"You had friends growing up?" 

After Jihyo had released Chaeyoung from her death grip, they had decided to the hospital to tell the singer of the news before she fell asleep. They entered the hospital room to see a very much awake Nayeon watching videos on the laptop her members brought her. They quickly briefed Nayeon on the news, telling her about Chaeyoung's friend who was willing to help.

"You know, I could very easily tell her not to come," Chaeyoung said glaring at the older girl, "And by the way you're treating me, I'm just about two seconds away from making the call." 

"I'm just surprised that's all," Nayeon said closing her laptop, "You seem like you had no friends growing up, no offense." 

"You know, adding no offense to somethings doesn't make it not offensive," Chaeyoung said pouting.

"How do you know this girl anyways?" Jihyo said, butting into the conversation, "We've known each other for three years and you've never mentioned having a cool martial artist friend." 

"Yeah Chaeyoung," Nayeon said, looking at the shorter girl expectantly, "How does a loser like you know a cool martial artist from Japan? And how come we've never heard of her?"

"She's an old friend," Chaeyoung said, getting quiet all of a sudden before quickly adding, "Actually, she's my best friend, even though we haven't spoke in a while. We met when I lived in Japan with my uncle." 

"You lived in Japan with your uncle?" Jihyo said confused. 

"Yeah, for two years. From when I was 19 to when I turned 21. I moved when my parents died."

The room suddenly went silent. Chaeyoung looked up at both the girls, confused at the sudden silence coming from both of them. 

"It's okay you guys," Chaeyoung said while shrugging her shoulders, "It was a car accident. I just try not to think about it too much." 

"You never told us that," Jihyo said, "You always told us about how you never had to worry about money. You always paid for company dinners because of that."

"I wasn't lying. My parents were really rich when they were alive. When they died, I inherited half of my parents money. My brother took the other half." Chaeyoung said before adding, "Don't worry, I'm still paying for company dinners."

"Wait you had a brother?" Nayeon said, suddenly shifting the mood, "Is he hot?" 

Jihyo slapped Nayeon's shoulder aggressively, inciting a loud squeal from the older girl.

"Hey! What's your problem?" Nayeon said rubbing her shoulder, "I'm a patient!" 

"The girl just told us her parents died and that's all you have to say?" Jihyo said, scolding Nayeon. 

"It's okay Jihyo," Chaeyoung said while laughing, "And Nayeon, I don't think you'll find him very hot. He's 15. Unless you want to go to jail which honestly might be the only place that could handle you." 

"Whoops, nevermind." Nayeon said while holding her hands up, "I'm good."

"He was too young to come to Japan with me, so he stayed in Korea with a family friend. I went to Japan to study music production and songwriting." 

"That makes sense," Nayeon said while nodding, "When is this friend of yours coming?" 

"She's arriving in Korea tomorrow afternoon, but do you guys mind if I drop her off at night? I want to take her out to eat before she starts working, I haven't seen her in a while and I want to catch up." 

"That should be fine, we can spend that time preparing a room for her. It's good that she's a girl, I think the members might be a little uncomfortable with a guy living with them anyways." said Jihyo. 

"Can I see a photo of her?" Nayeon asked, "I need to see if she's prettier than me." 

"I don't really have a lot of photos of her. And the ones I do are all at home." said Chaeyoung, "She's camera shy." 

"That means she's ugly, doesn't it? Pretty people aren't camera shy." Before Nayeon could continue she felt a smack from Jihyo on the same shoulder. 

"Hey! I'm a patient!" Nayeon repeated to Jihyo while holding her shoulder.

"A patient who should be thanking Chaeyoung instead of insulting her friend." Jihyo said, scolding the older girl, "You're lucky she's able to get to Korea on such short notice." 

"Wait," Nayeon said, "What does she work as? How is she able to just uproot her life and come to Korea?"

"She doesn't work," Chaeyoung said simply, "And she kinda owes me a favor, so she was quick to agree." 

"She doesn't work? Is she rich?" asked Nayeon. 

"She has some money from competitions," Chaeyoung said quietly. Nayeon and Jihyo both picked up the hints that Chaeyoung did not want to continue. It was the wordless communication the trio typically had. 

"I'm gonna head home now," Chaeyoung said, standing up from her chair, "Goodnight." 

Chaeyoung walked out of the hospital room, slowly closing the sliding doors. 

"You know, she was totally hiding something." Nayeon said to Jihyo the second Chaeyoung closed the door. 

