Sooyoung stepped through the doorway, ripping off her shoes and tossing them lazily to the side before making her way to the couch and collapsing. Her feet were on fire, her head was throbbing, and her body was aching. Their practice today had been absolute hell. The only ones who had been able to flawlessly perform all of the dance moves were Seulgi and Joohyun. The rest of them had stumbled around, putting every ounce of effort into the complicated choreography required for the “Ice Cream Cake” performance. Luckily, Sooyoung and Seungwan had managed to get the moves down by dinnertime. After eating a meal together, they’d gone their separate ways, Seungwan returning to the practice room to make sure Yerim was okay and Sooyoung slogging her way to the dorm. She genuinely felt bad for not going to support the maknae, but she was simply too tired. She just needed to rest.

“Sooyoung!” an indignant voice called out from somewhere behind her, “What did I tell you about leaving your shoes in front of the door like that? I almost tripped over them!”

“Sorry, unnie,” the prone girl said into the couch cushions, “Can you move them for me, just this once, please? I’m so sleepy…”

Joohyun clicked her tongue in annoyance but complied. She then stomped over to the living room, standing in front of the exhausted younger girl with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. Sooyoung could feel the intensity of her leader’s gaze and sat up. She tried (and failed) to hold back a grin as she was greeted by a pajama-wearing Joohyun, hair wrapped in a white towel and face covered in a green mask. The older girl’s scowl deepened at her junior’s grin.

“Are you just going to fall asleep on the couch again? Without showering? Or even brushing your teeth?”

“I was going to… after closing my eyes for a second.”

Joohyun rolled her eyes and reached down to pull Sooyoung from the couch. Although the older girl was much smaller than she was, Sooyoung knew better than to resist and allowed herself to be guided to the bathroom.

“Now go take a shower.” Joohyun commanded, “I can’t do everything for you, so you’re going to have to undress and clean yourself.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if I was Seulgi…” the younger girl teased, grinning sweetly. The sections of Joohyun’s face that were visible through her mask turned beet red.

“Just hurry up, Sooyoung. I have to brush my teeth too.”

And with that, Joohyun departed, shutting the door behind her.

Sooyoung removed her clothes and the shower. She couldn’t blame Joohyun for being so irritable; the older girl had had a long day too, and Sooyoung knew how her leader could be when it came to tidiness and cleanliness. As the tired girl stepped under the running water she tried to remind herself that Joohyun was only acting this way because she cared. Sooyoung remembered the times where she’d fallen ill and Joohyun had nursed her back to the health, f