“Yuju wake up,” Sowon said as she shook Yuju awake. “We’re going to be late if you don’t get up soon.”

“Five more minutes,” Yuju groaned.

“Then I guess I gotta tell the others that you aren’t coming to perform,” Sowon said in distress.

“Wait, no!” Yuju sprung up and ran into the bathroom while screaming, “I’m up!”

Sowon smiled, “Make sure you thoroughly brush your teeth and wash your face. We don’t want our main vocalist to be all crusty looking.”

Yuju laughed in return, “We wouldn’t want that, would we.”

“That would be quite embarrassing for all of us,” Sowon said.

“That tempts me,” Yuju said as she detoured from the bathroom.

“Yuju, no!” Sowon grabbed Yuju and walked her into the bathroom.

Yuju laughed as Sowon picked her up and placed her in the bathroom. “I was kidding, you’re so extra Somom.”

“Somom?” Sowon pinched Yuju’s cheeks. “You’re learning too much from those children.”

Yuju laughed as she pinched Sowon back. “Now get out so I can change,”

“Ok, ok,” Sowon said as she backed away and closed the door.

Sowon looked down at her outfit; she was wearing a white shirt and a light skirt—Eunha really outdid herself. Soon Yuju came out all dressed up and did a little twirl—she was just like a child.

“You seem like such a child,” Sowon said as she laughed.

“I can assure you that I am a very mature college student.” Yuju sashayed past Sowon.

“When did you get so sarcastic?” Sowon laughed. “Those girls seem to be influencing you too much.”

“No, I’m just happy!” Yuju said. “Can’t I be happy?”

“I love that you’re happy, but I can’t handle it if you act like Sinb.” Sowon laughed.

Yuju laughed at the comment. “We should get going, at this rate, Yerin and Eunha are going to get there earlier than us.”

“We wouldn’t want that would we,” Sowon agreed.

 

“Guys look!” Sinb stuck out her leg and ran her hands up her bare leg. “I SHAVED!”

“Wow, congrats,” Yerin said.

“I know,” Sinb said as she wiped a fake tear away.

“Dang it, we came later than Yerin and Eunha,” Yuju sighed as they entered the room.

“That’s because you too so long,” Sowon said.

“I’m sorry,” Yuju said.

“Don’t be sorry, I was only kidding,” Sowon said.

“You made our main vocalist sad,” Sinb said. “Now she’s going to sing our happy song like it’s a stuffy ballad.”

Yuju fake cried. “Sowon how could you,”

“I can’t take this,” Sowon put a hand on her forehead.

Umji let out a small puff of air, similar to a chuckle.

“Well, we can’t really do anything here can we?” Umji said. “We should start heading out or we’ll be late.”

“True,” Sowon said. “But before we head out, I have a present.”

Sowon walked outside to her car and then brought back multiple long, black jackets. “Here you go!” She said as she distributed them.

“Wow, Sowon!” Yuju said. “You didn’t need to get these for us.”

“Its still kind of cold today, plus, isn’t it nice to keep these nice outfits a surprise? Eunha worked so hard on them, we wouldn’t want to spoil the outfits before we actually perform.” Sowon said.

“But Sowon, these are expensive! Where did you get the money? You’re still a student.” Sinb said.

“I borrowed someone else’s money,” Sowon shrugged.

“Wow, they must really care about you, a friend?” Eunha asked.

“It’s complicated,” Sowon said as she shot down the conversation. “Anyways, let’s get in the car, we’re going to be late.”

“Oh shoot you’re right,” Sinb said.

They all walked outside and into the car. Umji looked back at Sowon. She opened to say something… but was it really her place to say anything. She already knew why Sowon was miffed. Should she ask to be kind? Should she ignore it? Should she do something?

What would I do?

Umji sighed and turned around, she was in no place to act like someone she wasn’t. But at the same time, she wanted to say something.

