“That’s a cool way of doing it,” winked Wheein when Byulyi strode into the changing room absently. She was already dressed for stage, her blond hair silky short and smooth, barely reaching her shoulder. She wore a black shiny jacket over a sheer black shirt that was quite see-through under light and a pair of leather trousers that clung on her curves.

“Huh?” Byulyi looked at her, surprised. “I am always cool but what are you talking about?” She flashed her junior a wink.

Wheein’s hair was tied in a high ponytail and she was dressed in a black tank top matched with jeans that followed the shiny theme, with laces of shiny sequin attached to the jeans in swirly patterns. 

Byulyi had to admit that was a lot more conservative than what she was wearing since the top part of her top was actually not made of sheer fabric, only over the waist. A part of her was glad. Call her old-fashioned but she always felt that a woman dressed more conservatively tend to be more seductive because there was more for the mind to imagine, besides MAMAMOO members did not need to wear revealing clothes to attract attention. She swallowed at the thought. However, she knew that all the members of MAMAMOO had worked hard to look like goddesses so they should show off their hard work.

It was the same idea of hiding a lighted lamp under the table; if they had it, they could flaunt it.

Her bright red jacket was thrown over the back of a chair as she lazed around the changing room, reading something on her mobile.

Hyejin rolled her eyes at her increasing confidence of her unnie. Byulyi-unnie seemed to be always walking with a spring in her steps recently. There was more flamboyance in the way she carried herself and she only deduced one thing: she was happily in love. She shook her head, amused.

Well, at least her birthday celebration had a good conclusion.

The makeup artist was still working on filling her brow so that it could be seen under the stage lights. Her hair was plaited down her back, keeping her neck bare. She wore a striped crop top, matched with black jacket that left her abdominal bare and a pair of black trousers that clung on all her curves like a second skin.

“Hyejin-ah, you really have to read this!”

The youngest singer frowned before taking her mobile from her hand carefully and studied the words on the screen. She hummed to herself, lips pursed “It’s not bad. We could put a rap somewhere after the second verse.” She tapped against her thigh as she continued to hum to herself. “Will this be our new song? We could spin it a little, giving it a little R and B to change the flavour a bit.”

Wheein looked at her strangely, lifting her head up. “It’s still up for discussion, Hyejin. That’s not the point. Read it carefully.” Her tone hitched with excitement. She turned to look at her good friend fully.

Now, she had Byulyi’s full attention as she walked over to read over her shoulder. The rapper placed a hand absently on her shoulder, leaning in.

To their surprise, her cheeks became beetroot red. “Wait, how did you get the lyrics?” squeaked Byulyi, not caring that her voice had cracked. She tried to grab the phone but Hyejin smacked her hand away.

Hyejin straightened herself in her seat as she read the lyrics again. “This doesn’t make sense.” She looked at her best friend of many years before she glanced at Byulyi who was biting her bottom lip. She reached upwards and patted her on the shoulder. “This is kinda cool.” She nodded reluctantly, as if resigned.

Byulyi patted her bangs awkward. “What the hell is kinda cool?”

“Sharing your feelings through your lyrics. I bet unnie must be pissed and touched at the same time when you showed her? I never knew that you thought so highly of her."

Byulyi lifted a brow, speechless. “Why would unnie be freaking pissed or touched? I was writing about an imaginary person—”

She threw her hands into the air absently, surprised that her juniors came to that conclusion so quickly.

“Ah huh. Who shares laughter with you with just a glance?” Hyejin pressed on, arching a fine brow expectantly. The makeup artist was glad that she had finished with that and was working on her blush.

“Hey, I could say that about you and Wheein,” complained Byulyi, frowning. “Or us, the loser crew.” She brightened at the thought immediately. “That’s quite true actually.” She rubbed her chin absently. “No, I was writing from the point of view of that persona.”

“Feel free to yell at the top of your voice how much you love us,” giggled Wheein cheekily, ignoring the rest of her comments. "We wouldn't want out unnie to be suffering from desolation."

“Now?” A mischievous smile appeared on her face. Her face brightened like sunrise.

“108db please,” commanded Hyejin. She felt bitter that despite her best efforts of using her diaphragm and throwing her voice out, she was not louder than Byulyi who had done it so effortless.

“How would I know if it’s at bloody 108db?” laughed Byulyi, her eyes curving with mirth. Her body trembled from humour. Her Maknaes were ridiculous, sometimes. She brushed her fringe away from her face absently, a gesture of embarrassment. “We will disturb the others!” She reached for her mobile again but Hyejin merely sat on it. “I am sure that there are other idol groups today.”

“Don’t get yourself out of this. You owe us a confession of your heartfelt love for the loser crew at the top of your voice,” decided Wheein quickly. “Where would be a good place to do so?” She tapped on her lips idly as she considered the idea.

Byulyi merely swore again, before folding her arms before her chest. She pouted at them. “I’m going to hang out with Seulgi and Irene since they won’t put me on a spot—”

“Because you usually put them on a spot,” remarked Wheein, grinning manically. The thought of the ability to prank Red Velvet cheered her instantly. “Did Irene-unnie talked to you after the filming in which you made fun of her constantly?”

