~Afterstory Chapter~

 

 

 

 

[One year later]

 

 

 

Spring had arrived in downtown Seoul, a perfect season for everyone to crowd at various parks to observe cherry blossoms. Spring itself, speaks of love and definitely, you'll spot couples everywhere. But in the midst of such a peaceful, romantic occasion, a girl wandered around in desperation. It seemed that she was looking for someone. Anyone could tell from afar that she was quite tall for a girl her age, tucked in her grey hoodie and black glasses over her face, her eyes wavered every corner. Scanning even the smallest of details in the park, she could not find her.

"Where the hell did she go?!" she sighed with frustration. "It's going to start soon!" she continued while calling someone.

"Hello, Namjoo unnie? She's not here. How's it going on your end?" she asked.

"What? Not there too?! Alright Hayoung-ah, let's just regroup back to the car first."

"Alright. See you there." As soon as the maknae ended the call, she ran with all her might. Heading to the entrance of the park and towards a small, black sedan car parked at the opposite road.

"Where are we going next? It's already 3pm unnie!" said Hayoung in frustration as she entered the car.

"Calm down Hayoung-ah. It's not like it's the end of the world." said Namjoo as she wore her seatbelt and checked the mirror. The girl recently got her driving license after promising the younger girl to get one. In fact, she was considered one of the best drivers among her unnies, Chorong, Bomi and Eunji.

"Where are we headed now?" the maknae asked while catching her breath.

"Let's try going to Chorong unnie's place." she said while stepping onto the accelerator.

"Here. Drink some water." she continued while giving a bottle to the maknae. "Because you're always sitting and playing those stupid computer games of yours, you have such low stamina."

"I'm not playing computer games unnie. It's called searching for bugs in the gaming system. Not only that, I always need to check the interface and layout of the game engine so that it is compatible with various phones and-"

"There you go again with your alien language. Can we talk something more human please?"

"Right.." Hayoung laughed as she did it again. Ever since the girl graduated from college, she was hired into a game software company and you guessed it, she became a programmer and tester. Although her unnies didn't understand why she picked it and felt that it was a boring job, the maknae loved it. She had never felt so happy to be part of a gaming company, as the latter was a gamer herself.

Namjoo on the other hand, continued to work under KBS as a public relations officer. She had been so busy the past year, prepping and organising for many events. But it was what she enjoyed doing, being around with people and putting them together to work towards something. However, it was more burdening and lonely for the girl because the senior that she had admired and loved so much, resign. Park Chorong, one of KBS's writers resigned from the position about 6 months ago. Reason? Well, the girl cooly went into her bosse's office and simply handed a letter stating that she was just too stressed and overworked. She even demanded an extra pay for all her hardwork and indeed, the company couldn't say no but to pay the price and let their valued staff leave.

But what's that girl up to now? She's still writing. In fact, she's working hand-in-hand with Naeun. The two had found very similar interests with each other in terms of fashion and make-up. The girl joined the fashion stylist in her company that was far better than KBS. The flexibility and workload was a breath of fresh air for Chorong as she didn't had to worry too much about deadlines or whatnot. She and Naeun were a great combination as the older girl would be in charge of writing various articles of the company's fashion and makeup items(especially the ones designed by Naeun herself) while the younger would work on the artistic part. Working life couldn't be better when you're with a friend right?

Soon, Namjoo and Hayoung had arrived at Chorong's brand new apartment which she had purchased around two months ago. After all, her girlfriend gave her half of her winning earnings and obviously, she had to spend it on something. However, there was a familiar car parked outside the building. There was no doubt. It was Bomi's car.

"If they're here, then there's no doubt that she will be here." said Hayoung, removing her seatbelt.

"Well, those two lovebirds will follow each other everywhere." sighed Namjoo as the two got out, took the lift to the highest floor which was the penthouse and found two girls standing in the corridor. It was Bomi and Naeun.

"What are you guys just standing out here for?" asked Namjoo.

"It's locked. We can't get in because we need a password." said Naeun.

"Chorong unnie is going to kill me if I broke her door." said Bomi with worry. The 93-liner on the other hand, continuing going for various MC gigs and appearing on many shows. But these days, her identity among netizens had become more of a comedian rather than an MC. Bomi had been gaining popularity online not for her MC-ing skills but because she was hilarious and full of jokes that had everyone rolling on the floor. It was no surprise that she would start getting more offers to take up a more, comedic role in the entertainment industry. But the girl loved it. She liked the idea of making people laugh and it was exactly the direction where her career was headed for. Well, enough of that, there is a problem that seemed more important over Bomi.

