Hye-jin found herself hiding in a closet with Seul-gi, the two wanting to take a break from dancing. HERSTORY had been at the studio since 6AM and now it was a quarter past 10PM. The day had been spent with exercise, dance practice, vocal lessons, rehearsing of their debut song, meetings about concept, evaluation meetings and measurements for costumes. Even though Hye-jin's period had ended, she was exhausted. She barely had much to eat that day along with barely any chance of sitting down. She knew how hard this would be but she expected at least a couple of breaks. The five of them had been moving all day without many breaks. All of the girls feeling the pressure to get the dance down and remember the lyrics. Byul-yi and Hyuna seemingly got the dance down in a matter of two days; But Hye-jin, Ju-hyun, and Seul-gi were still struggling with it. 

Seul-gi and Hye-jin had asked for a bathroom break and took to the closet to rest their feet for a moment. Hye-jin leaned against her unnie as they sat on the closet floor. They sat in the dark, their heavy breathing filling the tight space. 

"A-ah, we have to go back soon." Seul-gi commented as she let out a deep sigh.

"Just a couple more minutes. T-they're probably still practicing." Hye-jin mumbled. The two girls sat in silence, Hye-jin's mind on Whee-in. She wished she had Whee-in here to help her with the dance. Whee-in was such a natural at dancing and she often helped Hye-jin during trainee days. Whee-in would make the dance seem so easy and she was always so patient with Hye-jin while she taught her. She even made learning a dance fun for Hye-jin so the practice never felt like real practice but just two friends dancing together. Hye-jin didn't get those vibes from Hyuna but that didn't mean their leader was horrible. Hye-jin just couldn't handle how impatient Hyuna was about them not getting the dance down.

"Lets go." Seul-gi said. 

The two got off the floor of the closet and pushed the door open. Seul-gi stepped out first into the empty hallway then gestured for Hye-jin to come out. The two walked down the hall and back to the dance practice room. Hye-jin followed Seul-gi inside and they quickly rushed to get back into the dance. Hyuna restarted the song from the top and the five of them continued to practice. Hye-jin worked her hardest to get this run down once again but she found herself turning at the wrong times which caused Hyuna to pause the music. 

"Hye-jin, do you not want this?" The leader asked with her hands on her hips. 

Hye-jin felt her face heating up from the strong words. The sudden spotlight on her caused her face to turn cold. Hye-jin knew it probably wouldn't be best to respond to Hyuna with attitude but she was tired and annoyed by the question.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want this." She replied with her arms folding over her chest. 

"Yah! Then why are you being lazy? We've been working on this for eight days straight, and every time it has been you that hasn't gotten dance moves down." Hyuna responded taking steps towards her maknae.

Hye-jin's blood started to boil. She wanted this more than anything else. She wanted to respond back with more attitude but she swallowed her pride. She simply gulped back her frustrations and bowed her head. 

"Unnie, how about you go home and I'll teach them." Byul-yi said. She took swift steps forward and found herself standing in front of Hye-jin, as if she was guarding her from Hyuna's cold glare. 

"Fine. Ju-hyun can come back to the dorm with me. She has the dance down." Hyuna replied. 

With that, the two oldest gathered their belongings and left the studio. Hye-jin rolled her eyes and plopped down on the ground once Hyuna was gone. She took a few deep breaths as Byul-yi crossed the room to pause the music. She sat down on the ground next to Hye-jin along with Seul-gi. The three sat in silence as Hye-jin tried to calm down. She knew Hyuna was only trying to make sure everyone got the dance down but her words had made Hye-jin's blood boil. She was being the furthest thing from lazy. She had worked on this dance when she was in the midst of horrible cramps and hunger. 

"Who does she think she is? Saying I don't want this." Hye-jin said with a frown on her face.

"Yah, put your fatal claws away. She is probably feeling the pressure, we debut in three more weeks." Byul-yi said as she gently shook Hye-jin's shoulder.

