Day 45 - Saturday

"Jeong! Hurry up!"

"It's okay," Jeongyeon tells herself in a mantra. "I promised. I told her I'd do this."

"Stop talking to yourself. You sound crazy." Momo grabs her by the hem of her shirt, pulling her towards the restaurant within the fish market.

"Are you even close to getting tired?"

"You know my motto."

"Ugh," Jeongyeon sighs, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Work hard, eat hard."

"Work hard! Eat hard!" Momo repeats with enthusiasm. "Besides, you promised this date since the first time we met."

"I know, and I'm close to regretting it now."

Jeongyeon vaguely remembers the promise she had made. Who was she kidding? She completely forgot about making a vow to take her exploring other Korean food the day they were introduced to each other. That was until Momo came knocking that slow early morning on her door.

"I pegged you for a girl who keeps her promises," Momo jibes.

"I'm not breaking it. I'm kind of regretting it."

"Why are you even tired?" A bell rings above them as Momo opens the door, earning a loud Welcome! from a waiter. "The afternoon just started."

"And yet this is our fourth restaurant." Jeongyeon was like a lifeless body, being dragged around town forcefully, her spirit faded as it floats away in the past hour. "I knew you were a heavy eater but god, how can you still gobble everything up like you've been fasting for days?"

"Work hard! Eat hard!"

Jeongyeon gives up complaining and just patiently waits for the day with the glutton to end.

The two take their seats next to one of the walls facing each other as they wait for their orders to arrive. Momo's eyes shine towards the table next to theirs, observing the silky surface of the delicacy in the middle of the wooden square.

"Are you sure about this?" Jeongyeon raises her head after resting a little. "Most foreigners don't look forward eating this."

"I love sashimi." Momo snaps her head at Jeongyeon. "It's not that different right?"

"It's raw octopus."

"And sashimi is raw fish."

"Whatever floats your mind, I guess."

Over the past few weeks, Jeongyeon has gotten pretty close with Momo. She wasn't exactly sure how but Momo transitioned from the quiet and shy version of herself to the open and free spirited girl she sees before her. At first they spent time as smoking buddies whenever she hangs out with the foreigner group and overtime they just felt comfortable around each other.

One thing Jeongyeon observed and loved about her is she knows when to shift her attitude. Wacky when happy, sensitive when need be.

"Hey Jeong." And lo and behold, here comes the sensitive side. "When are you going to talk to them again?"

Whenever she tries to bring the topic up, Jeongyeon instantly mood swings into discomfort. She leans back on her seat, arms hanging on either side as the lifeless state she’s in. "Not this again Momo."

With all the time they've spent together, Jeongyeon has yet to tell Momo, or anybody for that matter, what happened that dreaded night. Sana was kind enough not to spill either even without Jeongyeon asking her to keep quiet about it.

"It's been a month, Jeong."

"So?"

"So?" Momo emphasizes with enlarged eyes. "They're your best friends!"

Jeongyeon scoffs with arms crossed, looking in a different direction as she tries to ignore Momo.

"Look, I'm not telling you to forgive them for whatever it is they did to you. I'm just asking you to talk to them."

How? How can someone talk to their "friends" after knowing something sickening happened because of her? It was inexcusable and hardly a valid reason - hell, no reason is valid at all to do that kind of thing. But that was Nayeon's basis. She did that because she left. As much as she blames Nayeon, a part of her blames herself even though she knows she's done absolutely nothing wrong.

"I can't. Okay? I just can't."

"You have to." Momo reaches for Jeongyeon’s hands, cupping them gently. "I may not have the best childhood, but I had it with Sana, Mina, and Tzuyu. And I would never let a fight get in between any of us."

Their orders arrive but the atmosphere had already become gloomy. Momo didn't even pay attention when the dishes were lowered right before her, focusing all her concentration to her short haired buddy.

"I'm not trying to sound selfish here, but it's affecting us too." Momo picks up her chopsticks and repositions the plates to her preferences, all the while still looking at her friend. "Our groups became friends and it was something entirely new and refreshing to us. Then immediately the week after we had to adjust to a crack in between."

Jeongyeon knows and feels responsible for that aspect too. She wasn't exactly subtle whenever she avoids the others, resulting in one or two of the foreigners (Sana and Momo most of the time) to accompany her elsewhere.

"You're making me lose my appetite," Momo spoke once again when she couldn't get a reply from Jeongyeon. "Let's finish this quick. I'm itching for drag after seeing you mope around."

"You're the one who brought it up." Jeongyeon takes her chopsticks as well, dipping a piece of tentacle with an orange sauce.

"And you're the one who's not doing anything about it." Momo takes a bite size as well. It was on reflex but as soon as the slimy object in , Momo scrunches up her face in pure delight, instantly forgetting everything else - a little too literal. "Oh. My. God."

Jeongyeon smiles, feeling relaxed at the satisfied face Momo made. "Oh? Momo likes it?"

"Who's Momo?" Momo takes another piece, ready to be eaten as soon as she swallows the previous one. "Who are you? Don't talk to me, stranger. I'm busy falling in love."

"I thought you were in love with Jokbal?"

One exchange of words has transpired but by then, Momo had already gobbled a third of her plate. "What's Jokbal?"

Momo had memory loss the whole meal, returning to her usual self only after the two had gotten out of the place with smoking as their first thought.

Much to Jeongyeon's show of annoyance and regret earlier, she certainly has taken a liking to Momo's eating show, which she will never admit, promising (forced herself to) her to take her out on another food adventure sometime again.

