Chapter 29: Return

It's a raining day in downtown Seoul, the streets were covered in walking umbrellas as life continued as usual. Despite the rain, it didn't stop people from crowding inside a shopping mall nearby where a fansign of a singer was held. The artist had debuted recently, after being a trainee for about a year and half and the company had been creating a lot of hype, making the audience curious of their debuting solo artist.

The company's new solo artist, Jung Eunji released her debut album "Dream", captivating people with it's unique sound making it different from the usual music trends that sung about sad or happy love stories. Instead, Eunji's debut song was about family making it very public-friendly being one of the few reasons why she has been getting a lot of popularity lately. 

"Thank you for coming! Please get home safely and don't catch a cold, the weather isn't doing so good today. Have a nice weekend everyone!" smiled Eunji as she ended her last fansign in Seoul. She had been promoting her album for a few weeks now, barely having any time to sleep. Although the company had insisted to set up a personal hostel for the singer, Eunji insisted in living back at her old dormitory where her friends, sisters were. They had warned her about fans who might stalk her but the girl believed that her fans were all well-behaved and respected her privacy.

Sitting inside her black van, the girl checked her phone messages which she missed since this morning. 

"So, I'll send you home now Eunji-ssi?" asked her manager, ready to drive off.

"No oppa, take me to Incheon Airport."

"Huh? Why there?" asked the man, confused.

"A good friend of mine is coming back to Seoul."

Meanwhile at a broadcasting studio not far from the place, there was a show being filmed that was scheduled to be aired later in the month. The female taekwondo player, Yoon Bomi captivated the audience with her funny, variety-like skills ever since she was asked to be on a variety show last year. The girl gained popularity due to her comical sense and her imitation of a gorilla that left everyone laughing out loud despite being a taekwondo player and recieved a lot of offers to star in many shows and even becoming an MC. 

"Cut! That's the last part for today." said the director.

"Thank you for the hard work everyone!" smiled Bomi as she bowed politely.

"You did a great job today Bomi-ssi, although you didn't follow the script but you managed to make it look hilarious. I believe you have a lot of talents, no one would've thought that you're an athlete." said a comedian, who looked onwards at Bomi with a fatherly smile.

"No, it's nothing Hyungdon oppa. I'm just being myself. If you excuse me, I need to rush somewhere..." said Bomi politely.

"Oh? But it's a Friday today, you still have a schedule?"

"No, no, someone I know is returning to Seoul today. It's been two years since she left." said Bomi as she rushed into her van, driven by her manager.

At the same moment, a girl dressed in black was busy analysing paintings put on display at a convention centre somewhere in Seoul. She was checking out the new batch of artwork created by university students from all over Korea, observing each and every artwork that the students put in. She was assigned with the task of selecting the best artworks to represent Korea in the upcoming convention in Paris.

"Excuse me miss, your car has arrived." said a woman, who bowed politely to the tall, slim girl.

"Ah yes, thank you. I'll head off now."

"What about the paintings miss?"

"They are all good but I think I'll need a closer look at these two tommorow. Please take note of their codes because I won't be able to remember them." smiled the girl as she pointed towards two paintings.

"I will get the work done. Please have a good day Naeun-ssi!" said the woman as she bowed again, watching the girl leaving the compound. Her personal vehicle had arrived as she was headed off to the same place, Incheon Airport.

In a university nearby, a girl ran along the hallway trying to find someone. As the lift took too long to arrive, the frustrated girl climbed three flights of stairs. Out of breath, she finally reached a room that was label as "Moot Court". Bursting into the room, she found the girl she was looking for, her hair was short and wore round glasses.

"Hayoung-ah! We're late!" said the girl as she grabbed her hand, still huffing.

"Namjoo unnie, what are you doing here?" asked the other, surprised to her.

"You weren't answering my calls so I had to run all the way here. Let's go!" 

"A-Alright. Sorry guys, I'll leave early today." said Hayoung as she bowed and left with her unnie. The two girls ran until they reached the station, just barely catching the next train and soon found themselves squeezed inside the cramped tram. They were sweating, taking deep breaths, but all that mattered was they were on their way to Incheon Airport.

