Seohyun’s eyes flutter open lazily at the sound of soft whispers emanating from the open doorway. Yoona’s proverbial voice appears first.

“Should we wake her up?”

“But she looks so adorable when she’s sleeping.” Tiffany whines.

“Idiot she’s going to be late if we don’t.” Sunny’s familiar voice emerges.

“I can’t believe Sica got up before her, something is seriously not right.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad.” Jessica moans.

“Sica, yesterday I called you five times to get up but you still ignored me.” Taeyeon’s recognisable tone appears.

“I didn’t hear you.”

“You hit me the second time round and told me to go away!”

“Hey guys, maknae isn’t wearing any underwear.” Yuri abruptly interjects out of nowhere. Seohyun’s eyes immediately widen at the sudden realisation that the quilt had been tossed around so that the length of her legs were uncovered, and her adopted sleep wear isn't as long as she was hoping it would be. The recognisable sound of a quick slap against some skin emits from the entrance of the room.

“Ow! What was that for?" Yuri, the presumed victim of said assault, complains.

“Geez, you’re worse than Hyoyeon.” Sunny, the obvious inflictor, ascribes, shaking her head at her now sniggering victim.

“I can agree to that, especially when she's dru-” Jessica slyly comments.

“Right that’s it! I’m waking her up.” Sunny hastily interrupts the older girl.

Seohyun soon feels a delicate hand nudging her shoulder. She props herself up without delay, rubbing her tired eyes as she leans against the oak headboard.

“You’re the last one to get up but yet it looks like you hardly got any sleep.” Sunny comments, concerned by the redness of Seohyun’s bloodshot eyes and the paleness drowning her face. “Are you feeling ok?” She asks as she places her hand on Seohyun’s forehead.

“Yes unnie, I’m just a little tired from my schedule last night.” Seohyun puts on a brave face as she tells the little white lie. She isn’t just a little tired; she is exhausted to say the least, the events of last night having prevented her from getting any beneficial amount of sleep simply because her conscience wouldn’t silence on the matter.  “I hope you didn’t mind me sleeping in your room, it’s just that I didn’t want to wake up Sooyoung-unnie when I came home last night.”

“Don't worry about it, besides I barely noticed when I came home this morning after filming." Sunny slides her hand down from the younger girl's forehead to her velvety cheek. “But are you sure you’re feeling up for today? We have a pretty packed schedule.”

“Honestly unnie I’ll be fine.” Seohyun assures with a faint smile.

“Well if you say so, just don’t push yourself too hard.” After playfully pinching Seohyun’s cheek, Sunny leans closer. “And you might want to put on some underwear before Yuri pounces on you.” She whispers, winking at the blushing recipient as she withdraws her face. She then disappears through the doorway followed by the other members that had been crowding there.

Still slightly flustered at Sunny's comment Seohyun rises out of the bed, ensuring her shirt is pulled down to the very furthest it possibly can, before hurrying through the doorway and into the living room.

“Ah so sleeping beauty finally decides to awaken.” Hyoyeon remarks from the kitchen as she leans on the granite work service. “Did a prince plant a kiss on your chaste lips or would you prefer me to do it instead?” She dictates smugly before shovelling a spoonful of milk soaked cereal into her ravenous mouth.

“Cut it out would you. We don’t have time for your teasing.” Yoona suddenly appears behind Seohyun. “Besides, that’s my job.” As she passes, she firmly grabs Seohyun’s rear for a mere second, knowing fully of the absence of underwear, making the recipient stagger forward. Aware that Hyoyeon is staring, Yoona mischievously mouths the word jealous before casually grinning back at Seohyun.

Knowing she doesn't have time nor the energy to protest against their routine harassments she's had to endure over the years; Seohyun weakly smiles uneasily at the two mischievous girls as she dismisses herself to her shared room.  

***

 “Let’s take a break. I’m hungry; does anybody want ice-cream?” Yoona’s words attract Sooyoung’s immediate attention; her head snaps up at the mere mention of food. She whips her arm up in the air enthusiastically, showing a rapid transition from her quiet disposition.

