She coughed, her chest hurts as she laid back down on the couch, watching the television. The girls would have finished their event by now and their schedule would ease up a bit. The commercial went on to show the next episode of We Got Married and Moonbyul groaned in agony as they previewed the next episode of Solar and Eric. 

At least she looked pretty, thought Moonbyul, then switching the channel. She sat up and swiped her phone, reading and going through her messages. There were a few from Wheein, sending her pictures of them having fun at the event. She smiled as she looked through them one by one. In one of the pictures, she noticed Solar standing by her own, over looking the crowd behind them. Even with a candid picture taken, she still looked breath taking with that smile of hers. 

"Damn it" cursed Moonbyul, throwing her phone away, her hands covering her face. 

Her door bell rang and she got up reluctantly to see who it was. After peeping through the peep hole, she forgot that Seulgi was coming over. Moonbyul opened the door and was greeted by her ever charming smile. She gave a weak one back and invited the girl inside. This wasn't the first time Seulgi came over. The girl knew her way around and made her way to the kitchen where she grabbed a bowl and transferred the porridge from the thermos. Moonbyul watched as the girl prepared the food for her and sat at the kitchen table. It felt nice to be taken off. Seulgi turned around and placed the bowl in front of her. 

"Where's the spoon?" asked Moonbyul, looking at the girl in front of her. 

"You're looking at it" she smiled teasingly, twirling the spoon in her hand. 

Moonbyul laughed as Seulgi scooped a small portion of porridge from the bowl and gave it to her to eat. She opened willingly and took a bite. It went on till she has had about five spoonfuls of the porridge. Seulgi watched as the rapper continued eating with content. She smiled as her heart swelled with emotions being able to spend time like this with Moonbyul, away from the world. Seulgi had her fair share of reactions when the article came out. Her members cornered her and asked her what else they did that night and were saddened by how innocent and cute it was. Irene gave her advice on how to be careful with her emotions. The leader of Red Velvet told her not to leave herself so bare and open and that she will only get hurt. 

"Do they know where you are....?" asked Moonbyul. 

"Nope...I only told Wendy... She caught me sneaking off" replied Seulgi. 

"And....?" said Moonbyul. 

"Nothing... she said nothing so i pretended that i was headed somewhere else" Seulgi said with a shrug. "How are you feeling?"

"Slightly better" smiled Moonbyul. "Thanks for the porridge Seulgi" 

Moonbyul protested when Seulgi grabbed her bowl to wash, the girl told her to stay put and the rapper obliged. Just watching the girl doing dishes in her kitchen made Moonbyul run wild with imaginations. What if after all this is over, when they have achieve everything that they wanted to and could finally reside at having a peaceful life, could she possibly spend it with her. It didn't seem like a bad idea. Whenever Seulgi was around, it made her forget and guilty at the same time. 

"Kang Seulgi" she called out. 

"Hmm.....?" the girl responded, turning off the running water. 

"You wanna quit being an idol and stay here with me?" Moonbyul said jokingly. 

Seulgi halted her movements and turned to look at her. Moonbyul got up and headed over to where she was standing and took the bowl from her hand. She wiped the utensils and opened the cabinet above her to place it back. 

"I got rejected huh" Moonbyul smiled sheepishly. 

"Unnie...." she breathed out as if holding it on for the longest of time. 

"It's okay... I won't tell anyone that Kang Seulgi rejected me" laughed Moonbyul. 

She turned to close the cabinet when she felt the younger girl leaning into her and hugging her from the back. Yongsun used to do that, she remembered. The leader spent her time here when they had nothing left to do and she was too lazy to head back home. Yongsun would wrap her arms around her waist and called her husband in a cute and teasing manner that left Moonbyul crazy the next moment. Moonbyul placed her hand on the girl's arms and sighed. 

"Byul ah...." 

The two of them turned as Seulgi quickly let go and quickly stood next to her. As if caught in a indecent act, Seulgi's cheeks grew hot and pink as the three members of Mamamoo stared intently the two of them. 

"Seulgi... you're here too!" Hwasa tried to break the tension. 

"O-oh... she bought me food" said Moonbyul. 

"That's so sweet!" continued Wheein, urging Hwasa to say something next. 

"Oh...." said Hwasa when she saw her best friend's gesture. "We bought food too....chicken.... have you eaten Seulgi?" 

