"What time... Are you girls leaving?" I stuttered.

                "In a few hours time..." Namjoo broke the news to me.

                "So, I guess... I won't... Be seeing you girls again until several months later... Right?" I managed a sentence through my tears.

                "Yeah, think so... Don't cry, otherwise I'll end up crying as well..." Chorong pleaded.

                "I'll try not to cry..." I wiped my tears away. But the source doesn't seem to be stopping.

                "I told you not to cry!!! See? It's your fault that I'm now crying." Naeun blamed me with her smudged make up.

                "What's wrong with all of you? It's just a few months... Stop it, you all! I'm going to end up pouring soon if you guys don't stop crying." Eunji tried staying strong.

                "I don't know... I think I'll really miss you girls during these few months..." I confessed, "I've been thinking about how our departure would be like. And to think it came... It felt almost like yesterday when I first met you girls at the mall..." My tears were continuously streaming down my face relentlessly, like a leaking faucet.

                "Stop crying, pabo." Chorong used her long sleeves to help wipe my face clean.

                "Then why are you crying?" I questioned, while still crying.

                "Why else do you think we're all crying? You started this crying session!!" Naeun answered.

                "What can I do? I can't bear to see you girls leave... I would, seriously miss you girls so badly... Like, I don't get to joke around you girls anymore..." I coughed out with all my effort.

                "Give me your phone." Hayoung demanded, despite the solemn atmosphere.
 

                She took my phone, and did some stuff with it before returning it to me. I saw nothing special, until a text message came. 'Welcome to our group!! Like this, we can still talk even if we're apart.'

 

                "But... But... It doesn't feel the same like... Like how things are now like..." I declared with a clogged up nose.

                "That's the best I can think up of..." She admitted.

                "Thank you, though." I walked up and hugged her. "Thanks to all of you, that I get to know you all in a personal fashion. But, I'm just afraid you girls would forget me with your busy schedules..." I explained my concern.

                "I promise I won't forget you!!" Chorong said.

                "Me too." Naeun decided similarly, before it echoed through the room.
 

                The girls then took their time with the bathroom. And with that, it marked the ending of our farewell. The girls are set for the airport in an hour. Since I was merely an unknown persona to the fans, I had to settle with bidding my farewell from the crowd in a while. Time wasn't on my side. I figured I had some things I had to bring up to Chorong. Naeun perhaps, but that could wait. Right now,  I only had my eyes set on Chorong.

                "Can I have a word with you?" I walked over to Chorong, disrupting her conversation she was having with Namjoo.

                "Can that wait for a while? I have some issues about our comeback that I would like to discuss with Namjoo." She responded.

                "You should go... There isn't much time left until we have to leave this area." Namjoo tried helping.

                "Just come with me. I won't eat you up." I cuffed her wrists and gently dragged her along to the stairway.

                "Why were you avoiding me?" I questioned her, "I don't have much time left to spend with you, and all I want to do is to be with you within this last hour. I can't wrap my head around why you're trying to avoid me right now."

                "You want to know why? Do you really want to know why?" She stuttered, her eyes slowly filling up.

                "Yes. I really do." I stared straight into her eyes.

                "Because... Because I just can't bear to leave. I don't know why either. I had mentally prepared and promised not to talk to you within this last hour. I'm already growing very attached to you. I can't afford to break down when I'm about to leave. I'm the leader, the pillar of support for the girls. They are equally attached to you as I am. If I were to break down later, who would the girls look to?" She screamed. The long awaiting tears finally escaped after having kept confined.

                "Do you think this is easy for me? I could very well book a flight to Seoul at this very instance. But, I have my exams, my future. Besides, how would my parents feel if I left without any notice? I have my friends to consider, and my brother as well! I'm the eldest. I can't just go missing all of a sudden. If not for