“You’ve improved a lot,” Chorong noted as Bomi sat down on her bed.

“All thanks to you,” Bomi said with a grin. She hefted her legs onto the bed, delighted by their newfound sense of mobility.

It had been a few days since Chorong had started helping Bomi walk again, and since then, Bomi’s endurance had improved drastically. The pain she felt with each step had decreased each day, and now it was a dull ache that became painful if she pushed herself too hard, but it was bearable nonetheless. Chorong had not broken her promise a single time; she had consistently shown up every night at the exact same time, and those nights with Chorong had become one of her favorite things to look forward to.

Bomi had Chorong to thank for finally being able to move from the infirmary to her room. After she had proven that she could move around with any heavy help, the doctor had finally allowed her to return to her room. When she had moved back to her room, she had been somewhat scared that Chorong would take that as a sign of Bomi’s recovery and would stop visiting her every night, but that hadn’t been the case. Bomi’s first night back in her room, Chorong had shown up sharply at the same time she had always shown up at. 

Each night was longer and more painful than the next, especially when Chorong started implementing drills and exercises so Bomi could fight comfortably again. Their nightly walks had somehow shifted to nightly training sessions, and if Chorong hadn’t been there to help her through it, Bomi probably would have dreaded it each night.

They never talked about that incident the first night where they had nearly kissed, and they never did anything close to that either. That didn’t mean that it wasn’t constantly at the back of Bomi’s mind, though.

“Sit back and straighten your legs,” Chorong said.

“Why?” Bomi asked, but she still did as she was told.

Chorong took one of Bomi’s pillows and gently placed it under Bomi’s feet, then pulled a chair to the side of the bed and sat down. “We need to make sure your leg muscles don’t get too tense or atrophy.”

Chorong placed her hands on Bomi’s leg, and Bomi flinched at her touch. “Unnie you―”

“I don’t have to?” Chorong began to gently massage Bomi’s leg. “Well, maybe I want to.”

“I have never heard of someone wanting to massage someone.”

“Have you ever heard of masseuses? That’s their job.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” Chorong replied. “But I want you to get better, so by extension, I want to massage you.”

“I feel like there’s some flaw in that logic,” Bomi said, but she still sat back and didn’t pull her legs away from Chorong. She had to admit, Chorong was pretty good at massages. She was gentle, yet firm, and her hands moved purposefully, like they knew exactly where to go next. The leader looked so focused as she massaged Bomi, and for about the millionth time, Bomi found herself staring at the small, attractive features of Chorong’s face. 

The Chorong that visited her every night was different from the leader that she saw every day; though she enjoyed the presence of both of them, Bomi liked this Chorong’s gentle and more casual nature. This side of her was like something that only Bomi got to see, and Bomi wasn’t sure if she wanted to let it go.

“You’re staring again,” Chorong murmured without looking up.

“Again?”

“You don’t think I don’t notice you staring at me while I’m helping you walk?”

Bomi felt her cheeks get hot. “Well, I guess it’s not the most inconspicuous thing…”

“Is there something on my face every night? Is that why you stare?”

“No,” Bomi replied. “I just like staring at your eyes.” That wasn’t exactly a lie, but Bomi liked to look at much more than just Chorong’s eyes. As time went on and Bomi spent more time with Chorong, Bomi had come to realize that practically every little thing about Chorong was beautiful.

This time, Chorong did look up with those stunning eyes of hers. She looked caught off guard, but also like she had been expecting that reply. Bomi knew that it would be wishful thinking to hope that Chorong would reciprocate, and she had been right; Chorong only said, “Do you see the exhaustion in my eyes?”

Suddenly, Bomi felt guilty. “Unnie, you really don’t have to come every night to do this. I can walk on my own now. You don’t have to help me practice anymore.”

“Like I said, I want to do this.”

“I know you have to prepare for your interrogation with Seungri,” Bomi tried again. “With that new information about Seungri’s family from Hayoung and Namjoo, you have a lot of work to do.”

“We’ve been working to compile everything together nicely and draw connections to little bits of different evidence.” Chorong sighed, “It’s been a few days since Hayoung and Namjoo returned with the intel from the chicken restaurant, and since then we’ve been stuck with mountain-loads of new information that we have to sift through before we can talk to Seungri.”

“See? That’s why you should go get your rest.”

