Tiffany's POV

I exhale a sigh as I stumble down onto the practice room's floor, exhaustion piling up on every muscle. I glance at my watch.

"11:35 pm," I breathe, massaging my sore limbs.

I close my eyes for a while and violently rub my face. "Why can't I get this dance right?" I silently curse. It must have been hours and hours and yet there wasn't any progress in the dance I was learning. The other trainees left long ago, already learning the dance in a span of a few minutes. I look up at the ceiling, remembering Lee Soo Man's harsh words.

"You said you wanted to debut quickly," He starts out, his hands on his face- a sign that he was clearly not happy. "And yet, how do you suppose to do that if learning a simple dance is so difficult?"  He scolds.

I hang my head, more disappointed in myself than Lee Soo Man himself. He throws a folder down at his office's desk. "If you don't improve by the next performance, don't even think about so much as staying here as a trainee!"  I silently observe the opened folder.

Hwang Miyoung (16)

Dance:

Progress Check 1- F+

Progress Check 2- D+

Progress Check 3- F-

I hide a tear threatening to drop with my bangs. "You have talent in singing," He admits. "But your voice isn't fit to be a ballad singer."  This time, I let the tear fall. He stays silent for a while, his gaze fixed at the folder. "I really don't know what to do with you,"  He finally whispers as he orders me to leave his office. "Yes sir." I strain. I clench my fists, trying my best not to shed any more tears as I bow my head and silently close the door behind me as I exit his office.

I bite my lip. Why couldn't I do this? I recall Jessica perfectly doing each move with such flow that she seemed to dance even better than the teacher himself. 

I try thinking positively. At least your sister has a chance of debuting, I tell myself. I lower my eyes enviously. After reviewing the dance a few more times, I suddenly get interrupted.

"Lights out, go to your dorm." I hear a knock on the door.

I reluctantly sigh and get off the floor, grunting in the process.

I slowly open the door to my room, careful not to awake Jessica. However, I'm stopped short as I see her awake, her head buried into her knees.

I blink a few times. "Unnie...?" I hesitantly call out, trying to confirm whether she was actually sleeping or not. She slowly raises her head to the sound of my voice.

I stay silent. "Unnie?" I call out again. She doesn't do anything and instead stays put. I start to get nervous and get closer to her. "Unnie, you're scaring me..." I sit down next to her on the bed to meet her gaze, only to see two teary eyes, swollen from crying.

My eyes widen. "Sica?" I brush her hair off of her face. She sniffles, and doesn't say anything. I awkwardly hang my arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

After about ten minutes, I manage to calm her down. "So..." I say quietly. "Do you wanna tell me why you were..." I clear my throat. "Crying?"

She shuts her eyes for a few minutes, and for a moment I start to wonder if she fell asleep. Buts he finally opens her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"It's mom..." She manages to say, her voice cracking from crying too much.

I don't say anything, thinking that I must've heard wrong. "What... about mom?" I ask so quietly that even I couldn't hear my voice. A part of me didn't even want to know.

"You know why..." She whispers. My mouth gapes open, not believing what just went through my ears. I laugh nervously. "It can't be what I think it is, right?"

She avoids my gaze and keeps her eyes firmly on the ground. I feel tears forming in my eyes as she doesn't respond. I grab Jessica's shoulders, giving them a little squeeze.

"TELL ME IT'S NOT WHAT I THINK IT IS!" I scream on the top of my lungs, not even caring if I would wake the other trainees up.

I finally loosen my grip on her shoulders as she whispers something to me.

"I'm sorry."

My arms drop to my sides, eventually turning numb.

"It's her illness... she's-"

I get off the bed and interrupt her. She grabs my wrist. "Where are you going? It's bedtime." She tries bringing me down, but I shake her off. Without a word, I leave the dorm and sneak out the building.

I hang my hood over my face, hiding it. I enter a restaurant, busy with costumers ordering meals despite it being over midnight.

I sit down on an empty table as I wait to be served. Eventually, a waiter hands me a menu. "What would you like to order?" He asks me. I look up to see him.

The waiter's eyes shine as he recognizes me. "Oh Fany-ah!" He smiles. "What brings you here so late?" I faintly smile.

"Just a little hungry, Joonhyuk..." I politely hand the menu back to him. His smile falters.

"You're hungry but you don't want to eat anything?" He asks, confused as he takes the menu.

"Can just have... can I just have some soju?" I ask reluctantly, fiddling with my fingers. He stays in place. "Um... aren't you... like, sixteen?"

"I'm having a... rough day..." I say awkwardly.

He nods of understanding. "I'm going to leave for shift-change soon, but... just don't do anything stupid." He says as he hands me a bottle from the refrigerator.

"See you, Fany," He gives me a soft smile of encouragement. I nod.

For minutes, I stare at the soju bottle, wondering if I was going to regret this. I lowered my gaze. I needed something to numb my senses, and a drink is all I could think of.

I found that my eyes were suddenly getting watery. All the tears that I was holding in today were finally seeping through. I tried calming myself down as tears brimmed around my eyes, my chest tightening as my shoulders shook up and down from my uncontrollable breathing. But every time I wiped away a tear, a new sob would pour out of my eyes.

I reached over for the bottle of soju, the cool alchohol swishing around the bottle as I took it with my hands. After much thought I finally plucked off the cap and drank it.

G-Dragon's POV

I gulp down the water from my bottle as I wipe away drops of sweat. I exhale as the refreshing water swims down into my throat, getting rid of all the unwanted heat in my body.

"Guys, I'm going home first," I announce, closing my water bottle. "Our dance is pretty much finished so you guys decide whether you want to practice some more."

"Okay," they chorus as they nod.

"Just don't overwork yourself," I add as I walk outside the practice room. "We have a scheduele tommorow."

