There was a soft pattering of feet on polished wood and the door of a young girl's bedroom was thrown open, followed by a pink blur bundling through the doors and crawling under her bed's covers. Then, slower, more measured, heavier footsteps and her mother and father appeared by the doorframe, both sporting exasperated smiles.

"Mama, can you tell me the story about the Rainbow Bridge again?"
 
A little girl no older than 6 begged as she bounced under her covers, her mother laughing gently from where she had moved to sit next to her bedside. Her father's deep chuckles sounded from the doorway and although young, she did not miss the tender way her parents gazed at each other before her mother turned her attention back to her. 

"Of course, Junghyeon. Once, there was a great kingdom, they prospered under the just leadership of their king and queen. The king and queen had a daughter, who was also equally loved by the people because she was brave and kind. They were happy. But one day, the queen became very sick and the king asked all the healers in the land to find a cure. They told the king that the queen must drink the tea of a flower that grew at the end of the Rainbow Bridge but the journey would be tough and daunting."

By now, little Junghyeon was squirming excitedly and her mother had to pause with a tinkling laugh to still her wriggling form. Junghyeon's eyes practically sparkled as she waited for her mother's next words. Her father came to sit next to her mother and continued in her place, deep vibrato replacing the smooth lilting tone.

"The princess was brave and did not want her people to be subjected to any dangers so she left by herself in the wee hours of the morning. She searched high and low for the bridge but could never find it. But there was a good reason why she could not find the bridge. It was because the princess could not see colours, she had not found her true love yet. So she continued searching and searching and finally, stopped at an old cottage to rest. Now, in the old cottage, there lived an old woman and her grandson. The grandson was a honest young man who worked hard to provide for his grandmother and had been out in the fields, sowing the seeds the that would eventually bring food to the table. But he too, could not see in colours." 

Now Junghyeon's mother resumed the story.

"The grandson came back after a hard day in the field and as soon as they locked eyes, it was as if they had entered a whole new world. Now that the princess could see colours, she found the Rainbow Bridge and brought the flower back to her sick mother. The grandson came back with her too, of course and together, they ruled the kingdom well and the people were happy. The end."

Little Junghyeon smiled toothily as she pulled her soft grey blankets up to her chin and blinked wide black eyes at her mother. 

"When I find who I'm destined to be with, will I be able to find the Rainbow Bridge too?" 

Her mother and father nodded and both leaned in to kiss their precious 6 years old daughter goodnight. 

"Sleep well, Siyeon... Siyeon! SIYEON!"

And the 15 year old trainee jolted awake, hands curling uselessly around what had been her childhood grey blanket in her dreams, now just colourless cold air. She allows herself a moment to get back her bearings in monochrome. Nayoung leans over her, face usually expressionless, now concerned and Siyeon raises her head to take a bleary peak at the clock on the wall. 4.38 in grey glares back at her and she stifles a yawn behind one hand, the other pushing her weary body up from the ground. Bad idea, her brain warns her too late as her numb legs cause her to loose her balance almost instantly, sending her keeling fowards. Thankfully, Nayoung's long fingers close around her arm and she hauls the younger girl to her feet. Disapproval now mars her features and she clicks her tongue, something Siyeon associates with disappointment when it came to her oldest friend. 

"What did I tell you about late night practices?"

Siyeon can only scratch the back of her neck sheepishly as she smiles at Nayoung's frown and eventually, the creases between her eyebrows flatten and disappear. Trainee life came with its fair share of sacrifices, it was something Nayoung was well aware of as soon as she decided to audition for Pledis. But to always see the girl whom she could almost call her younger sister work herself to the bone just to be that much better always tugged unpleasantly at Nayoung's heart. And she could not tell her that didn't need to prove anything to anyone, not while she herself was doing almost the exact same thing.

"We are getting a new trainee today. Do you want to at least look more presentable?"

And Siyeon immediately snaps to attention, previous weight supported by Nayoung vanishing. As the one who trained the longest, Siyeon somehow always felt that it was her responsibility to make the new trainees feel as unwelcomed as possible. Because if you can give up on your dreams this easily, maybe it wasn't really your dream at all. Nayoung sighs as Siyeon gives her a mischievous sleepy grin, how the girl did that would forever be beyond her, and skips out the door, no doubt plotting some devious little scheme that would send their newest recruit running out the entire neighborhood. She was sitting in an empty studio, what she hoped was a blue pen scratching new raps onto a piece of paper when her door was thrown open with a loud bang. Siyeon startles, and drafts a deep arc across the page, cutting across her words. She sighs and dabs at the mess, sighing again when the ink smears on her fingers.

