joohyun raises from the couch where she was dozing off, the sharp phone's ringtone disturbing the peaceful lazy evening. since seungwan's activities started, red velvet's preparations for the album came to a halt. it's no use to practice if one member is missing and it's not even just seungwan - yerimie is preparing for her role in a drama, sooyoungie is busy composing songs, recording demos and now she's releasing an ost too, seulgi is preoccupied with her first serious mc job, joohyun knows how it is. 

with members being so busy, joohyun decided to go home. not home as in the dorms but home as in her parents' house. it's been a while since she has spent time with her parents. she has missed them dearly and being so far away from them, while also being busy, was really hard for her. 

now it's downtime. 

now she can afford to laze around on her parents' couch while they go grocery shopping. now she can eat her mom's food. she can go hiking with her dad. she can watch dramas with them, she can wake up to her mother patting her shoulder, she can talk to them, have casual conversations that she couldn't have on the phone. she can do everything she was missing while she was away in seoul ever since her trainee days.

but - she sighs as she picks up her phone off the coffee table by the TV - she can't help but feel like she's missing out on things by being here.

"m, seungwan-ah," joohyun answers the phone.

"unnie, i've just finished the radio show," seungwan says, clearly in the car on the way home.

"how did it go?"

"i was so nervous," she laughs and joohyun leans back against the couch. "but i think- well, i think it went okay. maybe, i'm not sure but..." she trails off.

"tired?" joohyun asks instead.

"it's okay," seungwan doesn't admit, then adds a little bit quieter, "it's just that, it's been awhile."

"you did great. i watched the performance." joohyun tells her. "your voice was perfect, i loved it."

"thank you, unnie." seungwan says, lowering her chin as she flushes from being shy, joohyun could tell she does so even without seeing her face just by hearing that certain tone in her voice.

there's a moment of silence while seungwan thinks about something. joohyun just sits and waits as she gazes outside the window at the darkened sky. it's always best to give her all the time she needs because, given enough of it, she always manages to do whatever she wants to.

"it's kinda- i feel strange," seungwan confesses. "i mentioned the kids. i told everyone how they reacted to my album and everything. unnie, you're the only one i didn't mention."

"good." joohyun nods to herself in approval. "i wouldn't want to ruin anything for you."

"ruin, what." seungwan says, annoyed. "unnie, you've been supporting me all these years and now-"

"and now i still support you."

"but if i don't talk about you... i don't want to feel ungrateful. i don't want them to think that i-" she pauses and all joohyun can hear is a big sigh.

"it's okay," joohyun reassures her. "i'm not just saying