"What?" 

"When Chaeyoung was talking about that girl, you could tell there were a lot of things she was holding back," Nayeon took a second to think before adding, "I bet they dated." 

"No way," Jihyo said, "Chaeyoung? She looks like she would rather date her studio with how much she stays in there. She's the definition of abstinence." 

"Exactly. Maybe she got her heart broken and it caused her to never date again," Nayeon said, hypothesizing, "Or maybe she fell in love with... wait whats her name again?'

"Mina."

"Oh yeah, Mina. Maybe she's in love with her and that's why she never mentioned her either. It could've been one-sided," Nayeon said, suddenly proud of her discovery, "Think about it, they might live countries apart, but they could still call. There's no reason to not talk to someone for so long unless there's beef."

"Even if they were more than friends, Chaeyoung doesn't seem to go after athletic martial artists. She seems like she would go for a more indie, artistic type of girl." 

"That just further proves my point," Nayeon exclaimed, "Chaeyoung the nerd totally had a crush on Mina the jock. But Mina the jock didn't like Chaeyoung the nerd back. Maybe the favor Mina owes Chaeyoung a favor because of that. Maybe Chaeyoung gave her money or something. Did you see Chaeyoung's face when I asked how Mina had money to live without a job? She totally avoided it. I mean Mina is probably great at fighting, but enough money to retire at 24? No way. Damn, that sounds like it was pulled straight out of a drama." 

"I wonder how they met," Jihyo suddenly added, "Chaeyoung never mentioned her. Chaeyoung always told us she didn't have many friends in high school, but she never mentioned any friends from Japan. And that whole thing about her parents dying. She never told us that."

"Hmm, maybe she just doesn't like talking about it. You and I both know what that's like." Nayeon said shortly.

Nayeon wasn't a big fan of talking when it came to the topic of parents. Jihyo knew that.

"You should be going to bed soon," Jihyo said, grabbing her bag, "I'm coming here 8 A.M. tomorrow when you get discharged." 

"Ugh, can't you change it to the afternoon? I don't want to wake up early."

"If you're not fully dressed and ready to leave by 8 A.M. I will personally wake you up with a bucket of water," Jihyo said in the doorway, "Consider this a threat."

Nayeon groaned into her pillow.

"Also, you better be nice to Mina tomorrow. Try not to drive her crazy." 

"She's Japanese. It's not like she's going to understand what I say anyways."

"Bye, Nayeon. See you tomorrow." Jihyo said laughing at the older girl.

"Bye, Jihyo."

Nayeon rested her head back on the bed. Before the two younger girls came to her room, the nurse gave her a melatonin pill to help her sleep. 

But Nayeon never took it. 

Nayeon would look at the ceiling the whole night, laying in the dark hospital room. Drifting off only when the sun was rising again. 

It was like this every night for Im Nayeon. 

Habits never die. 

-

Chaeyoung woke up the next morning at around 9 A.M. to a voice mail from Mina. 

"Hey Chaeyoung. My flight got delayed from 8 to 10, so I'll be arriving in Korea at around 12:30 instead of 10:30. Apparently there's a storm coming tonight and they needed to take some extra precautions so they delayed it. See you soon." 

Chaeyoung had originally planned to pick up Mina before work and drop her off at her apartment, but because of the delay, Chaeyoung decided to go to work early instead. 

"I guess I could leave for lunch." 

Chaeyoung arrived at the building at around 10:30. She had her own office room, so she didn't have to worry about coming in late. It was one of the perks of being a producer. Chaeyoung usually would spend nights in her studio when she was working on a new comeback anyways. She worked well in the night. Her office was a second home to her. 

"Chaeyoung? I thought you were picking up your friend from the airport?" Jihyo was walking into the building, "I just dropped Nayeon off at the dorm."

"Her flight got delayed so she's arriving at 12:30, so I was planning to pick her up at lunch."

"Lunch? We have a meeting from 12 to 2 today." 

Chaeyoung groaned. 

", I forgot. I'll just leave her a voice mail and tell her to come to the JYPE building by taxi."

"Just tell her to take a taxi to your apartment. What's she going to do at the building for an hour?"

"She can just stay in my office," said Chaeyoung, "My doorman won't let her in my apartment unless I'm with her. It's policy." 

"Oh." 

