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04 || something's wrong

The cluster of eight girls walked down the halls of the office complex, headed for their dorm and ready to inhale a well earned dinner. However, one was itching for some excitement.

"Hey Dubu, wanna race me to the dorm?"

The small girl rolled her eyes. "Do I have to, Nayeon-unnie?"

Nayeon grinned. "Course not... as long as you don't mind me getting into your leftovers. I heard your noodles from last night were exceptionally good."

Dahyun gasped, faking an expression of shock. "You wouldn't!"

"I don't know, Dahyunnie. Would I?" Nayeon smirked.

"Oh, it's on!" Shouted the younger, before taking off down the hallway, Nayeon quickly catching up and over taking her.

Jihyo look up at the sky, before sighing loudly.

"One minute I have them under control, the next minute, they're a mess."

:|:|:

Nayeon burst through the door to their large dorm ten minutes later, panting and beginning to break a sweat. Dahyun followed shortly after, hot on her heels. They continued sprinting towards Dahyun's room, before the older stopped dead in her tracks.

The sound of someone retching echoed through the dorm, followed by a soft thud. Following the sounds into the living room, the pair were faced with a pale, red eyed, slightly crusty Jeongyeon, lying next to a puddle of her own sick on the wooden floor.

Dahyun held back a shriek as Nayeon raced over to check on her friend.

"Dahyun, go find the others and get Jihyo to come to the dorm as soon as possible. And please, keep the others out until we text one of you. Something's wrong, Jeongie never gets sick... and she seemed fine this morning."

The other girl nodded curtly. "I'm on it. Tell Jeongyeon that we're all thinking of her." She raced out of the room, footsteps slowly fading.

Meanwhile, Nayeon knelt beside the sick girl before touching a hand to her forehead. It was burning. Using all the strength she could muster, she bent down and scooped up Jeongyeon, struggling for a moment while gaining her balance, before carrying the younger across the room, out of the way of her own vomit. Gently setting her down on the sofa, she quickly went to get two buckets, a mop, and a wet cloth.

Heading back to the couch, she placed the wet cloth on Jeongyeon's head, in attempt to calm her fever. She put one bucket on the ground next to the unconscious girl should she need to be sick again, before leaving once again to fill the other bucket with water. She'd just returned balancing the load carefully when Jihyo raced in.

The leader took in the sickly pale girl on the sofa, the vomit on the floor and Nayeon's worried face, and understood immediately.

When Dahyun had raced back down the stairs, she'd just assumed that she'd either given up or Nayeon had done something stupid. But the girl had then begun to babble about Jeongyeon anxiously and incomprehensibly, telling Jihyo she needed to hurry to the dorm while she took the girls somewhere else.

Confused as she was, Jihyo obliged, telling Momo and Mina to get some food with their manager, while Sana stayed with the maknae line at the main building. She had a feeling no one would be cooking tonight.

She had then run as fast as she could up the stairs, making sure she didn't trip. Finally, she'd reached the dorm, out of breath but still worried about what she might have to deal with.

Jihyo reached out for the bucket and mop in Nayeon's hands, honestly grateful that the immature girl had raced here. She was also thankful that she'd been able to handle the situation so well.

"I'll clean this up. Go and sit with Jeongyeon. Do you know what happened?"

Jihyo began cleaning while Nayeon started her story. "I have no idea, but I don't think she has a virus or food poisoning. Otherwise the others would be sick. When Dahyun and I arrived, Jeongyeon was on the floor, lying next to the vomit, so I moved her to the couch. We heard her throwing up, which is what made us check. She has a fever too, so I put a wet cloth on her head. I'm sorry, but I didn't know what else to do."

The older sniffed and hung her head, blinking hard.

"Hey, hey, don't cry, you did the right thing." Jihyo finished cleaning, before moving to sit beside Nayeon, wrapping an arm around her. "What matters is that we make sure Jeongie is ok. Can you help me do that?"

Nayeon nodded, before leaning into Jihyo and closing her hand around Jeongyeon's smaller one.

"All we can do for now is wait for her to wake up. Jeongyeon is tough, she'll be ok." The leader smiled tightly, before wiping Nayeon's tears.

Great. Now I'm getting choked up too.

Nayeon rubbed circles on the back of Jeongyeon's hand, before speaking up.

"Are the other girls fine?"

Jihyo smiled again. "They're fine. Momo and Mina went to go get dinner with our manager, while Sana took care of the kids. They'll stay out until we tell them to come back."

Nayeon felt her hand being tugged, and she looked to her left to see Jeongyeon shifting, blinking, and slowly opening her eyes, blinded by the brightness of the room. Jihyo immediately got up and dimmed the lights to a softer glow. The eldest gently helped Jeongyeon sit up, before moving to wrap her arms around her.

Jihyo returned to the pair, pulling a bean bag over to sit in front of Jeongyeon. "Are you ok, Jeongie? What happened?"

Jeongyeon closed her eyes and was silent. For a moment, Jihyo thought that the girl had passed out again. She reached out and gently touched her knee.

The sick girl's bottom lip began to tremble as she opened her eyes, more tears threatening to spill. Voice shaking, she answered Jihyo.

.

.

.

"I have to marry your brother."