"…Sorry, everyone."
Momo spoke quietly. Her fingers tightened slightly around the half-eaten protein bar in her hand as she kept her head lowered, unable to meet their eyes.
She had gone a little too far earlier. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even realize everyone was already too exhausted to continue. If she hadn't seen Llana wheezing and struggling to breathe, she might have pushed them into another run-through. Seeing her members struggle just to keep up with her pace made her feel guilty.
Llana blinked, caught off guard by Momo's sudden apology.
Chaeyoung paused mid-bite, her eyes widening slightly in surprise before she slowly continued to chew.
Jihyo's brows furrowed as well, but no one interrupted. Everyone's attention shifted to Momo as she spoke again.
"I didn't even think about everyone's condition. I just kept making us practice non-stop without asking if you guys could still keep going."
Tears began to fall from Momo's eyes. She quickly hid her face behind her hands, too embarrassed to let them see her expression.
She was the oldest among them.
Yet here she was—the one who broke down first.
Weak. Pathetic.
Those words echoed painfully in her mind, and she hated herself for it.
She felt overwhelmed by the pressure of trying to keep up with her group. That was how she had been feeling since last week. She felt like a burden, and it embarrassed her. Sometimes, it even felt like she was just riding on her group's fame instead of earning her place beside them.
She remembered their last group performance, and the memory still made her chest tighten with disappointment. While her teammates had countless fans cheering and screaming their names in support, she had stood there with none.
She couldn't even see a banner or hear her own name being shouted.
Not even once.
She also had the lowest voting support among them. All of her teammates were in the Top 8—Llana had held first place since the beginning, Chaeyoung was in the Top 5, and Tzuyu was ranked third. They all had high rankings, while she was stuck at the very bottom in fifteenth place.
It was humiliating.
She had started as a major member, yet she was immediately demoted to the minor group after the very first challenge. She had only managed to return to the major group now because of her teammates.
They had won an overwhelming victory against Nayeon-unnie's group in the last battle, but she couldn't stop the bitterness inside her.
Deep down, she believed—no, she knew—it was only because of her teammates' popularity. She hadn't contributed anything at all.
The positive comment PD-nim gave about her performance had lifted her spirits. Finally, she had heard something good about her performance. It made all the long hours of over-practicing, all the effort to perfect her dancing, feel worth it.
But that feeling didn't last long.
When the episode aired and the new rankings were revealed, everything changed again.
After their last performance, the standings had shifted. Llana remained in first place, but her lead had grown even wider, creating a huge gap between her and Tzuyu, who had moved up from third to second, as well as the rest of the group. Chaeyoung had climbed to fourth place, and even her own ranking had improved, finally placing her in the Top 8.
But instead of praise, she received harsh comments.
People said she was just being carried—that she only made it into the Top 8 because of her teammates.
Well… they weren't wrong.
Now she was back in a group with Llana and Chaeyoung, and Jihyo had been added too—another powerhouse.
Among everyone in the group, she felt like the most useless one.
She wanted to contribute. She wanted to help them somehow, even just a little. That was why she had been so happy when Llana gave her the chance to help. It was a huge responsibility, but she was grateful for the trust Llana had placed in her by letting her choreograph their performance.
Momo knew Llana could easily do it herself. Choreographing was easy for her—she had even managed to handle everything during their last performance.
So Momo understood.
Llana knew how she felt. That was why she gave this opportunity to her. And because of that, Momo didn't want to disappoint her.
Her voice trembled slightly as she tried to keep it from cracking.
"I know I probably offended you all with my attitude. I'm sorry for not being able to teach you guys properly."
The three of them couldn't help tearing up a little as well.
"I just…" Momo sniffed, wiping her face. "I felt like I had to make our choreography better. I didn't want to disappoint Llana… or your expectations. That's why I became so strict." Her voice softened with guilt. "I didn't listen to your advice or how you were feeling."
