Chaeyeon finally breathes a sigh of relief, peering out from behind the banquet table where the food and punch were to see if any of her 'fans' had seen her escape but thankfully they didn't. They were running around like headless chickens, trying to find out where she was. Chaeyeon attempts to slip away from the hall but it didn't take long for her fans to spot her as they screamed and pointed out, "There she is!" 

Chaeyeon is surprised as she curses and scrambles to run away. She pauses in shock when she feels someone sliding their hand into her own, looking up to see a serious looking Sakura staring at the massive crowd of fangirls rushing towards them. Sakura then tugs Chaeyeon's hand as they weaved through the dancing couples away from the crazed fans - Sakura slamming open the metal auditorium door, ignoring the loud bang as Chaeyeon allowed herself to be pulled by the love of her life. Too enthralled by Sakura's beauty, her focus was only on the fact that Sakura had her brown locks up in a ponytail and she was wearing pastel coloured dress which made her look like a fairy. God! She was such a useless gay! 

Unaware that they had already stopped, Chaeyeon's gaze stayed on Sakura. Sakura pants, scanning the surrounding garden area to see if anyone had followed them before taking in a huge amount of air. She then turns to look at a dazed Chaeyeon. Worried, she waves her hand in front of Chaeyeon's face, trying to catch Chaeyeon's attention. When that didn't work, she called out to her. 

"Chaeyeon. Chaeyeon! LEE CHAEYEON!!" 

Chaeyeon finally hears Sakura, blurting out a, "Yes!" 

Sakura couldn't help but giggle at how cute Chaeyeon's confused face was. Chaeyeon blushed once she realised what she had done, choosing to avert her eyes away from Sakura, finding her dress shoes more interesting to look at. Sakura noticed Chaeyeon trying to avoid her eyes as she leaned forward, using her thumb and forefinger - hooking it under Chaeyeon' chin and tilting her face up so they were looking at each other. 

"Why are you avoiding my eyes?" Sakura questions. 

Chaeyeon is speechless as she stares into Sakura's hazel eyes.

"Beautiful" Chaeyeon breathes. 

Sakura smirks, not flinching from the comment, returning it with a, "You're not too bad yourself, Charming." 

Chaeyeon blushes as Sakura pulls away. 

"Th--Thank you" Chaeyeon stutters. 

Sakura quirks a brow towards Chaeyeon, "For what?" 

"For saving me from the horde of fangirls" Chaeyeon answers, clearing . 

Sakura shrugs nonchalantly, "It's no biggie. I saw you were in trouble so I took you away. Don't have to thank me." 

As Chaeyeon was about to refute Sakura's words, she heard someone calling her name. 

"Chaeyeon sunbae!" 

Chaeyeon looks over her shoulder and sees the girl she bumped into the other day. The other Yujin. As she is about to greet her, she feels Sakura pulling her back so Sakura was standing in front of her. Chaeyeon could see Sakura's blank face staring at the girl. Yujin stopped once she saw Sakura, approaching slower this time. She thinks to herself. She wouldn't do anything with Chaeyeon sunbae here. 

"Sunbaenims" Yujin greets as innocently as possible. 

Sakura crosses her arm, arching a brow, "Mwoya? What show are you trying to put on?" 

Both Chaeyeon and Yujin stare in shock. Chaeyeon hasn't seen Sakura this cold and sarcastic before. Yujin on the other hand was starting to regret coming here. 

"Cat got your tongue? You followed us again, stalker?" Sakura pressed on, her tone getting darker with each question, "I warned you before, didn't I? The consequences? I guess you've decided to risk your life over someone who would never like you back." 

"Sakura!" Chaeyeon finally spoke, "What are you talking about?"

"Go on, creep. Tell Chaeyeon or should I?" Sakura threatened. 

Yujin tears up, sniffling, "I--I don't know what you mean, Sakura sunbae. Why are you doing this to me?" 

Chaeyeon steps out from behind Sakura, "Sakura, she's just an innocent junior. Why are you doing this?" 

