Packing had never been so easy. But since they had to bring everything with them, there was no problem nor question about what to take and what to leave.  
"So how’s our new house?" Namjoo asked Hayoung, her roommate, while they were emptying their wardrobe into the boxes.  
"Honestly, I have no idea. We should ask Chorong-unnie," the maknae answered. "She’s the only one who knows."
"Is she? I thought Eunji-unnie helped her when buying, that day they met with our manager-oppa." 
Hayoung shrugged, folding up a flower dress she hadn’t worn in ages. 
"Let’s ask her later," she yawned. "Packing is so boring."
"I know," Namjoo giggled. "Let’s do something else. Let’s go somewhere. We can leave this for later, right? The moving van isn’t leaving until tomorrow and we’re almost done packing everything."
Hayoung arched an eyebrow, smiling. She sighed while closing the box, sitting down on her bed, clothes scattered around them.  
"Like what?" She asked, looking up at her friend.  
"Not shopping because that’s something we’ve done a lot lately… Maybe something with our friends? We haven’t seen them in a while and we’re leaving for who knows how long."
"Let me call them," Hayoung offered with a smile. She was a simple teenager, after all.  
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"It’s such a nice day to be outside."
"We’re in a car, unnie."
Chorong side-glanced at her, her smile growing every time she looked at Bomi.  
"I meant we’re not home, pabo."
"I know, unnie." Bomi stuck her tongue out and laughed. "Of course I know what you meant."  
"I’m probably never going to step on this city again."
"You know I don’t want you saying those things." Chorong shook her head, her eyes never abandoning the road.  
She was taking Bomi to her house. To her parents. 30km weren’t that far from Seoul for the girl to spend one of her last days in the city visiting her parents. Even though she talked with them on the phone often, more and more frequently since her illness was discovered, she could count on one hand the number of times they’d seen each other since she started getting treated. So this visit, no matter how sad the situation, was compulsory.  
"Unnie." Bomi pulled her out of her thoughts, her voice serious. Chorong made her a sign to continue speaking, and after a deep breath she did so. "Do you want to get married?"
"What? I thought this ring I’m wearing meant we are already engaged."
"Unnie."
Chorong pulled her gaze from the road for a minute, the traffic lights turning red because of some miracle, right when she needed them. Bomi’s voice was up for no discussion, and Chorong knew exactly what she wanted to say.  
"Bomi-ah." No other words appeared in her mind; she was trapped.  
"Do you want to really get married?"
"Why exactly are you asking me this right now?" Chorong sounded too sharp, sighing after speaking.  
"You know why." The answer was simple. She knew. "And stop avoiding the question."
"I do, Bomi-ah. I do." She smiled, getting ready to start the car once again. "I just don’t know how you’d feel about it. You know..."
Knowing you’re going to die soon. You’re going to leave me. She didn’t say the words, but there was no need.  
"I know."
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The kitchen table had never been fuller of things. Boxes of all sizes filled the room, the counter, the table. They were taking everything with them to a complete empty house, leaving their dorm hollower than it had ever been. Their company had surprisingly agreed to them taking everything with them, still counting on them for a possible future. But they did not want to talk about that; busying themselves was better.  
"They’ll be back by lunchtime, and we’ll spend the afternoon together until Chorong-unnie and Bomi-ah come back." Eunji explained the situation when Naeun entered the room. "So we got to fix this."
Naeun walked closer to the girl, standing right behind her. She laid her hands on Eunji’s waist, her fingertips sliding under the hem of the girl’s blouse.  
"Or we could just do something else," she whispered while getting closer to the girl’s ear.  
Eunji left the jar she was holding on the table, her eyes slightly closed, forgetting how to breathe. She leaned back on Naeun’s body, the back of her neck against the younger girl’s shoulder.  
"Naeun-ah… we really should..." Eunji’s voice was merely a whisper, as weak as her knees felt.  