That's right, all four girls were gathered and stuck outside Chorong's apartment because they had been looking all over Seoul for this one girl. This girl had been quite a trouble, running away from her own managers and making her secret escape from her own schedules just to sneak out with her lover. Yes, it's Jung Eunji.

"Gosh Eunji seriously, this is like the 14,567th time that we're going after her. Can't her managers just do the job instead." sighed Bomi as she stared at the locked door blankly.

"Well, her managers know us well. We are their best bet at finding Eunji." said Hayoung.

"What are we going to do now? Are you sure Eunji unnie's in here?" asked Namjoo.

"We've already searched everywhere. This is the last place." answered Naeun.

"Should I just break the door?" sighed Bomi, no longer caring the thought of Chorong coming after her. She was already getting ready, stretching her arms and massaging her legs. She learned taekwondo before after all.

"Unnie. Violence isn't the answer." said Hayoung as she stepped in and prevented Bomi from reaching the door.

"Then what do you have in plan Hayoung-ah?" asked Namjoo.

"Easy." smirked the maknae as she randomly keyed in numbers. All of the sudden, the door beeped and it was unlocked.

"Hayoung-ah, are you a hacker? How did you know Chorong unnie's password?" said Namjoo surprised.

"Hey, you're not doing any bad things right?" asked Bomi.

"All I did was key in Eunji unnie's birthday. That's all." said the maknae cooly.

"Ah, of course. Why didn't we think of that?" said Bomi as she rolled her eyes.

"Let's go in." said Naeun as the four invaded Chorong's house.

 

 

 

 

~X~

 

 

 

It all seemed too real, to think that she would spend every single day with the girl she loved with all her heart. Carefully opening her eyes, she could already feel the warmth of Eunji's embrace. Her arms tightly wrapped around her waist, it was already a normal position for her while in bed. Comfortably under the blanket, it was a space just meant for the two of them. It was then, she could hear a quiet groan of a girl while feeling her breath against the back of her neck.

"Morning Eunji-ya" the girl said in a gentle whisper.

"Morning unnie." Eunji responded with a giggle as she kissed her neck before pulling the girl nearer into her arms, snuggling her head in between like a puppy.

"What did we do last night?" the older girl asked.

"I don't know. We just drank a lot of alcohol and found ourselves here."

"Hey, you didn't do anything to me did you?"

"Well, you can still feel your underwear right?"

"Mm..." the girl nodded shyly.

"Then it's still safe. It'll be bad if that went missing."

"Why am I in love with such a ert?" the girl sighed as she turned around, smiling after that while gazing into Eunji's eyes.

"Maybe you like erts that's why" grinned Eunji as she kissed her nose and then pecked her lips softly.

"No, it's because it's you." 

"Oh wow, since when did unnie become so cheesy all of a sudden?"

"Thanks to your influence." 

"You're welcome" asnwered Eunji, smiling ear to ear as she closed in for a kiss. A deep, long kiss that was perfect to start the day. As the two were clearly too engrossed in their romance, the older girl suddenly stopped and stared at her upon realisation.

"Wait, don't you have a schedule today?" Quickly, Chorong rose up from bed and grabbed her phone. Already, there were over 25o notifications, mostly spam from their group chat, messages from all four of the girls asking where in the world she was, and whether she was with Eunji. There were also 25 missed calls and the girl had forgotten that she had it mute all along. Upon checking the time, it was certainly not morning. But, 3pm.

"Eunji-ya! You have to go for your schedule now! It's already 3pm!"

"Did we sleep that long? Let's stay a little longer~" whined Eunji, using her arms to pull Chorong back into her embrace.

"But you're going to make your managers angry again..."

"You know I don't get to see you that much or even meet you here, in bed. Let's stay until they find us." mumbled Eunji, lightly kissing her neck.

"What can I do with you..." the older girl sighed but she chose to stay. After being girlfriends for over a year now, Chorong had become more lenient and tolerant with Eunji's actions. In fact, even Namjoo and Naeun had been saying that the girl has changed. She was no longer the unnie who was very precise, neat and strict. Thanks to the influence of her girlfriend, she had learned to enjoy life a bit more. There was no point in rushing things, there was no point in pleasing everyone in the world. Indeed, her dongsaengs had also tried to scold Eunji for turning Chorong into a more "bad" and "wild" girl. Her well-known conservative charms were slowly, fading away under her girlfriend's influence.

"Bomi's going to be mad with me. Hayoung too. Namjoo and Naeun as well."

