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The first time Keqing met Mona, both of them were two out of several newly-inducted trainees of Teyvat Entertainment. She recalled the other girl pointing out how cute it is that both of them wore their hair in twin-tails and somehow, that leads to them exchanging phone numbers and practice schedules. Training days were hard for all trainees, especially with no clear confirmation on whether they are able to debut or not. All of it often leads to a hostile and lonely environment. Thus, Keqing was glad that she was able to find a friend on her journey to achieve her dreams.
Keqing can still recall the day when the debut lineup was about to be announced. She remembered standing in the middle of the practice room while holding Mona’s hands. Both of them were equally nervous yet still wished for the best results for each other. Perhaps it was luck or maybe it was fate but the manager soon announced that Keqing and Mona, along with three other girls, will debut in the same group. Undoubtedly, there were days when she pondered on what would happen to their friendship should one of them debut earlier than the other.
“Well, this is definitely bigger than the trainee dorm room,” was Keqing’s first comment as the two of them entered their new room. After several deliberations (and rock-paper-scissors games), it was decided that Mona and Keqing will be sharing the biggest room in their new dorm while the others have their individual rooms albeit much smaller.
“I’ll say. Even with both of us here, there are still a lot of spaces available,” Mona chimed in.
“You think we can still go on our late-night date to the konbini next door?”
Mona shrugged. “I doubt it but it’s not like we can’t cook here.”
Keqing hummed in response. “I guess so. Maybe I’ll learn how to cook.”
Fan services are common in the idol industry and Keqing is not an exception to that. From making a simple heart gesture to giving the right answer during interviews and fan events, she has prepared herself for all of it. Still, when it comes to Mona, Keqing found it easy to just fall into the rhythm and go along with it.
“My ideal type is someone who can cook because I don’t really like eating outside,” Mona once said during their early radio event.
Instinctively, Keqing opened her mouth and responded with, “That is why I learned how to cook.”
Her response was met with laughter and cheers from her fellow bandmates as well as the host. Though she initially laughed along with the group, she couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat when her eyes met Mona’s, and the latter smiled and winked at her.
In another interview, when each one of them was asked about their opinions on their team members, Keqing said,
“Whenever Mona is around, I always feel calm.”
That was the truth and if anyone were to ask Keqing to elaborate further on it, she would simply explain their history together since trainee days. Mona is the closest thing Keqing has as a best friend and the last thing she wants to do is to burden her friend with her romantic feelings towards them.
It will only get in the way of both of our careers, Keqing thought to herself when finally came to terms with her feelings towards her friend. Thus, she buried it as deeply as she could. She still did her fair share of fanservices and she never once bailed on her and Mona’s scheduled studio session but Keqing merely thought of it as a professional obligation. Never mind the fact that her heart skipped a beat whenever she caught Mona smiling or humming along to her newly composed songs.
As both of their careers progressed, Keqing found herself spending more time composing in the studio and less time attending shows and interviews. In comparison, Mona began spending more time as hosts for several shows as well as auditioning for drama and movie roles. Mona began spending time with other artists - be it seniors or juniors from the entertainment industry - and Keqing began spending more time at the studio. Though the two of them no longer shared a room since they moved to a bigger dorm, they’re still close to one another as Mona often visited her at the studio and Keqing often cooked late-night meals for her friend. The distance is bearable and served as a comfort for Keqing and she was content with it.
It wasn’t until Mona and the manager announced to the group that she will be participating in a joint album with another artist from their company that Keqing found herself bothered with it. She congratulated her friend before excusing herself to go back to the studio. The thought of Mona spending less time with her and more time with someone else annoyed her to no end.
She wanted her friend to be happy and for both of their careers to continuously prosper, she just wished it didn’t come at the expense of her heart and sanity.
“You’re here more often these days.”
Keqing doesn’t even bother turning her attention away from her monitor to greet the speaker. In hindsight, she should have changed the lock combination of her studio to prevent people like Ajax from barging in uninvited. Though he was initially content with being ignored, Ajax eventually finds a way to attract Keqing’s attention.
“Stop kicking my desk.”
“Stop ignoring me,” Ajax retorted. “You’re not even part of the company’s joint album project so why are you always so busy anyway?”
“I like composing. What of it?” Keqing muttered out the best excuse she could come up on the spot.
Ajax hummed in response. “I heard they’re already planning for the next joint project.”
“Do they?” Keqing asked with her finger already hovering over the Save Project button. She’s not going to get any work done with Ajax around so it’s best to just save her current progress.
“Yeah. The manager told me about it,” Ajax said, before he corrected himself, “Well, he told me and the group about it but that’s a very small detail.”
“I take it someone from your group will be participating in it then.”
“Good guess,” the man responded. “It’s still a toss-up between Diluc and me but it should be fun, right? I mean, we rarely get the chance to work with other groups even though we’re technically in the same company.”
Keqing merely hummed in response, unsure of how to properly respond to that. In all honesty, she is not looking forward to the promotion cycle of the so-called joint project mainly because she does not want to see Mona promoted with her partner. However, she can’t exactly voice all of those feelings easily without admitting that she does like Mona as more than just friends or bandmates.
“You’re ignoring me again!” Ajax said as he lightly poked the back of Keqing’s chair.
“Hm?” she merely hummed in return.
Seemingly able to sense his friend’s trouble, Ajax let out a sigh before asking, “Okay, what’s wrong with you? Tell Ajax all of your problems.”
