A/N: Eventually, I'll make it so that all the members will play their own little part in the story. In this chapter, you'll see that Eunji starts getting involved. Thank you so much for reading, hope you enjoy!

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They’re back in their room and Chorong sits against the headboard on her bed with a book in hand. She flips it open to where her pink bookmark (gift from Changsub) was previously wedged and starts reading. Chorong has enjoyed reading ever since she was a little girl, indulging her fondness for stories and literature. On quite the contrary, Bomi couldn’t finish a book if she tried. (And she has tried, because Chorong lent her a book to do so, but Bomi gets bored easily. Baseball is her longest ongoing commitment, followed by Chorong.)

“Hey unnie” Bomi hesitantly sits on the edge of Chorong’s bed, facing the older girl. “Are you okay with Naeun being my girlfriend?” She initially planned on ignoring Chorong’s vague reaction to what Bomi thought was very exciting news, but she couldn’t help it. She needed to know what her best friend thought.

Chorong looks up and simultaneously lowers her book. Her voice comes out soft as silk, but the words sharp like knives.

“I just don’t think she’s right for you.”

“What? Where’s this coming from?” Bomi raises a brow then frowns and Chorong thinks to herself, that’s a good question: where is this coming from?

But she doesn’t stop or take her words back. In fact, to her own surprise, she adds on to her statement. “She’s a new junior and you’re a popular senior. Dating you would further elevate her social status in the school.” Chorong shrugs like this was apparent, and Bomi’s jaw drops at the underlying message.

Over the past few weeks, Naeun had been getting more and more attention in the school. But the rumours of her and Bomi made little contribution to her growing popularity. People talked about her simply because she was stunning. She made walking to class look like she was on a fashion runway. Heads turn and eyes follow when she walks around school, she even has a group of fanboys. (Just two weeks ago, she had to reject a puppy-eyed boy but thankfully, Taemin was well-mannered and respected her feelings.)

“Are you saying it’s impossible that Naeun actually likes me?” The question is asked in all seriousness, without a hint of the usual cheerful Bomi.

“I just think you should be careful” Chorong almost shudders under Bomi’s intense gaze but maintains the eye contact as she continues, “I’m your best friend, I’m just trying to protect you.” Bomi gets up from the bed abruptly, “I don’t need your protection.” Then she flounces out the room, and Chorong flinches at the sound of the door slamming.

The weight of what she’s done starts to dawn on her. To make matters worse, she didn’t even know what came over her just moments ago that would cause her to say all that. Did she even mean the things she said? Why did she get so sceptical about Naeun all of a sudden? Whatever the reason, Chorong seemed to accept her new-found doubts about Naeun. You can never be too careful, right?

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It’s been three days since Bomi stormed out of the room and she’s been sleeping in Naeun’s room. For the first time in their entire friendship, Bomi has been actively avoiding Chorong. The only time they’re in close proximity is when they’re with the usual friends, and even then, the others can sense the awkward tension in the silence between the two. Bomi only goes back to the room (when Chorong isn’t around) to take necessary things like clothes and materials for classes.

Being a transfer student, Naeun didn’t have an option to pick if she wanted a roommate or not, so she got a single room. This worked out great for her anyway because Naeun savours solitude and appreciates the privacy. Having Bomi around in her room and having to sleep on the same bed hasn’t been too much of an obstruction in Naeun’s life, not when she really likes Bomi, so she doesn’t mind having her girlfriend around so much.

In fact, she’s rather glad that Bomi is spending some time away from Chorong her room. She’s seen the older girl give her side eyes whenever she goes over to their table for Bomi. Naeun has noticed how Chorong clings onto Bomi’s arm when they’re walking. She sees how Chorong leans close towards Bomi when she’s laughing. If Chorong didn’t have a boyfriend, Naeun definitely would’ve thought Chorong was in love with Bomi or something.

Still, she doesn’t quite appreciate how close another girl is to her girlfriend, especially after what Chorong implied about Naeun. (Yes, Bomi had explained the argument to Naeun.)

Even if they were best friends and Chorong was supposedly straight, you can never be too careful, right?

The two girls were more similar than they knew.

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When Bomi had stormed out the room that day, she headed straight to Naeun’s room which was a few floors below. She thought about going to the field to bat some baseballs, but it was getting dark outside and she decided she didn’t want to be alone. Bomi doesn’t like to be alone when she’s upset and Chorong used to be the person she’d turn to for company but obviously, this situation called for different measures.

Bomi knocked on the door and waited a few seconds before the door opened, revealing her stunning girlfriend. “Babe?” Naeun asked, not expecting to see Bomi.

“Can I sleep with you?” Bomi asks simply and it doesn’t hit her that it sounds like she’s asking Naeun to have with her on some random night like a booty call until she sees Naeun stumble over her words. “Uhm- uh- what?”

“I meant like just sleep” Bomi chuckles as Naeun’s cheeks start turning pink and she casts her eyes down to the floor. “Oh- yeah sure” She opens the door wider to let Bomi in. “I wouldn’t be opposed to whatever you thought I was saying though” Bomi winks at Naeun as she walks past the taller girl, into her room. Bomi was a natural flirt and Naeun just had to deal with it.

In the past few years, whenever Bomi was upset and didn’t possess the energy to talk, Chorong would let Bomi slip under her blanket and hug the class president to sleep. Just the two of them, spooning innocently through the ni