“EVEN IF YOU ARE GOING FURTHER AWAY, EVEN IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE EVEN MORE LATE, SOMEDAY YOU’LL SHINE”

***

Her feet are running away endlessly, pushing through the dark as heavy footsteps are chasing her. She didn’t even dare to glance back as she could hear cursing coming from the pursuer. Her heart feels miserable but she know that she couldn’t stop. She must not stop.

Even though she dashing away to create a distance from those people, she had no power left to continue her run. Her legs turned wobble as she stumbled upon the ground. She huffed heavily as she can felt countless hands are now laid upon her, trying to beat her up like they always do.

“No! Don’t hit me!”

The girl cried in despair, protecting her scrawny build from her abuser.

***

Hitomi jolted up from her slumber as Chaewon is yelling desperately beside her. Tears are streaming down onto the girl porcelain skin which made Hitomi engulfed with worries.

“Chaewon? Chaewon! Wake up, it’s just a dream!”

Hitomi frantically trying to wake Chaewon up but her effort is futile as the girl kept struggling on her bed. She pushed Hitomi off her bed while sobbing and curling on the bed.

“Go away! Don’t touch me! Please, don’t hit me!”

Chaewon screamed at Hitomi which made the girl stared dumbfoundedly on the floor. Chaeyeon; who is Hitomi roommate, try to approach the girl but is pushed away too. It seema Chaewon is afraid of something unseen and both of the girls didn’t know what to do.

Soon enough, almost everyone that is living at Chaeyeon side are awake and try to comfort Chaewon but is being rejected. The girl voice turned hoarse as she is crying nonstop for quite some time and they decided to call upon Eunbi and reporting about this matter.

It took the rest of the members a few seconds before they are all gathered in Hitomi and Chaeyeon bedroom. Minjoo and Yujin coming first, followed by Eunbi, Yena and Hyewon who are still half-asleep.

“What’s going on? Are Hitomi trying to do something indecent to Chaewon?”

Hyewon mumbled which earned her a smack from Sakura and Eunbi. The hamster grumbled as she is now fully awake thanks to their older member effective smack

These two really are something. Why are they not married yet.

Hyewon is pissed off by those two treatment towards her. She pouted while rubbing her head.

I wish we are married too.

Sakura huffed in reply.

Yeah, yeah. You are too cowardly to make it come true

Hyewon stick out her tongue at Sakura before hiding behind Chayeon who will always siding with her. Sakura clicked her tongue upon watching Hyewon sneaky move. Sakura is indeed fast but Chaeyeon is not someone she can mess with as the girl is also quite scary when she is mad. Sakura is traumatized to get another experience of being transported just like she did with Yena not too long ago. Thus, she gives up in chasing Hyewon for now and made a mental note to kick the glutton shin whenever she got a chance later.

On the other hand, Minjoo heart is wrecked upon seeing Chaewon sobbing. The pink haired girl rarely showed up her emotion and always seems to be pissed off at anything but Minjoo knows that deep inside, Chaewon is just like an angel. The girl can be scary sometimes when her patience is almost at her maximum  limit but Chaewon never hate something on no basis. That girl is literally a walking angel.

Minjoo can feel Yujin grabbed her shoulder and turned at the younger but taller girl who is now smiling reassuringly at Minjoo. The girl signalled Minjoo to approach those sobbing mess who is wailing on the bed while saying,

“Go, Minjoo. If there’s anyone that can calm her down, it’s you.”

While showcasing her deep, charming dimples, Yujin pushed Minjoo lightly towards the bed. The latter is stuck at the bedside, clueless on what to do but she braces herself to climb on the bed and carefully crawling towards Chaewon who is keeping on her guards upon sensing someone is coming towards her.

“No one will hurt you, Chaewon. I am here. Everybody is here to protect you.”

Minjoo whispered with a soft voice while slowly snaking her arms around the girl, pulling her into a warm hug. To others, it may be just another embrace that they usually get but for Chaewon, it meant the world. Her heavy panting from screaming for god knows how long are taking a toll on her as she sobbed in Minjoo bosom.

“I’m scared. Everyone turned to monster. Why are they hunting me down? What have I done wrong?”

The pitiful girl poured out her heartfelt in between her sobbed. Of course, some of them didn’t get to hear it as Chaewon mostly half-whispered it, like a child whining to their mother. However, for Sakura and Nako, both of them had Enhanced Hearing which made it possible for them to pick up every detail Chaewon had been spouting from earlier.

