3rd Person’s POV

Erika didn’t bother getting in Lei’s way, so she avoided the younger girl. It seems like she had done something for her to get mad, but she doesn’t know what it is. And being the prideful kind of person she is, she’s not going to apologize for something that she didn’t even do.

With that, she went out on a date with her childhood friend. Because of that, Jeril and Anika had to calm down a very, very bad mood Lei. They could see steams fuming out of her ears.

“Lei, you need to calm down and talk to us. You’re taking this way too seriously now.”

“This is none of your business. I’m not being an inconvenience to you, so leave me alone.”

“That’s not how you talk to someone older than you.” Jeril stood up and made Lei sat down in the couch in one pull then towered over her. “Your problem is our problem, understand?”

“I-I…” Lei let out a sigh and nodded in defeat, so the main dancer sat back in her seat.

“You know, for a second there, I thought you were going to hit her.” Anika said with a laugh.

“I’m not that kind of person.” Jeril said, gasping dramatically. “Besides, even if I do want to hit her, I can’t. Someone far scarier than me would totally beat me up for hitting her love.”

“Speaking of her…” with a gentle smile, Anika faced Lei. “Why are you mad at Ked unnie?”

“I’m not mad her, I’m just…annoyed.” the maknae corrected… “…at her, yeah.”

“So, in conclusion, our leader is indeed your problem, right?”

“Well, I think. I mean, who else would it be?”

“How about Rain?”

“What do you mean?” Lei squinted her eyes suspiciously, do they know? she asked herself as she tried to fake innocence. “Why would I be mad at her? She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“And so did Ked unnie, yet you’re mad at her.”

“I--She…did something wrong, but you wouldn’t understand that.”

“Why not? We’re all bestfriends, I’m sure we’ll feel the same about certain things involving our friendship with our leader.” Jeril said with a grin but there’s some teasing in her tone…

“What’s really going on, L?” and there goes the hidden card to make Lei soft; calling her L.

“It’s the name thing, okay? I can’t get over the fact that she hid her real name for 3 years.”

“We already forgive her, it actually made sense that she’ll change her name since USA and South Korea is two different country and she has two different responsibility in each.”

“She could have told us, or atleast me.”

“But now you know, there shouldn’t be any more problems.”

“There shouldn’t be, if she wasn’t so obsessed with her childhood friend.” Lei stated, then her eyes widened. Jeril smirked and Anika shook her head in disbelief. “I-I mean…it’s not--”

“You can tell us anything, we’re not going to judge you, I promise.”

“I like her…” Lei confessed straightforwardly. “…as more than just a friend.”

Jeril and Anika already has an idea about their maknae’s feelings, but they weren’t really sure about it. So, hearing the confirmation still managed to shock them. They have mixed feelings.

“I’ve always admire her since the first I saw her, but then I stopped when I heard the rumor about her personality. Then, Timothy came into my life and you know the rest. But then, we debuted together and spent all of our time together. Somewhere along, I fell for her…”

Lei hid her face with her hands as she held her head down. Anika wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close while Jeril rubbed her back comfortingly, because of that, she cries.

“You know, I thought you’ve grown out of being a crybaby.”

“Now is not the time, Chase…” Anika scolded.

“I-I know I shouldn’t…but I couldn’t help it.” Lei said between her sobs. “I tried to stop it, I promise, but I really can’t. I’m far too deep inlove to even get out of it, I’m really sorry.”

“Never apologize for loving someone, Lei.”

“Yeah, and no one can’t control who their heart loves.”

“But if I have been careful, none of this would have happen. I wouldn’t be affected by her childhood friend, I wouldn’t be throwing a tantrum, and I wouldn’t have hurt her feelings.”

Jeril tried to come up with an excuse, but Anika shook her head no. With a sigh of defeat, the main dancer decided to just hug their maknae. If she can’t comfort her with words, she’ll use actions instead. And it only took a few minutes before Lei fell asleep after crying, as usual…

They placed her on the couch and tucked her in a blanket before going to the dining room to talk. Both of them know that they need to do something about this, for both Erika and Lei…

“What should we do?”

“I honestly don’t know, Chase.”

“Do you think we should tell Ked unnie?”

“This isn’t our secret to confess, so…no, we shouldn’t.”

“So, we’re just going to watch Lei suffer? We can’t do that too, Anika.”

“We’re not. It’s just that…” Anika took a deep breathe and let out a long sigh. “We can’t rush this, not when we don’t know where Ked unnie stands. None of us knows her feel--”

The main vocalist cut herself off when the topic of their discussion passed by the door. It looks like she had just arrived after her date with Rain. The two waved at her, but she just stared at them in confusion. Her eyes wandered around the place, looking for something.

“Where’s Lei?” or someone…

“She’s in the living room, had fallen asleep.”

Erika nodded and went to head there. Jeril and Anika shared another glance before following their leader. They saw her crouched down at where Lei is sleeping and her hair softly.

“I hope you’re just fine, L.” Erika whispered and lean down to place a kiss in Lei’s forehead.

“You’re wrong, Anika.” Jeril mumbled. “We need to rush this, before the feelings fade out.”

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