“Hyejin-ah?” Yongsun called, shaking the maknae’s shoulder and waking the younger girl from the well deserved nap she was having on the couch in their practice room. “Hyejin-ah?”

“Mmh, ‘nnie, yes? Break over?” Hyejin asked, sleep heavy in her eyes, doing her best to get up and get ready for more long hours of practice.

“Not yet, sweetie. I… uhm. Sorry I woke you up. I wanted to ask you for advice on something.”

Now Hyejin’s attention was fully roused. “Me? Advice?” she asked with wide eyes.

The leader nodded, looking at her own feet.

Hyejin looked around. “Are Byulyi unnie and Wheein still out for lunch?”

Again, a quiet nod.

“Unnie, you’re making me worried. What is it?”

Yongsun cleared . “Jinnie, have you…”

Hyejin furrowed her brow and placed a hand on Yongsun’s shoulder, urging her on.

“… you’ve had boyfriends before, haven’t you?” Yongsun blurted out.

“Uhm… yes?” Hyejin replied tentatively, not sure where the leader was going with that question. “Unnie, do you need me to explain about the birds and the bees and all that?” she joked, attempting to make her unnie laugh and ligthen the mood. Yongsun shoved an elbow in her side playfully.

“With your boyfriends, how did you… I mean, what was the moment, uhm, how could you tell you were in love?” Silence filled the room for a long moment. “Close your mouth, Hyejin-ah, or flies will get in.”

“Unnie, I’ve had boyfriends but I don’t think I’ve ever been in love.”

“Oh. Okay. Never mind then.”

No one spoke for a minute. Yongsun was busy playing with the scrunchie she had on her wrist, seemingly finding it the most interesting object in the world. Hyejin, in the meanwhile, studied the leader’s face with careful attention, as she never had before. The maknae spoke first.

“Unnie, are you having boy troubles?”

Right that moment, the practice door room opened and Wheein and Byulyi appeared, laughing and exchanging comments about the delicious Italian food they just had. Wheein was fanning herself with the restaurant flyer while Byulyi tried to position herself as to steal Wheein’s air, giggling.

Hyejin watched Yongsun’s eyes light up as their members entered the room, her gaze softening as it landed on Byulyi. The rapper marched across the room and threw herself on the couch where the leader and the maknae were sitting, not even pretending to land on Yongsun’s lap by accident.

“Unnie,” Byulyi giggled. “I ate my weight in garlic bread. Do I feel heavier? I can’t dance like this, tell her, Wheein-ah.”

“Aish,” Yongsun complained, securing her arms around Byulyi’s waist. “Get off me!”

Byulyi laughed as she rested her weight on the leader even further, her back glued to Yongsun’s chest. Hyejin raised an eyebrow.

“Aigoo, this girl!” the leader protested, not loosening her grip on Byulyi’s trunk. “Go away!”

Byulyi let herself slide down Yongsun’s lap until her head was on the leader’s chest, limp, still giggling. Hyejin watched as the rapper took Yongsun’s hands and used them to pat her own belly. “Mamamoo is disbanding because their rapper is pregnant with a garlic bread baby,” she laughed, making Wheein laugh along.

“Aish!!! You’re so weird! Get off me!” Yongsun screamed.

But Byulyi didn’t get off Yongsun, and Yongsun’s arms stayed locked around Byulyi’s waist, and Hyejin was looking so carefully that she saw what happened next.

Yongsun lowered her head ever so slightly, her nose right above Byulyi’s hair.

She closed her eyes.

She inhaled, so subtly that if Hyejin hadn’t been paying close attention, she would have missed it.

She smiled the most imperceptible of smiles.

She tightened her arms around Byulyi.

Boy troubles, my , Hyejin thought.

The light coming from her phone screen distracted Yongsun from her tv show. She grabbed her phone and saw a notification from Hyejin. She glanced at the time, worringly.

Jinnie
10:48pm
Unnie, we never got to finish our conversation earlier
I can’t help you directly, as I said, but I did some research for you

Yongsun unnie
10:49pm
Go to bed Jinnie, we have practice tomorrow

Jinnie
10:49pm
Five ways to tell if you’re in love with someone according to science

Yongsun unnie
10:50pm
Jeez, it’s too late for this
Forget it please

Jinnie
10:51pm
Just read the list, unnie
You don’t have to tell me anything, just read it

Yongsun unnie
10:51pm
Fine
Let’s hear it

Jinnie
10:53pm
N.1, you go to sleep and wake up thinking about them

Yongsun read Hyejin’s message, her eyes darting away from her phone, deep in thought.

