"How have you been?" Chorong was the first one to break the silence.

Naeun looked up from her coffee. "I've been… I've been well, Eonnie. And you?"

"We've… I've been well too."

It was quiet again as they tried to avoid directly looking at each other. They were in a cafe owned by Bomi which had been closed for the day for them. The meeting was also set by her after they've met at the concert.

"Naeunnie."

She froze as she felt a hand on her wrist. She turned her head to see Bomi whose eyes widened. She was immediately in tears as she realized that it was indeed Naeun.

Before Naeun knew it, she was wrapped in a tight hug. Her Bomi eonnie was always the most affectionate one among her members. It was easy for her to hug and kiss them whether it was for celebration or just because. She missed those hugs. She missed her.

With shaky hands, she hugged her back.

But soon, Naeun started to feel panicked, as more people gathered in the halls. She had to pull away. "Eonnie, I'm sorry," she started as she cautiously looked around. "I really have to go."

"Naeunnie," Bomi said softly again as more tears fell from her eyes.

"I'll call you, Eonnie, okay?" she replied, as she reached to wipe the few tears from Bomi's cheeks and smiled. "I promise."

And so here she was in front of her Chorong eonnie, because as always, Bomi was late, even to a meeting she had arranged herself. So was Eunji. And she had no idea if Namjoo and Hayoung were coming. Probably not.

She and Chorong had somewhat had that same awkward personality wherein they feel uncomfortable with meeting new people. It was silly because they've known each other for more than ten years but of course with the previous ones of her being away, she guessed she seemed like a stranger again.

The two women looked up when they heard the door open and jingle, revealing overly excited Bomi and Eunji.

"Naeunnie!" Bomi immediately squealed and ran towards her, wrapping her into a tight hug. "God, I missed you!"

Eunji hugged her next and gave her a slight squeeze.

After they've made their greetings and Bomi has calmed down, they all sat back down again.

"So, are you back for good, Naeunnie?"

Naeun nodded. "I decided to move back to take good care of Appa."

Bomi was about to go on and ask another question but Naeun interrupted her. “Eonnie, can I talk first?”

Three pairs of eyes stared at her.

Taking a deep breath, she started. "I know I don't deserve it, but I just wanna apologize to you all. Because I went away and didn't contact anybody. I don't even have any right to be here with you right now." Among the members, she was always the last one to cry.

It wasn't easy for her to tear up because all her life, she has practiced the art of keeping everything inside but as she looked at the faces of her eonnies, she couldn't stop the sob that came out of . "I'm sorry."

Feeling embarrassed, she covered her face with her hands as she felt her chest tighten as she tried to control her emotions. Soon, she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her.

"I'm sorry," she hiccupped through her tears.

"Sssh, it's okay, Naeunnie. We're here. And you're here. That's what matters," Bomi said beside her, tightening her hold on her. 

Eunji handed her a tissue and stood beside them.

"I'm sure you had your reasons, Naeun-ah. And we're not here because we're demanding for any explanation of your whereabouts. We're here because we missed you and we're glad you're finally home," Chorong said, reaching to squeeze her knee.

Naeun sniffed. "Still, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. None of you did."

"You don't have to apologize, Naeunnie," Eunji smiled at her. "But if it helps, we already forgive you."

"Thank you, Eonnie," she managed to say through her tears. "Gaaah, I'm sorry," she said, trying to laugh. "I said I wasn't gonna cry."

Bomi chuckled. "Gwenchana. We all know you're the real softie of the group."

"Ah, eonnie," she whined.

"Wahh," Bomi said suddenly. "Never thought I'd miss you whining," she teased before laughing out loud.

Soon, they were all laughing and began to catch up. Naeun let Bomi and Eunji catch her up on all the happenings in their lives because she tried to be careful with what she said. It was hard to talk about her life without bringing up her son. She wasn't sure if it was something she can already share with them.

They didn't pry though, they let her be and didn't ask any questions and let her say whatever she wanted to share, which she was thankful for. And as they continued to talk, she felt much more comfortable, as if they were back to being that girl group. Minus Namjoo and Hayoung. She knew they were busy and were probably the ones who had the most grudge against her for leaving.

"I'm sure they'll come around," Eunji had assured her when Bomi had said they had schedules and had other plans.

She knew what it meant but she tried not to think about it too much. She wanted to spend time with the people who were with her at the moment.

All was going well until Saeeun called to tell her that she had a meeting that she had to go to that she forgot about and that she was already in front of the cafe, ready to drop off Yohan.

She could do nothing but let her because no one else could look after Yohan, her parents being in the hospital for a whole day for her father's monthly checkup.

When the two of them entered the cafe hand in hand, Naeun's heart began pounding in her chest. A lot of emotions were going through her head that she couldn't comprehend what was happening and what she should do. All she knew was that she was going to kill her sister when they get home for the trouble she was causing.

If only she knew really how much trouble she had already caused.

She has an apologetic look on her face as she gave Yohan's bag to his mother. "Eonnie, I'm really sorry. You know I wouldn't take him here if the meeting weren't important," she said to her before turning to the three women who were watching and bowing to them. "Eonnies, annyeonghaseyo."

Naeun, meanwhile, stood frozen in her spot while holding Yohan's hand, and his bag on her other hand.

It wasn't until she felt Yohan pull away from her that she noticed that she was still at the same spot. She watched as Yohan approached Eunji and bowed. "Imo, annyeonghaseyo," he greeted warmly.

Eunji smiled at the little boy. "Annyeong,