"Byul-yi unnie is right. We have to get the dance down." Seul-gi agreed. 

Hye-jin nodded as she realized complaining won't do anything. The three of them pushed themselves up from the ground and Byul-yi ran through the dance with the two of them without the music first. Byul-yi taught Hye-jin and Seul-gi with calm patience, the unnie not being afraid of guiding them physically with the steps. Hye-jin was grateful for Byul-yi's gentle way of teaching. It helped but the fiery maknae at ease, especially since Hye-jin had felt comforted by Byul-yi's method of training. The two maknaes ran through their debut dance with Byul-yi for a couple of more tries. Both learning exceeding well. By the time everyone felt comfortable with dance, the clock read, 12:15AM. All three girls were exhausted. Byul-yi drenched in sweat, Seul-gi breathing heavily in and out, Hye-jin's legs and feet insanely aching. 

"We should try to get an uber to get back to the dorm." Seul-gi said with a deep sigh.

"Ah... Are the company vans still here for us?" Hye-jin asked.

"We should be able to walk back." Byul-yi said.

"It's dark out. I'm scared, unnie." Seul-gi said with a nervous pout.

"It'll be okay. There's three of us, we'll be able to fight off any threat." Hye-jin said confidently. 

"Hye-jin is right. We'll protect you, Seul-gi." Byul-yi said with a confident grin.

"A-alright. Let me just use the bathroom. Wait for me." Seul-gi said as she left the dance studio.

Hye-jin and Byul-yi watched as Seul-gi walked away. Byul-yi turned from the door and gathered up her belongings. Hye-jin moved to her own items and put away her water bottle, towel, and notes from the meetings. She let out a deep sigh as she thought about how she wouldn't be able to call her grandparents and mother tonight. She knew they looked forward to her calls as well as Whee-in. Hye-jin was happy that a couple days before, Ju-hyun brought up how the five of them would be able to have 15 minutes of call time every night. It hadn't occured to any of the five of they hadn't calculated the days in the month. Once Ju-hyun laid that out for everyone, Hyuna was hesitant about the idea, but then agreed on only making 15 minute calls twice a week, and continue to have the rest of the calls at 5 minutes. They had all been fortunate for the first few days, to be able to leave the studio before 10PM. Hye-jin had gotten caught up with Whee-in on how they were doing, feeling, who are in their groups, and how much they missed each other. 

From Whee-in's calls, Hye-jin had learned the people in her friend's group and about their reality show. She had enjoyed listening to how her best friend was coming out of her shell and really getting into the excitment of being an idol. She had even learned Whee-in's hair had gotten cut short and that they were going to begin filming for the debut soon. Hye-jin couldn't help but feel a bit saddened. She was happy that Whee-in was going to debut but she had hoped they would have had the same debut dates. Hye-jin and her unnies weren't going to debut until three days after Whee-in. Even if it was only a three day difference, she had wanted her and Whee-in to have their first time debuting on the same day. But she didn't dwell on it too much. They were both excited to just live out their dream.

"Thank you for teaching me tonight. I thought I was honestly going to scream at Hyuna." Hye-jin said with a light chuckle as they both waited for Seul-gi. 

Byul-yi gave an awkward chuckle along with a smile, "It's okay. She just has a lot of pressure on her shoulders as our leader." 

"Yeah, I just hope things won't be awkward between us. She is my roommate." Hye-jin mumbled.

"It won't be...  You're our cute maknae! She'll chalk it up to you being grumpily cute." Byul-yi said with a laugh.

"That is so not me! Don't call me cute again!" Hye-jin huffed with a playful angry face.

 "But you are cute! Your frowny face is like a kittens!" Byul-yi said as she walked over to Hye-jin.

The younger rolled her eyes and twirled away from her, "I am not anything like a kitten! Yah, you need glasses." 

