The night was quiet inside their dorm. During dinner almost no one spoke unless to ask another member for refills or a glass of water. Phones were left in the living room. All five of them had decided to stay away from the netizen's harsh criticisms. Apart from exhaustion, they had to deal with the backlash that came from today's performance. What other choice did they have? It was either perform with minimum energy or faint on stage altogether.

They all finished eating half an hour ago. Victoria was staring intently on her empty plate. Amber was lost in deep thought, arms crossed over her chest. Luna sighed heavily every couple of minutes. Sulli was throwing glances at everyone else. Krystal was moving her unfinished food around her plate with her fork. Everyone was too tired to argue and too restless to sleep.

"We can't continue like this." Luna finally said, breaking the silence. "I know we should be thankful for having so many schedules but can't we ask for a day of rest?" When everyone turned to her, she cleared . "Half a day?"

"I'm sorry. I've been very troublesome." Sulli's eyes were on her plate. "I'll work hard to finish shooting my drama sooner so I can help you."

"It's not your fault. We know you're doing your best." Victoria said. "We can't blame anyone. Netizens are netizens. They'll say what they want. If we slip on stage, it wouldn't look good to the company. People will blame the management and it will be a lot harder on us, trust me. We just have to hang on a little more. Our promotions end next week."

Amber shifted in her seat. "Soojung was a second close to fainting in Music Bank a while ago."

Krystal shot her a warning look, eyebrows scrunched. "I was not."

"I knew." Amber said. "We knew."

"It was only a dizzy spell." Krystal cleared . After a couple of seconds of silence, she bowed low to everyone. "Sorry." 

It wasn't only their lackluster performance earlier that sent their mood spiraling further down. Netizens were also attacking Sulli and Krystal's diva attitude during promotions and photoshoots. Video clips of their alleged rudeness to the staff by not using formality and ignoring their questions spread like wildfire. Rude. Ungrateful kids. Brainless idols. The words were starting to sink in. The members told them to ignore the accusations but when it seemed like the world was against you, your only choice was to keep your small circle of care even smaller.

"We should get rest. Tomorrow will be better." Victoria gathered her plate and utensils and offered everyone a little smile. "We can make it through this. We have each other, right?"

They nodded quietly and followed their leader as they cleaned their table. Krystal offered to do the dishes, a feat almost improbable. She seldom did the dishes. It was always either Luna or Amber. Sulli, in turn, helped clean the living room. It seemed like they were making up for their shortcomings already.

Amber paced around the house restlessly, unsure of what to do. In times of hardship she was always one of those who lifted the mood with her unique humor. Right now all she saw were frowns and sad, exhausted eyes. It was as if she had not been doing her duty to the group well. Exhaustion and fatigue, criticism of their recent performances and Krystal and Sulli's attitude controversies. If things don't turn out for the better the next few days... Amber didn't even want to think of that. 

She decided to help Krystal do the dishes. Amber wiped the plates dry and put them back on the rack. "We should finish this soon so we can sleep. It's already almost midnight. Vic unnie said we should be up by five."

"Don't you have better things to do?" Krystal said. She didn't even bother looking at her side when she handed Amber the plates.

"Everyone's in their rooms already." 

"You should be, too."

"Not when you're still up." 

No one spoke for a few moments. It was just the two of them in the silence of the night and the white noise of running water. Krystal removed her plastic gloves when the last plate was wiped dry. "My sister called a while ago." 

"And?" Amber asked, hanging the cloth on the dish rack.

Krystal faced her this time, leaning against the counter with her hips, arms crossed low on her chest. "She called to confirm the rumors."

Amber felt the need to ask after every sentence. There was always that lingering feeling that if she