They walked side by side back to the hotel, making jokes about the members and Arena asking questions about idol life.

Through that she learned so much more about everyone, things you don't see from the internet and fan cafes and reality shows. She was really starting to consider if she knew them at all. Arena knew that Wonho liked ramen and Jooheon was good with acting cute and Shownu was a great dancer and Minhyuk could do a dog impression and that Kihyun was an amazing cook and that Hyungwon was also a model and that I.M joined No Mercy halfway. And she had thought that having this knowledge automatically had meant that she knew them. As in knew knew. How could she have possibly expected that when she hadn't even spent time with them to actually learn more about them?

Was it like this with every other k-pop group existing?

In reality, she had no idea who these people even were. For all she knew every single one of them was doing exactly the same as Kihyun, acting and changing their personalities at the sight of cameras.

Arena wasn't happy to find that she had gone far away with her train of thought, somewhat startled to hear his voice bring her back to the reality. Again.

"What's your room number?"

Arena smiled cleverly and stepped inside the hotel elevator, leaving Kihyun standing opposite her on the other side.

"As if I'd tell you." Arena pressed the elevator door button for her floor. The last time she had returned from the studio, Naha had been there and waiting for her without going to sleep. Arena felt bad that she was once again returning in the middle of the night, hoping that this time her friend had gone to sleep.

You guys are probably wondering what Naha was actually doing all of this time when Arena was back at the company. Well for starters Naha watched dramas. A lot of dramas, she must've had 5 different ones to watch at a time. She also spent time at the SPA section of the hotel and sometimes even hung out in town with Jaehyun.

Arena had once again felt bad that Naha had to sit around all day so she had basically pushed her out of the hotel room saying that at least one of them should be enjoying the gorgeous city of Seoul. Sometimes when Arena had even a couple of hours of free time, they roamed the shops and restaurants together.

Kihyun put his right foot into the elevator, his hands leaning against the side (u know the place where the elevator doors come out from as they close and open, that place) of the elevator, stopping the doors from closing.

"Why are you so stubborn with me?" He smiled, but Arena could see that Kihyun's patience was again slowly starting to run out with her. He was getting slightly annoyed even if he didn't want to. She was starting to get under his skin, acting all independent and somewhat hard to get as usually any girl that met Kihyun melted immediately.

"I'm not stubborn." She crossed her arms over her chest and placed her weight onto her left side, glaring back at the idol opposite her.

He laughed, "See? This is what I'm talking about."

Arena rolled her eyes and looked at the time on her phone. "Will you let me go now, please?"

"I'd rather not," said Kihyun, utter seriousness plastered all over his face as he stepped back and the elevator doors started closing, revealing a little glimpse of Arena's eyes before they closed her inside completely. Arena was briefly reminded of Kihyun saying those exact same words to her once in a hotel room.

[okay can any of u remember the elevator scene from fifty shades of grey when they first met and the elevator doors closed leaving the man staring back at the woman? idk if this is a bad example or not so yolo, anyway yeah imagine that, but with wayyyyyyyyyy less sexual tension]

mOvInG oOoOoN

As soon as Arena got out of the elevator her phone beeped.

"What's up."

"Seriously?" muttered Arena under her breath as she opened the heavy hotel door with her keycard and quietly closed it behind her again.

"The real question is, if you always knew my number, then why didn't you text me earlier?" texted Arena back, actually realizing the fact herself moments after. He hadn't texted her. And Arena had thought that he just hadn't had the abilities to.

She closed her screen and placed the phone on one of the dressing tables, putting her beanie down right next to it. Arena didn't pick the mobile device up until when she woke up the next morning.

"N. Are you asleep?" Arena sat down on her bed, facing Naha's and started tugging off her shoes, pushing them underneath her bed.

"I dunnoo.." muttered Naha sleepily as she opened her eyes to look at her friend. Naha reached out her hand at Arena but couldn't fully reach so she just waved it around lazily. "Wazzz ronng ith ur hairr..." slurred Naha who was slowly starting to fall back asleep, clearly indicating to Arena's sweaty and gross french braids that had cooked under her beanie the entire day.

"Funny, says the girl drunk on sleep," joked Arena, leaving a small kiss on Naha's forehead before heading back into the bathroom to take a shower and wash out the bird's nest that was, in fact, her hair.

***

"How about, you come with me today," smiled Arena as she came back into the room with their breakfast tray the next morning.

Naha rubbed her eyes and squinted at her friend, sleep already starting to fade from her monolid eyes. "To the studio?" she picked up a toast and bit in, making crumbs from the golden bread fall all over her white bedsheets.

Arena nodded, already half through with eating her fruit salad. She sat down opposite Naha who was sitting up in her bed, her blanket sprawled over her bare legs.

Naha finished her toast and leaned over, Arena handing her another one.

"Do you have a lesson with them today?" Naha was now fully aware of surroundings, slurping the black coffee with her one hand and holding the toast in the other.

