The small statured man lowers the camera, attentively flicking through the images on the illuminated screen.  He looks up, satisfied at the content.

“Miss Seohyun-ssi, it’s getting late so you can go home now. We have enough material to move on.” He politely assures the much taller figure in front of the white screen.

“Thank you for your hard work.” Seohyun bows multiple times before hurrying out of the studio, desperate to get home for some much needed sleep. Although it wouldn’t seem very late to most, 1am was far past her bedtime and the comfort of her bed was calling desperately.

                                                                            ***

Seohyun soundlessly enters the dorm, careful not to wake up the other members from their precious sleep. After delicately slipping off her heels, she quietly exhales at the sensation of the cold wood on her aching feet. Tiptoeing past the row of bedrooms, she reaches the kitchen. Not bothering to turn on the light, she opens the fridge and retrieves a chilled bottle of water. She excitedly gulps it down as soon as the rim of the bottle touches her luscious lips, feeling the cool relief of the liquid as it flows freely down her parched throat.

She lifts her arms above her head, stretching them towards the ceiling as she drifts towards her bedroom door. Her body comes to a halt. A low, iridescent light glows from the gap underneath the door which is far more noticeable now that there was no gleaming light coming from the open fridge. Her hand fumbles in her jean pocket until she salvages a mobile phone. Squinting at the brightness of the screen, her eyes focus on the small clock on the right hand side of the display. 1:45am. It’s strange for Sooyoung-unnie to be up this late considering we have an early schedule tomorrow. As this thought runs through her mind, a quiet murmur materialises from the other side of the door. Presuming her roommate is still awake, Seohyun takes a firm grip of the handle and twists hastily, allowing her entry of the room. She takes a step inside, preparing to greet her roommate as her eyes scan the low lit room for signs of life.

She immediately stops in her stride as she notices her audience and what her audience is doing.

“Se-Seohyun!” Sooyoung gasps, briskly pulling out her right hand from beneath her shorts. Her other hand, that was previously fumbling her chest, moves atop the quilt, propping up her body to face her startled observer.

“Sorry for in-intruding.” Seohyun asserts, a little louder than she anticipated, as she averts her gaze off of her flustered roommate. She steps back out of the doorway and closes the door softly, hoping not to create more ruckus. Her body freezes as she drinks in the scene she just witnessed, her hand paralysed on the door handle. Was Sooyoung-unnie jus- why was she doing-?

Seohyun was no fool; it was blatantly obvious what she was doing.  A flustered girl, hand delved in her shorts while the other s her chest under her shirt? It would take an idiot not to know.

“Yah Seohyun-ah!, I didn’t see you there, you startled me.” A familiar voice interrupts Seohyun’s bustling thoughts, making her jump.

“Ah... sorry, Hyoyeon-unnie. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Seohyun says with an unwittingly nervous inflection. 

“It’s ok, Seo-baby, I forgive you.” Hyoyeon jokingly remarks, tapping Seohyun’s behind as she walks past and enters the kitchen. Seohyun watches her as she opens the fridge door and grabs a bottle of water. She takes a sip before looking back at Seohyun with a questioning expression.

“What’s wrong? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.” She asks, smirking at Seohyun’s somewhat stunned exterior.  Seohyun can only reply with a faint smile, unable to conjure up a verbal response.

“I take it you’ve just came back from your photo shoot?” Hyoyeon asks, eyeing Seohyun’s clothes. It wasn’t like she was wearing an extravagant outfit, rather one that was little out of character. For the photo shoot in question, Seohyun was instructed to abide a rebellious appearance, in which her stylist took full advantage of by dressing her in black skin tight jeans paired with a white shirt and black leather jacket.

“Yeah, the photographer-oppa said I looked like a delinquent.” Seohyun replies disappointingly, certainly not the demeanour she wanted to be associated with.

“I think you look hot.” Hyoyeon winks as she slouches on the sofa. Seohyun blushes, adding to the redness already adorning her cheeks.

