Yuna rushes into her mother's arms as soon as she sees her. 

"Omo, Yuna, you've cried so much already?" her mother brings a soft hand up to her puffy cheeks. Yuna notices the stains of tears on her mother’s face; she takes a long look at the face that she has missed.

"Umma, mianhae," Yuna knows not what to say besides apologies. Trying her best to ignore the glares of her aunt standing at a distance, she dips her head and tears begin falling once again. 

"Don't apologise the first thing you see me!" her mother chides, an act that Yuna has dearly missed. 

"This is my fault," Yuna whispers. She retracts an arm and uses the back of her palm to wipe away her tears. She wills herself not to cry anymore before the elders out of heavy remorse for leaving for Seoul; what would they think about her? Yuna gives herself a nod before she quietly follows her mother into their home. 

Her mother gives the mourning granddaughter a last glance before shutting the room door, allowing her to change on her own. She sighs, her heart breaking, and mutters, "Nothing is your fault, Yuna yah. Umma is sorry, I told you I'd take care of halmeoni…"

Yuna hears her mother anyway. Holding the black hanbok that was neatly folded and laid out before her close to her chest as she sobs, covering for any sound, she beats herself up internally for not being home. 

No, she tells herself when her shirt is drenched in her tears once again, no more crying before the elders, this is my fault. 

The weight of the tense atmosphere seems to collapse on Eunbi’s shoulders as soon as she enters. Her eyes are searching for a single person, dressed in a black hanbok and her hair secured in a low ponytail. 

"Yuna unnie!" her voice is hushed yet heavily apologetic.

Yuna stands up from the table, "Eunbi?"

Eunbi slides an envelope on the table, to which Yuna gasps and says, "You needn't!"

"Unnie," Eunbi frowns, "I…" Eunbi realises that she does not know what to say. 

"Why did you come?" Yuna asks, the thought of Eunbi appearing at her home never once having crossed her mind. 

"I'm sorry it's late," Eunbi apologises first, "but I wanted to be with you." she says, looking deep into Yuna's eyes. 

Eunbi looks around while Yuna makes a note and keeps the envelope properly, noticing the lack of visitors for it is already late. 

Yuna notices Eunbi's awareness of the emptiness and says, "I'm sorry, my umma has gone to rest."

"It's okay! She should," Eunbi shakes her head. 

"You shouldn't have come, it's so late," Yuna grimaces as they settle down. 

"No, I should be here with you," Eunbi candidly answers. 

Yuna appears to be slightly taken aback by the firm response. 

"How are you, unnie?" Eunbi's soft gaze reveals the concern and sorrow she feels for her older housemate. Eunbi stops herself from saying any words of condolences, hoping not to show any pity towards Yuna.

Warmed, Yuna finally allows herself to put down the front she has been maintaining before the elders throughout the evening since returning home to the sombre occasion. 

The sight of Yuna's tears creates a familiar bitterness in Eunbi's heart. When Yuna begins weeping heavily, the feeling in her heart intensifies and she realises that she's felt this before, when Yuna was crying just two weeks ago after her meeting with that high school friend. 

Eunbi tastes for the first time the torment of seeing the tear-stained face of an important loved one. A gush of spirit strengthens Eunbi to reach out for Yuna's hand. She holds Yuna’s trembling fingers lightly in hers as she makes a silent decision: Eunbi never wants to let Yuna cry alone ever again. 

Yuna tries to turn to Eunbi amidst her sobbing, soothed by the touch. Her fingers weakly squeeze Eunbi's in gratitude. When Eunbi firms the grip of their hands, Yuna realises that she is not alone. She has Eunbi. 

Eunbi watches as Yuna's eyelids slowly become droopy. She checks for the time and wonders, should she rush back to Seoul and catch some sleep before practice in the afternoon? She’d still need to get up to Cheongju that night. Nonetheless, would it be alright to leave Yuna at a time Yuna would most certainly need her, or as Eunbi understands? Eunbi knows also that if she leaves this time she would not see Yuna again for the longest time since they have started living together. 

Noticing this, Yuna shakes herself awake and asks, “Do you need to go? You should go,” she is almost instructional.

Eunbi responses not with verbal protests but with eyes that display apologies.

“Thank you so much for coming. I appreciate you being here,” Yuna continues with the lack of a reply.

Eunbi who still finds her voice stuck within leans forward and puts her arms around Yuna, giving her a warm embrace. “I’ll call,” Eunbi says with a small smile. "I don't want to leave you," her smile drops, and so does her tone into a sad whimper. Eunbi squeezes Yuna close to her, finding it hard to let go. 

For the first time tonight Yuna’s lips show a smile, but only a tiny, transient one. “Thank you, Eunbi yah,” she mutters and places as well her arms around Eunbi.