"Well...." Seulgi tried to say when Moonbyul grabbed her hand. 

"She hasn't eaten yet" the rapper said quickly. 

"Great! Then we can have a chicken party!" said Wheein excitedly, pulling Hwasa into the kitchen to help her unpack. 

Seulgi and Moonbyul sat next to each other while the maknaes sat opposite each other which left Solar sitting in front of the two of them. As much as she hated to admit it, they looked good sitting next to each other. Before then, Solar would be the one who would sit next to Moonbyul, tearing chicken meat for her while they ate and chatted. 

"Let's eat!" cheered Hwasa, picking up a drumstick from the pile. 

They ate and chatted like they usually do with Moonbyul desperately pushing any awkward feelings away. Instinctively, Solar teared away a piece of chicken and held it out for Moonbyul to eat. It went dead silent the next as the two maknaes stared at each other then to their two unnies. Solar realizing what she had done, tried to retract her arm but the rapper leaned forward and took a bite and went back to sitting next to Seulgi. 

"Geumawo....unnie" Moonbyul smiled and took a sip from her drink. 

As it was getting a bit late, Seulgi headed home first as she had a show recording to do in the morning. Moonbyul walked out towards the door and thanked her again for the porridge. The younger girl smiled and leaned up to kiss her, this time nearing her lips. 

"You're getting bold" said Moonbyul. 

Seulgi smiled and waved goodbye before getting into the elevator. Moonbyul closed the door and headed back into the apartment where the two maknaes were already cuddling on the sofa, laughing god knows about what. She smiled and turned to the kitchen where Solar was cleaning up after them. Moonbyul headed to the balcony of her apartment as stared out into the night sky. She watched the city lights, some of them flickering, hearing the sound of cars passing by, too distracted to notice Solar now standing next to her. 

"Here...." said Solar, handing her a can of beer. 

"Thanks" Moonbyul took the drink from the leader. 

"I'm sorry...." Solar started out when Moonbyul held up her hand. 

"We don't have to do this Yongsun ah...It's already bad enough we fought in front of the two of them" Moonbyul gestured to the maknaes inside, already dozing off on her couch. 

"Did you mean what you said...?" asked Solar. 

"About what....?" said Moonbyul. 

"Regret having feelings for me... that i brought you misery than i ever did you happiness...." said Solar. 

"I never did" said Moonbyul, taking a sip from her can. "I'd be crazy to" 

"I'm sorry i made you feel that way. I never meant to hurt you. It was selfish of me to treat you that way and honestly Yongsun ah...I'm tired of feeling this way" 

"What does that mean?" asked Solar, looking up at her. 

"It means...I'm done" Moonbyul turned to smile at her. "I'm done having feelings for you" 

Tears escaped her eyes hearing those words coming out from the rapper. 

"O--oh....." Solar mumbled, turning her face away from the girl. 

"But that doesn't mean i'll stop being your friend" continued Moonbyul. "For my sake, please be honest with Eric, he's a nice guy" 

Moonbyul headed back inside and went to fetch a blanket to place it over her maknaes. Solar stood there, crying silently as she turned herself away from them. What made her confused was, if she had decided on liking Eric, then why does hearing that from Moonbyul caused her so much pain.  

Things went back almost to normal. Moonbyul was actively making covers causing the fans to go crazy at her song choices, asking her if she was dedicating them to anyone personally. They played the cat and mouse game, Moonbyul was sometimes seen with Wheein and if not one of her members, it would always be with Seulgi. Solar was busy with filming and they hardly got to spend much time with her, so they resulted to group texting whenever they could. 

"It's a music radio show program called Connect. For some reason the CEO begged his friend to let you on into a slot" said their manager, in the car. 

"I've heard of that show.... isn't that where they get different groups together to talk and stuff?" said Wheein. 

"Yeah...Connect is fairly new. It's gaining attention though, they had TWICE and G-Friend over last week" said the manager. 

"So... who are the other guests?" asked Hwasa, looking up to the manager. 

"Red Velvet" announced the manager, smiling at the rear view mirror, looking directly at Moonbyul before turning her attention back to the road. 

"You're joking..." Solar whispered under her breath. 

