tick tick tick

This sound had become a constant noise in the dorm-residing the six members of GFriend. What is that sound you ask? It is none other than the sound of their leader's texting. 

She had always been inseparable with her phone―surprisingly her eyesight lasted―though they have never seen her texting so frequently. But not since a few days ago when they found out that their leader is close friends with the youngest member of Twice. 

Both of them barely talked to each other―either backstage or public―heck, they've never even glanced at each other.

So the news took them by surprise, and to tell you the truth, it took them a bit time to process it. The problem wasn't about competition nor rivalry, it's just, well, unexpected.

A particular bob-haired girl was bothered by it longer than the rest. She had an unexplainable worry and anxiety about the discovery.

She convinced herself that it wouldn't possibly change Sojung's unyielding attention to her, right? Right.

She gets along with Sana just fine, and her fellow members encouraged her to make more friends, so she figured it's only right for Sojung to have more friends too―besides Nayeon.

She lost count of times of her mind looping her worries like a broken tape, fated to drive her into an endless cycle of insomnia. She tossed and turned, only to be back where she began: 

"Would she still pay me more attention?"

Was she clingy to worry about this?

She told herself that it was only right for her to be worried since she doesn't want Sojung to drift away. Sojung is her most priced friend, and it's only natural for her to worry since it's like those times when your best friend is suddenly close to this―new friend and you're worried she wouldn't pay you the same unconditional attention as before.

Not clinginess. Just a passing worry, is all.

She would repeat the words in her head to calm down the anxious thoughts and voluntarily shove it deep into the back of her mind.

She reminisces back to when Sojung would hold her hand when she complained about the cold, or when Sojung would keep her skirt down with her hand on a windy day.

She remembers how Sojung would kiss her on the cheek when she felt the gnawing feeling of anxiety, a sense of not being good enough.

She recalls a particular memory when Sojung were asked who she thought is the most beloved member. Her heart leaped in excitement and giddiness. She stared expectantly, and it was enough to fluster the leader.

She had never felt so happy when Sojung answered with her name. She felt like the cutest girl on the planet.

Eunha cranes her neck to take a glance of the person who has been haunting her thoughts all day. Sojung was typing on her phone with one of Yerin's plushie as a cushion for her elbows.

No matter how ridiculous it was for her to feel threatened about her leader's budding relationship with another person, she told herself that her Sojung-unnie wouldn't abandon her for some new friend―especially from another group. 

She retracts her gaze and focuses back on the drama playing on the television.

The leader won't change because she made friends with the Taiwanese. It's ridiculous and unreasonable for her actually to worry about it. 

But why do the voices in her head won't settle, and the gnawing fear in her stomach persist?

Sowon had been studying for her driver license test when the bell suddenly was rung. 

Sowon jolted up from her slouching position. Her notes were ruined by a scraggy line she involuntarily made when she flinched. She sighed and put her pen down.

The usually rambunctious dorm was too quiet for her, and she was still not used to being all alone, hence why she busied herself with studying to distract herself from the suffocating silence.

She stood up from the office chair and sluggishly maneuver herself through the currently messy dorm. She narrowly misses the terror of a stray lego piece from her cherished toe.

She made a mental note to tidy the dorm when everyone arrives.

The other members were out since they had schedules, and they were not supposed to be home this early; the manager didn't mention about any staff paying her a visit either, so her visitor could be some weird sasaeng that somehow or another found their address. Sasaengs are getting more daring these days. 

Sowon decided just to see who's behind the door and get back to her studying as soon as possible.

She looked through the peephole. She saw a head with brown hair and was surprised to see none other than Tzuyu of Twice. The girl was fidgeting and visibly nervous to be in an unfamiliar building. Sowon felt a rush of worry and quickly inserted the pin into the keypad to unlock the door.

"Tzuyu? What's up? Are you here by yourself?" Sowon's face scrunched from worry as she stepped out. Tzuyu jumped a little, and the older girl raised an eyebrow. It was rare to see the Taiwanese so jumpy and not composed.

