The sounds of the television resonated throughout the waiting room—IVE's waiting room to be exact. This is their second comeback ever since debuting and fans could never love them more.

Rei picked up her bag, about to leave the place as she glanced at Yujin who was still slowly untying her hair, eyes staring at the tv, watching the MCs finish up the show.

"Unnie, you're not leaving?" she asked.

Yujin looked at her and shook her head. "I already told manager-nim I'll be heading home today." she combed her fingers through her hair.

"Show, show, show! Annyeong!"

The moment Yujin heard that line, she looked at Rei with a smile on her face. "Unnie, you're weird." the girl shook her head and quickly left the place first.

"Of course," Yujin mumbled to herself, gathering her stuff and turning off everything, leaving the room.

She peeked out the hallway to see if there was anyone left, but only saw a few staff tidying up the place. They were one of the nominees, explaining why they stayed till the end of the music show.

Sneakily, she strolled towards where the MC room is and saw Minju and the other two guys walking in, happily chatting.

Yujin stood outside, waiting till they were done with the short debrief.

"Minju-ah, come here." Jungwoo, one of the MCs called, somehow making Yujin frown.

She slightly peeked through the gaps of the door to see them taking a selfie for the fans but the frown stayed constant on her forehead, seeing how close Minju was standing with that guy.

"Where did the other guy go..." she mumbled, wondering why they were the only ones taking a selfie since they usually take one with all three of them in it.

"Ahn Yujin-ssi?" Lee Know appeared from behind, startling the girl who bowed slightly. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, suddenly remembering how Minju and Yujin were ex group mates.

"You should go in." he opened the door despite Yujin's denial, seeing Jungwoo darting his eyes towards them with an arm around Minju's shoulder, still taking pictures.

Yujin slowly entered while Lee Know went to tidy up his stuff. "Ba—Unnie," she called. That was close.

Minju slipped away from Jungwoo. "We're done, right?" Jungwoo checked the photos and nodded.

Minju looked at Yujin and told her to wait while she goes to change out of the outfit.

The younger girl constantly eyed the blonde guy, watching his every move. She folded her arms, always having to enter at the wrong timing, internally flaming that guy for touching her girlfriend.

Ever since they started dating after IZONE's disbandment, they thought it'll be better to keep their relationship a secret since rumours would just put an end to their careers in the entertainment industry.

This means they each have to deal with each other's interactions with other idols and actors. For Yujin, it's not that big of a deal since she only comes across idols for a short period of time, at most during her Inkigayo stages or other programmes consisting of middle-aged men.

But Minju differs. Ever since she started taking up auditions and raking in sponsors for modelling, she has been in contact with many people. At times, she'll be extremely busy with shooting, sometimes even going overseas to film.

That leaves Yujin having to deal with all those. It's not that she doesn't trust Minju during those short trips or schedules, it just bothers her that Minju's circle of acquaintances widened just when they've started dating.

With their busy schedules colliding, Yujin can only be in her dorm, watching her girlfriend who's always on the tv screen, quietly admiring her from there. The time they spent together limits as time passes. However, Minju always makes sure to leave some time for the leader of IVE and so does Yujin.

They've come so far and this is the happiest they've been since the sad news of the disbandment. But as long as they have each other, they believe everything's going to be fine.

The issue is, whenever Yujin has free time to visit Minju, she always sees her with other idols and they're all mostly guys. The internet and netizens love seeing Minju with other male idols that fans love.

Well, if Yujin had the opinion, it that her girlfriend is that pretty. But she doesn't complain because, at the end of the day, Minju is hers.

Yujin saw Minju taking her bag at the side, bidding goodbye to the other two co-workers before walking towards her. A tiny smile instantly made its way onto Yujin's lips. "Babe." she teased, earning a weird look from Minju who gently pushed her out of the room.

It's simple for them to hide their relationship since female idols or actresses, in general, are physical and comfortable with each other. Friendship is the line drawn by fans but they themselves know what their own relationship is. However, they still have to be careful because fans' minds are wild and tend to suspect every little thing.

They did their casual talk down the hallways like how they used to when they were in the same group, saying bye to those that are ending their errands.

