1st week of March

Saturday, 7PM KST

“Sakuchan?”

“...”

“Miyawaki - san?”

“...”

“Sakura?”

“...”

“Miyawaki Sakura-chan?”

“...”

Hyewon was furrowing her eyebrows and waving her hands in front of Sakura. Sakura was sitting at her computer screen, not even realizing that their Fortnite match has ended and is just staring at the loaded Fortnite screen. Hyewon has been trying to get Sakura’s attention ever since the match ended, but Sakura wouldn’t budge. Hyewon decided that waving her hands in front of the girl and calling her name wouldn’t work, so she pulled out a pen from her wallet and gently poked Sakura’s arm with the clicker end.

“AAAAAAAH! Hyewon!” Sakura shouted in pain and surprise, causing Hyewon to giggle a bit and garner a bit of attention from those who were playing games in the PC Bang that they were in.

“That’s not funny! Why did you electrocute me?”

“Ya, Sakuchan… You’ve been staring at your Fortnite screen for about 10 minutes and even when I call your name, wave my hands in front of you and poke your cheek, you still won’t budge. Not to mention, even if I hadn’t played games for awhile, after one round of tutoring me in the playground type of Fortnite, I managed to defeat you in the first Solo round I’ve ever participated in. What happened to gamer Sakura?”

Sakura was still rubbing the part where Hyewon had electrocuted her with her prank pen. Truth be told, ever since her encounter with Kwon Eunbi, Sakura hadn’t been thinking straight for the rest of the trip. Nako and Hitomi seemed to chalk it up to allergies, and Hyewon believed them. They all thought that once Hyewon and Sakura do their gaming vlog in a PC Bang cafe, Sakura would return back to normal.

Maybe they’re wrong?

Sakura had to prove that she’s getting better or else her friends would start noticing.

“Ah… Sorry Kangchan… I think I fell asleep halfway. I think Nako told you that I sleep with my eyes open, hahaha!”

“Sugoi, Sakuchan! I never thought I’d get to see it up close. I’m glad that you trust me enough to show you that side of yours.”

Sakura looked at Hyewon with an incredulous expression, not knowing if Hyewon was being serious or not. From the looks of it, she looked touched… which meant she was serious. With what she said. Sakura just shrugged and sighed, squaring her shoulders to prepare for another round.

“Well then, do we still have the time and battery to do this Kangchan? I’m awake enough to kick your this time around.”

“Oh, yeah? Wanna make a bet? Loser has to post a tweet or youtube post (since you don’t have Twitter) confirming our collaboration video with a picture of the winner from the vlog screenshots. Don’t worry, Nako and Hitomi are surely having fun with Yena at Lotte World. I told them to take pictures or videos when they can to include in the vlog.”

“You’re on! Winner has to choose the thumbnail for both video collabs as well. Best 3 out of 5 matches, and the score right now is 1 - 0, with you in the lead.”

“You’re on, Sakuchan.”

“Kiss your peaceful Twitter app goodbye, Kangchan.”

“I’ll make you want to have a Twitter, Sakuchan.”

The two gamers spent their remaining time outliving each other in Fortnite. In the end, the match ended with Sakura winning, 3 - 2. It was a close fight and both Hyewon and Sakura had fun.

Hyewon spent the night with Sakura, Nako, and Hitomi at their hotel as she and Sakura ended up playing until 11 PM. Hyewon’s place was around an hour and 30 minutes away, so Sakura figured she should at least make sure Hyewon’s safe and gets some rest.

The Next Day

Sunday, 12PM KST

The trio were with Hyewon and Yuri, eating lunch in a restaurant where Hyewon highly recommends their soft tofu stew. Nako and Hitomi wanted to see Hyewon’s apartment personally, as well as the nearby cafes and sights near SME University. After introducing Yuri to the trio, Yuri eventually warmed up to them, especially with Hitomi and Nako due to the similarity of their courses in college. The trio bonded over their recitals, overnight practices, and nitpicky instructors over their tofu stew.

Sakura, on the other hand, was busy cooling down from the spiciness. The other four have for not being able to handle the spiciness of the stew, but in Sakura’s defense, she didn’t know it would be that spicy. The stew tasted great, no doubt, but Sakura wished that the intense burning in and throat would go away. She busied herself by rewatching the videos that Hyewon had recorded during their time there, and occasionally disturbed Hyewon from eating her portion of the stew by asking whether this footage should be edited out or not.

After lunch, Yuri wanted to tour Nako and Hitomi around her university. Hyewon gave her an extra camera to take videos and selfies with, while Hyewon and Sakura stayed at Hyewon’s apartment. Sakura wanted to help out Hyewon with her video editing, and since Nako and Hitomi are out being toured by Yuri, she figured it was the least she could do before they go back home to Japan.

“Sakuchan, do you know how to put in subtitles in the video? I’m kind of having trouble with that.”