“It’s getting late unnie, aren’t you going to sleep?”

“I can’t sleep. I’m just going to sit here for a bit. Don’t worry Seo-baby; I’ll go back to bed soon,” Hyoyeon reassures the concerned girl staring at her. “Though I should be asking you the same question.”

“I was going to take a shower but Sooyoung unnie is a-asleep.” Seohyun’s voice hitches at the mention of her roommate, she grits her teeth hoping Hyoyeon doesn’t notice. 

“You can use the one in my room. You won’t wake Sica, you know how much of a deep sleeper she is and Sunny is still filming Invincible Youth with Yuri.”

“Thanks unnie. Please don’t stay up too late.”

 Hyoyeon smiles as she watches her adorable maknae soundlessly scurry off down the hall.

Opening the door gently, Seohyun enters Hyoyeon’s room nervously, dreading the thought of walking in on Jessica performing the same private act as her roommate. She is pleased to find Jessica sound asleep, lightly snoring, in a bundle of purple quilt. She is light footed as wonders over to the bathroom. Locking the door behind her, she hastily undresses and steps into the shower. Thinking the surge of warm water may help her to relax, her mind refuses to halt replaying the scene she had accidently walked in on. Agitated, she turns the temperature down to cold, hoping the sudden drop in temperature will calm her nerves.

Aigoo. Why can’t you just forget about it? She says under her breath while she furiously rubs her temples. It’s not a big deal...

Her mind takes her back to the alcohol induced conversation she was forced to comment in barely a week ago...

“Yah! Yuri-ah, why would you ask such a thing?” Sunny exclaims, blushing furiously.

“Oh come on, it’s not like we all haven’t done it.” Yuri affirms, taking another sip of Soju. The other members refuse to comment; instead they shift nervously, attempting to disregard their embarrassment, hiding their blushes behind the glasses held tightly in their hands.

Yuri shoots a mischievous grin at Jessica.

“Wha- why are you looking at me like that?” Jessica shrieks, eyeing the devilish smirk plastered on her band mates face.

“Don’t play dumb Sica. You are the biggest perpetrator here. Remember when I caug-“Just as she is about to finish her sentence, is abruptly covered by Jessica’s hand, halting Yuri in divulging Jessica’s not-so-secret-secret. Yuri scowls, disappointed in Jessica’s dishonesty.

“Fine then, if you won’t admit it. Seohyun-ah, can you come in here please?” Yuri requests smugly, taking another gulp of liquor.

The ever faithful maknae heeds her call and wonders in from the kitchen where she had assigned herself as ‘glass cleaner’, though the others just saw this as an excuse for not drinking. As she walks into the alcohol fuelled atmosphere, Yuri jumps up from the sofa, unsteadily at first, and whips her arm forcefully around Seohyun’s shoulders.

“Please prove to Sica that there’s no harm in admitting that you e.” Yuri articulates confidently as she struggles to maintain a straight composure.

“Mastu-? Yah! Unnie, that’s so embarrassing!” Seohyun shrieks. She brings her hands to her cheeks, attempting to mask the enraged blush that adorns them. The remaining members in the room watch, highly amused, at the girl’s innocent response. You could say it was their guilty pleasure. They took pride in making the maknae blush with the mention of anything ual.

“Yuri-ah stop teasing Seohyun. She doesn’t have to admit it if she doesn’t want to.” Taeyeon remarks, feeling a twinge of remorse as she watches Seohyun stand awkwardly beside Yuri, who is still latched unsteadily onto her shoulders, using her as a support.

“B-but unnie I don’t have anything to a-admit.” Seohyun shyly reveals, staring at the floor and avoiding all eye contact of the occupants in the room. Yuri releases her prey and staggers backwards, taken aback by her comment. She certainly wasn’t expecting that response. Feeling defeated that her plan to catch Jessica out proved futile; she retreats back to the sofa in between Tiffany and Hyoyeon, all the while sulking. Tiffany refills Yuri’s glass with more Soju as her own unique way of sympathising, it was like saying ‘there there’ whilst patting her shoulder consolingly.