"You're driving." Minju handed her keys to Yujin as they entered the lift. "Why me?"

"I'm tired." the older girl let out a small sigh and looked up to see Yujin narrowing her eyes.

"You don't even do anything," Yujin mumbled, earning a jab to her side, followed by a subtle glare. "Do you want me to kill you?" Minju playfully put the girl into a headlock, making Yujin laugh as the lift door opened.

They head towards the carpark, walking a distance apart even when Yujin's hand had the urge to grab onto Minju's, instinctively.

She entered the driver's seat while Minju went to the passenger's. They both let out a small sigh with Yujin turning on the engine, glancing at Minju who was spacing out.

She snickered and leaned over, helping her put on her seatbelt and saw a cheeky smile making its way onto Minju's lips. The latter attacked Yujin's cheek with her lips, causing the younger to pause her actions halfway as she looked into Minju's eyes.

"Your aim ," Yujin muttered above her lips before leaning in, giving her a small but loving kiss.

Minju s her hand onto her nape. "My aim ?" she asked but the younger sat back down, making her pout.

"Yes," she answered and proceeded to drive out of the building with Minju staring at her. The moment she exit, dark skies dawned upon them, looking as if it were about to pour rain.

The older girl examined her face. "Why?" she asked, hearing a hum as Yujin glanced at her, eyes trying to focus on the road towards Minju's apartment.

"Is something wrong?" Minju worriedly looked at the younger who smiled and shook her head. "You can sleep. You said you were tired."

Yujin reached her hand behind, taking the small blanket and passing it to Minju who puckered her lips before sitting properly.

Yujin always had that expression on her face. The kind that bothers Minju a tat bit but she can't seem to point it out. Whenever she asks, Yujin would only smile and shake her head even though she senses that something is bothering the younger.

She has always been like this even when they were still promoting together. Minju being her ex-roommate knows how Yujin loves to keep everything to herself even if it hurts. But when she couldn't take it, the person she'll talk to is Minju. That's probably how it led to them dating.

Minju's the only person Yujin has fully opened up to through her years of being in the industry. She finds the older girl the easiest to talk to and loves how Minju always knows how to comfort her the best way.

But through time, Yujin being the leader of her new group and Minju entering the acting industry, she knows that everyone is having a hard time.

So, no matter how much she relies on Minju, she decided to keep stuff to herself, not wanting Minju to be affected by her own overthinking. Even though she really hates doing that. She wants to open up about the issue that has been bothering her for the past few weeks.

But she can't.

"You can always talk to me you know?" Minju spoke, eyes looking forward while Yujin peered at her. "And I always do," she replied, chuckling softly while Minju glanced at her.

"Is something bothering you? Your face says it all the moment you entered the room earlier." Minju persisted, seeing how the girl's expression changed slightly. She probably hit something.

"I just missed you," Yujin answered, stopping at the red light as she looks at Minju with eyes that always makes the older girl think that she's fine. Sometimes she really is, sometimes. It gets confusing from time to time that Minju wonders who acts as a job.

"You just missed me?" Minju asked.

Yujin closed the gap between their faces. "Why are you asking me so many questions?" she asks sweetly with Minju's eyes intently looking at her.

"I'm worried about you," she said. Yujin's eye smiled gently as she planted a tiny kiss on the latter's forehead. "I appreciate that, but you worry about too many things." she ruffled Minju's hair and stepped on the accelerator.

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm an adult now, I can pretty much handle myself." She was right, there are things bothering the younger girl but she decided not to dig in too much.

"Why did you grow up..." Minju mumbled, earning a playful glare from Yujin.

"Why? You're afraid I'll no longer be your little baby?" Minju gave her a weird look. "You were cute back then," she responded.

Yujin squinted her eyes. "Yeah, I'm y now." she giggled and heard no response from Minju who couldn't deny that fact.

The younger reached out her right hand and took Minju's, lightly holding onto it. "Your hands would forever be small," she stated, intertwining their fingers and caressing the back of her hand gently with her thumb.

"Like a baby's." Yujin teased with an immediate smack given to her shoulder.










