A MISCHIEVOUS smile welcomed me as I made my way inside the counselling room. Kwon Eunbi is sitting at her made up counselling desk complete with a name plaque. The setup and everything smell like business. I guess this club that she established is her way to prepare herself for college.

“Don’t smile at me like that. I am just doing you a favour.”

I watched her chuckled as she tucked her hair behind her pierced but, I may say, charming ears. “Still the tsundere captain, are we? You can go take your seat.”

I gave out a sigh after hearing the word tsundere. At first, I was really annoyed to be called like that but everyone has been calling me like that since I was in grade school so I just grew up with that tag attached to me.

“Being a tsundere runs in our family.” I casually said as I took my seat.

“Your twin just got all the sweetness that there is when you guys were in the womb!” Eunbi smiled widely but I just looked at her like she is the lowest person on earth. I know I don’t have any sweetness in my body. She doesn’t have to slap it straight to my face.

“Anyway…” I started to change the topic. “What kind of help do you want from me, ex-manager of the pro-gamers' club?”

The girl just cutely smiled at me with her chin resting on her palms. “As you know, this club is here for me to prepare for college. I really want to be a psychologist but for now all I can do is to counsel with my own wisdom and with what I have studied so far. The teachers decided that this club can continue to operate if we are able to counsel a minimum of ten students per month.”

I was nodding with her every sentence, trying to put every word inside my ear. She is talking very passionately at such a speed I had to concentrate.

“Since you are really famous because of being the captain of the pro-gamers' club that reached the nationals last year, I thought having you as our first client would attract students to come and visit this club!”

“Goodbye.”

I immediately stood up from my seat after that statement. I feel like I am being used again.

“STAHP!!!” Eunbi appeared right in front of me in a flash. Chasing for her breath, she looked at me straight to the eye. “Where do you think you are going, Sakura!?”

“Going back to practice.” I answered while picking my ear. “You are just going to use me, right?”

“W-W-WAIT!” Eunbi pushed me back to the chair. I was surprised at her strength compared to her height. “It is not that I am using you! W-Well, there’s a part of it like that BUT…!”

She grabbed me in the shoulders and made me lean to the backrest by having her face near mine. I thought I would fall out of the chair for a second.

“I am just using this as an excuse to talk to you!” She said with a frustrated voice, her cheeks a little pink. “I know you are hiding something from me, from the whole team!”

“What on earth—“

“I can see it in your eyes, in your every movement! There is something that you are lost in!”

The way my body reacted that time surprised me more than Eunbi’s words. My heart skipped a beat, I know my eyes went wide as well. It felt like I heard a voice inside my head saying that finally someone noticed!

“W-Wait, go back to your seat and calm down first.” I slowly pushed her off. Eunbi just obediently went back to her place and stared at me. “You got me curious. Let me know what’s up on your sleeves.”

“Don’t even deny it, Kkura-ya!” She warned. “You may hide it from other people but I can clearly read every action you make. There is something bothering you for quite a long time now, isn’t there?”

I gave out another sigh. I just found myself fixing my seat so I could properly face her. Was I really hungry for someone to share this burden with?

“Eunbi…” I called. “Promise me… No one would know about this other than you.”

Her eyes glittered. She eagerly nodded her head and raised her right hand to swear. “I promise! Everything that the client shares to the counsellor is deemed confidential. Nothing will come out to the public!”

I took a deep breath and blew my bangs off. “Well then… Let me tell you something…”

Received Message

From: Hyewon (22:16)

Sakura, are you free tomorrow? Would you mind if you come and study with me? Let’s meet at the public library at 5PM. I’m sorry for the late notice.

Sent Message

To: Avengers Group Chat (22:18)

I’m sorry team but I can only practise until 3PM tomorrow. I got some part time job duties. I hope you guys understand. I will make it up to you.

To: Manager Baek (22:19)

Manager, I’m sorry I don’t think I can make it to tomorrow’s shift. I got stuck with practice. We are preparing for this year’s regionals anyway. I hope you can let me go just for this one. I promise I will work harder.

To: Hyewon (22:21)

Sure, I’ll be there.

Received Message

From: Hyewon (22:30)

Yay~ (^o^) See you tomorrow~

After reading the last message, Sakura threw her phone to her bed and she had to walk back and forth to shake off the cringe that she’s feeling. That was really not like her. She didn’t know what was coming to her but just seeing Hyewon’s name on her phone’s screen would make her heart clench. It hurts but it feels nice at the same time.

The girl shook her head in frustration. “I should stop acting like my brother or I might end up like him.”

Wait, did she just notice that she is acting like her brother? Is she really saying that she likes this girl? “No, it isn’t like that. It will never be like that.” She refused to believe the whispers of her heart.

She picked her phone again just to check the replies of her team and her part-time job manager. They all gave positive responses. Sakura just couldn’t believe that she lied to all those people so that she could just see Hyewon. She started feeling very pathetic.

On days like this, she would tend to stay up late and think of things that they can do at that little time that they are going to spend together. She’s not sure of the reason but she values the other girl a lot. She appreciates the time that she gives her and she gives importance even to the small things that Hyewon gives her.

After Sakura’s brother applied to the army, she decided to transfer to the house their parents left for them. She believes that she has to take care of the house together with the memories of their family. Her brother had taken good care of it and she just can’t leave it like that now that he is away.