"Sorry, I think my phone battery died..." said Hayoung with a nervous laughter.

"I knew it. Seriously, what can you do if I wasn't around..." sighed Namjoo as she crossed her arms, slightly angry.

"That's why you can't leave me. You're gonna stay with me forever right?" smiled Hayoung as she fixed the older girl's hair.

"We..will see about that..." said Namjoo avoiding eye contact with the maknae.

"Sorry unnie, I'll treat you to something nice later alright?" said Hayoung as she gently held her hands. The younger girl knew how much stress Namjoo had been taking ever since she was asked to perform in her first-ever musical later in the month. 

"Oh, look at you. You've grown up so well that you know how to take care of your unnies now.." said Namjoo with a smile, finally forgiving the maknae. Although she hadn't realise until now, how much the maknae has matured throughout the two years. In fact, the biggest difference was that she was no longer obsessed with Girl's Generation and almost all of the posters have been removed in the maknae's room. It was definitely a huge change.

~X~

Bomi, Eunji and Naeun arrived at the airport first, after receiving a message from Namjoo that they would be late. Bomi and Eunji had to cover themselves up in hoodies, caps and masks. Ever since they gained popularity because of their career, they weren't used to getting all the attention. The three hid in a small, coffee shop tucked away in the corner, away from the busy crowd. 

"How have you been Bom-ah?" asked Eunji as she greeted Bomi with a hug. Even though they lived under the same roof, the two had been so busy that they didn't even have time to talk to each other nor spend time together. 

"How was your fansign today?" asked Bomi with a smile.

"It was really packed. I'm really grateful to be receiving this much of love from the public." answered Eunji as she gifted Bomi with her album and personally signed it in front.

"Omo, I'm talking to a celebrity now." joked Bomi as she accepted the signed album.

"As if, I see you almost everywhere on the television now. You are a celebrity too Bomi-ya" teased Eunji back.

"What about you Naeun-ah? Everything going well?' asked Bomi.

"It's a bit pressuring to be the official judge for the national art competition coming up soon." confessed Naeun.

"It's okay Naeun-ah, just take it slow and easy. You don't have to bother what others think about your decision. Be firm and choose well." smiled Bomi.

"It feels weird to hear Bomi giving advice..." joked Naeun.

"I know right? I guess this is what career does to people." laughed Eunji as she sided with Naeun.

"Don't say that~it's just because I don't come home often that's why I can't talk to you guys much..." pouted Bomi.

It was at that moment, the door opened and Namjoo and Hayoung had arrived.

"It's really raining heavily out there unnie. The wind is so strong!" said Namjoo.

"As long as you didn't get wet, that's fine. Here, take a hot cup of coffee." said Bomi as she gave the cup to the two girls.

"I hope Chorong unnie's flight won't get delayed.." said Hayoung in worry, as she took a sip.

"Did she sent you anything?" asked Naeun. Bomi only shook her head as an answer.

Even though the five girls were finally together after a long time, there was silence. All of them were worrying about whether Chorong would be able to land in Seoul safely after noticing the stormy weather. Looking at their worn-out couple rings on their fingers, it was a healthy indication that two years had passed.

"Are you nervous?" asked Eunji, glancing at Bomi.

"Ask that to yourself. I'm sure all of us are nervous yet excited to see her again." replied Bomi.

"Oh? Unnies, look!" said Hayoung as she pointed at the small electronic board placed inside the coffee shop. It listed all the flights that have arrived, delayed or were boarding. The flight from Greece lit up in a green colour word "ARRIVED".

"Let's go, let's go guys" said Bomi suddenly, as she got out from her chair.

"Yah, calm down Bomi-ya. Sometimes, I guess theres still some parts of you that don't change..." said Eunji.

"Ok, ok, I'll calm down. Let's go guys." smiled Bomi. She had learned her lesson two years ago and learnt not to be selfish anymore. She was patient and more mature than before.

It didn't take long for the girls to find the arrivals gate as they crowded at the barriers, waiting for their unnie to appeared from the automatic doors. 

"Hey, you think we should write something so that unnie can find us?" suggested Hayoung.

"We don't have anything to write on.." replied Naeun.

