“Umji-yah.” She poked the maknae’s soft cheeks.

“Hmmm?” She replied without taking her eyes off of the thick book she has been devouring all morning. The Ye-sisters are the members who read the most for leisure but the younger Ye spends more time with good literature while the older Ye wastes more time taking-care-slash-flirting with other members. She just returned to the apartment from an early Sunday mass with her family and she went directly to their room to retrieve the book she just started reading the night before.

“Are you busy?” She flashed a toothy grin.

“I can see from my periphery that you’re smiling devilishly. My eyes are hurt by your blinding pearly whites. Okay... Page 124.” She hastily slammed the book to a close. “What’s up eonnie?”

“I want to talk to you about something.” She lowered her voice even if they were obviously alone in the room.

“Okay, as long as it does not involve you crying. What is it?” Yewon lowered her voice too but more of a sarcasm than conformity to Sinb’s needless whispering.

“So, last Friday…” She was still speaking softly. “It was the first time that Yerin-eonnie and I did it. That was the first time we ever kissed that way. I mean, you know, not the usual way and it was almost non-stop. But then after that was blurry and all I remember was a lot of heavy breathing and sounds coming out of me that I couldn’t control. And then we were really close, but of course because she was on top of me.” Sinb was so focused on her account of the events two nights ago that she used all kinds of hand gestures imaginable. “Yewon-ah…”

*Snap

“Yewon-ah!” She jarred the maknae’s shoulders. “Are you listening??”

“What? Why? Huh? Sorry I spaced-out. Were you saying something?” Distressed, Yewon started blinking and shaking her head forcefully.

“Yah! I’ve been talking! Don’t make me repeat what I just said!” She was yelling but still in a whispery manner and started to become restless on her legs.

“I certainly won’t want you to repeat it. Eonnie, wait here.” The younger girl abandoned the room in a flash. In four seconds, she was back with an uninvited human who was coerced to enter the room and sit on the mattress where Sinb was waiting impatiently.

“Yah! Why did you take her here??” She automatically protested.

“If you have any questions, she is your only hope eonnie.” After closing the door quietly, Yewon sat across Joon and proceeded to unearth the earphones under her pillow.

“What’s the problem that Yewonnie had to drag me here…” She side-eyed the maknae who still haven’t located the earpieces. “…literally. I hope this time you’re not going to yell because I love her, I love her so much.” Joon went on with her ruthless imitation of the young Eunbi’s crying voice at the park.

“Tsssss…! Do I really have to tell her?” She mockingly pointed at Joon while directing her question to Umji who was already in panic, afraid of not finding her earphones before Sinb could restart her narration. She was now excavating the entire head of the bed for the plugs that will salvage her remaining innocence.

“She’ll be the only one who can get the boat afloat.” The maknae was distracted beyond words.

Sinb’s eyebrows furrowed to her response, and neither did Joon understand the absentminded answer.

After letting out a sigh of defeat, “Okay. Tsk. So, last Friday, when you told us to just watch a movie in the room, Yerin-eonnie and I… You know…”

“I know what?” Joon got distracted by the thick book that laid on the bed. “Oh I know this book! I read this for a report in high school! Whoaaaaa the Korean version cover is stunning!”

“Yah!!! Is anyone going to listen to me?!” She gave up whispering.

“Oh sorry, you were saying? You what?” Joon refocused her attention but kept caressing the book’s cover in her hand.

“We did it. You know… it?”

“You did what? Eat? Meogda??” The oldest girl in the room gestured shoving a spoon into .

“Aniiiiiii! Yerin-eonnie and I, we did something...” She gave emphasis to every word like the foreigner friend could not understand English. “...We kissed and something else!” She nearly howled but blushed to her own statement.

“HAJIMAAAA!!!” Joon stood up hurriedly hitting the bed frame of the top bunk too hard that she bounced down, lost her balance and collapsed toward the other double decker bed, again hitting the wooden frame before landing on the floor.

“EONNIE!!!” The maknaes yelped in shock. “Heol! That must have been painful...” The two pulled her back to Yewon’s bed immediately and inspected the dizzy foreigner’s head for bleeding and bumps. “Aish… I didn’t know she would panic more than I did...”

“Ha! She’s heavy! Aish… This eonnie… I don’t know what Sowon-eonnie sees in her.”

“Ssshh... she might understand you…”

“Yah! She knows already! No one is keeping it from her. Even that giraffe is too bold about it!”

“Sshhh… even so.” Yewon placed Joon’s head on her lap and kept searching for visible injuries.

“Did she crack her head?”

