.twelve.

Sun returned to Korea that afternoon and would spend one week in her country before going back to China to continue with filming. She didn't see Yixing much during that week, but she didn't try to contact him, as other things came up which she gave higher importance to. Their relationship wasn't real anyway, and there was no reason for her to keep up with his life. She only heard about him by whatever was put out in the media. She was more invested in her growing relationship with Ernesto who was as in love as ever with her.

Her concern for Sarang also grew, and the next afternoon after returning to Korea, the Baby Lips leader sat her down and had a very heartfelt message for her. 

"Don't spend too much of your time being upset with Yixing." She started with a sigh. Now it seemed like even talking and breathing was difficult for her. Her eyes were also red and puffy as though she had been crying. Sun hadn't seen her all day. She had personal commitments to take care of with their manager Lina. Though Sarang tried to play it off, Sun was sure that whatever happened when she went out earlier wasn't good. "Life is too short to stay mad at people you care about. If you really love him, try to fix things."

Sun gave a nod of her head in agreement. She had actually tried to talk to Yixing many times. But he just didn't want to listen to her. "I've tried." She assured the group leader.

Sarang offered a small smile. "If you think things are gonna work out with Ernesto, let Yixing go from your heart and don't hold onto any regrets. And always remember to do your best, and behave, maknae."

Her hand reached up slowly and she weakly pinched Sun's cheek. Sun smiled and crinkled up her nose. Sarang and the other older girls in the group were always trying so hard to protect her. But Sarang cared about her the most because she was an only child and never knew what it was like to have siblings. When she joined Baby Lips, it was like she had been given eleven sisters. And as the youngest, Sun was the baby of their family. 

"Why are you saying these things?" Sun smiled, but there was a prick in her chest.

Like a premonition. She felt like rough times were coming, and it all involved Park Sarang. 

Sarang reassured her with another small smile. "There's no reason. Can't I just give you some advice for free? It's looked to me like you've been struggling these last few weeks."

Sun knew that was true.

"Do you want to go get something to eat together?" The maknae offered. She was getting hungry already, and that afternoon they had no schedules since they had just arrived from Mexico.

Her unnie refused with a shake of her head. "Sorry, maknae. I'm having dinner with Jun tonight. Maybe if he sees me eat something, he'll stop worrying so much. He keeps buying me snacks and vitamins, and has them sent here." She let out a light laugh in amusement. Sun knew that was true as well. Of the late, Sarang's boyfriend kepy sending her gift baskets with snacks sent to the dorms and the Pledis building when they were having practices. He was also constantly buying her multivitamin pills and drinks which he hoped would boost her energy.

Sarang ended up keeping most of the vitamins, but she gave away all of the snack gift baskets. Partially because she knew she wouldn't finish them herself, but also because Lina warned her that she wasn't allowed to eat all that junk food.

The Baby Lips leader got ready, wore one of her prettiest outfits, one she told Sun that was also Jun's favorite and that he couldn't keep his eyes or his hands off her when she wore it. She did her make up and left the building when her boyfriend texted her to let her know that he was waiting outside. She gave Sun a hug goodbye, lingering just a bit longer than she normally did, since she said she would be returning probably after the maknae would already be asleep.

Sun couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat, and that was considering that she didn't yet know it would be the last time she would see Park Sarang.

-

Sun was a heavy sleeper, but she was even more surprised that she didn't hear any movement in the room. She didn't hear Sarang enter the room the previous night, nor did she hear her leave so early in the morning. Her bed was cold and neatly made as though she hadn't even slept in it. But Sun didn't think too much of it. She thought that maybe she had lost track of time while out with Junmyeon, and perhaps they had spent the night together in some hotel.

She went to have breakfast with the other members and went to practices as normal. When Sarang still didn't show up, the other girls were concerned. They asked Sun if she knew anything about the Baby Lips leader, but she knew nothing. 

As if right on cue, Lina entered the practice room to check on them. 

She was instantly bombarded with questions. "Where is Sarang unnie?" Sun wondered, full of concern.

Lina responded with a sigh, and it was evident that she was hiding something from them. "She went to the clinic after her date with her boyfriend Junmyeon because she said she was feeling ill. But she's all better now and will rest. She'll be joining you girls shortly."

But she didn't join them at practices that day.

