Filming that V-Live with her sub-unit members was more fun than Jinsoul had expected it to be. She remembers how she didn’t get to celebrate her birthday last year because of certain issues; they did have the cake her mother brought her though.

Today… today has been weird.

Unlike her usual tsundere self, Jungeun has been extremely affectionate and clingy towards her. She laughed extra loudly at Jinsoul’s lame jokes and pathetic attempts to be funny. Instead of those frowns and irritated grunts that Jungeun gives, she gives Jinsoul playful punches against her shoulder and chest. Decorating the cake with Jungeun and Yerim had made her heart warm – every moment she spends with the members is more treasured than the last. The long hiatus and major slump they went through as a whole had done quite a number on Jinsoul; worried that they could possibly disband and go their separate ways. For most of them, it’d be a nightmare, with their dreams crushed beneath the rubble.

“Unnie… don’t you think Jungeun-unnie is acting weird?” Yerim whispers to her, hugging her arm.

Jinsoul gives a vivid nod, her default expression replacing the frown on her face. She’s trying to figure out the reasoning behind it. “You took the words right out of my mouth, Yerimmie.”

As they’re walking back to the van, Jungeun is still significantly high and excited over something. She has a smile that isn’t phased by anything, not even the sound of their manager nagging – that in itself is weird.

“Maybe she just wants to treat you nicely, Unnie. Tomorrow is your birthday, after all.” Yerim grins, poking the older girl’s chubby cheek. She knows these two members have a rather odd relationship, teasing each other till one of them breaks. “Aren’t you the one who always complains about Jungeun-unnie not giving you attention though?”

Her cheeks flush a tomato red immediately, knowing that the other members also know about this. Truth be told, Jungeun does give her attention, just not as much as Jinsoul wanted. In a group of twelve members, Jinsoul can boldly say that she’s fine with not being in the spotlight much. They have funny members, charismatic ones, smart ones and they’re different in every way. Even with all the diverse charms they have, Jinsoul finds herself drawn to Jungeun more. Perhaps it’s the way Jungeun simply knows how to make her happy, or how Jungeun seems mature beyond her years. Sometimes, being around Jungeun makes Jinsoul feel like the younger one and she enjoys it very much.

Being apart of the same subunit, Yerim obviously notices more than the other members do. She has seen their push-pull antics, sometimes so obvious she finds it odd that no one else sees it. Then again, some of them might just keep silent because they like the chaos.

“Unnie! Hurry, I want to sit next to you!”

This is getting REALLY strange.

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“Jinsoul-ah! Come and have something to eat!”

Furrowing her brows at Sooyoung’s over-enthusiasm, Jinsoul decides not to question her member’s odd behavior. She had spent most of her birthday with her family back home, and only arrived home after dinner. She has no clue what she was expecting but this certainly isn’t it. The woman spends most of the time teasing her and calling her all sorts of funny names, so imagine Jinsoul’s surprise every time that doesn’t happen. That being said, Sooyoung does have her occasional clingy moments as well; it can get worse than Jungeun sometimes. It's almost as if these two particular members have to fight with each other for Jinsoul instead of taking turns. 

“Jinsoul!” Sooyoung yells out again, coming out of the kitchen in the apron that she claimed was so ugly, she’d burn it before ever wearing it and was also given by none other than Jinsoul herself. “I prepared your favourites with Vivi-unnie! Come and eat now!”

Before Jinsoul could resist or even make an effort to go and change out of her clothes, she’s pulled to the dining room and sat in front of what she might describe as a feast. The constant seaweed soup, japchae, rice cakes, chicken feet… the likes of it all.

“Oh, you’re back?” Vivi comes out of the kitchen too, untying her apron.

Jinsoul nods with a smile, holding onto the eldest member’s hands tightly. She was actually expecting Vivi to make something for her birthday just like she had done for the other members; just a tiny bit of hope, that’s all. Of course if Vivi was too tired to whip something up, she won’t make a big deal out of it – there’s no obligation to do so.

“Thank you, Unnie! Come and have some too.”

Sooyoung stares with a slack jaw as Jinsoul tugs Vivi to sit beside her, almost as if she wasn’t the first one to greet the younger girl. She intentionally lets out a tiny scoff, hoping that Jinsoul would acknowledge her effort and ask for her to eat together. Although Jinsoul is well known for binge buying food for the members during events or practices, Sooyoung’s schedule and tummy just don’t seem to appreciate it. When Jinsoul bought donuts for the group last Christmas, she had to go back home for a small gathering before regrouping with them… only to find out someone else had eaten an extra donut. During her filming for fact in star, Jinsoul had brought the rest of yyxy out for lunch.

Donut-stealer got to eat twice her share all the time.

AHEM!

Vivi reflexively snorts at the not-so-subtle interruption, making a show of feeding Jinsoul some of the beef slices Sooyoung had grilled. She isn’t one for drama but she sure loves a good twist.

“Jung Jinsoul! Are you not going to offer me some too?!”

“No. I’m a piece of cake, and I’m very easy to beat. I’m the worst among us in Kartrider, I have the lamest jokes, I look dorky with bangs… Also… I sometimes eat too much so I become a blob on the sofa, so now I’m going to eat and be a blob until tomorrow morning.”

Sooyoung feels her entire body heat up at the amount of comments Jinsoul is spilling without mercy; these are all the things she has said at least once. She can’t think of anything to say, the urge to stomp her feet and tell Jinsoul to stop bringing up all those passing comments. Instead, Sooyoung simply pouts and sits opposite the pair.

“Unnie, this is delicious!” Jinsoul exclaims, turning to face the eldest member in a fit of pettiness.

Now that they’re eating supper, Jinsoul observes as Jungeun, Yerim and Hyunjin takes their places at the table. She’s completely open to sharing the feast (except with Sooyoung), but all of them are just watching her with oddly creepy smiles. Jungeun still being in her strange mood and abundance of affection is sitting beside her; Hyunjin and Yerim on either side of Sooyoung helping themselves to the food. To put it simply, everyone else but Sooyoung are enjoying this pre-birthday supper.

“Unnie,” Jungeun pokes Jinsoul’s arm in an annoying fashion, “Feed me some.”

Jinsoul a brow, “You’re being really weird. You’ve been clingy and needy the entire day, Jungeun. What’s the catch?”

See, Jinsoul should have stopped right there because Jungeun starts to stare at her with those puppy e