Solar wished it was a joke, but it wasn't. The closer they got to the venue, the more surreal it became to her. How long is she supposed to tolerate being in the same room as Moonbyul and Seulgi. They got off the car and followed their manager whom later introduced them to the DJ. 

"Oh...Bora unnie?" said Moonbyul, after realizing who the DJ was. 

"Ohhhh!! Yaedeul ah!" called out Bora, opening her arms up for them to embrace her. 

"You're the DJ...?" asked Solar, standing next to the rapper. 

"The one and only. Go right ahead and settle down, the show will start in about 10 minutes or so" smiled the comedian. 

They took their seats at the right side of the room. Hwasa sat next to Wheein followed by Moonbyul and then Solar. The rapper was intently listening to the maknae's conversation about Wheein's collaboration with Heechul when Red Velvet came in, greeting everyone along the way as they made their way over to their designated seats. Seulgi took her seat opposite of Moonbyul and flashed her a smile causing the rapper to fluster at the sight of it. Noticing this, Solar sat closer to Moonbyul. 

"Angyeonhasaeyeo to all the listeners tuning into Connect! I'm your DJ, Shin Bora, joined together by two loveliest of female groups for today's segment. Ladies please introduce yourself" announced Shin Bora into the microphone when the show began. 

Mamamoo did their usual introduction followed by Red Velvet, they exchange simple and formal ways of greeting before Bora moved onto the next following topics. 

"You guys know each other right...? You're pretty close?" Bora started out, looking to Irene. 

"Yes we are. We have a kakao chat group called Mamavelvet. Everyone's inside and we chat when we usually can" said Irene who is always all smiles. 

"That's really refreshing to hear, how did you guys managed to be so close?" continued Bora, wide eyed with fascination as ever. 

"It just sort of happen, you know when you see each other on music programs, we greet each other and stuff and our groups just hit it off well with one another, plus we like Mamamoo's music and we take them as an example to be creative and bold with ours" said Wendy. 

"During our own separate promotions, we send messages to each other, you know to support and provide words of encouragement and things like that" said Wheein. 

"I like it that you guys are sincere with each other, nowadays you see some malicious comments going on about how girl groups are pit against each other in terms of who is better, music, looks and whichever. It's nice that you guys play well with each other, are the fans taking notice of this?" said Bora. 

"The fans are certainly taking notice of it, i saw it in a forum once where they compiled our interactions on stage and commented that it's great that Mamamoo and Red Velvet are close friends" piped in Hwasa. 

"Speaking of close friends, i heard from the producers inside that recently, Moonbyul and Seulgi were caught on a date" Bora raised her eyebrow suggestively. 

The members from each group made teasing sounds, all except Solar who tried to maintain her smile. Seulgi was already blushing profusely next to Wendy and Moonbyul kept her head down. 

"Tell us a bit about your date!" suggested Yeri, a little to excited. 

"Yes! Let's hear about your date!" agreed Bora. 

"We just had dinner and hang out for a while, there's really nothing much to talk about" said Moonbyul, trying her best to keep a straight face. 

"Oh!" called out Wheein causing the rest to look at her. "They have matching phone covers!"

"Really...?" said Bora. "How do you know Wheein-shi?"

"The other day, Moonbyul unnie was sick so she stayed at home. After our event, we went over to her house with food. But Seulgi was already there. She bought porridge for our unnie and while we were eating, i noticed that Byulyi unnie's cover is the same as Seulgi's" 

"Ohhh!!!" Bora said excitedly. "But Seulgi-shi, why were you at Moonbyul's place?"

That question prompted a whole lot more teasing from the Red Velvet members. Solar was already feeling uncomfortable with it. She fidgeted in seat and tried to be actively listening into their conversation. Noticing this, Moonbyul like she always did, reached out for her hand and held it tight in hers. Solar was caught with surprise, seeing the gesture from the taller girl. It had always been a thing that Moonbyul did when she was feeling nervous. She just holds onto her hand wait till Solar catches her breath and calm down. 

"B-because of the event we had... I saw Mamamoo but i didn't see Moonbyul unnie... so i texted her asking what happened, are you sick?" Seulgi went on to explain. 

"Oh so you were concerned that she wasn't there...? So... then you went to her house?" asked Bora. 

"Seulgi texted me saying that she'll come over with porridge and i didn't expect her to but she did, so i was really thankful" said Moonbyul. 