“Hey Sowon,” Umji said. “If you ever want to talk about anything with me, I’ll always be willing to listen.”

Sowon smiled. “Thanks, Umji, I’m fine though,”

Would I press on and ask, or would I just leave it?

“Hey Sowon,” Umji said.

“Yes?”

Umji thought about it for a little bit, “Can I talk to you after our performance? Maybe back at our dorms?”

“Of course,” Sowon said. “But if it’s about English, I can’t really help with that,”

Umji laughed, “Oh don’t worry, I wouldn’t want to burden you that much.”

They all filed into the car—Sinb and Yerin sat in the front, Yuju and Eunha sat in the middle row, and Sinb and Umji sat in the back.

“Let me sit by Eunaaaa,” Yerin whined.

“No, if you two sat together, you’d be all over her and that’s distracting,” Sowon said. “Plus, we are sitting by age so stop complaining.”

“Euna,” Yerin turned towards Eunha and gave her puppy dog eyes, “Don’t you wanna sit next to me?”

“I want to sit by Yuju. Plus, Yuju’s puppy dog eyes are better than yours,” Eunha teased.

“I’m sorry, I’m not as cute as Yuju,” Yerin pouted.

“Aw, I’m sorry babe, did I hurt your feelings,” Eunha said.

Yes,” Yerin stuck her lip out.

Eunha leaned forward and lightly kissed Yerin’s puffed lips. “Now behave yourself, or you might get punished.”

“I’d like that,” Yerin said slyly.

“Omg, get these two a room,” Sinb groaned. “They’re so cheesy.”

“Now you know why I kept them apart,” Sowon said. “Don’t learn from this Yuju.”

“Yes, mom,” Yuju said.

“Don’t call me mom,” Sowon said.

“Alright, maternal mother figure that hath raised me,” Yuju joked.

“You technically said mother twice,” Umji let out a puff of air.

“Yes, and I did not raise you,” Sowon said.

“It sure seems like it,” Sinb said. “You’re such a mom.”

“Sinb do you even have your seatbelt on?” Sowon said.

“Oh shoot,” Sinb said as she put her seatbelt on.

“Hwang Eunbi, we've been on the road for about 10 minutes and you haven’t had your seatbelt on during that time. What if something happened?” Sowon said as she looked into the rearview mirror.

“Exactly my point,” Sinb muttered.

“Don’t you dare mutter,” Sowon warned.

Yerin laughed, “My God Sowon, you’re hilarious,”

“We love you, mom.” Eunha stressed the “mom” in a high cutesy voice.

“You all are going to get a whooping,” Sowon sighed.

“Child abuse,” Yuju gasped.

“Why do I even speak…” Sowon shook her head, but she was smiling.

“Can I use the AUX cord?” Yerin asked.

“Yes,” Sowon said.

“Cool,” Yerin smiled as she grabbed the AUX. She plugged in her phone and played her playlist on shuffle. The first song that came up was “Mine” by Bazzi.

“You’re so fu-“

“WRONG PLAYLIST!” Yerin yelled over the curse word and switched the song.

“Whoa, Yerin I didn’t know you were into that kind of music!” Sinb laughed.

“It’s a good song,” Yerin said.

“I’m kind of curious to see the rest of that playlist.” Sinb teased.

“It’s none of your business.” Yerin stuck her tongue out.

Yerin put on her kpop playlist.

“There we go, that’s better,” Yerin said as Girls’ Generation blasted through the speaker. “Any requests?”

“Lil U-“

“No,” Yerin cut Sinb off.

“Bang Bang Bang!” Eunha called.

“Ok,” Yerin said as she switched the song.

The car felt as if it were shaking under the amount of hype the girls were exerting from listening to one of their favorite songs.

“You know, us coming from one of the most prestigious music colleges, you’d think that we’d be able to debut with some record label with a seven-year contract,” Sinb said.

“Yes, but you forget that our prestigious college is actually private and known to few.” Sowon added.

