The second youngest waited patiently by the door of the dance studio, holding a paper bag of clothes. She constantly glanced at her watch, often debating whether or not she should leave the bag by the door for Momo to pick up. If she knew her unnie would take a while to finish, she would’ve taken her time leaving the dorms, giving her more time to rest up and possibly go for one round of gaming on her computer.

As she was deciding whether or not to enter the dance room herself to call out her Japanese friend, the door to the studio opened. She turned to expect Momo drenched in sweat from her practice, but instead was greeted by the boy she forgot attended the same dance group as Momo. Jimin rubbed his sweaty hair with a towel as he exited, stopping in his tracks when he caught sight of Chaeyoung.

“H-hi,” the boy uttered, feeling completely awkward. They hadn’t seen each other since the incident with Mina at the party, which was almost 5 months ago, and he hoped the situation wouldn’t arise where they would have to cross paths.

Chaeyoung gave a slight bow of her head. Even at her discomfort, she couldn’t help but be polite. Jimin stood there for a while, as if waiting for something to happen. He expected Chaeyoung to act cold towards him, to possibly bark some sort of subtle insult, but the little cub only kept her gaze at the wall opposite from her, silently fidgeting.

“Is Momo-unnie still practicing?” Chaeng suddenly asked, all the while avoiding eye contact.

“Yeah. She has a dance solo, so she’s taking longer.”

“Then,” Chaeyoung turned to him and stretched out the bag towards him. “Do you think you can give this to her? It’s her change of clothes.”

Jimin looked at the bag for a moment before hesitatingly taking it from her hands. As soon as the little cub said a thank you, she turned to leave. But before she could take even 3 steps, the boy called out to her. “Chaeyoung-ssi...” His voice almost cracked, causing him to bring his hand to his mouth as he cleared his throat.

The girl turned her head around to face him, eyebrows stretched up.

“I’m sorry...”

His words came unexpectedly that Chaeyoung turned her whole body to completely face him, waiting for his next words.

Jimin dropped his towel from his head to wrap around his neck and bit his bottom lip as he thought of what to say next. “I know that...” the boy gave a light cough, finding it difficult to speak to the younger one. “I know that I caused a lot of problems for you and Mina, and I want to apologize for my inappropriate actions. I just want to say that you don’t have to worry about me. I’ve accepted that she will never like me the way I want her to. I know it probably won’t change how you feel about me, but I still wanted you to know how deeply sorry I am...”

The boy looked at Chaeyoung’s unchanging expression as she remained in her position, unmoving for some time. The younger one wasn’t quite sure how to go about the sudden apology. She furrowed her eyebrows as if the gears in her head moved to come up with the words to say. Then, she looked down and looked up at him again before she spoke.

“I still don’t know if I’ve forgiven you for what you did,” she started. “It was an extremely painful time for me. I’ve never shed tears as much as I did then, but… I can’t hold grudges forever, can I?”

Jimin waited for her patiently as she looked like there was more she wanted to say. All the while, the door of the studio room opened and out came a group of dancers, finished with their practice. The boy moved closer to where Chaeyoung stood to avoid blocking the pathway.

Chaeyoung waited for the group to dissipate before continuing again. “Have you spoken to Mina lately?” she asked.

The boy shook his head. “I don’t have the courage to. I feel like I’ll be imposing if I did so. Would it be okay if I did contact her?”

“I can’t decide that for you. That’s for her to decide whether she wants you to or not.”

Jimin smiled, which caught the younger one off guard. “You’re amazing,” he said. “It’s admirable how understanding you can be, and it makes me feel even worse for coming in between you two.”

Chaeyoung became speechless, not knowing what to say as she didn’t expect a compliment to come after an apology from the boy.

“Don’t worry about me, okay?” Jimin gave her a soft look, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly to ensure her that he was serious. “Mina is someone I admire as a dancer, and I prioritize our friendship more than anything. I just don’t want to lose that.”

The younger one gave a sigh as she looked at the sincerity of his expression. There was no way she could deny them of their friendship, and she was confident enough to know that Mina loved her and her alone. Therefore, giving a half smile to the boy, she said, “If you could… maybe take it slow? I’m still quite wary of you, and I still don’t feel comfortable with having you around. I-if you could be patient with me, I’d appreciate it.”

The boy nodded with a soft smile on his face, “Of course.”

~

“Jiiiiihyoo,” Jeongyeon sang as she peeked into the student council room, and was greeted by an air of frantic voices and chaos. Everybody in the room bustled around, gathering papers and talking over each other like the typical working bees one would see in a company’s office.

Among the crowd of the student council was Jihyo, pointing at various people and sending orders at her peers. She was born a leader and had everything under control. It always amazes her friends how she could balance her school work, volunteering, being the student council president and still have time to socialize and go out every now and then.

Jeongyeon hesitated going in, not wanting to disturb the workflow. As she was about to leave, Jihyo caught sight of her and called out. “Jeong! What’s up?”

“A-ah, I was just going to ask if you wanted to have lunch, but it seems like you’re busy.”

The leader nodded at her peer who showed her some documents, and after voicing her last order to one of them, she beelined through the mess and walked over to her friend. “Where are we eating?” she asked with a smile.

