCKING GAMES…”
Sieun asked Seeun, “Hon, if you want to take it back, go for it. Maybe you want something later.”
Yoon said, scooping yogurt into her face with a plastic spoon, “All of the stuff at the end is going to be shit.”
Seeun said, “I’m having so much fun watching all of these actresses and comedians. It is okay, I’ll still bid 350!”
Bae asked, “Is anyone going to steal the gift card from poor innocent Seeun?”
Everyone was quiet.
Bae handed her the gift card and took her ‘Bae Bucks’. “Congrats, 50,000 won gift card to Coupang for putting together some computers, babysitting some kids, and making a bowl.”
Seeun was super excited and couldn’t believe her luck. “I’m having so much fun!”
J said, “Don’t forget, it wasn’t that long ago that Lily tried to steal your PJ’s and made you cry.”
Seeun shrugged.
Sullyoon said, “That girl is absolutely delightful!”
Kim Jiwoo cheered, “Best Stayc member! Seeun!”
Bae said, “Item number three…” She fetched another envelope. “This envelope says: Win a kiss with an Nmixx member of your choice.”
There was total silence other than the quiet movement of water in the pool.
Bae said, “Come on Chaeyoung, you know you want this…” Bae pointed to her own lips.
Sullyoon said, “Girlfriend! You better get bidding!”
Sullin turned to look at her. “Why am I going to spend money to kiss you, I can kiss you whenever I want. I need better things to buy!”
Bae giggled, “Damn Yoona, your girlfriend sounds a lot like Sohyun and Xinyu with their priorities.”
Out of nowhere, Yooyeon said, “100!”
Seoyeon asked, “What are you doing?”
“Lily is shy to kiss me, this will coax her. If no one else is going to bid, I’m going to steal a kiss for 100…”
Lily said, “Naurrrr.”
Even more surprising, J said, “200!”
All of Stayc turned to look at her. Bae nearly blushed.
Lee Jiwoo said, “300!”
Seoyeon said, “What the fuck is going on in here, you ALL can kiss whoever you want later!”
Yooyeon said, “You don’t know that…”
Jiyeon said, “Jiwoo? Who do you want to kiss?”
Lee Jiwoo said, “I’m not required to say unless I win.”
J said, “Dammit, I just wanted to try to kiss tall girl who seems interested in me.”
Isa grabbed J’s hand and whispered, “Don’t say so much out loud. Talk quieter. Keep things to yourself. Do you really want this?”
J shook her head up and down.
Isa handed her 100. J screamed, “350!”
Seoyeon said, “I swear to god if anyone on this side of the floor bids more than that…”
Sullin looked over at Isa, “You don’t want to kiss Yoona? You have plenty?”
Sullyoon slid down in her lounge chair and pulled a towel over her head.
Isa said, “I’m going to get what I want eventually, by not calling out exactly what I want, but living my life in a way that will convince what I want to give me what I want.”
Sullin said to Yooyeon in English, “I’m confused about life.” Yooyeon smiled at her.
Bae said, “J wins a kiss for 350!”
Jiwoo raised her hand but didn’t even bother waiting for acknowledgement, “We can just give each other our ‘Bae Bucks’?”
Bae said, “Sure, if you want to combine all of them to make sure one particular person gets the badge, why not. Seoyeon, are you and Yooyeon willing to combine your bucks to help Jiyeon win the badge?”
Yooyeon said, “No? w.t.f.”
Seoyeon said, “You’re funny! Jiyeon has won PLENTY of badges without our help.”
Bae said, “This is why I didn’t mention this rule from the beginning.”
Jiwoo gave her a thumbs up.
“JJ! Come give me your money and let’s kiss!”
J stood up and handed the money to Bae, everyone looked at her expectantly and with coy smiles. “Wait? Now? Like this? In front of everyone?”
“No pressure!” She handed her the envelope. “There is a card in there, just give it to me…”
Haewon said, “Or perhaps any other Nmixx member?”
Bae ignored her, “…whenever you are ready.”
J said, “I learned this from Yoon, but it doesn’t count and I’m keeping this envelope.” She quickly pecked Bae on the cheek.
Yoon clapped her salty, greasy, chicken hands for her maknae.
Bae got a long skinny rectangular box out of the wagon and put it on the table. “This item is a significant advantage in Yoona’s event.”
Seoyeon said, “Ah! Here we go!”
Yooyeon clapped, “Finally, something good!”
Isa looked at Sieun and they exchanged glances.
Seoyeon said, “100, let’s go!”
Sieun said, “300.”
Yooyeon said, “350.”
“400.”
Seoyeon said, “Sullin, bid 450.”
Sullin said, “Why? I don’t want it.”
“We need to get the advantage, so they don’t.”
Jiwoo said, “What if it isn’t that good of an advantage?”
Bae said, “400 going once?”
Mayu said, “Sorry new hottie Stayc friend, but here Yooyeon, I’ll give you 100.”
Yooyeon said, “450!”
Sieun said, “500.”
“She has 650 on her own, not even counting Isa’s 950, we can’t win this. Let them have it and deplete them a bit more.”
Seoyeon shook her head in agreement.
Jiwoo said, “I’ll give you another 150 on top of Mayu’s 100, just to make Sieun spent it all.”
Yooyeon said, “Hmmm, 600.”
Sieun looked at Isa. Sieun said, “I’m tempted to let them have it now, it wipes out Yooyeon and hurts Mayu and Jiwoo.”
Isa shrugged. “Your decision, Love.”
Sieun said, “650…”
Yoon clapped for Sieun.
Bae said, “650? TripleS?”
Everyone was quiet.
“Sieun wins the advantage for 650!”
Bae handed her the box.
“Should I open it now?”
“Up to you, you won’t understand, but it might be fun.”
Sieun opened the end of the box and pulled out a strange long rectangle vaguely resembling a pixelated, poorly painted torch. “What the heck?”
Sullin shouted, “IT’S A MINECRAFT TORCH?”
Sullyoon clapped in glee.
Sullin got very excited and turned to Sullyoon. “YOUR EVENT IS MINECRAFT?”
Sullyoon smiled at her ‘girlfriend’, “Yes Ma’am.”
“I should have bid everything! Damn you Sieun!”
Sieun was waving the torch around, not really sure what all of the excitement was about. It was the saddest representation of a torch she had ever seen. “Yoonie, do you know what this is?”
Yoon shook her head ‘yes’ and smiled.
“That’s going to be a really big advantage, starting with a torch, I can just tell,” said Sullin.
“GOOD!” said Sieun, sticking her tongue out at Sullin. “I got it and you didn’t, just like Chae…”
Yoon dropped a Haribo gummy to pull the torch out of her hands and bonk her on the head with it.
Bae said, “Next item! We will be half way through the auction!” She grabbed another envelope out of the wagon and put it on the table. “This envelope contains Chuu’s contact information and she has agreed to go on a date with whoever gets it!”
Seoyeon said, “Yoon was right, the stuff at the end sucks.”
Bae corrected her, “We are only half way through!”
Yoon asked, “Did anyone record her saying that I was right?”
Sumin asked Yoon, “Would you buy the date if you had money?”
“You mean if I was Isa? Hahaha, the irony and multi-meanings.” She laughed at herself.
Jiwoo asked Mayu, “Do you want to go on a date with Chuu?”
Mayu said, “Not really. Is there a date with Nayeon in there? Sana?”
Bae said, “You never know!”
Out of nowhere, Sumin said, “500.”
J said, “Really?”
Sieun asked, “Sumin? You are leaving Chaeyoung with all of the responsibility to get the badge? She can’t outbid all of TripleS?”
“J is buying kisses and Yoon is buying food. Can’t I just get something I want?”
Sieun shrugged.
Jiwoo said to Mayu, “I’ll give you some bucks, outbid her so Chaeyoung has to give her some cash too.”
Mayu said, “So I get stuck with Chuu? No thanks.”
From behind Kim Jiwoo said, “It’s a GOOD THING she isn’t listening! OR IS SHE?”
Mayu looked back at Jiwoo and smiled shyly.
Bae said, “Sumin wins the date with Chuu!”
Sumin clapped. “Yay! I’ve always wanted to ask an Ex-Loona member all about the Loona days! Now I can!”
Bae handed her the envelope, “Make sure you prepare yourself physically and emotionally before doing such a reckless thing.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “For real…”
Sullyoon said, “Poor Sumin…”
Sumin ignored them and put the envelope in her uniform’s pocket.
Bae said, “Next item is in this cloche.”
Seoyeon said, “In the what?”
Bae said in English, “Cloche. A bell-shaped cover.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“How long do you have?” Bae pulled out a large dish that indeed had a ceramic dome shaped cover on it and sat it on the table. “The hint is: article of clothing.”
Yooyeon said, “300! Don’t mess with me Chaeyoung!”
Isa shrugged at her. “I get to watch you change clothing and I don’t even have to spend anything?”
Seoyeon said to Yooyeon, “Are you sure?”
“There’s no way I’m holding Sullin’s shorts up for a Minecraft event and her shirt is incredibly sticky, and large, and I’m over it.”
Yoon said, “A chicken suit isn’t going to fit in that dome thing.”
Seoyeon said, “She’s right, what could possibly be in there?”
Yoon clapped, “SHE SAID IT AGAIN!”
Mayu said, “Maybe there is just an envelope in the dome thing.”
Seoyeon said, “You are both crazy, why wouldn’t it just be an envelope then…”
Bae said, “Yooyeon for 300, she is saving 50 for later! No one is going to compete?”
There was silence again.
Bae giggled, “Congrats Yooyeon, come lift the lid.”
Yooyeon hesitantly got up and stood by the table. She lifted the ceramic dome, revealing a bikini much like Mayu’s, but pink instead of blue. She let out a massive sigh.
“You can wear either the bikini top, or bottom.”
She sighed again. “I’ll take the top.”
Jiwoo asked, “You are going to walk around in a bikini top and your panties?”
“Can I wear both?” Yooyeon asked Bae.
Bae said, “Sure, if you want.”
“My panties are less revealing than the bikini bottoms, but at least I’ll match and I’ll be bikini sister with Mayu. Is there a wrap?”
Isa said, “It’s a damn good day!”
Haewon cheered as well, “You’re welcome!”
Bae said, “Pick up the bikini and check.”
Yooyeon picked up the bikini top and bottom and there was indeed a carefully folded wrap. She picked it up as well and staring at her was another bikini badge.
“Congrats Yooyeon! You found the badge!”
Isa cursed.
Seoyeon taunted Isa, “What are you going to spend all of your cash on now?”
Isa said, “You have a habit of tempting karma, my friend. Ask Haewon how that tends to turn out…”
Haewon shouted, “BADLY.”
Isa smiled at Seoyeon.
Yooyeon grabbed her bikini pieces and the badge and sat back down on her towel.
Bae moved the dish and cloche aside and got out another envelope and put it on the table. “This coupon gives you a thirty-minute massage during the break after Yoona’s event. You can take one other girl with you. You have to name who you are taking when you bid. Go!”
The girls with cash left all gave each other curious looks.
Current ‘Bae Buck’ totals:
Lee Jiwoo 550, Mayu 500, Sullin 450, Yooyeon 50, Seoyeon 250, Jiyeon 200.
Isa 950, Sumin 0, Seeun 0, J 0, Sieun 0, Yoon 0.
Badge summary: Seoyeon 3, Mayu 3, Yooyeon 3, Jiyeon 2, Jiwoo 2, Sullin 2 (TripleS 15 total); Yoon 2, Seeun 2, Sumin 2, Sieun 1, Isa 1 (Stayc 8 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll: (July 19 - 26): https://forms.gle/Pz2quPamsEyR7Z7K8
Chapter 10: Isa Gets Thrown Back to Her Old Self
Summary:
The auction ends with an unexpected surprise that forces Isa to become a bit more like her old self. She then has a very interesting conversation with Mayu, Yoon tells Seoyeon way too much and Lee Jiwoo makes an interesting play for Bae. Then Sullyoon's Minecraft event begins!
Chapter Text
Chapter 10: Isa Gets Thrown Back to Her Old Self
Bae said, “Thirty-minute massage with a friend! Who wants to bid?”
Jiyeon said, “Not a fan of massages and don’t really have any friends…”
Mayu said, “Ballerina buddy… I’ll be your friend!”
“Before or after you are busy being Sieun’s friend, and suddenly all clingy with Sullin.”
“During?”
Seoyeon said, “Buy me something and take me along on fun things and I’ll be your friend.”
Jiyeon said to Bae, “They are making my point for me…”
Bae said, “Less TripleS arguing, more bidding!”
Seoyeon said, “I’ll bid 100 and take Yooyeon.”
Yooyeon said, “You will?”
Sullin said, “I have to concentrate to understand anything anyone is saying and tuned out there for some minutes, so I have no clue what is happening. I bid 400 to take Chaeyoung.”
There was sudden stunned silence on both sides and several heads turned toward Isa.
Isa looked at all of the girls staring at her and said, “What? Me and the Thai Princess are buddies…”
Yoon said, “I’M SO confused which girlfriend you want to steal, or your current girlfriend. Luckily, I don’t care because I had snacks.”
Seeun asked Sumin, “Why don’t I ever understand what Yoon is saying the last two days?”
Sumin shrugged.
Jiyeon said to Sullin, “You don’t understand what anyone is saying, but you crafted that complex sentence perfectly.”
Sullin said in English, “Water in ears maybe.”
From nowhere, Lee Jiwoo said, “500 and I’m taking Sieun. Turns out she’s cruel and often complexly conflicted, and much less perfect than I imagined; but she’s still my idol.”
Sieun said, “AWWWWWWWW.”
Bae asked, “Anyone going to give Sullin some cash so she can bid more for a massage with Chaeyoung?”
Sullyoon said, “Mayu! Don’t let Jiwoo take your Sieun!”
Sieun turned around and glared at Sullyoon.
Mayu said, “It will be fine, she’ll push Jiwoo off of the massage table for a badge and it will be the last straw, then she’ll be all mine.”
“But if Sullin takes Chaeyoung now, then she will be all yours quicker.”
Mayu asked, “You want your supposed girlfriend to bond with someone from the other team, so I can have… I’m so lost.”
Yooyeon said, “NMIXX mindgames! Ignore them!”
Lily said, “Naurrrrrr.”
Sieun said, “Yoona is always up to something. But don’t try to figure out what it is, because it is always dumb.”
Sullin giggled a bit to herself. Kim Jiwoo and Kyujin giggled openly. Sullyoon laid back on her lounge chair and covered her head with a towel.
Bae said, “Alright… Jiwoo and Sieun win a massage?”
Sieun wanted to run over and give Jiwoo a hug, but the atmosphere was a bit awkward, so she just stayed put and gave her a thumb’s up and a bright smile.
Bae pulled another envelope out of the wagon and sat it on the table. “This is called the five-minute veto. When someone requests someone else for a five-minute alone time slot, you can play this veto. You can automatically put yourself in place of either girl in question, or simply forbid the interaction and they aren’t allowed to hang out together until the next time five-minute interactions are offered.”
There was silence.
Yooyeon said, “Why would anyone want that?”
Seeun said, “All of you actresses and comedians are making like there is a lot of fake drama going around, it would potentially add to the acting goodness.”
Jiyeon and Seoyeon looked at each other and shrugged.
Lee Jiwoo said, “Don’t ever say I never did any favors for you, Jinsol. I’ll bid 50.”
“Going to steal Sieun for yourself when someone else requests her? Since she’s your idol…” asked Sumin mockingly.
Mayu said, “Not if I steal her first! 100!”
J asked, “Those girls on the other team seem very odd to me?”
Sullin said, “I’m paying attention now. I’ll bid 150.”
Bae said, “Mayu? Do you want to bid more than that?”
Mayu giggled, “No, and I’m happy to be the TripleS girl with the most cash now, by far!”
“Chaeyoung? Any interest in the veto?”
Isa said, “Please, I can handle my interactions without the need for such things.”
Bae said, “Veto sold to Sullin for 150!”
Sullin handed her the cash and took the veto envelope.
Bae got yet another envelope out of the wagon.
Seoyeon asked, “You have that stupid wagon for a bunch of envelopes and a Minecraft torch?”
Bae said, “There was a cloche, and more things…”
Seoyeon put her finger to her temple, “Is there now? Very interesting!”
“It is time to tempt the temptress Chaeyoung. This is a lodging ticket. No one knows what the arrangements will be for rooms tonight. But this ticket gives you and one other girl a private room for two for the entire night. And you don’t have to name the person until it is time for bed.”
Isa glared at Bae, far from a calm, cool, cat. A million thoughts in her mind and a rush of hormones, she sat motionless.
“Chaeyoung? You okay?” asked Bae with one cocked eyebrow.
She snapped out of it, “Yoon is wrong about the last items being crap, you are going to make me choose between that and a badge and/or advantage.”
Bae asked, “Me?”
Sieun did her best not to make eye contact with Isa.
Sullyoon sat up at attention and Sullin watched closely, both very curious about what their new friend might do and whether ‘empty, lonely, horny’ Isa was going to win out over ‘calm cool cat’ Isa, or ‘I really actually want to win this badge war’ Isa.
Isa pulled out her wad of cash and still not showing any emotion on her face said, “100.”
Seoyeon said, “Do NOT let her finish without spending all 950 for this. I bid 250.”
Yooyeon said, “What if we get stuck with it?”
“You don’t want a night alone with Lily and no interruptions?”
Lily said, “Nauuurrrrr!”
She made a sad face and said, “I bought a pink bikini…”
“Shut up, you got a badge.”
Isa said, “550.”
Seoyeon said, “Chaeyoung, are you seriously going to consider sticking us with it? Otherwise save the time and just give her the 950.”
Isa handed Bae her entire wad of cash. She regally pointed to Seoyeon, “YOU won’t be spending the night with me, that’s for sure.”
Yoon said, “No, she’s mine. And Chuu’s…”
Seoyeon shook her head and Isa giggled.
Isa aggressively grabbed the envelope off of the table and went back to her seat.
Sullyoon suddenly got up and headed off to the elevators.
Kim Jiwoo asked, “What’s with her?”
Kyujin thought quickly on her feet and said, “Umm… She has to go make sure her event is ready!”
“Kinda early, but okay…”
Bae said, “Well TripleS… are you ready for the last item?” She got three smaller dessert-dish sized plates, each with a metal cloche on it. She sat them on the table one-by-one.
Yooyeon said, “I have a bad feeling about this…”
Jiwoo said, “Yeah you do.”
“In one of these three cloches is a the ‘gift’ badge. I will explain what that means to whoever wins them. You are bidding on all three.”
Yooyeon asked, “Should we just decide who should win it?”
Seoyeon said, “You know this isn’t just buying a simple badge, something horrible is going to happen.”
Mayu said, “I’m already wearing a bikini, they can’t give me two more bikinis.”
Jiwoo said, “Just let Mayu win it, she has the most ‘Bae Bucks’, we can’t stop her if she wants it.”
“I don’t know if I want it.”
Bae said, “What if Sullin gives all of her cash to Jiyeon so she can win it?”
Seoyeon asked, “Does anyone want to go through with the bidding, or can we just let Mayu have it? If she wants it?”
Sullin asked Mayu, “Do you want it? Giving my cash to Jiyeon isn’t a horrible idea so she can have the badge.”
“You know damn well whoever wins this is not getting the badge, she called it the ‘gift’ badge.”
“Because it is a gift from Nmixx!” said Sullin.
Mayu said, “I didn’t do the cooking challenge mostly because of the bikini, but I also thought Seoyeon would be better with the pressure. Maybe we would have won if I had done it. I will take the responsibility for this one. Here is my 500.”
Seoyeon said, “You only need 350 to beat Sullin, save the rest in case it is useful for something later.”
Mayu nodded and handed Bae 350. She got up and stood next to Bae and the three cloches.
Bae opened the first cloche. “This is the ‘gift’ badge. You have two options. The things in the other two cloches are not beneficial. You can either give the badge to someone else on your own team, but then you have to give the two bad cloches to two other girls on your team. Or, you can give the badge to anyone on Stayc, AND give the two negative cloches to two other girls from Stayc.”
Mayu said, “Oh my…” She stared at Sieun and Isa a bit.
Seoyeon was about to say something and Bae immediately hushed her. “No! She has to decide on her own.”
“Give me a minute please.” She turned around facing away from everyone as her brain started spinning.
After a minute, Bae said, “Haewon is staring at your butt right now.”
Mayu spun around and smiled, ready to make her choice. “Disadvantage or not, I think we need to keep the badge in our team, so I’m going to give it to Sullin.”
Sullin asked shyly, “You are?”
Mayu smiled and nodded at her.
“I get a badge and now I get to go play a Minecraft-style game?”
Seeun said, “Isn’t this whole thing so fun Sullin?”
Bae interrupted, “And where do the two disadvantages go?”
Mayu said, “Seoyeon and Yooyeon.”
Seoyeon glared at her.
Yooyeon asked, “And is there a reason you chose us?”
Mayu said, “Honestly, you two aren’t helping much anyway, so a disadvantage won’t hurt us as a team. Jiyeon can still win it for us.”
Jiyeon put her arms in the air, claiming victory of an event that didn’t happen yet.
Seoyeon said, “We’re going to kill you later. Do you expect Chaeyeon to save you? No more taking you to random Nmixx badge war weekends…” She switched to English, “You’re fired!”
Yooyeon said, “It’s fine… Tell us what we got…”
Bae opened the first cloche and Mayu grabbed her badge and quickly returned to her towel.
Bae motioned for Seoyeon to come to the front. She jumped up and approached the two cloches that were left. Bae motioned for her to open one and she picked up the lid and looked at the post-it note on the plate. “Remove one article of clothing.”
A pissed look flashed over her face, but then she realized that actually wasn’t too bad.
Yooyeon said, “Phew… Lucky, I didn’t get that one…”
Isa mimicked Lily, “Naurrrrrr.”
Then Seoyeon got a huge smile on her face and giggled to herself. “You know who I don’t love and have never loved?” She pulled her ‘I love Jiwoo’ tee shirt off over her head and threw it toward Kim Jiwoo. “JIWOO!”
Ruining the entire thing, Lee Jiwoo reached her ridiculously long arm into the air and caught it. “I might want this shirt!”
Lily said, “Jiwoo! My sweater is so much better!”
Kim Jiwoo got a mean look on her face but didn’t say anything.
Bae said, “You aren’t allowed to wear it right now, but you can carry it around if you really like it!”
Jiyeon said, “You should have thrown it in the pool, and see if Jiwoo jumps in again to save it.”
All of the girls, minus Jiwoo and Sieun laughed hard.
Seoyeon agreed, “Dammit! Why didn’t I think of that!” She quickly returned to her seat before something worse than walking around in a grey sports bra happened to her.
Bae motioned for Yooyeon to come to get the last cloche.
Yooyeon got up, made sure Sullin’s shirt was covering her butt, took a breath and opened the cloche.
The post-it read, “You and one other girl on your team will have your feet tied together for the Minecraft challenge, until you find a way to cut the tie. You will also require twice as much food to stay alive as all of the other players.”
Yooyeon thought for a bit. “I feel like I’m being singled out for eating too much.”
Kyujin said, “It’s just a game, Hon!”
Sumin said, “Mayu, you should have given that to Yoon…” Yoon shrugged, mostly in agreement.
Bae said, “Who do you want to be tied to? Maybe a pair of bikini girls tied together?”
Yooyeon looked right at Haewon. “No! I will not please her. I’ll make Mayu’s vision come fully to life in the best way and be tied to Seoyeon.”
Seoyeon said, “You really think Sullin and Jiyeon are going to win this alone? When the other team also has an advantage?”
Lee Jiwoo said, “What am I? I’m on this team also?”
Bae said, “Bae-rific trivia and auction is over!” The girls all clapped and Bae bowed several times.
Haewon came to the front of the girls still sitting on towels and said, “You may now request another five-minute meeting. Whether you have a five-minute meeting or not, we will have a thirty-minute break to go to the bathroom or get a drink if you need and get ready for Yoona’s event.”
Before Haewon or anyone else could say anything else, Yoon yelled “SEOYEON!”
Everyone turned to look at Yoon.
Haewon said, “Oh, first request? Seoyeon, how does it feel to be loved? Do you accept the request?”
Seoyeon said, “Sure, why not…”
J said, “We’ve all been loved by Jayoon, it really isn’t that great.”
Yoon stuck out her tongue at the maknae.
J pointed to Bae and was just about to call her name when Lee Jiwoo quickly said, “BAE!”
J was clearly disappointed and just glared at Jiwoo. She said to Sieun, “PUSH HER IN THE POOL AGAIN! RIGHT NOW!”
Sieun said, “Later kiddo, I’ll show you how.”
Bae said, “Okay, sure, I accept.”
Isa stood up and said, “Yoona appears to have left me. Mayu? Can I have five minutes with you?”
Mayu pointed to herself, she was trying to decide who she was going to ask for, Sieun or Sullin. Isa saved her the trouble of having to make another difficult decision, so she just went for it. “Oh, okay, sure.”
Bae said, “Don’t feel too special, she’s just making the rounds collecting girls.”
“Consider myself collected,” said Mayu, framing her cute face with her hands.
Sieun looked at Isa, trying to figure out exactly what she was doing. So did Sullin.
“Anyone else? I’ll rock your world for five minutes? Seeun?” asked Haewon with a wink.
Seeun shook her head ‘no’.
From nowhere, Jiyeon said, “I would like five minutes with Kim Jiwoo.”
Bae said, “You what?”
Yooyeon said, “Who?”
Kim Jiwoo was messing with Kyujin’s towel and totally not paying attention until she realized everyone was staring at her.
Haewon said, “Jiwoo? Yes or no?”
Jiwoo asked, “Balerina, are you going to mend my heart, broken by that rude Seoyeon?”
Totally emotionless, Jiyeon said, “Yes.”
Jiwoo nodded and exclaimed loudly, “Yes!”
Haewon said, “Bae and Jiwoo, please keep your own times. Lily, time Isa and Mayu and I will time Yoon and Seoyeon. Kyujin, please go make sure Yoona is okay.”
Nmixx all gave Haewon nods and ‘thumbs’ up. The pool room had a bit of an echo, so there really was no private place for a conversation. Yoon and Seoyeon went to the Stayc changing room and Lee Jiwoo and Bae to the TripleS changing room. Isa and Mayu went out to the hallway outside of the elevators and Jiyeon and Kim Jiwoo were relegated to the bathroom.
***
After going inside the changing room, Yoon looked at Seoyeon expectantly.
Seoyeon said, “No tricky kisses…”
“You are wearing less clothing now… come on…”
“No!”
“Okay alliance member, what’s up?”
“We need to work together in this Minecraft challenge.”
“Share our advantage with you? I think not.”
“Come on… There might be ways to secretly help each other.”
Yoon shrugged.
Seoyeon decided to try a different tactic. “I’ll let you kiss me for however much of the five minutes we have left when we are done talking. IF you give me USEFUL information that will help me later.”
Without even blinking, Yoon started talking very quickly, “Chaeyoung and Sieun are in love and are all the time secretly doing stuff together and hiding it from all of the other members. I caught them once and now they bribe me with ‘things’ to keep their secret. Seeun secretly has a crush on Chaeyoung, but is otherwise clueless about everything else. Sumin probably likes boys. Please leave Yeeun out of all of your scheming, or we will all get very angry, me included.”
Seoyeon said, “Oh? Like Haewon and Lily?”
“Wait… how do you know about Haewon and Lily?”
“How do YOU know about Haewon and Lily?”
“’Christmas in July’ party, about a year ago. Nothing much happened, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out something is going on with them.”
“Especially a not-genius that has it going on in her backyard.”
Yoon shrugged.
“At TripleS vs Nmixx badge war last fall, Haewon kept hitting on Chaeyeon and Lily totally blew up at her. ‘Something’ is putting it mildly.”
Yoon said, “Stop talking and kiss me!”
Seoyeon asked, “Wait… How are we going to use all of this to our advantage?”
Yoon had already grabbed the side of Seoyeon’s head and locked their lips together. She gave it a bit more passion this time. Seoyeon again did not back away from the kiss.
Haewon shouted at them from outside the changing area, “TIME!”
Yoon let go of Seoyeon’s face and they exited the changing room as though nothing happened.
***
Bae and Lee Jiwoo shut the door behind them in the changing room and Bae started the timer. Bae said, “What’s up tall girl?”
Jiwoo mimicked her. “What’s up tall girl?”
“You don’t want anything?”
Jiwoo winked at her awkwardly.
“That’s all the better you are at flirting?”
Jiwoo frowned.
“Did you really just call out my name to prevent J from having five minutes with me?”
“What if I did? Would you be impressed? Or disappointed?”
“You are a curious girl, Miss Jiwoo. I can’t answer, without you telling me if you are going to give me what Yeeun was going to give me.”
“But you are assuming what she was going to give you. What if you don’t really know? Because I don’t think you do.”
Bae smiled and gave her a bit of side-eye. She quickly changed the subject, deciding to dig a bit. “So, how much do you actually like Sieun?”
“Before or after she pushed me into the pool?”
“Is it really that big of a deal? Pushing you into the pool? You wouldn’t have pushed her into the pool for a badge?”
“I would not have, but I would have pushed YOU into the pool for a badge.”
“I see.” Bae looked at her phone. “Well, I have a lot of time left to convince you NOT to push me into the pool. You need to like Jinsol!” She stepped forward into Jiwoo’s personal space to see if she would flinch. When she didn’t, she turned her head to the side and gently kissed her.
After about ten seconds, Jiwoo broke the kiss. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked.
“A lot of things, but no one has ever called out my kissing before…”
“You have never heard of ‘tongue hockey’?”
“Sieun taught you something called ‘tongue hockey’?”
“I don’t remember who taught me, but yes, I battled her tongue.”
“Did you win?”
“Of course.”
Bae said, “You are turning me on.”
Jiwoo said, “Oh bummer, I think our time is almost up.” She opened the door and walked out, with most evil, coy, smile that no one actually saw.
“It’s not!” yelled Bae.
***
Isa and Mayu stood outside of the elevators, just in eyeshot of Lily back inside the pool.
Mayu asked, “Are you really just trying to collect me? You don’t have to waste your five minutes to do that…” Mayu put her hand on the big hole in Isa’s pants, right on her upper thigh and butt.
“Oh, so you’re a little flirt.”
Mayu smiled with half of her face and winked.
“Please don’t flirt with Sieun just because you can and then dump her when she really likes you. I will get angry.”
Mayu let go of Isa’s leg and looked down.
Isa grabbed her hand and put it back where it was. “Anyway. I definitely want to get to know you better. Tell me about yourself!”
“No time for that. I’ll let you collect me, but I need some information. I think I have it all figured out, but I need to make sure.”
Isa looked at the coy, cute, flirty blonde wearing only a bikini, a bit surprised. “You aren’t all you seem, are you?”
Mayu rubbed Isa’s thigh a bit, but pointed her other finger at Isa’s nose. “Something is up with you and Sieun and for some reason, Sullin and Sullyoon have decided they need to hook up me and Sieun. But… Sieun has figured this out and now she is trying to get me to turn the tables on the pair of them. But then the way Sullyoon looks at you is strange and you obviously like her too. And apparently you have spent some time with Sullin, that kiss you had with her was not your first time together. Now you are flirting with me. You have some explaining to do Miss ISA.”
Isa started laughing. “Actually, I don’t. I couldn’t have said it any better myself, those two trying to set you up with Sieun is funny. Is that why you were clinging to her from the very beginning?”
“No… I like her! And then they saw that…”
“Ah, and Yoona suddenly had an idea… hahahaha.”