While it isn't the first time Eunbi wakes up to find Yuna absent, it is the first time Eunbi experiences a mellow, dark morning in their home. The loneliness encloses her and seems to chain her spirits down; nonetheless, Eunbi knows better than to let herself feel disheartened at a time when she should be acting as a pillar of support. Eunbi drags herself out of bed with urgency for practice despite the pull of the exhaustion from the frantic night and the comfort of her bed much like a magnet. 

Eunbi serves herself a lonely breakfast (lunch) in the quiet living room. She realises that her state of desolation is returning once again and tries to shake the gloom away. Not seeing Yuna every day is definitely something Eunbi isn't used to, nor does she ever want to have to get used to. Not in the meanwhile, that is, Eunbi thinks hopefully.

Stay strong for Yuna unnie, she chides herself. She hasn't had a day without Yuna and this would be her first, but Eunbi knows best for Yuna's sake. 

Putting on a smile as she holds her clarinet case in a hand, she sets off for the (rest of the) day with confidence and determination. 

When Eunbi returns home after practice, she is welcomed by complete darkness as a reminder once again of Yuna’s absence. She rather dejectedly walks into the apartment after lazily kicking her shoes off, blindly reaching out for the switches and haphazardly pressing on a few. 

The lights first startles Eunbi with the sudden brightness, before Eunbi chooses the right switches to be switched on. Her eyes land on the clock and she almost jumps. Heaving a sigh, she puts her baggage down and proceeds into her bedroom to start packing, simultaneously searching online for a schedule of the bus back to her hometown. 

Throwing things into a backpack, Eunbi sighs yet again at the thought of her initial plan to pack last night, which could not work out due to the unexpected tragedy. Thankfully it's home she's going for, and many of her necessities are still as they are for her usage when she goes back two times each year. Or I'll just borrow umma's anyway if anything, she huffs as she zips the backpack up, or I can go buy one. 

She gives the empty apartment a last wistful glance. This house have been a blessing for her, a refuge and safe haven, a happy place, a home to belong to especially for the past three months since Yuna's arrival. Eunbi finds Yuna's presence in her life to be irreplaceable; nor has it ever been precedented. Her heart swells at the thought of how important Yuna is to her. 

Eunbi takes a deep breath and sets off, not forgetting to drop her housemate a message of notice. 

"Yuna yah, I was looking at the list and there's a name Hwang Eunbi, is that your housemate?" her mother asks her in the second day. 

"Oh, yeah, she came by in the night," Yuna nods. 

"Do thank her for coming by, and for the money as well. It's a pity I couldn't welcome her nicely, I've been wanting to see her after hearing about her from you in your phone calls," her mother speaks of Eunbi pleasantly. "I hope she didn't mind that?"

Yuna shakes her head, "She didn't."

"She should back in Seoul already, right?" her mother asks next. 

Yuna nods. "I just received a message from her, she'll be going back up to Cheongju already," Yuna gives an elaborate answer. 

"Cheongju! For Chuseok?" her mother gasps and she nods again in response. "Such a hectic day for her! She's from Cheongju?"

Yuna nods again silently. 

"Such a nice girl, so rare to come by these days. I'm glad you're living with such a good person," her mother continues to express her gratitude towards Eunbi, "I know you like living with her, right? I’m so happy you do, and your halmeoni would be so happy to know that you're in such good hands. She was always at ease knowing you were happy in Seoul, even though she asked of you often."

The statement appears to have taken Yuna aback. Her mother watches closely for her reaction, having spoken with intention. Yuna drops her head, unable to find an appropriate response. 

Her mother sees the frustration in her. Her heart aches in seeing her daughter troubled. She wonders if she should scream at her daughter for being stubborn- the dead don't blame; it's only the greed of the living- or console her through her struggles. Restraining a sigh, she gives Yuna gentle rubs of comfort on her back. To this, Yuna begins to weep again, this time not holding herself back. is open wide, her eyes squeezing endless streams of tears, and her hand held close to her chest as it hurts physically though it isn’t comparable emotionally.

Her mother grimaces rather bitterly. “Nothing is your fault, Yuna yah,” she states solemnly, “you need to know that.”

a/n: *cues gfriend's you are not alone when eunbi reaches to hold yuna's hand* i managed to churn out this update despite being extremely busy so i shall just drop this chapter in between things now hehe here you go~ i'm not quite sure when and how i can next update so i'd like to apologise first... next week i'll start teaching again and also i will be busy with a camp and studying for jlpt so yes TT_TT i hope you liked this update! i liked writing it even though i won't say i did a very good job at it. do leave a few comments, how do you find the story going? hehe xoxo