 

Minju took off her shoes with Yujin holding onto the door, also taking off her shoes. "What do you want to eat?" the older asked, putting her shoes on the shelf while Yujin closed the door behind them.

"Anything," she replied, taking off her jacket, draping it on the chair near the door. "You always say that and end up rejecting whatever I suggest." Minju nagged and heard a chuckle.

"Let's just go with whatever you want," Yujin spoke, going into the kitchen. "Or do you want me to cook something?" Minju walked in with hands on her hips, humming while thinking.

"Okay." With that, Yujin rummaged through the fridge while Minju pulled out the utensils in advance. "Go shower first," she told Minju who nodded and went into her room.










 

When Yujin finished preparing the food, she placed them on the table and went into Minju's room, hearing how the girl was still showering.

"Why does she take so long whenever she showers..." she mumbled softly, plopping onto the bed and staring at the ceiling with her legs dangling off the edge.

She heard a notification, lifting the phone that was beside her and squinted at the screen, realising it was Minju's. "Eh, this isn't mine." she was about to put it down but saw a familiar name appearing on the screen.

Kim Jungwoo: Do you want to go eat dinner after next week's show?

The girl frowned slightly and saw another message coming in.

Kim Jungwoo: If you're not free then how about weekends?

Yujin let out a small scoff and realise why Minju has been busy when she was working her off during promotions.

She put down the phone and just continued staring at the ceiling with her mind running to places she herself doesn't even want to go to.

There's no way she's going, right? But what if she does? Is that why she couldn't come when I asked her whether she wanted to follow me for Azzo's grooming? She never misses out on his grooming. Nah...it can't be. Can it?

The bathroom door opened with Minju walking out while drying her hair. "What are you doing?" Yujin lifted her head to see the older girl laughing, placing the towel back and slowly walking towards her.

Minju went on top of her and cupped Yujin's face. "Dinner's ready." the younger girl muttered while Minju was busy squishing her cheeks.

She pulled Yujin to sit up and wrapped her legs around her lower back. "Thank you," Minju spoke, hugging her which sent shudders down the younger girl's spine.

"Come on." Yujin was about to carry her up but the latter hugged her tighter. "Let's just stay like this for a while," Minju muttered into her ear, making the younger girl chuckle. The latter let out a small smile, pulling away slightly to steal a tiny kiss, hugging her again.

"Are we just going to continue staying like this?" Yujin spoke softly, hands slipping under the older girl's shirt, gently caressing the side of her body. "Hm?"

"You don't wanna tell the others?"

Minju slightly pulled away to look at her subtle pleading eyes. She's talking about disclosing their relationship to IZONE members, at least. "We can't. You know that." she gently drew her thumb over Yujin's cheek.

"Why?"

"Because we have Yena unnie," Minju said, making Yujin blink a few times, understanding what she says. "Right...she doesn't really know how to keep secrets." the younger girl spoke although deep down, she wants to go public.

"We'll work it out someday." Minju positively said, earning a slow nod from Yujin.












 

Minju walked by the recording studio, about to go meet some staff about her acting status, accidentally bumping into someone. "Oh, sorry." she bowed slightly.

"Jungwoo oppa?" she tilted her head, wondering why he was here. "What are you doing here?" Minju asked while they went on talking about some things.

"I'll see you on Saturday then." he ended the conversation while the latter bowed politely.











 

Yujin stepped out of the manager's car and entered the building—the company Minju's in.

She would always come here whenever she could after finishing her schedule with the group. Usually, she has to pull some strings just to get here since they're in the midst of promotions.

But it isn't a big deal to her as long as she gets to see Minju. It how their schedules clash most of the time, but at least she'll get to see her for a while.

Upon entering the glass doors, she spotted the girl from afar, holding onto a small stack of papers. She was about to run up to her but halted when she saw another familiar face going up to Minju.

A slight frown instantly drew upon her forehead, not knowing why she felt like killing someone on the spot. Is the music show not enough? Why is he here? Yujin took in a deep breath and cleared her mind.

It's not usual for her to think of things this way. But it just beats her that those people get to see her girlfriend more often than she does.

