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A/N: Sorry for such a late update but its finally here! I’ve tried to complete this story but it feels a little underwhelming for an ending :/

Hope you like it :D

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Sakura was still on the ground - flabbergasted at what just happened. The coldness of the concrete began to sting her hand, yet she still was left unmoving as her head trailed the fading figure of Chaeyeon in the distance.

Yena, upon hearing the commotion, rushed over to the front door and extended a hand for Sakura to grab. With reluctance, the cherry-blossom girl took the offer and used the momentum to heave herself up with a slight stumble.

Sakura watched as the flowers that had were attached to her clothes flutter off. She admired the way they complimented her name-sake of the famous pastel pink Japanese tree, barely catching the slight traces of blood as the petals hit the ground with an underwhelming thud.

Slowly, the others trickled to Yena’s side and eyed the same flowers with curiosity. Sakura wasn’t as dense as some might think, she could at least pick up the worried eyes Yena had put on as well as the slight wobble of her bottom lip before she bit it anxiously.

Eunbi - being the ‘mother’ of their group - spoke up first, her voice startling a few of the others after the silence stayed for a beat too long.

“Tell us the truth, Yena.” Eunbi spoke with dominance and finality. Her eyes bored into the back of the duck-like girl causing all eyes to turn to her.

“I-I can’t...” Taking a step back and looking them in the eyes one by one she gauged their reaction, “It would be mean to Chaeyeon.” Her eyes filled with a fire that didn’t seem to match that of Eunbi’s yet she still didn’t quit.

They would have carried on for ages (Yena would’ve given up earlier but her and Chaeyeon are best friends) had Sakura not coughed out to get everyone’s attention.

“She’s not dying is she...?” The worry was evident enough in her face and the rest of the group could tell how much the Japanese girl was worried for her Korean best friend.

Yena simply looked down to the floor - a sign that everyone got loud and clear but they didn’t want to believe it. Yujin ran and grabbed Yena by the shoulders and shook her violently with slight traces of tears running down her face. One by one, they entered back into the apartment with the faint sobbing still spilling from everyone's faces.

-

There was something magical about the way the river sparkles under the moonlight - as if the stars fell onto it, sparkling and shimmering. The glitter effect dances across the water bed as Chaeyeon clutched herself tighter, burying her head between her knees. She had already wasted all the tears that were pent up for weeks and she felt a bit relieved. Her phone - which was almost dead - flashed the time ‘22:24’ with a picture of the group appearing with it.

“Eunbi would’ve forced something out of Yena,” Chaeyeon could only laugh as she imagined the situation, a small duck being cornered by a killer bunny.

"Yena stands no chance." she thought with a small grin pulling on her facial muscles.

Whilst thinking of the group, the walk home seemed 10x faster than usual as she already ended up outside the door to her and Yena’s apartment.

She rustled for the keys in her pocket but she didn’t search for long as she heard the door open in front of her. The light shining on her feet basking them in light along with the shadow of a figure. Trailing up, her eyes followed the shadow upwards as she inspected the person in front of her.

There was a slight redness and patterned imprint on the person’s knees – Chaeyeon could only assume they were kneeling on the rough carpet for quite a while. White shorts stopping low enough to cover what was needed whilst being high enough to be fashionable. A striped navy blue and pearl white blouse which lay lightly on the line of her shorts.

Yena stood there with a sight pant in her breath and worry painted on her face as her whole body seemed to bob up and down slightly to the rate of her breathing. She was quick to engulf Chaeyeon in a tight hug making the younger feel the warmth that she had only realised she had been deprived of as the rest of the coldness melted and was replaced with Yena’s love.

Chaeyeon nestled her head on top of the elder’s shoulder and felt the soft calming movements as Yena it. They remained there in blissful peace not wanting the touching moment to fade away.

It was Chaeyeon who moved away first but no movements were made to enter the dorm room – the door resting open to Yena’s side. The duck-like girl grabbed the tip of the dancer’s jumper sleeve and tugged her lightly signalling for her to follow her lead as the two shuffled in like a steam train.

Yena forced Chaeyeon into a seat at the small dinner table they had next to the kitchen. The feather-like dancer watched as Yena manoeuvred to the fridge as she pulled out a plate, tearing the cling fling off and plopping the plate in the microwave before turning her attention to Chaeyeon who had a face blank of emotion except for the small amount of pain etched into the way her eyebrows were lightly knitted together. The dark eyebags obvious as no makeup covered them.

