It's been a few days since the incident with the sasaeng fan and the reporters, and not much had been done regarding the sasaeng fan which made everyone worry over you. They all had their own but not to the extent of pulling them or trying to follow them home. It was expected for you to feel restless over it and everyone understood but maybe not to the extent that they needed to. 

You had been getting more and more agitated and not wanting to snap at any of your members, you told Irene and manager-unnie that you would be out at Han River to get some fresh air. Irene was rightfully worried. 

"Eli, no. I hate doing this but it's too risky to go out alone," she looked worriedly at you, noticing the stress ball in your hand getting fairly squeezed to the point your knuckles turning white. 

You sighed, relaxing your hands. "I don't have a choice, Unnie. Exercising is not helping anymore and being stuck inside is just making me even crazier," you put out your puppy eyes, practically begging her. You really needed to get out or you're going to go crazy on everyone and that's the last thing you would want to do. 

You didn't want your sisters' view of you to change so you never want to lash out in front of them. 

"Eli..." Irene let out a sigh, rubbing her face with her hand and you hated how conflicted she looked. 

"Let her go, Unnie," Wendy interjected. "We could see she needs it," She turned to you. "Do you promise to let us know when you'll be back?" 

You immediately nodded your head. "Yeah, I'll chat the group and manager-unnie immediately when I want to go home, okay?" 

You walked towards Irene, putting your hands on each of her shoulders. Looking at her in the eyes, you could see the worry and anger she had over this problem. "I'll be fine, Unnie," you gave her your dimpled smile, hoping to calm her a little. 

It worked. 

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" You kissed her forehead. "I love you." 

She sighed against you. "I love you too." 

You pulled back and walked towards Wendy, giving her the same smile. The smile she gave you radiated the warmth you needed. "Thank you, Wendy. She probably wouldn't let me go if you didn't convince her." 

She laughed, shaking her head in amusement. "You owe me," she paused. "I'm serious though, be safe and let us know when you'll be coming back, alright?" 

You nodded firmly, giving her forehead a kiss as well. "I promised, didn't I? Please take care of her too," your head titled slightly towards Irene. "I love you." 

She grinned, "I love you too, punk. Go now and come back earlier." 

You let out a laugh this time. "That's not how it works, Unnie~" you teased, making her shove you. 

She scoffed playfully, "Go or I'll lock you in forever." 

You shook your head in amusement. "Fine, fine, I'm going." 

You grew serious again, looking at them both. "Bye, I'll see you later." With a final smile, you got out of the dorm. 

Finally time for yourself. 

You made sure you covered yourself well and went on your way for the late walk, always checking if you were being followed by anyone. You might be good at karate but you didn't want to be mobbed either. 

You got to the river and just walked around, lost in your thoughts. You kept thinking about how you could deal with this problem and you should deal with it, knowing whatever you did wouldn't really make the problem go away completely. Sasaeng fans would always exist, it's just the degree of them that's a problem. You knew you had to talk to the company directly if this wasn't solved quickly and though not fond of the idea, you didn't have much of a choice. You could ask manager-unnie about any updates or what you should do next. There were many things being said in the media and they were still all over your group even though this was technically your "scandal" which made you feel guilty. You knew the rest were okay with fighting this battle with you but you just hated burdening them with your problems as well. Plus, your moods hadn't been the best the past few days and you were sure your members were walking on eggshells around you. 

You kept walking as you walked, making sure not meeting anyone in the eyes as of to not draw attention to yourself. You hadn't realised it had gotten so late and you finally decided to rest your overthinking, opting to have a talk with manager-unnie sometime tomorrow. The walk was actually very helpful and you could feel yourself relaxing, a smile on your face. It was time to go home. 

You opened your phone as you walked home, letting everyone knew you were walking home that very moment and that you were okay. You noticed the many chats present in the group chat but you didn't really pay attention to it, knowing you shouldn't be walking around with a phone in hand. You quickly texted your manager about your whereabouts and your plan to talk to her tomorrow before putting the phone in your pocket and walking home at a faster pace. 