“You see… why is that?” Yerin asked. “I mean, if it’s so good, then why isn’t it well known? How else are we going to get recognition?”

“If it were known then the school would be bombarded with paparazzi and companies trying to get some girls to sign up for their company.” Umji said.

“And that is a bad thing?” Sinb said.

“A lot of the girls that come here just come to enjoy their talent without the pressures of society.” Eunha said. “So it’s private, but only for those with talent.”

“So for people like us, who want to get recognition, we need to do stuff like this?” Yerin asked.

“I thought we’re doing this for fun.” Yuju said.

“You see, after some thinking,” Sinb said. “It would be kind of nice to get some recognition.”

“Yep,” Yerin nodded in agreement.

“Guys, don’t get blinded by the want for fame,” Sowon sighed. “Plus we’re in college, I’d be hard to juggle our idol jobs and college life.”

“I guess.” Yerin slumped.

“We can only dream,” Sinb sighed.

“If we do good, we can get recognition for being an unofficial group?” Yuju said with uncertainty. “That way we can perform and make new songs for fans, all while not being distracted from our school work by companies high demands.”

“True, that would be annoying…” Yerin said.

“We would be forced to diet…” Sinb said.

“I mean… we still don’t want you getting fat...” Yerin said as she looked at Sinb.

“But at least we don’t have weight checks… so I can hide all my fat on my tummy.” Sinb said.

“True,” Yerin replied. “You are so smart.”

“I know,” Sinb arrogantly.

Umji let out a little laugh. It was amusing to watch the two interact.

“We are here!” Sowon announced as she parked.

“Finally!” Yerin yelled as she jumped out of the car.

“Look! They set up those banners and a small elevated stage!” Yuju pointed at the mini stage with delight in her eyes.

“This is going to be so fun!” Eunha said.

“Is anyone even going to watch us?” Umji muttered under her breath.

Sowon heard and lightly tapped Umji’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, even if they don’t we’ll still have fun, right?”

Umji didn’t know how to really answer to that. She didn’t want to lie to herself and say she was excited, as she really didn’t even know what she was feeling at this moment.
“I don’t know,” Umji replied.

Sowon patted Umji’s back. “Better than hating it, right?”

“I guess.” Umji replied.

“Let’s have some fun,” Sowon said. “We don’t know how long all this will last.”

Umji looked down and nodded. “You’re right,”

“Come on you two! We can’t start without you two!” Yuju called.

“I only have like 10 seconds of lines!” Sowon joked. “I can just join in at any time.”

“Well, no complaining now because you gave yourself your own lines,” Sinb said.

“True,” Sowon said. She turned to Umji. “Let’s go.”

 

The music started playing, the sound of school bells rang through the speakers. Soon they started to dance. Sowon looked at the back of Yuju’s head, but even then she could tell that Yuju was radiating positivity. Sowon smiled.

They continued to dance and sing all while a crowd started to grow. Phones came out and occasional flashes would shine through the dense crowd.

Umji and Sinb met eyes occasionally and Umji flashed a quick smile to Sinb to give a slight illusion that she was having fun. Umji didn’t know if she was supposed to impress the crowd or Sinb. Would Sinb want Umji to show that she was actually just doing it just for the sake of doing it, or would Sinb want Umji to just smile it off? Both options were just awkward, and Umji didn’t know what to do anymore.

Soon they finished their song and the crowd clapped. They all bowed and left towards the car.

“I’m hungry!” Sinb said as she walked next to Umji.

“We’re going,” Yerin said. “As soon as you get your in the car.”

“We’re just leaving?” Yuju asked.

“Yeah, we’re not professional anyways, plus our banner is there so they know who we are at least.” Eunha said.

“True, but right now let’s go get some food!” Sowon said. “We didn’t eat breakfast.”

“I’m starving!” Sinb reiterated.

“We get it,” Yerin said. “Let’s go get some tofu and noodles.”