I don’t go to sleep thinking about her. Like, okay, sometimes I do, but that’s because I imagine being cuddled to relax before sleep, and she’s the only person who cuddles me during the day. So in a way I don’t ever think about her - I just think about her touch sometimes. If manager unnie in a gorilla suit made a point to cuddle me during the day, I could fall asleep thinking about manager unnie in a gorilla suit.

Satisfied, Yongsun returned to the text.

… and wake up thinking about them. No, that’s definitely not a thing.

You literally woke up thinking about her for the past month, Yongsun, a little voice inside her head rebutted.

That doesn’t count!, Yongsun replied to herself. If you dream about someone, it’s only natural that you wake up thinking about them, she thought resolutely. And I can’t control my dreams, and the text doesn’t say anything about dreams, so that doesn’t count.

Her phone vibrated again.

Jinnie
10:55pm
Ready for 2?
N.2, you feel intense empathy towards them

Bull. I feel intense empathy towards all my members. I’m their leader.

Except you don’t get what Hyejin is thinking with a simple look. That little voice again. And when Wheein cries, you don’t feel like you can’t breathe.

But Byulyi is the most vulnerable. That’s why she affects me more. Plus, Wheein and Hyejin have each other. Byulyi is alone here, and she has a hard time being a rapper in a group of vocalists, and she’s fragile, always wearing her heart on her sleeve, thinking of everyone else before she thinks about herself - Yongsun’s heart constricted as she engaged in these thoughts.

That’s empathy, Yongsun. You’re empathizing, the little voice remarked.

No, Yongsun thought. It’s called being a decent person and a good friend.

Yongsun unnie
10:58pm
Not in love so far haha
What’s number three?

Jinnie
11:00pm
N.3, you feel a craving for physical intimacy with them

You can’t deny this one, don’t even start, the little voice inside Yongsun took center stage before Yongsun had the chance to formulate a conscious thought.

Yongsun’s memory went back to a couple of hours earlier. She had just arrived home after a long day of practice. A long day of watching Byulyi dance, every sway of her hips so modest and yet so enticing to Yongsun. Around halfway through their practice, a tired and uncomfortable Byulyi had thrown away her heels and minidress and changed into a simple black t-shirt, sweatpants and gym shoes. Her movements had become immediately more fluid, the simple fact of being comfortable in her clothes lending a special something to the rapper’s dancing. Hot, was the only word Yongsun had for it. She had become quite distracted because of it. Byulyi’s dancing - how her sweat smelled - her slender wrists - when Yongsun got into this mood, even the sound of Byulyi’s deep voice started making her, well, distracted.

Once she got home, she didn’t think too much about it. She was tired and in dire need of decompression and relaxation. She threw her bag on the floor, laid down on her bed and slid her hand down her pants until she was Byulyi’s name.

Fine, I did do that.

You do that pretty regularly, the little voice added, merciless.

Fine! That’s lust, though. It doesn’t mean I’m in love.

Stop fooling yourself, Yongsun, the voice admonished.

Jinnie
11:10pm
Still there, unnie?
Did you fall asleep? 😉

Yongsun unnie
11:11pm
Nope, still awake
Four?

Jinnie
11:12pm
N4, you notice yourself planning the future with them in mind

She’s my future, was the first, spontaneous thought Yongsun had. She couldn’t even tell anymore if it was the little voice talking, or her regular thoughts, or if the two had just merged into one. She just knew she couldn’t imagine a future without Byulyi in it.

But wait.

She did as instructed, welcoming the contradiction inside herself, and waited for the skeptical voice in her brain to come up with a counterattack.

Your future is Mamamoo, that’s why you want Byulyi in it.

Before Yongsun had time to convince herself that that thought was the right one, the little impertinent voice came back with a vengence. What if Mamamoo disbanded? You’d be okay just letting her go?

No! Everything inside Yongsun’s body rebelled at the question. It wasn’t just the two voices in her brain anymore - her heart, her stomach, her whole being had decided to take part in the debate, and had voiced their opinion loud and clear.

. I’m in love with Byulyi.

Yongsun pressed a button on her phone and then pressed her phone to her ear. Not even halfway through the first ring, she heard Hyejin’s familiar, reassuring voice through the speaker.

“Unnie?” she asked, a bit uncertain. “Why did you call? I wasn’t done with the list.”

“I just needed to hear your voice,” Yongsun replied, her voice trembling. “Hyejin-ah, I, uhm… I think I’m…” Yongsun trailed off, losing momentum.

