Chapter 11: Busan

Chorong looked out at the window and saw a group of people mostly patients gathering around the foyer, she could not see clearly what was happening but she heard a harmonious voice echoing into the atmosphere. She took Bomi's hand and brought her along downstairs, to check out the situation. As the two got closer and closer, they could hear someone singing. Bomi smiled, as she instantly recognized that voice.

"That's Eunji." whispered Bomi to Chorong.

"Really?"

"I was always in the recording room with her during our college breaks."

"Then I guess, we found her." 

The girls carefully squeezed into the crowd where they could finally see Eunji who was holding onto Naeun's hand and sung Jennifer Hudson's I Love You I Do. Everyone was amazed at her vocals even Chorong, who heard her sing for the first time. Her voice was soothing and healing, others who listened felt like their worries were washed away. As the song reached the end, Eunji saw the two girls and waved towards them. Eventually, Eunji's "guerilla concert" came to an end and they were finally reunited.

"Unnie! I didn't know you came!" said Eunji with a grin, not knowing how worried Chorong was. Naeun lightly nudged Eunji after taking a glance at Chorong's dark expression.

"And do you know why I came?" asked Chorong, with her arms crossed.

"Shoot." whispered Eunji as she looked away, her hands still linked with Naeun's.

"Minki's brother got into an accident-" said Naeun halfway as she was interrupted.

"But Eunji could've come by herself right?" said Chorong.

There was silence. There was tension in the atmosphere as Eunji was the oldest among the four culprits and had a bigger responsibility.

"Sorry unnie, the kids were really dying from boredom and we haven't returned to Busan for awhile. And, Minki got into an accident and all that so I thought I could bring them along. My mom wouldn't mind anyway, she loves to have them around since the house is always empty and-" Chorong stopped Eunji's sudden outburst of train-like way of talking.

"I get it. Stop. I know and I forgive you Eunji-ya. But next time, do something better in informing me than just a mere letter written alright?" sighed Chorong as she patted on Eunji's shoulder, while lightly putting some force on it as her punishment.

"Do..we have to return home now?" asked Naeun carefully. Her eyes were full of desire to stay in Busan as long as she wanted to. In fact, it was obvious that all five girls wanted to stay in Busan for awhile and vacation themselves away from their usual, busy school life. Chorong decided that the kids needed rest after all the things that happened, with a sigh she replied with a "no.".

"I haven't been to Busan either, so I guess we can spend a day or two sightseeing and stuff." said Chorong as her dark expression broke into a light smile, which relieved the three girls as they smiled with joy. The girls headed back to the ward, where they settled down for awhile and chatted with Minki. It had been a long time since they last met him, and told many stories to entertain him. Bomi and Namjoo in particular, were excited and kept bringing out all kinds of funny, strange stories which made Minki break into a laughter. Eunji who saw this, simply smiled.

"So, the two of you spent the night here?" asked Chorong.

"Yup, Eunji unnie worries too much sometimes." replied Naeun as she walked to her side.

Naeun then told Chorong the whole story, when they headed to Busan.

[FLASHBACK]

"Minki-what?!" shouted Eunji as she listened carefully through her phone call with her mom. As she was in Naeun's room, it definitely gave her a sudden fright.

"No mom, I'm seriously going! I'll see you later, bye." said Eunji as she hung up.

"What's wrong?" asked Naeun.

"Minki got into an accident." After hearing those words, Naeun's eyes widened as the two stood up and prepared to head out. 

"I'll go to Busan with you. You can't go there by yourself." said Naeun.

"That's fine, thanks Naeun-ah." smiled Eunji.

Just when the two were about to head to the door, Hayoung and Namjoo who were watching tv stared at the two and asked them where they were going. At the mention of "Busan", Hayoung and Namjoo got excited and begged Eunji if they could come along. At first, Eunji didn't allowed it but eventually gave in when Hayoung suddenly showed her aegyo which she rarely does. Eventually, the four girls packed their bags and headed for the train station.

In the train, Eunji had warned them that Chorong would probably come raging at them if she finds out. They were afraid of Chorong but definitely not Bomi because they knew that she would secretly call them if she could tag along. As the train ride was long, Hayoung was busy playing games on her phone until her battery ran out and proceeded to use Namjoo's phone until her battery ran out as well.

