“Mav, wake up. Wake up,” DongWoo nudged at Mav.

“Hey, it’s cleaning day, and you know what that means…”, DongWoo continued to nudge Mav for her to rise from the bed. It was only five in the morning but DongWoo was too excited to even calm the down the night before. The dorm was so messy that even the managers freed the schedule of the members for the weekend just so they could clean up.

“Just 10 more minutes, besides, your room is the messiest”, Mav muttered in a hoarse voice, trying to push DongWoo out of her bed. Her efforts were futile due to DongWoo’s heightened excitement and her onset exhaustion.

After a week of finishing deadlines, staying up ‘til three in the morning, and consuming three to five cups of coffee every day, exhaustion finally caught up to her, prompting to her to sleep as early as 7 PM. The other members tried to wake her up for dinner yesterday but remain unsuccessful due to her deep sleep.

“Sshh, don’t wake her up yet”, WooHyun peeked into her room, causing DongWoo to turn around.

“But I was hoping that she’ll go with me to the market with—“, DongWoo replied, only to be cut off by Mav.

“I’m up! I’m up!”, Mav shot up from her bed, raising her hand in the air as if answering a question. WooHyun could not help but laugh at her disheveled her and half – closed eyes.

“But I thought you’re still tired? You were kinda sluggish these past few days, and honestly you could use some more sleep”, WooHyun commented, pointing with his mouth the desk clutter by the window.

“I’ve been longing to taste hotteok and kalguksu”, Mav remarked in an exasperated tone, stretching her arms in the process. “I deserve this kind of reward.”

“The word ‘market’ is more effective than an alarm”, DongWoo laughed, causing Mav to punch him by the shoulder weakly.

“Then you better change your clothes and grab a bite before you get going. It’s gonna be a long day”, WooHyun addressed the both of them before leaving the room, and with that, the two were on their way to the dining area.

“My market buddy for today”, DongWoo triumphantly pointed at Mav, who was about to sit down.

“Are you sure that you would want to take her? You’re going to be buying a lot of things”, SungYeol asked, gorging down a spoonful of rice.

“I can handle it”, Mav reassured SungYeol, earning a high five from DongWoo.

“Just be sure to come back fast”, SungGyu reminded them, putting his plate in the sink as he was the first one to finish his food.

“So, which will we clean first?”, SungJong asked the other members.

“I think we have to wait for Mav and DongWoo hyung before doing anything”, MyungSoo lazily answered from across the room, making his way towards SungJong. Upon reaching him, he plopped down the sofa and put his legs on SungJong’s thighs, earning him an annoyed look from the latter.

“But I think SungJong’s right. When they return, at least we have already come up with a plan”, SungGyu remarked in a thoughtful way, earning a nod from HoYa and WooHyun. Surprisingly, unlike their previous activities, SungGyu was a bit more laid back this time, seemingly letting the others do what they want while waiting. If it were from two years ago, he would have told them to do something productive when waiting like practicing some of their choreography, or even running a few errands.

“We have to divide and conquer then, but I guess for now, let’s start with our rooms”, SungYeol answered without looking up, reading a magazine about the newest models of coffee makers. Out of curiosity, HoYa went beside him and also scanned at the different coffee makers shown in the magazine.

“Alright then! We can start by organizing our things first before cleaning the other areas like the kitchen and living room”, SungGyu remarked, walking towards his room. “SungJong-ie, MyungSoo, let’s go”, he urged, making the two stand up from the sofa.

“Where are they anyway?”, HoYa asked rhetorically, scratching his head in the process.

“Let’s try some hotteok! I’ve always wanted to eat one”, Mav blurted excitedly, holding DongWoo’s wrist on one hand and holding the cleaning supplies at another.

It only took them 30 minutes to buy the cleaning supplies needed such as rubber gloves, disinfectants, and detergent. DongWoo was in charge of which brands to pick while Mav checked the list of the needed items. Surprisingly, they make a pretty great team.

Mav has never been to a market before and only watched featured videos of Korean markets online. She was overwhelmed and fascinated about the variety of food available there. Of course, DongWoo knew this. After accidentally seeing her salivating over a video showing tteokboki, mandu, and gimbap on a hot Saturday afternoon, he knew that he had to take her there.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you so excited by something. Ha-ha! Never knew you were such a foodie”, DongWoo remarked as they waited in line at the hotteok stand.

“I’ve been wanting to taste Korean food for ages. My cousin told me that most of the food here are very savory and delicious”, Mav remarked, looking over the line to see if it’s moving.

As they were waiting for their turn, DongWoo’s phone beeped a couple of times. Noticing it, he quickly fished it out of his pocket and checked the messages.

DongWoo, where are you? – SungGyu-hyung

Are you already on your way? – SungGyu-hyung

Buy some tteokboki and watermelon. WooHyunie’s hungry. – SungGyu-hyung

“SungGyu-oppa?”, Mav asked quickly, reaching for money at her purse.

“How did you know?”, DongWoo asked, bewildered. He was already typing a reply to SungGyu.

“Just figured”, Mav curtly replied, her eyes b with excitement as she reached for the two hotteoks.

“You’re good”, DongWoo answered, flashing a “daaang” look at Mav, to which Mav grinned in reply.

“We need to go now though. A hungry WooHyun is a cranky WooHyun. We just need to buy tteokboki and watermelon”, DongWoo informed her, putting his cellphone in his pocket once again.

