Before leaving the four girls, their CEO decided it would be a good idea to give them the rest of the day off as a way for them to bond before the official training begins the next day. This sudden break was met with cheers by the two younger members not knowing about their leader’s inner conflict regarding the new comer who was still purposely ignoring her presence.

This will be a long day. Yongsun thought as they all climbed in the van at the parking lot.

Yongsun took the passenger’s seat while the other three sat at the back chatting nonstop. While on the way to their shared dorm, Yongsun couldn’t help but look at the rear-view mirror and steal glimpses at the silver haired girl.

Six years Byul-ah, you sure changed a lot. She let out a sigh and averted her eyes, far too afraid of being caught staring at the girl.

But no matter how hard she tried, her eyes seem to find their way back to the girl sitting just a few inches away from her, smiling at the other occupants. All except her.

What did you expect Yongsun? That everything will be fine and she’ll be the same Moon Byulyi that was always stuck on your side? She took one last glance at her before staring out the window again, lost in thought.

How do I make it right again? We’ll be working together from now and the other girls will surely know something’s going on if I keep acting weird around her but I don’t know how to approach Byul anymore.

This made her growl in frustration and she lightly bumped her head on the window which earned the attention of Wheein who was sitting directly at the back of her seat.

“Unnie you okay?”

“Y-yeah don’t worry Wheein-ah,” She croaks, her voice cracking due to the unwanted attention suddenly put on her. “I think it’s just a headache.”

“Are you sure unnie? You’ve been quiet a lot today.”

“Really it’s fine. I think I just need some aspirin, don’t worry.” Yongsun quickly tried to assure them to get a pair of cold brown eyes away from her.

As soon as they were satisfied with her answer the ride continued on with Yongsun trying to think of a way to talk to Byul alone which is proving to be difficult since Wheein looks like she’s glued to her side ever since they were introduced.

As soon as the van stopped outside their dorm building the four girls quickly got out and ran to the elevator. The whole ride up Yongsun was thinking of a way to get Byul alone and talk to her without being suspicious.

“Home sweet home!” exclaimed Hyejin as she lounge herself at the sofa.

“So this is our house Byul unnie! Your grand tour begins now and I’ll be your tour guide this afternoon, Jung Wheein!”

Wheein had her biggest smile on her face as she was holding on to Byul’s hand as they walked inside the dorm house. Even with the cold treatment that she was getting from Byul it looks like the latter girl is just as powerless as any of them when faced with the adorable Wheein. She was smiling brightly at the younger girl while being dragged around the house.

Yongsun could tell that if she doesn’t do something now she’ll never get a chance alone with Byul so she made her move.

“Wheein-ah I think we should get her settled in first.” Yongsun gestured to Byul’s luggage.

“Unnies right Wheein. Byul unnie must be tired from dragging her luggage all day.” Thank you Hyejin!

Wheein stopped dragging Byul for a moment and looked at the luggage Byul was carrying with a frown on her face. Hyejin got up from the sofa and went to Byul’s side pulling her slightly closer to her while she smiled playfully at her best friend.

“Besides, I wanna give Byul unnie the tour.”

“What?! Why? I’ll give her the tour.” Wheein cried in protest while keeping a hold of Byul’s hand.

“You’ve been hogging Byul unnie all day; I want to spend time with her too!” Hyejin also had a hold of Byul’s other hand and wouldn’t let go while the two bicker back and forth.

Oh boy, here we go again. Yongsun could tell that Byul didn’t know what to do at the moment. The two younger girls could be a pain sometimes specially if they both want the same thing and she guesses they both want to spend time with Byul. But she really couldn’t blame them. Who wouldn’t want to spend time with Byul? With her silver hair and aloof personality as they were introduced, her boyish yet stylish clothes, not to mention the girl crush aura that surrounds her. Yongsun would have to be blind not to be pulled in by her.

“Alright stop!” The two best friends stopped bickering all together as they heard her yell. “How about both of you get some snacks first and give the tour later while I go help Byulyi with her luggage.”

The two agreed happily and made their way to the kitchen for some snacks leaving her and Byul standing alone in their living room. Yongsun was watching Byul while the other was staring at the direction of the kitchen where the other two girls disappeared. While trying to come up with anything to say Yongsun noticed how tightly Byul was holding to her luggage and she knew that it would have to be her to break the tension.

“Byul?” she called the girl softly which caused the said girl to look at her properly for the first time that day. “Our room’s this way.”

Yongsun gestured Moon Byul to follow her and she did. The walk to their room was spent with Yongsun trying to figure out a way to start a conversation where it wouldn’t end up with Byul yelling or leaving the team. They both entered the room and as the door closed Yongsun was about to open to speak but Byul beat her to it.

