The Unexpected Rhapsody || ✅

Chapter 30

Rubina flips over to the next page of the Vogue magazine as her cosmetologist sets a hair dryer over her head.

Lo-Fi music blows throughout the room as the girls try to relax and not think about how many hours are left until their debut stage.

Yoonseul side-eyes the lady who is applying a soothing gel on the rapper's freshly waxed skin.

"This will prevent any rashes or irritation," the woman smiles.

Yoonseul rolls her eyes and retorts, "It wouldn't have been necessary had you been gentler with my hair and skin."

"Trust me, you won't be able to resist gliding your hands over your own legs, sweetie," says the elder and makes her way to the corner of the room.

Within a few seconds, she lines up near Hana with long and thin wax strips in one hand and a large bowl of steaming hot fluid in another. Hana squeezes her eyes shut knowing what is to come next.

Hana doesn't see whatever the elder does and tries to groove to the hip-hop chills. Soft hands begin working on her shins and before she knows, a shrill shriek has erupted right out of her throat.

She is freaked out like a scared cat caught while playing with a woolen ball.

From the other side of the room, Haein's concerned voice croaks, "Eonnie, gwaenchanhayo?"

Stacy scoffs, "How can she be ­gwaechanha, Haein-ah!?" She pauses to look at the leader. "Just take a look at her face."

"Lemme get a picture of it!" giggles Rubina and grabs the iPad off the table near her.

"Honestly," speaks Hana – her voice gruff like she is high – "At thirteen, I had promised myself not to shave my body, let alone wax, even after I got married."

Everyone in the room hoots like wolves.

Hana ends up laughing. "I'm being serious." She laughs again. "But I can't believe that I've gotten waxed thrice within three months."

Stacy shakes her head. "I'm sure we'd have to get" – she pauses to change her voice into TWICE's Sana – "more and more and more of this."

"Or better, laser hair removal?" Haein pipes in.

"This kind of waxing is still alright," comments the head cosmetologist, "I can't imagine what would be your reaction when you get a Brazilian wax."

Hana turns her head a full two-seventy-degree to reply, "You've got to be kidding me."

The lightheadedness of the room is intercepted by the ringtone banging out of the iPad in Rubina's hands – DIONYSUS by BTS.

"It's Mira eonnie!" Rubina mentions to Hana and passes the device over to her. Hana holds it against the wall so that every person in the room is visible to the other side of the tab.

The facetime reveals Mira who has probably just woken up. Her eyes are circumscribed by dark rings of tiredness like tea cup stains.

Yet, she is the most delightful person on the earth when she greets, "Hello my dearest-best-gorgeous-talented-amazing girls of WEnUS!"

The five girls mirror Mira's happiness as Haein shoots back a finger heart.

Eyeing the white bath robes and large balloon-shaped dryers over the girls' heads, Mira inquires, "Are you in a salon or something?"

"Ah yes. This is one final spa kind-of thing before debut. Tomorrow we'll visit Music Bank to get an idea of the stage. Day after tomorrow is our first performance."