As Seulgi felt herself waking up in her bed, her pounding headache quickly made her realize that the Soju must have gotten the better of her the night before. She kept her eyes closed, trying to remember where she was now, and how she got here.  Memories of finishing more than one bottle with Sunmi started coming back, as well as dancing closely to some slow songs.. And then the memory of Sunmi’s lips on her cheek as she was about to head out the door.  She remembered she had been in a hurry to make it back before her absence was noticed. Feelings of regret washed over her, realizing they hadn’t had enough time, and that the ending felt way to rushed when they had noticed how late it was.  “I need to see her again as soon as possible” she thought to herself urgently.   Suddenly she felt the bed shake and started opened her eyes, the light instantly making her regret the move. As her eyes adjusted, she noticed Joohyun looking at her intently, her elbows on the bed and her hands propping up her chin.. “Good morning, sleepyhead” she said with a half smile, but her eyes signaled a look of mild suspicion. “You’re late for breakfast, so i came to check on you.  Rough night, eh?” she said with a slight smirk, though Seulgi could sense a hesitant tone she wasn’t used to in her voice. “Ah yes,” Seulgi said with a sheepish smile she hoped wouldn’t look too guilty;  “umm, I was just catching up with an old friend, and we must have had a bit too much, my bad!” she continued awkwardly.  “Oh who?” said Joohyun, with an expression that made Seulgi wish she was a better liar. “Hehe.. just a friend from before.. You don’t know her.. I promised I wouldn’t say her name because she wasn’t supposed to be taking a break from her busy schedule” Seulgi finished, hoping she was being honest enough that her face wouldn’t give her away. “I see, fair enough”  Joohyun said softly, still not sounding quite at ease, but Seulgi could tell she was reluctant to push it further.  With a small sigh, Joohyun rolled over and rested her head on Seulgi’s stomach, and looked up at her with a small smile;  “Just be careful when you do that, okay..  The paparazzi love to make up things when they see us in weird places at weird times” she said in a caring tone. “ And you are a dear friend, so I worry about you, Seulgi”, she added, in a tone that sounded more shy than Seulgi was used to.  As Joohyun quickly leaned forward and stood up, Seulgi could have sworn she had seen her blushing, but dismissed the possibility. “Leader is anything but soft” she thought to herself, before forcing herself to sit up too, her head promptly reminding her that was a bad idea, and that it was going to be a long day. 

Getting out of bed reluctantly, Seulgi threw on a robe over her tank top and sweatpants, splashed some water on her face to try to wake up, and then made her way down to the common room.  As she entered, Yeri waved to her absentmindedly from her bean bag chair, engrossed in whatever game she was playing this week.   “One day i will have to find out what she finds so fascinating with those” Seulgi thought to herself as she shuffled towards the kitchen, covering her eyes from the unnecessarily bright lights.  From the couch, Joy waved at her over the top of the book she was engrossed in. As she entered the kitchen, Seulgi startled as she felt fingers wrap around her shoulder.  “Seulgi, your hair.. “ she heard Joohyun say softly.  Joohyun put her hands on both sides of Seulgi’s head and ran her fingers through her hair, with an expression that seemed like a mix of kindness and annoyance.  Although surprised, Seulgi closed her eyes inadvertently, enjoying the unusual attention she was getting from her leader.  She opened them again as Joohyun patted down the hair on the back of her head, and then rested her arms on Seulgi’s shoulders, looking into her eyes intently.  Seulgi bit her lip, expecting a serious comment as Joohyun started to say something, but then tilted her head in surprise as Joohyun seemed to be lost for words. A frown crossed Joohyun’s face, and she shook her head  and then put her arms down suddenly.. “Let’s talk later, Seulgi” she said, as she turned and suddenly seemed to be in a hurry to be elsewhere.   Seulgi shook her head in confusion. “Whatever was that all about” she thought to herself, as she made her way to the coffee machine for some much needed caffeine.   