Chaeyoung quickly ran back to her office to leave a voice mail for Mina. It was only when she finished the voicemail, did she realize how messy her office was. She started cleaning up her office, picking up garbage and clothes from the group (she always kept extra clothes at the office). She dusted off her keyboard and rehung her guitars on the wall. It was only after an hour did she finish cleaning her office, just in time to go to her meeting. 

-

Mina arrived in Korea at 12:32. She opened her phone to a frantic voice mail, consisting of an apologizing Chaeyoung and instruction on how to navigate around the building. 

She called a taxi as soon as she grabbed her luggage from the drop off area. 

"The JYPE Building in Seoul, please."

Mina looked out the window of the building, admiring the streets of Korea.

'It's been a while"

The taxi arrived at the JYPE building at 1:15. After tipping the driver generously, Mina stepped out of the vehicle and popped the trunk to take out her luggage. She walked up the front desk the second she entered the building.

"Do you know how to get to Son Chaeyoung's office?" Mina asked the receptionist.

"May I ask who you are?" The receptionist asked. 

Chaeyoung told Mina to tell the receptionist her name and that she would allow her to into the building. 

"I'm Myoui Mina."

"Oh, yes. Ms. Chaeyoung told me that she was expecting someone named Mina. Take the elevator to the tenth floor. The rooms are labeled."

"Thank you."

Mina headed for the elevators and entered an open one. She arrived at the 10th floor and walked around until she found a big gold plaque labeled "Son Chaeyoung, Lead Producer, Studio 2". She opened the door swiftly and entered. 

'So this is where Chaeyoung has been working for the past few years'

The office was nice. It had foam padding all over the walls, soundproofing the room. There was a large window with a door next to it, leading into a recording studio that was also soundproofed. The main room had two couches with a lot of pillows and a folded blanket on top of it. Guitars were hanging all over the wall and a producing table on the side. In the back of the room was a big desk. Mina could tell this was a Chaeyoung's second home, it screamed Son Chaeyoung.  

Mina was admiring the wall art when she heard a knock on the door. 

"Hey Chaeyoung, Jihyo asked me to be a temporary leader for the next two weeks so I came to pick up the recording schedule for next week. Can I come in?" 

Mina stayed silent, not knowing how to respond. 

"I'm assuming you fell asleep so I'm just going to come in." Mina saw the door open suddenly. 

"Rise and shine, Idiot. I'm here to pick up the-" The person in the doorway stopped speaking at the sight of Mina. 

Mina saw a girl. She was a little taller than Mina. She was wearing casual clothing and her blonde hair was up in a high ponytail. She was on her phone texting someone.

"Oh, sorry. I thought this was Chaeyoung's office." The girl said quickly before closing the door again. 

Mina stared at the closed door blankly, not saying anything. She waited 5 seconds before the girl came back into the room.

"Wait, this is Chaeyoung's room," the girl said re-entering, "Who are you?" 

Mina wasn't sure how to respond. Chaeyoung hadn't told her the details of what she's doing and she didn't tell Mina if she had to keep her role confidential. 

"I'm Chaeyoung's friend." 

The girl looked at Mina with a confused expression. 

"Chaeyoung has friends?" 

Mina wasn't surprised.

'Some things never change'

"Sorry if that was rude," The girl quickly said, "It's just, Chaeyoung kinda lives in here. The only time she leaves is when Nayeon or Jihyo forces her to hang out or when she goes home or to the music store to pick up equipment. And you don't look like you work at a music store."

Mina could see the girl was looking her up and down. Mina didn't want to change when she got here, so she wore her suit on the airplane. It was only a 2-hour plane ride anyways. 

"It wasn't rude. We were friends in college." Mina said, hoping the girl in front of her wasn't close to Chaeyoung.

"I thought Chaeyoung didn't go to college." 

.

"We were friends when we were both 19. So I guess you could consider it college time." 

"Oh really? That's cool," the girl said a little confused, "I just came to pick up my schedule from her office."

 "Are you like a producer as well?" 

The girl looked a little surprised. 

"You don't know who I am?" 

Mina looked back at the girl, confused. 

"I'm Sana. I'm in the girl group TWICE." 

Mina continued to stare blankly at the girl, unsure of how to respond. 

"I guess it's possible you never heard of TWICE... Chaeyoung's never mentioned us?"

"I haven't spoken to Chaeyoung in a while like since before she started working here," Mina said quietly.

Sana got the memo. 

"Well, how was Chaeyoung when she was younger? I know it was only a couple years, but still." Sana said, trying to make conversation. 

