Seeing the tough and funny Sooyoung like that was a punch in the face and a kick in the stomach. The prettiest smile was now hidden behind a crying face. Sooyoung didn’t want to be seen like that and tried her best to dry her cheeks with the paper, and fanning her face with her hands to stop the tears that were about to come down just from seeing Seulgi standing in front of her.

“Can I come in?” She asked with the sweetest voice she could. Sooyoung denied briefly but nodded right away, calling her with a hand gesture to hurry up and get closer. 

Seulgi placed the stuff she brought on top of Irene’s desk and sat beside Sooyoung to hold her tight and comfort her heart. She didn’t know what was said in that room while she was gone, but she was starting to regret letting her friends do it. 

After a while like that, Sooyoung had finally stopped crying. When Seulgi felt that she was calmer, she offered her the bottle of water and the snacks. Sooyoung drinked half of the bottle in a single gulp, but she refused to eat. “Sorry, I couldn’t find any lollipops… or orange flavored candies.”

“Don’t worry. Thanks, anyway.”

“Do you want to talk about what happened? The reason you were crying?” Seulgi asked, cupping Sooyoung’s cheek.

“Not right now.” She sweeped Seulgi’s hand and got up from the bed, taking the sweatpants Irene left there for her to wear. “Irene said we could sleep here. Are you staying?”

“Yeah, I guess I could.”

Seulgi followed Sooyoung with her eyes as she left the room and went to the hall bathroom to change her clothes. It was almost midnight.

She ran downstairs to meet her friends and exchange a few words. Kibum and Jennie were already saying goodbye to leave, and hugged the girl as soon as they saw her. “Send kisses to Sooyoung. I loved meeting her!”

“I will. It was good to see you guys.”

The other boys were still drinking and playing, chatting animatedly, without going overboard. Occasionally, the sound of feet hitting against the floor or of hands against the table could be heard, followed by their laughter. Irene and Wendy were in a corner sharing something to eat as they tried to fit in with the boys' jokes.

Seulgi called them into the TV room to ask what had happened.

“We can't go too deep into the topic.”

“It was different from what I expected. Sooyoung spoke a lot more than I thought we would hear from her tonight.” Wendy sighed.

“What do you mean by that?” Seulgi ran her fingers through her hair and made a crying face, stamping her foot on the floor in a tantrum. 

“Just stay by her side. I said you could spend the night here. You and Sooyoung can stay in my room, me and Wendy are going to stay in my parents' room and I think Suga will sleep on the couch.”

Wendy hugged her sideways, rubbing her arms in comfort. “I'll let my father know.”

“Great, you can get some pajamas from my wardrobe. Change your tight pants at least.”

Seulgi's father would pick her up at 12:30am, but she warned him about the invitation to sleep at her friend's house, and he was pleased to know that he could finally fall asleep like a stone. He asked if she would get home before lunch, and how she would do it.

“I think we're having lunch here. Maybe I can get a ride, I'll let you know as soon as I wake up. Is that okay?”

“Yeah…” From his voice, he sounded like he was crawling with sleep. “I'm gonna tuck myself into bed. Good night, kid!”

Sooyoung came down the stairs, tying up her hair while walking. She was barefoot and went straight to the backyard, the light of the kitchen was enough to light up the place at least a bit. Seulgi excused herself to check on the girl. 

She was warming up, the same way she did before the competition. Jumping and doing dynamic stretches, she was wearing the sweatpants Irene left for her, she pulled the hem of the pants up, and folded the heel fabric as far as she could. She sat in Seiza, made her mokuso alone and got up.

“What are you doing? I thought you would use Irene’s pants to sleep.”

“Relaxing.” She answered and gave Seulgi a small smile, walking to her and touching her cheek delicately before preparing to initiate a kata without haste: the Bassai Dai, a kata of 42 Kyodos. “I hope you don’t mind me sleeping in underwear.”

Seulgi sat down and crossed her legs, she didn’t care about the grass and dirt, but felt her face burning from picturing what was said. She turned her flashlight on to see Sooyoung better. Any touch Sooyoung gave her made her heart skip a beat. Why couldn’t she go any further? Why couldn’t Seulgi go any f