Three hours… Three hours of having to listen to Chaewon suggest some pick-up lines that she would use on Hitomi when they landed. Eunbi has had enough if she was being honest, even if they were labelmates and groupmates.

Who in their right mind would want to hear “Are you a magician? Because whenever I look at you, everyone else disappears!” when shooting a show? Actually–scratch that–who would want to hear that at any time of day and any state of mind? It was so cringy, it made her toes curl and her fingers clench with disgust. Never again, she promised to herself in her mind, at least until the younger woman got over her cheesy romantic mania.

Just as Eunbi had thought, the commercial plane would touch down at a commercial service airport on one of the main islands of Fiji, and then they would have to take another plane just large enough for their entourage and then fly to whatever smaller island was planned for them. It was a quaint aerial vehicle, though it wasn’t as spacious as the mainstream airliner they had arrived in earlier, they managed just fine since it was a new experience for them. Luckily, Eunbi wasn’t sitting next to Chaewon this time, but on the other hand, she could still hear the woman blabbing about her next line to the poor maknae of the group. It’s a wonder how the object of Chaewon’s affection didn’t hear her make those cringy remarks.

Wonyoung smiled awkwardly, “Wow… that’s–very creative…?”

“Really? I’m sure this will work.” Chaewon’s eyes lit up, her posture showing that she was ready to suggest some more, “I have another one.”

“Ehh–sure…” the maknae’s beautiful brown orbs met with Eunbi’s and pleaded with her eyes to save her from this torture.

The leader, feeling so merciful, did what anyone would do in this situation. “So, Yena,” she turned the other way and ignored Wonyoung and began a conversation with the duck beside her. Eunbi almost felt sorry when she heard the young girl whimper out her name, somehow her pleas for rescue going unnoticed by the cause of her torment, but she wanted to be selfish this time and save herself from hearing the incessant ramblings of a lovesick fool.

They didn’t know how much time had passed when the small aircraft landed on a dirt runway, but they did know that the landing was noticeably less elegant than the plane they were on earlier. Then again, their current vehicle wasn’t the same mainstream plane that people find at commercial airports and the landing strip wasn’t made of asphalt. Now, they had arrived on an island they still did not know the name of, however, the production staff were already there ready to welcome them.

The cameras weren’t rolling, in fact, they didn’t even have the usual setup nor were the full camera team and producers there. A handful of staff members assisted them in getting down the plane, guiding them down the steps and exchanging pleasantries. Eunbi had half the mind of asking them where in the world they were but she relented, opting to wait and listen for instructions rather than coming off as a disrespectful young woman. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that she wasn’t going to try and get information, and her plan was simple. To listen in on their conversations, and no it wasn’t eavesdropping… okay maybe it was.

“...time to start filming, finally.”

“Don’t act like you weren’t excited to spend an extra few days camping out while we waited for them. Plus, we still have to take a boat to get to–”

Someone pulled her back, “Unnie! What are you doing all the way ahead of the group?”

Eunbi held back the urge to roll her eyes and bit her tongue to prevent herself from scoffing at the woman in front of her. “Hyewon, what do you need?” She began walking again, ahead of Hyewon.

“Your company,” she said casually as if her statement held no meaning to it.

“Oh? Pray do tell what bothers your usual vacant mind?” she asked back in that manner, to at least humor the girl before she scolds her for ruining her plan of data gathering.

Hyewon cringed, “Ew, never do that again please.” Her face turned pensive, “But I am curious to know why you chose to not-so-subtly eavesdrop those poor staff members instead of spending quality time with your favorite members.”

“Whatever could you mean?” the leader defended herself by feigning ignorance, but she knew she was caught. Her pride just wouldn’t let her be defeated that easily.

Hyewon raised her eyebrow at her, saying nothing but goading her on with her eyes.

She sighed, “I’m trying to see if I can figure out what the name of our island is. And I was so close to finding it out but someone interrupted and pulled me away before I could hear it.”

“Well, I’m sorry that we did that.”

“We? Who’s we?” Eunbi turned around. She didn’t know if she should be shocked that Yena was there, glaring at her, but she was shocked. How could she know that Yena was there just silently walking with them like a quiet little duck?

“Yena’s been here the entire time… Are you okay, unnie?” Hyewon reached up but let her hand fall halfway after a few nanoseconds of hesitation. The oldest felt a little disappointed but at the same time curious as to why she even noticed the hesitation in the first place. She shook the thoughts out of her head, no matter, she could worry about this trivial thing later on.

She coughed, “I’m sorry, I must’ve not noticed her. I didn’t hear her speak at all.”

“She’s been talking the whole time–Hey, are you sure you’re okay?”

Yena smirked, finding amusement and some type of opportunity in this situation. “It’s because she’s too busy falling deeper into that voice of yours, Kwangbae.” She slowed down, letting herself fall behind the other two, “I’ll just go talk to Yujin or something.”

“I’m going to pretend she didn’t just say that,” Eunbi dismissed the rapper’s statement despite her awareness of the growing heat in her neck.

Hyewon’s lip twitched, her eyebrow going up so slightly that Eunbi almost missed it. “Of course, unnie,” she said sarcastically, not the usual teasing kind, and it somehow pricked her chest. The air around them spoke of the complete sentence, “Of course you are, unnie.” Eunbi wanted to know why the visual had left that out but she equally did not want to pry.

Her hesitation didn’t go unnoticed, hearing the quiet sigh from the other girl. Once again, she can no longer count the number of times she’s felt this, she found herself in the familiar place of indecision. Something that often happens around Hyewon, but recently it’s gotten more severe. The only safe option she had was to change the topic and make small talk. Oh, why must conversation be a fickle unpredictable tornado?

Eventually, the conversation had turned into something more pleasant and the awkwardness had long gone, but the stinging in her chest never dissipated. Sure, it had become somewhat of a slight tingle but it was still present like a thorn on her side. Still there reminding her of the unusual response that happened moments ago.

It didn’t take long until they arrived on a collection of boats, no doubt to harbor the staff and the me