"She was annoying," Mina said bluntly, getting a surprised reaction from Sana.

"Oh." Sana wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't expecting that. 

"Yeah." Sana was sure Mina was going to continue, but Mina stopped speaking after that, instead deciding to look around the room again. 

"Well, I'm gonna leave now, since Chaeyoung isn't here." Mina didn't even look at the girl exiting the room. 

'Damn Chaeyoung  hot friends.' Sana thought to herself as she left.

Mina continued to wait for Chaeyoung on the couch, silently sitting. Only after 20 more minutes of waiting did she hear the door open again. 

"Mina." 

Mina stood up from the couch and turned towards the doorway. 

"Chaeyoung." 

Chaeyoung ran towards the girl, causing Mina to grunt as Chaeyoung tightly wrapped her arms around the girl. 

"I missed you, idiot." 

"I missed you more."

Chaeyoung let go of Mina after a moment longer, wanting to see her face. 

"You got prettier," Chaeyoung said, looking at the taller girl, "More mature."

"You got shorter," Mina said while laughing, "And prettier too I guess." 

Chaeyoung smacks Mina's head while walking over the couch. Mina follower her promptly, sitting next to her. 

"You grew your hair out," Mina said while playing with Chaeyoung's hair, "It looks nice."

"Yeah, I'm just too lazy to get it cut." 

Mina just hummed in response, continuing to play with her hair.

"How was the flight here? You know you didn't have to wear a suit here. It must've been uncomfortable." 

"It was okay. I just wanted to wear it so I wouldn't have to change. When do I start working?" Mina asked. 

"Wow, you've been here for less than two hours and you're already talking about work?" Chaeyoung said teasingly, "Some people just don't change." 

Mina smiled at that. 

"I asked Jihyo if I could take you out to dinner and stuff before I drop you off at her dorm." 

"Who's Jihyo?" Mina asked.

"Oh, she's like a PR manager here. She's like a higher up, so she has a lot of power in the company and what happens. She's TWICE"s main PR, that's the group the girl you're going to be watching is in." 

"TWICE? I think I met a member just now. Her name was Sana, she came in here looking for some schedule." 

"Oh yeah, Sana. She's the only Japanese member in TWICE." 

"Tell me who the members are in the group. It would make it easier to tell who each is." 

"I know you're a hermit Mina, but how could you have never heard of them? Even the elderly know who they are in Japan." 

Mina just shrugged. She wasn't a big pop culture person. Chaeyoung pulled out her phone and showed a group photo of all the members.

"This is Tzuyu, she's the youngest member, around 1 year younger than you. She's Taiwanese. This is Dahyun, she's the second youngest and she's the same age as us, 24. This is Sana, she's the third youngest, one year older than you. This is Jeongyeon, she's 25. Just like Sana. And this is Nayeon, the one you're guarding. She's 26. Nayeon is the leader and the oldest."

Mina waited for Chaeyoung to continue. 

"You won't really be watching the other members as much, but you would be guarding them in group settings, so it's important to know their names. Do you want me to send a photo of them?" 

"No, it's fine. I already got it. They have pretty recognizable faces." 

"Nayeon is really... interesting. When you meet her, be prepared to get frustrated out of your mind." 

"I thought you were kinda friends with her?" 

"Don't get me wrong, I love Nayeon. But she's an interesting character. It's what brought her to fame." 

"What do you mean?" asked Mina.

"She's known for being reckless, gutsy, and witty. She's invited to like every show in Korea to be a guest. She's the definition of star power and her... unique personality is the main contributor to that."

"Is she nice?"

"She has her moments, but she can be a real hot head too." 

Mina didn't wasn't worried, she wasn't planning on talking to the girl anyways. 

"I only came here for you. I don't really care if she gives me a hard time." Mina said plainly. 

Chaeyoung paused for a moment before continuing. 

"You know, I can take the day off. Let's go to the city and hang out. I'll show you around Seoul and stuff." 

"Are you sure? Don't you have to work?" 

"Eh, I finished my meeting. I can always just stay a little extra late tomorrow. It's not every day that I am graced by Myoui Mina's presence." said Chaeyoung. 

"Where are we going?" 

"I'll show you my apartment and stuff. Then we can walk around the city and just sightsee. It'll be fun, I'll be like your own personal tour guide," Chaeyoung said while grabbing Mina's arm to get up, "C'mon Mina, let's go!"

Mina just smiled, letting Chaeyoung drag her to the door and out the building. 

