The four happily chatted along the way, and to Eunbi’s relief, the two removed their masks as they got closer. With every step they took closer to the bridge, Eunbi felt more nervous. But at the same time, equally excited. Umji noticed Eunbi smiling to herself and whispered to the girl. “Are you really that excited to see Yerin-unnie?” Umji finished with a nudge.

Hearing that, Eunbi started to blush. “W-what?? No! What would make you think that??” Eunbi tried to keep her voice down so that the other two wouldn’t hear her.

“Hmmm no reason.” Umji smiled again, making Eunbi glare at her. Umji just laughed some, brushing Eunbi off. “Oh! We’re here!” Eunbi stopped glaring at the girl when she said that. Eunbi looked in front of her. There it was, the bridge. The place where it all began. She could see Yerin’s garden and her shack. A bit farther away, she could see the other buildings.

“Let’s go to the main area, Yuju and Yerin are probably there!” Eunha said while pushing Eunbi in the direction she was referring to.

‘Ugh, Yuju’s also there? I mean she lives here so I shouldn’t be too surprised…’ Eunbi thought with a frown. The four made their way down the road a bit, and then walked down the hill. She saw two figures sitting close together. Eunbi’s heart immediately started to sting. ‘Don’t over think about it.’ She tried to calm herself.

Soon, Yerin was right in front of her. She wanted to feel happy, but she couldn’t. Eunbi’s eyes moved back and forth between Yerin and Yuju.  The two, who still weren’t aware of the group’s presence, were close to each other. Yuju was whispering and Yerin giggled. The chairs they sat on where moved close enough, allowing their legs to touch. Yuju’s and Yerin’s hands were loosely tangled. Not for a single second did they look away from each other.

Eunbi’s heart immediately shattered. She thought that she could collapse from pain. She could feel the corner’s of her eyes start to burn, signaling that tears were starting to emerge. Eunbi took a step back, trying not to stumble.

Umji was always the first to notice these things, especially when it came to her new friend. She saw the sight in front of her and knew the reason for Eunbi’s stiffing expression. She went over to the girl and held her hand. Eunbi looked to Umji with a sad expression, and then looked back to Yerin and Yuju.

“Hey guys, we’re back! And look who’s with us!” Sowon was the first to alert their arrival. Yerin and Yuji turned to meet the group, their hands were still together. Yerin smiled but when her eyes landed on Eunbi they widened in surprise. Yerin immediately jumped to her feet. Yuju looked over to Eunbi as well. She smirked, and squeezed Yerin’s hand once before letting it go to allow her to stand up as well.

‘Why did I worry about her stupid present so much? She seems perfectly fine to me.’ Eunbi thought to herself. To try and stop the pain she was feeling, she started to turn cold again. Her expression turned blank and she looked at Yerin. Yerin stepped back a bit because of the sudden change. Umji held onto Eunbi’s hand tighter, trying to signal her that everything was fine.

Eunbi relaxed a bit. ‘At least I have Umji.’ She turned to the girl and softly smiled as thanks. Umji smiled back and nodded. Eunbi then turned back to Yerin, but this time it was her who had an unreadable expression.

“Oh! Eunbi, welcome back! We’re happy you could join us after all this time!” Yuju said while putting an arm around Yerin’s shoulder. Yuju smiled but Eunbi knew it was just to . “You seemed of gotten close to Umji!” Yuju continued to say while looking at the pair’s hands.

Eunbi made a point to look at Yerin before she started to speak. Eunbi let go of Umji’s hand and instead hugged the girl. Yerin still had an unreadable look on her face, but Eunbi could she the girl slightly squint her eyes at the action Eunbi did. ‘Oh? Are you getting jealous? You’re in no position to be.’ Eunbi thought to herself while becoming more bitter by the second.

She smirked to herself before replying, still looking at Yerin. “Yeah, Umji and I became best friends! When she stayed over my place, it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time!” Eunbi noticed Yerin’s expression becoming darker.

Eunha and Sowon clearly couldn’t read the situation and joined in. “Plus, she became closer to us today as well!” Eunha said with agreement from Sowon. The two moved over to Eunbi and Umji and joined in their hug.

Umji looked to Eunbi worriedly. She also saw Yerin’s darkening expression and knew it wasn’t a good sign for any of them. Yerin started to slowly walk towards the group with clenched fists. Umji knew she had to react soon. “Eunbi.” Umji whispered. Eunbi turned to the girl.

Eunbi met the girl’s eyes, but all she could see was terror. Eunbi became confused. But before she could ask about it, Umji spoke again. “Run.” Umji hurriedly broke away from the group and started to run away. Eunbi was still confused but when she looked towards Yerin, she saw that the girl was running towards them with a look of pure resentment.

It once again seemed Sowon and Eunha didn’t realize the situation. Eunbi broke free from them