The apartment felt exceptionally huge now that there are only the three of them inside it, Sakura looks at Eunbi then at Chaeyeon. She couldn’t help but to sigh as it seems like neither of the two would start talking.

“So, does someone mind to fill me in?” Sakura said trying her best to start a conversation. This will not go anywhere if she didn’t do it, it seemed like her girlfriend is too hurt while Eunbi is too guilty.

She sighs quietly as she pulls one chair to sit on, leaning her chin on her palm. She looks at Chaeyeon then at Eunbi – Sakura starts to question herself if she should actually be there as they talk. The issue is about Chaeyeon and Eunbi only, something that happened between them way before Sakura came into the picture.

She then looks at Eunbi and tugged the girl’s shirt making the latter look at her.

“I think you said that you’ll fix it.” She softly as she nods her head encouragingly, she then turns to Chaeyeon – staring into the girl’s eyes. She could feel the worry radiating off from her girlfriend and she could only offer a smile, mouthing something at her.

‘I won’t leave you. I promise.’

And that was enough for Chaeyeon as the girl looks at Eunbi. Sakura smiles at the two before standing up to look around the kitchen, looking for something to snack on. But it was also a way for her to give the two some privacy. “You guys should talk it out, okay? And you, Lee Chaeyeon.”

She said as she looks sternly at the girl, “Listen to Eunbi properly and never think that you don’t deserve happiness, okay?”

“Bu – “

Sakura raised her hand, stopping Chaeyeon in her retort. The Japanese girl then looks at Eunbi and smiled, “Your feelings are valid Eunbi, it will always be. Okay?”

Mentally patting herself she stepped back while holding some kind of biscuit, “You two bear that in your minds as you talk, I’ll just stay somewhere.”

/

Chaewon groans out loud and glares at Yena, rolling her eyes as she draws 4 cards on the Uno deck in front of them.

“Not my fault, desperate times call for desperate measures.” Yena says smugly and dodges the smack that Chaewon was about to throw at her. The other girls laughed loudly, as they are the only ones at the rooftop.

Surprisingly, Yena brought an Uno deck saying that she thought it will be game night – the time she was still unaware that Eunbi has a problem with Sakura and Chaeyeon.

But it did them well, as they are all sitting at the middle of the rooftop and have been playing for almost an hour now. It takes their minds from serious things, a time to relax. Hyewon looks up from her cards and caught Minju’s eyes, she smiled at the girl – stifling a laugh at the number of cards that the younger girl is holding.

“Are they okay, Kang-chan?”

Hyewon diverts her gaze to Nako, the younger girl asking her worriedly. Glancing at the door leading out of the rooftop, Hyewon could only sigh. The three girls have been talking for awfully a long time already, they are bound to get worried.

“They’re the most understanding out of all of us.” Hyewon reassures the younger girl and pats her head softly, “Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.”

Thankfully, Yujin got their attention as she shouts a loud and exaggerated ‘Uno’. She sees the taller girl glancing at her and nodding her head, Hyewon could only chuckle at Yujin though she was grateful that the younger girl got everyone’s attention – she doesn’t want Nako and Hitomi to worry about the three.

Another round of UNO happened – it came with shouts, laughter, and accusations of cheating. It went on for another 25 minutes until they heard the door opening, stopping them from their business and quickly turning their heads. The sight of the three girls they have been waiting welcomed them, Hitomi and Nako quickly stood up and ran over Eunbi – the older girl hugging the two girls as if they haven’t seen each other for years.

Hyewon nods her head at Sakura, glancing at the intertwined hands of the couple and looking at the fond smile of Eunbi directed at the two. She catches the latter’s eyes and with a slight nod, she knows that everything went well.  It was obvious that the three girls had a serious crying session, judging from their swollen eyes – but despite that, everything was well. The atmosphere was light and warm, and Hyewon noticed the shared glance between Eunbi and Chaeyeon.

The lightheartedness of that glance, the relieved smile forming on each other’s faces – everything is back to what it was supposed to be.

