Sakura didn’t manage to fall asleep till the day breaks and that is when her body finally gave in. Like most people dealing with rejection, she spent the whole night recollecting every part of their time spent - from the moment she bumped into Eunbi outside her door to the moment their kiss abruptly ended and the most important information of them all…

“I hope we can forget that this happened.”

It was this painful memory that accompanied Sakura to slumber but it is short-lived. Seeing how Sakura isn’t out of her room for lunch, her friends take it upon themselves to find out why.

Hyewon pokes Sakura’s cheek. “Earth to Sakura.”

Sakura isn’t in a deep sleep so she grumbles when she feels that. She turns her body away from where that is coming from only to meet another obstacle. “Are you not feeling well? Why are you still in bed?” Chaeyeon rests her palm on Sakura’s forehead. Sakura shifts her head around to avoid the touch.

“Guys please, I just want to continue sleeping.” She mumbles. Sakura refuses to open her eyes to keep whatever ‘sleep mode’ she has because she doesn’t even feel drowsy from the pathetic ‘sleep’ she had.

“It’s already noon. You should have lunch.”

“I don’t care about food and time right now.” Sakura pulls her blanket over her head.

Chaeyeon and Hyewon look at each other. This is more than Sakura acting out over a morning disturbance. Years of friendship has trained them for each other’s antics. Hyewon lies down beside Sakura and backhugs her lump under the blanket. Chaeyeon does the same from the front, stretching her long limbs across Sakura, briefly reaching Hyewon. Sakura is now sandwiched between her two friends who somehow decide to be koalas stuck to tree-Kura.

She is feeling slightly claustrophobic due to the lack of space whilst being under the blanket. However breathing is still manageable and she knows her friends’ intentions - they are trying to make her feel safe and truthfully it is working. They are not probing and they are just simply being there for her.

“We kissed last night and she rejected me.”

Chaeyeon raises her head so she can see Hyewon from the other side of the Sakura lump. “Did I hear that wrongly?” She is doubting her ears because Sakura’s voice is somewhat muffled. “Did she just say ‘we kissed last night and she rejected me’?”

“Yes.” Sakura confirms before Hyewon can even answer.

Hyewon gives an incredulous expression matching Chaeyeon’s, which is a lot given Hyewon is someone who rarely shows much. “Did I just sleep for like a week? I thought we were just helping you realise your feelings last night because you were too dumb to even know that?”

“Yeah!” Chaeyeon is equally lost so she shakes Sakura’s body in frustration. “What happened last night!”

Sakura fidgets, pushes her blanket away and sits up. Dark eyes evident on her white skin along with a sulky expression. “After you guys left, I couldn’t sleep because I kept thinking about my feelings for… her.” Sakura cannot bear to say her name. “I wanted to go out for a walk to clear my head but she was standing right outside my door.” Sakura goes on to detail the rest of the night before reaching the of the story. “And she told me to forget what happened.”

“The ?” Hyewon’s words, although crude, is exactly what Chaeyeon is thinking as well.

“That’s a total 180?! I don’t get it.” Chaeyeon feeling unjust for Sakura.

Sakura rolls her eyes in frustration over the recollection. “Imagine how I feel.” She drops herself back onto the mattress. By now both her friends are already sitting up, towering over her.

“Wait…” Something is clicking in Hyewon’s mind. “Run it through again. You leaned in for a kiss, she is the one who closed the final gap right?”

Sakura nods and Hyewon continues. “Then you initiated the kiss and she clearly kissed you back. That you weren’t dreaming?”

“Yes Kang Hyewon. I may like her but I am not delusional. She definitely kissed me back.” Sakura hates herself for blushing now of all times.

“Wow you are turning red.” Chaeyeon just has to comment on it.

“And she ended the kiss all of a sudden…” Her friend is clearly thinking hard so Sakura and Chaeyeon can only watch on the sidelines hoping that she can at least make some sense of this situation.

“She likes you.”

