| whose shoes are these?

"hey, i'm gonna be gone for two days straight, i'll be back and don't touch anything in my room! got it?" y/n walks off the wide hallway of their apartment, carrying her bags as she trudged to their living room while being followed by the second eldest, gaeul who nodded as she followed by. "yes, but it's kind of messy right now? are you not gonna let us clean it?" gaeul answered, as they stopped in the living room whilst the other sat, watched them talk. "okay, that's fine but- please don't touch anything for too long." y/n pleaded, looking at gaeul before the other girls who were seated on the couches. "two days is a little long, are you sure you're gonna be alright alone?" yujin asked, standing up with her arms crossed. y/n nodded and shook her hand. "of course, of course. i am the oldest, an adult and i have manager with me so i will be alright." y/n stated, before pointing a finger on her younger groupmates. "remember, no touching!" she reminded them once again like a bunch of puppies that are stubborn. hyunseo nodded and looked at jiwon and rei who also nodded yet the message just went past their other ear to exit the other ear. meanwhile wonyoung just nodded. y/n went outside with their and the girls were left with an awkward silence, looking at each other and trying to disseminate the message left to them. "i wonder... what's inside her room?" wonyoung asked, leaning on the couch, eyes looking at her members like she's purposely poking on the members' curiosity to check her room out. "is she hiding something?" rei asked, then came different questions or theories about whatever was inside the room, endless of creative or unbelievable ideas came like: is she hiding a robot? or perhaps there's something dangerous inside? yujin stood in the middle until she held her hand up and said. "everyone, silence please." to which the girls followed and went quiet.

"whatever is in her room, it's none of our business, that's why we assigned rooms based on our privacy didn't we?" yujin added, looking at the members. as the leader, it's her job to keep the rules and to make sure they are still followed by the members that no matter happen they'd stick to their principles. so the girls just nodded and shook the thought off of their heads.

in the other dorm, xiaoting had just finished taking the clothes off their drying rack and that includes socks and pairs underwear, nothing was particularly interesting, what she did was very common in their group, cleaning stuff and making sure their clothes are newly washed and had been dried off, they share these jobs to each other to ensure equality in the group and cleanliness. but one peculiar pair of socks had xiaoting rather... perplexed, as if she had never seen the pair at all until just now, being assigned to the clothes means xiaoting must study each one of those and learn who owns them, at this point she's familiar of everything but this pair of sock? who owns this?

xiaoting walked to their living room, holding the pair of socks and immediately called everyone's attention. "everyone! come out quick! i have a question." as her voice was clear and loud, everyone heard and went immediately out of every room and left their endeavours, xiaoting was facing the 8 girls, the pair of socks hidden behind her back, her face was stoic and everyone took note of that. "what's the matter ting?" choi yujin, their leader asked from behind one of the couches, looking at xiaoting and her very peculiar expression. "this is a serious matter, i need everyone to answer with all honesty and take things seriously." xiaoting stated, now everyone is nervous, whatever this was it has to be that serious. xiaoting raised the pair of socks for everyone to see and said. "who owns this pair of socks that i have never seen before?" she asked, the question was bombarded with different discussion among the girls, everyone did not know who owns the pair of socks nor have they ever seen it except for. "i own that!" mashiro answered, raising her hand, the co-leader of the group earned various stares from the younger girls as the whole place went quiet. "are you sure?" xiaoting brought the socks in front of her face and examined it. "but this pair look a little too big to be yours, this has to be owned by someone who is at least taller than all of us." xiaoting stated, causing mashiro to be alert yet with all her remaining calmness she shook her head. "actually, i got it from our house in japan when i visited our house during our concert. it's my dad's that i wore that night we went home." mashiro stated, smiling at her co-member who looked at it, there was an invisible sweat forming in her forehead as she felt the stare piercing her from in front. "okay, here you can have it." xiaoting gave it to mashiro who sighed mentally and muttered a small thanks before everyone retreated to their respective places.

mashiro would be dead in a ditch if they find out.