'Just like the old days'

-

Nayeon was dropped off at her dorm at 9:30 A.M. by Park Jihyo.

She walked up to her apartment building and ringed for her doorman to open the door. There was usually a hum when she pressed the button, but today there was no hum. Only silence. She pressed three times before realizing the machine was broken. 

'The machine is never broken'

Nayeon decided not to dwell on it. She was about to call Jeongyeon to open the door when Sana suddenly opened the door. 

"Did you hear me ring?" asked Nayeon. 

"No," said a confused Sana, "I have to run leader errands and pick up stuff from the building since you're crippled." Sana then continued walking to the parking garage. 

'That was a weird coincidence'

Nayeon entered the building and took the elevator to her floor. She entered the passcode for her dorm and entered. She missed home.

"Hey, Nayeon Unnie." 

Nayeon saw Tzuyu sitting on the couch with Dahyun sitting next to her. They were watching TV. 

"Where's Jeong?" Nayeon asked. 

"She went on a run," Dahyun answered without looking up. 

"She went on a run?" Nayeon asked confused, "Since when does Jeongyeon run?" 

Both the members just shrugged, not looking up from the TV. 

Nayeon grew confused. Jeongyeon hated running with her whole life, almost as much as Nayeon did. 

Nayeon walked to her room. Being the oldest had it's perks. While Jeongyeon and Sana shared rooms and Tzuyu and Dahyun shared rooms, Nayeon had her own room. She placed her bag down on the floor and immediately jumped into her bed. 

Home sweet home. 

Nayeon was only laying on her bed for three minutes when she felt her stomach growl. She dragged her body out of her bed and walked into the kitchen. The knives were always hidden during the day so that Nayeon could enter the kitchen to make her own food. She turned the knob on the stove to turn on the fire and put the pot on. She opened the cabinet looking for ramen and grew frustrated when there was none. 

"Hey, guys! Where's the ramen?" 

"We finished it last night," Tzuyu responded. 

Nayeon groaned. The one day they ran out of ramen, is when Nayeon is starving. Nayeon turned off the stove and decided to take a nap instead. 

She changed into a new pair of pajamas and quickly got under her sheet. She set her phone for an alarm to wake her up in two hours. Any longer and she might dream. 

Im Nayeon never dreams anymore.

-

Mina and Chaeyoung were walking the streets, stopping every few blocks so Chaeyoung could explain the infrastructure. Just before they ate lunch together at a cute restaurant Chaeyoung went to that was nearby the JYPE building. Mina knew Chaeyoung was a massive nerd, especially when it came to anything art related. She would explain every landmark in full detail. She was just like that. 

"This is a statue of King Sejeong. You probably don't know who he is, but he's the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty and is extremely popular in Korea. This is my favorite area to come and draw on the weekends. I sit on that park bench and draw the trees and the people." Chaeyoung said excitedly. She only noticed how Mina was staring at her quietly when she stopped speaking. 

"What's wrong?" Chaeyoung asked, confused. 

"You're cute when you ramble," Mina said while ruffling the shorter girl's hair, "C'mon, tell me more." 

Mina started walking ahead of Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung didn't move from her place for a while, her ears turning red. 

"Hey! Wait for me!" Chaeyoung said, running to catch up with Mina. 

The next place Chaeyoung took Mina was a royal palace. 

"This is Gyeongbokgung, it's the most famous palace in Korea. It was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. Built in 1395. I come here sometimes to think about songs and stuff. There are a lot of nice benches where you can sit down and drink coffee. It's weird to think about how royalty used to walk here and live here. Isn't it?"

Mina only nodded in response. It was usually Chaeyoung who did the talking and Mina who stayed quiet. It was always like that for them. 

"This is my favorite area. It's a garden that royals used to sit in and walk around."

They walked into a closed off area. There were flowers and shrubs making a path. It was clearly very well tended to, as everything was perfectly put in place. They walked around the entire garden before reaching a bench in the center. They both sat down. 

"Do you remember when I worked on the garden at uncle's clinic?" Mina said suddenly. 

"Of course. We had a deal remember." Chaeyoung said quietly.

Mina smiled bitterly. 

"I guess that didn't work out well." 

They sat in silence for a while before Chaeyoung asked Mina a question. 

"Are you still tending to the garden?" 

Mina looked at the girl and saw her shivering. It was getting chilly. She took off her suit jacket and put it around the smaller girl. 

