a/n: geez I didn't think I would be able to finish this but uhh... this chapter is sort of chaotic

Dahyun knocked on the door so many times that she thought it was going break down at one point. After minutes of reckless knocking and anger being poured into the poor wooden door, it opened and revealed a sly looking girl wearing that stupid varsity jacket that Dahyun has now started to hate. Before she used to feel so proud wearing that specific jacket but now it just felt like a symbol that meant “Hey look, the s have arrived!” Her fists clenched ‘till she felt blood drawing out of her pale skin and stepped into the apartment to yell in Seulgi’s face.

“ARE YOU HAPPY!?” She screamed out, not caring if it was late at night and the possibility that she would wake up Seulgi’s neighbors. Dahyun couldn’t believe the latter had that stupid expression glued on her face that she so badly wanted to punch. 

Seulgi shrugged her shoulders and kept her one hand on the door, she really wasn’t in the mood to talk at this time of night but it seemed her best friend was angry. “Listen, it’s late. Wanna sleep over?” The girl tried to ignore the latter by going to grab a glass of water from the kitchen and that made Dahyun even more mad at her as she slammed the front door shut, almost breaking the lock mechanism. 

“You idiot, I did it!” 

Seulgi instantly froze as she held the empty glass in her hand and faced Dahyun.

“Bro, I was just kidding.” She didn’t think her best friend actually had the courage to go after Sana. 

“Were you!?” Dahyun exploded, her arms were flaring everywhere and Seulgi doesn’t fail to notice her red, sweaty face. “Because every-time I don’t do what you tell me, I always get punished!” She finally admits, feeling a huge weight being lifted off her shoulders as the latter pointed at her, not having a clue on what she was saying. Seulgi placed the empty glass back on the counter and cautiously met the latter’s eyes. 

“You need to rest, Dahyun. You’re sweating like crazy.” She attempted to ignore her again, guilt starting to flow in her head like crazy but the mentioned girl grabbed her shoulders and aggressively shook her as she angrily spat on her face. 

“No, listen to me! I’m getting tired of pretending everything is fine!” Seulgi softly gasped at the proximity of how close their faces were and could see the seriousness that was in Dahyun’s eyes. “I used to be that goofy kid who always made sure to get to class on time. I always liked eating chocolate even though I was told by everyone to not to because I would get fat. In other words, I was innocent and was easy to control like a puppet that nobody wanted in their closet drawer anymore.” The expression on Dahyun’s face turns dark, silently shocking the latter who gulped. “Then, I met you… I thought I finally found someone who wanted to be my friend. I always imagined us in the future, you and I, standing side by side on an empty basketball court as we celebrated our championship titles but as time grew, that dream faded away. You started to change into a puppeteer and you became so drastically different that students from our high school years would ask me if that was really Kang Seulgi.” 

Dahyun paused and looked down in disappointment, she missed the real Seulgi and most of all, she missed her best friend. “I’m tired of pretending that I’m fine with this… I want to go back like things were…” 

Seulgi slammed the counter in front of her, the glass cup making a quiet noise from the vibrations and her head hung low. “YOU CAN’T CHANGE TIME DAHYUN!” They had this conversation way too many times that she knew where this was going.

“YOU COST ME MY GIRLFRIEND!” Dahyun’s brows furrowed at her as she felt herself heavily panting, another weird was being lifted from her shoulders and Seulgi was heavily panting as well.

“YOUR EX-GIRLFRIEND!” They stared at each other for a while until Seulgi continued to speak once she saw that the latter calmed down. “Look— “ 

“Be quiet, I’m done with you and those other idiots.” She grunted before heading to the door, Dahyun has had enough of the basketball team thinking it’s okay to take advantage of other people’s feeling. Seulgi started to panic at the latter who was storming off and she followed her to the door.

“W-wait, where are you going?” Seulgi stammered out, slamming her one hand to keep the door shut and the latter glared at her, knowing that she was much stronger than her best friend. 

“Tell the coach, I’m taking my break.” The girl was straightforward and with ease, she opened the door and left her best friend's apartment.