“I don’t have any problems.”
“And I don’t have a crush on my own bandmate so spill!”
That caught Keqing off-guard. Quickly, she said, “That’s the first time I heard you almost admitting to having a crush on your red-haired band member.”
Ajax merely waved his hand, as if trying to dismiss both Keqing’s concerns and allegations. “Stories for another day so what’s wrong with you and Mona?”
This time, it’s Keqing’s turn to sigh. She took a deep breath before answering the question,
“There’s nothing wrong between Mona and me and that is the truth,” she paused to take another breath and continue, “The problem is entirely on me. I like my best friend and bandmate and I don’t like the fact that she’ll be promoting the joint EP with Albedo. That’s it.”
Ajax nodded his head. “So, that’s why you’ve been hiding in here for days now?”
“Well, I also need to work on several songs so it’s a win-win situation for me.”
“So you say,” Ajax said before leaning his back against the chair and tilting his head upwards. “Do you want to know my opinion?”
“Not really.”
“Too late,” he responded. “I think you should still congratulate Mona once the EP is released but until then, you should do some thinking yourself.”
“Thinking about what?”
“About where your feelings will take you. You can only run from them for so long,” Ajax stated, before adding, “Believe me. I’ve tried.”
Keqing decided against pressing for more details about her friend’s love life and settled with a simple, “Thanks. I’ll think about it.”
Ajax shrugged. “I’m not Mona but I would choose Albedo over you anytime.”
Keqing smiled. “I hope Kaeya found out about your feelings for his brother.”
“That’s low.”
“I thought I would be able to find you here.”
Upon hearing a familiar voice, Keqing quickly turned her attention away from her computer screen and towards the studio door. There, standing just a few feet away from her, is her best friend, bandmate, and the love of her life, Mona. She is still dressed in her stage outfit and her make-up is still intact, a stark contrast compared to Keqing’s studio outfit which only consisted of a comfortable hoodie and slacks.
“Hi,” Keqing greeted her in return and watched as Mona took a seat on the other chair in the room. “Did you just get back from the music show?”
Mona nodded her head in response. “How are you, Keqing? I feel like we haven’t seen each other in a long time.”
“True,” Keqing muttered. “We’ve both been busy.”
“That’s true and I really miss talking to you,” Mona said as she fiddled with the hem of her coat. “We’ve come so far from our trainee days don’t we?”
“Yeah,” Keqing replied. “I’ve been doing alright, by the way. Been spending more time composing here in the studio. What about you?”
“I’m doing alright. The music video for my collaboration with Albedo will be released tomorrow so I’ll probably be busier in the next few days to promote the EP.”
Keqing smiles, trying her best to hide her negative feelings towards the collaboration. “You’ll do great. I’m sure you will.”
“Thank you,” Mona said as she grabbed both of Keqing’s hands. “You’ve always been so supportive of me. I’m so grateful to have you in my life.”
“Me too,” Keqing replied in a half-whisper as she gently rubbed her thumb against her friends’.
“And because of that, I’d like you to be among the first people to listen to the title track from the EP,” Mona said as she took out her phone with one hand while the other one still held Keqing’s hand.
Keqing let out a sigh. On the one hand, she is extremely happy to have Mona sitting next to her in the studio and holding her hand. On the other hand, she would rather listen to Ajax rambling about his crush rather than hearing a song sung together by Mona and Albedo.
“Here you go,” Mona said as she handed Keqing one end of her earphone before playing the song.
In all honesty, the song is okay and if it were sung by anyone other than Mona and Albedo, Keqing would probably enjoy it. Both the tunes and lyrics are radio-friendly and Mona’s soprano voice complemented Albedo’s voice really well. However, it is admittedly hard to tune her feelings out when the song lyrics clearly tell the story of the protagonist falling in love with their friend. Once the song ended and Mona asked her about her opinion on it, Keqing merely said,
“It’s good. I like the lyrics. It’s very honest.”
“Really?”
Keqing nodded her head. “You’ll do great and the song will do great on the charts as well.”
“Thank you, Keqing,” Mona said before grabbing Keqing’s other hand. “Do you want to know something else about the song?”
No, Keqing thought to herself.
“Sure. What is it?” she asked, eventually.
Mona smiles at her as she holds both of Keqing’s hands and says, “I wrote this song for you.”
Keqing can feel her heart skip a beat upon hearing it.
“Oh?”
“Yep!” Mona said. “And do you know why?”
“Why?” Keqing asked, feeling her heart pounding rapidly as if it’s going to burst out of her chest.
“Because I love you.”
One kiss on the cheek later and Keqing found herself looking down on her lap, trying her best to hide her blush and say, “I love you too.”
When Ajax entered the studio the next day, he found Keqing crossing her arms as she sat on her chair.
“Did you know?” she asked. Ajax raised his eyebrow. “Did I know what?” he asked in return as he took a seat on the chair next to Mona. “Hi, Mona. Long time no see!”
“Don’t greet him, love,” Keqing quickly said before turning her attention back to her friend. “Did you know that Albedo is dating your bandmate, also known as your crush’s brother?”
“Of course!” Ajax replied.
Keqing smiles while Mona bursts into laughter. “And you knew that since before the collaboration was announced?”
“Of course!” Ajax repeated his earlier words.
“I see,” Keqing nodded her head before she clasped her hands together and said, “I hope Diluc’s next acting gig will have a kissing scene with his on-screen partner.”“Oy, Keqing!”