Feeling the caffeine permeate her system, Seulgi finally started feeling a bit more like herself again. With a frown, she pondered what Joohyun had been trying to say earlier. “She probably knows I was holding something back” she thought to herself, “and I know she always says to talk to her if anything ever troubles me, and it really would be good to have her advice”.  She finished her coffee, and stood up carefully.  She was relieved her headache was now just a dull throb. She still had her doubts about opening up about this, but thought that as long as she kept it anonymous, Joohyun might have some valuable advice about what to do next.   On her way out of the kitchen, she ran into Wendy heading the other way. “Oh wow, Seulgi, you okay?” Wendy said with a concerned look on her face, but also with a smile that implied she suspected Seulgi had had a bit too much the night before.  “Hopefully you didn’t do anything embarrassing” she said with a wink as she continued into the kitchen.  Seulgi shook her head. “They will never let me live down that wine tasting in Austria”, she thought to herself exasperatedly.  She continued to the practice room where she suspected Joohyun was, and looked in.   Joohyun was sitting in a chair, but Seulgi was surprised to she had her hands pressed against her face, as if she was deep in thought or something.  She knocked on the doorframe, and Joohyun looked up, startled, before returning to her more familiar serious expression, “Seulgi..” she said calmly, “what’s up?”.  Seulgi hesitated, the urge to retreat was strong, but she knew she had to talk to someone, or she would go crazy.  “Well you said we should talk later, and I think I really do need your advice about something” she started hesitantly.  She could see Joohyun smile a little, seemingly happy that Seulgi was going to open up to her, but with a look of concern that implied she was a bit worried what she might hear. She patted the chair next to her. “Come, sit” she said calmly. Seulgi sat down, and crossed her hands awkwardly in front of her. Joohyun reached out her hand and rested it on top of Seulgi’s hands. “You can tell me anything” she said softly. “What did you want my advice about?”  Seulgi took a deep breath, fighting the urge to not answer, and blurted out “The friend i told you about, I think.. I think she is more than just a friend now…. what.. what should I do?”  Seulgi was already feeling emotional about admitting this, but on seeing the surprisingly sad expression on Joohyun’s face,  she felt the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. “What is going on?!” she thought to herself bewilderedly. 

While Seulgi was still processing, she saw Joohyun grab a box of tissues and dab the corners of Seulgi’s eyes gently with one.  “Seulgi, it’s okay,” she said gently, her look of sadness now more a look of concern.  “Thank you for confiding in me.. You know you can always trust me, I am always here for you” she added, before inhaling and putting her fist against with a serious expression. “So.. what do you mean by more than just a friend? Are we talking like new best friend, or like I mean.. “ she trailed off, her face blushing slightly.  “..I mean like umm girlfriend friend?” she finished awkwardly. Seulgi felt her face getting hot as well and put both hands in an inverted V shape over her nose, her eyes squinting. “Ummm maybe more like the second thing.. “ she mumbled.  “Oh..” Joohyun said, her face blank until she forced a smile, and added “so like you got drunk and then you accidentally kissed each other or something?”.  Seulgi shook her head and she could see a look of relief on Joohyuns face, “We shared a special moment,” she said. “And we both confessed our feelings to each other” she finished, covering even more of her face with her hands, and noticing Joohyun’s expression freezing for what seemed like forever.  “I see.. “ Joohyun finally said. “That makes everything a lot more complicated..” she added coldly, making Seulgi close her eyes in embarrassment, her face blushing vividly.  “But don’t worry, Seulgi” Joohyun continued, her tone a bit warmer, resting her hand on Seulgi’s shoulder. “You could tell the person you were drunk and that you didn’t really mean it” she said in surprisingly light tone given the implications. Seulgi shook her head vigorously. “Oh okay.” Joohyun continued, her tone suddenly more serious.  “You could just tell them you can’t go against our corporate policy of dating..”  Seulgi shook her head sadly, feeling the tears well up again, “Noo”, Seulgi exclaimed, “I think I love her” she blurted out, covering in shock at what she had just said. “Oh.. “ Joohyun said, her face blank again, but with her eyes squinting a bit. “Well then” she said, her teeth gritted.  “Technically, per our contract, it says that if you do not comply with the no dating rule, the company reserves the right to take disciplinary measures, up to and including terminating the agreement..”  Seulgi gasped and closed her eyes tightly, tears now flowing freely, as she felt Joohyun’s hands grab her shoulders. “But Seulgi, you know how important you are to me.. And the group.. I wouldn’t let that happen. I will help you keep it secret, everything is going to be okay” she finished comfortingly.  As Seulgi felt Joohyun give her a rare tight hug, she felt her fear and confusion dissipate somewhat. “What would I ever do without Joohyun”, she thought to herself thankfully.