Lee Chaeyeon has never been the type to keep track of dates. Thus, the reason she keeps a calendar near her workplace. She never sweats about time. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, all of it feels the same with the same routine.

But ever since that fated meeting, 33 days ago, her views on time changed completely. Every day feels like a new day with new things to look forward to.

33 days—

Time feels unreal.

In a blink of an eye, the calendar page flipped and it is now the last month of the year. Like a shot, there’s only 17 days left. That’s two and a half weeks.

Last month, Sakura convinced her that 50 days is a long time. But now that she’s counting down, it feels too fast. Way too fast.

It became a struggle for Chaeyeon to focus solely on her work. Her mind is filled by the thoughts of making each and every day count.

She wants to meet up with her more. She wants to talk more. She wants to text more. She wants to laugh her more. She wants to spend more time with her.

But everything gets too hectic these times around. She never thought that it would go on for this long, yet Chaeyeon is now on her second week without Sakura.

It’s also near holiday season, so the number of customers almost doubled.

Chaeyeon didn’t get any second to breathe. The only time she got for herself is after closing hours.

The night time is used by Chaeyeon to recall the day Sakura left. She tried to remember thoroughly which words exactly made Sakura so angry. With no answers found, Chaeyeon finds herself still up until past midnight.

She got less and less rest as days pass by. She is very exhausted.

It got to the point where Chaeyeon finally realised she had been taking Sakura for granted.

 

#

 

It’s been a while since Chaeyeon went for supply shopping. This afternoon, she was taken by surprise when she saw a nearly empty refrigerator.

Again, shopping is usually a job Sakura does all the time. Without her around, it’s only the matter of time before Chaeyeon has to go buy them herself. She expected Sakura to be back sooner, but to her disappointment, she didn’t.

Chae resto’s only workers are Chaeyeon and Sakura. Usually if one of them goes out, the other one will handle the rest. Now, though, Chaeyeon had no choice but to close her resto for awhile while she goes out to buy supplies.

The reason Chaeyeon doesn’t go out much is because she dislikes the crowd. Market is the gathering place for crowds, so it makes sense for Chaeyeon to feel uncomfortable when she got there.

While walking, Chaeyeon kept her head down, avoiding eye contacts with everyone. To make it less awkward, she held out the piece of paper listing everything she has to buy and stared at it.

After a moment that felt like eternity of walking around, Chaeyeon finally found the shop that Sakura used to buy supplies at. She felt grateful at herself for paying attention whenever Sakura talks about her trip to the market. There are too many shops selling the same thing and Chaeyeon could spend the whole day choosing one.

Chaeyeon pushed the door and walked inside the shop.

As she walks around to find the supply she needs, Chaeyeon ticks off her list. She takes her time picking vegetables and fruits just to make sure she buys the highest quality ones. She’s still a restaurant owner after all, customer’s satisfaction is on top of her priority list.

It didn’t take too long before her shopping bag becomes full. Before the bag rips off, Chaeyeon went to one of the cashiers to pay. Of course, she chose the one with the shortest line. After all, she hates waiting.

But it didn’t take long before she regrets her decision. Although she chose the one with lesser people, she didn’t consider the amount of their groceries. They’re all almost twice as much as hers.

While burying her face on her palm, Chaeyeon peeked through the edge of her eyes. The other lines were moving on fast, yet she hasn’t taken even a step forward. To kill time, Chaeyeon took her phone out and fidgeted with it.

Her fingers naturally hovered over the messaging app. It was filled with spam messages by advertisers, except the top two— Eunbi and Sakura, obviously.

Chaeyeon saw that she has three unread messages from Eunbi. From the message preview, she guesses that it’s Eunbi spamming stickers. That brought a faint smile to Chaeyeon.

In her chatroom with Sakura however, the message preview shows the last message she sent to the girl. She clicked onto it and saw that those countless messages were left unread by Sakura. Her smile faded.

When Chaeyeon looked up she saw that there’s a huge gap between her and the customer in front of her. She quickly moved forward before whoever are behind her shouts at her.

Chaeyeon sighs hard, but tried to keep it lowkey so she doesn’t draw attention. The more she thinks about Sakura, the sadder she becomes. Really, all she hopes for is a chance to talk to Sakura. She wants to know what’s going on between them.

“Thank you so much.”

A distant voice, a familiar voice.

Unbelievable, is Chaeyeon so desperate to the point where she hears Sakura’s voice once in a awhile? Even the voice of a random customer could resemble hers.

