The familiar noise of a person keying in the code reverberated and the door swung open, revealing a beautiful raven-haired woman whose generous lips was the most distinctive facial feature. Her lips were painted in rose gold, her plump cheeks flushed.

The light from the corridor outside of the apartment shone in, casting the woman in deep shadows. However, it was clear that she was wearing a faint yellow off-shoulder dress that was almost scandalous at the right angle since it had such a deep cleavage that revealed most of her pert and soft hills and its hem of the dress only reaching mid-thigh.

She nearly tripped when she tried to remove one of her knee-length cream hue boots at the door, catching herself at the last moment.

“Unnie?” Moon Byulyi called out, anxious. She leapt out of the grey sofa to check on her leader, Solar of MAMAMOO or Kim Yongsun. “Are you OK?”

The annoyed woman sat on her pert bottom, ignoring how she was giving the blond woman a free show. She pouted petulantly and Byulyi threw her head backwards and chuckled freely, her nose scrunched and the Indian dimples appearing on her face. “Help me!” ordered Yongsun sternly, pouting.

Mirth only danced in Byulyi’s brown eyes since all authority had fizzed from that adorable pout. Pity this helpless and clumsy woman, she closed the distance between them and reached for the other boot, averting her gaze so that she would not stare . If they were in public, she would have protected her modesty with her hands.

Byulyi dragged it off Yongsun’s straightened leg and placed the expensive footwear aside. Her leader would clean them before storing these boots due to the pale cream shade later. “Unnie, why are you so late? I thought that your schedule ought to end two hours earlier. Did something happen?”

The pale-haired woman was going to help her up to her feet when she caught a spicy and musky fragrance along with the intoxicating smell of alcohol. Her brows furrowed at once. “Unnie, are you foxed?” Her voice hitched slightly with shock. Everyone who was acquainted with Kim Yongsun would know that she had poor alcohol tolerance, just a can of beer would be sufficient to send the bubbly vocalist to a high that was both adorable and annoying. When that high faded, she would crash and sleep the alcohol out.

“No,” defended Yongsun firmly, holding her gaze. “I shared a can of beer.” She looked so proud of herself that Byulyi ached to hit her on the shoulders. Instead, she settled for shaking her head lightly.

“Who is this idiot who convinced you to drink?” She muttered to herself, exasperated. A part of her was worried that this other party might have invited Yongsun to drink to take advantage of the singer. “Who were you with?”

“Why so many questions?” Yongsun whined, grabbing her shoulder as a support and stood on her feet shakily. Byulyi extended her hand to support her instinctively before getting on her feet too. “You’re Moon Fart, not Moon Umma.” She sniggered at her joke.

Byulyi frowned again at the foreign and annoying smell that clung to the skin of Yongsun that had her stomach knotted uncomfortably. She ignored her first instinct of shoving the shorter woman away from her, remembering that she was inebriated. “Whatever. Shower now, Unnie.” Byulyi commanded. She retreated to the sofa to continue watching the drama.

Her interest in the drama had waned, her mind preoccupied with the owner of that foreign, spicy and musky scent. Could it be Yongsun’s new perfume? She waited until her leader wandered into the common shower before she went into her bedroom to check.

There was a line of perfume arranged neatly on the vanity table in Yongsun’s room. She checked every bottle and frowned. No, they were fruity and sweet, the sort of fragrance that Yongsun loved.

That sweet and fruity scent that she had associated positively with comfort, security and fun. It only reminded her of the moments that Yongsun would permit her to bury her face into her neck as she slapped her shoulder out of mortification, or even the singer herself.

The conclusion shook her very being—the fragrance belonged to another person who was very physical intimate with her leader. Her brows snapped together as a cold sinking sensation filled her stomach.

A date?

Her mind backpedalled to their conversation at the entrance. Her brutally blunt Yongsun who was used to her invasive personal questions had avoided giving her an answer.

Her final schedule of the day ought to be being a guest on ‘Radio Star’. She was invited by a close friend. Who was this close friend again. She retreated to the sofa and pondered on their recent conversations.

