Note: Bolded text are text messages,
Italics are the usual inner thoughts.
Italics that are right spaced, those are flashbacks/memories. Enjoy!

Sakura is just done showering and she casually tosses her damp towel on the bed. They managed to walk around Myeongdong for a bit before having dinner and coming home. It is fun having her friends but hanging out everyday is slowly wearing her out. She is looking forward to crashing in bed and sleeping in because it is the weekend tomorrow. But unfortunately, her wish doesn’t last long when she is interrupted by knocks on the door.

“Come in!” Sakura screams as she moves towards the bed.

Two heads pop in. “We heard the agents are hanging out at their staff pantry and are thinking of dropping by. Wanna join us?” Hyewon says.

Sakura groans. The sense of FOMO is strong but her bed is calling too. She drops onto her mattress, a sign of what she is going to choose.

“I heard all the agents are there.” Chaeyeon adds knowingly. She wants to see how Sakura will react.

The girl pops her head up. “At the staff pantry? What are they doing?”

“Heard that everybody is just hanging out since it’s Friday night. There’s food though! Since it is a pantry.” Food is obviously the main selling point for Hyewon.

“So? Wanna come?” Chaeyeon probes. She’s betting that Sakura would say yes and indeed she does.

The girl gets off her bed and ruffles through her hair, trying to make it presentable. “Okay, let’s drop by for a bit.”

“Where’s Chaewon unnie?” Yujin asks as she sees Yena and Minjoo entering the staff pantry. On Friday nights, the agents have an unofficial gathering where everybody just hangs out. Yujin and Eunbi are sitting by one of the tables as the new entrants approach. Minjoo was actually contemplating on not coming but Yena was pretty adamant - “Chaewon is not coming so we already have lesser people. Plus you always join us so why not tonight as well Minjoo-yah…”

Truthfully, there are several reasons dampening Minjoo’s mood. One was something Yena reminded her, Chaewon not coming tonight and she knows why. The second will be seeing Eunbi again, it will be the first time since that talk in the triage zone and Minjoo hasn’t really sorted out her feelings on that yet. She had been distracted by Hitomi-Chaewon that the sort-of-rejection from Eunbi just took a backseat. Minjoo purses her lips as she follows behind Yena. Maybe I would just stay for a short while then I’ll head up.

Eunbi knows Minjoo well enough to sense the girl is not feeling in a good mood and Eunbi is worried that she is the cause of it. “Hi Yena. Hi Minjoo.” Eunbi says affectionately as she draws out a chair for the girl. She knows that things will not be the same since the talk with Minjoo, but Eunbi genuinely values Minjoo like a little sister so she will not give up making their relationship comfortable again.

“Thank you.” Minjoo meekly makes eye contact with Eunbi before she looks away as she settles into the chair.

Yujin senses the awkwardness and her natural instinct is to move things along so she repeats her earlier question. “Where’s Chaewon unnie?”

Eunbi notices a visible pout on Minjoo’s face when the question is asked. Yena with her hands already on a bag of chips, obliviously answers Yuijn. “Chaewon just said she needs to leave.”

“That’s interesting. Usually unnie has nothing better to do so she doesn’t just leave.” Yujin responds matter-of-factly.

“Hey.” Eunbi cuts Yujin off for her thoughtless words - not just to the present situation but also at how disrespectful it is for the agent who is not here.

“Rude.” Yena also knocks Yujin on the head before resuming her snacking.

Eunbi pours a glass of orange juice for Minjoo. “Orange juice?” Minjoo nods. The Captain still cares for her just like before. Maybe she doesn’t have to worry about them after all, Eunbi is still treating her the same as she always does. Minjoo smiles at Eunbi before sipping on the sweet goodness, yet Minjoo notices her moodiness is still present. I wonder how their date is going.

Seeing the girl gulping down the liquid robotically, Eunbi concludes: It is not because of me that Minjoo is looking so down. She angles her body towards Minjoo. “Chaewon didn’t tell you where she’s going?” Eunbi asks in a tone that people in her line of work hardly get to hear, not the firm Captain voice but the calm soothing unnie tone.

