Nayoung stirs awake, the dryness in proving to be too much for her to handle. She checks the blinding, bright red digits of the clock by their small desk, recognizing the numbers as 2:38 after blinking several times. She gets up as quietly as she can, trying not to wake up her roommates. She exits the room and heads for the kitchen, putting her hand up to her face to cover her yawn.

She takes her own water bottle, drinking almost half of it. She sighs in relief and looks around their fridge, almost empty aside from a can of beer, two eggs, and a few vegetables. They really need to go grocery shopping soon.

She refills her water bottle and puts it back in the fridge. On her way back to the room, she spots a figure hunched over the dining table, her head over her arms. Looking closer, she realizes that it's Minkyeong.

A small smile grazes her lips as she turns around to sit in front of her. She props her head up on her hands and just stares at the sub-leader for a moment.

"I know that's you, Kyungwon." Nayoung hears Minkyeong's muffled voice. She chuckles.

"Go away, Kang, or else I'll-" Minkyeong starts, looks up, and stops when she sees Nayoung. "Oh. Nayoung unnie."

"Or else you'll what?" She smirks, teasing the younger girl. Minkyeong sighs, "Nothing."

Nayoung reaches over to fix Minkyeong's fringe. The girl visibly tenses under her touch, but Nayoung ignores it. "You two fought again?" She asks, concern in her voice.

Minkyeong nods silently. "I just...I just don't know what she wants. And I'm still confused, too."

Nayoung presses into a thin line, fiddles with her fingers. She has known about Minkyeong and Kyungwon's relationship - or the complications of it - for a while now. They liked each other, but weren't sure if they liked each other enough to actually be together. Nayoung understands. It has happened to her before.

"Is that why you're sleeping on the table tonight?" She jokes, tries to lighten the mood.

She sighs in relief when Minkyeong laughs. "Yeah."

"Could've at least used the couch," Nayoung mumbles, genuinely worried. "Or asked to sleep with Yewon, or Kyla-" or me, Nayoung had wanted to add. "-you know how much they adore you."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Nayoung frowns in jest and laughs with Minkyeong. The laughter dies down and the two are left in silence, with the exceptions of the ticking of the clock and the soft pitter-patter of the rain outside. Minkyeong plays with Nayoung's fingers, something she used to do whenever she had a lot on her mind, she had said to Nayoung before. She hasn't been doing it lately, and Nayoung admittedly missed it.

A lot.

"I know, unnie." Minkyeong whispers suddenly, her hands now resting on top of Nayoung's. Her eyes wander, land on anywhere, except on Nayoung. Nayoung would have thought that she was uninterested, or simply blurted out those words without thought because she kept looking anywhere, but the way Minkyeong's eyes settle on their hands tells her otherwise.

Nayoung's heart beats faster, although for what reason, she doesn't know. She urges Minkyeong to continue, feeling awfully dry again, even though she had just drank water.

"I know what you feel," she continues, tapping rhythmically on Nayoung's hand.

Nayoung thinks she knows what Minkyeong means, but doesn't want to believe it. She can't. "Pardon?"

Minkyeong looks up at her, lips in a tight smile. "About me."

Nayoung closes her eyes. Kyungwon was right. Maybe she was too obvious.

Sensing that Nayoung wasn't going to speak any time soon, Minkyeong continued.

"I thought I was just imagining things at first, really. But then it seemed a lot more, what, real ㅡ with how you always seemed to worry more about me than anyone, and how I'd always catch you staring whenever I was with Kyungwon. I found it ridiculous. I thought you ㅡ I thought you were just being extra careful as our leader, since you knew something was going on between us."

Minkyeong stops to breathe.

Nayoung takes Minkyeong's hands in hers. "There's no reason for me to deny it, I guess. I like you."

Minkyeong closes her eyes, slowly removing her hands from Nayoung's grasp. Nayoung would be lying if she said that the action didn't hurt her.

"This was what I was so afraid of," she starts, hands on either side of her head. "Of you actually saying it."

"It's not like it's going to change anything." Nayoung murmurs, eyes tired and heart hurting.

"Not going to ㅡ Nayoung unnie, this changes everything!" Minkyeong exclaims, lowering her voice when she remembered that the others were still sleeping.

Nayoung furrows her eyebrows in genuine confusion, and Minkyeong gets the message because her next words were the answer that Nayoung was looking for.

"The reason Kyungwon and I aren't together yet is because I'm confused about what I feel for you, okay?" Minkyeong breathes out.

