~28th October-29th November 2015~

Apink was scheduled to attend the Melon Music Awards 2015 and were given a special stage to practice. It was normal, it was moving towards the end of the year where award shows were the gems to catch. Just by given an invitation to attend was already a blessing so the girls worked very hard to give the best performance to their fans. But no one would've thought, that a day would come when Apink would have to handle without their leader.

Acube's practice room was filled with heat and sweat, as the girls went over their steps again. They would be performing a medley of their songs and they had to refresh their minds with old dance moves. Starting off with Mollayo, Nonono, Mr.Chu then followed by Eunji's solo LUV and finally Remember, it was a lot of work to do. Just like any hardworking artists, the girls would sacrifice their sleep in order to make it perfect.

"Okay, let's take a 10 minute break." said Chorong as she turned off the music. The girls sighed as Hayoung, Naeun and Namjoo sat against their mirror catching their breath. Eunji went to the back and checked on her phone while Bomi went towards their leader. She was always aware of Chorong because she knew that she would often overwork herself and paid close attention.

"Are you okay unnie?" asked Bomi as she patted Chorong's back. She was still sweating profusely and taking deep breaths.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." said Chorong with a smile, making sure to not worry her dongsaengs as she drank some water. But this was strange, it was unusual for her to feel tired that fast. In fact, she felt slightly light-headed as if she was floating in the air.

Eunji who witnessed Chorong's behaviour pulled Bomi over who was casually drinking water at the side.

"I think Chorong unnie isn't feeling too good." whispered Eunji.

"Yeah, I noticed. She was the same yesterday." whispered Bomi in reply. The two then looked at their leader worriedly, like children concerned over their mother.

"Like I said, I'm fine. Don't worry." said Chorong as she could feel their gaze behind her.

"You always say that unnie. That's a lie." sighed Bomi as she walked towards her.

"Remember last time you said you were okay? You came down with a high fever after that." said Eunji as she placed her hand onto Chorong's forehead. Her eyes widened as it felt hot, very hot.

"Yah! We need to take you to the doctor!" said Eunji in surprise. Bomi then placed her hand onto her forehead to double check.

"You have a fever unnie! Let's go to the doctor now!" said Bomi as the three dongsaengs went towards their leader, concerned and worried.

"I've got my driver's license so I can take you there." said Eunji as she took her bag, prepared to go out.

"It's fine. I'll rest at home." said Chorong as she stopped Eunji.

"Unnie!" protested Bomi. She knew how stubborn she was, she didn't want to cause trouble for anyone which made Bomi even more concerned for her.

"You sure?" sighed Eunji as she held onto Chorong, facing eye-to-eye.

"It's just a normal fever. I'll just go to the dorm and rest first alright?" smiled Chorong.

"But if it doesn't go down, we're taking you to the hospital no matter what." said Hayoung.

"You guys keep practicing, I'll send Chorong unnie back to the dorm first." said Eunji as she was the only one other than Chorong who could drive.

"Alright unnie...." replied the three dongsaengs as they can only look at the two worriedly. Bomi, who was now the oldest in the room after they left could only let out a sigh.

"Unnie's always like that...." mumbled Naeun in concern. Everyone knew the struggles of the leader, for the past five years they knew the kind of harships Chorong had faced. She always made sure to put others first, sacrificed for others, because she was the leader. She had double the stress any of the members would've had.

"Okay, let's not worry about this and get to practice guys." said Bomi as she clapped, heading towards the music player.

"Which one are we practicing?" asked Namjoo.

"Oh yeah, Chorong unnie is supposed to do Mr.Chu with you......" said Bomi, reminded of the performance.

"If worst come to worst......" mumbled Hayoung.

"Don't say it Hayoung-ah..." said Naeun, stopping the maknae from saying anything negative.

"Right....sorry. Let's just dance to Remember then." replied Hayoung, snapping herself out.

"Okay, here it goes."

~X~

Eunji called the manager to inform what happened to Chorong while returning to the dorm. She immediately let Chorong lie down on her bed even though she refused, soaked a wet towel and placed it over her forehead and could only sigh after that. She measured her temperature, luckily it was a mild fever of 38 degrees, but it could fluctuate any moment.

Her mind was only about her leader, practicing didn't really bother her much. What matters was health first, she wanted all six members to be present. However, she just realised that she had drama filming later that afternoon. Conflicted, she couldn't leave Chorong alone in the dorm nor she couldn't miss filming. Eunji walked around the dorm, thinking how to solve this matter.

"Eunji-ya..." Chorong's voice was soft but could still be heard by Eunji who came over.

"Yes unnie?"

"You have drama filming later right? You can go." 

"But unnie...."

"It's fine. I'll just need to sleep that's all. Go." Leader's words were absolute. Eunji sighed, leaving the dorm for her filming with mixed feelings. It was always like that, she didn't want to leave her behind but she couldn't miss filming either. She was worried, filled with illusionary thoughts of things that might happen when Chorong's home alone. Nonetheless, the dorm was now empty with only Chorong fast asleep.

(Apink's Group Chatroom)

Eunji: I'm going for filming so Chorong unnie's alone at the dorm. Finish practice early okay?

Bomi: Got it, we will leave during lunch time.

Eunji: You just want to sneak out and eat don't you ==

Bomi: Hehe... ^^;;

Hayoung: Good luck on filming unnie!

Chorong looked at the message and smiled. Indeed, even at times like these they could still joke around. She thought that if she didn't recover soon, she would only be an obstacle for everyone. Thus, she decided to rest as much as she could.

~X~

That night, everyone was at the dorm except Eunji who was still filming late at night. It was quiet, the girls watched the television on low volume. Hayoung was too immersed in a mobile game while Bomi was boiling porridge for Chorong. At that moment, Chorong's door opened.

