2. You have to put your members' individual feelings into consideration

 

Nayoung woke up one night with a growling stomach and a parched throat. As much as she wanted to go back to sleep and doze off again, she knew she had to attend to her basic needs if she wanted to keep her health in check.

 

Begrudgingly, she stood up from her bunk bed, heading for the door and opening it, careful not to wake her other roommates up. She padded to the kitchen, but when she was a foot away, she heard soft sniffles.

 

Nayoung was puzzled. For starters, who would be awake at like 2:27 A.M and probably be sniffling? Second, why was that person crying? Third-

 

Nayoung didn't have the time to ponder more when she finally turned to the junction between the kitchen and the hallway.

 

She was shocked to see Jieqiong sitting by the counter, cereal and milk in front of her. Jieqiong, however, wasn’t eating and just continued to stir her food, sniffles filling the silence of the dorm.

 

Nayoung felt sorry for the Chinese girl. Jieqiong was one of the strongest girls she has met in her life. Her happy go lucky personality was enough for the people around her to be affected by her happy virus. Despite this, Nayoung knows Jieqiong can also have sad times. Like now.

 

The leader approached her slowly and when she was within arm’s reach, she placed her hand on Jieqiong’s shoulder, effectively drawing the girl out of her stupor. She heard the girl inhale and saw her wipe her tears before facing Nayoung.

 

“Oh hey, unnie.” Jieqiong smiled softly, and although she was smiling, Nayoung knew that deep down Jieqiong was hurting. With what? She did not know. All she knew was that she should get to the bottom of this and help Jieqiong solve her problems.

 

This wasn’t the first time Nayoung saw Jieqiong cry in the middle of the night, but she never opened up the topic to the younger girl, thinking that she would eventually tell her when she’s ready.

 

“Hey, Jieqiong.” She sat beside her friend on the counter, her hunger and thirst all forgotten. She knows that Jieqiong is hurting. She does. She just thinks that she might go on too strong when she suddenly drops the bomb. Nayoung can’t just approach Jieqiong and say “Hey, Jieqiong. Why are you crying every night?” without considering the younger girl’s feelings. Nayoung felt like a bad leader for not knowing what to do at this situation.

 

Nayoung was pulled away from her thoughts when a bowl of cereal and a glass of water was presented in front of her. She looked up at Jieqiong and saw the girl smiling down at her.

 

“Your stomach was growling pretty bad, unnie. It’s a good thing you woke up and didn’t ignore your hunger anymore. I get really worried when you do that.” Nayoung could hear the concern in Jieqiong’s voice as she spoke. What the Chinese girl said was true at some extent. She did skip her hunger in exchange for sleep often.

 

“Thanks, Jieqiong-ah. It really means a lot to me.” Nayoung smiled and began to dig in her cereal, side-eyeing Jieqiong from time to time. She was worried Jieqiong would cry again. However, the only thing that caught her vision was Jieqiong staring onto her phone screen and flipping through the pictures of her family.

 

She continued to eat her food while constantly checking up on Jieqiong.

 

“I miss them, you know?” Jieqiong spoke up with sadness lacing her tone. Nayoung was shocked at the sudden revelation of the younger girl.

 

“Jieqiong...” She held Jieqiong’s hand and the back of it with her thumb.

 

“I miss them so much, unnie... It’s been a while since I last contacted them, let alone saw them. Sometimes I just wanna fly back to China and stay there for a long, long time. But I know I can’t do that. I have a commitment here.” Nayoung let the girl speak, allowing her to pour her emotions freely without interruption. “I love my job. I love Pristin... but sometimes, I just miss the times I spend with my family and the times we would go out for a vacation... I feel so bad for not being able to contact them everyday.”  Jieqiong ended with a heavy sigh, leaning onto Nayoung for support, both emotionally and physically.

 

Nayoung remained silent, and instead wrapped an arm around Jieqiong to calm the girl down. She cared about her members individually, and she wanted to make sure that everyone would be fine in the line of their job.

