Huffing and panting, Ninna entered the practice room on the 12th floor and looked at her watch.
5:59.
She frantically looked around and found only 6 girls in the room. They were in the middle of doing warm-up.
" Lucky... Made it... before... the instruc...tor!!" Ninna rejoiced, falling on the ground gasping for air.
The girls turned in the direction of the voice and were surprised.
"Yup, you are in luck today. the instructor is not here yet. " Said a girl giggling and walked towards her holding in her hand a bottle of water. She was tall, with black hair and snow-white skin.
"What took you so long?" she asked as she handed the bottle to Ninna.
"Thanks, Minha. " Ninna said catching her breath as she sat down, took the bottle, and chugged down the water.
"I was on the roof taking some fresh air. and before I realize it, it was already 5:50. " She said removing her cap and hoodie, revealing her pale face covered in sweat.
"Oh...." Minha paused looking at her. Her face turned dark.
Ninna looked at her in confusion. It took her a while before realizing the reason for her sudden change in mood and answered hesitantly, "Yup, It took me 9 Minutes".
Everyone else was confused not realizing what the two were talking about. Then suddenly, Minha burst out in anger and started to nag her of how dangerous it was to run on the stairs. Realizing what was going on, the remaining girls accompanied her in nagging Ninna. The topic tangentially went from her running on the stairs to her reckless behavior.
Hearing everyone, a vein started to pop on Ninna's head. Gia noticed this and said in a gentle tone, " We are only worried about you Ninna. You are our precious team member. If it was not for you, we would not have come together like this. If something were to happen to you..." she paused for a minute before saying " Just don't do anything reckless again. Okay?" She looked at Ninna with a soft smile. Her words held a deeper meaning.
After hearing her words, there was a long pause in the room. Everyone was lost in their thoughts. The air suddenly felt very heavy.
Noticing this, Ninna rubbed the back of her head with her left hand and sighed."I'm the eldest and I'm being lectured by these youngsters?!" Ninna exclaimed closing her eyes and shaking her head, gaining their attention. "It's like, I'm the youngest!" she exclaimed while pouting as if to retaliate.
Watching her act like a little kid, the girls burst out laughing. She then opened one eye and glanced at the 6 girls and instantly gave a big bright smile.
" But again, that was an amazing feat. You ran down 40 floors in 9 minutes. wow!" interrupted Minha.
"38~." Ninna Corrected her teasingly.
Minha glared at her, as they all started to chuckle. Ninna Just shrugged.
Turning towards Gia, who was now standing next to her, she lited both her hands signaling her to help her. " Shall we start practice," She said with a bright smile plastered on her face. Gia held Ninna's hands and pulled her up. They all agreed and went to their respective positions.
Remembering Gia's words, Ninna's lips curved a little and she thought, 'Precious, huh?'
Anyone who sees this heartwarming scene would have never guessed that just a year ago these girls were at each other's neck.
As they were about to start, they heard a very loud bang from the corridor.