[CONTENTID1]Caffè Americano[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]5[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]Both Shuhua and Soojin find out the hard way that the bathroom floor was far from the best location to fall asleep. 

Soojin woke up before the younger girl to a radiating discomfort in her head and aches all over her body. Waves of intense pain from her hangover served as a reminder of how wasted she got the night before. She looked around to gather her bearings, carefully trying not to disturb the girl whose head was resting on her own.

She was on a bathroom floor and she was leaning on Shuhua's shoulder. 

Soojin tried her best to remove herself from Shuhua without disturbing the girl to no avail. Shuhua's eyes fluttered open after feeling movement from the older girl beside her. "Good morning," Shuhua mumbled. Soojin quickly got off the girl after hearing her voice. Soojin noticed the younger girl's disheveled hair, swollen cheeks, and sleepy eyes. The corners of turned up to form a small smile at the sight in front of her.

"Sorry for waking you," Soojin replied sheepishly, playing with one of the rings on her index finger. 

"It's okay. I think I would've been even sorer if you didn't wake me up. The floor's not the softest place in the world," Shuhua said as she stood up. ", my back is killing me. And my hurts. Oh my god, and my shoulder!" Shuhua exclaimed, emphasizing the last word sarcastically.

Soojin's eyes widened. Her face flushed pink. "Sorry about that too," Soojin apologized. Shuhua thought it was funny that she finally had something to tease Soojin with. Shuhua noted that her unnie's face looked much more innocent when she was embarrassed. 

"Hmm...because I'm in such grave pain, you can do me a favor by..." Shuhua paused to think, "...walking with me to CUBE today!" Clearly, Shuhua didn't mind the ache in her shoulder. Her favor was hardly a difficult one, Soojin thought. "I have a class in..." Shuhua paused again to check the time. She walked outside the bathroom to look at the clock on the living room wall, noticing that Soyeon and Minnie were both passed out on the couch still peacefully sleeping. "...fifteen minutes?! , I'm gonna be late!" Shuhua whispered loudly. It was visible that she made an attempt to not make too much noise, so the others can continue to sleep, but she couldn't suppress the shock from escaping in the form of a slight spike in volume. The Taiwanese trainee ignored the aches all over her body and rushed to brush her teeth, tossing a spare toothbrush to Soojin so she could do the same.The two stood next to each other, rushing to brush their teeth and prepared to head to the company building. Soojin didn't even bother to mention that she didn't have any classes today. She had nothing to better to do on her day off anyway.

Although the two's walk to CUBE was more like a run, Shuhua still ended up being twenty minutes late to her dance class. While Shuhua was struggling to play catch up with her dance teacher who refused to reteach the beginning of the lesson, Soojin waited on the first floor of the building, at the cafe. She needed to feed her caffeine addiction before the withdrawal could worsen her hangover headache. The dancer blended right into the fans who were hoping to see CUBE's idols walk through the doors. She imagined the day it would be her who they would be anticipating to walk past those doors. She hoped that day arrives soon.

She waited for her Americano on one of the comfy couch seats by the window, where she would also stay to wait for Shuhua to finish class. She sent a text to Minnie and Soyeon to tell them her whereabouts in case they were confused when they woke to an empty apartment. 

Shuhua finished class less than satisfied. She received a long lecture from her dance teacher on the importance of being punctual. After all, this was Shuhua, someone who probably broke the record for the most tardies for a trainee. Needless to say, it wasn't the first time she was late. However, it was the latest she has ever arrived to a class. 

Her mood was lightened when she saw that Soojin had texted her saying that she was waiting at the cafe. There was something about having someone who was willing to wait for you that elicited happiness. It meant her that presence was something that was worth someone else's time. It was indeed a pleasant feeling.

Shuhua quickly walked down the myriad flights of stairs to find Soojin sitting peacefully near the window sipping on her drink. She happily took a seat across from the older girl. "Was it boring here, unnie? I tried to come down as fast as possible," Shuhua said through heavy breaths caused by the notorious staircase. 

Soojin nodded her head with a playful smile. "It was so boring. I was almost going to leave because I was so bored. But I'm a good friend so here I am." 

"Good friends don't hurt their friends' shoulders, unnie," Shuhua replied while acting hurt, rubbing the shoulder Soojin slept on for emphasis.

"I-I said I was sorry," Soojin pouted. "Plus, I walked with you and waited for you. Let's call it even? I don't even remember what happened. Why did we even end up in the bathro—Was I being stupid? Oh my god. This is so embarrassing," Soojin exclaimed. Her words rushed together and her hands covered her eyes. 

Shuhua understood the first few sentences the older girl said and then got lost when the tempo of the girl's voice increased by tenfold. She sounded like she was trying to rap and Shuhua could only gawk at the girl in confusion while she covered her eyes. 

After not hearing a reply from the other girl, Soojin lowered her hands to reveal the face of a confused Taiwanese girl. Realization flooded over her as she remembered that Shuhua was a foreigner. She spoke too fast. Soojin quickly rephrased her spiel into a condensed question, "What happened last night?"

"Oh," Shuhua nodded, comprehending the question. "Well, you just were being a big crybaby. And the other unnies were too drunk to take care of you, so I did. It's okay, unnie. You don't have to be embarrassed. Just don't drink so much next time," Shuhua shrugged. With a sly smile, she added, "I can see why you didn't want me to drink. Who knows. I might've ended up like you."

Soojin groaned in response. "I promise. I'm not drinking that much ever again. Please forget about whatever I did yesterday."

Shuhua stood up and reached over the table. Using both of her hands to hold Soojin's face, she squished the older girl's cheeks cutely, "Already forgotten."

Soojin glared at the other girl for squishing her cheeks, a bit insecure at how puffy they were today. Did she notice? Was she making fun of her face? This was her natural response whenever she was feeling insecure. She masked her insecurity with anger, hoping the other person would look the other way. Soojin would feel less insecure if no one was looking at her and anger, Soojin found, was one of the most effective ways to push people away. Even if Shuhua had no ill intentions, Soojin was an old habits die hard, so she continued to glare at the younger girl.

Shuhua removed her hands quickly, seeing that the older girl was sincerely growing upset. "I just—It was because you look cute today. Sorry for touching you without asking, unnie," she apologized looking down at her retracted hands. Maybe Soojin was just conservative with skinship? Whatever the reason was, Shuhua wanted to let her know that she didn't mean to make her upset.

Soojin's face softened at the sight of the girl in front of her. She immediately realized how she let her insecurities reign control over her emotions when she heard how sincerely the other girl was apologizing. Shuhua was just being friendly with her and what does she do? She messes it up. She seemed to be messing up a lot around Shuhua. Too much for her liking. "No, I'm sorry. It's all on me. I didn't have any reason to be upset...Don't feel bad," Soojin expressed with regret. Shuhua nodded silently in reply.

Soojin quickly moved on to a different topic to avoid any more of this awkward silence. "So, Minnie told me your birthday is coming up in a few days? Do you have any plans?"

Shuhua shook her head. "I actually have a full day of classes that day," she adds with a small smile. Shuhua didn't