Sure, Minju is always right beside her. But it feels as if she were far apart, busy thinking about something else other than her. The time they've spent together has lessened without a doubt with Minju's busy schedule, being a newly debuted actress, preparing for endless amounts of auditions. Yujin knows that. Yujin knows that she's tired after a whole day of work.

She has a lot going on in her mind but doesn't want to spill it out to the person she loves, knowing how it would just act as an extra burden for Minju. She just wants to be there for her, be a shoulder for her to lie on whenever Minju's going through a hard time. Being an actress is way tougher than being an idol, Yujin thinks.

Having to go through multiple auditions just to get rejected no matter how popular you are. Those she has seen, she has seen how sad Minju gets whenever that happens. Her feelings might just get in the way of how her mind thinks.

Something within her made her turn, going back into the car that was waiting for her without seeing her girlfriend. She didn't want to see it. She didn't want to see how people have taken all the time from Minju. Something that was once abundant for them but now? It's something she wishes she had more of.










 

She went back to the dorm and just walked into the room without even greeting her members. Wonyoung found it weird that she didn't since she usually is very happy upon entering the dorm after going out. But that was honestly because Yujin has seen Minju that's why she'll be skipping into the dorm.

But today, that didn't seem like how it was.

The younger girl looked at Gaeul who shrugged, also noticing how their leader was not in the mood. She stood up and went towards Yujin's room, knocking and opening the door just to see how the girl was tightly wrapped up underneath her blanket.

"Unnie, what happened?" Wonyoung asked, sitting at the edge of the bed. "Go away," Yujin mumbled, feeling how the younger was shaking her leg, wanting to know what was up with her.

"You can talk to me," Wonyoung spoke and saw Yujin lifting the blanket off her head. Her eyes were slightly reddened with Wonyoung not having the knowledge of what happened.

"I know," she replied. But I won't. She put the blanket over her head again and curled up into a ball. "You don't have to go through this alone, you know?" Wonyoung spoke, trying to ease the older girl who kept silent.

She knows how Yujin has been stressed the moment this whole group happened, how she got appointed as a leader. She knows how hard it is to always be the one in charge of everything even though the members always help her out with whatever they could.

The truth is, she's still trying to get used to being a leader. For the past few years, there were many other people who were there for her, people she could rely on. And now that she's one of the oldest, she only has Gaeul to rely on. She doesn't want to scare the younger ones although she's only a year older than them.

Yujin wants them to be happy being able to debut. She doesn't want to put too much pressure on them despite handling them by herself. She thinks she can take it. But sometimes, just sometimes, it's all too much.

That's why she has Minju. Her secret, but not so secret person she could talk to. It's just, people get busy. Not everyone has the time for you.

Just then, Yujin received a message from Minju telling her that she can't make it to tonight's dinner that they always have. Every Friday night. But that recently changed to every once in two weeks.

"Unnie, are you dating someone?" Wonyoung asked, curious as to why her mood has been shaky the past few days. "No..." Yujin sniffed slightly.

"I'm fine. Just go and have dinner already. I'll be out in a minute." the older girl fanned Wonyoung away, making her pout as she obliged.

"We're having Gukbap." she reminded before leaving Yujin's room. The older girl let out a hefty and shaky sigh, slowly sitting up as she wiped her tears that accidentally escaped.










 

Another few days went by, Yujin managed to sneak out of their dorm to go to Minju's apartment.

Upon reaching, she knocks on the door and waited for Minju to come. But instead of the usual, happy, excited greeting she'd get from Minju who would throw herself onto her, she was greeted by restless, exhausted Minju.

"You could've just come in yourself, you know." the older girl tirelessly walked back into the house with a book in her hand.

She stopped walking when she didn't hear the door close, turning around to see Yujin still standing outside.

"Unnie, you think you're the only one that's tired?"

Minju got taken aback slightly by the formality and walked towards her, seeing how cold her gaze was. It's the first time seeing her like this.

"Yujin-ah, is something wrong?" she asked and was about to pull her into the house since it was getting cold, but the latter refused. "You, unnie," she replied.

Minju tilted her head. "Why do I come here when you're just going to do your stuff and make it seem as if I'm not there?" Yujin mindlessly spoke with eyes quivering.

"Do you hav