Yuri's senses have fully adapted to fame⁠—her eyes shine brighter than the spotlight; her ears are used to the screams that fill the concert hall; her nose has been familiar with different scents; her skin warming up at the prolonged exposure to bright lights; and, her tongue enjoying the sweet taste of success. 

She belts out the high note perfectly and ended the song flawlessly. The stadium filled with cheers from her fans. Yuri watches as the crowd slowly turns their lightsticks on, making an orange ocean. The singer starts to tear up. She wipes her tears before clearing to speak, "Thank you everyone. To those who have been there since day one, I love you so much. Thank you for believing that I could make it. To those who have been here for a shorter time, I love you, too. Thank you for your support and I also read the encouragements you send me online. I don't know what good I did in my past life to get so much love from you guys but I am glad that I am able to experience this. Thank you for tonight. I love you all so much! Have a good night and a safe trip home!" Yuri bowed before waving her hands goodbye. The crowd shouted 'don't go' but the artist slowly faded in darkness.

Yuri carefully makes her way down the stairs to the backstage. Everyone was congratulating her for the successful concert while she thanks them for doing a good job in return. She rushes to her dressing room to finally change out of her concert clothes. She locks the door and checks her phone for any messages. To her disappointment, there was nothing. Yuri sighs as she starts to remove her dress. Suddenly, someone was knocking on her door and the voice of her manager could be heard, "Open the door," she says, "Wait. I'm changing," Yuri answers while wearing her casual clothes hastily. Once she was fully dressed, Yuri opened the door and her manager barged in the room.

"It was so loud all throughout. I'm impressed that you managed to sing without going off key," the short-haired manager said as she looks at Yuri like she's her daughter.

"It's called talent," Yuri winks and this cracked the manager up.

"We'll eat dinner with the team. Pack your stuff and we'll get going in a few minutes,"

Yuri shakes her head, "I'll pass today. I want to head home directly this time," she said but her manager only stared at her, "Please?" Yuri asks again. Her manager sighs and she knows that she already won, "I'll tell them that you're not feeling well so you better look sick while we go to the car," the manager instructs and Yuri nods her head quickly.

Yuri may have adjusted but, at the end of the day, she looks for something her senses are fond of⁠—the eyes that sparkle like the salt-sprinkled ocean; the voice that may sound husky but melodious; the smell of home and familiarity; the warmth that embraces her at night; and, the bittersweet taste of a sour relationship.

The two make their way out and the singer held onto her manager like she was going to fall anytime. She also didn't forget to put on a lighter shade of lipstick to look pale. As soon as they got in the car, Yuri's manager let out a deep sigh, "You're getting good at this," she turns to face the singer, "I just hope that you won't pull a trick on me," she joked and Yuri shook her head, "How could I? You always see through me," the young star laughed and her manager cracked up as well. The manager then started the car to drive. 

Yuri checked her phone and when she saw that there were no new notifications, she looked out the window. The city lights reflect in her eyes and she is reminded of the time when she was still unsure if she would be able to stand on stage. She wasn't sure if she would make it. Looking back, what she has achieved seemed unreachable but she made it. Yuri smiles; and Yena's face flashed in her mind. 

Choi Yena is her girlfriend for seven years. She never left Yuri's side and was always there to encourage her whenever she lost hope in herself. Yena was Yuri's source of every positive feeling in the world. Yena is the sun who does not only bring light into Yuri's world but also warms her up in an embrace. These days, however, Yuri starts feeling distant from her. The singer knows that Yena could also feel the gap between them. They know they love each other so much but something feels off and Yuri is scared of what might happen if they don't act on it soon.

Lost in her thoughts, Yuri didn't even notice that they already arrived home. Her manager stopped the car, waiting for her to get out. She alighted the car and thanked her manager before closing the door. Yuri walked towards the elevator and once she entered, she dialed Yena's number. Her shoulders fall when the call was forwarded to voice call. Yena usually answers her calls almost immediately—before.

Yuri reaches her floor and she proceeds to enter their unit. She is welcomed by a pitch black room that doesn't feel like home—well, it used to but not anymore. She heads to their shared room to leave her things before sitting on the sofa at the living room. Yuri leans her head on the arm of the sofa as she hugs her knees. She always loved to act like a coccoon and Yena would usually jump on her asking her 'precious little butterfly' to come out and fly. She smiles at the thought. She tears up thinking that it is now a memory that she wishes to relive. Slowly, Yuri thinks that she is really a butterly about to break free from the chrysalis. She is this close to flying away.

Yuri's senses tingle—her eyes start to open and adjust in the dark; the sound of the passcode being entered fill the seemingly empty room; she starts to smell a familiar scent of lemon; she feels her heart racing in anticipation; and, vanilla lingers on her lips as she hears her name being called.