“No surprise there.” Jessica quietly murmurs, inaudible to Sooyoung’s ears, as she watches her skip excitedly to Yoona. As the two slip out of the rehearsal room door, the remaining members crowd to the middle of the polished wooden floor and take exasperated sighs as they flop to the ground.

Seohyun lies down a little outside the small crowd of girls, ignoring the uncomfortable solidity of the floorboards, and closes her eyes hoping to replenish some useful amount of energy, even if it's only for a few minutes. She tries not to let herself drift into complete unconsciousness and instead lets her mind wander.

She feels somewhat thankful that both she and her roommate are being kept too busy in their packed morning schedule to be able to exchange even one word in conversation. Seohyun begins to wonder if they are intentionally avoiding each other. Finding any excuse to avoid being in the same room seems to have become a habit which the other girls have picked up on.

“Aish! I must’ve slept weirdly last night.” Hyoyeon complains, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Why did you sleep on the sofa then?” Sunny enquires.

“It wasn’t my intention to fall asleep, I just wanted to sit down and relax a little.”

“Isn’t that what a bed is designed for?” Taeyeon interjects, her head leaning on Sunny’s shoulder.

“Yeah, but Sica was talking in her sleep again and it was keeping me up.” She sends a devilish grin Jessica’s way while the latter scowls in response. “It was worth it though since I got to see my Seo-baby dressed like a bad girl.” She quietly claps her hands as though she’d received some sort of award. Her ‘prize’ however isn’t quite in tune with the conversation; instead she is lying flat on her back with her left arm shielding her eyes from the blaring florescent lights above her. Noticing that her usual target isn’t reacting to her teasing, her eyebrows furrow in question. She shoots a curious look over to the motionless body, pondering whether or not she should investigate upon realising that the younger girl is obviously asleep. However, Tiffany is already one step ahead of her. She slides over to the sleeping girl and gently nudges her shoulder with the intention of spurring a sign of life.

No luck. Seohyun remains dormant and still, except for the calm rising and falling of her chest. Resorting to plan b, Tiffany leans over until her supple lips are mere centimetres away from Seohyun's unsuspecting ear.

“Seo...hyun...ah?” She whispers coolly, allowing her warm breath to envelop the younger girl's sense of hearing and eliciting a shudder from the recipient. Seohyun's body immediately props up, her demeanour flustered at the sudden rude awakening.

“Good morning sleepyhead.” Tiffany flashes her infamous eye-smile at her victim, her ashen cheek with the back of her lithe fingers, “Omo, you don’t look so well.”

Seohyun smiles back and sighs, delighted with Tiffany's concern but worried that she may have inconvenienced her. She meets her hand with Tiffany’s, entwining her fingers with the ones pressed against her face.

“I’m fine, really unnie, I’m just a little tired.” She says as she presents a soft, reassuring smile to the pair of beautiful auburn eyes, which are staring into hers in a desperate search for a sudden twitch of dishonesty. However, the older girl finds none and retreats back to her position next to Hyoyeon, feeling somewhat pleased that she was able to incite some life out of the girl.

“Is that why you tripped in the chorus?” Taeyeon asks, apprehensive over the makenae’s unusual clumsiness during the group’s dance rehearsal. On the other hand, Yuri feels somewhat thankful that it wasn't her receiving the choreographer's scolding as per usual albeit even if she does feel it to be rather out of the ordinary.

“Yeah, you seemed pretty zoned out.” Sunny adds.

“Maybe there’s something in the air, Sooyoung seemed pretty out of it as well. I’ve never seen her make so many mistakes.” The other members nod in agreement over Jessica's accurate observation.

As the girls snicker over their recollections of Sooyoung making daft yet entertaining mistakes, Hyoyeon leans back, pondering, putting pieces together; trying to make the light bulb in her head gleam with answers.

Seohyun pays most of her attention to Hyoyeon, watching as the girl lolls her head to the side, thinking.

