Bomi was relieved to be back at home with her members; her family. 

She listened to Chorong and took it easy. She would spend the hours watching movies, playing games, eating well, and stretching from time to time. It was the laziest she'd ever been. 

Because of how the schedule was organised—because she had to rest while they rehearsed—Bomi was staying at the dorm alone while they were out.

Although Bomi missed how life was before she took up the army special, being placed into a completely different environment really kept her focused on the task at hand. There was no room to be homesick in the military. The only time she could really think about home was in the brief moment before she closed her eyes and let sleep take over her aching bones.

Now that she was at home—in the dorm—waiting for the girls to come home, time seemed to go by so slowly.

Bomi found herself missing Chorong when she was gone and feeling excited when she would come back. It seemed so simple that it sounded silly but it was true. The effect Chorong had on her was crazy. 

And it made her go crazier knowing they were now so close yet so far, separated by the distance between the dorm and the company building. All Bomi wanted to do was spend time with Chorong after being away, but her period of rest was taking that away from her. 

The girl lay flat on the floor, staring at the ceiling as these thoughts ambled through her mind. This must be what it feels like to be a puppy at home, waiting for their owner to return from work each day. 

Bomi felt like a giant puppy dog.

Gosh, she couldn't wait to get back into rehearsing, and it wasn't only so she could be with Chorong daily. Just being in the practice room, dancing, singing and preparing for stages was already a thrilling thing for Bomi. Learning new choreography was fun! Perfecting a performance for the real thing was gratifying. Imagining the cheers and chants of their fans going wild for it was exciting and brought energy to Bomi's soul—

Her ears pricked up when the distinct sound of chatter and footsteps came to the front door. Her family was back!

Bomi bounded up on all fours to greet them.

"Woof woof!" she barked, making the members burst into giggles. 

"What is this~" chorused Eunji and Namjoo as their youngest member gravitated to Bomi first. 

Hayoung patted Bomi's head in childish delight, cheekily using this as a chance to address her unnie without formalities.

"Bbom-Bbom! Did you miss us?" she grinned.

Naeun laughed out loud at that, deciding to play along. "Bomi-ya! Hi doggie!"

The grown woman would only stop rolling around on the floor when a honey-like voice later called her from the kitchen. 

"Bbom-ah~ Come here~"

"Woof?" Bomi looked innocently at her playmates, checking with them that she could leave.

"Oh. Chorong unnie is calling," Hayoung smirked.

"Unnie, you better go," Naeun said, sharing a similar knowing smile.

Bomi skipped over to the kitchen without a second thought.

"Rong unnie~" she cooed making her presence known, her heart thrumming a little faster just as it always did around the leader. 

Chorong bit back a grin when she saw her, slowly holding up a plastic bag with its delicious contents. 

"Bbom-ah~ I got... budae jjigae!"

Chorong, surprising Bomi with her favourite food?? Bomi felt like she couldn't be happier after such an uneventful day! She was already mouth-watering in anticipation with a heart feeling so warmed. Her face had lit up like a Christmas tree and Chorong tried hard not to giggle, feeling all fuzzy and proud of herself for eliciting such a reaction. 

Bomi just couldn't help smiling while eating. Every mouthful reminded her why she loved this dish, and every time her eyes met Chorong's, they'd start giggling at each other simply because of the happy, bubbly energy she was exuding. 

It was clear that the highlight of Bomi's resting days was dinnertime when everyone would be back, and curling up with Chorong on the couch afterwards. The way their bodies fit together, feeling content after their meal, gave an immensely comfortable and blissful feeling to both of them. It was like their cuddly couple time. 

This felt like home.

——

With the girls relaxing altogether in the living room, it wasn't long before Bomi sensed someone might be watching her instead of the TV. She swiftly caught the gaze without much movement, and judging from the member's line of vision, maybe it was more accurate to say the gaze was on two rather than one. 

Chorong and Bomi acted so much like a couple without officially being a couple. There was no space when they were together. They were more coupley than real couples Eunji knew, and she was thoroughly baffled about them, about this, their progress and how long it was taking. 

Being a first-hand witness to Chorong's incessant worrying, and seeing how attached the two had been since Bomi got back, pretty much confirmed to her that this was going to work. Her best friend's feelings could be returned. 

When the main vocal realised she had accidentally gotten her friend's attention, she let out a slight smirk, eyes twinkling with mischief. That expression was all it took for her message to get across. 

Bomi looked away a little disgruntled. 

"Yah, what's with her?" she wondered, trying to push down her nervous butterflies.

Eunji was egging her on again about her feelings. To confess. To go for it.

She didn't think her return from the army would become a cue for the girl to be more suggestive of the idea. 

Truth be told, Bomi was chickening at confessing. It still wasn't a good time. But when would it ever be a good time?

Though she was resting, they were in the midst of preparing for their concert right now; "Pink Paradise", their first ever solo-held concert in Korea. They needed to focus on that.

After their concert would be their Japanese schedules, and who knows what activities would pile up from then onwards. The past year had been constantly busy for them, and that was a good thing. They were able to work and see the fans a lot with two amazing comebacks, their own reality show, and even a hot debut in Japan. It was a time to be thriving. 

Perhaps there would never be a good time or place for confessing any time soon. The future just wasn't clear.

"I think I'll wait till our schedules clear up first."

Bomi was really regretting what she promised Eunji. What did she even mean by their schedules clearing up? She hadn't thought too deeply about it. Logically, she meant a break in their schedules, when there would be time to talk about something as big as this. But how big of a break did she mean? And how long did she think she would need?

A day? A week? A fortnight?

Rehearsing hard and preparing for other performances, they were quite busy right now, but as idols, being busy was sort of a given. As they didn't know when their next break would be, any break could provide sufficient time to heal and clear things up between the members. It was better to speak out as soon as possible than drag things out and snowball their issues.

Bomi's schedule had been cleared for her recuperation and there was still a while until the concert. Eunji was here nudging her about it.

It seemed her friend was thinking this to be an opportune time for a confession, especially since the feeling of missing Chorong was still fresh in Bomi's heart and m