All was well, and with a slight squeeze on her hand, she turned to see Minju. The younger girl smiling at her and Hyewon couldn’t help but to return the smile because as everything went back to normal, she also has a new normal, and that includes Minju.

Hyewon looks up at the sky and smiles at the moon, hoping – knowing, that Sora is watching them from above. There’s not a day that she didn’t miss her sister, and at that moment she could feel her heart yearning to hear the girl’s laugh. But unlike before, she didn’t feel a wave of sadness enveloping her but rather warmth.

You did well, Wonnie.

Hyewon smiles softly to herself and closed her eyes, Not without you, Sora. Not without you.

“So, sleepover at Minju’s?” Chaewon broke the mini reunion with a yawn, and as if like a domino effect – everyone started yawning too. The exhaustion from the day catching up on everyone but Minju and Hyewon. The two girls looked at each other worriedly, they were not prepared for the sudden sleepover – it’s not like the apartment was messy, but in a sense that they were not prepared because of their new label.

“But we don’t think we could – “

Minju was cut off by Wonyoung, the younger girl putting her arm around Minju’s shoulder. “Unnie, it’s too late for us to go home now. Your apartment is big for us, don’t worry.”

But before the owner could retort, everyone starting chiming in agreement – a series of tired murmurs filling in the atmosphere as they slowly walk away, as if Hyewon and Minju actually agreed with the idea. Knowing that no one would listen to them, the two could only sigh defeatedly and follow the group outside the rooftop.

They don’t have enough energy to talk the girls out of the sleepover, so as soon as they enter the apartment everyone started calling dibs on every available location that one could sleep.

“We could take the couch, it’s big for the three of us.” Yuri pointed at the huge couch on the living room, Chaewon and Yena following the girl with a nod.

Yujin yawns and points at the second floor, “I could use the office upstairs, I don’t know why you have a huge couch there but yeah.” Before she could walk, someone grabbed her wrist – turning around to see Wonyoung smiling meekly at her.

“I’ll join you,” Wonyoung told the girl and whispered, “I don’t think Minjuri would want me to sleep with her and Hyewon.” The two tall girls snickered and glanced at the very tired roommates, Yujin nodded her head in agreement.

“We have extra mattress and pillows,” Minju said tiredly and looked at Hyewon, the older girl groaned quietly and looked at the other girls left with no room.

“You guys can use my room then. We’ll just give you the extra mattress.” Hyewon said and squints her eyes at Sakura and the other two Japanese girls, “Don’t mess with my things, understand?”

“No promises.” Hitomi teased and quickly ran with Nako to the direction of Hyewon’s room. The older girl looked at the most responsible girl out of the group and pleaded with her eyes, making Eunbi laugh.

“I’ll try my best, but really,” Eunbi chuckles and pats Hyewon’s shoulder apologetically, “No promises.”

Hyewon could only look in disbelief as Eunbi, Chaeyeon and Sakura walked away, entering to their assigned room. She could hear the quiet chuckle coming from Minju and she playfully glared at the younger girl, she then looks around – all of the girls getting ready to sleep.

“No funny businesses, please!” She exclaims, earning laughter everywhere. “And please, don’t create a mess. I don’t want to clean tomorrow.”

/

Hyewon knocks softly on the door which was opened by Chaeyeon, the latter has already freshened up from all the stressful thing that happened. Hyewon could see that Chaeyeon wore some of her clothes – her usual shirt and short. She smiles softly at the girl and gestured for the extra pillows and mattress that she was carrying, Chaeyeon returned the smile and opened the door wider for Hyewon to enter.

She could see Hitomi and Nako playing their phones with Sakura, muttering in their mother tongue which made Hyewon chuckle – that just means that they are all focused on the game they are playing. Eunbi on the other hand was looking around her room, seemingly expecting everything.

“Your room looks,” Eunbi trailed off, and glanced at Hyewon. The girl only smiled and walked towards the bed to put down the things she’s carrying. She knows what Eunbi’s going to say, after all, the room was very much different from her old room – it looks, “Plain.”

The both of them said simultaneously.