Byul-yi instantly followed Hye-jin and tickled her sides from the behind. Hye-jin let out a loud laugh and her shoes squeaked across the floor as she tried to get free from Byul-yi's fast fingers. She found herself being grabbed by one of Byul-yi's strong hands and being pulled towards her body. Hye-jin continued to laugh as Byul-yi tickled her and insisted on calling her the cute maknae. 

"Admit it!!! You're our angry fluff kitten!" The older teased. 

"As if! Yah! I'll kill you!" Hye-jin got out. 

She placed her hands on her tickler's shoulders and pushed her back slightly. But Byul-yi's grip on the front of Hye-jin's hand was too tight, the two of them found themselves falling to the ground of the dance practice room. Hye-jin laid next to her unnie and let out belly laughter. Their eyes both filling with water as they continued to laugh. Hye-jin felt the stress of the day melt away as she laughed with Byul-yi. She did her best to push away Byul-yi as they laid on their sides on the floor. Byul-yi trying to tickle Hye-jin's sides, their hands entwined, as Hye-jin tried to gently kick Byul-yi away. 

"You're asking to die honestly!" Hye-jin shouted out. 

The pair continued to wrestle on the ground. Hye-jin found herself in a backhug from Byul-yi, her body doubling over as she tried to curl up in a ball. She wanted to evade Byul-yi's fast tickling fingers. Her hands working hard at grabbing onto her fast digits to push them away. 

"Just admit it!!!" 

"N-no!!!" Hye-jin laughed out. 

She tore herelf free from the hug. Hye-jin pushed herself off the ground and ran down the hall of the studio. The building still had some staff but for the most part, the agency was quiet. The sounds of Hye-jin and Byul-yi running down the halls filled the floor. Seul-gi found herself becoming a human shield for Hye-jin as they collided into each other. 

"Ya-yah!" Seul-gi squealed out. 

"Tell Byul-yi I'm not the cutie maknae!" Hye-jin laughed out as she gripped onto Seul-gi's shoulders. 

"Seul-gi! Release our cute maknae to me and no one will get hurt!" Byul-yi playfully threatned with her fingers ready to tickle. 

"A-ah! Cute maknae?! More like deadly maknae!" Seul-gi laughed out. 

"Exactly! I'll rip your head off, Byul!" Hye-jin exclaimed, her head poked out from over Seul-gi's shoulder.

"I can take both of you down. You'll both be the cutie maknaes." Byul-yi said as she raced towards both the girls.

Hye-jin and Seul-gi proceeded to take off down the empty hall. Their hands stuck together as they tried to escape from Byul-yi. The three of them made heavy noise as they laughed their stress away in their game of chase. Hye-jin couldn't help but feel free during this time. Something about running around the hallway of your agency felt good if you had been practicing all day. Hye-jin's beautiful laughter rang through the halls mixed with Seul-gi's loud shrieks and snorts. 

 Byul-yi continued to chase their younger members until they all managed to scramble back into the dance studio. The three of them all collasped to the floor in laughter and panting from the unexpected exercise. 

"Just admit you're cute!" Byul-yi chuckled out. 

"I swear I will punch you!" Hye-jin playfully threatened. 

"Y-yah, save your fighting skills for the walk back to the dorm." Seul-gi chuckled out.

"Ah! We need to get back." Byul-yi said as she pushed herself off the ground. 

"A-ah yeah, it is almost one in the morning." Hye-jin agreed.

The three of them gathered themselves off the ground as they grabbed their belongings. Hye-jin was on cloud nine of happiness as they left the agency into the dark night. The dorm was a 15 minute walk away, but the three of them hadn't minded as they walked. Hye-jin walked in the middle of her unnies, her elbows looped through the both of theirs. They talked about their trainee days and their ultimate goals for the future. Byul-yi's goal being that she wanted to pay for her parents to live more than comfortably. Seul-gi's goal being able to travel the world and break into modeling sometime in her life. Hye-jin found herself growing a bit somber as they asked her what her long-term goal was. 

"My long-term goal?" She repeated the question.

"Yes." Seul-gi said with a nod. 

