A pout formed on her pinkish lips as she patted an unusually empty spot on the side of her bed. She was laying on her back under her thick blankets while staring blankly at her white ceiling, contemplating on what to do next. Of all the times this could’ve happened, it happened today. Seulgi let out an exasperated groan, realizing the situation she was in.

It was one in the morning, the time of the night where she got inexplicably hungry and her just not-so-well-hidden food stash just had to be empty. There wasn’t even a single crumb left of her junk food and her stomach was slowly eating itself as she could not be able to satiate its hunger unless she got up. Getting up to get food was out of the question, especially with how cold the floors were in the winter. One of her hands went to caress her abdominal in hopes of soothing the uncomfortably tight sensation it created.

If I ignore it long enough it’ll pass, she thought to herself while closing her monolided eyes. Drifting off into sleep seemed like the perfect way to get over her nightly cravings but it was a plan bound to fail. Shutting her eyes only made her visualise luxurious looking snacks in her mind, including all sorts of limited edition pringles. Seulgi’s lips pulled into a dumb smile, salivating much more than the norm at the mere thought of her favourite chips. So much that her drool escaped from one of the corners of , causing one of her hands to instinctively wipe it before it unattractively trickled down the side of her face. It happened once before and Seulgi did not need a repeat of that event, knowing one of her members would most likely take a picture her in such an unappealing state.

Her stomach rumbled rather loudly, slightly taking the girl off guard. That was loud. She opened an eye and brought her pupil towards her stomach to give it a look daring it to make another sound, anticipating it to make some more noise. When it didn’t, her eyelids closed once more as she slowly sank more into her soft mattress.

Feeling her stomach bubble a little, Seulgi spoke up to none other than her hungry body. “Oh, don’t you dare. Don’t. Even. Think. About. It. Just stop-”

As if to rebel against her request, the small bubbling became another long wave of loud rumbling which definitely be heard from the hallway.

“Oh my god, can you not?” She whispered harshly, pressing her hands onto her abdominals to suppress the sound of her starving body. “Are you deaf? I said no”

Another rumble resonated in her room, as if to reply to Seulgi’s scolding.

“Yah! The floor is freaking cold, I can’t walk to the fridge. Doing that is like a death wish” The bear looking idol stated in a whisper as she sat up, still clutching her stomach. If her eyes were open right now, she would be glaring at her clutched area. The cool air sent chills down her back, she wanted to lay back down but she had to show who’s boss.

Her interaction with her body went on for a solid minute or two. At some point Seulgi punched herself but immediately regretted her decision as she let out a pained groan. She went back to arguing with incomprehensible sounds, having an actual conversation with her stomach. A well know k-idol was arguing with her own body. Seulgi was lucky she wasn’t being filmed by any of her members right now because her sleepy banter could easily be used for sweet sweet blackmail.

In the end, she lost the fight between her and her hunger causing her to let out an irritated huff of air “Damn it, you win”

She pried her sleepy eyes open, looking straight at her bedroom door then bringing her brown orbs to her wooden floor. Seulgi took in a deep breath and gripped the edge of her fluffy blanket, preparing herself for the cold to come.

“o-ok…one…t-two…three- waitwaitwaitwait” The bear clutched tightly onto her warm comforter not budging an inch, avoiding to throw away her source of warmth. Her stomach grumbled in protest, probably calling her a coward or something. “C’mon dude, cut me some slack. It’s cold in the dorm.”

A loud rumbled served as a reply, it made Seulgi pout. Her soft hands slowly pushed the blanket off of her body, eliciting a long shiver which seemed to take its time to travel her body. She let out a shaky exhale as she came in contact with the seemingly freezing air. It made her wonder why the hell the heating system decided to be so ty during one of the coldest nights of winter.

Seulgi hugged herself in attempt to keep her warmth as she maneuvered her body to the edge of her bed, leaving her legs dangling on the side. She gazed between her sockless feet and the wooden floor which would definitely freeze her into oblivion once her skin got in contact with it. Her stomach tightened even more as time went by, creating an unbearable feeling which caused her to slowly approach the deadly floor.

“Oh, the things I do for you, dear stomach”

As soon as her toes touched the surface she was the most terrified of at the moment, the bear let out a wavering hoot which sounded like an airy tune she probably made up on the spot. The monolided idol fully placed her two feet on the cold wooden floor with much difficulty. Seulgi then fully stood up after spending way too much time placing her feet down.

“Whew, this isn’t so bad” She stated calmly as she kept on rubbing her arms for warmth, still not used to the low temperature surrounding her. Although her statement expressed comfort, it didn’t last at all especially after taking a step forward. “Hhhhhhhhah-ah-ah t-that’s cold ahh”

Seulgi kept on walking forward while being very expressive both verbally and physically. Her body and face contorted whenever she took a step closer to the door, she slightly swayed from right to left while breathing loudly from her nose. It was quite a sight to see, it’s a shame no one could observe such a clumsy bear in action during the night. Seulgi found a steady pace and waddled her way towards the kitchen while letting out a few sounds here and there. The closer she got to her end goal, the more her feet felt the cold slightly numbing them.