"Yah! What on earth did you do to my phone?!" said Namjoo, shocked after Hayoung handed back her phone only to see that it ran out of battery.

"Sorry unnie, I didn't know this would happen." said Hayoung as she broke into laughter.

"Pabo-ya, what am I supposed to do if Chorong unnie calls me?"

"But isn't that better if she can't call you?" said Hayoung with a mischievious smirk.

"That's true...I would be scared to hear her voice already..." joked Namjoo.

Eventually with no games to play, bored Hayoung fell asleep on Namjoo's shoulder.

"She either sleeps, eat or play her games. I wonder if that's how she grows so tall." chuckled Eunji, looking at a sleeping Hayoung.

"I'm tall too unnie.." replied Naeun

"But Hayoung's taller than you anyway so that doesn't count" joked Eunji.

"Your mom said Minki got into an accident right? Did she mention what kind of accident?"

"Bicycle accident."

"Unnie." said Naeun in a straight-face.

"What?"

"That wouldn't be anything serious."

"No, what if Minki hurt his head and is in a coma? What if Minki fell down and suddenly hit a tree that had a lot of thorns and..."

Naeun giggled at Eunji's child-like assumptions, she found it cute at the way Eunji was worried at the most absurd reasons.

"Why are you laughing?"

"A bicycle accident won't end up like that unnie."

"......" Eunji stared at her dumbfoundedly.

"The worst thing that could happen is Minki spraining or breaking his leg or arms."

"THAT"S WHY I'M WORRIED"

Naeun laughed out loud at Eunji's expression. Although she was serious, Naeun found it funny.

After two hours, the girls arrived at Busan. It was around evening and Eunji told Namjoo and Hayoung to head to her home first. Eunji, together with Naeun took the empty bus and headed their way to the hospital. During the journey, Naeun was awake during the whole train ride and therefore fell asleep on Eunji's shoulder due to exhaustion. Eunji simply smiled, caressed her long, silky hair and looked out at the window. But, she couldn't help but to stare at Naeun's sleeping face. It was like seeing a real life sleeping beauty. Just like the story of a kiss only waking up the sleeping beauty, Eunji wondered about it for awhile staring at Naeun's lips.

Slowly in her unconcious state due to her fatigue, Eunji's face came closer and closer to Naeun's face to the point where you could feel her breath under the skin. And suddenly, there was a wet peck on Naeun's lips. Naeun immediately opened her eyes to find a sleeping Eunji with her lips on hers. Her heart started to beat rapidly, her face became flushed and she was frozen. She didn't know what to do, their lips were gently touching as their heads leaned against each other. For awhile, Naeun stared at Eunji before carefully holding her face and placing it on her lap so that Eunji could sleep more comfortably. As soon as the bus stopped, Eunji woke up and had completely no memory of "kissing" Naeun. 

"Why are your cheeks red Naeun-ah?" asked Eunji, completely unaware.

"N-nothing. Maybe it's a bit hot here." stuttered Naeun as she looked away.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

"Naeun? Naeun? Why is your face suddenly turning red?" asked Chorong.

"N-nothing unnie." said Naeun as she turned away after remembering that moment in the bus. 

The girls spent about an hour at the ward, it was now noon and time for lunch. Minki was busy eating the food that his mom cooked for him, everyone stared at him, some were salivating and some wanted to steal his pieces.

"I guess we should head back for lunch." sighed Chorong looking at the situation.

"My mom texted that she's cooking! Let's go!" smiled Eunji after checking her phone.

"Yay! I love your mom's cooking unnie" grinned Hayoung in excitement.

"What about mine?" said Chorong with a playful smirk, grabbing onto Hayoung's shirt.

"I-It's delicious too unnie...let's go i'm hungry~" stuttered Hayoung as she suddenly made a cute face so that Chorong would go easy on her. She placed her two hands besides her cheeks and did a cat-like pose. Chorong only laughed, surprised at Hayoung's sudden burst of cuteness and decided to let her go, while messing her hair.

"So remember to call the nurse if you want to go to the toilet or something, don't forget to check your messages and be sure to text me okay? I'm going to come back tommorow so don't you dare dissapear somewhere got it Minki-ya?" said Eunji, speaking in her casual, speedy Busan accent.

