Needless to say, Hyejoo felt extremely confused when she opened her eyes. At first, she thought everything had been a dream. Like something from a movie, there was no way any of that had been real. But when the young idol adjusted her vision and noticed the all-too-familiar hospital ambiance. The thing that hit her first was the smell of disinfectant or hand sanitizer. It was one that always drove her insane and just the faintest sniff made her want to run far.

"Are you feeling better?"

The rookie dragged her vision to the side, in the direction the voice had been coming from. By coincidence, a nurse had been checking her state at this time. Hyejoo wanted to roll her eyes and drop a snarky remark, but the dryness in prevented her from doing so. Instead of articulate, Hyejoo found herself in a coughing fit.

"I'll get some water for you," and with that, the nurse stepped out.

Not five seconds later came in a rushing Jiwoo. The nurse probably having told her she had woken up.

"Hyejoo!"

Her manager ran and practically launched herself in a hug. Hyejoo would've laughed if the tackle hadn't knocked the wind out of her. With a pained groan, Jiwoo took it as her cue to back off.

"Oh my God, sorry! Are you okay?" Jiwoo checked her body all over and tapped in irrelevant places, like her face, her arms, and her hands. 

"I'm fine," Hyejoo finally was able to reply.

The nurse came back with a bottle of water and Hyejoo accepted it gladly. Jiwoo took it from her hands and opened it, then urged her to drink to get herself hydrated. Hyejoo emptied about half the bottle in one go.

"We'll keep her maybe one more hour under observation to make sure she's okay and then you're free to check out," the friendly nurse told them.

Jiwoo bowed, almost crying as she thanked the nurse over and over. Once again she left and now it was just Jiwoo and Hyejoo in the room. For once Hyejoo noticed this wasn't the usual emergency waiting room from the first floor. Sometimes they just place you in the same area as tons of other patients and a curtain is the only thing that divides you from exposure. Was this a V.I.P. room?

Jiwoo noticed just what Hyejoo was doing and spoke before she could ask.

"Loona's company got you this room. Everything's paid for so don't worry."

Right. Hyejoo didn't want to say anything mainly because what was the point? She knew that Loona meant no harm but it still felt weird when she spent so much money and effort on her. She might never get used to it.

"What happened? Everything is such a blur." Hyejoo decided to ask something of more importance.

"Well, the club got busted. Reporter Jinsol then dived in and released an exposing article on everyone that was in on the ual exploitation in the industry. The news stations are having a field day right now. The CEO is done for and so is Taehwan. Basically... YY entertainment is no more. The company has gone bankrupt which means... you're free. You've been let go and so have I."

Hyejoo couldn't believe it.

"Reporter Jinsol helped us in the end?"

Jiwoo nodded. "Right now she's writing a follow-up article to clear your name of any suspicion. She's going to write the truth about YY Entertainment and how they were involved in lots of illegal activity, and how you had no choice but work under a strict contract. Nothing about being an will be revealed, don't worry."

The rookie let out a relieved breath. Her face being on the news was the least she needed.

"Okay. And this all happened in a few hours?"

Jiwoo gave her a confused look until she understood. From the windows, one could see it was dark outside so Hyejoo thought they were still on the same day.

"Hyejoo it's been one day. This was all yesterday."

"I was out for twenty-four hours?!"

"The doctor said you fainted from shock, but then they determined you were severely exhausted," Jiwoo gave her a sorry look.

Oh no. They were not going to do this here. Jiwoo was not going to blame herself again. This had nothing to do with her. Hyejoo had simply been putting off sleep and skipped a few meals, no big deal, what was done was done.

"Hey, it's okay. Everything's fine now, right?"

"Well..." Jiwoo trailed off and gave Hyejoo a closed smile, "Yeah."

There was no use in worrying her now. She would slowly let her know of their situation later. Right now was not the time. Jiwoo carefully occupied a small and empty space by the foot of the bed and rubbed one of her legs in a soothing pattern. This girl was her everything. Even if Jiwoo was now officially out of a job. Even if they were now kicked out of their apartment. Even if Hyejoo wasn't an idol anymore and Jiwoo was technically not her manager, she would always stay by her side.

The problem was that Hyejoo always liked to dismiss her well-being. She didn't view her health as a priority. She never put her needs first and always put others before herself. What would probably end up happening is that Jiwoo would have to move in back with her parents to the suburbs (which she is fully dreading) and if Hyejoo couldn't find someone to stay with here then at least she could get her to move to a different entertainment company (an honest one) so she could buy some time.

She would need to stay with someone in the meantime though. She couldn't sleep in the practice rooms or bathhouses. Not again. But Hyejoo had no one she knows here in Seoul. No family, no close friends... except...

"Have you talked to Chaewon recently?" Jiwoo changed the subject.