She arched a brow. “She’s not as fun as Yong-unnie.” She folded her arms across her chest and stated very matter-of-fact. “Yong has a higher resistance to me. I think Irene-unnie was really pissed for a while.” She lifted her shoulder in a shrug as if that did not quite bother the rapper.

“You pissed Irene again?” asked Yongsun as she re-entered the changing room to check on the members of MAMAMOO. She had finished a quick meeting with the producers to ensure that everything was OK. She turned to look at Byulyi hard.

She was dressed in a sheer black dress that reached her thighs. Byulyi couldn’t really consider the dress to be made of sheer black fabric since it was a lot more transparent than hers. She bit her bottom lip hard. To be fair, Yong could be considered just wearing her underwear, displaying her toned and beautiful body. Suddenly, she felt the room became intolerably hot.

She could almost taste blood on her lip as she yanked her eyes upwards to meet Yongsun’s enquiring gaze. Her leader was still waiting for a response. “Not yet,” muttered Byulyi absently, putting an arm around her waist as she looked into her eyes deeply.

Warmth surged through her. She simply could not help the swarm of affection flowing out of her when they locked gaze. The flicker of enquiry faded in Yongsun’s eyes as they softened with equal affection. The singer rested slightly against her imperceptibly.

Byulyi reached to brush her wavy hair away automatically.

“I mean it is nice for you to have another target to annoy. Gives me a break,” grinned the leader of MAMAMOO. Her eyes curved with mirth.

It broke the spell she was in. She made a noise of exasperation. “I have another question, Yong-unnie. What did you do to the lyrics? I thought I trashed it?”

Yongsun had the decency to look embarrassed, averting her gaze. “Didn’t I tell you that it has commercial value?”

Byulyi withdrew her hand from her girlfriend as she frowned. The older woman put a hand on her back quickly under her jacket, stopping her from moving out of her personal space. The rapper gave her an accusing glare, pressing her for an answer. When she refused to say anything, she prompted. “And?”

“I re-wrote it.”

“What?” Byulyi swore aloud before raking her hand through her short and blond hair, messing it up. “Yong! It was meant to be thrown away!”

Yongsun merely snorted, as if she found the idea too ludicrous.

“Did you share it with Wheein-ssi too?” continued the rapper agitatedly. She gestured to the singer lying on sofa jerkily.

Wheein waved her phone excitedly before flashing a thumb up.

“I don’t get why you’re so upset. It’s nothing private,” murmured Yongsun finally, shaking her head out of exasperation. Seriously, this woman. She dropped her hand to her hip which was covered by the leather pants and squeezed it firmly. Then, she chose to sit next to Wheein. “What do you think of it?” She turned to look at the Maknae, ignoring the rapper’s outburst.

Wheein brightened immediately. “Cool.” She flashed thumbs up. “Wonderful. Byulyi-unnie really wanted to throw it away?”

Yongsun nodded, running her hand through her hair to ensure that it was in place. “The first copy of the lyrics cannot be salvaged because she crushed it into a ball.” Yongsun would know since she took a photograph of it and placed it as her background picture of her mobile. Byulyi should not blame her for wanting to preserve that memory. It meant so much to her: they were sitting in Byulyi’s living room alone, Byulyi’s tears of anguish when she stumbled haphazardly into the realisation that she loved her, and the tears of gratitude at the moment when she realised that Yongsun had returned her feelings. Her face softened openly at the memory.

Wheein climbed into the lap of Yongsun automatically as the older woman her hair lovingly, careful not to ruin her wonderful makeup and her hair. “I am glad you saved it. Was this exactly how she wrote it?”

Byulyi merely leaned against the wall, watching them absently. She folded her arm across her chest, the only sign that she was not quite pleased.

Yongsun smiled warmly. “Yes. Verbatim.” Her voice was filled with pride at the achievement.

The rapper could not help but smile, amused at her Yeba. “Oh really? I should check since you might forget a few of the words because you’re so old,” teased Byulyi, laughing brightly.

Hyejin joined in chortling, always liking a good old age gag.

The leader clicked her tongue out of irritation as she frowned. “If it were up to me, I would have change it into less angsty song.” She continued to run her hand gently through Wheein’s hair as the younger girl snuggled into her thigh, purring melodically.

The makeup artist was finally done with the idol group and the singers thanked her for her hard work.

“So…” began Hyejin, getting the attention of all the members, turning around to checked that she held their attention. They were alone in the dressing room too. “Unnies, you’re together?” It sounded more like a statement than a question.

Byulyi’s jaw dropped suddenly. “W-what?” Were they that obvious? She recalled her actions with Yong and realised that nothing had changed much which was the point anyway—she realised that they had been secretly in love with each other for far too long.

Yongsun’s halted for a moment. However, Wheein’s whining had her continue running her hand through her soft hair carefully. The leader glanced at her girlfriend, asking her with a look if she knew how they concluded that they were togethe