Her satin and tawny shoulder-length hair was a spectrum of alluring colours under the white light of her studio—ochre, russet, gold, tawny and coffee-brown—giving her a softer look compared to other sessions in the studio. This gig of being a DJ on every alternate day of the week from nine to eleven was starting to become more comfortable. Her low voice sounded mellow and formal over the air as Moonbyul hosted with an infectious spirit of sincerity that reached the hearts of her listeners and her guests, helping them to feel at rest with her with an ease that her members were immensely proud, jealous, and maybe possessive too.

Tonight, Moonbyul was the host and the guest of her three-hour session, opening her session to more back-and-forth engagement with her listeners as she satisfied their open curiosity, knowing that the topic of MAMAMOO would never stray away from the listener’s interest. That was one of the few topics she loved to converse at length: her wonderful members, her BakWoonGangGu and her interest in photography.

Once again, the topic pivoted about a member who might tuned in and lurked as one of the members of the public if she had riled her sufficiently. Aware of the presence of the heavy and ominous gloomy clouds that seemed to be skulking around the perimeters of her highly creative and active mind, the DJ and rapper did not think she would dedicate some of her precious time during these three golden hours just to hear her endless rambles.

The question on her dislike of headband was amusing and sent most of her listeners chuckling out of exasperation and amusement when she tried to explain why she did not like them. “It’s constricting.” She searched for a word to describe her open discomfort, indulging in the listener’s curiosity. “My head.” She gestured airily to her head. “It just feels boxed-in. I’m fine with baseball caps and hats.”

She reached for the headband that captured the essence of summer with colourful and pastel flowers outlining a pair of adorable cat ears. The headband was very thin and slipped over her hair nicely, resting on her head. Unconsciously, she winced at the feel of it pressing against the side of her head, her nose scrunching absently. “Ah huh, this is unpleasant.” She slid it out of her deer-like hair, shaking her hair out automatically so that they would fall neatly around her face again.

The next few questions were about her Unnie, Solar or Kim Yongsun, naturally since they were so inseparable that the Moomoos, their fans, had questioned openly if they lived together. The sort of questions that Unnie had received whenever she had a live telecast on her YouTube channel, Solarsido, about her and them. Some of the questions bordered on hilarious to her too since the Yongwanims would ask the older woman if she would date her or worst, be on the dreaded ‘WGM’ with each other.

The question was on the reason she liked to prank Solar. “Unnie is convenient. She’s just next to me when we’re in our original positions. You cannot expect me to run across the stage to tease Jinie. I just like to . Period.” Her tone was easy as she scanned the comments on the iPad quickly. “Ah, I’m starting to lose my interest though. Right now, Solar is kind of a ert. In the past, she would use to scream at me ‘Why are you like this?’” She imitated the high-pitch scream of Solar, her face contorting into the cringe as her low voice hitching in tone.

Moonbyul paused, wearing a contemplative look. “When I touch her now, she does not react, or she is kind of happy with my attention.” Her nose scrunched at her observation as she twisted a ring on her finger. “Unnie is a smiling angel, laughing at whatever I do. It is quite a pity because I like bad girls, not an easy girl. It’s just no longer fun.” Her tone became grouchier, losing that light-hearted nonchalance. “We feel like an old married couple now.”

Old, married couple.

The term first crept two years ago to describe the dynamics between Solar and she in the waiting room during the filming of Queendom. How did the editor describe them again? Thirty-year-old married couple. And why did they decide on the term, she would not know when Moonbyul was busy with other dazzling and beautiful interests, maintaining pleasant relationships with other members of the group who coveted her time.

Ten years had to do something to their dynamics after all and she did not know if Unnie’s acceptance of her love for annoying her ought to be considered a positive development. Well, it seemed like she had to learn to accept that Unnie was going to react with less intensity to the typical way she annoyed her, or she had to up her game somehow if she wanted to be fascinated by the little game they played.

Since her thoughts were dominated by one Kim Yongsun, the rapper decided to indulge the impulse again by meeting the older woman despite the late hour. She was certain that Unnie was still awake since they were idols who were used to the long and strange hours of their schedules.

“May I come over?” She sent that message as she got into her car and began the drive from the studio to Yongsun’s apartment by the Han River. Her mind was partly on her road as she waited for a response from the older woman, drumming her fingers on her steering wheel absently as she glanced at the silent mobile.

Unnie was accustomed to her requests to pop by after her work, given that she did it regularly. When she stopped at a red light, the rapper picked the mobile and checked it. The blue tick to her request was as indifferent as her Unnie to her attempts at teasing her, goading her to be more irritated.