"My long-term goal would be to be able to sing on stage with my best friend.  I mean onstage with a sea of people. I wanted to debut with her... Hopefully, we can do a show or lots of projects together." Hye-jin confessed. 

"Ah, that is such a cute goal." Byul-yi said.

"Stop using cute when it comes to describing me!" Hye-jin huffed out playfully. 

"It is a cute goal. I hope that you will get to sing with your friend." Seul-gi said with a grin. 

The three fell silent as they continued their walk. Hye-jin's mind on, what her and Whee-in would look like on stage together. Was it too much for an idol to dream about singing on stage with their best friend? It didn't matter to Hye-jin if it is or isn't. She was always taught to shoot for the stars by her family and Whee-in. Singing together on stage in front of a large audience was all Hye-jin wanted. She was not going to let anyone take that dream away from her. The three continued to stroll down the sidewalk to their dorm. Hye-jin's heart slightly pounded hard in her chest as she thought about Hyuna. Even though Hye-jin had gotten annoyed with Hyuna, she didn't want to be on her leader's bad side.

Hye-jin wanted everyone to get along and to not debut with any drama. She had felt the fierceness drain away, as they approached the entrance of the dorm. She slid her arms free from Byul-yi's and Seul-gi's as they pulled the door open. She gave them a small grin and pointed to the bench in front of their building. 

"I'm going to sit out here for a bit. I'll be inside soon." She said as she took a seat to think. 

Seul-gi went into the building without any second thoughts. Byul-yi remained paused by the entrance, noticing Hye-jin's nervous demeanor. She walked over to the bench with her maknae on it and took a seat. She glanced over at Hye-jin, who kept her eyes straight ahead. The older looked forward as well as they sat in silence. The playful energy from earlier drained away as they let their true feelings come through. Hye-jin's energy giving off pure nervousness and longing. Byul-yi's energy giving off doubts and fear. Hye-jin wasn't much of the type to talk about her feelings. She had preferred to save them for her journals or her grandmother's comforting lap. She wasn't the type to tell anyone what she truly felt, because being vulnerable, was one thing Hye-jin had hated. She took in all of other people's vulnerability but never gave up her own. Whee-in had been the only person Hye-jin felt comfortable with being vulnerable too. 

 Hye-jin could recall a time in her life where she felt confused and angered. She was confused on love and marriage due to her parents' divorce. When her parents' separated, Hye-jin couldn't understand why. They wouldn't tell her why, it was always about her mother wanting to live back in the countryside. Something about the two growing apart and opposite in what they wanted. It wasn't until Hye-jin was 16 that she had found out the truth. The truth being that Hye-jin's father had an affair going on since she was three-years-old. The news had caused Hye-jin to be spiteful towards her father and angry at her mother for staying so long. It was something Hye-jin hadn't processed until Whee-in got it out of her. It was something Hye-jin needed to let out and Whee-in was there to listen to it.

Hye-jin sat in silence as she thought about her best friend. She wanted to go into the building and take the phone to give her a call, but Hye-jin was too scared to face Hyuna. Even if Hye-jin was mad at the time, she wasn't the type of person who could, get angry at someone without feeling guilt later. She recalled how she felt so guilty for being mad at her mother. It was something Whee-in had to talk Hye-jin through because at some point, Hye-jin couldn't even face her own mother. Hye-jin hands curled up slightly as she tried to gain the courage to go inside and apologize to Hyuna. 

"Hye-jin?" Byul-yi suddenly asked. 

"H-huh?" Hye-jin answered. 

"You don't have to be afraid." 

"Afraid? What are you talking about?" 

Byul-yi looked at her maknae as they continued to sit on the bench. 

"You know... You're scared to face, Hyuna." 

Hye-jin scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. She hadn't expected Byul-yi to call her out like that. She almost wanted to reply with a sassy comment but she bit her tongue instead. She didn't feel like feeling guilty later for being mean to Byul-yi. She had spent extra time with her and Seul-gi to teach them the dance and get them comfortable with it. 