“You can tell me, unnie,” Hyejin encouraged her friend, her voice a gentle whisper through the phone line. “I’m here for you. You’ll feel better.”

Hyejin could hear the leader quietly sniffling on the other end. This was surreal - she and Yongsun were friends by now, their early career disagreements now well past them, but the leader had never showed this side of herself to Hyejin - or Wheein, for that matter. This thing between Yongsun and Byulyi is serious, Hyejin thought. Not a simple crush between members.

“Unnie?” she called again. “Are you still there?”

Yongsun took a deep audible breath. “Iminlovewithbyulyi,” she blurted out, and her voice broke on the last syllable into deep sobs.

Hyejin let her cry, interceding with occasional reassuring murmurs along the lines of “I know, unnie,” and “I know it’s hard,” and “it’s gonna be okay, I promise”.

“Hyejin-ah,” Yongsun started when she had calmed down a bit. “What if she doesn’t love me back?” she asked in horror.

“Unnie,” Hyejin began, and Yongsun could practically see her raising one eyebrow in response. “I don’t know how Byulyi unnie feels, but she’s as gay as a window and you’re the best thing in her life, clearly. So I would at least give it a go if I were you,” she reasoned calmly.

“I need to ask her,” Yongsun realized quietly, as if she hadn’t heard a word. “I need to tell her.”

“Yes, you do.”

“What if it goes horribly wrong?”

“If it goes horribly wrong Wheein and I will take you out and make you drink so much and have so much fun you’ll forget that Byulyi ever existed.”

Yongsun chuckled.

“But, unnie,” Hyejin continued, “it’s not gonna go horribly wrong. I bet all those hypothetical drinks that it’s gonna go amazingly right.”

The two friends stayed silent for a bit, contemplating a possible future if Hyejin’s prediction turned out to be correct.

“Hyejin-ah, what was number five?” Yongsun interrupted the silence.

“Ah, number five,” Hyejin laughed. “Number five, you need to know if your feelings are reciprocated.”

“Break!” Yongsun called, and the three other girls threw themselves on the floor, their limbs not collaborating after hours of practice.

Everyone eventually regained their strenght, and Byulyi was the first to get up. “Wheein-ah!” she called. “Italian restaurant again? That garlic bread is calling me. These two dieters don’t know what they’re missing,” she added, gesturing towards Hyejin and Yongsun.

Wheein nodded eagerly and was about to open to voice her enthusiasm when Hyejin interceded.

“Actually, our friend from school is in Seoul today, and Wheein and I are supposed to go say hi to her during our break, remember, Wheein-ah?” she remarked with a certain emphasis, shooting Wheein a meaningful look.

The girl had no idea what was going on, but trusted her best friend. “Uhm, right! I forgot. Sorry, Byulyi unnie. We can go tomorrow.”

The maknae grabbed her best friend’s wrist and dragged her out of the room.

“What’s going on?” Wheein asked when they were out of earshot.

“It’s a little long to explain, but short version - don’t be shocked - Yongsun unnie is gonna confess to Byulyi unnie.”

“Finally!”

“Wait - you knew?”

“Mmh, well,” Wheein said apologetically. “Byulyi unnie told me she’s head over heels in love with Yongsun unnie - in these exact words - about six months ago.”

“Wheein-ah!” Hyejin admonished her best friend.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! She made me promise not to tell!”

Hyejin glared.

“I’ll make it up to you, Jinnie - no diet for today, and lunch is on me.” Hyejin’s face softened a bit hearing those words. “Plus,” Wheein continued, “I thought I didn’t need to tell you. It was damn obvious.”

Hyejin’s frown reappeared. “And you call yourself my best friend, Jung Wheein. Thank your lucky stars you’re so cute, I can’t fight with you.”

Wheein giggled. “Come on, Ahn Hyejin. Let’s go eat.”

Back in their practice room, Yongsun and Byulyi were sitting awkwardly on the same couch where Yongsun and Hyejin had sat a day earlier.

By now, Byulyi knew that something was going on - Yongsun was being super weird, and the kids had been super weird too, and Byulyi hoped this wasn’t anything to do with her performance in the group - what had she done wrong this time? What was Yongsun going to tell her? Was she going to kick her out of the group? Had everyone finally realized that this amazing vocal group didn’t even need a rapper after all? Or what if the CEO had decided to disband Mamamoo? Or maybe Yongsun had finally found a boyfriend and had been waiting for the right moment to tell her?

All of Byulyi’s worst fears crowded her head and clouded her eyes.

