I just got home from my shoot of ‘Missing Korea’. Exhausting is one way of describing this day.

I opened the door to our apartment, finding Chaerin lounging on the sofa. The moment she saw me, her eyes lit up and started screaming my name.

“Eonniiiiiiiiie!” Chaerin squealed, getting up from the sofa and running to me. She hugged me tight, joy evident because of our reunion. “I missed you.” she tells me after releasing me from her hug.

I can’t help but give a big grin. God, I missed her too. She definitely is something I needed today. “I missed you too Chaerin-ah. You have no idea. Nobody welcomes me home like you do.” I pull her in for another hug. I can already feel my stress ebbing away.

She looks at me from head to toe. Is she checking if I lost a nail or something?

“Hey, what’s wrong? Stop checking me out!” I joke. I missed bickering with her too.

She gives me a tender smile. “Nothing eonnie, just checking if anything has changed about you. I haven’t seen you for five months, you know.”

I carry my bag towards my room with Chaerin trailing behind. She sat on my bed facing me, while I sit comfortably in my bean bag.

“Do you know when Minzy is coming back?” I ask her.

“No, not yet. I met with her in LA and she said she still has some workshops to finish. But she better be back soon. We’ve still got to practice for our MAMA performance. We haven’t done a performance in a while so we all have to be back on shape.” she says.

As expected from our leader, CL-roo is always on top of everything…which brings me to ask a question I’ve been concerned about for a while now.

“How about Bommie? Does she have clearance to get back yet?” I ask, worry marring my face.

Chaerin releases a deep sigh, looking dejected. “I’m working on it eonnie. You know sajangmin would rather let her issue die down completely before she comes back.”

I bite my lip at the thought. “But isn’t two years enough Chaerin-ah? She’s been exiled and forced to isolate herself. I can just imagine how sad Bommie is. You know how depressed she can get.” I said. My smile has now turned to a frown.

Having Bom’s scandal hit us hard. Aside from having to stop the release of an album, we also had to put to halt most of our projects related to music. But most of all, we lost the presence of a sister.

During our hiatus, everyone focused on their own activities. Minzy built her own dance academy and flew to the states to attend dance workshops. I started hosting and doing web-dramas aside from the regular modelling gigs. CL was the only one given the license to work on music since she’s going to be releasing her album. Bommie on the other hand was shipped to the US and was told to stay in low-profile. But until when? I know she misses the stage. She’s someone who was born to sing.

Chaerin releases another sigh, but this time she’s looking more determined. “Don’t worry eonnie. I’ll talk to sajangnim again. You’re right. It’s been two years so maybe this time, there’s a bigger chance he’ll let her out.”

Chaerin and I decided to have a quiet dinner together at home and catch up instead of going out. Even when we check on each other every other day while she was in the US, nothing beats a conversation while seeing each other’s faces and stuffing ourselves with hot, steaming food.

“How are you and Jay?” I ask Chaerin. She and Jay Park have been trying to start something, but their schedule is always on the way.

“I’m not sure…” she mutters to herself with a pout. “He visited me twice when he and his crew was on tour in the US. We hooked up a couple of times. I didn’t feel anything special so I don’t think I’ll be seeing him again. But we’re cool.” she finishes indifferently.

I couldn’t help but stare at her in awe, wondering how easy it was for her to do those things and dismiss them at the same time. I treat relationships seriously, while she seems to see it as something trivial.

“Chaerin-ah…are you okay?” I ask her with caution. Maybe she’s just pretending to not care and doesn’t want me to worry about her.

When Chaerin saw my expression, she scrunched her forehead at me. “Why would I not be okay eonnie? It wasn’t a real relationship. There’s nothing to be not okay about.” she answers full of nonchalance.

I still don’t get how she can react this way. “But you slept together.” I reminded her.

“Yes, we did. But it’s not a big deal eonnie. It’s something people normally do before diving in to a serious relationship.” she tells me. I cannot fathom how people can take risks that easily.

Still feeling uneasy about it, I continued to ask her questions. “Were you at least careful? Did you use protection?”

Chaerin snorted at my question. “Yes, mom. I’m also on the pill, so you don’t have to worry.” she answers with a patronizing tone. “Stop being acting like an ahjumma, eonnie. Move with the times.” she teases.

All I could do was shake my head and continue to eat. She now starts asking me her questions.

“How have you been, eonnie? Any incidents while I was away?” she asks.

And by incidents, she meant those involving or caused by a certain someone. We have an unspoken rule not to mention his name unless necessary.

“I think he’s getting a little more aggressive lately. He keeps sending me stuff with notes reminding me he’s always watching. Just the other day, he sent me a fruit basket on set. He’s seriously creeping me out. I’m afraid one day, he’ll just appear in front of me. I don’t know what I would do if that happens.” I confide to her.

Chaerin’s small eyes starte