Strictly No Dating

Chapter 6

Eunbi was standing in front of the fridge, one hand holding the door open, and the other hand on her waist. She scrunched her face in disbelief, looking at the state of their fridge’s content.

“Didn’t I just buy supplies a week ago?” she said.

Yena who was washing her bowl at the sink glanced over at the leader.

“Yeah, you did.”

Eunbi scoffed, “Then how come there’s almost nothing left in here?!”

Yena almost dropped her bowl, startled.

And then she pointed at Hyewon who just entered the kitchen, “Her.”

“And also her,” she added, pointing at Yujin who tagged Hyewon behind her like a shadow.

“We’re hungry,” Hyewon said, peeking into the fridge.

Eunbi let her and Yujin rummage the almost empty fridge and took a few steps back.

“When are you two not hungry?” she mumbled.

Yujin took out the last piece of ready-to-eat sausage happily and grinned at Eunbi.

She replies, “I’m still growing up, unnie. I need to eat. A lot.”

Yena who passed by her snorts, “You’re already a giant, do you want to hit the roof or something?”

Yujin stuck her tongue at Yena and then latched to her back annoyingly. Yena tried to break free from her, but it was useless. The kid was a giant indeed.

Eunbi let out a sigh, “Looks like I’m going to go out to buy some groceries again. Who wants to come with me? I’m gonna need some help carrying the stuff.”

It was dead silent. And all the members were avoiding eye-contact with Eunbi. Yena was being stampeded by Yujin on the sofa, Hyewon was still rummaging the fridge while Minjoo was texting on her phone.

Except one person.

“I’ll go with you,” Sakura said with a grin. She even had a hand held up like a kid.

Eunbi can’t help but chuckled.

“Alright, Kkura. Let’s go.”

**

They went to a nearby supermarket to buy their supplies. Eunbi actually wanted to ask Sakura to go with her, but she didn’t want to make it too obvious. So she was glad when Sakura volunteered to go. They wore their casual clothes, Eunbi wore a mask while Sakura had a cap to conceal her face. Eunbi was pushing the cart while Sakura was walking beside her. They were at the noodles section, picking the instant noodle for their dorm.

“I can’t believe they ate two weeks’ worth of supplies in less than a week. What are they? Vacuum cleaners?” Eunbi muttered as they walked.

Sakura laughed and picked up two packs of the members’ favorite ramyun and put them inside the cart.

“Do members in Dorm 1 eats this much too?” asked Eunbi to Sakura.

Sakura nodded, “Yeah. We have a lot of young members there, so they eat a lot too. Especially Wonyoung. She couldn’t stop eating.”

They continued to walk and Sakura casually grabbed Eunbi’s hand and held it. The older girl was startled and she turned to look at her.

She smiled, “Getting braver, I see. But baby, we’re in public.”

Sakura leaned closer to her face, “No one knows who we are. We’re covered.”

They continued to walk to another aisle to buy the things from the list. They reached an aisle for tissues and napkins. It was a Wednesday so the supermarket wasn’t busy. The tissue aisle was rather empty.

“We almost ran out of toilet paper,” Eunbi said.

Sakura dragged the older girl to choose the toilet paper brand. She still insisted to hold hands no matter what.

“We look like a real couple, right?” asked Sakura.

Eunbi chuckled, “Like we’re buying groceries for our home.”

Sakura bit her lip for a few moments before continuing, “Should we just date for real, unnie?”

Eunbi paused. She put back the pack of toilet paper and then turned to Sakura.

“Baby, we can’t,” she replied, short.

Sakura pouted.

“I hate rules.”

Eunbi held Sakura’s hands and looked up to meet her eyes. She smiled weakly.

“Let’s just treasure the time we have now, okay? We’re kissing buddies and pretend girlfriend, and that’s not bad. Let’s not worry about anything else.”

Sakura continued to sulk.

“Okay, baby? Can we do that?” Eunbi asked again. She cupped the Japanese’s girl’s face and looked softly into her eyes.

Sakura gave up and smiled, “Okay.”

“The thing I want to do right now is this.”

“What?”

The younger girl reached for the leader’s face and pulled down her mask. She leaned down and kissed her lips before she could say anything else. Eunbi froze in her spot. When Sakura pulled back and looked at her, she couldn’t move. Only her cheeks had turned pink. The Japanese girl smiled and then she kissed her again, twice.

Eunbi finally woke up from the daze and she smiled sheepishly at Sakura. She pulled her mask up and hit Sakura’s shoulders playfully. Sakura giggled as she was being hit.

“AH, IT’S UNNIES!” shouted a voice suddenly.

Both the eldest members became aware and turned towards the voice.

They saw Nako running towards them, with Chaeyeon behind her.

**

Sakura couldn’t stop grumbling to herself.

This isn’t how it supposed to be.

She was pushing the cart filled with groceries for Dorm 2, alone. Eunbi was walking in front of her, chatting happily with Chaeyeon while holding to Nako’s hand. Chaeyeon and the leader were busy discussing about the type of detergent to use. At times Eunbi would turn to Nako and pats her hair lovingly.

They looked like a happy family.

Sakura groaned. The three of them looked like a family shopping for groceries, while Sakura felt like she’s the third party. Like their housemaid or something.

“Baby, would you like some ice cream?” asked Eunbi.

Sakura knows that tone. That’s how Eunbi usually called her. Sakura’s face lit up immediately, and she turned to look at Eunbi.

“Yes unnie, I-

She paused.

She was wrong. Eunbi wasn’t talking to her. The older girl was smiling sweetly at Nako as she showed her a tub of Mint Choco ice cream she took from the fridge. Nako nodded enthusiastically at Eunbi, like a child talking to her mother. Chaeyeon was by their side, grinning like a fool. Sakura noticed the way her best friend was looking at Eunbi. She would steal glances at her whenever she thought the older girl wasn’t looking. Sakura looked away.

What does that look mean?

Is it…

“Saku-chan,” a voice called.

Sakura saw Chaeyeon walking towards her.

“Oh, Chaeyeon.”

The taller girl linked her arm with her and smiled.

“How are you living in Dorm 2? You seem to be adjusting well there. Don’t you miss me at all?” asked Chaeyeon with a grin.

Sakura chuckles, “We still meet each other every day, and we chat on kakao all the time. How can I miss you?”

Chaeyeon laughs, “Oh well. I do miss you though. I had to do the cooking alone. The kids just wait with empty plates!”

“Chaewon didn’t help you?”

Chaeyeon rolls her eyes, “She’s too busy video calling Minjoo. Seriously what’s the point of splitting them into different dorms? They’re still very much dating. So much for ‘Strictly No Dating’ rule.”

Sakura laughed.

Chaeyeon’s eyes widen, “Oh yes, I’m going to ask Eunbi unnie to do the couple dance with me soon.”

Sakura smiled weakly, “You haven’t asked her yet?”

The taller girl shook her head, “I’m worried if she will say no to me.”

“Oh come on, why are you so nervous? It’s just a couple dance. It’s not like you’re confessing your feelings for her or ask her to date you,” Sakura said half-joking.

Chaeyeon looked at her blankly, and her cheeks slowly turned red. They both looked at each other for a while, not saying anything. Chaeyeon finally looked away and Sakura noticed the sheepish smile on her face. She gulped.

“Do you like Eunbi unn