“I’m back!” RaeIn exclaimed, though rather dully. She had gone out for about an hour to meet with a couple of MAKIKO’s stylists.

“What’s wrong, Unni?” JulSu asked. She walked out of the kitchen and into the living room with a piece of toast sticking out of . KaHee followed behind her with a plate of pancakes.

“My costume doesn’t fit me anymore. Unni said I need to lose weight,” RaeIn said sadly as she plopped onto the couch.

“You’re going on a diet? That’s weird, you never go on diets,” KaHee chipped in as she sat down next to RaeIn and stuffed with a large piece of her pancake.

“Yeah, I know. I’m so sad!” RaeIn whined.

“You know what that means,” JulSu said gravely. “No more ice-cream.”

“No ice-cream?” RaeIn’s eyes grew larger. “But—“

“No, Unni, you can’t have ice-cream,” KaHee pointed her fork at RaeIn before taking another bite of her pancakes.

“Can’t I have a final meal or something?” RaeIn pleaded.

“No, I’m sorry, Unni. You have to start now,” said JulSu supportively. “KaHee and I will help you, though! We’re probably going to have to diet also anyway, so we’ll go on the diet with you! Right, KaHee?”

“Thirteen?!” KaHee exclaimed, jumping up. She had her plate of pancakes in one hand and her cell phone in the other.

“Thir… teen?” RaeIn repeated, scratching the side of her head in confusion. JulSu raised an eyebrow at the maknae.

“Yeah,” KaHee said as she began to walk away from her friends and towards her room. “I got 13 missed calls from JunHyung-oppa. I guess I should call him back…”

“She wasn’t even paying attention to what I was saying,” JulSu said disappointed, crossing her arms and pouting.

However, RaeIn wasn’t paying attention either. She checked her own phone and found that she received no new calls and no new messages.“What did JunHyung want with KaHee?”

——-

“What do you want now, Oppa?” KaHee asked as she sat down in front of JunHyung in one of CUBE’s practice rooms.

“I’m sorry for calling you again, but I wanted to talk to you about something that was bothering me.”

KaHee grinned coyly. “Is it about Unni?”

JunHyung quickly jumped up and brought a finger to his lips to shush her. Then, he ran to close the door, but not before looking around to double check that no one was listening. He returned to KaHee and nodded as a response to her question.

“Well, yeah, it’s about RaeInnie. I tried talking to YoSeob about it, but he kept covering his ears and singing…”

“Right, okay,” KaHee said uninterested in the extraneous details. “But what about Unni?”

“Well, remember when we filmed for ‘Picnic with Bakery?’” KaHee nodded. “Do you remember how you and DooJoon ran ahead of us for a little bit?” KaHee nodded again. “She said something to me.”

“Ooh, this is getting juicy,” KaHee giddily hitting JunHyung’s arm, prodding him to continue. “What did she say? Ppalli!”

JunHyung looked down shyly. “She said, ‘I always have fun when I’m with you.’”

When he looked up, he found that KaHee was raising an eyebrow at him with a blank expression on her face. “That’s it?”

“What do you mean, ‘that’s it?’” he asked with a frown.

“I thought she confessed to you or something,” KaHee stated bluntly, making JunHyung turn pink. “She tells me she has fun with me all the time.”

The pink on his face darkened, but this time with frustration. “It was the way she said it though!” JunHyung insisted.

“Be careful not to overthink things,” Kahee cautioned.

“Right,” Junhyung said disappointedly, though he still couldn’t get the image of a flustered Raein out of his mind.

——-

Deep breath. “Okay. Diet Day 1: siiiiijak!” RaeIn and JulSu yelled enthusiastically as they pumped their fists into the air. KaHee did as well, but with obviously less enthusiasm.

“We can do it!” RaeIn and JulSu continued with a battle cry as they high-fived each other.

“Yeah, yeah,” I’ll be in my room,” KaHee said glumly, dragging her feet on the ground as she left.

“Thanks again for helping me out with this diet thing, JulSu.”

“It’s no problem, Unni! I’ve been meaning to diet anyway.”

RaeIn sighed. “It’s just so stressful because our MV filming starts so soon! Do you think I’ll be able to fit into my costume by then?”

“Yeah, I think you’ll be fine as long as you keep up with the diet,” JulSu reassured her leader, who whimpered a teary “No ice-cream~” in response. She patted the leader on the back. “Don’t worry about it! That’s why I’m here to help you!”

“Thanks,” RaeIn replied smiling weakly.

