You found Yuju sitting inside a practice room alone. Her knees were pulled up against her chest, head buried in the arms that wrapped around them. Her long, straight hair, splayed around her in a tangled mess, gave her that traditional ghost-like appearance. You nearly screamed your head off at seeing her there.

“My gosh, Yuju! You scared me half to death!”

What seemed to be a hiccup emanated from Yuju’s curled up body. She raised her head; the tears running down her cheeks were enough to have you at her side in a second.

“Yuju! What’s wrong? What happened? Why are you crying?”

Gentle fingers pushed away the wet strands of hair that clung to her cheeks, brushing her bangs out of her eyes, drying her face. Yuju placed her hands on your arms, looking up at you with gleaming eyes.

“It…was so s-scary.”

“What was? Yuju, what happened?”

She opened and closed several times before giving up. Her lips pressed together as a hiccup wrecked her frame. Yuju hurled herself into your arms, the safest place she knew, her favorite haven.

It was not uncommon for you to find Yuju hiding away in your assigned practice room, she had been doing so since before debut. What was out of the norm was for her to be heaving heartfelt sobs and shedding a million tears. You’d dealt with and consoled a crying Yuju before, but it had never been this bad.

Terrified that something truly horrible had happened, you soothed her as best you could without cluing her in to your own anxiety. Yuju hugged you tighter, closer, sobbing into your chest. In between sobs, she managed to utter a single word: bungee.

That was all you needed to understand. You reigned in your relieved sigh knowing that it could upset gentle Yuju. The fright of bungee jumping was a thing you could handle, a fear that was small and common enough (figuratively speaking) for you to understand.

And just like that, Yuju’s tears made sense.

“Did you manage to jump?”

She nodded.

“You brave girl,” you ruffled her hair, kissed the top of her head. “It must have been very scary.”

Yuju sobbed in reply. For a good fifteen minutes, all Yuju did was cry while you held her. And really, that was all she needed.

Surrounded by cameras, in the company of her members, she could not truly reveal how frightened she had been. She had cried (who wouldn’t cry when bungee jumping?), but not nearly enough to release all of her anxiety.

She had gone through the rest of the day’s filming, smiled, joked, and done her job as GFRIEND’s main vocal Yuju while swallowing the shocking fear of leaping off into the open air. If Yuju was good at something, it was making sure that her team didn’t suffer because of her. She put on a brave front, changed her tears to a smile in seconds, all for the sake of others.

Only when she felt that she could let it out without burdening anyone did Yuju release the firm grasp on her emotions. Because that is how Yuju did things; she kept it all in until she felt safe enough to unleash them. This meant she would only be her true self, her vulnerable self, around you.

Gradually, Yuju’s crying subsided into small sniffles and hiccups. You continued to her hair, letting it entwine in your fingers, cascading around your hand. Since you could do nothing more than hold her as a comfort, Yuju’s warmth, her arms around you, lulled you into a blissful state. It took you a moment to blink your way out of it and realize that she had fallen asleep against you.

Smiling, taking great care not to disturb her, you settled back against the wall. Yuju stirred a tiny bit, sighing your name. She curled up against you, her limbs tangled with yours.

“Stupid bungee,” she muttered.

“Stupid bungee,” you agreed.

She smiled, tilting her up, lips seeking yours. Tenderly, you kissed her. Yuju’s cheeks flared up in a blush. She hid her face on your chest, using her hair as a protective curtain against your eyes. You smiled, resuming the rhythmic of Yuju’s hair.

You wanted to kiss her again, but that would have to wait until morning.