“Is it okay for you to leave?” Jeongyeon peered to the mess behind her and then looked back at her friend. “It looks like you guys are about to meet a deadline of some sort.”

Jihyo made a shoo gesture with her hand, stating not to mind it. “They can handle the rest. I’m hungry anyways.”

Jeongyeon looked at her friend with great admiration, slightly nodding as if in approval at her ability to do it all. “Wow, you really are amazing.”

“Flattery won’t get you a free meal,” Jihyo stuck out her tongue as she lead the way down the hall and out the door, with Jeongyeon trailing right behind her.

For lunch, instead of being stuck with cafeteria food, they decided to go out to the nearest korean fried chicken place near the university. Jeongyeon wanted to go out to a better one farther in town, but Jihyo needed to be close by just in case her student council team were in need of help. As usual, the life of a president kept her plate full.

As Jihyo stuffed herself with food, quickly digging in the moment the chicken-filled plate hit their table like a hungry caveman who hadn’t caught food in days, the older one watched her. “Yah, slow down. When was the last time you ate?”

“Yesterday morning,” she said with a mouthful of chicken, her words would’ve been incomprehensive if Jeongyeon hadn’t known her as long as she did.

“That’s not healthy. You should eat at least three meals a day, even at your busy schedule.” Even though she was older, Jeongyeon felt weird scolding her friend. Jihyo was usually the one that did the scolding in the group. Despite her being the middle one in terms of age, the friend was probably the most mature out of all nine.

The younger one shrugged it off and continued to eat. Shaking her head, Jeongyeon dove into the plate as well. The older one would glance up at her friend every now and then, noticing how her eyebags got thicker at the bottom of her eyes since the last time they saw each other and how her expression seemed tired as of late.

“How’s the preparation going? You look like you haven’t slept at all.” Jeongyeon asked her.

Jihyo bit into her 3rd piece of chicken and seemed to ponder on the question as she chewed. “It’s going fine. There’s just a lot to be done, especially organizing the diplomas together and trying to decide the seating arrangements for each major department. Last year’s graduation was chaotic, so we’re trying to avoid doing the same.”

“Did you apply to the company you were talking about?”

The younger one shook her head, finishing the piece of chicken clean and starting out with another one. “It’s too far. My family wants me around here.”

“It’s not like you’re going out of the country. It’s like an hour away.”

“I’ll get some company job around the area. I’ll be fine.”

“Wow, when did Park Jihyo ever settle for less?” Jeongyeon leaned in her chair in disbelief, setting down her chicken on the plate. “You studied your off to get into this university. You beat the odds to become the student council president. And I know you kept applying for that Mandarin class even when it was full, in which you practically annoyed the teacher and he let you join. And now? Now, you’re just going to give it up? For what? Because you’re parents told you? Wow.”

The whole time Jeongyeon spoke, Jihyo didn’t seem fazed. However, deep inside, she knew better than anyone that her younger friend was completely right. Jihyo worked hard—  studying whenever she had time, even to the point where she would sacrifice sleep and food. She was constantly stressed, though she didn’t admit it. It was all to get into the company she’s admired since the moment she found out about it— JYP Industries. It was an extremely challenging company to get into. They were known for scouting some of the most notable actors and actresses known to Korea and even international. Jihyo studied various languages for the management positions and did everything she could to make her resume look top-notch. She volunteered at multiple businesses around the area of the university, got letters of recommendations from her stubborn professors, and put the student council on a pedestal by carrying her team with great precision and amazing leadership. Was she really willing to let all that go just because her family found it inconvenient for her to go beyond?

The younger one paused on her meal, pushing her plate away from her to lean her elbows on the table. She heaved a deep sigh. “I know. But I just… I can’t… I don’t know how to tell them that. My family is the most important thing for me, and if they want me to stay, what else can I do but stay?”

“For Christ sake Jihyo, learn to be selfish for once in your life.” Jeongyeon’s tone was that of seriousness, something that only came out once in a while from her goofy mouth. “You’ve been obsessed with this company for as long as I could remember. You would watch all their shows and interviews, even go to some of their meets, all the while taking notes. Who goes to an event and take notes? You do. Because that’s how much you want it. You need to take a stand and tell your family exactly what it is you want.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re dad’s all up for whatever you want to do. My dad pays more attention to my sisters than me.”

Jeongyeon sighed, feeling frustrated at her friend’s stubbornness. “You don’t want to regret this. Think about it carefully. Apply first, and think about what to do afterwards.”

Jihyo gave a slight nod, more to herself than to her friend. She glanced at her watch and gave another deep sigh. It was her cue to leave and go back to the university. As she got up to leave, she gave Jeongyeon a tight hug, somewhat surprising the younger one.

The moment she stepped out of the restaurant, she was hit by the cool air of spring. The year came and went by in a flash after their vacation in Japan. Many things happened, both good and bad, but in the end, their lives continued on. Jihyo felt a pang of sadness in her heart as the realization of it all coming to an end hit her. She turned her head back to the restaurant and spotted her older friend finishing the leftover food by herself. The years they spent together, the hardships they faced and the laugher they shared, came bubbling up to the surface. She pictured the rest of her friends' happy expressions everytime they got together. She truly felt that she was greatly blessed by being able to meet these wonderful people, and she never would