"What is this...?" Bora said with a laugh. "Are you guys going out with each other?" she jokingly went on. 

Solar held onto Moonbyul's hand tighter when she heard Bora saying those words. Although it was just for show, if Moonbyul says something to agree with the statement, then it's confirmation for her. She didn't know why she was reacting this way but she hung onto her girl's hand for dear life. 

"Unnie... they already went out several times already" Wheein said suggestively with a hint of aegyeo causing the recording room to erupt in laughter. 

She laughed along with them, but occasionally glancing down to her hand where the leader was still holding tight to it. Their conversation went on filled with jokes and laughter, everyone enjoying themselves. 

"You know i've got to ask this question now that you're all here, if you guys, which members would you date, any of you" said Bora, looking at all of them. 

"I would go out with Solar" said Irene. "She's beautiful and i think her voice is amazing. Solar is really one of the nicest person i've ever met"

"Awww" the leader smiled and thanked her friend. 

"Then Solar shi, who would you date?" asked Bora, now looking towards her. 

"That's easy, Solar unnie would pick Moonbyul" interrupted Hwasa. 

"Ah really...? Is that why they're always seated next to each other?" said Bora, smiling at them. 

"Our group is like a family really. Solar's the mum and Moonbyul unnie would be the dad. Wheein is the older sister and I'm the younger one. Sometimes Byulyi unnie would address me and Wheein as kids" said Hwasa.

"That's right" piped in Yeri. "I've heard Moonbyul calling them that, i think that's cute"

"Oh so you play family within the group, that's cute" commented Bora. "Then what does Solar call her from time to time?"

"Yul sseobang...?" said Wheein, looking at Moonbyul, who just nodded. 

"Well because...we don't get to see our family as often, we play family just to try and fill the void. And yeah we call the maknaes our kids, because they are kids. Byulyi and I make sure they don't feel too homesick or anything" said Solar. 

"Ohhh i see...well then Wendy, who would you pick from these girls to date if you were a guy?" continued Bora. 

"Ohh...I'd pick either Hwasa or Wheein. Because Hwasa is ridiculously talented and i like the way she plays with her voice when she performs i think what she does is so good. Wheein because she's extremely cute and funny" said Wendy, causing the girls to laugh. 

"Seulgi-shi..what about you?" Bora looked to her.

Seulgi looked up and made eye contact with the rapper who smiled at her. It was obvious enough everyone could see who her choice was. They laughed and Moonbyul blushed while the other girl hit her unnies to make them stop teasing her. 

"Byulyi unnie is both cool and beautiful and she has a lot of female fans mainly because strangely enough, she's charming and she knows what to say" Seulgi explained her reason. 

Everyone in the room agreed causing the rapper to blush even harder. Bora wrapped up the show nicely thanking both groups for making time to attend her show. The girls bowed and took pictures together to commemorate their time together. The members of Red Velvet pushed Seulgi next to Moonbyul who wrapped her arm around her shoulder and pulled her in closer when Irene took the picture from her phone. 

"We should have dinner together since we all have time" suggested Wendy. 

"I'm okay with that" agreed Hwasa. 

Everyone was available except for Solar, she had a shooting to do with Eric for the show. Another shooting, another date. The girl stared down at her phone where the text said can't wait to see you. She didn't bother to reply because her attention now was all on Moonbyul who was busy talking to Yeri and Joy. Her manager called for her and told her it was time for her to go. The others said their farewells to her and told her to say hi to Eric. Irene gave her a hug followed by the rest of Red Velvet's members. 

"Have fun with your husband today" smiled Wheein. "We'll see you afterwards maybe" 

The maknaes joined in on Red Velvet's conversation and began their silly antics again, leaving Moonbyul and Solar standing opposite each other. 

"See you...Yongsun ah...Tell Eric i said hi. Have fun on set" Moonbyul gave her a small smile. 

As the rapper turned to join her maknaes, Solar reached out for her hand. 

"Tell me not to go" she muttered under her breath. 

Moonbyul turned to look at her. Solar had been fighting tears this whole time as she desperately looked at the girl in front of her. To her disappointment, Moonbyul shrugged her hand off. 

"Manager unnie is waiting...you need to go..." said Moonbyul. 

"Unnie..!! Hurry!" they heard Seulgi calling out for the rapper. 