"I'll take responsibility. I'm choosing to spend every single second I have with you, before I go back to that job where I might only see you months later." said Eunji, kissing her cheek.

"Why did I fall in love with such a wild girl?"

"Why did I fall in love with such a good girl?" responded Eunji with a laugh as the two cuddled in bed, embracing each other's warmth while they covered themselves in the blanket, hiding and spending every last moment before they were eventually caught and found by the girls.

 

 

 

~X~

 

 

 

Chorong's brand new penthouse was quite spacious as the four girls walked through the large living room, where a large LED television screen was displayed beside the window that painted the beautiful cities of Seoul, comfy sofas endlessly tucked at the corners and a redwood coffee table in the middle perfectly displayed a modern design that definitely fit the girl's style. There was so much room that even fifteen people could sleep in. As they glanced through the kitchen where a large fridge was, there were small polaroids stuck onto the cold metal. It was pictures of Chorong and Eunji when they went on secret dates while carrying around a camera. Not only that, there were small sticky notes at the kitchen shelf which were cooking instructions to make several dishes that were Eunji's favourites.

"Oh god, I'm cringing so much." said Namjoo as her eyebrows scrunched, finding it so cheesy to witness all this.

"They are so blinded in love I swear" sighed Hayoung, who obviously suffered more with Eunji being her older sister.

"Ready to make a whole hella mess out of Chorong unnie's room?" asked Bomi with a smirk as she held her hands on the doorknob, while glancing at the others.

"She's going to throw a pillow at you." giggled Naeun.

"Well, she's the one making us run all over Seoul. Ready?"

"I'm betting 100% Eunji's sleeping with her. Disgusting." sighed Hayoung while rolling her eyes.

"Then don't look." said Namjoo as she covered the maknae's eyes.

Within the count of three, Bomi opened the door with force, slamming it against the wall and saw the blanket covering something. It was far too obvious who was underneath it.

"Oh god, you two seriously! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HARD IT WAS LOOKING FOR YOU THIS TIME JUNG EUNJI!" shouted Bomi out loud, pulling the blanket away that revealed the couple embracing each other with a laugh.

"Hi." smiled Eunji with a snicker.

"Hi." followed Chorong.

"I was expecting you two to be ." said Namjoo with a straight face. Immediately, Naeun laughed while hitting the girl. 

"Unnie!" said Hayoung surprised.

"H-Hey, if they did that then I'll need to operate my eyes!" said Bomi.

"Namjoo-ya, what on earth are you thinking?!" said Chorong, taken aback.

"You're lucky that didn't happened." said Eunji with a smirk.

"Hey!" responded Chorong while hitting the girl.

"ANYWAYS" said Bomi, breaking the conversation.

"Get the hell out of that bed and go to your damn schedule Eunji-ya!" she continued, walking towards the bed and forcing Eunji to up onto her feet.

"We're taking you straight to the car and off to your fansign that is starting at 4pm!" said Namjoo as she helped Bomi out, pushing Eunji out of the apartment quickly, tossing her into their car and closing the door shut. Naeun had to come along as she was tasked to be Eunji's temporary makeup artist for the time being as the artist had to be sent directly to the venue. The one left behind was Hayoung who has been tasked to deal with Chorong. Obviously, this wouldn't have happened so often if only Chorong said no. Everyone knew that the only person Eunji would listen now, was none other than her girlfriend. But to their surprise, the girl had been complying with Eunji's every wish.

"Unnie. I can't believe you." said Hayoung crossing her arms. It looked like the maknae was the older one, scolding her dongsaeng.

"You wouldn't get it because you haven't been in love yet."

"That's not the point unnie. This isn't the first time we had to run all over Seoul just to find Eunji unnie, only to realise that she's been with you all along. She's following you like a puppy. Heck, Eunji unnie literally ignores all of my messages now!"

"Are you mad?" asked Chorong with a motherly smile. It was the first time she had seen the 21-year old like that. Although meeting her at first, she seemed like a baby who needed lots of care and nurturing. But here she is, being upfront with herself, confident and certainly looking a lot more like her sister.

"Unnie, this isn't the time to be smiling."

"I know. It's my fault. Her fault. It's the two of us that needs to talk. I'm sorry Hayoung-ah. Come on, let's drive you back home." said Chorong as she pinched the girl's cheek, grabbed her hand and dragged her out of her apartment house, taking over Namjoo's car. For some reason, Chorong did resemble Eunji at times. The way how she always viewed Hayoung as a baby, it was the only reason why the maknae had a soft side for her. Even though she was angry, she couldn't really be angry. The more Chorong was around Eunji, the more she became like a sister. It felt like she had two mothers now.