“Seems so. Hey, back to you and me.”
“You were honest and I totally respect and admire that, so I’ll be honest with you. I do truly want to get to know you better, but Yooyeon is actually my first choice and I kind of have a crush on her. For whatever reason she isn’t into me. I kissed Sullin for a reason. You know… ‘the game’… and I need to do it again, different girl. Will you help me out?”
Mayu made a claw with her hand on Isa’s thigh and lightly scratched her. “We’ll see…” She turned around and walked back toward the pool before Lily called time. Isa watched her butt on the way out, then giggled at this curious creature and followed her.
***
Jiyeon and Kim Jiwoo went into the bathroom. Jiyeon said, “Well, this is now awkward.”
Jiwoo said, “Oh no, don’t worry, a lot of ‘stuff’ happens in the bathrooms at these parties.”
“Stuff?”
“Stuff!”
“What kind of stuff?”
Jiwoo quickly changed the subject, “So, pajama ballerina, why did you want five minutes with little me?”
“You’re cute. And I thought maybe I should get to know an Nmixx girl. Sullin seems to have one and Yooyeon seems to have one and Bae was a bit off-putting.”
“Haha, Jinsol was just acting. If she was purposefully off-putting to you, she probably actually likes you.”
“I see.”
“How do you do that?” asked Jiwoo.
“Do what?”
“You’ll just be talking but then suddenly your eyes get huge and the person talking to you can’t help but fall into them.”
“Oh?”
“Your eyes are small right now.”
“Oh?” Jiyeon said with a coy smile.
“THAT!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re pretty. But I bet I can dance better than you.”
Jiyeon giggled at her and made sure her eyes were small. “Sure…”
Jiwoo looked at her awkwardly, but cutely.
Jiyeon asked, “Why don’t you like vegetables?”
“It’s not a crime. Some people like to eat some things and other people like to eat other things.”
“Better question then, why do you get so defensive whenever someone asks you about it?”
“Have you met my groupmates?”
“Right… Well… If I paid you a billion won, would you eat a carrot?”
“Please… of course.”
“If I paid you a million won, would you eat an entire head of lettuce in one sitting?”
She was less enthusiastic, “I guess.”
“For a hundred thousand won, would you eat that carrot?”
“You are pressing your luck.”
“I see. If I ate a carrot, and then kissed you, would it gross you out?”
“Was there still some left in your mouth?”
“Yeah, like half.”
“Yes! Gross!”
“I see… What if I got your hormones all riled up and then suddenly stopped and told you I wasn’t going any further until you ate a carrot. Would you do it?” Jiyeon made sure her eyes were big.
Jiwoo pointed at her. “You are a strange girl…” She opened the door to the bathroom and walked out. Jiyeon sighed and followed her.
***
The girls mingled briefly and freshened their makeup and used the bathroom. The rest of the girls stayed mostly in their own groups, lingering by the lounge chairs. Yooyeon got changed into her new bikini and made an entrance to cheers from everyone standing around the pool.
Haewon clapped and whistled loudly.
Isa said, “That bikini is perfect for your chest! You should wear it all the time.”
Yooyeon ignored her.
Sieun said, “She’s not just saying that. You look amazing!”
Yoon added, “You really do.”
Kim Jiwoo added, “You really do.”
Lily kept her distance.
Kyujin returned from checking on Sullyoon and announced, “Sullyoon’s event is ready! Let’s head back to the conference rooms!”
***
After making their way to the elevators and returning to the conference area, Kyujin led them to a different ballroom, the ‘South Ballroom’. She opened the door and let them inside. There were gasps and ‘wows’.
The front two thirds of the ball room had been transformed into a Minecraft forest. The floor was covered by a green turf carpet ‘grass’ and there were a dozen or so randomly placed boxy trees. They were literally boxes, painted to look somewhat like bark, stacked several high and topped with something resembling the top of a fake palm tree. About halfway into the forest were four chairs, each sitting behind a small folding table. Two of the tables were covered in a black towel and two tables with a brown towel. Haewon, Kyujin, Bae and Jiwoo went in and sat in the four chairs.
The girls entered through the south entrance to the room. The entire south-east corner of the room had a raised floor and was separated by a long climbing wall. A wall like you would see in a venue used for ‘wall climbing’ events, but only three meters tall, perhaps for children. Should someone climb it, they could access that part of the raised area of room.
Past the forest, about two-thirds of the way into the room was a black curtain hanging all the way across the room from ceiling to floor. Three small staircases were evenly spaced across the room and led up to the curtain, for unclear reasons.
Sullyoon was standing the middle of the forest and moved forward to the girls. “Welcome to my Minecraft world!” she said, quite excited.
Sullin was also excited, like a six-year old on Christmas morning. Sullyoon asked, “Does anyone from Stayc know anything about Minecraft?”
Seeun, Yoon, and J all nodded. Yoon said, “Yeah sure, of course we’ve played. Have you played, Sumin?”
Sumin said, “No, but I’ve watched.”
Yoon pointed to Isa and Sieun, “The cool girls? Not so much.”
Isa and Sieun smiled at each other and gave each other high-fives. Sieun raised her torch high into the air.
Mayu said, “I’m no Sullin, but I’m pretty good also.”
Sullyoon said, “Fantastic! Well then hopefully I don’t have to tell you too much.”
Seoyeon said, “You have to tell us something…”
“It is in open-ended sandbox game, you can do whatever you want.”
“Badge war is not an open-ended game. Tell us the win conditions please!”
Yooyeon said, “Calm down, she will.”
Sullyoon said, “Oh, pink bikini. HELLO Yooyeon!”
Kim Jiwoo shouted from her chair, “So Minecraft Seol Yoona just flirts with whatever is around?”
Sullyoon giggled. “Okay, there are some goals. At least for the beginning part of the event.”
Seoyeon said, “See… open-ended my ass…”
Jiyeon and Mayu both lightly slapped Seoyeon’s ass to check it for being open-ended.
Sullyoon beckoned for the girls to follow her to the center of the forest. She said, “So you… and I… aren’t confused by lefts and rights, straight ahead is North in this room. Stayc to the west, TripleS to the east please.” The girls segregated a bit onto their sides.
She continued, “Haewon and Kyujin represent Stayc’s crafting table and forge. Haewon is the crafting table here in brown and Kyujin is the forge here in black. They are already built for you and you can use from the beginning of the game. Hanging here on the crafting table is a list of possible crafting recipes you can make. For example, if you want to make wood planks, hand Haewon the log and she will give you the wood planks. On the other side is TripleS’s crafting table, Jinsol; and furnace, Jiwoo. Please only use your team’s ‘facilities’, I don’t want you clogging each other up either intentionally or accidentally.”
Yoon asked, “No PVP? I can’t kill Seoyeon and take her logs?”
The slutty chicken realized several girls were staring at her.
“What?”
Sullyoon said, “You can see the trees. And the wall to the southeast. In the far north part of the room are the mines. You will need to go there, BUT you have to have a stone pickaxe to be able to enter. The door on the east side of the room is open and you can go out there if you choose.”
On cue, a loud “Baa-aaa-aaa-aaa” sound emanated from down that hallway.
“The door on the west side of the room is currently closed, the conditions required to open it are written on the door. Sieun, there is a button on the bottom of your torch.”
Sieun said, “Eh? What?” She looked at the bottom of the torch and found the tiny button. She clicked it on and jumped a bit when the top of it lit up strongly.
Sullin clapped, “THE TORCH REALLY WORKS!”
“Of course, dear…” said Sullyoon. “Yooyeon and Seoyeon, come here.”
Sullyoon showed them the Velcro strap and they put their ankles together. Sullyoon bent over and fastened it around their ankles, but her eyes also got a very close look at both of their butts.
Kim Jiwoo yelled, “I see what you’re looking at Seol Yoona!”
Sullyoon said, “HUSH! You get ready to forge stuff.” She took one step away from Yooyeon and Seoyeon and said, “This event begins now!”
Seoyeon said, “Wait what? Just like that?”
Chicken Yoon immediately stepped up to the nearest tree and punched it. The three tall boxes that made up the tree all tumbled to the turf, as well as the palm tree ‘topper’.
Yoon said, “Neat…”
Sumin asked, “Why did you do that?”
“We need the logs, I guess these large boxes are logs.”
Sullyoon said, “Nope! Keep punching!”
Yoon said, “Seriously?” and looked closer at the tree pieces.
Seoyeon said, “Sullin! You’re in charge. Boss us around!”
Sullin’s eyes suddenly lit up as though she had been waiting for this opportunity for her entire life. Yooyeon wasn’t too sure about their sudden leader and started walking toward Bae’s crafting table, dragging Seoyeon along. She said, “I’m going to tell you what we can make.”
Sullin said, “Good! Jiwoo and Mayu, do what Yoon is doing, we obviously need a lot of logs.”
Jiwoo was tall enough to take the topper off of the tree and unlike Yoon, she nicely set the three boxes making up the tree on the turf. Mayu started fiddling with the boxes, Sumin was doing the same on Stayc’s side. J and Seeun decided to investigate the wall and Isa and Sieun went to read what the west door said.
Yoon said, “Dear lord, these boxes were taped shut and then painted, and then we have to open them to get the logs out?”
Sullyoon said, “Maybe some manner of tool would be helpful?”
Yooyeon finished dragging Seoyeon to crafting table Bae and Yooyeon bent over to read the things she could craft, displayed on a piece of paper on the crafting table. Bae got a nice view of her boobs. “Haewon is pretty smart sometimes…” said Bae.
From the other side of the room, Haewon said, “All of the time?”
Yooyeon ignored that Bae was both talking, and staring at her and started reading. “One log to four planks. Two planks to four sticks. Stick plus coal makes a torch. This is a lot. Wood pickaxe, stone pickaxe, iron pickaxe… wood axe, stone axe, iron axe… wood sword, stone sword, iron sword. Three iron ingots make a bucket. Two iron ingots make shears. Gold helmet and diamond helmet. Maybe we can use the sheers to get this thing off of our ankles?”
Seoyeon asked Sullyoon, “Can we?”
“I’m not actually here.”
“You’re right there.”
“Am I?”
Sullin said, “We’re a long way from any iron. But that is helpful. Come help with trees.”
Jiyeon asked Sullin, “What do you want me to do?”
“Take you about two seconds to climb that wall?”
“Of course.”
“I have some assumptions, but go see what’s up there.”
“Yes, Ma’am!”
***
Isa and Sieun made their way to the door and read what it said. Isa said, “That sure seems like a lot.”
“I don’t know what any of it means,” agreed Sieun.
“Well, let’s not announce it to the room like Yooyeon just did with all of the recipes, make them come look. I’ll tell Jayoon.”
As Isa and Sieun casually made their way back to Yoon and Sumin, Seeun said, “I think Jiyeon is gonna climb that wall.”
Sieun said, “Who should follow her?”
Isa said, “I’m not really dressed to climb, that would destroy the rest of these shorts for sure.”
“Yeeun, you are dressed to climb!”
J said, “I’ve never climbed a wall like that…”
Yoon said, “Chaeyoung, you and Sumin use your fingernails to open these boxes. Me and Yeeun will give Sieun a boost.”
Sumin said, “Right! Throw her up there!”
Seeun tagged along to the wall for good measure. The four of them watched Jiyeon scurry up the wall like she was a spider.
Seeun asked, “What can’t that girl do?”
Yoon and J got into position and boosted Sieun as high as they could. She managed to grab a handhold at the top of the wall and pull herself up. She stood up and said, “Wait! In case I get stuck up here or something!” She handed the torch down to J.
Seeun wandered over toward the east door, unable to contain her curiosity.
Jiyeon said, “Sullin! Yeah, stone up here!”
Sullin and Sumin both had two boxes open. There were indeed smaller rectangular cardboard shapes representing logs inside the tree boxes.
Sullin said, “Alright! I have a plan!”
Yoon said, “Yeah, me too! Who is going to be faster?”
Seeun looked out the door and spied Lily wearing a sheep costume along with several other stuffed sheep. Lily waved at Seeun and said, “Baa-aaa-aaa.”
A light came to Seeun’s face as she realized all of the things she was about to do to Lily and her sheep in Minecraft. “Sweet revenge!” she said.
'Final' Bae Bucks Summary:
Lee Jiwoo 50, Mayu 150, Sullin 300, Yooyeon 50, Seoyeon 250, Jiyeon 200.
Isa 0, Sumin 0, Seeun 0, J 0, Sieun 0, Yoon 0.
Badge summary:
Seoyeon 3, Mayu 3, Yooyeon 3, Sullin 3, Jiyeon 2, Jiwoo 2 (TripleS 16 total); Yoon 2, Seeun 2, Sumin 2, Sieun 1, Isa 1 (Stayc 8 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll: (July 26 – August 2): https://forms.gle/E6nQgKmbipAu5YiZ9
Chapter 11: Yooyeon...
Summary:
Sullyoon's Minecraft challenge comes to an unpredictable end. Or is it predictable? I'll let you decide. Sieun then has her massage date with Lee Jiwoo and some things happen...
Chapter Text
Chapter 11: Yooyeon…
Seeun ran over to Yoon and said, “Wooden sword! Now please!”
Yoon was holding four of eight precious logs she managed to get out of her tree. “You can wait, help me take these to Hae-crafting table-won.”
Yoon and Seeun piled the logs on Haewon’s table. Yoon said, “Wooden axe please.”
Haewon said, “No! I’m required to do it all in order.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Crafting table shutting down!” teased Haewon, about to push all of the logs off of the table.
Yoon motioned for Seeun to pick up as many logs as she could, she managed 6. Yoon picked up the other two and sat one back down. “Four wooden planks, please…” she said, unamused.
Haewon took the log and replaced it with the cardboard equivalent of four wooden planks. Yoon picked up two, leaving two on the table. “Sticks please.”
Haewon handed her four sticks, stick-sized cardboard tubes.
Yoon gave her back two sticks and the three wood planks. “Wooden axe please.”
Haewon handed her a wooden axe, well a plastic axe painted to look like what one would imagine a wood axe looks like. Seeun said, “We got all of that for one log?”
Yoon yelled, “Yeeun! Come here!”
J scurried over. Yoon said, “Make yourself useful. Seeun, give her another log and stock up some planks and sticks. You and Yeeun make a pile and guard them, don’t let the enemy steal any.”
J said, “Chaeyoung isn’t doing anything…”
Yoon said, “Oh, I’m sure she’s doing something.” Yoon looked closely at the plastic wooden axe she was given. She looked at Haewon, “How is this helpful?”
“I’m just an innocent crafting table, I only make what you tell me.”
Sullyoon had also wandered over and was observing. “You can stick it in the seam to give you better access to the tape. Make the stone axe and it will actually cut for you!”
Seeun said, “You wasted that log, I could have had a sword!”
Seeun traded in more logs and got a pile of planks and sticks. She also got Isa’s attention and convinced her to help guard the pile with J. J asked, “What are you going to do?”
“Get my own logs to make a sword.”
J handed her a log. “I have a fricking pile.”
“Oh no, god forbid I mess with the plan, I’m going to go get my own. At the end we are going to need one hundred planks and we are only going to have 99, and I’m going to get blamed for hitting sheep with my wooden sword.” She wandered off to the furthest tree she could find and knocked off the top box.
Isa said, “Girl is driven for some reason.”
J agreed, “Don’t give Seeun a side-quest if you need to make progress on the main quest. Do we really need a hundred planks?”
“No, I read what we need to open that door. No logs, no planks.”
***
On the other side, Sullin shouted to Jiyeon, “Can you get cobblestone?”
Jiyeon said, “There are blocks of stone up here, but they are all bound together with packing tape or something, I’m assuming I need a tool to get them out?”
Sullin said, “Okay, come to the edge, I’ll make you a tool.” She only had two logs of her own, but she took them to ‘Jin-crafting table-sol’. She had somewhat heard Haewon earlier, so she didn’t even try to play around. She sat one log on the table. “Four wood planks please.”
Bae handed her four planks. Sullin gave her back two planks, “Four sticks please.” Bae handed her four sticks. She gave Bae another log for four planks and then gave her three planks and two sticks. “Wooden pickaxe please!”
Bae handed her the plastic pickaxe vaguely painted to look like wood. It had a somewhat serrated end on the axe. Sullin giggled in glee at her first major crafting success. She dropped the rest of the planks and sticks and started moving toward the wall.
Jiwoo pointed to J and said, “Hey, they are guarding theirs. You just going to leave all of this here?”
Sullin said, “Come with me so you can hand this up to Jiyeon. Mayu can guard.”
Mayu looked up from her tree trunk, excited and wide-eyed at the prospect of melee with the other team.
Jiwoo said, “Chaeyoung just has to wag her finger and Mayu will carry our stuff over there and deliver it to her. Bad idea.”
Mayu scowled at Jiwoo and looked down and went back to extracting logs.
Jiwoo said, “Worthless tied-together leader-girls, come guard.” Then she ran off after Sullin.
Jiwoo handed the pickaxe up to Jiyeon. Jiyeon was not impressed. “This is going to be like cutting a steak with a plastic knife.”
Sullin said, “Well, you need stone to make a better one, so hack away.”
Sieun was listening to the entire thing. There was only one way to get Yoon’s attention so she belted the chorus of ‘Cheeky Icy Thang’ instead of ‘I’m cool as ice ondeorak wiseuki ring a ring ding dong; Sunglasses ttagaun siseoneun chaganhae for me’ she sang, “If you want some stone, I need a wooden axe, ring a ring ding dong; If you want some stone, please bring it FOR ME.”
***
Isa, Yoon, and J cracked up at Sieun’s request. Yoon said, “Yeah, she’s right. We need stone tools bad. Sumin? How many logs do you have?”
Sumin said, “Like 6?”
“Bring them to Haewon!”
J asked, “What about these parts we already have?”
Yoon pointed at her, “Hush! We are hoarding! You guard!”
Yoon directed Haewon to make a wooden pick axe from the two logs and the chicken ran it over to Sieun herself.
Jiyeon had some cobblestone free and handed it down to Jiwoo. Jiwoo shouted, “Sullin? How many cobblestone?”
Sullin said, “Six if possible!”
Jiwoo had two now and couldn’t carry many more, so she ran them over to Bae and then ran back to Jiyeon to await more.
Sieun was quite effective at using the dull tool to get some stone. She got three free and took one to the edge and threw it in Yoon’s direction. Jiwoo nearly intercepted it, deflecting it to the side, but hot chicken Yoon got to it first. Sieun said, “BESTIE? Why are you like this?”
Jiwoo shouted, “FREE STONE!”
Sieun was more careful getting the stone to Yoon and J came over to make sure Jiwoo didn’t interfere.
The girls waited patiently as Jiyeon and Sieun were mining stone with a wood pickaxe.
Except for Seeun... She managed to sneak to the crafting table with two logs while Yoon was busy getting stone. She caught a peek at Isa who giggled at her, wondering what the heck she was doing. She handed Haewon the log, got planks and sticks, and had enough for a wooden sword, it only needed two planks and one stick. She giggled as Haewon handed her a sad plastic dagger painted to somewhat look like wood. Carrying it hidden behind her back, she dropped the extra wood off at the pile and then made her way to the east door. No one other than Isa, Yooyeon, and Seoyeon saw her.
Yooyeon said, “What’s she up to?”
Seoyeon shrugged.
Seeun went out into the hallway and pointed her wooden sword at Lily. She shouted, “I’M GOING TO SLAY ALL OF YOUR LAME AUSTRALIAN SHEEP!”
***
Yoon looked at J. “Was that Seeun?”
Sullin, Seoyeon, Yooyeon, and Isa all started cracking up in laughter.
Jiwoo took her first three stone to Sullin, who quickly took it to Bae to make the first stone pickaxe. Sullin said, “Jiwoo! See what’s in those mines!”
Jiwoo said, “Oh me? Okay…” She proudly held up her pickaxe and walked toward the east stairs.
Sullin said, “Mayu! Please get more stone from Jiyeon!”
Mayu stood up quickly and saluted Sullin, “YES MA’AM!” She made her way to the wall.
Yoon and J had three stone of their own and took it all to Haewon. Yoon said, “Stone axe please!”
Haewon handed her the axe, which actually had a sharp bit in the blade, perfect for cutting the tape holding the trees together.
J said, “Why did you do that? Look! Jiwoo is heading toward the mines, we have way too much wood!”
Yoon handed the stone axe to Sumin. “More wood, please! Yeeun, this is Minecraft, you NEVER have enough wood.”
J shrugged. Yoon grabbed her wrist and dragged her back over to the wall.
Jiwoo made it to the east staircase and went up. She shouted, “Sullyoon! I have the pickaxe, can I just go in?”
Sullyoon shouted, “YES!”
There was a muffled sound of Jiwoo saying, “OH FUN!” then, “OH SHIT! HELP!”
Sullyoon said, “But…” Sullyoon and Sullin ran to the curtain.
Sullin said, “Jiwoo? Are you okay?”
Jiwoo said, “I’m fine! I saw something fun and had to jump in, but then the curtain closed and it is pitch black in here. Also, I caught these ridiculous leggings on something and they tore.”
Sullyoon started cracking up laughing. Sullin said, “Okay, I’ll make another pickaxe to come save you! And I’ll bring a torch!”
Sullin grabbed a log from their pile and handed it to ‘Ji-forge-woo’. Kim Jiwoo smiled at her and took her log. “It takes four to make charcoal.”
“No, it doesn’t…” said Sullin.
“Bottleneck for game balance, Sullyoon told me it takes four.”
Sullin cursed in Thai and got three more logs, again delivering them all to Jiwoo.
Jiwoo started a timer on her watch and proceeded to make sounds mimicking a crackling fire, or the strangest ever beat-boxing.
Sullyoon laughed openly. “Sorry, I told her to do that, but the accuracy cracks me up every time.”
Sullin stood there impatient. “How long does it take Jiwoo to burn a log?”
Jiwoo continued making fire noises.
***
Yoon and J got three more stone and took it to Haewon. Yoon said, “You hear all of that?”
J said, “Yeah… charcoal takes a while.”
“And we already have a torch, see, I know what I’m doing.”
“No, you don’t, you’re lucky…”
“We’ll see who is lucky when Sumin has this entire forest deforested.”
J just shook her head as Haewon handed Yoon the stone pickaxe. Yoon said, “Yeeun! You are our brightest hope. Take Sieun’s torch advantage and this pickaxe and do us proud!”
J wanted to laugh at how serious Yoon was being, but decided she should just do it. She marched off to the west curtain. She turned on her torch and peaked inside. She exclaimed, “OH!”
Yoon motioned for Isa to follow J so she could supervise the deforestation herself. She also pointed to Sumin. “Sumin! Give four logs to Kyujin to make some charcoal, then check on what the heck Seeun is doing please.”
Sumin followed Yoon’s directions. Kyujin made some fire sounds but wasn’t good at it and quickly grew tired of it.
Isa said to J through the curtain, “You okay kiddo?”
“It’s a gigantic ball pit! I love it! Lots of iron. I guess I’ll just throw these balls out to you?”
“I guess we need iron for something?”
“Yes ma’am!” J put two balls out through the curtain and dropped them. Isa scrambled around and picked them up, they indeed said “IRON” on them. She took them to show Yoon and J continued littering the front of her curtain with more iron.
***
Finally, Kim Jiwoo stopped making fire sounds and handed Sullin a lump of charcoal. Sullin took it to Bae along with a stick and said, “Torch, please!” Bae handed her a torch, just like the one that Sieun won. Sullin flipped the switch on the bottom, making it illuminate. In the meantime, she had made a second stone pickaxe as well. She took the pickaxe and torch to Lee Jiwoo’s curtain, used the pickaxe to open it and threw the torch inside. Jiwoo cheered and said, “These balls are sticking to my leggings because of this cheap furry cotton… I hope no one was very attached to them.”
Sullin picked up a few balls from inside the curtain, “Like half of these are iron, throw some out, that’s what JJ is doing.”
Sullin stayed to gather the iron balls that Jiwoo threw out, Isa was doing the same on the other side.
Back at the wall, Mayu said, “Jiyeon, I think you can come down, it doesn’t seem like we are going to need any more stone if they have iron now.”
Jiyeon said, “You gonna catch me?”
Sieun said, “No, she’s gonna catch me!”
“I know you think highly of her, but the chances of her catching anything are quite slim.”
Sieun and Jiyeon worked together to climb down the wall, with a bit of coaching from Mayu. Mayu said, “Jiyeon, let’s go check out that door, no one from our team has even looked for what we are supposed to be doing.”
Sullin had given Jiwoo four more logs and was amusing herself making her do those fire sounds for several more minutes. Jiyeon shouted, “Sullin! We’re going to check out the door!”
Sullin gave them a thumbs up.
***
Sumin made her way to the east door and couldn’t decide whether to crack up laughing or throw up.
Seeun was holding some manner of a facsimile of a sheep and was digging around inside of it with her wooden sword.
Lily saw Sumin and said, “Poor girl is trying to kill a sheep with a wooden sword, it is a very inefficient way to gather meat.”
Seeun waved her sword at Lily again. “Sumin, it’s like a sheep piñata wrapped in wool fabric. I guess we need the meat for something…”
Sumin said, “Hon… better tools will make it easier. J is currently getting iron.”
Seeun dropped the sheep and stood up. She waved her sword at Lily again, “I’ll be back! Then you’ll be sorry!”
Lily giggled and said, “Naurrrrr.”
***
Both teams switched to iron gathering mode, but although there were a lot of iron balls around, they had to give four to the forge at a time and then wait for the forge to make an ingot. Several girls grabbed iron balls and made sure the other team didn’t steal any.
Jiyeon read the door and relayed what it said to Sullin. Isa and Sieun also told Yoon. Here is what it said: ‘You need 2 cooked meat per member of your team. One member of your team must be carrying one of the following before you can open this door: 1) gold or diamond helmet 2) torch 3) torch 4) iron sword 5) iron axe 6) iron pickaxe.’
By this point, Yoon had made another torch and stone pickaxe. They equipped Sieun and she went into the east curtain with Jiwoo.
Sullin used their first two ingots to make shears which allowed her to separate Yooyeon from Seoyeon. They equipped Yooyeon with the second stone pickaxe and torch and she went into the middle mine alone.
Yoon went to J’s mine and told her to stop throwing out iron and that she should look for gold or diamonds instead, she used the first of their iron ingots to make an iron pickaxe, assuming they would need it to be able to mine the diamonds. Sullin did the same, although she was two iron ingots behind, waiting for the forge.
Jiyeon wandered by the crafting table and looked at the recipe list. She had an ‘aha’ moment and started gathering some iron of her own, there were plenty of balls scattered around. Sullin saw her, but didn’t think much of it. Jiyeon also used the forge to make ingots when Sullin wasn’t using it.
Seeun begged Yoon for an iron sword. Yoon agreed to make it next.
***
J screamed, “CHAEYOUNG! YOONIE! Someone!”
Hot chicken Yoon waddled to the curtain. “What is it?”
J handed out a bundle of two balls taped together. “What is this?”
Yoon said, “You found diamonds! Yoona, are these diamonds?”
Sullyoon said, “They are! But you have to have an iron pickaxe to break them apart.”
Not long after, Jiwoo found a bundle of four gold balls, also requiring the iron pickaxe.
Everyone quite distracted, finishing up with the necessary iron tools, Yooyeon also called for Sullyoon.
Sullyoon went to the center curtain and poked her head inside. “What’s up Hon, are you okay?”
Yooyeon was alone in her ball pit, she held up a bundle of diamonds and a bundle of gold, now sure what they were. She said, “I found these. I’m going to stash them here in case I need them later.”
Sullyoon looked at her quizzically, but knew not to ask any questions. She gave her a thumb’s up, simply enabling her craziness.
Seoyeon saw them communicating and then as Sullyoon left the curtain Seoyeon said, “Yooyeon, why aren’t you finding anything?”
“I don’t know, there’s nothing in here,” she lied.
Jiwoo shouted from next door, “You have to dive deep into the balls.”
“I’ve been all the way to the bottom, there’s nothing in here.”
Seoyeon asked, “Yoona? Do each of these mines have the same things in them?”
Sullyoon thought for a second, then said, “Of course not. Probably not… This is a randomly generated world.”
Seoyeon just glared at her. “Yooyeon! Come out and give me the torch and pick axe, I’m going to go and bother Yeeun.”
Yoon said, “Sumin! Chaeyoung! Don’t let anyone on Yeeun’s stairs. Sieun, did you find anything?”
Sieun said, “Yes! I have a pile of things, just keeping my Bestie’s long arms away from them.”
Yoon said, “I’m right here! Hand them out to me!”
***
Jiyeon finally had three iron ingots and went to visit Bae. “Bucket please!” she said.
Mayu said, “What did you make?”
“A bucket!”
“Why? We don’t need it for anything?”
“Exactly, then why is it on here?”
Mayu screamed, “Sullin-NIM, Jiyeon is making buckets for no reason.”
Bae pulled a plastic bucket out from under the table and handed it to Jiyeon. “Congrats!”
Jiyeon looked at her quizzically and looked into the bucket, a badge was laying at the bottom staring at her. She showed it to Mayu.
Mayu sighed and stomped off.
She nearly ran into Seeun, now holding a large plastic sword that looked more like it could be iron. Seeun said, “Mayu! Would you like to slay sheep with me? It is WELL lit out there!”
Mayu found the iron sword that Sullin had already made and joined Seeun heading out to greet Lily, this time with IRON.
Since they now had iron swords, Lily had quickly replaced all of the sheep that were there earlier with larger, fatter, paper mâché piñata sheep.
Lily pointed to them and Seeun realized they were different. “Can I?” Seeun asked innocently.
Lily nodded with a smile. Seeun smacked the sheep closest to her quite hard and three balls labeled ‘meat’ fell out. Her and Mayu both giggled with glee and started whacking sheep.
Kyujin asked Haewon, “I hope Lily is okay? They look pretty serious with their swords.”
Haewon said, “Oh, I’m sure she’s fine.”
***
There was a bit of a tussle as Seoyeon attempted to go into J’s mine and Sumin and Isa did their best to stop her. Yoon and Sullin started accounting for their gold and diamonds
Yoon said, “There is more gold in each bundle, but you have to smelt it, you don’t have to do anything with the diamonds.”
Sullin said, “How many diamonds do you have?”
“Four.”
“We don’t know how many gold it takes to make an ingot. I’m going to go test it. There isn’t enough of either one for both of us, we need to each use one or the other.”
Seoyeon was holding a bundle of diamonds that Jiwoo had given her. “Well Jayoon. About that alliance.” She held up the diamonds.
Yoon said, “Fine…” and gave Seoyeon a bundle of gold.
Seoyeon promptly ran over to Sullin and gave it to her.
Sullin opened the gold ore with the iron pickaxe and gave one to Jiwoo. It only took ten seconds and she gave her back an ingot. Seoyeon handed her the second bundle. “Where did you get that?” asked Sullin.
“Secret!” said Seoyeon. Sullin said, “I got this, we need to cook all of the meat!”
Seoyeon yelled, “MEAT! WHERE IS THE MEAT!” In response, Jiyeon sprinted to the east door.
Yoon was in the process of breaking open the diamonds, very excited to be almost at the end. She heard Seoyeon and was reminded herself and said, “SHIT! Sumin! Check on Seeun!”
By the time Sumin and Seeun and Mayu and Jiyeon returned with the meat, Yoon was holding a diamond helmet and Sullin a gold helmet. The other girls were climbing out of the mines. Sieun looked at Jiwoo and started giggling. Jiwoo’s legging were trashed from the balls in the pit, already pulled a bit thin, there were runs and tears all over them.
