January 10th, 2010

Eunsuh grimaced uncomfortably as she stood as far away from her groupmates as possible. Ever since the “incident” the group’s relationship had become even more tense than it already had been. Hitomi had shown up the day after in the same clothing and covered in hickeys. Utter chaos had ensued when Jiae had first laid eyes on her. The most startling thing was the way that Hitomi had completely lost her and started screaming at Jiae. 

Their manager had been furious and had sent Hitomi home for the day.

The next day been much of the same, except Jiae had just pretended that Hitomi and less than stellar apparel didn’t exist. And in exchange Hitomi had refused to acknowledge anyone other than Eunsuh. She had confided in Eunsuh that she was pretty sure that Kannika had been the main instigator of the incident.

At this point, Eunsuh could only hope that the ‘incident’ didn’t completely ruin any chance of a good relationship with the other members. Eunsuh was worn out from flitting between the two sides all while avoiding Chaeyeon. And really, she wanted to do nothing more than to just stop talking to the other two and stick to Hitomi; who was falling apart at the seams. The bruising around the girl’s neck was severe and only getting worse as the days passed on. Enough was enough for Eunsuh, she didn’t want to see Hitomi continuing on this destructive spiral. 

“Unnie! We should go and get something to eat later.” Eunsuh said sweetly, turning up the charm in an attempt to get Hitomi to focus on something other than her notebook. Hitomi paused and glanced up at her.

“Uh, okay.” She said tiredly, giving Eunsuh a weary look. Strangely, Eunsuh had thought that this would have been a little harder to achieve. Now, she just had to keep Hitomi with her for the entire night. So, she plotted; everything had to be perfect and as natural as possible. If she gave off any weird vibes then Hitomi would probably bolt, given her experience with other ambushes.

She scowled furiously in Cassandra’s direction. She still had a hard time believing that the eldest member had acted that way. She barely even know Hitomi and yet she had dragged the woman into a situation that had obviously put her on edge. Of course Eunsuh had seen the way that Chaeyeon had been treating Hitomi, and of course they should put a stop to it. But, if anything, Eunsuh didn’t need to be involved with the initial assault. Maybe they should have even brought it to the attention of Jiae, who could then bring it to the attention of the CEO. There was no need for an intense confrontation. 

Eventually they were released from training for the day, and Eunsuh quickly snatched Hitomi’s arm, so that the older woman couldn’t sneak off. She had seen the look on her face earlier and was sure that she had planned on just vanishing before Eunsuh had even noticed that she was trying. Eunsuh quickly brought her to the same restaurant that they had gone to on the first day of training. Hitomi allowed herself to be dropped down in a seat and watched Eunsuh carefully as the younger girl began to pour her a drink. Hitomi accepted it after a moment of hesitation, and immediately downed it, slamming the empty glass back down onto the table.

 “Unnie, are you okay?” Eunsuh asked awkwardly, concerned by the strange display. Hitomi scoffed grumpily.

“Just call me Hitomi - I’m sick of this ‘Unnie’ .” She grumbled. Eunsuh stared at her in silence for a moment.

“Uh, okay - Hitomi, are you okay?” Eunsuh asked again. Hitomi stared at her before sighing tiredly.

“Not really.” She mumbled, rubbing a hand over her face. Before Eunsuh could push for more information. One of the wait staff dropped off their meat. Hitomi immediately scooped up the plate and began to dish meat onto the grill. Though Eunsuh attempted to protest, the other girl waved her off. Eunsuh meekly sat back. It seems that Hitomi was capable of being a lot rougher than Eunsuh could have ever imagined. Hitomi continued to grill, refusing to even look at Eunsuh. Eunsuh had the feeling that Hitomi thought that she was going to say something similar to whatever Cassandra had said. She grimaced at the thought. It was difficult to imagine doing that, not after seeing the look on Hitomi’s face before she had ran from the room. Eunsuh hesitated.