“You didn’t let me finish,” Chorong said, and Bomi clamped her lips shut. “Yes, I have a lot of work to do, but I’m not the only one working on it. Everyone in this team has been working hard, and we all need to be at our best or none at all.”

“I know that this may be your duty as the leader―”

“I’m not just your leader, Bomi,” Chorong cut in, then stopped. Bomi raised a brow at the odd pause, but Chorong just continued, “I care about you and your wellbeing. That’s why I’m doing this, and I will keep doing this to ensure that you will be okay. If that means that I have to come to your room every night past midnight and massage your legs, then so be it. Do you understand?”

I’m not just your leader, Bomi. Although Bomi’s thoughts were elsewhere, she slowly nodded.

“Good,” Chorong said. She gently lowered Bomi’s foot back down onto the pillow and removed her hands from her leg. “Now give me your other leg.”

“Where are the others?” the princess asked. She patted her face to ensure that her face mask was in place and joined Hayoung and Namjoo on her bed.

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that Chorong-unnie and Eunji-unnie are together, trying to finalize their plans for the interrogation tomorrow. They really want this one to be the last one,” Hayoung replied, scooting over to make room for Naeun.

“Really? I thought I saw Chorong-unnie heading to Bomi-unnie’s room earlier,” Namjoo said. 

“Maybe I’m wrong then,” said Hayoung. She smoothed out a wrinkle in her face mask and leaned back against Naeun’s headboard. “I feel bad for Eunji-unnie.”

Naeun tilted her head and asked out of genuine curiosity, “Why’s that?”

Hayoung’s answer was short and blunt: “Because she’s in love with Chorong-unnie.”

Her answer had been so minimal, yet it still sent a wave of shock and some other indescribable feeling through Naeun’s body. Namjoo also looked surprised with her characteristic large eyes, but Naeun had a feeling that she didn’t have the same sinking feeling in her chest like the princess did. Naeun had to force the question out of her, “How do you know?” 

Hayoung looked back at her with an innocent expression. “Well, it’s pretty obvious.”

“Obviously not as obvious as you think,” Namjoo said. “I had no idea.”

“Well, Eunji-unnie is always looking after Chorong-unnie. I mean, she’s always been a caring person―probably the most caring person that I have ever met―, but she always has her eyes on Chorong-unnie. Haven’t you noticed the look in her eyes whenever she looks at her? Or the slightly higher pitch that she speaks in whenever she’s with her?”

“No,” Naeun replied, “I haven’t.”

“That’s surprising, coming from you, Princess,” Hayoung noted. “You’re always so observant. I would have expected this from Namjoo-unnie, but not you.”

“Hey!” Namjoo cried, and Hayoung laughed.

Naeun didn’t join their playful banter; she just sat back and chewed on her lip. Was it really true? Had all the signs really been there and Naeun had just been too blind to see them? Perhaps she had been too busy with her search for her childhood love to notice, but still, if it had truly been as obvious as Hayoung made it out to be, then how had Naeun missed it?

Naeun didn’t know if she would have preferred to have noticed or to have remained completely oblivious. On one hand, she might have continued to pursue something that was reckless and still alien to her, and on the other hand, it might have saved her the pain that she was currently feeling in her chest. Still, if Hayoung hadn’t just dropped this bomb on her, what would Naeun have done? How would she have handled the confused feelings in her chest that she’d had for weeks?

“Unnie, are you okay?” Hayoung asked, and Naeun snapped back to reality.

“I’m fine,” Naeun replied, although that was a lie. “I’m just surprised.”

“You and me both,” Namjoo murmured. “But now that I think about it, it was pretty obvious.”

Hayoung nodded. “Eunji-unnie practically has heart eyes whenever she sees Chorong-unnie.’

“But why did you say that you feel bad for Eunji?” Naeun inquired.

Again, Hayoung’s reply was short and simple: “Oh, because Chorong-unnie is in love with Bomi-unnie.”

Namjoo made a sort of choked sound next to Hayoung. Naeun stayed perfectly―too perfectly―still. “Again, how do you know?”

“This one wasn’t as obvious, and I don’t know if Chorong-unnie is in love with Bomi-unnie or if she’s in the process of falling in love with her. I just know that she’s beginning to look at her the same way that Eunji-unnie looks at Chorong-unnie. Besides, have you ever seen Chorong-unnie as upset as she was when she found out that Bomi-unnie had been badly injured?”