Both teams started cooking the meat, while making sure each girl was carrying one of the required items. Cooking the meat only took five seconds each and the teams were neck and neck. Seoyeon said, “This could literally come down to fat-assed Yooyeon needing four meat instead of two.”
Sullin said, “I’m more worried about them being closer to the door.”
Yooyeon said, “I’m never sharing food with any of you again. We’ll be fine, we don’t even know what we have to do once we get outside the door.”
***
Stayc finished cooking all of their meat, then distributed it to each girl. They all made their way to the west door, fully equipped about twenty seconds before TripleS. Sullyoon verified that Stayc could open the door and she ushered them outside into the hallway. She left the door open so that TripleS could see, but wouldn’t let them into the hallway.
The hallway between the ballroom and the next row of conference rooms was divided into two distinct areas, one to the north of the door and one to the south. Each area had a grey mat on the floor, representing the outline of a stone foundation. Lying on each foundation was about twenty large foam 3D puzzle pieces. One could imagine that the finished puzzle was an entire 3D Minecraft house, about half life-sized. Yooyeon shouted, “PUZZLE!”
Sullyoon said, “Although just by seconds, Stayc, you opened the door first. You get a one minute head-start on the puzzle. Go ahead and get started whenever you are ready.”
As Stayc ran into the room and started sorting puzzle pieces, Seoyeon pointed to Yooyeon’s meat. “If you are going to wear a bikini all the time, you really should eat less…”
Yooyeon attempted to slay Seoyeon with an iron axe.
Sullin said, “We are going to learn a lot watching them. Pay attention!”
Stayc seemed like they had been assembling 3D puzzles their entire career. Sumin and Seeun went to work sorting out the green and brown base pieces and Sieun already had the stairs put together and in place. Isa was gathering blue roof pieces and J was carrying around the door.
Yoon would often shout orders or offer advice. No one ever balked or talked back. “Yeeun, carrying that around is not useful, please do something useful.”
“Yoonie, it goes right here on top of the stairs, it just won’t stand up by itself yet. Once Sumin finishes the corners…”
Seoyeon commented, “For being one of the younger members, Yoon is no joke as a leader.”
Sullyoon said, “She would make a very good leader! Well, around derelict computer equipment or computer games, anyway.”
Finally, Sullyoon let TripleS into the hallway. They did their best to mimic Stayc, but there was no clear leader and they were often arguing about what to do next.
Stayc got a bit hung up on the roof because some of the roof pieces were very similar to the awning pieces above the door. Yoon saved herself to be the tall crane to get the high pieces in place. Jiwoo tried the same, but she was too eager to place things that weren’t ready to be placed and twice caused a collapse, though overall, watching Stayc did help them and they weren’t too far from finishing when Yoon shouted, “ARE WE FINISHED?”
Sullyoon carefully looked around the house and said, “Stayc wins my challenge and six badges! TripleS, you were very close!”
Jiyeon and Mayu hugged Sullin who was a bit upset. Yooyeon ran up to Sullyoon and whispered something into her ear. Sullyoon said, “Everyone, come back into the forest to collect your badges!”
Sullyoon gave each Stayc member their badge. “JJ! You got your first badge!”
J said, “I guess I’m not really cut out for this kind of stuff…”
Yoon gave her a hug, “Don’t be silly! You were great!”
Sullyoon said, “Also, Jiyeon gets one, she made the bucket, which had a badge in the bottom.”
Yoon said, “That’s why there was a stupid bucket? I was wondering why it was on there with no use.”
Jiyeon showed off her badge, “That’s why I made it without telling anyone else…”
Yoon pointed at her, “Smart…”
Yooyeon said, “So about not telling you guys stuff. Yoona, did I get my ‘secret task’ badge?”
Sullyoon motioned for the crafting table and forges to get up and have a conference with her. Lily also managed to get out of her sheep costume and joined in.
Seoyeon said, “What did you do?”
Yooyeon quietly looked away.
Haewon said, “Yooyeon’s ‘secret task’ was to sabotage her team in a major challenge. Is that correct Yooyeon?”
Yooyeon nodded.
Mayu said, “Are you kidding me?”
Jiwoo giggled, “Did you sabotage the cooking challenge also?”
Yooyeon asked, “Couldn’t tell?”
“No…”
“Then no, I didn’t, it has to be obvious. I knew no matter what I tried to do, everyone would just assume I was bad at cooking, so I didn’t try.”
“Well what did you do in this challenge?” asked Jiyeon.
Kim Jiwoo said, “Kind of fun they are so eager to judge each other, we don’t have to do anything.”
Yooyeon said, “I found diamonds and gold in that mine I was in alone, but hid them and didn’t tell anyone.”
Seoyeon said, “No way…”
Sullyoon asked, “Did it give you a disadvantage?”
Seoyeon sighed, “Yes… I traded diamonds to Yoon for gold, allowing us both to finish our helmets at the same time, but we were just a bit behind. If Yooyeon had given us the gold, we would have certainly finished the helmet first and made it to the door first, even needing more food.”
Yoon said, “Hahaha, about your alliance idea! FUNNY!”
Yooyeon asked, “Making an alliance with an enemy member?”
Seoyeon said, “Well… my friends aren’t exactly reliable?” She made ‘finger quotes’ at the work friends.
Sullyoon asked, “Jayoon, do you agree that if Yooyeon simply gave her team the gold they would have won?”
Yoon nodded, “Yes, pretty sure.”
Haewon opened her belt pouch and handed Yooyeon the ‘traitor’ badge. “Congrats Yooyeon! You now have 4! Our current leader for Miu Miu!”
Yooyeon said, “No so loud…”
Sullyoon added, “Well, you can probably trust her now, she won’t be trying to sabotage things anymore.”
Sumin said, “We win an event and get six and they still get two and we barely make up any ground.”
Isa said, “It’s okay, four is good! We were amazing in that challenge. Also, Yoona, it was super fun.”
Sullyoon bowed to Isa. “Everyone, let’s go back to the pool. Jiwoo and Sieun, you two can head down to the second floor for your massage.”
***
Lee Jiwoo and Sieun walked hand-in-hand to the elevator, the size difference nearly comical. Both girls were quite excited to get away from the craziness for a bit, as well as hang out together.
They made their way to the spa area on the 2nd floor of the hotel. There were a few other people around and both of them got strange looks. They had forgotten that Sieun was wearing a white tee shirt and no bra and Jiwoo's leggings were torn to shreds and she was wearing an ugly sweater. They checked in at the spa’s desk and the attendant led them to a room for their massage.
Sieun immediately removed her tee shirt.
"Oh hi..." said Jiwoo.
"What? You've seen them before..."
"I guess so!"
As Sieun laid down, face first, on the massage table, Jiwoo took off her sweater, leaving her in a white camisole, nothing under it. "I wonder how long we have, should I try to take off these nylons."
Sieun giggled at her as she sat on the massage table and did her best to remove the leggings, and get her safety shorts situated. She was mostly successful before a pair of female masseuses entered.
Jiwoo settled onto her own table, leaving her camisole on, and feet hanging quite a bit off the end and they started their massages. Both girls turned their face toward the other. Sieun smiled brightly at Jiwoo and held out her hand. Jiwoo was able to touch palms with her long arm and they interlocked fingers.
Sieun asked, "Bestie! Are you really pissed at me about the pool?"
"No, of course not. I do get pissed when you call me 'Bestie' though."
"Oh? Why?"
"I don't like being friend-zoned."
"I see."
"Do you really think you and I could get along? Out in the real world?" asked Jiwoo.
"I don't know. We are quite opposite. It would be one of those things that would be very challenging, but absolutely spectacular if we could make it work, and we could be really good for each other."
"Having a relationship isn't really something I think about much. Do you think about it a lot?"
Tears immediately came to Sieun's eyes.
"Oh shit, I already made you cry?”
Sieun tried to shake her head, which was impossible on the massage table, "Of course not... Jiwoo... It's not you."
"It is never me. Hey, we are in this room together with two strangers. Talk to me. I'm here for you."
"Maybe your more analytical approach can help me with what I'm feeling."
"Yes, talk to me. I'll sort you out."
"Are you sure? It is all about Chaeyoung."
Jiwoo giggled.
"What?"
"Sorry, I was just imagining how many other girls have had that conversation with a friend. ‘It's all about Chaeyoung’”, she said in a low-pitched voice.
"Right? And yet... It is actually my life. And all of my life."
"So, you really do love her. I mean LOVE her. And you can't be with her right now, for obvious reasons."
"Period. Except..."
"Except?"
"That would be it. I could live with that. But you see how she is..."
"With all of the flirting? And collecting girls."
"Jiwoo. It isn't flirting, she doesn't flirt without following it up, if you know what I mean."
"She hurts you every time she makes a comment about Yooyeon, or Mayu, or whoever."
"Deeply."
"Do you think she loves you back?"
"I do."
"It is just her way of coping? Messing around with anything else that moves?"
"She has a lot of demons... I mean we all do. But yes, it is how she goes on with life, Isa distractions."
"And how do you go on with life?"
"Singing and dancing. Pouring everything that I am into the stage and my fans and my group."
"And trying to be perfect for them all?"
This time she managed to shake her head up and down.
"I mean, it isn't a horrible past-time."
"But today... the way she looks at Yoona just tears me apart."
"Ah, so it isn't Yooyeon, it is Yoona?"
"There is something different about it and it worries me. I see her with Eunha and..."
"Sieun, that whole thing at the Valentine's party was totally fake."
"They hang out together quite often. Fake is only what you don't want to admit. Sure, she has a lot of friends, and ‘more than friends’ that eventually get tired of her for whatever reason. But Yoona isn't like that. If they end up together, it is forever."
"What? You are crazy."
"I already know I’m crazy. Telling me that is not helping."
"I mean, I love your crazy, you are actually so human and it is attractive. Perfect main vocalist Sieun is just an idol, not really a human. But thinking she would ever end up with Yoona and they would be like that is CRAZY. I would actually see her with Yooyeon, they would make a great couple. And the fact that Yooyeon is TOTALLY shutting her down, means she is actually attracted to her and worried about it. Yooyeon casually goes along with Soomin constantly clinging to her and doting on her. She doesn't really like it, but she's good at 'sure, whatever', but I've never seen her just flat out imply 'no'. It is interesting. Or maybe it is because Lily is around, I don't know."
"You aren't helping again."
"I am. I'm telling you honestly what it is. It's what you need. What do you really think your options are? She decides to use the thing she bought at the auction to spend the night with Yoona tonight. What are you going to do? Sit in your room and cry?"
"It is still about the end game. I will always have the advantage there. No one knows her better than I do. We are all considering moving out of the dorm and living alone or with family. We could actually comfortably see each other after hours if we did that.”
"Oh, so you see a next step with her, very quickly."
"Yeah."
"Just about tonight though, you didn't answer my question."
"Can I cry on my wet Bestie's shoulder?"
Jiwoo glared at her. "While I'm being pissed… You like Mayu better than me, don't you?"
"’Like’ is such a stupid word."
"You are more physically attracted to her?"
"I think you're hot. But, could I live my life always looking up at you?"
"Ouch... So, you really are friend-zoning me."
"This is the problem with analytical personalities like yours. Why all the importance on labels and categories? Let's just be what we want to be in the moment?"
An evil thought popped into Jiwoo’s head and she couldn’t not say it. "You... Wait... Oh you mean like Chaeyoung is doing right now with whatever hot girl she is currently talking to? Imagine it in your head right now."
Sieun scowled, "Fine... You win. You have some minutes not currently being in the friend zone. What are you going to do with them?"
After several minutes of silence quickly finishing up the massage, both masseuses looked at each other and said, "Okay! We're done! Take your time getting dressed. Bye!" They both hurriedly left the room, as though pair massages often turn out like this.
Jiwoo flipped over on her back, her chest reacting visibly in the camisole and Sieun quickly hopped off of her table and jumped onto Jiwoo. “Do you remember how to tongue hockey?”
“Of course. Would you believe that Jinsol didn’t?”
“Eh? Let me feel your long fingers.” Sieun put one of Jiwoo’s hands on her butt and the other on a boob. She buried her own hand in Jiwoo’s hair and the other worked its way up her camisole. They then kissed and Jiwoo’s tongue quickly started the hockey match.
***
Badge summary: Seoyeon 3, Mayu 3, Yooyeon 4, Jiyeon 3, Jiwoo 2, Sullin 3 (TripleS 18 total); Yoon 3, Seeun 3, Sumin 3, Sieun 2, Isa 2, J 1 (Stayc 14 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll: (August 2 - 9): https://forms.gle/i7FyaZduPfDA7ZZq5
Chapter 12: Mayu Has Quite an Hour
Summary:
Mayu's real self starts emerging even more as she sets out to accomplish several goals in their 'free' hour. Then, a surprise Jiwoo re-emerges to run a mini-game that even Nmixx didn't know about.
Chapter Text
Chapter 12: Mayu Has Quite an Hour
The sixteen girls returned to the pool and stood around just inside the door, not really sure what to do.
Seoyeon asked, “We really have an entire hour free?”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Yes! Do whatever you like for an hour!”
Yooyeon asked, “I’m not sure what it means to not have a schedule, I think I’ll just stand here until I have a schedule again.”
Sullyoon said, “Well, as an example, I’m going to take a nap.”
Sullin grabbed Sullyoon’s hand. “No! You are going to talk to Sullin.”
“I mean, I’m going to talk to Sullin.”
Yoon and J were not about to stand around waiting for something to happen and wandered over to the lounge chairs and began lounging. Sumin and Seeun joined them.
Seoyeon and Jiyeon walked over to where all of the towels were on the tiles beside the pool and laid down on them. Yooyeon sighed and went to join them. Sullin and Sullyoon sat down together on a towel as well. Lily, Kim Jiwoo and Kyujin went for a walk around the pool.
The only girls left, Bae stood next to Haewon and Isa stood next to Mayu. Isa didn’t say anything, but looked at Mayu expectantly. Mayu pointed toward Isa, made a prayer gesture with both hands and then pointed to Haewon. Isa shrugged, somewhat guessing what she was asking.
Mayu said, “Haewon. What’s your story? I want to get to know you better!”
Isa smiled from ear to ear, excited to watch the Japanese girl at work.
Bae said, “She’s overrated, maybe you want to get to know Bae better?”
Mayu shook her head ‘no’. “Haewon?”
Bae shrugged and started to walk toward Stayc, but Haewon grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.
Bae said, “Are you four? If you need a babysitter, please go ask Lily.”
Haewon pointed at Bae’s nose with her index finger and squinted at her. Bae stepped back to where she was and sighed.
Haewon asked, “What would you like to know?”
“It seems you have a bit of a reputation around here?”
Bae wasn’t going to let Haewon make her stand there AND stay quiet. She quickly said, “Yes, we call her Hornywon. She likes girls. Especially girls of a certain type.”
Isa added, “Australian?”
Haewon immediately said to Isa, “Not my type.” She turned to Mayu, “Why didn’t you bring Chaeyeon?”
“Oh, the rumors are true then?” said Mayu.
“What rumors?”
Bae said, “She has a LOT of rumors.”
Isa said, “I know six or seven.”
Mayu said, “I think I replaced Chaeyeon. Does that make you hate me?”
“Not as long as you are wearing that!” said Haewon, pointing to a boob.
Bae finally made her escape and quickly walked toward Lily, Kyujin and Jiwoo.
Isa said, “Mayu, do you want a few minutes alone with Haewon?”
Mayu excitedly shook her head ‘yes’.
Haewon said, “Sorry… because of the five-minute meetings rules, I shouldn’t go off with you alone. Stay with us Chaeyoung.”
Mayu was realizing her plan wasn’t working, so she caught eye contact with Haewon and gave her a flirty smile and wink, just to make her point.
Isa said, “Don’t let the cute fool you. She could be worse than me. She was scratching my leg earlier, like an untamed kitten.”
Haewon suddenly got quiet. Mayu slapped Isa’s butt at the giant hole in the side of her shorts.
Isa pointed to Mayu. Then after a pause, she said, “Seems like Haewon isn’t in to bikini-wearing Japanese girls. Wanna chat with me?”
“Her loss… Guesso!”
Isa grabbed her hand and they started walking to the end of the pool. At their destination, they stopped walking and turned to look at each other when they realized Kim Jiwoo was standing awkwardly close to Isa and Kyujin was standing close to Mayu.
They simultaneously said, “Hello!”
Isa asked, “Okay, what is this?”
Kyujin said, “Sorry, you aren’t allowed to go off alone. Other people need to hear what you are saying, otherwise the five-minute dates aren’t worth anything.”
“You want to hear me and Mayu getting to know each other better?”
“Not really.” She shouted to the Stayc gathering at the lawn chairs. “Does anyone else want to hear Isa and Mayu get to know each other better?”
Yoon and Sumin quickly shook their heads ‘no’.
The twins decided to stir the pot. Kyujin said to Isa, “Your wife goes off to a massage with her new girlfriend…”
Jiwoo said to Mayu, “And your new little crush is apparently Chaeyoung’s wife AND has a new girlfriend. Who is not you…”
Isa just smiled at Mayu, but her face not showing a bit of annoyance was all that Mayu needed. She decided they would ignore the twins, and bore them until they leave. She asked Isa, “So, have you been to Japan a lot?”
“Of course! We’ve promoted several Japanese singles. Where are you from?”
“Tomioka in Gunma Prefecture. Have you ever been there?”
“I don’t think so. Where is it?”
“Not far northwest of Tokyo, the very center of the island. North of Mount Fuji.”
“Nope, haven’t been there. Are they famous for anything?”
“The Tomioka Silk Mill. It is the first modern silk mill in Japan. Are you from Seoul?”
“No, I’m from Busan!”
“Ah, Dahyun is from Busan.”
Isa and Mayu continued their casual conversation for about ten minutes, each occasionally looking at one of the twins to see if their eyes were glazing over.
Finally, Isa smirked at Mayu, “Do we know each other well enough yet to be intimate?”
Jiwoo snapped out of her daydream about dinner and dessert. She poked Kyujin to make sure she was listening.
Mayu put her hand on Isa’s butt again. “Oh hon, we knew each other well enough for that long before this conversation.
Isa pointed at Kyujin. “Get out your damn phone.”
Kyujin asked, “Why?”
“Doing your job?”
“Eh?”
Isa took a step forward and kissed Mayu. Mayu turned red and stepped back after three seconds.
Isa said, “Did I scare you?”
“No, the rush of dopamine scared me. I’m okay now, continue…”
“Kyujin! Timer!”
Kyujin had no idea what she was going on about, but got out her phone and started the timer. Mayu wasn’t sure either, but she wasn’t about to question anything as Isa stepped forward again. This time she grabbed the back of Mayu’s head and kissed her hard, after five seconds, Mayu’s tongue wasn’t about to be restrained and her hands went to Isa’s butt. Isa clenched her free fist, because if she started feeling around Mayu’s bikini, it could turn into way more of a show than she was planning. After thirty seconds of passionate kissing, she let go of Mayu and stepped back. Mayu looked at her needlingly, but then looked at the twins staring at them and did her best to cool down.
Kyujin said, “Thirty-two seconds? Is this important for something?”
Sullin and Sullyoon both saw the end of the kiss. Sullin asked, “Yoona, what are we going to do with her?”
Sullyoon clapped, “Yay! Pressure is off of Yoona, she found a new girl to collect!”
Haewon had wondered over during the kiss. She got a badge out of her belt pouch. “Nicely done Chaeyoung, you successfully kissed two members of the other team for at least twenty seconds each. You get a badge!”
Sullin remembered her kiss earlier and then realized she just did it for the badge. She shouted, “CHAEYOUNG! HOW RUDE!”
Sullyoon realized she probably only kissed Mayu for the badge also and said, “Fml.”
Sullin said, “That’s the last time we let Sieun go do something fun without being here to supervise you.”
Isa turned toward Sullin, “You’re just jealous. You could have had that all night at Valentine’s Day, but no, you just wanted to talk.”
Sullin scooted behind Sullyoon on the towel and tried to hide.
J asked Yoon, “What are they screaming about over there?”
Yoon said, “I’m sure Chaeyoung did something… funny…”
Mayu was reveling in the drama, not really caring much about why Isa kissed her because of the ridiculous amount of hormones currently circulating through her blood. She grabbed Haewon’s hand. “Would you supervise me for a minute? In the changing room?”
Haewon asked, “For a game reason?”
“Yes?” said Mayu expectantly. Mayu grabbed Haewon’s hand and dragged her along to the TripleS changing room.
When the door closed behind, Haewon said, “What’s up with you? I just said I’m not supposed to be alone…”
“You don’t know?”
“Am I supposed to know?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t?”
“You know everyone’s ‘secret mission’ thingy?”
“Yeah?”
“Well…”
“Oh wait, I don’t know yours. It is written here.” She started fumbling around in her belt pouch.
Mayu said, “YO!”
Haewon looked at her annoyed. Mayu pulled the string at the back of her bikini top, let it fall to the ground. She threw the ‘cover up’ to the ground and then dropped the bikini bottoms as well.
Haewon turned three different shades of red and opened the small bit of paper with Mayu written on it. “Let Haewon see you naked.” She sighed. “Fucking Jinsol.”
Mayu held her arms up expectantly to make sure Haewon got a good view. “Come on Hornywon. You want some?”
“Wow, you are worse than Chaeyoung. Put your bikini back on, what the heck is wrong with you…”
Mayu quickly got her bottoms back on. Haewon picked up the cover up and waited for Mayu to get the top back on as well.
Mayu turned to Haewon. “Come on, I’ll give you just one grab. You know you want to try.”
Haewon put her hand on Mayu’s breast and smiled. Mayu backed up, put the top on and grabbed the cover from Haewon, tying it back around her waist.
They left the changing area and Haewon said, “Everyone! Mayu got her ‘secret mission’ badge.”
Bae and Jiwoo started giggling.
“What was it?” asked Seoyeon.
“Let Haewon see you naked.”
“Oh… Seems like I’ve done that?”
Yooyeon said, “I’m pretty sure we have. Can we get one too?”
Seeun whispered to J, “They aren’t acting this time, are they?”
J looked horrified.
Mayu said, “You really didn’t know?”
Haewon admitted, “No, we all made various ‘secret missions’ and then randomized them, we only know the ones we put in, and I knew all of them because I’m in charge of the badges, but they wouldn’t let me see that one.”
Bae couldn’t stop giggling.
Isa said to Kyujin, “Oh, you really had no clue why I was asking you to get out your phone?”
Kyujin said, “No! Everyone just likes to boss around the maknae, I wasn’t going to say no.”
Isa started laughing hard.
As if on cue, Sieun and Jiwoo came back from their ‘massages’. Sieun said, “Oh no, people are having fun without us!”
Sullin said, “Sieun! Let me tell you what Isa did while you were gone!”
Mayu said, “I don’t think so Pirada.” She walked up to Sullin and pulled her up to a standing position. She was still holding Sullyoon’s hand and as a result pulled Sullyoon up to her feet as well.
Mayu grabbed Sullin behind the neck with both hands and pulled her head to her own, kissing her passionately. Sullin behaving well, Mayu moved her hands down Sullin’s back and slipped them under Sullin’s safety shorts.
Sullyoon said, “Oh, okay… I’M AWAKE!”
Sullin responded by grabbing Mayu’s naked sides. Mayu broke the kiss and said, “I’m super hot now and Miss Pirada is going to help me calm down.”
Sullin said, “BUT It isn’t going to calm ME!”
Mayu said, “Sullyoon, take three fingers and tickle right here whenever you want her to be clay in your hands, no joke intended Sieun.” Mayu pulled one hand out from under Sullin’s safety shorts and put it on her belly, right under her navel, tickling her lower belly with those three fingers.
Sullin instantly moaned and said meekly, “Aaaaahahhhhh.” Her body instantly fell into Mayu and Mayu could have done anything she wanted to her.
After a minute or so, Mayu broke the kiss, pulled her hands away from Sullin and pushed her. Sullin clumsily fell back onto her towel. Sullyoon tried to catch her and ended up falling down as well.
Mayu said, “Sullyoon, have fun with this version of Pirada. That’s what you two get for clumsily trying to hook me up with Sieun when there was no hooking needed. Dummies!”
Sieun clapped loudly.
Haewon said, “Wow! That Japanese girl!”
Mayu turned to Haewon, “Am I better than Chaeyeon yet?”
Haewon backed away quietly, sliding with large motions.
Bae asked Yooyeon, “Wow, does she do that to you too sometimes?”
Yooyeon blushed, “I mean, not since a week or so…”
Jiyeon stood up and walked over toward Stayc, sitting down among the four of them on the lounge chairs as though she belonged there. “So, do you guys happen to have an opening in your group for a ballerina?”
Yoon snorted. “Nope…”
Seeun said, “We’ll take you for the rest of badge war though! Guys, she can climb walls like a spider.”
J said, “She drives well too, let’s steal her.”
Sullin put her head on Sullyoon’s shoulder. “My life is a rollercoaster, it has been a rough hour. I was on top of the world doing your Minecraft challenge, but then lost and then got exposed because I innocently agreed to Yoona’s stupid plan. AND I DIDN’T BRING PETER…”
Sullyoon’s eyes got big. Isa stood over them smiling brightly. She said, “Since your girlfriend is broken, I guess you’re spending the night with me tonight.”
Sullyoon fell over backwards and put a beach towel over her face.
***
Haewon left the pool to check on a few things on the conference level and the girls chatted, mostly among their own groups for twenty minutes.
Haewon returned holding a piece of paper. “Jiwoo!”
Kim Jiwoo kicked Kyujin off of her lap and stood up, Lily grabbed the paper from Haewon. Lily asked, “What’s wrong?”
Haewon pointed to a spot on the paper. “Why does this time slot say ‘Jiwoo’?”
Lily said, “No idea. It didn’t say that the last time I looked at this.”
Jiwoo grabbed the paper from Lily. “What? I didn’t put that there. I have no idea.”
Haewon asked, “Well, is there a different plan for what we are doing next?”
Seeun put her head on J’s shoulder. “The heck is going on over there?”
Yoon said a bit loudly, “No big deal, Nmixx just messed something up, happens a lot.”
Suddenly, a cute girl in a white dress threw the door open. “I’m BACK!”
Lily pointed to the new Jiwoo, “Jiwoo…”
Haewon said, “Oh okay, but how?”
Kim Jiwoo number one shrugged. “Seriously, wasn’t me, I have no idea.”
Lily said, “I feel like we’re being pranked by Loona and they don’t even exist anymore.”
All of the girls stood up and most clapped for Chuu’s surprising entrance. Seoyeon stood up and said, “Oh no…” She ran over to Stayc and put her arm around the hot chicken’s waist. “Jayoon… please save me…”
Yoon smiled from ear to ear and put her arm around Seoyeon’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, alliance buddy. You are mine.”
Isa said to Sieun, “What if we picked up a Chuu and just threw her in the water? You seem good at that.”
Sieun shook her head at Isa. Lee Jiwoo said, “Bestie! Do it!”
Yooyeon said, “Don’t anger ex-Loona girls… I’m warning you.”
Chuu walked up to the front of the pool and everyone gathered around her. Kim Jiwoo number one gave her a hug, because why not. “You came back?”
“I did indeed! Time for a little game with Chuu!”
Kyujin said, “We didn’t create a ‘little game with Chuu’.”
“Oh maknae… I made it. Nmixx can play as well!”
Stayc and TripleS were suddenly more supportive of Chuu’s repeat appearance.
Sullyoon hid behind Bae. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Bae said, “How exactly did you get in here and insert yourself onto the schedule AND decide you get to involve US in a game?”
“I know a lot of people. Before I tell you about my game, I was given letters I’m required to read.” She opened her purse and pulled out an envelope and opened it. “Hyeju says this: ‘I’m sorry I’ve disappeared for a while, my life has taken a bit of a turn recently. I hope you all are having fun and there are a lot of HOT interactions going on. Someone give my Jiwoo a long wet kiss. Hyeju..’
Kim Jiwoo number one said, “Is she talking about you or me?”
Chuu said, “Obviously me.”
“I’m pretty sure it is me.”
“No, me…”
“ME! Pupperwoo!”
Lily stepped between them.
Chuu pulled out the next letter, apparently several pages long. “This one is from Yeojin. It says: ‘This one time, at a party, I got naked in a sleeping bag…’ Dear god, this is long and gross. Forget I have this.”
Kyujin and Sullyoon exchanged a shy look.
Chuu pulled out a third letter. “The last one is from Heejin: ‘I hope everyone is having fun without me, although that seems difficult. Please tell Sullyoon that if Yeji mentions you one more time when I’m trying to make out with her, I’m going to be angry. Haha, just kidding! Love you guys! Especially TripleS!”
Sullyoon hid behind Bae again. “I told you…”
Chuu said, “So this game will pit Nmixx vs. TripleS vs. Stayc in a very simple game.”
Haewon said, “We don’t want to play.”
Lily said, “I would kind of like to play…”
Chuu said, “That’s the spirit Lily! There is a prize!”
Haewon sighed, “Oh okay. What is it?”
Chuu said, “I came to an agreement with the quite nice and expansive hotel gift shop. One girl from each team will win a shopping spree worth 100,000 won each!”
Lily said, “Yauurrrrr! We can relax and play a game and win a prize!”
Bae said, “…and…”
Chuu asked, “What do you mean and?”
“And? What’s the catch?”
“Oh, there might be a punishment from one member of each team also.”
“Yoona is always right!”
Isa said, “Wait until later, she is going to be REALLY right!”
Sullyoon looked at Sullin, “Girlfriend… save me… everyone is picking on me…”
Sullin couldn’t help being Sullin. She said some things in Thai and ran over and hugged Sullyoon and didn’t let go of her.
Yooyeon said, “Your personal chef is hugging a chicken right now. I hope she doesn’t get any preferential treatment.”
Seoyeon shot Yooyeon the most evil glare she could conjure.
Bae said, “I’m more worried about Jiwoos cheating for other Jiwoos… One in particular.”
Kim Jiwoo number one gave Bae the side-eye.
Lee Jiwoo said, “She’s clearly not talking about me, I’m generally ignored around here.”
Sieun said, “You weren’t ignored a few minutes ago BESTIE.”
Lee Jiwoo blushed.
Chuu said, “Okay, enough enough, let’s get started! This game is called ‘Favorite Chuu’! All three teams form a line, in order by age, oldest first.”
Each team formed a line. Chuu said, “I’m going to present you with two choices. For example, ‘red or blue’. The three girls, whose turn it is, pick one of the two choices. I then say which is my favorite. Girls that choose correctly go to the winner’s area by the lounge chairs, girls that choose incorrectly go stand by the pool. Any questions?”
Yoon said, “See, now this is how you design a game. Easy to understand, easy to play. No ambiguity about whether I’m supposed to make a bucket or a clay bowl or drive a ridiculous car.”
Seoyeon clapped for her chicken.
Chuu said, “Please announce the order of each of your lines.”
Haewon said, “We know who everyone is…”
Chuu bit a Chuu heart at Haewon. “I don’t know everyone and I’m making sure that I do moving forward. I see a lot of cute girls. Also, a new one wearing a bikini that wasn’t before. She’s hot.”
Yooyeon said, “I’m Yooyeon. But please just keep focusing your attention on Seoyeon, she really likes you.” Yooyeon looked down and giggled to herself.
Seoyeon glared at her again, even more evil than last time.
Chuu said, “Don’t worry new bikini girl, I won’t forget her butt anytime soon.”
Jiyeon said, “You can see a lot of Chaeyoung’s butt also. And Sullin’s butt. And Yeeun’s butt.”