Sakura scoffs, "Innocent!?!" she then points at Yujin, "That girl is the definition of a pyschopath! She literally stalks you with those huge DSLR camera! When I first saw her, she had a picture of you inside her book. I knew there was something wrong with her so I did some digging and it turns out she was in a mental institution for stalking and excessive obsession!" 

Chaeyeon is shocked as she turns to look at Yujin who was shaking her head in denial. 

"She's done this before, Chaeyeon! I even have the memory card from her camera and when I opened it, there were close to a thousand pictures of you. She's crazy!! She will hurt you and I won't let that happen!" Sakura argued fiercely. 

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! I WOULD NEVER HURT HER!!" Yujin screamed. 

She turns to Chaeyeon, grabbing hold of her arm, "Please, Chaeyeon sunbae! You have to believe me! Sakura sunbae is lying. She's always disliked me." 

Chaeyeon didn't know what to think as she looks between Sakura and Yujin. Seeing Sakura's angered face, Chaeyeon knew Sakura wasn't lying - she never lies, it's just not what she would do. On the other hand, she barely knew Yujin and hearing Sakura's words frightened her a little. She pulled her arm out of Yujin's grip as she takes a step back, leaning towards Sakura. 

"Umm, Yujin-ssi. I think it's best if you leave. The Sakura I know would never lie to me. She's never done it before and she won't now. I hope you stop, well, whatever it is you do and move on because Sakura is right. I don't like you that way" Chaeyeon puts it as nicely as she could despite feeling a chill down her spine. 

Yujin's jaw dropped as her arms went slack. Sakura smiled victoriously and Yujin caught that before seeing Sakura's face returned to blank. Yujin clenched her fists. This wasn't supposed to happen. Chaeyeon was supposed to be hers. 

"No. You're supposed to be mine. You're supposed to belong to me, not anyone else" Yujin muttered obsessively. 

Sensing the danger that was Yujin, Sakura was quick to pull Chaeyeon towards her, hiding Chaeyeon behind her. 

"Chaeyeon. Listen to me very carefully" Sakura whispers, "Girls like her are unstable and we've just triggered her so when I give you the signal, I want you to run to find security. Do you understand?" 

Chaeyeon nods albeit scared. Yujin looked up at Chaeyeon and Sakura as Chaeyeon flinched from the intensity in Yujin's eyes. 

"You don't understand. Nobody knows you more than I do. I know what makes you happy and what you dislike. I am the perfect girl for you, not her" Yujin points at Sakura, "I know you like her but all she does is hurt you. She doesn't deserve you. You deserve someone who knows how to love you and that's me!" 

With each word, Yujin stepped closer towards the pair - the pair taking a step back involuntarily. The crazy in Yujin's eyes was becoming more apparent. 

"We could have been together. We would have been happy. If not for her," Yujin stares at Sakura, "She is the reason why you won't love me back. But once she's gone, you'll see that I'm right for you." 

As Yujin lunges for Sakura, Sakura pushes Chaeyeon away, yelling, "NOW!!" 

Chaeyeon sprints in the other direction, peering back to see Sakura attempting to keep a crazed Yujin from clawing at her face. She doubles her speed, finally spotting the group of black tied guards hired by the council just in case of an emergency. 

"OI!" Chaeyeon screamed, attracting their attention.  

Not even taking time to breathe, she commands them, "We have a situation! You need to follow me NOW!" 

They didn't question her as they followed behind Chaeyeon who had already begun her route back to where Sakura was. Arriving at the same place, she was shocked to see Sakura restraining a squirming Yujin. Both Yujin's arms were held behind her back as Sakura maintained her tight grip. The guards caught whiff of the situation and immediately took over from Sakura, each guard holding onto Yujin's arms as she screamed. 

"Unhand me this instant! Do you have any idea who I am! I could have you all sued!" 

"Yeah and I can have you in jail for aggravated assault, stalking and the list goes on" Sakura chimes in as she dusted her clothes. 

Yujin glares at Sakura, "We aren't done here!"

Sakura sneers, "No, we aren't but let's leave it for another day." 