“Unn-I mean, Hitomi. Do you want to talk about it? Or…” Eunsuh asked trailing off. She hoped that she was coming off as wanting to help her Unnie emotionally, not make things worse. Hitomi sighed, glancing at Eunsuh briefly. She shrugged.

“I don’t know.” She admitted, sounding as tired as she looked. Eunsuh reached out for Hitomi’s free hand.

“Un-Hitomi, you can tell me anything! I won’t judge or make you do anything that you’re uncomfortable with!” Eunsuh said earnestly, hoping that Hitomi would believe her. Hitomi was the only member that she felt any sort of connection to, as she was the most open out of the other three and thought she seemed very mature. She was willing to goof around with Eunsuh when not training. While she waited for Hitomi to respond, she tightened her hold on the other’s free hand. It wouldn’t be surprised if Hitomi decided to just swear in her face and make a break for it. Hitomi paused holding a piece of meat above the grill. She turned towards Eunsuh and stared deeply at her, as if trying to gauge how sincere the other was being. Eunsuh smiled in a way that she hoped was encouraging.

Hitomi sighed tiredly and set the meat back on the grill, before putting the tongs down onto the table. Eunsuh perked up. The other girl hesitated for a moment before turning her focus onto Eunsuh.

“I don’t want to talk about it here.” She said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Eunsuh nodded in understanding. The restaurant was hardly empty. Eunsuh wouldn’t be surprised if several people would probably try to listen in on their conversation.

“Let’s just eat than!” Eunsuh said brightly, stealing the tongs away from Hitomi with a mischievous smile. Hitomi huffed slightly in exasperation, but managed a small smile. 

*****

The dinner didn’t last nearly as long as it had the last time they were there. Eunsuh was eager to get Hitomi to somewhere that she could get the story out of her. She needed to make sure that Hitomi was all right. It wouldn’t do for her to be in a bad situation, especially since Eunsuh could do something about it. After they both paid their part, they made their way out of the restaurant and onto the street.

Eunsuh had been quick to offer her dorm room as their next destination. Hitomi waited for a moment in silence before nodding in agreement. Eunsuh quickly slipped a hand into Hitomi’s and pulled her along to a bus stop. They waited in silence as traffic blew past them. Eventually a bus pulled up in front of the two girls and they climbed on.

They rode the bus for a short period, before getting off in front of Eunsuh’s university. Eunsuh could only hope that her roommate had ed off like she had told her to earlier in the day. 

“You can sleep over tonight, Hitomi.” Eunsuh said, cheerfully. She actually felt a little excited to get to spend more time with the older woman. They hadn’t really spent much time together outside of training; not that there was much time to do anything really. 

“Okay.” Hitomi said simply, glancing around at the campus. Eunsuh ended up guided her to the dorm that she was living in. Sometimes adding a little commentary about the buildings around them. Suddenly, something occurred to Eunsuh.

“Where are you living, Hitomi?” She blurted out, not thinking to rephrase the words at all. Hitomi stared at her in confusion, before turning her attention back in front of her.

“With my parents.” She said, rather bluntly. “Or at least, for the last month or so.” Eunsuh had to think about that for a moment, before her mind jumped back to the first night that they had met.

“You were living with your boyfriend before?” She asked. Hitomi nodded, glancing briefly at the ground. “But, you broke up.” Eunsuh said, filling in the blanks for herself. 

“For a bit.” Hitomi said, before falling silent.Eunsuh nodded in understanding.

There was a brief pause in conversation as they reached Eunsuh’s dorm room. Eunsuh unlocked the door and pushed it open. She gestured for Hitomi to come inside, before following and closing the door behind her. Hitomi avoiding her roommate’s bed and sat on Eunsuh’s bed. Eunsuh followed behind her and crawled up onto her bed and crossed her legs, getting into a more comfortable position.