Chuu said, “Like I said, I want to make sure I know everyone’s name. Nmixx, you start…”
Lily proudly said, “Lily!”
Haewon said, “Haewon… CHECK!”
Sullyoon said, “Seol Yoona.”
Bae said, “I’m Bae! DON’T FORGET ME!”
Jiwoo said, “I’m My-jjyu! Pupperwoo! Jiwoo!”
Chuu said, “You’re so cute…”
Jiwoo barked back, “I know!”
Kyujin said, “I’m Kyujin.”
Chuu said, “TripleS! Company that shares some of my ex-friends.”
Yooyeon said, “They aren’t your friends anymore?”
“Debatable.”
“Well, I’m Yooyeon, oldest.”
Mayu said, “I’m Mayu! Cutest and cuter than Pupperwoo!”
Kim Jiwoo number one said, “Eh?”
Chuu said, “You might be, but I was too distracted by the rest of your assets to pay attention to cuteness.”
Mayu said, “That works also.”
Seoyeon said, “I’m Seoyeon.”
Chuu clapped for her.
Jiyeon said, “I’m also Seoyeon, so I go by Jiyeon.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “I’m Jiwoo. The more other Jiwoos are around me, the more I seem to hate them.”
Sullin said, “I’m Sullin, Thai princess!”
Chuu said, “Wow, she’s something.”
Mayu said, “Hey! I’m something!” She blew Chuu a kiss. Chuu caught it and blew one back at Mayu.
Chuu looked at Stayc and held her arm out, “Stayc Girls!”
Sumin said, “Hello, I’m Sumin, drink-spilling fake hotel staff. Nice to meet you.”
Sieun said, “Chuu! I love your solo music! It is fun to sing! I’m Stayc main vocalist, Park Sieun!”
Chuu said, “Aww, thank you. You are cute also!”
Isa pushed Sieun, “Suck up.”
Isa said, “I’m Isa. Not Anna or Asa or Eesa. ISA.” She made cute cat ears.
Chuu said, “Cat girls… strange creatures…”
Seeun shyly just said, “Seeun.”
Chuu couldn’t let shy girl get away with being shy. “And who are you supposed to be? With that outfit?”
“Umm… you don’t know?”
“Is it some Twice thing?”
“Yes, this is Sana’s actual outfit from this era. Many years ago.”
Chuu said, “Sana is only three years older than me.”
Seeun smiled shyly, “Like I said, Seeun.” She stepped back into line.
Yoon said, “I’m Jayoon. Hot chicken. The girl with the butt is mine. We’re in an alliance. Back off!”
Chuu tried to think of something to say or ask, but couldn’t before J saved the day.
“I’m Yeeun, but you can call me J or JJ. I’m maknae and rapper and not as cute as Jiwoo, but I try sometimes.”
Chuu said, “You don’t need to be cute, I don’t know why you are wearing that ridiculous workout gear that clearly doesn’t fit, yet I can’t stop staring at you. Your face is also stunning.”
J smiled weakly, not sure what to do with random compliments from a Chuu.
Chuu asked, “Is everyone ready to play?”
Lily started clapping and cheering, eventually the rest of the girls joined in cheering to varying degrees.
“Lily! Hotel staff…”
Sumin said, “My name is Sumin.”
“And bikini girl number two!”
Yooyeon said, “Yooyeon…”
“Whatever.”
“We just told you our names… It was your idea.”
Chuu looked flustered. “My-jjyu! Why is the crowd so hostile? I’m delightful!”
Yooyeon took a step toward Sumin and put her arm around her waist, then pointing to both of their outfits.
“Right… you haven’t loosened up yet? You’ve been here since last night.”
Lily stood in her spot and motioned for Chuu to get on with things. “I’m ready!”
Yooyeon went back to her position in front of the TripleS line.
Chuu said, “First favorite! Yeri or Joy. Step forward if you think it is Yeri, step backward if you think it is Joy.”
Sumin and Lily stepped forward, Yooyeon stepped backwards.
Chuu clapped, “Yeri is my favorite! Two of you got it! Move over to the lounge chairs! YOOYEON, please stand next to the pool.”
Yooyeon shrugged and stood next to the pool as Sumin and Lily ran to the lounge chairs, eager to get out of dodge.
“Next question. Mayu, Sieun and Haewon.”
Haewon said, “Wait… you aren’t going to tell us why you like Yeri over Joy.”
Yooyeon said, “Joy is hotter and more talented. This girl makes no sense.”
Chuu said, “Ouch… My poor GOOD FRIEND Yeri getting dissed by bikini girl number two. Yeri and I are the same age and went to school together.”
“Oh same age… right…”
Jiyeon said to Seoyeon, “For being so smart, she sure is dumb sometimes…”
“I CAN HEAR YOU.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Leave her alone, she is getting to be in one of those Yooyeon moods. Not good for anyone.”
Chuu said, “Skirt or pants. If you choose skirt, step forward, if you choose pants, step backward.”
Haewon said, “Wait… on you or what you like on someone else?”
Chuu shrugged.
Mayu stepped forward and Sieun and Haewon stepped backward.
Chuu said, “Bikini girl number one is smarter than bikini girl number two. And Haewon… Skirt is the correct answer.”
Mayu cheered for herself and ran to the lounge chairs. Sieun and Haewon stood next to Yooyeon by the pool.
Sieun was looking around, just doing her best to stay quiet. Haewon was less successful, “HEY! Why do you like skirts better?”
Yooyeon pointed to Chuu, “She’s wearing one, it was an obvious choice.”
Haewon said, “That’s a dress.”
“Don’t like it when you aren’t in charge of the games, do you?”
“One should have time to prepare for games run by ex-Loona girls.”
Stayc girls were still clueless about all of the ex-Loona comments, often looking at each other confused.
Chuu said, “Next question! Butt vs. Butt vs. Sullyoon.”
Sullyoon said, “Jiwoo… I have a butt also.”
“I can’t see it… show me!”
Sullyoon regretted saying anything.
Chuu said, “Bright sunlight or rain. Step forward for sunlight or backward for rain.”
Sullyoon said, “This question seems more sensible.”
Sullyoon proudly stepped forward. Isa looked at Seoyeon and they simultaneously stepped backward.
Sullyoon looked back at them and shrugged.
Chuu said, “Sullyoon is correct! Obviously, everyone likes sun better.”
Sullyoon clapped for herself and ran to the lounge chairs. Seoyeon said, “I figured you are probably a vampire or something.”
Isa said, “I just assumed Yoona was wrong.”
Isa and Seoyeon slowly made their way to the crowd by the pool.
Chuu said, “Jiyeon vs. Seeun vs. Bae. Spicy tteokbokki or shabu shabu. For tteokbokki step forward, for shabu shabu, step backward.”
All three girls stepped forward.
Chuu said, “That is correct! I prefer spicey tteokbokki.”
Seoyeon said, “Of course I don’t get that question… thanks Chuu…”
“Was it that easy?”
Seeun said, “You clearly liked Seoyeon’s over-seasoned tteokbokki better than our WINNING meal.”
Seoyeon said, “IT WASN’T TTEOKBOKKI!”
Chuu pointed at the lounge chairs and all three girls walked in that direction.
Lee Jiwoo said, “We’re screwed now after that easy one.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “I’m not, I know her pretty well.”
“Do you have to always say the opposite of what I say?”
Jiwoo nodded ‘yes’ quickly.
Chuu asked, “Ariana Grande or Mariah Carey. Step forward for Ariana or backward for Mariah.”
Kim Jiwoo stepped forward. Yoon watched, and assumed she was correct, also stepping forward. Jiwoo was required to do the opposite and stepped backward.
Chuu said, “The correct answer is Ariana Grande! Pupperwoo got it right!”
Lee Jiwoo said, “That’s shit. You probably have talked about it and knew the answer.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “We really haven’t, we’ve talked about some Western music, but I don’t remember ever talking about Ariana Grande.”
Chuu said, “That’s why I gave you that question, so it would be fair.”
Yooyeon said to Lee Jiwoo, “If you weren’t so stubborn and just did what everyone else did, you would have gotten it correct.”
Jiwoo wrinkled her nose but then ran over and put her arm around Sieun. “I just wanted to be with my BESTIE.”
Sullin, J, and Kyujin were all standing alone. Sullin said, “It is strange being maknae. Usually there are a lot of girls younger than me.”
Chuu said, “Last question for round one. Dean or G-Dragon. Step forward for Dean, backward for G-Dragon.”
Kyujin said, “Could you pick bigger opposites?” Kyujin stepped forward, pretty confident. Sullin saw her and followed. J stepped backward.
“The correct answer is Dean!”
J said, “Oh well…”
Kyujin said, “Her music is obviously more Dean.”
“Yeah… I had no clue, so I just picked my favorite. In case I ever meet him and I can be like, Mr. Dragon, I picked you because you’re the best.”
Sullin said, “Seems sensible.”
J moved to the pack of girls next to the pool. Kyujin and Sullin moved to the lounge chairs.
Chuu said, “Great! Let’s sort out the losers! Stand with your groupmates please.”
Yooyeon, Seoyeon, and Jiwoo all linked hands. Sieun and Isa made sure J was between them before hugging her on either side. Haewon was the only loser for Nmixx.
Haewon said, “I’m lonely.”
Bae said, “Jiyeon is looking for a new group and she is going to be our new leader. We can only have winners in Nmixx.”
Haewon gave Bae the middle finger.
Chuu said, “Stand in a line across the edge of the pool. No cheating this round, please close your eyes so you can’t see what your competition is doing. Hold up your right hand for the first answer or left hand for the second answer.”
The girls started moving around and getting into a line across the edge of the pool. Out of nowhere, Chuu ran toward Haewon and gave her a solid shove into the pool. Haewon grabbed her nose and made a slightly graceful form into the water. She surfaced and doggie-paddled back to the edge.
The other girls all opened their eyes and looked at poor Haewon trying to swim in vinyl sweatpants totally unsuited for swimming. They all looked at each other and sighed.
Mayu said, “I mean, isn’t it obvious what was about to happen?”
Chuu said, “I won’t be mean. Are any of you scared of the water? Or can’t swim? I made sure with Haewon that she was okay with it.”
Haewon said, “Don’t be chickens. I really suck at swimming, but I’m okay. Although these pants seem to be functioning as a life vest.” She had trouble keeping her butt from floating to the surface.
No one said anything, so Chuu said, “Alright! Let’s go then! Don’t grab your neighbor if you fall in please. Loser’s round. Salted caramel vs. mint chocolate. Raise your right hand for salted caramel, your left hand for mint chocolate.”
Yooyeon raised her right hand, Jiwoo and Seoyeon raised their left. Isa and Sieun raised their right hand, J raised her left.
Chuu said, “Okay… very interesting… Hmm…” She walked back and forth in front of the girls a few times for dramatic suspense and then gave Yooyeon a solid push into the water. She totally wasn’t expecting it and made a huge splash with her shoulder and hip.
Haewon clapped. “Isn’t that convenient! You are already wearing a bikini.”
Yooyeon surfaced and doggie paddled to the side next to Haewon. “Why do girls wear these things. So uncomfortable.”
Haewon said, “Because you look hot.”
“I guess…”
Chuu said, “You all can open your eyes. Isa and Sieun also got it wrong, but you both got it wrong. Obviously mint chocolate is the best. Jiwoo, Seoyeon, and J, you can all move away from the side of the pool, but don’t go over to the lounge chairs.
They all hurriedly cleared the area, leaving Isa and Sieun standing side by side.
Chuu said, “Close your eyes. Purple or blue. Raise your right hand for purple, your left hand for blue.”
Mayu said, “Okay, this is kind of hot knowing that one of them is going to get pushed in and not the other. Who will it be?”
Isa raised her right hand, Sieun her left.
Chuu really put on a show, poking each girl lightly several times. Finally, she gave Sieun a solid push. She disappeared gracefully into the pool without a splash and quickly swam back to the wall. Lee Jiwoo jumped up and down cheering and ran to the side of the pool. “BESTIE! WHAT HAPPENED?”
Sieun said, “Haha, you happy now?”
“You really shouldn’t wear white tee shirts by the pool! I can see everything!”
“Not like you haven’t already.”
Seeun got up and started walking over to the pool. Yoon jumped up and grabbed her.
Chuu said, “I haven’t, and I like!”
Sieun kept as much of her body underwater as she could.
“Okay, you three stay in the water until we crown the winners, then you can get out and dry off.”
Yooyeon and Haewon were having a lot of fun making bubbles with Haewon’s pants. Sieun stayed where she was.
Chuu said, “Alright! Winner’s groups! Mayu, Jiyeon and Sullin. Sumin, Seeun, and Yoon. Lily, Sullyoon, Bae, Jiwoo and Kyujin.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “I’m going to eliminate myself, I don’t want any more talk about me cheating.”
Bae said, “Yeah, me too. I’ve spent some time with Chuu, it isn’t fair. That gives you even numbers then.”
Chuu gave both Bae and Jiwoo hugs. “Thank you, girls! Now we get to decide the three girls for the gift shop shopping spree!”
Jiyeon said, “MINE!”
Mayu said, “Your competition is ME, not Seoyeon or Yooyeon. I already know what I’m buying!”
Sullin just shook her head.
Sullyoon said, “They have a lot of stickers to choose from! I’m excited!”
Kyujin said, “Get enough to stick on both Chaeyoung and Sullin…”
“Really… you too?”
Kyujin snickered and gave Sullyoon a hug.
Badge summary: Mayu 4, Yooyeon 4, Seoyeon 3, Jiyeon 3, Jiwoo 2, Sullin 3 (TripleS 19 total); Yoon 3, Seeun 3, Sumin 3, Isa 3, Sieun 2, J 1 (Stayc 15 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll: (August 9 - 16): https://forms.gle/xW2KWhQ9cKEUwxH4A
Chapter 13: Seeun Gets a Girlfriend?
Summary:
The winners are chosen from Chuu's mini-challenge and then the girls have a calm, enjoyable dinner. For the most part. The winners of Chuu's mini-challenge go on their shopping spree and everyone gets changed for Haewon's pool event.
Chapter Text
Chapter 13: Seeun Gets a Girlfriend?
Chuu said, “All nine of you stand in a semi-circle in front of me and close your eyes. No cheating.”
Mayu, Jiyeon, Sullin, Sumin, Seeun, Yoon, Lily, Sullyoon, and Kyujin formed a semi-circle and closed their eyes.
“Shrimp sushi vs. salmon sushi. Raise your right hand for shrimp, your left hand for salmon.” She paused for a minute while the girls got their hands situated. Then she surveyed the situation. “My favorite is: shrimp! Jiyeon and Sullyoon, you two are winners. Sumin and Seeun tie and move on to the last question.”
Jiyeon said, “You look like a shrimp… person.”
Kim Jiwoo cracked up at Jiyeon’s joke. Chuu said, “Very funny pajamas girl.”
Lily and Kyujin skulked away, Mayu hugged Sullin.
Chuu said, “The epic battle between Sana and hotel staff! Who will win! Close your eyes.”
Sumin and Seeun stood next to each other, smiled at each other, then closed their eyes.
“Beyonce: ‘Halo’ vs. ‘Single Ladies’; Right hand for ‘Halo’, left hand for ‘Single Ladies’.”
Seeun immediately started softly singing, “All the single ladies, all the single ladies.” But put up her right hand for ‘Halo’.
Sumin raised her left hand.
Chuu said, “I used to sing it all the time when I was young, one of my favorites! ‘Halo’! Seeun wins!”
Seeun was by far the most excited of the winners. Sumin gave her a hug and congratulated her.
Kim Jiwoo said, “What a ragtag band of shoppers! You kids can go shopping right after dinner.”
Haewon said, “Okay losers, we can get out of the pool now.” Haewon and Yooyeon slowly made their way to the steps at the shallow end. Sieun was clearly a much better swimmer and darted ahead of them.
Isa was the first girl at the steps and watched Sieun emerge. Several girls whistled at Sieun obviously winning the wet tee shirt contest, and she was also a bit chilly. Isa said, “What a shame, you have to walk all the way over there to get a towel.”
Sieun snarled at Isa and then did her best runway walk over to the beach towels, picking one up off of the ground, wrapping it around her chest and then drying her hair a bit with an end. Lee Jiwoo and Mayu both walked up to her at the same time. Jiwoo said, “I’m surprised your hair isn’t bleeding red all over you…”
Sieun said, “Nah… it is good hair dye. I’m sure the chlorine will make it fade a bit though.”
Mayu said, “You’re so hot and confident. I love you.”
Jiwoo said, “Shut it. She’s my BESTIE.”
“If she weren’t wet, I would totally hug her right now and mark my territory.”
Sullin put her arm on Sullyoon’s shoulder. “You see what you did there, right?”
Isa was waiting for Yooyeon to emerge from the pool next. She held out her hand and Yooyeon ignored it, making her way out of the pool herself. She was a bit surprised to see Lily standing behind Isa holding a towel. Lily said, “You look amazing in that bikini. Here, I brought you a towel.”
Yooyeon smiled at Lily and blushed a bit.
Finally, Haewon slowly made her way out of the pool. She said, “These clothes were not designed to get wet, I’m going to go change now, before dinner.”
Lily threw her a towel also and Haewon made her way to the elevators, leaving a trail of pool water behind her.
***
Ten minutes later, Haewon returned wearing a black tee shirt and lose fitting shorts over some manner of swimwear.
Haewon said, "Everyone! It is dinner time!"
Yooyeon pointed to herself, "Dinner badge is mine!"
Seoyeon said, "Jiyeon, Mayu, make sure you clear your plate and clean up after yourself."
Haewon said, "Wow, you kids are so sad. We are going to have a nice relaxing dinner and escape from the game. No badges, no 'secret missions' allowed, we are just going to enjoy each other's company."
Lee Jiwoo said, "Make sure to check if anything is stuck under the tables."
Haewon just shook her head. "We are going to the restaurant in the lobby. We will have a private room for dinner, but we will have to walk through random people, so we have a stack of robes over here if you want to appear a bit more presentable on the way to dinner. Yoonie, feel free to take your chicken suit off."
Seoyeon pointed to her eyes and then to Yoon. Yoon said, "Sure, now you are interested?"
Yooyeon said, "She has always been interested, just give her what she wants."
Yoon crawled out of the chicken suit, letting Seoyeon help her get out of it, just wearing her bra and panties. She grabbed a robe, as did Mayu, Yooyeon, Isa, Sullin, and J.
Lee Jiwoo glared at Lily. "I can't wear a robe over this stupid sweater."
Lily said, "Naurrr... It is okay, you can take it off."
Sieun put her hand under the sweater on Jiwoo's butt. "Bestie!"
Jiwoo said, "I'm good."
Bae was watching Kim Jiwoo and Chuu chattering off to the side, Bae turning her head back and forth at their conversation, a bit horrified.
Bae said, "Haewon, can Chuu stay for dinner?"
Haewon said, "Sure, the last table will be for three, that works."
Seeun stood next to Haewon. "So, tell me a little about the game to determine who gets to sit with who."
Haewon loudly and dramatically mimicked Lily, "NAUUUUUURRRRRR. Hottie! Stop hanging out with TripleS. No games for dinner!"
Isa asked, "Is it one big table?"
"No..."
"So there will be a game..."
"If you require a game to figure out who you want to sit with, that is your problem, not mine. Everyone! Let's go to the lobby!"
***
The girls quietly (other than the chattering Kim Jiwoos), made their way to the lobby and into the restaurant. They went through the main part of the restaurant, and into a back room.
Haewon said, "There are five tables for four. One table will only have three people. No games, no pushing or shoving. IF there is someone you really want to sit with, hug them now."
Quickly and with little surprise, Sullin hugged Sullyoon, the Kim Jiwoos hugged, Yoon hugged Seoyeon, J had to push Sumin and Kyujin out of the way but quickly found Bae and hugged her.
A bit more surprising, Lily made her way to Yooyeon and asked in English, "Can I hug you?" Yooyeon smiled at her and motioned for her to come closer.
Less civilized, Lee Jiwoo immediately hugged Sieun. Mayu was having none of it. She wedged herself between them, doing her best to push Jiwoo away.
Jiwoo said, "Stop, I'm twice your size."
Mayu had no intention of stopping. Jiwoo put her hand on Mayu's forehead and Mayu kept pushing and swinging her claws to no effect.
Haewon said, "Dear lord, there's one in every group. Is this girl really worth it?"
Sieun said, "Yes! Of course I am!"
Kyujin said, "You should have made a rule that anyone who is unruly has to sit with Haewon."
Haewon pretended she was amused, then got dead serious. "I should have and would have, but none of these three really do much..."
Kyujin pushed her. "Be kind..."
"Then you solve this..."
Mayu was still trying to move the bean pole Jiwoo away from Sieun.
Kyujin said, "Easy! You three will be representing the table for three! NO COMPLAINTS!"
Sieun snarled at Isa.
Isa said, "What did I do?"
"You are standing there alone, doing nothing."
Isa made cute kitty cat ears and smiled innocently.
"She's up to something!"
"Enjoy your awkward dinner with your tall girl and Japanese girl, my Love."
Noone noticed that Jiyeon was carefully stalking her prey. She walked up behind Seeun and whispered, "Don't hit me," before suddenly hugging her from behind.
Seeun said, "Oh?"
"I'm Ji Seoyeon, nice to meet you. I think you are delightful and I would like to eat dinner with you.
"Oh?"
Haewon said, "For being the most well behaved, Sullin and Sullyoon, go sit somewhere."
Hand in hand, the Sulls made their way to a table and sat next to each other, still holding hands. As soon as they committed to a table, Isa bolted out of the crowd and quickly ran over to the table and sat down with them, before anyone else could.
Haewon said, "Did I tell you that you could do that?"
Isa framed her face with her hands, "Look how well-behaved... Surely it is okay with you."
"Yoona, are you okay with this?"
Sullyoon said, "Of course, she's harmless. In a crowd..."
Haewon said, "Chaeyoung will be pestering Yoona, maybe I can get some Sullin. KYUJIN! Continue the seating." Haewon ran and took the last seat at the first table.
Sullyoon just shook her head. "One minute she cares about me, the next minute she is trying to steal my girlfriend."
Haewon said, "We all WELL know that NO ONE in this room has a girlfriend..."
Sullyoon and Sullin both looked at Isa and giggled.
Kyujin said, "Jinsol and Yeeun, how cute are you two? Go sit somewhere."
J wasn't too thrilled about being called out for being cute or being in a couple. Bae took the lead and pulled out a seat for J to sit in and then sat next to her. Bae hit her forehead on the table. J asked, "What?"
Out of nowhere, two Kim Jiwoos ran over to Bae and J's table and sat down, still engaged in some manner of argument.
J said, "We don't want to sit with them?"
Bae said, "They are loud, their mating ritual is very strange."
The Jiwoos were oblivious to J and Bae talking. J said, "It is okay, if we get bored with each other, we can just watch them."
Kyujin said, "Seoyeon and Yoon, go sit somewhere."
Seoyeon and Yoon made their way to the next unoccupied table.
"Yooyeon and Lily? Do you want to join them?"
Yooyeon wasn't sure how awkward things would be with Lily, and wasn't upset with having Seoyeon at her table for moral support, so she grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her over to the same table.
Kyujin said, "Jiyeon and Seeun, go ahead and sit."
Sumin said, "Can I supervise? I should be supervising J, but that table is full. I'll make sure this Jiyeon chick has good intentions."
"Wouldn't you rather supervise Sieun?"
"NO!"
Kyujin giggled, "Go on... I'm going to sit with you guys also I guess."
Sumin said, "I'm happy to get to know you better Kyujin."
Kyujin smiled and led Sumin to the table behind Jiyeon and Seeun."
Lee Jiwoo was still sparring with Mayu. Sieun said, "Bestie and hottie, we're the only girls standing and we have been deserted."
Mayu looked at Jiwoo, "Three girls is always better than two."
Jiwoo just looked at her. Melee now over, Jiwoo hugged Mayu as though they have been best friends forever and led Sieun to the last table.
***
Just after everyone was seated, chef Kim Ji… Hyung came into the room and made an announcement. “Girls! It is my pleasure to cook for you tonight. I hope you greatly enjoy your meal. Forget about your diets, you can order anything you like from our usual menu. I recommend the summer rolls over the tteokbokki.”
Seoyeon stood up. “IT WAS PASTA! And my helper probably sabotaged me!”
Jihyung laughed and the two staff that helped during Jiwoo’s event and brunch began handing out menus and taking orders.
***
Table 1: Sullin - Sullyoon - Haewon - Isa
The girls had just finished ordering and fell into a bit of a lull in the conversation. Sullyoon grabbed Sullin’s hand, but stared at Isa. “So Pirada… do you ever feel like you’re being watched by a hungry lioness?”
Sullin looked at Haewon. “Two lionesses?”
Sullyoon said, “Haewon, why are you sitting here?”
Haewon said, “She’s NOT actually your girlfriend. I can see if maybe I would like her also.”
“Haewon, why don’t you occupy Chaeyoung for us, so we can happily hang out together peacefully. Her legs are just as much your type as Sullin’s. Maybe you should see if you would like HER also…”
Haewon looked at Isa. Isa shrugged back at her. “It seems like at some point we tried to see if we would like each other?”
Isa said, “Seems like we probably did. I don’t really remember.”
Sullin jumped in, “Being with Chaeyoung is very memorable. But if she doesn’t remember you, Haewon, maybe this is why you are such a hungry lioness.”
Sullyoon said, “Ouch! And correct!”
Isa smiled from ear to ear, greatly enjoying this conversation.
Haewon attacked back, “Pirada… How many times have you made out with a Japanese girl like that? Or maybe any of the other twenty-three girls you live with?”
Sullin was about to simply correct her math, because she didn’t actually live with Yooyeon, Jiwoo, or Sohyun. Instead, she was getting the hang of the dynamic at the table. “How many times have you made out with an Australian girl like that?”
Isa got a super excited look on her face.
Haewon said, “Yoona… what did you tell her?”
Sullyoon shook her head, “Nothing… We have much better things to talk about than you…”
“What did Yooyeon tell you?”
Isa said, “My apprentice lioness is getting defensive about something.”
Sullyoon and Sullin both looked at Isa, trying to decide if they should say something about Sieun. For different reasons, they both kept quiet.
“I’ll collect you Haewon. Let’s do a challenge together sometime.”
“The kind of challenges we have already seen each other do… buzz…. make that simplicity difficult.”
“Don’t say I didn’t offer.”
Sullyoon said, “Alright. Now that we all got all of that out of our systems, we are going to sit here and talk like four friends simply getting to know each other better. No fighting, no jabbing.”
Isa pointed at Sullyoon and Sullin’s hands. “No hand holding.”
Sullyoon pointed to Isa’s foot under the table, “No rubbing other feet.”
Everyone removed their body parts to their own personal space and did their best to just chat like friends.
***
Table 2 - Jiwoo - Chuu - Bae – J
Kim Jiwoo and Chuu were still having an animated conversation that didn’t really stop even while they were ordering.
J looked at Bae and batted her eyelashes. “Jinsol… for real… what’s up with them?”
“They were clearly twins in a previous life. They rediscovered each other and now we all have to suffer.”
“Oh, so they aren’t actually into each other.”
“Who knows… I believe they are still arguing over who’s puppy is cuter. It can go on for hours.”
“So, I have you all to myself?”
Bae ran her index finger from J’s elbow to wrist. “Are you flirting with me?”
“I don’t really know, is it working? Does it seem like flirting?”
“You are too pretty to need to flirt. Just be yourself.”
“When is your birthday?”
“I’m an ’04.”
“Oh? Me too!”
“But it is awkward because I was born in December.”
“Wait! Me too!”
“What?”
J said, “December 9, 2004.”
Bae laughed, “December 28, 2004. You are older than me!”
“I’m embarrassed, why do I feel like a child around you?”
“You’re too cute. I was naïve like you not too long ago. Hang out with me and I’ll show you…”
Suddenly the Jiwoos stopped arguing and Kim Jiwoo said, “Jinsol! You aren’t showing that girl anything. Stop fooling yourself.”
J said, “I obviously don’t get out much. Please show me…”
Chuu said, “Jiwoo… let’s give her a Jiwoo class.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Oh yes!”
Bae said, “I’m so sorry, Yeeun.”
The Jiwoo’s started going back and forth giving J advice about life, often arguing about who was correct when they gave conflicting ideas.
Bae made sure her foot was touching J’s the entire time and often held her hand when they weren’t actively eating. J just nodded at everything that the Jiwoos told her, reveling in the moments when she could catch Bae’s glance.
***
Table 3 - Yoon - Seoyeon - Lily – Yooyeon
Yoon and Seoyeon and Lily and Yooyeon happily sat at their table, both couples excited to catch up.
Lily asked, “Soooooorrrrrrr Yooyeon! How have you been since Halloween?”
Yooyeon was about to answer when Seoyeon cut her off. “Wait… you two haven’t spoken since the last badge war?”
Lily said, “Naurrrrr.”
Yoon asked, “Tell me all about this! What happened at the last badge war?”
Yooyeon was about to say something again, but Lily cut her off. “I kind of had a little crush on Yooyeon.”
“But then you didn’t even text each other in 8 months?”
“I didn’t want to bother her. I don’t know if she really liked me.”
Seoyeon said, “I think she did. That’s such a shame.”
All three girls looked at Yooyeon, wondering why she wasn’t saying anything.
She finally said, “Oh, you are going to let me talk now?”
They all nodded, wondering why she looked frustrated.
“I didn’t want to bother Lily. She is very busy. And I’m busy also.”
Yoon said, “That’s dumb, you can text anytime, busy or not.”
“Well, it seems you all are going to keep badgering me about it, so I’ll be honest. That badge war kind of stirs up things and gets the hormones flowing and yeah, Lily happened to help me out with that, but I didn’t know if I actually liked her any more than the stuff that happened in the situation. If I texted her, then what if we assumed there were feelings and made other feelings and then we meet now and there are actually no feelings. Why make it more awkward after awkward after awkward?” Yooyeon was proud of her dissertation.
Yoon looked right at Yooyeon. “I see right through you, it’s actually because of Haewon, isn’t it.”
Lily said, “Nauuuuurrrrr! She’s not at this table. Please don’t mention her again.”
Yoon lowered her voice a bit, “Between you two and Chaeyoung and Sieun, this is why these things are FORBIDDEN.”
Lily sighed. Yooyeon grabbed Lily’s hand in both of her hands.
“It is funny, you and Haewon are all pretending like nothing ever happens and you have nothing, Chaeyoung and Sieun are all pretending like they are married. Exact opposites.”
Seoyeon sensed that Lily had enough and just wanted a fun dinner, so she quickly changed the subject. “Jayoon! Why are you hungry all the time?”
“I’m not… Just rather than having one big meal, I like to have 100 calories every 10 minutes or so.”
Yooyeon giggled, “That math doesn’t really check out…”
Lily said, “Look how skinny she is, how can we criticize. Whatever works for you girl…”
“Why did you decide you like Seoyeon? Strange choice…”
Seoyeon glared at Yooyeon, “I’m beautiful and amazing!”
“The size difference though, you are as bad as Jiwoo and Sieun.”
“Don’t worry Yoonie, I won’t push you into the pool.”
“Don’t worry Seoyeon, I’m not secretly married to anyone else. ALL YOURS!”
The four of them had a fun and active conversation for the rest of dinner.
***
Table 4 - Jiyeon - Seeun - Sumin – Kyujin
Sumin asked, "So, Jiyeon... Why the sudden interest in my Seeun?"
Kyujin giggled, "Ooo, daddy Sumin?"