She then turns to the guards and says,  "Hand her to the police and make sure nobody is allowed to bail her out." 

The guards bowed before hauling Yujin out like she was nothing, ignoring her screams. Chaeyeon walked over to Sakura, scanning her for any wounds as she frowned. 

"Are you okay? Did she hurt you? Should we head to a hospital?" Chaeyeon questioned. 

Sakura shakes her head, "I'm fine. She wasn't even able to lay a hand on me. Perks of learning hapkido as a child." 

Chaeyeon still didn't feel right as she took Sakura's hand and lead her away. With her free hand, she pulled out her phone. 

"It's me. I need you to have the doctors at HanJin Medical ready. I'm taking a taxi there now." 

Chaeyeon then ended the phone call as Sakura planted her feet to the ground, causing Chaeyeon to stop as well. 

"I told you I'm fine" Sakura says. 

"Doesn't make me feel any better. I need to be sure" Chaeyeon says. 

Sakura then cupped Chaeyeon's face, "Look at me. I am fine." 

Chaeyeon gulped down her saliva, blushing at their approximity. Realising how close they actually were, Sakura pulls back, clearing . 

"I'll be fine" Sakura says. 

"About earlier--" 

Sakura turned to look at Chaeyeon. 

"When you said you wouldn't let that girl hurt me, did you mean it?" Chaeyeon asked cautiously. 

Sakura chuckled looking at a shy Chaeyeon. Where was the usual overconfident F4 member that she was so used to seeing? The girl in front of Sakura right now resembled a cute hamster. 

"Of course, I meant it" Sakura mused causing Chaeyeon to look at her with a sparkle in her eyes, "I haven't been truthful about my feelings towards you. I've tried really hard to hide it because I knew that if I admitted it, I would only hurt you." 

There was hurt and pain mixed in Sakura's words, like she was trying to keep it together. 

"You remind me so much of my ex but then you're nothing like her. You're kind. Funny. You make me laugh more than anything and I see the hope in your eyes that makes me want to just wrap you in my arms and never let go. I like you more than I care to admit and I thought it was because you resembled Jurina but it wasn't. Without me even knowing, you've crawled into my heart and replaced every broken piece that I thought would never heal with your own" Sakura admitted, the heavy weight lifting off her shoulders as she revealed all the things she's kept hidden. 

Chaeyeon was silent as Sakura peered up, trying to check Chaeyeon's reaction but she found none. Absolutely nothing. Was Chaeyeon mad at her? Was she in shock? Did she not like Sakura anymore? 

"Chae--"

Sakura's eyes widened when she felt a pair of lips covering her own. Chaeyeon was kissing her. Her lips were so soft, warm and sweet. Sakura's arms s around Chaeyeon's waist pulling her closer as she closed her eyes. It felt so good and she never wanted it to stop but they were losing air so they had no choice but to break apart. 

"I've been waiting for you to say that for ages. I've loved you since the first day I met you. You and your quirky gamer qualities. Your smile, your laugh, the way you scream every time you lose a game and even your weird running," the two burst out laughing at Chaeyeon's words, their foreheads leant against each other. 

"I will always love you no matter what, Miyawaki Sakura. So, can you please, please put me out of my misery and agree to be my girlfriend?" Chaeyeon asked sincerely. 

Sakura pretended to think making Chaeyeon groan to which Sakura giggled before planting another kiss on Chaeyeon's lips, muttering a, "Yes." 

Chaeyeon grins before moving in to fully kiss Sakura again and again until they heard a gasp. They broke apart to see Nako and Hitomi staring at them with wide eyes. 

"Gomen!" the two said after exchanging glances and ran away. 

Sakura snorts while Chaeyeon blushes. The two decided to head back to the auditorium, now, joined to the hip as Sakura kept Chaeyeon's fangirls at bay. 

