Nayeon woke up with an intense hangover, rubbing her temples as she got up from the bed. The moment she moved to leave the futon, her girlfriend rolled over and dropped her arm around her, urging her not to leave. “What are you doing? Go back to sleep,” Jeongyeon mumbled.

“It’s almost noon, sleepyhead,” the older one chuckled and gently pushed her hand away.

Nayeon took a look around the room and it was already empty. Only the two of them were left, still struggling to stay awake. The rest of the futon their friends slept on were already folded and pushed to the side of the room, leaving an empty space in the middle of the room. She shook Jeongyeon to get up and go down to eat with her. “Come on, everyone’s already downstairs.”

“Is that so?” Jeongyeon smirked with her eyes still closed. “Want to go for a round?”

The older one playfully hit her arm, unable to resist the smile from playing on her lips. “No. Now, let’s go.”

Jeongyeon groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes open as she did so. It was their last day in Japan, and soon they would have to go back to their reality. The younger one wrapped her arms around her girlfriend from the back as they descended down the stairs and greeted their friends scattered all over the expanse of the dining table and living room.

Two plates of eggs and toast remained untouched on the dining table, prepared for the two older friends who slept in. The rest of them had already finished their breakfast and was now lazing around. The two sat down and Jeongyeon immediately leaned her head on Nayeon’s shoulder, still feeling groggy from her sleep.

“You can take my eggs,” Jeongyeon mumbled. “Your head must hurt from all that drinking. Protein will help.”

“You need to eat too.” Nayeon scooped up a spoonful of the egg and hung the utensil in front of the younger one for her to eat. Jeongyeon reached her head slightly, just enough for her to reach and eat it. “Are you okay?”

The younger one gave a soft reply as she chewed, “Yeah.” The bruise on her right cheek became clearer than the night before. From the bright light of the room, the dark spot just on the bottom of her right eye that was left unnoticed before was now plainly obvious. Nayeon had placed a cold pack on it when they got back from the bar, taking care of Jeongyeon’s wounds as the younger one laid on the bed.

Nayeon felt responsible for it, and everytime she looked at her girlfriend, she would feel a pang of guilt in her heart and the events that occurred that night would replay in her mind like a broken record. She looked down at her, feeling her shoulder slightly move up and down at her breathing. Reaching over, she placed a soft hand on Jeongyeon’s right cheek, causing the other one to move slightly to gaze up at her.

“Sorry...” Nayeon whispered, as she ran her hands on the wounds of her face, gently, with no pressure on her touch.

Jeongyeon took that same hand that was caressing her face and held onto it. Then she turned her attention back in front of her, eyeing the plate of food for no apparent reason. “It’s okay. Don’t stress about it.” She slowly shot up from her leaning position, grabbed a spoon, and started applying jam on her toasted bread.

The oldest one watched her take the jam-filled bread and handed it for Nayeon to eat. With a smile on her face, she happily took it and they continued to finish their meal together.

While everybody else were happily playing around, Dahyun remained staring at her phone. The message she first sent Sana hung there, unread, unnoticed. She messaged her once more, waited 10 minutes, and with no response, she called the Japanese.

No answer.

Dahyun sighed, thinking what could’ve held Sana that she wouldn’t be able to send a single message to indicate that she was okay. Dubu was starting to get worried. She couldn’t help but trail her thoughts to Eunha, but as soon as the thought entered her mind, she immediately shook it away. She trusted her girlfriend, that was without a doubt. But… did she trust Eunha?

The younger one was shaking her head to herself, and Momo couldn’t help but notice. She moved to the empty seat next to Dubu and watched her be perplexed on her own, not taking notice of the Japanese that was staring right at her.

As much in thought as she was, Dahyun always noticed when someone was watching her. It was like wherever her mind went, there was always that magnetized feeling that would make her turn to any lenses that would watch her. This was why most candid photos of their group of friends ended up with just her looking at the camera, often times with a sly smile on her face, feeling pleased at having caught it. Feeling a sense inside her, she turned to Momo. “What?” she asked.

Momo gave a light laugh, leaning her arm on the table. “What are you doing, talking to yourself?”

“I was?”

She nodded.

Dahyun scratched her head and sighed. She slid her phone away from her, causing the noise to turn heads to it. The oldest friend sat down across from her and grabbed Dahyun’s phone to inspect the screen.

“Sana still hasn’t replied?” Nayeon asked, scrolling through the messages. A smirk played on her lips as she got to their older messages filled with flirtations and heart emojis. They texted like a typical student couple, quite different from how Nayeon and Jeongyeon texted. She couldn’t help but give a slight laugh at Dahyun’s attempt to flirt in text.

The younger one looked up to see her Unnie silently judge their conversations. Dahyun reached over the table and took her phone from her.

Nayeon couldn’t hold her judgements and bursted out laughing. “Cutiepie? Sugar pie? You two are so cheesy. I didn’t know you could be this corny.”

“Unnie!” Dahyun whined. “That’s not the point.” She looked at her phone with a pout to see how far Nayeon scrolled through their messages. It was from when they just started dating. Her pale cheeks flushed pink from embarrassment, which only made her unnie want to more.

Momo pulled out her own phone and hovered her thumb over Sana’s number, resisting the urge to contact the fellow Japanese herself. However, she decided against the idea. If Sana couldn’t message Dahyun, what made her think that she would message her instead? As she kept quiet by herself, Mina took notice of her silence.