"I can't. I've been busy." Mina said shortly, not wanting to continue the conversation. 

"That bull," Chaeyoung said, scoffing, "You know you're full of Mina. Tell me what actually happened." 

Mina stayed silent, looking down at her shoes. 

"Why haven't you called me in these three years. I called you every day for five months straight when I left for Korea. I called you and you never answered." Chaeyoung said, hurt dripping from every word. 

Mina stayed silent, unable to answer. 

"I called uncle one day to ask if your okay and he tells me you moved out the day I left for Korea. Do you understand how confused I was when you completely cut me out of your life? I went crazy." 

"I'm sorry." Mina says while continuing to look down. 

"I don't want an apology," Chaeyoung said, tears starting to well up in her eyes, "I want an explainatio-" 

Before Chaeyoung could finish, it started downpouring. Both girls quickly got up and started running towards the shade. Chaeyoung checked her phone the second they took cover. 

"It's a flash flood. We need to get out of here." 

They both ran out of the palace. When they reached the gates, Chaeyoung grabbed Mina's arm. 

"There's a cafe over there, lets stay there." 

They entered the cafe and sat down at one of the booths. Chaeyoung ordered a hot coffee and Mina just got water. They sat in silence for a while before Chaeyoung spoke up again.

"Are you eating well in Japan?"

They both laughed at that. Mina and Chaeyoung knew that out of the two of them, it was always Mina who knew how to cook. Mina always cooked for Chaeyoung.

"Are you eating well in Korea? How do you even survive when you can't cook?" 

"I kinda know how to cook now. Jihyo taught me after seeing me try to cook ramen in the office kitchen." 

"Are you close friends with Jihyo?" asked Mina. 

"Yeah, I guess I could consider her a close friend. I only really talk to work friends." 

Mina only nodded in response. 

"How about you, make any new friends?" Chaeyoung said with a sad smile. 

Mina looked down at her water. The conversation quickly grew silent amongst them. 

"She died around this time of year didn't she?" Chaeyoung said softly. 

Mina nodded silently. 

"Do you still think about her a lot, don't you?" 

"Always," Mina said quietly. 

"Do you still get dreams?" 

"Not as often," said Mina, "I don't sleep much." 

There was another lull of silence between them. 

Chaeyoung checked her watch. 

"We should be heading back to the building. We need to get your luggage. We need to rush for dinner now."  

"It's fine, I"ll pick up my luggage tomorrow. Let's just take a taxi straight to the dorm. I need to take a shower, my clothes are all wet and I don't want to get sick on my first day of work." 

"Alright fine, but we are having dinner together to catch up. You promise?" 

Mina grinned at the shorter girl holding up her pinky. She quickly reciprocated and locked pinkies with Chaeyoung. 

"Promise." 

- 

"You're not supposed to be doing that." 

Nayeon turned around to see a girl. She was shorter than her by a few centimeters, but she looked oddly toned for someone her age. 

"I don't care." 

The girl just stared at Nayeon, making the taller girl frustrated. 

"What do you want?" Nayeon said to the girl staring at her. 

She looked back at her blankly, like a dear caught in headlights. Nayeon was digging a hole with a plastic spoon. She wasn't getting much progress and she could really use some help. 

"If you're just going to stare at me, at least help me dig." Nayeon said to the girl, handing her a plastic spoon. 

"Why are you digging the ground?" The girl said, not moving from her place. 

Nayeon didn't look up, she kept digging as she replied. 

"I'm trying to dig to America. I need to get out of here." 

The girl continued to stare at Nayeon, causing Nayeon to throw her spoon down in frustration. 

"Look, if you aren't going to help, can you scram? I don't need you attracting more attention." 

The girl quickly knelt down and grabbed a spoon, helping Nayeon dig down. It was only after 10 more minutes of digging did Nayeon give up. 

"This is taking too long. We need a drill." 

"Where are we supposed to get a drill?" The shorter girl said. 

"I don't know. Isn't there a hardware store around here?" 

"There's one on 31st street. I heard some men talk about it."  

"Sweet, let's go together! You can show me the way." Nayeon said excitedly. She started walking towards the exit to the courtyard when she noticed the other girl wasn't following her. 

"Why aren't you coming?" Nayeon said confused.

"My master said I'm not allowed to leave the building without permission." 

"Master? What are you, a slave? C'mon, let's go!" 

"Don't you have parents?" The girl said timidly, "Won't they get mad?" 

