Joohyun sat down at the edge of Seulgi’s bed, pulled Wannie onto her lap, and looked around at her members. “You all know it right? We have to find a way to get Seungwan back to normal, as soon as possible.”

The members nodded in silent agreement.

“As much as I love playing with kid Seungwan-unnie,” Yerim started.

“...we are getting way too overprotective of her.” Sooyoung continued. “I trust Seungwan-unnie with anything, but this is unnie in a child’s body...” She looked to Yerim.

“Perfectly uncharted territory.” Yerim supplied. “Nowadays she’s always at the back of my mind, you really can’t help but worry.”

Wannie sighed. “She feels bad too, and wants to tell her members that she’s really, really sorry,” she looked down, clenching and unclenching her hands on her lap. “for causing this inconvenience.”

Joohyun’s quick reflexes caught Sooyoung’s hand before she could flick Wannie’s forehead. “Kids–,” she admonished. She batted away another attempt from Sooyoung’s free hand, and glared at Yerim, who appeared to be approaching with the same intention. Yerim stopped in her tracks. Sooyoung shook her hand free and walked over to a wall, leaning back against it.

“This has already thrown us into a loop,” Joohyun said wryly, steering their conversation back to the issue at hand. “I don’t doubt it will eventually spill into our roles as Red Velvet.”

Not that we can honestly explain what happened to Seungwan if we have to go to our next schedule without her, though.

Seulgi sat a corner of the bed, knee folded beneath her; she turned her body towards Joohyun and Wannie. “Let's face it– even on normal days, Seungwan can be pretty absent-minded. Don't look at me like that, Wan-ah–,” Seulgi shot an eyesmile at Wannie, who was narrowing her eyes at her. “–you can't even keep track of your phone most times.”

Wannie pursed her lips. “Acknowledged.” She gazed absentmindedly at the pattern on the room's faded wallpaper. “I...want to go back, too,” she said softly after a brief pause. “I miss singing.”

Sooyoung blew out a breath and pushed herself out from her position, approaching the conversation circle centered around Wannie. “Okay! Now that we have established what we want to happen, how do we go about making it...well...happen?” She put her hands on her hips, her expression determined.

The group collectively scrunched their faces in thought.

---

“Ideas, anyone?”

---

“Wan-ah, before you...changed...did the lady give you anything? Candy? Something you ate the day before you ended up like this?” Seulgi tilted her head questioningly.

“Yeah! Like the mushroom that Alice from Wonderland took to grow smaller!” Yerim chimed in excitedly.

Wannie shook her head slowly, eyebrows knotted. “There wasn't anything...”

---

“Did you experience head trauma before this happened? A ball hitting your head, walking face-first into a pole?” Sooyoung rattled off possibilities. “Something that could've made you black out for, like, 5 seconds? The magic could have happened then.”

“No...” Wannie sighed, looking down at her palms dejectedly.

---

Joohyun's arms went around Wannie shoulders, pressing the child against her chest and laying a cheek on top of Wannie's head. “We'll fix this, Seungwan-ah,” she said in a voice so soft, Wannie wondered if she was reassuring her, or herself.

“The reasonable thing to do,” Joohyun proclaimed, shifting Wannie on her lap so she could look around at the other members. “would be to retrace Seungwan's steps before this happened. The only thing we are sure of is the existence of the mysterious old lady who grants wishes,” Her tone dropped decisively. “so we go out and find her.”

Operation: Find that Magical Lady (FML for short) - Day 1.

Seulgi.

“But...why can't I come with?” Yerim whined, pouting as she watched Joohyun fix the collar of Wannie's outfit for the day– a normal-Seungwan-sized white polo shirt, and kiddie suspender shorts that Sooyoung-unnie got for her. Yerim had also managed to filch a pair of sneakers from home for Wannie, an old pair that her little sister had already grown out of.

“We've talked about this.” Joohyun stated, giving Wannie a once-over, before nodding in satisfaction and standing up to face Yerim. “It would be less likely to catch people's attention if we go out individually instead of as a group.”

The members huddled by the dorm's front door, and the maknaes watched enviously as Seulgi, holding onto one of Wannie's hands, fitted a baseball cap snugly over her eyebrows. Seulgi wore a light-pink flowery one-piece dress– a non-Seul