For Yena, this was the scariest time because at any moment Chaeyeon could give up on everything as it had been progressing to that point – her school, her friends, her family were all left on the side lines as Chaeyeon preferred not to bother others with her problems although Yena saw past that, having roomed with each other for the past 4 years now.

“Where did you go?” Yena questioned hesitantly as anything related to Chaeyeon in this state of mind should be handled with caution. Chaeyeon blinked a few times and Yena could almost see the cogs in Chaeyeon beginning to turn. The girl’s voice was almost muffled out by the sound of the microwave as her voice spoke barely above a whisper yet Yena heard it clearly.

“I went to the riverbed.” The blonde stated as her eyes locked on the other girl to watch for any flinches but what she didn’t expect was for Yena to snap at her.

“I’ve told you to just confess, Chaeyeon! I can’t stand watching you hurt yourself! Will you stop being selfish for a moment and see the pain you’re giving me? The pain you’re giving the others? The pain you’re giving Sakura?” Yena’s arms flung around her in frustrated movements, pointing to nothing in particular in blinded anger.The nearby river bed was a trigger for Yena as her mind reels back to when she found Chaeyeon there last time.

-

It had been 19:00 and Chaeyeon hadn’t even been in school that day. Everyone found it weird since Chaeyeon had never skipped a day of school, even making the effort to come in when she was on the brink of passing out – especially Yena who had not even seen the girl in their shared dorm. She laced up her shoes and almost sprinted out the door still dressed in dance clothes from her afterschool club. Ever since Chaeyeon had been seen less and less by the group, it raised concerns with many as a feeling of unrest settled in their friend group and the dance club – which Chaeyeon was co-captain to.

As Yena had thought she had searched everywhere, the sight of glittering in the distance caught her eyes as she weaved between people and got closer to the river bed. The sight below mirroring what was being painted above – flecks of white scattering both scenes as they shone with a mysterious beauty. As she approached, she saw a figure laying on the ground as the tide was rising – their head almost being submerged as the waves teetered back and forth.

Yena sprinted to the person only to find out it was Chaeyeon, her hair spread around her like cloth in the wind as it fluttered in the water. Violently shaking the younger girl, the brown-haired girl was able to take in the state the younger had been. The girl’s skin was sickly pale and dark purple bags forming under her eyes, her skin was almost like touching ice. Yena lifted Chaeyeon in her arms and carried her halfway to the dorm before Yujin (who had been running errands for her mom) rushed after seeing the two and took the left side whilst the other girl got the right. The time almost halved as they were able to get Chaeyeon changed and in bed in record time. Yujin left soon after since she had received 13 missed calls and 32 text messages from her mom (Yena reminded herself to thank the giant tomorrow at school).

After seeing Yujin leave, Yena prepared food and carried it to Chaeyeon’s room and opening it with slight force and a kick with her heel. Chaeyeon had been awake for a while but her eyes seemed empty and drained of emotions. Her head turned to Yena as she entered the room with a plateful of food. Chaeyeon took the first spoonful of porridge the warm and let it set in before swallowing it to early as it burnt and set off a coughing fit. A flurry of petals exploding from Chaeyeon’s mouth caused both to be in shock – small pink flowers falling out until a bouquet-worth of flowers laid on the floor across the dull carpet.

That was the moment Yena knew everything had changed.

-

Chaeyeon’s eyes flashed with guilt as tears welled in her eyes – she almost couldn’t believe that she had been this blind in the first place. Not only had she broken Yena’s one rule to not go the riverbed, she also hurt everyone around her. Her sobs filled the room as Yena’s face changed from anger to worry as she was left to stand awkwardly as Chaeyeon got up wordlessly and walked to her room.

She lay on her bed and silently questioned everything. Her mind reeling at everything that happened so far this evening – the stress and guilt accumulating in her mind and it made her feel like she was going insane. Her head was pounding from the thoughts that plagued her mind swirling and twirling with options. She was afraid of her own mind at most of the time but this had so far been the worst as it felt like a voice in her head mocked her and flung harmful comments and disses around the confinement of her room. Her hands wrapped around her head as they tugged at the hair that cascaded down. Somehow, she thought that the pain from pulling would cause the insults the cease yet it was to no avail

A light rap at her door made her pause for a moment. The door felt a tap once more as Chaeyeon pushed herself up and shuffled to the door. The bear-like girl peeked through a slight crack she made with the open door to see no one there except a plate on the floor with a small note.

