Constant and Changing (kryber)

Chapter 49: X

The days leading up to f(x)'s "4 Walls" comeback were filled with enough vocal and dance practices to make Krystal feel like a trainee again. As she sweated her way through 10-hour-a-day practices, Krystal was reminded of the emotions that she experienced as they prepared for their LA chA tA debut stage so many years ago. September 5th, 2009 was an important day for the members that they still spoke of fondly even now. And with the overwhelming sense of excitement and anticipation that Krystal felt about the "4 Walls" comeback, she knew that October 29th, 2015 would soon become another unforgettable date in f(x)'s history.

The comeback was still over a week away and there were still many more practices to go before then, but the members put all their energy into every practice like it was their last. Tonight's practice had run until nearly 2 am, which was the norm for their practices as of late. There was very little time during the day for the f(x) members to meet for practice due to their individual schedules, which resulted in late night practices.

Only Krystal and Luna had attended tonight's practice. Amber had other business to take care of while Victoria was filming in China. After practice ended in the dead of night, Krystal saw their dancer unnies out the door of the deserted SMTOWN headquarters with a cheerful wave, gratefully thanking them for working so hard to prepare for the "4 Walls" stage. With no one in sight, she then made her way down to the locker rooms in the basement of the building. Upon opening the door of the women's locker room and stepping over the threshold, Luna's sultry singing voice met Krystal's ears. The young girl smiled as she recognized the lyrics for "X" coming from the direction of the showers.

"In an air that's grown still, I think I'm going to explode, I hear something, I'm shaking, are you the same?" Luna sang, putting a wealth of power behind her voice.

Krystal smirked as she reached her locker and began to open the lock. Luna seemed to be singing a different "4 Walls" song every time they met, but the sensual "X" was quite appropriate for the task at hand. Krystal sang the next line of the song out loud, placing a deliberately sexy emphasis on every syllable. "Chemical-X~!" She wondered if Luna would hear her voice over the roar of the water.

"Soojung-ah?" Luna called back. Krystal heard the water shut off and moments later the vocalist stepped into the changing area with a towel wrapped around her body. She dried her hair with another towel as she smiled mischievously at the younger girl. "If you came to join me in the shower, you're too late~!"

Krystal laughed as she began to strip down to her underwear and placed her clothes into the locker. "That's probably a good thing," she joked. "It sounded like things were getting pretty steamy in here. Oooh-woooo~!" Krystal sang, mimicking their high pitched adlibs from "X".

The two girls laughed and sang lyrics from "X" with each other as Luna dried and clothed herself while Krystal stripped and wrapped a towel around her body. Luna was on her way home so that she could get as much rest as possible for her musical performance the following night. Krystal giggled at Luna's excitement over her musical. It was a far different attitude than the sobbing girl at the recording studio a few weeks ago whose voice was so overused that she couldn't help but cry. Krystal on the other hand, much to Luna's dismay, was planning to stay at the empty SM building even later to practice her vocals.

"Please don't stay late," Luna urged her. "Let's go home together. I worry about you when you stay here late for practice. I'm proud of how hard you've been working lately Soojung-ah, but I don't want you to overdo it."

"Overdo it like get a bloody nose from practicing so hard?" Krystal asked pointedly yet affectionately, referring to their trainee days where Luna had overworked herself to the point of getting a bloody nose.

"Or overdo it like fainting on stage in the middle of a performance," Luna responded just as pointedly yet affectionately, referring to a performance during their second year where Krystal had fainted during "Mr. Boogie". The two girls smiled at their mutually foolish dedication to f(x).