"Oh," Nayoung says. She wasn't an idiot. She knew that it would only get harder from now on, now that Minkyeong knows of her feelings and she knows of Minkyeong's. What about Kyungwon? She knew how much Kyungwon liked Minkyeong. It doesn't go the way it usually does in stories and fairytales where you like her and she likes you and you two get together. Minkyeong was confused on who to choose, and Nayoung was confused about what Minkyeong wanted her to do. But no matter how Nayoung thought of it, it wouldn't work out.

A few moments of silence pass between them, and Nayoung feels suffocated.

"...'oh'? That's all you're going to say? Nayoung, I've been killing myself trying to choose between you and Kyungwon and -"

"I'm confused too, you know? Do you think I can just tell you to be with me when I know how much Kyungwon likes you and how much you like her? But I can't just tell you to choose Kyungwon because it'll hurt me, too, even more now that I know what you feel about me. I don't want to be selfish, Minkyeong. That isn't what a leader's supposed to be." Nayoung cuts her off, keeping her calm tone in contrary to the hurt in her voice and the fire in her eyes.

"You don't have to be the leader all the time, Nayoung. It's okay to be selfish sometimes." Minkyeong mutters.

With her words, Nayoung can't help but think that Minkyeong has made her choice.

Nayoung sighs, standing up. She looks at the clock and notices it's already 3:46. "We should go to bed. We have a schedule early in the morning."

Minkyeong shakes her head and stands up, eyes fixed on the carpet of their dorm. "I'll sleep on the couch."

Nayoung cracks a small smile and turns around to face her, effectively stopping Minkyeong in her tracks.

"Sleep tight," she says, placing a short kiss on Minkyeong's forehead, opening the door to her room hastily.

Maybe things were still complicated, but Nayoung thinks they'll be fine.

As Nayoung lands on her bed with a soft thud, Minkyeong barely manages to smile one last time.

They'll be fine.

 

-

 

Kyungwon isn't surprised to see Minkyeong asleep on the couch the next day. She feels bad for the older girl; she's always been too hard on herself. After their fight yesterday, Kyungwon realized how much of a nuisance she's been, and so she thought about the right thing to do, even though it'll hurt her.

Minkyeong deserves better.

 

-

 

"She...she ended it." Minkyeong says to Nayoung, out of the blue.

Nayoung's confused for a moment before she remembers their talk last night. She nods, laces her hand into Minkyeong's, and leans against her.

"Are you alright?"

Minkyeong chuckles. "It hurts. Not as much as I thought it would, but it still hurts. Do I even have a right to be hurt? It's not like there was something to end, anyway."

Nayoung understands. She presses a small kiss onto the crown of Minkyeong's head. She likes Minkyeong, yes, but she's still Minkyeong's friend, after all.

"I'm here for you if you need me."

Minkyeong smiles. "Thank you, unnie."

 

-

 

Nayoung takes a bowl and pours her cereal into it. She looks for the carton of milk in the fridge, only to find it almost empty. She sighs and uses what she can, annoyed that her day is starting horribly.

She finishes her cereal, too crunchy for her liking, and stands up to wash it in the sink when Minkyeong comes out of her room, messy hair and half-opened eyes. She laughs at the cute sight and finishes washing up before she leads the half-asleep girl into the dining area.

"Good morning."

Minkyeong nods. "Morning, unnie."

It's been a month since they talked about their feelings. During that time, it seemed like both of them were walking on a thin thread made of hesitation and carefulness. Neither of them were ready, but they were getting there. Slowly.

"I'll just," Minkyeong yawns, "wash up first."

Nayoung nods. She wanted to surprise Minkyeong, so she gathered the only things she knew how to cook and started making breakfast for Minkyeong.

When Minkyeong got back, she almost didn't believe her eyes at the sight of Nayoung in front of the stove. She got curious and went behind Nayoung.

"What are you doing?" she asks, looking over Nayoung's shoulder to see a few cracked egg shells at the side of the counter and Nayoung focusing on the pan filled with what looked like scrambled eggs.

"Cooking," she murmurs.

Minkyeong laughs. "Obviously," she rests her head on Nayoung's shoulder, the tip of her nose grazing Nayoung's neck.

"You smell good," she says, an arm slowly circling Nayoung's waist. She hears a low whine from Nayoung's throat, laughs at how cute the older girl sounds.