‘To Chaeyeon, I’m sorry for how I acted, and it wasn’t fair but I’m not coming back until you confess – Yena’

Chaeyeon almost couldn’t believe what she was reading, the feeling of the cold atmosphere slowly becoming more noticeable to her as she checked every room in the dorm in search for her dormmate in a frantic rush. When she could not find the girl, she dejectedly picked up the plate and took it back with her into her room and set it down with a ‘thunk’ that seemed to echo around the house. Chaeyeon didn’t understand how the lack of the older girl’s presence made the whole dorm feel colder and quieter than ever before – when Yena was off to classes it was never like this.

Chaeyeon was finally alone. This time she didn’t mean it as she collapsed onto her bed and let the small sobs lull her into sleep.

-

Sunlight streamed in from the crack in Chaeyeon’s curtain, softly hitting the right side of Chaeyeon’s face which was hardened by the dry tears that marked her face. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as her chapped lips parted and let out a hum from . She slowly removed her head from her arms as she stood up from the floor and passed the forgotten plate from yesterday.

She went about her day as usual except a heavy burden crushed her chest. Not the type that came from the flowers or from jealousy as a feeling of dread and depression settled in her core and seemed to slow her thoughts and movements. Her speed was sluggish like a snail. Her eyes were soulless. Chaeyeon was tired if the bags under her eyes were not a testament to the obvious. Her whole body was like paper as it was frail and flung around in any direction it was hit.

By the afternoon, Chaeyeon was staring at the bumpy white ceiling that looked down on those in the living room. Counting sheep had not worked to get the girl to sleep. Neither did drinking warm milk. Her eyes forced themselves to close so that all she could see was the darkness. She almost reached a point where she could sleep until a knock on the door interrupted her.

“What’s up with the door?” Chaeyeon questioned as she heaved herself up - her mind reciting her apology to Yena as she opened the door. She bowed down to Yena at a 90-degree angle and forcefully shut her eyes.

“Yena, I’m sorry about how I’ve acted. I’ve been so ignorant and rude towards you and I should have known how much this would affect you. But don’t worry I’ll confess and get over her! It doesn’t matter if I get rejected because at least she was my friend.” Chaeyeon began as she grabbed the other girl’s hand it was surprisingly smooth.

“Chae- “The latter quipped before Chaeyeon hushed her and pulled the girl to her chest.

“You asked me why I love her. I love the way her eyes sparkle when she talks about her games; the way she looks when she’s focusing in class – the seriousness in her face making her look like a real-life girl crush; the way she reacts to what I do with support and affection even if it’s just in a friendly way. Even when she’s trying her best in sport, yet she still looks cute. Yena, I fell for the way her face had a sly smirk when she would join Yujin in teasing you.” A goofy smile spread across Chaeyeon’s face as she looked up to the latter and pulled the girl closer and she finally began to open her eyes. “Yena I really love her. I really love Sakura – now I’m not afraid of rejection. For your sake and the rest of the group, I’ll confess even if these feelings won’t fade.”

A slight “Ehh?” was heard from Chaeyeon’s chest as she peaked at the girl in her arms. Hair tied into a pony tail, her hair an orange-brown. The girl wore a blouse that was pale pink with a red collar. Chaeyeon took a step back and saw Sakura’s blushing face, she felt her own warm up as well. Several small flowers threatened to spill whilst uttering the flower’s name under her breath.

She didn’t expect Sakura to take a few bold steps forward and capture Chaeyeon in a light lip lock as she felt the bitter taste of the petals fade into a sweeter more tolerable taste of strawberries and cinnamon. The pressure of the flowers no longer pressing tirelessly on her chest as it felt like she could finally breathe. She felt Sakura quiver slightly from standing on her tip-toes so Chaeyeon took the chance to deepen the kiss as she lent down and wrapped her arms loosely around the smaller girl’s waist. Chaeyeon could feel the smile spreading on Sakura’s lips as she pressed their lips together once more.

As they parted, they leaned their foreheads together transferring the heat between each other like a radiator as they both had red faces, yet the smiles of their face were the widest they could have been –  they could rival the Cheshire Cat's.

Chaeyeon couldn’t form proper words as it all came out like gibberish. Sakura couldn’t help but chuckle at Chaeyeon as she leaned closer to the dancer’s ear and whispered a few words that Chaeyeon would remember for the rest of her life.

“I love you too, Chaeyeon.”