Shuhua hesitated for a long time to approach the leader Soyeon with one delicate issue that had been tormenting her for two weeks since Soyeon announced their return.

As usual, the leader asked her protégés, Minnie and Yuqi, to write a song for the album.

The three of them were preparing the album for those very two weeks, so it was rare to hear them at home, it seemed they slept in the company.

Shuhua missed them, but that wasn't the only reason why she was looking forward to girls so much, specifically Soyeon-unnie.

Shuhua wrote the lyrics for the song for the first time and wanted to know Seoyeon's opinion.

She did not plan to do this, just the letters themselves fell into lines, and then into rhymes.

Learned, in her opinion, not bad.

Holding a double-folded piece of paper in her hand, Shuhua plucked up the courage from Haku and Mata to ask the manager to take her to the company.

Waiting for the leader is simply not realistic, and thoughts ate her brain and did not allow her to fall asleep normally.

Upon entering the company, the first thing Shuhua did was find out which room everyone was in.

Seoyeon - corrected the written music in room number 2, next to her crossed out the second verse of Minnie, and Yuqi visited the sound engineer's room to consult.

How did Shuhua know such details? Very simply, baby IDLE was adored in Cube , it was not for nothing that she was called Boss Baby, she controlled everyone, she didn’t even know it herself.

As soon as Shuhua gave a hint, her request was instantly fulfilled.

So, after thanking the manager for their help with a shy smile, Shuhua headed towards the room Seoyeon occupied.

Fear fettered her movements, but the thought pushed her, did not let her turn off the appointed path.

Shuhua breathed in, trying to calm her loud heart, knocked on the door a couple of times, received a brief “come in”, looked inside.

Soyeon, half turned away from the synthesizer, looked at the opening door, raised her eyebrows in surprise, looking at the timidly entering Shuhua.

- Shuhua? Hello - she moved away from the synthesizer, got up and approached the girl.

- Soyeon-unnie, I’m sorry I didn’t call back, but I… - Shuhua began, shifting on her feet, nervously clutching the paper behind her back. - It doesn’t matter, I won’t bother you, - she turned around, about to leave, but she was restrained.

- Shu, did something happen? – softly, without insisting, Soyeon asked, not knowing how to behave with this quiet shy girl. - Sit next to me, if you want to say something, speak. Any topic - seeing that the girl did not dare to start a dialogue first, she added: -Do you want to see how I am preparing a song?

Shuhua's eyes lit up and she nodded her head.

- Fine, then sit down, I’ll show you what I already composed, - Soyeon smiled friendly, returning to the synthesizer again.

In the half hour that Shuhua spent with Soyeon, she asked literally everything, from the timid “what do you think about when you write lyrics” to the bold question “if I suddenly wrote something, how would you react?”

Having perfectly studied all the acting habits from Shuhua, the leader understood what to focus on.

On the last question.

This question was more important than the previous ones. In addition, she was very interested in what kind of piece of paper Shuhua was holding during the entire communication.

- You know that I will always support any of your ideas or your desires to do something new. If you suddenly wrote the lyrics to the song, and came to consult with me, I would gladly read it. Help improve what you have. And if you would not mind, you would write music to your text and include it in the album.

Shuhua listened intently to what Soyeon was saying, feeling the heaviness consuming her inside let go, she relaxes. She always trusted the leader, respected her opinions and always listened to good advice.

- Unnie - pulling out a crumpled piece of paper from behind his back, smoothing it and shyly passing it into the outstretched hands of the leader - I wrote something here. Okay, it's nothing, but if you...

- Do you mind if I read it now? - Soyeon asked while picking up Shuhua's handwritten text.

- Yes, please, - Shuhua turned away from her, covering her face with her hands.

The first thing that caught my eye when her eyes fell on the written lines was how easy the text was to read. The rhymes seemed to bounce off the tongue.

A character clearly loomed, in love with a man whom he had known for many years, but hides his feelings for him. Although the text did not contain the word "you" or "he". The girl drew lines of nature, winter, but warm in the soul.

Soyeon really liked the expression written at the very end:

"My soul is full of fire, but my heart is washed with crystals of ice."

Intuitively, Soyeon understood the meaning of the words constructed in this sentence:

Fire is love, ice is inaccessible.

Strange, very strange, but can't be perfect from the start.

- I really liked it, Shuhua, but I don’t see the name, have you thought of it yet?

- I thought of it, but it seemed strange and long to me - Shuhua sighed, still hiding behind her palms, after a little silence, she added quietly: - Crystal fire.

- I like the title, Shu, - Soyeon said thoughtfully, sinking into the melody that filled her soul after reading the lyrics.

The melody flowed from her fingers, creating something romantic, mysterious, unrealizable out of nothing. She began to feverishly write notes, so as not to forget, so that later they could be finalized.

Shuhua remained silent as she watched in admiration.

Her leader is at work.

- Shu, have you thought about what kind of text would suit the members? Did you imagine anyone in particular when you wrote the lyrics? – plunging more and more into the creation, Soyeon herself made a mistake without realizing it.

Shuhua froze, breaking out of her daydreaming, returning to reality.

- I did not represent anyone - she answered a little sharply, jumping up from her chair, - it was just a text and that's it! I just wanted to show you unnie, get a professional opinion. Nothing else.

- Shuhua, I realized that you don’t need to repeat it several times too. - Interrupting her playing, Soyeon stepped away from the keyboards, approached the maknae, gently took her hands and sat her next to her, carefully looked into the frightened eyes of the girl. - Your secret is with me, Shu, I won’t tell anyone. Outside of this room, only two people will know about it. You and me.

- I have no secrets - Shuhua kicked, but did not take her hand away, somehow sat even closer to Soyeon. She put a comforting hand on her shoulder, then easily pulled the body to her, hugged.

- You have a secret, but I do not ask about it, although I can guess who it is. You are obvious in your crush, Shu, - Soyeon said softly without judging her.

- I thought my acting got better, - Shuhua joked, snuggling closer to Soyeon.

Soyeon did not comment on Shuhua's words, although she wanted to say that she always knows when she is sad, instead she said:

- I want your text to include an album. It fits the theme we're working on.

Shuhua couldn't believe her ears.

- Truth? Seoyeon-unnie, are you sure? - joy in the eyes, a surprised face, a smile on the lips.

- Sure. Tomorrow, I'll present it at the meeting. Yuqi and Minnie are finishing today, me too, now we have to work on your song, we can go back. Now let me finish the melody that's stuck in my head, Shu - pulled away, softly ruffling her hair, returned to the "desktop" again, began to play music.

- Unnie, - Shuhua called her after a while.

- Hm?

-Won’t they laugh at me when they find out?

- What? - She stopped playing and turned to face her. – Are you talking about the members ? Shu, I'm 200% sure they'll be proud of you. They will happily sing your song and advertise wherever they can.

- Neverland , they...

- They will also be happy and proud, those fans who really love and respect you. If you don't want to show yourself as an author...

- Not. No need, Seoyeon-unnie. I understood everything. I--I can write the names for the lines meant for them.

- Okay, okay, Shuhua. Then why don't we start making a masterpiece, baby? Tomorrow, the first song we'll record is yours.