Arena knew very well who she meant by 'them'. She stayed silent.

"Arena.." Naha sighed and shook her head, leaning it back to make the tears forming behind her eyes never surface.

Arena jumped up from her seat and down onto the floor next to the tiny Japanese girl's bed. "This could be a good thing."

"I don't want to see him. I remember how he looked at me last time and I don't think I can take it again. I'll just get in the way," whispered Naha, panic starting to bubble inside of her.

Arena took the coffee cup out of Naha's hands and placed her own manicured ones in it instead.

"Naha, hey, look at me," said Arena softly, making Naha turn her dark brown eyes to her friend kneeling in front of her. "I think he misses you. At first I thought that maybe I should just arrange you guys to meet without you actually knowing...yeah that was not my best idea, but I can push everyone else out of the studio later, if you want me to, so you guys could have some privacy or something. Let's face it, you need to sort this out, no matter what happens after."

Naha looked at Arena, a single tear running down her rosy cheek. Arena didn't let go of her hand and continued, "It was bad for me and Kihyun," she chuckled nervously, "it wasn't nice at all, but there was no way I could actually work with him if I didn't at least try to put the hard feelings aside. And he got what I was trying to do and did the same. We get on normal now. You guys should too."

"Ahh I don't know," said Naha and looked down at her messed up, full of crumbs blanket.

Arena stood up from the bed and plopped down next to her sad friend, hugging her tight and smoothing her hair gently. "It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?" said Arena in a calm voice, Naha still clinging to Arena's black oversized T-shirt with Justin Bieber tour dates and info and all that jazz.

Arena wasn't a belieber but the shirt had looked cool? Fashion was her passion.

"Okay?"

Naha took a deep breath, "Okay."

They swung their legs over the edge of the bed, Naha heading to the bathroom, dragging her legs behind and looking rather gloomy as Arena made sure to clean her friend's disgustingly toasty bedding.

When Naha emerged from the washroom fully clothed and already wearing makeup, her hair in a messy braid under her black ballcap, Arena was finishing up with her makeup.

Let's all now remember the days when we all (including me lol) thought that she would become MX's makeup artist and stuff. Well clearly that did not happen as she was supposed to head to another practice session in an hour.

The makeup wasn't anything too crazy, Arena just covered her small acne scars, filled in her brows and used highlighter. Because everyone loves highlighter? No one ever really cares about bronzer or idk blush, because highlighter is the shit.

Arena curled her lashes, not using mascara as it could smear as the time in the studio went on.

She turned around from her seat behind one of the dressing tables to look at her companion.

"Looking good, Nancy." Arena did a thumbs up and winked, concealer in one hand and lip tint in the other.

Naha bowed, her facial expressions already looking more relaxed and smiley than before, "As do you, Annabelle."

"Pfftttt, never heard that one before. You've called me Alice and Anette but never Annabelle," laughed...no.. choked Arena on laughter as she tried to apply the lip tint. And not color outside of her lips. Her chin didn't need the red color on it today.

Naha smiled, like actually smiled, "You should come up with something new, you always use Nancy." She sat down next to Arena and leaned her elbow on the table, leaning her face on the palm of her hand as well. Naha studied Arena, her eyes noticing every light red scar or new hollow on her friend's face.

"Have you lost weight?" deadpanned Naha, taking Arena's face in her hands and looking it over, mushing Arena's cheeks together.

"You used to have such cute cheeks, where did they go?"

Arena chuckled, brushing the small hands off her face, in case they accidentally smudged or rubbed off her carefully applied concealer. And highlighter.

She shrugged to answer Naha's question. "I guess they went away with age?"

"Mhmm, " muttered Naha suspiciously as Arena brushed her hair. Today was straight hair worn down day. She had straightened her natural curls out in the morning, when Naha had still been asleep.

"Do you want anything more to eat?" asked Arena as Naha adjusted her black sweatshirt and blue ripped jeans.

"I'd take one more toast, please."

***

"He walked you home?" asked Naha, laughing so hard her abs hurt, as the duo made their way towards the studio door. Arena nodded and somehow that just made them giggle even more. So that meant that on the one day that Monsta X had accidentally showed up 30 minutes early and practiced on their own, was the day that they were surprised as two laughing girls entered the room. They were immediately silenced as Jooheon stopped the music, right in the middle of the hook. Everyone turned their eyes toward the girls.

Arena looked at the guys, confusion written all over her face. She pointed at the clock on the wall, "Am I late? Am I going to be the one to do push ups this time?" Arena looked sincerely frightened at the thought of having to do thousands of push ups in front of them.

Minhyuk snickered, opening his mouth to explain the situation.

"Ah thank god," Arena put her hand on her heart and breathed out with relief.

