Naeun came out of the bathroom, dressed neatly, all prepared to head to school.

"Naeun ah." She heard her sister's soft voice calling her and immediately turned to her. Chorong handed her a square-shaped item. Even though the wrapping paper was nothing more than a plain coloured paper, there were drawings on it. It might not have been the prettiest drawings, but one could see the effort put into it. "Happy birthday, my dearest sister."

"Thank you." Naeun pulled Chorong into a tight hug for a while. "May I open it?"

After receiving a nod as consent, she carefully unwrapped the present, making sure not to ruin the wrapping paper. Revealed under the paper was the latest album of Naeun's favourite idols, APink. Not only was it the latest, it happened to be Naeun's favourite album, and she had always silently wanted the album. A wide smile appeared on her face as she flipped through the album briefly.

"Thanks so much, Chorong unnie!" Naeun was so happy that she ran towards Chorong to give her another hug, accidentally causing Chorong to fall onto the mattress at the back.

"Oops, sorry." Quickly, Naeun got up and helped her sister up as well. Then, she engulfed Chorong into a tight hug. "Thank you Unnie, you're the best sister one could ever ask for."

"Yah, we have to go to school. There's still a letter inside, read it tonight, hmm?"

"Yeah okay, let's go." 

"Naeun, happy birthday! This is my gift for you." A girl said.

"My goddess! It's your birthday today, and here's something for you," said another.

"Yah, who said she's your goddess? She's mine okay! MINE!" 

"Want to spend your day with me?"

"I've already booked her, she's having a date with me today!"

It was so noisy, it was like an argument would have broke out. However, Naeun paid attention to nothing. She just kept looking around, looking for a certain someone - Eunji. For the whole day, Eunji seemed to be avoiding her. Doesn't she know it's my birthday today? Or did she choose this day to stop hanging out with me?

And true enough, Eunji did not hang out with her for the whole day. She did not go home with Naeun either. After Naeun reached home, she locked herself in the room and cried. Anyone could forget her birthday, but just not Eunji. Nor Chorong, of course. Furthermore, it was the case where everyone remembered her birthday, except Eunji.

Chorong waited patiently for Bomi at the usual place of tuition. Her face lit up when she saw Bomi appearing at the doorstep, but it quickly turned into a slight frown when she saw that Bomi seemed rather dejected. She stared at Bomi, silently worrying about her.

"Park Chorong, can we not have tuition today? C-Could you go somewhere w-with m-me?" Bomi stuttering was a new sight for Chorong. She was usually confident of herself, and always gave cold replies to Chorong. And honestly, Chorong was startled by Bomi's sudden request.

"No? It's okay, we'll start lesson then.." Chorong noticed that Bomi's eyes were a little more puffy then usual. As much as she was scared, she decided to go along. Flashing a comforting smile on her face, she said softly, "Let's go, Bomi." 

Chorong avoided walking right next to Bomi in case people created any baseless scandals or whatsoever which might affect the latter. She followed Bomi closely, walking just a couple of steps behind. Bomi said nothing at first, but once they stepped out of the school she walked towards Chorong and pulled her by the wrist. Now that Chorong was walking right next to her, Bomi interlaced their fingers and held Chorong's hand tight. This action of hers caused Chorong to widen her eyes, absolutely surprised at the things Bomi had just done. Bomi shut her eyes for a while and whispered, "Stay close to me, please.."

From the side, Chorong could see tears dripping from Bomi's eyes. She was curious, but she knew better than to ask anything. What made her even more curious was the fact that Bomi brought her to the hospital. Still hanging onto the hand which fit hers perfectly, Bomi brought Chorong into one of the wards. There was a lady lying on the bed, and she looked rather frail and weak.

Who's the lady there? Chorong thought to herself. As if she had read her mind, Bomi said, "She's my mother."

Chorong looked at Bomi, waiting for her to continue saying. "She's been sick for quite some time. Her condition was getting better after all the medication and all, but yesterday.."