“You said you wanted Italian,” Yongsun interrupted her catastrophizing. “Shall I order some for you?” she asked kindly.

Oh god, Byulyi thought. Why is she being so kind and formal? Her stomach tied up in a knot. “I’m not that hungry anymore,” she murmured.

“Oh, okay,” Yongsun replied casually, a slight tremor in her voice making it sound very off to Byulyi’s attentive ears. “Byul-ah, listen, I wanted to talk to you.”

Here we go.

“I’m not gonna beat around the bush.”

Byulyi braced internally for whatever terrible news she was going to receive.

“Have you ever been in love?”

Byulyi blinked slowly. This was completely different from what she expected to hear. Yongsun was asking her if she had ever been in love. Out of everyone in the world who could have asked this question, Yongsun was asking it. Byulyi smiled in spite of herself, and nodded.

“Are you in love with someone right now?”

The knot in Byulyi’s stomach came back with a vengeance. Why was Yongsun asking her this? She couldn’t be… no. It wasn’t possible. Yongsun would never. And yet, she had to be honest with her.

Byulyi nodded again, this time gravely, her eyes not meeting Yongsun’s.

“I’m in love with someone too,” Yongsun continued, her voice shaking. “I wasn’t sure at first. Hyejin helped me figure it out. She gave me a list of five signs you’re in love with someone. Wanna hear?”

Byulyi’s mouth was dry, she realized as she opened and closed it, and her parched lips. Yongsun noticed and silently passed her a bottle of water, which Byulyi accepted thankfully, taking long gulps from it.

This familiar exchange was enough to do away with the formality and awkwardness - reminding Byulyi that this was her Yongsun, and reminding Yongsun that this was her Byulyi, that they understood each other without words, and that they were as necessary to each other as drinking water, and nothing could ever change that.

“Yes, please, Yong,” Byulyi finally spoke, a sweetness in her voice that tugged at Yongsun’s heart strings. “Let’s hear it.”

“Okay,” Yongsun grabbed her phone, found the texts she was looking for, and started reading with a glint in her eyes. She had understood in one second, from the way in which Byulyi had said her name, that it was going to be okay.

“Number one, you go to sleep and wake up thinking about them.”

Byulyi nodded. “Yep. All the time.”

“Same here,” Yongsun smiled, before continuing. “Number two, you feel intense empathy towards them.”

Byulyi’s eyes became so warm that they seemed to engulf Yongsun in a visual hug. “Yes,” she nodded once again. “Yes, of course.”

Yongsun reciprocated the warm gaze. “Of course,” she echoed. “Me too.” She cleared . “Number three, you feel a craving for physical intimacy with them.”

Byulyi blushed instantly, her eyes returning to the floor.

“Don’t be shy,” Yongsun whispered. “I can tell you I do.”

Byulyi’s eyes met Yongsun’s again in utter surprise. “You do?” she asked, slightly open, lips glistening.

“I do,” Yongsun confirmed softly. “Do you?”

Byulyi’s eyes traveled south again in embarassment, but this time stopped at Yongsun’s knees. “Yeah,” she finally admitted, modestly.

Yongsun smiled to herself at how conservative Byulyi was being before continuing. “Number four, you notice yourself planning the future with them in mind.”

“Always,” Byulyi said softly. She timidly looked at Yongsun, who was giving her a bright smile.

“Me too,” the older girl beamed. “Byul-ah, ready for number five?”

Byulyi nodded eagerly for the umpteenth time in the short time since the start of the conversation.

“Number five,” Yongsun announced solemnly, “you need to know if your feelings are recipr-”

Byulyi’s lips crashed on Yongsun’s, providing all the confirmation of reciprocity either of them could ever want or need.

“Should we tell them that our break has been over for half an hour already?”

“I say yes. They have the rest of their lives to make out, I want to be done with pratice and go home.”

“You’re so cynical, Wheeinie.”

“And you’re a hopeless romantic.”

“I’m just happy for them - they deserve it.”

“You know what this means, right?” Wheein gestured towards the half open door to the practice room, where their unnies were still on the couch, kissing each other’s faces off. “All the flirting and the bickering we’ve endured so far - multiply ten times.”

“I’ll tell you what, Jung Wheein,” Hyejin spoke, and Wheein raised an eyebrow. “If it gets too much, we leave them to their own devices and go form our own subunit.”

Wheein laughed and shook her best friend’s hand. “Deal.”

Author's note: Big thank you to Eskacang for the prompt! Hope you like the story.