Hitomi glanced back at her and rearranged herself so that she was facing Eunsuh. They sat there in silence for a moment as Eunsuh attempted to think of something to say.

“Are you back with your boyfriend now?” Eunsuh asked; more bluntly than she had originally intended. She tried to avoid looking at the other’s hickey covered neck. 

“Oh, yeah.” Hitomi said, tugging on the neck of her sweater in a pitiful attempt to cover them up. “Just recently.” She muttered, staring at the wall beside Eunsuh’s head. 

“Was it the day that Cassandra pulled that ?” Eunsuh demanded, a indignant look crossing her face. Hitomi just cleared awkwardly. 

“Do you have any water?” She asked, standing up and moving away from Eunsuh, looking extremely uncomfortable. Eunsuh looked at her in disbelief. 

“Hitomi!” She said indigently. The older girl stopped and looked at her. Eunsuh sighed and patted the bed next to her. Hitomi sighed and moved back into the living room and sat down next to Eunsuh, leaning against the wall. She wouldn’t look at Eunsuh, but she was at least there. Eunsuh brushed her hand over Hitomi’s wrist. The older girl grumbled and pulled it away.

“It’s not what you’re thinking.” She said, giving Eunsuh a frustrated look. Eunsuh stared at her blankly, not understanding what Hitomi was trying to tell her. Mostly, because the girl was being way too vague about it. Hitomi flushed before covering her face with her hands. She muffled a groan before going silent. Eunsuh stared at her blankly, before it clicked.

“Is this a thing?” Eunsuh asked.

“Oh my god!” Hitomi groaned, curling further into herself. Eunsuh choked on a laugh, startled by the turn of events. And, then she kept laughing, clutching at her sides. She was a little relieved. Hitomi was embarrassed, but not distressed. Eventually she managed to sober herself up a little. 

“Hitomi, I’m  not sure this is a good idea.” She said quietly. Hating the fact that she was having to talk her group mate into breaking up with her boyfriend. Especially since she hadn’t broken up with hers yet. Hitomi sighed tiredly, and dragged her hands down her face, letting them settle in her lap.

“I know.” Hitomi muttered, twisting her fingers together nervously. “I just…” She started before trailing off and sighed tiredly. Eunsuh nodded, understanding how Hitomi was feeling.. It wasn’t easy to cut someone out of your life, especially not when you really needed the emotional support. Eunsuh sighed and readjusted herself to be laying down on her bed, before patting the space next to her. Hitomi paused hesitantly, before laying down and closing her eyes tiredly. 

Eunsuh changed the subject to something completely different; starting out by doing a quite frankly terrible impression of Jiae scandalized attitude towards Hitomi. That got a laugh out of Hitomi, who followed up with a decent impression of Chaeyeon. Which sent Eunsuh into fits of laughter. 

Eventually they calmed down, and slowly began to drift off into sleep. Eunsuh knew that the next couple of days were going to be rough for the older woman, but she hoped that she had helped a little, by lending her support.

Earlier that same day…

Kannika watched as Eunsuh and Hitomi left the training room. She was grateful to Eunsuh for putting forth the effort to help Hitomi. The younger girl had refused to speak with her after the incident with Cassandra. Hitomi had correctly guessed that Kannika had been the one that had been behind Cassandra trying to help. Kannika had only wanted to help the woman, who was being targeted by Chaeyeon. But, it had massively backfired and now Cassandra was being stubborn. Kannika had told her to apologize, after all that was what Kannika was going to do. But, she wasn’t sure why Cassandra wouldn’t. Kannika wondered if the older woman didn’t think that she had done anything wrong.

She turned her attention to Cassandra who had started grabbing her things. She jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Cassandra’s waist. The older woman startled, and attempted to lurch away a little bit, before calming. 

“Cassie! Let’s eat!” She said brightly, putting on a cute voice in the hope that Cassandra would agree. The older woman grumbled, but agreed. Kannika watched as she glanced