The two Maknaes tasted palpable tension as soon as they entered the studio, attired properly for the final practice before tomorrow evening. Their faces were bare, and they picked comfortable sweats, knowing that they would spend long hours at the studio. They traded a hesitant look between each other, surprised by this sudden development. What was going on with the couple? Wheein tapped Hyejin’s shoulder as she pointed to the obviously livid Moon Byulyi, sitting on the bench of the piano in the corner of the room, plonking a few chords of the D minor harshly, producing fearsome and enraged noises.

Her right hand swept through the keys ferociously as the sinister and punishing tune of Don Giovanni, K527 resounded in the studio. Then, she smashed her hand on the keys, losing her train of thought. She patted her bangs, irritated, before her shoulders slumped.

“Unnie, at least you did not growl at the piano. What was that? That sounded oddly like Mozart?” Wheein hazarded a guess, raising a fine brow. She recognised his arrangement despite the sporadic playing. Did something drastic happened that changed her laid-back unnie to a sophisticated woman?

Byulyi removed her baseball hat, reached for her hair tie, and undid it roughly so that the wet locks would fall to her shoulders. The rapper huffed as she grabbed her hair and tie it into a messy ponytail before she pressed the cap on her head.

“It’s trying to be,” answered Byulyi wryly. “It’s from an opera composed by him, one of the scariest I had ever watched.”

“Huh? You actually watched opera—”

“Hey! Ms Jo Sumi is our national treasure. I was never attracted to classic training, but you need to know. That piece is from the Commendatore.” She scratched the side of her nose idly, staring at the ivory white and black keys again. “It’s the scene where the spirits leap out from hell and drag the egotistical wrongdoer into it.”

Wheein bit her fingers, shocked. “That’s creepy.” She looked at Hyejin, who was looking at Kim Yongsun standing next to the laptop connected to the speaker, her back facing them, obviously busy. It was one of the reasons why they approached Byulyi first since she did not seem busy. Was their leader the egotistical wrongdoer she was referring to?

Byulyi gave her an absent shrug. “It is a powerful scene.” Her gaze became distant as if she were caught up by the recollection.

“And you decided that it is a good time to practice this menacing song while waiting for us to arrive?” questioned Hyejin, with an arched brow. “We weren’t not that late to warrant a punishment as severe as that!”

Byulyi smiled, her eyes crinkling with sincere affection. “Just passing time. Don’t read too much into it.” She covered the standing piano before she rose to her feet nimbly. She rolled her neck slightly, relaxing her shoulder muscles.

Hyejin and Wheein observed Yongsun for a moment, ensuring that she was not listening in.

“Unnie, we are heading to your apartment, right?”

Byulyi looked confused as she pointed to herself. “My apartment? What for?”

Wheein pushed her shoulder, frowning. “You can’t be serious. It’s the eve of Unnie’s birthday.”

“Oh, yea.” She nodded to herself and scratched the side of her nose. “You mean I told you we were—”

Wheein and Hyejin rolled their eyes openly.

She deflated immediately at their looks. “Right. You were asking me to move in with you the other day before I went for the radio broadcasting and I told you. Right!” She nodded to herself, recalling the day that she had absently told them, confirming that she had moved in with Yongsun. She scratched the side of her nose, embarrassed.

“Are you OK? What happened, Byulyi-unnie? Did you fight with unnie again?” Wheein’s voice dropped to a hushed whisper as she leaned in, her shoulder propped against her. “It’s getting a little too frequent.”

“No, not really.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I did hit her hard this morning.” The rapper scratched the back of her head as she adjusted her cap carefully again.

“You did?” She pointed at her in disbelief. “Not Unnie?”

She nodded contritely. 

Yongsun glanced at them solemnly, trying not to look at Byulyi. “Wheein-ah and Hyejin-ah, you’re here.” She clapped her hands. “Let’s warm up and we can start our practice soon. I’m getting this out of the way.” She returned her attention to the screen.

Wheein patted her on the shoulder before jerking her head towards their leader’s direction.

Byulyi pressed her palms to her forehead as she contemplated if she should heed her advice.

Hyejin nudged her and looked at Yongsun pointedly. She shook head, resigned when she realised that Byulyi remained rooted on the spot. The youngest member patted her on the shoulder, as if bidding her good luck for taking this strained silence for the rest of the practice before Wheein and she went to the side to warm up as ordered.

They had a lot to do since they needed to perform a dry run on stage too.

The two Maknaes had a point. This was only the start of the practice and it was starting to feel wrong.

Byulyi shuffled to her side and stood next to her quietly, looking like a forlorn puppy. She cleared her voice nervously, shifting between the balls of her feet. “Yong-unnie—”

The older woman held her hand up as she grounded her jaw. Then, she lifted her eyes from the screen to look at her long and hard. “Not here, Moonbyul. We need to focus on work right now.”

“It’s Moonbyul huh?” snapped Byulyi automatically before she regretted the harshness of her tone. She took a deep breath before she folded her arms, holding her gaze steadily. “Maknaes, I need a moment with Unnie please.” She raised her voice slightly, so that the other women could hear her request.

