Chapter 4!

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

An Yujin slowly woke up and fluttered her eyes open to the sound of a blaring alarm coming from her side.

Staring at her blank white ceiling, she still felt her eyes blink heavily as if they wanted to sleep more yet the alarm told her not to. She sighed, glancing towards the windows of her room

Dim sunlight lit up the world outside as the sun still had to rise up fully.

Yujin looked around her dark room before sinking down into her soft pillows.

She shuffled her body underneath her covers when she felt her legs ache from all of the activities she did the day prior.

Going out to their agency to practice tiresome performances then arriving late at home after filming show after show, she was indeed due for a much needed rest. But for the life of an idol, rest would be the least of their priorities if it meant getting a good paycheck.

She turned to lay on her side before reaching for her phone on the nightstand. Tapping the phone to turn on, her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the screen. Swiping the alarm off, she softly placed it back right after.

Now looking at the stillness of the room and the silence outside of it, she would assume that the rest of the girls were still fast asleep and she was the first one to wake up like usual.

*STEP! STEP! STEP!*

The sounds of footsteps suddenly came from the door along with more sounds of shuffling and movement, it seemed like one of her members had woken up earlier than her.

Her first assumption is that it was their eldest member, Gaeul. She was usually the one who accompanied Yujin in the morning while the other members opted to sleep more during their off days.

Yujin flipped the covers off her body, meeting the chilly air inside of her room. She slowly threw her legs off to the side as she sat up from her bed.

She stretched her arms above her then to her side before giving her knees a good slap to wake herself up fully. She quickly winced in pain, once her hands hit her kneecap.

Slowly pulling up her pajamas on both of her legs, she was met with the dark colored spots that she had gained through her hours of practice the days prior.

The girl sighed, realizing that today might be once again filled with a packed schedule. She slowly shifted legs closer and closer to her door before she twisted the doorknob.

Walking into the hallway, she heard the sounds of soft chit-chatter coming from the living room of their dorm.

She walked into the sight of the rest of her group already awake. Yujin would welcome the sight if it weren’t for the fact that they were huddled around the couch as they chatted.

“Good…morning?” Yujin greeted the other girls in the room. They all turned towards her with worried looks on each and every one of their faces which made their leader think that it wasn’t anything near a good morning.

“Yujin-ah, could I have a word with you?” Gaeul asked her leader, raising a hand to gesture to her to get closer.

Yujin eagerly nodded her head before the older member ushered her to the kitchen which was quite the distance away from their other group members. She looked as space opened up to peek at Leeseo who was sitting down on the cushions of the couch.

Wonyoung seemed to have taken over the role of consoling their youngest member along with Rei and Liz.

“Is something wrong? Seems like there’s a lot going on.” Yujin asked with Gaeul unfortunately nodding her head to answer her question.

“You see, I spotted Leeseo trying to make herself something to drink earlier. When I checked up on her, it turns out that she was heating up from a fever. She also admitted to being fatigued so I let her sit down for the time being.” Gaeul carefully explained.

She then pointed to the kitchen counter where a lonely cup stood by a tea kettle.

“Is that so? What about the others?” Yujin returned a question, glancing over to her group members.

“I’m sure they don’t want to admit it but they’re also tired and fatigued. We haven’t gotten enough rest for a couple of days, even Wonyoung isn’t doing too well herself.” Gaeul replied, seemingly having her spirit disappear from her entirely.

“How about you, unnie? I’m sure you’re very tired too.” Yujin leaned down slightly towards the girl in front of her that just shook her off.

“I should be the least of your worries. For now, I think you should ask the manager for a couple days off for us, just to recover by a little bit. This isn’t some favor but it’s something we really need.” Gaeul pleaded with her hands holding one another.

Yujin sighed before biting down on her lip softly in thought.

As their leader, she also had the role of looking over the rest of her members. Fortunately, she had Gaeul to help her with the task of doing so but seeing them in such a state, made her want to stand up for them.

Despite this, she knew their company all too well. They impose a strict set of rules and guidelines that idols like them had to follow but speaking up against their hectic schedule wasn’t one of them.

Despite the company regulations have nothing to say about it, their manager might have something to say. They were not as strict with their group before compared to recent times.

Yujin could even say that they had more freedom back then compared to now. But as their fame grew, their grip on their group tightened often resulting with jam-packed schedules every so often.

Their manager would probably immediately turn down their offer for a few days off if it meant losing out on show appearances.

But it didn’t hurt to try, right?

This time it concerned the health and feelings of their group and if anything, that should be put first above everything else. She might not want to admit it but she too could use a break.

“Fine, I’ll give the company a visit later and I’ll ask for some days off.” Yujin assured the girl in front of her with a nod. Gaeul smiled before she wrapped an arm around her leader’s side and hugged her softly.

“Thank you~” Gaeul cooed out as Yujin welcomed her gesture gladly.

“Don’t worry about it. For now, how about we check up on Leeseo?” Yujin slicked back the sides of her hair before pulling the sleeves of her pajamas.

“You go do that while I look for a hot meal to give her. I think there’s still some ramen packs here.” Gaeul said before letting go of the girl to walk to the kitchen.

Her leader sighed, putting her hands into her pockets before walking over to the other girls. Wonyoung stood tall in front of Leeseo while her two other unnies sat by her side, patting her back and rubbing her shoulder to comfort her.

“How is she holding up? Gaeul unnie told me everything, hopefully you three aren’t sick as well.” Yujin took the space next to Wonyoung who was holding a thermometer in her hands.

She reached out an arm at her youngest member and softly cupped the side of her cheek.

“Her temperature is 38.5, which is high enough but it could get even higher if she doesn’t drink a paracetamol tablet soon.” Wonyoung explained, placing the thermometer inside of a small pink pouch that was also on the couch.

“Wuah, Wonyoung sounds like a doctor.” Rei commented, leaning back on the cushions.

“And a pretty one at that.” Liz continued as she held her head up with her arm that was pushing itself into the back of the couch.

“Since that’s the case, why don’t we take the day off, hm?~” Leeseo leaned her head on her leader’s hand as she felt how warm she was.

“Really?” the girls around Yujin suddenly said, even Leeseo who seemed to wake up at the palm of her hand.

“I-i mean, yeah I guess I don’t mind the day off.” Wonyoung corrected herself before looking away, crossing her arms.