Chaeyoung woke up the moment the plane hit the ground, the movement causing her body to shift forwards and disturb her sleep. Her sleep had been restful, just what she needed after a long couple of weeks with her family – who had taken her to see pretty much every person they’d ever met, proudly showing off their successful daughter. She loved them endlessly, but it hadn’t felt like much of a holiday. Adding on the year of comebacks and concerts they’d done, and she felt like she could sleep for a week straight, maybe even two.

She untangled herself from the blanket and noticed that one of the air stewardesses must’ve put down the footrest and raised the seat back on her business class seat, without her noticing. She pulled out her phone from the front pocket of her hoodie, and turned it on, before turning her attention to the window. Rain was pouring down outside, hitting the window in long streaks, and Chaeng found herself tracing the drops as they slid down the window, just like she’d done when she was a child in her parents’ car, or when she and Alice had chosen different raindrops and raced each other on the living room window.

It was almost 6 pm, but the sun had yet to set, so rather than the colorful skies of twilight the sky beyond the window was light gray, with a hint of blue in the distance, promising better times, if you remained patient, hopeful.

She was happy to be back. She loved Australia with all her heart, but this was her home now. Seoul. South Korea. This was where her heart was. Sure, she loved her parents endlessly, but she had someone else in her life now, someone who filled her heart with a different type of love and happiness.

Tearing her eyes off the scenery outside as the plane drove down the tarmac towards their gate, she turned her attention to the phone in her hand. With a single swipe of her finger, she unlocked it, her heart sinking as she saw no new messages from her love. Opening her messenger app, she typed a quick message in her group chat, ChuLiChaeng;

Chaengie

‘Hey, just landed. Haven’t heard from Nini in a few days, getting worried. Have you heard from her?’

Lili

‘I think Chu talked to her, didn’t you babe?’

Chu

‘I’m sitting right next to you, Lisa. But yeah, I spoke to her yesterday, she’s sick.’

Chaeyoung frowned as she read Jisoo’s message. If her girlfriend was sick, why hadn’t she told her? It’s not like Jennie was known for keeping quiet about things like this.

Chaengie

‘How sick? Why hasn’t she told me? : (‘

Chu

‘Pretty sure she got the flu’

Chaengie

‘What? How?! My poor baby : (’

Lili

‘I heard her through the phone when they were talking, sounded bad.’

Chaengie

‘I’m so gonna yell at her for not telling me’

‘but first I need to nurse her back to health ofc.’

Chu

‘I don’t need to know about your nurse thanks,’

Lili

‘what about my nurse , babe? : (‘

Chu

‘shh, not now baby, wait until tonight ;)’

Chaengie

‘*gag* thanks for the image guys. We just stopped at our gate, gtg. Thnx for letting me know <3’

Lili

‘tell her we said hi, and don’t call us for a little while, we’re busy…’

Chaeng groaned at the image of her two best friends getting frisky, but at the same time she was happy that they’d found someone who made them as happy as Jennie made her – when she wasn’t hiding illnesses from her, that was.

Traveling in business class had its perks; such as being the first person off the plane. She hurried through passport control, thankful that her bag was already on the belt by the time she got through.

This was one of those rare trips where the company had let her travel without a manager, so she pulled on a hat and some sunglasses and quickly made her way to the exit, trying to go as unnoticed as possible. Unsurprisingly, she failed pretty badly, and she was extremely thankful Jennie wasn’t there as she was swarmed by fans and cellphone cameras, but she got to the taxi stand relatively unscathed, jumping into the first one available.

Giving the driver the address of her destination, she sat back in her seat and pulled out her phone again.

Chaeyoung

‘Got back safely, omw home now.’

Mummy

‘Come back soon, sweetie, we miss you and I’m sure the church would love to have you in their church choir again.’

Alice

‘Welcome back Rosiepoo, dinner next week?’

Chaeyoung

‘I’m free, I’ll call you @Alice. Thanks mum, I miss you too. The church choir was lovely, but I think I’ll stay here for a bit longer xx’

Closing her messenger app, she opened her browser and did some research as the taxi inched its way through Seoul’s afternoon rush hour traffic. It was still raining, though it had lightened considerably, a darkening shade of blue beginning to fill the skies, rather than gray, as afternoon slowly turned to night.

Despite having slept for the majority of her 13-hour flight – to her surprise, she hadn’t even woken up for all the in-flight meals, and she was slightly disappointed in herself for that – she yawned widely before shaking her head in an effort to stay awake. She had important things to do before she got home, and she couldn’t allow herself to fall asleep just yet.

The taxi stopped outside her first destination, causing her to finally look up from her phone.

“Could you wait here? I’ll only be a minute.” The cab driver nodded, and Chaeng leapt out of the car, quickly entering the shop in order to avoid the remnants of rain still hanging in the air. The shop was warm, such a stark contrast to the outside world that her sunglasses began fogging up. She took them off; they probably made her look ridiculous anyways, there was clearly no need to sunglasses on a day like this.

“Hi,” she smiled warmly at the young man behind the counter, “I’m here to pick up my order, I called in about half an hour ago.”

The man nodded and turned away from her to where they were storing take-out orders. “Chae?”

