"WE'LL go ahead."

Yujin said goodbye to her friends who said they will be staying for a bit. They also promised to be responsible in cleaning the rest house.

Yujin also agreed to take Chaeyeon back to her host family since she knew so well that her friends would just fool around.

Chaeyeon bid goodbye to others as well, still energetic as if the weekend full of activities isn't enough to consume all of her energy. But on the other hand, Minjoo was the one who looked drained.

"Carrie..." Sakura called out to Minjoo, making the others look in their direction. "Is there anything wrong?"

Minjoo was a bit surprised at the sudden question. "N-Nothing... Why?"

She lied. That was an obvious lie. After last night's barbeque party, she grew even more silent. There was even a point that she wouldn't speak unless someone else spoke to her. The worst part of her sudden silence is that she started ignoring Yujin once more.

Of course, Yujin was deeply worried. She asked her friends if she did anything weird when she got drunk. She was worried that she might've offended Minjoo into something but everyone knows that she was just being her goofy self last night. Minjoo looked really happy after she sang a song for her.

But what happened? What made Minjoo start acting like that?

"Don't forget to contact me when you get home, girls~" Irene said, suspiciously cheerful despite the heavy atmosphere. Chaeyeon answered her with a smile but Minjoo couldn't even look at her straight in the eye.

"Let's go." Yujin tried to lead Minjoo to the car but when she was about to hold her, Minjoo immediately avoided her.

"Let's go..." Minjoo repeated what she said with 50% less energy. She then held Chaeyeon by the arm and went together with her towards Yujin's car.

Yujin looked back to her friends with that helpless look before letting out a sigh. She then waved to them and went to the car.

"Chaeyeon." She called the other girl which surprised it. “Would you mind sitting in the front passenger seat?”

“M-Me?” Chaeyeon even pointed at herself before looking at Minjoo. The other girl just silently took the back seat. Knowing that something was really off with Minjoo, Chaeyeon just agreed and took the front seat.

The three left with the others waving at them. Yena let out a loud yawn and excused herself. She really wanted to take some nap before they go around the town later. She skipped her way back to the cottage because she’s finally free from the awkward atmosphere.

“Maybe we should take a nap too?” Irene cheerfully asked Sakura. “Let’s go?”

Sakura just watched Irene follow Yena. She knew something was fishy.

THE DRIVE home was a hell of an awkward ride. Chaeyeon tried to lighten up the mood but the two weren’t even responding to her. She’d be lucky if Yujin smiled at her jokes but there was no way to lift Minjoo’s mood up. She just remained silent like a car decoration.

When they finally dropped Chaeyeon, the said girl even apologised to Yujin for not being able to do anything. Yujin just pressed her lips together and forced a smile. She knew so well that Chaeyeon had nothing to be sorry for. If there is someone who needs to explain then that would be no one else but Minjoo.

“Min…” Yujin called, taking a glimpse of Minjoo from her rear view mirror. “Did I do something wrong when I got drunk last night? Did I steal a kiss from you or anything?”

The other let out a sigh. She met Yujin’s eyes through the mirror but immediately looked away. “Nothing’s wrong… I am just really tired.”

There goes another sigh of frustration from Yujin. “There’s obviously something wrong… Please tell me so that I can reflect on my actions.”

Minjoo felt her heart clenched. She didn’t expect that Yujin would actually respond like that. She thought that Yujin would just throw tantrums again but she was maturely handling things. More mature than her. She just wished that Yujin would just get mad at her because it would be easier.

“Believe me, I am just really tired.” Minjoo insisted, trying to put annoyance on her tone.

“If that’s what you say…”

Yujin finished parking her car. She hurriedly went to help Minjoo get out of the car but the girl didn’t even let her close the door for her. She even tried to get Minjoo’s bag but Minjoo insisted that she could do things on her own and she didn’t need any help.

The said girl just watched her get inside the house with a troubled heart.

“What did you do again, Eugene!?” She asked herself before unloading the empty cooler from her trunk. “I’m sure you did something weird that pissed her off again!”

Yujin then went inside only to be surprised by her dad who was watching some documentary on the living room. “‘Sup, Dad?” She greeted him and went straight to the kitchen to drop the cooler.

Richard knew right away that something was off so he didn’t fidget and asked right away, “Did you do something weird, Gene?”

Yujin, who was about to go upstairs, was then somehow forced to stay in the living room. Richard watched her ruffle her hair before throwing herself to the couch. She stared blankly at the TV before letting out a deep, deep sigh.

“You noticed it too, right, Dad?” Yujin sighed once more.

“Minjoo might be a really quiet kid at times but this is the first time that she greeted me like that.” Richard then rested his back on his solo couch before crossing his legs. “She’d usually ask me how I am doing but she just said, “Hi, Uncle. We’re back…” and headed straight upstairs. She’d normally talk a bit before going up.”

There goes another sigh. “I know, right?” Yujin rolled and faced the backrest of the sofa. “At times like this, I should be the one to be interrogated because automatically I am the one at fault, right? But I don’t really remember doing anything that would offend her.”

Richard was somehow taken aback with the statement of his daughter. She sounded so worried. She’s so convinced that she did something wrong and was sincerely thinking of what she could’ve done to make Minjoo act like that. He suddenly felt sorry for making Yujin feel even more condemned.

“She keeps saying that nothing’s wrong and I didn’t do anything weird and that she’s just tired but her actions are telling the other way around.” Yujin started flicking the powerless sofa. “Everyone said that I was just being playful when I got drunk last night and I didn’t do anything bad but why is Minjoo acting like that towards me?”

Richard just shook his head. “If the problem was you then she wouldn’t be cold to me either. She’s probably just tired. I bet you guys partied all night long.”

“Meh, we finished early though…”

“Alright, alright…” Richard then looked at the time. “Go to your room now and take a rest. Things would be better if you two get a good rest. Go now before you even fall asleep on the couch.”

“Okay…” Yujin stood up and made her way up while wobbling. When Richard finally made sure that she’s already upstairs, he took his phone and typed a message.

‘Minjoo and Yujin are already home. They both went to their rooms to rest.’

"HEY."

Irene twirled right away to face the owner of that voice. A smile curved up her lips. "Kkura-ya, what's with the dim face?"

Irene was currently cleaning their mess on the rest house's porch while Yena was snoring loudly inside, sleeping like a log. Irene knew that the two would be no help in terms of cleaning so she just sent them inside to get some rest.

"Why are you still up? I told you I can handle this alone."

With her hands on the side pocket of her jacket, Sakura took air in before asking Irene, "What did you tell her?"

Irene's brows furrowed. "What? Who?" She asked back, innocently.

"You know what I am talking about, Irene." Sakura stared intently at her. "I am asking what you told Carrie that caused her to act like that?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Irene pouted. "Minjoo was perfectly fine earlier. Did something---"

"Enough of this bull, Irene!" Sakura snapped, which made Irene freeze. "You freaking know what the hell I am talking about!"

The normally composed Sakura was nowhere to be found. Irene knew that there’s no point in denying. Irene took a deep breath. A faint smile slowly curved up her lips as she placed the used plates back on the table. "Did I get caught?"

"You know I never take my eyes off you whenever you're around." Sakura nonchalantly answered. Irene was smiling but one can see the pained expression that lies within it.

"I just..." Irene hesitated. "I just told her that it would be better to be true to Eugene and reject her right away. That would save them—"

"Bull!" Sakura shouted. "Do you really think you have the right to meddle with what they have?"

Irene pressed her lips together. Sakura might be showing her disagreement about what she did but she won't be backing out. "Minjoo… You've seen how uptight the