You couldn't wait to be with your sisters comfortably again. 

As you got home, you opened the door with a smile but it quickly turned into a frown as you saw the scene in front of you. Your sisters were scattered throughout the living room and kitchen, all holding their phone in their hands with worried looks. You could somehow feel the slightly chilling aura though so you felt slightly apprehensive. They all look somehow unkempt that it unnerved you. 

"What happened?" 

That got everyone's attention as they quickly looked up and looked towards your direction, relief evident with the way they all heaved a breath. 

"Where have you been?!" Joy stood up and walked towards you in quick steps. 

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Han River just like I told Hyun-unnie and Wan-unnie. Did something happen? What's wrong?" 

As you finished, Joy took you into her tight embrace as if trying to portray her extreme relief. "Do you know what time it is?" You heard her mutter. 

"No, but I'm guessing it's late? I don't know how late though," your innocent answer caused Irene to scoff but she stayed silent, not wanting to say anything just yet. 

Joy pulled back from the hug, Seulgi taking her place. "You made us worry, Eli-ah. We thought something had happened to you!" 

You hugged her back albeit confusedly. You didn't understand why everyone was so worried as you kept your promise of letting everyone know when you're going back. You didn't break your promise, right?

"What do you-" 

Seulgi pulled back just as Yeri came to your side, wrapping her arms around your waist and snuggling into your chest. "We were worried, Unnie!" Her voice was muffled by your clothes and you were worried she couldn't breathe in there. 

You pulled her back so you could look at her in the eyes, seeing the worry evident there. "Hey, I'm okay, Yerim-ah. See? Unnie's in one piece don't worry." 

"You probably won't be after this," Joy muttered so lowly you could hardly hear it but you did, making you look at her with a raised eyebrow. 

Her gaze told you enough that you were in trouble with the leader. 

"Alright, everyone. Eli's okay and it's late, we have a schedule tomorrow. We should get some rest, okay?" Wendy piped up, giving you a warm smile though her expression told you what Joy had. 

They all sighed, agreeing. As everyone dispersed, Wendy came to you and hugged you tightly. "No matter what she says, she's only worried. Don't take it to heart. We love you, Eli." Wendy muttered, giving you a kiss on the cheek before following the rest towards the bedrooms. 

As the last door closed, you faced Irene only to be faced with a cold look in her eyes. You shivered, never having to be on the other end of that look before. 

"Where have you been?" 

You knew you had to choose your words carefully. "Han River, Unnie. Just walking around, thinking. It helped with the stress, so that was good." You gave her a smile though for the first time she didn't return it. 

You had a feeling this wasn't going to end too well. 

"Do you know how late this is, Eli?" She began as she walked forward, "We tried to text you but you didn't answer. We tried texting manager-unnie but she didn't know either. No one knew where you were and there are sasaeng fans out there that could be following you. Do you know how worried we were?" She ended her barrage of questions with tears in her eyes but the coldness didn't change. 

You sighed, "I was thinking and didn't even realise how late it was so when I did, I went back immediately. That's when I texted you and manager-unnie, just like I promised you." 

It seemed like she didn't hear a word you said. "We were so worried, Eli! I didn't call you because I knew you probably didn't see our texts! Did you?"

"No-" 

"See? And no one knew where you were, there are sasaeng fans out to get you, I didn't even know what to think! I was this close," she gestured with her fingers, voice shaky with emotion, "to calling the closest hospital in case something happened!" 

Seeing how much you had made your leader worry you teared up, walking towards her and raised your hand to put it on her shoulder only for her to flinch away, making you drop your hand. 

"Look, Hyun-unnie I'm sorry, okay? I didn't realise how late it had gotten and I didn't think I broke my promise so I thought it's fine but I got back as soon as I could, I promise!" By this point, your tears had fallen not only from feeling guilty but from her reaction earlier. She had never flinched away from you before and it hurt. 

She scoffed, still affected by her emotions. "Can you not be selfish for once, Eli?"