“Eonnie, your words. No, she’s fine.” The younger maknae fixed Joon’s hair after parting it countless ways to check her scalp. “Eonnie, are you okay?! You bumped your head twice.” She asked her as she saw her eyes fluttering before opening wide.

“Argggghhhssshhh…” She grunted while holding her head and attempting to sit straight by the edge of the bed. “I did?”

“Oh yes, you did! One here and one there. Good thing Sowon-eonnie is not here, she might get turned off by your awfully executed stunt.” Sinb did not care to translate her statement.

“Do I really have to listen to what she needs to say?” It was Joon’s turn to ask Umji while pointing at the still smirking main dancer.

“Eonnie, I know it might be too much to ask and it’s beyond the scope of your job. But it’s not only for her, it’s also for my own sake.” Yewon’s face was drenched with desperation that Joon could not object for another second. She spoke quickly in English to intentionally make the third girl unable to catch on.

“Yah! It’s too fast. What did you say?”

“She said, I should listen to you because you will not stop bugging us anyway.” Joon tapped Sinb’s shoulder to get her attention. “Okay, tell me your concerns but not the details. I’ll try not to jump anymore.”

Yewon was the one who jumped in glee after finally locating her earpieces and immediately plugging them onto her phone and then the other end onto her ears.

Another sigh of defeat and she continued “Like I said, we did something. You know what I mean right?” She waited for an affirmation, which she received. “It was something after all the kisses, eonnie. There was a different feeling.”

“No details please. Okay, so you felt something after all the… kissing.” Joon grimaced and swallowed to her own words. “And so, what burdens you about that Sinb-yah? Did it feel wrong?”

“No.”

“You did not like it?”

“No, I did.” She blushed again and broke into a faint chuckle that she tried to mask with a fake cough.

“You got confused?” Joon was trying to find the right question.

“Noooo...”

“She did not do it right?”

“I could not compare but… it felt right to me.”

It was obvious in their body language that their exchange was exploding with subdued embarrassment.

“You did not know what to do?”

“Yes.” She lowered her head and blushed even more.

“You mean, you did not know what to do next?” Joon had an idea that Yerin and her may have had the same question but she wanted to explore the other possible things that bothered her.

“Yes. I want to know what to do next after the kissing.” Embarrassed, but she finally expressed her concern.

“Waaaahhhhh! Huhuhu! Why did you have to say that after the music ended?!” Yewon exclaimed after rashly pulling out the earbuds that rendered useless in the end.

“How would I know that the music ended?! You should have just listened to begin with!” She sneered at the crestfallen girl.

“Anyhow, we cannot undo the corruption of your innocence Yewon-ah. But going back to your dilemma.” She turned to the rarely attentive Eunbi. “I know you may want to do something about it, but in my opinion, I think you should just let her lead you.” Joon was trying to brush off the awkwardness in her words.

“You mean, just wait for Yerin-eonnie?”

“Yes!” Joon was relieved by the surprising ease in communicating her message.

“I don’t even undress or something?” Her curiosity was genuine.

“Huhuhuhu… Eonnie… Joon-eonnie said wait for her, that means wait. Don’t imagine anything else. My ears…” Yewon interrupted while the foreigner kept her palm on her face.

“YAAAAAAAAAH!!! I’ve been calling you to eat! Can’t you hear me?!” Sowon forcibly opened the door and stormed in without warning while Yerin was behind her peeking.

“WAAAH!” The brash unannounced entrance jolted Joon that made her lose her sitting balance, and she wretchedly plunged backward onto the tiled floor. The younger girls were also too surprised that they were unable to pull her before she tumbled down.

“EONNIE!!!” Sowon and Yerin rushed to the gap between the two double deck beds to check on the befallen skittish foreigner.

“I think your questions made her unusually jumpy today.” Yewon whispered to the other girl who sat on the same bed.

>>>

“How’s your head?” Sowon asked as she pulled a chair between the foreigner and the preoccupied maknae before removing her light jacket.

“I was able to drive us here alive, so I guess it’s okay. It’s sore but it’s not bleeding. I think that’s still a good news, right?” Joon was trying to feel which parts of her head were still tender to touch. “Awwch! Yeah, I guess some parts are still painful.”

“I haven’t been here in a while. I’m just happy that the company is letting us go out more often now.” Yuna expressed as she inspected the wall accents and pieces of furniture that inhabited the café. Her comment caused Joon to feel a guilty stab to her chest.

“Yeah, I am also surprised we are not being scolded. Maybe because Joon-eonnie is always with us.” Eunha smiled to her own conclusion that made Joon more uncomfortable.

“Guys, what do you like? Sinb and I are buying. New couple’s treat!” An eye smile inevitably showed through her glasses.