"Oh! unnie!" Tzuyu looked to be hesitating a bit before formally bowing to the girl standing by the door. Sowon just smiled softly and reassured the girl that they're friends and such formality is not needed. Tzuyu just nodded as a reply.

The Taiwanese slowly pulled her hands that Sowon noticed had been kept hidden from her and revealed an expensive-looking bottle of wine with a neat bow wrapped around it.

"I wanted to bring you this. Sorry, i came without telling you, unnie. We just arrived from Switzerland, and I thought I should bring you this when we drove by the complex." Sowon seemed to be delighted but muddled at the same time.

"For me? You don't have to trouble yourself and come all the way here. You must be busy." Sowon said. She scanned the hallway to see if Tzuyu's manager is nearby.

"Did you come here all by yourself?" Sowon is now in full-blown mother mode. Imagine the trouble she went through just to visit.

"The other members went straight to the dorm, but I asked the manager to drop me off here."

"You don't have to. I feel bad for the inconvenience."

Tzuyu shook her head. "No, it's okay unnie. I wanted to."

She wanted to give it to Sowon as a thank you gift ― for being such a good listener to her problems― and thought the older girl could put it to more use than her since she's still underage.

Sowon asked why Tzuyu didn't give it to her fellow members instead and the girl just shrugged and simply said, "they're annoying when they're drunk."

Sowon was a bit surprised with the girl's bluntness. She figured drunk Twice are possibly just as chaotic as them.

Well, what kind of idol, alcohol-induced coupled with the lack of sleep wouldn't go crazy?

"Thank you Tzuyu!" Sowon squealed and threw her hands around the younger girl's shoulder, giving her a bone cracking―Sowon's bones made cracking sounds, but Tzuyu was too nice to point it out―hug.

"Do you want to come in-"

"UNNIE, HOW COULD YOU CHEAT ON US!"

Coincidentally, the missing members of GFriend just came back from their schedule and were dragging their tired bodies towards the dorm when they came across Tzuyu and Sowon in an intimate(?) hug. 

SinB was the first one who reacted while the others looked taken aback to see a member of Twice in their building and at such a late hour.

Anyone could get the wrong idea.

"Cheat? I don't understand." Sowon deadpanned. She patted Tzuyu's head and pulled away.

The very confused members of GFriend slowly approached the two tall girls.

"u-um...good evening, Sunbaenims."

Some had their mouth gaping―either from Tzuyu's closeup beauty or just shock―while some had their eyebrows raised, and one in the back with a scrutinizing look.

It was silent for a few seconds; until Yerin suddenly blurted out, "Wow, you're hot up close."

The members of GFriend gave their self-proclaimed red ginseng an exasperated look. All of them knew how gay Yerin could be, but they didn't foresee her to blurt such thing on the front of another girl group member.

Sowon was worried Tzuyu might find her fellow member weird, or possibly offended, but to her relief Tzuyu just lets out a small laugh. It was enough to loosen the mood.

Soon after, the other members playfully teased the leader about Tzuyu―who is standing right in front of them―nervous and quiet as she is the youngest among all of them; and a certain someone giving her a stare didn't help.

'Eunha-sunbaenim?' Tzuyu gave a brief glance to the glaring girl and admittedly didn't expect it. Eunha rarely showed her aggressive side, so this was a shock to Tzuyu.

"Can't believe you would go after the maknae of Twice," Yerin said with her eyebrows raised. Tzuyu noticed from the corner of her eyes, Eunha's mouth twitched. "What?! No! You got it all wrong; We became friends a few months ago." Sowon tried to explain and clear the misunderstanding―although Yerin was apparently teasing her.

SinB looked skeptical as for if she didn't believe a thing Sowon said, Yuju staring at her creepily―like always―Umji cheerfully smiling and welcoming Tzuyu, while Yerin is just being Yerin(clinging to Tzuyu because Yerin is gay).

"How did you two met?" Umji asked with hard to conceal curiosity. Her head tilted a bit, reminding Tzuyu of a certain someone. Who is probably having fun with Dahyun. Her smile faltered.

Sowon found it hard to explain while Tzuyu just shrugged with her cute awkward loop-sided smile.

Sowon only answered with "we met backstage."