"Only if we get caught! I promise you can come back after you show me the way." Nayeon said while grabbing the girl's hand, pulling her out of the courtyard. They ran out the front doors of the abandoned building to the streets of Seoul. 

They were walking together, trying to navigate the streets of Seoul. They walked silently for most of the trip up until Nayeon asked the shorter girl a question. 

"What's your name?" 

The girl stayed quiet, not responding. 

"Are you deaf? What's your name?" 

"I'm not allowed to tell people my name. My master told me not too." 

"Who is this stupid master? Tell him to shut up!" Nayeon said loudly. 

"Hey! Don't speak about my master like that." the girl said, her outburst slowly dying towards the end of her statement. 

"Just tell me your name, I won't tell anyone." 

The girl thought for a moment before responding. 

"I can't tell you my real name but I can tell you my nickname," The girl said quietly, "My nickname is One-Star Punch." 

"One-Star Punch? Why is your nickname so weird?" Nayeon asked confused, "It's so long too." 

"I didn't make it," said One-Star Punch, "My master made it for me. What's your name?" 

"Hey that's not fair, I'm not telling you my real name either," Nayeon said, "My nickname is Bunny." 

"Bunny? Why?"

Nayeon showed her front two teeth. 

"I look like a bunny with my teeth." 

"Oh, cool." 

The walk slowly turned silent again before Nayeon asked another question. 

"How old are you?" 

"I'm 7." 

Nayeon grinned the second she heard the number. 

"I'm 9! You have to call me Bunny Unnie now, Star." 

"You're calling me Star?" 

"One-Star Punch is too long." said Nayeon. 

Star just nodded, agreeing with the older girl. 

"Here's the hardware store." Star said to Bunny, pointing at the building in front of her. Bunny ran into Star's arms, hugging her tight.

"Thanks so much, I owe you one million favors now!"

Star grew rigid at the contact. Nayeon ran into the store, leaving a dazed Star on the street. 

Nayeon waved at the shorter girl from the store window before going deeper into the store.

That was day one.

-

It was a loud bang of thunder that woke up Nayeon. 

She was dazed, soaked in sweat. Nayeon could feel closing in, her head pounding. She started hyperventilating, looking around her room with blurred vision. Nayeon fell out of her bed, trying to get out of her room. To get a glass of water or maybe a toilet so she could vomit. Nayeon dragged herself to her bathroom with one arm and pulled herself up to wash her face. It was pitch dark and the light switch in her bathroom wasn't working, adding another inconvenience to an already shaken Nayeon. 

'Tonight isn't a good night for this Im Nayeon'

She looked up at the mirror. Even though it was dark, she could still see the outline of her face. 

'Im Nayeon does not dream'

'Im Nayeon does not dream'

'Im Nayeon does not dream'

She was breathing heavily. 

Nayeon ran back to her bed once she composed herself. She immediately checks her phone and cursed aggressively when she realized it was dead.

'That's why my alarm didn't go off' 

Nayeon could've sworn she plugged her phone in before she fell asleep, and she did. 

Nayeon checked to see if the cord got unplugged from the wall. It wasn't. Nayeon got up from her bed and went to turn on the light switch to her room, noticing how dark it was in her room. 

'Why isn't the switch working?" 

She changed into a new pair of clothes, putting her sweaty ones in the hamper. 

Nayeon tried to calm her breathing before opening her door. In the living room, she saw Jeongyeon, Dahyun, and Tzuyu sitting on the couch with flashlights. 

"What happened?" 

"There was a power outage," Tzuyu said, "There's a storm going on. It's a flash flood." 

"A storm? The weather was perfect today." 

"Before the power went out, we were watching the news," Jeongyeon said, "Apparently it was a storm that came up from the south." 

Nayeon looked noticed that Jeongyeon came back from her run, the realization suddenly hit her. 

"How long was I sleeping for Dahyun?"

"It's 5:30 unnie. You've been sleeping for seven hours." 

Nayeon tried her best to stay calm. Nayeon sat down on the couch next to her other members. 

'I never ing dream what the was that? I need to get my mind off that ing dream.'

"I forgot to tell you guys, but Jihyo found me a bodyguard," Nayeon said, her voice still shaking. 

"Really?" asked Tzuyu, "Who is it?" 

"Some girl from Japan," Nayeon could feel her shaking hands start to settle. She was lucky it was dark in the living room, "She's a martial artist or something." 

"Wow, that's cool," said Dahyun, "How did you get her?" 

