Let them say there are warning signs. They must be blind.
 

Swinging their entwined hands, Sakura and Eunbi walked out of the school gates together, on their way to another one of their outings.

“Hey Sakura, can we talk for a second?” they heard a soft voice ask behind them.

About to stop, Eunbi was pulled to continue walking as Sakura told her, “Don’t turn around, keep walking.”

“Sakura, please,” the girl pleaded.

Sighing, Eunbi grabbed Sakura’s arm, making her stop as she said weakly, “I think you should go to her. It’s okay I’ll be waiting over there.” Eunbi cupped Sakura’s face and reassured her, before letting her have some space, and walking to her motorcycle outside of the school.

“Where are you guys going?” Chaeyeon asked, worried for her best friend.

Annoyed, Sakura snapped, “It’s none of your business.”

“You hardly talk to me anymore. Don’t you think this is unfair?” 

Now even more frustrated, Sakura argued, “How?! You’re the one who keeps trying to keep us apart, going to my parents and telling me that she’s no good for me when you don’t even know anything about her.”

Attempting to communicate with the stubborn girl, Chaeyeon asserted, “I’m just worried about you, Sakura.” 

Hearing the girl’s confession, Sakura scoffed, questioning if there was any truth in her words.

Sick of people never letting her have space to breathe, Sakura admitted, “I don’t need you to worry about me anymore. I’m my own person, capable of making my own choices and aware of what is and isn’t good for my wellbeing.”

“I’m telling you, this isn’t going to end well Sakura,” Chaeyeon warned as she switched to a more serious tone. 

Furrowing her eyebrows, Sakura inquired, “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“I mean, you can’t have both of us,” Chaeyeon clarified. As much as it hurt, she continued, “You can only have either me or her. Not both.”

Caught off guard, Sakura was shocked to hear her best friend’s request. “Chaeyeon-ah, please tell me you’re not actually doing this right now?” 

“I am. So choose. Me or her.”

Feeling self-conscious, Sakura looked around and saw that people had started watching them, observing as the fight quickly escalated. She tried to ignore them, but they had drawn a rather large crowd, who were now texting others about the popular friends’ unexpected falling out.

Sakura thought for a second. 

She truly never thought that this day in which she would have to make a decision such as this would ever come. 

But unfortunately, it did. And her whole world felt like it was crashing down. 

She considered her options; her long time best friend who had always been there by her side, except now when she needed her most, and her girlfriend who seemed like trouble, but actually helped her find herself and gave her a chance to truly live.

Sakura realised that ultimately, she had to choose Eunbi. 

While Chaeyeon was her best friend, she was still one of the people in her life that held her back and expected her to be some god-like being, even if it wasn’t intentional.

Feeling guilty, but knowing that her choice was right, Sakura answered, “I’m sorry Chaeyeon, but without a doubt...her. Anyday.”

As Sakura turned around to run away back to Eunbi before the tears could escape her eyes, Chaeyeon stopped her and exclaimed, “I don’t even understand, why do you like her so much?”

Reaching her breaking point, Sakura snapped, “I don’t know okay?! There’s just something about her that you wouldn’t understand, she just makes me feel so...alive.”

Tears rolling down her cheeks, Chaeyeon pressed, “Why not me? What does she have that I don’t? What can she give you that I can’t?”

“Something different, thrill, happiness,” she admitted.

Sakura watched as the girl she grew up with broke down in tears, realising that all this time, the girl who she thought of as her sister actually had feelings for her. 

Chaeyeon paused and wiped the tears away from her cheeks as she struggled to take her eyes off the ground. “What happened to the Sakura that I used to know? The one I grew up with? The one I fell in love with?” She asked weakly, feeling fully exposed to the vulture-like eyes of the other students.

Sakura winced as her suspicions were confirmed. Nonetheless, it didn’t change anything and Sakura stayed true to her decision.

Trying to put up a brave front, she coldly admitted, “She grew up...and she changed.”

Tears rolling down her cheeks, Chaeyeon asked one last time, “After everything we’ve been through, is this it? You’re really giving up on me and choosing her?”

Letting a few tears escape, Sakura apologised as her heart ached. “I’m sorry, you deserve a better friend, but I just can’t keep doing this anymore; being the perfect girl, pretending like I’m not unhappy with my life. I don’t wanna lose you like this, but—“

“No, go,” Chaeyeon advised one last time, “Go to her, but be careful. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Feeling guilty, Sakura weakly nodded and apologised once again, “I’m sorry for everything.” She desperately wanted to hug her goodbye or at least hold her hand, but held herself back, sensing that it wasn’t right. 

Taking one last apologetic look at her best friend, Sakura turned away and ran out of the school gates towards her girlfriend, who was waiting by her motorcycle.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Eunbi asked as she cupped Sakura’s face and gently caressed her cheek, wiping away the tears.

Trying her best to stop crying, Sakura said, “Let’s just get out of here.”

Sensing that something was off, Eunbi obeyed and the two girls rode away, as Sakura hid her face in Eunbi’s hair, clinging to her body.

And so Chaeyeon stood there amongst the other students, watching as her best friend, her first love, left her behind.