“So you’ve never...you know...gotten curious?” Jessica interjects from across the room.

“N-no.” Seohyun nervously replies. The entirety of the room groans in unison.

“Our maknae is so innocent.” Sunny comments as she stares nonchalantly at her empty glass. Hyoyeon grabs Seohyun’s arm and yanks it towards her making Seohyun stumble onto her lap, embracing the warm skin to skin contact of the younger girl's bare legs, covered sparsely with white denim shorts.

“You’re so adorable, Seohyun-ah.” Hyoyeon teases, patting Seohyun on the head like an obedient puppy.

“So have you never felt...ah how do I put this...?” Rubbing the back of her neck, Sooyoung hesitates, anxious that she may be entering awkward territory.

“.” Jessica abruptly finishes the sentence, noticing her friend’s hesitance. The room bursts out in juvenile giggles and girlish whispers. Seohyun looks around with a perplexed idiom at the sudden upheaval of laughter.

“She means aroused.” Sunny interjects amongst the laughter.

“N-no, I don’t think so.” replies Seohyun shyly, her cheeks glowing with crimson as she refuses to look up from the floor.

Hyoyeon leans closer to Seohyun and delicately brushes her straight black locks away from her ear. Almost pressing her lips against it, she teasingly whispers, just loud enough for the other girls to hear, “I’d be more than happy to show you, Seo...hyun...ah.” Seohyun shudders unintentionally at the pleasant sensation of Hyoyeon’s warm breath, sending a jolt of electricity through her body. She launches herself off Hyoyeon’s lap and unsteadily settles on her feet.

“N-no, thank you.” Seohyun stutteringly responds, gesturing her hands in front of her in a halting motion.

“You’re missing out, Seohyun-ah.” Yuri narrows her eyes wickedly as she sends a devious smile across the room to one person in particular. “Isn’t that right, Sica?”

Aigoo.

Seohyun steps out of the shower and shrouds her lean figure in a towel before un-tangling her lengthy wet locks with a brush. Feeling the cold chill in the air as she steps out of the bathroom, she settles on finding some sort of sleeping attire. She wanders into the living room making her way to her room, stopping momentarily when she spots a figure among the darkness. Hyoyeon is sound asleep, slouched in a rather un-lady like manner with her arm stretched out on the top of the sofa and her head leaning on her shoulder. Her other hand is loosely holding onto the bottle of half empty water.

Seohyun tiptoes over to her prone body and gently takes the bottle, careful not to awaken its possessor, and places it on the floor besides the sofa. She cautiously pulls down Hyoyeon’s T-shirt, which had previously ridden up the girl’s taut stomach from her unconscious twists and turns, to an appropriate place. Satisfied she cloaks the sleeping girl with a blanket and wishes her a silent goodnight before spinning on the balls of her feet to lead herself in the direction of her room.

Seohyun is faced with a dilemma, one that she thought she would never have to face. Her only wish is to climb into the comfort of her bed and drift off into some much needed sleep. If only it was that easy. Her arms drop at her side, motionless. She flexes and un-flexes her supple fingers in anticipation of her next move. If she just barges in now, she may disrupt her roommate for the second time. Then again, she could just be sleeping like the rest of Korea should be at this time. Unfortunately, Seohyun wasn’t going to take that chance. She had faced enough embarrassment for one night. Defeated, Seohyun retires to Hyoyeon’s room and into the girl’s vacant bed; she wears nothing but the white shirt she had adorned for the photo shoot that evening after failing to find any sleeping attire in the dark.

It’s not like it would matter anyway, sleeping attire is supposed to be worn whilst sleeping and with the events of the night hurtling around in her mind, Seohyun certainly wasn’t going to be doing any of that.