Moonbyul's reaction faltered as turned and told them to wait for her. 

"I'll see you around" she said and walked towards the group, leaving Solar behind.  

She walked away with a heavy heart, her steps echoing in Solar's ears as she watched the girl slowly disappeared from her eyes. Like a scene in a drama, she turned as tears strolled down her cheeks, her manager already waiting in the car. Solar wiped her tears and sat in the vehicle quietly. 

She never thought she would result to this, pathetically crying. She didn't even feel like staying around after the shooting. She told Eric she was feeling unwell and he understood. He send her off like the good husband he is and wished for her speedy recovery. 

"Unnie...do you wanna go somewhere for a drink?" she asked her manager. 

"What...?" her manager looked at her. "I thought you said you were feeling unwell" 

"I am...that's why i'm asking you, do you wanna go for a drink?"

The manager pulled over and parked next to those typical ahjumma huts where they served skewered fish and chicken and spicy rice cakes. Solar ordered a bottle of soju and downed her first shot without offering one to her manager. She decided not to drink and watched as the idol drowned her misery. 

"I thought i had it all planned unnie... i did, and i got it. Be a singer, be humble, be happy. I never expect....." she said, silencing her sobs.

"To fall in love...." 

"You don't know how hard i tried unnie... i thought it would go away but she just made it harder and i was scared. I was scared of feeling for someone else, especially when that person is a member of my own group" 

Solar poured another drink and downed another shot. 

"She thinks i don't feel for her... i do...oh boy i do..." Solar cried, wiping away her tears with a sad smile on her face. 

"When they told me...i was going to be on that show...i thought maybe i could get rid of what i felt for her...but...now..." she trailed off. 

"Now...she's fallen for someone else and it's all my fault. Because i wasn't brave enough. I wasn't honest enough" 

Her manager listened, that was the only thing she could do for the broken hearted girl sitting in front of her. Solar slept silently in the passenger seat as her manager made her way to Moonbyul's apartment. She helped the girl out of the car and slowly made her way up. 
Moonbyul was just about to turn off the lights when she heard someone ringing her door bell. It was already night time so she wondered who could it possibly be. Opening the door, she was surprised to see her manager unnie and Solar clinging onto her for dear life. 

"Unnie??" said Moonbyul, opening the door wider for the two of them to come in. 

"She couldn't stop mumbling your name... so i thought i brought her over here to sleep....it's the nearest" said their manager, handing over Solar to her. 

"Did they let her drink? Unnie, you know her alcohol tolerance is really low!" Moonbyul said angrily, carrying Solar to the couch. "Didn't her husband stop her or something?"

"It wasn't with the crew....she drank by herself" explained her manager. 

"What...? She drank alone? Ah Unnie, how could you let her drink alone!" Moonbyul went on, taking off Solar's shoes.

"Byulyi....is that you....?" the leader mumbled, tossing and turning around in Moonbyul's arms. 

"Yah yeba! Stop moving, i'm trying to get your other shoe off, pabo" she chided the older girl that only chuckled in response. 

Once she got Solar settled on the couch, Moonbyul walked her manager to the door. She placed her hand on the rapper's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze and a sympathetic smile. Their manager took off, leaving Moonbyul to wonder what she meant by doing that gesture. 

"Byulyi ah..." she heard the girl calling for her. 

Moonbyul sat at the edge of the couch and placed Solar's head on her lap. Her fingers naturally going through the girl's hair. 

"Why did you drink so much you pabo. You know you have a schedule tomorrow" said Moonbyul. 

"Because it hurt...." she heard the girl mumbled. 

"What did...?" asked Moonbyul. 

She wasn't sure if the leader was conscious to know they were having this conversation or the fact that she was in Moonbyul's apartment. Still she listened to what the leader had to say. 

"It hurt to see you smile because of someone else....I wasn't the one...I wasn't the one...."

"You're drunk Yongsun ah, go to sleep" 

"I'm sorry...."

When Moonbyul tried to get up, the older girl held her down. 

"I'm sorry Byulyi ah"

"What are you sorry for, yeba?"

"I'm sorry i wasn't brave enough to receive your feelings...."

"Kim Yongsun.....you...."

"I should have told you i liked you too"

Before Moonbyul could respond properly, the leader was already snoring away. She knew that when morning came, Solar would have forgotten everything she said to her.