When Worlds Collide

five

"I'm okay with you working with them. I may not like it, but I understand you wanting independence and to earn your own money." My mother spoke, softly sighing before digging her nails into my shoulder and causing me to wince. "But don't you dare think of dating any of them."

"I don't plan on dating anyone," I replied, making her calm down and release me from her grasp.

She walked away, leaving me alone with my father, who just sighed and relaxed in his seat.

"Why won't you date Felix or Jisung? They seem like good boys and they'll treat you nicely." He asked, earning a sigh as I looked at him with frustration.

"I don't want to date either of them. I'd prefer to just not even date at all." I answered, making him groan a bit.

"You're not getting any younger. You're already twenty-two. I'd like to see a grandchild before I die." I rolled my eyes as he spoke. He always tried to guilt trip us into doing stuff for him, and it was annoying to me.

"Why are you asking me to have kids? Minho Oppa and Minjung are just as capable as I am." I asked, making him chuckle.

"Minho is working right now. He can relax and not worry about it at the moment. Minjung is at least seeing someone and has the prospect of children in the future. You, though, are neither working nor dating. How can I not worry about you?" He explained, making me sigh a little.

"If I end up finding someone, then I will. But will you be mad if it's not from our company?" I replied, earning a shake of his head.

"Your mother is a bit demanding and strict. I'll be happy with anyone you bring home, don't worry about anything. Just let your heart guide you." He answered, ruffling my hair a bit before leaving me to my thoughts.

I apologized for dancing incorrectly for the fourth time that day, the girls of ITZY getting a little tired of restarting the whole choreography because of it.

"Are you feeling alright?" Yeji asked, handing me some water since we decided to take a break. "You've never been like this before."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. It's just I can't focus today." I answered, sighing before chugging the water. "I'm usually a lot better at keeping my life and my work separate, but today it's just hard to."

"Do you want to talk about it? We're your besties for a reason." Jisu said as she sat beside me, rubbing my arm empathetically.

"My mother is mad at me for dancing with other companies, and is willing to disown me if I ever get caught dating anyone outside of JYP," I explained, making them sigh with annoyance.

"That's too strict," Yeji muttered, earning a nod of agreement from Jisu.

"How are you supposed to even get a boyfriend here? Stray Kids are like brothers, GOT7 left already, and Boy Story is too young!" Jisu added, looking just as frustrated as I was. "We'll protect you if she gets mad. Just join us in our dorm!"

"No, I couldn't impose on you guys like that," I replied, making the two of them shake their heads.

"It's not a burden. You're our best friend. We can make it work!" Yeji said, squeezing me into a hug. "Now that this is settled, can we get back to dancing? I know you want to finish to go see Kai sunbae!"

"Don't say it like that!" I told her, blushing as I pushed her away. She liked to tease me, since she knew that, like everyone else, I found Jongin to be a handsome man.

Once we finished, I said my goodbyes and then ran through the city to get to the next company building I needed to be at. Kai was happily waiting for me in the dance room, the other dancers a little annoyed at my tardiness.

"Sorry for being late. The dance ran longer than we'd thought." I quickly said, bowing to the apology.

"It's fine, it gave us more time to get a feel for this music anyways!" Kai replied, jumping up and getting ready for the dancing to begin. "Watch us first, and then join in when you're confident."

I felt the dance as soon as the music started, but I paused to watch them work together and get a feel for how they wanted it to work. Freestyle dance was amazing, but the choreography was just as awe-inspiring to watch.

I joined in when it felt like I could melt in and be one with them all. I found myself right next to Kai, though, and it made me a little nervous. The way we began to dance together, it was as if we were one person. Everyone else disappeared from my view, and it was just the two of us as the music faded.

"You're amazing as always." He whispered, smiling as he walked away to take a break.

"I cannot compare to you though," I replied, grabbing my water.

"I'd like it if you danced this one with me. I think the chemistry we have would be best shown with that one." He told me, showing me the song as we sat down at drank a little.

After we practiced a few more times, I said my farewells and took off, running to the next schedule as if my life depended on it. The boys that greeted me were laughing at my exhausted collapse in their dance room.

"You're doing too much in one day, Minji," Yeonjun said, chuckling as he helped me up.

"I'll be alright. It's just that you all have promotions this month, and I'm surprisingly scheduled with all of you." I replied, earning a sigh from him. "If I didn't mess up earlier it would've been fine."

"How about we just hang out today? We can always dance later." Soobin offered, earning confused looks from the rest of us.