They both look at each other, aware of Chaewon sudden changes might be affected by her childhood. They can do nothing to help at this moment as Chaewon herself is rejecting everybody except Minjoo and both of them are sure that there are secret shared between those two which is difficult to be announced for the group and thus, Sakura and Nako choose to observe the situation first.

Minjoo patiently consoling Chaewon who is finally calming down albeit still shedding her tears. In the midst of the commotion, a certain pair of legs scuffling through the corridor and made an entrance with her droopy eyes.

“Eh, what’s happening? Why is everyone here? I heard Chaewon cries from afar. Who is the one making her sobbing this hard?”

Despite still half-asleep the baby bunny didn’t fail to shoot every question that popped in her brain at the moment. Every pair of eyes are now focusing on Wonyoung who clearly had no recollection of her little rampage while being drunk.

“Well… Good morning, Wonyoung.”

Yuri decided to greet the girl first but is ignored when the giant baby rubbed her eyes and pointing at Minjoo direction.

“Who is that child? Where did Chaewon gone to?”

Everyone gasped as they quickly turned their head at Minjoo to check out Wonyoung words. The girl maybe still had alcohol left within her body as she said something outrageous but their eyes defies their thought. Minjoo herself is surprised to see a small girl who is sleeping soundly in her arms while there are not even a single trace of Chaewon left anywhere.

“Don’t say… That little girl is Chaewon?”

Yujin mumbled and Minjoo softly removed hair that are covering the little girl face just to find a mini Chaewon snoring with puffy eyes.

***

“Holy- I don’t know is this is all real or not anymore.”

Nako huffed as she leaned onto the wall. Everyone moved outside of the room except for Minjoo who couldn’t move as mini Chaewon is clinging onto her tightly. It is possible that the kid might wake up if Minjoo forcefully moved her arms and thus, everyone agreed to let both of them lying onto Hitomi bed.

Minjoo felt apologetic at Hitomi as she is well aware of the girl's feelings towards Chaewon based on her gesture towards the older girl all this time. Hitomi just shrugged it off while smiling.

“I can sleep in your room instead. No worries. Let Chaewon rest here.”

Hitomi whispered, loud enough for Minjoo to hear without bothering sleeping Chaewon. She then joined the other girls who had an emergency meeting outside of their room, all are wearing a gloomy face. Wonyoung held down her head as she finally remember bits of recollection of her drunken action. She kneeled and bowed down, asking for forgiveness and causing troubles towards her friends.

“Hey, it’s okay, Wonyoung. People make mistakes but make sure you repent and be careful afterwards, alright?”

Eunbi bend down and patted the girl head. Indeed, she caused trouble for them but Eunbi is aware that the girl is still young and prone to making mistakes. Instead of keep punishing them, the leader decided to give them a chance once in awhile if they fully understand what they do is wrong.

“Now, the main point is how come Chaewon shrunk? First she loses her memory and act like a child and now she really turned into one?”

Sakura mumbled as she combed her brownish, silky hair backwards, clearly are dumbfounded of such a situation is happening. For some reasons, their life so far compromises of one event after another, as if they are some in game character who always facing obstacles after overcoming previous hurdles.

“I know. There’s no logical explanation as of now. There’s no way for humans to be a child again within a blink. It’s ridiculous.”

Nako grunted as she is dissatisfied with her lack of knowledge to assist her friends this time. All along, she is the brain, the one who always able to solve their problem with her own resources but not this time. She bit her lower lip out of frustration and threw a glance at Hitomi who is obviously sad. Just like Minjoo, Nako knows that Hitomi had a growing crush on Chaewon but the girl herself is oblivious of it. Hitomi also denied it and always said she respects Chaewon and just regard the girl as her older sister.

They all sunk in silent before Eunbi dismissing them, telling them to get ample sleep first. They will discuss again in the morning after breakfast and everyone agreed as they barely had any sleep.

Hitomi trotting behind Yujin as she will sleep on Minjoo bed because the girl currently using her bed. As soon as they stepped into the bedroom, Yujin gestured the bed which Minjoo used and Hitomi dragged her feet while yawning. All she wanna do at this moment is sleep but Yujin sudden question making her fully awake.

“You sure like Chaewon a lot, aren’t you?”

The big puppy just smiled wildly as she leaned against the closed door of her room while watching Hitomi eyes went wide. She chuckled at the older girl as her reaction is amusing.

“No need to be guarded, Hitomi. I just… Know.”

Yujin grinned as she sauntered towards her bed.

“Am I that obvious?”

