The girls got used to their new routine really fast. Too fast, they might say. It was comeback season, but for once in their lives they didn’t have to train more hours that their bodies could handle. They didn’t have to go on an extreme diet so they would look in their new concept, but neither did they have to prepare fan signs and live performances and all those occasions that would connect them with their fans. 

“I think I’m kind of sad because of all this.” Hayoung was the first one to be brave enough and point out the obvious.

“Yah, don’t say this! It was our decision!” Namjoo raised her voice a bit.

“But Bomi-unnie isn’t here…” Hayoung complained, and now it was time for Eunji to chastise her.

“We all decided how to act,” Eunji had a grave voice right at the moment. “Bomi-ah tried to fight for us, and we all decided to put her first in our actions, so yeah, we might miss our activities, we all do, but we need to live up to our choices and we don’t need her to feel any worse.”

“I know, unnie, I’m sorry,” Hayoung’s voice was low. “I just needed to say it out loud, since we’re all obviously thinking about it.”

Eunji nodded, pain growing in her chest. She’d been feeling really guilty about all this lately, and her own thoughts were making her go crazy. And now that she couldn’t speak to her best friend about it, she was too susceptible.

Chorong, sitting next to Hayoung, hadn’t said a single word in the whole time. She was just silently observing the scene around her, thoughts filling up every corner of her mind. Suddenly, she just stood up, making the other eight eyes in the room focus on her.

“It’s time for me to go pick up Bomi-ah,” she explained, and she shrugged before leaving the room.

Her drive to the hospital had become something usual by now, Bomi never wanting her to go inside with her. Chorong had insisted at first, but then she had ended up giving up because that’s what her girlfriend had wanted, and she understood her point. Mostly.

She was waiting at the hospital’s front door, and Bomi was taking longer than usual. She took her phone out to text the younger girl, and that’s when she heard a knock on her window.

“Bomi-ah! You scared me.” She lowered her window, and Bomi pecked her on the lips.

The younger girl jumped into the passenger seat and linked hands with Chorong, both girls smiling at the touch.

“How was it?”

“Alright.” Bomi’s answer was never too specific when it came to chemotherapy, and Chorong decided to let it go. Someday she would confront her for good. “I’m feeling incredibly good.”

“Up for some alone time?” Chorong winked at her, and Bomi burst out in laughter.

“The doctor said I should really use this time to enjoy myself and live my life at its fullest, in case there’s no future designed for me,” she smiled while talking, but Chorong could hear the bitterness in . “Things like having wild and travelling far away and drinking myself to oblivion.”

Bomi arched an eyebrow, and Chorong laughed, which relieved the tension.

“Do you want us to have wild ?” Chorong grinned at the thought, even though her stomach quivered in anticipation.

“Just making love will be alright.” Bomi was too straightforward, but Chorong loved her for that.

∼

“Let’s go bowling.”

Five pairs of eyes focused on Namjoo as soon as she said those words.

“What?” Naeun looked shocked.

“You heard me,” Namjoo said. “We should go bowling. It’s been a while and, honestly, we have nothing better to be doing right now.”

Chorong and Eunji nodded, and Hayoung was already looking excited.

“I think that’s actually the greatest plan I’ve heard in a while.” Bomi was smiling, and Chorong’s heart felt warmer and warmer.

“I agree,” Eunji spoke up. “We should do something fun.”

“Yeah, the last thing we did was get drunk and save a lobster from being eaten…” Hayoung mumbled it under her breath but everyone in the room heard it, and they couldn’t contain their laughter.

“That was too much even for us.” Chorong smiled at the memory even though she was shaking her head in slight disapproval. Bomi embraced her with her left arm and the leader leaned on her girlfriend’s shoulder, resting in full comfort.

“Okay, so we can go… tomorrow?” Eunji looked at Chorong with the question in her face. They might not be an official group anymore, but Chorong was still the oldest and the leader in their minds and hearts; she was to be asked when a decision was taken.

“Yeah, I think we have nothing to do tomorrow, do we?” The girls shook their heads and shrugged. “I think it’s a great plan. We can go have lunch at that small Japanese restaurant next to the bowling alley, you know which one I’m talking about?”

“Oh, I love it!” Hayoung was grinning from ear to ear, and even Naeun was smiling widely. Namjoo, happy because her idea had been taken into account, was already bragging about how she was going to win the game.

“Oh, no, you won’t,” Bomi dared. “You know I’ll be the one to win this.”

“We all know you’re wrong,” Eunji laughed. “It’s me you should be afraid of.”

Chorong looked at her members and linked gazes with Naeun. At a moment like this, it was easy to think that everything was going perfectly well and that everything would be alright. That’s why they were there for each other and they would, forever.

∼

“Don’t you dare throw up on me tonight.” Chorong looked deadly serious.

“Don’t joke with that,” Bomi smiled softly. “And besides, you know I haven’t thrown up since that first time.”

“I know, but it’s been a few sessions now and the doctor said that nausea was the most common thing and that we should expect it at any time,” Chorong shrugged.

She was lying on her bed, Bomi walking in from the bathroom. Her hair was wet from the shower, and she was wearing her pajamas in all their glory, the cut too low for Chorong to feel comfortable. But she had grown to love her girlfriend just like she was.

“Don’t I look y?” Bomi winked at Chorong, and the latter just laughed, blushing up slightly. “You are so cute when you blush. You make me want to do wild things to you.”

“Then do it.” Chorong was feeling bold too. But then she shook her head, so Bomi wouldn’t take that seriously. It was just their way of flirting, something that had taken the older girl months to adjust to, but Bomi shouldn’t make excessive efforts. Having was one thing. Doing whatever was going on through Bomi’s mind was something else entirely.

“Come on, we should go to bed,” Bomi pointed at her bed, which they had both been sharing some nights lately. “I need to win tomorrow’s game.”

Chorong looked at her intensely, trying to transmit the message with her eyes. She blinked swiftly and then spoke.

“I’m pretty sure you’re forgetting something,” Chorong spoke with her most seductive voice, and Bomi’s eyes darkened in a second.

Chorong walked towards her girlfriend slowly, one step at a time, until she was standing inches away from Bomi’s face, the younger girl’s eyes clouded in lust and love. 

“I love you, unnie.” Bomi’s voice was husky, like some velvety texture.

She kissed Chorong on the girl’s forehead and then moved back to contemplate her. She was like an angel that had come straight from heaven.

“I love you too, Bomi-ah.” Chorong tilted her head towards one side, slowly, and then towards the other. She her lips and laughed at Bomi’s reaction. Then she changed her expression once more, smiling seductively. “Yoon Bomi, will you make love to me?”

“With pleasure.”