“That’s me.” He grabbed the bag, ripping off the note with her name and order as he typed it into the cash register. “That’ll be 6,000 won.” Chaeyoung handed over the cash with a bow, thanking him as she grabbed the food and hurried back to the taxi.

“Where to next?” she gave the driver her next address as she settled back in the car, securing her seatbelt and the food next to her.

They were in the city now; the streets were lit up by massive billboards flashing faces of famous people as they posed for various brands. She saw a few she recognized, which made her smile. Especially when she saw Jennie’s. The pavements were wet, causing the bright neon signs to reflect off their surface as if the streets were mirrors. She took a moment to appreciate the beauty of it.

She’d grown up in a quiet suburb of a big city, but she loved living in the middle of it – it was as if the city never slept. There were always people mulling around, running to catch the bus, or on romantic strolls with their lovers. There were secret kisses on street corners, or busy men and women hurrying home to their families. There were street vendors selling food that made her drool, and expensive stores with large men in suits guarding the doors.

She’d never thought she’d become one of those people who would buy anything at those stores without even thinking about the price. In the beginning, it had felt strange, almost foreign, and she’d never forget the day she got her first brand deal. They’d given her an expensive purse, for free, and she’d been so surprised and happy that she’d cried a little when she got home.

That was years ago now, and while she’d gotten used to it, she always made sure to never take it for granted.

It was different for Jennie. She’d grown up around all of this. For her going to a store with a doorman was as natural as going to a chain store for regular people. In the beginning, she’d helped Chaeng a lot, it was nice having someone there who wasn’t as frazzled as she herself felt. Chaeng had always loved Jennie’s sense of style, but what she loved more was that Jennie didn’t really care about all of that. Sure, she could probably count the days Jennie didn’t wear anything from Chanel on one hand, but she had never, not even once, judged anyone for the clothes on their back. In fact, Chae had never heard Jennie talk bad about anyone, ever. And that’s why she admired her so much.

Having met Jennie’s parents, she understood why. Jennie’s mom had always taught her daughter to be polite to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status. You never knew what was waiting around the next corner, you never knew when you might be the one in need of help, and most importantly; you are never to think that you are better than anyone else.

Just because your closet is worth more than some people’s houses doesn’t mean you are more worthy than them.

Even to this day this was something Chaeyoung had heard her mother-in-law tell her girlfriend, and it was something Jennie lived by religiously. Of course, she had bad days, just like everyone else, but she always made sure to be polite, and around the holidays Jennie always gave generous gifts to her staff.

And Chaeyoung did her very best to follow the same mantra, just like God, her parents, and her in-laws would’ve wanted. She’d always considered herself to be a good person, but she genuinely believed that being with Jennie made her better, and she hoped the older girl felt the same way.

When the taxi finally came to a stop it was pitch black outside, except for the countless neon signs. The light pollution made it impossible to see the millions of stars that were adorning the night sky, but Chaeyoung knew they were there, and that was the most important thing. They were always there to guide her when she needed it the most.

“I’ll pay you double if you find somewhere to park and wait for me? It’ll take a little bit longer, but I’ll be as quick as I can.” She didn’t want to lug her suitcase around the store, and then have to find another taxi when she was done. The taxi driver was thankful for the generous offer, and he obviously wasn’t going to say no to sitting around and waiting for someone for twice the pay. Once again Chaeyoung hurried inside the store, grabbing a cart as she moved around the familiar aisles with ease. Her previous research in the car had told her what she needed, and she was now swiftly picking out ingredients from the shelves. The store was relatively quiet and empty, and she was thankful as it made it easier for her to move around undisturbed. She saw a young fan smile at her, and she gave a little wave back, but other than that no one bothered her. Having picked out the last item on her list she made her way towards the register to pay, hurrying back to the taxi with two shopping bags after having done so.

“Ok, final address.” She was finally heading home, and she briefly closed her eyes as the taxi made its way the short distance from the supermarket to her final destination. Once it stopped outside the expensive looking apartment complex Chaeng paid him the money owned twice over and exited the car, this time taking along all of her shopping bags and luggage. She was thankful for the ramp up the stairs to the main entrance, so she wouldn’t have to drag it all up the stairs as she entered the building. She said a quick hi to the concierge who’d come to recognize her, making her way over to the elevators.

Almost there. Finally. It had been almost two hours since she’d landed, and she was utterly exhausted, but damn it if she didn’t have a mission to complete first.

After getting off the elevator at the top floor, she hauled her stuff down the hallway towards her target, huffing and puffing slightly as she did so. Sure, she was in the best shape of her life, but usually the heaviest thing she had to carry while being this active was her microphone, and occasionally Jennie…

She grinned to herself as she thought about that one time they’d done it against the door of her dressing room; Jennie’s legs wrapped tightly around Chaeyoung’s slim waist, her arms draped over her shoulders, one gripping the hair at the nape of her neck, the other holding on for dear life, while one of Chaeyoung’s hands was clutching Jennie’s to hold her up, while the other was moving in and out of the older girl. They’d almost been caught by a staff member at the venue, but that had just made Jennie even harder. It had undoubtedly been one of the hottest sessions to date, and Chaeng swore to repeat it once they were back on tour.

She stopped outside the front door and pulled out her keys, locating the one that would open this particular door. Finally finding it, she unlocked the door and groaned as the door opened a few centimeters before stopping due to the safety chain.

She’