OK. That was it. She was coming over even if Unnie had seen the message and chosen not to reply to her. She had the code to her apartment anyway. Within an hour, the rapper found herself at the door of her apartment, keying the code to enter.

The rapper kicked off her sneakers at the entrance as she was greeted by Kim Yonghee in a plain blue pyjama set. “Evening Byul. How’s work? You just missed Yong. She went to bed,” greeted the older Kim, taking in her immaculate appearance to ascertain where she came from.

“Bed?” Byulyi raised a trimmed brow, worried. Her gaze fell on her watch briefly and wondered if she ought to check on her leader. “Is Unnie OK?”

Yonghee ran her hair through her thick and wavy hair. “Yeah, I think she’s just wanted an early night after taking Yonghee out for a long walk. You look wonderful in pastel colours,” commented the sister offhandedly, her eyes gleaming with interest. It was part of her profession to pick up details like this. The two women engaged in usual pleasantries as Byulyi sat on the floor to study the sleeping dog until Yonghee decided to turn in for the night too.

The rapper began her routine of cleaning up after a day of work, removing her makeup and changing into comfortable clothes. The door of Yongsun’s bedroom was unlocked and she walked into the room quietly, her eyes on the motionless lump under the duvet. For some odd reason, the sight of her alone in the bed called to her and she crossed the large bedroom to sit on the edge of the bed.

The faint floral fragrance that she identified as purely her leader filled her nostrils as she drank in her serene face. Despite the lack of light, she could make out that Yongsun was peacefully asleep, and it eased the throb in her heart slightly. She muffled a laughter with a hand when the older woman stuck her hand out to thread through her shoulder-length, frazzled dark hair. That hand was stuck in her hair briefly, awaking the singer fleetingly. She blinked in confusion fleeting, drawing her entangled hand out of her hair as she muttered something indecipherable before turning towards her, as if she had sensed her reassuring presence.

An old married couple indeed. She could not identify how she felt about that fact now she had that awareness.

Byulyi threaded her rough hand gently through her frazzled hair delicately, watching the way the singer relaxed completely at her ministrations. The faint lines on her face relaxed fully, and the bare-faced woman looked so youthful and tranquil that her heart fluttered like a bunch of butterflies. The rapper smiled wistfully when the singer leaned closer to her instinctively, yearning for more of her touches.

Aish, they were an old married couple indeed. Experimentally, Byulyi removed her hand away from her hair and the older woman started to search for her in her sleep, moving closer and closer to her. Byulyi halted her search by giving her what she desired which was her reassuring caresses. She had to sigh inward at just how relaxed Yongsun was with her.

The rapper leaned in and kissed her forehead affectionately. “Yong-ah, I’ll be back. I need to clean up.” The younger woman allowed her lips to linger for another moment on her smooth skin before she withdrew quickly for her ablutions.

Within half an hour, she returned to the foot of the bed, dressed in a cotton pyjama set. A quick glance of Yongsun sleeping restlessly in her bed had her climbing into the space next to her spontaneously, the mattress dipping with her weight as she got comfortable.

It had been a while since she spent her night at Yong’s place and definitely not in her bed. However, the very sight of the desolate leader convinced her to provide as much solace as she could with her presence.

Unconsciously, the older woman turned towards her, lying on her side, as she let out adorable snores from her parted lips. It was an endearing sight that stole a smile and another sigh from the younger woman.

Byulyi did not know how to describe the strange sensations fluttering in her at the sheer intimacy of this moment. Her friend was an introvert and was slow to open herself fully to another, which made this moment so precious.

If she was honest to herself, allowing such intimacy was not easy too. Somehow, they had slowly knocked down the walls that surrounded their heart and was truly free when they were together: what a terrifying thought. The rapper lay over the duvet, gauging her level of awareness before she finally slipped under it.

The summer blanket was of a light and comfortable weight, and it felt very cooling to her skin. Did she change it recently? She let out a soft contented sigh as she continued to lie on her side, watching her quietly. She inched so close that heir breaths mingled intimately but it did not awaken the singer.

Once again, she was in awe of just how beautiful Yongsun was. Her curly lashes curled adorably against her double eyelids, relaxed. Her eyes traced downwards to her delicate and pert nose, her favourite squishy cheek to her generous lips, finally making its final pit stop on her soft chin.

Lovely.

No matter how much they had spent with each other, Yongsun always had the ability to enthral her: her optimism, her bluntness, her bubbly nature, her pragmatism, her confidence, her insecurities, her silliness, her wisdom, her love for challenge… The list was endless. She was conundrum that she knew that she would spend the rest of her life unravelling her languorously.

Was that how being an old married couple felt like?

