Wheein stared at her phone, unsure of what to make of the message she had just received from her manager. She was to spend tonight alone as Byulyi had fallen asleep at Yongsun’s house. This would not be the first time that she slept alone as their schedules often ended at erratic times, but despite that, Wheein was used to falling asleep knowing that the older girl would eventually return home.

“Whatever, it’s not like I’m a child.” Wheein mumbled before tossing her phone onto the couch, and making her way into the kitchen, wondering if there would be anything the in the fridge. She sighed upon opening the fridge. There was nothing inside but banana milk and bottle of water.

“Should I order something?” Wheein mused as she took out a bottle of banana milk, opening it after checking the expiration date. She looked at the stack of food menus that she and Byulyi had collected over the years, and began to flip through them.  

“Ah.” Wheein frowned, realizing that her phone was in the living room. She had finally found the menu she liked, but after remembering that her phone was in a different room, her desire for food disappeared. She made a face before putting the menu back where it belonged and slumping in her seat. “We don’t even have ramyun, I can’t believe this.” Wheein muttered before reaching for her banana milk. She continued to sulk until the doorbell rang.

Wheein’s eyes widened when she saw through the intercom that Hyejin was standing right outside her door. She immediately opened the door, and Hyejin walked right in, casually saying hello, before moving into the kitchen to place down what turned out to be bags of take out food.

“Unnie, what are you doing here?” Wheein asked.

“Byulyi asked me to make sure that you were eating.” Hyejin responded, her eyes narrowing at the empty bottle of banana milk on the table. “And now I realize why she worries. Yah, have you eaten anything at all today?” Hyejin frowned, moving to pinch the girl’s cheeks.

“I ate breakfast!” Wheein whined, prying the older girl’s hands off of her face. She wasn’t sure when it happened, but at one point, the older girl had become more physical with her. While Wheein actually enjoyed it, she would never admit that her heart would speed up, and her stomach would do flips when Hyejin held her hand, or hugged her. However, at this very moment, Wheein wasn’t sure how she felt about the older girl being so comfortable around her, as she was now poking at her ribs, and stomach, complaining about how skinny she was.

“You had just a banana for breakfast, pup, I was with you! And Wheein-ah, are bananas the only food you eat?” Hyejin bit her lip, not wanting to yell at the younger girl, but she was also not pleased by how the girl was treating herself. “You know what, we’re not going to think about that right now, okay? Right now, we’re going to eat, and then we’re going to watch stupid movies and cuddle on the couch, and you’re going to tell me how you’re doing.” Wheein wasn’t even allowed the opportunity to respond before she was pushed into the kitchen, where there was a large amount of food that filled table.  

For the remainder of the meal, Wheein was not allowed to speak even once, as Hyejin simply shoved food into the girl’s mouth whenever it looked like she was going to complain. After eating, Hyejin placed all of the empty containers into a large trash bag, and ushered the girl back out into the living room, pushing her onto the couch. Before Wheein could even comprehend what was happening, Hyejin had joined her on the couch, moving behind Wheein so she could wrap her arms around the younger girl’s waist.

“Let’s just relax, okay?” Hyejin mumbled as she began to stream the movie onto the TV, pulling the smaller girl to lean back against her.

“Huh?” Wheein sounded, feeling slightly lightheaded, overwhelmed by the older girl’s warmth and scent.

“Let’s slow down for tonight, yeah? There’s been so much going on.” Hyejin chuckled before carefully pressing a kiss against the girl’s temple, while she ran her hand through the younger girl’s hair.

“Mmm.” A strangled noise made its way out of Wheein’s throat as she shuddered, unsure of what to do with the overwhelming emotions that had begun to well up. She gasped as tears began to fall from her eyes.

“You’ve been holding a lot in, right?” Hyejin cooed, wiping at the tears from the girl’s eyes. “It’s not easy to be doing as much as you are. It’s okay to be tired and to cry, but you haven’t given yourself that time, have you?” Hyejin continued before turning the girl around to properly embrace her.

Wheein’s arms instinctively wrapped around Hyejin’s neck as she burrowed her head into Hyejin’s shoulder, beginning to cry. She hadn’t expected to feel so sad. Hyejin had been quick to notice the fatigue that had begun to show on the girl’s face about two months ago, along with the melancholy that seemed to always linger in the depths of her eyes.

Byulyi had asked Hyejin to keep an eye on the girl, upset that she was unable to be with Wheein as much since the two of them had been constantly promoting with individual schedules. Hyejin had immediately agreed, and that was when she really understood the suffering that the two had to deal with. Neither of them seemed to ever eat, or sleep, properly, and in addition to that, neither of them had friends, or family it would appear, to turn to while tired. Then, there was the pressure that came from their anti-fans, who were really fans of other idols who despised their fame. It had only been a month ago that Byulyi and Wheein had been assaulted by one of those fans, and while the two of them escaped unscathed, Hyejin could only imagine the emotional suffering the two underwent.

Despite the hatred from the fans, along with the almost blatant dislike and disrespect that came from other jealous idols, Wheein never once shared any feelings of hurt. Wheein simply smiled at everything horrible that happened to her, but Hyejin could see that with every forced smile the hope that had once shined within her eyes began to dim. She had looked to Byulyi to see if the girl knew what to do, before realizing that the both of them were simply suffering silently and patiently, together, waiting for an end to their seemingly endless ordeals. She could only wonder how the two had managed to get so far without falling apart, though she was beginning to see that they were tearing at the seams.

Wheein could only cry as she clung onto Hyejin desperately. She didn’t know why she felt so cold, or why she was so upset. All Wheein understood was that she hurt, and that she hated the pain that was blossoming in her chest and gut.

“Unnie, it hurts so much.” Wheein sobbed, burrowing even further into the older girl, finding comfort in her warmth.

“You’ve been through so much.” Hyejin responded as she rubbed her hands soothingly against the younger girl’s back.

“There’s just so much. And--,” Wheein hiccuped, “it’s all my fault, if I could just be better, but I’m such a failure.”

“Don’t say that.” Hyejin frowned before pushing the girl back slightly so she could properly look her in the eye. Hyejin bit her lip, feeling her heart ache at the sight of Wheein’s swollen eyes. “You’re perfect.” Hyejin whispered as her hands moved up to hold the girl’s face, the pads of her fingers brushing carefully against her face to wipe away her tears. “You’re so beautiful.” She continued before pressing a soft kiss against her forehead. “So, stop with these bad thoughts.”

With that Wheein only cried harder before falling back against to older girl. Sobbing into her shoulder while mumbling incoherent words. Hyejin simply held the girl as she cried, gently raking her hands against Wheein’s scalp and through her hair.

“It’ll all be okay.” Hyejin mumbled after Wheein’s sobs finally slowed to the stop as the smaller girl fell asleep, exhausted from her emotional high.

“I’ll always be with you. So, let’s put the lights back in your eyes, okay? The two of you will be just fine.”

A/N: Like always, thanks for reading. I hope this chapter was okay, from here, Wheein's character will be better developed, though the focus may veer back to Byulyi for a little while, but don't worry, the main characters are both Wheein and Byulyi. Comments are always appreciated, so please tell me what you thought about this chapter.