"Yes!"
"You clearly don't do this to Chaeyoung's suitors."
"It isn't everyday someone expresses interest in my little Seeun. I will do my due diligence. Chaeyoung is obviously a lost cause."
Seeun was staying quiet, but turning three different shades of red.
Jiyeon kept smiling, "Go on... ask me anything."
Kyujin said, "Twenty questions?"
Sumin said, "At least!"
"I clearly landed at the most interesting table."
Seeun covered her face with her hand.
Sumin said, "You haven't answered my first question yet, and then you can answer the second one, do you only like girls? Or boys and girls?"
Seeun had enough. "SUMIN! Stop! You don't have to answer anything Jiyeon."
Jiyeon laughed, "It's fine really. I do like boys and girls. Probably about equally, both have their advantages and disadvantages. Your first question is a bit silly though, who wouldn't have interest in Seeun. She is stunningly gorgeous, super hot, and her attitude has proven from challenge to challenge that she is one of the most delightful girls I have ever met."
Kyujin said, "Asking if you are gay. Okay. Asking why you would like someone amazing? Dumb question. I'm learning a lot here."
Jiyeon and Seeun locked eyes for a few seconds. Seeun asked, "I'll ask one. Why are you so good at everything? It is annoying. But attractive as well."
Jiyeon flexed a muscle. "Years of classical dance training makes one's body suitable for any physical task! I'm not going to tell you any of my weaknesses yet, though."
Seeun smiled coyly, "Hopefully I can maybe find one or two for myself. To exploit..."
"Oh okay... I see how you are. I look forward to the challenge."
Sumin said, "Really Seeun? Tmi." She wagged her finger at her.
Kyujin said, "You wave that thing around a lot and it clearly has no effect on anyone, just admit it. Your daughters do what they want."
"Sad really... I still have some influence on Yeeun, but Jiyeon might be the final wedge between me and my poor Seeun."
Jiyeon made a wedge with her hands and attacked Seeun with it.
Kyujin said, "I don't want to put any more pressure on Daddy Sumin, but your Yeeun is currently following Jinsol around like a puppy dog. You best go wag your finger soon."
Sumin sighed. Seeun and Jiyeon were too preoccupied with each other to pay much attention to Kyujin or Sumin for the rest of dinner.
***
Table 5 - Sieun - Jiwoo - Mayu
The three girls sat down, Jiwoo and Mayu on either side of Sieun. Each of them grabbed one of Sieun’s hands.
Mayu asked, “So, how are we going to settle this?”
Sieun smiled, clearly enjoying the attention.
Jiwoo said, “Obviously, cut her in half so we each get half.” Sieun raised her eyebrows.
“Come on Jiwoo… three-ways are fun!”
Sieun raised her eyebrows further.
“No! No thanks!”
“Come on Jiwoo… I know there is an adventuresome girl in there somewhere, stop being such an old lady.”
Sieun said, “She was plenty adventuresome when I jumped on her after the massage.”
Mayu asked, “When’s my turn?”
“Next five-minute dates?”
“DEAL!”
“Not if I request her first!” said Jiwoo.
Sieun said, “Let’s be serious for a minute. Do you even like me Jiwoo? After I friend-zoned you?”
Mayu said, “You friend-zoned her at the massage, and then jumped on her?”
Jiwoo shrugged. “She’s in love with someone else. Nothing you or I do is going to change that Mayu.”
Sieun sat quietly. Jiwoo wasn’t wrong and Sieun had no need to say anything.
Mayu asked, “Sullin and Sullyoon wanted to set me up with you knowing it would end in disaster?”
Sieun smiled.
Jiwoo said, “You know how it is, find the new person for her so she forgets about the old person. You are cute, funny, and outgoing enough to be that person, aren’t you?”
Mayu said, “Of course! And you aren’t…”
“But I’ll never back down from a competition and will always give it my all! Plus, she’s my idol.”
Sieun said, “I pick both of you!”
Jiwoo said, “BESTIE… that’s not how life works…”
Mayu said, “Come on Jiwoo… three-way! She isn’t saying no!”
Sieun said, “Let’s all get to know each other better. Then maybe I’ll pick. I know Jiwoo a bit, but I don’t know you at all Mayu, let’s chat!”
Jiwoo said, “What you see is what you get with that one.” She gave Mayu the side eye.
Mayu smiled with half her face and winked at Jiwoo.
***
After dinner, Haewon said, “Seeun, Jiyeon, and Sullyoon – go to the gift shop, they are expecting you! The rest of us are going back to the pool.”
Sullyoon got up and walked over to Seeun and Jiyeon’s table. “Are you two ready?”
Sumin said, “Please supervise that ballerina, I don’t trust her alone with my Seeun.”
Seeun pushed Sumin, “Will you stop…”
Sullyoon said, “Oh? Okay, sure…”
Sullyoon led them to the lobby and toward the gift shop. There were quite a few people around and Seeun’s outfit was getting some stares, especially the contrast standing beside Jiyeon wearing her pajamas.
Sullyoon turned around and caught them walking very close together holding hands, Jiyeon’s other hand on Seeun’s thigh. “What the heck is up with you two?”
Jiyeon said, “I like her.”
Seeun said, “She likes me.”
Sullyoon asked, “This all happened in the last hour?”
“So?” asked Jiyeon.
Sumin’s words resonated in her head. What exactly was Jiyeon up to?
Sullyoon said, “We are in public now. You should probably keep your hands to yourself, who knows who is taking photos of you.”
Seeun said, “Yes Ma’am.”
They continued into the gift shop. Sullyoon led them to giant display case of stickers. Jiyeon said, “Here, Pirada would like these. If you are going to decorate her.”
Seeun said, “Or you get these naughty cats to decorate Chaeyoung.”
Sullyoon said, “I’m NOT shopping for that…” Nonetheless, she carefully examined both sets of stickers, before sighing, putting them back in their spots and looking for cute teddy bears for herself.
Her mind wandered a bit, trying to pick out stickers and she lost track of time. About ten minutes later, she turned around and Jiyeon and Seeun were gone. “Oh poop! I had one simple babysitting job and they ditched me…”
Sullyoon finished spending her 100,000 won and took everything to the cashier and checked out. “Um… did you happen to see where a skinny dark-haired ballerina wearing pajamas and a girl with bangs dressed remarkably similar to someone from the Kpop group Twice might have gone?”
The cashier said, “I see a lot of strange things in here. But they both bought a large stuffed toy and then went into the lobby bathroom together.”
“Umm… thanks…” Sullyoon gathered her bag of items and walked up to said bathroom. She took a breath, not sure what she was going to see when she went inside and then opened the door and barged in.
Seeun was sitting on the countertop hugging some stuffed toy. Jiyeon also had a stuffed toy attached to her back, but was kissing Seeun passionately, both hands on her thighs.
Sullyoon said, “Umm… hello… are you ready… to go back? To the pool?”
Jiyeon threw the stuffed teddy bear at her.
Sullyoon growled, “Don’t make me use force, BECAUSE I WILL!”
Seeun pushed Jiyeon off of her, and then stood up and kissed her one more time before running over to Sullyoon.
Jiyeon said, “I’m not afraid of your threats.”
Sullyoon pointed to Seeun, “No, but she is. Not to mention Sumin’s threats.”
Seeun said, “I bought this teddy bear, because ‘Teddy bear’ and Jiyeon bought that stuffed ballerina puppy dog and then we traded them to remember each other.”
Sullyoon looked at the two of them, not sure whether to ‘awwww’ or ‘wtf’. So, she did neither. “Let’s go!”
She made sure they left the bathroom walking in front of her and followed them back to the pool.
***
Back in time a bit, back at the pool before the shoppers returned, Haewon announced, “My event is next! It is going to be pool games and we are all going to get wet! You are now free of whatever you have been wearing and can change into whatever pool gear you brought. Since it involves getting naked, Stayc and TripleS use your changing rooms and change one at a time. We want to let our stomachs relax a bit before getting into the pool after dinner, so no hurry. Take your time getting changed. Nmixx, head upstairs and get changed as well.”
Kim Jiwoos were holding hands. Chuu said, “Pupperwoo! I’m really going to go now. I don’t want to crash your pool party.”
Jiwoo said, “Everyone! Chuu is leaving us again! Give her a round of applause for making time out of her busy schedule to come and play with us!”
The girls all clapped for Chuu who bowed to each of them. She gave Jiwoo a peck on the cheek, “Call me!”
Jiwoo smiled at her and winked.
Haewon said, “AND DON’T COME BACK!”
After Chuu left, Mayu and Yooyeon looked at each other. Mayu asked, “Just going to stick with the bikini?”
Yooyeon said, “Sure, why not… Let’s be lazy.”
Haewon was listening and said, “GREAT SUCCESS!”
Seoyeon said, “I’ll go change first. Anyone want one last ass smack before I go?”
Yooyeon and Mayu were not going to turn that down. Yoon, Isa, and Haewon gave her a pat as well.
Stayc also gathered. J said, “Can I go first? It is going to take me a while to get this off and I’m not sure my body is going to go back to its real shape for a while.”
Yoon said, “Sure Hon, go for it. I’m not wearing much under this towel, it won’t take me long at all.”
***
When the shopping trio returned, Seeun and Jiyeon took their new stuffed friend to each of their groups. Sullyoon stood next to Haewon.
Haewon asked, “What did you get?”
“A new diary for next year and a bunch of stickers.”
“Nice.”
“Keep your eyes on those two, I don’t know what the hell is going on with them. They are suddenly in love or something.”
“Jiyeon and Seeun?”
“Yeah… they bought a giant stuffed animal and then traded them to each other.”
“Eww, gross…”
“I know you have a heart of stone, but even I was like, wtf?”
“Jiwoo, Bae, and Kyujin are upstairs changing, go join them.”
Sullyoon marched back off to the elevators.
***
Seeun got changed after J, and then Yoon went third. As Yoon went into the changing room, Seeun pretended to exit, but then motioned to J and re-entered. The pair then cornered Yoon inside the room, J quickly closing the door behind her.
Yoon said, “The three youngest disappearing in here, someone is going to get suspicious.” Seeun looked at J, implying she should start.
J sighed at her older, yet shyer groupmate and said, “What’s up with Chaeyoung and Sieun? Why do the girls on the other team and Nmixx keep making comments about them being married or something.”
Yoon said, “Don’t listen to what other girls are saying? That’s how things get started. They are just trying to get a reaction out of you.”
Shy girl got over herself, “That’s bullshit. You know something.”
“I know a lot of things.”
“About Chaeyoung and Sieun.”
“Yes, I have lived with them for many years.”
J said, “She’s dodging. Please tell us. Are they really a couple?”
Yoon said, “I’m not kidding. Stop spreading rumors. You both know the truth. Why do you have to ask me?”
J and Seeun looked at each other again.
Seeun said, “They have always been close, but if Sieun is closer to Chaeyoung than I am, I deserve to know, I love her also.”
J said, “Especially if it is in an inappropriate way.”
Yoon said, “Who gets to measure what is inappropriate?”
“Me?”
“What if I think following Jinsol around like a puppy dog so you can kiss her later is inappropriate?” She pointed to Seeun, “And you trading stuffed animals with that TripleS girl you barely know. SO inappropriate.”
Seeun said, “Who cares? None of that alters our group dynamic and ultimately our life’s goals.”
J said, “We live with those girls.”
Yoon smiled, “Yeah, so about that… Sumin and Sieun have been discussing it with Rado and we think it is about time Stayc was free of being confined in the dorm. We are old enough and professional enough to live on our own now.”
J said, “We are? Wait, you keep changing the damn subject…”
Yoon pointed at Seeun, “She brought it up.”
J and Seeun looked like they were about ready to break Yoon in half.
Yoon said, “Look… If you think anything you might suddenly learn today makes tomorrow different from yesterday, the problem is YOU, not the information you learned. Trust what we are. Why do you need anything more?”
There were a few seconds where Seeun and J were trying to figure out what the heck Yoon just said and Yoon managed to slip between them and out to the door. Isa was waiting outside, indeed a bit curious what was going on in there.
As Yoon quickly ran out, Isa said, “I thought you were changing next?”
She whispered into Isa’s ear, “Two girls are getting restless about all of the comments, not to mention the potter’s wheel. They just cornered me. I diffused the situation, but you two need to cut it OUT until we leave this place. Got it?”
Isa made two cat ears and a cute face. She opened the door and pushed Yoon inside. Then she shouted, “Yeeun, Seeun. Come here my lovelies, I need you!”
They both passed Yoon and exited the room to see what she wanted. Isa looked them both over to make sure their swim gear was perfect on their bodies. “Mamma Isa just wanted to make sure you looked good before you walk in front of your new girlfriends.”
J said, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Seeun said, “Oh? Do I have a girlfriend?”
***
Nmixx came back down to the pool together, all six of them wearing white cotton robes over whatever swimwear they had under.
Haewon said, “I see all of the Stayc members are ready, I’m not particularly impressed by your choice in swimwear.”
Isa said, “Sorry we aren’t wearing bikinis like the other team.”
Mayu and Yooyeon heard ‘bikini’ and wandered over to see what Stayc was wearing.
Isa was wearing a grey swimming top over a black bikini top and black swimming trunks. Sieun was still wearing her red swim trunks and still the white tee shirt, but she also now had a black bikini top under the tee shirt. Yoon was wearing a blue swimming top over her bikini top and white swim trunks.
J and Seeun were wearing black one-piece swim suits, J with a grey top and white shorts over it and Seeun with a blue top and grey shorts over it.
Bae said, “I think our ex-hotel employee has the best swim wear!”
Sumin was wearing a maroon two-piece swim suit, modest but still stylish. She bowed to Bae.
Sullin joined Yooyeon and Mayu, she was wearing a white top over a black bikini top and black swim trunks. Seoyeon also made her way over.
Kim Jiwoo said, “What the heck are you wearing?”
Seoyeon looked at her like she was crazy. “Clothes?”
“You can’t swim in that…”
She was wearing a frilly white knit top over a white crop top and denim shorts. “I can?”
“If you get that top in the pool, you are going to ruin it.”
“I’ll take it off.”
“What if you fall in?”
“I’m Seoyeon, not Chuu… you don’t have to argue at me for no reason.”
Jiwoo huffed. “Mmmmkay.”
Finally, Jiyeon and Lee Jiwoo made their way out of the changing room and over to the rest of the girls.
All of the girls started clapping and cheering. Jiwoo and Jiyeon looked at each other.
Sieun said, “How stylish is my BESTIE! And look at her long legs!”
Seeun said, “Look at the ballerina. So DAMN hot!”
Haewon said, “These two plus the two bikinis? TripleS wins all of my badges, lets just end this now.”
Jiwoo was wearing a very stylish white with blue flowered top made out of swim-friendly material, long sleeved and slightly high necked, but showing off her belly on the top and bottoms that were modest on her butt but showed every bit of her long legs.
Jiyeon was wearing a red one-piece swim dress with long tied straps over her shoulders, her hair now in a long braid.
They still weren’t entirely sure what all of the fuss was about. Lee Jiwoo said, “Bestie, I would be upset about Stayc and all of these shorts, if I didn’t get such good looks at your chest earlier.”
Haewon said, “Okay girls! My event has officially begun!”
The girls noticed that at the deep end of the pool, there were two rafts tied up, one on either side of the pool. Haewon led them down to the rafts. “The first game is quite simple, it is called:” She said in English, “‘pool noodle jousting’”. Those rafts are quite sturdy, enough that one girl can easily stand up on it. One girl will stand with a pool noodle as her weapon. One girl will swim and pull the raft across the pool to the other side. Of course, the same thing will happen on the other side. The rafts will meet in the middle with an epic battle with pool noodles until one girl falls off. Each girl will get a chance standing, you can switch up who is swimming, or keep it the same, except when that girl needs to joust. Any questions?”
Yooyeon raised Lee Jiwoo’s hand, well, as far as she could raise it, and said, “JIWOO!”
Haewon said, “Ask away Jiwoo.”
Jiwoo shrugged at Yooyeon. Yooyeon asked, “Couldn’t the swimmer just pull the raft to the other side of the pool, away from the fight?”
Haewon said, “Yes. While I said the rafts are sturdy enough to stand on, the swimmer starting and stopping while pulling it, while you are standing on it, can potentially cause you to fall off without even fighting. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?”
Jiwoo sighed at Yooyeon. She repeated, “Yeah, wouldn’t that be embarrassing?”
Yooyeon said, “I was just curious…”
Haewon said, “Decide among yourselves who is going to swim first and joust first.”
Stayc and TripleS briefly huddled.
When they were finished, Haewon asked, “Who is going to swim first for TripleS?”
Seoyeon said, “Me!”
Seeun shyly walked up to TripleS. She locked eyes with Jiyeon and blushed, but then she approached Seoyeon.
Seoyeon asked Jiyeon, “What is this girl doing?”
Seeun grabbed Seoyeon’s top and felt it. “This is yarn. Jiwoo is right, you can’t swim in this. I think you should take it off.”
Seoyeon said, “You are up to something. Now I’m definitely NOT taking it off.”
“That big bow you have tied in the middle is going to get wet, shrink, and then strangle you. Also, you have to pull that raft around in the pool, you can’t do that wearing it AND those jean shorts.”
Yoon started to chant, “Take… them… off…”
Seeun turned around and pointed at her and said, “Shhhhh.”
Seoyeon said, “Alright shy girl. If you want me to take them off so badly, you have to take them off of me. No pretending I’m Jiyeon.”
Seeun sighed. She blushed, but grabbed the end of the ties that looked like they were holding the knit top closed. They were just decorations and had no function. “Are you kidding me?”
Seoyeon put her arms over her head. “Go on.”
Seeun sighed again. Instead of dealing with the top, she opened the button of Seoyeon’s shorts and unzipped the fly, then pulled them to the floor. Seoyeon was wearing white bikini bottoms underneath.
Yooyeon immediately jeered, “Of course you can’t have OTHER girls wearing bikini bottoms and getting all of the attention. You just had to be like us.”
Seoyeon said, “Whatever… It’s what I brought.”
Seeun poked Seoyeon in the side to make her step to the side. She picked up the jean shorts and threw them into the pool.
Seoyeon said, “What the fuck? Why did you do that?”
“Can’t have you putting them back on. Haewon, did I do my thing well enough?”
“I told you she was up to something…”
Haewon said, “Seeun’s secret mission was to convince someone to take off an article of clothing and not put it back on.” She turned to the rest of Nmixx. “Did she do that? She didn’t do much convincing.”
Sullyoon said, “Plenty.”
Bae agreed, “Good!”
Kyujin said, “Give it to her, that was hard for her.”
Haewon motioned for Seeun to come over and pulled the ‘stripper’ badge out of her pouch and gave it to Seeun. “Not how I imagined that being used, but nicely done.”
“Can I go put it with my stuff so I don’t lose it?”
“Of course.”
Seeun quickly ran off and put it with her suitcase.
Seoyeon took off the knit top. There was a white crop top over a white bikini top underneath. As Seeun returned, Seoyeon jumped in the water and held on to the side of the pool. “Let’s go! I’m ready!”
Haewon said, “Okay then! Keep your jousting girl secret for now, you won’t know who the other team is choosing when you choose your girl. Stayc, head around to the other side, that will be your raft.
Isa said to Seoyeon, “Guess you are a pretty good swimmer?”
Seoyeon shrugged. The rest of Stayc started walking around to the other side of the pool.
Isa gracefully dove from the side of the pool, directly over Seoyeon and swam underwater, moving her butt like a mermaid, to the raft on the other side, not coming up until she was under it.
Lee Jiwoo said, “She’s also a fucking mermaid?”
Sullyoon said, “She will lure you under the water and…” she motioned like she was cutting her own throat with a knife.
The girls all laughed at both Jiwoo and Sullyoon. Bae said, “You love it… Both of you…”
Haewon was totally oblivious to anything other than watching Isa swim all the way across and said, “Damn… that’s hot.”
Lily pushed her.
Isa surfaced, put her back against the far-side pool wall and made wet cat ears with her fingers. Then she motioned for Sullyoon to come to her, like a mermaid would lure a helpless sailor.
Lee Jiwoo said, “That girl is unbelievable.” Having arrived at the other side of the pool, Sieun was grinning from ear to ear.
Badge summary: Mayu 4, Yooyeon 4, Seoyeon 3, Jiyeon 3, Jiwoo 2, Sullin 3 (TripleS 19 total); Seeun 4, Yoon 3, Sumin 3, Isa 3, Sieun 2, J 1 (Stayc 16 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll (August 16 - 23): https://forms.gle/fwchZ3pntriNa4CTA
Chapter 14: Yooyeon Comes Face to Face with a Mermaid Cat
Summary:
Haewon's event gets underway with a lot of underwater action. Game one involves jousting with pool noodles from a moving raft. Game two involves girls trying to get their rubber duck from one end of the pool to the other without using their hands.
Chapter Text
Chapter 14: Yooyeon Comes Face to Face with a Mermaid Cat
Haewon said, “After that uncalled for display of Chaeyoung, close your eyes and the first girls taking their turn on the raft, please raise your hands. In three… two… one!”
Jiyeon and Yoon raised their hands.
Haewon said, “The first match is Jiyeon vs. Yoon!”
Yoon shouted across the pool, “You’re going down ballerina!”
Jiyeon just laughed at her.
Seeun said, “She obviously isn’t intimidated.”
“Whose side are you on?” asked Yoon.
Seeun said nothing.
Haewon said, “Swimmers! Get into position!”
Seoyeon moved to the rope attached to the raft. She pleaded to her teammates on the edge of the pool, “Please don’t make me joust Chaeyoung.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Won’t she make a satisfying splash when she makes an awkward collision with the surface of the pool?”
“What alternate reality do you live in?”
Sieun winked at Jiwoo from across the pool.
Isa also found the rope and got ready to pull her raft.
Kyujin and Bae sat down on opposite sides of the pool, Kyujin on TripleS side and Bae on Stayc side and steadied the rafts for the girls to board.
Haewon said, “Jousters! Let’s go!”
Jiyeon walked onto her raft like it was nothing. Yoon took her first step and Bae had to work hard to steady the raft and keep Yoon from falling off before they even started. Yoon slowly made small steps and slid her way to the center of the raft. Both girls picked up the pool noodle lying on the raft.
Yoon was disappointed at how droopy it was. “Can I have a real lance please?” She practiced swinging it a bit, to see how her actions translated to the motion of the raft. Jiyeon held her pool noodle and stood perfectly still, waiting for something to happen.
Haewon said, “GO!”
Just in front of her raft, Isa held the rope across her chest and made two large kicks with her feet underwater and the raft lurched forward. Just that small motion nearly made Yoon fall, but she adjusted and kept her balance, now moving forward.
Seoyeon gathered the rope together and wrapped it around one wrist and then flipped around to swim backwards slowly, so she could watch the action on the raft. She kicked her feet hard and started the raft moving slowly. Jiyeon stood there like a statue.
Isa got her raft moving at a very fast clip, Seoyeon went a more leisurely rate, but they were lined up perfectly to go by each other. Isa had gone well by the half-way point and Yoon was doing her best to use her long arms to hold the pool noodle out as far as she could.
Jiyeon ran right into Yoon’s noodle and didn’t even budge, Yoon then pulled it back and poked it at Jiyeon which pushed Jiyeon and her entire raft back a bit, but Jiyeon still didn’t budge. Jiyeon then swung hard with her noodle at Yoon’s noodle which got Yoon twisted, she then poked Yoon with it for good measure, though she would have probably fallen without the added insult. Nonetheless, Yoon disappeared into the pool. Isa didn’t stop pulling the raft until she was all the way at the other side. Seoyeon cheered while pulling the raft around in a big circle back to the starting spot, Jiyeon jumping up and down on the raft.
Yoon surfaced in the center of the pool. Sieun said, “Shocking, who would have thought she might be good at this.”
All of Stayc, including Yoon raised their hand. Yoon said, “The white dots on that dress blinded me, along with the flirty legs, I cry foul.”
Jiyeon did a little spin and pulled up the bottom of the dress showing off her white bikini bottoms.
Yoon swam to the side of the pool and lifted herself out and sat on the edge.
Sumin said, “Wow, that girl is something else.”
J pushed Seeun, “WAY out of your league.”
Seeun was about to make a comment about Bae, but Bae was sitting at the edge of the water splashing at a miniature opponent that clearly wasn’t actually there. She decided not to bother.
Haewon said, “Entertaining! Keep it up. Does either team want to change their swimmer?”
Sieun said, “Obviously not.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “No, we want to see our swimmer eventually get body-slammed by the cat mermaid.”
Haewon said, “Seems reasonable.”
Seoyeon whined to herself as she reset the raft.
“Next swimmers! Raise your hands!”
Stayc had apparently decided the entire order, TripleS was having a conversation. After a few back and forths, “Me? You? Me?” Yooyeon got frustrated and said, “This is essentially random it doesn’t fucking matter!” Jiwoo just raised her hand.
Haewon said, “Jiwoo vs. J!”
Jiwoo climbed onto her raft, she also had a difficult time keeping her balance at first. But after being on the raft for a bit, seemed a bit more steady than Yoon. J saw what Jiyeon had done, so she got onto the raft, picked up the noodle and did her best to stay still in a set position.
Haewon said, “Three, two, one! Go!”
Isa started again, going even faster, confident that J could handle the speed. Seoyeon was a bit surprised at the raft coming toward her even faster, but just did her best to keep Jiwoo in a steady straight line.
Jiwoo put everything into her first swing and clocked J in the side of the head. J protested, “HEY!” and started hitting Jiwoo with smaller swings, but her tall form allowed her to shake most of them off. Isa was going to fast that they only had a quick burst of melee and then they were past each other, both girls still standing.
Isa reached the wall and the raft hit the wall fairly hard, but J kept her balance. Seoyeon was only to the center of the pool and easily started moving their raft around in a circle, making their way back to J. Isa shrugged and decided to stay put and see what happens. She just helped steady the raft and J moved a bit closer to the edge.
Unfortunately, Jiwoo used the same trick, hitting J in the head again. This time J was ready and shouted, “YOU BIG BULLY!” She waited until Seoyeon had pulled her mostly past and then hit Jiwoo three times in the calves, but the giant wouldn’t fall and again Seoyeon had pulled the rafts apart.
Haewon yelled, “Okay! Reset! Chaeyoung, you have to keep your raft moving, please!”
Isa gave Haewon a thumbs up as both girls pulled their raft to their respective sides again. Jiwoo and J were both getting the hang of standing on the raft well.
Haewon counted down again and Isa again put the rope against her boobs and kicked forward. This time she went a bit slower. Seoyeon figured she would, however, and also went a bit slower, also trying to keep the rafts apart a bit, to favor Jiwoo’s slightly longer reach.
Jiwoo was aggressive again, but instead of hitting J’s head, she swung it like a hockey stick, starting low and intending to hit J in the side, under her arm where she was holding up her own noodle. J was expecting the aggressive Jiwoo, however, and totally dodged. Jiwoo was then a bit off balance and J poked her in the chest causing her to fall off of the raft with a splash.
Sieun shouted, “BOOOO! I’ve seen this before!”
Jiwoo surfaced, shook her hair like a dog and said, “BESTIE…”
Isa pulled J across and J hopped quickly hopped off of her raft on the TripleS side, quickly running around to Stayc. Sullin and Jiyeon clapped for her.
Jiwoo shouted, “Hey! Who are you clapping for?”
Jiyeon said, “She’s pretty. And nice.”
Sullin said, “Everyone.” As though it was obviously the correct thing to do.
Jiwoo swam over to Yoon and sat next to her on the side of the pool. They started having a conversation, but didn’t seem to agree on anything they were talking about. There were just two heads shaking ‘no’.
Haewon said, “Next match! Raise your hands!”
Sullin and Sieun raised their hands.
Haewon said, “Oh! Interesting! Hottie Sullin vs. the tiny Smurfette Sieun.”
Sieun said, “What did I ever do to you Haewon…”
“I just call it like I see it!”
J said, “Isn’t Papa Smurf the only one that wears red pants?”
Haewon said, “Hottie Sullin vs the tiny Papa Smurf Sieun!”
Just before getting on the raft, Sieun said, “Chaeyoung, go slow please, I have a plan.” Isa nodded to her.
Sullin stepped on the raft and nearly fell and it took her a while to get her balance, Seoyeon complaining at her the entire time. Sullin giggled at her, “I NOT UNDERSTAND KOREAN.”
Haewon said, “Three, two, one! GO!”
Both girls started forward at nearly the same pace, they were about to have plenty of time to linger in the center of the pool. Sullin was still very uneasy the entire way, but had a smile on her face.
Sullyoon whispered to Lily. “She’s faking.”
Lily said, “Naurrr. How do you know?”
“Just like she fakes not knowing Korean. Bet me.”
When they met in the middle, suddenly Sullin was standing there like a rock and Sieun started poking her over and over again with little tiny jabs. Sullin just reared back for a massive blow, clocked Sieun in her hip and she clumsily fell off the raft. Sullin shrugged. “Smash smurf. Cat mermaid is so much better.”
Jiwoo jumped up and started clapping vigorously for Sullin. Sullin waited patiently for Seoyeon to turn themselves around, not losing her balance even one more time.
When Sieun reached the side, Jiwoo helped her out of the pool. “You got faked out my dear.”
“I really don’t like that girl.”
Jiwoo said, “Hush…” Sieun sat on Jiwoo’s lap, wringing out some of Jiwoo’s dog hair and then her own red locks.
Again, Jiwoo and Yoon started whispering, occasionally Sieun would clearly say ‘Sullyoon’, but again it didn’t seem they could agree on anything.
Haewon said, “Next match! Who is up?”
Mayu and Seeun raised their hand.
Haewon said, “Fun! Mayu vs. Seeun, then Yooyeon vs. Sumin, then Seoyeon vs. Chaeyoung.”
Mayu and Seeun got ready and climbed on their rafts. They were both moderately comfortable. Seeun told Isa to go fast again.
As they approached each other, both girls fought noodle to noodle parrying each other evenly. Although Isa was going fast, she didn’t swim to the wall, she turned in time to maneuver the raft back toward Seoyeon. This made Seoyeon go a bit slower. The second time, they had another exchange, but neither girl landed any solid blows.
Haewon shouted, “Other than watching Mayu’s bikini, this match is BORING!”
The third pass, Haewon gave Mayu an idea. Holding the noodle with one hand, she pointed to her butt with the other. “I’m MUCH hotter than Jiyeon. Look!”
Seeun clearly considered the request, or she at least thought about it. Mayu took the opportunity whack her two times solidly across the head and Seeun fell off.
When she surfaced, Isa said, “Girl… You really fell for that?”
“What? It’s a good butt!” She swam over to the side with the other girls.
Sumin and Yooyeon got ready to go. After Haewon said go, Sumin got ready to fight but Yooyeon fell off before they even got close to each other.
Sumin said, “I didn’t even do anything?”
Seoyeon said, “You don’t have to sabotage ANY MORE!”
Yooyeon sighed and swam back to the side.
Isa and Seoyeon got out of the water. Haewon said, “Who is going to swim for these two?”
Yoon said, “I will!”
Mayu said, “Jiwoo?”
Sieun put her arms around Jiwoo and hugged her tight. “No! Me and my Bestie are wet together.”
Mayu said, “Wouldn’t you rather be wet with your hottie? ME!”
“You aren’t wet… you won… by trickery… like that nasty Sullin.”
Jiwoo picked up Sieun and sat her down beside her. “I’ll be back, gotta go be a team player.”
Jiwoo clumsily jumped into the pool while holding her nose and then doggy paddled over to the raft.