You could feel your heart shatter. "What?" You could only whisper. 

Irene looked like she was about to snap, "This is not only about you anymore, okay? This problem had caused our group to be hounded by the media too and on top of that, I have to deal with your mood going up and down for the past few days." She finally snapped, the stress she had been feeling finally being let out though maybe not through the right outlet. "Don't be selfish and think about how we're affected by this too, would you?" 

You were speechless. You had been stressing for the past few days because you felt like you were responsible and Irene herself had said none of them blamed you but maybe they did. Maybe it was your fault after all, huh?

"I'm going to sleep. We have an early schedule tomorrow and I have to be the one waking everyone up. Just..." She paused for a bit, closing her eyes in exasperation. She opened them again and looked at you dead in the eyes, "fix your mess, Eli. I'm tired." 

She moved towards her room, steps not faltering even to bid you goodnight. 

You stayed silent before walking towards your room, changing your clothes then doing your night routine numbly. After everything was done and you laid on your bed, the gate of tears was wide open. 

You were officially experiencing your first broken heart.

To say you didn't get any sleep was an understatement. Not only that, you just kept crying until your eyes were swollen and puffy, breath huffing. You tried to keep it down as to not wake your members so you opted to cry into your pillow. That morning, the mood wasn't pleasant and everyone kept looking between you and Irene, noticing the similar look both of you were supporting. Irene probably cried from having to deal with your problem and your heart just sank even more. 

You felt so guilty from putting your sisters in this situation and just like Irene had ordered, you were going to fix your mess no matter what it took. 

"Are you not going to eat, Liza?" Wendy softly asked, coming to your side and your hair. You leaned into her touch, closing your eyes and putting your mug of coffee back on the table. "I'm not hungry, Unnie," you murmured. 

"Okay," she whispered, kissing the top of your head. "If you are, let me know okay? And remember what I told you last night." 

That made you opened your eyes and your gaze turned towards Irene's figure, catching her cold eyes directed towards you. You pulled back from the embrace and looked up at Wendy instead, giving her a sad smile. "It's hard not too, Wendy. She meant every word she said and I can't help but believe them." 

She opened to say something but you cut her off with a shake of your head. "Don't worry, I'll fix this mess." You then stood up, going towards the sink to put your glass away. "It's my mess." 

You didn't know if she heard that last sentence but if she did she didn't show it. 

After the schedule you immediately met with manager-unnie, discussing what could be done with the situation. For the next few days, Irene continued giving you the silent treatment and you worked day and night to try and fix the whole situation, barely eating and sleeping. Even if the problem was fixed your guilt wouldn't let you sleep or eat anyway, and Irene's cold treatment wasn't helping. It hurt both psychically and emotionally and you didn't know you had done so much bad in this world to feel this kind of pain.

As the days go by, fans began to see as the group's schedules were also packed so they were frequently updated and they began to worry over your seemingly deteriorating condition, commenting on Instagram and Twitter about how tired and exhausted you looked the past few days. They also noticed something was going on between the members (at least between you and Irene) and that concerned them. There were so many comments that Joy and Yeri became aware of the problem. They were so busy and collectively tired they didn't really realise how awful you looked and the toll that late-night talk had on you. So, after the schedule that day they both knocked on Wendy's door to talk about everything. They came to Seulgi's room first to find it empty so they figured she was in the leader's room to talk some sense into her. They knew her cold treatment went on for too long. 

"Unnie, I think something happened between them." 

Wendy sighed, running her hand on her hair. "Something did. I tried to talk to Joohyun-unnie about it but she wouldn't say much, only saying that she said some not-so-nice things to Eli and that she regretted it, but she couldn't take anything back." 

The two gasped, shock evident in their eyes. "Omo this is worse than we thought."

"Unnie was so worried she probably said something she didn't mean, I-" she was cut off by the sound of a loud thud followed by glass breaking, prompting them to look at each other before running out the room as quickly as possible. 

