Growing up as a trainee at such a young age proved to make you almost fearless. You were never one with a lot of fears, except stage fright sometimes but that was normal for any performer, right? Over time though, as you got to know more people, you came to know the many fears other people had such as the fear of heights like the one your guardian had. You had tried to understand and help her cope with it, pushing her gently towards experiences that you did not want her to miss due to her fear, and that proved to be successful when you succeeded in making her enjoy rollercoaster rides as much as you did. 

Over the years, though, you eventually found out your other fears you did not know you had, and let's just say the journey could be comical and unexpected sometimes. 

It was time for a much-needed break and you were filming the fifth season of Level Up! Project. You all loved filming for this project and you knew the fans loved them too since they could all watch your interactions in a much more relaxed setting and see how the six of you truly interact on a daily basis, more or less. 

Now, it was time for another zipline course and you knew Irene was going to scream every step of the way and Wendy would be there to hold her through it all. Everyone thought she would cling to you in times like these but Irene never wanted to hold you back since she knew you're a fearless one and since she knew Wendy didn't mind being with her, she chose the main vocalist instead. You didn't mind when she explained it to you and moved to take care of everyone instead, most of the time hanging at the back so you could see how everyone was doing. This time though, there was a surprise waiting for you. 

The zipline course in Jeju was much higher than the one in Thailand but you did not really think much of it since you never had a problem with heights before. You kept your place at the very back, this time behind Seulgi, and chuckled along whenever the leader squealed or screamed in fright. When it was time to go to even higher ground, something happened. Now, you never had to be at this height before and the see-through stairs proved to be the catalyst because you couldn't look up without feeling dizzy and nauseous, but it was also impossible to look down completely since the stairs were see-through and you could see the ground getting even smaller. 

Joy was ahead of the group with Wendy and Irene next, then Seulgi and you to keep the terrified one (re: Irene) in the middle so she would feel safe. You could still hear Irene squealing every once in a while and the others laughing and chuckling along, but you couldn't produce any sound at all. Your face was getting pale, there was cold sweat running down your face and you felt your vision shaking. While Irene was tended to by Wendy, you kept hiding behind a much smaller Seulgi so on camera, it looked kind of comical. Times like these made you wish Joy wasn't so fearless, going faster than everyone else since you wanted to hide behind her and you wouldn't dare to do that with how fast she was going. You kept hiding behind Seulgi's back, squeezing your eyes shut whenever you could until Joy, who was ahead of Wendy, noticed your strange behaviour. 

"Eli-ah? Are you okay?" 

All of them immediately stopped at the concern in her voice and turned towards your direction who was at the very back. Even Irene, who was currently scared to death and holding as tightly as she could to Wendy, turned around because she was worried for you. You were never bothered with height before, so what changed?

You were walking so close behind the main dancer who was in front of you in an attempt to save your gaze from the increasing height as all of you went up. You would hold on to her if you could but you worried that you would hinder Seulgi's movements then. This was something new and you were getting dizzy at this point. 

"Eli-ah, what's wrong?" Seulgi softly cupped your cheek in her hands, eyebrows scrunched in worry as she gazed at your paling face. 

"Unnie, I'm getting dizzy. It's just so high," you muttered to her, finally telling her the truth. Hearing how faint you sounded, Seulgi immediately spread the fingers on your cheek to cover your side vision so you would only be able to focus on her. The other three, watching the interaction, could only deduce what was happening and that was you being scared of the height they were in. 

"That's something we don't know," Joy mumbled behind her two smaller unnies and they nodded, turning their focus on her. 

"I don't think she knows either," Irene piped up, which caused Wendy to look at her. 

"You think so?"

The leader shrugged. "We never had to be in this type of height before so she might've never thought she would be scared. This course is deathly terrifying for me, I'm telling you." 

Joy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Didn't you guys go on a zipline in Thailand too? Was she scared?" 

This time it was Wendy who answered. "The one in Thailand wasn't this high, Joyie. I can understand why Joohyun-unnie is so terrified with this one and if Eli suddenly has a fear of heights too." 

Meanwhile, Seulgi was trying to calm you down. 

"Hey, only look at me, okay? Breathe in and out with me, slowly," she instructed. Seulgi might've been all giggly watching Irene scream in fright every time she had to go up another set of stairs, but now her dongsaeng was struggling and she needed to let you know that she was there for you. 

You tried to calm your breathing down, following the pattern of your older sister's breathing as you put a hand on her chest. Seulgi asked the staff if they had some water and she quickly grabbed it before putting the water in your free hand so you could take a drink while she put her hand back on your cheek to limit your view from the height. 

Joy quietly made her way to your side and put a comforting hand on your back, before wrapping it around your waist in a manner the leader would do. She knew Irene couldn't come to your aid so she thought she could be the one to provide that warmth for you. 

