Strictly No Dating

Chapter 10

The 12 girls parted ways in Hong Kong airport.

Sakura, Yuri, Chaewon, Hitomi, Nako and Minjoo were headed to Tokyo, while the others flying back to Seoul. The girls had separate schedules, with Japanese TV appearances, also they were given a few days off before resuming their activities again. The Japanese members opted to spend time with their families in Japan before they get busy again.

“Bye guys, see you soon!” Yujin said, waving sadly at the Tokyo group.

She hugged Minjoo and then Chaewon, telling them to comeback in one piece. Yena was busy hugging Yuri at the corner and telling her to bring back the jacket that she borrowed safely. Eunbi was busy hugging Nako, telling her to come home soon and to say hello to her families on her behalf. Hitomi was talking to Chaeyeon and Hyewon about some new anime that Hyewon asked her to watch on flight.

Sakura was crossing her arms at a corner, pulling her cap down and covered half her face with it. Eunbi glanced at her, and their eyes met briefly. Sakura glared at her and turned her back. The leader sighed, she knew the latter was a little upset with their argument earlier, and she wanted to go to her side and comfort her in her arms, but she can’t. The Japanese girl was holding back her tears, and it shows.

“Chaewon-ah, take care,” Eunbi said, hugging her beloved junior.

Chaewon smiled and then leaned closer to her ear.

“Did something happen between you and Sakura unnie?” she whispered.

Eunbi flinched and gulped nervously.

“N-Nothing happen. There’s nothing going on between us.”

Chaewon pursed her lips, “I doubt that. She looks so down right now and she wouldn’t even look at you.”

**

The Tokyo team were assigned to sleep in a hotel before their TV show the next day. Sakura and Yuri were roommates, while the 2kims in one room. Nako and Hitomi went back to their families.

“Unnie, let’s go out for dinner. They’re waiting for us. Hey, why aren’t you dressed up yet?” Yuri asked, seeing Sakura still lying in bed, her head under the covers.

“I’m not hungry,” she said, her voice slightly muffled.

“Really? But you haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“It’s okay, you go first. I’ll order room service if I get hungry,” said Sakura, while holding a thumb up from under the blanket.

“Hmm, okay then. Rest well, unnie,” said Yuri before she left the room.

Sakura waited until she heard the sound of the door locked.

And then she cries.

She had been trying to hold back the tears for hours, until she was finally alone. It was painful. Too painful for her to bare it on her own.

So this is how it feels to fall in love.

She fell deep into the trap called love, even though people had warned her to stay away, but she was too curious to ignore. And too weak to resist.

She loves Eunbi, and it is more than just physical.

She loves the way she treats her so gentle as if she was a child, her warm embrace whenever she feels weak and lonely, her fiery touches on her skin that made her feel alive, her luscious lips, that out the soul from her body whenever they kissed. She loves everything about her.

She loves her.

I love you, unnie.

She wanted to say it out loud. She wanted to say it to her, proud. She knows that would be breaking their rule if she did. But it was killing her slowly the more she keeps it inside.

She didn’t know what she was hoping for if she confessed that to her. Maybe she was hoping that Eunbi would return her feelings. That they would finally be dating officially, not just someone to make out with when everyone was asleep.

But who was she kidding?

To Eunbi, she is just another member of the group, a comrade.

And that hurts like hell.

**

After making an appearance on NHK Utacon, Yuri, Chaewon and Minjoo headed back to Seoul first. Sakura and Hitomi took a flight in the next morning.

Hitomi noticed that her senior was in a foul mood that morning, and she didn’t press further to ask her anything. Sakura wasn’t in the mood to talk and she kept quiet almost the whole time. She leaned her head back on the seat and closed her eyes.

It’s been a few days away from the rest of the members, away from Eunbi too. The leader did send her texts, asking her how she was doing but she ghosted her most of the time. She was still fretting over what happened the last time they met at the airport, but Eunbi seems to be doing just fine. While she was crying alone in her room over her own feelings, the older girl went out meeting her friends, attending musical show with them and it hurts Sakura even more.

It really made her think.

Maybe she’s the only one who’s getting emotionally attached over this. It’s not fair.

Maybe it’s time she goes all out for this.

It’s all or nothing.

**

Eunbi was sitting alone on her bed. It was another day off for them and she woke up early to pack some food for Yujin. The youngest in her dorm get to attend school that day. She spent the whole morning nagging to Hyewon and Yena to clean their dorm. The two gamers obeyed her, and they vacuumed the floor and did the laundry. Now the two of them are in the living room, playing games again.

The leader leaned her back on the headrest. She looked at the cupboard where they put their things. A Red Velvet lightstick belongs to Sakura stood there proudly, alongside her Irene fan.

Eunbi sighed, she missed her.

She missed Sakura.

She looked at her phone again and checked on her KakaoTalk. Sakura still didn’t reply any of her texts. It’s been 2 days. Instead, she left her on read.

Suddenly someone walked into the room.

“Unnie, what are you doing?” asked Hyewon.

Seeing the tall girl approaching, she quickly put down her phone.

Hyewon sat on her bed, and Eunbi scooted to let her sit there properly.

“Ooh, are you dating someone? Why do you look so flustered when I came in? You even hid your phone,” Hyewon said, teasing.

Eunbi chuckled nervously, “What dating? I’m an idol, Hyewon-ah.”

Hyewon shrugs, “Who knows? Maybe you have a secret affair with someone unexpected, like the 2kim. No one suspected that they’re dating because they are always close.”

The leader shook her