"everyone! is everything cleaned over there?" ahn yujin asked, walking to the rooms of her co-members to check the state of their rooms, one of the rooms being owned by their eldest, y/n who is currently out of town was locked but yujin had a spare of keys to open it. different replies of yes was answered to yujin, gaeul approached her from behind and poked her back. yujin faced gaeul who looked at her and to the room that was locked. "me and hyunseo are gonna clean y/n's room she agreed after i texted her." yujin nodded and took the spare of key on her pocket, then reaching to give it to their second eldest and the youngest who followed behind towards the locked room of y/n. yujin trailed her eyes behind the two and said. "don't touch anything that looks important okay?" "okay!" the two girls answered as they unlocked the room and entered inside. the two identical girls went inside, noticed the messy state of the room, clothes were on the floor, the table had things all around the surface and the bed was undone. the two girls looked at each, gaeul sighing and hyunseo just shrugging her shoulders. "okay, let's clean up." gaeul announced as they started picking up stuff from the ground and sweeping. as gaeul cleaned the table, hyunseo proceeded to fix the bed, taking off the things on top of the bed and placing it on the floor before making sure the pillows are placed right where they need to be, straightening the duvet. hyunseo crouched to look under the bed and noticed there are also things like clips, notebooks, pen, a box and a pair of shoes she's never seen before. hyunseo reached for the broom and strated sweeping beneath, when she got the stuff under the bed she reached for the box and the pair of shoes. "unnie? have you seen this pair of shoes before?" hyunseo asked, as she sat down on the floor, with the box on her lap. gaeul looked at her and to the shoes, before shaking her head. gaeul crouched down too to look at the shoes, it was a pair of sneakers that were small, a size none of the ive members had, wonyoung, y/n and yujin along with jiwon had big feet, rei and hyunseo were average and gaeul had the smallest but not as small as the shoes they have on their hands. weird, y/n would never hide someone else's shoes nor buy a shoes that doesn't even fit her. "i don't think i've ever seen this shoes before, what about that?" gaeul pointed to the box in hyunseo's lap, hyunseo placed it on the floor and opened it, another pair of shoes, but this one was a platformer shoes, black and glossy with a 1 inch heels, it looked brand new. it was the same size as the other shoes they saw, small. hyunseo and gaeul looked at each other, both forming a question of who was the owner of the shoes.

"it could be her sibling's? a gift for her cousin or nephew? wonyoung it could be anyone's that is her family." yujin stated, as she walked around the living room, after hyunseo told wonyoung about the two pair of shoes inside y/n's room, they decided to hold a small meeting which was obviously wonyoung's plan. "really? as far as i remember her parents are both only childs and y/n is an only child too." yujin stopped from her tracks, and thought about it- wonyoung was right, y/n doesn't have a sibling, her parents too both came from families that only had once child, yujin looked at the girls, before walking towards them. "then who owns it?" yujin asked. gaeul looked at yujin and said. "i think no one here owns it, probably someone we don't know of, it's a small size that no one here has, i assume probably from someone's who is at the height of 5'2." now, everyone's hearing gaeul out, no one in their group was 5'2, not even near 5'2 except for gaeul who is still a bit taller, definitely not y/n! that girl is very tall. rei laughed and covered her mouth. "i think i have an idea." she muttered, making everyone look at her.

"unnie! where are your sneakers?" yeseo walked out of their room, already dressed in her outdoor fit, only missing was that one sneakers of mashiro that she sometimes borrow. mashiro looked away from her phone to yeseo and stood up. "are they not there in the shoe rack?" mashiro asked, walking out of the living room to yeseo who stood in front of the door where they exit. mashiro looked at the shoe rack for that pair of sneakers, noticing that they weren't there, she went on their shared room to look for it under the bed and saw that it wasn't there. "oh my god, where is it?" she asked herself. mashiro took her phone to message someone. "wait there yeseo, i'll try to find it!" "okay!" yeseo replied.

y/n :))

y/n!

what's the matter?

y/n... i think i lost my pair of sneakers.

yeseo said she couldn't find it in our
shoe rack and i couldn't find
it in our room.

shiro...

it's in my room, under my bed.

you left it there after you wore
the sandals i got you.

wait, really?

mashiro walked towards the shoe rack again and saw the pair of sandals that y/n gave her as a gift.

