Chorong didn't think it could get different, but it did.

Hauling their luggage through the crosswalk, sounded by the clicks of handles and wheels scraping the pavement, the girls were on a secret mission and entered the airport discreetly. 

Early morning darkness coloured the skies, and the terminal welcomed them quietly, without a single camera flash. For once, a bustling public place seemed, even, private. And it was odd, not waving their local fans a goodbye in their international travels. The mood was quiet, so they were quiet too. 

Chorong laid back on a seat in the boarding area, to wait for the flight, and rest her sights across from her. The members were all in a similar position of idling; heads lolling back, some coffee cups in hand. It was a common piteous sight she had long recognised. 

Her vision scrolled over to a member wrapped up in a jacket, sunglasses drawing cover for a face all sleepy and bloated. You couldn't tell if she was awake or not, but Chorong would guess she was falling somewhere in the snooze zone. 

A tug came to Chorong's lips unconsciously. 

It was the first time she had looked at Bomi since this morning, when the girl was rolling over in her pink cot of a bed at the unhappy hour. The leader would have to pull her sleeves up and drag the unwilling members out in some déjà vu of a memory. Like they were back to their comeback times.

And their hopes for a new comeback were unmistakable. The reminder of their preparations emerged, and with all that was going on, this trip would be a diversion. It would be good to take this time to relax, and the girls could all do with a change of pace too. 

But there was another thing nagging at the back of Chorong's mind, and she couldn't say for sure if she regretted it. 

Did it change things?

It was too early to say, when it was only yesterday she watched a number of expressions fly through Bomi's face. Chorong's blood ran a little cooler than expected. Uttering words she wasn't even that sure of, reminding them of something they've said long ago, Chorong should've recognised the request was idealist of her. 

The intricacies in Bomi's face and voice told her that, right from the beginning. 

One, of confusion. "Why?"

Two, of hurt. "Oh."

Then, three, of understanding, laced in a guilt of not knowing better. 

"Okay," Bomi had mused, staring at Chorong softly. It could make small hairs stand on end, and Bomi gave her word without another thought. 

"We won't touch. I promise."

There, was that so hard?

Chorong explained what she wished for, and yet, somehow, this still pained her. Bomi's response seemed to change everything she was setting out for herself, for them. Already accepting and handling what's been made complicated by her heart, was it now gonna say she couldn't organise this too? She couldn't organise how she would love her? And set aside the time they have together, at least for a weekend...

"I mean, I can't say what will happen, but it's best to be safe," Chorong concluded into the space, gaining a small smile of Bomi's assurance. At the very least, getting this off her chest could mean something less to worry about. It would only be for a few days. 

——

Saipan. 

Before fully realising they'd be setting foot on new soil, the stars of Korea's hot girl group had already begun marvelling the place from the windows of the plane. Whisked away in a matter of hours from their everyday life to a holiday destination far from home, travelling had these kinds of rewards. 

It wasn't long when they stepped out, senses washed over by the refreshing air and tropical heat, that the change in humidity made Bomi's hair frizz. 

"Ahh Bbomi-ya! Your hair is so rough," Chorong complained, narrowly getting hit in the face by that dangerous mane as they played about on the beach. She scowled, "It's like dried seaweed."

The wind blew Bomi's frizzed hair one way as her face morphed into joking offence. "Unnie! Don't say that."

"But it's true!"

There they go bickering again. 

The leader was calling for the woman to calm down before the locals start looking at them weirdly, but maybe that was already too late. Bomi wasn't one to be still after sitting in an aircraft for half the day. In her mind, who could calm down when face to face with this beautiful scenery? The kind that makes you want to spread your arms wide, smiling up to the sky, with the cool breeze flowing past you.

All prepped for their time here, they hung around into the early evening, enjoying the natural smoothness of the sand and the clean cut of the horizon over calm shallow waves. It was a warm welcome they felt, on gorgeous terrain; maybe even inspiring for a music video. It was unanimous that using "Remember" as their title song would have to be filmed with beach and ocean themes, just like this. The only questions were where and when. 

But, for now, Apink were freed from practice and comeback ideas. They were here for a different filming, a Weekly Idol Saipan Special, and that meant it was time to have fun, and be free. 

Free of their duties and who they were. They were just girls enjoying the golden hour of the setting sun. 

And yet, it was in those first moments they arrived and met with everyone, Bomi casually took her hand first, and Chorong launched back a glance in mild shock. Maybe it was the speed at which she flipped at the contact, that Bomi noticed with a pause, remembering what they said, and let her go. 

It already started. 

Simple and quick, as if the touch never happened. That stung, and Chorong was suddenly pensive. 

When before it had been weird to feel her, could Chorong say now that it was weird not to feel her? 

The things written on their agenda; what we want each day, what we hope for. Chorong wanted both of them smiling, savouring this feeling. She wanted this to work, and in order to do that, she worried. 