“Oh! Soon dubu!” Yuju said. “There is this really good place, and they put in whatever you want! We can have really good soon dubu with ramen!”

“That sounds good!” Sowon said. “Is everyone down?”

Everyone nodded as they got situated in their seats.

“Nice, now where is this place, Yuju?” Sowon said as she the engine.

“It’s pretty close! Go down this street and then take a right. I’ll point out the restaurant.” Yuju said.

“Nice,” Sowon said as she began driving with the help of Yuju’s navigation. Sowon soon came to a stop and parked in front of a small little building.

“Awe, the architecture is so cute!” Eunha said as she admired the simple yet strangely adorable building.

“Of course, not as cute as me,” Yerin said.

“I have to disagree with that,” Eunha teased.

“W-what!” Yerin said as she stuck her lip out. “You’re cheating on me with an inanimate complex?”

“Yep, you’ve been replaced,” Eunha laughed.

“So cheesy,” Sinb said as she curled her fingers.

“Like you aren’t going to be cheesy with your partner.” Yerin retorted.

“I’m not,” Sinb said. “That stuff is annoying,”

Umji resisted the urge to frown upon that statement. She liked being rather cheesy with someone she loved… maybe.

“Come on, I’m hungry, let’s go in and eat.” Sowon said as she opened the door.

They all opened their menus immediately after they were escorted to their spot.

They all ordered and waited for their food to come.

“This restaurant smells so good!” Sinb said. “It’s making me impatient!”

“Fatty,” Yerin teased.

“Try me,” Sinb threatened.

“Nah, I’d rather try Eunha. She tastes better.” Yerin said.

“Disgusting!” Sinb replied.

“Ew!” Eunha backed up Sinb’s comment.

“Yerin can’t go one comment without adding something erted,” Sowon sighed.

“How would you know how Eunha taste? Doesn’t she just taste like… regular skin?” Yuju questioned.

“You see, Yuju, when and woman and a wo-“

“DON’T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!” Sowon yelled as she covered Yuju’s ears. “SHE’S TOO INNOCENT FOR YOU TO DEFILE!”

“I wasn’t going to tell her,” Yerin said. “I just wanted to see how you reacted.”

“Were you satisfied?” Sowon griped.

“Yep!” Yerin said.

“The food is here,” Umji said as she saw the tray of bowls coming their way.

The lady put down their food and the table became quiet as they ate. They finished their food quickly as it was utterly delicious.

“I have tasted the clouds of heaven.” Sinb said.

“My god, you sound like a Tumblr post.” Yerin said.

“I am one with Tumblr,” Sinb said. “It’s an aesthetic site.”

“Sure,” Yerin said.

“SOMEONE HOLD UMJI DOWN!” Sowon suddenly yelled. “MAKE SURE SHE DOESN’T PAY!”

Eunha and Yuju both grabbed Umji’s arms and held her like a criminal.

“Here’s your receipt.” The waitress said as she gave Umji the piece of paper and placed her credit card in front of her. She seemed to completely ignore the awkward scene. “Thank you for coming, hope to see you all again.”

“When did-“

“When we came in,” Umji answered Sowon as the two older girls let go. “I didn’t want to waste time watching you all fight over the check… again.”

“She outsmarted us,” Eunha sighed. “But I swear, next time, we won’t let you pay again.”

“I wanted to pay…” Yuju sulked.

“Sorry Yuju, next time.” Umji said.

“I’m watching you,” Yerin said.

“Ok, I get it,” Umji replied.

 

The girls got back into the car and Sowon began driving.

“LET’S HAVE A CELEBRATION PARTY!” Sinb said. “Let’s go somewhere! Drink! Play games! ALL NIGHT!”

“My god, we have a party animal.” Eunha said.

“Why don’t we just buy some alcohol and then play games back in the dorm? Sowon still has to drive, so I don’t want her to be left out.” Yerin said.