They realised the sound came from the general direction of Irene's and your room so they ran towards that, heading to Irene's room first only to find her already opening her door with Seulgi following her out looking curious and confused over the sound. They all stood still before their eyes widened, realising the only one left was you. They all rushed towards your door and Wendy opened it with gusto, not even thinking about knocking anymore. 

The sight they found was something they never wanted to see in their lives ever again. 

You were on the ground, eyes closed with hands stretched out towards the fallen picture frame that fell out of your hands as you passed out. That was probably where the glass breaking was from. Later they found out it was a picture of you and Irene, looking happy. 

Wendy rushed towards you, checking your pulse before putting your head on her lap. 

"Yeri, call manager-unnie and tell her we're calling an ambulance. Joy, call the ambulance," Wendy calmly ordered, taking over the role of leader after seeing Irene froze with fear clear in her eyes. On a normal occasion, she's probably already freaked out but she realised she needed to be calm for everyone, especially Irene and the maknaes. This was the second time they had to deal with an accident concerning Eli and no one wanted to deal with that kind of dread again. She knew how hard that was for everyone, especially Irene, so she knew she had to take control of this situation. 

"Seul, help me get Eli on the bed, okay? Joohyun-unnie, I need you to take deep breaths, okay? Eli's going to be okay and this is not the time to feel guilty." That snapped her out of it and she complied, looking over your body with wide eyes. Wendy and Seulgi then proceeded to move your body to your bed then moved back slightly to give you space. They could see now how pale you had become and how gaunt your face looked. 

Irene could only stay silent, tears slowly appearing in her eyes. This was partly her fault. If only she hadn't given you the silent treatment and blamed everything on you even though it wasn't true...

Joy and Yeri suddenly ran into the room, both holding their phones in their hands. 

"Manager-unnie will come here and take us to the hospital, she's on her way now." 

"The ambulance will be here in one minute. I already have the front door open." 

After that everything was a whirlwind of emotions and shouts, Irene couldn't even feel her body being dragged into the car and out of it, into the hospital that was handling you. 

She could only think about your condition and your pale face kept appearing in her head as if trying to mock her. 

It's her fault. 

Well, not completely-

What made her pass out? Stress, her lack of food and rest, right? And who caused that? 

But if she only she didn't worry everyone, worry me to death- 

Would you prefer that or this, Bae Joohyun? Which one?

Whilst she was having her inner battle, the rest could only look towards her direction with worry. They've never seen their leader so silent like this. Then again, this has never happened before, not something to this extent anyway, and none of them knew how to react. 

Wendy eventually sighed and motioned for the rest to scoot closer, forming a circle. Manager-unnie was on the side, just a few distances away from the group, keeping a sharp eye on the door leading to the room they're keeping you in. 

"Hey, Eli is going to be okay. She's most likely lacking food and sleep and her body just demanded her to rest, making her pass out. She's probably dehydrated as well, so the doctors are going to give her everything she needs and she's going to be healthy again, okay?" She explained softly but firmly. "We have to be strong for her." 

"What about Irene-unnie?" Yeri piped up, sneaking a glance towards their motionless leader once again. They knew why she was acting the way she did but it didn't justify the treatment she was giving you. They found out what actually happened from Seulgi (Irene finally told her everything) and they knew she was out of line. 

"Let me handle her, okay? You all should go to the cafeteria and get some food, I know Seul is probably hungry." She nudged her friend playfully to get some light-hearted reaction and her bestfriend didn't disappoint, letting out a few sheepish chuckles that made all of them giggle. it was a nice distraction. 

"Okay, Unnie. What should we get you and Joohyun-unnie?" 

"Hot coffee for me and hot chocolate for Joohyun-unnie, thank you Sooyungie." They all stood up before giving her tired smiles, all giving her a pat on her shoulder in solidarity before going to manager-unnie and taking her to the cafe as well. 

Wendy sighed, closing her eyes slightly before nodding, opening them again and going over to Irene's side, wrapping her arms around her slowly as of not to surprise her too much. 

She had a long night ahead of her.