Bomi was lying in the hospital bed, surrounded by beeping machines and all sorts of tubes and cables, and the girls looked at her in horror, saddened to have to see one of them suffering so much and being unable to help.

The girl was awake now, her eyes scanning the room in search of one person.

“Unnie...” She mumbled, so soft that the girls couldn’t hear her properly. Chorong, who wasn’t crying anymore, came closer to the bed and sat in the chair, grabbing Bomi’s hand between hers.

“Bomi-ah, you scared us so much.” Eunji was right next to the bed too, removing the bangs from Bomi’s forehead. The other girls stared at Bomi with different expressions, even if all of them had worry painted in their faces.

“How are you feeling?” Namjoo asked Bomi. “Does it hurt?”

Bomi shook her head as much as she could while lying there.

“It’s okay now,” she said. “I feel like I’ve just woken up from a long night of sleep. I feel refreshed.”

Eunji arched an eyebrow in response, but she didn’t say anything.

“You had us so worried, Bomi-ah...” She repeated.

“We should leave them for a while,” Hayoung said when she saw how Chorong looked at Bomi, who looked weak but getting better second after second. The other members nodded in agreement and left the room for the oldest unnies.

∼

“Are you sure you are better?” Chorong’s voice was still filled with fear, but she was calming down after Bomi repeatedly said she was alright. The younger girl could already remain in a sitting position instead of lying on the bed, and color had returned to her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, unnie.”

“For what?” Chorong answered sharply, the fear completely gone. “Scaring me to death? Or hiding me this?”

She pointed at the machines surrounding Bomi’s body, anger present in her eyes. The younger girl had hidden the cancer from her, and that’s mainly why they were in that position.

“Why would you? Bomi-ah!” Chorong was somewhere between complete despair and anger, and she didn’t know how to act in front of what happened. She still couldn’t believe her girlfriend hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her such an important thing.

“Because I love you,” Bomi said, matter-of-factly. While observing Chorong’s reaction, Bomi’s mind automatically shifted to the first time she’d said those words to the older girl.

“She’s just confused.” Eunji said, staring at a mad Bomi. “Give her some space to put her thoughts in order.”

“I have given her enough space!” Bomi couldn’t handle it any longer. Chorong had been avoiding her friend for a few days, since the incident happened. The incident. The moment when Bomi had almost let her guard down and almost confessed her feelings out loud. If only Chorong knew how the younger girl felt...

“I can’t be stuck in the middle of you both,” Eunji spoke. “There’s nothing I’d like more than to see you finally happy, but I can’t tell you to act against Chorong-unnie’s wishes. That’s not who you are, and you know it.”

“Eunji-ah...” Bomi knew her friend was right, but she needed to do something about Chorong. She had been in love with her unnie for so long that she couldn’t even remember when it all started. But she had suffered enough because of her. “I’m going to tell her the truth. I need her to know.”

Eunji nodded slowly. She had always been there for Bomi, and she was really trying to help her friend out. She was certain that Chorong felt the same thing as Bomi did, but the leader was so stubborn... she was lying to herself and that’s what worried Eunji the most.

Bomi stood up and got ready to leave, telling Eunji not to worry about her; she’ll call the older girl as soon as she could to tell her everything. The two August-born girls had always been close, so of course it was Eunji who Bomi trusted the most when talking about her feelings for Chorong.

“Bye, Eunji-ah!” Bomi waved before disappearing through the door of the café. 

When she got to the dorms, her heart was beating really fast. She couldn’t believe she was finally going to tell Chorong how she really felt. Bomi couldn’t even remember when Chorong stopped being just her friend and leader, and she was sick of pretending like all she felt was friendship.

Bomi opened the door of her room, which she had shared with Chorong for the past four years, when nothing felt as complicated. They had been close friends for a really long time, and at some point in that time, everything changed, at least from Bomi’s perspective.

Chorong raised her gaze from the book she was reading as soon as she heard the door open. She hadn’t been reading much, though. Her mind was lost somewhere between a certain girl’s warm eyes and that same girl’s radiant smile, making it impossible for her to focus on anything else. But she was still in denial, so her first thought when she saw said girl enter the room was to run away and hide. Sometimes, even the twenty-three-year-old acted like a young child.

Chorong stood up and left the book on the nightstand. She grabbed her light jacket and started to leave. What she didn’t count on was Bomi being so determined this time. Anyone would think Bomi would have got the hint by then. But the younger girl put her arm up against the door so Chorong couldn’t get through.

“What are you doing?” Chorong asked. “Can’t you just leave me alone?”

Bomi didn’t even answer. She just stared at Chorong deeply without saying anything for a while. Chorong tried to walk past Bomi’s arm, but the younger girl was stronger. Chorong pushed again, and Bomi finally let go of her grip and let her unnie go. For a while.

Bomi was left in her room, alone, staring at the empty place Chorong had just left. She thought for a couple of seconds, and turned around swiftly to follow the older girl. Bomi ran down the corridor, and got to the corner just in time to stop Chorong.

Bomi grabbed the older girl’s arm and pulled her against her. Chorong cried in surprise, and tried to pull herself away. Bomi pushed her unnie against the wall, making it impossible for Chorong to move.

“What are you doing!?” Chorong sounded very mad. “Can’t you just stop following me around?”

Bomi didn’t answer, she just stared at Chorong.

“Why can’t you just go?” Bomi stepped closer towards Chorong. Really, really close.

“I thought you were smarter than that, unnie. Really? Can’t you see how deeply and irrevocably in love I am with you!?” Bomi’s eyes had a feverish glint in them.

Chorong’s mouth was slightly open in surprise; she couldn’t say anything.

“I love you, Park Chorong.”

Bomi released Chorong’s wrists and took a step back, defeated. There was nothing else she could do. She had already sort of lost her friendship, and she couldn’t live like that any longer. Bomi was about to turn and leave when Chorong finally recovered from her shocked state and took the initiative.

It was the older girl who locked their lips together on that decisive moment that would change everything.

∼

“We should take turns,” Eunji said. “You two should go home and rest.”

Namjoo and Hayoung didn’t want to leave at first, but finally the older girl used her authority to get them to agree.

“Take Chorong-unnie with you,” she said. “She has to go home. She won’t get any rest if she stays here.”

“That’s going to be hard,” Namjoo answered, but agreed.

“And Hayoung-ah, could you call manager-oppa?” Eunji didn’t look too comfortable with that idea, and Naeun exchanged a shrug with her. “I was going to, but...”

“Of course, unnie,” the mature maknae answered. “Do not worry about anything.”

“Do not take the car!” Eunji said when the maknaes were already leaving. “Here, money for a taxi.”

Hayoung laughed slightly, but accepted the money. She hugged Naeun and muttered something in her ear before leaving the cafeteria with Namjoo.

“We should go check on Bomi,” Eunji said while Naeun stared at the floor, thinking. “Naeun-ah! Are you coming or not?” 

A/N. Hey :D I just wanted to thank you all for reading, subscribing, voting and commenting. I may not say much, but it really means a lot to me, so keep doing that. I just wanted to say that university has started again after the holidays, so the updates may be delayed a few hours every day, depending on my schedule. But don't worry, I am not forgetting about this. Now is when I am happy that I decided to finish writing the whole fic before I started publishing it. I hope you are all enjoying this story as much as I have while writing it this past year, and I love hearing your thoughts on everything going on. Thank you! <33