It was a little past midnight and Hyuna was on her bed trying to cram for an upcoming Sociology exam. When she flipped to one of the bookmarked pages, a small note fell out and she quickly picked it up, eyes gleaming slightly as she read the squiggly handwriting again.

Hyuna unnie, I just want to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day. I think you’re beautiful and you deserve all the love in the world. – Bae Joohyun

Smiling stupidly at the sweet words, Hyuna carefully tucked the note back into the book before closing it.

As thoughts of Joohyun gradually flooded her mind, her smile widened. She remembered how adorable the girl looked when she was stuttering while handing them the gifts. She most definitely did not expect the girl to show up with chocolates prepared for the entire team. It really was a thoughtful gesture. It made her want to get to know Joohyun better.

And that was when the initially gleeful mood dwindled. As one emotional thought led to another, Hyuna was soon lost in nothing but sad memories from her past. She knew she was not going to be getting any sleep that night, not unless she talked to somebody.

Picking up her phone, she called the one person who understood her the most – Erin. Several rings later, an assuring voice spoke on the other line.

“Babe, you alright?”

The girl’s comforting tone and the way she seemed to be able to read her mind invoked this unbearable urge to cry. Threading slender fingers through her hair, Hyuna tried to bite back the tears, “Could you come over?”

“I’m on my way. Stay right where you are.”

Just a little while later, the doorbell rang. It was a good thing Erin lived only several blocks away.

As soon as she saw her friend’s face, Hyuna’s eyes watered up, “Erin-ah…”

“Hey, it’s okay…” The girl entered the house quickly and shut the door behind them before embracing her friend tightly. “Shh…”

Several moments later, Erin led the girl to the kitchen and poured her a tall glass of water. “Drink up. Your body loses water when you cry, you know?”

“Thanks,” Hyuna mumbled, taking a huge gulp.

Sitting down across her, Erin started, “So… you wanna talk about what happened? It’s been ages since I last saw you like this. What’s wrong?”

Hyuna breathed a bitter sigh, “I hate it when I’m like this, too. But I can’t help it. Everything’s been building up and building up…”

“What’s been building up?”

When Hyuna remained silent and avoided her eyes, Erin instantly detected the issue. Folding her arms across her chest slowly, she concluded, “There’s something you are not telling me.”

Everything fell quiet again.

“Moon, I can’t help you if you keep acting like this,” Erin coaxed the girl to open up.

With a heavy sigh, Hyuna conceded, “I miss her, Erin.”

“Who?” Erin pushed further.

Hyuna stared at the girl before her, a frown on her face, “You know who.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Erin muttered, “Goodness. How many times have we been through this? I thought you were over her.”

“She called me late several weeks ago and said she needed to-”

Erin broke the girl off by raising her palm, “Hold up, please don’t tell me you recently met her.”

Hyuna only exhaled through her nose and looked away — a clear sign of acknowledgement.

“Oh hell no, babe. I swear I’mma whoop your foolish so hard and then I’m gonna track that bish down and whoop hers ten times harder,” Erin was anything but amused.

“I know I really shouldn’t have but she seemed like-”

“What the hell, Moon? What’s it going to take for you to learn your lesson?” Erin demanded, obviously pissed off at her friend’s utter lack of willpower.

“What did you expect me to do?” Hyuna fired back, annoyed that she was not getting a chance to properly explain her actions.

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