SinB suddenly appeared by Tzuyu's shoulder and narrowed her eyes while pointing at Sowon. "Why are you giving such an expensive wine to this pabo-" 

"Yah!!! Who are you calling a fool!" Sowon shrilled. It reminded her of a bird Pokemon she saw in Sana's phone.

The two girls bickered back and forth while Tzuyu was standing in the middle of it all―though she found their interaction hilarious.

"Did anyone told you that you both looked like siblings?" Yuju finally spoke after ten minutes of silence.

"well, no not really-"

"we both shared the holy genes of a goddess." Tzuyu joked. She was expecting Yuju to laugh, but instead, the girl seemed to be deeper in thought. Sowon's worried about the questions she might ask later.

"Woah your waist is so slim. What's your measure-" 

"Yerin, please."

Tzuyu laughed when the leader bonked SinB's head. She was whispering to her about Sowon's tendency to act like a single mother by drinking wine and complaining about how fed up she was with the "savage and nasty" kids until Sowon suddenly teleported to her side.

Tzuyu didn't say anything, but the thought of Jihyo, drinking grape juice while complaining about having to babysit members who were older than she lingered on her mind.

They were laughing and chatting, and they reminded Tzuyu of her group. While Twice was full of no jam jokes and lame impersonification of each other, GFriend was full of skinship and friendly bickering. It made her miss her members.

Everyone was chattering and teasing the eldest, but one member was quite the whole time―Eunha. Tzuyu wasn't the only one who noticed, Sowon was apparently worried about it―her gaze going back towards the girl. Sowon is so obvious, and Tzuyu wondered if she were just as obvious when she's with Sana.

Eunha was slowly nearing the door, and Sowon was trying to include the small girl into the conversation.

Tzuyu saw that as her cue to end her visit.

"Well, I have to go now. It was pleasant to meet you all, unnies." The members insisted that she had to call them unnie. Umji probably had a victory dance in her head for being called 'unnie' for the first time by a fellow idol.

"Aww so soon?" Yerin whined as she clung to Tzuyu's shoulder like a koala. Tzuyu didn't know there was a person who could be more clingy than Sana until she met Yerin. SinB amazingly peeled her off and dragged her into the dorm while saying her goodbye smoothly; accompanied with Yerin's hasty goodbye and whines. The funny scene reminded her of a romcom.

Yuju and Umji gave her a pat on the shoulder and said their goodbyes as they entered the dorm. Surprisingly, Yuju still had a faraway look on her face. Tzuyu prayed it doesn't have anything to do with holy genes and mythical creatures.

The only ones left were Tzuyu, Sowon, and Eunha; the short girl had a distant look on her face as if her body was on autopilot. Sowon's eyes flickered towards the girl, and she frowned good-naturedly.

"I have to go now. Take care, unnie."

"Thank you for the wine. Be careful on your way back, okay?" Sowon lifted the bottle with a big smile and drew Tzuyu in for another hug.

Eunha just muttered a meek goodbye as she lingered by Sowon, her hands clutching the hem of Sowon's shirt.

"You too, unnie. Goodbye Sowon-unnie, Eunha-..." Tzuyu didn't know what honorific she should use since Eunha didn't give her consent to address her as Unnie, so she settled with ‘Eunha-sunbaenim’ instead. Sowon raised an eyebrow at that. Eunha didn't react at all.

Tzuyu bowed respectfully and with a small smile she left.

Since GFriend and Twice are friends generally, they are used to the new information by now. The members of GFriend are happy, in fact. Since Sowon looked so bright and always laughing or giggling when chatting with Tzuyu. The leader seemed to be greatly amused by the Taiwanese, and she probably found familiarity in her since both have similar height problems.

Both could relate to the wish to be reborn shorter although the primary reason is that the two confides in each other about their love problems.

Day by day the phone in Sowon's hands appears to be glued in her palms, and the annoying typing sound just keeps irritating Eunha like an annoying buzz.

sure they didn't have many interactions on screen, but the amount of texting was concerning. 

Eunha had been glaring at the oblivious leader that was nose deep in her phone for almost an hour now. Sowon was typing in her cell furiously, not minding her manicure. 

