"Yong" 

Yongsun opened her eyes and snuggled further into her blankets. She could hear Byul shuffling around the hotel room, taking clothes from her back, and heading toward the bathroom. 

"Yong, come on. It's getting late." Byul sounded closer, the shuffling coming from directly next to the bed. Yongsun only tightened her grip on her blankets. They had a day off, she was going to sleep as much as she could, Byul's whining or not. She felt a sudden weight on her and groaned, Byul laying down on her before rolling off to the side, pulling the blankets with her. 

"It's too earlyyyy." Yongsun gripped the sheet, white-knuckling the last layer of warmth she had left. 

"Come on, let's stretch you out and get started for the day." Byul began pushing on Yongsun's arms, stretching them above her head before pulling on her legs. 

"Whyyyy. I was so comfortable." Yongsun sat up, blinking disgruntled at the drawn shades letting in the morning sun. 

"I'm hungry" Byul hopped off the bed and opened the shades more. "And we don't want to waste a day off, do we? Let's do something."

"What does you being hungry have to do with me?" Yongsun yawned. 

"I don't like to eat alone." Yongsun couldn't believe Byul, disturbing her precious rest with something as silly as wanting to have a meal with another person. 

"Call Yooa; I'm sure she'll join you." Yongsun laid back down and stretched further, hearing her back pop near her neck as she extended across the bed. Those dorm twins barely qualified as a bed.

"She told me yesterday that they'll spend today practicing, and I wanted to eat with you," Byul yelled from behind the bathroom door. Changing in secret again, she really was a funny girl. 

"Ohhh, so I'm your backup plan." Yongsun half teased. Something about Byul knowing Yooa's schedule irked her. She would say it was fraternizing with the enemy if she didn't adore the WM girls. 

"That's not what I said, Yong." Byul nearly shouted as she swung the bathroom door open. The truth was, Byul was nervous about the tournament, their next game. Depending on how the games went today, they could be facing off with nationally-ranked teams. She needed a distraction from it all. What better distraction than Kim Yongsun?

"Your fly's down," Byul blushed and zipped her jeans, "I'm sure they're not already at practice, it's still pretty early. Just call her and invite her." 

"I already told you,” Byul grabbed a belt from where it hung with their coats. “I want to eat with you."

"Why? We eat together all the time. Go eat with your new friend." Yongsun stood up and went to her own clothing, grabbed an outfit blindly, and tossed it carelessly onto the bed. 

"If you didn't want to hang out with me, you should have just said, instead of trying to pass me off on others like I'm some kind of burden!" Byul huffed and grabbed her shoes. 

"I just don't understand why you have to be so clingy all the time." Yongsun snapped out. 

"I can't stand you sometimes, Yong. I get it, I'm annoying. Just leave me alone if you don't want me around." Byul grumbled as she tied a knot with too much force. Yongsun turned around, her face turning red and jaw clenched. 

"Really? Really? You've got some nerve telling people to leave you alone when you don't leave others alone. Honestly, Byul."

"Are you ing kidding me right now? I invited you to breakfast at ten AM, not woke you up at six to run a marathon. You're really something else, I don't know why I bothered. Look, it's fine." Yongsun clenched her jaw. Anytime Byul said things were fine, Yongsun knew it was a lie. 

"Well, if you don't like it, there's the door. Go. Go eat. Call Yooa or Seulgi or Lee Dahee for all I care. You don't have to stay here and entertain me." Yongsun was shouting, their playful argument escalated into a heated match of loud voices. Byul stomped toward her, set her jaw, and was ready for whatever Byul would throw at her. Punches included. 

"Fine, since it's such a problem to be around me so often," Byul said icily before yanking her coat off the hanger and walking out. The door slammed loudly, hard enough, it shook the wall. She needed a minute, some time to cool her head. She'd never meant to get so angry at Yongsun, it had just been a simple invitation. She didn't realize it was so burdensome a thing to ask. Breakfast long was forgotten, she aggressively pressed the button for the lobby in the elevator. Some fresh air would clear her mind. 

As soon as the door slammed, Yongsun growled in frustration as she aggressively locked the security bolt. Really, Byul could be so melodramatic sometimes, a real handful. She was a little sensitive for someone who had a never ending pool of people to hang out with. It made no sense to always bother Yongsun when she clearly could get attention from elsewhere. Yongsun stomped over to the bed and saw the little Ryan ring on top of the bedside table. Byul could be endlessly sweet when she wanted to. 

"She can be such a dickhead, sometimes!" Yongsun threw the Ryan ring against the wall angrily before changing her clothes and turning on some music. Music and keeping herself busy would calm her down. They were still a team and roommates, after all. 

