On the next day at 10 am Sowon was standing in the cemetery. The sky was bright, the place was calm and relaxing. The snow made everything more smoothing and silent. In front of her was the burial container where her mother was laying. Sowon looked at her mother, she was looking so peacefully, serene.

Eunha was standing beside her, their friends standing behind, all praying silently, looking at the woman too. Eunha’s dad was there too, staying a little more away, and Sowon recognized some of her mother's ex coworkers. There were also, the lady from the flower shop, the barista from the coffee shop close to their house, and even some nurses and her mother’s doctor. All those people came to say goodbye to the woman and it kinda made Sowon’s heart warm to see how many people cared for her mother beside her and their close friends. Most of them went to her to wish her their deepest sympathies, but Sowon was on autopilot again all she was focusing on was her mother.

The priest that was standing in front of Sowon on the other side of her mother’s coffin, said some nice and comforting words before he gave them the opportunity to say one last goodbye.

Sowon felt Eunha’s hand squeeze hers slowly. Sowon looked on her side and met eyes with Eunha. The short girl had glassy eyes but she remained strong. Sowon tried not to cry either. She let go of Eunha’s hand and took a step closer to the coffin. The bottom part was already closed while the top part was open so Sowon could see her mother’s face, her arms crossed on her chest.

The woman looked so much more young, she was nicely dressed in a white dress, her hair and make up were making her face so bright. Sowon put the rose she was holding on the coffin.

“I will miss you so much, I’m sorry for running away and wasting so many years away from you… I just wanted you to be proud of me… I was stupid… I’m so sorry mom… I wish we had more time together…” said Sowon as she couldn’t contain her tears anymore. 

She brushed her tears away quickly. “I will always love you…” she said before staying silent for a few more minutes, standing in front of her mother’s body.

Eunha took a step closer and put her hand on Sowon’s back slowly. “Sowon…” whispered the short girl and Sowon nodded as she looked at Eunha and took a step back.

The coffin was closed completely and slowly pushed down the hole. Eunha’s dad walked closer, he took a handful of soil and threw it on the coffin that was now laying on the bottom of the tomb.

“Goodbye my dear friend.” he said before walking away and some other people came closer, saying goodbye too.

They all took a step away as the coffin was now completely covered with soil.

Sowon stayed there looking blankly at the hole being filled, a woman came closer to her and put her hand on Sowon’s shoulder gently.

“It was a really nice ceremony, your mother was a really sweet woman, I’m sure she’s in a better world now, even if she will be missed by a lot of people.” said the woman that Sowon recognized as one of her mother’s ex coworkers.

Sowon nodded, “Thank you.” she said to the woman who offered her a small smile and walked away.

Slowly most people left and only Sowon and her close friends were there.

Umji walked closer.

“We will go to the cars and give you some more time alone.” said Umji and Sowon nodded.

The girls walked away and Eunha’s dad made a sign to Eunha that he was waiting for them in the car too as he was the one picking them up at Sowon’s place this morning and drove them to the cemetery.

Eunha let go of Sowon’s hand. “I should go back to the car too and give you some time alone too.” she said but Sowon shook her head.

“Don’t leave me please...” she whispered and Eunha nodded as she stayed close to Sowon who was still blankly looking at the tomb now completely recovered, the funeral team and the priest disappeared without Sowon even realizing, there was only her and Eunha now, standing in the snow facing the fresh soil not yet covered by snow.

“She’s gone…” said Sowon and Eunha nodded. “She’s gone forever…”

Eunha came closer and took Sowon’s in her arms. “She’s in a better place.” said Eunha as tears came to her eyes, she closed her eyes and hugged Sowon tightly. Sowon hugged her back, burying her face into Eunha’s neck.

“I miss her so much already…” sobbed Sowon and Eunha nodded as she kept hugging Sowon.

They stayed like this some minutes before Eunha took Sowon’s hand in hers and guided her back to the parking lot, their friends and Eunha’s dad were standing in group chatting, they all turned around as the girls approached.

