Running full-speed in heels with a recovering ankle probably wasn’t the best idea, but that didn’t matter to Eunji. Nothing really mattered to her at that moment. Nothing except for Chorong and the fact that she was awake.

They hurtled through the hospital hall, white walls blurring past them, only slowing when they approached Chorong’s room. 

Chorong’s family stepped out of the room, eyes wide with shock at the disheveled appearance of the members. Eunji’s eyes swept across Chorong’s parents and sisters to the open door, where they lingered eagerly. Chorong was beyond that door, awake and conscious.

Chorong’s father cleared his throat. His eyes were b red, just like the rest of his family, but he looked better than he had ever looked these past few weeks. “Hello,” he said rather awkwardly. “I enjoyed your performance.”

“I…,” Eunji stumbled for words, “You watched it.” 

Chorong’s mother smiled. “We all did.”

“I said I would, didn’t I?” her father said, smiling slightly.

“Thank you. It means a lot to us.” Bomi tipped her head.

The older man nodded and looked away, drumming his fingers against his leg. Chorong’s older sister elbowed Seunghee next to her, who in turn elbowed her father. His attention snapped back to them, his cheeks bright red. His family gave him small nods of encouragement, and he turned to face the members again. 

He coughed and began, “I’m sorry…for what I said and how I’ve been acting. When I said that you weren’t Chorong’s family, I was wrong.”

“Mr. Park―” Bomi started.

“No, please. I need to say this.” Mr. Park took a deep breath and continued, “You’ve been there for my daughter when I was so far away and unable to. Of course you’re her family. You’re our family too. I’ve always loved you as each of my own, and I always will, no matter what happens. I should not have let my emotions get the better of me. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

“Of course we’ll forgive you,” Bomi replied, and the other members nodded. “We wouldn’t want to lose one of our greatest supporters.”

“I’ll always be supporting you. Not just Apink as a whole, but your individual activities as well. Nothing has or will change.”

Those were the words that Eunji had wanted to hear. Not an apology or an explanation for his actions, but a promise that he would continue to support them. That meant the world to her.

“Thank you,” Namjoo said for all the members. Mr. Park bowed his head, having said his peace.

“Are you on your way out now?” Hayoung asked.

“We’re going to buy Chorong some of her favorite food,” Mrs. Park answered. “We knew you were all rushing here after your performance, so we figured we’d give you some time with Chorong. We’ll be back in about an hour.”

Naeun eyed the slightly ajar door. “How is Unnie?”

Mrs. Park smiled and stepped aside, opening a straight path to the door. “Why don’t you go see for yourself?”

The members took up that offer and bade Chorong’s family farewell, then slowly eased past the door. Eunji was the last to walk through the door. Her legs were shaking slightly, her heart a nervous drum in her chest. She had been waiting for this moment for weeks. She should have been walking faster, but all of her steps seemed so delayed, like she was walking in slow-motion.

One step. Two steps.

It was like she had to forcefully lug her legs forward. Her legs felt weak, uncertain of themselves.

She took another slow step, and then she was fully in the room. She looked forward, her head moving as painstakingly slow as her legs.

Her breath caught.

Chorong was staring back at them with her chocolate-colored eyes, a shining light that had been hidden from the world for far too long. She set aside the pile of fan letters that she had been reading and smiled. Eunji’s legs nearly caved in; she had to grab onto Bomi’s shoulder for support. 

“Well, this is quite the Christmas gift, isn’t it?” Chorong said, her soft voice drifting in the air like the pleasant smell of freshly baked pie. Eunji wanted to close her eyes and listen to the sweet music of Chorong’s long-missed voice, but she didn’t want to lose a second of seeing her leader awake. “You all look so beautiful. It’s a shame that I couldn’t join you on stage in these outfits.”

“We’ll have plenty of more performances with even better outfits,” Namjoo said.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Chorong replied. Eunji tried not to look at how hollow her cheeks had become or how pale her complexion was. She just focused on Chorong’s eyes, the unwavering light in them, and her smile that Eunji had missed so much.

“Who do you want to bet will cry first?” Hayoung asked.

Chorong tilted her head. “I think Bomi’s already lost.”

Sure enough, Bomi had already begun crying, her face scrunched up in an adorable pout and tears rolling freely from her eyes. 

“Bomi-unnie was my first bet,” laughed Naeun.

“My bet was on Chorong-unnie,” Namjoo shrugged.

 “To be fair, my bet was on myself.” Bomi sniffled and wiped her face. “So technically, I won.”

They laughed, and then Eunji started crying, then Chorong, then Namjoo, then Hayoung and finally Naeun, and suddenly they were all crying. They huddled around Chorong’s bed, holding onto each other tightly, like they were scared that if they let go, everything would fade away like a distant dream.

Everything felt right again. They were crying and laughing at the same time with their leader, her laughter a beautiful melody whose music had been stolen from them for what seemed like an eternity. Broken ties had been reforged, now stronger than ever. The public was becoming more forgiving. Junwoo was still alive and well. Eunji felt the broken pieces of herself begin to fit back into place. No longer was she a walking corpse, struggling to keep herself together as she went by everyday. The empty void in her chest had been filled.

Chorong had been right. This was quite the Christmas gift. It was more than anything Eunji could have ever asked for. Eunji leaned in closer to Chorong. She felt Chorong’s body shaking with both laughter and sobs, saw her characteristic nose scrunch, and heard her gentle voice over the clammer of the other members. She had never been one to believe in Christmas miracles, but with Chorong now awake and crying with them, she couldn’t deny that this was nothing short of a miracle.

There were still things that they had to do to settle the matter, but Eunji didn’t care. Not at that moment. All that mattered was the fact that they were all together again, as it should have always been and as it would be in the future. Her heart was a steady arrow, pure and true, only pointing in one direction: forward. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to listen to the music of the other members.

Outside, it began to snow, soft white flakes floating in the winter air, the beautiful end of the bleak gray skies and the delicate start of the bright days ahead.

And with that, this story has come to an end! Thank you to everyone who has supported me and has made it through to the end. I really appreciate it. I'm currently working on my next story and I hope to have the details of it uploaded soon. In the meantime, you can stay updated and follow me on my twitter @pandawriter18. I'm pretty new to this fandom (and the kpop world in general) and would like to make some new friends :)))

Again, thank you so much for all your support, and I hope to back with another story soon!

(Pls add me on twitter. I just opened it up and I need friends)