They had been giving her tips earlier, trying to help her find the best moves and offering suggestions every time. But she didn't listen. She thought their ideas were too weak, yet the moves she was trying to push also didn't work. It had made her increasingly frustrated, leading her to think irrationally.
Llana felt her eyes sting as she watched Momo hunch over, hiding her face while she cried, making her look small and fragile.
This was her fault.
How could she have been so stupid? She hadn't even considered that giving such a huge responsibility to Momo might be too much for her to handle. If they had more time, Momo probably could have managed it.
But they didn't.
They only had six days to perfect everything.
'I'm such an idiot.'
Sometimes everyone acted so mature that Llana forgot they were still young.
Momo was only eighteen years old.
Giving such a heavy responsibility to an eighteen-year-old was simply too much.
Silence filled the room for a moment. Then Jihyo spoke.
"I'm sorry too, Momo-unnie." She scratched the back of her head awkwardly, embarrassed by how she had acted earlier. "I admit I got annoyed… and a little angry. I felt like you were being too dense to notice that we were already dying here, but you still kept asking for another restart." She sighed sheepishly. "Sorry…"
"Ne… I'm sorry too, Momo-unnie," Chaeyoung added, "We were all so exhausted that we started thinking irrationally. We almost ended up fighting." She let out a small laugh. "I should've stayed more rational too."
Seeing that it was her turn, Llana suddenly stood up.
Before anyone could react—
She bowed a full ninety degrees toward Momo.
"I'm sorry, Momo-unnie. This is my fault too. I gave you the responsibility without thinking about whether you could handle all that pressure alone."
Then she turned and bowed again toward Chaeyoung and Jihyo.
"I'm sorry too, Chaeyoung-unnie. Jihyo-unnie."
The three of them were so stunned that none of them reacted until Llana finished bowing.
"Yah! What are you doing, Llana?!" Jihyo shouted in shock.
"Yah! Why are you bowing to us?!"
Chaeyoung's jaw literally dropped open.
Momo also panicked and quickly stood up before bowing deeply toward Llana.
"I should be the one apologizing!"
The moment she bowed, Jihyo and Chaeyoung looked at each other.
Then—
They bowed too.
"I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry too!"
Suddenly, the four of them were bowing at each other over and over again like a group of overly polite penguins.
"Wait—stop bowing!"
"No, you stop bowing first!"
"You bowed deeper!"
"You started it!"
For a few seconds, the practice room turned into complete chaos as they awkwardly tried to out-apologize one another.
Then Chaeyoung suddenly burst out laughing.
Jihyo followed.
Soon Momo started laughing through her tears.
Even Llana couldn't hold it in anymore.
The tense atmosphere that had filled the room earlier completely disappeared, replaced by warm laughter echoing through the practice room.
"Okay, let's forget all of that and move on. And remember that…" Llana said.
She looked at Momo and Chaeyoung.
Momo and Chaeyoung looked at each other before saying at the same time,
"We're a team. Whatever happens, we move as one."
Llana nodded and continued, "We'll support each other and watch out for one another."
"And now that we've finished apologizing to each other, let's share our opinions."
"Ne~, Momo-unnie. All of us trust you, so don't worry," Jihyo added. She walked over to Momo and gave her a tight side hug.
"You don't have to carry everything alone, unnie. Please let us help, okay?"
Chaeyoung said gently.
Momo nodded.
"Let's practice a little more before we vacate the room. We still have twenty-three minutes left."
Llana immediately groaned.
Chaeyoung laughed quietly to herself.
Seeing Llana complain like that reminded her of Momo during their last group performance—when Llana had been the one relentlessly drilling them on their vocals.
It felt like déjà vu.
"Oh, did you guys see Sana-unnie peeking earlier?" Chaeyoung suddenly said. "I thought our time was up, but she suddenly ran away. Looks like she was just spying."
That immediately triggered Jihyo's uncontrollable booming laughter.
"HAHAHA! I bet she got scared by our mood earlier—that's why she ran away. I wouldn't be surprised if rumors start flying around tomorrow."