Chaeyeon looked up, away from her phone. Naturally, her head turns towards the source of that voice she mistook for Sakura’s.

The line beside her. Upfront.

A woman. Hair just below her shoulders. Smooth and clear skin. Ears, which are pierced, bigger than most. Big, sparkly eyes. Sweet, wide smile.

Wait—

—Chaeyeon recognizes that girl.

If eyes could roll out of its socket by widely opening it, Chaeyeon’s would. Countless times, Chaeyeon blinked to make sure it wasn’t any weird imagination her mind made out of desperation. No matter how many times she did that, though, the figure doesn’t disappear.

Miyawaki Sakura is right in front of her.

Sakura didn’t seem to notice Chaeyeon’s presence. She was smiling widely to the cashier as she made her way out of the store.

Chaeyeon’s heart began to beat faster. Her lips trembled. There is too much she wants to talk about to Sakura and she couldn’t wait. Almost two weeks. They had been silent for almost two weeks.

With gaped, Chaeyeon had to make a decision. Her line isn’t moving at all, yet Sakura is already by the door.

Chaeyeon gritted her teeth, then finally decided to walk out of her line, dropped her shopping bag randomly, and walked towards Sakura’s position.

She wanted to call out Sakura’s name, but didn’t want to startle her so she kept quiet.

However, Chaeyeon’s footsteps were loud and heavy. Sakura, who felt a presence closing onto her, turned her back before she could even walk out of the shop.

Their eyes met.

And at that moment, both of them froze on their places. None of them moved, none of them said a word. The realisation of each other’s presence paralyzed them.

Sakura’s already big eyes widened as she realised that the woman just behind her is Chaeyeon. Rather than excitement, however, Sakura’s face shows sign of panic. She frowned, then frantically ran out of the door.

Chaeyeon snapped and quickly ran after her.

 

#

 

Unathletic aside, Miyawaki Sakura is a slow runner. She’s been like that since her school years and surely, she doesn’t have the intention to fix that. Why should she fix something that doesn’t pose as a problem in her life?

Well, it’s true. There’s never been any occasion in which fast running and/or athletic body is needed in Sakura’s life.

But right now, at this moment, her only wish is to be reincarnated as someone who can run faster than Usain Bolt.

The girl behind her, not only is she way more athletic than she is, but right now she is driven by the determination to catch up. Sakura didn’t even bother to look back because she knows the moment she turns her back, she would see Lee Chaeyeon only a couple metres behind her.

Sakura runs wherever her feet takes her too. She doesn’t have any destination, every turn she sees, she would take it. She only knows one thing: she needs to get away from Chaeyeon.

“Sakura! Hey!”

Chaeyeon was screaming loud. Even the crowds’ sound lost to Chaeyeon’s scream. Chaeyeon doesn’t like bringing attention to her, yet here she is, running around the shopping district while hollering her friend’s name.

The crowds that they ran through looked at both of them with confused expression. None of them wanted to get involved, but they were making too big of a scene to not be noticed.

Sakura is slim and more petite than Chaeyeon is so she squeezed her way through the crowds, while Chaeyeon didn’t even care and pushed some people if needed.

They ran, ran, and ran. Far away to who knows where.

Without them realising, they had run outside the shopping district into the streets. They were lucky the lights were red when they ran across the streets. It was very dangerous, considering how crowded the streets were with vehicles.

Even though both of their legs hurt like hell for running around without taking any breaks, not one of them were stopping any time soon. Sakura kept on running straight and Chaeyeon didn’t show any sign of giving up.

Eventually, they reached a less crowded place. There were little to no people walking around. Chaeyeon looked around and saw that they were running in between buildings. Some of which were unfinished and being built. No wonder there were less people. Who would want to walk around a construction site?

As the road they ran on got narrower and narrower, Sakura became visibly exhausted. Her speed slowed down, although her feet didn’t stop moving. She wants to run away, but her legs were at limit.

Chaeyeon noticed that and finally found an opportunity to reach out her hands to Sakura. For a second, Chaeyeon gave it her all and sped up.

Finally, Chaeyeon caught up to Sakura.

Chaeyeon gripped Sakura’s shoulders from behind, hard. Sakura, who was still running, couldn’t stop her feet. In result, she fell down, bringing Chaeyeon down with her.

Quickly, Sakura stood up from the ground after she freed herself from Chaeyeon’s grip. She brushed off dirt from her shirt while at the same time tried to catch her breath. Sakura didn’t continue running, she didn’t even move from her spot.