"I have a reason to be." Hye-jin mumbled. 

"Just apologize to her and show her from now on that you really want this."

"Aigoo, did it really seem like I didn't want this?" Hye-jin asked with a slight frown. 

"Hm? Not to me but you have to see... As the leader, you have this pressure to make sure everyone is in line. We debut in two more weeks and we all want it to be perfect. You can't get to your long-term goal if you easily give into the pain. No pain, no gain." Byul-yi commented.

Hye-jin hugged herself as she listened to her words.She had a point, she couldn't get  closer to singing with Whee-in, if she couldn't even debut. Hye-jin felt a bit of her worry slip away from Byul-yi's words. Even if she felt upset by Hyuna's impatience, they all had this pressure on them. The pressure of their dreams, debts, family, and friends. Hye-jin had to get through this if she wanted to find herself on stage with Whee-in. She knew she had to throw away the hot-headed side of her heart and continue to follow the dream, that they picked together. Hye-jin's nerves slipped away as she headed inside the dorm building. 

She lifted her head as she walked into her shared room. She found that Hyuna was still awake and she was still practicing the dance. Hye-jin watched as her leader, danced through each move, moving as she mumbled all the lyrics. Hye-jin couldn't help but watch as the older moved, her body so fluid and free. She made it seem as if the dance was the easiest thing on earth. It was something that Hye-jin had admired in Whee-in, the way her best friend moved, as if she was water. Hye-jin found herself moving further into the room. She didn't want to interrupt her focused leader, but she cleared . Hyuna had quickly stopped dancing and turned to face Hye-jin. 

"Welcome back." Hyuna greeted with a small smile.

"Hyuna, I want to apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have reacted like that." Hye-jin apologized. 

"No, it is okay. I was being too harsh. I just... This means so much for me." Hyuna said.

"It means a lot to me too. Lets just get everything down and work hard to debut together." 

"Deal. Now go shower, you kinda stink." Hyuna teased.

~

Meanwhile, Whee-in had a long day filled with dance practice, filming of the reality show, vocal lessons, song recordings, exercise, and meetings. Over the course of a few days, Whee-in was getting used to being camera and filming. It had actually start to bring her out of her shell, her beagle-like personality coming out. When Hye-jin called her once again but for a longer conversation, it gave Whee-in strength. The strength to continue on the road to debut even if she wasn't going to debut on the same stage as Hye-jin. But this didn't mean Whee-in was totally anxiety free. She still found herself clamming up when it came to being around Yong-sun and the company higher-ups. She had heard too many stories about girls that were supposed to debut, but then were removed from the lineup last minute. Whee-in couldn't settle her racing thoughts about that fate. What if she wasn't good enough? What if suddenly CEO Cho Min-su decided that FLAVOR only needed five girls? 

All of Whee-in's fears had led her to practicing hard every day. Although it had only been eight days, she worked vigorously hard. She put all of her body into the dance and effort. Whee-in worked so hard, that she hadn't even notice the bruises on her legs. Whee-in wanted this more than anything else on the earth and she felt the pressure as they were told debut was going to be in little less than two weeks. The pressure was on FLAVOR even more than HERSTORY due to the fact, they were going to debut with a EP versus a single. That meant that Whee-in wasn't only learning the dance and lyrics for her debut song, but that there were two other songs to be learned along with another set of choreography. Whee-in pushed herself to be the best so that she could debut comfortably. 

Whee-in found herself in the studio after hours with Yong-sun and Hee-yeon. Whee-in felt anxious being there with her leader. Over the course of the few days, Whee-in had realized how serious Yong-sun was and how she barely took time to laugh. Whee-in figured it was because her unnie was nervous about debut, but she felt like anything she did would cause Yong-sun to hate her. Whee-in wasn't the type to hang around the people she was nervous of. She often would avoid them and stay out of their way, but that was impossible when you live with them. She knew if Hye-jin was there, then she wouldn't be so intimidated by Yong-sun. Hye-jin was great with dealing with people who typically gave Whee-in anxiety. Whee-in longed for her friend as she sat between her two unnies in front of the soundboard in the studio. She had learned Hee-yeon actually knew how to produce music and work a soundboard. That was a fact that left Whee-in impressed because she wanted to learn how to produce some day as well.