Hitomi hides her blushing face behind a stuffed toy, her heart is racing because she felt so embarrassed as someone noticed her big fat crush on Chaewon.

“I am not sure of being obvious part as I always eyeing Chaewon. She is someone that I respect and I want to be as cool as her if not cooler. Well, she is my lovely older sister after all. All of you are my sisters.”

Yujin let out her laugh when Hitomi let her jaws dropped upon listening to Yujin reasoning. She never noticed that that puppy who she thought just a playful little kid is actually a good observant. She cleared for a bit before coming clean of her feelings in front of Yujin.

“Chaewon is like a treasure box. She kept herself tightly sealed and never want to show her weaknesses. I am hoping to see her a little bit happier and trusting us more. She is an important family member for me and I do love her as much as I love everyone.”

Hitomi pouted as she shared her insight with Yujin. The younger girl happily exchanging thoughts with Hitomi and they spent the night talking some random stuff, getting to know each other better. Maybe, all of this incident actually a blessing in disguise as the girls only grows stronger and fond of each other whenever they hit the wall and eventually able to overcome any test. When both Hitomi and Yujin decide to close their eyes, they only manage to get a few minutes of deep sleep only as afterwards, Yena came and forced those to wake up for their daily morning routine.

***

Sakura and Chaeyeon are busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Usually, it is Minjoo and Sakura who are in charge of cooking but for a few days to come,Chaeyeon is subbed as the chef because Minjoo need to take care of little Chaewon for a while. Those KkuChaen pair is on a better term as they both agreed to call a truce for a while because everytime they are bickering about Eunbi, Hyewon will sneakily stepped in and snatching away the said girl.

“We are both agreed to not lowered our guard around Hyewon, right?”

Sakura casually started the conversation while stirring the stew on the stove.

“Sure. Who can even guess that Hyewon is actually a sly fox? We must make sure they both didn’t get any closer or it might be dangerous for us.”

Chaeyeon snorted as she cut the meat into smaller pieces before sizzle it onto the frying pan. She is making sure that the girls will not ended up fighting each other if there are insufficient of food as most of them are food fighter, ready to give their all when food is involved.

“Good. Now we had something in common. You are not that bad.”

Sakura offered her smile which Chaeyeon happily returned. After they finally finishing their chores, Minjoo showed up with mini Chaewon who is holding the girl hands tightly, almost hanging onto Minjoo arms. Her eyes darted at Sakura and Chaeyeon before hiding behind Minjoo.

“Kyaa~ This shy Chaewon is so cute. Let this older sister hug you.”

Chaeyeon cannot contained her softness anymore and kneeled down while embracing her arms, wanting to pampered the little girl with love. Mini Chaewon hesitated for a while and she is eyeing Minjoo, pleading for help while blinking her puppy eyes. Minjoo chuckled upon seeing Chaewon cute action and nodded her head while patting the girl crown.

“Go, Chaeyeon is a good sister, you know. You will love her for sure.”

As she heard Minjoo reassurance, Chaewon run into Chaeyeon arms and the girl lift her up into the air. The little girl giggled as Chaeyeon is making raspberry sound on her stomach.

“Oh~ You laughed. Such an adorable kid you are.”

This time, Sakura joined in as well to shower Chaewon with her love. Seeing little Chaewon making Sakura remember about her little brother Yuki as they are about the same age. Chaewon laughed merrily which attracted the attention of others as they are heading towards the kitchen.

“No fair, I also want to play with her.”

Wonyoung whined at Chaeyeon who just laughed while putting Chaewon down. The girl waddling back towards Minjoo as she peeked at the remaining girls.

“Who can tell that Chaewon can be this shy?”

Eunbi chuckles as she knelt beside the girl.

“Hi~ I am Eunbi. Can we be friends?”

She greeted the girl while extending her hand. Chaewon is hesitant at first but ended up reaching out for Eunbi hands as Minjoo gently patting her back. It took Chaewon no time to be on good terms with Eunbi as she readily eating beside the girl, of course accompanied by Minjoo.

They are all eating normally and some of the girls are fighting over a plate of food like usual which made little Chaewon amazed. Her spoon stopped in midair as she observed the girl, not knowing that tears are rolling down onto her cheeks and falling into her bowl of stew.

“Chaewon? What’s wrong?”

Eunbi and Minjoo are flustered to see Chaewon in a dazed while crying. Sakura and Hyewon stopped fighting over food as they blankly stared at Chaewon and the rest of the girls are throwing judgy stare at them. Sakura giving in and Hyewon happily getting her plate of meat just what she desired.

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