Two hours of tidying the room, singing, and reading had done wonders on cooling Yongsun's anger. Unfortunately, as her ire ebbed, it settled into a rock in the pit of her stomach. The longer Byul was away, the heavier it felt. Guilt is what Yongsun called it, but the way her hands trembled slightly as she checked her phone for the third time in five minutes for signs of Byul said it was more. Yongsun figured having her neat-freak roommate come back to a tidy room would suffice as an apology. The occasional "Thank you" whenever Byul did anything that exceptionally impacted Yongsun was becoming more comfortable. Still, Yongsun felt a tightness in and chest whenever she needed to say she was sorry. Apologies and gratitude were hard for Yongsun to voice, so she found little ways to show. She didn't trust herself to not take her frustrations out on Byul again, or worse, make light of the whole matter. Her Moon Byulyi was too sensitive for that. She had to be sincere. If she couldn't use her words, she would use her actions, damn it. 

Outside the door, Byul organized every thought she'd had on her walk. By the time she was on the curb in front of the hotel, she'd calmed down. Yongsun was forgiven by the time Byul made it to the first intersection crosswalk. Byul's guilt over lashing out absorbed her by the time she found the small tteokbokki stand with the sign "We Deliver!" in front of it. Two hours of fresh air and bustling noises did nothing to clarify the nature of the argument. How could it? She only knew her own thoughts, and she hadn't done a great job of voicing them. She hated fighting with Yongsun. She'd grown too attached and accustomed to the natural comfort they slipped into from living together. She hated how gross it made her feel that she missed Yongsun any length of time apart. She didn't want to spend every second with her best friend; they had their own lives, goals, and friends. She would be lying if Byul said she didn't want Yongsun to want her attention as much as she craved Yongsun's. Her guilt shifted slightly to be tinged with fear by the time she walked past a yoga studio. 

Fear was a constant companion in her relationship with Yongsun. Only recently did she start to branch out and make new friends, her newfound confidence giving her the push to be herself and know that she was enough. That began with Yongsun, the person she feared losing the most. For all the growth she had undergone, when it came to Yongsun, she hadn't really changed at all. Fear turned to despair when she found herself outside the barcade they'd gone to last night. Some days, they could have the best time without even trying. Every memory they shared was precious to Byul. She also felt sometimes overwhelmed with the seamless way Yongsun seemed to just accept every detail she learned about Byul. Yongsun was someone special to Byul, so hearing everything she feared voiced by the very person she leaned on almost crushed her. She was annoying. She was too clingy. She was too much. Every fear and anxiety she carried with her from her short though tragic relationship history confirmed by the one person who made her feel safe. 

Gathering her courage after giving names to every uncomfortable sensation her body used to signal she was not ok, she swiped her room card and turned the handle.

"Oh, you have got to be…" Byul pounded on the door. Her skin tingled with the refreshed anger she felt. Inside the room, the sound of Byul's angry knocking startled Yongsun from where she was organizing their sink vanity. She'd forgotten she'd locked the door. Three more rough fists once again pounded against the door.

"Yongsun! Open the door!" Byul sounded livid. Yongsun hesitated to unlock it, knowing exactly which face she'd be met with. "Yong, this isn't ing funny!" 

Yongsun decided it would be better to face the level of anger Byul was at now rather than hide and see how much worse it could get. She slowly unlocked the door and opened it to Byul's raised fist, preparing to knock again. Byul shoved past her and went into the bathroom and the water. Yongsun made brief eye contact with her in the mirror before the bathroom door was slammed shut. 

"Really, this girl, she's too much." she sighed. She went back to the bed and began playing on her phone, idly passing the time as she hummed to herself. Her anger bubbled up once again. 

Byul came out of the bathroom and flopped herself on her own bed, pulling her phone out and scrolling social media idly. Silence crept on for ten agonizing minutes, Yongsun planning her inevitable fight with Byul in her head as she hummed progressively louder. Byul hadn't acknowledged Yongsun once since she entered the room. Byul's silence always pissed her off most. Yongsun began singing along to her music, making her presence impossible to ignore. Byul huffed angrily before she dropped her phone next to her on the bed and sat up. 

"Unnie, we need to talk." Her calm voice was a direct contradiction to her angry posture. 

"Hm? About what? Did you have a nice meal? Find someone to eat with?" Yong didn't need to look up from her phone to see the grimace she knew Byul shot her. 

"Unnieeee...look at me." Yongsun looked up at her friend, ready to return whatever snarl Byul glared at her with. She hadn't expected the softness of Byul's eyes, shining as though she was on the verge of tears. A crease between her brows and the gentleness of her frown said Byul was done playing this game. 

"What? What is it, Byul?" Yongsun placed her phone on the table and sat up, removing her earbuds to give Byul her