Idol Next Door

15

Twicelights World Tour started with the first concert held in Seoul by the last week of May. The girls got to do concerts at countries in South-East Asia that they've never visited before and met ONCEs of different nationalities. It was a blast, though they wished Mina was there to experience it with them.

Since the tour started, they'd often mention Mina: at rehearsals, before, during and after concerts, on breaks, and whenever they eat out. Although the girl was usually silent, they were accustomed to her presence; they were used to her being there beside them regardless how she never really talks that much. Now Mina's empty spot was making itself felt.

Appearing and performing as 8, they often felt incomplete, like a puzzle with a missing piece. But Mina's absence inspired them to work harder so as to make her proud.

The tour was fun, but extremely exhausting at the same time. Dahyun even felt sick 10 minutes before their concert in Singapore. She thought it was just the effect of jet lag from the flight the day prior, but it turned out to be overfatigue. Still, she pushed herself to perform despite her unhealthy state, only resulting for her condition to worsen.

And though she insisted that she's now doing perfectly fine and can perform well, her managers and members were increasingly concerned about her health and advised her to rest, thus she's in her unit while the rest of the members were attending a Pocari Sweat Fest.

Dahyun wanted to perform. She felt bad for her fans that anticipated her presence in that aforementioned event, but didn't have a choice as her body was demanding a break. If she'd push her body beyond its limits, she might just end up in the hospital -- it's the last place Dahyun ever wanted to be at. After staying at that place for weeks due to an ankle injury she acquired a few year backs, she loathed being in a hospital. And she absolutely didn't want to come back there again.

"Dahyun-ah, are you listening?"

The girl immediately shot her eyes open, a bit startled hearing the voice over the phone. She almost fell asleep, forgetting that she was currently in a phone call with her manager.

"Should I go over my reminders again?" The manager asked sternly making Dahyun whine.

"Ahh unnie noo~ I appreciate your concern, but you've been saying that for like 10 times already." Dahyun puffed her now red cheeks, resisting the urge to sneeze but failed and ended up sneezing anyway. She rubbed her stuffy nose and coughed terribly, wanting to get rid of the itchiness irritating her throat.

She grabbed a small bottle of eye drops and squeezed a drop or two on both her eyes, making her eyeballs more moist than they originally were.

Her rhinitis was acting up again. And today it grew worse than it was yesterday, now coupled with a sore throat. The busy schedules, sleepless nights and all the stress lately had seriously taken a toll over her health.

The manager who heard everything, sighed, "I'm just worried for you, Dahyun."

"I know unnie, but I can take care of myself," the girl said in a small voice, silently hoping that this phone call would end now. She just felt so tired, she wanted to sink herself onto bed this instant and fall into a deep slumber. She wanted to sleep for 24 or probably more hours without anyone bothering her.

After a few minutes of successfully convincing her manager that she could handle herself, Dahyun finally tucked herself to bed, not forgetting to squeeze a few drops of eye drops on her eyes.

Feeling the warmth and comfort under the duvet, she closed her eyes as she waited for sleep to snatch her away, but then the trip to dreamland was interrupted as she heard the incessant ringing of her doorbell.

Dahyun groaned quietly as she furrowed her brows. "Did manager unnie really come here?"

With lazy steps, Dahyun headed to the door. She didn't bother to peer by the peephole to check who was outside, thus she was surprised, finding a familiar tall man waiting on her doorstep.

The man squinted his eyes at first, seemingly having a hard time recognizing the girl, but then beamed a smile as he exclaimed, "Kim Dahyun!"

"Hello, Park Bogum-sunbaenim," Dahyun smiled faintly as she bowed, paying respect to the famous actor which she became MC's with on Music Bank Hong Kong just earlier this year, hence they became acquaintances. She didn't expect that he'd still remember her name and recognize her face after months of not seeing each other.

"I know Tae Tae's neighbor is a female idol but I never thought that it's you," Bogum smiled.

"It's a small world," Dahyun sheepishly replied, after clearing her throat. She was sure her voice sounded hoarse and raspy, she just hoped Bogum won't find it weird.

"It sure is," Bogum said with a small but charming on his lips to which Dahyun did not see because her attention was now focused on the dog running in circles around Bogum's feet.

"But why is Yeontan with you, sunbaenim?" Dahyun asked, crouching down to pat the dog on its head.

"Taehyung asked me to take care of Yeontan while they're at America. But today, something came up and I'll be out of town for a week. I could not possibly leave him at my home alone so I brought him here," he explained.

"Does Taehyung-ssi know?"

"Not yet. But I'll message him right after. Is it okay with you? Aren't you going somewhere today?"

"No, it's fine," Dahyun answered, making Bogum feel relieved at her positive response.

"Uh, do you want to come in and have tea or coffee?" Dahyun offered, just trying to be hospitable. She desperately wanted to sleep now, but she couldn't just shoo him away, could she? She didn't want to be impolite and disrespectful to a senior. But in truth, she silently prayed that Bogum would decline.

"No, thank you. I'm just stopping by for a bit," he politely declined the invitation making Dahyun thank the heavens for hearing her prayer.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good today," Bogum told her with concern. "Are you sick?"

"I just feel a bit, uh, under the weather today, but I'm fine," she reassured him.

"Okay, if you say so." Although not fully convinced, Bogum slowly nodded before handing her Yeontan's leash. "I'll be going now, Dahyun-ah. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you."

"Take care, sunbaenim."

Dahyun closed the door after Bogum left. She freed Yeontan from his leash so the dog could freely roam around the unit as he pleases.

"I'm sorry Yeontan, you don't have a playmate today. Ari's at my parent's house right now," Dahyun said as she gently caressed the puppy's back. "But your Daddy Tae is coming home soon, right? You must have missed him so much," she continued while the dog barked and wagged its tail enthusiastically in response.

"Dahyun noona will sleep first, okay? Just play with your chew toy for the meanwhile," Dahyun lent him a bone chew toy to which Yeontan quickly bit and played with.

After providing dog treats and water on a dog bowl for Yeontan, Dahyun immediately slumped on the sofa of the living room. Her dry eyes were getting heavy and her head felt dizzier with each passing second; she was too drained to even transfer to her room.

She closed her eyes, grasping on to the hope that she'll feel better once she'd wake up.