“No problem,” JulSu said. “Now let’s go look for the maknae.”

JulSu took the lead and RaeIn followed. When they reached KaHee’s room, JulSu raised a hand to knock on the door but noticed it was unlocked. She pushed the door open to find KaHee sitting on her bed, in the process of chewing, and an open bag of chocolates sitting on her lap.

“Yah!” JulSu scolded. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m sorry!” the maknae whined. “I can’t handle this diet okay!”

“It’s just for now, alright?” JulSu said, trying to convince KaHee. In a whisper she added, “Besides, we have to help Unni with her diet. She’s the one that really needs it.”

“I can still hear you.”

“But anyway,” JulSu continued nervously, lifting the bag of chocolate away from KaHee. “We’ve only got to diet until we film for the MV. Until then, we must endure.”

“Endure, right,” RaeIn repeated, even though JulSu’s pep talk was mainly directed at KaHee.

“Yeah, yeah,” the maknae agreed bitterly. “Well, whatever, I’m going to go hang out with JunHyung-oppa then.”

“Wait, you’re going to see him again?” RaeIn asked involuntarily. She was a bit disappointed – she had been feeling this way a lot lately – that JunHyung kept asking KaHee to hang out instead of her.

“Yeah,” KaHee replied nonchalantly as she got ready to leave, filling up a small bag with her cell phone, wallet, and keys.

“Why aren’t you hanging out with KiKwang?” RaeIn didn’t know why she kept questioning it. They were all friends – have been friends for a long time, actually – so it shouldn’t have been weird. But to RaeIn, it was weird.

KaHee peered at RaeIn, curiously studying her expression. RaeIn shifted in her seat, completely aware of the maknae’s scrutiny and feeling very uncomfortable about it.

“You wouldn’t happen to be jealous, would you Unni?” the maknae grinned devilishly, already anticipating RaeIn’s denial.

“I am.”

KaHee stopped grinning and automatically glanced at JulSu whose ears perked up at the sound of juicy conversation.

“I’m sorry,” KaHee apologized, unsure of what else to say.

“N-no, I’m sorry!” RaeIn insisted, suddenly feeling very flustered. “I don’t actually mean that I’m jealous or anything, but I’m…”

“Jealous,” JulSu completed. She and KaHee continued to stare, trying to draw out answers from the small leader.

“Well… yeah,” RaeIn admitted lamely.

“It was the way she said it,” was what JunHyung said. KaHee continued to observe RaeIn with narrowed eyes.

“And you always have fun when you’re with him,” KaHee said mostly to herself, trying hard to remember her earlier conversation with the Joker.

“Yeah,” Raein agreed anyway.

“You like JunHyung-oppa, don’t you?” KaHee accused, and she and JulSu continued to stare at their convicted leader as she stayed quiet, thinking carefully before replying. They interpreted her silence to mean guilty as charged.

“You do!” KaHee exclaimed. “Omo, omo, omo!”

“Wait a sec,” RaeIn cut in. “Now who said that?”

“Silence means yes.”

“That’s not fair,” RaeIn continued. “You can’t assume that because I didn’tsay ‘yes.’”

“You didn’t say ‘no,’” JulSu pointed out. RaeIn clenched her jaw in frustration as she felt her cheeks heating up. KaHee instantaneously high-fived JulSu, who fanned herself in self-praise.

“You’re a good one, JulSu!”

“I know, I know~”

——-

“I’m sooo sorry, JunHyung-oppa!” KaHee feigned an apology. “I’m going to have to take a RaeIn check.”

“What was that?” JunHyung replied from the phone.

KaHee snickered and cleared before continuing. “You know, Oppa, a rain check, like we’ll hang out later?”

“Is that something you eat?”

“Oppa!”

“Yeah, I know, I’m just kidding. But I guess now I have to figure out something else to do.”

“Ask Unni to go with you.” When JunHyung remained silent, KaHee continued in a rougher tone. “Come on, you know you were thinking it!”

JunHyung grimaced at the memory.

“I thought you were going to hang out with KaHee today?” RaeIn asked suspiciously.

“Yeah, we were going to but we decided to hang out another time.”

“I see…”

He glanced at his companion.

“Thanks for coming out at such short notice.”

RaeIn shook her head. “No, it’s no problem. I was bored at home anyway.”

“Okay, we’re here,” JunHyung announced. RaeIn looked at her surroundings surprised to find herself at an ice-cream shop.

