It was seven in the morning on Wednesday. The two were not heading to school, why were they up so early? Simply because Chorong preferred being early on such days. Afterall, the trip to their destination would take quite some time as well.

Bomi opened the door and was greeted by the 'brand new day' feel. The sky was in the midst of getting brighter, though the sun was still not high enough to be seen yet. From the doorstep Bomi could see the back of a girl leaning on the gate. It was the girl she had agreed to go with. Even in the early morning, just the sight of the girl could make Bomi feel so much happier.

"Unnie!" Bomi called, running to the gate and making her way out. Just like what anyone would expect from Yoon Bomi, she ran out and greeted Chorong by engulfing her in a tight hug. "If you came early, why didn't you go in to sit?"

However, her dorky and cheerful side died the moment Chorong turned to look at her, and her caring side appeared. A frown showed on her face as she asked, "Unnie, why are your eyes red and puffy? Have you been crying? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine, Bbom." Chorong tried to lie, giving a weak smile with hopes to convince the younger. Bomi stared at the older with an expression full of worry for a while before giving a sigh.

"Okay." Bomi said, her tone obviously showing that she was unconvinced. But since Chorong did not want to talk about it, there was no need for her to go on anyway. All she could do was to silently worry for the older. She leaned in to kiss the other on the cheek, a kiss that delivered all her feelings of worry over, a kiss that contained strength for the other. Chorong flinched slightly from the contact since her skin was burning from the dehydration caused by her tears, but nonetheless she was able to feel the care and concern that came from the younger.

"Thanks, Bomi." Chorong did not know exactly what she was thanking Bomi for, there were just too many. Thanks for entering my life. Thanks for making my life better. Thanks for being a reason for me to stay alive. Thanks for agreeing to come with me today. Thanks for always being considerate towards my feelings. Thanks for caring about me so much. Thanks for being understanding and not forcing or insisting me to answer you. Yes, the last one. Experiencing such a tough time all the time, it was not that Chorong did not want to tell Bomi anything. Rather than that, it was more like Chorong was always too exhausted by everything and had no energy to explain. And she did not want to think about it to begin with, because the emotions would come back, which was what she did not want. Among the many things she felt grateful towards Bomi for, she had always felt that this was the greatest reason, because Bomi always seemed like she understood how Chorong was feeling and what she was thinking.

Intertwining her fingers with Bomi's, she started walking, leading Bomi. Before doing so, Bomi bent over to take - or rather, snatch - the things Chorong was carrying from her hands. "I will help you hold your stuff. Just lead the way, unnie." Bomi gave Chorong the charming smile as always, and Chorong immediately felt a little better from there. Just a little, though.

The bus ride took slightly more than an hour. If it had been any other day, both of them might have used the time to know each other even better, but not that day. Chorong kept silent throughout the bus ride, so absorbed in her thoughts she did not realise a few teardrops had fallen. On the other hand, Bomi kept quiet as well, aware that Chorong needed some time to sort out her own thoughts. She spent most of the time looking at Chorong, her worry becoming greater as she watched the tears fall.

Now that they have arrived, it did not take much for one to figure out where they were. Bomi's question regarding their destination was finally answered, but now she had another question - What were they doing there? She gave a confused look to Chorong, who then grabbed her hand and started walking. Maybe it was just Bomi but she felt like the older's grip on her hand was getting tighter as they walked. It was not until they arrived in front of two particular tombstones that Chorong gave a final squeeze to Bomi's hand before letting go. Quietly but with speed, Chorong took out the flowers she brought - which, by the way, she spent so much time and effort saving up for. There were three types of flowers - Irises, Chrysanthymums and Orchids.

Chorong first took the irises and a stalk of chrysanthymum, thereafter facing one of the tombstones. She took in a deep breath and said with a shaky voice, "Umma, you're always looking at us from above right? I know you are protecting us from wherever you are. By the way, I finally told Naeun what happened that day. She has really grown up, and I feel really glad seeing that. I will continue to take care of her as I promised, umma. By the way, here are some flowers. Chrysanthymum together with Iris, your favourite. Please continue to watch us from above, I will become a daughter you can be proud of."