Sun was anxious to return to the dorms to see her and ask if she was okay. When they returned to the dorms, Sun was shocked to find the whole half of her room was empty and blank. Sarang's bed was still neatly made, but her desk was empty. Her laptop, her makeup bag, her lamp, everything on the desk was gone. Fearing the worst, Sun rushed to the closet on her friend's side and pulled the door open. Her heart dropped when she saw it was completely empty. Only lonely clothes hangers remained.

The maknae rushed out of the room with her phone and called up their manager. "What the hell is going on?" She demanded, her heart wrung out and tears burning her eyes. It was taking all of her willpower not to burst into tears at that moment because she knew what was coming. It was the very same way Rin said Bom's side of the room looked when she left Baby Lips, and the same way Kia said the room looked when Minnie left the group too. At least with Bom though, they still got to see her around the Pledis building. And she still lived in the same building as them, but in a different floor with her new group mates from Glow. "Where is Sarang unnie?"

It wasn't that Lina didn't think anyone would notice. Sarang and Sun were room mates after all. But she didn't think the maknae would go to her so quickly, demanding for answers. 

She sighed as she began to explain, "Last night she talked to me and said she was tired of being an idol, okay? She said she wanted to live out a normal life. So she said that if we wouldn't let her out of h er contract, she would just pack up and leave. And that's what she did. She left Baby Lips and Pledis Entertainment."

But Sun didn't believe that. Her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Sarang unnie would never do something like that. She would never leave without at least saying goodbye."

Sun could practically hear the shrug in her manager's voice as she replied simply, "Well that's what happened. There's nothing we can do. She's left us with more work to do. Tomorrow I'm breaking the news to the other girls and Yoona will be expected to step up as our new leader. I've also contacted your dance instructor to rearrange your dances for the upcoming tour." Lina sounded annoyed just mentioning all the work that had to be done now. But Sun couldn't focus on any of that.

All she could focus on was that Sarang was no longer around, and that she wouldn't see her again.

-

Sun tried hard to contact her friend. She sent text messages and even called her, but there was no answer. When she called her on the phone, she got a machine that informed her that her number had been blocked. But the maknae refused to give up. She went on social media to try to contact her. She searched twitter and instagram, as well as weibo and facebook. But all of Sarang's social media accounts had been closed. It was like the ground had swallowed her up.

The other girls were clearly upset when they found out about Sarang leaving the group, and they looked to Yoona for leadership. She had been their co-leader since debut, and the leader of the sub group BLM. But now she was expected to take on Sarang's leadership duties.

For the next week, the girls trained hard to re-learn their dance numbers without Sarang, and her rap lines were handed off to Yoona.

The advertisements that had been put all over town were removed and replaced with new ones including the remaining nine Baby Lips members. By the time Sun saw Yixing again in China, so many things had changed. 

The moment that he saw her, he cleared his throat and offered his condolences awkwardly. "I'm sorry about your leader leaving the group. I know its hard. When Yifan, Han, and Tao left, we were a mess. Its going to get better." Sun nodded thankfully, and it was right at that moment that it occurred to her that maybe Junmyeon knew something. He was Sarang's boyfriend after all, and she might have told him where she was going. She didn't want the life of an idol anymore, according to Pledis Entertainment, as they had told everyone. In the media, they had made it seem like she was a bad person who just picked up and left, leaving her group abandoned. Sun refused to believe all of that. Sarang wasn't like that. She was a responsible leader.

But maybe she still wanted to keep in contact with her old friends.

She made a mental note to contact the EXO leader to see if he knew anything. 

Remembering something had happened with EXO recently, she added a condolence of her own, "I'm sorry about your stylist. I hope everything turns out okay." She offered sadly. She knew and got along with the EXO girlfriends pretty well. But their stylist Yeo Nari mostly kept to herself, or only talked to her best friend Narda Gutierrez Lozano. 

Sun had heard that just days after returning from Mexico, there had been a car accident in which Yeo Nari had been injured. She was still in the hospital, in critical condition, and there were rumors that her parents were going to take legal action against Kyungsoo and SM Entertainment because they suspected that he pushed her in front of that car. Sun couldn't help but think that everything was happening to EXO lately, and they were caught in the middle of scandal after scandal.

Sun just wanted to go back to a time where everything was more simple and she was happy. Now the thought of happiness was something that she saw as far away from her.

-

just a quick update and now im gonna see if my car is ready. i'll edit and write a longer author's not when i come back. thank you for reading!

so a little note, i got my car back. and it looks good.

now im ready for the company party on monday and the store party on wednesday. its going to be lit.

-clary