Chaeyeon stood up a little later than Sakura. She frantically raised her head, but when she saw that Sakura wasn’t running, she relaxed her body.

“Sakura…?” Chaeyeon called in between her heavy breath.

The latter didn’t say a word. She was focusing on her dirty shirt instead. Her expression was visibly frustrated as she bit down her lips. Not sure if it’s because Chaeyeon managed to catch her.

It was obvious Sakura wasn’t up for a conversation. But staying silent wasn’t an option for Chaeyeon. She was willing to have a one-sided conversation if that means Sakura gets to listen to her.

“Where were you these past two weeks?”

“…”

“It’s… been hard around without you.”

“…”

“I’m sorry, Sakura.”

Chaeyeon apologised, without even knowing what she was apologising for. She just wants to.

“…Don’t…”

A quiet whisper escaped Sakura’s mouth.

Hearing that, Chaeyeon looked up, straight at Sakura, but the latter wasn’t turning her back at all.

“Don’t apologise,” Sakura finished her sentence.

 “You were gone for almost two weeks after that day. I have yet to know what but— surely it has something to do with what I said right?"

 “No—”

“I’m sorry okay— I really am, for whatever it is."

Chaeyeon kept on ignoring Sakura’s denial. Somehow, Chaeyeon was convinced that she was the reason. Sakura was hiding it for a reason.

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” Sakura said with a calm tone, “I’ll come to work tomorrow, okay.”

Chaeyeon was slightly saddened when she heard Sakura’s response. Sakura brushed off everything she said and changed the topic.

On one hand, Chaeyeon was glad that she managed to get Sakura to come to work. But this isn’t enough. The reason why Chaeyeon went as far as chasing Sakura across the district wasn’t to get her to work.

No, she needs to know what’s going on—

“Please tell me what’s happening,” exclaimed Chaeyeon.

“What I said was absurd, it wasn’t appropriate at all and I shouldn’t have said that. But this isn’t like you, is it?” she added.

Sakura twitched. In response, for the first time, she turned her back to Chaeyeon, finally showing Chaeyeon her frustrated expression she had been keeping for a while now.

“What isn’t like me?” Sakura asked.

“You wouldn’t… cut off communication just like this…” the latter girl answered hesitantly. Granted, she knows this for a fact only because Eunbi told her. But she doesn’t have a reason to doubt.

“What do you know— about me…" her tone got colder and colder. Just by her voice, Chaeyeon could tell that she was frustrated. She gritted her teeth and scrunched her forehead to express her frustration.

“I know you’re mad—!"

It was a short answer from Chaeyeon. Actually, she didn’t even get to finish her sentence. Right after saying that, Chaeyeon was cut off by Sakura’s laugh.

Sakura laughed, but her laugh wasn’t to express her amusement or joy. It was more of a painful laugh. One that she let out unconsciously.

“Mad—?" Sakura crooked her eyebrows, “Yeah, of course I’m mad. It doesn’t take a genius to notice.”

“Then—”

“But that’s not the point, is it?” Sakura cut off Chaeyeon once more. This time, with words, “Everybody knows I’m mad. You shouldn’t ask me whether I’m mad or not. You should’ve asked me whom I’m mad at.”

Chaeyeon paused. Before responding, Chaeyeon gulped nervously. She had never seen Sakura like this before. She’s like a completely different person.

Abiding to Sakura’s order, Chaeyeon asked, “Who are you mad at… Sakura?”

Sakura scoffed, “Who knows.”

“Huh?”

“See, even I don’t know who I’m mad at. I’m just mad. I don’t know why, I just am. Maybe I’m mad at you? Or at Eunbi? Or, very likely at myself?”

Sakura sounded crazy. She was just spurting out everything that came into her head.

Chaeyeon watched and listened confusedly as the latter continues talking about not knowing who she is mad at.

“Sa, Sakura…" Chaeyeon tried to calm her down.

“I don’t know, Chaeyeon!” Sakura shouted.

Chaeyeon held her breath the moment she heard that.

“Haha, what is this. I’m being so weird. Maybe, just maybe though… Maybe I’m just mad at the fact that I’m such a big coward,” Sakura said in a calmer yet sad tone. Her eyes suddenly became misty, so she looked up to prevent tears from streaming down her face.

Chaeyeon watched, but Sakura was talking so vaguely and she doesn’t know what to do. Her eyes followed Sakura’s tear that dropped to the ground. A huge sense of guilt suddenly ripped her inside.