"We only have one more day to write the lyrics to this b-side. Ahh, come on think." Hee-yeon said as she played the instrumental back.

FLAVOR had been tasked with writing the lyrics to the b-side on the track. All five of them had to write their own lyrics and then it would be voted on among them and the producer along with a professional lyricist. Sun-young and Yoona had already finished writing and left the studio for the night. Whee-in felt the pressure of it but Hee-yeon suggested that the three of them do the task together, so it wouldn't be as hard. 

"I still think the song should be about love." Yong-sun said as she listened to the instrumentals.

"The song is so retro, do you really think love would fit?" Hee-yeon asked.

"It's like a funky R&B so I think love lyrics would work." Yong-sun said.

Whee-in found herself playing with her fingers in her lap. She listened as the two unnies went over ideas, disagreeing with each other. Whee-in didn't speak up as she listened. She felt too nervous to interrupt the two. Besides Whee-in had no clue what the lyrics to the song should be. She didn't have much experience in love, in the romantic aspect. She had always been quiet and one-sided about her crushes. Whee-in was always too scared to confess, the fear of rejection being too high for her. She decided if she was going to write lyrics, then they had to fit her life experiences. Her lips pursed out in thought, her pen tapping lightly against her note pad as Hee-yeon ran the song back.

"What about a light?" Whee-in finally asked. 

"A light? What do you mean?" Yong-sun asked with a confused expression.

Whee-in felt flushed from the look but continued, "Light as in following the light inside of you."

"Ahh, I like that. It reminds me of our title track in a sense." Hee-yeon commented.

"I like the idea but I don't see where you would go with this." Yong-sun said.

Whee-in tried her best to not look defeated. She simply nodded her head, looking down at the blank pad in front of herself. They needed these lyrics done for the morning meeting. The pressure was eating at her stomach as Hee-yeon and Yong-sun went back into shooting ideas. Whee-in closed her eyes as she leaned back in her chair to think. She listened as the song restarted. The beat was very retro, it took Whee-in's mind to the 80s or 90s. The synthesizers being an element of the song along with the 80s feeling drum beat in R&B songs. Whee-in kept her eyes closed as she imagined herself in a roller rink, the song playing in her imagination as she tried to find lyrics. 

She pictured herself skating through a dimly lit rink. The color lights on and flashing on different people in dark hues. As Whee-in thought through the possible subject of the song, her feet tapped lightly against the floor. Could this be a love song? Whee-in pictured herself skating hand in hand with Byul-yi, her heart fluttering as she tried to think of what would feel best to hear, while skating with Byul-yi. All Whee-in could think about was wanting Byul-yi to look at her. 'Bwa bwa bwa..." She thought to herself.  "Nal bichweobwa bwa bwa bwa." 

Whee-in's eyes opened as she sung that line in her head. She immediately wrote down the lyrics and looked to her two unnies, they both were still trying to find a theme to agree on. Whee-in's heart thumped in her chest as she thought about speaking up. She really did feel as if her lyrics and idea were solid but she was scared of what they were going to say.

"Whee-in, you wrote something down?" Hee-yeon asked as she took Whee-in's note pad away. Whee-in simply gave a nod of her head as she watched the two unnies read over the things she wrote. Her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she nervously gave the tier a nibble. Her hands fiddled in her lap and she could honestly feel her breath stopping. What would they think of what she wrote? 

"I like it... The 'bwa'." Hee-yeon said.

"I like it, too. I think we should expand upon it." Yong-sun agreed.