Please don’t say anything. Please don’t say anything.

Seohyun repeats the four words relentlessly in her head, secretly pleading. Despite the coolness of the room, a single bead of panic forms on her brow. Her face twitches causing it to roll down just to the side of her eye socket until it stops on her cheekbone.

The light bulb flickers to life.

 She watches Hyoyeon’s eyes suddenly widen, making a wave of anxiety pulse through her body.

 “Hey, Seohyun?” Her attention is immediately seized; her ears prick up to the sound of Hyoyeon’s voice. “Has something happened between you and Sooyoung?” The other occupants of the room all turn to face Seohyun, all sharing the same curiousness. However, all they receive is inaudible stutters from the girl trying desperately to provide a response.

“Bingo.” Hyoyeon grins with victory at the girl’s noticeable aversion to the question.

“I thought something weird was going on when you didn’t lecture Sooyoung earlier when she was eating a hamburger.” Taeyeon adds, reminiscing all the times when not even she had been safe from the makenae’s ‘lessons’ on healthier eating.

“So what’s happened between you two?” Sunny asks, lifting her head up from Taeyeon’s shoulder to meet Seohyun’s line of sight.

“N-nothing.” Seohyun stutters, cutting off Sunny’s probing stare by asserting her gaze to the floor.

“Both of you haven’t said a single word to each other all day. Something must be up.” Seohyun wishes she could answer coherently to Tiffany’s rather accurate observation but her mind fails to provide her with a quick enough response.

“We should get back to pract-” Finally a riposte spills hastily from her lips; albeit a poor one but it is better than remaining unnervingly silent. She can already guess that Sooyoung is getting the same interrogative treatment from Yoona.

“Oh Seo-baby, you’re only making this harder for yourself.” Hyoyeon cuts her off, shaking her head. She narrows her eyes and sends her an unnerving smile. Seohyun swallows as she finds herself caught in her sights. Hyoyeon turns to Jessica and Yuri and gives them a short, barely noticeable nod.

I have a bad feeling about this...

Just as the anxious thought comes into her head, she feels her arms being ceased by two warm bodies. She looks beside her. Jessica and Yuri have her arms captured tightly, pressing them against their beating chests. She struggles, wriggling her lower body to try and break free. Defeated, she looks at Taeyeon with a fretful expression hoping the girl would dismiss her captors. No luck. Much to Seohyun’s chagrin, Taeyeon is sharing the same beguiled expression as with the other members in the room. 

Hyoyeon creeps closer on her hands and knees. She reaches Seohyun’s long, outstretched legs and softly runs her fingers up the girl’s velvety skin. Seohyun shivers at the deliberate ticklish sensation. The devilish fingers glide past her knees, remaining infuriatingly light to the touch, and travel up the girl’s thigh deliberately slithering to the inner flesh. Hyoyeon’s prey shudders and jerks her leg to try to rid the bothersome hand.

“Unnie,” Seohyun protests against the oddly pleasant sensation, her adorable whine being almost too much for Hyoyeon to handle. She slides her hand up, painstakingly close to the frontal seam of the girl’s tight fitting shorts, intentionally letting her little finger brush the centre seam ever so slightly. Resisting the urge to let her hand linger and explore that certain area, she proceeds to let her hand travel up the girl's tense stomach, feeling the muscles contract as her splayed fingers drift upwards.

Hyoyeon meets her eyes with Seohyun’s as she drives her fingers directly up the middle of the taller girl’s chest.

“You wouldn’t lie to your unnies would you?” Hyoyeon holds the underside of Seohyun’s chin. “Hmm?”

“I-”

“It would hurt my feelings if you did. I might have to take something in return to make me feel better.” Just as Seohyun is about to object, Hyoyeon places a single finger on the girl’s unsullied lips.

 Jessica leans over to Seohyun, pressing against the girl’s ear.

“And maybe more.” She whispers, making the younger girl shudder and blush even more feverishly. Hyoyeon leans in closer until their lips are on the verge on touching one another, so close that Seohyun could feel her warm breath prickle her own quivering lips.

