Naeun scrunched up her nose as she held a mug of warm coffee in her hands, slightly vexed by the volume of the dorm this early in the morning.

What a lively family picture this was. The maknaes were busy chowing down on their food, and Eunji was fast asleep despite the old Tom-and-Jerry exchange that was going on. The six of them had been living together for years and yet their morning situation seemed just as rowdy as always.

"As much as I hate the idea," Chorong shivered, "can't you just go without showering for the day? You'll get sweaty again anyway." 

Oh boy. It was the nightmarish return of the Bomi who showers the least. 

"No, no! Please, unnie? Please? I'll be quick I promise! Quicker than it takes for Eunji to wake up!"

"Bomi-ya. We're gonna be late if you shower now!" Chorong scolded. 

"I know I know I should've showered yesterday but we came back so late and I was so tired and my sweat dried up in the cold so I didn't feel the need to!" Bomi managed to say desperately in one breath. "But unnie, my hair feels disgusting and I just can't deal with this—"

"Okay okay I get it! Just go!" Chorong gave in, shooing the younger away impatiently.

"ThanksChorongunnieIloveyou!" Bomi speed-cheered and dashed to the bathroom, causing the girls at the table to chuckle at the strange turn of events and at Bomi being, well, Bomi. 

But right after those words were spoken, for that one small moment, the look on the leader's face said otherwise. She wasn't amused, and it wasn't from the shower situation. That was when Naeun gasped inside.

It happened quickly and Naeun had to pause on what she thought she saw. But this wasn't something she could make up. As she witnessed the leader cycle through some deep emotions in the blink of an eye, it dawned on her first that something might be wrong. Something unusual was going on.

"Chorong unnie, are you okay?"

The older girl just turned towards her like nothing happened, giving a puzzled smile and nodding.

"Mm yeah, why wouldn't I be, Naeun-ah?"

——

As days of rehearsals passed, more and more the members picked up the sense that something was off about their leader. And they noticed it only happened when Bomi wasn't around to see it. 

Chorong seemed to let her guard down a bit when the younger girl was out of sight and when she did, she looked wistful and distressed. It was almost like she was troubled by something and didn't want Bomi to know... Bomi, the one who took care of her the best! Chorong's right-hand woman! The rest of the girls were worried. What could be happening?

The unnies were still on good terms, and Bomi seemed just as she always was, like a puppy with her tail wagging excitedly.

With Bomi clearly unaffected, that would mean this problem was only going on in Chorong's head. Chorong, who looked at Bomi with such longing—

Wait.

Longing.

Ohh.

"What's got you down, Park leader-nim?" Eunji asked within earshot, getting down to stretch beside the said girl in the practice room. Chorong's lips curled a little at the nickname, playing innocent. 

"What are you talking about?" 

When there was no response, Chorong twisted her torso to stretch her other leg, facing Eunji at the same time. The main vocal was quietly regarding her with a sort of inquisitive expression. Chorong raised an eyebrow.

Eunji just smiled cryptically, returning her question with another question. 

"Why are you standing in the way of your own happiness?"

Bullseye! 

It was bold, the meaning behind her words unmistakable. Chorong almost choked, eyes wide and throat dry. She swallowed with effort.

"Eunji-ya..."

That was all she managed to say. She wanted to say something, anything, but in that moment she just couldn't find the words. The leader was stunned into silence, feeling a pang in her heart.

Eunji saw through her, and Chorong realised she couldn't hide her inner turmoil as well as she thought she could.

Am I really that obvious?

She didn't know how to feel about her own member being suspiciously aware of her case. But then again, the members had been teasing Chorong a lot about Bomi recently. Perhaps they knew something she didn't. Perhaps her outward behaviour and appearance betrayed her greater than she would have thought. 

Eunji didn't press any further, only wanting to put the idea in the leader's head, and she left the matter alone, leaving Chorong to stare at her back dumbfounded.

Chorong was indeed standing in the way of her own happiness by trying to inhibit this attraction, and the effects weren't looking so good on her wellbeing.