A loud barking noise echoes the room in a rhythm from her phone. The half asleep girl sprawls on the bed, trying to find her device buried somewhere on the soft mattress. She finds it near the edge of her bed and swipes the alarm off aggressively.

It's two in the afternoon but her room still shows sign of slumber. Cool air from the AC, curtains covering the windows, and a dim yellow aura from a nightlight. She sits upright and stretches her arms up, cracking her stiff back bones in the process as she yawns, filling her lungs with cold air.

Getting up from bed on a lazy weekend is an obstacle and going down the stairs for a meal is a lonely maze. She makes her way down the steps towards the dining area where her lunch is already prepared covered by an aluminium cover. Eating clean and fast, she returns to her room shortly after.

This has been her routine since the day she was adopted and moved to Korea. No one to have greetings with, no one to eat lunch with, and no one to have a conversation with. She wants to say that she's has gotten used to it after living like this for countless of years, but of course it's still so lonely.

She can't remember her birth parents. Doesn't even know if they're alive. Being the mature kid that she is, she didn't dwell about them, completely moving on when she understood what an orphan meant.

When she heard news of her getting adopted, a little spark infused within her. She'll get to experience what having parents would feel, she told herself. Reality played a cruel joke on her, making her a house trophy instead of a daughter. But again, she didn't dwell on it. Nothing is fair in this world.

The only comfort she had experience throughout her life was when she got to meet Sana, Momo, and Mina. Three other girls, living a somewhat similar life to her. A little family of sisters that has rarely failed to meet at least once a day. And over the past few weeks, that small family welcomed another group for the first time. Sana and Momo were the firsts to open up to them while Mina is slowly doing so as well. But Tzuyu? She still has her guard up. Especially with how an episode sprung up within that new group out of nowhere.

Tzuyu lies down back on her bed when her phone buzzes for a second. With that simple distraction, she knew instantly who caused it.

From Jihyo

Afternoon sleepy head! Eaten yet?

Tzuyu drops her phone on her side, having no intentions of replying. Once she replies, the texts will not stop. She learned that the hard way. Because to Tzuyu, texting about nonsense is a bother.

It amazes Tzuyu, however, how Jihyo's tenacity to send her texts every single day ever since they exchanged numbers has kept up even though she rarely replies. And whenever they meet up in person, Jihyo doesn't bring it up or urges her to reply at all. It's ironic, really, how she both tries to intrude and respect her privacy.

A knock on her door breaks her day dreaming, before a middle aged woman takes a step inside.

"Miss Tzuyu, your guest is here."

"Tell her to come in please. Thank you."

After a few seconds, Chaeyoung walks in with an armful of books that consists of different versions and guides of Shakespeare’s works. The guest drops the heavy stack to the nearest table before sitting flat on floor with her legs sprawled. "This is like the fourth time I've been here and it still creeps me out how empty your place is. Reminds me of mine."

Among her new friends, Chaeyoung is the most comfortable to be with. Tzuyu noticed how different she talks and acts depending on who she is with making her the most sensible among her group, in Tzuyu's opinion.

"Come on, we can finish this project by today." Tzuyu walks over to her desk and boots her laptop, bringing out a few notebooks and pens as well.

The two spent their afternoon in silence, only talking to each other when needed which is mostly about their project. It was progressive as any other day and Tzuyu wouldn't have it any other way.

In about two hours, they were close to wrapping up their work, only a few paragraphs and a conclusion were left.

All they did whenever they were together was work on their school project but for Tzuyu, it was a fun experience, bonding with the smaller girl.

Her phone buzzes again when Tzuyu took a short break.

From Jihyo

You're with the imp right? Tell her not to go home too late okay? Thanks!! :D

"Hey," Tzuyu lifts her phone up in front of Chaeyoung's eyes. "I don't understand why she doesn't just text you directly."

"Bear with her." Chaeyoung resumes writing on her notebook, uninterested with the topic. "I think she's just happy that a new baby joined the family."

"But I'm not a baby."

"Awww, a typical baby reply." Chaeyoung reaches an arm out to pinch the other girl's cheek but was successfully avoided. "Like I said, bear with her. She's really like a second mom."

Tzuyu sighs a tired one. Second mom? She never even had a first one.

Trying to change to subject, Tzuyu asked the most recent issue she can remember. "Have you talked to Jeongyeon yet?"

This time, it was Chaeyoung who releases a sigh in an exhausted manner. "Not yet. She's still avoiding us."

"It's Mina's turn to host tonight. Wanna come with me?"

"But Jeong's gonna be there." She mumbles.

"And she doesn't have a say on who we invite."

"I dunno Tzu..."

"C'mon. It's been a month since you guys talked. I don't know how grave your fault is but I think a month of silence is enough."

Like Momo, Tzuyu still has no idea what really happened. All she got was a warning from Sana not to pry it off any of them.

"But what if it gets awkward?" Chaeyoung looks down, tapping her index fingers against each other.

"We'll be there. And it's just you for now. No Nayeon, and no Jihyo." Tzuyu places a hand on Chaeyoung's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You let us in your lives, or rather, you forced yourselves in our lives." A giggle escapes Tzuyu, finding her own tease amusing. "Let us help fix it."

After a little pondering, and rapid tapping of both feet, Chaeyoung reluctantly agrees.

"Great!" Tzuyu smiles, more at herself for a successful persuasion. "And don't worry, whenever it's Mina's turn we usually just play her video games or watch movies. I heard you and Jeongyeon were competitive."

"Yeah..." Chaeyoung laughs an awkward one. "By the way, it felt like you were happier when you s