Yuju got closer to Sowon and gave her a hug. “You did so great. Your mom would have been proud.” she told her and Sowon nodded as she hugged Yuju back.

SinB gave a hug to Eunha, she didn’t say anything, she just hugged her friend tightly and Eunha hugged her back. It was so good for the girls to feel their friends' support at this moment. Soon it became a group hug and Eunha’s father smiled at them all.

Eunha looked at him and freed one of her arms, making a sign for him to join. The man hesitated but he went to hug his daughter and Sowon too.

As they broke the hug Sowon was feeling better, it was really nice to be surrounded by the people she loved and that loved her back. Eunha’s dad cleared his throat.

“Do you want a ride home?” he asked Sowon but before the tall girl could answer SinB talked.

“Maybe we could do something all together.” she suggested and all eyes her. “Like have a drink and remember the good moments with your mom.” she explained.

Eunha frowned. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea…”

“It’s a perfect idea,” said Umji now, “remember when I lost my grandma.” she said, looking at Sowon, “Your mother told you to invite us for a girls night and she told me something that really reconforted me at the moment, she said that my grandma would want me happy, that she would probably want me to remember her and all the good moments we shred, that we should celebrate for her and not feel sad but feel grateful for all the memories I had with her.” said Umji as her eyes got a bit teary remembering this moment.

Sowon nodded. “Yeah my mom was a lot like that, always positive…” smiled Sowon a bit.

“That would be nice, we can have a drink and all cry together as we remember all the troubles we got into and how your mom was always the nicest to us.” said Yuju nicely.

Sowon hesitated. “I don't know, you girls probably have better things to do than drink and look at me cry… I don’t wanna be a burden…” said Sowon and Eunha put her arm on her back, caressing her slowly to reassure her.

“It’s not a burden at all, Sowon.” said Yerin looking at her friend. “We loved your mom, like Yuju said she was always so nice to us and so compassionate and understanding, I think I can say that we all loved her and would be happy to celebrate our good moments with her and have a drink in her honor or something like that.” explained Yerin and Sowon had tears running down her cheeks as she nodded.

“I’m so glad to have you all in my life…” said Sowon and the girls hugged her again.

“Dad you wanna come with us?” asked Eunha but the man shook his head.

“No you girls should go together, I will go home and rest.” he said then he looked at Sowon. “Let me know if you need anything okay?” he said and Sowon nodded before taking him in her arms.

He smiled and walked away to his car.

SinB looked around. “I drove Yuju and Umji this morning so you girls could go with Yerin?” she asked and Yerin nodded as she pointed to her car.

“Here we go.” she smiled and Sowon and Eunha followed her into her car while Yuju and Umji entered SinB’s car.

As she was driving, Yerin cleared , she looked at the rear view mirror and met eyes with Eunha.

“So you guys made up since yesterday?” she asked and Sowon who was sitting on the passenger seat looked away to hide her blushing cheeks.

“Yeah.” said Eunha, nodding. “You know that I can’t stay mad at this stupid giraffe for too long.” she said smiling and Sowon turned around open with an offended look.

“Can we stop with that stupid nickname?!” asked Sowon and the girls giggled.

“We will never stop, it fits you so well.” said Yerin and Eunha smiled even more. “Well more seriously, I’m glad you are okay, none of us enjoy it when you guys are fighting.” said Yerin sincerely.

Sowon looked down, she didn’t like it either when Eunha was mad at her. “I’m lucky that Eunha is really understanding and so forgetful toward me.” said Sowon sincerely and as she turned around to meet eyes with Eunha she saw the short girl blushing.

“That’s great,” said Yerin, smiling. “I’m glad you both have each other right now.” she said and both girls stayed silent not sure what was implying Yerin.

They parked in the street close to their favorite bar, SinB was already parked a little closer to the bar. They all got down and walked toward the bar.

“You’re such a slow driver.” teased SinB to Yerin who rolled her eyes at her but smiled.

“I’m a careful driver.” she said back and SinB smiled at her. “Let’s go?” asked Yerin to the girls and they all nodded before entering the bar.