Sakura’s voice was shaking, “I can’t even simply say that I like her.”

“What—?"

Chaeyeon’s eyes opened widely and opened. The shock that ran through her body beat the guilt that was filling her earlier.

“Her…?” Chaeyeon said in a questioning tone. Though, frankly speaking, she has a guess in mind.

“Yeah, her,” Sakura dropped her head and looked at Chaeyeon, “That girl you like, Kwon Eunbi. You know how much time I spent loving her? It’s been years, Chaeyeon.”

Chaeyeon was speechless, she wanted to say something but couldn’t.

“It’s been this way since school years. I applied to the student council just to get closer to her and woohoo, I succeeded!”

Sakura tried to act excited, but her expression was saying something else.

“I mean, hey, falling in love with your best friend is one thing. But a girl? I thought I must be crazy, right? There’s no way in hell she would like me back, right? If I were to be honest to her, our friendship would be ruined. She’ll be creeped out for sure. And surely, I didn’t want that.”

With each sentence Sakura said, it got faster and faster. Her words came out like a train. She didn’t even bother to pause or breathe. She just wants to let it all out.

“So yeah, I kept it to myself for years. Why the hell would I want to break something as precious as my relationship with Eunbi? It’s just a little silly love. Time will do something about it.”

“Ah…” Chaeyeon began to connect the dots. She stared blankly at her employee who looked so miserable at the moment.

“But it didn’t, Chaeyeon…” Sakura’s voice cracked, “It’s still here. I can’t get rid of it. It’s been killing me inside. For years I can’t voice out my love for her, yet you— despite only knowing her for weeks… how could you say it so confidently?"

Chaeyeon felt a sharp pain to her chest. She bit the insides of her lips and her eyes were shaking.

“I’m sorry…” Chaeyeon said quietly.

“You did nothing wrong. Chaeyeon…” Sakura answered back while wiping off her tears that had been flowing, “I can’t help but hate myself when I see you. It’s my fault. I’m too much of a coward. I’m a girl in love who couldn’t voice out her feelings because of fear.”

“Sakura—” Chaeyeon attempted to stop Sakura from hurting herself verbally like that. But there were too many to digest, she doesn’t know what to say or do. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist hard.

“I’m sorry. I’ll see you tomorrow, Chaeyeon.” Sakura turned her back, then began to walk away.

Chaeyeon noticed that rather quickly. She wasn’t finished, there’s still something she wants to say to Sakura. She just needs more time, she can’t just leave like that.

“Wait, Sakura,” Chaeyeon reached out her arms and began walking.

Sakura was walking faster than Chaeyeon so in attempt to catch up to her, the latter did the same.

However, Chaeyeon was clumsy. When she tried to speed up, she tripped on her own foot and fell down to the ground.

A loud thud was heard, but Sakura didn’t bother to look back and continued walking away.

Their distance was getting further and further, so Chaeyeon quickly stood up and run towards Sakura.

But something caught Chaeyeon’s eyes. The moment Chaeyeon’s eyes caught it, her whole body froze in place.

A number.

She looked down to the ground, and there it was, her glasses laying on the ground. She had not noticed that her glasses fell off.

Chaeyeon gasped in shock and terror as she looked back up and saw a number above Sakura. The number was something she had only seen once in her lifetime.

0

Chills went down her spine. A nasty feeling of dread sank into her guts to the point where she felt nauseated. Her palms were closing off . Without it, she would probably be screaming in horror.

Zero. Her eyes weren’t deceiving her. It’s written clearly there. It’s a single zero floating just above Sakura, who was getting further and further.

It was happening too fast and Chaeyeon doesn’t know what to do. Those numbers only represent days. The specific time of death is always kept a mystery. Meaning, any time soon today, Sakura could drop dead.

“Sakura—!” Chaeyeon screamed out her name desperately. Seeing that the latter didn’t stop moving at all, Chaeyeon ran towards her in full speed.

What does the universe have against her? Not only is it taking away the love of her life, it’s taking away her one and only friend too?

No. She can’t lose her. At least not now. Not when everything isn’t settled yet. There’s just no way in hell it can end like this.

At the moment Chaeyeon finally caught up with Sakura, she suddenly heard a loud snap from above. In reflex, her head turned up and saw countless steel beams falling down.

Chaeyeon and Sakura were both located at a construction site. The crane’s cable that was supposed to move the beams up seemed to snap in the middle of the process. As a result, those beams are now plunging down towards the two women.

