The group's debut was a success with them winning the 'New Artist of the Year' and 'Rookie of the Year' categories at the Gaon Chart K-pop Awards and Seoul Success Awards respectively. They had been doing guest apearances here and there, leaving the members only with quite little time to spare for themselves. Despite this situation, they never failed to extend their utmost gratitude to their beloved fans through social media.

-

The four girls were finally given a day off to give them some break from their busy schedule. They all decided to spend their "me-time" individually as they had always been with each other- except for Moonbyul. She had insisted on spending her free time with Solar (who didn't seem to be fazed by the idea at all).

"Solar-unnie..."

"Hm?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why...", Moonbyul started as she rested her elbow on the table with her chin on her palm, scooting closer to the person next to her. "Why are you so pretty?"

Solar turned to look at the younger member currently sitting on her right. She felt like she strained her neck for whipping her head too quick, not expecting the question from the girl. "Yah!"

Blink.

"What?", Moonbyul asked with a straight face as she took her eyes away from Solar's to stare at her lips, not even trying to make an effort to be subtle at it.

"Don't 'what' me. Why do you say things like that? You know I don't like it", the leader said as she pressed her lips together in a thin line before returning to her food that had started to get cold.

"Say stuff like what? The truth?", Moonbyul answered back with a question of her own, taking her arm off the table and returning to her previous position, moving slightly away from the other girl to get back to her food that she had disregarded for a few minutes to appreciate the beauty sitting beside her.

Solar fought the urge to roll her eyes."We've gone through this Byul. I'm not a fan of any cheesiness unless it's in my food."

Moonbyul was about to gobble down on her noodles but paused halfway through, smirked and said, "Exactly why I do it."

Solar breathed in a fair amount of air before saying, "Why?" imitating the same way Moonbyul asked her.

"Why what?"

"Why did I even agree to spending my day off with you?"

Moonbyul dropped her chopsticks and gave her best puppy eyes then jut her lower lip aiming for the cutest pout she could do. "That's not very nice."

Solar looked at her. There was five seconds of comfortable silence with their eyes fixed on each other's. Unconsciously, Solar stretched out a hand to pat on the other girl's head- ever so lightly so as not to dishevel her hair. Before she could stop herself from uttering a single word, she said, "Nawww. You're cute."

With her pout turning into a mischievous grin in just a nano of a second after hearing what Solar said, Moonbyul answered, "I know" lifting her chin as an obvious sign of confidence and conceit.

*Smack*

"Ouch!"

"I take it back."

-

The two girls decided to spend the other half of their day in a little cafe to brainstorm and write songs. The coffeehouse was busy which is a bit unusual for a Wednesday afternoon. The strong smell of fresh-brewed coffee overpowered the sweet scent of cinnamon, caramel and chocolate. Most people were on their laptops but despite this, the sound of murmurs, laughter and spoons clinking against the side of a mug could still be heard from where the girls were seated in one corner of the place.

Moonbyul stared at the girl in front of her whose hair cascaded over her shoulders in tiny little waves that reminded her of a river, with the clear water flowing in a steady manner. She had her bottom lips in between her teeth as she furrowed her carved eyebrows in deep concentration.

Feeling the eyes burning through her, Solar looked up to see the younger member blatantly staring at her. She had become accustomed to the lingering touches and gaze being thrown her way even though to say she was uncomfortable at first was an understatement. It took a lot for Solar to be able to accept that she had to live with the other girl's disregard for personal space. She let out a tiny chuckle when she noticed bits of chocolate icing on Moonbyul's lower lip left by the cake that the latter had previously been eating.

Solar could see the confusion written all over the face of the girl sitting across from her so she put her pen down, making sure it didn't roll off the notebook that had been filled with a mix of words and doodles, then reached out to wipe the chocolate off with her thumb, touching the girl's lip as delicate as she could. She felt Moonbyul jump although her face remained stoic. She managed to get rid of the chocolate leaving no trace of it at all. She showed her thumb to the other girl who still had an expressionless face on, clearly missing the reason behind Solar's actions except had now been slightly opened. This made Solar chuckle again.

"You had chocolate on your face so I wiped it off", she said as she brought her thumb to her own mouth to give the sweet treat a little try- her eyes never leaving Moonbyul's although in contrast to her action, they showed nothing but kindness and innnocence.

Moonbyul had to close to gulp as her poor brain tried to process what just happened. "Oh."

-

It's dark with the sidewalk being illuminated by the streetlights set approximately  3 metres apart from each other. Leaves scattered all around being blown gently by the wind with the trees sighing through the breeze. The smell of rain fills the air but the two girls still kept their slow pace as they walk back to their dorm.

Moonbyul's hands are wrapped around Solar's arms while the latter had both hands in her jacket's pockets. "This feels nice", the younger girl said.

Solar smiled. "I know. We barely have any time to rest."

Moonbyul's hold on her unnie tightened as she looked at her to say, "No. I mean this. Spending time with you." She felt her heart broke a little when she got no response from the other girl. Her grip loosened and she slid them off Solar's arm but the latter was quick to catch one of her hand to hold it in hers.

-

Moonbyul insisted that they sleep together in Solar's bed because the smell of her pillow and bedsheets make her feel comfortable. Despite the older girl's constant 'no' for an answer, the younger one's persistence won her over.

Moonbyul had her arms wrapped around one of Solar's pillows, with her back facing the leader, as she took a quick sniff and heaved a sigh. "You remind me of  spring", she started as she turned to face the other way, startling both herself and Solar who happened to be facing her as well. She got lost in the older girl's eyes and continued, "because you fill everyone around you with warmth- like the sun. Solar- your name suits you. Whenever you're in the room, there's always vigor and energy. You're like spring that after a cold hard winter, evokes a new-found sense of optimism and joy. I like the smell of your pillows and blanket, and you in general because it reminds me of the scent of fresh grass and newly-blossomed flowers adding colour to life. Solar...", she paused as if trying to find the proper words to say. "...you probably are the living definition of spring. I hope you know that you're perfect enough so please don't work yourself too hard. I'm more happy for you than for myself that we had this day off because you needed it more than anyone else."

Moonbyul waited for a few seconds but when it looked like she would be getting no response again, she added, "Sorry that didn't make sense."

Before she knew it, Solar's arms wrapped around her in a tight hug. Her instincts kicked in and she returned the action even before she knew it.

"Why?", Solar said, her voice muffled as she tucked her head in Moonbyul's neck even further.

"Why what?"

"Why do you make me want to spend every single day with you?", Solar uttered, barely audible but enough for the younger girl to understand and take in what she said.

Moonbyul smiled and for the first time in forever,  fell into a deep sleep not hearing the sound from a camera shutter and giggles from two other girls.