For the upcoming days that followed the concert, Hyejoo didn’t see Chaewon at school and it was making her worried the more time passed and no sign of the girl in glasses. It had been five days since she last saw Chaewon at the concert and she suddenly disappeared and left her behind all alone. Today was Wednesday and still no news of her whereabouts.

Chaewon wasn’t answering her calls but she was replying to texts. Her answers, however, were very few, short, and delayed. Hyejoo of course didn’t know any other people the smaller girl was close with so she couldn't ask someone else about her well-being. She also didn't know where she lived so it wasn’t like Hyejoo could simply go and check how she was doing herself. She only hoped everything was okay. She may be able to protect Chaewon at school, but outside she had no control over what happened to her. 

The school semester was coming to and end as well and Chaewon couldn’t keep on skipping so much school. Since Hyejoo was an idol, she got an exception on some subjects and the way she was graded was different compared to everyone else. It sounded a little unfair but that's just how things were. Still, Hyejoo didn't take her absences for granted and always tried to do her best in every course.

Lately Hyejoo found out Chaewon was absent at least once a week, but she never commented on it because Hyejoo was absent herself some days so she never noticed the patten until now. The rookie idol finally decided to ask the people around her, fellow classmates and teachers, and they confessed that the black-haired girl was actually absent a lot. The adults were the ones that confirmed Chaewon's overall attendance record was horrible.

This only made Hyejoo more uneasy. Could it be that Chaewon was having a tough time at home? She never actually talked about her family. Something about her actions and reactions made Hyejoo suspect that Chaewon didn't have a regular life and normal parents like any other high school student. The way Chaewon behaved when something bad happened to her made the rookie idol believe Chaewon was used to the mistreatment. Maybe it had started at home?

“If I don’t see her today I’m going to lose my mind.” Hyejoo buried her face in her hands.

That day at lunch she decided to do something very stupid, she skipped school to find Chaewon. She shoved all her belongings careless in her bag, not caring about how they ended up being placed in the confined space, and walked out of the premises without caring about the consequences.

She knew it was an incredibly stupid move, to look for Chaewon all over the city like she was some lost puppy, but Hyejoo couldn’t stay in school any longer. She wasn’t even paying attention to the lectures so what gives? Hyejoo looked around to see if any hall monitors, teachers, or security guards were in the area that could get her in caught, but the coast was clear. 

Making sure her tennis shoes were double knotted, she secured the laces before climbing the wire railing. She didn't have much experience with jumping fences, but she just hoped to not fall on her face or rip her clothes. She succeeded in the first part, but when she was hopping down to the ground her skirt didn't have the same luck. She tore it on the side– thankfully not too long of a rip that she was exposed– but she would need a new one for sure. 

She walked further from school and once the institution was out of sight, she tried to dial Chaewon's number again. She prayed to whatever gods that the girl would pick up the call. And even if she didn't, Hyejoo wouldn’t stop calling if Chaewon didn’t answer.  The first time was unsurprisingly a bust, and so where the second and third tries. Then finally, on the fourth attempt it happened.

“Hello?”

“Chaewon!” Hyejoo tripped and almost dropped her phone.

“Hyejoo? Shouldn’t you be in class right now?”

Hyejoo noticed her voice sounded groggy, like she had just woken up. But it was almost one o’clock... 

“Where are you?” Hyejoo ignored her questioning.

Since Go Won was still disoriented from the lack of sleep, she answered without thinking.

“I’m at home,” she buried herself into her pillow wihtout opening her eyes. “You can come if you want.”

Hyejoo knew she shouldn’t take advantage of her like this since clearly the girl was sleep-deprived and had no idea of what she was saying, but she just wanted to make sure Chaewon was safe.

“What’s your address?”

Chaewon told her the address half asleep. And of course she didn’t leave out the most important thing. 

“Don’t forget the code. 0820.” And the line went dead.

“What code? Hello? Chaewon!” 

But it was too late. Hyejoo quickly typed the address on her phone’s GPS and followed the way.

“Okay, 0820, don’t forget,” she told herself.

It wasn’t until she got on the city bus to get to Chaewon’s house, that she noticed the girl lived quite far from school. Usually the students lived relatively close but Chaewon lived almost half an hour away by transportation. Why so far?

And then Hyejoo recognized the area.

She had entered the upper-class part of the city, the richest area of Gangnam. Was Chaewon someone who was well-off? She definitely didn’t seem like it, not to sound mean. She just didn’t act like it, if that made any sense. She never paraded her money around and she didn’t act cocky or snobby.

Hyejoo decided to get off the bus and walk the rest of the way, she had only a ten minute walk left. Never in her life would she have imagined that she’d be visiting someone that lived in this area. All the buildings looked so luxurious that she was sure politicians and even famous actors lived around here.

The rookie idol then came to a stop in front a gated community. The apartment complex that looked so expensive that she doubted she would ever be able to make the amount of money it would take her to rent here. Was this really the right place? She wasn’t doubting Chaewon or anything... but the girl had been sleep-talking.

Hyejoo decided to try her luck and she pressed the buzzer. Right away the tight security of the place caught her off guard. The doorkeeper appeared on the entrance screen intercom but he resembled a bodyguard more accurately, sunglasses and all. He was rather intimidating and made Hyejoo involuntarily gulp.

“How can I help you?”

Even the man’s voice already sounded fed up and avoidant.

“I’m here to visit someone,” Hyejoo squeaked.

“Okay. Just punch in the code they provided you with.”

Is that what the code was for? What kind of place was this?

The girl cleared before entered the code slowly, and sure enough the doors opened for her.

“Have a good day.”

The screen went black again. If from the outside the building had looked expensive, the inside was as if she was in a five star hotel from an exotic country. Hyejoo was speechless. Once again Chaewon had managed to take her by surprise. The smaller girl was very good at being unexpected. Just what kind of girl was she?

—☆★°•°•°★☆—☆★°•°•°★☆—

Go Won groaned in annoyance at the repeated sound of her ringing doorbell. Who the hell was so fixated on bothering her today? She hadn’t ordered any food and she wasn’t expecting any deliveries from the mail. If it’s Sooyoung with another one of her stupid schedule changes she’s going to send her back where she came from, she didn't care if the woman was five years older than her.

The tired artist got off her comfortable bed and dragged her feet to the front door. She didn’t even bother to check who it was because after all, only Sooyoung ever came to her apartment. No one knew of her identity or where she lived. Who else would it be?

The immediate shock Go Won got when she opened the door and Hyejoo was standing there in her school uniform. Her eyes turned the size of dinner plates, and she managed to catch Hyejoo's reaction mirrored her own before immediately slamming the door closed on her.

The rookie idol was left with ajar at the encounter that probably took less than three seconds. What was that?

“Chaewon open the door!” Hyejoo slammed her first on the apartment door from outside. “I already saw you and I already know you’re in there!”

! 

How the hell did she get here? Who told her?! 

And then Go Won remembered her dream of Hyejoo coming to visit and spending time together. 

Idiot!

Go Won clutched her hair in frustration. That hadn’t been a dream! She really told Hyejoo her address.  

What to do? What to do?!

Too late now. The least she could do was get her glasses to shield her face from getting recognized so soon.

She ran back to her room and got her reading glasses until she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She was wearing her favorite pineapple pajamas. Go Won gasped in horror.

Damn it!