For as long as Mina knew her, Momo had always been the confused type. It was the default expression she often wore, therefore it wasn’t a surprise if she stared at something long enough as it trying to dissect it with her eyes. But as someone who knew Momo longer, Mina could tell the difference between the usual face she wore and one she showed when she was genuinely bothered. Mina could tell that the source of her worries had something to do with Dahyun’s worries.

The penguin watched Momo sigh and get up from her seat, making her way outside to get some fresh air. As Mina followed her with her gaze until the moment her back disappeared out the door, her little cub leaned over from the other side of the table to whisper. “What are you doing, looking so adorably concerned?”

The youngest Japanese gave a quiet yelp, her shoulders rising and falling from her being startled. Chaeyoung giggled at the reaction when Mina turned around to playfully push her away.

“You’re so easily scared, it’s adorable.” Chaeyoung smiled, her nose scrunching at her girlfriend’s cute demeanor.

Mina couldn‘t help but roll her eyes. “Not as bad as Momo, though. If you want to get a big laugh at it, scare her.”

Chaeyoung leaned her shoulders on the table, leaning herself as far as she could towards Mina. In a whisper, she asked, “Seriously though, why have you been looking at Momo so intensely these past 30 minutes?”

“She seems bothered is all...” Mina looked down for a moment at her twiddling thumbs, then as if suddenly hearing her girlfriend’s words again, she looked up. The corners of her lips turned up to a slight smile. “You were staring at me for 30 minutes?”

“Mitang, that’s not the point.”

“Hmmm,” Mina leaned on the table, stretching her head closer to the little cub who was already frozen in place at her sudden actions. “So, you do stare at me when I’m not looking.”

The younger one kept her stance, not wanting to be the first one to give in with a flustered face. However, Mina was so close, she could almost spot the differences between the moles on her face. They kept their faces close, hanging in the air. It was a game they would often play when they were alone. They both knew how unbelievably embarrassed they got at all the mushy things that came with their relationship, therefore often times, they would see who would be the first one to back out.

The Japanese stared into Chaeyoung’s eyes, taking in those dark pupils that she loved so much. They seemed to sparkle at times, and her eyelashes were clearly defined even without make up. Even when her girlfriend rarely wore dresses, often going out in sweats and a simple tee instead, Mina could see that she was undeniably feminine— from her looks to her personality. Mina voiced the thought in her mind with a whisper, “You look quite feminine up close too.”

Chaeyoung’s eyes widened and she quickly leaned back on her seat with a flustered face. “Stooop,” she whined, covering her face with her hands. “You’re sooo unfair.”

Mina leaned back and laughed, holding her stomach. She then gave a light pump of her fist in the air. “That makes it my win twice in a row.” Although she didn’t look it, Mina could be quite competitive, especially during her tournaments in gaming, always giving her utmost concentration in winning.

Jihyo clapped her hands loudly together to get her friends’ attention. Five out of seven heads turned to her. The leader clapped her hands again, louder that time. “Michaeng! Stop flirting with each other and contribute ideas.” The rest of them then turned their eyes from Jihyo to the couple who were already sinking in their seats at the sudden attention given. A fit of giggles filled the room, which caused Mina and Chaeyoung to get even more embarrassed.

“Anyways,” Jihyo continued. “It’s our last day, and there’s so many things to do here. However, we can’t do all of them.” The leader was already standing up, taking a stance as if giving a public speech to persuade through a democratic debate. Jihyo’s voice boomed in a way that made people want to listen to her. She was most likely the most capable person they knew of the position as the student body president, and nobody could deny how fantastic she was at the job. The leader could only imagine how much a mess the school would be without her guidance. “So, I need your input on how we should spend this precious day.”

Like a good, obedient student, Mina raised her hand to speak. Jihyo gave a slight nod in her direction, giving her permission as if it was needed in the first place. “How about we just rest and, you know, chill for the rest of the day?”

Jeongyeon gave a low snicker and lightly nudged Nayeon’s arm with her elbow. “Mina just said chill,” she whispered. “What kind of chill exactly, I wonder.”

Mina shot a glare at the goof, which Jeongyeon immediately caught. The older friend quickly averted her eyes and bit her bottom lip. Mina could be quite scary sometimes that even Jeongyeon wouldn’t dare cross her.

“Mina suggests a rest day, anyone else?” Jihyo bellowed. Although loud, the friends knew this was her normal speaking voice. She took a look around the room, scanning her friends seated on different parts of the large space of the living room.

“I kind of want to try ice skating...” Jeongyeon said with a hint of hesitation in her voice, not wanting to completely shut down Mina’s idea.

The penguin kept quiet and immediately taking notice of her dejected shoulders going down, the short-haired friend followed up on her idea. “Or we can do a free day instead. So, everyone can do what they want.”

Everyone else gave slight nods of agreement. Jeongyeon looked over at the youngest Japanese who was now silently smiling. The unnie felt pleased with herself, feeling happy seeing her younger friend smile. Even with her crazy, goofy self, Jeongyeon was an unnie to her friends, taking care of them when needed and making sure nobody felt left out whenever they got together.

That was how Chaeyoung and Tzuyu ended up at the Kyoto National Museum, Nayeon and Jeongyeon at the local ice skating rink, Mina and Dahyun staying at the house, Momo and Jihyo shopping at the local mall.