Eunha’s POV

“You’re telling us that we’re just going to go ahead with the comeback?” I stared at our manager-unnie in total disbelief, trying to make sense of her words. They were as foreign to me as if she had spoken them in a different language. “We’re not going to postpone it?”

“Is that… is that wise?” Yewon asked confused. “Are we going to promote without Sojung-unnie then?”

Our manager-unnie shook her head while our manager-oppas exchanged looks behind her back. They seemed as worried as we were. “The current plan is that she will be a part of the promotions. She will be back by then. Probably even sooner.”

I looked at the others who were sitting around me on the floor of our practice room and saw various degrees of uncertainty on their faces – except for Yuna whose face remained blank. It was not surprising; she had the tendency to keep a pokerface when she was overwhelmed.

“She might be physically back, but what about her mental state?” SinB pointed out. “Our preparations for a comeback and the following promotions are exhausting without any emotional baggage. We can’t put Sojung-unnie through it. She will break down! This is not right! You can’t just decide that –”

Although I wholeheartedly agreed with her, I quickly reached out and placed my hand on , successfully muffling her rant. Manager-unnie was already pinching the bridge of her nose and that was a sign that she was not in the greatest mood. Which was understandable with the night she had. It was better for everyone involved to not set her off.

“You being disrespectful is helping neither this group nor Sojung-unnie,” I whispered into SinB’s ear so that no one else but the two of us was able to hear it. “Calm down, Eunbi-ya. The managers will only get mad and we won’t find a solution. Be smart.”

SinB deflated but gave me a curt nod and I took my hand off . She didn’t apologize for her outburst, but no one had expected her to. Not when everyone was on edge anyway.

“To your information, Hwang Eunbi,” manager-unnie said slowly, causing us to wince. Full names were never a good sign. “We did not decide this by ourselves. We’re in close contact with Sojung and gave her multiple options, including the postponement of the comeback, but she is vehemently advocating for keeping the schedule as it is. In the meantime you can memorize the lyrics to your songs and start recording them. This way we won’t have to rush more than necessary when Sojung comes back and add more stress.”

“This stubborn unnie,” SinB muttered and I couldn’t help but agree.

Sojung-unnie always put us before her own needs which, yes, was part of her role as a leader, but she took it to the extremes in order to make sure she wasn’t letting us down. She made sure we stayed hydrated while forgetting to drink water herself. She gave us food without caring that there might not be anything left for herself. And now this?

“Maybe… maybe this is not a bad thing,” Yuna said. She shrugged as everyone turned to look at her. “I’m just saying, sometimes having work to do, having a distraction, is better than sitting around with nothing but your thoughts. It’s not like she’ll be on her own. We will keep an eye on her.”

We all nodded, albeit grudgingly. Yuna had a point. I didn’t really like the idea of Sojung-unnie pushing herself like this when it was clear that she would be in no condition to go through the added stress, but there was nothing I could do. I wanted to take away her pain, I wanted her to give me at least a part of the sorrow she was feeling right now, but I couldn’t do that. No matter how much I wished I could. And, God, did I wish I could do that. The one thing I could do, however, was watch her closely and try to give her comfort as much as possible. I would not let her out of my sight.

I glanced at Yerin-unnie who was still as pale as a ghost. Maybe I should watch my other unnie too. When she had returned from the kitchen with our hot chocolate this morning, I had pretended not to notice her puffy eyes. I knew she was probably not only worrying about Sojung-unnie but about ourselves as well and whether or not she was fit to fill the role our leader had left behind for her.

When Yerin-unnie met my eyes, I smiled slightly before intertwining our hands. It was ironic. There was no better interim leader than her. But she did not seem to realize it.

She was already our unofficial second-in-command and looked after us like a mature, responsible older sister. She daily reminded us to do our chores in the dorm, she cared for our laundry, she helped cooking breakfast, she helped settle little arguments, she showered us with love whenever she noticed that someone was slightly down.