Bomi watched as Chorong picked up the remaining flowers and headed to another tombstone, right next to the previous one. "Appa, I know I say this every year but I really hope to meet someone like you. You always care about our family, and I'm sure now you're still taking care of mum right? I'm really sorry that I'm unable to be like you, I didn't manage to take good care of Naeun. Appa, I let people hurt her, and I said hurtful remarks to her as well, how am I ever going to forgive myself?" She was sniffing quite hard by now, but it was evident she was l trying to hold her tears in. "Appa, this year's flowers for you are chrysanthymum and orchid. Just like how orchid stands for 'I will always love you', I will love you forever and ever. You and Umma will always live in my heart."

Bomi was still quiet, she did not know how to react. She felt like an idiot, a jerk. All this time she was crying over the loss of her mother in front of someone who lost both her parents, and it sounded like it had been many years. There was nothing she could really do, so she approached Chorong who was now in front of both the tombstones, still trying hard to not let her tears fall. Without saying a word at all, Bomi went to hug her, and she did not hesitate to hide her face in Bomi's chest. The younger girl carressed the hair of the older's while whispering, "It's been hard for you all these years unnie. Just let it all out so you'll feel better."

Even though she was the one who hid her face in Bomi's chest on her own accord, Chorong was rather hesitant about actually crying. She was used to crying alone on this day every year. And she knew it would last a long time. On top of that, she particularly hated crying over her parents in front of others, though she might have indirectly done that in front of Bomi before. However, the emotions were all coming back to her, and she involuntarily let her tears fall. 

Bomi noticed that Chorong contemplated in crying, but the few drops showed that she probably needed some break down before she could feel better. Hugging the older a little tighter, she said, "Unnie, if you're worried that you'll look ugly when you cry, then I'm here to tell you that you should not be. You'll always be beautiful. Even when you're crying, you're still pretty, unlike me who looks like an ugly monster. It's okay if you really don't want to, whether you do or not I will hold you right here."

That made Chorong give in and give up on putting a strong front, she was never strong to begin with anyway, it was all a facade. She snuggled deeper into Bomi's embrace as she dropped her pretence entirely. From there, it was a long period of neither speaking. Bomi just held the shaking girl firmly and steadily, that being the only thing she could do for the girl.

Now the sobbing girl was still lying into Bomi's embrace, sniffing and getting back her composure. Her eyes were red and puffy, while the skin below her eyes burned like crazy. She was exhausted and was trying to stop, but a couple of teardrops still fell as well. Just like what Bomi had been doing, she reached out and gently wiped the tears away.

"Is Naeun coming?" Bomi asked when Chorong was much more calm.

"Yeah, after school." Bomi looked at her watch and realised there was still some time, so she suggested to go eat. Obviously Chorong had barely any appetite, but no way was the younger going to let her go on without eating.

The nearest place where food was available was, fortunately or not, half an hour away. Upon boarding the bus, Chorong's eyelids were already heavy, she was extremely tired from all the crying and the emotions that she had held in for some time. She did not want to impose the younger, so she leaned against the window and fell asleep in a rather uncomfortable postion. Seeing that, Bomi carefully shifted her such that she was leaning onto Bomi's shoulder instead. Thereafter, she sat still, minimising her movement so that the older would be able to sleep well. She whispered, "I never knew you were suffering so much."

They arrived, and Bomi apologetically woke the sleeping girl up. Stepping into the restaurant, they settled down at a nice corner and looked at the menu. However, despite browsing through the menu a couple of times, Chorong did not feel like eating - or ordering anything for that matter. But of course, Bomi was not going to allow that, so she went ahead and ordered two portions of bibimbap. When the food arrived, Bomi who had been starving was about to dive in, but she noticed that the other girl was just staring at her food.