“Since when did I agree to buy them coffee?!” Sinb lightly elbowed her cheerful girlfriend.

“Yeah, you said yes, remember? The other night, while I was kissing your ea-” The other girl’s hand immediately covered Yerin’s mouth which was already concealed under a black mask.

“YAH!!! You’re not supposed to say something like that! Eonnie, that’s just between the two of us.” She spoke with a volume almost inaudible as she restlessly stomped on the floor.

“Yeah, someone might jump out of her seat and I’m not bringing my earphones. So, hush eonnie.” Yewon commented. “I like vanilla latte, thank you.” And she went back to her reading leaving Yerin baffled.

“Americano.”

“Me too, Yerin-ah.”

“We’ll both have low-fat iced mocha, eonnie.”

Joon did not lose sight of the 9-day-old couple who went up to the counter to order coffee and a few slices of cakes. That day, it was Joon who invited the six girls who laid lazily on a Sunday morning. It was against her will to take them out, but she was ordered by her superior to strictly comply. She was pretty confident that the coffee shop was surrounded by security but she could not be too assured by anything that she had to be thorough on her own. It has been a few days after the emergence of the third note and nothing was happening and so she was commanded to take them out to be exposed to the harassing outlaw.

“They’re not going to go anywhere.”

“Ah, no, I was looking at the cakes. I might like something. But I guess they bought all the flavors on display.”

“Sowon-eonnie is just jealous that you are looking at them when you can just look at her.”

“Yuju-yah I don’t know exactly what you said but I’m not jealous!” The leader rebutted in Korean.

“Aren’t they cute together? Who would have thought they would end up like this? Look at how they look at each other.” The shorter Eunbi was cutely pouting throughout her sentence.

“Especially Sinb-eonnie, I really thought she was immune to feeling this. I never would have thought that she liked Yerin-eonnie for a long time already.” Yewon commented with her eyes still glued on her book.

“I’m just thinking what if they are to fight, it could affect how they are on-stage.”

“Aish… Sowon-eonnie, don’t be too negative! You know nothing can virtually make Yerin-eonnie too upset.” Eunha defended.

“And if Sinb was the one upset, there’s nothing Yerin-eonnie can’t fix. She’ll come to her and appease her as soon as she senses there’s something wrong.” Added Yuna.

“And when Yerin-eonnie starts sobbing, just seeing her smile disappear will crush Sinb-eonnie’s heart. She won’t last long being mad at her. So, don’t worry too much.”

“English please…” Joon reminded.

“I would worry more about you eonnie, if you fought with Joon-eonnie who is not even your girlfriend!” Eunha went back to speaking in English to tease that made the other younger girls chortle under their masks.

Before the leader could counter the attack, the couple has returned with Yerin juggling the small plates of assorted cake slices.

“I suppose you’re teaming up on Sowon-eonnie again… Cakes! They are still making the coffee.” There were a little too many of the plates that she laid them on the table prematurely and the paper towels that came with them flew onto the floor and adjacent tables.

“Joesonghamnida…” Yerin uttered and bowed to the cashier who told her to not pick the napkins up anymore and that a crew member will clean it soon.

“We were just talking about how cute you look together.” Yewon spoke in fluent English to prompt others to stay speaking the language so the foreigner could take part in the conversation.

“Really? Heard that Sinb-yah?” She excitedly told the girlfriend as she linked her arm to hers.

“But it’s funny that even if Yerin-eonnie is more girly and Sinb-yah is more boyish, Yerin-eonnie is more gentlemanly between them.” Yuna let out her fearless observation.

“Haha! Yeah, I was going to say that too! I was just afraid Sinb-yah might kill me.” The bob-cut Eunbi followed up.

“It’s not my fault that she always wants to carry everything since she is the stronger one!”

“Eonnie, the cakes are not at all heavy.” The unconvinced maknae replied.

“But I can fix more stuff that she can’t!” Known for her dad-like ability to repair small machines and assemble home fixtures, she bragged.

“Yes, like my broken heart. Sinb-yah fixed it.” Her captivating eye smile accentuated her statement.

“Oh my my...” Everyone winced to her comment. Even the girlfriend who received the compliment could not help but break into an embarrassed smile after hearing her reckless but sweet remark.

“Oh dear, I think my head started throbbing again. Is it bleeding yet?” She showed Yewon a portion of her aching head. As she hurriedly moved to lean toward the youngest member and bypassed Sowon, she hit the tray of coffee that the café crew was carrying to their table. In another second, Joon’s pants was dripping with iced coffee in a yet again unfortunate accident.