Yerin-unnie could have never disappointed Sojung-unnie during her absence. It was the opposite. I was pretty sure that Sojung-unnie knew that and had left us with one concern less.

“Good, I see we’re all on the same page. Here are the lyrics sheets. You have the demo version of each song on the computer right there. Let’s get to work then, alright?” Manager-unnie waited for us to agree and each of us took the pieces of paper that were handed to us. “Yerin-ah, could I talk to you in private over here, please?”

One after the other, the manager-oppas left the room and manager-unnie guided Yerin to a corner and started a quiet conversation.

While the other girls discussed the lyrics next to me, grateful for a distraction, I kept my eyes on Yerin. From the serious expression of our manager and the blank one of Yerin, it looked as if she was receiving a scolding. But for what?

“Did something happen between Yerin-unnie and manager-unnie?”

Yuna stopped humming the song and looked up. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing too dramatic,” SinB answered. “Apparently she refused to follow a direct order from manager-unnie and went outside in her sleeping clothes and all. Manager-unnie and Sojung-unnie were outside the apartment and Yerin-unnie refused to go back inside until she made sure Sojung-unnie was alright.”

“How do you know that?” Yewon asked in astonishment and raised her eyebrows as she glanced to where the two were talking. Or rather where manager-unnie was still talking to Yerin who simply nodded or shook her head. “Was it bad?”

“Unnie told me.” SinB shrugged before she frowned. “It’s stupid. I don’t know why manager-unnie is making such a big deal out of this. She’s being completely unreasonable. Everyone would have done the same thing.”

“Unnie probably caught her at the worst possible moment. Manager-unnie is in a foul mood,” Yewon whispered. “I get that she had a bad night and that she’s worried about Sojung-unnie and the group too, but so are we. She doesn’t have to take it out on us.”

I frowned as Yerin gave manager-unnie a 90-degree bow before walking to a different corner of the practice room. Aside from the blush on her cheeks, her facial expression didn’t give up anything.

“What is she…?” SinB muttered confused, but her question was answered in the next second as Yerin-unnie started to do jumping jacks combined with squats while our manager-unnie supervised. “Oh crap, seriously? Well… I guess I should thank you for stopping me from being rude, Unnie. Manager-unnie would have murdered me for sure.”

I merely nodded as anger slowly built up inside me and clenched my jaw to stop myself from saying anything. It cost a huge amount of willpower to direct my eyes to the lyrics in my hands and motioned to the others to do the same. Yerin-unnie didn’t need to have an audience for her punishment and we could spend the time more efficient with learning the songs. Plus, it would certainly distract me.

Without our vocal coach present, Yuna immediately took over. We went through the songs together, discussing the breathing techniques and difficult parts, all the while trying to ignore the steady thumping of feet hitting the ground.

If Sojung-unnie had been here, she would have stopped the punishment from happening in an instant. She would have argued how unjust it was. She always stood up for us.

I pressed my lips together as a lump formed in my throat. Why did this have to happen to Sojung-unnie? I could not imagine what she was going through right now. I could not imagine what I would do in her shoes. If my appa were on his deathbed… I shook my head, trying to get rid of those horrifying thoughts that were thankfully only imagination for me, but sadly enough a reality for our leader.

SinB was right. It was not fair. Nothing was.

Eventually the thumping stopped and out of the corner of my eyes I noticed our manager-unnie leaving the practice room. Shortly after, Yerin plopped down next to me. I could tell that she was trying hard to not show us how exhausted she actually was.

Without a second thought, I handed her the nearest water bottle. “Are you okay, Unnie?”

“I’m fine, Eunha-ya. A little workout in the morning never killed anyone,” she answered with forced cheeriness before gulping down some water and wiping the sweat off her forehead. “What did I miss?”

Sighing deeply, I leaned my head against her shoulder as Yuna gave her a quick summary. Yes, I would definitely have to keep an eye on both of my unnies.