"Unnie, aren't you going to eat?" Bomi asked.

"Bbom ah I told you I'm not hungry." 

Bomi knew she had to get Chorong to eat somehow, and she was determined to try every method until it worked. She picked up Chorong's spoon and scooped up the food. Just like how parents feed their babies, Bomi shifted the spoon like it was an aeroplane that was about to fly into Chorong's mouth. "Unnie, ahhhh." But the older girl refused to open .

"Okay fine. If you don't eat, then I won't either." After several attempts of different methods, Bomi decided to try a method she thought had a higher chance of working. And it worked, because Chorong's eyes widened a little at Bomi's statement, knowing very well that Bomi never said no to food.

"I'm serious." Bomi had this charisma, one that Chorong had never seen before. It scared the latter a little, and she did not want the younger to end up skipping a meal just because of her. Thus, when Bomi put the spoon in front of once again, she hesitantly ate it down. After five spoonfuls, Chorong already said she was full, and Bomi had no choice but to treat her as a child again.

"One more spoon?" Bomi coaxed, and Chorong, even though unwillingly, complied. With continuous 'just one more' and 'a little bit more' remarks by Bomi, Chorong gradually finished the entire bowl of bibimbap. She was actually a little annoyed with Bomi for forcing her to eat even though she really was not in the mood to, but she knew it was for her own good. And for Bomi, it made her a lot less worried seeing the girl actually eat. As soon as the last spoonful entered Chorong's mouth, Bomi tucked into her own food, gobbling down everything quickly. 

Thereafter, she paid the bill and both of them headed back to the cemetery. It was another half an hour bus ride back, and just like before Chorong fell asleep. However, before she actually did, Bomi entwined their fingers and gave a couple of squeezes to the older. When Chorong gave her the attention she wanted, she gave a warm smile and said softly, "Thank you for finishing the food just now, unnie." 

A/N: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that concludes the first part of the death anniversary. I'm glad Bomi decided to go with Chorong, are you? Anwyay, because this story was written such that Chorong was more attached to their parents before they passed away, these two chapters will circle around ChoMi more. (I mean well I know that happens for a lot of chapters and I'm sorry for that, I just ship ChoMi more than I ship 2eun :( ) but anyway yep. I will try to include more 2eun!! :D

Ohohoh and Happy belated birthday to Eunji ^^ I have many friends with the same birthday as her and all of them are musically talented haha. Anyway August is the month for the birthday of both the happy viruses in Apink :D Happy birthday to them again! Have I mentioned how the pooh in the picture among those that Bomi took with the presents from fans is given by me xD I'm soooooo happy it's hard to express haha :') I love apink so much!

And thanks for commenting guys! Do continue to do so ^^

@kenji123 Thank you! I will try my best to continue making it interesting~

@Nachomisan nah, only Eunji knows her feelings :D Yeah I'm sure Bomi made the right decision in that..

@Kimmyloh haha well, not some amusement park or something, just somewhere important to her. :D

@jetiunique yeah, alone then with Naeun (and Eunji).. strong girl who's actually weak haha >< I'm glad about that as well :) Will she notice it on her own or after Eunji confesses??

@yehetLrilla hahaha I love Tom and Jerry couple so much. They've known each other for long, I'm sure they always care for each other~ but they're so cute when fighting hahaha

@Taengoo99 hahaha sensible people in fanfiction (and outside) are always amazing. I haven't gotten a chance to watch Ep2 because there's only chinese subs (which I'd have a little difficulty with watching) and I haven't had the time anyway. Excited to watch it though! It's great that you guys think it's progressing well. I could/might/should have one... xD but first, let's settle this part first! :)

@akumatsubasa hahaha Bomi will cause diabetes if she's any sweeter xD I know right :D haha sometime soon hopefully :) yeah, I hope Naeun feels the same as well.

@sparklinghealthykid yeah I agree :3 I hope they do too ^^