Kim Sohee, dressed in a sinfully tight black dress.

Kim Sohee, smirking at her.

Kim Sohee, her beloved groupmate and little sister.

Moon Byulyi thinks she might faint. ‘First Soojung, now you?’ the leader whines, dropping her head. It sends her companion into confusion. Byulyi rights herself and clutches at her member, ‘What did I do wrong in raising you kids?’

Sohee presses her lips together and stares at her unnie, unamused.

‘Byulyi-unnie, I dressed up good for you and you can not even compliment me on that?’ she berates her leader, whacking her with her purse. Byulyi peers up at her through her eyelashes.

‘You...’ Sohee beams, puffing her chest, ‘You... I can’t believe it. You said hot stuff.’ Byulyi promptly bursts out laughing, eyes clenched shut. Her laughter warms the cheeks of her companion, who pouts.

Byulyi reaches up to ruffle the hair of her group member, ‘I can't believe I’m saying this, but you must have spent too much time with me.’

Byulyi offers an arm to Sohee, and the latter takes it, her hand gripping tight, her fingernails deadly sharp against Byulyi.

Byulyi thinks her fingernails are ripping through the sleeve. The girl winces.

‘And here I thought you’d be proud.’ Sohee sighs, dragging the two of them off. Her heels click against the pavement quickly while she half-drags Byulyi's leather shoes across the sidewalk.

‘Let’s go!’

......

Sohee and Byulyi arrive to a stop in front of a high-class restaurant, and Byulyi's mouth drops open.

‘S- sohee, are you sure...?’ the older squeaks and her hand drifts down to pat at her pant pocket, where her wallet is.

Sohee grins at her, ‘Come on unnie. You don’t have to spend a coin, let us spoil you for tonight.’

‘Us?’ Byulyi mutters disbelievingly under her breath. 

(Byulyi expected that her assumption would be very wrong- that Seulgi really didn’t set her up with Girls Next Door after all, but as every minute passes she deems it plausible- because, well, it is Seulgi after all. That girl always cooks up crazy plans. 

-Not to mention the all too willing members of the group- whatever shenanigan proposed to them, they will tackle whole-heartedly. Byulyi feels warm in her chest. 

Her friends are going overboard with, well, whatever this is.

With cheering her up.

Frankly, Byulyi thinks, it’s cute. And endearing. She feels thankful for having friends who will do their best at helping her move on.)

After the waiter escorts them to a table with six chairs, Byulyi muses that her members are really, really crazy. The ‘us’ that Sohee mentioned earlier finally making sense. Sohee thanks him in french.

(Byulyi wonders why in the world would Sohee thank him in French when they are still in Korea.)

Another waiter hands them a menu, and Sohee smiles at the young man. She browses the menu before eyeing Byulyi, ‘What about you, unnie? What do you want to eat?’

Byulyi swallows uncertainly, eyes darting to and fro. Why did it seem like they are the only occupant of the restaurant...?

‘Um...’ Byulyi sees the menu and the prices beside the tantalizing pictures make her wallet feel like it physically aches. She shoots her group member a sheepish grin, ‘Don’t they have onion rings or something like fried chicken wings?’

Sohee laughs joyfully before addressing the waiter. ‘Do not listen to her. We will have nothing of the sort. We will have this, this, this... and finally this! Oh, and add 4 bottles of wine, please.’

(Jesus Christ, Byulyi’s eyes widen, Sohee ordered enough to feed a small town.)

The waiter nods, ‘Very well, ma’am.’

After the man scuttles of, Byulyi turns to look at her member, ‘Sohee, you do know that each dish requires at least a hundred push-ups to stay in shape, right?’

Sohee smirks, ‘Good luck on that, unnie. I have a fast metabolism.’

Before Byulyi could say anything, the double doors open. In comes the remaining members of Girls Next Door (except from Soojung, of course) all in dresses.

Kim Somi, Jo Eunae, Yoo Shiah, and Kang Seulgi (now dressed in a more flattering outfit than what she wore earlier.)

They join the pair on the table, and Seulgi shoots the leader a grin.

They all raise their hands and say, ‘Knock knock!’

Seulgi starts, ‘Across the hall, down the hall, or upstairs?’ she shakes her head and they chorus, ‘Nope! Hello, we are the Girls Next Door!’

Byulyi smiles at them, ‘It’s so nice to see you all... You have all grown up so much... Unnie is proud.’

Somi rolls her eyes and seats next beside their leader, smirking. ‘Yeah, while you stay the same. Grease, sleaze, height, bra size, and oh, did I mention grease?’

Byulyi lets loose a sigh and shoots YooA, who is settling directly in front of her, a stage whisper. ‘I take the first part back. It’s good to see all of you except this brat Somi.’

The maknae butts in, ‘Oh, and your acting skills are exactly the same too...’ she looks at her chest and thumps her left hand against it, ‘Be normal! Be normal!’

The group erupts into laughter except for Byulyi, who flushes.

Their food arrive (How unusually fast, Byulyi thinks, These guys know how to milk a tip out of a customer...) and after thanking the waiter, they dig in.

Light conversation is exchanged throughout the meal, and Byulyi finds herself smiling all the while.

It’s a little saddening that Soojung's schedule is so packed with photoshoots and practicing which is why she can not be present, but Sohee is keeping her updated by messaging the group chat that they have created. 

As Byulyi's eyes roam around, she smiles at the comfortable familiarity that oozes from her friends- Somi is being her usual, sarcastic self, Eunae being shy and reserved as usual but still charming everyone around her with a little smile here and there, Sohee always being bullied by the group's maknae, YooA being adorable and laughing cutely at the antics of her friends, Seulgi being the crazily adorable bear she is and Byulyi...

Byulyi is estranged, as always. She loves her friends and all but it feels as if she's just watching them have fun. She feels like she’s just watching a movie and experiencing secondhand happiness. And that’s okay, really, because-

Because she’s so used to being excluded that it has become a normal scene for her.

(Because really, when has she ever been a part of anything? From MAMAMOO's popularity as a Vocal Powerhouse- she has weak vocals, she’s not even a mediocre rapper- to MAMAMOO's affinity with crowds- she's awkward around them, she overthinks and overthinks that it shows and affects her performances- and MAMAMOO's overflowing talents- she once believed that she was talented in singing, but she’s not even a vocal now, when has MoonByul ever been considered a part of the three?

And maybe that’s why she isn’t surprised that she isn’t a part of Yongsun's life anymore. Maybe that's why she isn’t the one who Yongsun chose-

Because she never shines- never gleams. She isn’t like Yongsun's- it hurt to even just think this- boyfriend Yoondo. She can not make thousands of girls swoon over her smile, nor faint over her smooth vocals, nor astound a whole stadium p