When it came to solving mysteries, Jihyo always applied the three-lightbulb rule.

Although ironically, the rule didn’t involve using fluorescent bulbs and electricity, nonetheless, it was an effective one.

She used it to solve the mystery of the missing food (she had Nayeon to thank for that), the mystery of the strange-knocking-sound-heard-every-12 midnight (Mina had a habit of banging her legs against the wall when she slept), and a whole lot more (she dare not mention the others, for fear of being flayed alive in her sleep).

          Mysteries Solved by the Three-Lightbulb Rule, by Park Jihyo. Yeah, that would have been a bestseller.

          However, the self-proclaimed detective’s latest mystery, baffled her to no end.

          It involved two people.

          Zhou Tzuyu and Minatozaki Sana.

          This case puzzled Jihyo, more so than the others. You see, my dear-probably-now-confused reader, there was no actual mystery between the two.

          (Say what?)

          Neither of them had any strange notable habits that incurred suspicion. Yet, there was an air of “mysteriousness” around them that had their leader’s senses tingling. Jihyo didn’t understand why either.

          Perhaps it all started when the first lightbulb lit up a few months ago.

          They were in the van, the girls still groggy from waking up early. They had a hectic day ahead, what with a live television performance and a radio show guesting crammed in the same day.

          Half of the Twice members were already falling back asleep, the other half eating their breakfasts. This left the car in silence (save for the munching of food). Jihyo drowsily ate her salad, blinking hard, to make sure she wouldn’t fall asleep while doing so. Momo was leaning on her shoulder eating a sandwich with her eyes closed (Jihyo hoped she wouldn’t choke). On her other side, Dahyun was conked out flat.

          She could hear the rustle of plastic in the row in front of them, where Chaeyoung, Sana, and Tzuyu were staying. Tzuyu leaned against the window, probably sleeping. Sana and Chaeyoung were busy eating. In the back row, Mina, Nayeon, and Jeongyeon were all asleep with the curtains drawn.

          “Did Tzuyu eat breakfast?” Jihyo heard Sana ask Chaeyoung.

          The rapper shrugged, obviously more preoccupied with her own meal. “The only one I know who ate is Mina-unnie,” she replied with full. Sana nodded.

          “I don’t think she did,” Jihyo piped up, “there were hardly any dishes I saw at the sink today.”

          “Ah.” Sana nodded pensively.

          They fell back in silence. Jihyo was feeling more energized, now that she had eaten breakfast. She kept her dirty dishes and leaned back to take a short nap.

          “Chewy-ah,” she heard Sana say cutely. Jihyo opened her eyes to see Sana gently poking her companion awake. She watched as Tzuyu slowly woke up to the soft prodding of her cheek.

          “What is it?” she muttered sleepily.

          “Tzuyu, you need to eat,” Sana held up a Tupperware of food. The elder whined as Tzuyu’s head fell back again, tiredness overtaking her.

          “Tzuyu!”

          After a moment of Sana failing to wake Tzuyu up, Chaeyoung decided to in.

          “Unnie, you should just let Tzuyu starve to death, “ Chaeyoung teased to wake their maknae. It worked as the Taiwanese sat up straight and attempted to pinch the rapper, who managed to dodge her long arms.

          “Tzuyu,” Sana leaned to stop Tzuyu from getting to Chaeyoung, “you really should eat.”

          Tzuyu pouted and sat back, closing her eyes. “I don’t want to eat. I want to sleep,” she insisted stubbornly. Jihyo stifled her laughter at the thick-skinned maknaes and their worried unnie.

          “You have to eat breakfast!” Sana worried, “It’s the most important meal of the day!” She then began enumerating a bunch of scenarios (scary ones) that could happen if one skipped a meal. Not one of them did not happen to breach the subjects of hospitals and surgery.

          Tzuyu opened interrupting Sana’s tirade, and Jihyo thought she was going to say something, but she left it open.

          “What are you doing?” Chaeyoung asked, confused.

          “I’m waiting for Sana-unnie to feed me,” Tzuyu answered with her eyes still closed. And with that, Jihyo bursted out laughing at the blatant shamelessness of the girl. Sana (who quickly overcame her shock) and Chaeyoung were shaking with laughter.

          Momo fell away from Jihyo’s shoulder and began snoring.

          “Feed me,” Tzuyu repeated, voice taking on a whinier note. Sana nodded and patted Tzuyu’s head.

          “Here comes the train  ~ , “ Sana said as she placed a mouthful of food in Tzuyu’s mouth. Chaeyoung was laughing really hard now. Jihyo couldn’t help but notice the self-satisfied smirk Tzuyu had on her face, as she munched her food.

          After a moment of chewing, she opened again and Sana fed her. The cycle continued on for a while, until at last, Sana was wiping Tzuyu’s face with a napkin, and Chaeyoung was calling Tzuyu a big baby.

          A strange feeling overcame Jihyo. A nagging, suspicious, yet familiar feeling. Something she had experienced before.

          It was, in the aftermath, that she realized the first lightbulb was on.

          Yet, strangely, she couldn’t explain why or how. No matter how much she pondered, the space was left blank.

          Eerily, Jihyo later thought, she never realized there was a puzzle to begin with until the first bulb lit up. All she knew was that it all centered around Sana and Tzuyu.

          From then on, Jihyo kept her eyes wide open for any possible signs.

But days passed, and then weeks, and the second bulb never lit up. That was when the leader decided that perhaps it was due time to stop staring at Sana and Tzuyu and acting like they were undercover vagrants.

Once, Tzuyu caught her staring when she was brushing her teeth, and gave her a confused frown (Thomas, are you okay?). On the other hand, if Sana noticed anything odd about her behavior, she didn’t say anything (although Jihyo noticed that Sana would purposely leave the room whenever the two were alone).

Maybe she was getting too into character?

Just when Jihyo decided that it was high time to hang up her Detective Conan inner alter-ego, the second bulb lit up.

It happened after they finished an advertisement photoshoot. As soon as it was done, the Twice members and the staff were all eager to get to the cars. Jihyo bounded happily down the lobby with Jeongyeon in tow.

“Let’s go homeeee!” Dahyun stretched out her arms, and Momo placed an arm around her, as if saying that she sympathized with her.

However, much to their chagrin, they were greeted by strong rain and heavy winds the moment they stopped out of the building.

They all shivered and pulled their jackets closer to their bodies. Jihyo was glad that she was wearing long pants, as she watched goosebumps start to appear on the exposed skin of her arms.

“L