Laughter fills the air, along with the smell of fried chickens. Jisoo, who's leaning against the kitchen countertop in the middle, shakes her head, watching Lisa pepper my face with kisses. I can't do anything about it when she's bear-hugging me, never giving me the chance to slip away.

After doing my part in cooking the hotdogs, Jennie asks for my help to stand guard for any incoming Jisoo attacks, especially since Jisoo's hanging around in the kitchen. She's behaving though, but I don't know to what extent since Jisoo's eyes are glinting as she looks at the fried chickens.

Jennie turns off the stove as she places the last chicken in the bowl. "Hey, stop messing around the kitchen."

In between giggles, I manage to say, "Unnie, it's Lisa's fault!"

"I can't," Lisa says as she kisses me, "help," another kiss, "it!" then another one. Finally, she stops the kisses, but the hug gets more tight. "Chaeyoung-ah, don't forget me!"

"Why does it sound like a goodbye?" I ask, turning to her.

"Well, you'll soon graduate. I have two more semesters, Chaeyoung! Who's going to be my friend in the campus now?"

"You have lots of friends!"

"But they're not as cute as you!"

Lisa's statement sends me blinking fast. Sure, she has her cute moments, but this is definitely something else.

Jisoo goes beside Jennie, staring at us like they're scientists and we are their test subjects. "Is this the effect of the 'cool off' thing?"

"Yep," Jennie replies, popping the 'p' at the end.

The mention of 'cool off' makes me glance at Lisa, just in time to see the smile on her lips falter. It's better than her tearing up with the mention of Jungkook's name, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried. The three of us exchange glances. Good thing Jennie changes the topic.

"Hey, just wondering, what's your ring size? I'm planning to give you guys friendship rings to commemorate our friendship."

Glances are exchanged again, this time, I'm the one excluded. Something about it makes Lisa smile. She hugs me one last time and whispers, "I'm gonna miss you..."

Before I can ask about it, Jisoo claps her hands once. "Remember how we met these two?" she asks Jennie, pertaining to Lisa and me.

Nodding, Jennie moves the chicken bowl on the countertop, opposite of where Jisoo is, when she notices unnie's eyes focused on the bowl. "Was it our sophomore year? No wait, junior year...?"

"It was my freshman year," I correct, "ah... I miss Jinyoung sunbaenim..."

Lisa sits at the countertop table in the middle, not minding the sharp stare Jennie sends her way. "Who's that?"

"Our friendly senior."
"Jisoo's long-time crush."

Jennie and I exchange looks as we simultaneously laugh. Meanwhile, Jisoo's cheeks are turning redder by the second. As if to hide her mistake, she covers her face with her hands. "Don't tell Bobby!"

"I didn't know Jisoo had a crush on him," I say in between giggles.

Jennie shakes her head. "If he wasn't friendly with you, we wouldn't rescue you at all."

With her forehead creasing, Lisa asks, "Did something happen to Chaeyoung?"

Jennie nods as she takes off her apron. "It was her first department outing, I think. Park Jinyoung was a popular and handsome senior who welcomed everybody. Well, this kid didn't know a lot of things so senior always hovered over her like a big brother. His fan girls took that in a bad light and spread bad rumors about Chaeyoung, saying she did 'favors'," she says that while doing air quotations with her fingers, "just to bring her grades up..."

My cheeks feel warm as I recall that particular memory. It's something I don't want to ever remember. First semester of freshman year was harsh on me, especially with that rumor around. It became a 'friend' repellant. That was a scary thing, especially if I didn't know anyone in the university.

I proceed telling the story for them. "Senior Jinyoung didn't believe the rumors and continued befriending me, which made the girls angrier. They attempted to lock me in a room with a drunk sophomore who had a bad reputation with girls," sending a shy glance towards the older ones, I continue, "if Jennie wasn't an expert in rumors, they wouldn't prevent me from going at all."

"All I remembered was Jisoo telling me to save you to earn brownie points from Jinyoung," Jennie adds.

"Hey!" Jisoo interjects as she pokes Jennie's side. "I did that because she was in danger!"

"Yeah," Jennie rolls her eyes, "if there wasn't any incentive behind it."

We all laugh as Jisoo's face gets red again. Even though they said it like that, I knew back then they were concerned about a girl whose life was in danger. Truthfully, if that incident didn't happen, I wouldn't meet these two at all. It was a blessing in disguise.

🌺🌸🌺

"Jinhwan's running late," Yunhyeong says as he shakes his phone while taking his seat at the long table, "Chanwoo too."

The spring wind that passes by manages to scatter some tissues on the table. Yunhyeong and Junhoe stand up to catch some. Behind where we're sitting, the sound of volleyball serve as noise, in addition to the chatter from the ones occupying the table. I shrink further in my seat when the ball sounds grow too close for comfort. Thankfully, Junhoe, who's sitting on my right, hits the ball away before it hits me.

"Sorry!" Lisa shouts, quite distracted, when her one-on-one game with Donghyuk commences once again.

Bobby and Hanbin arrive, holding trays of orange glasses. Hanbin's arrival is met with enthusiastic greetings, especially since he's too busy with his new passion to hang out with us lately.

"Hanbin hyung," Junhoe says, holding up two fingers as a greeting, arm still propped on top of my chair's headrest.

The duo pass the glasses themselves. Since Jisoo's sitting on my left, I can see Bobby winking at her as he gives her a glass. I nudge Jisoo on her side in return.

"Oppa is too flirty, don't you think so?"