I step outside the building, spreading my arms wide as I enjoy the cool, midnight breeze. I comfortably take light steps down the block, wondering if I should do anything before heading home. The weather pretty nice after all.

After a quick glance of my watch, I decide to enjoy a meal in a restaurant. Being that it was late at night, there wouldn't be much people in there anyway. After a few minutes of walking down the block, I finally reach my favorite pork restaurant. I can feel my stomach growl as I picture the warm, sizzling meat sliding down my throat.

However, I manage to notice something- or rather, someone- familiar from afar. I squint my eyes, trying to see who it was. I immediately groan. "Tiffany..." I shake my head.

I manage to get closer, not giving up on chowing down on one of the best quality meat in all of Seoul. However, I notice her staggering from left to right as if she was still learning how to walk. My mouth forms into a slight frown. Something was  wrong... 

I blink. Should I just ignore her? I glance around, not sure of what to do. Then, I suddenly grab her wrist without much thought.

"Fany-ah," I call out, immediately biting my tongue afterwards. I barely know her and I'm calling her 'Fany.' 

Suddenly, her head swivels around, her swollen eyes flaring at me. "Let go if you don't want to get hurt..." She threatens, her voice shaking. Taken aback, I loosen my grip in a reflexive manner. She throws my hand off of her wrist. My jaw drops. Was this the same girl as before? The one that was drooling all over me just a few weeks ago?  I wrinkle my nose as I take in a whiff of alchohol. "Yah... were you drinking?" I question, grabbing her wrist again- letting her do something stupid in a drunken state was definitely not a good idea. She grits her teeth, her eyes widening into an intense glare. "I SAID LET GO!" She struggles to get out of my grip, but I keep her wrist firm into my hands. (Notice how I said hands. That girl wasn't ordinary in terms of strength.)

"Answer my question first," I order sternly. However, instead of answering, she suddenly breaks down crying onto the street floor. Startled, I jump backwards a bit finally letting go of her. My eyes dart around the empty street, panicking. "T-Tiffany ssi, please get up," I beg, hesitating to pick her up. I crouch down with her. "W-wait, don't cry," My arms aimlessly flailing around, as I try to get her to stop crying. "Shshshshsh," I awkardly pat her on the head.

I hopelessly rub the back of my head as she doesn't stop crying, however. For a brief momment, I silently watch her crying hysterically. I shake my head, realizing that this wasn't doing anything. I sigh, closing my eyes. Well... if this was the only option of comforting I have left then... I gulp as I slowly bring my arms around Tiffany, her body leaning towards mine. I feel her chest heaving as she cries, her head resting onto my shoulder. I softly tap her back, my face suddenly flushing. Surprised, I start to blink rapidly. Why the heck am I blushing?!

It-it must be the heat, I assure myself. Suddenly, I feel a nolgastic sensation once again. I sigh. Why again? 

"Why are you crying?" I ask, tightly hugging my girlfriend.

"It's my mom," She says through her sobs. I my head. "What's wrong with your mom? Is she sick?" I softly ask. She slowly nods her head, hugging me even tighter. My phone that was sitting on the desk, suddenly vibrates. I glance at it, not letting go of her.

1 new message:

"Is my daughter at your house?"

"Where's your phone? I'll call your dad- he's looking for you."  She sniffles and hands me her phone from her pocket.

I blink, and return to reality. Tiffany's crying finally subsiding. I let go of her, grabbing onto her shoulders. "Where's your phone? Let's call your mom."

She suddenly becomes quiet, even her sniffles eventually muting. I blink out of confusion.

"Do you have your phone with you?" I ask quietly. Without a word, she hands me a little cellphone from her pocket. I flip it open, glancing at her to see if she was okay with me looking at her phone. Seeing that she doesn't even seem to care, I turn it on, the phone suddenly getting bombarded with messages and missed calls alerts, all from her sister.

"Fany yah, I'm sorry please come back..."

11:45 pm

I look up at her in dismay. Has she been drinking for an hour?

"Mi-Young ah, I'm just as sad about what happened to mom too. Please... I don't even know where you are. Tell me and I'll pick you up. I don't want to lose my little sister too."

1:51 am

I draw in a gasp. "Her mom...?" I whisper. I peek at Tiffany, her head down, not saying a single word. I give her a look of sympathy. "Let's call your sister instead..." I give her a reassuring smile, but she doesn't even look up to see it.

I go to her contacts and call her sister. However, just as the signal starts, I get a call myself. I quickly hand the phone over to her and reach for mine.

I tap the answer button on my touch screen and bring it over to my ear.

"Jiyoung ah," TOP calls with his husky voice. "Where are you? Manager hyung wants to talk to us about our schedule tomorrow."

"Oh, okay tell him I'll be home soon," I tell him, hanging up the phone.

"I... I'm going to go," I bow apologetically. She blinks and does nothing for a while. I panic. Was there something wrong with her? But to my relief, she finally bows her head as well.

I take my time going home, slightly regretful that I wasn't able to eat. But there was another thing bugging my stomach. Was it butterflies? I shake my head, ignoring it for a while.

"Guys!" I call out, reaching my house in about a few minutes.

"Hyung!" Daesung greets me with a smile, but suddenly turns into a confused expression. "Hyung, your face is all red..."

My eyes widen. "What? I-I don't know what you're talking about," I try my best to sound ignorant as I rub my cheeks.

I clear my throat. "So what was this about our schedule?" I try changing the subject. And of course, the naive Daesung falls for it, and suddenly starts spewing out information about our variety program tomorrow. However, I block him out.

It's just the heat

It's just the heat

It's just the heat...

Well, this is the end of the chapter :) And I'm sorry if I offended anybody! Illness is a serious topic and can get into a very sensitive topic to someone. So again, SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY