Waking up was a good sign — it kept them burning for the days to come. For Gfriend who has been working hard since their debut, sleep was getting seldom, but mornings were always a bliss. But not this certain morning, when they felt empty as vacuumed spaces.

“Good morning, guys”

Unexpectedly their eldest woke up late, but that didn’t bother them much to the core. This morning felt unusual; they’re all sure of that.

“Morning, unnie”

“I feel strange… it’s feels like I should be remembering something I couldn’t”

“Same here”

Maybe it was the stress, but their hollow minds were really stressing them in greater depths.

In a snap, loud knocks were heard from their door. They all panickedly went to it, only to see their manager breaking in, swinging the door with much force.

“Oppa… why are you sweating?”

Yewon noticed their manager catching his breath, as if he ran from the basement to their dorm.

His face was red, obviously fuming. They’ve never seen him this mad.

“You little rascals… you finally came back!”

But instead of being scared, they were rather surprised at how he broke down in tears.

“Why are you crying, Oppa?”

“What ‘why’? You were all missing for three days already!”

“Three days?”

Apparently, Gfriend went missing for three days. Source Music earnestly tried to look for them using limited connections to avoid media and public leakages, but they failed to do so — in both things.

First, they failed to find Gfriend in the first two days until that moment earlier. Second, articles began to pop out and they trended on social media sites. Buddies and their parents came flooding in, asking for Gfriend’s whereabouts. Conspiracy theories also rose midst their absence.

For now, their manager contacted their agency as the girls contacted their families. There were a lot of confusion, primarily because Gfriend also had no idea where they went or why were they missing. Their agency just came up with the less suspicious lie, good thing their families bought it.

They posted pictures online to prove that they were back. With lies on their updates, they felt guilty but in that way, Buddies calmed down, as well as the public. Articles have also toned down.

“Okay, tell me honestly, where were you?”

They looked at each other with blank expressions, unable to respond.

“Girls, if this was rebellion, please don’t do it again. It’s better to talk things out”

“But… we didn’t really”

Cutting Yuju’s sentence, Sowon stood up and bowed.

“We’re sorry for the inconvenience”

“Unnie”

At first, they couldn’t understand what happened but they followed her anyway.

A little later, So Sungjin and the other staff arrived and gave them a lengthy lecture, but in the end they hugged them all, expressing how worried they were.

When everyone seemed to feel more relieved, they ordered brunch. But when everything seemed a lot better, Eunha suddenly fainted.

“Eunha-ya!”

“Call Dr. Seo!”, their CEO initiated and gave orders in a composed manner, but this made the girls feel somehow agitated, especially Yuju.

“CEO-nim, how did you know about Eunha’s illness? She never told you”

So Sungjin cleared his throat before answering, “Her sister did”.

“Then, why did you let her perform with us when she was sick?”

They felt pained for their sister, who was still unconscious, waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

“We talked, but she didn’t know that I knew. You can say it was a type of assessment, and I could see that she wanted to perform, so I let her, provided that her sister will assist her in her check-ups and transfusions”

“Still”

They couldn’t be convinced, but for now, they were more concerned on their sister.

Few minutes later, the ambulance arrived and Eunha was brought to Hanshin Hospital. Gfriend members weren’t allowed by their CEO to accompany, instead some of the staff went on their behalf.

So Sungjin then requested everybody else to temporarily leave, because he had to talk to the girls.

“Why are you doing this to us?”

“Listen, kids, I know that you’re all puzzled and stressed. The whole missing thing, Eunha’s illness… so please I wish you all rest”

“We were missing for three days, and we wake up remembering nothing about those three days”, Yerin was controlling her anger.

“Now, Eunha-unnie is on the hospital…”, Yewon started to sob, and their CEO could feel their frustrations.

“I knew this was going to happen one day, but I never expected this to happen this early”

“What are you trying to say?”, Sowon held herself back.

“You can’t remember and you probably won’t until it comes back, so I won’t be able to tell you anything in detail”

So Sungjin sighed deeply and went on to pat each of the members’ heads gently.

“You were fated to come together at one point, that is in the form of Gfriend. You were the wish of a certain someone, and you were bound to follow the path she has taken”

Their faces were marked with disbelief, thinking how their CEO could come up with stories at such a critical point.

“You will be criticized, but you will rise. And that’s where things might change as you could either be devoured or be free. I hope you’ll be free”

The atmosphere became serious all of the sudden, but there will always be someone who’ll wreck that seriousness.

“I don’t understand at all”, Sinb chuckled to herself and the members giggled as well.

“It’s fine… just be grounded and be kind. Don’t be consumed by fame and hatred”

“Ahh, that’s what you meant. CEO-nim really loves poetic words”, Sinb added which made the girls, as well as So Sungjin laugh.

“Let’s go visit Eunha”

They all nodded, and prepared themselves. So Sungjin instructed the staff to enter the dorm once again and clean up everything.

“I underestimated their strength”, Sungjin smiled to himself after realizing that his children fought well in their internal battle with their detached selves.

“You should believe more… they’re great kids”, Lee Riwon responded after hearing her superior whisper to himself.

“Yes”, he smirked.

When they were ready, they hurried to Hanshin Hospital only to find Eunha’s family by her side.

Tears were evident on their eyes, but they managed to smile and hope for the best of their little Eunha’s health.

Eunha was sleeping soundly, with needles attached to her arms. Dr. Seo told them her current condition and how she had to be hospitalized.

So Sungjin declared that Eunha will be in official hiatus and will go back to practice when she’s a lot better, to which the members and her family agreed.

Articles were then published, and Gfriend became trending topics once again. Some felt mad at Soumu, some felt sad for Eunha— there were mixed reactions but one thing’s for sure, Eunha badly needed this break.

“Eunha, jjanyangie”, the members took turns in bidding their temporary farewells to Eunha. They knew she had to rest, or else worst things might occur, but they can’t help but cry. Practices and promotions without her won’t be the same.

After that day, the rest of Gfriend planned on their comeback, this time with their full involvement. They also visited Eunha regularly, asking her of her opinions and ideas.

When they finally came up with the album, they felt so satisfied. They proceeded with recordings to which Eunha was included, and they fixed minor issues.

After so, the five of them had the MV shoot, and of course, intense choreography practices.

Simultaneously, they announced their comeback date and the title song— Rosetta and Philae. A song that signifies that even in the darkest and most unexpected moments, hope will still prevail. A song with their mental maknae, Jung Eunbi, in mind.