Eunha scooted closer and subtly took a peek at the screen. Surprisingly, Sowon was too focused on her phone that she didn't even notice the girl who is spying on her phone.

The beer tasted gross.

Wait, aren't you underag

Nayeon-unnie spiked jeongyeon-unnie's smoothie. I drank hers since I was thirsty and now they are panicking for making an underage drink alcohol.

Aish, that Nayeon. Always so carele

You both are similar, though.

Yah!!!

Eunha tore her gaze from the screen. Sowon's texting skills didn't seem to upgrade even when she texts so frequently these days. She still left out some letters. Their texts seem mediocre to her. But somehow Sowon was greatly amused by it. 

"Unnie." She poked the older girl's bicep.

"What is it, Eunha?" She didn't even avert her eyes from the screen. It ruffled her feathers in all the wrong way. Eunha is beyond irritated.

"Let's play the Wii." The drama marathon is still playing on the television.

"Unnie is a little busy. Maybe next time, okay?" 

'Busy?! you're clearly texting!!'

"...Okay." Her reply came out as a little mumble, and she dejectedly retreated to the other side of the couch. Sowon was still texting, and Eunha's mood just went to minus.

She tucked her knees under her chin, and she hugged her limbs close to her chest. The drama on front of her was a blur, and she clutched her sleeves in an attempt to channel her frustration. She heard light steps coming towards the living room.

She saw SinB and Yerin from the corner of her vision, and both of them were wearing their outing clothes. SinB shrugged the backpack she always brought when they left the dorm. A black masker was hanging by her ear; She wore shades and a cap. Yerin kept her hair in a ponytail, with a similar getup as SinB's but shouldering a purse instead of her favorite Mr.Quack quack backpack.

"Unnie, we are going to a beauty spa," Yerin informed the leader as she slipped on her sneakers. That explained the purse. 

"Do you guys want to come too?" SinB invited.

"Nah, I have something to do. You guys have fun." 

"What about you, Eunha-unnie?" SinB studied the tiny girl who seemed to be daydreaming and in the middle of dozing off. Her eyes looked melancholy, and SinB hoped Eunha would come along since she doesn't appear to be energetic these days. And what could cheer a girl up except Thai-massage and some steaming?

"...Maybe next time...you guys have fun." Eunha forced a smile and retracted her gaze back to the flickering TV. Her eyes were on the TV, but her mind was clearly elsewhere. 

"Well...okay, if you say so. You could come later if you changed your mind." 

Eunha just absentmindedly nodded her head and went back to a trance. The drama was playing, but it's like a commercial break to Eunha.

Yerin made a phone call for a driver from the company, while the maknae scrutinize the girl who shares her name.

SinB noticed how the girl was always so silent these days. Eunha doesn't talk as much as she uses to and it worries her immensely.

It's not like Eunha to just doze off every time and be in her little wonderland. That's Yuju's thing, and SinB worry it might be health problems. Or maybe Eunha is in her period? She decided not to ask since she might do more harm than good by asking. Girls always get sensitive when they were asked about their menstrual cycle, though SinB included.

Yerin tugged the younger girl who's still deep in her thoughts to the door, and she bid the girls sitting in the living room a goodbye.

The room fell into silence again, with only the annoying tapping sound and cheesy drama BGM filling the tense atmosphere.

Yuju and Umji were practicing in the studio, and now there's only Sowon and Eunha in the dorm.

Eunha's breaths came in shallow but slow. Her gaze went back to Sowon like a magnet to a block of steel―figuritively and literally, since Sowon is as dense to a block of metal.

"Unnie?" 

Sowon didn't reply.

She called for her again, this time louder.

Sowon raised her gaze for a split second, "What is it, Eunha?" 

Maybe Eunha was childish, or maybe it's just the frustration talking, but since when Sowon reply so coldly towards her? Was she too sensitive to claim that Sowon is cold to her? Her heart burned with jealousy and hurt. 

She silently stretches her legs to the floor and turned off the TV.

She mutely made her way to her room, the cold tiles biting the palm of her feet and she felt similar sensation on her left chest.