A huge scream from one of the workers tried to alert them, but it didn’t seem to be that effective. The beams were close to ground, yet both Sakura and Chaeyeon froze on their place, looking up as it comes down to crush them both at the same time.

“Oh, — it’s now," Chaeyeon began to panic as she realised that Sakura’s designated time is right now. Also, since she caught up to Sakura, it seemed that she would join her employee.

Chaeyeon let out a desperate scream, and that somehow managed to undo whatever magic that was holding her on her place. As soon as she could move her body, Chaeyeon looked to Sakura. The latter’s eyes were full of horror as she realised the fate that was decided onto her.

But screw that fate.

With her whole body weight, Chaeyeon pushed the two of them onto the street. They curled up into a ball and literally rolled their way out of the narrow pathway. Their skins were scraped by the rough ground.

In a split second, a huge bang was heard all across the district. Those steel beams finally fell down to the ground, crushing everything it landed on.

The sound attracted people and a crowd was quickly formed. Everyone looked to the accident site. Everything was a mess. The pavement cracked and the windows on the neighbouring building were broken.

Murmurs were heard, people began talking among themselves.

Another thing other than the fallen beams caught the public’s eyes. Two unconscious women laying on the side of the road. One of them, Chaeyeon, was covering the other. Both of them were dirty from the dust that covered their bodies.

People were unsure about the condition of those two. But the moment they realised that none of them were responding to their voice, they took out their phones and called an ambulance.

It was a very chaotic situation.

 

#

 Lee Chaeyeon slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a familiar lamp hanging on the ceiling. It is the one that she bought years ago for her room.

The bed she was laying on was hers. One touch and she could tell.

Once she was completely awake, Chaeyeon reached out her arm to the left. She took her glasses that was lying on the night stand table beside her and wore it while still laying down.

There was still a blank in Chaeyeon’s head. She felt like waking up in the morning, but it definitely wasn’t the right time. Judging from the amount of light that came inside the window, it’s probably starting to get dark.

Chaeyeon got up quickly and sat on her bed. But that sudden movement made Chaeyeon groan in pain as she felt a sharp sensation in her head.

“Ow...”

That small pain immediately reminded Chaeyeon of the event that happened prior to this. A life-threatening situation she brought herself into.

How did the whole thing happen again?

She was confronting Sakura. Which, resulted in the latter to confess something completely unexpected.

Then, what happened next?

Sakura walked away and she chased her.

Why did she chase her?

Chaeyeon’s half opened eyes snapped open. She let out a huge gasp as the whole event from start to finish came rushing in her mind.

0

Zero.

Chaeyeon rolled her eyes back and forth. Her head turned to every direction possible and she even frantically hopped out of her bed.

She exclaimed, “Saku—!"

stopped moving the moment she saw a figure standing by her door. A figure of a short haired slim female. Her face was facing outside the door, but Chaeyeon could already tell just from her backside.

Chaeyeon’s face froze and her legs became weak. She stumbled, but she managed to grab the edge of her bed before falling down to the floor.

She’s there.

Miyawaki Sakura is standing there, alive.

Chaeyeon couldn’t even hide her relief. Her eyes started to become misty and she didn’t even bother to stop her tears from flowing down.

“Sakura…” she called with a hoarse voice, full of relief.

Sakura, who looked like she was drowning in her own thoughts, twitched and then turned her back. She met her eyes with Chaeyeon’s.

Both of them scanned each other from top to bottom. They were covered in bruises and little cuts all over their body.

Sakura pouted, she felt guilty.

Chaeyeon, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier at the view. Sure, Sakura was wounded. But she knows how much worse things could end if she didn’t practically shove and drag them both across the street.

Sakura walked closer to Chaeyeon then proceeded to give her boss a big hug. Chaeyeon was caught off guard, but she returned the hug.

“I’m sorry,” Sakura said slightly.

Chaeyeon shook her head in response, “No, no, I’m glad you’re okay.”

Once they let go of the hug, they both took some time to stay silent. Both, still looking at each other, but none of them said anything.

After a moment filled with silence, Sakura hung her head down and started talking.

“I shouldn’t have said those. I was childish, I’m sorry, Chaeyeon.”

Chaeyeon realised the flow of conversation. Sakura wasn’t talking about the accident.

“It’s not your fault,” she answered in response shortly.

Compared to the time when Chaeyeon confronted Sakura about the issue, the latter is much more composed and calmer. She isn’t as distraught and she isn’t running away.