“Omo! Mianhamnida! Mianhamnida! I’m sorry I wasn’t quick to move it away. I’m really sorry. I’ll get paper towels! Mianhamnida!” The distressed crew made countless bows while apologizing in Korean.

Sinb who sat in front of Joon realized how distraught the weary crew was, “Kopi oppa, it’s okay, she might not understand you. And I guess it has been her hobby bathing in coffee lately. Hehe! She’ll be okay. Please get her paper towels quickly. Gomapseumnida…” She kept a smile under her mask as she bowed to him.

“Aish… I don’t know what’s with me and this coffee shop.” The foreigner stood up as Sowon helped her clean the coffee that landed on her chair and on the table.

“Haha! Eonnie, I don’t know what’s with you today, not only with the coffee shop.” Yewon subtly reminding her of her jumpy episode in their room in the morning.

“Hahahaha!” Expectedly diabolic in tone, the laughing Hwang caught on the insinuation. “That’s right! And all I know now is Sowon-eonnie should refrain from going to bathrooms until she changed her pants!”

“Hwang Eunbi! You better zip it.” The leader exclaimed.

“Unless you want Joo-”

“You too! Ziiiip!” Sowon turned to the older Eunbi. “You Eunbis are a headache.”

Yerin, being aware that the foreigner understands the dialog completely, was controlling her laughter and just kept on delightfully hitting her girlfriend’s shoulder. Yuna on the other end was just smiling and went on distributing the remaining coffee cups that survived the mishap.

“Ayyyyysh… I’ll just go to the washroom at the back to clean up.” Joon looked at Yerin as if reminding her not to go anywhere. Yerin nodded and resumed laughing while pulling her skirt a little as the temperature became colder in the café.

“Sowon-eonnie, don’t follow her!”

“Aish!” Sowon tried to hit the jesting Sinb but Yerin was quick to protect her under her strong arms. “Tsk! Where is that oppa bringing paper towels? He needs a little scolding.”

“Omo, eonnie, it wasn’t entirely his fault.” Eunha replied after pulling down her mask to have a spoonful of the chocolate cake that tempted her.

“Yeah, Joon-eonnie is just a bit too jittery today.” Yewon blithely commented while marking the page of the book she was about to close.

“Not just a bit! She is too jumpy. And I guess kopi oppa is tired too. I think he works somewhere else. I know I saw him working in a different coffee shop. This might be his second shift already.” Sinb replied while rummaging her backpack for something.

“Yeah he looked tired. Poor oppa, he will already be reprimanded for sure. So leave that to the manager, eonnie. Just take care of your Joon.” Added Yuna who seldom joined the teasing.

A few minutes passed and the coffee shop manager came to their table to apologize once again and bring a new glass of iced mocha and a pile of paper towels. “I’m really sorry for my staff’s behavior. And as a token of our sincere apology, we are giving you this gift card. Please use it here in the store or through delivery. We promise it will not happen again.”

“Omo! This is too much for coffee. Everything is okay. Please do not scold oppa too much. It was not completely his fault, we were also being too playful. But thank you so much, manager-nim.” Sowon handed the card to Yerin before she stood and bowed to the worried manager who kept on expressing his regret.

“Omo eonnie, this is really too much. I hope they did not get it from the crew’s salary.” Yerin returned the card to the leader.

“I hope not. Maybe Joon-eonnie can talk to the manager too? To tell him that everything is okay.” Eunha suggested.

“Okay, let’s tell her.” The tallest girl suddenly felt the guilt after she herself have wanted to discipline the crew.

“Yeah tell her, before she becomes too irritated by the sticky coffee and then she’ll ask that we go back to the apartment sooner.” The younger Eunbi jokingly added while carefully laying the fleece throw on Yerin’s lap.

---

Earlier that afternoon, while the rest of the members idly prepared to go out upon Joon’s invitation, Sinb and the foreigner had a rather informative chat.

“Eonnie…” She called out the person who sat quietly on the sofa behind her. “Yerin-eonnie is very caring and manly. Not manly. I mean uhhh…”

“Gentlewomanly…?” Joon said as she stood to come closer and sat beside the troubled girl in front of the TV.

“Yes, she knows… always.”

“Hmm... She is good at knowing what you need. Is that what you mean?”

“Yes. And I feel lacking. I want to know what she need and want.” Sinb replied.

“You want to know what she needs and wants.” She corrected.

“Yeah, that. Tssss…” The young girl sneered but only momentarily after realizing the need to be at peace with the foreigner she was asking advice from. “I want to know too.”

“Like I told you before, when you love someone, you will be sensitive to them.”

“But how to do?”

“Okay, so today, have you seen what she’s wearing?”

“Polo shirt and skirt?” Sinb replied with a puzzled look.

