-2-

With the fast approaching comeback, they had been losing sleep with each passing days. They have been spending their night coming up with the choreography to go with their new song; which proved difficult with their low energy state. Solar, as a leader, proposed a well-deserved half an hour break and the members welcomed that with pleasure. 

Wheein went out of the practice room, saying that she’ll be looking for some light food to eat and Hwasa followed after her. Solar moved to the corner of the room and grabbed her water bottle to replenish her fluids. She sat on the floor and rested herself against the wall, her eyes closed.

“Byulie, what are you doing?”

“A..Ah, I’m going to sleep for a bit. Wake me up when break’s over.”

Solar cracked open one eye and saw Moonbyul lying down on the ground with her arm covering her eyes from the light. Solar pulled herself up and went to switch off the light for the area Moonbyul occupied and sat right back down. She stretched her legs to the front and closed her eyes, falling to a slumber. 

 

Wheein sat at the waiting area near the vending machine with an open juice can in between her hands. Every few minutes, she would take a small sip from her can and leaned against the seat. A cup of ramyun was steeped in hot water at the table in front of her. Hwasa had asked for the favour while she went to the WC to wash her face and freshened up. It worked out well since Wheein had wanted to eat ramyun so they could share and not get their faces too bloated the next morning. 

Hwasa returned to the waiting area and got herself a can of black coffee from the vending machine, sitting across from Wheein. 

“You shouldn’t drink too much coffee,” Wheein advised.

“I know, just a little.”

Wheein opened the lid off the ramyun cup and checked to see if it was ready and after confirming it, she split her chopsticks and dug in. After taking the first bite, she used her chopsticks to take some more and offered it to Hwasa.

“Careful, it’s still hot.”

They continued in this manner until they finished the whole cup and even drank the soup to the last drop. Hwasa cleaned up after themselves while Wheein bought snacks from the vending machine for the unnie-line.

“It’s chilly.”

“Let’s stick together.”


 

Moonbyul was having trouble napping even though the lights above her were off. After a few attempts to get some eye-shut, she gave up in the end and sat up. She looked around and found Solar at the other end of the room, sleeping.

Noticing the cold air, she walked quietly towards Solar with her jacket and covered her legs with it so she would be a little warmer. She even took a muffler from her bag and hung it around Solar’s neck, careful not to accidentally wake her up. 

“Don’t be sick,” Moonbyul whispered as she exited the room to get some air. 

As if she heard what was said, Solar was smiling in her sleep.

Moonbyul crossed path with the maknae-line on her way to the washroom so she told them to be quiet when entering the practice room. They agreed without asking further and Moonbyul continued to walk to the washroom. Splashing cold water on her face would keep her awake and she took the time to see herself in the mirror. Her reflection appeared to be exhausted and her eye bags were getting more prominent. 

She should get used to the concept of losing sleep and working with a packed schedule but it wasn’t easy as she had thought. But she appreciated the busy day because that way she would have little time to have deep thoughts and it will keep her motivated. As a trainee, she had more of the time so she would doubt herself more than she should and sometimes she would have thoughts of quitting. Being with the other three members was what stopped her from actually quitting and she was glad that she decided to hold on.


 

They hadn’t expected to bump into their CEO this late at night and it would seem that he was also surprised to see the girls still at the company.

“Hyejin-ah, Wheein-ah, why are you still here? The four of you are still here?”

“Ah, CEO-nim. We were coming up with our choreography for our song and we’re taking a short break now.”

“But it’s already two in the morning. Aren’t you guys going to sleep? What are you going to do if you collapse?”

“Ah… We’ll be out in an hour or so.”

“This won’t do. Go back home now and sleep. We’ll talk about the choreography in the morning when you’re feeling fresh and well rested,” he decided as he crossed his arms. 

They couldn’t refute him and there was truth in what he said so they promised to follow his instructions and excused themselves. When they were right outside the practice room, they had remembered what Moonbyul had told them so they were hesitating to enter the room, afraid that they’ll wake Solar up. While they were debating whether to enter and wake her up, Moonbyul had returned.

“What are the two of you doing?”

“Byulie-unnie, we met CEO-nim and he told us to go back home,” Wheein started.

“He insisted that we should get some sleep and meet him in the morning after being refreshed.”

“But..?”

“Solar-unnie. What do we do with her?”

“From the looks of it, she’s still fast asleep inside. Should we wake her up?”

“Let’s pack up first. I’ll think of a way,” Moonbyul suggested.

They entered the room quietly and they packed their things into their respective backpacks – Wheein helped with Solar’s stuff and carried it together with her own belongings. 

“Hyejin-ah, can you carry my bag? I’ll piggyback the sleeping beauty to the dorm.”

“I’m fine with it but will you be okay?”

“I don’t feel right to wake her up so my only option is to carry her behind my back. I’m okay with it.”

It was difficult to get Solar on her back without waking her up but she succeeded in doing so; mostly because Solar was a heavy sleeper and she was being very gentle, as if cradling a newborn baby. Wheein pushed open the door and hold it for Moonbyul so she could exit the room comfortably. The maknae-line stayed at the back of the two unnie all the way to the dorm, watching over the two warmly. 
 

Note: I can't seem to write about their crazy antics and the mood in my writing is a little blue. (it's my inner self feeling dreary for no reason)