“Hii-chan! Get the door, please?”

“On it!” yells Hitomi, already approaching the door. She smiles at Chaeyeon's echoing arigato! and wipes her palms carelessly against her pants—she's been cleaning the living room with Wonyoung, except Wonyoung has gone to the laundry room to take care of the dirty cushions, leaving her alone alone with the dusters and the messy back of their television.

The bell rings again. Hitomi squints and peers through the monitor, humming a questioning tune when she catches sight of awkwardly shaping the letter Z. It’s a running joke in the group—to identify who’s at the door, they have agreed to two signs. The letter I for Eunbi’s dorm, and the letter Z for Sakura’s. Hitomi tilts her head—wondering idly if it's actually Yena and she has something to do with Yuri—and opens the door.

“Hello.”

Hitomi blinks.

It's Chaewon.

She opens , and closes it again. She steps aside to let Chaewon in, and it's only after she closes the door back that she finally says, with bemusement lacing her voice,

“Hello to you too, Chaewon-unnie.”

“Mmm. Cute apron.”

Hitomi flushes. “I was cleaning.” She watches as the older girl shoves her shoes into the rack, “What brings you there?”

Chaewon turns to face her, shrugging her jacket slightly and then slowly pulling them off. There's a hum and a small smile on her lips as she produces her phone, not answering Hitomi's question.

“Um,” says Hitomi. “Unnie...?”

“I found something interesting in the nets today,” Chaewon starts, not looking up. She unlocks the screen and scrolls away. She seems to find what she's looking for a beat later, because she finally looks up then, raising her phone to Hitomi's face. “Look, do you recognize this?”

Hitomi steps back slightly and squints at the screen suddenly invading the front of her face. Chaewon is showing her a picture of an encased lock.

Oh?

“That's our lock,” Hitomi breathes out, looking past the screen and at Chaewon. Chaewon smiles, nodding. Hitomi furrows her brows, “I thought we lost it?”

“We lost one. WIZ*ONEs retrieved the other and sent it to the company,” Chaewon explains. “Every once in a while, the locks in Namsan get cleared out. So they did this to avoid that fate for ours.”

A smile blooms on Hitomi’s lips, gaze softening as she looks at the picture again.

“That's nice,” she whispers. She looks at Chaewon again, smile widening, “Please send the picture to me, Unnie!”

Chaewon nods, pulling her phone away and to herself. “They sent us some goods, too,” she says, pocketing the gadget. “Remember the SsamBbang Café Kura-unnie showed us a few days ago? They sent us some goods from the event.”

“I’m sad I didn’t get to visit,” Hitomi sighs, “but that’s very nice of them.”

Chaewon makes an agreeing sound. “Managers said they’ll send the stuffs over sometime,” she says. “I’ll tell you when it arrives.”

Hitomi nods, mentally contemplating about inviting her to the kitchen because Chaeyeon is cooking. She still has some stuffs to clean up and Wonyoung should be back anytime soon—where is she, why is she taking so long—

Except Chaewon then says, “That's not the only reason I'm here.”

Hitomi hesitates. “No?”

Chaewon shakes her head. “I…” she coughs into her fist, gaze averting away, “I kind of, um. Yena-unnie made me realize that I have something I need to ask you.”

Hitomi relaxes a little. “If this is about the picture I posted in my mobame with Yuri,”

“What?” Chaewon blinks, then shakes her head. “No, no. Not that. I meant, partially, but not exactly that—” Chaewon pauses and inhales, “Wait. This really doesn't explain anything.”

“It's okay,” Hitomi encourages her, even though she's confused. “Take your time.”

Chaewon wordlessly tugs at the jacket she's draped over her arm, fidgeting with the thick fabric. There’s a long beat before she finally says, “I feel like lately, we—” she visibly stumbles over her thoughts, mouth closing and opening again without the next word ever escaping her lips.

“We...?” Hitomi prods, concerned. It's not often she sees the older girl at loss, so out of control even of her own words.

“I feel like lately,” Chaewon restarts, “we aren't together as much.”

Hitomi tilts her head, keeping every thought in. She only nods, and Chaewon expels a breath.