“Don’t worry. We’ll come back here”, DongWoo remarked while patting Mav’s hair after seeing her glum face. With that, they already took off.

“Hyung, can you help me move this?” SungJong asked MyungSoo, holding the other side of the drawer.

“Just a second”, MyungSoo answered as he carefully placed the new bed sheets at a chair nearby.

The rest of the members proceeded in cleaning their own room. For SungGyu, he started segregating the trash put out by the others, as well as the ones in the trash bins at the kitchen. WooHyun and SungYeol were working on organizing their closet, while HoYa was busy distinguishing the items that belong to DongWoo in their shared room. As for SungJong and MyungSoo, they decided to reorganize their room by moving their beds and drawers for maximum space capacity.

Like DongWoo and Mav at the market, SungJong and MyungSoo make a great pair. Both preferred to work in silence, with some small talk in between regarding the things they have to organize. Everything was working smoothly, until they decided to move the MyungSoo’s drawer.

Upon moving the drawer, a small black and silver object fell on the floor, producing a subtle sound enough for the both of them to hear.

“Hyung, is that…”, SungJong trailed off, looking at the object on the floor with no intention of picking it up.

“Yeah, it is”, MyungSoo confirmed, tangling the object through his fingertips.

SungJong did not know what to say next. He was just staring at MyungSoo, trying to find out what he was feeling at the moment. He remembered those nights when he trashed the dorm because MyungSoo and DoYeon broke up. It was a bitter memory for him, for he didn’t want to see him hurt like that, a brother who took care of him so much.

“For what it’s worth, she didn’t deserve you”, SungJong uttered in a soft but reassuring tone.

MyungSoo chucked at the thought. Who knew that one person could cause him so much heartbreak, yet he is still thankful for what happened.

“It’s okay, SungJongie”, MyungSoo replied earnestly.

“Thank you… for always having my back”, MyungSoo told him, shuffling SungJong’s smooth hair in the process.

“If you’re that thankful, get rid of all your fedoras. It’s taking too much space in the closet”, SungJong teased, earning a playful glare from MyungSoo.

“Not a chance”, MyungSoo teasingly replied, leaving SungJong to move the drawer by himself while he placed the bracelet in his pocket.

“What took you so long?”, a slightly irritable WooHyun asked Mav and DongWoo, with the pair shrugging off his annoyance.

“Don’t be like that, we brought you snacks also anyway”, DongWoo remarked as he placed the cleaning supplies and the snacks at the middle of the living room.

“Ya! Tteokboki tteokboki!”, SungJong screamed at their room, hurrying to the living room, leaving MyungSoo a few steps behind him.

“O, there’s also chips and mochi”, HoYa remarked, scrambling through the snacks.

“Coffee bread!”, SungYeol exclaimed excitedly, snatching it from the bag.

“Ya! Ya! Help me out here!”, SungGyu shouted, lifting two heavy laundry baskets, and with one swift pull, Mav grabbed the other one.

“Waah”, a look of amazement flashed in SungGyu’s face. “Strong, indeed”, SungGyu patted Mav’s back.

“Got you covered, oppa”, Mav grinned back.

They did divide and conquer. Mav was in – charge in cleaning her room and laundry, together with SungGyu, while SungJong and MyungSoo cleaned the kitchen and dining area. SungYeol and DongWoo were in charge of reorganizing the furniture in the living room, as well as cleaning the floor, while WooHyun and HoYa were in charge of scrubbing the windows and removing the cobwebs in the ceiling. It was an exhausting day, indeed. They ordered take – out for lunch, much to MyungSoo’s dismay, as well as for dinner. Finishing around 6 PM, they took a bath one after another.

Night time came, and Mav was completely exhausted, partly due to cleaning for almost the whole day, but mostly due to lack of sleep. After showering, she dragged her almost limp body to her room, immediately lying her body on the bed.

It was around one in the morning when Mav woke up to get a glass of water. Slowly putting on her slippers, she walked out of the room and headed straight to the kitchen.

Hearing another pair of footsteps, her senses began to heightened, slowly calming herself down. It’s not a ghost, it’s not a ghost, she repeatedly told herself. She spun around and saw that same set of eyes, but more awake.

“Relax. It’s just me”, MyungSoo sensed in a hushed tone. Mav let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Did I scare you?”, he asked in a whisper.

“No, not really”, she lied, holding the glass tightly.

“Then how come you’re sweating?”, MyungSoo remarked, chuckling, as Mav wiped the sweat of her forehead.

“You missed one”, MyungSoo said in a low voice, approaching Mav with close proximity. He wiped that one bead of sweat falling over the side of her face, making Mav take a step back.

“Why are you still awake?”, it was Mav’s turn to ask him. They were still close to each other that Mav could smell MyungSoo’s hair.

“Can’t sleep”, MyungSoo replied curtly, still maintaining their closeness.

Mav couldn’t really move away. In reality, MyungSoo sorta smelled good, it was almost intoxicating. All sense of drowsiness faded away from her, rendering her wide awake.

“Well, now that sleep is gone, what do you suggest to do now?”, Mav asked in a soft voice, mustering all of the strength she had to walk a few steps from MyungSoo and towards the refrigerator, pretending to rummage the contents.

MyungSoo’s reply was short but it caused Mav to freeze on her spot.

“Mav, will you go with me somewhere?”