Turning to face Chorong, Bomi looked at Chorong through her eyes blurred by the tears that were forming. "Yesterday, the doctor told me she had at most two months left. I feel so lost, I don't know what to do. It's too soon for her to leave me, leave my family.. She has to see me get married, wearing a gown, looking the most beautiful I would ever be in my lifetime."

Chorong wrapped her arms around Bomi. She knew the exact feeling of losing one's mother. Afterall, she had lost both her parents. Seeing one's parents when one clearly knew they would pass away was the most terrible feeling ever. She recalled when she watched as her mother reminded her to take good care of her sister, then closed her eyes right in front of her. Those closed eyes never once opened again, and that sight would never be removed from her mind. Chorong knew that whatever she said would be of no use, so she just hugged the younger as a form of comfort.

***

Bomi had asked her chauffeur to send Chorong home. Both of them sat at the back, and Bomi still held Chorong's hands ever so tightly. However, her tone was now the cold one she had always used.

"Don't tell anyone about what happened today. Best if you forget about it. None of my friends know about this, I don't even know why I let you know either."

"I never intended to, even if you didn't say that," Chorong replied with a faint smile.

"Good."

"May I say something?" Somehow, Chorong just felt like letting Bomi know. "No matter how cold you are to me, I just want to say that I'm really thankful towards you. For teaching me all the time. For.. the food. And I'm sorry that my grades don't seem to show much result."

"And about your question previously, why my books are always crumpled and torn, and whether I really dislike studying that much.. Maybe I'll tell you another time." Chorong was not prepared to let her into her life story yet. She was not ready to let Bomi know about her family, and the fact she was bullied pretty often. It was surprising actually, how she could be bullied in school yet no one really knew. Chorong flashed a smile. The angelic smile that charmed Bomi.

Damn, this girl.. How can she be so beautiful and adorable at the same time? Bomi thought.

"Hi Aunt, I'm here to wish Naeun happy birthday." The aunt might not have treated the girls well, but she always let Eunji come in as and when she wanted. She never once stopped them from being friends with Eunji.

Eunji knocked on the door. Thinking that it was her sister who came back, Naeun dried her tears and opened the door. Upon seeing Eunji, she tried to slam the door, but Eunji was stronger.

"Surprise! I bet you thought I forgot it was your birthday." Immediately, Naeun broke into tears and hit Eunji repeatedly.

"I really thought you forgot about me.." Naeun sobbed like a young kid.

Eunji pinched Naeun's nose slightly. "Babo, do you actually think I will ever forget about you?"

"Yah, who's the babo? Is this how you treat a birthday girl?" Naeun pouted.

"This is how I treat a cute girl. A cute girl named Naeun." Eunji's face had a bright eye smile, while Naeun's turned red in embarrassment. Eunji laughed at Naeun's reaction.

"You're so cute sometimes it hurts. Like now. Anyway, I'm really sorry okay? I just wanted to give you a surprise."

"Yeah, and a broken heart on my birthday as well?"

"Yah don't be like that~ You know I still love you a lot right?"

"No."

"Eyyyyyy~"

The two started their childish fight, which continued even after Chorong came back. The older could not help but just smile at how adorable the two were.

A/N: More of 2eun here, and there's ChoMi as well ^^ But Bomi's back to being cold, lol. >< Are you guys happy with this chapter? :) 

Do comment please ^^ It motivates me to write and I'll get to know what you guys think as well (:

Oh btw, what do you guys think of Pink BnN? Turns out more of a collab after all, but I'm loving the song ^^

@akumatsubasa yeah, ice princesses aren't always ice princesses inside, right? >< yeah, Chorong and Eunji treats Naeun really well ^^ and Eunji appears here hohoho

@jetiunique haha, you're not alone I like people like that as well. :) Chorong deserves to be cared for as well~

@Nachomisan she can be mean but it would just make the nice people they meet more meaningful ^^

@ckaz99 everyone can be nice, I guess >< deep inside, Bomi isn't really that cold a person >< I hope.. when they meet someone nice, the aunt being mean will mean nothing :)