Whenever Eunji was busy with work, Chorong would always come over and stay with Hayoung so that she wouldn't be alone. She'd cook meals, drive her to places and even lent her ears to whatever worries the girl had. At times, Hayoung wondered if Chorong was doing it simply because Eunji told her to do so, but slowly along the way, she could feel a genuine love that seemed somewhat motherly. 

 

 

 

 

~X~

 

 

 

It was exactly 4pm. Namjoo took the wheel as she insisted that if Bomi drove, they would get into the car accident. Parking at the basement of the shopping mall where Eunji's fansign for her 2nd mini album "Space" would be held, her staff were already waiting so that they could bring the artist immediately without having the identities of Bomi, Naeun and Namjoo exposed to the public. 

"Mm. The makeup's finally done." smiled Naeun, satisfied with her artwork while keeping her materials.

"You sure you didn't make me look like a clown or anything?" asked Eunji.

"If I did, your manager oppas are going to come after me."

"Not when you're so pretty Naeun-ah." smiled Eunji.

"Please unnie, I know Chorong unnie's already sick of your cheesy lines but don't pass that on to me."

"Right, sorry." giggled Eunji as the door opened, allowing the artist to step out after having her clothes changed in the car thanks to the help of her assistants, Naeun and Bomi. 

With the window rolled down, Eunji's managers thanked the girls for finding and bringing her for the 14528th time.

"Thank you once again! You girls really saved us big time." bowed one of the managers.

"It's nothing really. Let's make Eunji's album a huge success!" smiled Namjoo as she cheered on the staff for holding out, before rolling up the windows and driving off as if no one knew what happened.

There wasn't even time for the staff to give Eunji a earful as she had to start her fansign immediately. Walking into the shopping mall with fans cheering for her, the artist apologized for the delay and begun signing albums for 200 lucky fans. Of course, she loved her job. Being able to sing on stage and bring people happiness with her songs was her dream. The artist had won a few wins on various music shows, also singing OST's of popular dramas while appearing on variety shows, it was the norm of what celebrites would do. She had always been so busy, but she was happy. But of course, it was difficult to choose a life where both singing and being with her girlfriend co-existed together. That's why at times, she had to force them to work even though it could bring destructions to her own career.

During her fansign, Eunji recieved a lot of gifts from her fans. Whether it was food, plushies, fan-art, personal letters, it came in a large variety. But one fan in particular, brought a gift that had the girl smiling.

"Hi unnie, I heard that you have a whole collection of hats so I bought you this!" said the fan, excitedly handing her a hat and an album so that Eunji could sign.

"Ah, thank you!.....Oh? This hat" said Eunji as her eyes widened, examining the hat as she smiled widely.

"Do you like it unnie?"

"Where did you buy this? This hat makes me remember good memories." said Eunji as she wore it proudly.

"I found it in an antique store. I thought unnie might hats that are a bit more unique and special instead of something plain."

"Really? Thank you~"

"What kind of memories did you have with the hat? You have it?"

"No~ but it looks similar to what I have~" said Eunji as she wore what her fan gave her, a pink cap. 

After the fansign was over, Eunji continued to wear the pink cap as she began her closing greetings. Fans were of course, sad that it came to an end so quickly. Others started cheering for the album to hit big while some would shout and ask questions to the singer, in hopes of getting theirs answered. The artist were all ears and a particular question caught her interest.

"Unnie! Unnie! You've been wearing that pink cap since the beginning of the fansign! Do you like it a lot?"

With a smile, the girl couldn't wait to share something with her fans.

"Everyone knows that I love wearing caps right?"

"Yes!" the fans responded.

"Well, I have a pink cap that I used to wear back then before I started Superstar K. Having another pink cap into my collection brings back a lot of memories."

"What kind of memories unnie?! Tell us!" said the fans with excitement.

"Should I tell you~ or should I not tell you~" teased Eunji.

"Tell us!!" they shouted.

"Alright, alright. It goes like this....."

 

 

 

 

 

"It all started with that pink cap. Us, as strangers. And us, as lovers."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[THE END]

 

 

 

 

A/N: As promised, here is the afterstory chapter of Strangers! This is really, really the end :(

Once again, thank you everyone for enjoying Strangers! Indeed, we lack so much eunrong fanfics here haha, do look forward to my future Apink fanfics coming soon~ Until then, - pinkpanda419 (25/05/2017)