 

However, it pained Nayoung that sometimes, there is nothing she could do.

~-~-~-~

The next morning, the girls got ready for their practice schedule. It was the usual. Getting breakfast, fixing the house, taking a bath and leaving for the company.

 

After Jieqiong’s revelation the night before, Nayoung decided to keep an eye out for the younger girl. This didn’t go unnoticed by Minkyung, who relentlessly because of it.

 

“Oi, what do we have here? Im Nayoung, actually dropping her stone face and actually showing concern in her features?” Minkyung nudged Nayoung lightly and smirked.

 

“Shut up, Minkyung.” Nayoung pushed the sub-leader away before walking faster. Minkyung just laughed heartily before falling into step with Siyeon.

 

Pristin finally reached the practice room and started to warm up. The usual routine was done in practice. A few minutes later, their dance choreographer showed up and started to go on about the lesson they had to do for the day.

 

Nayoung side eyed Jieqiong and saw her trying to pay attention to the choreographer. She shrugged it off and continued to listen to their choreographer.

 

~-~-~-~

“Jieqiong! You keep on missing that step! We’ve been through this a lot of times already! FOCUS!” The choreographer’s voice roared through the practice room, making all the girls flinch. Nayoung stopped dancing as well to check her team, more specifically, Jieqiong.

 

She saw the girl bite her lip, and Nayoung, knowing her too well, was a sign that she was trying to hold back her tears.

 

“Yes. I’ll try to focus, seongsaenim.” Jieqiong said with a soft voice.

 

“Don’t try! DO IT! Take five, girls!” The practice resumed and although Nayoung was doing well, she couldn’t shake off the feeling of pity she had for the Chinese girl who was scolded earlier. She made a mental note to talk to her later after practice.

 

~-~-~-~

“That will be all for today, girls. You’ve worked hard.” The choreographer bowed to the girls and waved goodbye.

 

“Thank you, seongsaenim! You’ve worked hard too!” The girls exclaimed in unison, all except Jieqiong. Nayoung made sure to cover Jieqiong so that the choreographer won’t notice that the Chinese girl didn’t say goodbye to her. Nayoung knows she would probably throw a fit if she had seen Jieqiong’s unresponsive state.

 

“Hey, what do you guys want to eat?” Yewon asked out of the blue.

 

“Let’s get teokbokki and pasta and ramyeon and chicken and jokbal and chicken feet and-“ Yebin was cut off by Kyungwon and Kyla, who dragged her with them out the hall. The other girls laughed before following them.

 

Sungyeon stopped by the door and eyed Nayoung and Jieqiong who still remained in the practice room.

 

“You unnies coming?” Sungyeon asked with a tilt of her head. Cute.

 

“We’ll try to catch up with you guys. Be careful on your way to the shop and the dorm, okay?” Nayoung called out to Sungyeon.

 

“We will, unnie. Be careful on your way back too and don’t take too long. It’s getting dark out.” Sungyeon beamed at Nayoung before sprinting off and joining the other girls.

 

Nayoung then turned her full attention to a quiet Jieqiong. Her eyes softened when she saw the unshed tears from her friend’s eyes. Without further ado, she pulled Jieqiong into a hug. She hoped that she could at least comfort the younger girl without words. She was not that good in comforting people, after all.

 

Not 10 seconds later, Nayoung heard Jieqiong sniff onto her shoulder and she felt the younger girl’s tears dampen her shoulder through her clothes.

 

Jieqiong doesn’t cry much, but when she does, it means that she feels extreme emotions. She was the type of person to keep it all to herself and cry alone. She wanted to make everyone around her happy and never wanted to involve people in her personal feelings. She was a good person.

 

Nayoung held the younger girl tighter in her arms and let her cry on her shoulder. This was the least she could do...

 

Or not...

 

~-~-~-~

After a few minutes of calming Jieqiong down, Nayoung spoke up.

 

“Feeling better now?” She asked gently. Jieqiong nodded and smiled at Nayoung.

 

“Thanks for calming me down unnie. I needed that hug.”

