Hold on to hope
if you got it.
And don't let it go.

/15/ Don't let go

"It's snowing outside." She whispered to herself. Sinb held her jacket closer to her body as she stands up to close the window. She grabbed the curtains on her hand as the scene outside caught her attention. The roads were clear, the trees were covered with snow and the moonlight is the only thing that lighted up the night. Winter has started. She silently stared, letting her mind drift off on the scene in front of her.

It seems like yesterday they're preparing to debut, nervous about how they would cope up in the music industry, but time flies so fast. Gfriend is now one of the top girl groups in Korea. They were also strangers to one another long ago, but now they couldn't afford to lose and live without each other.

It's been years since the debut and now they've been preparing for yet another album. Sinb should be happy and excited, but she couldn't help to feel anxious. It might be the last one being complete as a group. Heavens could take Sowon from them anytime, and it's tearing her apart.

She closed her eyes and prayed. She always wished for time to fast forward, to see the things she could be in the future. But now, all she wished is to have the power to stop the time and let them spend more days with her unnie.

"Eunbi," A small voice called her. She turned around and saw her best friend in the doorway. "Are you coming? They're waiting for us."

"Yeah. Go first. I'll just check Sowon unnie." She starts to walk, passing Umji who's still frozen on her position.

She ignored the younger girl and proceed to Sowon's room. She twisted the knob silently and peeked through the room. Yerin is not there, so she walked in, closing the door behind her. Sowon was sleeping on her bed. The exhaustion could be seen on her face. Sinb couldn't help but frown from the sight. She sits beside the older and holds her hand.

"Unnie... I'm sorry." She whispered even though the older couldn't hear it.

After the heated confession earlier, Sowon passed out. It caused panic and chaos among them. But Sinb, knowing Sowon's sickness longer, assured that Sowon was alright. The young leader just overworked herself again, and it's all because of them. She couldn't count on how many times Sowon pushed herself through her limits to prioritize the group's needs, being selfless again and again to point that she's hurting herself. And she couldn't understand why Sowon is doing this.

She stared at her unnie's sleeping face a little longer, memorizing every detail she could remember. She couldn't believe at first when Sowon told that she will go through chemotherapy. She knew that it was a tough decision. Sowon could lose everything, yet she chose to be brave and face the battle fiercely. And now that all of them were becoming one to help Sowon, she's sure that things will be better. Things may get harder but they're here now for each other. She caressed her unnie's hand, "Don't let go, unnie."

____________________

"Buddies are worried after unnie's vlive. Look." Yuju says. "It's all over the internet now."

"Why do people always make a fuss about things we want them to ignore?" Eunha retorts. "Don't bother to look at that Yuna! Just searched up other remedies for Sowon unnie's illness." Eunha snatched the device from Yuju.

Yerin couldn't focus herself on what's the vocal line is talking about. She's still processing everything that happened today—no, yesterday. It's past midnight now, and they're still gathered up in the living room. She managed to pursue the other girls to have a quick meeting before they sleep.

"Where are the maknaes?" She asked the two who's sitting at the long couch.

"Maybe Yewon is still talking to Sinb, unnie." Yuju answered, still staring at the iPad. "Ow! Look at this article! It says fruits are good for cancer. We should buy more fruit! And shakes too! Can we make a fruit shake for Sowon unnie?" She asked with an innocent face, looking up Eunha.

Eunha said something to Yuju, and Yerin just shrugged it. She wrapped her hands on the hot mug of milk Umji had made her. She is still in the process of taking all the information on her mind. That's why she couldn't bring herself in the conversation even though she's also curious about the articles. Yerin sighed, she couldn't understand how the other girls had cope up so fast on the big revelation earlier. Did she miss anything? Or maybe they're just like her—pretending to be fine.

"Omuji! c'mere baby." Eunha calls the maknae who just came from her room. Yerin looked up at Umji who's wearing a disappointed face.

"What happened, Yewon? Where's Sinb?" Yerin asked as she watched Umji sat beside Eunha. The maknae shrugged her shoulders, not letting Eunha hug her.

"She's coming. She just wants to check Sowon unnie on the room."

Yerin opened her lips then closed it. She wants to say something, but she's not in the position to tell them what to do or not to do. She sighed for the nth time, "Alright. We'll just wait for her. Then let's make this forum quick so we can rest up."

"But what is this really for, unnie?"

"I just want to clarify things for us. This... Sowon unnie..." Yerin struggled. She bit her lower lips, trying to suppress her emotions. "We need to talk about the next step. What are we gonna do now?"

Silence envelopes the four of them. The situation slowly sinking in through their thoughts. Things happen way to fast as they could remember.

"We will do nothing." Sinb interfered. "Nothing's gonna change. We will just be more careful this time not to overwork unnie again."

Yerin stared at the younger who just came into the living room. She can almost see the redness of Sinb's cheeks, signs that she came from crying. Sinb sat at the empty seat in front of her, letting her more see the tiredness on her eyes. Well, all of them had that look on their eyes. She roamed her eyes at everyone who's in the living room. Yes, they're all tired.

"But how can we do that? Tomorrow is our choreography class. Is Sowon unnie not gonna attend on our schedules anymore?" Yuju asks, putting the iPad on top of the table. Eunha also agreed and nodded her head.

"No. What I mean is that we will still talk and act to her like we usually do."

"Yuna's point is that Sowonie will surely get tired of our schedules like she did today. What are we gonna do about that?" Eunha clarified. "Are we still supposed to act like we 'usually' do?" She says, using Sinb's words on her argument.

"That's why we're all here to talk about our next step." Yerin interfered before the situation gets out of hand again because of the Eunbis.

"Yerin unnie is right. Relax will you?"

The two Eunbi sighed and nodded their heads. They're also both tired of the unnecessary conflicts between them. They look at ea