What a night!

~~~~~~~~~

The night was far from over. Hyewon was left alone after all the fangirls decided to chase after Chaeyeon and Sakura who looked more like they were eloping and the other F4 members who had disappeared. Hyewon had half a mind to call her driver to pick her up and just leave. She's had enough of hormonal teens and thirsty fans for the night. The only thing that intrigued her was the banquet table. An array of different types of food and drinks but still that wasn't a solid enough reason to keep her there. 

As she moves away from the buffet table, she heads towards the DJ booth - grimacing at the DJ's choice in music. Who the hell decided to hire his ? 

"Oii!" Hyewon calls out to the DJ who pulls off his headphones. 

"Your tracks are lame! It's 2020, ain't no one listening to JB no more!" Hyewon disses the DJ. 

The DJ crosses his arms, offended by Hyewon's statement but he didn't have the time to reply to Hyewon's diss. He watched Hyewon lift herself onto the stage, waving him aside so she could take over. She then opened her spotify account on the laptop, tapping into her own playlist as she played the tracks. The first track flowed through the speakers - Post Malone's Die For Me. She could see the crowd bobbing their heads to the song. It was definitely better than a pre-pubescent kid singing about love, screaming baby half the song. 

She quirks a brow towards the DJ who was visibly stunned by Hyewon's song choice. Hyewon smirked, turning to look below the stage, her eyes widening when she saw Miru. Miru looked at Hyewon with fondness written in her eyes but she was quick to avert her eyes. Hyewon couldn't help the guilt building in her chest. She never meant to upset Miru but she just didn't know how to explain herself without sounding like a complete . She watched Miru flee in the opposite direction - a choice Hyewon needed to make now was to chase after her or not. It was now or never. 

Hyewon leaped off the stage in one solid jump, landing safely on her feet as she chased Miru. She spots the familiar black haired girl, her hand moving to catch the other girl's wrist, successfully stopping her from escaping. Miru is standing rooted in her place, not even bothering to turn. 

"Can we please talk?" Hyewon asks quietly. 

Miru finally turns to look at Hyewon, her eyes softened upon seeing Hyewon's dejected expression. Miru sighs, tugging Hyewon along with her to the back of the stage. A small door with the words 'Only For Staff' stood before them. Hyewon watched Miru pull out a keycard from her purse, swiping it across the digital monitor, hearing a click as Miru turned the knob of the door and pushing the door open. She allows Hyewon through the door first before following after her, shutting the door behind her. Miru climbed up the flight of stairs as Hyewon follows silently. At the end of the flight of stairs was another door, Miru opening it as Hyewon steps into what she recognised as the broadcasting room.

There was no one but them present at the moment as Miru leans her back against the desk. No words exchanged between them as Hyewon stood around awkwardly - not knowing how to open now that she was in the same room as Miru. 

"You wanted to talk?" Miru questioned, opening the mouth first.

"-Uh-I-" Hyewon stuttered, clearing , "Well, I- first wanted to apologize for what I said the other day." 

Miru said nothing, allowing Hyewon to continue instead of interrupting her. 

"Also, I wanted you to know that I'm flattered that you like me" Hyewon says, fiddling with her fingers nervously, sighing deeply, "Truth be told, I've always had my eyes on you. I just tried hard not to show it even to the extent of pretending not to care." 

Miru's blank expression gradually shifted into a slightly more hopeful one. 

"The reason I ran away from you was because of my past," Hyewon reveals, "Couple of years ago, I fell in love." 

Miru couldn't help her shock, her jaw dropped at the sudden revelation. 

"I loved that girl so much. She was my first in everything. She made living my horrible family bearable and I was ready to do everything to keep her beside me but she broke my heart" Hyewon choked up, feeling her tears well up in her eyes, threatening to fall at any time, "She broke my heart so bad and left me with nothing but an empty shell. She threw everything we had away like it meant absolutely nothing to her. Like the time we spent, the kisses and hugs we shared were nothing." 