“Okay! Okay! I’ll tell you, please stop, unnie!” Seohyun pulls her face away, able to defy Jessica and Yuri’s strong hold. So close. Hyoyeon pulls back, slightly disgruntled at her failure to ‘seal the deal’. Jessica and Yuri release the younger girl’s arms, sharing the same disappointment. Seohyun composes herself, hoping her flushed cheeks would return to their beautiful paleness.

“So?” Tiffany asks, impatience getting the best of her. Seohyun releases an audible sigh, resistance is futile and she knows all too well that it’s relatively impossible to keep secrets in the group.

“Well...I...err-”

“Spit it out makenae, you’re killing us here.” Jessica whines, sharing the same restlessness as the other girls.

“I-I walked in on Sooyoung-unnie at an awkward... moment.” Refusing to meet her eyes with the group, Seohyun bows her head, attempting to hide the obvious embarrassment flooding her cheeks. Tiffany furrows her brow and turns to Yuri questioningly but the latter shrugs with the same perplexity.

“Why? What was she doing that was awkward?” Taeyeon adds to Seohyun’s already b humiliation. Her mind seesaws with answers but her tongue lingers on one word, one that she really doesn’t want to say out loud.

“Please don’t make me say it.” Seohyun unintentionally mumbles a little louder than she anticipates, luckily the remaining occupants of the room are too preoccupied and don't heed her plea. All except for Jessica.

“Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Jessica assertively asks, raising an eyebrow.

“N-no! Wait, I mea-”

“Oh. My. God,” It didn't take a genius to decipher the English that rushed excitedly out of Jessica’s mouth. She throws her head back with laughter, clapping her hands excitedly. The other members stare at her, bewildered at the sudden outcry of joy. She quickly composes herself, oblivious of the expectant glares. "Is that why you two have been acting weird all day?" Seohyun can only nod timidly in return.

“Jessica Jung, I swear to god if you don’t tell us I’m going t-" Hyoyeon warns.

"Oh relax will you," Jessica bravely cuts off the younger girl, "Seohyun just caught Sooyoung ing. No big deal." Seohyun stares, wide-eyed, at the girl, amazed she can say something like that with such ease. The room stays unnervingly quiet; the girls glance at each other with straight, oddly staid faces. That is, until their lips begin to quiver uncontrollably, trying to repress the masses of laughter that is already starting to slip out of Tiffany's mouth.

"Is that it?" Taeyeon blurts in between the unrestrained bursts of snickers now deriving from more than one person. Seohyun almost protests at the older girl's far too relaxed attitude to the rather delicate situation at hand; however she only nods mutely, resisting the urge to drop her eyes to the floor, again.

A smattering of laughter erupts from the group as they look at their maknae in an affectionate, almost sympathetic manner.

"You really are adorable Seohyun-ah." Yuri interjects amongst the laughter.

"She corrupted my Seo-baby." Hyoyeon mumbles to herself as she brings her knees to her face and rests her cheek on them, wrapping her arms around her legs as she begins to sulk in an aura of disappointment.

"But I-"

"Relax Seohyun-ah. It isn't like this is the first time it's happened," Tiffany attempts to reassure the taller girl, failing to realise the panicked glare being inflicted from the girl next to her, "Yah! What was that for?" Tiffany complains, rubbing the area of her shoulder which had just laid victim to a certain girl's fist. Though this reaction doesn't come as much surprise, in fact it is expected, she just couldn't help prevent the lecherous smile grow on her lips.

"Shut. Up." Sunny warns shortly through her teeth, all the while maintaining her gentle smile directed at Seohyun.

"But seriously Seohyun-ah, there's nothing to be so embarrassed about." Taeyeon warmly bolsters, overlooking Sunny's quick attack on Tiffany despite knowing exactly why it occurred. "Besides I bet Sooyoung is a lot more embarrassed about it than you are."

I seriously doubt that.