“You've started to be with the other members a lot.” Chaewon furrows her eyebrows like she isn't satisfied with what she has said, and tries to correct, “I meant, it's a good thing, and I love seeing you laughing with them, having fun. I’m glad to know that we’re all strengthening our bonds with no exception, it's just that—”

Hitomi softly interjects, “What are you trying to say, Unnie?”

“I don't know,” Chaewon breathes out, smiling weakly. “I meant. I don't know how to say it. It's just, I saw our lock secured and in one piece and I just thought—”

“Thought?”

“Is your heart secured, too, and would my name be the one inscribed under it?”

She pours the words out in one exhale, eyes downcast.

Hitomi swallows, trying to steady the sudden irregular beating of her pulse. With Chaewon, sometimes words take a backseat, and sometimes feelings are spoken out loud only to never be talked about later, leaving her wondering it she’s only dreaming them.

“Unnie...?”

“Or would it be Minjoo's? Or Yuri's?” Chaewon quickly says, laughing awkwardly. “But knowing you lately, you might answer WIZ*ONE's.”

“Chaewon-unnie,”

“,” Chaewon mumbles, taking a step back. “I don't know, Hitoma. I'm sorry. It's just that, you've always—you choosing me was always a constant. You kept choosing me no matter the questions, and suddenly, out of nowhere, you stopped and—”

A breath, a shaking head.

“You stopped. And I feel like I'm rapidly losing something.”

Hitomi closes her eyes, a flicker of sadness weighing down her heart at the hurt imbued in Chaewon’s words. And when she opens them again, Chaewon is still there, in front of her, looking at everywhere but herself.

“I still choose you a lot,” Hitomi tries to point out, the memories of her fansign answers flooding back in.

“Yes but,” Chaewon exhales, “but you don't—” her shoulders slacken and she heaves out,

“Not always.”

With a slow intake of breath, Hitomi steps forward, smiling softly when Chaewon finally looks up. She slowly cups the older girl's cheeks, whispering,

“Yuri is right, Yena-unnie's ery has rubbed off on you.”

Chaewon makes an offended noise at the back of , “Hey—”

“I don't know that you feel like that, Unnie,” Hitomi honestly murmurs, gazing at her eyes. “I thought you're doing just fine with me away. I thought you're unaffected. You never said anything.”

Chaewon frowns. “Well, is—” she starts and swallows, “is it too late if I said something now?”

“Are you affected?”

“So much,” replies Chaewon in a whisper. “I don’t like the feeling of losing you, Hitoma, I—” Chaewon slowly covers the the hands cupping her cheeks with her own and leans into Hitomi’s touch, eyes fluttering close,

“I know it’s probably ridiculous to feel like this, but—but what can I do, really? I like you.”

Hitomi smiles, taking in the warmth the three words are unravelling within her, and she tiptoes slightly to kiss the tip of Chaewon's nose.

“Come to the kitchen,” she says, releasing her hold and stepping back. “Chaeyeon-unnie is cooking.”

Chaewon opens her eyes and narrows her eyebrows, “But—”

Then, without a beat, Hitomi reaches for Chaewon's hand, smoothly clasping her fingers around the older girl's.

“And this time,” she says, the curl of her lips deepening, “don't think that you're losing me.” A gentle squeeze, and a tug forward so they start walking. Chaewon obliges, following her steps, silent but strong in her grip.

When Chaeyeon sees them, she grins and tells them to sit, no need for help because Sakura is already aiding her in cooking while Nako prepares the table and goes to wake Yuri up.

Hitomi pulls her along, claiming the two seats side-by-side on the table.

Chaewon doesn't let go of her hand.

So it takes her longer to secretly type and send a message to her phone,

hello! this is the receipt of Honda Hitomi's heart. we have it locked up and encased in a small box, addressed to you. please keep this receipt, and look at it whenever you start to wonder where her heart is.

I like you, too. so don't worry anymore, Chaewon-unnie. <3


When Chaewon receives the message, she smiles brightly and, when no one’s looking, she lifts the fingers clasped around her own to her lips and chastely kisses the back of Hitomi’s hand.

The two of them never stop smiling.

(And Hitomi makes a point to thank Minjoo for her advice of taking a break from Chaewon—she’s right, after all, Chaewon is the jealous type.

She really should’ve done this sooner.)

[ ♡ ]