She was nervous. Ofcourse she was. After spending some time with Eunbi away from all the mess she wanted to avoid, she had been thinking. She had prepared herself to tell Nako and Sakura what her plans were, and none of it included the two of them, well, that is, for the meantime. She had concluded it in her heart that she would be needing a little more space than usual, and that it would be a great opportunity for them to grow separately.

She knew she was going to miss them but she also knew that she had to do this. She didn’t have much time left either. Her leave was bound to happen, and it was confirmed with the results the resident Doctor, Kim Nayoung, gave. She was ready to let Nako and Sakura go and pursue their dreams.

Hitomi looked at the sky. It was the same view that she saw when the three of them first came here. The soft yellows peeking through a blanket of sky blue hues, coupled with the cool morning breeze. It reminded her of the angry red head that came shouting at her in her pajamas. She smiled at the thought of her getting stunned by the girl’s beauty.

Actually, every time she thinks about Chaewon, an involuntary smile would come up to her face. Hitomi noticed that she has been smiling a lot ever since she came to know her. But her expression changed when she realized her situation and a frown replaced.

Eunbi looked at the troubled girl. Having her as company for the past days, she has come to believe that Hitomi was more than what she seemed. She was smart, calculative, careful, but very sweet and endearing. Eunbi absolutely adored her.

“You will be fine. Don’t worry.” Eunbi smiled and gave her hand a squeeze.

“Well? Are you ready?” Eunbi stopped the engine and Hitomi nodded.

The two exited the car and was surprised with how grand the welcoming was. Hitomi saw Chaewon holding up a bunch of flowers which she assumed was for her. The thought merely made Hitomi blush like a mad apple that she couldn’t keep up with the eye contact.

She was overwhelmed, before she knew it, she was stuck with her own two feet not moving as a familiar Kim Minjoo appeared. She cursed herself for not acting naturally that day. And then, as Minju had her within arms reach, she stopped functioning. Kim Minjoo cupped her hands on Hitomi’s cheeks and placed a soft, longing kiss on the girl’s lips.

Everything went blurry from then on. Her eyes had blocked everyone in sight, even Kim Minjoo herself, her ears had been deaf to the cheers of the crowd, and feeling numb from the kiss.

Unexpectedly, she was rescued by the one and only, Sashihara Rino. She knew she was bound to see the older woman, however she didn't expect it would be too soon. Seeing her now means something was big was about to happen.

She ripped the two apart, by force, which was followed by the hearty laugh that she always had. Eventually, they forgot what Minjoo did.

“Something happened, Hiichan. I’m taking you back.” Sasshi replied. The older woman looked at her surroundings and somehow, she saw Minjoo staring blankly at her.

“But fix whatever needs fixing right now.” Sasshi let out a sigh.

“I’ll tell you what happened later and you have a lot of explaining to do.” Sasshi took Nako and Sakura by the hand, leaving Hitomi and Minjoo alone.

When Hitomi realized that the crowd was gone, she looked at the girl who was looking at her intensely.

“Minjoo..” Hitomi whispered her name as she touched her lips. She took the girl by the hand, leading her to a secluded place.

“Hii.. I’m sorry.. I couldn’t help myself..” Minjoo replied. “It’s just that when I saw you, I wanted to kiss you, I wanted to confirm something.. I felt it..”

“Hii.. I’m still.. Truly.. Madly.. Deeply.. In love with you. And I would do everything I can to erase all the pain I’ve given you for the past years.”

Hitomi could feel the sincerity in every word she uttered. Her hands were shaking but her eyes had made Hitomi fall weaker. The mochi girl felt her heart shatter, as memories from the past kept coming back.

“Monster” A voice inside of her spoke. It repeated in her mind like a broken record. Hitomi shook her head. It was damn time she gets rid of all the thoughts pinning her down.

“Hii.. I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done. I’m sorry I called you a monster, all those names you didn’t deserve. I’m sorry it took me this long to come back. I’m sorry, Hii… Everything that I did continuously haunts me every night and not being able to make things okay between us… I know  All I ask for is one chance to make everything else right again.” Minjoo took both of Hitomi’s hands and clasped it to hers. Staring deep into her watery orbs, Hitomi felt a gush of emotions.

In front of her was the girl she first fell in love with.

In front of her was the girl who taught her how to love.

In front of her was the girl who made her believe that even if a person hurts you down to the core, when you truly loved them, the love never fades.