“Why are we here?” RaeIn panicked.

“You didn’t want to get ice-cream?” JunHyung asked surprised.

“Of course I want to get ice-cream,” RaeIn replied, though feeling guilty as soon as she said it. But there was no turning back now as JunHyung was already holding the door open for her. She sighed, reasoning with herself that it was only a one time thing and held her breath as she stepped through the door.

“You can sit down, I’ll get our ice-cream,” JunHyung offered. “Is two scoops of chocolate okay?”
“J-just one scoop please!” RaeIn replied immediately. JunHyung nodded and set off to the front counter. At least getting one scoop was better than eating two scoops. However, JulSu’s voice nagged at her. “RaeIn-unni, please endure a little longer until MV filming! Endure! Lee RaeIn, hwaiting!”

RaeIn closed her eyes and groaned as she felt her guilt multiply exponentially.

“Here you go,” JunHyung said as he set down a cup of ice cream in front of RaeIn. He sat down in front of her with his own cup, and RaeIn watched as he took a bite from his two scoops of strawberry. Confused, JunHyung stared back at RaeIn causing her to blush and quickly look down at her own cup. She felt her heart race and her face begin to heat up. She picked up her spoon and took a small scoop of her ice cream. She brought it close to , teasing herself with the chocolatey smell, but brought it back down suddenly overwhelmed with guilt.“Endure, RaeIn! Endure!”

“Is something wrong? Did you want a different flavor?”

“No,” RaeIn shook her head. “It’s just… my heart hurts.”

“It does? Are you okay?” JunHyung exclaimed, suddenly worried.

“I’m, uh, I’m sorry. I’m not in the mood for ice-cream after all.” RaeIn pushed her ice-cream toward JunHyung as she got up. “Excuse me,” she continued, giving a small bow before heading out of the ice-cream parlor. It took all of the leader’s self-control to keep herself from crying, but RaeIn made her final decision. Even though she knew it was the right thing to do, she couldn’t help but feel a sharp pain in her chest as she distanced herself from her one true love: chocolate ice-cream.

——-

“Listen, trust me, when girls are in love, they don’t eat,” KaHee said as she munched on a Kit-Kat. Her cell phone was resting in between her ear and her shoulder.

“What about you? You’re ‘in love’ with KiKwang, aren’t you?”

“Hey! That’s completely different. We’re both aware,” KaHee reasoned, still chewing. “I was talking about girls who are in love and the guy isunaware.”

“Whatever,” JunHyung replied glumly. “She doesn’t want to talk to me. Wejust got there and she got up and left.”

“She’s totally diggin’ you! I promise!”

JunHyung remained unconvinced.

“Listen, whenever I say I’m going out to hang out with you she always asks me a bunch of questions. She doesn’t do that when I hang out with KiKwang.”

“But it’s KiKwang.”

“Well, she doesn’t do that when I hang out with guys other than you, then.”

“What other guys do you hang out with?” JunHyung asked curiously.

“… Okay, so maybe the only guys I hang out with are you and KiKwang-oppa,” KaHee answered after some thought. JunHyung sighed, still unconvinced by KaHee’s arguments, though his disbelief only motivated her even more. “BUT! RaeIn-unni actually said that she gets jealous when you and I hang out. Jealous!”

“She did?”

“Yeah, she did. I think she’s totally into you.”

“Er…” JunHyung had to admit: KaHee’s last statement bought up his mood, but what he didn’t want was to bring his hopes up as well.

“Listen, I know my friend,” KaHee said confidently. “Just hang out with her again. You’ll see.”

——-

“Hey.”

“Mm, hi,” RaeIn replied as she held up her hand in a lazy wave; however, she looked and sounded very distracted. The two then began to walk, scarves covering their faces and hands tucked into their pockets. They continued to walk side-by-side, which was normal; though they were in complete silence, which was not. JunHyung took a deep breath, dreading another awkward encounter with RaeIn. However, he knew the best way to ease the situation.

“Do you want to get ice cream?” he asked his companion brightly.

“Ice cream?” RaeIn exclaimed. She paused a couple seconds. “No, that’s okay.”

JunHyung frowned. He knew that something had to be up with RaeIn if even she was going to refuse ice cream. What kind of friend would he be if he didn’t notice?

“Listen RaeIn, you seem to be really different lately.”

“What do you mean?” RaeIn replied lightly, trying to avoid the subject.

“Don’t give me that. Last time we got ice-cream and you didn’t even finish yours.”