When the crew decided to take a break, the 93-line volunteered to get ice cream for everyone; their treat. Eunji deliberately looked in Chorong's direction for eye contact before smiling widely like the Cheshire Cat. 

"Chorong unnie! Don't worry~ I won't steal Bbom away for too long!" she called boldly, chuckling to herself as the leader blushed and turned away like she didn't exist. 

If what the girl said earlier wasn't confirmation enough, then it was this teasing remark that really solidified the fact for Chorong.

Yeah, Eunji definitely knows.

"Y-Yah Eunji-ya! What are you saying!" an equally blushing Bomi said before pulling Eunji away with her, completely missing what happened. The last three members who watched the exchange looked at each other in unison. 

This plan better work. 

Namjoo took in a deep breath and approached the leader carefully. Why did she have to be the one to do this? Gosh, the other members were no help.

Eunji wasn't too comfortable with hearing the leader out on her own. Being as sharp as she was to these things, Eunji worried her words could hurt her member's feelings. She's fought with Chorong in the past and though they always end in apologies, Eunji didn't want to put another pressure on the leader by making this an argument. 

Plus, Eunji was already helping Bomi as much as she could. Bomi was sincere and honest at heart, so confiding in Eunji had been relieving. Seeing that, Eunji wanted to offer the same support to the leader, but she knew it wouldn't be as easy. Unlike with Bomi, it seemed Chorong was actually trying to deny what she was feeling, and that was something frustrating Eunji couldn't understand.

Besides, if Eunji kept jumping back and forth between Chorong and Bomi, the two might figure out something fishy was going on!

Naeun doesn't show it outright, but she really cares for people. In many ways, she matches well with their leader's personality. It was actually why Eunji had approached Naeun about this first. But that cute side of Naeun looked back at her cluelessly. 

Naeun shied away from the idea of confronting them, preferring to let the unnies figure it out on their own. It wasn't really in her nature to get involved between her friends, besides making jokes she found fun by herself; pointing out little things and making a comment here and there to tease them. 

But sometimes people just need a helping hand. A cupid, if you like. 

"You seem more excited about that than me!" Naeun laughed.

When Namjoo had joined in the conversation with different thoughts and explained her point of view, Naeun just started nagging the younger girl to do it instead. And that's how Namjoo got the job. 

Dumbfounded at her unnie, Namjoo's face lost its expression and she shut her big mouth obediently to the members' amusement. "Ye.. Yes. Okay, then I'll do that."

Hayoung had matured a lot with the celebrity life, but there was still an innocent, childlike quality to her. The members weren't going to let their growing maknae be blamed for hurting something so delicate and complicated between those two. The girl spoke her mind very logically, so in her understanding of the situation, she'd just tell the two unnies to stop hiding their feelings for each other— 

"No, no, no, no, Hayoungie can sit this one out."

"Ehh?? Why?? Why, unnie??"

Wow. Even Hayoungie was frank with her logic, forgetting that they were girls the most! One unnie loves the other unnie— it should be that simple, right? Their maknae didn't get why they couldn't just tell them. It would make everything so much easier. 

Not to mention, if it all went ideally, their two eldest unnies were going to be together. As in, dating each other. Hayoung began to cringe hard at the realisation, rendering her useless to the plan. 

"Omo, the unnies. That means they'll kiss? They'll—"

"Yah! It's way too soon to think about that."

And Namjoo? She often followed her unnies without complaining, but this was just cruel, pulling her into the den of the lioness. Nobody wanted to do it properly, and if it kept going like this, she was going to go crazy. 

So, on second thought, maybe Namjoo was best for the job. 

She wanted to see her unnies be happy together. That was all that truly mattered. With all those longing glances and hurting hearts, who needed to catch TV when Namjoo was watching a romantic drama right in front of her? 

They needed to talk to each other. Please. Oh my God.

Actually, maybe she shouldn't think of it that way. The sad view of the leader's small back was pulling at Namjoo's heartstrings and she remembered the case she needed to make. Namjoo was going to be there for her Choron