Her eyes fell upon a shadow on the floor which made her frown slightly. Who else could be awake at this time? Her brown orbs followed the source of light which happened to be that of the opened fridge. One of her members was snacking in a crouched position but the hungry idol couldn’t see her identify her yet. It was either Joohyun or Sooyoung due to the seemingly black hair. Seulgi silently approached the unknown figure, the bear didn’t want to scare her but her body thought it was the perfect time for her ankles to crack loudly. The two stiffened for different reason. One of them stared in surprise at her feet while the other though she got caught eating something she wasn’t supposed to. The crouching member was visibly frozen in fear as she completely stopped whatever she was doing.

Seulgi being the fluffy person she was apologized almost immediately. “Ah, my bad. I didn’t mean to scare you”

The person at the fridge let out a relieved exhale before cutely whining at the bear. “Seulgi-unnie~, I thought I was going to die for a second”

“Why would you die?” She asked curiously as she walked towards Sooyoung and crouched next to her. Her brown orbs moved to a piece of cake that was half-eaten inside the fridge. It even had a fork right next to it, how practical.

“Irene-unnie is so going to kill me”

The hungry bear hummed in response, silently telling Joy to go on and explain while she distractedly gazed at the piece of cake. Whatever the maknae was talking about, it passed over Seulgi’s head as her hand reached out for the fork. Her delicate fingers gripped onto the silver fork and poked a piece of the luxurious looking cake. The bear bit the piece and savoured every bit of it.

“-so long story short I ate Irene’s…Yah! Unnie!” Joy’s eyes widened as she brought her eyes away from her hands onto Seulgi who was munching on the very thing that made her terrified of the leader’s awakening.

“Hm? What?” The eldest mumbled with a fork still present in as she let the sweet delicacy melt on her tongue.

“You really shouldn’t have eaten that! Now you’re set to die too!” The youngest whispered harshly while nervously running a hand through her dark locks of hair.

Seulgi tilted her head to the side, not understanding what Joy meant all while her hand reached out for another bite of that delicious carrot cake. She kept on eating the cate much to Joy’s horror, the girl just wanted to smack that fork out of the bear’s hands.

“Stop eating that cake” Sooyoung scolded while stopping her unnie from reaching more of the expensive dessert.

The bear pouted at that, which made Joy’s heart melt into a puddle. If Seulgi’s life wouldn’t be on the line, she would’ve just let her enjoy that damned cake. The brunette was just too adorable for Sooyoung’s poor heart. “Why can’t I eat it?”

“It’s Irene-unnie’s”

“…so?”

“You just ate her carrot cake”

Seulgi squinted her eyes while frowning as her lips parted slightly, showcasing how confused she was. Joy, however, did not repeat herself and waited for her dense member to digest her words. It took longer than she expected but as soon as Red Velvet’s main dancer’s face morphed into one of horror, Joy knew that her unnie realized what she had done wrong.

“Oh my god” She whispered loudly while staring at the ravaged cake with widened eyes. “We are so dead”

Their beloved leader was very much in love with carrot cake and Wendy, more so with the dessert. If something were to happen to one of her favorite sweets, all hell would break loose. Joy and Seulgi happened to be the sinners that were set to die once Irene would wake up and find her cake that was missing three fourths of its original mass. Luckily for them, Joy was good at avoiding blame and pinning it on others (It wasn’t necessarily a good skill but it definitely was in their current situation).

“…Hey unnie, I think I have a plan that can save us”

“Really?” Seulgi looked at her with hopeful eyes.

“It’s pretty risky though, are you still up for it?” The bear nodded her head eagerly but her happy expression soon faltered as Joy explained what it was. “We’ll be pinning the blame on Wendy”

She didn’t want the delightful baker of the group to suffer because of her mistakes. Doing so went against her morals, but Joy ended up convincing her into being her legitimate partner in crime. “Don’t worry Seulgom, Irene wouldn’t beat the living out of her girlfriend. She would just ravage her in bed instead of drowning us in clothes softener. It’s not like Wendy won’t enjoy it too. C’mon unnie it’s our only shot at survival”

As much as laundry softener smelt good, the bear wasn’t ready to drown in it. Seulgi loved her best friend with all her heart but Joy’s proposition sounded like to her ears. They would’ve been able to eat the cake without any sort of repercussions and Wendy would finally get laid after the intense promotion schedule they’ve been dealing with. She saw nothing wrong with Joy’s idea anymore, rather her sleepiness made her not think things through as clearly as if she were fully alert. There were so many things that could go wrong but they were completely ignored by the plotting duo in the kitchen.

The two members came up with a rather simple plan which consisted of placing Joohyun’s plate of cake on Wendy’s nightstand and also subtly smear the corner of with its icing. It was seemingly flawless but Sooyoung seemed to forget that Seulgi was a walking hazard who was unable to function properly while sleepy.

They managed to reach the Wendy and Irene’s shared room without difficulty but that easiness would definitely not last, for bears can’t do stealth.