That certainly grabbed Hyejoo's attention. How long had it been since she last spoke to her girlfriend? They had sent some brief texts here and there but overall they hadn't seen each other face to face since that time Hyejoo came over. Since they spent the night together to make Hyejoo forget of her problems.

Jiwoo took her silence as a bad sign. "You should talk to her soon. I bet she's worried about you."

Chaewon was a good kid and they were rare to find in the big, bad, and scary city. Hyejoo should treasure her and keep her close. Having someone supporting her would make life so much more tolerable.

"I've been a bad friend. She's done so much for me. She's too good for me, you know?"

Hyejoo spoke her inner fears for the first time. She couldn't even look Jiwoo in the eyes. Sometimes she wondered what she had done in life to deserve someone as good as Chaewon by her side. She was no saint yet the heavens had sent an angel her way. It became overwhelming sometimes, how much she loved Chaewon but not being able to express it. There were no words or gestures to accurately describe her feelings for the older girl.

"Give her a call. Don't make her wait any longer," Jiwoo patted her on the head before she walked out the room.

She had to make a few calls herself as well. Go through all the contacts on her phone until she succeeded. The last job she would do as Olivia Hye's manager: find her an adequate company to move to. Because Hyejoo was a talented young girl who had gotten cheated in this cruel industry and deserved to continue with her dreams.

One name stood out to her from the get-go... but could she be shameless enough to ask? It's not like she would outright ask her to take Hyejoo in, but maybe ask her if she knew of someone else, another company looking for trainees. She gathered all the courage she had and tapped on the name: Ha Sooyoung.

—☆★°•°•°★☆—☆★°•°•°★☆—

Go Won wasn't expecting her phone to ring so when she heard the sound she almost fell off the couch. Not her idol phone, Loona's phone (that one was constantly going off), but her personal phone. Chaewon's phone. What was even more shocking was the name of the caller flashing. It was Hyejoo and Go Won almost missed the call.

"Hello?"

Go Won tried to keep her voice neutral and steady but she knew the greeting sounded eager. She had been so so worried. She hadn't been able to get a full night's rest, tossing and turning all night long. It took a few seconds before Hyejoo's voice came through.

"Hi..."

"Hi."

Go Won waited. But when nothing came she decided to speak again.

"How are you?"

She tried to keep in casual, to not give away that she knew something. That in reality, she knew everything.

Hyejoo didn't answer. She couldn't find it in her to answer truthfully. What would she say? That she was miserable? That for an entire year she had done nothing but dread her idol career. She didn't sign up for any of this but deep down she knew she deserved it. This was her punishment. Life had always looked down upon her and it was simply doing what it was set out to do.

"Hyejoo... are you okay?"

Go Won couldn't hide it any longer. At this point, she knew Hyejoo was not okay and she needed help. She wanted nothing more than to run to her. Haseul's words be damned. She needed to see her but more importantly, Hyejoo needed her.

"Where are you?"

Go Won barely made out Hyejoo's words through the broken whimpers and sobs. She doesn't clearly remember what happened after. Whenever Hyejoo is on her mind as a goal the journey always ends up being a blur. She took a taxi. Jungeun was sleeping soundly on the couch and Sooyoung had briefly stepped out saying she needed to tend to an important business call. This was her chance.

She told the driver to get there as soon as possible and she would pay him double. And the man delivered. In less than ten minutes Go Won had reached the hospital. She made her way up, nothing and no one would be able to stop her. When she reached the check-in desk she gave Hyejoo's name in a hurry.

Room 612 had never been so far. She didn't care if running wasn't allowed, she still rushed through, trying her best to not bump into anyone to seriously cause an injury. She finally reached her destination and she didn't even bother to knock when she slid the door open, the noise making the bedridden girl jump. Go Won's eyes frantically searched for the younger girl and once they locked on her she rushed to her side.

Hyejoo was shocked. "Chaewon wh–" She never finished her sentence because the older girl had tackled her in a hug, strong enough to knock the wind out of her. It would've been strong enough to knock her off the bed if it weren't for her arms also wrapping tightly around her frame. Go Won's hold was firm and she was mumbling low sentences Hyejoo could barely make out as prayers of thanks.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Chaewon finally said clear enough for the rookie to comprehend.

Things seemed to happen in slow motion but once Chaewon came in contact with her, Hyejoo got overwhelmed by a tidal wave of emotions. Her senses were filled with nothing but Chaewon. She was right here in front of her. She could see her, she could feel her, she could smell her familiar shampoo. She could hear her words of relief and she could taste her when Go Won locked their lips together in an impulsive kiss.

How long had it been since she had seen Chaewon? Too long. She had gotten used to ignoring the numbness of her heart but it was like all her worries and troubles disappeared and made her chest feel lighter just by the older girl's presence. Hyejoo finally seemed to reciprocate Chaewon's desire because she grabbed the older girl by the wa