"I want ice cream."

Wheein's voice rings across the room and pierces through the silence, as she tosses and turns on her bed to lie on her other side, coming face-to-face with Yongsun. She gawks up at the other with puppy eyes, which curves down a little at each end, and dimples that flash adorably; something Yongsun can never resist.

"... Please?" Wheein adds, her voice an octave higher and her tone a little more convincing, and Yongsun could've swore she would've rushed off to the convenience store opposite their apartment and rob it off all the ice cream they have in store, if not for the cooling patch plastered right across Wheein's forehead. No, she isn't supposed to give in.

"No."

Yongsun's statement came out sternly and firmly, herself being surprised it didn't betray her. The smile on Wheein's face immediately fades away, now replaced with furrowing brows and a pout; Yongsun avoids eye contact.

"You're not getting any ice cream until your fever goes down." Yongsun says, reaching out to tug the younger under the polka-dotted blanket, making sure it covers her up to her chin, fending off any particle of air that might trigger other sicknesses.

"I hate you, unnie."

Wheein delivers one last glare at Yongsun before shuffling back to her right side, throwing the blanket over her head, basically a sign signaling the childish tantrums she’d throw from time to time, something even Yongsun can’t do anything about.

"Alright, I’ll be back with your dinner."

Yongsun ruffles Wheein's hair before retrieving an empty bowl, closing the bedroom door with a click.

-

Yongsun remembers the first time Wheein's ever offered her ice cream. It was back when they were almost complete strangers, an incident Yongsun keeps close to her heart.

-

Yongsun had always been a perfectionist, setting her requirements at top-notch. She'd sing till turned hoarse, dance till her bones break, simply because she'd never be satisfied. Yongsun never liked being a trainee, never liked being confined in cramp spaces like the practice room or recording studio, but Yongsun believed in herself, believed that her hard work would pay off someday. 'Simple' never existed in Yongsun's dictionary when she was a trainee; instead, trainee life was far from that. Yongsun was just an ordinary trainee; she never really had any redeeming qualities that made her stood out from the rest. On top of that, she was always alone, no one really could click with her or even dared to approach her, and Yongsun, being an introvert, never found the courage to approach anyone either.

Different faces would come and go. Yongsun watched as teenagers who originally entered the company filled with determined, fiery eyes, left the company dejected and depressed. At times like those, Yongsun would remind herself not to give up, not to end up like any of them, but life was filled with uncertainty, Yongsun could never be sure.

It was yet another weekend and Yongsun found herself draining her energy inside the four-sided walls of the practice room. Yongsun had had a bad day, her vocal trainer had yell at her for the deterioration of her voice, her dance instructor criticized the lack of preparation in her dance moves, and other trainees who entered the company the same time she had, peeked through the doors so they could mock at her afterwards, their malicious laughter and snickering still playing like a broken record in her string of endless thoughts.

Yongsun tried to wash it all off by continuously repeating the dance moves to the same song over and over again, but it wasn't working, and Yongsun eventually shut off the music and crawled herself to a corner of the room.

She crouched and stayed folded like a paper crane, allowing eerie silence to creep on her, and suddenly she was being reminded of the day's event, each word cruelly echoing in her head, emotions slowly getting hold of her until she couldn't take it anymore; she broke down.

Her nose started to wrinkle and her eyes started to sting as if thousands of needles were prickling them. Her breathing became hitched, and her lips alternated between parting slightly to gasp for air and pressing tightly together to keep uncontrollable sobs from spilling. Soon, like a broken dam, tears poured their way down her porcelain cheeks.

Her body violently rocked back and forth, her arms wrapped around herself as hot, steamy tears came gushing out of her eyes endlessly, her heart wrenching painfully. Yongsun screamed, screamed as if she was calling out to the other end of the globe. She was aware it was midnight and not a single soul could be present in the entire building, so she screamed her lungs out until she felt a palm on her shoulder, a presence beside her.

Yongsun swiveled her head around and urgently inhaled her ugly sobs. She blinked to clear her vision, and before her crouched a brunette she could not recognize.

"What do you want?" Yongsun croaked, her voice cracking at the end of her sentence.

"I came to offer you an ice cream, ice cream always helps."

The brunette extended her arm, her fingers wrapping around an ice cream cone. The corners of her lips crooked upwards and her upper row of teeth shone like diamonds as she broke into a grin, and Yongsun noticed the dimple she had on her right cheek. It didn't exactly work, unfortunately.

"Get out."

Maybe this was the reason Yongsun never really had any friends; she had always appeared cold and detached, never failing to give off an unfriendly vibe, whether or not she meant it.

"Okay."

Yongsun noticed how the brunette started to soften her voice and lower her head; she definitely scared her off.

"But remember to have the ice-cream okay?"

Yongsun didn't reply, didn't look at the other even when she stood up and left the room, didn't offer any form of gratitude, didn't even ask for a name.

It took Yongsun a few minutes for reality to hit her, she eyed the ice-cream lying on the floor before picking it up; there was an orange post-it stuck onto it. It read:

I just want to let you know you're really pretty when you smile. Cheer up!

- Jung Wheein

Both corners of Yongsun's lips cracked, unconsciously curving upwards. It worked.

-

Beep.

Yongsun retrieves the thermometer from Wheein's mouth to look at the reading. Like a toddler desperate to climb out of its crib, Wheein attempts to peer over Yongsun's shoulder, the latter successfully hiding the reading.

"My fever has gone down, hasn't it? Please tell me about it..." Wheein whines and kicks her feet up frustratingly, and Yongsun tries hard not allow giggles to spill from .

"What if it hasn't?"

Joking around with Wheein can definitely count as Yongsun's favorite hobby. She loves seeing the younger reacting exaggeratingly at the slightest things, it's adorable at most times.

"Well, there's nothing I can do, is there?"

Wheein falls back on the bed with a slump, pressing her lips together and the dimples on the right side of her cheek never fails to catch Yongsun's attention. Oh, there's nothing about Wheein she doesn't adore. Yongsun chuckles.

"Say, how about we get ourselves some ice-cream?