Her girlfriend turned her around slowly, quieting her complaints with a kiss. It wasn’t anything like their passionate ones the night before; it was sweet and gently, and Naeun caressed her girlfriend’s back while their tongues danced together.  
Eunji took the lead, then, her right hand going up underneath Naeun’s shirt, tracing the hem of the girl’s bra. She used her nails to scratch up and down the younger girl’s back, soft, red marks appearing after a while. Naeun arched her back and rolled her eyes back, grabbing onto Eunji’s waist, their lips never pulling apart.  
"Wow. Really?"
Naeun took a step back when she heard the voice of her best friend.  
"Hayoung-ah." Her face was all flushed. "Why are you back so soon?"
Namjoo was standing beside Hayoung at the door, the two girls with her eyes wide open. The maknae was the first to laugh.  
"Unnies, really?" She arched an eyebrow. "You don’t have enough with… doing it at night?" 
"My eyes!" Namjoo acted all dramatic. "My innocence has been stained! What am I going to do now?"
Eunji shook her head, sighing, and took a step apart from Naeun, going back to the boxes.  
"Come on," she told the maknaes. "Help me with this."
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"You’re mom’s so cute, Bomi-ah."
They were driving back, the highway full of cars at that time of the evening on a weekday, everyone going back home for dinner from their jobs. The sun had already begun to set, the sky a canvas for pinks and purples and oranges.  
"I know." Bomi didn’t sound too excited. The visit to her parents had been great for her, smiles abundant all day, but now that they were on their way back home, the worry of never seeing them again weighted on her shoulders.  
"And that cake she gave us for the girls looks amazing!" Chorong tried to lighten up the conversation while talking about easier topics. "And your sister looked so pretty; it’s been a while since I last saw her."
Bomi looked at her, a funny expression on her face.  
"You aren’t crushing on my sister, are you?"
"Me?" Chorong laughed. "Never. Haven’t you seen the ring you put on my finger? Besides, who could I have that’s better than you?"
"Good." Bomi looked at the front, her expression giving away nothing of what she felt.  
"Your mom looked proud of you," Chorong muttered. "Of us."
They both remained quiet for a couple of minutes, Chorong focused on the road. Bomi looked at her hands, staring at her nails like they held every secret to this universe.  
"She was so happy to see us engaged." Bomi smiled sadly. "And my dad… it had been a while since I had seen him in tears. In happy ones."
Chorong looked at her, their car stuck in the traffic jam. It looked like they were going to be there for a while.  
"Are you okay, Bomi-ah?" The moment she spoke those words, she regretted ever saying them. Of course she isn’t okay. She’s probably never going to see her parents again, she told herself. And worse: it is their parents who are never going to see her again, their beloved daughter. How would I feel if that was my case? 
Bomi chose to not answer, putting her hand on Chorong’s instead.  
"They don’t deserve this," she muttered, and when Chorong didn’t say anything she continued. "My parents, I mean. This is worse to them that it is for me. They’re losing their daughter."
Chorong stayed quiet.  
"I can see how it’s worse to the others, to everyone who isn’t me. I can see how they hurt deeper than I do, than I ever will. I can see how they might regret ever meeting me since I’ve cause them all this unnecessary pain. My parents, my siblings, my friends," she paused and looked at Chorong. "You."
The leader looked at her fiancée, her eyes more serious than ever.  
"I could never regret meeting you. No one will ever regret having you in our lives. You mean everything to me. And it’s my decision to stay here with you. I would stay even if you didn’t want me to. Because I need you more than I need air, more than I need my heart to beat. And I wish it could beat for yours as well. Forever."
Bomi looked at her right in the eyes, her lips before speaking. She could feel Chorong’s words in her heart, filling her up completely. She blinked twice, her eyelashes wet with tears. She shook her head and pointed at the car in front of them, its lights indicating it was moving.  
"Tell me you love me," Bomi said, but stopped Chorong before she could say it. "Not now. Every night. Every night I’ll tell you how much I love you and you’ll say it too."
"I love you," Chorong smiled, starting up the car. "Every night and every second."