Joy felt herself floating in this weird, abyss-like place. Everything was pitch black, nothing in sight. She couldn’t even see herself within the darkness. It was terrifying because one moment she felt at peace; to only later feel like her whole body was being pricked by a million needles. Besides it being just dark in general, it was also far too cold. Especially since she was pretty sure it was summer and not the dark and cold winter she had accustomed herself with for the past month. Maybe her heart had actually become frozen.

Joy scoffed at the thought seeing how silly yet perfect it was with her situation.

“Ah, I’m so tired…” she felt solemn by her little confession, her mood worsening at it. Somehow, she felt a sudden warmth that felt too out of place with the cold that she was in but she relished in it. It reminded her of someone but she couldn’t quite place her finger on who it was.

No, on him. Yeah, it was a guy. She concluded before she felt her eyes fluttering close and her mind drifting off to sleep. The cold once again enveloped her instead of the warmth. She missed the warmth but then decided to just let it go.

It was better this way.

*****

It was already the thirteenth day that Sooyoung had been hospitalised and now, rumours were beginning to spread around as the lack of the girl’s presence whenever the girls were together–no matter how hard the company said that it was nothing. Fans were beginning to worry about the cheerful girl as they noticed how off she had been for the past few weeks. It won’t be long before the netizens pierced things together. Kim Young Min was starting to worry about the bad press the girls and the company had been receiving from her condition.  Their image was going to suffer, and if they suffer, the company suffers as well.

He had called the girls and reprimanded them of the situation. He told them all the things they already knew but there was nothing they could do. It all depended on Joy’s state of mind now, her doctor told them seeing as there was nothing physically wrong with her with the exception of how lethargic and skinny she was. Her mental and emotional state was a wreck and that was the main reason she still wouldn’t wake up.

The girls went out of the meeting room, heads down as an act of being reprimanded.

Irene’s eyes shot to Wendy, her face scrunched up.

“When can we meet them, Wendy-ah.” The girl in question raised her hands as defense, shaking her head profusely.

“Eungkwang oppa didn’t reply my messages ever since he found out about her yesterday,” her answer only awarded her with an even harder glare.

“Seulgi, call unnie and tell her to prepare us a car.”

Seulgi’s hands instantly dug into her pocket for her phone at her unnie’s request.

“Unnie, where are we going?” Yeri asked curiously from behind as she twiddled with her fingers. Irene went to walk down the hallway, heading for the elevator and pressing the button with the arrow pointing down.

“To show a certain boy what hell feels like,” The girls instantly shuddered at the thought as they raced after her. Seulgi was on the phone, waiting for their manager to pick up her phone as they waited for the elevator to reach their floor. After the fifth ring, she picked up. They could hear her voice as she asked her what was wrong.

“Unnie! Can we ask you for a favour?” The girls could only guess what the other half was saying from Seulgi’s nods and hums. The ‘ding’ sound of the elevator signaled that it reached their floor. The girls entered it quickly with Yeri pushing for the ground floor button. They waited anxiously as the door closed and started descending.

“Why? Ah–Er, we need to go to Cube…?” the girls could hear a loud shriek of why coming from their manager as Seulgi moved the phone away from her ear. She gave Irene a pleading look before the older girl sighed. She took the phone from her and calmly answered every question that was thrown at her. The others stood watching her as they waited anxiously.

The elevator reached the ground floor before Irene even got her permission. They all followed as she walked out the elevator and headed for the entrance. They could tell that their leader was mad from the way she walked and her grip on the phone. Irene flashed her card at the scanner on the wall beside the glass door before walking out to see their manager on the phone, standing beside a black van. Irene ended the call before she even answered all of her unnie’s questions. 

“YAH! Bae Joo Hyun, why did you end the call!” the older woman demanded the younger girl as she apologised half-heartedly, giving Seulgi her phone back. “What exactly are you planning to do?” she sighed at the younger woman’s nonchalant apology.

“I’m about to show someone hell,” that earned her another sigh before she was ushered into the van with the rest of the members following suit. Their manager unnie took the passenger seat as she told the driver where to go. Their journey began soon after as the van moved away from the company’s parking lot. Everyone was sitting in silence for a while before their manager asked them a question.

“Do they even know you guys are going there?”

With the sound of ring, signaling a notification, Wendy gave her a smile. They were just minutes away from reaching their destination.

“They know now.”

Within minutes, they reached the building. The girls merely sat in their seats as the van was parked in the parking space. A ring came from Wendy and then another until her phone just kept on ringing as she was bombarded with questions from Eungkwang. She unlocked her phone to read his messages before her face was scrunched up in disgust.

“What’s wrong, unnie?” Wendy merely gave the youngest a small shake before saying she was far too young to know. This caused the younger girl to puff her cheeks as she pouted. Wendy looked outside through the tinted window, as thought she was looking for someone. A figure appeared as he exited the entrance and she quickly opened the door, surprising her members before walking to him. The girls followed closely behind, with Irene being last and telling her unnie to leave them for an hour or so.

The girls bowed as they reached the man, with Irene acknowledging him politely.

“Im Hyunsik-ssi.” The man was taken aback by the sudden politeness seeing as the two groups had been getting along ever since their member’s `wedding’. But seeing as how dire the situation was, he understood her politeness. He gave them a slight bow before opening the door for them to walk through. Everyone entered with Irene leading them all, a cold air around her. Seulgi and Wendy gave him an apologetic smile with Yeri giving him two thumbs up with a smile. He closed the door as he entered last before walking in front of the girls, to their meeting place.

They walked in silence the halfway through before curiosity got the better of him and he opened his mouth.

“How’s Sooyoung doing?” that earned him a cold hard look from the oldest girl. His mouth instantly shut closed as he continued walking with his bowed. He mentally hit himself at the stupid question. Of course she’s not okay, pabo-yah!

And the silence became their friend as they reached the door that they were supposed to be meeting in. He was pretty sure no one was there yet, that was why Eunkwang hyung told him to greet them. He opened the door and he was proven right as the room was empty from any soul. He ushered the girls in, telling them to feel at home as he went to prepare them drinks. Seulgi stood up to stop him from doing so as the girls settled in their seat while waiting for the other members.

“Ah, oppa! You don’t have to, really.” She went to him to only receive a smile from him.

“Ani, it’s okay. You’re our guest and this is common courtesy, Seulgi-yah,”

“Then let me help you oppa,” he was about to refuse but the look on her face stopped him doing so. He let out a small sigh before letting her help him. As he was preparing tea, two rings came from different phones; his and one from the girls. He didn’t need to check it to know who it was from. He mentally counted down from 10 as he continued preparing their tea, adding additional cups and giving Seulgi another teab