"Chaeyoung's friend," Nayeon said, starting to calm down, "Although, I'm pretty sure they had a thing. Chaeyoung definitely had a crush on this girl. Did you guys know Chaeyoung studied music in Japan? That's how they met."

"She did?" Jeongyeon said, surprised. 

"Yeah," Nayeon could feel her heartbeat settling finally, "The guard is coming tonight, probably soon." 

The group of four heard the door to their dorm opening. 

"Who is it?" Tzuyu called out. 

"It's Sana. The power went out? I had to use the manual key for the door because the security box wasn't working. The hallways are pitch dark right now and the elevators aren't working." 

"Yeah, the storm knocked out the power," Dahyun said, filling Sana in. 

"How did you through the front door?" Jeongyeon asked, "I had to wait for a grandma to come out and open the door for me. Where is our doorman? The one day our buzzer doesn't work the doorman takes a day off." 

"I had to wait for a man to walk past the front door, I wasn't waiting there long," Sana said taking her jacket off and walking towards her room, "I need to take a shower, my clothes are drenched."

The TV wasn't working so the entire group was watching videos on Dahyun's laptop. They were only five minutes into their movie when Tzuyu suddenly thought of something. 

"Nayeon Unnie, how is the bodyguard going to get inside the building?" 

. 

"Someone needs to wait at the front of the door..." Jeongyeon said quietly before screaming, "Not it!" 

"Not it!" 

"Not it!" 

"Not i- ," said a complaining Nayeon, "You guys are going to send a crippled girl downstairs to wait in a dark entrance? That's pretty harsh. I'm oldest too, what happened to seniority?" 

"It's your bodyguard idiot, go downstairs," Jeongyeon said, turning the movie back on, "You can use your wrist brace to choke anyone who tries to attack you." 

"Haha." Nayeon said while getting up, "Give me your phone Jeong, mine died."

Jeongyeon handed her phone to Nayeon reluctantly. Nayeon was against all physical activity. She was lazy by nature. But she was glad she lost the game, she needed time to alone right now and waiting in an empty and dark front lobby was a perfect place to hide from her groupmates. 

She opened the door to the stairwell and the phone flashlight. Nayeon walked down the stairs, reaching the ground floor. There were couches in the lobby. Nayeon sat in the first one, giving her a good view of the windows. There were two layers of windows, a mailroom being in between the lobby and outside area. Only the outside area was locked.

 Nayeon passed time by playing games on Jeongyeon's phone. 

'She has the worst games on her phone I swear to god'

Nayeon was feeling weird, an unexplainable feeling welling up in . 

'Today was so weird.'

Nayeon was sitting for around 10 minutes before she heard knocking on the door. It was dark outside so it was hard to see who was outside the window. Nayeon stood up and walked towards the front window, she tried peaking out the window, but it was too dark to see. Nayeon decided it would be too hard to see through the lobby window, so she opened the door and entered the mailroom.

The second the mailroom door closed behind her, the light flickered on, revealing the knocking figure in the window.  

'Woah'

Nayeon was surprised. 

There was a girl outside the window, her hair damp and her suit drenched. 

Nayeon didn't move from her place, only staring at the girl. 

It was only when the girl knocked again, did Nayeon move her feet. She walked to the second door and cracked it open. 

"Mina?' 

The girl nodded in response.

"I'm Nayeon." 

Nayeon just continued to stare at the girl. The rain had stopped and the front door lights were working again. 

"I was not expecting you to look like this." Nayeon blurted out in Korean. Mina looked back, confused at the girl. 

'Is this girl gonna let me in instead of just staring at me?'

"Oh wait I forgot, you're Japanese." Nayeon said to the girl, "I only know a little...um...."

Nayeon was trying to think of something in response when the girl suddenly opened the door Nayeon was leaning on, making her lose her balance and fall. 

Mina caught the older girl and propped her back up. She then walked ahead of the girl, leaving a stunned Nayeon staring at the back of her newly appointed security guard. 

Nayeon could feel the bubbling emotions rising from . The feeling she got 7 years ago when Jihyo asked for her name. The feeling she first got 14 years ago. The feeling she last felt five years ago when she debuted. 

It was her 4th sign.

---

Sorry this took so long. This chapter was pretty important. There are a lot of typos because I didn't proof read, but I'll eventually come back and fix the mistakes so I'm apologizing in advance if this was hard to read. Also, the segments or scenes in full italics are dreams.