Everything stopped for a minute as everyone waited with bated breath, even the staff. They always knew you as fearless on just about everything except for food, so this was also concerning to them. Your manager would probably guide you back down in her arms if she was here. 

After a while, some of the colours returned to your face and both your older sisters, who were the closest to you, breathed sighs of relief. 

"Are you feeling any better?" Joy asked, concern written all over her face. 

You took a deep breath before releasing it and nodding in response, causing the staff and your other sisters who were stuck a little up there to breathe in relief. It was truly a moment they did not anticipate and scared them, to be honest. 

"I did not expect that to happen," you muttered and the camera picked up how Seulgi and Joy chuckled while shaking their heads in amusement. It was so you to try and break a tense moment like that. 

"I don't think any of us did, dongsaeng-ah," Seulgi giggled whilst patting your head softly as she guided you to walk up the stairs in front of her so she would be the one at the back. 

Joy continued to hold onto your waist as she brought you with her to where your guardian and your mother figure were, and Irene immediately grabbed your arm as you reached her, looking at you with worried eyes that you couldn't help but melt at. 

"I'm okay, Hyun-unnie, I'm okay," you reassured her with a calming smile, though the colour on your face was still a little faded away. "Is Wendy-unnie taking good care of you?" 

Hearing the distracting question Irene laughed whilst Wendy gasped in mock offense. "Yah, I'm taking great care of her, thank you very much!" 

Irene hit your arm playfully as you chuckled, causing the rest to sigh in relief for the second time, knowing you were truly okay. 

"I know I can count on you, Unnie." You proceeded to wink at the main vocalist and she pretended to deny the advance, causing your older sisters to laugh louder. The staff also laughed along, glad you were feeling okay again.

Ever since then the members, especially the youngest, would do things to find out what your other fears were. Not because they like to see you suffer, no, they just find that it makes you feel more human, somehow. They have known you to be someone very fearless over the years, so finding out your fears made them feel like they got to know you better, as weird as that sounded.

It was known that Yeri could be a manace sometimes, pranking and annoying her older sisters no matter how much they ask her to stop. She usually would once she knew the older was borderline getting angry or if she got bored, so it did take a lot for her to actually stop her antics once she started. Ever since she had known your unexpected fears of extreme height, she tried ways to find out about other fears you might have, starting with little bugs. 

Yeri had asked if you wanted to go to the park together and immediately said yes, not really thinking much about it. You just figured she wanted to spend some time together since it had been some time that you could spend a moment together, only the two of you, so you agreed. Little did you know, your little sister was up to something. 

As you both walked together, Yeri suddenly yelped as she grabbed your arm and hid her face near the back of your shoulder in an attempt to not see what she was seeing. You stopped walking immediately, with you being in a stance ready to defend her if needed. 

"What happened?" 

"Bug, Unnie, bug! Get it off, get it off!" Yeri frantically shouted as she swung her left arm as to get the bug off. 

You looked at her with a raised eyebrow, wondering why she was freaking out so much over a bug when you knew she was never that scared of them before. Albeit slightly suspicious, you proceeded to stop her arms from swinging wildly to gently get the bug off of her arm, blowing it into the wind once it was on your own hand. 

"There, it's gone, Dongsaeng-ah." You calmly patted the hand that was gripping yours, prompting her to lessen her grip and stand next to you once again whilst looking at you with slight surprise.

"What did you do to it?" 

You shrugged coolly as you continued walking, Yeri's arms now intertwined with yours as she did not let go because she felt comfortable and warm walking so close to you. 

"I got it off and blew it into the wind. Since when did you start being scared of small bugs? You were always so cool about it," you and she pouted cutely whilst stomping her feet in playful anger, though she was acting so you would not suspect her of acting. 

"Unnie~ why are you teasing me?!" 

You only laughed louder before letting go of her embrace so you could put your arms around her shoulders instead as you continued teasing her. 

Yeri tried to find your fears through various means in the next few months, always looking out for things you might be scared of. You get startled sometimes, sure, but you would go back to being calm so she could not be sure. After exhausting everything, she was ready to give up before there was one unexpected accident that blasted your fear, or phobia more like, to the whole group. 

It was a known fact that most members were scared of bigger bugs such as cockroaches and everyone would get Wendy to do the dirty work of getting them out or killing them. You had always been away in those moments for some reason and the members did not really notice since they were freaking out. One day, months after Yeri's mission of finding out your other fear and almost failing, she succeeded though it was out of her control and the outcome was not what she thought would happen. 

It was nighttime and the members were all in their room, doing their own things. You were not asleep just yet, still reading through the new book you just got when you got thirsty. You reach your hand to get your water bottle and pick it up, finding it empty. You sighed, not wanting to get out of your very comfortable bed to get some more water but you knew it would bother you, so you got up and made your way out of your room silently, not wanting to wake the other members. 