Chorong was left to awkwardly play with her own fingers. But, holding hands, was what they always do. And she didn't even think twice when Hayoung took her hand moments later, proud to present the beauty of their group name etched into the sand. 

Would you... travel someplace, in hopes to hold your lover's hand, without so much fear? Living in another country, that might accept you more for who you love? To them, that was but a nice fantasy, because parting from home was never something they were outwardly thinking. For as long as they would live in the present as idols, they were planted in this reality. 

——

Chorong positioned her phone for a nice selca, and as her thumb hovered over the button, she followed a different path. She tilted the screen. 

"Bbom-ah."

Capturing a certain someone in the bottom corner of the screen, easy smiles sneaked onto their lips, faces displaying that connection instantly. Peeping into the photo on a lounge chair behind the leader, Bomi's relaxed gaze met hers, and —hold that pose!— it was perfect. Chorong had to school her own features to take the shot. 

There wasn't even a need to smile widely in a big amazing gesture. The fondness that reached their expressions was written in the image just as clearly. After prancing around in all the excitement, Bomi was finally still to reserve her energy. 

With that, Chorong playfully took a step to her right and landed -first onto Bomi's lap. 

"Ah, ah!" It prompted Bomi to complain. "Unnie, I'm not a seat~"

Chorong giggled evilly.

"There's another seat right there," Bomi whined, slapping the girl's back silly.  

"I don't wanna!"

And a triumphant laugh rang from Chorong. 

When we go elsewhere, away from home, could I love you more?

With these lovebirds together in the beauty of this island, they were really the lucky ones to have someone to date with them right now. That luck might even be something to worry about, for when their luck might run out. 

However, at this busy time in their careers, the feel of Saipan would come to them like an oasis, a trance. Honestly, they could do a lot of things without as much worry here. A holiday that makes those fears fade... 

Even just for a little while. 

This could be a moment to work on them; a place in time for their love to bloom, a bit more openly, unafraid of watchful eyes. Although, how much of that would be them, simply being unable to stay away from each other? 

Nervous as they were to tell their members about them, they did. Nervous as Chorong was to love Bomi, she did. 

And those times the leader found ease in giving a peck on the cheek, just to say it simply how she felt. This unconscious new habit was revealed to her, right as they were collectively leaving. 

In that short frame of time they lounged on each other —what even happened to their rules already?— Chorong had leaned forward, meeting air, and she pressed a delicate hand over in a little wince. Smooth. 

Hiding the rush of sweat on her jumpy skin, she was so embarrassed. She.. She wanted to kiss Bomi's cheek, so easily. And she was almost going to. 

Could I love you less?

Chorong was taken aback by her own urges and could've reprimanded herself, but despite it all, in the view of their friends... it didn't entirely seem like she would've regretted the little thing either. I mean, what?

We're in public! 

Why did it feel so comfortable that maybe she could do something like this? With the members around, the staff, and anyone who saw them. She felt a shiver go down her back, gnawing at her lip to imagine how this weekend could go. 

It's not our country, but then, it's not what we're used to. 

Was she so absorbed in Bomi that, all at once, everything and everyone else didn't seem to matter? She was going crazy. 

People don't have to recognise them wherever they go, but the innocent affection in public was something she battled with; ushered so damn close to worries she couldn't bear to risk. This was a struggle with her attraction, and the fears for what they might do, if she can't control herself. If Chorong can't... let it go sometimes, and be satisfied with the impossibility of what they already had.

Lost in a crazy lovely world, saying, and saying again, that it's love. It's love.

But love wasn't enough to do whatever they wanted. They had to be strong, and realise when it wasn't a good time, because you never know when speedy mistakes are made, and the paradise might disappear. 

If... If she can't have some control. If she's not ready for this... If time might slip from them and tear down her heart too soon.

Indulging in this feeling for this long, she could hardly believe they have reached such a point in their relationship, where hugs and kisses are exchanged with loving eyes, and every touch like that was one more reassuring, luring her in, to believe in what they were. 

To believe in what they could really be. 

——

And as the sun went to sleep that evening, giving light to the moon, knowing they shouldn't be too noisy, Bomi hushed to the camera in her hands. 

"It's 8pm, what is Apink doing? Aren't you curious?" 

This segment was a job for Apink's reporter, Bbom-porter, Bomi! And it would turn out, Apink's room tour could be quite the hazard despite its non-stop entertainment from start to finish. 

"Then Apink's Bomi shall secretly check it out. Firstly, the person that is sharing a room with me." 

Bomi moved along with her hotel roommate, trying out a free little hair treatment for the viewers, but when she tried to find Eunji's suitcase, it seemed Bbomporter bit off more than she could chew.

"Then let's take a look at Eunji's clothes—"

Whack! She was thrown away by Eunji's super