But… it’s impossible. They wouldn’t. She wouldn’t.

Won’t she?

“KYAAHHH I’M GOING CRAZY!”

Minji and Bom stopped what they were doing (which was Minji curling up in a ball trying desperately to hide her novel and Bom pulling it away from her) and stared at her. Chaerin stared back… until an idea came over her. She narrowed her eyes at them. “You wouldn’t know anything, would you?”

“Huh?” the two chorused. Completely unrehearsed.

Chaerin stood up and rounded over the two baffled girls. She glared at them. They stared back, wide-eyed. “Unnie, what is it?” Minji asked.

The leader voiced out the question that is running around her head for days now. “Are Dara-unnie and Jiyong-oppa dating?” She blurted out.

It was eerie quiet in the room.

Chaerin took a deep breath. “Are Dara-unnie and Jiyong-oppa dating?!” She bellowed at the two.

It was Bom who broke the silence first… with an eardrum-splitting ‘AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!’ which was seconded by Minji’s ‘BWAHAHAHAHAHA OMO OMO I CAN’T BREATHE!’

The flustered leader blinked at them before letting out a childish whine. “B-but the fans--!”

“Yah! How could you be bothered by that?” Bom sniggered, wiping tears from her eyes. “I mean, we all know how Dara and Jiyong are in real life! Friends!”

“Also, unnie, it’s not like we haven’t heard of those ‘ships,’” Minji piped up, finally putting down her novel. “There’s DaraGon, Skydragon, Sunsky…”

“Aigoo, Minji-yah. Our leader is just so protective.” Bom laid back into the couch comfortably. “Dara and Jiyong are not dating, Chaerin-ah. You of all people should know that.”

But CL isn’t entirely convinced. “Yah, there are pictures! On Instagram!” She grabbed her phone from the couch and shoved it to their faces. “How can you explain that?”

Minji snatched the bowl of corn Bom was obviously hiding under the pillow and scrutinized Chaerin’s phonescreen. “That guy is Jiyong-oppa, but the girl he’s hugging doesn’t even look like Dara. Also, the photo quality is crappy, so we can’t really tell. Aigoo, unnie. You think too much. ”

Bom chuckled. “Protective Mama Chaerin. If I didn’t know better I’d be convinced that you’re jealous, seeing the way you react. Whomever you’re jealous with, that I do not know.”

Chaerin scowled at the elder member. “What are you yapping about?”

Minji giggled. “What she means to say, unnie, is that the way you’re reacting suggests  a.) you’re crushing on Bigbang leader GDragon, or b.)…” She caught Bom’s eye and winked. “… you’re going lez for Dara-unnie.”’

Chaerin turned her back towards them to fix the couch. “You’re nuts.” She muttered.

“Chaera for the win!” Minji yelled, aiming and throwing her empty corn cob over the trash bin. It went down the bin with a dull thud. “Wooh, three points!” She sang out.

Their leader turned to look at their maknae. “Really, Minji?” She grumbled.

Bom rolled her eyes. “Yeah. But, to be fair, okay. We’re not fully closing the door on that possibility, since there has been an issue about Dara and Jiyong before. If Dalong is indeed harbouring a crush on G-Dragon, can you make her, like, spill it out? She can’t refuse if you do it with aegyo.”

“But Dara is avoiding me!”

That simple statement probably didn’t mean much, but it affected the two greatly. Bom sat up rigid as a board, suddenly tense and nervous; Minji choked on her corn and coughed excessively (which was weird; it should have been Bom with the corn, but, oh well). “W-what? She’s not!” Bom sputtered defensively. Too defensively.

CL sank back into the couch. “Yes, she is,” she whined. “I think she is mad at me for something, I honestly don’t know what, but she never meets my eye and she almost never talks to me, and when I tried to be affectionate she pulls away and runs to her room. And now I see this stupid picture on Instagram and I’m feeling pissed off right now because I am supposed to be the first person to know about these things, but I’m not, because she’s avoiding me and I don’t freaking know why!”

All throughout her frustrated speech Bom and Minji were glancing at each other nervously. The elder nudged her surreptitiously, but the maknae widened her eyes and shook her head.

“I-I don’t think Dara-unnie is avoiding you, unnie.” Minji said brightly.

But Chaerin was not listening. She was focusing on her brain, which seemed to be cooking out an idea. She set her jaw and nodded. “Yes. That’s it.”

Bom saw the dangerous glint in her eye and felt slightly apprehensive. “Chaerin-ah?”

“I need to know if they really are dating, or at the very least, if Dara has feelings for Jiyong.”

“And how are you gonna do that?” Minji asked in a small voice.

The way CL smirked darkly made the two scared of their leader even more. “I’m gonna flirt with Jiyong and see if she gets jealous.”

Bom and Minji looked at her as if she was a mental case. “Th-that’s a bad idea, unnie.” Minji squeaked nervously. Bom could say nothing except “Daebak.”

CL already had her game face on. “I need to know. I’m not the leader for nothing; she can’t hide things like that from me.”

“B-but,” Minji tried to level the situation once more. “You could just ask her straightaway. That would be simpler.”

 Chaerin rolled her eyes. “She’s gonna deny it, I’m sure. If she had exerted such effort in hiding it she wouldn’t confess it immediately.” She glared back at the two. “And if you mention a word about the plan to Dara-unnie, I will personally see to it that you don’t live.” She took a deep breath and sauntered out of the room.

The two were left dumbfounded, speechless by their leader’s actions. Minji gazed at Bom in utter horror. “We… We have to stop her.”

But instead of reciprocating Minji’s facial reaction, Bom was grinning, rubbing her hands in anticipation. Minji scowled at her. “Yah ahjumma! This is serious! This could cause a permanent rift between the three of them! This could even mean a huge scandal!”

Bom shrugged. “Whatever will happen is Dara’s fault.” She giggled. “Aigoo, that pabo ahjumma. She should just have told her!”