RaeIn stopped walking and sighed. “You’re right, I’m sorry…” she began. Suddenly, she noticed a small boy and his mother walk by holding ice cream cones. The mother had vanilla and the little boy had chocolate. “Omo,” she thought. “I love chocolate!” She continued to watch as the mother and son passed, eyeing their cones enviously.

“See, there you go again.”

RaeIn shook her head as JunHyung’s voice interrupted her thoughts.“Yah, RaeIn, endure! Endure!” RaeIn imagined JulSu’s voice scolding her craving. “I’m sorry!” she said out loud, squeezing her eyes shut. She opened them again, realizing that she was still with JunHyung and not JulSu.

Though embarrassed with her sudden outburst, RaeIn was grateful that what she said was somehow relevant to her conversation with JunHyung. She decided to try to play it off by continuing from where she left off… if only she could remember where that was. She furrowed her eyebrows trying to back-track their conversation. “Er, what was the question again?” JunHyung sighed in frustration, which triggered RaeIn’s guilt – though she quickly discarded the feeling once she noticed another child, this time holding onto a strawberry ice cream cone. “Yah~ RaeIn-ah~” This time RaeIn could hear her own nervous voice in her mind. “Endure, endure!”

“RaeIn. RaeIn! Are you even listening to what I’m saying?” JunHyung continued to call out RaeIn’s name, trying to grab her attention. Finally she looked at him straight in the eye.

“I’m sorry, I can’t endure this anymore!” RaeIn bit her lip apologetically before turning around to run in the direction of the MAKIKO dorm.

“This girl…” JunHyung muttered to himself before running after her.

By the time JunHyung reached the door, he was panting. He first tried to turn the door knob even though he knew it would be locked. Plan B was to knock and call out for RaeIn to open the door.

JunHyung stopped knocking after a while when no one replied to his calls. “RaeIn, since you’re not answering me, I’m getting kind of worried. Could you just say something, at least?” He paused and pressed his ear against the door so he could listen. Still he heard nothing. “Yah, Rae—“

“I’m okay.”

JunHyung smiled in relief at the sound of her voice. “That’s great, okay, now will you let me inside?”

“No.”

JunHyung frowned. “She’s so stubborn! Seriously, only RaeIn could change my mood to polar opposites in the matter of seconds,” he thought. Out loud, though, he questioned her reply.

“You can’t come inside. I’m busy.”

“What do you mean busy?” JunHyung muttered. “Listen, RaeIn I understand why you didn’t eat your ice cream last time.”

RaeIn held her breath and her heart rate picked up. “You do?”

“Yeah, and why you said your heart was hurting. I already know. KaHee told me.”

“Shoot,” RaeIn thought. “Troublesome maknae! Why did she tell him about the diet? Now I’m in trouble!”

“RaeIn, are you still listening?”

“Y-yeah, I am. So KaHee told you? Are you mad at me?”

“Of course I’m not mad!” JunHyung replied, taken aback. “I just wish that you told me yourself.”

“Right,” RaeIn stated. “I’m sorry you had to hear it from KaHee and not me…”

“It’s okay. I told you: I understand. I’m actually going through the same thing right now,” JunHyung admitted bashfully.

“You are?”

“Yeah, and I’m a nervous wreck! But thanks to KaHee, now I feel that it’s okay to tell you, too.”

“It’s really not that big of a deal…” RaeIn insisted. She didn’t realize that dieting was such a serious topic.

“It is a big deal!” JunHyung replied, suddenly emanating confidence. “Of course it’s a big deal if you like someone.”

“Like someone…”

JunHyung chuckled. “I’m actually very relieved that you like me, because…” – deep breath – “I like you, too. I guess this… This is my confession.”

“Wha—what?” A clatter was heard from RaeIn’s side of the door. After a bit of scuffling, RaeIn finally unlocked the door and swung it open. One hand held on tightly to a pint of ice cream, while another hand reached down to pick up the spoon that fell on the floor earlier.

JunHyung paled as he felt the reality of the situation before him. “I-is that ice cream on your mouth?”

RaeIn nodded slowly. She was not quite capable of forming coherent sentences at the moment, but JunHyung was able to decipher: “So… KaHee no… not about… diet?”

“Diet,” JunHyung repeated as the color continued to drain from his face. He gulped. “Wait, so the reason why you didn’t finish your ice cream last time – why you said your heart was hurting – not because you like me but because of your diet?”

RaeIn nodded before gulping as well. “And you… like me?”