“Don’t worry I’ll stay on my side of the room, no need to warn me or anything.” Byul said flatly while taking out her clothes.

What? To say Yongsun was shocked would have been an understatement. She thought of a thousand things Byul could say to her but the words she uttered were not one of those leaving her starring at the girl perplexed.

“W-what? Byul-ah what do you mean?”

“You tried to get me alone as soon as we arrive here and get me away from those two outside. You planned it right?” Byul looked at her with the same blank expression as before and sighed as she continued putting her stuff away. “Don’t worry I won’t corrupt them or anything and certainly I won’t do it to you either so you can relax.”

The flippant way she said it snapped Yongsun out of her stupor to process what Byul just said. Corrupt? What the hell is she talking about?

“Byul I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She took a step closer to her but as soon as she did Byul’s eyes stopped her from moving too close.

“Oh so it’s not your plan to talk to me not to get to close to them or to keep away from you?” That cold stare that Yongsun kept receiving all day was there again only this time Byul looked away clearly frustrated on the situation.

She stopped rummaging through her luggage and kept a steady gaze on Yongsun who was still standing in front of her. The girl was clearly anxious and as much as Byul wanted to run away herself she knew she couldn’t and so she motioned for Yongsun to sit on the other bed so they could talk.

It was tense for a while, both girls not knowing what to say or do to break the tension slowly rising.

“I’m sorry Byul,” Yongsun broke the silence that enveloped them; it was spoken so softly that if Byul wasn’t listening closely she would have missed it. “I really am sorry for everything and if I could I would take it all back...”

“But you can’t.” she replied slowly. Yongsun looked up from where she was staring at the floor to Byul who was now looking at her.

Gone was the cold, angry stare that she had on before but instead it was replaced with sadness, hut and sorrow; one that put an ache in her heart and Yongsun doesn’t know which is worse. She badly wanted to hug Byul like before, to chase away the hurt shinning in those eyes but she knows she’s one of those people who brought those feelings forth and so she kept her distance.

“Some things you can’t just take back no matter how hard you want to. I learned that the hard way, remember?”

All Yongsun could do was nod at that. She couldn’t argue because she knows it’s true. Byul trusted her all those years ago but she turned her back on her. A mistake that has haunted her since the day it happened.

“Look, we’ll be working together from now on and honestly if I knew you were on the team I wouldn’t have taken the offer but I’m bound by contract now so we can’t do anything about it anymore so what do you propose we do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m gay Yongsun I think we both know that and you have issues with me being one so…”

“No I don’t!” she didn’t know why she interrupted her but she knows she can’t let Byul continue to think that her being gay is an issue to her.

“Do I need to remind you what happened before to refresh your memory?”

She had no answer for that since all her actions from the past proved otherwise and so Byul continued.

“See? I also don’t want to hide who I am to the other girls so I was going to tell them tonight, I just hope they don’t react badly because I don’t have enough money to bail out of the contract.” She let out a grave laugh as she said the last part out loud.

“I’m sure Wheein and Hyejin won’t care about it Byul-ah.” Seeing Byul’s sad expression and the way she seemed resigned to the fact that she’ll get rejected for being herself hurt Yongsun in an unexpected way. “I know they look like a pair of trouble makers but they’re good kids. Besides from what I saw earlier they already love you so I doubt this would change it.”

“It changed you.”

Those three words left her speechless. As much as she wanted to brush Byul’s fears away it would always come back to that fateful day.

“I know I can’t change the past Byul-ah but I’m hoping maybe you can give me another chance.” It took all her courage to look Byul in the eyes, hoping she would somehow see how sincere she was in making it up to her once best friend. “I know I probably don’t deserve your forgiveness and I completely understand but I still want you to know how much I regret hurting you Byul-ah.”

“Maybe you do regret it but it still doesn’t erase the fact that you did and the aftermath it created.”

They both fell silent after that. The both of them lost in thought about everything; the past, present and how this will affect their future. Yongsun wanted to cry so badly because of the mess she created four years ago and thinking on the friendship she destroyed on her own but she held it in. She doesn’t want Byul to deal with that and frankly she doesn’t know if the girl would want to deal with it. She’ll probably run away from me faster for it.

“Do you want to tell your dongsaes we know each other before?”

“Huh?”

“Wheein and Hyejin, do you want to tell them we know each other or do we continue pretending we have no idea who we are to each other.”

“Uhm I think it would be better if they know we know each other before.”

“Alright so we tell them we’re schoolmates nothing more.” 

As Byul finished talking she got up from her bed and made her way outside living Yongsun staring at the door.

I want to tell them you’re my best friend! Or used to be my best friend, maybe even introduce you as a friend? But I doubt you’ll want that.