That made Sakura pause on her game, glancing up to look at Hyewon. She looks around the room and nods her head in agreement, it’s not like Hyewon could deny it too. The room was indeed plain, a few books, her laptop, a digital clock, and her closet.

Not a single photo was present.

It could pass off as a vacant room if not for the papers on her desk, but other than that – it was plain. But the thing is, Hyewon never thought that she’d stay there for too long which is why she never bothered to decorate it. At the same time, she was not in a good place when she moved in – it’s not like she’s in a good place now, but she knows it’s getting better.

Slowly but surely.

“It’s me, I guess.” Hyewon shrugged and nods her head, “Here’s the extra pillows and mattress, it’s all clean. I don’t know why Minju has it, but yeah.”

Nako smiles gratefully and looks at Hyewon, “You seem happier though.” She points out, earning a smile from everyone in the room. Hyewon looks away from the girl, opting to look at the ground. It’s weird for someone to point out something like that, especially someone close to her. No one pointed out how sad she was, how devastated she was before – because it was obvious, and it was something that should be left unsaid.

But for Nako to point out something, something unusual for Hyewon – that must mean something. Because deep inside her, she knows it’s true – she does feel happier for the past few days. Sometimes she feels guilty for being too happy, but every time she remembers Sora – she knows that’s what her sister would want her to feel.

I’m sorry Wonnie. Please play for me always, okay? I love you.

Sora would want her to be happy, to continue to live – though Hyewon stopped living since Sora left. But right now, something just clicked inside her – Sora would never want her to live in darkness. Maybe it was in the form of Minju that made her realize these things, or the slight push that the younger girl gave her to see these things that she chose to ignore.

In the end, Hyewon chose to smile – she won’t deny Nako’s statement. Instead, “I do feel happy.”

Seeing the huge smiles on the girls’ faces, it was enough for Hyewon. Everything is starting to look bright for her, she thinks. She nods her head and muttered a goodnight, turning around and putting a hand on Chaeyeon’s shoulder – squeezing it lightly.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” She whispered to the younger girl, in which the latter returned with a huge smile.

“I’m glad you’re happy Hyewon-ah.”

Hyewon chuckles, walking out of the room and waving her hand one last time. With a click of the door she couldn’t help but to think, Me too.

Walking towards the living room, she sees the three girls – Yena, Yuri, and Chaewon all cooped up at the huge couch. It was a miracle that they managed to fit themselves there, though the couch could be turned into a bed – but still. She fixes the blanket on top of the three and turned off the television, she looks up as she sees Minju coming out from the office – where Yujin and Wonyoung are sleeping.

Hyewon smiles at the girl and waited for Minju to completely descend the stairs before turning off the lights, surrounding the whole apartment with darkness. Only the light snores coming from the three could be heard, making Minju and Hyewon laugh quietly.

“All good?” Hyewon asked Minju, and the girl nodded.

“Are you hungry?” Minju asks worriedly, remembering that neither of them had dinner because of the surprise visit from everyone. Weirdly enough, they forgot about it – until now. Hyewon grimaced, she doesn’t feel hungry. She shrugged her shoulders as an answer.

“I’ll just wake up early tomorrow to eat, I don’t feel hungry anymore.” Hyewon said quietly and stretched, “But I do feel tired, I need my sleep.”

Minju clicks her tongue, remembering something important. “You have classes tomorrow.” She worriedly said, she almost forgot that it was Sunday and Hyewon was still a student. She facepalmed herself because that also means that Yujin and Wonyoung have classes – she could already hear the rowdy morning she will have tomorrow.

“And you have work.” Hyewon said, poking Minju’s cheeks. She then pulled the girl by the wrist, as they have already washed up earlier – they went straight to the younger girl’s room. “We’ll have a noisy and huge breakfast tomorrow, prepare yourself.”

Situating themselves on top of the bed, Hyewon stared at the ceiling with Minju doing the same. The weight of the day just hitting them as soon as they laid down, there was too much to process for the day – and even the night before. Being awkward in the morning until after lunch was on