"Byulyi, get the door, I'll be out in a minute." Yongsun shut the bathroom door behind her to change. They'd stayed up a little too late for a night before game day, but after making up, neither was ready for sleep. They had hours they'd wasted on such a small miscommunication to make up. By the time they'd fallen asleep, it was more morning than night, and they'd simply curled up in Yongsun's bed where their late-night movie marathon had taken place. 

"You look like , unnie." Yongsun laughed, hearing Hyejin's voice as soon as Byul opened the door. 

"Good morning to you too, Hyejinie. Morning Wheein." Yongsun smiled at Byul's sarcastic tone. The four of them had grown close, like sisters. They played and defended one another fiercely, but it came at the cost of being subject to their juniors' antics. 

"The morning isn't good until we've had food and caffeine. You two slept too late." Wheein complained.

"We stayed up a little late. Why didn't you two go on your own?" Byul scoffed, moving out of the way of the opening bathroom door. 

"We thought we'd eat with our favorite unnies. Be grateful." Hyejin chided Byul while sharing a look with Wheein. 

"Don't." Byul crossed her arms and glared at the two women currently sprawled on Byul's bed, climbing under the covers and settling in. 

"What?" Wheein stated flatly, glaring back. 

"That. That weird , you two do where you talk without talking." Byul gestured between them and glanced at Yongsun, looking for support. Yongsun shrugged and squeezed in next to Hyejin. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Do you, Wheein?" Hyejin said from behind her phone. 

"Nope, no clue. Come on, Byul unnie, let's go get food." Wheein climbed out of bed and pulled Byul toward the door. "We feel like eating in, just as a team."

Byul hopped on one foot while she struggled to put her shoes on. Wheein was herding her out the door so quickly she was only able to make sure she had her wallet as Wheein pressed the first-floor button in the elevator. 

"What's with the rush, Wheein-ah?" Byul knelt and tied her shoes. 

"I'm hungry, and I wanted to ask you something privately." 

"What is it, Hyejin, is something the matter?" Yongsun's brows furrowed, painting the concern in her voice on her face. 

"With me? No, nothing. Is something the matter with you, unnie? Nothing happened yesterday?" Hyejin's soft tone a sharp contrast from the teasingly testy tone she'd used for Byul. 

"Huh? No? Nothing I can think of. Why? Did you think something bad happened?" Yongsun was proud of how she'd deflected masterfully, hiding her shock that her juniors were so perceptive. 

"Unnie, please. You can tell me. It stays between us. And Wheein. I tell Wheeinie everything." Hyejin moved closer and took Yongsun's hands, squeezing them gently. 

"I really don't know what you mean, Hyejinie. Nothing is wrong." Hyejin sighed at Yongsun's dismissive laugh. 

"Unnie, did you have a fight?"  

"What? No, what would make you think that, Wheeinie?" Byul snorted, heading out through the elevator doors and into the lobby. 

"Oh, you know, I have a sixth sense for these kinds of things. My unnie sense tingles every time you two have an argument. It's really annoying." Wheein waved dismissively, causing Byul to shake her head. "Oh, and because I saw you storm out of your room and out of the hotel like someone spat in your protein shake." 

"Do you just stare out your peephole all day, or are you the kind of ert who waits until they hear a door close before peeping?" Byul bristled. 

"Chill, don't get so defensive. For the record, I only peep on people who slam their door so hard it shakes the walls in my room. What happened?" 

"Nothing, it was just a misunderstanding, really, you don't have to be worried, Hyejinie." Yongsun picked her phone up and unlocked it, scrolling mindlessly through social media. 

"It didn't sound like nothing. I heard Byulyi slam the door then scream at you when she came back. Are you sure it was nothing? You two don't normally fight for more than a few minutes unless it's really bad." Hyejin reflected on the one cold war her unnies had during an early-season practice. Their icy silence and avoidance made her shiver any time she glanced back at them. 

"We had a misunderstanding, she left to cool off, I locked the deadbolt and forgot about it, so she had to shout to get back into the room. It's nothing." 

"You don't have to lie, unnie, it's ok, really. I know Byulyi can be a jerk sometimes, and I know how you get under her skin, sometimes without even realizing it. You two didn't hit each other, did you?"

"No! Do I look like someone who threw blows with Kim 'I learned boxing because it seemed fun' Yongsun?" Byul kicked a pebble on the ground and chuckled. 

"Well, no, I don't see any bruises on you. But they could be hidden." Wheein pulled the bottom of Byul's shirt up a fraction. 

"No bruises, and that was the lamest way to try to see me without clothes yet." Byul pulled her shirt down angrily. 

"Well, maybe you should fight. You always settle things faster that way." Wheein mused. 

Yongsun laughed heartily at Hyejin's insinuation. True, they'd fought plenty of times in the past, trading punches, kicks, and slaps in heated arguments. It was how they avoided grudges. Burn all the anger, get tired, hug it out. That was their formula. 

