Chapter six

Together they walked hand in hand down the busy streets of Tokyo, with bloated stomachs. Chaewon and Minju had just finished eating in the fluffy pancake cafe, and were now heading down to the Traditional Japanese Garden which Sakura had suggested a few days before. For once in a long time, Minju felt at peace. Amidst the bustling crowd and honking of the cars, Chaewon’s hand intertwined in hers is enough to bring a warm feeling to her heart. Nobody knows them here. The reporters are a two hour flight away from them, so there’s no chance of the media following them here. She can finally breathe. With Chaewon next to her, she can finally breathe. Minju glances to her side momentarily, and unknowingly smiles immediately when she accounts Chaewon’s soft side profile. Chaewon looked at peace too, and she had a cheeky grin on her face which caused Minju to retreat her stare.

“It’s okay, you can look at me for as long as you want,” Chaewon chuckled and squeezed Minju’s hand.

Minju scoffed, “I wasn’t looking at you, I was looking at the anime stores behind you.”
 

“Oh please,” Chaewon rolled her eyes. She began to Minju’s thumb with hers. “It’s not the first time I’ve caught you looking at me anyways. Girlfriend,” Chaewon flashed a toothy smile and Minju failed to hide her own smile at the sound of that word. She glanced to the ground out of embarrassment.

Minju disconnected their hands and instead wrapped her arms around Chae’s arm and clung to it tightly. She felt warm for a few moments before a sudden wave of sadness washed over her.

“Wait,” she said carefully, “you don’t do this with Wonyoung, do you?” 

“Ya,” Chaewon put her arm around Minju's shoulders and forcefully pulled her into her side, “you know me and Wonyoung are just for show.”

Minju’s eyes were still to the ground.

“Ya,” Chaewon whispered as she moved to her ear, “I like holding your hands the most.”

Chae was finally satisfied when she saw the dimples under Minju’s eyes begin to form.

--

Wonyoung quietly stood behind the screens in the filming studio. It was finally time to shoot Yujin’s first commercial for Olens, and there was an uproar about Yujin and the Ahns in the media already. Scrolling through the endless articles about Ahn Group, Wonyoung smiled at the kind comments about Yujin. Yujin is definitely a charming person- she always has a toothy smile whenever she spots a paparazzi camera.

When the directors shouted action, Wonyoung and Yujin made eye contact for a few moments, and Wonyoung nodded to reassure her. She notes that Yujin looks especially beautiful today, with her makeup done all nicely. The gray contact lenses she’s wearing makes her large eyes pop, too. 

Just then, another girl was brought into the studio from the makeup chair. Wonyoung tried to peek around the camera equipment to get a better look at who she was. The thing is, she can’t hear what’s going on at the front. She’s at the back of the studio, lost in the rows of studio equipment. All she can see now is Yujin and the unknown girl bowing to each other with charming smiles on their faces. They stand there and talk to the director for a few minutes before he calls out action again.

Wonyoung’s eyebrows automatically raise when she sees Yujin and the other girl in each other’s arms, with their hands on the other’s waist. They face the back, and as the camera approaches their faces, they turn around and beam at the camera with big, sparkling eyes. They look beautiful, but Wonyoung questions why it’s necessary for them to be holding each other.<