 

“Anytime, Jieqiong. The others are probably the dorm already and Minkyung’s probably cooking dinner. Go on without me.”

 

“Why? Aren’t you coming with me, unnie?” Jieqiong asked.

 

“I’ll be taking care of something. I’ll probably be home a little later, okay?” Nayoung smiled and ruffled Jieqiong’s hair. The younger girl beamed at her before sprinting to the door, leaving Nayoung alone.

 

“Be careful, unnie!” Nayoung heard her yell through the halls. She chuckled at the girl’s silly antics.

 

~-~-~-~

“A 5-day rest for Pristin?” CEO Han Seong Su stared at Nayoung with wide eyes. It was rare for Pristin’s leader to talk to him, let alone submit a request. He pushed the glasses up his nose and looked at Nayoung to see if she was joking. After deducing that she wasn’t, he sighed.

 

Nayoung remained firm on her position, hoping that the CEO would grant her request. She saw him go through some files and check their schedules before looking back up to her.

 

“Fine. Approved. When do you want this to happen?”

 

“Presumably starting this weekend, CEO-nim.”

 

He held his hand out and gestured for Nayoung to give him the paper she has been holding. An approval sheet. Without further ado, he uncapped his pen and signed the paper, sealing the approval of Pristin’s five day leave.

 

“Here you go.” He gave Nayoung the signed paper and gave her a small smile.

 

“Thank you very much!” Nayoung bowed at him and turned to make her leave.

 

“Im Nayoung.” The mentioned girl stopped in her tracks and turned to look at the CEO again.

 

“Keep it up. You’re a good leader.” Their CEO smiled at Nayoung and nodded at her in approval

 

“Thank you.” Nayoung bowed again before bolting out of the building. She was excited to share the good news with the girls.

 

~-~-~-~

Nayoung arrived at the dorm at 8 pm sharp and as soon as she opened the door, the girls were at the doorstep in an instant.

 

“It’s late, unnie. Where have you been?” Yewon asked.

 

“I’m sorry, girls. But hey, I have good news. Gather around the living room.” The nine girls did as they are told and sat at the sofas.

 

“The reason why I was late was... I requested the CEO for a five day break...” The girls cheered loudly.

 

“Whoo!!!”

 

“You’re the best, unnie! I love you!!”

 

“Shut up, Yebwoo! Let unnie continue.” Kyungwon scolded the two 98-liners and turned her gaze at Nayoung to nod at her.

 

“He approved. I did this to give you the chance to visit your families and have a rest. Enjoy your vacation girls” Nayoung pulled out the approval sheet and waved it to the girls. In no less than five seconds, the dorm was in total chaos. Noise spilled out from the four corners of the living room all the way out to the streets. The girls cheered loudly, well more like Yebin and Eunwoo cheered loudly, and the others just clapped their hands, happy for the 5 day vacation served to them on a silver platter.

 

It didn’t take an hour for someone to knock on their door and complain about the noise they were making.

 

~-~-~-~

After the excitement had died down, everybody decided to sleep. Nayoung was the last one to close the lights in the living room, but before she could do so, she felt someone hug her from behind. She turned to see Jieqiong hugging her tightly.

 

“Thank you so much, unnie. You don’t know how much this means to me.” Jieqiong muttered against Nayoung’s shoulder. The taller girl just smiled and patted Jieqiong’s head softly, saying “You’re Welcome.” in the most non-verbal way possible.

 

~-~-~-~

Two days later, Nayoung found herself sitting in her family house’s dining room, eating the food her mother prepared for her return. Her father and older brother was also there, eating peacefully. She had just come home the previous night after making sure the girls were already secure in the dorm and  the ones who will visit their families have everything they need(namely Jieqiong, Yebin, Minkyung and Siyeon).

 

“You have no idea how much we missed you, princess.” Nayoung’s father smiled, mirroring that of his daughter’s. He reached out to pat Nayoung on the head while subsequently trying to hold in his tears.