"Siyeon-ah! She's here! The new trainee is here!"

The excitement that Kyulkyung projects in her voice was so obvious and for a moment, Siyeon wonders how the new trainee looks like. Nayoung joins them at the top of the stairs, she had poked her head out of the door next to Siyeon's as soon as Kyulkyung had thrown open her door without a care in the world. And the three of them were heading down together, Siyeon sandwiched comfortably between the two older girls, giggling back and forth over her head. They step into the spacious room and Siyeon raises a single eyebrow at the quietness that suddenly falls upon their arrival. 

"Hey, come meet Eunwoo."

It's Yebin who breaks the awkward silence first as she beckons them over, one arm already thrown over the new girl's bony shoulders. Nayoung and Kyulkyung head over but Siyeon's allows her eyes to sweep over the girl once before she starts walking forwards. Eunwoo's head is bowed but she can see a tiny smile on the corner of and truthfully, that just makes her confused. The girls must have warned her about her sadistic tendencies, so what was this new girl doing smiling as if she knew something she didn't. Siyeon feels her blood boil just a little bit more. Then Eunwoo looks up and their eyes meet and Siyeon understands. Because her world suddenly washes itself in colour. She sees Nayoung's light brown eyes looking at her as if she had grown another head and then widen in silent understanding, trails her gaze to Eunwoo, whose light pink cheeks are only getting darker, shoots a panicked glance down and dimly registers that her fingers are stained almost the same shade, just fainter. But she would not be Park Siyeon if she lets this take away her chance to debut, Rainbow Bridge be damned. So she takes a deep breath, fixes her previous expression into one that everyone was more familiar with and coldly says. 

"If you think you can't take it, then leave now. But if you would rather go through hell, then welcome to Pledis."

She sees Nayoung gawking at her and knows she is not imagining the tears slowly forming at the corner of Eunwoo's eyes. And if her attention was completely taken by Eunwoo, Siyeon's would have seen the other girls looking at her in shock. She frowns when her heart screams at her to go forward and wrap comforting arms around the older girl, to protect but Siyeon just takes a deep breath and continues staring blankly at Eunwoo. Finally, she sees twists downwards and she growls out. 

"I won't leave so easily." 

And deep down, Siyeon wishes that she won't, because even when angry and crying, Eunwoo's eyes still shone brighter than anything she had ever seen in her young life. She probably should have expected Nayoung to confront her later on that night but she was not expecting Kyulkyung to be with her too. 

"I saw it, unless my eyes were playing tricks on me. What were you thinking, Siyeon?" 

Kyulkyung was the one that broke the silence first and as Siyeon pauses the video she had been watching, she allows herself a wry smile at old habits that died hard. She turns to meet Nayoung's blank stare, Kyulkyung's frowning eyes and would be lying if regret didn't suddenly twist her guts into knots. So she decides to play dumb.

"Saw what?"

Nayoung steps foward now and in her eyes flashed something dangerous as she towers over Siyeon's form in her swivel chair. But her voice remains expectedly monotonous as she speaks.

"Eunwoo is your soulmate, isn't she? What were you trying to pull?" 

Nayoung knows Siyeon well, almost to the point where she could sometimes tell what the unpredictable little firecracker was going to do next but this really threw her off. She trusted the younger girl to make good decisions, it was one for the reasons why Siyeon managed to stay long in this hell. And Siyeon knew that too so it was the disappointment that Siyeon clearly hears from being friends for so long that has rebellion burning a hole straight through her tongue.

"It doesn't matter if she's my soulmate or whatever. I'm going to debut, she might not. What's gonna happen after that? It's never going to work out." 

She couldn't help the way her voice rose as she stares straight into Nayoung's eyes. When most of the other trainees would flinch away in fear, Siyeon met her challenges with a thick skin and a tougher heart. She takes a deep breath and allows her gaze to flick over to Kyulkyung and suddenly, jealousy, hot and heavy in her stomach, rears its ugly head.