Sana stayed longer than expected at Elkie’s house, they were quiet but they still talked, both of them feeling comfortable around each other as if they were long-time friends (which was something Sana would’ve never predicted to happen between them). The Chinese would ramble about whatever to distract the latter from her thoughts on Dahyun and eventually Sana snuck in the Park Residence at three in the early morning but was caught by someone before she could step foot into her room. 

“Where the were you? Do you know how worried I was?” Sana her heels to see Momo frowning at her, she wasn’t sure if the latter was mad or upset with her. She also wondered if the girl was even sleeping this whole night or stayed up because she was really worried about Sana's whereabouts. Sana felt her shoulders slump down as her lips furiously trembled.

“M-Momo… S-something happened…” She felt her knees go weak and the latter grabbed her before she could hit the floor to make any noise. Momo very quietly turned the doorknob as she supported Sana up and they enter the younger girl's room so that they won’t disturb the others who were sleeping. 

The older girl placed her on the bed and Sana immediately covered herself with her blanket, only wanting to cry herself to sleep. “What happened, Sana-chan?” Momo softly spoke in Japanese and just from hearing her native tongue, Sana thought she was going to burst into more tears because of how emotional she felt. 

She was used. 

Again.

Momo frowned at her, showing how she didn’t like one bit of seeing Sana like this but deep inside, she was angry to her core. She wondered who would hurt her best friend, who could treat her to act like this. Vulnerable and naive. Whoever it was, they were going to receive Hell from Momo’s fists.

Sana was tired of talking about it, especially after with Elkie so she fell asleep with her head rested on Momo’s lap and her scalp was gently massaged by the latter. 

——

This was it, Tzuyu was finally leaving her home but for the first time in forever, she felt sad as she watched Jieqiong slowly trail behind her in the airport, trying to fight back her tears that her older sister would no longer be an annoying nuisance in their house. 

Her parents offered to pick up Jeongyeon and Nayeon from the resort and they all waved goodbye to Jackson and Cheng Xiao, who wished them farewell and they hoped that maybe they will be the ones to visit them in the future. 

They stood at the gates where their flight would be leaving in twenty minutes and Tzuyu turned around to face her family where her friends stood afar to give them space. 

“Mama…” She whispered out in agony before her mother crushed her in a tight hug, she felt the hot tears on her shoulders and they pulled back to face each other. 

“I’ll miss you so much, my daughter.” In all honesty, Tzuyu was probably going to be gone for three months top before the arrival of the holidays but the moment felt like she was saying goodbye forever. The girl quickly hugged her father who lets out a shocked gasp from the strong impact and chuckled when he patted her back, whispering words of farewell in her ear. 

Tzuyu sadly looks at Jieqiong who refused to make eye contact with her, the little girl didn’t want to believe that her sister was really leaving. “Hey, you okay?” Tzuyu whispered out as she crouched down and the question made the latter’s lips furiously tremble as she lunged forward to tackle the older girl in a hug. 

This made Tzuyu chuckle at her clingy sister and she stands up with the little girl wrapping her arms and legs around her, burying her head in her shoulders. “I don’t want you to leave.” Jieqiong quietly admits, only the two of them could hear their conversation and she felt Tzuyu nod her head, agreeing with her.

“I don’t want to leave too but I have to finish my studies, ostrich.” For the first time, Jieqiong didn’t get mad at the animal nickname and instead giggled as she whispered back “Yoda” at her sister. “I promise I’ll come back for Christmas and if not, maybe I’ll fly you to Korea with Jackson and Cheng.” The offer made the latter’s eye light up as the grip around Tzuyu’s neck got tighter. 

“Really!?” The others stood, watching them with a fond smile on their faces and Tzuyu grinned at Jieqiong. 

“Of course.” She admitted with total honesty, she would do anything to see her sister again. They grin at each other until they heard Nayeon announce that they had fifteen minutes ‘till they had to go on their flight. Tzuyu quickly glanced at her guest-mates with Jieqiong following her line of sight and noticed the two standing awfully close to each other, making her eyebrows raise mischievously.

“So have you two started dating, kissed or had yet?” The Taiwanese blatantly asked with no shame as she covered her little’s sisters ears who can still hear everything and she grinned at the two who started to blush when they heard the mention of kissing. Tzuyu pumped her fist in the air and Jieqiong looks excitedly at her. “YES!” Her parents weirdly looked at their oldest daughter who jumped in joy as she threw Jieqiong in the air like she was her newborn baby. 

