THANK YOU // DEX ✔️

13.

and another punch to the ribs from Seojun.

Siyoung has been grappling with such dreams for over a week now. Her schedule is so packed that she would be grateful for the four hours of sleep she could have if she immediately climbed into bed and fell asleep. But the nightmares had something else in mind, waking her up half an hour after she finally managed to fall asleep. And of course, the singer would just sit there, staring into the darkness ahead, afraid to fall asleep again.

She could write or call Jinyoung. He himself had told her on the day they were on his motorcycle that she could confide in him about anything and that he'd always be there for her. But she was scared. Every time she picked up her phone and typed in his number, she'd start shaking, her palms sweating more than usual. She wanted to call him, but it was as if her heart didn't want to. She was afraid to call him. Afraid she'd be a burden. What if Jinyoung was sleeping, and she woke him up with a plea to come over because she had a nightmare, and he'd get mad at her, just like with Seojun? So, she turned off her phone and set it aside.

She was alone. She had to get used to being alone and would be forever, because she was afraid to get attached again. She didn't even have to be in a relationship with Jinyoung. She was afraid to even build a simple friendship with him. Why was she so afraid to turn him into a friend? Was she afraid that she might start feeling something for him, and then she'd be angry at herself for immediately labeling him as a friend without considering that it could turn out differently someday?

The singer pulled her knees to her chest. She felt the first tear welling up in her eyes and making its way down her cheek. She let it fall. There was no point in wiping it away, as more tears would soon follow. And indeed, they did. Not even five seconds later, more tears streamed down, and then more and more.

The tears were like a waterfall. They didn't want to stop flowing and poured almost like a stream. She cried for a good hour before exhaustion closed her eyes. She fell asleep. For the first time in a long while, she fell asleep.

But that dream returned. And this time, it wasn't Seojun in the dream. This time, it was Jinyoung beating her.

---

Everyone was starting to worry about the young singer because every day she would come and look worse than before. No one knew how to help her because she didn't confide in anyone. They thought that Jiwon might be able to help, but she had flown to the USA for two weeks due to work - she had to conduct an experiment and they only had the necessary equipment in the USA.

They didn't know anyone else with whom Siyoung would get along as well as with Jiwon. Of course, Siyoung had a few friends among idols, but she wasn't as close to anyone else. Yes, she knew DinDin, she also knew Hwasa from Mamamoo, and she had even chatted a bit with Rose from BlackPink, but with all of them, it was mainly work-related, and no one knew whether they had built any other relationship beyond being colleagues.

They knew that she got along well with Serim from Cravity, but they were in the USA because they had a tour. So their next hope was gone as quickly as it came.

Namgil also knew that she got along with her trainer, but that was also more of a working relationship. And everyone knew about that mysterious friend she wrote about on Instagram, knowing that it wasn't Jiwon. But no one knew who that mysterious friend was, so they couldn't contact them and ask if they could take Siyoung away somewhere for two days so she could rest.

When they offered Siyoung the chance to take two days off, she refused. She usually turned down breaks. She was preparing songs for a comeback she wanted to have in two months, so she had to work. It bothered her that she had no ideas, so she spent a lot of time in the studio, trying to come up with ideas. That's how she spent her free time. Alone in the studio.

She didn't need anyone. She could manage on her own.

So why did she keep looking at her phone every ten minutes, where she had a picture of her with Jinyoung by the Han River? Why did she glance at it, smile, and then return to work every ten minutes? And why did she somewhat expect to see a message from the former soldier on her phone?