Minjoo looks up and places the glass back on the table. She contemplates her response before she shakes her head. She’s not lying technically because the agent told her nothing. Furthermore, Minjoo really does not want to talk about them anymore, the feeling . So she pushes the pout away for a more neutral look. Changing topics will be a better idea. “Where’s Sakura unnie? I saw the picture of her with the schoolgirls trending on the search sites just now. You didn’t tell her to wear a mask?”

Eunbi notices the smooth diversion and knows enough to play along. “She’s probably in her room or her friends’. I told her but I guess the Kim family daughters’ beauty can’t be hidden behind a mask because people seem to recognise them either way.”

Eunbi successfully makes Minjoo laugh for the first time that night. The thought weighing on the younger girl is pushed away by the new topic. “Remember that time I was at the movie theatre? We bought tickets but couldn’t even watch the movie!”

“So many people were crowding us and as your agent, I cannot in my good conscience keep you there.” Eunbi smiles at the fond memory.

“What are you guys talking about?” Yena and Yujin join in their conversation when they sense something interesting brewing.

“About how wearing a mask sometimes doesn’t help.”

“I think there are times Eunbi unnie just wants to wrap you up in many layers of covering and we can just leave your eyes then nobody will recognise you and we wouldn’t have trouble!” Everybody bursts out laughing at how ridiculous Yena’s statement is and as the girls dive deeper into reminiscing, Eunbi stealthily pulls out her phone.

Missing out on our Friday gathering. Where in the world grabbed our dear Kim Chaewon away? Eunbi sends the message and a reply promptly comes.

Busybody.

A one word reply in true Chaewon-fashion. Eunbi types back a witty reply.

In other words, a concern unnie.

This time, it takes a while before the response comes. Eunbi was thinking that Chaewon would not reply her, which frankly speaking isn’t surprising. Never did Eunbi expect that it would be Chaewon who's doing the surprise.

I am on a date.

Eunbi cannot help but raise her brows when she reads the message. Yujin stops their ongoing conversation when she notices the change in Eunbi’s expression. “Something happened, Eunbi unnie?”

“My friend just sent me something funny that’s all.” Eunbi plays it off with a smile.

“Ehhhh unnie, you have friends here in front of you stop playing with your phone…” Yena whines and the nicest of the three, Minjoo only smiles.

“Alright alright. Just one last message.” Eunbi turns back to her phone. Tell me more tomorrow. She sends it and Eunbi sneaks a glance at Minjoo. So that is why you are upset. Eunbi suppresses a smirk. Young love. So oblivious.

“Hey!!!” Yujin suddenly screams out and Eunbi looks up and immediately, Eunbi locks her phone and pockets it. Chaeyeon, Hyewon and most importantly, Sakura have entered the staff pantry.

--

Chaewon keeps her phone. “Sorry where were we?” She picks up her cup of half-eaten jelly and turns back to the girl beside. Hitomi and her are sitting in the park, enjoying the cool night breeze as they devour their convenience store desserts.

“I was just talking about the time my brother nearly burned down the kitchen wanting to bake for a girl he was trying to impress.” Hitomi has been doing most of the talking that night and frankly she doesn’t really mind. For Chaewon to say yes to tonight was a miracle itself and she isn’t going to mind Chaewon’s usually quiet self. She has always been more of a listener.

The date has been going pretty well, Hitomi notes. They did what most people would do on a date which was thoroughly planned out by the bread-cheeked girl. She doesn’t want the night to go wrong and the agent seems to be okay with it thus far. They had dinner at a famous Japanese curry rice restaurant and seeing how cleanly Chaewon had finished the whole plate, Hitomi knew that was a success. Thereafter, they took a walk and that’s how they ended up in a park having their dessert.

“Are you done with that?” Chaewon points to the leftover mochi packaging in Hitomi’s palm. Hitomi nods and Chaewon gestures for her to hand it over.

“I am heading to throw mine so let me.” Chaewon takes the plastic from Hitomi and heads to the nearby trash bin. Hitomi stares at Chaewon’s back and pinches her thigh. Ow, okay I am definitely not dreaming. A smile creeps up on her face for the nth time that night.

Chaewon dusts her hands and walks back. She does not sit back down but instead lingers awkwardly in front of her date. It is quite obvious the agent is thinking hard on her next words.

“You said you love seeing the stars right?”

Hitomi raises her brows at the surprising topic choice. She had just told Chaewon earlier during dinner about the holiday trip she most enjoyed in Jeju where she