Wheein and Hyejin stood up and headed to the door. “OK. Call us when you’re done, Unnie.”

“No, there isn’t a need!” called Yongsun, frowning.

Wheein and Hyejin smiled encouragingly at her before they close the door behind them, leaving the couple alone in the room.

Yongsun growled. “And you’re the leader now? Why do the Maknaes listen to you instead of me?” demanded the older woman fiercely as she shoved the taller woman towards the wall fiercely. This irritating and infuriating woman!

The shoving gradually weakened, then Yongsun drew away from her, glowering.

Byulyi ran her hand through her sweatshirt, straightening it as she stepped away from the soundproof wall. She adjusted her baseball cap before she lifted her face to look at the seething woman. “It’s not about authority. You know that. The kids love and respect you,” countered Byulyi coolly. She inhaled a deep breath before she lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry—"

“And now you’re apologising to me. Great!” Yongsun folded her arms, shaking her head irately. “Right now. Of all times.” Her voice hitched in pitch.

Byulyi pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to stem the rise of exasperation at her irrational behaviour. She folded her arms too, mirroring her stance. “Unnie, why are you upset that I am apologising?”

“Don’t,” snapped the older woman, raising a finger, fury in her eyes. “For a moment, think that I am that dumb. Byulyi, I know you’re only apologising because the kids wanted you to. Otherwise, you won’t even consider the bloody idea because you are evidently incredibly angry.” The leader poked the taller woman on the chest indignantly.

“Well, someone had to apologise first!” Byulyi backed away after that holler, refusing to meet her eyes.

“Yes, I will not,” agreed Yongsun defiantly, her chin jutting out. Her outrage was a sign to the rapper that the singer did not think that she was deserving of the anger. “You were overreacting!”

The rapper swore under her breath, before she prowled back and forth in the studio room like a trapped beast. No, it was the pressure of the practice and their schedules that was causing them to behave so unreasonably. It didn’t help that they were fire, both extremely passionate and stubborn individuals. Her anger fizzed out immediately. “Squishy, I don’t want to fight,” conceded Byulyi finally when she halted to look at her. The rapper held her hands up in surrender. Her tone softened visibly. “Can we just talk?” The leader continued to ignore her, but she did not seem to protest actively to that idea of talking. The taller woman sighed again, resigned. “Squishy, I am sorry for hitting you this morning then walking out.”

Byulyi was far too angry to remain in the apartment with her to listen to Yongsun’s defence when they were having a heated discussion. She just grabbed her key and her bag and headed straight for the studio in work on her rap for the medley.

Silence stretched between them, uncomfortable.

Yongsun met her gaze unflinchingly. “I need time.” She raised her hand stopping the rapper when she wanted to protest. “I don’t want to talk about this now. I…” She a deep breath, her eyes glassy. She dropped her hands on her hips in akimbo. “We’re in the middle of preparing for our online fan meeting. We need to focus our energies on that first.” She gestured around the empty studio, emphasising where they were. “We’re at work. And we have plenty to do today.” The singer bit her bottom lip as she contemplated but she nodded. “I…I accept your apology, Byulyi.”

Byulyi sighed again before she inclined her head stiffly, seeing her point. Wasn’t that the reason why she wanted to talk to her too? “OK, Unnie.” She tried for a small smile that did not reached her eyes as she jerked a thumb to the door as she stowed her hand into her pocket. “I’ll get the kids then. Plenty of places to go and plenty of things to do.”

Solar smiled at her, glad that she had relented. She clasped her hands nervously as she looked at the rapper again. “Thanks, Byulyi.” The rapper left the room to fetch the rest of the group. Yongsun blew out a breath she did not know she was holding and took the time for her to get her thoughts in order as she focused on getting through the long day.

The practice was indeed long as dancers also joined them to firm up the details for the online fan meeting. Then, they shifted to the stage to have a full practice run, testing the sound system and the transmission for the live feed the next evening.

Byulyi decided that she was not quite pleased with the way the rap sounded for one of their medleys and headed back to the recording room to work on it, while the three other members of MAMAMOO continued with the dry run to maximise their time.

It was a flurry of activity in preparation for D-day.

Their meals were all working meals as they had many details to attend to and used that time to firm up the smaller details. It was easier to converse with work between them as the couple pushed their issues to the outskirts of their mind. It was only after the filming for the fans that the members of MAMAMOO had wrapped up their long day.

The members of MAMAMOO were only expected to be in studio in the late afternoon, giving them sufficient time to rest even if they had planned a lengthy celebration for their leader.

The four members packed into the SUV, exhausted and manager-nim just drove them straight to Solar’s apartment. The two younger members fell asleep in the ride as the older members were left to their own entertainment.

Byulyi was thumbing through social media when she noticed a distracted action of Yongsun in the middle of the ride. Yongsun, who was working on something on her mobile, reached to rub her shoulder as she frowned. It was a sign that her neck was giving her issues again. Without even lifting her face from her mobile, the rapper reached and rub her neck, trying to ease the knot.

It was the sudden tensing of her shoulder that made Byulyi drop her mobile on her lap and turn to look at her girlfriend enquiringly.