Sowon looked around. It didn't change, it was exactly how it was when she was younger, her and the girls used to stop here after school and have sodas, they would always sit in that same booth and chat for hours about school, the parties, their crushes. Sowon smiled as she remembered that time. 

Their favorite spot was free, it was quite calm, it always was more calm during lunch than at night where more people were stopping by.

Without a word they went to their favorite booth and sat down. “What do you girls want?” asked SinB as she stood up to go ask for their drinks at the counter.

Not even 2 minutes after, the waiter arrived with a plate and their drinks that he put on the table. They all raised their glasses and looked at Sowon for her to say some words.

Sowon swallowed hard but she took a deep breath. “To the most amazing woman I know, the woman that raised me all alone and made me into the person I am today, she always gave me love and took care of me.” said Sowon as tears came to her eyes but she swallowed it back and continued. “The bravest and most courageous woman ever, she will always be my role model, I will always love her and never forget how amazing she was.” she said and the other girls nodded.

They all took a sip after the speech and Eunha looked at Sowon, she put her hand on the tall girl's thigh in a reassuring gesture, it immediately helped Sowon feeling better.

“Sowon’s mom was also like a mom for me.” said Eunha and all the girls looked at her. “She took care of me, guided me and loved me like a real mom, like the mom I never had. She was a good listener and such a lovely woman, I will never forget her either, she’s the woman who teached me so much, she was there when I got my first period, and kept being there for me whenever I needed her.” explained Eunha as her eyes got teary too.

Yuju put her hand on Eunha’s shoulder and smiled at her before talking too, “She was funny and understanding, she never scolded us when we would do bad things, like that time we got all got so drunk at that party on the other side of the town, she was the one we called to pick us up when the police arrived to shut down the party, we were so scared but she didn’t yell, she didn't judge, she drove us to her house, made us rest and talked to us the next day, she didn’t ground us or tell anything to our parents, she just said she was glad we called an adult in that moment and could end up in a safe place with an adult… this experience made me grow up into a better person, having an adult to talk to when I was in doubt or after making a mistake made me more mature than just being scared of being grounded.” explained Yuju and the other girls nodded.

“She was a really beautiful person Sowon, we all are glad we could have her around when we were young, she was a good mother and an amazing woman.” said Yerin raising her glass and the other girls nodded as they took another sip.

“Let’s hope we will all become amazing women too because of her.” smiled SinB.

Sowon smiled at her then looked at her friends. “You are all already amazing, I’m more than happy to have friends like you.” she said and they all smiled before taking a sip of their drinks.

They kept talking about nothing and everything and Sowon was feeling better, they went somewhere else and ate together, then they parted ways, Yerin would drive Umji and Yuju back to their places while SinB would drive Sowon and Eunha back to theirs. Before leaving Yerin, Yuju and Umji hugged Sowon and kept asking if she was okay, insisting on telling her to call if she needed anything.

Sowon hugged them back reassuring them by telling them she would be okay but of course would call them if needed.

Once they were gone, Sowon and Eunha followed SinB to her car. Sowon was in front talking with SinB as she started the engine, Eunha popped her head in between the two front seats and poked SinB’s shoulder.

“Do you mind dropping me first? it’s on the way to Sowon’s place.” she said and SinB nodded.

“Yeah no problem.” smiled SinB but Sowon looked at Eunha.

“You aren’t staying with me…?” she asked unsure.

Eunha smiled at her. “I need to check on my dad and get changed, I will come over after, or maybe you can stay home with us if you rather…” said Eunha and Sowon blushed as she left SinB’s eyes on them.

Sowon sat back correctly and cleared . “Yeah, yeah… Not sure I want to stay in my mom’s house alone… a break from being in her house would be nice…” she said shyly and SinB bit her lips to hide her smile.

“So I drive you both to Eunha’s place?” she asked and Sowon nodded, not looking at her friend.

SinB rolled her eyes and pulled out of the parking lot.

The drive was fast, Eunha’s place was close, SinB stopped the car in front of Eunha’s house and looked at Sowon.