"That's because you're working, I'm a college student." smirked Hayoung as she took her bag out, tearing out a piece of paper from her notebook and writing something from her stationary case.

"The thought of Hayoung being a college student makes us feel old." joked Bomi.

"Chorong unnie's going to feel sadder if she hears that cause she's older than us." laughed Eunji.

"Ok, lift the paper up high so that she can see it." said Namjoo as she adjusted Hayoung's arms, revealing a paper that read "HERE FOR RONG UNNIE<3"

"Actually...I regret doing this..." mumbled Hayoung who continued to hold the paper for another five minutes.

"Why?" asked Naeun.

"It's embarrassing...." said Hayoung with a shy smile. The unnies could only laugh.

It was at that moment, the automatic doors opened and the girl whom they had been waiting for was finally here. The girl, who still maintained the same, short height was pushing her luggage that was on top of a mini trolley. Her head was turning, looking for her kids she had missed for the past two years. The five girls were excited yet nervous as Hayoung furiously shook the paper so that Chorong could see.

"Oh! Guys!" said Chorong as she found them, smiling brightly at the sight of the five girls and waving towards them. It all happened too quickly, like a stampede that ran across her. The five girls hugged her like crazy, to the point where Chorong could barely breathe.

"UNNIEEEEE~~~HOW HAVE YOU BEEN???" asked Namjoo.

"RONG UNNIE RONG UNNIE RONG UNNIE IS BACK~~~" said Hayoug playfully as she made up a random song.

"How have you been doing unnie?" said Naeun.

"Unnie, did you bring anything back? Like food maybe?" asked Bomi.

"Hey, you look exactly the same! Oh? Am I taller than you now?!" joked Eunji.

"Guys, please speak one at a time." said Chorong with a smile, as she was welcomed with noise from her five girls. Indeed, it was clear that she was back in Seoul because there was already chaos. Because it was so noisy, it definitely attracted a lot of attention from paser-bys. Because of this, the reunited six decided to go somewhere and settle down at the same coffee shop.

"Bom-ah...can you like stop touching me...." said Chorong slightly uncomfortable as Bomi touched her cheeks, hands, shoulders, and many parts of her body.

"I wanted to make sure that it is really you unnie...." giggled Bomi as she stopped.

"But honestly, you look like you lost a lot of weight Rong-unnie..." said Naeun, noticing that Chorong didn't really have the puffy, baby cheeks she had before. Her face and body had slimmed down a lot, most of her baby fat was gone.

"Well, I did a lot of volunteer work in Greece and was under the hot sun a lot of times. I guess I did lose weight, I haven't really noticed it though..."

"Good thing you didn't return black." joked Eunji who immediately got hit by Chorong.

"Guess you still don't learn huh?" sighed Chorong.

"I'm just joking~" teased Eunji.

"I know." chuckled Chorong as she took a closer look at each of the five girls. Looking at their faces, they definitely looked the same as before except there were just slight changes in weight and hairstyle.

"Ah, before I forget. This is for you unnie." smiled Eunji as she took out another copy of her album and gave it to Chorong.

"Wow, this is really beautiful Eunji-ya. I've only seen it online but seeing it with my real eyes, it's a very pretty album." gasped Chorong, holding the album in her hands.

"I'm part of the designing team who made Eunji unnie's album." smiled Naeun.

"Wow...as expected, all of you are talented kids. I'm proud." smiled Chorong as she began flipping through the album. 

"Unnie, I would want to ask something since you're back in Seoul..." said Bomi carefully.

"What is it?"

"You'll be living back with us right? At the dormitory?"

"Of course."

"What are your plans now? What are you going to do?" asked Bomi.

Chorong only smiled.

"These two years in Greece definitely didn't go to waste, I've learned a lot, realise a lot of things and met so many people. Since I'm back in Seoul, I want to give back the things that I've learned. I want to help people, help them appreciate things more..."

"I want to become a teacher."

The girls were surprised at their unnie's confession, it was a career choice that no one had expected.

[END OF CHAPTER 29]

A/N: The six girls are finally reunited! Now that Chorong's back, what will happen now? Thank you for reading and subscribing! See you in the next chapter coming soon~ :)