Alright, alright... whatever, Bomi had told her. I’ll go. Eunji wasn’t so sure whether her friend was going to listen to her or not, but Bomi had promised. And, no matter how she acted, Bomi knew what was actually good for her; she wasn’t stupid. She was just a grown-up woman disguised as a child.

But Eunji was truly worried this time; it did not look like a usual illness to her. But Bomi would not be the only idol to suffer from stress, in a terrible way. Even though, Eunji wasn’t sure if that was the case, since the older girl was not the kind of person to suffer from too much stress.

“Unnie,” Naeun got her out of her thoughts, “Hayoung and I, we’ve been talking about organizing a special dinner tonight, as a way of celebrating our vacation and everything. What do you think?”

“It’s great, Naeun-ah,” Eunji smiled. “May I help?”

“Oh, no, unnie,” Naeun laughed slightly. “This time, the maknae line organizes it all.”

Eunji nodded in approval, surprised, but delighted. They hadn’t had much time to enjoy themselves in a long time, and it would be a great opportunity to eat whatever they wanted without taking care of the strict diet they usually followed. That’s what holidays were for, right? Gaining weight that later needs to disappear once again.

“I’ll let you know when and where you have to be,” Naeun finished. “As soon as I book a nice place.”

~

Dinner tonight at 8.00pm at your favorite place in Hongdae. Be well-dressed! Everything’s on the maknaes this time. Let’s celebrate that we’re going on vacation!

The text from Namjoo had made Bomi’s phone ring at the worst time. That moment when you’re waiting to be called at the doctor’s office and everything’s silent and you have to be the one whose phone rings, of course. But the text made Bomi smile.

“Yoon Bomi, you can come in,” the secretary called her name before she could reply the text, and she stood up, her mind back to worrying about the present situation.

“The doctor will be here soon,” the secretary announced before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

Bomi looked around the office. It had been so long since she had last been there... She wasn’t the one to usually get sick or anything like that, so it was unusual how she had been feeling lately. There were different posters hanging on the walls, explaining different symptoms and the latest medical progresses, everything very technical and specific. There was also a university certificate of honor given to the doctor; but of course, Bomi already knew that. She had visited the same doctor since she was a teenager, and she knew everything about his prestige.

“Bomi-ssi.” The doctor came into the room, his round glasses low on his nose. “It has been a while.”

Bomi bowed towards the doctor before sitting in front of his desk.

“So, is anything troubling you? How are you feeling?” Bomi lowered her gaze.

~

“Have you texted Chorong-unnie already?” Hayoung asked Namjoo while going through all the clothes in her closet.

“Yeah, I texted all three of them,” Namjoo answered. “But Eunji-unnie’s the only one who answered.”

“That’s weird. Do you know where Chorong-unnie and Bomi-unnie are today? I haven’t seen them since lunchtime,” Hayoung thought that was odd.

“Bomi-unnie said something about filming, I think,” Namjoo bit her bottom lip while thinking. “I guess she can take a couple of weeks of vacation if she leaves everything done beforehand.”

“It makes sense,” Hayoung shrugged, running a hand through her hair. “I guess we’ll know tonight.”

“Oh my I love that!” Namjoo exclaimed, pointing to the outfit that the maknae had just brought out of her wardrobe. Their unnies’ whereabouts were forgotten in an instant. “You must wear that tonight, for sure. It’s gorgeous.”

Hayoung smiled at her unnie’s enthusiasm, and asked what the other girl was going to be wearing for dinner that night. After chatting for a while, the two girls parted ways to finish wrapping up the details for their dinner. After all, the maknaes were in charge.

“Hayoung-ah.” A voice stopped Hayoung when she was walking down the corridor.

The vocal trainer, who wasn’t much older than the members themselves, smiled at her.

“I thought I told you not to be that informal,” Hayoung said, without really meaning it. Her wide smile said otherwise, and so did the blush growing on her cheeks. “What brings you here, oppa?”

“I was looking for Chorong-ah; I have to give her the details for your flights and everything else for your trip,” he shrugged. “You are excited, aren’t you?”

“Of course!” Hayoung exclaimed. “We haven’t had this opportunity in... forever.”

“I am glad. You kids truly deserve it after your hard work,” he smiled, his eyes shining.

“Hey! I am not a kid anymore,” the maknae pouted, and that only made him laugh even harder.

“You know what I mean.” He stayed still, looking into her sparkling eyes. No matter how tall Hayoung was in front of the other members, she was still shorter than her vocal trainer, which made her feel weirdly young and exposed and shy.

They looked silently into each other’s eyes, pausing time for a couple of seconds. After a while, he came back to his senses while the girl was still looking at him dreamingly.

“I have to go,” he said, seriousness back to his face. “I’ll be back tomorrow evening to take your unnies to the airport. I’ll see you then.”

Hayoung thought she’d seen a glint of hope and happiness in that last look he gave her.

“Bye, oppa,” Hayoung smiled widely before turning around and leaving.

~

Unnie, I need you. Can you come to the Han River as soon as possible?

I’ll be waiting for you. I miss you.

Chorong felt weird at Bomi’s text. It did not sound like the usual, cheerful Bomi, and it was too honest for a usual “I miss you” text. Chorong thought that it was... corny. And, somehow, that worried the leader even more. What would have happened so Bomi felt that girly and expressing her feelings so freely?

“That would be ₩13,000.” The shop assistant interrupted her thoughts, and Chorong got her wallet out to pay. She bowed a goodbye and a thank you before leaving the store, new acquisition in hand.

Bomi’s going to love this, she thought. When I finish making it, that’s it. They hadn’t been officially dating for that long, and they were still in the phase of giving each other unexpected gifts to improve the other girl’s day. Chorong had always been into small details, expressing her love through them, while Bomi was more straightforward, and if she had to tell her how much she loved her in front of the other members, she did, no matter how much Chorong blushed every time.

Chorong walked to her car, parked at the corner, and drove to what she knew was Bomi’s favorite spot next to the Han River. When she got a glimpse of the younger girl, she stopped the car, and found Bomi sitting on the green grass, her back against a lonely tree. Her long, straight hair fell down her back, and she was sitting with her arms around her knees, her chin against them.

When Chorong walked towards her, the younger girl turned her head to see her. Bomi’s eyelashes were shining, apparently wet, and Chorong couldn’t do anything but ask about it, her eyes widening in recognition.

“Bomi-ah… You haven’t been crying, have you?” – She swallowed-. “Why would you?”

Bomi smiled, shaking her head as an answer but rubbing her eyes slowly.

“I missed you, unnie,” she said. Her voice sounded weaker than usual, but a wide smile grew on her face when Chorong hugged her in return.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Chorong asked as soon as they sat back.

“Oh, yeah. I just wanted to see you,” Bomi answered quietly. “I think we deserve some “us” time, right now. Let’s go get something to drink in order to celebrate!”

Chorong nodded in agreement, and the two girls started walking.

“Where were you?” Bomi asked, curiosity on her eyes.

“Oh, I just had to go buy something,” she smiled back, trying not to give too much importance to the question. She raised a hand and caressed Bomi’s cheek, pushing a loose brown lock behind the girl’s ear.

Bomi’s hand moved to her left pocket after that, feeling the small box she was hiding there. It made her feel secure, it gave her a purpose. This would look so perfect in any young woman’s hand, the shop assistant had said. It just represents the ideal of marriage.