Yoon said, “Clearly, I have tall girl swim advantage. We got this Chaeyoung!”
Isa and Seoyeon made their way onto their rafts but both of them were very wet and also a bit tired. It took Isa a bit to get her breath. “Swimming that thing around is not easy.”
Seoyeon said, “That’s why I was taking it easy, I figured we were going to have to do this some thousand times.”
“You’re a smart one! About to go splash splash though.”
Seoyeon smiled at Isa as Yoon and Jiwoo started swimming, both tugging on the rope and trying to doggie paddle forward.
Jiwoo said, “Shit… how does Chaeyoung do it so easily?”
Seoyeon shouted at her, “SWIM! Use your hockey legs!”
Both rafts started lurching forward, both girls were steady on their feet.
They slowly approached each other. Isa was tired and knew there was still a lot of competition to go so she wasn’t messing around. Seoyeon started poking her a bit and she just reared back and hit Seoyeon solidly in the side, knocking her off.
Isa said, “Small girls are really at a disadvantage for this one Haewon.”
Haewon said, “Don’t worry! There are enough games that everyone will shine, or not shine.”
“Now what?”
“We have six winners! Jiyeon, Sullin, Mayu, J, Sumin, Isa. Let’s change it up a bit. I did not anticipate dragging the raft around being so much work, I thought the matches would be over quicker, like a real joust rather than a kickboxing match. Kyujin and Bae, you guys pull the rafts so we don’t tire out the girls, Chaeyoung is correct, there is a lot of competition to go. Jiwoo and Sullyoon, hold the rafts while the girls get on them please?”
Kim Jiwoo and Sullyoon took their spots by the rafts while Bae and Kyujin dropped their robes and hopped into the water. J cheered at Bae. “HOTTIE!”
Sieun and Isa simultaneously said, “YEEUN!”
“What? You guys do it all the time? Also, I’M OLDER THAN HER! I CAN CALL HER WHATEVER I WANT.”
Sieun and Isa looked at each other and smirked.
Haewon said, “This round, I want the six of you to decide the matches together, right now before we start. You have thirty seconds, otherwise I’ll choose in a way that amuses me.”
Isa said, “Me vs. Sullin. Jiyeon is obviously the best, can you try to take her Yeeun?”
J said, “Sure, I’ll try.”
“Sumin vs. Mayu then.”
Sumin shrugged. “Her butt won’t distract me.”
Isa said, “Careful with your last words.”
Jiyeon said, “Umm, how about ask our opinion?”
“Fine, what is your opinion?”
Mayu smile and said, “Sullin vs. Isa. Jiyeon vs. J. and my butt against Sumin. Take it or leave it!”
Sumin said, “Is she for real? That’s what you said.”
Jiyeon and Sullin both started laughing.
Isa said, “We’re ready!”
Haewon said, “Sullin vs. Isa! Let’s go!”
Yoon and Lee Jiwoo swam all the way to the steps at the shallow end and marched out of the pool, grabbing towels and starting to dry off. Jiwoo kept trying to get Sieun’s attention, but she was looking elsewhere, so Yoon just yelled “SIEUN.”
A startled Sieun looked over at her and then jumped back in the pool and swam to the far side.
Kim Jiwoo, Sullyoon, Bae and Kyujin were barking at each other back and forth across the pool about holding the rafts steady and how best to swim with them, Isa and Sullin stepped on, but Jiwoo and Sullyoon both failed at holding the raft and they both nearly fell until Nmixx got control and the girls made their way to the center of the raft and picked up their pool noodles.
Sieun called to Lily, “Lily! My dear! Come here a second!”
Lily wasn’t really paying much attention to anything going on in the pool, but snapped out of her daydreaming. “Oooor? Me?”
Yooyeon was still sitting on the side of the pool where the losers had previously gathered and put her head in her hands.
Lily walked up to Sieun, who quickly doggie paddled away from her. Lily didn’t see Yoon and Jiwoo walk up behind her and they both pushed her into the pool.
Lily let out a surprised scream, it sounded a bit like a dolphin with an Australian accent. “EEEEEE-auuurrrrr.” She made a huge splash. Everyone started giggling at her scream.
Yooyeon said, “Lily! I had nothing to do with this…”
Haewon was paying attention to the rafts and was equally surprised. She squinted her eyes together and blinked several times, obviously pissed. “Was that necessary?”
Yoon said, “Sieun wanted it to be Sullyoon, but you gave her something to do.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Lily was just standing over here in Lala land. We had too…”
Lily looked at Sieun with sad eyes. “What ever happened to main vocalists sticking together? You are mean and rude.”
Sieun said, “Awww, I’m sorry. Just trying to have fun. The entire thing was Yoon’s idea, I was just facilitating.”
Yoon said, “It was Jiwoo’s idea!”
Yoon and Jiwoo started fighting like cats.
Haewon said, “You guys are playing with fire. Lily thinks her event is all fun and innocent, but she can really make you all suffer.”
Lily made her way to the shallow end and got out of the pool, dropping her now useless, soaked robe. “Naurrrrr.”
Yooyeon whistled. “HOTTIE!”
Lily said, “Awwwwwwwr, at least one girl loves me.”
Isa struggled to make it work, but eventually successfully pointed her drooping pool noodle at Haewon. “Two girls?”
Haewon said, “Three, two, one… GO!”
Bae was pulling Isa and gave a powerful kick that made the entire raft shake but then had trouble getting it going more than that. Kyujin started paddling vigorously and slowly but consistently got the raft moving in a straight line.
Bae and Isa were going a bit, ‘that way’, curving away from Sullin. Isa said, “Jinsol! Where are you going?”
Kyujin adjusted a bit so they were generally moving toward each other, then Bae over adjusted and Kyujin had to turn a bit hard. Sullin was doing fine at keeping her balance and measuring her attack at Isa. Isa had to focus just on standing up with Bae’s rocky ride. Sullin took advantage and easily knocked Isa into the water.
Suddenly, everyone in the pool stopped what they were doing as Isa maneuvered underwater and swam like a mermaid to the side of the pool with the losers. When she surfaced, they all clapped for her.
Kyujin said, “Watch everyone, I can swim like that…” She let go of the raft, leaving Sullin stranded in the middle of the pool and did her best to swim like Isa. No one was impressed.
Isa let Yoon and Jiwoo pull her on to the side edge of the pool.
Kyujin sighed and pulled Sullin’s raft back to Sullyoon. Bae had already returned the other raft back to Kim Jiwoo.
Haewon said, “Mayu vs. Sumin! Let’s go!”
Standing there alone, Jiyeon put her entire body around J in a hug, which totally startled J. “Guess they are saving the best for last!” J was too stunned at having a hot ballerina she didn’t know hanging on her and said nothing.
Mayu was about to get on to Kyujin’s raft and Haewon said, “Jinsol is drunk… we need to switch it up in case she drags a raft in the wrong direction or something.”
Bae shouted, “Marco!”
No one responded.
“SEE! I have no idea where to go!”
Sumin went over to Kyujin’s raft and Mayu got on Bae’s raft.
Haewon said, “Three… two… one… GO!”
Bae got a better and smoother start this time, but again pulled the raft in a large arc. Kyujin was able to adjust her own and make sure they met well in the middle. Mayu and Sumin were quite evenly matched, trading blows but not really phasing each other. Bae and Kyujin had no need for swimming back and forth across the pool many times, so they stopped pulling the rafts when they were close together and let the girls fight it out.
Amidst blows, Mayu pointed to her butt. “Look over here!”
Sumin shouted, “Won’t work!” She hit her as hard as should could in the side.
Mayu pointed to her chest. “Here?”
Sumin kept hitting her in the side, over and over.
Mayu winked, making sure Sumin saw it. “Anything?”
“I’m in a group with Chaeyoung, not even close…”
Mayu just sighed, poked Sumin in the belly twice and wound up as hard as she could and hit her across the head. Sumin fell backward into the pool.
When Sumin surfaced, Mayu said, “Would have been easier just to fall for me…”
Sumin swam to the side and Isa and Yoon helped her out of the pool.
Haewon said, “Now this is entertaining, all of Stayc’s hopes hanging on a maknae who can’t even move because the other team’s ace is hugging her.”
J pushed Jiyeon off of her like an old rag she was detested by and made sure she went to Kyujin’s raft.
Jiyeon said, “These Stayc girls need more hugs… What is wrong with them?” She ran over to Bae’s raft and hopped on like it was sitting on concrete.
Seeun shouted, “Don’t worry Jiyeon! I won’t discard you like that!”
Sieun said, “Yes you will…”
“Okay, I might… but I’ll try not to.”
Jiyeon looked at her curiously.
Haewon said, “Three… two… one… GO!”
This time, Bae did a good job and pulled the raft in a straight line. Again, they stopped when the rafts were next to each other. Jiyeon and J had an epic fight. Jiyeon served up poking jab after jab to try to tire J out. J got a few nice hits in, but Jiyeon always maintained her balance. J just got tired quickly and eventually Jiyeon knocked her backwards off of the raft.
J surfaced and Bae was right there to make sure she was okay. She gave her a hug, mostly under water and they swam off together.
Kyujin said, “No really everyone, watch my butt… it is just like Chaeyoung’s!” She swam like a mermaid. Kim Jiwoo shouted, “Bring back the professional!” Sullyoon shouted, “Doesn’t work if you aren’t a cat.”
Isa gathered her team on the side of the pool. “Well, we sure sucked this one up.”
Haewon said, “So girls… I’ll let you decide. Three winners or make the three of them fight it out?”
Sumin was pissed, “You aren’t going to tell us how to get badges, or how many badges or anything?”
“Nope!”
Yooyeon shouted, “Welcome to our world!”
Haewon said, “Decide!”
Sullin, Jiyeon, and Mayu were still giving each other high-fives. Jiyeon said, “We need this ‘sport’ for our next badge war, I can’t imagine anything better than watching Hayeon go splash into the pool.” Jiyeon mimed Hayeon falling into the pool.
Bae said, “Oh, good mime! Jiyeon +1 in Bae’s book!”
Isa said quietly, “Well, does it matter if they have one winner?”
Sieun said, “What if they give them three badges because they have three winners?”
Sumin asked, “Do we really want to sit around and wait for them to have however many battles it takes just for Jiyeon to win anyway?”
After a pause Isa said, “Haewon, we are tired of this game, they don’t have to choose a winner.”
Haewon said, “Okay! We’ll see if that comes back to haunt you later! Next game!”
Nmixx lifted both rafts out of the pool and the girls stood in their groups.
Haewon said, “For this one…”
Suddenly there was again the sound of a high-pitched Australian dolphin and another loud splash.
Bae and Kim Jiwoo were laughing hysterically. Haewon said, “You two I WILL kill later…”
Bae said, “I had to know if she would make the same noise again.”
Jiwoo said, “It is hilarious...”
Sullyoon said, “It is pretty funny.”
Yooyeon immediately jumped into the pool and swam by Lily and put her arm around her. “Don’t worry Lily, I won’t let them near you.”
Standing on the side, Isa said to Yooyeon, “You really like her more than me? I’m a mermaid kitten.”
Yooyeon tapped on Lily’s shoulder and Lily turned her head. She leaned in to kiss Lily.
Haewon said, “Okay, what the fuck… FOCUS!”
Isa said, “My team is ready!”
“Like I was saying, Stayc and TripleS will break up into two teams of three. We will have two battles in those teams. Of the three girls, two girls from each team will have a rubber ducky. We’ll start at the shallow end and all four girls with the rubber ducky simply have to get their ducky all the way to the far side of the pool. Both ducks have to make it to the wall to win, but after one duck makes it, that girl can go back and help the girl with the duck not to the wall yet. You CANNOT use your hands to touch the duck. Any other body part is fine. The other two girls will be on defense or distraction, however they choose to do such. They also cannot in any way touch the duck with their hands, but they can get in the way of the other girls and there is no rule about touching their bodies with their hands. Any questions?”
Lee Jiwoo silently raised her hand. Haewon said, “Jiwoo…” before it was even fully raised.
Jiwoo said to her team, “We have to have a question about this?”
Yooyeon said, “I’m good.”
Seoyeon said, “Seems easy enough.”
Sullin said, “Don’t be on the team against Chaeyoung. Got it!”
Haewon said, “First, divide up into your two teams, thinking about who will likely be pushing ducks and who will not.”
The girls huddled briefly.
“One representative from each team, rock paper scissors!”
Yoon pushed Seeun forward. In response Jiyeon smiled and took a step forward herself. They smiled at each other. Both girls threw paper. Then both girls threw paper. Then both girls threw paper again.
Isa said, “Okay, maybe it isn’t ridiculous these two could be a couple.”
Seeun turned back to her, “Ridiculous?”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Don’t know about ridiculous, but clearly the most boring…”
Yoon said, “CHANGE.”
Seeun sighed at her group mates and threw paper again, but Jiyeon switched to rock.
Seeun snarled at her ‘girlfriend’.
Lee Jiwoo said, “Oh… okay, that’s less boring.”
Haewon said, “TripleS, your first team of three can get in the water, but you don’t need to show who your ‘distraction’ girl is going to be.”
Jiyeon, Sullin, and Mayu jumped into the pool. Haewon said, “Really?”
Jiyeon said, “Team joust going first!”
“Okay Stayc, send who you want to go against that team!”
Sieun said, “Stack it against the other team?”
Isa said, “Yeah…”
Sumin, Seeun, and J jumped into the pool.
“Distraction girls, please swim to the deep end!”
Sumin and Jiyeon made their way across the pool. Then hung on to the wall at the far end. As Sullyoon threw four rubber duckies into the water Jiyeon said, “I’m not really that good of a swimmer.”
Sumin said, “Yeah, me either.”
Haewon said, “Duck girls, all four of you get on the steps and get your duck in front of you. We are about to start!”
The girls did their best to get their duckies in front of them, it was a bit crowded at the stairs.
Haewon shouted, “GO!”
Sullin and Mayu held hands with one hand and swam with the other hand as a unit. They caught both ducks with their arms that were holding hands, making sure not to touch the ducks with their fingers.
J and Seeun used their nose or shoulder to push their ducks and instantly spread out. J said, “Stay on opposite sides, she can’t get to both of us.”
Mayu said to Sullin, “We are doing the opposite.”
Sullin said, “Just do your best.”
As all of Nmixx gathered on the ledge above the deep end of the pool to judge whether a duckie hit the wall or not, Jiyeon and Sumin both started doggie paddling toward the other girls.
Jiyeon was a better swimmer than Sumin and made her way toward Seeun. Yoon sensed impending doom and said, “TripleS is cheating! You said they couldn’t touch the ducks with their hands!”
Seoyeon shot back at her alliance, “They are barely touching them with the back of their hands, making sure not to touch them with fingers. It is fine.”
“Bullshit! Haewon! I’m just going use the back of my hand to easily push my duck all the way across the pool.”
Haewon said, “Jayoon is right… Sullin and Mayu, please don’t push the ducks like that.”
Seoyeon said, “Yoonie… I HATE YOU!”
Yoon blew her a kiss.
Sullin and Mayu let go of each other. Sullin caught a duck at her shoulder and started pushing it forward steadily. Mayu bumped hers with her nose, bumping it diagonally to the other side of the pool. Bump hard. Swim swim swim. Bump hard. Sumin changed direction and doggie paddled toward Mayu.
Seeun had no real rhythm, hitting the duck with whatever shoulder, chin, or nose was closest at the time. Jiyeon charted a head-on path, meeting her about half way across the pool. Seeun braced for impact, but at the last second, Jiyeon just swam alongside Seeun, going in opposite directions.
Just when Seeun thought she was past, Jiyeon spun around in the water and caught one of Seeun’s feet with both hands. Seeun yelled, “Hey! What are you doing!”
Jiyeon said, “Stopping that duck…”
“Let go of my foot!”
Jiyeon said, “Ok!” She walked her hands up Seeun’s calf and knee to her thigh, still holding it with both hands.
Seeun said, “Hey! Stop that!” She tried to kick at Jiyeon with her other foot, but Jiyeon was too close and she couldn’t kick her in any meaningful manner.
Jiyeon caressed Seeun’s thigh. “You sure? What duck?”
Seeun stopped all motion.
Yoon shouted, “Seeun! Focus! Ignore the girl! COME ON!”
Seeun turned and faced Jiyeon and Jiyeon moved her hands to Seeun’s sides. Seeun put both feet on Jiyeon’s thighs as Jiyeon leaned in to hiss her. Seeun said, “Sorry, I’ll make it up to you later. My team will kill me.”
She pushed off of Jiyeon hard with both feet, propelling herself forward, catching the duck with her shoulder and swimming hard forward again. Jiyeon was surprised and giggled at Seeun, then failed at grabbing a foot again. Still, she started swimming after her.
Sumin made it to Mayu, and they both stopped, treading water in front of each other. Mayu asked, “What are you going to do?”
Sumin just looked at her, waiting for her to make a move. She made a splash, which pushed the duck to the side away from Mayu.
Mayu said, “Oh, I see how it is…”
“What are you going to do about it?” asked Sumin.
Mayu smiled. “Ever been hugged by a needy Japanese girl before?” Then she shouted, “Pirada! Zoom zoom zoom!”
“Does a needy tall chicken that pecks your cheeks a lot count?” asked Sumin.
Mayu swam forward and grabbed Sumin around her chest in a bear hug, tightly locking her legs around Sumin’s hips as well.
Jiyeon chased Seeun for a bit, but Seeun was moving forward quickly and Jiyeon saw J slowly making her way up the other side of the pool and decided to go mess with her instead.
Sullin and Jiyeon passed each other with a smile, Sullin moving quickly forward. Jiyeon stopped well away from J and started kicking with her feet which made enough splashes and waves to kick the duck away from her and back in the wrong direction. J said, “How rude!”
Meanwhile, Seeun and Sullin right behind her, made it to wall. Bae grabbed Seeun’s duck and sat it on the ledge, Kyujin got Sullin’s. Both gave them thumbs up. Seeun bolted toward Jiyeon and Sullin toward Mayu’s lonely duck, floating somewhat near Mayu and Sumin.
Sumin was busy treading water with a Japanese girl well attached to her and Sullin easily maneuvered to the duck, caught it at her shoulder and swam forward only using one arm, and her powerful legs.
Seeun jumped onto Jiyeon’s back with a giggle. Jiyeon badly wanted to enjoy her new friend but was very aware of Sullin’s position and she just had to make J work hard a bit longer. Even with Seeun riding on her, she used her ballerina legs, pointing her toes and poking at J enough to keep her from getting her duck moving in any significant manner. Sullin made it to the end of the pool and Sullyoon grabbed her duck.
Haewon said, “TripleS wins round ONE!”
J shouted at Jiyeon, “OMG, I HATE YOU!”
Seeun said, “I don’t hate you, but here…” Seeun and J splashed her relentlessly.
Mayu let go of Sumin and started swimming to the shallow end. Sumin said, “Hey! Where are you going? You can’t just leave after that?”
Mayu turned, smirked, and winked. “I’m done with you now.” She then continued swimming on.
Sumin said, “What kind of behavior is this?” She swam toward the stairs as well, shaking her head.
Up on the edge of the pool, Sieun side-hugged Isa and said, “I think TripleS is giving our girls an education.”
Isa giggled, “If they had just paid attention to me…”
Yoon swatted her on the back of the head.
Haewon said, “That was entertaining! Match two! Let’s go!”
Sieun, Yoon and Isa and Yooyeon, Seoyeon, and Jiwoo climbed into the water at the stairs at the shallow end. Isa saluted her team, took a deep breath, and dove under the water, swimming like a mermaid to the other side, obviously going to be the distraction. Seoyeon saw a lot of eyes watching Isa and jumped forward herself, staying on the surface, but using impressive freestyle strokes to make a lot of fuss above where Isa was swimming.
Yooyeon said, “She just has to be the center of attention.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Good luck in THIS pool!”
Isa surfaced at the wall at the deep end and Seoyeon was right there in her space. Isa was surprised to see her there, “Oh hi. I guess you are a pretty good swimmer.”
“Indeed.”
“Nice that we finally see you are good at something.”
Seoyeon sighed and hmppphed, angrily putting her hands on her hips while treading water, her butt against the wall.
The rest of the girls got their ducks situated and Isa and Seoyeon grabbed the edge of the pool, both ready to go.
Haewon said, “GO!”
Isa and Seoyeon both had the same idea. Conserve energy for a bit, no need to go swimming down there quickly, let them figure out where they are going first.
Yoon kept repeatedly pecking at her duck, somewhat propelling it forward, tall Yoon able to walk on the bottom. Sieun said, “Can you please be serious about this? We are trying to actually win something?”
Yoon said, “Hush… stick with the plan, Bossy.”
Sieun backed up a bit on to the steps, putting her duck at her Adam’s apple. She then pushed off from the step hard, getting a bit of air under her body and trapping the duck under her chest. The duck stuck under her, she started doggie paddling as quickly as she could.
Mayu immediately turned ‘tattle tale’. “HAEWON! Sieun is cheating!”
Haewon said, “Using your boobs to push the duck is perfectly legal. Preferred even.”
Sieun stuck up for herself, still doggie paddling as fast as she could, which wasn’t very fast, “My chest is tiny, this is all skill!”
Sullin shouted, “That is the most inefficient method of swimming ever.”
Sieun just ignored her, continuing her best ‘Shih Tzu going swimming’ impression, with a rubber duck stuck under her chest, and red fur, of course. Yoon kept pecking her own duck, now a ways behind Sieun, but sticking in the same line along the left wall of the pool
Jiwoo also used her height, except unlike Yoon, she was ‘serious’. She steadied the duck against her nose and chin and just kept walking forward.
Yooyeon flipped over and swam backward, she used her arms and one leg to keep herself afloat and moving forward, with the other leg, she would occasionally corral or kick the duck. It was horribly inefficient at first, but she was confident she would get the hang of it. She stayed close to Jiwoo on the right side of the pool.
Isa decided it was time and kicked off of the wall of the pool and dove underwater, making her way toward TripleS, now like a shark.
Seoyeon saw her go and decided she should do the same, she started swimming toward Sieun, making a lot of splashing and also threw in some yelling, just for the heck of it, trying to unnerve her Shih Tzu opponent.
Jiwoo made it to about halfway across the pool and her feet could no longer touch the bottom. She was concentrating hard on her duck and never saw Isa below her. Isa surfaced, making the biggest splash she could, catching Jiwoo’s duck with her head and flinging it toward the center of the pool, but also unfortunately also a bit forward. Jiwoo said, “WHAT THE FUCK CHAEYOUNG…” She swam toward her duck, looking behind to see if Isa was following her, ready to punch her in the nose, like you would do to any shark, hot or not.
Isa had more important prey, however. She swam a bit and stopped right in front of Yooyeon. Yooyeon’s head nearly ran into Isa’s chest, so she quickly flipped around and ended up face-to-face with the mermaid, her duck helplessly floating a meter behind her. Isa poked Yooyeon’s nose with her finger, winked, and said, “You’re going to like me now.”
Yooyeon looked back at her duck and then into Isa’s eyes, totally unsure whether to fight or retreat, so she stood there indecisive and stunned.
Isa said, “Give me a chance to show you how to like me later, and I’ll let you and your duck pass.”
Yooyeon said, “You think you’re soooo special. Like Gandalf…” She lowered the pitch of her voice, “‘You shall not pass…’”
Isa smiled cutely. “You weren’t listening. I’m letting you pass.”
Jiwoo got her duck and started moving forward again, finding it hard not to watch whatever was going to happen over there.
On the other side, Sieun just ignored that a crazed Seoyeon was swimming straight for her and kept paddling. Seoyeon stopped in front of her and Sieun tried to go around. Seoyeon tried to block and Sieun adjusted and went the other way. They kept dancing like this, until Sieun figured out that doggie paddling could also be used as a weapon, swiping and pushing at Seoyeon with her paws, still kicking forward with her feet. Yoon kept moving forward, a bit behind Sieun, pecking at her duck and watching what was going to happen.
Yooyeon glared at Isa and said, “Deal…” She then swam backward toward her duck and tried to gather it again.
Isa bolted toward Sieun underwater. When she arrived, she leapt at Seoyeon, grabbing her and pulling her away from Sieun.
Seoyeon shouted, “What is this! You can’t attack me!”
“You look like the other team, no?”
Seoyeon said, “Fine…” and collected herself and swam toward Yoon instead. Isa got behind Sieun, grabbed her legs and then swam forward as fast as she could, with Sieun still doggie paddling. At the wall, she let go of Sieun, but Jiwoo made it to the wall just as they did. Jiwoo said, “Bestie! We made it!”
Sullyoon grabbed Sieun’s duck and Kyujin grabbed Jiwoo’s duck. Sieun said, “Don’t you be going back to help Yooyeon…”
“Or what?”
Sieun swam as fast as she could toward Jiwoo. Jiwoo could easily have dodged or swam away, but with a red puppy swimming toward her, she couldn’t help but hug it.
Yooyeon and Yoon were fairly even, moving forward steadily. Isa shouted, “Yoonie! I’m counting on you!” She dove again and made her way back to Yooyeon again.
Seoyeon stopped in front of Yoon.
Isa surfaced in front of Yooyeon, but not as close as last time. Yooyeon did have to flip around again and gathered her duck in front of her, rather than swimming backwards. Isa hoped that was all of the delay she needed. Yooyeon said, “If you delay me at all, our deal is OFF!”
Isa put up her hands and treaded water in place. Yooyeon did have to go around slightly.
Seoyeon said, “So, about this alliance.”
Yoon made sure her duck was steady at her shoulder and then splashed Seoyeon as hard as she could.
Seoyeon attacked, splashing her back with both hands. Yoon put one hand on Seoyeon’s head, her arm long enough to keep her at bay. She ignored all of the splashes as best she could and kept trying to move forward. Seoyeon kept splashing.
Yoon worked her way in an arc around Seoyeon, and Seoyeon kept splashing, getting her feet involved also. From the side of the pool, Jiyeon yelled, “Seoyeon! STOP!”
It was too late, Yoon moved away from her duck and Seoyeon and the waves pushed the duck toward the wall. Jiyeon’s yell also made Yooyeon really put her all into swimming, but it was all too late. Yoon made a sudden push, her duck hit the wall and Kim Jiwoo grabbed it. Yooyeon made it and Lily grabbed her duck, but Yoon had won.
Jiwoo and Sieun were still locked in some manner of ‘pretending to battle’, mostly just hugging.
Haewon said, “Stayc wins round two!”
Jiwoo pushed Sieun off of her, “Wait what?”
Jiyeon said, “Nice job Seoyeon, that was totally on you… Dumb mistake.”
Seoyeon said, “Jiwoo should have been helping with the other tall girl? Not whatever she is doing with… her…”
Sieun said, “My name is SIEUN. Winner!”
Isa swam over to Sieun, “Don’t push it, Love.”
Haewon said, “Final match for the winner of game 2! Sieun, Isa, and Yoon vs. Jiyeon, Sullin, and Mayu! Should be epic!”
The girls gathered their ducks, Isa took her spot as distraction again and swam to the end of the pool, TripleS switched it up with Mayu being distraction this time.
Isa said, “What is this? Jiyeon can’t keep up with me?”
Mayu swam very close to Isa and winked, “Maybe my job is different.”
“Go on, take your top off or something predictable. Let’s see them…”
“In your dreams, Chaeyoung…”
Haewon said, “Go!”
Sieun hopped onto her duck again and started doggie paddling, Yoon again following behind her bouncing her duck slowly forward.
Jiyeon tried to do Sieun’s trick. It took her two tries, but she was able to catch the duck with her chest as well. Sullin started swimming slowly forward, duck at her shoulder.
The difference was that Jiyeon was a much better swimmer than Sieun and took off in a hurry, clearly going faster. Mayu pushed off of the wall heading straight toward Sieun. Isa cursed, dove, and avoided Jiyeon, heading toward Sullin.
Still feet on the bottom of the pool, Yoon took a sudden leap forward, tried to keep the duck against her forehead and swam forward using free stroke quite quickly.
Seoyeon said, “Oh shit…”
Bae said, “Yoonie is a swimmer too! She was faking!”
Isa did ignore Jiyeon, however and Jiyeon made it to the wall first, but Yoon was right behind her. Bae grabbed Jiyeon’s duck and Sullyoon grabbed Yoon’s duck. Jiyeon and Yoon both surveyed the situation.
Isa arrived at Sullin, surfacing in front of her. Sullin stopped, smiled, and waved, keeping her eyes on Mayu and Sieun.
Sullin said, “What do I owe the honor of your presence, Chaeyoung?”
Isa said, “I’m going to have to stop you and your duckie.”
“Do you really want to test how strong my legs are?”
“Yes! But only when they are wrapped around me.”
“What would Yooyeon say? ‘In your dreams’?” Sullin checked where her duck was, leaned onto her back and kicked water at Isa.
On the other side, last round Mayu learned that Sieun wasn’t going to stop doggie paddling no matter what happened, so she wasn’t going to try to get her to stop. She also saw how Jiyeon attacked Seeun the first round, so she tried that. She swam over the side of Sieun and grabbed a leg. Sieun could only kick with one leg and her doggie arms weren’t moving her forward at all.
Sullyoon said, “Both duckies have stopped…”
Yoon made up her mind and pushed off from the wall moving toward Isa and Sullin. Mayu was doing okay, so Jiyeon didn’t commit, just slowly swam to the center of the pool, watching carefully.
Yoon was getting close to Sullin and Isa. Seeing reinforcements, Isa immediately dove underwater and swam as hard as her tired self could toward Sieun. Jiyeon saw her and went after them as well.
Sullin gathered her duck and tried to get around Yoon, but was having a lot of trouble. Yoon was a better swimmer and didn’t have a duck. Sullin shouted, “I need help!”
The other side turned into a mass of swimming girl. Isa grabbed Mayu, trying to pull her off of Sieun, but Mayu wouldn’t let go of Sieun’s foot. Jiyeon grabbed one of Isa’s arms, trying to pull her off of Mayu.
Swimming as best she could, Sieun waited patiently with all of the craziness behind her. Finally, she felt Mayu’s grip loosen and she kicked hard, finally getting her foot free. She went back to doggie paddling. Jiyeon tried to move toward Sieun, but Isa grabbed her leg. Mayu probably should have gone after Sieun, but she tried to get Isa’s arm off of Jiyeon’s leg instead.
Sieun made it to the wall, let her duck up from under her and made sure it touched the wall. Bae grabbed it.
Haewon said, “STAYC WINS!”
Sullin said, “Sorry, I couldn’t get around Yoon alone, she is too good.”
Yoon hugged Sullin, “Sorry, Thai Princess… No hard feelings?”
Sullin wasn’t going to shy away from an underwater hug and hugged Yoon back, “Of course not…”
Yoon put her hands on Sullin’s butt and said, “Oh, I see why Isa likes you.”
As Mayu, Isa and Jiyeon separated themselves from the tangle and then all hugged, Haewon said, “You girls got physical a bit early. I wasn’t anticipating that happening until game three! Who is ready?”
Badge summary: Mayu 4, Yooyeon 4, Seoyeon 3, Jiyeon 3, Jiwoo 2, Sullin 3 (TripleS 19 total); Seeun 4, Yoon 3, Sumin 3, Isa 3, Sieun 2, J 1 (Stayc 16 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll (August 23 - 30): https://forms.gle/9WHtGvH45QvqKriT9
Chapter 15: Lee Jiwoo - Troublemaker
Summary:
Lee Jiwoo tries to stir up some trouble, but karma bites her shortly thereafter. Haewon's event ends in an epic third game with some surprising interactions and perhaps an unexpected star.