"You won't understand, the both of you. You already had each other for so long, nothing will change even if one for you wouldn't debut. But she just came, who knows how long this new girl will stay for? I'm not about to waste my time on something so fleeting."

Then, as sudden as her voice rose, Siyeon heard her say in a much quieter tone.

"If you guys have nothing more to tell me, I would like to learn this new dance in peace."

As the door clicks shut behind her two best friends, Siyeon knows that her heart had already cracked and she could no longer find all the tiny shards. So her life continued, a never-ending cycle of training, learning and sometimes sleeping, all with debut but a small speck in the horizon. And with each passing day, it grows smaller and smaller. Eunwoo continues to ignore her, now already great friends with all the trainees but she hangs around Yebin and another newer trainee called Minkyung. Minkyung was Yebin's soulmate and honestly, Siyeon couldn't be happier for the short rapper. Yebin pulled her aside once, not knowing about her ability to see colours and told her everything about it. How cool it was to see the amber sunset on the rooftop with Minkyung eonnie and how beautiful the broiling teal oceans were like under the clear azure sky. Even the fat grey pidgeons that they used to feed in the park looked so much more beautiful to her. And Siyeon only smiles and nods, happy for her eonnie yet sad for herself. Her heart always seems to tug her towards Eunwoo whenever possible but Siyeon stamps the longing down with practiced ease. 

"You're killing yourself."

The way Siyeon glances up from her papers and at Nayoung slowly settling herself into the plastic chair opposite her is more out of respect than anything else. The other trainees knew not to disturb her when she was in her 'room', only Nayoung dared to disrupt the peace Siyeon found in her sanctuary. 

"Well, hello to you too, Nayoung eonnie."

She murmurs under her breath, what she now knew was a blue pen not ceasing its movements even as she blinked. Nayoung sighs as she reaches foward and grabs Siyeon's wrists, effectively halting her pen in its tracks. 

"Junghyeon, it's been 2 years. Don't you think you should stop?"

Junghyeon, not Siyeon but Junghyeon and suddenly Siyeon feel really small, naive and young. Junghyeon still believed in the Rainbow Bridge. But not Siyeon. She doesn't recognise the voice that hisses at her oldest friend.

"And like I said 2 years ago, it's not going to go anywhere. Even if we both debut, there will always be other things that will get in the way."

Nayoung raises an eyebrow as her lips press themselves into a thin line. She clicks her tongue as she leans forward.

"Is your idol life more important than Eunwoo then?"

No, Eunwoo is the most important thing in my life. I've never met someone who made me smile so much even if she didn't know she did. I've never met someone who had the same passion and dedication to see herself be the best she can be. I've never met anyone so fiercely independent, so brilliant, and beautiful, and brave. In these 2 years, she has grown more than anyone I had ever known. I've never met someone whom I know will shine so bright, the world would go blind. I've never met someone who fills my heart and mind everyday. I've never met someone like Eunwoo, Junghyeon says.

"Yes, it will always be more important than anything."

Siyeon whispers and her pen cracks in her fingers. And Nayoung's warmth leaves her, she's never felt so cold. They sat in silence after that, the only sound in the room being the ticking clock. Then Siyeon blinks and when she opens her eyes, she can only see black, white, grey. She scrubs hard at her eyes, feeling a lump starting to grow in . Her eyes and the skin around them were burning but she still kept scratching at them.

"Siyeon? Siyeon, what's wrong. Stop it!"

Warm hands grab hers and pulls them away from her face. She turns red eyes she knows she can no longer see to Nayoung, heart slowing down as she opens . She knows she not imagining the tears that is dripping down her cheeks

"Eonnie, I can't see... I can't see the colours anymore. Eonnie, what's happening?"

And the door bangs open to reveal a soaking Kyulkyung. Her eyes were wide and face pale, almost as if she had seen a ghost. Nayoung immediately stands up and wraps an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into the room but Kyulkyung shakes her off. Her shirt had been green, Nayoung had been wearing a purple string bracelet, there had been a blue spot of ink where she had been resting her hand before, her heart had been beating red, there had been-

"Eunwoo,"

Siyeon swears she feels her world stop. Suddenly the colours she could no longer see don't seem so important anymore.

"Car accident. She's on her way to the hospital now."