"This is for you, if you haven't noticed, so let go of me if you don't want burnt eggs for breakfast." Nayoung jokes. In reality, she wasn't that bad of a cook to burn eggs, but Minkyeong's warmth around her was making her go crazy. Minkyeong laughs at her one more time before calling her cute and planting a small kiss on her cheek before sitting down and just choosing to watch Nayoung cook for her.

Nayoung's thankful Minkyeong didn't see the blush that crept on her cheeks.

 

-

 

The two were watching a TV show, Nayoung sitting down and Minkyeong's head resting on her lap. They were alone at the dorm, since the others went out to buy food. They won the rock paper scissors match, so here they are lazing around on the couch.

"Unnie."

"Yeah?" Nayoung replies, eyes not leaving the TV.

"Play with my hair," Minkyeong requests.

Nayoung nods, smiling, calls Minkyeong strange, but plays with her hair anyway.

"I think she's tone-deaf," Nayoung blurts out.

Minkyeong tries to analyze the contestant. She was pretty, definitely had a singer's face, but her lipsyncing seemed off and the voice didn't suit her face as well. "Maybe."

The contestant starts singing on the stage, and as expected, she was tone-deaf. "Shame. She's pretty though." Nayoung laughs.

Minkyeong pouts, looking up at Nayoung. "Prettier than me?"

Nayoung pretends to think about it, earning a light slap on her shoulder.

"Kidding. You're the prettiest," she smiles at Minkyeong, hand stretching out to intertwine with hers.

They hear the door open, the chatter of eight girls filling the dimly lit dorm. They remove their shoes at the doorstep, plastic bags in their hands and the smell of samgyeopsal and noodles filling their senses.

"We're back!" Eunwoo announces, lifting the plastic bags on each of her hands. They look at Nayoung and Minkyeong who are now sitting separately on both ends of the couch, hands on their lap and backs strangely straight. Siyeon mutters a 'weirdos' before rushing the others to start preparing the food.

"Let's eat!"

 

-

 

Nayoung and Minkyeong didn't go unnoticed while they were eating. Minkyeong fed Nayoung at every chance she got, and Nayoung even offered to go out and buy Minkyeong's favourite milk when she asked for it, since apparently Jieqiong forgot to buy it again.

"It's alright, unnie, I can manage without it," Minkyeong laughs, looking at Nayoung lovingly.

"Get a room," Siyeon snickers. Sungyeon tells her to be quiet.

Nayoung blushes, silently shoving another big spoon of rice in . There's a grain left at the side of , but before she could get it, Minkyeong's fingers are turning her head and swiftly brushing it away. They smile at each other sheepishly.

 

-

 

Minkyeong stands outside their room, frowning. Kyungwon had banned her for a night, and when she asked why, Kyungwon simply shrugged and said that it was a secret. Minkyeong didn't press any further, opting to take her pillow and her blanket to the couch.

Just when she was about to lay her head on her pillow, the door to the other members' room opens and out comes Nayoung. They're both equally shocked to see each other, Minkyeong with an awkward smile playing on her lips and Nayoung with her eyebrows furrowed together.

"Kyungwon banned me from the room for a night."

Nayoung's mouth turns into an o-shape and nods, acknowledging Minkyeong. She heads straight to the kitchen to get a glass of water, eyeing Minkyeong as she lays down on the couch once more. She finishes her glass and murmurs to herself, determination pumping in her veins.

On the way back to her room, Nayoung stops in her tracks in front of the couch. She pokes her cheek, knowing that she can't possibly be sleeping yet.

Minkyeong opens one eye. "Yes?"

Nayoung clears and fixes her gaze onto the floor.

"You could sleep with me, if you want."

Minkyeong opens her other eye and smiles widely, nodding enthusiastically. She fixes her pillow and blanket and stands up at the same time as Nayoung. She grabs her hand and smiles, walking with her to Nayoung's room.

Nayoung's bed is barely enough for two people, they find out as they climb in. "Sorry," Nayoung whispers, careful not to wake up the other members.

Minkyeong giggles silently and shakes her head. She lays down, telling Nayoung to do the same. They're looking at each other, smiles on their faces and affection in their eyes. Minkyeong moves closer to Nayoung, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to herself.

"Good night, unnie." She greets. Nayoung is silent for a moment, realising their position. She takes advantage of it and places a small kiss on Minkyeong's forehead.

"Good night."

 

-

 

It's the day of their fansigning event, the girls already prepared for the many questions and screaming fans. Nayoung looks at Minkyeong from the corner of her eyes, sees the girl form strange hearts with Kyungwon. Nayoung smiles and raises an arm to form one with Jieqiong, as well.