“Unnie?” Bomi whispered in the darkness of her room. “Unnie, are you awake?”

The girl was looking in the direction of Chorong’s bed, but it was so dark around her that she could barely see anything.

“Bomi-ah? Are you okay?” The leader suddenly sounded worried. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yah, unnie, stop being so dramatic.” Bomi shrugged it off. “I’m alright. I’m just having trouble sleeping.”

Her eyes had gotten used to the darkness by then, so she could see the outline of Chorong’s figure, sitting on her bed.

“Come here,” the older girl said, patting the spot next to her on the bed.

Bomi lay besides her fiancée, comfortable silence surrounding them. Peaceful, deep breaths and their fingers intertwined.

“Unnie, can you believe we’re getting married?” Bomi whispered in Chorong’s ear, and the older girl laughed softly.

“Can you believe I accepted your proposal?”

“Yah! Don’t tease me!” Bomi pecked the girl on her lips, and she could feel Chorong smiling through the kiss.

The older girl laughed light-heartedly, the sound of her warm laughter filling the room. Bomi slid a hand under the t-shirt, up her fiancée’s back, caressing the smooth skin that had been waiting for her touch.

“Yah, Bomi-ah,” Chorong whispered her complaint. “We can't consume our marriage yet, we need to get married first.”

Bomi arched an eyebrow at her fiancée's comment, smiling mischievously.

“We can consume our engagement.” She spoke slowly. “If you want, that's it.”

What else would she want?

∼

The television had been on for hours, movie after movie. Someone had decided on a random channel, and they'd been going at it for hours, having nothing better in mind.

“I'm so not used to having this huge amount of free time,” Namjoo yawned. “It can even get boring, something I had never thought of before.”

Bomi laughed at her friend's comment.

“Namjoo-ah, it does not get boring.”

Namjoo threw her a glare in disagreement.

“What would you prefer to do?” The kind-hearted leader was there to save them from boredom. “We can do whatever we want, after all.”

“With certain limits,” Eunji added, and she smiled at Chorong when she saw the older girl's reaction.

“With certain limits,” the leader agreed.

Bomi cracked up in laughter again, and Naeun just looked at her curiously. Why did she have all those laughing episodes lately? Weird.

“I want to go to the karaoke.” Hayoung, who had been silently watching the television without uttering a word, was the one to come up with the new plan.

“Yes!” Namjoo stood up to high-five the maknae. “That's exactly what I was thinking!”

“Maknae connection.” Eunji smiled.

“Does everyone agree?” When all Chorong got was smiles and nodding, she gave the decision for made. “Okay, let's go.”

∼

The afternoon had happened in a blur. All the fun and excitement from the karaoke brightening up their faces on the way back to the dorm.

“It was so much fun!” Namjoo clapped happily.

“Yeah, the best part was having you dance together with singing,” Naeun laughed. “Above all, I think I liked your performance of Something by Girl's Day the most.”

“Yah! Are you laughing at me, unnie?”

Hayoung burst out in laughter at the conversation unfolding right in front of her.

“Unnie, thank you for taking us there,” Hayoung told Chorong.

“Oh, that's no problem,” the girl shrugged. “My only duty in this world is to take care of you girls and get you to have all the fun you deserve.”

Bomi smiled sadly at that, grabbing Chorong's left hand with her right.

“Yeah. Thank you, unnie.” She moved closer and pecked her fiancée on the lips.

“Ugh! You two get a room!”  Hayoung exclaimed, jokingly, and Namjoo followed her lead, both girls bursting out in laughter soon after.

A phone ringing interrupted the conversation.

“Come on up, I'll be right there.” Chorong gestured for them to go back to the dorm.

“Everything okay?” Bomi asked with a frown, but Chorong just nodded reassuringly and promised she'd be right back.

Bomi shrugged and followed her friends to the dorm, leaving Chorong with her phone call.

“Is something going on?” Eunji asked her on their way up.

“I'm not sure.”

∼

“Chorong-ah.”

“Oppa, it's been a while.”

After the usual questions about how they'd been doing, the manager stuck to the point.

“So you said Bomi wants to leave to Jeju Island?”

“Yes.” Chorong's voice felt tight, slightly nervous. “And we've all decided to go with her. We're moving to Jeju.”

There was silence at the other side of the line, and Chorong's hand shook in nervousness.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” She felt very surprised. It had been too easy.

“Yes. Okay,” he answered. “I understand. I agree.”

Chorong didn't know what to say. She had been ready to fight for Bomi, to fight for all of them. But it had been too easy.

“Come meet me tomorrow so we can talk calmly,” he added. “And get Bomi-ah checked up before leaving. Do her parents know?”

“Yes, they've agreed.” She nodded even though she knew her manager couldn't see her. “I'll be there tomorrow morning.”

After saying their goodbyes, Chorong went back to the dorm, lost in thought. After considering her options, she walked past the living room and called one person.

“Naeun-ah?”

The girl turned around to see Chorong waiting for her.

“Is something wrong, unnie?” She asked after they had walked into her room.

Chorong smiled softly, comforting her. It wasn't serious. They'd just been used to dealing with awful stuff lately.

“It's just... I need to ask for a favor.”

∼

It was late at night, and the dorm was in silence. Chorong looked at Bomi intensely, thinking of their future. The younger girl looked so beautiful in the dim light, her tiredness hidden by the shadows, giving her the brightness she needed.

“You should get check out so you can get moved to a doctor in Jeju’s hospital.”

“What?” Bomi raised her head, shifting her attention from her phone to Chorong.

“You should go to the doctor before leaving,” the older girl repeated, sitting up.

Bomi looked at her in silence, and after a few seconds she nodded slowly.

“I have thought about it,” Bomi said. “But I'm scared, unnie.”

Chorong didn't say a word, she just held the girl's hand.

“Unnie, I'm scared of them telling me that it's gotten worse. Which will probably happen, by the way.”

Chorong looked at her and caressed the girl's cheek. She leaned forward and kissed Bomi on the forehead, on the eyelids. On her lips.

“You are the strongest person that I have ever met. I am learning how to be strong for you, because I love you. Now I need you to be strong for yourself, Bomi-ah. Teach me how to be strong.”