“Hiichan, calling you a monster is the last thing that I want to do.”

“No monster would ever be able to love someone as horrible as I am…. You’ve always called me your angel, but deep down… It’s the other way around.”

“Honda Hitomi.. Please take me again..”

“jebal…”

Tears were flowing down from Minjoo’s cheeks, rendering Hitomi speechless. Hitomi realizing all the love she still has for this girl, removed her hands from Minjoo’s clasp and pulled her into a warm embrace, caressing the girl’s head and letting the sobbing girl bask into her warmth.

Hitomi allowed the girl to settle and calm herself down, not letting her go until her tears stopped. Hitomi looked at her in the eye and released her, taking her hand into hers.

“Regardless of everything that happened Minjoo… I still love you..”

That line was enough to for the eavesdropping redhead to leave her work and run far away from where the two ex lovers were. She didn’t mean to over hear everything that the girls were talking about but somehow she did. She was confident that Hitomi would choose her. She has had enough of heart breaks for the day, and hearing Hitomi say those words from was a nail in her coffin.

Chaewon ran until she bumped into the primary reason why she was put in this circumstance, Eunbi. The cousin that left everything on her shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” Eunbi took Chaewon and enveloped her into an embrace. Chaewon didn’t respond instead, she kept mum and drowned herself into Eunbi’s arms, tears streaming down her face.

Eunbi knew Chaewon wouldn’t talk about it. Not here. Not when her sobs were slowly invading the corridor. She hasn’t actually talked to her for the longest time. Like, talk talk. It was rather a series of feelings left unsaid and a lingering tension between the two cousins that allowed them to drift apart. 

“Let’s ditch everything for the day, Hyewon can do my work, while Chaeyeon can do yours.” Eunbi suggested. Chaewon nodded. And so it begins, part 2 of Eunbi’s kidnapping expeditions.

Eunbi took her to the highest point in Yuchiri. She got Chaewon a pint of her favorite Mint Choco Icecream and stared at her devouring several spoonfuls. It was like the old days when the two of them would just hang around here.

But after Eunbi started to pursue her doctorate degree, the two never got to do this again.

“Chaewon. This brings back old times, doesn’t it?” Eunbi sips from a can of sprite, something she replaced beer with. Chaewon was merely silent.

“Chae, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to but I just wanna know if you’re okay..” Eunbi looked at her cousin.

“Unnie..” Chaewon put her spoon down. “I don’t know anymore..”

“One minute, I’m so sure about the things I want to do, the next minute, my courage fades and I stop moving..”

“You know, it’s perfectly normal to have these kinds of thoughts.” Eunbi paused and put her can down.

“But while courage fades, when you’re sure with what you want, your goals will be there to keep you moving. Yeah, getting discouraged might stop us from making our moves but you gotta think… what if?”

“What if I didn’t do this? Would my dreams still come true?” Eunbi looked away in a distance.

“What if I just stopped? Would Hitomi still be there?” Eunbi now shifted her gaze at Chaewon who was looking down at her ice cream.

Chaewon sighed.

“Unnie.. did you ever feel this way?” Chaewon asked and suddenly a wave of emotions rushed through her head. Eunbi paused and took Chaewon’s hand.

“All the time.” Eunbi smiled sadly. “I’m not the reliable unnie you guys always see me as. I cry a lot. Especially in Medschool. I cried when I couldn’t go home even if I wanted to. I cried when I had a lot of things to say but I couldn’t.”

“Why did you only go home just now, Unnie?”

“Because I just found the courage to be back… and fix things with everyone, Auntie, Chaeyeon and especially you.”

“You don’t have to do any fixing Unnie. The moment you came back, I knew it’ll be okay. Chaeyeon and I loves you so much you know? And being a doctor is what you really want. How coud we have the heart to take that away from you?” Chaewon looked at her in the eyes.

“Besides, you already did so much. There’s nothing to feel sorry for.” Chaewon smiled.

“And how about Chaeyeon dream and yours?” Eunbi asked.

“Chaeyeon and I are still young.” Cheawon put emphasis on the word young, earning a glare from Eunbi and a hearty chuckle followed after.

“We’re still figuring things out for ourselves, Unnie. We’re learning more about ourselves. Learning a lot. Looking into different things, having different perspectives. Which is somehow better for the two of us. If I’m being really honest, right now, we’re having the best time of our lives. ” Chaewon replied. Eunbi felt relief at how genuine the