“Ah, it’s like this, first we download this expansion pack...”

Hyewon was diligently listening to what Sakura was saying. She was glad that the one who inspired her to make her on youtube channel was kind hearted and eager enough to help her out - two years ago and until now. She briefly reminisced about those times where she self-studied Japanese just so that she could leave a comment on Sakura’s gaming channel, until it came to a point where she built up the courage to email Sakura about wanting to start her own, and if she had any tips about it.

Now, with her channel being the most viewed mukbang/vlog/review channel in Korea, she smiled at how that was all made possible by the one who now sits beside her.

“Hyewonie, is there something on your mind?”

“Ah, I was just thinking back to the time when I first discovered your gaming channel, and how I studied Japanese really hard just so I could tell you how good you were in what you were doing. I just can’t believe you actually took the chance to collaborate with me.”

Sakura turned to her, a slight blush and a shy smile on her face.

“I’m really glad I agreed to collaborate with you too. I didn’t know that Korea was full of surprises. You’re full of surprises too, Hyewonie.”

Hyewon pouted, not wanting to let Sakura and her friends go back to Japan. She’ll miss them.

She reached out to hug Sakura and rest her head on Sakura’s shoulder.

“I’m gonna miss you when you leave, promise me you’ll keep in touch? You added me on LINE right?”

Sakura chuckled and hugged Hyewon back.

“Of course. I’m one of your… chingus now right?”

“Yes. Chingu. Nakama.” Hyewon replied raising her fists.

Sakura laughed at Hyewon’s Luffy impersonation, and Hyewon laughed with her as well. The two friends then spent the rest of the afternoon editing the videos for each other’s channel. Sakura agreed that Hyewon can post some of their behind the scenes and “bloopers” on her channel some other time, as long as Hyewon sticks to the bet of posting a teaser photo of their collaboration.

Yuri, Nako, and Hitomi came back from Yuri’s tour at around 3 PM, and the trio were just chilling in the living room. Sakura and Hyewon casually joined in their conversation once in a while, but most of the time they were both focused on editing the perfect video for their channels. Hyewon noticed that every time Nako mentions something similar to Kwon, Eunbi, or Kwon Eunbi, Sakura’s ear and eyes perk up at Nako’s conversation. Hyewon paid no mind to it, however. Nako has mentioned that Sakura isn’t really interested in something else other gaming and cooking, so she thinks that Sakura may just be paying attention to make Nako happy.

8PM KST

The time has come for the trio to go back to Japan. Hyewon and Yuri accompanied them going to the airport to send them off. Everyone had mixed feelings about this, especially Hyewon. She was really happy that Sakura and her friends came all the way here to collaborate with her, but on the other hand, she’ll miss hanging out with them.

“Passengers going on flight 4848 going to Haneda airport, please get ready to check in and board the plane.”

“Well,” Sakura started, looking at Hyewon and Yuri, “that’s our call. Thank you for being such amazing tour guides, Hyewonie and Yuri-kun.”

Hitomi approached Yuri and Hyewon, giving both of them a biscuit with a letter attached to it. Hitomi wasn’t confident with her Korean yet, but she asked Nako to help her write a heartfelt letter to thank Yuri, Hyewon, and even Yena. Nako asked Yuri and Hyewon to visit them sometime, while Sakura just smiled widely at them, showing her gratefulness through her eyes.

The five stared at each other in silence, not knowing what to do next. Nako and Hyewon couldn’t take the tension anymore so they pulled the others in a big group hug.

“Sakuchan, Nakochan, and Hiichan… I promise I’ll visit you guys in Japan next time. I’ll miss all of you.”

“We’ll miss you too, please visit when you can,” Nako chirped, smiling but obviously close to tears.

“Passengers going on flight 4848 going to Haneda airport, please get ready to check in and board the plane.This is your last call.”

The group let go of the hug and smiled at each other. After another round of saying goodbyes, the three finally went inside the boarding lounge for their flight. Yuri and Hyewon left the airport with a bittersweet feeling, but their hearts full of warmth as they sent off their new friends back to their homeland.

9 PM KST

In Eunbi’s apartment

Eunbi and her team were in the living room, resting after the late dinner that Chaeyeon had whipped up for them. The youngsters were busy quizzing each other on various subjects since they both had an upcoming exams next week. Chaeyeon was tinkering on her phone and tablet while Eunbi was rereading her script and taking notes.

Suddenly, Chaeyeon jumped up from her seat and excitedly exclaimed, “IT’S HAPPENING! OH MY GOD, IT’S HAPPENING!” The rest of the team stared at her in surprise and curiosity.

The youngsters were surprised with Chaeyeon’s outburst, but as much as they want to know what Chaeyeon was talking about, they really needed to study for their upcoming exams. They excused themselves to Eunbi and resumed studying in their bedroom.

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