"I think Eunji unnie might rap one day" joked Namjoo as she whispered to Bomi.

"You haven't seen me rap, Namjoo-ya" nudged Bomi with a playful smile.

"Yah, I heard that. If you're talking about rap, the two of us should form our own team right Bomi-ya?" smirked Eunji as she squeezed in between the two girls, both her arms around theirs.

"Make it happen unnie! I'll be your first fan!" said Namjoo with excitement.

"Let's see about that" said Bomi with a smile.

~X~

Finally, all six girls were reunited and were on their way back to Eunji's home. There was a lot of chatter and noise in the bus, like a flock of high school students on a school trip to Busan. Eunji went and explained where every place was to Chorong as it was her first time here. Bomi, Namjoo and Hayoung on the other hand were making silly jokes by themselves while Naeun simply looked on and smiled. Indeed, the more the merrier it could get.

By the time they arrived, everyone crowded the table feasting the delicacies Eunji's mother prepared. It was different from the usual Seoul-style and had a unique taste of home. It was then, Eunji's mother took out a huge fish steamed and broiled in a broth delighting the girls.

"My mom definitely caught that. Right, mom?" said Eunji with confidence in which her mother nodded in reply.

"I remember you told me your parents were fishermen, that fish is really big." said Chorong in amazement.

"Well, only my mother and my relatives. They run a little shop at the market down the hill where you can see the ocean. Wanna head over there after lunch?" smiled Eunji as the girls nodded in excitement. And so it was set, their next move was the beautiful beaches of Busan. After the girls devoured everything until there was nothing left, they headed out. It was in the middle of spring and summer thus, it was slightly cold. Eunji's mother had warned them not to enter the water as it would be freezing and they could catch a cold if they aren't careful. She repeated it many times, "Don't enter the water".

In front of their eyes, there it was. The golden sand basked along the shore, waves seeping inwards and out and the clear blue sky shining above, it was like a dream come through. Although it was a bit windy, the girls stood in front of the waves taking in the beautiful sight into their eyes. They wanted to engrave this memory into their hearts, because this was a special day where all six of them stood at that very beach. No one would know that the next time they returned to that same beach, they were no longer six again.

"Wow, this wind is like a natural air-conditioner unnie!" shouted Hayoung in joy as she spreaded her arms out wide.

"Hey, this reminds me of Titanic." said Naeun with a smile as the two playfully imitated the characters from Titanic with that famous scene.

"Unnie, do people get their water here?" asked Bomi dumbfoundedly.

"Are you a pabo? You can't drink that water!" laughed Chorong out loud.

"As expected, Busan beaches are the best ones out there unnie!" smiled Namjoo, embracing the oncoming wind.

"Of course, and I'm proud to call it my hometown." grinned Eunji with pride.

It was then Naeun playfully tickled Hayoung from behind which resulted in the two chasing each other. Hayoung ran into the water, where it sinked into her feet feeling the freeze.

"Wah! It's really cold!" shouted Hayoung with a laugh.

"Oh really?" asked Naeun in curiousity as she also walked into the sea.

The two then continued to tease each other, to the point where Hayoung suddenly splashed Naeun which resulted the duo chasing each other again. But at that moment, Hayoung felt something pulling her feet from beneath. The sand had dissolved and buried her feet, making her unable to move. Surprised that she couldn't make a step forward, she fell into the water in which the waves suddenly rushed in, slowly pulling Hayoung into the sea. Naeun who noticed this, immediately went after her as she knew how to swim.

It happened in a flash, Naeun dove into the water swiftly swimming towards Hayoung who fell in. Luckily, she managed to catch her before Hayoung submerged in but the moment she saved Hayoung, another gust of wave pulled in dragging Naeun along. With quick reflexes, Hayoung caught her before the older girl was taken away. But there was something wrong.

Holding onto Naeun in desperation, Hayoung shouted and called for her unnies who ran towards her path.

"Naeun unnie isn't breathing!!"

[END OF CHAPTER 11]

A/N: Crisis! Don't mess with the waves! This chapter was more 2eun and because it's Eunji's story, expect to see a bit more of that but of course, theres still Chomi haha ;) Do take note of that little foreshadowing.. Thank you for reading and subscribing! Next chapter coming soon~