“She literally dropped everything in her hands the moment she found out,” Namjoo said. “I was with her. She was very frantic in the hospital too. I figured that she was just worried about her teammate, but she was acting overly concerned.”

“That was what gave it away,” Hayoung said. “After seeing Chorong-unnie like that and how she was acting when Bomi-unnie was in the infirmary, it was clear to me.”

If Eunji was in love with Chorong, but Chorong was in love with Eunji…Naeun furrowed her brows. It shouldn’t have been bothering her this much, but it very clearly was. Naeun had ruled Chorong out as the possible identity of her childhood love quite early on; there had just been something about her that made Naeun certain that it couldn’t possibly be her. Everything she had heard about Chorong being the secluded all-star student of the academy also consolidated that thought, since it sounded entirely opposite of her childhood love. That girl had been anything but shy and standoffish. 

She had also ruled out Namjoo, because when she had met her a few months ago, Naeun realized that she recognized Namjoo as the girl who would always accompany her father, who was also a royal family agent, to meetings in the palace. Naeun had always seen her around, but had never gotten the chance to actually talk to her.

That left Eunji, Hayoung, and… “What about Bomi? Is she in love with Chorong?” Naeun asked.

“I’m not too sure about that one, but I have a feeling that she is or she will be,” Hayoung answered. “I’m starting to see it in how she looks at Chorong-unnie.”

“How has this been happening right under my nose without me noticing?” Naeun muttered.

“Maybe because you’ve been too preoccupied with your own things,” Namjoo offered.

Preoccupied, indeed.

Though Naeun had no concrete reason to rule out Bomi, she didn’t feel the same connection that she felt with Eunji or even Hayoung. Perhaps that was because up until recently, Bomi had been running away from them and constantly kept up an impenetrable shield, but even now, Naeun still couldn’t see Bomi as her childhood love.

Naeun knew that it was all entirely subjective and that her perception was likely extremely skewed, but there was only one person who she could completely see―or even want―as her childhood love. This person, unfortunately, was apparently in love with someone else, and Naeun didn’t know how to feel.

“And Eunji…Do you think she knows how Chorong feels about Bomi?” Naeun asked slowly.

“I’m sure she does. After all that staring at Chorong-unnie, she must have noticed where Chorong-unnie’s gaze is always directed towards,” Hayoung said.

“How do you think Eunji feels or would feel about this?”

Hayoung and Namjoo shared a glance, and Naeun was too busy with her own muddled thoughts to think twice about it.

“I’m sure that Eunji would be hurt and sad, but knowing her, she’d just keep it bottled in. After all, she’s loved her for a long time. They have a long past together, and it would be difficult to get over a love like that.” Hayoung said the next part more quietly, “But she’s strong and will get through it. She can’t control the love between other people, and she won’t try to.”

“She’s loved her for a long time…,” Naeun repeated, then shut her eyes and tried to shake her thoughts away. Now was not the time to be thinking about stuff like this; it was late and they had planned this night to be a relaxing, facemasks and movie kind of night.

“Amazing. Are you a psychic, Hayoungie?” Namjoo marveled, and when Naeun opened her eyes, she saw that Namjoo had laid a gentle hand on Hayoung’s shoulder.

“No, not a psychic,” Hayoung said. She raised her arms over her head and stretched. “I just have eyes.”

“Well, then our eyes are pretty useless,” Namjoo muttered.

“You just weren’t looking in the right places.” Hayoung shifted her position on Naeun’s bed and ended up completely laying down, her long limbs spanning the length of her bed. “Now can we start the movie? If we talk anymore, I might just fall asleep.”

Namjoo agreed, and Naeun gave a small nod. Like an excited child, Namjoo jumped off the bed and grabbed the TV remote, dimming the lights while she was at it. She snuggled under Naeun’s blanket with Hayoung, and Naeun joined them shortly after.

Naeun watched as the TV screen slowly transitioned to the movie’s opening scene, but she could not focus on the movie, no matter how hard she tried. Her mind swam with thoughts of their conservation, Eunji, and the absolutely terrifying realization that she was undeniably, irrevocably, and utterly in love with someone who was in love with someone else.