 Seulgi shivered as she slowly followed Joy inside the equally freezing room, trying her best to not let her teeth clack together. Although Sooyoung didn’t express her discomfort with the low temperature in any way, the bear was still just as expressive as she was while making her way to the kitchen. She was breathing hard and muttered about how numb her feet felt against the freezing floor as she tried to silently waddle towards their target. Her sleepy eyes stared straight at the wooden flooring, completely neglecting her surroundings. The brunette ended up walking into the sharp corner of one of the room’s desks which pulled a yelp out of Seulgi.

“O-ow!”

“Yah! Unnie, are you trying to ruin this entire operation?! Keep it low.” Joy scolded in a harsh whisper while turning her head to face the bear.

The brunette sheepishly apologized and went back to following Sooyoung’s small steps towards Wendy’s bedside. The eldest of the two managed to avoid anything that could possibly make her verbally express her pain. The silence was short lived as her body decided to be a prick at their given situation. Her knees and ankles cracked loudly, causing the duo to freeze and observe the sleeping couple in fear of disrupting their rest. Seulgi attempted to take a quiet step forward only for her limbs to repeat the previous sound just as loudly as before.

“Are you secretly fifty or something? Why does your body crack so much?” Joy whispered while signalling her unnie to stay put with her hand.

“I wish I knew why too”

“Whatever, just stay there and keep an eye on them while I smudge the icing on Wendy’s lips. You might get us caught if you take another step.” The youngest while making it next to their target alone while holding tightly on the plate of cake.

Staying still and keeping her eyes open, she could do that right? Seulgi believed she could do that well. The bear chanted in her mind to remain still and alert but it somehow created the opposite effect. She soon got preoccupied by the big yawn trying to escape , the brunette scrunched her face in attempts to keep it in. In the end, her struggle was useless as it escaped through her nostrils with a heavy puff of air. The dancer stiffened on the spot and glanced at her partner in crime to make sure she wasn’t going to get scolded again.

Joy was crouching next to the hamster’s bedside, delicately placing the ceramic plate onto her nightstand like a pro, completely ignoring the non-stealthy bear. As Sooyoung moved onto the next task, the dancer brought her eyes back to the occupied bed. Seulgi stared blankly at the sleeping Irene who actually had her eyes open, staring right back at the sleepy idol. She stared blankly at the woman who looked oddly awake, Seulgi was sure she was supposed to do or say something during that moment but she just rubbed her eyes instead. She was probably seeing things, it was one in the morning and it was really dark inside the couple’s room. The bear convinced her self she was just hallucinating, no matter how hard that sleeping woman’s gaze felt.

Irene couldn’t possibly be awake, thought the bear.

Sooyoung slowly stood up from her crouched position and went to Seulgi’s side, holding onto one of her arms. “Mission completed, let’s go to sleep”

The bear nodded into the darkness and tried to walk out as quietly as she could. Her body obviously didn’t approve of such a thing and cracked from nearly every at once. She didn’t really react at all and just kept on walking with Joy by her side who was starting to feel a little worried about her unnie’s body.

“Damn Seulgom, are you ok?”

Seulgi smiled softly and dragged the girl into her beg, snuggling into her warmth as placed her comforter over their bodies. Sooyoung always loved how cuddly the bear got whenever she was sleepy, it has also been quite a while before they shared a bed together. She couldn’t help the small smile forming on her lips as she drifted off to sleep with Seulgi in her arms, not worrying about a thing (Even though there was a slight nagging thought in her head telling her to hide, she completely ignored it).

She shouldn’t have fallen asleep so peacefully, especially with how Irene glared at them from the slightly parted door of Seulgi’s room.

* * *

The maknae of the group woke up to loud shouting and heavy smacking sounds. Her face scrunched up due to sleepiness as she slowly lifted her upper body from the bed. She took a quick look around her room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary other than Joy not being in bed.

“AHHH UNNIE! I’M SORRY I WAS HUNGRY!!” Her loud voice screeched followed by the sound of heavy footsteps, making Yeri deduce that Joy was running for her dear life.

“You shouldn’t have eaten it in the first place” The murderous voice of Irene could be heard as well.

Yerim paid no particular attention to her angry leader and brought her eyes to her alarm digital clock. It was two in the damn morning and the leader was on the verge of murdering one of the members. The maknae laid back down, trying to drown out their shouting with how tired she felt. She should be able to fall asleep easily, it wasn’t the first time Irene lost her in the middle of the night.

“You should’ve know better than to ask Seulgi to help you, she woke me up the moment she arrived in the kitchen with her cracking ankles. Bears don’t do stealth for a reason, Joy”

“AH-AH UNNIE PUT THE BOTTLE DOWN!! I SAID I WAS SORRY!! W-WAIT AAAAAAAAAH!”

A few loud thumps could be heard, signalling that Irene ended up throwing the laundry softener bottle onto Joy which probably resulted into her falling onto the ground. If the youngest happened to go out of her room, she would without a doubt find a knocked-out Sooyoung.

“You’re next Seulgi” The eldest of the group hissed venomously, followed by rapid footsteps and cracking sound which most likely belonged to Seulgi.

Yeri smirked in her sleep, enjoying the usual family quarrel. Needless to say, the maknae slept very well during that night.