Eunbi woke up refreshed. Sakura’s head was on her lap. She stared at her, wanting to be in this moment forever. The only thing missing is Sakura’s body right next to her. But this is enough, just waking up to her. 

Sakura stirred in her sleep and Eunbi closed her eyes, pretending to be still asleep.

Her hand became empty and cold not long after. As she heard the door close, she carefully opened her eyes and stared into space. Is it wrong to like you, Kkura-ya? Even though I know you’ll leave eventually, is it wrong?

/ Two Months Later /

Sakura had just finished her second year.

 Earlier in their business agreement, Sakura had warned Eunbi that she would be leaving Korea for three months to be with her family in Japan, like she usually does. At the airport, Eunbi is there with her daughter who is now 14 months old. Both adults can still remember the day Nako took her first step. It was just last week.

“Oh, Sakura, why did you call?”

“Unnie! You’ve gotta come home quick! There’s an emergency!”

Eunbi dropped everything in the office, “I’ll be right there!”

Sakura gaped at Nako, who was getting her balance. She kept falling, but Sakura felt like she was close. She couldn’t let Eunbi miss another milestone. Moreover, she couldn’t let Eunbi miss it with her being the only witness.

Eunbi didn’t know what was going on. All she knew was that Nako needed her right now. Fortunately, her supervisors understood and let her go home early. She’s also thankful that they just finished their last project two days ago, so starting a new one wasn’t much of a hassle.

She pulled into the parking spot and everything seemed peaceful in the apartment. The apartment wasn’t burning down, the door was locked which meant no one had broken in. What kind of emergency would drive Sakura to call her, which she rarely does?

Beep beep~

Sakura grinned, “Come in, unnie!” She made a fist-bump in her mind. As expected, she is psychic.

As soon as she entered, she realized there wasn’t anything bad. But there was something major happening before her eyes.

“N-Nako! Nako, my girl… you’re walking!”

Eunbi ran over and knelt down to hug Nako. Her eyes were tearing up. “My god, Sakura… I thought something bad had happened… this is probably the best surprise ever.”

The younger girl scratched the back of her neck shyly, “Unnie, those were her actual first steps! You made it just in time. I’m sorry I lied-”

The older girl who was now crying let go of Nako and wrapped her arms around Sakura, “No… thank you. If you hadn’t called, I would’ve missed this once-in-a-lifetime event again. I’m so thankful for you.”

Sakura could swear she finally knew how it felt to be on cloud nine. She hugged her back and rested her chin on Eunbi’s shoulder, “Anything for you.”

Times really flies. In 10 months, when Sakura is bound to leave them for good, Nako will be two years old. Eunbi doesn’t want to think that far ahead, but at this moment, she can’t help but do so. Three months without Sakura will be quiet, lonely, empty.

Sakura chuckled, “I’ll only be gone for three months. I’ll facetime you if you’d like.”

“Who’s going to take care of my daughter when I’m not there, hm?” Eunbi put on the persona she had the first time they met. It seems so long ago to Sakura, thinking back on how they were enemies for a day. It’s only been two months, but with the way they’ve been treating each other lately, it feels like a year.

“Tsk. I know you have Yena. You’ll drop her off just as you usually did before meeting me.”

“What if she starts crying?” What if I start crying? Eunbi thought to herself.

Sakura glanced at Nako, who had no idea what was going on. She was smiling like her usual self. She knelt down replicating the same smile,

“I’ll be back, Nako-ya. You won’t cry while I’m gone right?’

Nako hesitated for a moment, but nodded cheerfully, seeing her favorite mom (sorry, Eunbi), smiling. 

Sakura patted her head, “Good girl.”

She stood up and met Eunbi’s gaze. The older girl's eyes were glossy now.

“Oh, I forgot I have two babies to babysit.”

The second “baby” pouted, but that pout didn’t last and soon turned into a smile as Sakura held her hands as if she were also a kid.

“Eunbi-ya, you won’t cry while I’m gone either, right?”

The latter just dug her head into Sakura’s collarbone area, “I’ll try not to, my beautiful… babysitter.”

Sakura couldn’t explain how she felt, hearing that from the girl she once thought was a stuck-up ice princess. She knew there was something there, but she wanted to take things slow. Also, what if Eunbi didn’t feel the same way? There were too many risks. She couldn’t get attached to her. Their time was limited and it was purely business.

“Mom!” Nako waved her arms in the air, wanting attention as usual. Eunbi glared at her own daughter and Sakura chuckled at the sight. 

“Ya, don’t tell me you’re jealous of your own daughter?”

Eunbi blushed. Even she didn’t understand why she was acting like this. It was so unlike her. She worried Sakura might notice that she feels something for her. “I’m just playing around, haha.” She awkwardly left Sakura’s embrace and tried her best to smile naturally.

Sakura wanted to hug Eunbi longer.

~~~

As soon as Sakura arrived in Japan, she was welcomed by her parents and her neighbor slash childhood friend Hitomi.

“Kkura-chan!”

Sakura ran to Hitomi and gave her a hug. 

“Welcome home,” her parents greeted. Sakura grinned and hugged her parents as well. They all went inside and had dinner. Sakura was the happiest to eat her parents’ homecooked meals. Even though Eunbi herself was a great cook, the girl couldn’t cook Japanese dishes as well as her mom.

Later on, Sakura and Hitomi went upstairs to the older girl’s room to catch up.

Sakura made sure to update Hitomi on everything. 

“Ehhhh~? This is her? Yabai! She looks exactly like your idol crush, Irene-san!”

Sakura turned pink at the realization. Ever since she has gotten to know Eunbi, she stopped equating the two. To her, Eunbi was just Eunbi. However, when Hitomi pointed it out, Sakura realized she may have a type.

“Y-Yeah…” Sakura shyly admitted. She knew where this was going.

“Wait…” Hitomi gave her a look, “... have you ever thought about… you know-”

“E-Eiii~ What do you mean…” Sakura awkwardly smiled, “We’re just friends…”

“I’m not asking if you’re like a couple now, but… do you have feelings for her?” Hitomi asked, her expression calm and serene unlike Sakura’s. She felt a tornado inside of her. Feelings? Like… what kind of feelings? She wanted to ask her more experienced friend who was 3 years younger. Embarrassing, she couldn’t help but think.

“I… what feelings?”

Hitomi was on the edge and those two words just threw her off of it. She literally facepalmed and couldn’t help but smile. Her onee-san was cute. Totally oblivious to what love was, but that was cute. She realized all this time, Sakura was so focused on her studies that she forgot to feel. She always rejected people who courted her in high school. People joked that she would marry her games.

Okay, I need to simplif