𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗥 - 𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄

𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟭𝟬

Minho was, once again, alone in the living room.

He lay sprawled on the couch, one arm slung over his forehead, an empty beer can resting on the table beside him, and a single small lamp casting a soft glow from the corner. The room felt unusually still with Audrey nowhere in sight.

"Aren't you getting oranges with Audrey?" a voice broke the silence. Doah appeared at the foot of the stairs, holding an empty mug, her expression unreadable as she glanced his way.

Minho barely looked at her, shrugging. "Don't need those oranges anymore. I'll just get them in the morning or something," he replied, pulling the blanket snugly around himself as if that could shut out further questions.

"I thought you were craving them?"

"I was," he replied dismissively. "But I think I'll just watch some random show and drink a bit." He sat up and tightened the blanket around his shoulders, clearly signaling that the conversation was over.

Doah sighed, setting her mug on the table. "You know you should stop drinking. It isn't healthy."

Minho rolled his eyes. "It's not like I drink all the time. And weren't you the one drinking just last week when we were in Korea?"

She raised an eyebrow, a faint smirk playing on her lips. "Okay, that was a one-time mistake. Don't go taking notes from me."

Ignoring her warning, Minho stood and headed for the stairs. "Alright then. My Netflix account is calling me. Bye."

"Don't stay up too late," Doah called after him, crossing her arms.

"It's already late though?" he reminded her with a lazy grin.

"What I mean is... get some sleep after you finish the movie."

Minho shot her a playful look. "With you? I'm kidding, just jokes."

"Could be. Just kidding."

"If we were still together," he said with a teasing smile, "but we aren't. So, too bad."

Doah chuckled, rolling her eyes. "You said it was a joke. Already regretting it?"

He glanced away, muttering under his breath, "I swear I'm going to regret all of this when I'm sober."

As he made his way up the stairs, he crossed paths with Pamela, who was heading down, looking startled to find so many people still awake. He gave her a brief nod before continuing up to the second floor.

Downstairs, Doah was washing her mug when Pamela came into the kitchen. "Hey, Pam. It's late, why're you still up?"

Pamela shrugged, pulling the milk from the fridge. "Couldn't sleep, so I figured a hot cup of milk might help. What about you?"

Doah held up the spotless mug she'd been scrubbing for the better part of ten minutes. "Same. Couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd stay busy." She tilted her head, watching Pamela. "Anything in particular keeping you up?"

Pamela sighed, her voice laced with resignation. "I'm just bracing myself to get no letters."

Doah shook her head, setting her mug aside. "No way. If you don't get any, the guys have seriously lost their minds."

"Just watch and see," Pamela murmured as she popped her glass of milk in the microwave.

"Absolutely not," Doah replied. "You're the last person I'd expect to get zero letters, Pam."

Pamela leaned against the counter, crossing her arms. "I bet you'll get three, Wonya two, and everyone else maybe one. Me? None."

Doah frowned, clearly unconvinced. "Come on, don't set yourself up like that. Feelings change all the time; don't lose confidence."

Pamela nodded slowly, her expression softening. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

For some reason, someone always seemed to be in the living room. First it was Minho, then Doah, who had completely given up on sleep and was now sitting cross-legged on the carpet, scrolling through her phone as she lazily watched the hours tick by.

"Now what mess have I walked into?" Miko's voice echoed through the room. She glanced at the clock on the wall, the hands ticking past 4 AM, and took in the scene with amusement.

Miko walked over and settled onto the couch, immediately noticing Doah looking rather disheveled, clearly not bothered about the cameras still rolling.

"Oh, hey Miko," Doah greeted, sitting up straighter and leaning back against the base of the couch, slipping her phone into her pocket.

"Hi. So... how am I supposed to write an anonymous letter to any of these guys? The only ones I've actually talked to are Kai, Kenji, and the gaslighter Minho."

Doah burst out laughing. "Gaslighter Minho?"

Miko gave her a wry smile. "My bad, that's your ex-boyfriend."

Doah shook her head with a mock grimace. "Really? Nobody needed to remember that."

Miko smirked. "I'm just calling things as I see them, babe."

The sound of the front door creaking open caught their attention. Both girls squinted as a figure moved through the dim light and stepped into the foyer, switching into slippers.

It wasn't until she came closer that they recognized Audrey. She gave them a nod and a faint "hi" before heading straight upstairs, a small plastic bag in her hand.

Soft knocks echoed from the second floor. There was no reply, no sound of a door opening, just silence. Minutes later, Audrey reappeared, now in pajamas and the same plastic bag, joining the two girls on the couch with a tired sigh.

"What's happening..?" Doah whispered to Miko, who looked equally confused.

Audrey glanced at them, then sighed. "There's just been a misunderstanding. Minho's convinced he's bad because I kept brushing off his flirting. I just... I don't know how to respond to that stuff. It's like my brain just freezes."

Miko opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say a word, Minho made an unexpected entrance, coming down the stairs for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

"Minho," Audrey called, rushing over to him. "Please don't be mad at me just because I'm... basically hopeless at flirting. I don't know how to react, but I didn't mean to upset you."

Minho paused, taking in her words quietly. His expression softened just a bit as he replied, "I ain't mad, chill, Pocket. I just couldn't understand you but it's fine."

Audrey exhaled in relief as he turned to go back upstairs. She stayed still for a moment, watching him disappear, before heading into the kitchen with her plastic bag still untouched.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Doah and Miko decided to call it a night. A while later, Audrey reappeared on the stairs, balancing a plate of sliced oranges and a bottle of aspirin in one hand.

The plate of sliced oranges and aspirin were placed in front of a particular bedroom door, one that was shut firmly.