The sisters were overjoyed that their parents didn’t understand any Korean or else Tzuyu was for sure that that their last moment together would end with her mother scolding her in public, meaning that the sisters would end up getting hit on the head and her father would just laugh with his arms crossed, having that look on his face that screams “you both deserved it”. 

Jeongyeon fanned her red face and slowly distanced herself away from Nayeon out of embarrassment. “Yah… Chou Tzuyu…” She lightly scolded the youngest guest-mate who giggled in response and she spins around in delight that her plan finally worked. 

“Admit it, I’m a genius.” Tzuyu gloated to them and that made Jieqiong gently flick her forehead. 

“Don’t get too cocky.” The younger girl frowned and Nayeon laughed at the action as she pointed at the sister duo who started to argue with each other, arguing on who was the most intelligent between the two. 

Nayeon nudged Jeongyeon’s arm, both of their eyes on the two. “I’m going to miss their little arguments.” The med student quietly admits and the latter slowly nods in agreement. For the past two months, it was normal to see them argue but now that they were going back to Korea, Jeongyeon started to feel a bit guilty for the Taiwanese. The young girl had to go back to a completely foreign country and finish university with no family around her to support her… But in reality, there was support. Tzuyu would have eight girls looking after her. Before they arrived at the Taiwan airport, with Jeongyeon’s poor knowledge of Mandarin and with the help of Google Translate, she managed to say to Tzuyu’s parents that herself and Nayeon would promise to take care of their daughter in Korea. 

Five more minutes passed and Tzuyu’s mother allowed for them to leave now so they could get settled in their first-class seats, Nayeon obviously denied the idea of getting such expensive tickets but Tzuyu said her parents were adamant on purchasing them. Meanwhile, Jeongyeon was very pumped up as she was the first to say goodbye to everyone and even received a hug from Jieqiong who she never thought would hug her in the first place since she remembered from the last time they were breathing the same air, the little girl annoyed her to her core. 

“Goodbye, favourite unnie.” Jieqiong whispered in Nayeon’s ear as they hugged and then playfully winked at her since she knew the latter has specifically wanted to hear that from her. Nayeon squealed at the little girl (almost too loud that Jieqiong had to resist covering her own ears) and she squeezed her adorable cheeks, Nayeon has always admired the latter and really hoped to see her in the future when she grows up to be a beautiful woman like Tzuyu. The Taiwanese says one more goodbye to her family and gave another tight hug to Jieqiong, both of them promising that they will occasionally text and video call. They even do a pinky promise to make sure it wasn't broken since the Chou's were very strict on these kinds of things.

The three all walked to their gate, all of them occasionally glancing back to see the family waving goodbye to them and Tzuyu stood in the middle with Jeongyeon and Nayeon on both of her sides, each of them dragging their own bags. Tzuyu took in a deep breath as she stood, staring at the sign that said, “Flight 1402 - Seoul, Korea” and directed her eyes at the others.

“I guess this is it…” 

“You’re making it seem like we’ll never see each other again.” Nayeon teased as she slightly leaned in towards the girl, it was sort of ironic on how dramatic the latter was acting since they all lived in the same residence. 

Jeongyeon scoffed at the Taiwanese as her hand searched around her handbag for her plane ticket. “Don’t worry, Chou. You’re going to be stuck with us for a long time.” She winked before she heads over to go wait in line for their flight. Nayeon shakes her head in amusement as she went to go follow the latter, leaving Tzuyu with a slightly dazed expression on her face. 

“I think I’ll be fine with that…” She mumbled to herself in joy, feeling a wide smile form on her face before joining the two in the line, all of them ready to go back to Korea and most importantly, she was ready to finally see Sana. 

Jihyo abruptly knocked on everyone’s door in slight concern, they were to leave for the airport to coincidentally pick up Nayeon, Jeongyeon and Tzuyu all at the same time and she couldn’t help but think the thoughts that popped up in her head when she started to realize the similarities but all of that was interrupted when her father kept yelling. 

“WHERE’S DAHYUN!?” He paced around the whole house, all of the girls promised that they would be at the airport and he was for sure not going to leave without the mention