“Gyrui-unnie, Seungyeon-unnie. Have you seen Hara-unnie?” I ask. Hello, I’m the maknae of Kara, Kang Ji-young. Well, I won’t be the maknae for long.

Since the beginning of 2014, things have been rough. First, Nicole decides to have her contract with DSP Media expire so she could pursue other things. It shook up every Kamilia in the world. I, Jiyoung, have ALSO decided to leave Kara so I could focus more on my studies. Everyone was sad to hear Nicole and I would be leaving. Everyone has accepted our contract terminations. Almost everyone.

“I think she’s in your shared room, Jiyoung-ah,” Seungyeon replies. I slapped my forehead as I realized my stupidity. I walked toward our room to see Hara, looking at a picture.

I slowly walked over to Hara, but stopped when I saw the picture she was holding. It was pic of all the Kara members posing for a silly photo:

“Wae?” Hara said in the tiniest voice.

“Huh?” I asked, not sure if she was hearing right.

“I said, Wae,” Hara responds in a more audible tone. “Why are you doing this, Ji-ah?”

“Doing what?” I asked stupidy.

“Why are you leaving us, Jiyoung-ah!” Hara turns around and faced me, obviously upset. “Do you know how our fans feel about this?! Do you know how Kara feels about this?! Do you know how I feel about this?!”

It didn’t take me long to realize that Hara had been crying, and still is. “Hara-unnie, you know how much my studies mean to me. I can’t be doing that when I’m in a group. Please understand-”

“Understand what?! Understand that your leaving us to go study abroad? We could’ve helped you.”

“You know that’s not true. Everyone was too busy, including me. I need to do this.” I delicatly grabbed Hara’s left hand with my right. “Please understand this, unnie. I had no choice.”

Hara looked at our intertwined hands and then looked back at me. She gave me a glare. “You did have choice,” she yanked her hand out of mine. “And you chose to leave us.” She was about to walk away when I did something that even I didn’t expect myself to do. I grabbed Hara’s wrist, pulled her back and crashed my lips against hers.

I could tell she was surprised by the way she wasn’t responding. But then, she started to move her lips with mine and it felt great. The pace was slow, but full of our feelings.

After a few minutes, I pulled back and stared at her eyes, searching for a reaction. I could only decipher sadness, surprise, and a hint of happiness.

I cupped Hara’s cheeks and began speaking. “Hara-unnie, remember back in 2008, when Sung-hee left the group. Everything was so out of place. I felt weird going in the place of someone else, but you helped me through it. You've been with me from the start and I'm very glad you and Kara are a part of my life." Hara's sad eyes stared back at me.

"Now, you know that my studies are important to me. But nothing will break the bond we share, even if we’re thousands of miles away from each other. I love you, and nothing’s going to change that.” I smile and lightly peck her lips. She then pulls me into a hug I couldn’t refuse.

“I’ll miss you, Ji-ah,” Hara whispers in my ear.

“I’ll miss you too, Hara-unnie.”

I just wanted to hold Hara like this forever, n letting her go. I didn’t even realize that a tear had trickled down my right cheek.