When they finally moved apart, it was Naeun's time to talk. Before that, though, she linked hands with Eunji, simply enjoying the girl's company after missing it for what seemed like ages.

“You are an idiot,” she said, her voice flat. “How could you do that to me?”

Eunji looked at her, then she lowered her gaze to her lap.

“How could I do that to you? How could I do that to myself?” Eunji nodded in agreement. “I'm an idiot. Worse than that.”

Naeun sat down next to her unnie, silence filling the room. But it wasn't awkward, not anymore. They had talked and that was it. The fears, the guilt, the anger..., everything should disappear in a mere instant.

Eunji tried to kiss her on the cheek, but Naeun moved away, avoiding the older girl's eyes. She moved back, but it didn't look like that's what she wanted to do, it was more of a reluctant action.

“I forgive you, okay? I do. But we are not together.” Eunji looked at Naeun, confused, but the younger girl didn't do anything to comfort her. “I can't.”

“But... you just kissed me,” Eunji almost stuttered. “And I love you. I’ve said it now.”

“I know. And I'm sorry.”

∼

“We are home!” Bomi shouted as soon as she walked through the door.

Chorong rolled her eyes and smiled, a few steps behind her girlfriend. Namjoo laughed next to her, and Hayoung shook her head with a smile.

“Unnie!” Naeun came out from her room, her face going from dead serious to happy in less than a second. She looked at Bomi carefully, obviously inspecting her to know what her condition was.

“I'm okay,” Bomi said, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. “Stop examining me like some patient you have.”

“Sorry, unnie.” Naeun had the decency of blushing at the comment. “How are you? Really.”

Bomi rolled her eyes. She was getting bored of hearing the same question over and over. They all worried too much. But of course, what else could they do after her illness was announced?

“Honestly, I'm okay,” she said. “Better than I thought I'd be.”

Naeun nodded carefully, and so did Chorong, looking at her girlfriend with worry.

“I think I'd better go now.” It was their manager who spoke. “Bomi-ah, the president wants to see you tomorrow morning. With Chorong-ah. But you're free until then.”

Both girls nodded in understanding. It wasn't surprising that the CEO wanted to see them after everything they'd done, what they’d caused.

“I'll send you the details,” he told Chorong, and left the dorm with no other word.

The girls looked at each other and shrugged.

“You've all had lunch?” The leader asked. When Namjoo shook her head she kept talking. “Then we're going out. Lunch is on me.”

Hayoung smiled widely and cheered.

“Leader-unnie is buying us lunch!”

That's when Eunji came out from Naeun's room. Chorong arched an eyebrow at that, but she didn't say anything. Eunji looked tired and her eyes were puffy red. That did cause a reaction in Bomi, who made a chastising sound with her tongue.

“I'm glad you both are back.” She made half a smile for Chorong and ran towards Bomi and hugged her best friend. “We missed you. I missed you.”

Bomi patted Eunji's back softly; the younger girl looked like she was going to start crying any moment soon.

“Yah, Eunji-ah,” Bomi whispered in Eunji's ear. “What's wrong with you? Where's the strong girl I said goodbye to about a week ago?”

Eunji moved back and the girls looked at each other. Eunji could feel Naeun's eyes focused on her when she spoke.

“I guess she's gone for good.”

∼

Bomi didn’t know what to do. She had never seen Eunji cry this hard before, and it was getting out of her hands.

“Eunji-ah…” She tried to comfort her friend by bringing her closer into an embrace. But no matter how hard she tried, the younger girl wouldn’t stop sobbing. “Yah! Eunji-ah, please come back to your senses. We need to talk as people, not through sobs.”

“I’m sorry.” She sat up and looked at Bomi. The two girls stared at each other in silence.

“Are you going to tell me now what happened? Why are you crying like crazy?” Bomi was growing a worried frown on her forehead.

Eunji lay on the bed, her back against the cotton sheets. She stayed silent for a while until her sobs decreased in frequency and volume.

“I am sorry,” she repeated. “You shouldn’t be listening to my problems.”

“What? I want to listen to your problems. That’s why I’m your friend. Your best friend.”

Bomi said it like it was all very simple, and it made Eunji smile slightly.

“I finally talked to Naeun-ah. I got the courage to do so from I-don’t-know-where, but I did so,” Eunji spoke calmly. “I explained why I behaved like I did, and I apologized.”

“I don’t see what the problem is then,” Bomi said slowly, not wanting to bother Eunji with a strong opinion when she still didn’t know everything.

“I told her I love her,” Eunji blurted out.

Bomi was really taken aback by the comment. She had not expected that. She’d expected Naeun not accepting the apology, the girls fighting again… not this. Bomi knew that Eunji liked to share her feelings with the people she loved; she had heard the younger girl brother by saying how much she loved him. But saying it to Naeun was something else.

“I thought…” Bomi hesitated, not really knowing how to word her thoughts. “I thought you weren’t sure about that.”

“I wasn’t,” Eunji shrugged. “When Naeun-ah told me her feelings, I was scared. I didn’t know what to say; I was taken so aback by the comment… And I kept thinking about how I felt, what my feelings were. I was so confused… But then I saw her cry because of me, I saw her being in pain because of what I’d told her… and I knew it. I love her. I love her so much that being in love with her is hurting both of us.”

Bomi was speechless. She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t know how to react. This reminded her so much of the way she felt about Chorong when they grew close, before she had started acting like an idiot and almost lost her before she had her. But that was long forgotten, now more in love than ever.

“What did she say?” Bomi was scared to ask.

“She did not react as I thought –as I wished– she would. She just looked at me and then kissed me like she’d never done before.” Eunji sounded shy when telling Bomi that. When Eunji saw that the older girl didn’t see what was wrong with everything she was telling her, she continued. “When we… parted, she said she forgives me. She said she forgives me but that we are not together and we won’t be for now. She doesn’t love me anymore.”

Eunji started crying softly when she said those last words, but Bomi shook her head in disbelief.

“Did she say that?” She asked. “Did she say those words?”

Eunji knew exactly what her friend was talking about. “No, but…”

“No buts,” Bomi answered firmly. “Because of what you did, she doesn’t feel ready to open up to you, and you must respect that, since it is your fault. And Chorong-unnie’s, as I’ve been told. You just need to find out if she’s acting this way because of insecurity or if she didn’t actually forgive you even though she’s said so. I can’t help you with that, Eunji-ah, I am sorry as well. Maybe she needs time.”

A/N. Sorry. We just needed that BomixEunji friendship moment.