Not Lee Changsub, not Lee Yikung. She glared at the TV, running through the list of friends of Yongsun in the entertainment industry. Surprising, it was getting extensive. There was a sudden dip on the sofa and the clean, fruity and sweet scent filled her nose, chasing away the tension in her body.

“Byulie, what are you watching? Isn’t this the drama that Umma is hooked on?” Her voice was hoarse with weariness as she lay across the sofa.

The blond rapper nodded distractedly. “Yea. I haven’t caught up.”

Yongsun snorted and stretched her legs over her thighs. The rapper had invited herself over to her apartment so many times that she had stopped asking her why she was sitting in her living room in the middle of the night, watching drama. “What’s this drama about anyway?”

The rapper explained briefly—she had lost count of the number of times that she had explained the plot to Yongsun—knowing that she would forget once again. She was certain that Unnie would ask her this same question the next time she caught her watching this drama series in her living room. “I’m a little hungry. Do you want supper, Unnie? I could get a side of tteokbokki.” She picked up her mobile and scanned for late night supper.

Yongsun shook her head lightly. “I just had supper. I treated Sodamie to a late dinner.” She sat up, massaging her shoulders absently. “I’m knackered.” She patted Byulyi’s thigh causally. “Let yourself out later, Byulie.” The mildly intoxicated singer did not notice the way Byulyi had stiffened visibly at her offhanded remark. She simply scooted off the sofa and headed to her bedroom to turn in for the night.

In a most dark living room, lighted only by the TV, Byulyi’s expression was strangely haunting.

The next two days were odd for the two older members of MAMAMOO. They were busy with their own schedules. Byulyi spent most of her downtime training for ‘Kick a goal’ along with her packed schedule of Studio Moon Night and participating in the matches.

Another session of Studio Moon Night had ended on a high note. She thanked her guests, an up-and-coming idol girl group who was initially very star-struck with her, an issue she had faced almost every time when she met new girl groups.

It had been a headache for the affable and handsome rapper to think of ways to break the ice whenever she hosted unfamiliar idol—friends that she had not met. The newer girl groups were always so open with their enamour with Moonbyul.

After all, she was the rapper that cemented the whole new genre of female idols known as ‘Girl Crush’, female idols that were more attractive than men in three-piece suits and oozed of charms that kept the female fans hooked.

Moonbyul may be a charismatic, larger-than-life idol that broke the mould of female idols and expanded the industry’s tolerance for differing beauty standards, but Moon Byulyi was just a down-to-earth woman who loved photography, meeting new and interesting people and making others comfortable. She was genuinely interested in every guest that she had the opportunity to meet and melted them with her sincerity and sweet scent.

“How are you today?”

“I really like your new album.”

“Is this OK for you?”

“What? You’re so pretty. You should be more confident!”

Byulyi tucked her hands into the pockets of her distressed jeans after bowing at the passing staff of Naver, thanking them for their hard work. One of the members greeted her and enquired about her sweet fragrance.

The blond rapper lighted up immediately and showed her the hand cream she used before the broadcast. She offered it to the idol and the latter took it and had a quick sniff, nodding to herself. This was the fragrance that she had picked up from Moonbyul when they were sitting next to each other.

The helpful Byulyi naturally guided the idol on purchasing this hand cream online if she wanted. She was so focused on her mobile that she did not notice that the idol was stealing glances at her frequently.

The idol noticed that there was a strand of hair on Byulyi’s plaited dress shirt and plucked it off her, surprising the rapper. She showed her the hair and blushed coyly. “Bad habit. I like to make sure that my members are immaculate.”

Byulyi smiled, her nose scrunched. “I know what you mean. I can’t help grooming my members if their hair looked out of place. Usually, Solar-nim is my unfortunate target since she is the closest to me.” She chuckled, her nose scrunching.

The conversation only ended when the rest of the group fetched their errant member since their transport had arrived. With the departure of her guests, it was a wrapped up. She walked to her white SUV.

She checked her mobile swiftly and found that her best friend had once again committed that unpardonable sin of blue-ticking her—reading the message without acknowledging her. Her indecisiveness about her next destination despite the late hour dissipated at once when she decided to head to Kim Yongsun’s apartment just to pester the older woman to complete her day.

Should she just pop by?