"Yuri?" Yena calls and the younger girl's body automatically sat up, "I'm here," she says faintly. She hears the shuffle of Yena's feet and suddenly she feels familiar arms wrapping around her neck. Yuri leans her cheeks against Yena's. She felt the latter lift her head and before she could turn her head, Yuri felt Yena's lips on her cheeks. Yuri knew that she is now flushing because of the gesture. Fortunately, the lights to their apartment is off since she didn't turn them on when she arrived. Truthfully speaking, neither of them liked the lights on.

Yena jumps from behind the sofa to sit beside Yuri. The younger girl finds herself sinking into Yena's hold, "You did well today," the older girl tells her while rubbing her arm. Yuri hums, "I would've done better if you were there," she says with her eyes closed. Yena sighs, "I'm sorry. There was an emergency at work," Yuri wants to believe that the older girl regrets not being able to go but the exhaustion in her voice makes it hard to know. Then, Yuri remembers her lingering thoughts. The thoughts that keep her up at night, those that slowly crawl up giving her difficulty in breathing. 

"Hey," Yena calls out once she felt Yuri shaking under her fingertips, "What's wrong?" she asks but there is no response from the younger girl.

"I'm scared," Yuri mumbles.

Worry fills Yena's system. This might be the conversation she's been fearing to have. She knew that both of them could feel that a gap has been between them. Both of them noticed each other drifting away but neither of them had the courage to speak up and initiate a confrontation. Despite having thought about it for countless times, Yena always shook it off.

"Of what?" she asks as if she had no clear idea.

"Are we falling out of love?" Yuri felt Yena's head suddenly turn to her. Yuri looks up, the slightly taller girl's frowning face stares back at her, "Are you?" are the only words that came out of Yena's mouth. The shakiness in her voice brought relief to Yuri's heart; but, she knows she should not give in.

"Yena, we've been growing farther from each other since I debuted. At first, I thought it was just because we were forced to spend less time with each other but as time went by, I realized that both of us changed. We are barely keeping us together," Yuri breaks down. Yena balls her fist, not knowing how or what to react. She cannot bear to see the love of her life break in her arms. Yena closes her eyes, trapping her tears inside.

Yuri's senses are compromised—her eyes are dimmer from the tears; her ears only remember the comforting voice as an echo in the past; her nose fills with the scent of burnt wood and smoke; the touch of the cold breeze brings shivers down her spine; and, her tongue dislikes the impending bland end of their romance.

She moves and Yena lets her. She heads to their room to get her bag. Yuri starts to walk away. She closes her eyes to take reality in. It hurts but she has to deal with it. She takes another deep breath before bringing herself towards the door. Yuri knows that once she lets herself out, what she has been thinking will be real. As she was about to open it to finally leave, Yena spoke, "I didn't mean to hurt you," Yuri has her back away from Yena but she knows the latter is crying, "I love you," those three words were enough to make Yuri think again. She grips the cold doorknob and it sends chills down her spine.

I love you.

Three words that she haven't heard from Yena for a long time. Those same words that the older girl kept on repeating before Yuri became someone. It's ironic how the very same words that kept you together could also shatter you into pieces.

Yuri looks over her shoulder, "What happened to us?" she says out of desperation to get the answer. The knew that they are still head over heels for each other but something went wrong along the way. Yuri doesn't know what happened; probably because she was to blinded by the limelight. Or maybe that was the problem.

"It's me," the rising star says as she thought things through. Yena quickly stands up to approach her. The older girl shakes her head, "No. I'm at fault," she finally says, "I should've been more understanding. I thought I could pretend to be okay with you not having enough time with me. I thought I could handle not seeing your face first thing in the morning instead of an empty bed. I really thought I would grow out of the feeling that your career is slowly taking you away from me but I was wrong. I was so wrong," Yena reached for Yuri's hands and she held them tight, "I might seem like I have been cold but I hope you know that I still feel butterflies whenever you're around. I still stumble over my words whenever I talk to you. I still love you, Yuri. Through the years, despite the problems we faced, my love continued to grow," Yena smiled as she cupped Yuri's face. The latter leaned her cheek on Yena's hand, "I'm still into you, too, Yena. I'm sorry for not making enough time for the two of us," Yuri says apologetically.

"Forget it," Yena says before bringing her face closer to Yuri's. 

Yuri's senses found something new to be fond of—her reflection as she stares into Yena's eyes; the song whose melody is made up of Yena's laughter; the sweet fragrance of Yena's clothes; the way she melts at Yena's fingertips; and, the sweet taste of Yena's lips.

-END-