Before knowing, droplets of tears rolled down her cheeks. The pandora box of her life was finally opened and it brought back all the past emotions that hit her like a 5 ton truck. She burst out into tears, covering her face using her hands, hoping to muffle her tears. She didn't expect this to happen. She believed she was over this but clearly, she wasn't. She felt herself being pulled into a hug. She retracted her hands, choosing to bury her face in the crook of Miru's neck. The warmth was unbelievable and Miru smelled amazing - not to be a creep but she wanted to stay like this forever if she could. Her arms circled Miru's waist, her hands clasped together, resting it against Miru's back. 

Miru ran her hand through Hyewon's dark locks, shushing a sobbing Hyewon and whispering multiple 'It's okay' and 'Cry it all out'. Soon, Hyewon's sobs reduced to sniffles and occassional hickups. Miru pulled away as Hyewon's mood sours from the lack of contact and warmth. 

"You feel better now?" Miru asks worriedly. 

Hyewon nods. There was sort of a feeling of liberation and it felt good. Miru smiles, brushing a stray hair behind Hyewon's ear causing Hyewon to blush in response. 

"I'm willing to wait." 

Hyewon's head snapped up to look at Miru. Did she hear that right? The serene look on Miru's face answered Hyewon's question. 

"Whatever it is you're dealing with, you don't have to keep it to yourself. No matter how long it takes for you to heal, for you to open up to me, I'll wait. I may not be able to heal you completely but I'll try and I promise I won't hurt you. I like you too much to do that" Miru says.

Hyewon stares at Miru with her jaw dropped. Miru giggles, her hand moving to help close Hyewon's mouth. 

"If you'll have me" Miru says. 

Hyewon couldn't help the smile that bloomed. She was truly and helplessly falling in love again. This time - for once - maybe Shiroma Miru was worth risking her heart once more. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

After running away from Hana, Eunbi was determined to get as far away as possible. Her tears already streaming down her face as she focused on the adrenaline pushing her body to run even faster, ignoring the pain that striked deep into her heart. Within seconds, she fell forward, crashing into the ground and just like that, she cracked. She bawled, letting out loud and heavy sobs - not from the physical wounds that marked her body but the inner wound that cut even deeper and bled even more. 

"Eunbi!" 

Eunbi looked through her watery eyes to see a frantic Chaewon. The orange haired girl knelt down, inspecting Eunbi for wounds, her eyes landing on both Eunbi's knees which were bleeding. 

"You're hurt! Come on, let's get up. I'll take you to the hospital" Chaewon said as she tried to help Eunbi up. 

Eunbi refused Chaewon's help, "Go! Leave me alone! Go back to Minjoo! Like Hana did!" 

Chaewon frowns, "Why would I do that? I feel nothing for Minjoo. Now, please just get up so we can get your wounds treated before it gets infected." 

"Why do you care?" Eunbi asks harshly, "None of you actually cares - Hana most certainly doesn't. If she did, she wouldn't do this to me. She wouldn't ignore my feelings knowing fully that I've loved her since we were kids. She wouldn't throw me into the friendzone." 

Chaewon grits her teeth, "Stop!" 

Eunbi is taken aback, her eyes focused on a heaving Chaewon, "Stop talking about Jung Hana for once! Why can't you see that she doesn't love you! She never did! All she's done is use you and you're stupid enough to go along with it! Jung Hana has always been in love with Kim Minjoo and she will never look at you the same way she does Kim Minjoo! You've seen it earlier. Why is it so hard for you to wake up from your obsession with her?" 

Every word that left Chaewon's mouth was like a bullet to Eunbi's already battered up heart yet it all made sense. Chaewon takes in a deep breathe, sighing as she attempts to cool down. 

"Why can't you see me?" Chaewon breathes out, Eunbi slowly moving her eyes to see a disappointed Chaewon, "I've always been there for you even if you never noticed me. I've loved you even longer than you've loved Hana but you've never looked at me even once." 

"But don't you like Minjoo? Isn't that why you've always hung around her?" Eunbi questioned after hearing Chaewon's confession. 

Chaewon snickered, "The only reason I hung around Kim Minjoo was to hurt Hana. To let Jung Hana know how it feels to see the person she likes love another. I wanted her to suffer like I did." 

Eunbi was shocked to hear Chaewon's dark intent, "So, you never liked Minjoo in the first place? You were only with her to break Hana's heart?" 