 

Nayoung’s family approached her and pulled her into a group hug. She has missed this feeling of ease and comfort her family would give her.

 

The Im family continued to have small chatter in the dining room making Nayoung feel domestic after a long time

 

~-~-~-~

Nayoung had just finished taking a bath and was getting ready for bed. She scanned her room in nostalgia, eyes going over the details and patterns of her bed sheets, to the plain off white wall, to the night breeze her window provided. She approached the window and inhaled the fresh air of the night.

 

She missed this.

 

Her trance was interrupted by the ringtone of her phone signalling a call. She padded to her bed and retrieved her phone. She unlocked it to see a video call from Jieqiong.

 

Thousands of thoughts ran through her head. Why would Jieqiong video call her at this time of night? Was something wrong? Did something happen to her flight in China?

 

Nayoung slid the screen of her phone to answer the video call, holding the phone in a good angle.

 

“Hey, unnie!” Jieqiong greeted her enthusiastically. She gave the leader an energetic wave.

 

“Hey, Jieqiong. How are you doing there?” Nayoung smiled.

 

“I’m doing great, unnie! We’re at home right now. Mom told me she wanted to talk to you personally about something so I’ll put her on line now.” Now that was weird. The leader knew Jieqiong’s mother, but not to the point of being very close to her. Heck, she never spoke to her too.

 

Saying that she was nervous was an understatement. Heck, NAYOUNG WAS TERRIFIED.

 

She saw Jieqiong stand up from the view from her camera, presumably to give the phone to her mother. Nayoung fixed her hair in record speed. She wanted to look good in front of Jieqiong’s mother.

 

A few seconds later, Jieqiong’s mother appeared on screen.

 

“Hello, Nayoung-ah.” She heard Jieqiong’s mother speak. The woman knew how to speak Korean, however, her Chinese accent was still evident.

 

“H-Hello, Mrs. Zhou.” Nayoung smiled warmly and tried not to be awkward. She didn’t want to make the mother think that she didn’t want to talk to her.

 

“Oh, no need to be formal, dear.” Jieqiong’s mother laughed slightly. “I just want to thank you for taking care of my daughter.” She turned more serious, but the smile in her eyes was still there.

 

“Jieqiong has told a lot of stories about you and your leadership. I am so glad she has an unnie like you to look after her. You are a good person, Nayoung-ah.” Hearing that from Jieqiong’s mother made her want to cry. She was so happy that Jieqiong acknowledged her leadership and sacrifices.

 

“Thank you, Mrs. Zhou... this... this really means a lot to me, hearing that from you.” Nayoung replied and smiled on the screen.

 

“I should be the one thanking you profusely, Nayoung-ah. Without you, who knows what my daughter would become in Korea.” Nayoung laughed softly when she heard a loud “yah” which was 100% in Jieqiong’s voice. “Anyway, I just wanted you to know that you are a good leader, a good person and a good friend. Keep up the good work, Nayoung-ah.” And with that, Mrs. Zhou waved at the screen and gave the phone back to Jieqiong.

 

“Well, that was a little embarrassing.” Jieqiong scratched her head. “Anyway, unnie. Everything umma said was true. I really do appreciate your effort for the group. Thank you, unnie! See you soon!” With that, Jieqiong waved at Nayoung. “Annyeong! Take care, unnie!”

 

“Annyeong.” Jieqiong and Nayoung hung up the call at the same time.

 

The leader placed her phone on the nightstand and got ready for bed. She turned to her side to sleep, the words of Jieqiong’s mother playing in her head and making her smile. She was happy that someone appreciated her efforts.

 

~-~-~-~

It has been four days since the end of Pristin’s five day vacation.

 

 

Nayoung watched Jieqiong while their team practiced.

 

After the five day vacation, she learned another thing.

 

The individual feelings of the members are of utmost importance, especially the smiles which are to be preserved at all costs.

 

A/N: Chapter 2 is up! I don't know when I'll be able to update chapter 3. I got one and a half chapters done in a night and my mind is shutting down already.