"Unnie!" said everyone as they went towards her, asking her if she was fine, whether she was hungry, whether she needed something, etc.

Chorong could only smile. She was touched at the care and love received by the members, glad that she was part of Apink.

"It's okay. I feel slightly better." replied Chorong. However, she noticed Naeun staring at her for awhile.

"Unnie, your eye....look a bit weird...."

The girls then turned to looked at Chorong's eye, surprised that there was something amiss. Immediately, Chorong was brought to the doctor even with her refusal.

~X~

"Eye infection?" asked Chorong in surprise, staring at the doctor.

"Yes, it's nothing serious. You just need medication to sustain it as it will slowly go away." replied the doctor.

"But how did she have this infection?" asked Bomi.

"She currently has a stye which is caused by excessive stress and poor diet. I understand that as a celebrity, stress is common. But, have you been eating well Chorong-ssi?" asked the doctor.

"I've been having a poor appetite lately....."

"I see"

"But doctor, what about her fever? Is that related to her infection?"

"It's actually a seperate thing. It was due to fatigue which caused the fever. Now that she has an eye infection, I suggest that she should stay home until it's gone. She shouldn't come into contact with the outside air and take her medications regularly."

"Thank you doctor."

After telling the news to both the members and the staff, they have decided to withdraw Chorong from all schedules until she has recovered fully.

~X~

(On the day of Melon Music Awards 2015)

In Apink's dorm, there was a sole person watching the television with an eye patch on her left eye. Chorong was at home, watching the awards show that she couldn't attend. She was waiting for Apink's performance until suddenly, they announced an award for Apink. Chorong was surprised, she didn't expect it and was overjoyed. She watched the girls giving their acceptance speech until the end where Eunji said "And to our Chorong unnie, we love you". Those words warmed her heart, even though she wasn't with them, she remained in their hearts. She was happy that even without a leader, Apink would do fine.

However, Chorong searched up the internet only to find topics about her dissaperance. She knew fans would be worried about her, the fact that she suddenly dissapeared without a word.

(An event somewhere in November)

Apink was scheduled to perform at an event somewhere in Seoul however, Chorong still hasn't recovered. Fans were overjoyed to think that all six members would arrive only to see five. The girls reassured the fan's concerns, telling the truth that she was "sick" but never specified what sickness it was.

Chorong on the other hand, was forced by her members to eat properly.

"Unnie! Eat this!" said Hayoung as she shoved a spoon of budae jigae into .

"Hayoung-ah, I'm not that hungry. You can eat it instead."

"The doctor said you got it due to poor eating habits so you should start eating properly." said Namjoo as she sat beside Chorong with a bowl of pig trotters in her hand.

"You've been doing your strict diet for too long unnie." sighed Naeun as she looked at her leader with a pout. She always noticed that she would eat only yogurt and blueberries for breakfast which would definately not fill a person.

"Alright, alright. I'll eat." said Chorong as she decided to listen to her dongsaengs for once. After all, she rarely gets this special treatment.

Due to the sudden change of diet and the effects of the medication, Chorong's face started to swell, a lot. For Chorong, she was concerned about her image but for the members, they found her cute.

"Omo, unnie you look cute!" laughed Bomi as she jokingly pinched Chorong's cheeks only to recieve a blow to the stomach.

"It's because you guys keep feeding me this and that......now I'm all swollen....." pouted Chorong as she crossed her arms.

"But you feel better right?" grinned Hayoung, she knew that her leader actually loved eating back the food she used to eat.

"T-true......." replied Chorong softly in embarrassment.

"Looks like that stye is going away" said Naeun as she stared into Chorong's eye.

"Not yet. The doctor said she can only go out when it's com-plete-ly gone remember?" reminded Namjoo.

"Yeah, if she goes out now it'll be back to square one." said Bomi.

Days passed by and even weeks, due to the outburst of fan's worries, the company decided to issue an official letter regarding Chorong's condition. It wasn't only because of that, but news article started spouting nonsense about Chorong leaving the group. This of course, hurt Chorong's feelings as this insulted her loyalty to the group.

Eunji on the other hand, wasn't able to provide much care for the leader as she was very busy with drama filming. Returning to the dorm at 3am only to find time to shower and then leaving out again to film. However, Eunji always peeked into Chorong's room whenever she returned. Whether she was tired or sleepy, she always made an effort to check on the leader and was updated often of her condition through text messages.

~X~

25th November 2015

"Looks like your eye infection is all gone. You're good to go, Chorong-ssi." smiled the doctor as he finished examining her.

"Thank you doctor." said Chorong as she bowed and left. She could finally go back to work, she missed her fans a lot and really wanted to stand on stage again. 

That wish was granted a day later, when the manager informed them that Apink would be attending an event. Chorong was now back in the practice room, full mode on. She danced over and over again, making sure her moves weren't rusty. She couldn't wait to stand on stage again.

29th November 2015

It was finally time for Chorong to appear in the public's eye after almost a month. Unfortunately, Naeun had another schedule to attend to therefore it was only five girls performing. It was upsetting especially as it was Chorong's first appearence in a while, but there was nothing they could do.

"Guys, let's give our best shot. Apink fighting!" said Chorong before the girls left the car.

"Fighting!" replied the girls as they headed to the site, ready to perform. Fans were overjoyed, screaming and shouting Chorong's name over and over again. They missed their lovely leader a lot, Chorong too missed her fans.

"And that was how Apink survived without their leader"

"The picture was posted on Apink's fancafe during Chorong's first appearance after her long absence"

A/N: Actually, there were a lot of rumours that she had kidney,stomach, etc health related issues. But most sources said she had an eye infection, honestly no one really knows :3 Our lovable leader~~don't go missing again~ Thank you for reading and subscribing :)