Whee-in breathed a sigh of relief as her unnies praised her and smiled. Her nerves ran away as they all worked together to add on more lyrics. Whee-in was confident in what they were writing together. She wasn't much of the competitive type but she did hope, that the company picked what they worked on. Sun-young and Yoona's lyrics were quite different. Whee-in felt their lyrics didn't fit. Whee-in could only hope that she would be able to sing the song with lyrics she personally loved. The trio went onto working on the lyrics and revising most of the night. 

The trio had finished writing lyrics and agreeing on them at 12:30AM. It was too early/late to call on a taxi so the three decided to walk back to the dorm. Their dorm was only a 15 minute walk from the studio. Whee-in walked between her unnies as they made the journey home. She listened as Yong-sun and Hee-yeon talked about the schedule for the week and debut. Whee-in remained silent so that she could listen, her brain too tired to think of conversation. She wanted to just shower then lay down and pass out somewhere to sleep.

"Are you guys hungry?" Yong-sun asked.

"Ah, yes. I am so hungry but it's too late to eat." Hee-yeon said with a groan. 

"Ah, don't worry about it. Lets go get some snacks. It's on me, just don't tell anyone." Yong-sun said with a playful grin. 

"Waah, really?" Whee-in asked with slight surprise.

Yong-sun had been the main one in the dorm enforcing the diet. Whee-in hadn't expected, her leader to just, offer up buying a cheat snack. She followed her two unnies to the convenience store. They were the only ones in there besides the worker, who seemed to be a college student. Whee-in walked down the aisle with all the chips. She looked through the different options, her stomach growling slightly.

"Yaah, I'm feeding you in a second." Whee-in mumbled to her tummy. She grabbed a bag of tteok-bokki chips, already salivating from the thought of the snack. Whee-in held onto the bag tight and looked around for Hee-yeon and Yong-sun. She noticed they were both by the slushie machine. She walked over to her unnies. Hee-yeon filling a large cup with every slushie flavor.  

"Waaah, you're going to have a rainbow tongue." Yong-sun teased as she filled up a smaller cup.

"It's worth it. We worked really hard and I love slushies." Hee-yeon said as she put a lid on her colorful treat.

"What did you get?" Yong-sun asked Whee-in.

"Chips. A-ah, should I get something else?" Whee-in answered while looking down. 

"No! I want to get chips as well." Yong-sun smiled brightly and looped her arm through Whee-in's. They left Hee-yeon at the slushie machine and headed down the chip aisle. Whee-in felt a smile form on her lips as Yong-sun grabbed a bag of tteok-bokki chips for herself. She then also grabbed a bag of Lays chips and gave a derpy grin. 

"Are you sure we should have all of this?" Whee-in asked cautiously. 

"Who's going to know besides us?" Yong-sun said with a quirked up eyebrow.

"Waah, I didn't expect this from you." Whee-in said with slight surprise.

"Mmmm, I know you think I'm really bossy; But we worked really hard tonight. We will be okay." Yong-sun said with a soft chuckle.

Hee-yeon joined her members and looped her arm through Whee-in's. The three of them went to the checkout counter with their snacks, Whee-in's eyes and lips smiling as Yong-sun paid for their "illegal" snacks. They left the store and continued on their walk home, their eyes smiling and laughter leaving them as they ate on their salty treats and washed them down with cold sugary slush. Whee-in's anxiety about Yong-sun slowly falling away as they all spoke. She learned that Yong-sun had an older sister and was raised in mid-class. She learned that Yong-sun was so bossy because she had never been in charge of anyone. Yong-sun wanted to do absolutely perfect as leader. Whee-in had learned that Hee-yeon had an older brother (just like Whee-in) and that she had been training to become an idol basically since birth.  

Whee-in felt comforted by the late night talk with her unnies. She managed to get back to the dorm and shower. She also managed to go to bed without her mind making her think about how much she needed Hye-jin by her side. Whee-in felt her very first sense of relief for the first time without Hye-jin having to be the relief.