“I know the girls already told you but we really mean it, you can call us anytime and ask us anything, we will always be there for you Sowon.” said SinB and Sowon nodded, her eyes becoming a bit teary, she was so glad to have such good friends. She hugged SinB.

“Thank you, I will call you guys if there’s anything.” she said then SinB turned to Eunha.

“You too.” she said to her and Eunha smiled.

“Of course.” she said as she moved in between the seats too to give a quick hug to SinB.

The girls got down and SinB left, Eunha took Sowon’s hand and guided her inside. Eunha’s dad was sleeping on the couch, snoring loudly. Eunha covered him correctly with his little blanket and wrote down a note that she left on the coffee table saying her and Sowon were home and resting too.

Then Eunha took Sowon to her room. As Sowon entered she smiled, some stuff were the same as before but other stuff changed a lot. For example, her desk and her bed were in the same position, but the posters on the walls were gone, the walls were not as colored as before, they were all white except for the wall facing the door, it was dark green. The room looked more adult.

Eunha went into her closet and grabbed some comfy clothes, she started taking off her black tight dress and put on a short and a large tshirt. Sowon was looking at the wall over the desk, there were still all the pictures they took as teenage girls, pictures with the girls and also pictures of them both, a lot of pictures where it was only her and Eunha.

Sowon saw a picture she didn't remember taking. Eunha was sitting on her laps laughing and looking at Sowon while Sowon was just looking back at Eunha with only love in her eyes. Seeing this Sowon wondered how anyone noticed how much in love they were, it was so obvious. The look in their eyes. Sowon took down the picture to look at it closer.

“I don’t remember this one.” she said and Eunha approached and put some clothes for Sowon on the bed.

“Oh it was that night we all went out in the middle of the night because there would be a lot of shooting stars.” started Eunha.

“Oh right I remember, we all set our alarms at 3am and sneaked out to meet at the park.” said Sowon remembering it. “We laid down for hours and we didn’t see anything, there were clouds that night but we really wanted to see at least one shooting star.” said Sowon and Eunha nodded.

“We were so into it, and finally when the sun started to show we all decided to make a wish anyway because you said that it was not because we didn’t see them that there wasn’t any shooting star in the sky. So we all made a wish and ended up fooling around in the park.” explained Eunha, remembering the moment like it was yesterday.

“Then when it was late enough SinB and Yerin went to buy some food and we all went to one of the picnic tables to eat breakfast together.” said Sowon before looking at the other pictures on the wall. “And we took this group picture.” she said pointing to the one where they were all smiling around the picnic table.

“Then Umji took my camera to take some pictures with SinB and Yuju and she took this one while we were not paying much attention, she asked to keep the pics she took with the girls and I told her she could but she also gave this one to me saying I would maybe want it.” said Eunha, looking down. “When I looked at it I blushed, we looked so in love, I hid it in my pocket and then when I went home I put it deep down in one of my drawers. I finally took it out when you left, if I have to have one good memory of you, it should be this photo. It kinda made me think that we did love each other at some point, that I didn’t totally imagine those feelings.” said Eunha and Sowon felt guilty. She was the reason Eunha had been sad for so long. She went closer to Eunha and hugged her.

“I’m so sorry…” said Sowon but Eunha shook her head and hugged her back.

“Don’t be, it’s in the past now, we are here, we are together now…” she said as she tightened the hug.

As they broke apart slowly Eunha smiled at Sowon and caressed her cheek gently. “Get yourself comfortable, I will make some hot chocolate then we can rest a bit.” said Eunha and Sowon nodded. 

“This morning really exhausted me.” she said and Eunha nodded.

“I know…” she said before walking out.

Sowon was fully changed when Eunha returned the hot chocolate. Then they sat in bed and slowly drank it while watching tv. To be honest Sowon didn’t pay much attention to the tv she was lost in her thoughts and focusing on the nice feeling of the warm drink and Eunha’s head resting on her side.

Once the drinks were done, they got even more comfortable and fell asleep in each other's arms to the soft sound of the tv still on but long forgotten.