“Is it clear enough?” The manager sounded harsh with his last words towards Eunji, and the girl looked like she was lost somewhere between anger and despair. But she nodded, holding back the tears. “I really hope you do what’s right.”

Eunji left the room holding her tears, something that rarely happened to her. But she was very mad right then; she knew her manager was right but she did not want to do what she was supposed to. Her duties and the wishes of her heart had never confronted each other that much.

She entered her room, which was empty, and thanked the members for that. Eunji didn’t know where the other girls where, but she wanted some time on her own.

After lying in her bed for a long while, staring at the white ceiling while looking for answers, she grabbed her phone on the bedside table and called one of the numbers on her speed dial.

“Eunji-ah?” Bomi’s voice welcomed her at the other end of the line.

“Bomi-ah! How are you?” Eunji tried to ease her worries by thinking of Bomi, but the other girl must have heard a crack in her voice.

“I’m fantastic,” Bomi answered. “But what’s wrong with you?”

Eunji hesitated. She didn’t want to fill Bomi with more worries, but she was the friend she needed right now. No one else could be of help at the moment.

“Let’s talk about you first,” she finally said, knowing who she should put first. “You sound… great.”

“I am,” the older girl said. “The doctor’s been giving me some pills to ease the pain, and I feel quite drugged and euphoric at the moment. But since it’s working, I guess it’s fine. I feel so much better.”

“That’s great news,” Eunji said, “but are you sure they’re really okay? I don’t want you to grow dependent on them and end up as a drug addict. Please.”

Bomi laughed, but she assured the girl it was going fine for now.

“Chorong-unnie’s taking care of me, after all.”

They chatted about that for a short while, Bomi telling Eunji about her being possibly discharged that night or the following morning, since the doctor had said he’d had problems with the paperwork.

“So I guess I’ll stay at the bungalow with Chorong-unnie for a day or so and then head back home with you all,” she finished. “Have you talked to the president yet?”

“No, only to manager-oppa.” Eunji’s voice was moderated; she didn’t want Bomi to know how worried she was. No one wanted Apink to face disbandment, and she did not want the older girl to feel guilty again. “But I guess we’ll go this afternoon; that’s what it looks like at least.”

“Oh… Okay,” Bomi said, a speck of worry in her voice. “Keep me updated.”

Eunji smiled sadly. “I will.”

“So… can we talk about you now? Does it have anything to do with Naeun-ah?” Eunji felt her heart grow heavier at the mention of the girl.

“I…” She hesitated, her voice tight. “Manager-oppa told me to… He found us…”

“Eunji-ah!” Bomi was alarmed; she could feel the tears threatening to fall down Eunji’s face, the cracks in her voice. “Take a deep breathe. It can’t be that bad, can it?”

∼

“Can I ask you both for a favor?” Naeun was sitting in between Namjoo and Hayoung in a bench, enjoying the park they had near their dorm. Their manager had been talking to Eunji about the group’s future, and they hadn’t wanted to eavesdrop or anything.

After being back in Seoul, the girls hadn’t had time to do anything, not even unpack properly. After arriving at the dorm last night, they were so tired from the trip, even if it hadn’t been that long of a flight, that they hadn’t even spent their usual family time in the living room, chatting. After all, without their leader and Bomi, who was always the chatty one in the group, they hadn’t much to talk about except from Bomi’s state, and none of them had wanted to deal with it more than they should at the moment.

Now they were just enjoying time alone without Eunji, while waiting for the older girl to text them or something so they knew what to do. The two maknaes shrugged simultaneously, and Naeun continued

“I want to take Eunji-unnie out for dinner.”

“Okay, okay, wait a minute.” Hayoung was the one who spoke first. “I know you two have something going on, we’ve all realized that by now, but aren’t you supposed to tell us about it? Like, together with Eunji-unnie?”

Naeun blushed at the maknae’s words. Hayoung had been her best friend for years, but she still hadn’t gotten used to how straightforward she was.

“I don’t know if we have something real going on,” she chose honesty over everything else. Hayoung held her friend’s hand while Namjoo just smiled.

“Maybe you should just talk to her?” Namjoo suggested. “So you know how she feels.”

“So I can be as straightforward as Hayoungie?” Naeun laughed. “That’s why I want to take her to dinner. But manager-oppa might not be okay with it... Don’t you remember the hard time they all gave poor Bomi-unnie and Chorong-unnie?”

Hayoung shifted uncomfortably in place, thinking of that morning’s events. Naeun had been so deeply asleep that she hadn’t noticed the manager coming in and finding them cuddling.

“I’ll help you,” she said after thinking about it. Her members went first as family than as a job, after all. “Maybe Namjoo-unnie and I can go with you and pretend we are all going together somewhere. I ship you girls, after all.”

Namjoo rolled her eyes but joined the maknae in laughing it off.

∼

It was already dark outside when Bomi sat on her hospital bed, thinking of the words that the doctor had just told her. You’ll be out tomorrow morning at 9am for sure. Let’s just see if you have a great night and you have no troubles with the new medication.

“Unnie? Are you back?” Bomi raised her head when the door opened, and Chorong appeared at the doorway. She had been at the bungalow to check things out, and she had missed Bomi’s conversation with Eunji on the phone and the one with the doctor.

“How are you?” Chorong asked with a smile. “What did the doctor say?”

“Tomorrow at 9am,” Bomi answered with a shrug.

“That’s fine. They probably want to see how you deal with the new medication before letting you leave.”

Bomi laughed softly and stood up, kissing Chorong on the cheek.

“You are so smart, unnie.”

The two girls stayed there, standing in front of each other while staring into each other’s eyes. Bomi leaned in for a kiss, a soft touch of lips at first. Chorong caressed the other girl’s shoulders softly, like Bomi was made of glass and could break at any moment. The younger girl tried to take the kiss further, grabbing Chorong’s hands and pulling them down so they hugged her waist, but the leader wasn’t taking things faster. She enjoyed every second of their contact; their lips touched softly, but their hands explored each other’s backs. Bomi sneaked her right hand under Chorong’s cotton shirt, and the older girl smiled at the ticklish feeling. While Bomi bit softly at Chorong’s lower lip, the latter shook her head slightly and went back to just soft kissing.

“Unnie,” Bomi looked at the taller girl. “I can handle this.”

Chorong looked at her girlfriend with a hesitant expression, trying to decide whether she needed this more than she worried about Bomi’s current state. But the girl looked fine for now, she hadn’t complained about the pain for almost twenty-four hours, and it had been a long time since they had last kissed and been with each other like this.

Chorong looked into Bomi’s dark eyes. “Are you sure?”

The younger girl nodded, no hesitation in her brown orbs. She held Chorong’s hand and led the older girl to the hospital bed, which suddenly didn’t look that uncomfortable anymore. Bomi held the other girl’s hand tighter and nodded again, ensuring her girlfriend that this was alright and it was what she wanted as well.

A/N. Thank you so much for keeping up with this story, I can't believe it's reached 100 subscribers! Thank you all for reading <3