It is hard living alone. Her eyes opened to the situation that her brother faced while he was living there all by himself. It is hard to do the chores by yourself and it is definitely hell to manage your time with studies, club activities and part-time jobs. Her grandparents send monthly allowance but she just feels like it would be better if she could support herself.

Adjusting was really hard but it was all thanks to Hyewon that she had slowly coped up with the current environment. She can still remember what the girl said to her when she finished moving her things to the said house,

“I will always be here for you, Sakura-chan. I won’t make you feel alone.”

She can also remember how she heard a loud cursing inside her head the moment Hyewon said that. She would never forget that blinding smile. It made her feel warm. It made her glad knowing that there would be someone to stay with her.

Hyewon’s older brother went overseas to pursue his studies and she was left alone as well. Sakura heard that Hyewon was homeschooled and doesn’t have a lot of friends so whenever she would ask for her company, Sakura would not hesitate to push everything just to make time for her.

There are times that Hyewon would stay at her home which usually happens during weekends. Sakura’s glad that Hyewon’s brother would give her the permission to stay with her. When she’s at Sakura’s, all she would do is order food and eat. She really loves seasoned chicken and could not get tired of eating it. After that she would sleep like a baby. She usually wakes up late and it is really hard to wake her up. She’s not the type who likes to spend the day outside; she would gladly stay indoors and talk about random stuff.

It was like that for us but things changed when they got into high school. Hyewon stepped to highschool and her parents decided to enroll her to the same highschool as her brother’s. That is when she started making new friends…

16:06

It seems like the Avengers team’s ace came too early. She rushed home right after the game practice to get a good shower. She can’t just go and meet her smelling like sweat. She made sure that she wouldn't be that obvious so she came wearing her tracksuit. She decided to get some snacks while waiting.

17:10

No matter how Sakura stretched her neck, she still couldn’t see the expensive looking car that Hyewon usually rides when going out. She reached out for her phone but there wasn't any message from her. She then started to wonder if Hyewon forgot about the meeting.

“But she isn’t that type, I guess I should wait a little longer.”

17:45

Sakura couldn’t take it anymore and texted her. She’ll be going home and just doing the laundry. That was her resolve but she chose to remain a few more minutes. After some while, she received a text message from Hyewon.

Received message

From: Hyewon (17:51)

I’m sorry, Sakura. My school friends invited me to go to Hongdae. I totally forgot that we were supposed to meet today. I got a bit too excited when I got invited out. I’m really sorry.

“Seriously? Are you going to apologise through text? You were the one who invited me out. I even lied to my team and manager in order to meet you today. I made time for you and that’s what you are going to say after not turning up?”

Sakura’s whole body just froze right after reading Hyewon’s message and her mind was ravaged by those thoughts. She felt her cheeks burning but she knows it is not that warm, nice feeling that she feels when she is with her. It’s ‘irritation’ but… there’s nothing she can do but sigh.

She didn’t reply anymore. The ace believes she has the right to be mad about this happening so she’ll let her feel it. After that text, she didn’t send any more messages and there wasn’t any single call from Hyewon. She guessed that making her wait like a fool didn’t really bother the other girl.

Sakura was mad. Usually she would just not care but to this person, it is different. It hurt a lot. She started to wonder why she was so affected to the point that she wanted to curse. The fact is she actually cursed. A lot. She hasn’t been cursing so much because Hyewon pointed it out but she just couldn’t help but to curse that time. She even wanted to punch something. She looked like a fool waiting for nothing.

But yes, it is true that she got angry that time but she couldn’t stay angry for so long. In the end, she was the first one to send Hyewon a text, asking her about a random thing. She was afraid that everything would end if she didn't make a move. The girl replied to her with her usual way of texting like nothing happened.

Sakura tried to be the one to invite. Since Hyewon plays the piano so well, she couldn’t invite her to do heavy stuff that might injure her fingers. She doesn’t seem to be the type to play games as well. So even if she is not fond of studying, she tried inviting her to study.

Same rendezvous. Hyewon agreed to meet her and she turned up but she didn’t say that there would be other people that would join them. She came with her classmates and all were taking her attention, asking questions here and there. In the end, Sakura fell out of place. She felt invisible the whole time that they were in the library to the point that she could go home without anyone noticing her.

She was invited to go to karaoke after that but fearing to completely turn into air, Sakura declined the invitation with a cold response but again Hyewon didn’t seem to mind. She was even smiling when she was waving her hand to Sakura, going their separate ways. There was no trace that she was sorry to send Sakura all alone.

But yet again, Sakura tried to be understanding. She convinced herself that Hyewon didn’t really have the chance to hang out with friends before that’s why she is just enjoying the company of other people. It doesn’t always have to be her. It doesn’t really matter.

“But why can’t it be only me? Am I not enough?”

This was the period where her mood swings couldn’t be explained. Her teammates even started tagging her as the ‘Devil of the Server’ since the practice sessions were like hell during those times. She would give them unreasonable, unreachable tasks and even call out to practise overtime until their eyes hurt. They were even surprised when they found out that their captain manages to work part time on that kind of schedule. Even though they think that they were being abused, they just followed her orders in respect of her dedication to practise. Her mood swings somehow paid off when the team managed to reach the nationals and her teammates were all saying that it was all because of her passion. They didn’t know that