“Where are we going, unnie?” Bomi asked, her gaze on Chorong’s face while the older girl focused on driving.

“Hongdae,” she answered. “We’re going out for lunch. I am craving some good chicken feet, you know?”

Bomi laughed light-heartedly at the reply. That was so Chorong-like.

“That’s great,” Bomi said. “Let me pay for lunch today.”

“Oh, no, absolutely not,” Chorong insisted. “It’s on me.”

“But you paid yesterday!” Bomi looked at her girlfriend and realized she had already lost, trying more was worthless.

The drive to Hongdae was quiet, but a good kind of quiet. Being with each other in complete silence made them happy; they needed nothing else, and that was the important thing. It was a perfect day, sunny and clear, and they were planning on enjoying it as much as they could.

“I’ll take you to your table.” The waitress in the entrance walked them to their table, in the hidden corner of the small but cozy restaurant. “I’ll be back and get your order.”

The girls bowed and sat down, one in front of the other. They already knew what they were going to order, they’d been there many times. It wasn’t that far from their dorm, so on those occasional nights off their schedule this was one of the places they frequented.

After the waitress had taken their order, eyeing them curiously, the girls looked at each other in silence.

“Chorong-ah… about the chemotherapy…” Chorong looked at Bomi attentively. “I don’t want you to go with me.”

Chorong didn’t try to fight about it, she just stayed silent and waited for Bomi to continue.

“I don’t want you to see me like that,” Bomi said. “The hospital was enough.”

Chorong nodded, even if she didn’t agree with that. Bomi knew it, but she was being honest and telling her unnie everything. The younger girl put her hand on the table, open and expecting Chorong to link her fingers with hers. The leader did, caressing the back of Bomi’s hand with her soft fingertips.

“You look stunning today, by the way,” Bomi smiled at Chorong.

“I know that is not true, but thank you,” the older girl smiled back, though it didn’t reach her eyes.

Bomi laughed softly, and they just looked at each other warmly, sharing love and support in their locked gazes.

“By the way, did Hayoung say anything this morning after I left?” Bomi asked, worried about the maknae.

“She was scared,” Chorong said with a low voice. Her eyes lingered on Bomi’s face, tracing the features that she knew so well and that she was so afraid of once being unable to remember them. “She is scared. We all are.”

“Unnie…” Bomi looked so weak like that, her eyes shining dark but looking so innocent and warm that it hurt Chorong’s heart when she looked at them. “I am scared too. In such a way… I’ve been having night terrors this week, and then I wake up and you are right there and you look so beautiful and… I don’t to want to hurt you. What are you going to do when I’m gone?”

“Oh, Bomi-ah…” Chorong was feeling that ache in her heart, this sort of pain that she had been getting used to. But it wouldn’t get better, no matter how many days she’d been suffering from it. “I am so sorry I can’t do anything about it and I feel so hopeless… I don’t know what to do.”

∼

“Hey, kids!” Eunji walked around the dorm looking for the members. “We are leaving! Get ready to go in five minutes!”

“Where are we going?” Namjoo took her head out of her room and looked at her unnie with a curious expression.

“Lunch and playing around,” Eunji simply answered.

Five minutes later, Hayoung and Namjoo were waiting by the door with Eunji, but Naeun wasn’t showing up.

“Naeun-ah?” Eunji called her from the corridor. Soon, the girl showed up from her room.

“I am sorry, I am sorry,” she said. “Let’s go.”

Eunji rolled her eyes and waited for her to get to the door so she could grab her hand. Naeun looked surprised at the action, but said nothing about it and smiled.

Eunji drove the girls to the center of Seoul, and spent half an hour trying to find a place to park the car. They finally found a good spot in a corner, and Eunji sighed in relief. It was so hard to park around there, even more at this time of the day. The girls got out of the car, and then walked down the street towards a small square, where they started to fight about where to go have lunch.

“I want to go to a Japanese restaurant!” said Namjoo.

“But I am craving Mexican…” Hayoung complained. “We always end up with Japanese.”

“What’s wrong with Japanese?” Namjoo exclaimed.

“We should just go to a traditional Korean restaurant,” added Naeun, suggesting another option. “Or Italian.”

“Yes, Italian!” Hayoung joined her friend, and Eunji could do nothing but laugh at her members. They were so childish sometimes.

“That sounds good to me,” Namjoo said when Eunji asked her.

“Then it’s decided!” Hayoung exclaimed, and started walking down the street towards the Italian restaurant they all knew about.

It was time to have lunch, so the streets were packed with people walking in and out of restaurants and cafes. It wasn’t a weekend, but it was in the middle of the summer and almost everyone was on vacation. There were also many tourists walking around, admiring the atmosphere that surrounded the streets at that time.

“It’s here,” Naeun pointed at the door, and the starving members ran inside.

They chose a table by the window, admiring the view of the street right there, and started discussing the menu.

“Yah, you girls, it’s taking you forever to choose something!” Eunji exclaimed when the waiter had to leave for the second time because they weren’t ready just yet.

Naeun left her menu on the table, indicating she had already chosen something. While Eunji was busy chastising and laughing at the maknaes, Naeun looked at her intensely, her mind full of thoughts about her… girlfriend? She didn’t know what they were anymore, but they obviously weren’t just roommates and friends. Naeun couldn’t help but blush when she recalled Eunji kissing her that first night, the farthest they had ever gotten. After that, everything had been way more complicated, but even now, that they were supposedly okay, nothing had been as passionate as that first night together.

“What’s on your mind?” Eunji called for Naeun’s attention, and the younger girl just blushed even more.

“Us,” she said, but before Eunji could answer anything, the waiter showed up once again to take their order.

∼

“Those were the best chicken feet I have ever eaten in my life!” Chorong jumped out of excitement when they walked out of the restaurant hand in hand.

Bomi laughed at her girlfriend and looked around. It was the vacation period, so most people in the streets were tourists, since Seoul was too hot for residents to stay there and most people travelled to the beach in order to get a fresher climate. But the danger to be recognized was always there, so they walked separately and trying not to catch anyone’s attention by keeping their heads low.

Chorong was walking in front of Bomi when they reached the car, and she was getting her keys out of her purse when she felt two arms embrace her wrist. Chorong was surprised at first, but then she left herself cuddle up into that back hug as she felt Bomi’s breath on her neck.

“There was nothing I wanted more back then than walk with you while holding hands.”

Bomi’s words were like silk against Chorong’s skin, and the leader shivered at the touch. Bomi kissed her on the neck, and then she went for her jaw and her ear. Chorong couldn’t help but giggle in delight, and Bomi smiled against her girlfriend’s pale skin.

Chorong felt her knees go weak and she leaned back on Bomi for support, a smile still present on her lips. She lived for those moments. She was surprised when Bomi turned her around without her hands leaving the leader’s body, so they were face to face, their noses touching and them sharing their breath.

They didn’t say anything. They didn’t need to. Chorong tried to pull Bomi closer for a kiss, but the younger girl was in control. Just when their lips were about to touch, Bomi took a step back.

“Oh, Bomi-ah,” Chorong breathed out all the air she’d been holding. “You’re such a tease sometimes.”

“I know, unnie.” Bomi winked at Chorong before continuing. “But you’ve promised me ice cream, remember?”