Soon, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier as she fought her sleep just to remain lost in this stolen moment together. No, she knew such moments could remain rare between them. Exhaustion was soon knocking on her door, overtaking her slowly as she continued to watch over her sleep companion. It was to this charming side of her that she finally slipped into slumberland.

The familiar yet unaccustomed sweet floral scent filled her nostrils as Byulyi extended her arms outwards, stretching her tight muscles, feeling a comfortable weight on her chest. She cracked her eyes slightly open, greeted by a headful of black and frazzled hair that could only belong to one person.

Ah right, she decided to spend the night with Yong in her bed.

A part of her was glad that she woke up before her leader since she would not know how to explain why she sneaked into her bed. Unnie would probably laugh at her since she was so charmed by her antics of late.

The other person let out a soft whine when Byulyi tried to shift out of her much-too- comfortable bed, curling her arms firmly around her midriff possessively as if she was her favourite body pillow. The muscle under her brow ticked at the frustrating sight. “I’m not your Ryan,” muttered the younger woman to herself quietly, disengaging her arms delicately, rolling out of bed with an agility that she did not know she possessed in the morning.

The slumbering woman let out another grumble before the rapper stuffed her pillow into her arms, satisfying the sleeping woman’s endless search. The black-haired woman buried her face into the pillow, breathing in sharply before letting out an adorable snore. The younger woman rubbed the back of her head, her cheeks pinked since she had used that pillow last night.

“Aish,” complained the younger woman, scratching the back of her head absently. She ought to make herself useful. With that thought, she opened the bedroom door, taking in the apartment. OK, coast was clear. It occurred to her that it was quite amusing that she was moving surreptitiously in her apartment like a one-night stand that did not belong here. She could hear the pitter-patter of Yongkee’s paws along the ground as she paced up and down in the fenced area in the living room. Byulyi closed the door quietly behind her so that she could greet the energised puppy.

Byulyi let herself into her area as the puppy leapt at her, her tail waggling excitedly. The rapper smiled affectionately before she squatted, allowing the puppy to nose her lips as a cheerful greeting. “Are you hungry, Yongkee?”

She fed the puppy after commanding her to sit and wait for food as part of the obedience training. That gave her some time for ablution before the Kim sisters woke up to start their day. Keeping her footsteps light, she treaded towards the toilet and spent some time in the bathroom to start her day first.

There were sounds of the residents getting up when she stepped out of the toilet after a nice shower, looking perky. Yonghee-Unnie would wake up earlier than Unnie if the latter did not have schedule in the morning. It meant that it was time for her to get to work since they consumed a lot of eggs for breakfast.

She located all the tools required for preparing breakfast for them, preparing a pot of coffee too. Putting on a playlist on her mobile, she hummed along the tune as she began cooking their breakfast, over easy eggs.

Yonghee, allured by the scent of breakfast, padded out to the kitchen, her long and thick hair messy. “Morning, Byul. You did not go home last night?” Her voice was hoarse from sleep. “You don’t have to prepare breakfast for us.”

“I was up,” answered Byulyi with easy affection. “It is really no hassle to make breakfast, Unnie.”

The older Kim sister laughed fondly. “Well, as long as you don’t set fire to the kitchen by accident, I guess. Over easy eggs? OK. That’s safe. I don’t have to wake Yong up to watch over you.” She yawned as she covered .

The rapper waved the spatula at her, pretending to be annoyed with her. “Unnie, seriously. Do you really think I have such poor cooking skills? If I wanted to be adventurous, I would have searched for a recipe to follow, I have a knack for that. Wash up and you can have breakfast soon.” Her eyes were shining with repressed mirth.

“OK. I’ll see you in a bit. Yong should be up soon.” Yonghee winked at her before she got into the shower and began her routine to start her day.

All Byulyi had to do was to toast some pieces of bread to add to their plate and cut some fruits before she considered that her task was done. She soaked the pan in the sink, drying her hands up. A quick glance at her mobile showed that she had some time to herself, so she caught up with messages from the previous night.

There was a flood of messages.

She muted herself with a palm as she chuckled at all the messages about her TMI last night. Her close friends had poked fun of her especially through the group messages:

“Has someone finally realise that the only reason she hasn’t ‘dated’ since she had debuted is because she is married?”

His comment incited a lot of laughter from the rest of the members of the group, 92 Liner club. She expected the rascals from the group to make some comments.

Byulyi sent a lot of rude emoticons to her good friend Lee Jung-hwan, better known as Sandeul from B1A4, one of the members of the 92 Liner club that she hung out very frequently when she was not preoccupied with her schedule. There was private message from Kang Seulgi to about her TMI about Solar Unnie too. No one seemed to be interested in the fact that she called Solar a ert over the air. The Maknaes remained surprisingly quiet in their group chat, which made her wonder if they found the time to tu