Chaewon nodded, "As long as Hana was in pain, I didn't care what it took and Jung Hana knew that." 

Eunbi was silent. She didn't know what to say. Her unrequited love for Hana had lead Chaewon to hurt not only herself but another person. Was this all her fault? All because of her obsession for her childhood friend who won't even look in her direction. Chaewon taking Eunbi's silence as permission. She hooked her arms under Eunbi's armpits, hauling Eunbi off the ground as she helps Eunbi to walk. She pulled out her phone and called her driver asking him to bring the car to the side entrance - the closest entrance from where they were before ending the call. 

Once Chaewon's driver caught sight of them, he opened the door allowing Chaewon to help Eunbi into the car seat. She closed the door, waving her driver off and getting in from the other side, closing the door as she ordered her driver to drive them to the closest hospital. Her driver complied with her request. The car ride to the hospital was silent as Eunbi opted to look out of the window while Chaewon tried her best not to make it obvious that she was taking a couple of glances.

Pulling up in front of the entrance of the hospital, the driver stopped. Chaewon was first out of the car as she pulls open the car door and offers her hand to Eunbi who took it graciously. Chaewon helped to pull Eunbi up from the car, her arm wrapped around Eunbi's waist, supporting Eunbi as she limped through the hospital's sliding doors. The doctor on call saw Eunbi and immediately lead them towards a bed. Chaewon helps to lower Eunbi onto the bed gently with the help of the doctor. The nurse pushed a medical cart towards them as they got to work. The doctor examined Eunbi, asking her a couple of routine questions while the nurse cleaned and dressed her wounds. All while Chaewon stood silently at the side, watching the nurse doing her job. 

The doctor noticed Eunbi's left ankle doubling in size, slight bruising appearing on it as he gently touched it making Eunbi flinch in pain. He told her they would need to take a CT scan to determine if there was any fracture. Eunbi nods as they helped her onto a wheelchair, pushing her into the examination room. The nurse blocking Chaewon from entering as she stood outside patiently. After a while, Eunbi was wheeled out of the examination room as she shot Chaewon a small smile. 

The doctor followed behind informing Chaewon that Eunbi had a hairline fracture. She would need to wear a cast temporarily. Chaewon nods and tells the doctor to do whatever is necessary. The doctor understands, smiling as they returned Eunbi to the previous bed. They bandaged Eunbi's foot, putting a cast to secure it. The doctor prescribes Eunbi some medicines and tells her to keep the cast on for at least a month before coming back. Eunbi nods, thanking the doctor. Chaewon moves to settle the bill, returning in no time with a bag of Eunbi's prescriptions. 

Eunbi takes it gratefully, muttering a small, "Thank you." 

Chaewon doesn't say anything as she helps carry Eunbi onto the wheelchair. Chaewon pushes Eunbi's wheelchair while Eunbi holds onto her crutches, feeling extremely sorry for troubling Chaewon. As they appeared through the hospital doors, Chaewon's driver is already on standby. He opens the door for them as Chaewon lifts Eunbi off the wheelchair despite Eunbi's objections and places her onto the car seat. She returns the wheelchair to the nurse, seeing that her driver had already loaded Eunbi's crutches with her. Chaewon gets in from the other side as she tells her driver Eunbi's address. Chaewon's driver drives out of the hospital and onto the main road.

"Thank you for this, Chaewon. I owe you a lot it seems" Eunbi says. 

"Don't thank me. I did what I had to do" Chaewon replies. 

"Let's talk" Eunbi proposes.

Chaewon shakes her head, "Not tonight." 

Eunbi respects Chaewon's decisions as the ride turns silent once again. 

:))))  Well now, that ends midsummer ball's arc. This is also my present to all of my loyal readers for sticking with me and being patient. I know I haven't been updating regularly but I have been going through some personal things and it drains me of any energy. Thank you for always making me laugh with your comments. Please do comment more! I don't bite. This will most probably be the last chapter that I will release for now bcs I'm going back to school but I'll do my best to end this well. Also, sorry for any typos :")Love from your author, H.