Chapter Text
Chapter 15: Lee Jiwoo - Troublemaker
Sieun shouted to Haewon, “Should we get out? Or what?”
Haewon said, “No, my dear, just stay in there. Everyone else join her!”
The other six TripleS and Stayc members made their way to the stairs and worked their way back into the water. Except Lee Jiwoo, who was sneaking up behind Kim Jiwoo and Lily. Haewon wasn’t paying attention, sending Bae and Kyujin off for some task.
Lee Jiwoo grabbed Kim Jiwoo around the waist and she quickly turned around and grabbed her face. Kim Jiwoo said, “Oh, I thought you were Yoona.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “I’m going to throw you in the water now.”
Kim Jiwoo’s face turned white, “You wouldn’t!”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
Kim Jiwoo immediately pointed to Lily. “But Lily’s scream is cute! Push her!”
Without even a second of hesitation, Lee Jiwoo smiled broadly, shuffled to the side and pushed Lily into the water.
While falling she sighed, grabbed her nose and was still able to scream like an Australian dolphin. Stayc clapped from the pool. J yelled, “That really never gets old.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “I know right?”
Yooyeon shouted, “What the fuck is wrong with you? Please stop doing that…” She swam over to Lily, seriously making sure she was okay this time, not just looking for affection.
Haewon said, “What the fuck IS wrong with you? Why are you trying to piss me off? NO FUCKING BADGES FOR YOU. This is my game and you are pissing me off!”
Sieun grabbed Isa around the waist, watching the show. She whispered, “Wow, is she really upset? Or acting? I can never tell with her.”
Isa said, “I think real.”
Lily surfaced and told Yooyeon she was fine, but still happily accepted her hug.
Lee Jiwoo stood behind Kim Jiwoo, pointed to her head from above and said, “This Jiwoo told me to do it.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “I didn’t think you actually would…”
Haewon said to Kim Jiwoo, “Why would you tell her that, obviously she was going to?”
“I didn’t know she actually was the crazed lunatic I thought she was.”
“She’s all handsy with Sieun for no obvious reason, even when Chaeyoung is watching. CLUE!”
Isa shrugged.
Lee Jiwoo said to Kim Jiwoo, “Do you want me to go push Haewon in now too?”
Kim Jiwoo said, “I kind of do.” Sullyoon made her way over to the Jiwoos, not eager to get pushed into the pool, but hoping her presence might do something beneficial.
Lee Jiwoo said, “Hear that Haewon? She wants me to push you into the pool also.”
“I DIDN’T MEAN IT!”
“You said it…”
Haewon shouted, “Jiwoo! What is wrong with you?”
The Jiwoos looked at each other. Lee Jiwoo backed up, making it obvious she was talking about Kim Jiwoo. Lee Jiwoo took a step toward Sullyoon who quickly changed her mind about being there and left the area, certain she was next.
Haewon, still wagging her finger at Kim Jiwoo said, “I’ll deal with you later.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Whatever… you’re all bossy in front of everyone but never do anything later…”
Haewon started walking toward Kim Jiwoo, “I’ll do it now then?”
In a freakish turn of events, Kim Jiwoo suddenly hid behind Lee Jiwoo.
Haewon stopped at Lee Jiwoo and opened the zipper on her belt pouch. She handed her the ‘Nmixx arguing’ badge. “Congrats, you did that well. I didn’t even realize what you were doing until I started walking over here.”
Jiyeon and Mayu seemed disappointed no one else was getting thrown in the water, they both asked, “Wait, what?”
Lee Jiwoo said, “I had the ‘start an argument between two Nmixx members’ ‘secret mission’. I’m BACK in the Miu Miu game with three badges!”
Sumin said, “You knew if Lily got pushed into the water again, Haewon would get pissed AND deflected it all onto the other Jiwoo?”
Lee Jiwoo bowed as though she just finished performing the most majestic of one-woman plays.
Everyone in the pool clapped for her.
Now a bit sensitive about such things, Lee Jiwoo quickly jumped into the pool before someone pushed her, again. She swam to the rest of TripleS. Seoyeon said, “You need to stop hanging out with Hayeon. That was EVIL. Nicely done though. I think Lily almost cursed that time.”
Sullin said, “Who cares?”
“Oh, no one. It is just funny. Lily claims she won’t curse.”
Kyujin came back holding four water guns and Bae holding four boats attached to four bricks via a length of rope.
She complained as she made it back to the pool, “THIS IS HEAVY.”
Kyujin said, “I heard clapping, what did we miss?”
Bae said, “Why is Lily in the pool again? Did I miss her scream?”
Haewon pointed at Bae. “HOLD THOSE BRICKS FOR AN HOUR.”
Sullyoon grabbed two boats and two bricks to help Bae, then the two of them went to the shallow end and sat the bricks down. Then one boat and brick at a time, the two girls swam out to the deep end and dropped the bricks.
J asked Seeun in English, “What is it I’m supposed to say in English? I have a bad feeling about this?”
Yooyeon said, also in English, “NO! I have a BAAAAAAAAD feeling about this. You have to get the inflection correct.”
Seeun said back to J, “I still think you and I are the only normal girls in this room.”
Haewon asked, “Can I please explain my last game before someone else does something insane?”
Lee Jiwoo said, “WHO MADE THESE ‘SECRET MISSIONS’?”
“I’m including me in my statement…”
“No sexting with Chaeyeon for 24 hours and someone gets a little testy…”
Haewon glared at Jiwoo.
Jiwoo smiled back. Sieun jumped on her back. “Don’t worry Haewonie! I’ll take care of this one…” Sieun started drumming on Jiwoo’s head with her index fingers.
“Anyway… This is a simple game of pool ‘Battleship’...”
Yooyeon interrupted, “Awww, Lily and I first bonded playing ‘Battleship’ against each other!”
Haewon squinted and then started again, “Thank you for reminding me of that. Kind of like that, but not really. Stayc will have one side of the deep end, TripleS will have the other. Both teams will have two battleships. Yoona and Jinsol are setting them up right now. Both teams will have two squirt water guns. If you fill up the battleship with water, it will sink. The first team to sink both of the other team’s battleships wins. The ships are tied on the end of a rope attached to a brick, this is to prevent you from trying to move the ships. On each team, you will have three girls on defense, guarding the ships however you decide, and three girls on offense. Two will have squirt guns and one will help out however needed. Other than moving, touching, or sinking by any method other than filling it with water, anything else is legal. Just please be safe, don’t hold anyone underwater or anything like that, or I will end the game immediately. Okay, talk amongst yourselves and decide your roles.”
Without even caring how much the other team heard, or plotting any strategy other than what their own team was up to, everyone decided their positions. For Stayc, Yoon and J guarded each guarded a ship and Sumin defended between them. Sieun and Seeun had squirt guns and Isa was the third girl on offense.
For TripleS, Jiwoo and Seoyeon each guarded a boat with Jiyeon between them. Yooyeon and Mayu had squirt guns and Sullin was third girl on offense.
They all took their positions and loaded their squirt guns. Lily, Sullyoon, and Bae made their way out of the pool.
Yooyeon looked at her gun carefully, it was a very low tech child’s water gun, difficult to shoot, not much range and couldn’t hold much water. There was a cap on the back where you fill it with water.
Haewon said, “Everyone ready? Three! Two! One! GO!”
Yooyeon, Sullin and Mayu started slowly swimming forward, as did Sieun and Seeun.
Yooyeon said, “Where did Chaeyoung go?”
Sullin said, “I heard a splash and she was gone.”
“That’s terrifying.”
Sullin suddenly spun around and giggled, then shouted in English, “OH MY GOD.”
Mayu said, “Wasn’t me!”
Yooyeon asked, “Chaeyoung?”
Sullin said, “Something went by me and tickled me. It was either Chaeyoung, or there are fish in this pool.”
Yooyeon and Sieun doggie paddled past each other, mostly ignoring each other’s presence. Seeun and Mayu were going by each other a bit more quickly, Seeun slowed to wave at her new friend but Mayu had other ideas and started giggling. She raised her water pistol and gave Seeun a solid stream of water to the face.
Seeun stopped swimming, totally dumbfounded, not even considering the thought of shooting back. Frustrated with humanity, she shouted, “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”
Mayu kept giggling, “I considered attacking your face with my tongue, but decided to stick with the obvious weapon.”
As they passed, Seeun glared at her and then quickly swam forward to get away from her. Mayu hit her a few more times in the back of the head for good measure, then had to open the port on her gun and stick it under water to reload.
Isa arrived at her prey and surfacing in front of Jiyeon, grabbing a handful of the skirt of her swim dress so she couldn’t easily get away. Isa said, “Hi ballerina, so I hear the word around the pool is that you’re pretty special, perhaps I could collect you?”
JIyeon dreamily looked into her eyes and then swam up and forward to Isa as though she was about to kiss her. With no regard to where she was grabbed, she suddenly put her hands on Isa’s chest and pushed and kicked furiously to get away from her. “No!” she shouted, propelling herself toward the middle of the pool.
Isa shook her head. “Another challenge…” and then she took off after her.
Although they seemed totally unaware, they both paid close attention to what was going on around them as they did a mermaid dance in the center of the pool. Jiyeon mostly above water, Isa mostly under, grabbing a foot or arm and then being forced to let go and then ending up being grabbed herself.
Bae said, “Damn, that’s something to watch…”
Haewon said, “It is hard to remember that I’m supposed to be judging a game.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Yoona… why don’t you just let that girl do whatever she wants to you. I mean come on…”
Sullyoon let out a long sigh. Then she shouted, “Jiyeon! Stay strong!”
Back in the reality of the game, Sieun got within about three meters of Lee Jiwoo standing in front of her boat. She took a couple of shots toward the boat, Jiwoo easily got her torso or an arm in front of the water. Jiwoo said, “BESTIE? Do you really think that is going to work?”
Seeun arrived a similar distance from Seoyeon and her boat. Even the diminutive Seoyeon had little trouble intercepting any attempts at getting water even close to the boat. Seeun screamed, “I think we need plan B and she is currently trying to mate with a ballerina. Underwater…”
Things were quite a bit more dynamic on the other end of the pool. Yooyeon, Sullin, and Mayu stayed mostly in a line as they approached the other side. Suddenly, Sullin swam forward quickly to try to get a rise out of the defense.
Yoon shouted to Sumin. “I got the Princess! Cover my boat!” Yoon darted forward toward Sullin and Sumin made her way to cover Yoon’s boat.
Sullin was a bit surprised when Yoon just swam right into her. In reflex, she grabbed Yoon around the waist and various legs and arms started splashing around in the water. They were doing their own dance, but it was much closer to wrestling than mating. Sullin’s strong sturdy form against the lanky arms and legs of Yoon.
Kyujin said, “This is more my kind of battle.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “I’ll gladly pay to watch you get body slammed by Sullin.”
Bae said, “Or Yoon will do that thing where she locks her legs around your neck!” Bae mimed passing out.
Yooyeon approached Sumin, but was well aware of what was going on on the other side. She was obviously not going to leisurely shoot water into that boat with Sumin standing there. Sumin knew it also and boldly swam a bit forward from her boat.
Yooyeon decided on the best thing to do and doggie paddled forward. Sumin was shocked at the girl suddenly in front of her and Yooyeon grabbed her around the waist, pulling their bodies together in a tight hug. Yooyeon thought she might even be able to get a shot off like this, but Sumin was totally on to her and grabbed her water gun. She accidently ripped it out of Yooyeon’s hands and threw it backwards a bit.
Sumin also knew how to figuratively poke her, “Trying to sabotage another challenge? You guys need to come up with some new tricks, the blonde tried this earlier.”
Yooyeon kept hugging her, hoping it would distract her in some way while she made another plan.
J also swam forward a bit to meet Mayu. Mayu lunged at her and J instinctively caught her. J held her around her waist and Mayu straddled J’s body. Mayu said, “Looks like I caught myself a maknae!”
One hand holding the water gun, Mayu’s other hand made its way to J’s butt and was not shy about feeling around. In reflex, both of J’s hands did the same thing, except Mayu was only wearing a bikini bottom and J’s fingers went all over it.
Mayu said, “Oh, okay! Jinsol! I’m warming her up for you!” She blew into J’s ear and licked her neck.
Sullin finally got a bit of advantage on Yoon, splashing a large volume of water up her nose and pushing her off in dramatic fashion. She started swimming toward Yooyeon and her floating water gun, quickly grabbing it, handing it to Yooyeon and threatening Sumin after.
Yoon had enough of Sullin and went to help J fend off Mayu.
Sullin pushed Sumin off of Yooyeon, Yooyeon giving her a love pat on the butt before being thrown into the water by Sullin. Yooyeon said, “I finally get close to a girl and this is how she gets treated.” Nonetheless, she aimed the water gun and tried to figure out where she needed to be to shoot at the boat.
Yoon grabbed Mayu from behind and proceeded to pry her off of J. “GET OFF OF MY MAKNAE!”
Mayu flipped around, ending up in Yoon’s arms now. “Don’t worry! There’s enough of Mayu for all of you!” She pecked at Yoon’s face, giving her some of her own medicine, shooting J with the water gun just for good measure.
Bae shouted, “The game is not about how many Stayc members you can lick, it is about sinking the battleship.”
Mayu took a random shot at the battleship, missing badly. J backed to guard it again. Mayu shouted toward Bae, “Happy now?” and then went back to licking Yoon’s face.
Sullin distracting Sumin, Yooyeon hit the boat with two long sprays from her gun. It didn’t quite sink, so she opened the port and held it underwater again to reload.
Sieun and Seeun were still hopelessly dancing around their respective opponents, unable to get any water their boats. Seeun just kept hitting Seoyeon in the face because she thought it was funny and Seoyeon just let her shoot her and have to reload. Sieun yelled, “CHAEYOUNG! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WE ARE LOSING!”
Isa and Jiyeon’s dance turned into a lot more grabbing and a lot less swimming as they both were getting very tired. Isa gave one final burst, hard kick, and twist that made Jiyeon let go of her thigh. Jiyeon grabbed at her, but finally free, she swam toward Jiwoo.
Yooyeon finally sank the first battleship and cheered loudly. Her cheer broke Jiwoo out of her daydreaming, defending the boat from Sieun was putting her to sleep. It was a good thing, because she was slightly less startled when underwater, Isa grabbed both of her thighs in her arms, lifted her out of the water and slammed both of them down beside the boat. Sieun quickly started shooting, now well aware of exactly where she needed to be to hit the boat. Just like Yooyeon’s first attempt, Sieun emptied her gun twice and had to reload to finish it. Jiyeon had other plans, however.
She followed after Isa on the surface of the water, watching the mermaid about to attack Jiwoo, instead she turned toward Sieun. Sieun saw her coming and was ready for her attack. Jiyeon grabbed Sieun around the chest, Sieun made sure her arms were raised and held onto the gun tightly. Jiyeon doing most of the work holding them close together, Sieun grabbed Jiyeon’s butt, and worked her finger between Jiyeon’s legs. Jiyeon moaned and momentarily went limp, Sieun was able to contort her shoulder to fire a stream of water at her boat, finally sinking it.
Kyujin asked Lily, “Whoa? How did Sieun do that?” Lily put her hand over Kyujin’s eyes.
Isa tried to get away from Jiwoo but she was very tired and Jiwoo was fresh and finally no longer bored. She got one hand on Isa’s ankle and another around her neck and held on to the mermaid for dear life.
Seeun realized help was not coming her way and that she better come up with something on her own. She looked over and saw Yooyeon heading toward J, followed not far behind by Sullin, swimming forward even with Sumin holding one of her feet but still being pulled along. Clearly they were about to lose. Seeun had trouble believing everything she saw going on around her, but was adapting to it and decided she better get with the program if Stayc was going to win.
Seoyeon was instantly surprised when instead of hitting her in the face with some water, Seeun suddenly let out a big breath and dove under water. She was a bit of a clumsy mermaid, and Seoyeon couldn’t really follow what she was doing, also being distracted by everything else going on in the pool.
Underwater, Seeun stuck her water gun down the top of her black one-piece. She managed to both get out of the blue top she was wearing and white shorts, letting the water-resistant material of both float them to the surface. Seoyeon saw them and was both intrigued and curious and swam forward, plucking the shorts out of the water.
Seeun surfaced between the pool wall and the boat. Seoyeon turned in time to see Seeun take two long shots at her boat and start to reload. Seoyeon swam as fast as she could to Seeun.
At the other end, Yooyeon stopped at the perfect distance from the second boat and Sullin swam past her, still dragging Sumin along. She swam right into J, whose large form stopped her and it turned into a mess of grabbing and splashing. Mayu kept distracting Yoon, by whatever means necessary. Yooyeon gave the boat a solid hit and went ahead to reload, to make sure she could finish it all at once.
Seeun opened the port on her gun, let out a long breath and again dove. Seoyeon tried to dive also, but she had lungs full of air and mostly failed. She swam across the surface, but Seeun was able to surface far enough away from her and take the final shot. Seoyeon jumped and blocked half of it, but Seeun had enough for the second shot and sank the boat, just as Yooyeon started firing again on the other side.
Haewon shouted, “STAYC WINS!”
Seeun let out the biggest cheer of her life and Isa got free of Jiwoo and quickly swam to her and gave her a massive hug.
Seoyeon said, “How did you hold your breath that long with empty lungs?”
Seeun said, “I’m a singer? You can’t do that?”
Seoyeon slowly backed away from Isa and Seeun’s celebration.
Sieun tried to join them, but Jiyeon wouldn’t let go of her and she couldn’t doggie paddle with a ballerina attached to her chest. She looked into Jiyeon’s eyes, unamused and Jiyeon grabbed the back of her head and kissed her, hard.
Seeun was too busy celebrating to notice but Jiwoo swam to them and poked Jiyeon on the top of the head three times. “WRONG MEMBER!”
Jiyeon purred, “This one’s fingers...”
Jiwoo pointed at Seeun, “Also has fingers!”
On the other side of the pool, Mayu also refused to let go of Yoon as Yooyeon and Sullin hugged and J and Sumin exchanged high fives.
Yoon said, “I know I’m irresistible, but I’m tired of swimming for two, please.”
Mayu smiled at her and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I guess…” She jumped into the water and swam to Yooyeon and Sullin.
Yooyeon said, “You need some therapy.”
Mayu said, “Why stop at 23 when you can have 29?” She pointed at Haewon, “or 35?” Sullin grabbed her Mayu’s head and dunked her under the water.
The girls started making their way to the stairs. Haewon shouted, “No no! Don’t get out! Gather in the shallow end. One more activity before we all dry off.”
Seoyeon said, “We all? Is Nmixx coming for a swim?”
“In a minute! First, I want each of you to pick your favorite girl to be partners.”
Jiyeon quickly let go of Sieun and shyly pretended nothing happened.
Yooyeon said, “Well, who gets to pick first?”
Sullyoon said, “18-way rock paper scissors. Go!”
Everyone just stared at her.
“I’m kidding, let’s be kind and respect each other’s obvious favorites. There will be plenty of opportunity to not be kind tomorrow. Let’s wrap up today with ‘kind’.”
Isa said, “Are you finished saying the word ‘kind’?”
Sullyoon glared at her.
Isa quickly and calmly said, “I choose Seol Yoona.”
Sullyoon sighed and turned around and looked away from everyone in the pool.
J quickly pointed to Bae and said, “If it is just going to be a massive free-for-all, I CHOOSE BAE JINSOL! I’m older than you, no back talk!”
Seeun said, “It looks like Stayc is choosing first since we won. This seems to make sense. I choose Jiyeon.”
Haewon said, “Miss, just because you are better than Seoyeon and Yooyeon, you don’t get to make the rules, I do. However, since YOU appear to be taken, I’ll choose Sullin.”
Sullyoon turned back around, “Nooooooo.”
Yooyeon said, “TripleS turn! I choose Lily!”
Seoyeon said, “We’re going twice in a row. I want the ex-chicken.”
Yoon asked, “Do you now?”
“I guess? I mean yes!”
Isa said to Yoon, “Look at you getting stuck in someone’s head!”
Yoon pointed at Isa, “Don’t you ever doubt me again.”
Lee Jiwoo kept inching her way toward Sieun.
Isa said, “Sieun, who are you going to pick? Neither of your girls seem to be shouting out your name.”
Jiwoo said, “I’m doing the kind thing and letting her choose me fair and square.”
Sumin said, “Kyujin? Any interest.”
Kyujin said, “Yeah sure! Sounds fun!”
Sieun said, “That was kind of rude. I’m doing a thing here.”
Sumin said, “Just getting myself out of the way before any drama starts…”
Sieun said in English, “RUDE!”
“Less complaining, more picking.”
Sieun grabbed Jiwoo’s hand. “BESTIE! Please don’t hate me, but we had a fun massage together, now I kind of want to hang out with Mayu for a bit.”
“You are only making the mean girls happy, that ones that were trying to set you up.” She pointed to Sullin and Sullyoon, back and forth repeatedly. “The ones you don’t like?”
Sieun shrugged.
Jiwoo thought of a better argument, “You are leaving me with the only person left being the OTHER Jiwoo…”
“Sorry bestie.”
Sullyoon said, “Well that was interesting, and mostly kind.”
Kim Jiwoo took three quick steps away from Sullyoon and then raced toward her and pushed her into the pool.
Sullyoon made a noise unlike Lily, but still amusing and a giant splash as her hips hit the water.
“That’s much better…” said Kim Jiwoo.
Sullin swam to the deep end to make sure her girlfriend was okay and to escort her to everyone else. The rest of Nmixx got into the pool as well.
Haewon said, “Everyone grab your partner and partners stand in a big circle around the shallow end of the pool. This game is very simple…”
Lee Jiwoo interrupted without raising her hand. “You keep saying that simple bit… who cares?”
Haewon laughed maniacally, “You will, when you contrast these games with whatever happens tomorrow.”
“I see…”
“Anyway… I call this game ‘Clothing Circle’ or ‘What will you do to get to your partner?’”
Yoon interrupted, “Is someone going to make a comment about that title and Haewon and Lily? Or do I have to do everything?”
Lily said, “Naurrrrr.”
Haewon said, “We still haven’t given out badges for my event yet. Clearly you don’t want one.”
Yoon zipped her lips.
“In this case, let’s go with the shorter title and call it ‘underwater clothing circle’. We each have a partner. Each of us and our partner will make a circle in the pool. Of you and your partner, one girl will be ‘1’ and one girl will be ‘2’. The assignments are simple. A girl from Stayc is always number 1. A girl from TripleS is always number 2. A girl from Nmixx will take either number 1 or number 2 depending on who their partner is. When I say, girl number 1 stays put, but number 2 is going to move around the circle two girl-places. The goal is to get back to your partner. To do that, you will have a one minute encounter with your new partner. The encounter is successful if one of the two of you takes off one article of clothing. Do that twice and you will rotate back to your partner and then you get five minutes to do whatever you want with her. Any questions?”
Everyone was quiet.
“Does everyone know what your number is?”
Everyone was quiet.
“Okay, number 2’s move two girls counter-clockwise and let’s start!”
Badge summary: Mayu 4, Yooyeon 4, Seoyeon 3, Jiyeon 3, Jiwoo 3, Sullin 3 (TripleS 20 total); Seeun 4, Yoon 3, Sumin 3, Isa 3, Sieun 2, J 1 (Stayc 16 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll (August 30 – Sept 6): https://forms.gle/qAw5cjS84ezvmvoJ8
Chapter 16: "You Pick What?"
Summary:
Haewon's 'circle' pool game gets underway. There are a ton of fun interactions, some quite surprising. Haewon's event ends with handing out badges and then a shocking choice at the end!
Chapter Text
Chapter 16: “You Pick What?”
Seeun said, “Wait! I need to go grab my top and shorts.”
Haewon said, “Sorry Hon, I have good news and bad news for you.”
“You aren’t going to let me get them? Jiyeon! Beat her up!”
Jiyeon put up her dukes and started boxing Haewon, from across the pool, but staying across the pool.
Haewon said, “I’m not going to let you get them. You discarded them fair and square, AND got the win because of it. But, those of you wearing one-piece swimsuits, the top half and bottom half count as two separate items, since a lot of girls are wearing bikinis, it is only fair this way.”
Seeun gave her a thumbs up.
“Okay, go on and move two spots counter-clockwise.”
The number two girls moved and stood in front of their new partner.
Haewon got out an old-fashioned water proof stop watch used for pool events. “You have one minute with this partner for one of you to lose an article of clothing! Who is ready?”
There was silence other than the gentle sound of the water occasionally hitting the side of the pool.
Haewon shouted, “GO!” and started the timer.
Haewon and Bae:
Bae said, “Nice game, Stupid-Won. Of course, Nmixx gets the awkward meetings. It should have been TripleS, obviously they strip each other nightly.”
Haewon said, “In retrospect, you are correct, but I thought I should make it fair, since we really don’t have any right to be participating at all.”
Bae splashed water in Haewon’s face, just because.
Haewon squinted. “Jinsol, here’s the ironic thing. I’ll happily take off the top of your one-piece, because I know you want to move on to your little Stayc maknae. But you might arrive there naked. What will the poor girl think of that?”
Bae glared at Haewon, then pointed to all of her various clothing.
“Guess you are going to owe me a favor. Not to mention an extra favor because I never got you back for planning a party without telling us last year.”
Bae stepped forward and said, “Fine!” She quickly unzipped the long-sleeved swim top that Haewon was wearing revealing a black bikini top under.
Haewon put her arms above her head. “Better hurry! Tic toc!”
Bae grabbed the top and pulled it off Haewon, but the skin tight fit of the arms took some pulling. She did manage to get it off of her just before the timer buzzed.
Sieun and Lee Jiwoo:
Jiwoo said, “Bestie! What irony that I still get to stand here with you…”
Sieun smiled and winked.
“I think if you want those five minutes with Mayu, you’re going to have to let me take some clothing off of you.”
Sieun jumped up and forward and grabbed Jiwoo around the neck, Jiwoo instinctively grabbed Sieun, supporting her under her thighs and butt as Sieun wrapped her legs around Jiwoo’s waist. “Go for it! I’m not going to make it easy though!” Sieun tilted her head and kissed Jiwoo.
Jiwoo moved her head to the side and said, “I’m just heading to my doom with another Jiwoo, why do I care if you move on?”
Sieun grabbed Jiwoo’s head and moved her mouth back to her own. “Because you do.”
Jiwoo’s tongue darted into Sieun’s mouth as she cursed at her. Jiwoo let go of Sieun’s butt and Sieun’s tight grip with her legs supported her small form easily. Jiwoo grabbed the bottom of Sieun’s tee shirt and started to pull it up. She had to break the kiss to get the shirt over Sieun’s head, but they went right back to it as the shirt fell to the pool.
J and Kyujin:
Kyujin held out her hand to J, “Hi maknae!”
J said, “Hi maknae!”
“Sorry about Haewon’s stupid game.”
“It’s fine…”
“Are you really excited to get back to Jinsol?”
“Yes… is that okay?”
“I guess!”
“We both seem to be wearing a lot of clothing, who should it be?”
Kyujin pointed to herself, “Top, bikini top and shorts.”
J said, “One piece, which apparently counts as two, top and shorts over it.”
“Can I take your top off, since you have four?”
“Of course!”
Kyujin grabbed the bottom of J’s top and pulled it off over her head, J leaning over to help her. Kyujin got a solid view of J’s chest in the low-cut one-piece.
Kyujin said, “You are a hottie… Curious to see if you can’t do better with someone else though…”
J smiled meekly, not the slightest bit sure how to take these Nmixx girls. The pair stood there awkwardly until the timer went off.
Kim Jiwoo and Jiyeon:
Jiwoo said, “I get the ballerina who isn’t wearing much clothing!”
Jiyeon said, “This clearly counts as a two-piece.”
Jiwoo, never one to be shy about anything, grabbed the bottom of Jiyeon’s swim dress, pulling it up to her navel, fully revealing the white bikini bottoms under it. “See, only an extra-long top.”
“You just going to frisk me like that and not make a move?”
“A move?”
“Kiss me or something?”
“Do you want me to?”
“I’m moving on to Seeun, so you better help me get that shirt off of you quick-like.”
“Bossy ballerina knows what she wants. I can respect that.” Jiwoo put her arms above her head and let Jiyeon pull off her black swim top, revealing her blue bikini top under.
Jiyeon poked Jiwoo in the boob. “You’re nice all hidden under there.”
“Is there anyone in this room you wouldn’t say that to. To flirt?”
“Sorry, 23-members, I have a strategy for all types…”
“Wow…”
Sumin and Yooyeon:
Yooyeon held out her hand to Sumin. “Hello! I don’t think we’ve officially met.”
Sumin looked at her strangely.
Yooyeon cracked a coy smile, “Oh wait… we have… you totally spilled orange juice all over me.”
Sumin looked down at the water, tracing waves with her fingers.
“It seems we are both only wearing a top and bottom, guess one of us is going to end up topless.”
Sumin said, “I’ll take your top off for you. You seem to really like Lily.”
“Orange juice… you owe me!”
“I’m okay just failing.”
“Umm, trust me, you don’t want to do that. I’m sure there is a punishment worse than being topless in a pool. You can sit on the bottom and no one will ever know.”
Sumin wasn’t dumb and learned quite a bit watching Isa and Yoon over the years. She took a step forward into Yooyeon’s personal space.
Yooyeon took a breath at the surprise move and that was all that Sumin needed to grab the strings behind Yooyeon’ chest and behind her neck holding up her bikini with one hand and then pull it entirely off of her shoulders with the other.
Holding Yooyeon’s bikini top Sumin said, “Thanks for agreeing with me.”
Yooyeon glared at her seeming nemesis and then smiled. Then she realized she was standing there topless and dunked her chest under the water, and covered it with her arms.
Seeun and Seoyeon:
Seeun and Seoyeon stared at each other awkwardly.
Seeun wasn’t sure whether she should stand there quietly, or say something. Seoyeon broke the silence. “Shame you had to lose that clothing to confuse me. Guess we’ll have to see you topless now, half a one-piece.”
“Shame you had to lose your denim shorts and knit top thing earlier, you could be discarding them now.”
Seoyeon just glared at Seeun, was she in some alternate reality where that was NOT her fault?
Seoyeon said, “You got a badge for fooling me that time, AND you probably got at least one more badge for winning Haewon’s event. Why are you trying to reason with me?”
There was clearly no way that Seeun was taking her top half off and Seoyeon was well aware of the seconds ticking down in her head.
Seoyeon said, “There’s a good chance I HATE YOU.” She quickly wriggled out of her crop top, leaving her in white bikini top and bottoms.
Seeun smiled broadly. “Looks like I’m just better at badge wars than you.”
Lily and Sullyoon:
Sullyoon was very dressed, she was wearing a long-sleeved grey swim top and full length spandex leggings. Lily was wearing the top half of her swim suit and some shorts over her swim suit bottoms.
Lily said, “Do you mind? Do you need that top?”
“No, it is fine. I came prepared! It is kind of hard to get out of though, please help.”
Lily pulled the tight-fitting spandex top off of Sullyoon. “I don’t know how you and I always end up together in these dumb games.”
“Right… shame you are never paired with Haewon.”
There was silence getting the shirt the rest of the way off. Then Lily pointed her finger at Sullyoon’s face. “I keep hearing about how bad you are trying to protect Isa and Sieun from each other. Don’t even think about trying that at home.”
Sullyoon just put her head down, “Yes, Ma’am.” She waited awkwardly until the timer went off. Then, in true Sullyoon fashion, she quickly added, “Don’t have too much fun with Yooyeon, don’t need any drama at ‘home’ now do we?”