“But there is still a slight problem, Sinb is now of age, but Umji is still underage…” Yuju said as she turned to Umji.

“It’s fine, it’ll be fun to watch you guys,” Umji said. “Don’t worry about me, when I turn of age, let’s all go out and drink.”

“You sure?” Sinb said.

Umji turned towards Sinb. She didn’t know if the question of just one of obligatory guilt or if Sinb actually cared.

“Yep, plus, you recently just came to drinking age, enjoy yourself ok.”

Sinb didn’t know how to respond to that. Part of her just wanted to stay out and join Umji with sparkling water, but another part of her didn’t want to push it.

“Ok,”

 

Sowon and Yerin went into a store and came out with numerous and various drinks.

“Hey, Umji, if you want to drink, we’ll allow it.” Yerin said as she sat down. “I mean you’re almost of age, and we won’t tell anyone. If you want to enjoy yourself with us, Sowon and I were talking about how you could probably control yourself.”

Umji hesitated and slightly flinched at the thought of drinking underage… again. “No thank you, I want my first drink at 20 to be meaningful.”

“Such a good girl,” Eunha said. “How could the two oldest be so irresponsible?”

“We were kind of expecting Umji to say no anyways… but we felt bad,” Sowon said meekly.

“Come on, Sowon,” Sinb said. “You’re such a sinner.”

“Sinb, shut up.” Sowon retorted. “I’d say you’re the biggest sinner here.”

“Who? Me?” Sinb said as she blinked innocently.

“I’m going to fight you,” Sowon said as she glared through the rear view mirror.

“Try it,” Sinb said.

“Calm down,” Yuju said frantically. “Sowon, you should concentrate on the road.”

“Sorry, Yuju seems like a little mouse was distracting me.” Sowon said.

“A lanky cat keeps trying to get all up in my face.” Sinb countered.

“Sinb, I will pull over,” Sowon said.

“Square up,” Sinb said.

“Sowon, calm down,” Yerin said. “Don’t let Sinb annoy you. She’s annoying and you know that.”

“They aren’t even drunk, but they are already like this.” Eunha shook her head.

“I’ll make sure they drink the sparkling water with me,” Umji said.

“No! I’m sorry I was wrong!” Sinb said instantly.

“So shallow,” Yerin replied.

“It’s my first time drinking!” Sinb said. “I don’t want to let this perfect drinking day go!”

 

Sowon soon pulled up in front of their dorm.

“We’re here guys!” Sowon said. “Unload and let’s party!”

They all exited the car and brought out their belongings. They situated themselves on the first floor and set the shot classes and cups out while Sowon took out junk food that went well with the various types of alcohol.

“You the MVP,” Sinb said as she slapped Sowon’s back.

Sowon laughed as she slapped Sinb back.

Yerin poured everyone a glass of vodka and a shot of soft drink for Umji.

“To our successful performance!” She said in cheers.

“To our successful performance!” They all repeated as they clanked their shots and downed in.

“How do you like your first drink?” Yerin asked Sinb.

“Shoot! This stuff is strong!” Sinb said.

“That’s the point!” Yerin replied. “I want to see a drunk Sinb.”

They all drank a little more and Umji continued to watch as the older girls slowly grew drunk.

“What game do you have in mind?” Yuju asked Sinb.

“Well, it’s called the King’s game.” Sinb said. “A Japanese game, but it’s quite amusing.”

“How do you play?” Eunha asked.

“Well, we all draw lots, all with numbers except one, that one will be labeled king.” Sinb said. “The king calls out a number or numbers and gives a command and the people have to do what they say or the numbers called have to take a shot as punishment.”

“Seems pretty amusing.” Yerin said. “For Umji, should we do what we did last time? Can’t back down? You fine with that?”

“Yeah, I’m down.” Umji said.

“Of course, if we think of a punishment, you can back down, but don’t expect the punishment to be smooth cruising.” Sowon said menacingly.

“Gotcha,” Umji said.