“Yes, so can you think of something that she might need?”

“Ahhhhhhhh…! She might be cold later. She's very sensitive to cold.” She felt suddenly enlightened.

“There! That’s one. Try thinking of the other things, okay? Go, get what she might need and bring it with you, but don’t tell her.” Joon instructed the nodding girl. Both stood up quickly and went to different corners of the house to retrieve a variety of things.

“Eonnie, I brought a small blanket and wipes too because she does not like it when we make a mess.” The excited girlfriend whispered as she was showing the contents of her backpack.

“Okay, good. Bring these too.” Joon discreetly handed an unfamiliar small pouch and Yerin’s eyeglass case which she always forgets to bring when she is already wearing the specs.

The recipient inspected the insides of the sac-like bag, “Huh?! Is she on her period now??”

“You would know better than I do, but no. But she will be anytime soon.” Joon replied embarrassed of the knowledge of the girl’s cycle. The truth is, she knows all the members’ since she can sense the presence of even just a drop of blood. And being with them for several months has made her memorize a few unnecessary pieces of information. “I know we keep some in the van, but it’s better that you have it with you.”

“Okay…? But how do you know even that??” There was a mixture of confusion and amazement as she shoved it into her bag.

“Hmm… I just saw the other day. She has a calendar app.” Joon did not need to see it for her to know but she was not lying about the phone application’s existence. For people like them who are always in front of cameras, feminine accidents are something they dread to happen and so they have to be extra mindful.

“Okay, so maybe I need to memorize that too.” She said as she tapped the bag as if the inanimate object did a good job.

---

“Whoa! You’re bringing this?” Yerin exclaimed while looking at the fabric that suddenly covered her before removing her mask completely to give the girl beside her a light peck on the cheek. It was too quick that Sinb was not able to dodge it like she usually does.

“Uhhhhh… And it has your favorite ducks printed...” Eunha cringed observing how the couple interacted, and with her iconic tone, “… So sweet, Sinb-yah…”

“Because you just wore skirt and you easily get cold.” Sinb who rarely deliberately showed her affection started blushing as she answered the other girl.

“Look at her! She’s the one who’s blushing!”

Pausing briefly from reading, the youngest girl in front of her added, “Yuna-eonnie, she’ll be too shy she might shrink in her seat.”

“That’s why she did not carry the cakes, little miss Hwang was carrying a blanket all along!”

“Ha! You’re right Eunha-yah! Omo! Our Sinb-yah is becoming a good yeojachingu…” Sowon reached for the girl to shuffle her hair that had an awkward length.

“Yah… Stop teasing my Sinb. I’m just happy I have her now.” She was suddenly serious and continued speaking while looking at the girl who covered her face that was b with shyness. “She’s not the most expressive and I know she’s still learning how to show her care for me. She may not be as aggressive as I am, but I appreciate even the smallest things. So Sinb-yah, don’t worry.” She her hair that Sowon disturbed earlier. “Having you beside me and knowing we feel the same, is enough for me. But thank you for the blanket, it’s really sweet of you.”

“Uhhhhhhhhh…” A series of cringing, teasing and admiration followed. Then Yewon suddenly sang.

Nal anajullae i eodum soge nareul honja dujima¹

[Will you hold me? Don’t leave me alone in the darkness.]

Everyone was confused as they synchronously stared at the maknae whose face still hid behind her book. Only Yuna clapped in amusement and eventually laughed to the witty baby goblin’s allusion.

Realizing how everyone fell silent except for one eonnie, Yewon slowly lowered the paperback novel but only showing her bright eyes that couldn’t deny the smile on her face. “I just thought maybe it was Sinb-eonnie’s time to faint…”

A chorus of uncontainable laughter followed while Yerin kept the pouting Sinb in a snug embrace as she was reminded of that one performance that worried her to her core. Before they could resume the sweet bickering, Joon came back but entering from the front door.

“Did you by any chance ran into someone in the washroom that’s why it took you a while?” Sinb was back to teasing, only that she spoke half-Korean.

“Why did you come from the front door, eonnie?” Yerin asked. Aside from the point of entry, the eye-smiling girl was also keen to observe that the foreigner was sweating and did not seem to have even started cleaning herself up as she mentioned when she excused herself. Her pants were still dripping and drops of coffee on her left arm and face visibly remained unwashed.

“Ahhh… I just had to take a phone call.”

As soon as Yerin saw Joon force a smile, she looked at her with fearful eyes.

¹ Umji's line from their song Mermaid

Author's Note: If you have not seen the performance where Sinb collapsed (which I highly doubt), here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb1GuC_Nc6E