Lily said boldly in English, “Of course not, Sullyoon…” Lily never used her full name when not in front of fans.
Yoon and Sullin:
Sullin and Yoon looked at each other. Yoon said, “Oh hi, you are the Thai Princess?”
Sullin said in English, “I not princess, just girl.”
Yoon looked at her strangely for using English.
Again in English, Sullin asked, “I have three clothing. Do you also have three?”
“Is something suddenly wrong with your Korean? You seem to communicate just fine with Sullyoon, Chaeyoung and Sieun. Also Jiwoo, Yooyeon, Seoyeon, and Jiyeon.”
Still in English, “I spend lots times them.”
Yoon continued in Korean, “Well, whatever. Should I take my top off, or you. How should we decide?”
Again in English, “Yes, that would be great if you did that for me. And for Seoyeon.”
Yoon was pretty sure she was being scammed, but she still took her top off before the timer went off.
Isa and Mayu:
Isa excitedly grabbed Mayu’s hand. Mayu, of course, didn’t back down and happily gave it to Isa. Isa said, “Word on the street is that you and I are a lot alike.”
Mayu said, “Coolest member on our respective teams for sure!”
“And hottest.”
“Obviously.”
“You going to let me collect you?”
“I don’t think you know what you’re asking for.”
“I think I do.”
“I DON’T THINK you do.”
“Why are you so cute when you are being like this?”
“I’m always this cute.”
“How cute are you when you are letting me take your bikini top off?”
“I’ll let you pretend it is off and you can touch my chest however you like while I’m taking your shirt off.”
Isa took a step forward and put her arm around Mayu’s waist. She put her other hand on Mayu’s boob, over her bikini and gave it a solid squeeze.
Mayu quickly grabbed Isa’s shirt and discarded it, which required Isa letting go of her boob and then reattaching. With only a few seconds left, Isa tilted her head to kiss Mayu, Mayu running her hands through Isa’s still wet mermaid hair.
***
After the timer went off, Haewon looked around. All of the couples had pretty much stayed to themselves, not variously looking around at everyone else for the minute.
Haewon knocked Isa on the head. “Cut it out… Time’s up.”
Isa and Mayu let go of each other. Isa then quickly splashed over to Sieun and Jiwoo. Mimicking Haewon, she knocked Jiwoo on the head. “Cut it out… Time’s up…”
Isa also noticed Yooyeon acting funny underwater. She said, “Haewon, one girl is hiding something.”
Haewon said, “Oh, is she now? Okay, number twos, move to your next partner!”
The girls all moved around to their next partner. Yooyeon carefully swam to Seeun, keeping herself underwater as much as possible.
Haewon said, “Round two! One minute! Starts now!”
Haewon and Mayu:
Haewon said, “Are you going to grab my hand and flirt with me to convince me to take my shorts off?”
Mayu smiled, “Nope!”
“What are you going to do?”
“What kind of favor do I have to ask for, for you to just do it kindly?”
Haewon thought for a few seconds. She leaned over and whispered into Mayu’s ear. “Figure out a way to keep Yooyeon and Lily from ending up together and these shorts are yours.”
Mayu just stared at Haewon in disbelief. “Even if I could think of a way to do that, I respect my friend who seems to like Lily. No way I would ever do that.”
Mayu pulled the string at the back of her bikini and the other at the back of her neck and took off the top. Unlike Yooyeon, Mayu just stood there, mostly out of the water, chest on full display.
Haewon said, “Oh, okay… I also wanted to add; don’t stop constantly, publicly talking about kissing Chaeyeon, it turns her on.”
Mayu just kept glaring at Haewon.
Sieun and Bae:
Sieun said, “Hi Jinsol. Oh my… why is everyone at this party so tall?”
“Maybe you are just short?”
Sieun put her fists at her sides, feigning anger.
“You and Mayu are about the same size. Seems right.”
Sieun nodded, but was pretty sure she heard Lee Jiwoo sigh.
Bae said, “It looks like one of us is going to end up topless.”
“I guess we have time for me to interrogate you about your intentions with my maknae.”
“I don’t think we do.”
“You better talk fast or you aren’t going to get a round with her.”
“You are going to force me to undo my top half right now, just so I get my five minutes with her.” She started feeling around on her own back for the tie.
Sieun grabbed Bae’s hand. “No! There’s no way I’m letting her walk up to you standing there topless waiting for her. Fuck that.” She quickly put her arms above her head. “Take my top off. RIGHT NOW!”
Bae wasn’t about to argue and quickly pulled Sieun’s bikini top off over her head, leaving her breasts hanging there. She then looked over and saw Mayu, similarly topless. “Well, these two are going to have some fun…”
J and Lee Jiwoo:
J and Lee Jiwoo shook hands like politicians.
J said, “That swim suit is gorgeous, by the way. I really like it.”
“Oh thanks.”
J looked at Jiwoo’s chest in the top and made some assumptions. “Are you wearing anything under the bottoms? Shouldn’t we compare who is wearing the most?”
Jiwoo said, “I could lie, but I won’t. I do have bikini bottoms under these swim bottoms.”
“Alright, I have three also. What should we do?”
“Tell me a sob story. If I feel sorry enough for you, I’ll take off my bottoms.”
“I’m pretty happy really. I’m excited to see what Jinsol wants to do for five minutes. Do you have a sob story?”
“Sieun is my ult bias, I beat out someone equally as devoted to her as myself and got to be her partner at a previous party and we really hit it off. Then she pushed me in the pool, makes out with me and leads me on at some massage and then dumps me for the blonde girl.”
J looked a bit shell-shocked. She was well aware of the time counting down and grabbed Jiwoo’s hands, putting them on her shorts. Jiwoo pulled them down and J stepped out of them as the timer went off.
Kim Jiwoo and Kyujin:
Kyujin said, “Hey twinsie.”
Jiwoo said, “I only have my bikini top and shorts, you have an extra top over your bikini top and shorts. I’ll be taking your top off now.”
“WHAT? That’s not how twins around here decide things…”
“Fine…”
“Nearly a FULL MINUTE! Let’s go!”
They started a furious thirty seconds of rock, paper, scissors that I won’t fully recount. It was tied until Jiwoo went ahead and then they changed the rules to best four out of seven. At one point it grew to best 12 out of 21 but then Kyujin won twice in a row.
Kyujin said, “Stop! I win! Time’s almost up!”
Jiwoo said, “I hate you.” Kyujin grabbed Jiwoo’s bikini top and pulled it off over her head leaving her topless.
Kyujin still hugged her just for comfort. “Yay, you are more naked than me, this party!”
Sumin and Jiyeon:
Jiyeon started right in on Sumin, “Go on… I saw what you did to Yooyeon, let’s see your shifty hands try to get this dress off of me.” Jiyeon held the dress up a bit, her bikini bottoms clearly visible underwater.
Sumin said, “My shifty hands could just pull your bottoms down, how would you like that?”
Jiyeon got a bit smile on her face. She held her dress up even further. “Go on! Do it! Let’s see it!”
Sumin backed up. “Seeun would run off screaming if you were bottomless, I’m not going to do that to her.” She took a step forward again at Jiyeon. “Also, I’m not the monster Yooyeon thinks I am. Under different circumstances, I think her and I could have been friends. Take my top off as a peace offering.”
Jiyeon looked shocked. “Really?”
“Yes. This is the way Stayc goes about our business.”
Jiyeon put her hands around Sumin, found the zipper on the back of her swim top and removed it from her body. “Oh, cute chest.”
Sumin smiled, “Thanks…” She then stood on her knees, keeping her naked chest mostly hidden under the water.
Seeun and Yooyeon:
Yooyeon stayed low and said, “Well, this is a bad pairing. I’m unfortunately topless and I’ll fail before I take my bikini bottom off. Do you want to just quit?”
Seeun made sure her head was at the same level as Yooyeon so it wasn’t awkward and tried not to try to look at her chest too often, but mostly failed. “You really can’t see too much if you stay under the water like this, right?”
“Right.”
Seeun was staring again.
“You haven’t seen many boobs before? You really haven’t touched Chaeyoung’s?”
“Oh no, I do dream about… nevermind.”
“Do you want to touch me? I’m quite a bit bigger than Jiyeon, but you can use the experience points?”
“I can touch you while you take my top off?”
Yooyeon moved close and Seeun casually felt around a bit. Yooyeon removed Seeun’s top and then showed her how to put her arms over her chest to hide them even more. “You really just got naked in a pool for Jiyeon?”
“Yeah… Guesso.”
“I just want to say, you are a remarkable girl. All of us really like you and TripleS would gladly adopt you. I’m not sure Jiyeon is a good idea, but one of the 24 of us is certainly a match for you!”
“Wait, you’re all gay?”
“Oh no… haha. What difference does that make?”
Seeun’s mind was blown.
Lily and Seoyeon:
Seoyeon held out her hand to Lily, “Hi Miss Lily! Nice to meet you!”
Lily said, “What are you doing? We know each other. We played poker together, and tried to escape from the party room but Chaeyeon pushed Haewon down.”
“Haha, oh right.”
“Thanks for not bringing her, by the way. Not a fan.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Well, I have these wrap short things over my bikini bottoms, feel free to remove them.”
“Oh, that easy?”
“There needs to be one member of Nmixx that is easy to get along with.”
Seoyeon tried to think of something witty to say, but failed. Instead, she did her best to figure out how to get that thing off of Lily, which wasn’t easy and involved her ‘accidently’ touching Lily in various places. She did manage to get them off before the timer went off.
Yoon and Sullyoon:
Yoon said, “We don’t really know each other. So I’m not afraid to ask: Why are you so scared of Chaeyoung?”
“Do you think that’s the best line of conversation to get to know each other better? To start? At first?”
“You and Chaeyoung, and Sieun doesn’t like you, and you and Sullin, and Chaeyoung and Sullin. Sorry, I’m very curious, I need to understand it all.”
“Well, there aren’t enough hours in this one minute. Who is stripping?”
“You are kind of being rude to me. So clearly you.”
Sullyoon looked down and pouted. “I’m sorry Jayoon. I’m not rude. We can chat sometime later if you really want to. I’m trying to be efficient because you are going to have to take these spandex leggings off of me and it is going to be very difficult underwater. Please get started. There’s no time for me trying to explain YOUR Chaeyoung to you.”
Yoon was confused by the seemingly uncharacteristic outburst. She went to business, grabbing Sullyoon’s waist and trying to pull down the leggings. They were spandex and no-joke tight. With Yoon pulling and Sullyoon flailing her legs vigorously, they managed to get them off of her. Sullyoon was wearing bikini bottoms underneath.
Isa and Sullin:
Isa said, “Hello Thai princess! You come to me with extra clothing!”
Sullin said, “Shame, I wanted to see you topless.”
“You are the one with the spectacular chest. I’m the one that is deprived not being able to see it right now.”
Sullin looked over to make sure Yoon wasn’t listening. Still, she said quietly into Isa’s ear, “Hurry and take my top off, then kiss me like Mayu kisses me rather than the way Isa kisses me just because she is trying to get some stupid badge.”
Isa gave Sullin the side-eye and quickly moved forward to her and pulled off Sullin’s shirt, her bikini now showing off her ample chest. “So hot…” whispered Isa. “I should make you just chat with me for the rest of the minute instead of giving you what you asked for.”
Sullin said, “Funny girl…” Sullin grabbed Isa around her chest and pulled their bodies together, kissing her passionately.
***
After the timer went off, Haewon whacked Isa on the head again. “Of course it is you again…”
Isa asked, “How is it my fault the TripleS girls all want to kiss me?”
Sieun rolled her eyes. Yooyeon, still swimming very close to Seeun said, “I don’t!”
Haewon said, “A lot more topless girls!”
Seeun looked up and noticed Sieun was topless and Mayu was topless and far from shy about it. “Oh my…” she said, failing not to stare.
J also stared at Mayu. “What is that girl doing?” she asked the air around her.
Haewon grabbed the top of Mayu’s head and pushed her body underwater. “You are scaring the maknaes.”
Kyujin said, “I’m not scared! She’s hot!”
“The maknaes that aren’t usually the first girl naked.”
“It was one time!”
Haewon giggled, “Everyone! Move to your final partner! Nice job on everyone passing!”
Yooyeon said, “Okay Haewon, since we all passed, what was the punishment if we failed. Tell us…”
“There was none. I was certain that at least one girl in each pair would want to get to their partner bad enough to strip. I happened to be correct this time!”
“This one time…” said Lily.
“Move to your final partner! Five minutes start now!”
Sieun yelled, “Wait!”
“Yes?”
“Do we have to stay right here? Or can we move?”
“You do not have to stay in this circle now, you can move around the pool if you like. Just stay in the pool and don’t interact or interfere with any other couples.”
Sieun pointed to the stopwatch indicating to Haewon to continue. Haewon said, “Go!”
Haewon and Sullin:
After Haewon was finished fiddling with the stopwatch, letting it fall to her waist attached to an elastic cord, Sullin took a step forward.
Haewon stared at her chest, or rather Sullin’s chest stared at Haewon. “Damn, you are gorgeous.”
“Thanks. More gorgeous than Chaeyeon?”
“Mmm, I mean I would need to see you standing next to each other to properly judge.”
Sullin just shook her head. “Chaeyeon told me how to get you going. We should start that now.”
Haewon got a scared look in her eyes and then smiled. “Bring it!”
“She actually didn’t, I thought it would be fun to mess with you. I learned some things though, by your reaction.”
“I get why Yoona likes you. Now I’m going to kiss her supposed girlfriend.” Haewon leaned in for the kiss, Sullin kept her head still to make Haewon do all of the work. Haewon kissed her and ran her hands all over Sullin’s back, butt, and thighs. Sullin grabbed Haewon’s sides with her hands and mostly kept them there.
Sullin let Haewon run her hands wherever she wanted, occasionally responding with a giggle. Haewon was quite well behaved and didn’t put her hands anywhere where Yoona’s girlfriend might not want them.
Sullin had plans of her own. Her hands gradually moved up Haewon’s sides and occasionally around to her back. When she thought they were around the four-minute mark, she struck, grabbing Haewon’s bikini top and pulling it off of her body.
Mostly trying to make sure Haewon suffered a bit after her own game, she miscalculated the move. Sullin holding the top in her hands, Haewon broke the kiss and said, “That was VERY Chaeyeon.”
Haewon’s hands instantly went to Sullin’s boobs, grabbing both hard, but staying on top of her swim suit. That kicked Sullin a bit too and her tongue shot into Haewon’s mouth. Then the timer went off.
Sieun and Mayu:
Sieun and Mayu, both topless, had a quick but tight hug, chests mashed together.
Mayu said, “Over here!” She grabbed Sieun’s hand and led her to the steps. Sieun sat on the second step from the top, only under the water from her navel down. Mayu knelt one step below that and started running her tongue all over Sieun’s nipples, making the main vocalist moan a bit more loudly than intended.
She then moved up a step, kneeling between Sieun’s legs, held her tight around her chest and kissed her passionately. Sieun’s hands went right for Mayu’s butt and felt around. Mayu was quite the tease with her kisses and tongue. When Sieun was frustrated enough, she would get her fingers close to where she put them on Jiyeon, staying on top of Mayu’s bikini bottom. Mayu would go back to kissing nicely and then Sieun back to rubbing her butt and lower back.
Mayu quickly figured out that she could just keep teasing to keep Sieun getting closer and closer to giving her what she wanted, then Sieun had to reverse the game. They played this game of constant teasing back and forth until the timer went off.
J and Bae:
Both girls still wearing their one-piece bathing suits, J quickly grabbed Bae and hugged her. J said, “Jinsol. I want you to kiss me now.”
Bae matched her tone, “Yeeun. I will kiss you now.”
J puckered up.
Bae said, “Wait…”
J pouted.
“Do you want to try to have the most memorable first kiss known to humanity?”
“I can’t turn down a chance at something with such an epic description, even if I doubt you are capable of delivering.”
“Ouch! Betrayal even before the first kiss!”
“Teach me, Jinsol!”
Bae pulled her forward into deeper water, where they could both just barely stand on tippie toes to keep their heads above water. “We’ll have to experiment, just work with me. Take a breath, pull your head just underwater, and I’ll kiss you.”
J said, “Oh? Alright.” J quickly grabbed a breath and did what Bae asked.
Bae did the same, kept her eyes open underwater, grabbed J’s head and kissed her gently underwater. After a few seconds, they both surfaced.
J said, “That was interesting. Are you a good swimmer?”
Bae emptied her lungs, dove to the bottom of the pool and swam around holding one hand on her back to mimic a hungry shark’s fin. She surfaced.
“You’re as good as Chaeyoung?”
“I don’t like to brag. Maybe.”
J looked at her strangely. She was pretty sure she bragged a lot. J said, “Let’s dive to the bottom, face each other, and kiss like fish!”
Bae was totally into it. It sounds easier than it actually is, it took several tries to get more than a peck in.
Back at the surface and time running out, Bae motioned for J to come to her. J jumped into her arms. Bae said, “If you get nervous or scared, or need to take a breath, squeeze my hand.” They held hands together with one hand. Bae used her other hand to position J’s head and kissed her solidly. She slowly worked her tongue into J’s mouth and then lowered both of them into the water. They continued kissing until one of them squeezed the other’s hand, then they would surface, stop kissing, take a deep breath, and then try it again. They did this several times until the timer went off.
Kim Jiwoo and Lee Jiwoo:
The Jiwoos stared at each other for a bit. Finally, Lee Jiwoo said, “I can see your boobs.”
“Yeah, I lost rock paper scissors.”
“Do you have any interest in making out with someone you don’t even like?”
“Honestly Hon, there are very few people I don’t actually like, and you aren’t one of them. What else are we going to do? Stand here and talk?”
“Well, I still don’t like YOU. But yes, I have no interest in chatting.”
Kim Jiwoo pointed to her own chest, “You brought it up. Do you want to touch them?”
“Do you want me to?”
Kim Jiwoo shrugged, which also made them jump above water level a bit.
“Do you know what tongue hockey is?”
“No?”
“I’ll show you what tongue hockey is, you show me how to touch a boob.”
Kim Jiwoo shrugged again. Then she jumped into Lee Jiwoo’s arms. “Tall girl me.”
Lee Jiwoo had to put her hands under Kim Jiwoo’s butt to pull her up, then Kim Jiwoo wrapped her legs around Lee Jiwoo’s waist solidly. Lee Jiwoo kissed Kim Jiwoo and immediately shot her tongue into her mouth and started searching around.
Kim Jiwoo broke the kiss. “The fuck was that?”
“You’re supposed to fight off my tongue with your tongue.”
Kim Jiwoo looked at Lee Jiwoo like she had two extra Jiwoo heads.
“Seriously.”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Okay… How many carrots did you eat today?”
Lee Jiwoo ignored her and kissed her again. Kim Jiwoo was very bad at tongue hockey, but did her best to keep the other Jiwoo’s tongue occupied. She then grabbed Lee Jiwoo’s hand and put it on her own boob, motioning for her to squeeze. What Lee Jiwoo did have, was long fingers, after several minutes, Kim Jiwoo was getting a bit more excited about tongue hockey as the timer went off.
Sumin and Kyujin:
Kyujin asked Sumin, “Do you want to make out?”
Sumin said, “Not really.”
“Are you sure? It might be fun.”
“I’m pretty sure. I don’t really get it.”
“Well, what do you want to do then?” Kyujin looked at Sumin’s chest and winked.
“Ah yes, I’m unfortunately topless.”
“It isn’t unfortunate.”
She thought for a second, “Actually, it isn’t! I’ve never swam in a pool topless before. Maybe it is fun?”
“I haven’t either! Let’s see!” Kyujin unzipped her top and took it off and then pulled her bikini top off.
“I didn’t imply I expected you to do that…”
“I was naked a lot last badge war. Why not?”
“Okay?”
Kyujin grabbed Sumin’s hand and they waded toward the deep end. They then swam around a bit, swimming on the surface and a bit underwater together, then ending up splashing each other like children.
When the timer went off, Sumin hugged Kyujin, either forgetting, or ignoring, or both, that they were topless. “Thank you for that! I had fun!”
Kyujin smiled at her new friend.
Seeun and Jiyeon:
Seeun looked at Jiyeon shyly. She said, “Teach me something.”
“Have you kissed a lot?” asked Jiyeon.
“Some. I think I’m pretty good.”
“Oh, okay.”
Seeun smiled broadly.
“I see your pretty chest. Can I touch it?”
Seeun nodded ‘yes’ rapidly.
“You kiss ME then.”
Seeun moved forward and grabbed Jiyeon’s head, tilting it and kissing her gently. Jiyeon was still a bit triggered from Sieun earlier and the kiss didn’t stay gentle for long. She grabbed Seeun’s thigh and pulled it up with her hands, then wrapped her own thighs around it. One arm wrapped around Seeun, pulling their bodies as tightly together as possible, the other arm gently caressing Seeun’s breasts, one after the other.
They kissed in this tight embrace for the entire time.
Lily and Yooyeon:
Yooyeon immediately grabbed Lily’s hand and they swam together to the far corner of the pool. Although when standing next to each other they played shy girls on TV, they had experience with each other. When the time came, they were least shy in the entire pool.
Settled in the corner, Yooyeon used her body to pin Lily’s body to the corner wall and kept her feet moving to keep them both above the surface. One of Lily’s hands went to Yooyeon’s chest, the other around Yooyeon’s waist to keep their bodies together. Yooyeon kept one hand on the pool wall and put the other on Lily’s belly. It quickly worked its way down Lily’s pants until she started to moan, and then Yooyeon kissed her so that Lily didn’t advertise too much what was going on. Lily got a four-minute ride of her life on Yooyeon’s fingers.
Yoon and Seoyeon:
Seoyeon looked at Yoon expectantly, both wearing their bikini tops and bottoms.
Yoon said, “You aren’t shy, are you?”
Seoyeon said, “Obviously not.” But her voice was a bit shaky.
Yoon shrugged. “Okay! Buckle up!” She lowered herself a bit and then motioned for Seoyeon to come to her.
Seoyeon moved closer and Yoon grabbed her diminutive partner around her lower back and pulled her as close as possible, her hands pulling up on Seoyeon’s thighs as a signal to straddle her. Seoyeon also put her arms around Yoon’s neck.
Yoon then stood up and walked them toward a pool wall. She then lowered herself to her knees, submerging both of them to their necks and put Seoyeon’s back solidly against the wall. Yoon then kissed her passionately and they made out that way for the rest of the time.
Isa and Sullyoon:
Sullyoon stood in front of Isa, unable to make eye contact and just looked at the surface of the water.
Isa grabbed her hand. “Damn girl, please calm down.”
Sullyoon kept looking at the water.
“You like playing in the water, right?”
Sullyoon finally looked up at her. “Yes, very much.”
“Please relax. I’m going to tell you two things. We’re just going to have fun for five minutes, I’m not going to ask you to do anything you don’t want to do. Second, I’m not going to invite you to spend the night with me.”
Sullyoon looked at her, quite shocked. “Sieun?”
“Catch me, you shy dummy.” Isa dove, circled around Sullyoon underwater and then took off toward the far end of the pool.
Sullyoon did her best to follow. When they were comfortably away from everyone else at the deep end, Isa surfaced. “You are a pretty good swimmer?”
“I’m not horrible.”
Isa spun around and presented her back to Sullyoon. “Grab me around the chest. I’m going to give you a ride.”
“Chaeyoung, I’m not a small girl.”
“You might have to help me swim. If you need to surface right away, tap me three times quickly, anywhere on my body.”
Sullyoon nodded and swam up to Isa’s back and grabbed her around her waist.
Isa said, “Breathe out, just about half of a breath right now until you get used to it.”
Sullyoon did and then Isa dove. Sullyoon instinctively grabbed Isa tighter around the waist and kicked her feet to help move them forward.
It took some practice, but they spent the five minutes together swimming together under the water, holding each other, laughing and smiling, forgetting everything else going on around them.
***
When the timer went off, Haewon yelled, “That’s it! Hands off! Tongues off! Fingers off! If I have to stop everyone has to stop!”
There were a lot complaints from the girls, but they all stopped what they were doing and gathered back in the shallow part of the pool.
Sullin pointed to Haewon and proudly announced, “EVERYONE come look at Haewon’s chest please!”
Kim Jiwoo said, “Kyujin? You took your clothes off anyway?”
Kyujin said, “My partner had fun. You hush.”
J said, “I had the best, most epic, first kiss ever! Or at least that’s what Jinsol told me.”
Haewon said, “You can keep thinking that. Until your second kiss with someone who actually knows what they are doing.”
Bae splashed Haewon in the face. She said, “Your chest is still amazing, please go cover it…”
Sullyoon was still holding on to Isa, her leg purposefully wrapped around Isa’s, though no one else could see it.
Kim Jiwoo asked, “Why does Yoona look like that?”
Lily asked, “Like what?”
“That! Her face!”
“What?”
“Dear lord…”
Haewon said, “Here’s the pile of towels. Everyone grab one and dry off. Then everyone change back into your PJs for the night!”
***
The girls all dried off and made their way to their dressing rooms to change. Nmixx girls took turns going upstairs to their suite to do the same.
Eventually everyone gathered around the lounge chairs by the pool.
Haewon said, “My event is officially over and it is now time to reward the badges!”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Please hurry, just hand them all to Chaeyoung and let the rest of us get on with our lives…”
Seoyeon said, “There’s our Jiwoo! Just giving all of our stuff to the enemy.”
“Only fight battles you can win.”
“Yooyeon should never get out of bed?”
Yooyeon said, “It’s a good thing we aren’t in the pool anymore. I’m just going to sit here and not fight right now.”
Jiwoo smiled.
Haewon said, “Chaeyoung doesn’t quite get all of them. For each round of my event, the winning team gets two badges. You can decide amongst yourselves who gets them, but you need to tell us so we can record it. Nmixx will also choose one girl from the winning team for each round and award a third badge.” Haewon got out three badges with a raft and pool noodle. She continued, “TripleS won round one. You guys decide who gets the two badges.
TripleS formed a huddle. Yooyeon said, “Obviously Jiyeon, Mayu and Sullin were the winners, so they should get the three badges.”
Seoyeon said, “Nmixx, tell us who you are giving it to, and we will give it to the other two.”
Haewon said, “Not how it works. You decide first.”
“Please with the mind games…”
“Miu Miu!”
Seoyeon said to Haewon, “Mayu and Sullin get the badges.”
Lee Jiwoo said, “Why do you just get to decide?”
She pointed at Jiwoo’s nose, “Hush. Trust me.”
Nmixx chatted briefly. Haewon said, “We are giving our badge to Jiyeon!” Haewon handed them the three badges.
Seoyeon said, “See! I was making sure they each get one.”
Jiwoo said, “You assuming what Nmixx is going to do is DUMB.”
“Did it work?”
Haewon said, “Round two!” She pulled out rubber duckie badges. “Stayc! Decide who gets your two.”
Sieun said, “Me, Chaeyoung, and Yoonie were the winning team.”
Isa asked, “Should we do what Seoyeon just did?”
Yoon said, “No… I’m with Jiwoo, never assume what those ‘byeol byeol byeol’s are going to do.”
“Okay, Seeun, Sumin, and J. You three decide.”
Sumin said, “Obviously Chaeyoung did the most work. Also, Yoon shut down Sullin.”
Seeun said, “But Sieun just kept swimming no matter what and scored the last duckie.”
J said, “I think Chaeyoung and Sieun. Good defense never gets any credit. Sorry Yoonie.”
Sumin said, “Okay, Sieun and Chaeyoung.”
Nmixx briefly chatted. Haewon said, “Chaeyoung gets two, and one for Sieun.”
Haewon said, “Last round! Battleship badge! Stayc won, who gets them?”
Sieun said, “We don’t get anything for winning the entire thing?”
“Yes, you get six badges because you won two rounds, they get three.”
Back to the huddle Isa said, “Obviously Seeun.”
Yoon said, “Right, but they are going to give theirs to Seeun. The girl is going to have a ridiculous amount of badges.”
Seeun said, “Seeun is standing right here…”
Sieun said, “Let’s give them to J, poor kid only has one badge.”
J was busy making googly eyes at Bae.
Sumin said, “’Poor Kid’ doesn’t give a shit about badges right now.”
J said, “I DO!”
Isa said to Haewon, “One badge to Seeun and one to JJ.”
Haewon said, “Okay, obviously we give our badge to Seeun. We should steal one from Seoyeon as well, just for being stupid.”
Seoyeon said, “That’s fine, I’ll replace it with one from Yooyeon, because she certainly doesn’t deserve to have any of hers.”
Yooyeon said, “Deserve or not… I HAVE MORE THAN YOU.”
Haewon handed the last three badges to Stayc.
Jiyeon asked, “Can we have the running total?”
Haewon said, “Yes! We will have it for you tomorrow morning before Lily’s event.”
Sumin asked, “Did you just say tomorrow morning?”
“I did!”
Mayu asked, “It is kind of early? We are finished for the night?”
“You guys worked very hard in the pool. You should all be tired.”
Sullyoon said, “I’m tired.”
“Let me give you a summary of what will happen the rest of the night. If you aren’t tired, you can stay up as long as you like. For tonight’s accommodations, both TripleS and Stayc have a small suite available. Each suite has three rooms and two bathrooms, two queen beds and a pullout bed in a couch plus plenty of floor space. If you want to be super lame and boring like Yoona, you can go there right now and go to sleep. If not, you have the run of the hotel. You can go to the lobby, gift shop, Jihyung has a room for you in the restaurant if you want food, you can go to the workout room, or just hang out here, though we prefer you don’t get back into the pool. There are lots of other people in the hotel, so stay clothed, and don’t do anything with anyone you don’t want filmed if you are in public.”
The girls were a bit shocked, staying mostly quiet. Seoyeon asked, “And?”
“There are two things we need to do first, then you can run off wherever you like!”
Seoyeon confirmed, “There’s always an ‘and’.”
Haewon said, “We are going to do one more set of five-minute private encounters. Think about who you want your partner to be.”
Yooyeon looked at Lily, “Isn’t it just going to be whoever we were just with in the pool?”
“Maybe, maybe not! But first… Chaeyoung is going to tell us who she is taking with her to a private room for the night.”
Kim Jiwoo poked Kyujin, “Yoona isn’t turning colors anymore. What happened in that pool?”
Kyujin shrugged, “How should I know? I was swimming topless with my new friend.”
Isa looked down, making sure not to make eye contact with anyone.
Haewon asked, “Have you decided?”
She shook her head ‘yes’, once, hard. “I have.”
Haewon looked at her expectantly.
Isa pointed to Haewon. “I pick Oh Haewon.”
There were many gasps and ‘ohs’.
Haewon shook her head in disbelief and asked, “You pick what?”
Badge summary: Mayu 5, Yooyeon 4, Seoyeon 3, Jiyeon 4, Jiwoo 3, Sullin 4 (TripleS 23 total); Seeun 6, Yoon 3, Sumin 3, Isa 5, Sieun 3, J 2 (Stayc 22 total)
Every week I post a poll that readers can take to influence the action. This week's poll (Sept 6 – 13): https://forms.gle/DxmtkN2xkiQeKLg46
Traveler (Guest) on Chapter 13 Sun 17 Aug 2025 12:58PM UTC
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snowcat22_2 on Chapter 13 Thu 21 Aug 2025 03:35AM UTC
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jiwoo no4 (Guest) on Chapter 13 Wed 20 Aug 2025 10:24PM UTC
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snowcat22_2 on Chapter 13 Thu 21 Aug 2025 03:37AM UTC
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