“I know it’s a dumb reason.”

“It’s not. It really isn’t so…”

Chaeyeon wanted Sakura to stop guilt tripping herself. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a valid reason or not.

“What you said about Eunbi—” Sakura sounded hesitant.

“Uh, you know… about her… this month…” she added to explain her question, but she was filled with doubt. She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Of course, Chaeyeon didn’t need Sakura to say any further. She knows what Sakura wants to know. But she doesn’t know what to say.

“There’s no reason for me to believe me, you know,” Sakura said without waiting for any response.

“But Chaeyeon, you don’t make jokes, do you?” she added.

Right, she doesn’t.

Chaeyeon hung her head down. Now just how would she explain those words that slipped through that day? Is it appropriate to just suddenly talk about her power? Is it really okay for her to talk about it?

Suddenly, in the middle of Chaeyeon’s argument with herself, Chaeyeon’s gloomy face lit up. She looked like she realised something. Her eyes were wide open and she held onto her breath.

Chaeyeon raised her head quickly and looked Sakura straight into her eyes, startling the latter.

“Chaeyeon…?”

The girl in glasses gulped. Slowly, her hand made its way to her glasses’ frame.

Her heart beats fast at a speed she never thought was possible. Her face didn’t show any sign of fear. Rather, it was hope.

Chaeyeon closed her eyes and removed her glasses. She spent awhile staring into darkness before slowly opening her eyes, one by one.

19732

It changed.

Sakura’s number changed.

She wasn’t blind, she wasn’t dreaming. She remembered clearly the zero that was soaked in red floating above Sakura. It’s now a five digits number.

“No way…”

Chaeyeon’s lips trembled. Her free hand closed her agape mouth.

She never knew it was possible. She had always feared those numbers because she thought that it was inevitable fixed fate for people.

It took her years of isolating herself in fear to find out the fact that it’s possible to change their fate.

If her memory does her justice, Eunbi’s death will seemingly be an accidental one. That’s right… if it’s an accidental death then—

—It is possible to save Eunbi.

“Chaeyeon—?" Sakura called, worriedly as she saw Chaeyeon’s expression changing overtime.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

After snapping back to reality, Chaeyeon grabbed Sakura’s shoulder, hard. She panted and breathed heavily, all those add to Sakura’s worry.

“Forget it,” Chaeyeon said shortly.

“What?”

“Throw away what I said that day. I’m going to change it,” she exclaimed.

Sakura was confused. Even after Chaeyeon let go of her, she couldn’t quite grasp the current situation. It felt like she isn’t part of the conversation those two were having.

“I- I’m going to Eunbi’s,” Chaeyeon stood up from the bed, wore her glasses back, and grabbed a random jacket that was hung behind her door.

She walked away towards her bedroom door, fast. But suddenly she shuddered and stopped her steps.

What Sakura said to her earlier today was still lingering in her mind. Surely, she couldn’t get it out of her mind.

Chaeyeon hesitantly turned her back and faced Sakura. She saw the latter; her face was painted in worry and confusion.

Chaeyeon’s determined expression quickly changed to a sad one. She wants to help Eunbi, but she can’t help but to feel like she’s hurting Sakura more.

“Go.”

It was a short and vague response from the short haired girl.

“A- Are you sure…” Chaeyeon stuttered, “If… If you want to, we can go toge… ther…”

“No.”

Sakura kept on giving Chaeyeon short responses. It genuinely made Chaeyeon doubt that Sakura was being sincere.

Sakura, who was still sitting on the edge of Chaeyeon’s bed, gripped the mattress hard and pressed her lips.

“I cooled my head down over the past two weeks. I’m okay now,” she said.

“She has her eyes on you, Chaeyeon. It’s too late for me,” her tone was low and sounded sad. Sakura looked at Chaeyeon, she put on a bitter smile and quite obviously, her eyes were watery.

“Go on. Don’t make the same mistake as I did,” she added.

Chaeyeon’s chest felt tight. It was unpleasant to see her friend like this.

It’s very much unfortunate that things had turned out like this. But Chaeyeon can’t just back down.

She knows for a fact that she loves Kwon Eunbi.

“Thank you, and I’m sorry, Sakura.”

So, even if she can’t let go of Eunbi for Sakura, the least she can do for her is to save Eunbi from her supposedly unescapable fate.

17 days.

Whatever fate awaits Kwon Eunbi in 17 days, Chaeyeon swears to protect her from it.  

 

#