Everything was dark since everyone was already home, even the ones who had moved out because you had group schedules for the next few days and it was way easier to keep track of everyone this way. You made your way to the kitchen to fill up your bottle with warm water when something dark on the ground caught your attention. At first, you thought it was something random on the ground that none of you had noticed, so you moved to turn on the kitchen light. The moment you turned around, you found out what it was and it was running towards you so fast you could not help but scream, running towards the other side of the room to get away. You knew you had woken someone up but you were so in fear that you did not notice when the leader and maknae came running out of their rooms, hair in slight disarray with worry in their eyes. They were running from different sides of the dorm but figured it came from the kitchen so they ran to find you almost shaking, eyes wide in fear. 

"What is it? What is it?!" Irene asked and you, still in fear, pointed to the ground a few steps away. 

Irene and Yeri immediately turned their attention towards it to find a cockroach, a pretty big one at that, in your direction. They both sighed in relief, though apprehensive since they did not like them either. 

"I thought it was a thief or something," Irene mumbled, chuckling slightly at the scene she found herself in. 

Yeri nodded in agreement whilst laughing in glee. "Who knew Eli-unnie would be scared of something, huh? I finally found your other fear, Unnie! To think that I've tried everything to find out what it is only for you to be scared of cockroaches just like the rest of us," Yeri chuckled once again. "Who knew, huh?" she teased you and before you could reply, Irene was already on it. 

"Yah, is that why you've been doing more random things the past few months?" Irene glared at the maknae and Yeri spluttered, trying to think of an excuse. 

"Well, we just found out Unnie was scared of heights not too long ago and I want to know what other things she would be scared of, okay? Aren't you curious?" Yeri challenged back and Irene could not help but agree, though she did not voice that out loud.

Not hearing anything from you, she turned to you to find you were almost close to tears, eyes still trained on the ground where the damn creature was. 

Irene grew concerned. "El?" she asked softly, catching Yeri's attention. 

Seeing her favourite unnie almost scared to death was not something was expecting. "Eli-unnie?" She might be a manace, but looking at you being so terrified was not a look she enjoyed, she found out.

You did not dare to look away, scared that the thing would come towards you when you were not looking. 

"I think I have a phobia now. Please get it away, please," you pleaded, almost crying at this point.

Yeri, who was just teasing you, turned alarmed at the sight and she did not even think twice when she got the bug spray. Turned out, she could be brave when it came to you. 

"Prepare to run here, okay, Unnie? I'm going to spray it and it's going to run very quickly so run here towards me and Unnie, okay?" The sight was so unprecedented Irene had to film the whole thing. Yes, she brought her phone with her. 

You nodded and Yeri saw the pure fear in your eyes when you looked at her for a split second. 

"Now!" Yeri yelled as she sprayed the damn bug that was causing her favourite unnie distress and you immediately ran where she and Irene were, hiding behind Irene as you finally cried. Irene immediately stopped filming to comfort you, bringing your much taller figure in her arms to give you some comfort. 

It was silent for a little bit before you broke it. "Is it dead?" you timidly asked, ready to run away to your room if needed. 

"Yeah," Yeri answered slightly breathlessly. "It's dead now, I see it." 

You heaved such a heavy sigh of relief it caused Irene and Yeri to chuckle. "Oh my God, never again please. I was scared for my life." You shuddered as you thought about the creature that had caused you such distress. 

The leader and maknae looked at each other before looking back at you, the leader laughing softly into her hands as the youngest laughed out loud. 

"Never knew you were such a scaredy cat when it comes to cockroaches, Unnie. I should've bought some fake ones much earlier to scare you!" 

The glare you gave the youngest was the coldest she had ever seen it. "I swear to God Yerim-ah, if you ever did that ..." you trailed off and Irene could not help but laugh out loud this time, slapping your arm. 

You pouted at her before whining cutely. "Unnie, I was really scared you know! I shiver just thinking about it." You continued to pout adorably at your soulmate and she cooed, pinching your cheeks softly. 

"Aw my baby. I believe you, El. Now you know how it feels to have phobias, huh?" It was a rhetorical question but you nodded anyway, causing Irene's smile to widen. 

It was silent before the maknae broke it. "Well, it's good to know you're still human, Unnie. I was starting to think you're secretly a spy or something. Please stop being so perfect!" Yeri playfully joked, going over to your side to give you a hug whilst still giggling. 

Irene laughed again and you glared at the younger girl, though the glare held no heat whatsoever. "Yah, what do you think I am? Of course, I'm human!" 

Yeri just continued giggling whilst hugging you and the leader could only shake her head in amusement with a soft smile. 

Just another day in the Red Velvet household. It was good to know that none of them changed much after growing up in the entertainment industry though, the same loving people just stronger and better.