“If we get bored, we can just move on to different games, so don’t feel pressured to continue!” Sinb said.

Sinb got equally but pieces of paper and then wrote on them. She put them down and shuffled them.

“Ok now, pick one.” Sinb said.

They all picked on.

“Hey!” Yerin said. “I’m the king!”

“Ok now give a command,” Sinb said.

“Right, number… 5, let’s start off easy; tie a cherry stem with your tongue.” Yerin said.

“Guess that’s me,” Sowon said. “What if I can’t tie it?”

“Then you take a shot, obviously!” Yerin said as she got a cherry from the fridge and gave it to Sowon.

Sowon popped the stem in and in 20 seconds, she succeeded. “Did I do it right?”

“Holy- Sowon you must be a great kisser.” Eunha said.

“Really?” Sowon said. “It’s just tongue muscle and flexibility.”

“Exactly.” Eunha replied.

They drew their numbers again.

“I’m king!” Sinb announced. “Now, number 2 and 3, do the pocky game and make the thing small. Don’t be chickens.”

“That’s me,” Yuju said.

“And me…” Eunha said.

“Whoa! Yujuna!” Sinb said.

“Wifey! No!” Yerin cried.

“It’s not my choice,” Eunha replied.

“Just take the shot!” Yerin said.

“Don’t worry, it’s not a kiss, plus I don’t want to take a shot.” Eunha replied.

Eunha put the pocky in and Yuju began biting the other end. Eunha had to avert her eyes as Yuju looked like a little puppy eating a snack. It was quite adorable and made Eunha flustered. Soon she bit off her side when the snack got smaller.

Eunha caught the piece of pocky in her hand and showed it to Sinb. “Happy?”

“I got to see Yerin cry, so yep!” Sinb said.

The game continued on and the girls got drunk with ever passed command.

“Umji, come here,” Sowon whispered as she got up. The other four girls were too drunk to notice.

Umji got up and followed.

“What’s up?” Umji said as they moved into a hallway.

“What’s going on between you and Sinb?” Sowon said.

“What do you mean?” Umji replied.

“Yewon, you know exactly what I mean.” Sowon said.

Umji didn’t dare change the subject with her name, so she just replied,

“It’s complicated.”

“Umji you can tell me,” Sowon said. “I’m here for you,”

“You won’t understand.” Umji said.

“From what I can deduce, it looks like Sinb is playing with your feelings.” Sowon said.

“How would you know that?” Umji said.

“I can read people easily.” Sowon said. “And I know that Sinb has been treating you like trash. And I also overheard her ‘confession’.”

“You did…?” Umji asked.

“Yes, why would you let her treat you that way?” Sowon said. “She absolutely has no right to treat you like that and mess up your feelings! That’s rude! She doesn’t even care that she is hurting you! She’s purposely doing this!”

“Sowon, you know I don’t-“ Umji turned as she heard footsteps. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Sowon said.

“Sowon let’s talk later, I think someone might’ve heard… we can’t have them hearing…” Umji said.

“Fine, but you better explain everything later.” Sowon said. “Don’t worry, whoever it was, they were probably too drunk to even comprehend…”

Umji walked back into the room. Yerin wasn’t drinking anymore—she probably felt sick. Eunha was holding onto Yerin’s hand. Umji looked over at Sinb and thought if only Sinb could love her the way she loved Sinb. Umji sighed for this kind of relationship was for the best… if Sinb fell in love with Umji, it’d make everything worse in the end.

---

AN:

Hey! Finally updated! Hope this update is good! Sorry if it seems like I'm rushing... I don't want to drag this boring stuff out as it's just kinda boring.

I'm kind of iffy on Umb's relationship... and I'm sorry... I should've planned better. Just for this, overlook their overexaggerated and complicated relationship. I swear it'll get better soon!

Sorry if there are typos and stuff for I am writing this late at night...

 

Thank you for reading! See you next update!