Her mind was assailed by the anxiety that she was no longer the only friend that Yongsun could hang out at night. She slipped into the driver’s seat automatically and strapped herself in.

The singer may not even be at home. She ran her hand through her blond hair absently, frustrated. Sweet and refreshing Park Sodam thought of Yongsun when there were job opportunities. Park Sodam had a natural and comfortable friendship with Yongsun since the first time they had met each other in 2016. The friendship was so comfortable that Sodam could leave her fragrance on Yongsun.

The bitterness surprised Byulyi with its intensity. She blinked in surprise when she realised that her knuckles had shone white from clenching the steering wheel far too hard. The rapper took a deep breath and rubbed her face with a hand, wearily. What was wrong with her? Thankfully, the rapper did not need to focus on the roads as she drive towards the Kim’s apartment near the Han River.

That left her with some time to think about this foreign tension that seemed to encroach their comfortable and unique friendship. Byulyi was trying to convince herself that she was far too sensitive and silly. Objectively, she was really blessed with such a supportive friend and colleague whom she could laugh with after sharing a glance.

The rapper was close to the other members of MAMAMOO too but the chemistry between she and Yongsun was on another level. Which other friend got her like how Yongsun do or enjoy their playful banters? She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. Yea, why should she care that Yongsun hid the fact that she had supper with the actress?

She inhaled deeply and expelled the breath after a count of three. She was probably on the edge due to her exhaustive schedule. With the end of pandemic in sight, she had launched herself into as much work as she could, releasing another full album, along with a mini album.

She was probably over-worrying once again. After all, nothing had happened between Yongsun and Sodam when they had spent so much time together filming ‘Gaemsung Camping’, nothing had happened between them when Yongsun was truly suffering from acute loneliness when the pandemic shred the veneer of an idol.

The tension that built up in her body dissipated slightly. On the other hand, her relationship with Yongsun deepened considerably. She had started the routine of popping up in Yongsun’s apartment unannounced and treated it just like her own home. The vocalist might have complaint when she stumbled into the rapper lying across the sofa, playing mobile games, but she was secretly glad to have her companionship.

She smiled to herself, her nose scrunching. They spent hours bickering like little children, much to the amusement of Kim Yonghee or Big Unnie.

“Yah, Byul ! why did you eat my apple? I was saving it for later!”

“It’s in your fridge. Just eat something else.”

“Oh, you little punk!”

She cocked her head slightly. Maybe, just maybe… She scarcely wish to start on this slippery slope but she could not help entertaining her fear—just maybe the thought that Yongsun might not be her greatest cheerleader and person?

She bit her lip, annoyed. She turned up the volume of the radio until she could no longer hear her own thoughts. The drive to the Kim’s apartment was smooth and soon, she had parked her white SUV in an empty slot and turned off the engine.

It was her final chance to back out and head home since she had not committed herself to hang out with Yongsun after the gig at Naver. She reached for her mobile once again and found no response from her leader. She clicked her tongue, her brows furrowing. “Seriously, Unnie. You’re annoying,” remarked Byulyui to herself, stomping out of the vehicle and locking it.

The rapper had put on her face mask, a habit more than a necessity and padded towards the empty lobby, not expecting to meet anyone at this late hour. Would Yongsun still be awake at this hour? She was feeling a little peckish and considered ordering food delivery to Yongsun’s apartment.

She was scrolling through the list, filtering the search to eateries that delivered delicious tteokbokki that met the standards of Yongsun. She stumbled into some late-night snack she would like decided on that eatery. Before she made her payment, she added one more serving at the last minute, just in case either one Unnie wanted supper.

Absently, Byulyi removed her shoes and keyed the passcode to open the door and entered the apartment without lifting her head from her mobile. She automatically placed her boots at the side with a hand while fiddling with her mobile.

The sounds of television was a signpost to Yongsun’s location in the comfortable and clean apartment. The floor felt clean, a sign that the restless Yongsun had spent some time earlier in the day cleaning the apartment.

“Byulie, have you eaten something?” Yongsun asked, poking her head to look at her. Her long black hair was tied in a comfortable updo with tendrils of hair escaping from the messy bun. She was lounging around in long-sleeved pyjama