Byulyi wanted to kick herself for her automatic response secretly when she realised that the older woman was looking at her uneasily, the lines of her face tight.

The silence was awkward.

Byulyi’s mobile was left on her lap, unattended.

Suddenly, Byulyi’s screen flashed, attracting their attention instantly.

It was a message from Lee Dahee-unnie.

“Byul, I have cleared my schedule so that I can catch your handsome face live in the evening. You are always the most alluring when you’re performing. Fighting!”

Byulyi’s stomach coiled painfully as she lifted her face to look at Yongsun apprehensively. The older woman had shifted away from her arm’s reach by turning away and curling towards the other door, putting maximum distance between them. The rapper withdrew her hand immediately, hurt. However, she had to try. “Unnie…” began she, uncertainty swelling in her.

Yongsun turned to look at her, her lips curled in a smile that did not reach her eyes. “It’s wonderful to have supportive fans, Byulyi-ah. We need such high-profiled fans like Dahee-unnie for MAMAMOO to be popular.” Her voice was so nonchalant that Byulyi could only blink in surprise. “Maybe you should invite her for your broadcast this Tuesday? It will help with Manger-nim’s workload since I don’t have to adjust my schedule. It will be nice to have her on the show, will it not?” She brushed her hair away from her face.

“Unnie, you haven’t adjusted your schedule for this Tuesday?” asked Byulyi in disbelief. Did they not have plans? Her stomach was twisting uncomfortably. She turned away and exhaled. “Wow.” She shook her head lightly as she cradled her head with a hand.

“I know that you have been staying away from Dahee-unnie for me. It’s fine. It’ll be good to let her be your guest—”

Byulyi lifted her hand sharply, stopping her. She withdrew her ear buds and plugged them in, signalling that she did not want to partake in this conversation any further. She did not want to do anything out of anger, so she just tuned to a random radio station to listen. As a DJ, she needed to work on her repertoire of songs to appeal to her listeners. She folded her arms as she turned towards the window and stare at the passing scenery, feeling the chill of the night air on the panel of the glass. No matter how chilly it was, it did not feel as cold as she did.

“Don’t stay up too late, ladies,” reminded Manager-nim before he dropped them off. The two younger singers woke up from their nap, rejuvenated as the two older women who sat closest to the door alighted.

“We’ll party sensibly,” grinned Wheein, smiling widely.

“I don’t understand why you don’t want to celebrate her birthday tomorrow instead,” laughed Manager-nim as the members slowly alighted.

“We want to be the first one to celebrate Yong-unnie’s birthday, that’s why. A person as wonderful as our Yong-unnie should have as many celebrations as possible on her special day,” affirmed Hyejin as she vacated the last seat and hopped out. “Safe journey.” She closed the door of the ride then glanced at Wheein and realised that she was empty-handed.

Her best friend returned a befuddled look.

Wait, where was the cake?

Byulyi soon appeared behind them, holding the box of cake. “You forgot this,” smiled the rapper knowingly. She had retrieved it when she realised that the two juniors had overlooked it. “Ah, the lift is already here. We are filming a part of the celebration to share with the Moomoos right?”

“Like every birthday,” laughed Wheein brightly. “You’re old, Byul-unnie.” They fell in step and got into the lift together.

“With every passing second,” teased Byulyi, stowing her free hand into her pocket. Yongsun was already waiting for them in the lift, still engrossed with her mobile.

“Are you doing something special for the Yongwang-nims?” asked Hyejin, surprised by how quiet she was.

Yongsun nodded, lifting her head to look at them. “Yes, I am trying to get it out of the way. We have the fan meeting tomorrow too.”

“And there was that song you wrote for them?”

Yongsun nodded, smiling. “I will post that tomorrow night. It’s because of the title.”

“So busy working for your fans on your special day. Our leader is a force to be reckoned,” teased Hyejin. “Thankfully, we decided to celebrate your birthday with you tonight.”

Yongsun’s gaze became tender. “I appreciate it.” She squeezed her hand lovingly.

“Unnie, me too, me too!” squealed Wheein elatedly.

“Of course, what am I going to do without my Wheeinie?” She squeezed her hand too.

Byulyi held the door for them when they reached the floor and trailed behind the younger members chatting with Yongsun. Yongsun keyed the password and let them in as they removed their footwear.

“Don’t mind the mess. I haven’t cleaned up,” announced Yongsun as she the lights of the apartment. “I’ll just do this quick thing then I’ll be back.” She headed to the office. “Just holler me if you need me.”

“We’ll be fine. There is Byulyi-unnie.”

“Ah right. Yes,” agreed Yongsun finally before she closed the door after her.

Wheein and Hyejin studied the apartment carefully. “Nothing much has changed.” They sounded disappointed when they took a walk around the living room.

Byulyi stowed their footwear properly. “Did you expect changes?” She made a beeline for the kitchen with the cake to store it first while the younger members of the group wandered to the living room.

“Yeah, more changes to show that you live here too. Ah, that photograph corner,” observed Hyejin, pointing to the corner near the television. There were some