Insomnia.

Soojin tugged at the blanket, tossing to the side. Shuhua wasn’t in the room and she did not want to imagine what she was doing in the other room where Miyeon was. Probably having the time of her life…

She sighed and closed her eyes. Thoughts suddenly drifting to a certain Chinese girl. They hardly spent time together after that incident… It’s been a month and she still could not put a finger to it. What went wrong? Had she done something? She could never forget the look of hurt that flashed across Yuqi’s face.

It was a mixture of hurt and fear, but why…

Since then, Yuqi had still talked to her but there was that strange look of emptiness in her eyes. Their cheerful energy pill laughing a laugh that did not reach those doe eyes. She did not like that. It worried her more than she thought.

Other than that, Yuqi seemed unusually busy the entire month. The Chinese girl had volunteered to be on every variety show that gave them love calls. It was tiring. Hell, anyone could see that in the girl’s reflective eyes. Soojin could not understand her anymore.

She lets out a frustrated whine and sat up, brushing her hair back. After contemplating, decided to get out of bed to get a drink. She quietly slipped out of the room, heart sinking slightly at the dim light coming from Miyeon’s room. They weren’t asleep yet…

Making a turn, she yelped when she felt something soft at her feet before tumbling down the stairs. There was a familiar cry from under her as they landed at the bottom of the stairs. She felt the figure gently roll her off and then the lights switched on.

“Did you both just… roll off the stairs?” Miyeon was there with Shuhua.

Shuhua was by their side in a flash, inspecting their body for injuries.

Yuqi shifted a hand into her pocket and pointedly looked at Soojin who had a hand on her ankle. Miyeon fussed over them while Shuhua nagged at how they should switch the lights on when wanting to get stuff at night, which was “the most obvious thing to do”. Soojin got up with a loud huff, untangling herself from Miyeon’s arms.

“Soojin ah!” Miyeon called after her as she ran up the stairs.

“Welp. That looks fine to me.” Shuhua stated. “Shall we get back to bed?”

Miyeon’s cheeks darkened just the slightest bit. “Yuqi, you alright?” She had to make sure their second youngest was not injured of any sort.

“I’m fine. Enjoy yourselves, love birds.” She forced out a grin and gave them a little wave with her other hand.

“Ew. Who loves Stinky Miyeon?”

“You’re still on that?!”

They raced each other back up the stairs. Yuqi watched them in amusement before letting out a sigh, taking her hand out. She hissed as the bruise was surely turning into a darker shade.

Going into the kitchen, she pulled out the bottle of ointment. She tucked it in her pocket and made her way back up the stairs, making sure to switch off the lights again. Her heart thumped anxiously as she neared a certain door.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. There was a bump in the blankets where a certain redhead supposedly lay. She made her way over, gingerly sitting herself on the bed. Soojin had made no move yet and the nervousness was pushing her off the edge.

“Unnie.”

The latter had remained still. It was slowly driving her crazy.

“You know what, I’m sorry. I’ll just…” Yuqi got up quickly and was about to leave when she felt a grip on her hand. She was surprised at how cold Soojin’s hand was. “Unnie? Wait.” She gently set the hand down and hurriedly turned the lights on.

The sight of the swollen foot stole her breath. Soojin was gritting her teeth, clutching tightly on the blankets. “Hey…”

“Oh my god…” Yuqi fell onto her knees, staring at the already reddened foot. “Oh my god! How?! I- Do you need the doctor?!”

Soojin shook her head, firmly pressing her lips together.

“But…” The younger girl took out the ointment, “Will this work…?” She fumbled to uncap the bottle, almost dropping it. Tipping it gingerly at Soojin’s stiff nod, she dabbed her palm onto the swell and cringed when Soojin flinched. “How did you even run up the stairs just now…”

“It’s not that bad.” Soojin said between gritted teeth.

“Really?” Yuqi carefully pressed a thumb down, retracting her hand when she hears a loud inhale from the older girl, “Sorry-”

“I-It’s fine.”

“You sure?” The Chinese girl was known for her strength and it worried her if she were to cause more damage to the ankle. She cursed mentally as she felt her hands going weak at Soojin’s whimpers. Taking in a deep breath, she cleared her mind and pressed her thumb firmly around the edge of the bruise. Biting at her lip, she willed herself not to stop.

The pain sparked tears into Soojin’s eyes and the girl lets out an involuntary whine.

“Unnie, what were you doing by the stairs anyway?” Yuqi decided to distract her a little.

“Hmm…” Soojin suppressed another whimper, “I- I don’t know… I was hungry?”