you're right, the sandals are here.

dw, i'll give you back the sneakers
once i get a free time off work

y/n, it's okay

i'll just tell yeseo i left it in our house,
she'll understand

really?

okay, take care shiro.

i love you

mashiro stared at the message, feeling her face flush and trying to keep a smile off of her face, she blew a breath away.

thanks, y/n, take care there too.

and i love you too of course.

mashiro walked over to the doorway and called yeseo. "i think i left my sneakers in our house, you can use my sandals i got there." yeseo looked over to where mashiro was pointing at and saw a cute pair of sandals. "wow! this pair looks so cute!" yeseo took it and looked at it. "thanks unnie!" she smiled, her bunny teeth showing.

y/n finally got back on their apartment and laid down on her bed, sighing, putting her arms on her face as she rested, the ive members gathered around her door, looking at their eldest as she took a nap. rei smiled. "she's so clueless." rei snickered before leaving and going to the living room, wherein the other girls followed. "are you sure it's from another girl who she brought here while we were gone or are you just accusing her?" yujin asked, putting her hands on her waist. rei turned her body to face yujin and nodded. "has to be! i'm pretty sure she had the chance when me and jiwon went to jeju to visit her family, it was supposed to be just me and y/n but she told me she'll be fine alone." rei responded, shrugging and looking over to the hall that had rows of rooms. "how do you make sure that she did bring someone over?" jiwon asked, looking at the members. wonyoung walked in the middle. "if in a span of few days, the two pair of shoes are gone and doesn't comeback that means one thing." wonyoung stated, smiling at her groupmates. hyunseo nodded. "have you guys noticed something weird here too?" she asked, yujin closed her eyes to think and sighed. "yes, that pair of socks that me and y/n share is missing." she opened her eyes to look at her members. gaeul answered. "i don't think i've seen it somewhere this week." jiwon shrieked in surprise. "i remember y/n leaving somewhere wearing that specific pair of socks! it was just last saturday!" she confirmed, looking at everyone. "yes, i looked for it last monday but noticed it wasn't in the dirty clothes." yujin responded, the silence was loud, as if they are starting to form something to out the missing puzzles all together.

bahiyyih and eunchae decided to hang out together and eat in a famous cafe after some months of not seeing each other, they sat in the table near the glass panes that showed a view of a famous park, they talk about stuff in the past few months they haven't seen each other. as bahiyyih was busy bickering about things that annoyed her and made her happy, she also told eunchae about the pair of socks that they saw last time in their dorm. "i don't really believe that shiro-unnie owned that, but i don't want to doubt her." bahiyyih said, eunchae nodded. "you said it was big right?" she asked, bahiyyih nodded with a pout. "yeah, i guarantee no one in our group has ever seen that pair at all." bahiyyih stated, she played with the spoon of her strawberry cake as eunchae looked on the glass pane and saw something, she started pointing at the glass and called bahiyyih. "hiyyih! look! isn't that...?"

bahiyyih looked over the pane and she wandered her eyes to the park until she spotted a familiar face. "shiro-unnie..?" she muttered. "who's that with her-!" eunchae widen her eyes as she realized. "is that- y/n..?" she whispered bahiyyih who squinted her eyes, eunchae was right, bahiyyih remembered mashiro saying she'll hang out with a junior high friend, not another idol. the two of them looked at each other, bahiyyih pulled her phone and took a picture, before sighing. she remembered what yujin and xiaoting told her: "no secrets and no lies."

"good evening." y/n greeted as she entered the apartment, she looked tired but not that tired, worn out from being outside but she looked a little cheerful. the vibe she brought made the air in their apartment a little lighter, she walked past the girls eating dinner, carrying a bag. "y/n unnie, are you not gonna eat dinner?" asked gaeul as she looked behind to their eldest, y/n shook her head and waved. "no, i already ate thanks." before entering her room and locking it, the girls looked at each other before continuing to eat dinner.