"No, I think we grew past that, Hyejin-ah. We don't really do that anymore, except for a few playful hits here or there." 

"Now that you mention it, you haven't really fought much lately. I think this is the first fight I've seen you two have in months, at least." Hyejin cocked her head cutely, making Yongsun coo at how soft her supposedly intimidating friend was. 

"I promise it was barely a fight. Just a little disagreement that we needed to talk out."

"Are you sure, unnie? Why would you storm off like that if it was a small matter?" Wheein stopped at the intersection. 

"Because there was no cereal in the room." Byul pressed the button under the pedestrian sign as Wheein burst into loud laughter. Her unnies were an awful lot to deal with sometimes. She remembered the fight Byul joked about well. She and Hyejin peeked through the partially opened bathroom door of their dorm to find their unnies throwing punches and an abused box of frosted cereal in the corner. Its contents emptied all over the floor. 

"Your room looked like a blizzard hit it. It took us hours to clean that up. Please don't buy cereal while we're here. I don't think the housekeepers would appreciate the sudden change in the forecast." They crossed the street together, Byul placing herself between Wheein and the cars waiting at the stoplight. 

"Don't worry, we don't even eat cereal anymore."

"I don't think boiled eggs and piping hot sweet potatoes are much of an upgrade. Ooooh, maybe unnie could throw grapes at you. We could make wine." They walked into a small restaurant and began browsing a takeout menu. "But really, why were you so pissed when you left. You were still pretty pissed when you got back. We can't afford you two going cold on each other right now. It's bad for the team."

"First of all, you know we put the team first. We wouldn't blow our chances on something this big over something so petty". 

"Unnie, no, I didn't mean that of course, I care as your frie-"

"Secooond, don't worry, we worked it out. I left to cool off. She said some stuff that made me feel like I was a burden to her. I was pestering her, and she got mad. I wasn't talking about what was going on with me. It was dumb. As soon as we talked, everything was fine."

"Then how did it escalate so much?"

"Because she pissed me off!" Yongsun shouted. "She can be so annoying sometimes! She flip-flops, and I know it's not exactly her fault but, come on, it would make anyone confused."

"Confused about what, unnie?" Hyejin perked up. 

"Where I stand in her life. To me, she is so important. I wouldn't change a thing about where she is in my life."

"Buuuut?"

"But when she has one of her moods, she tends to get really distant, and I feel like I might be taking up too much space in her life. So I let her do her thing and come to me, even if it hurts me." Hyejin snorted at Yongsun's exasperated face. 

"That's so stupid, I swear unnie breathes for you sometimes. She wants you around like, all the time. She'd take you on dates. If she ever went on any."

"I know that now. It's just nice to see it from her too." 

"So, what did you do to piss her off so much?"

"I told her she was annoying me and to call Yooa instead." 

"You WHAT?!"

"Yeaaaaah. I also might have, maybe, told her she was using me as a backup plan."

"Unnie, nooooo, you wouldn't" Hyejin gasped and placed her hands over . 

"Apparently, I would and did. Byulyi snapped after that."

"Of course, she snapped! I get it, she's really damned annoying, but she's so sensitive." 

"I know, I know, but I was mad. I regretted it almost immediately." Yongsun ruffled her hair. 

"Is that why the room is so clean?" Hyejin looked at the orderly appearance of the room, the beds the only mess.

"You know me so well." Yongsun leaned on Hyejin's shoulder and laughed. They sat in silence for a moment before Hyejin shrugged to get Yongsun to look at her.

"But unnie, one question."

"What is it?"

"Are you really sure you wouldn't change anything about who you are to each other?"

"Wheeinieeeeee, what kind of question is that?" Byul ruffled Wheein's hair, adjusting the takeout bags to one hand. 

"I'm serious unnie, are you one hundred percent sure that you're cool with where things are?" Wheein stopped walking and stood her ground. Byul sighed. 

"Wheein-ah, she has goals. Goals she's very focussed on. Maybe I once had a small-"

"Small, my ." Wheein scoffed

"Your is a great size."

"Unnie, focus!" 

"Don't interrupt then. Yes, I had a thing for Yongsun before. I don't now. She's my best friend, and I wouldn't change that for something unknown."

"What do you mean? Of course, I wouldn't change anything between us. Why would I want anything less than what we have?" Yongsun's heart jumped. 

"No, of course, unnie, that's not what I mean. I meant, are you sure you don't want, I don't know, more?"

"I don't know how we could have more unless we literally attached ourselves at the hip." Yongsun deflected again, and she urged Hyejin with her eyes to let the topic go. 

"When you do, tell me what kind of undies she wears, Wheeinie, and I have a bet going." 

"Please, she'd find a way to be modest."