Sakura would’ve launched into a million different reasons she convinced herself with last night but Hyewon stops her. Physically. With a palm right in front of her face. “Listen.”

“You really got to explain well, Hye.” Even Chaeyeon finds it hard to believe that is the conclusion she came to.

“There’s no way she leaned in and kissed you back without having a shred of want in her body. The Captain could’ve easily ended it anytime before she didn’t want it. If she doesn’t like you.”

“But why-” Sakura doesn’t even get to finish before Hyewon interrupts.

“But why she said forget what happened? I am guessing there’s something more to that. You seriously can’t expect me to know everything right? I just met her a week ago! Coming to the conclusion that she likes you back is already amazing on its own considering both of you didn’t see that.” Hyewon is smug because she never likes a mystery and decoding one is ten times better.

Sakura is still sceptical. Only last night she realised her feelings for the agent she hated for awhile so blame her for trying to even digest Hyewon’s thinking that Eunbi likes her back. Just from a half-kiss alone!

“The kiss itself could’ve been a mistake, she was drinking remember.” Sakura reasons with her friend. “That’s why ‘forget what happened’ happened.”

“We should prove it then.” Chaeyeon ends the debate between the two. “Prove whether Captain likes Sakura or not, so we can infer last night better.”

This is getting out of hand. If her friends weren’t here, Sakura would have just thrown everything under the rug, like what Eunbi requested. Evidently it is not going to be the case here. Sakura knows her friends care but feeling drained from her fresh wound leads to the lack of enthusiasm for their ‘prove Captain likes her’ plan. Sakura buries her head in her hands. “And how are we going to do that…” She isn’t going to partake in the brainstorming.

“Jealousy is the best test for anybody’s feelings.” Hyewon’s evil mind clearly works fast.

Chaeyeon hums in acknowledgement, “so how can we test whether Eunbi will get jealous?”

“We go clubbing.”

Sakura’s head snaps back up. Where does this girl get all her ideas from!

It is like she has all these know-hows already stored in her head.

--

Minjoo ties her hair in a tight ponytail and enters the gym on mansion grounds. She wasn’t getting much done, feeling very restless and distracted in her room which was continuously reminding her of what happened last night. A jumbled mess is in her mind with the realisation of the unknown now known depth to her affection for her longtime agent, her agent’s feelings for her and… her best friend’s… love. Love triangles are meant for dramas only and it is worse feeling like the third party. Hitomi loves Chaewon first.... Do I even love- Minjoo shakes her head, deciding to focus on getting to the gym.

Today is Saturday and she is thankful that it is also Chaewon’s off day. She wouldn’t be leaving her room if there’s a chance of bumping into Chaewon with this much conflicting thoughts - especially since it concerns the agent. She hits the treadmill the moment she enters and pumps the machine to a high speed. Regular exercise has kept Minjoo in pretty good shape but with this speed, it doesn’t take long for Minjoo to be breathing heavily and legs like it is playing catch up. Coupled with the heavy weight of her thoughts, Minjoo soon jumps off the treadmill to catch her breath.

The thud of Minjoo landing on the ground grabs Yena’s attention as she enters the gym. Yena is on duty so she is on the mansion grounds but that is also why she is not needed by Minjoo’s side. Agents use this free time to hit their mandatory fitness upkeep hours and that is what she planned to do when she bumps into her principal.

“Woah, that’s intense.” Yena goes over to Minjoo’s treadmill to stop it from running. “Damn, speed 15! Are you training to join us?” She turns over to Minjoo who is still trying to catch her breath. She has never seen Minjoo running at such a high speed before so Yena moves closer to check that everything’s alright.

“I… needed… to get… things… off… my mind…” Minjoo huffs as she answers Yena. She moves herself towards the wall and slides down to the ground. Only after a couple of minutes, she manages to regain her regular breathing although her heart is still racing.

“Must be a lot for you to run that fast.”

“You have no idea.” Minjoo does not want to go into