"mashiro." as mashiro entered the dorm, she looked to the doorway to see xiaoting waiting for her. "oh, good evening ting, sorry i was a little late." she said, removing her shoes and placing it to the shoe rack. "i was about to ask you about something, can we talk later?" xiaoting asked, her voice was as serious as it had been last time when she asked about the pair of socks. "oh okay, is there something wrong?" mashiro asked, xiaoting looked at the members in the dining table. "kind of, but i'll wait after you finish changing clothes." mashiro nodded and walked to her room with her bag. when she got back to the living room everyone's already in their own respective rooms, and there she saw yujin and xiaoting waiting for her. she walked towards the couches and smiled at the two, mashiro sat at a spot near the two and looked at them, breathing heavily to prepare herself. "so what's the matter?"

"mashiro, be honest. who were you with earlier?" xiaoting asked, her voice was harsh, strong, punctuating the who in the question, mashiro looked at the two, nervous. "i- i told you, just a friend from junior high." mashiro answered, her voice trembling. "shiro, please tell us the truth. hiyyih already told us." what? mashiro thought, did bahiyyih saw her earlier? "huh?" mashiro muttered. "were you with that girl from ive?" xiaoting asked, surprising mashiro. "what was her name again?" xiaoting looked at yujin. "kitazawa y/n, as far i can recall." yujin answered. "i yeah right, that very tall girl." xiaoting added. as mashiro was about to answer a ring of her phone interrupted them. mashiro saw the caller and flinched, it's y/n. yujin and xiaoting watched as mashiro brought the phone to her to answer.

"hello?" mashiro greeted. there was silence as the call wasn't on speaker. "yeah, i got home safe, don't worry." mashiro's eyes met with yujin's and xiaoting kept muttering the word: speaker, with no voice. mashiro didn't know what to do, but once she realized that she's in a group, a 9 membered group, she pledged to never hide a secret nor lie. she opened the speaker, preparing herself for what was about to come. "are you okay shiro?" the girls peeked through the doors, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening. "yes, i'm okay, don't worry. i'm just tired from today that's all." mashiro tried to sound bubbly. "good. did you like the shoes i gave you, me and hyunseo saw that last month and i decided to get it for you." from the other line, mashiro could hear the shifting of the duvet mattress. "yes, it looked cute. i love how it glossy it was." as if no one was around, mashiro let herself fall into a deep conversation with y/n. "right, i'm glad you liked it." mashiro felt herself flush, covering her face with a palm. "i... thanks, y/n." from the rooms, yeseo gasped, then covered her mouth before looking at the other girls. "it's fine, uh yeah... i love you." y/n laughed from the other line, xiaoting almost stood up from the couch but prevented herself from doing so, yujin and the others waited for a reply. "i love you too." mashiro replied, y/n proceeded to say her goodbye before hanging up.

"unnie! do you have a spare of socks? can't find mine!" yujin asked, exiting her room and walking towards y/n's. "yeah, just get one from my drawers." yujin entered inside the room, looked beneath the bed saw that the two pairs of shoes are now gone, then she looked on the drawer and saw the pair of socks that was once missing. yujin stood up and waved her hand. "thanks!"

yujin ran towards wonyoung's room and entered, bringing the socks in front of wonyoung. "look it's back! and the shoes aren't there anymore!" wonyoung sat up from her bed, looking up at their leader. "really? does that mean..?" "she probably left it somewhere else." yujin answered, then her phone vibrated, yujin took her phone to see a message from chaewon.

chaewonnie

guess what jinie?

what?

guess first you idiot!

this is very important, i got the news
from eunchae!

what is it?

hurry! does it have anything to do
with us?

oh yeah, remember the mystery
shoes you saw in y/n's room?

guess what?

mashiro sakamoto owns it!

how'd you know?

i told you! eunchae told me,
bahiyyih told her that your eldest
was dating their mashiro!

she heard them talk through the
phone yesterday.

talk about connections!

no way.

rei was right when she said y/n brought
a girl here once when we were gone.

oh! of course she did! HAHAHA

"fuck." yujin muttered as she laid down on wonyoung's bed, her arms on her face. "what's the matter?" wonyoung asked, yujin looked at wonyoung. "rei was right, y/n brought a girl here and that girl was mashiro, the shoes were from that woman." wonyoung looked at yujin in shock, before bursting out of laughter. "of course she did!"

what a sly mother fucker.