Yongsun would never forget how her heart had jumped to the moment Byul had called her name. She scrambled to her feet and stared back and forth from Hyejin to Byul. Hyejin spoke first, attempting to clear the awkward air between them.

“Unnie, this is Moon Byulyi-ssi. She’s my friend’s… friend.” Yongsun didn’t miss the pause. Assuming that Hyejin’s ‘friend’ in question was Wheein, she narrowed her eyes towards Byul.

“Friend?”

“Yeah,” Hyejin replied with uncertainty evident in her voice. She turned to Byul, who was having a staring contest with Yongsun. 

“Byulyi-ssi, this is Solar. She’s one of my close friends and co-workers.” Byul hummed in acknowledgement, not taking her eyes of Yongsun.

“Hi, Solar-ssi.”

The pink haired dancer was panicking. Questions swarmed through her head, ranging from why was Byul here to if Wheein and Byul were merely just friends. If Yongsun was being honest, she focused on the latter question a lot more. The hesitation in Hyejin’s voice when she was introducing Byul brought out an unexpected feeling of annoyance that Yongsun didn’t bother to understand. Deciding to deal with it later, she turned to her fellow performer.

“I didn’t know that you were having guests tonight, Hyejin-ah,” Yongsun said.

“Actually, I live here,” Byul cut in. The shock on Yongsun’s face was not concealed. Byul and Wheein lived together. With Hyejin. What the hell was going on? 

“You all,” Yongsun started, breaking the silence. “Live together? Here?”

“Yes, Yo- Solar-ssi,” Byul replied, quickly covering her little slip. “Sorry, could I take this phone call? Thanks.” She stepped into one of the rooms and closed the door. Without wasting any time, Yongsun turned to Hyejin.

“Hyejin-ah, I think I should leave. Thanks for letting me stay here for a while.” Hyejin raised her eyebrows. 

“Unnie, was it because of Byulyi-ssi and Wheein? I’m sorry, I should have let you know before. Wheein’s actually my roommate. We go to the same university. Byulyi-ssi has been staying with us since a few weeks ago and she stays in the same room as Wheein.” As the pieces came together, Yongsun’s annoyance returned. Hyejin was Wheein’s ‘rude roommate’ that she had managed to come to friendly terms with. Byul was staying with Wheein. In the same room. And they never told her. Why didn’t they? Weren’t they supposed to be friends?

“Unnie, please stay for the night. We don’t know if that guy is still following you. It could be dangerous. Please?” Hyejin begged, and Yongsun could see that she was genuinely concerned for her unnie’s safety. But she needed to leave. After all, there was a high chance that Byul and Wheein