She waves me off, sipping a little juice in the glass. "As long as he's only like that with me, we're fine."

"No one is too flirty as long as it's for the one they love," Bobby quips while handing me my own glass.

"Ugh," Junhoe groans, his face contorting to that of disgust.

Bobby stands tall behind me as he sends Junhoe a look. "Why? Aren't you like this with Chaeyoung?"

"At least we keep it private!" Junhoe retorts.

Yunhyeong throws a napkin at Junhoe's direction which fails by landing on his plate instead. "Idiot, who just back hugged her a while ago?"

That shuts Junhoe up, which makes us all laugh.

The afternoon proceeds with us finally eating the feast Jennie made us prepare. Aside from her signature fried chicken (of which is devoured mainly by Jisoo), we have hotdogs, burger patties, and caesar salad. Jennie really wants it to be a backyard party today, especially since she got her first job working at a academy as an assistant researcher. In her own words, "the pay's not that big, but at least they put a good reputation on my resumé."

That conversation opens the topic of what everyone's up to: Jinhwan and Yunhyeong are now working in small companies, Hanbin's thinking of shifting a career in music, Bobby and Jisoo are still looking for a job.

Junhoe, Donghyuk, Lisa, and I are now seniors with different graduation dates. Meanwhile, Chanwoo's a junior in college since he's the youngest.

Somehow, the topic shifts to marriage. Of course, it's natural for the spotlight to turn to Junhoe and me.

"I'm just saying," Yunhyeong adjusts how he's seated on the lawn chair, "if you two don't end up married at this point, I don't know what the heck you're doing all these years."

"That is, if Chaeyoung's not planning to leave this prick after college." Bobby raises his glass at me with a mischievous grin. In return, Jisoo hits him on the chest with her elbow, almost making his orange juice spill.

To be honest, the marriage thing is in the talks nowadays. We know we're still young for that. At the same time, our future's aligned with that purpose in mind. I'll work in a local kindergarten school while he will start working under his grandmother after graduation. Thankfully, we don't need to be apart with each other for so long. He'll be working in Seocho District, not too far from ours.

Our conversation hangs in the air when Jinhwan and Chanwoo arrive. Jennie follows behind them, already changed into fresh clothes. I'm a little envious since I still smell like meat and fire, even if I pepper myself with perfume.

After Jinhwan almost gets smothered by one-armed hugs from the guys (his work makes him miss most of our hangout days), he sits beside Lisa. Chanwoo sits at his other side.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jinhwan asks as he forks in a hotdog in a hotdog bun.

"We're talking about Junhoe and Chaeyoung's marriage and how long Chaeyoung's going to realize he's not worth her time," Yunhyeong replies.

Eyes still focused on putting condiments on his hotdog bun, Jinhwan continues, "Did Junhoe tell her about Japan already?"

It feels like everyone has an electric shock after he said that sentence, rendering them speechless. Even the quick-witted Yunhyeong can't think of anything to salvage the silence.

It gets broken when I ask, now facing Jinhwan who's in front of me, "What about Japan?"

Jinhwan looks like a deer caught in the headlights as he puts down his food on the plate. Scratching his head, he comments, "He still didn't, did he?"

Junhoe's deep sigh doesn't get unnoticed, which makes me turn to him. I thought this Japan conversation is a good one, not until I hear him sigh. When he does that certain kind of sigh, it only means bad news. Dread fills the pit of my stomach, growing heavier as my question remains unanswered.

"What is he talking about?"

Everyone at the table is either sending me pitying looks or avoiding my gaze. It doesn't alleviate the situation one bit.

Clinging to the end of Junhoe's shirt, I prod, now desperation crawling into my tone, "Junhoe, I'm serious. What is he talking about?"

My boyfriend purses his lips as he looks away. "Chaeyoung... I have to live in Japan for two years."

I swallow a lump forming in my throat. When that doesn't prove to be enough, I pick up the nearest glass to drown it with liquid.

"That's Jisoo's glass—" I hear Bobby say but I don't care. Deep gulps of the tangy juice goes through my mouth, hoping it'll help me, not until my tongue encounters something hard. Before I can think about it, it gets stuck between my throat and esophagus. The hard object that tastes like metal makes me take in huge gulps of air, and it sounds like I'm choking, which, I definitely am.

In my peripheral vision, Jennie's the first one to stand up, along with Bobby. "Chaeyoung, are you okay?"

I drop the glass on the ground, hopefully cushioned by the grass and soil. My hands go around my neck as I try hard to breathe but is failing miserably. Panic sets in and concerned stares from everyone doesn't help.

"Call an ambulance!"

That's Bobby. He's the first one to go beside me, muttering curses as he does so.

"Chaeyoung, I'm sorry but I have to do this," Bobby says. Before I can think it through, he places his arms around my middle. Then, before he can do anything, my insides get calm.

"Wait!" I place my hand on Bobby's chest, "wait," I repeat, this time softer, "I'm okay."

"Huh?" is the response I get.

"I... uh... I swallowed it," I my lips, my sight going elsewhere but not a pair of eyes, "the ring."

With everyone into stunned silence, only Jisoo's voice sends us into a frenzy. "For goodness' sake, somebody call an ambulance!"

~🌸tbc.

It's quite embarrassing to admit, but I edited Chapter 25 (the one before this) a lot. It was made in a rush because I really wanted to finish watching Hotel Del Luna. At the same time, I wanted to update so the quality's not that good. I made revisions and added some details so I hope you don't mind :)