The whole experience is, a terrific struggle for Yong as expected. She had absolutely no idea what to do with herself, more so when the first month passed with no direct contact with Byul. Every day she would face the world strongly, but at least once in every open period within her schedule, she would find herself staring blankly into space.

As the weeks went by, Wheein and Hyejin had to try and spend every Thursday evening with Yong, that being when Byul's show would air, to try and alleviate her heartbreaking meltdowns.

If she had something scheduled at the show's broadcast time someone would have to record it properly otherwise she'd have to wait for YouTube clips, since the show had no replays. Which is kind of equivalent to another meltdown. It's only happened once, as everyone was super busy at the time, and after the week that followed of a sullen, silent Solar, all Mamamoo staff (RBW + The L1ve combined) made a group chat where on Thursdays they could panic about whether or not Solar could watch the show's telecast live, or if it had to be recorded, and finalize who would do the recording.

One Thursday night (the episode of the “Love Challenge”), at the Yong residence, Yonghee's mouth was compelled to open, having seen enough of her sister's melodramatic suffering. Wheein and Hyejin had taken their leave not 15 minutes ago after watching the show with them and pointing out just how much more grown up their Byul-unnie had become, and how she was transforming into some kind of philosopher.

Out of the blue, Yonghee goes, "I've always kind of known, you know."

Yong, still with a cracked voice, sniffles, and a cute but pitiful frown on her face: "Known what?"

"You and Byul. Or, at least how special Byul is in general, and how special she is to you, and how much you mean to her."

Yongsun is contemplative for a little bit, and then answers, "How come you never pointed that out before?"

"Because, honestly, did I ever really need to? What would that achieve?"

Little Yong just looks down at her toes. Byul would always say her toes were--goddammit Byulyi I really don’t need you in my head this much!

Yonghee goes to hold her little sister from behind for Yongsun to lay her head on the older’s chest. "And if I had any more opinions about it, which I did, I wouldn't have said them either. You both seem to have something so terrifyingly precious. You know how precious things are sometimes, they can break so easily regardless of how much time and dedication it took to put them together. It is precious and considering this country where we live, it's even MORE fragile, like five times as much as already known precious things. I wouldn't wanna risk meddling and it wasn't my place anyways. In any case, I have eyes and a human heart. Your fans don’t go crazy when you so much as whisper on-stage for nothing, I’m sure.”

It occurs to Yongsun that if her unnie had something to say about her and Byul, then, “What about our parents?”

BY: “What about them?”

Y: “Have they ever, you know, said anything?”

BY: “But hadn’t Byulyi already declared herself our maknae in their faces?”

Y: “One context could be completely different from another, unnie.”

BY: “Okay well one time I saw appa watching the two of you interact quietly. I seriously thought he was going to cry.”

Y: “Unnie you can’t be exaggerating things like this.”

BY: “I’m not, have I ever?

No, Yonghee isn’t known to exaggerate at all. That’s not sarcastic.

Y: “...no.”

BY: “I think humans recognize love when its purest form shows itself, babe. And our parents only ever gave us a hard time out of love, and that’s how they showed it to us. In a way, watching the two of you, appa was seeing a manifestation of love better than what he and omma were able to show us.”

Y: “Unnie, that's such a bold conclusion.”

BY: “No, I mean...look what time is it?”

Y: “All of a sudden?”
BY: “You know how prestigious and well-respected it is, don’t you? The program Byul is on?”

Yongsun makes her classic confused face, and Big Yong sighs.

BY: “It was on the news all over the world for its unique, meaningful twist on reality show TV! You never wondered why all these big brands are the sponsors?”

Y: “...No, Unnie, I mean, yes I know it's a big deal, I supported her joining the show for that reason. What I'm confused about is what that has to do with our parents.”

BY: “Ugh, anyway look omma’s going to call me in the next five minu–”

Yonghee’s phone starts ringing.

BY: “See? Like clockwork!”

Growing up, Yongsun thought the whole world of her unnie. This adoration of her older sister that has never waned is the reason why they are inseparable to this very day. At times like this, Yongsun remembers why.

Y: “Yah unnie, you must really be a god, like Byul says all the time.”

Yonghee goes and picks up her mom’s call, putting her on loudspeaker. She puts a finger to her lips to tell little Yong to be quiet.

BY: “Omma!”
Omma: “Yonghee-yah. Your sister’s not around, is she? Go somewhere she’s not.”
BY: “Omma I already know what to do by now, you call me almost every Thursday after the show since it started.”
 

Their omma doesn’t answer right away making Yonghee think the call got dropped.

BY: “Omma? Yeoboseyeo?”

Omma: “...omo, child I’m sorry I stopped speaking I just, our Byulyi was so sweet and kind in this episode I was really crying,”

BY: “I know Omma, we were crying too.”

Omma: “How is your dongsaeng? Is she holding up okay?”

BY: “I guess omma, Wheein and H