Naeun heard a knock on the door while she was burying herself in the covers. Somehow Hayoung had disappeared a while ago, leaving her alone in their room, and that had given her time to think. Bomi, Eunji… the two girls dominated her thoughts since a few days ago, but they did so for really different reasons. While she was worried about Bomi, she felt guilty for being focused on Eunji and their love life, if there was something to consider love life, that is.

“Naeun-ah?” It was Eunji’s voice which came from outside. “Can I come in?”

“Sure.” She didn’t even stand up to open the door.

Eunji walked in and sat on Hayoung’s bed, quite awkwardly. She kept looking around, everywhere but Naeun’s eyes. She had been the one to come, but now she didn’t know how to act around her dongsaeng.

“Unnie? Are you okay?” Naeun pushed back the covers and sat on the bed so she was sitting in front of Eunji. The older girl nodded and shrugged.

“I… hum…. I think I owe you an answer?” Eunji looked incredibly nervous, and Naeun couldn’t help but standing up and going to sit beside her.

Naeun remained quiet for a while, thinking of their previous conversation. She had told the older girl that she loved her a couple of times already, but Eunji had never answered. Judging by Eunji’s current attitude, the girl felt pressured by Naeun, and that’s something the younger girl didn’t want, no matter how she longed for an answer.

“I’m sorry,” Naeun said holding the other girl’s hand, to which Eunji raised her head and locked their eyes together. “I didn’t want to pressure you. I just wanted you to know how I feel, but that doesn’t mean you have to act the same.”

Eunji wanted to tell Naeun not to apologize, but the words that the younger girl had said were true, so she stayed quiet for a while, the silence not too uncomfortable.

“Thank you,” she said, and kissed Naeun softly on the cheek. “I don’t think I am ready yet, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Naeun shook her head. “It’s okay.”

The two girls looked at each other for a while, smiles growing on their faces.

“Can I stay with you tonight? I sent Hayoung-ah to my room with Namjoo-ah.”

Naeun laughed at Eunji’s explanation, but she nodded, and a minute later the two girls were cuddling up in Naeun’s bed, Eunji’s chin fitting perfectly in the space between Naeun’s neck and shoulder.

∼

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” It was Bomi who woke up first this time. She had taken the first one of her new pills last night, and she felt brand new, with no pain crossing through her body. She had suffered for days now, and she just felt really different without the now usual sensation of burning.

Chorong opened her eyes at Bomi’s voice. She smiled as soon as she saw her girlfriend, and slowly sat up on the bed. She blinked fast until her eyes grew used to the amount of light in the room. It was still pretty early in the morning, but the sun was shining brightly.

“Bomi-ah…,” she mumbled. “How are you feeling?”

Bomi grinned, her smile reaching from ear to ear.

“I am feeling so great I just can’t believe it.” That made Chorong wake up.

“Oh really?” She was smiling too, even though she knew it was only because of the pills. “Bomi-ah… You have no idea how happy that makes me. You look brighter today.”

The two girls sat side by side, smiling, for a while. When the nurse brought breakfast, Chorong left for the cafeteria to grab something for herself.

“It’s the last time I’m eating this kind of food,” she said to herself while staring at the energy bar she was holding. The day appeared brighter than anything had for a few days, and that made her very happy. Even though she was conscious that Bomi’s pain would come back soon and that the drugs had their side-effects, she wanted to believe that everything was going to be okay for now.

“I’m back.” She kissed Bomi on the cheek before sitting next to her. “Don’t you feel drugged or anything?”

“I am in a weird state of euphoria that’s making me nervous, but I don’t know if that’s because of the pills or because of how happy I am for feeling this great at the moment.”

Chorong hugged Bomi tightly, her heart expanding in her chest.

“I love you so much, Bomi-ah.”

“I love you too, unnie.” Bomi kissed her girlfriend, and Chorong could feel her smile against her lips.

“So how do you want to spend your last day in this cold hospital?” Chorong asked when she moved back.

“Let me see…” Bomi pretended to be thinking deeply. “What about having some celebration wild ?”

“Bomi-ah!” Chorong slapped playfully Bomi’s arm, and the younger started laughing.

“I was just joking,” she said. “Or not.”

Chorong smiled at her girlfriend. It had been a few days since she had last seen Bomi this playful and bright, and she loved having her girlfriend back.

“Okay, let’s go out,” Bomi said. “I am allowed to walk the gardens again, right?”

Chorong nodded, and stood up to help Bomi get ready. She was supposed to walk Bomi around in a wheelchair, so that’s what she did.

It was a sunny day, and everything went according to their mood.

“It’s still early, so Eunji-ah hasn’t called me yet,” Chorong said. “By the way, she said she would call you to see how you were as soon as she could.”

Bomi nodded and smiled. Eunji had been getting closer to her lately, and she liked that.

“I just hope manager-oppa isn’t giving them a hard time…” Chorong sighed.

Bomi held her girlfriend’s hand between hers, the two girls enjoying the sunny day in silence. They knew each other so well, they didn’t need words to communicate. Bomi knew Chorong didn’t want to talk about Apink disbanding, but they would have to, at some point. They were just enjoying their time together, now that they still could.

∼

“Unnie! Wake up!” Hayoung was shaking Eunji softly but with strength, and the older girl opened her eyes in confusion. “Are you awake now?”

“Hayoung-ah…” Eunji was still half-asleep, her body intertwined with a sleepy Naeun. “Hayoung-ah, what’s wrong?”

“Manager-oppa is here making us breakfast,” the maknae said. “Go back to your room before he finds you both here, he might–”

She was too late. The door opened and their manager appeared.

“Good morning…” He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the two girls cuddling on the bed with the maknae standing right next to them. When he realized what was happening he rolled his eyes. “Oh no. Not you too.”

Naeun was still asleep, so she did not notice anything that was happening. Eunji got up from the bed, her heart beating loudly.

“We were just…,” she tried to explain, but her voice ended up becoming silence.

“Eunji-ah. Get dressed and come with me,” the manager said. “We need to talk about many things.”

He left the room, leaving the three girls there. Hayoung face-palmed herself, and Eunji stood there, frozen. Naeun’s half-asleep moan was what got her out of that state.

“Don’t wake her up yet, Hayoung-ah,” she told the maknae. “But I’d better go… Don’t worry Naeun-ah, please.”

“Sure, unnie,” Hayoung complied. “Good luck.”