"ALSO EVERYONE, this is my friend Naha, she's the one who accompanied me to your concert and this trip to Korea. I hope you all remember her from the fanmeet?" Arena smiled a forced smile, not daring to look in Wonho's direction as she nudged Naha gently away from the door, herself in tow, of course.

Wonho glanced around, her eyes landing on Naha on the exact moment her eyes landed on him. Wonho muttered something about needing some fresh air as he stomped out of the studio, banging the door shut behind him.

Arena caught Kihyun's questioning eyes from the middle of the room, giving him a small nod as an answer. Kihyun swiftly nodded back and walked out after him.

Arena bit her lip and looked a little shocked, she had expected Wonho to react in some way but not actually just walk out of the room. She rubbed her temples and led Naha to the couches, where she set up her laptop.

"By the way, she is here because I didn't want her to sit in the hotel room alone, I hope that is okay?"

"Of course," said Shownu and smiled dashingly, making Arena smile brightly back and clasp her hands together.

"Let's just start, okay? No point to wait for them as this is our last practice together. Let's just use this time for something useful, so if you have a question, please ask me now, okay?"

Everyone replied with a 'yes' and nodded as well.

"Let's look over the dance break one more time slowly," said Arena and stood in front of the mirror, the guys behind her watching her every move.

"5, 6, 7, 8 right, left step forward, right leg ON YOUR HEEL I.M step left, right and left again."

The studio door opened again as Kihyun stepped back inside, Wonho behind him with his eyes directed at the floor beneath his Vans. Arena glanced over her shoulder to look at them and caught Kihyun's glinting eyes looking back at her own. He gave a small thumbs up and Arena nodded, grateful that Kihyun went after Wonho to talk to him.

She did not know what they had talked about, but it had brought Wonho back so at least that was a good thing.

She turned back, "Okay where were we? Oh right, so jump out, knees in, cross legs aaaannd spin."

(huehuehuehuehuehue)

They continued like this throughout the entire dance break, Arena dictating the moves slowly and making sure they were clean and precise. "WITH MUSIC!" She walked over to where Naha was sitting and grabbed the remote, smiling encouragingly at her friend who wasn't looking that happy to be there, well Arena had just dragged her along and Naha had nothing else to do expect just sit and watch, but Arena knew what she had to do.

She pressed the music button, watching the guys' leg work as she schemed in her head, how she was going to play this.

"Okay, nice. Ya'll got it very well. I'm so proud," she smiled as she paused the music again, "so now what you are gonna do is pair up. Yes I know that there are 7 of you, so that's why Wonho, will step out for a second." She motioned to Wonho for him to come stand next to her, the former shooting her confused but somewhat suspicious looks with his eyes. The others were left standing and just staring around.

"I SAID PAIR UP."

Everyone quickly scrambled to find a partner, Kihyun with Minhyuk, the rap line together and Hyungwon with Shownu.

"Why did we have to pair up?" asked Hyungwon.

Arena sighed, "If you'd just let me e x p l a i n you would know."

Hyungwon closed his mouth and moved closer to Shownu.

Kihyun and Minhyk were snickering to each other quietly, Arena's annoyed glare making them shut up immediately.

"aS i WaS sAyInG," chimed Arena, "now that you have your partner, I'm going to give you 20 minutes to practice and perfect the entire choreography together."

"Aww man why the hell did I pair up with you," muttered Kihyun under his breath and nudged Minhyuk in the ribs. Minhyuk grinned in return.

"Then I'm going to evaluate you AS A TEAM, if one of you is lacking then it will ruin the entire score so make sure you and your partner are on the same level, there is a special prize for the winners," continued Arena.

"You will do this practicing OUTSIDE of this studio, so don't make a lot of noise if you are going to practice in the hallway. Your time starts now."

No one moved.

"GO NOW."

Once again everyone quickly scrambled out of the studio, grabbing their phones and water bottles.

"Why did you make me step out?" whined Wonho, his hands crossed over his chest with Naha watching his every move from where she was seated.

Arena finally turned to look at Wonho, she beamed, "Ah yes, I'm going to want you to stay here and practice your solo part, I have to go out for a few minutes and when I get back you can pair up with me." She backed away and stuffed her wallet and phone into the pocket of her pants.

Arena was already at the door when Wonho yelled back at her desperately, slight anxiety in his voice, "But we already perfected it together and I've been practicing alone every day!"

Arena smiled a sad smile, "I know," and closed the door behind her leaving Naha and Wonho together inside.

"If you don't talk to him I will seriously beat the ultimate crap out of you," shot Arena to Naha through a quick text and calmly walked to the elevators.

***

Wonho watched the door fall closed, trapping him inside with the one girl that had caused him so much pain.

Naha looked up from her phone, having gotten Arena's text and then raised her eyes to look at Wonho, her heart beating wildly inside her chest.

Wonho was still looking at the door, not making any progress toward practicing his part, perfectly aware of Naha's eyes on him.

"Wonho, I am so sorry."

"Oh you're sorry?"