track 16 - Change

minnie took a deep breath as she entered the empty house, her thoughts still consumed by her recent confession to miyeon, and the new feelings that were blossoming between them. as she made her way to the living room, she realized that being alone was even more difficult now that she had so much on her mind. just when she settled down on the couch, she heard a noise, turned around and saw shuhua and soyeon entering the room. minnie's surprise was evident on her face.

"hi, unnie!" shuhua beamed with a wide grin.

minnie blinked in astonishment. "hi girls! what brought you here? weren't you going to china?"

"we wanted to talk to you about something. we're leaving tomorrow. but first, why did you come back so late? where have you been?" soyeon inquired.

"well, actually, i had a date tonight," minnie admitted, feeling a blush on her cheeks.

shuhua's eyes widened with surprise, and soyeon perked up her ears. then shuhua asked "really? who is it? tell us everything!" her curiosity piqued.

"i met miyeon. we talked and cleared some things up," minnie replied, trying to hide her smile.

"what things exactly?" shuhua asked, taking a seat beside minnie, while soyeon settled down too.

"well, we all have been through a lot lately with work and everything, so i couldn't find the right time to talk about it. but..." minnie looked at soyeon, "you remember when i went to miyeon's last week?"

"yeah?" soyeon nodded.

"well," said minnie and mentioned what happened at that time, including the first kiss. then she proceeded to explain how they ended up meeting tonight after ghosting each other for a week. and she mentioned that she opened up to hwasa about it earlier today when circumstances demanded it. she said that she had wanted to discuss this with her friends before, but everyone was so busy with work. but nothing was definite with her and miyeon, so it also led to her silence. then minnie ended her speech saying "anyway, me and miyeon... it's all clear now, i think."

shuhua raised an eyebrow. "ooh, does that mean what i think it means?"

minnie nodded, a small smile still playing on her lips. "yeah, i think it does."

"nice! did you kiss again?" asked shuhua in the need of hearing all of the story. minnie was too shy to answer in that moment, however.

soyeon grinned, "it explains your goofy smile on your face. that's great news, unnie! we're truly happy for you. i kinda knew this was coming."

"wow, you're right, we kinda see everything. guess the only oblivious one among us is yuqi." said shuhua, leaving soyeon in awe because of her unexpected scolding. then abruptly she exclaimed, "wait, minnie unnie! isn't miyeon engaged or something?"

"yes, she is," said minnie. "but she confided in me about her plans. so i-"

"what plans?" asked soyeon.

"okay, you two need to chill a bit. for now, just know that she doesn't love him nor want to marry him, and please keep this secret. i was supposed to keep this to myself, but i trust you very much."

"okay, i get it," said soyeon. "apparently, it's very complicated. so it's better for us to wait until you two sort things out, and then we can all talk about it together."

"yeah, even though i'm so curious about what's happening with the miyeon-hwiyoung-soojin issue, i'll keep it to myself for now. besides, we have urgent matters to address," shuhua added.

"yes, we have something else to discuss," soyeon stated.

minnie asked "what is it?"

"it's about your wealth and your parents' divorce, which i had no idea about," soyeon said bitterly.

shuhua then looked at minnie with a guilty expression. "sorry, i told her."

minnie nodded, grateful for her concern. "it's okay, i wanted to tell you guys anyway," she said. "i just didn't know how to bring it up."

"oh and i was going to ask you more the first time you opened up to me," shuhua said, hesitantly. "but then soyeon unnie came and told me about going to china, and i got carried away."

minnie smiled, showing her understanding and support. "it's okay, shu. i understand. and i'm sorry for hiding this from you guys."

with a determined look in her eyes, soyeon chimed in, "well, it's okay. better late than never. now, we want to help you if there is anything you need."

"i don't know how to feel about my parents' issue, to be honest. i've been ignoring it too much that i kinda lost my emotions."

soyeon, sensing minnie's distress, asked, "when was the last time you contacted them?"

minnie sighed, "it was almost a month ago if i remember correctly, with my brother. he said my mother and father were not on good terms back then. later, i got wind of the divorce issue."

shuhua then asked, "do you want to do something about it?"

minnie thought for a moment and replied, "no. i respect their decisions. if they don't get along and be happy together, then there's no logic staying together."

"hmm, you're right," said soyeon thoughtfully. "but don't you want to talk to them?"

minnie kept her silence, trying to find the emotions and thoughts she had buried deep inside her mind about this. she felt sad because she hadn't spoken to her parents in a while, but it was her decision not to. she felt like she lost connection with her family since she left her country to come to korea and stand on her own.

"i understand you, unnie," shuhua said. "but don't you think it's worth trying to reconnect with your parents to understand what's really going on?"

minnie hesitated for a moment, but then she sighed and said, "you're right. i should at least try to talk to them and see how they're doing. it's been a while, and i miss them."

"by the way, i'll leave my car in your care while i'm away," said soyeon.

"hasn't it always been like that?" said minnie jokingly, "what's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine."

shuhua jumped in the convo. "then it's mine, too!"

"nope," soyeon rejected right away. "i can lend you to practice driving though, but only if i'm with you in the car."

"b-but, i'm also good at driving a car!" shuhua ranted.

minnie giggled. "you mean riding a bike?" 

"okay, whatever..." shuhua shrugged. "i like cycling more anyway."

***

after about 2 hours of flight, shuhua and soyeon arrived in beijing, china. they got to the hotel and checked into their room and decided to take a short break to rest and make a plan. they were not exhausted from the flight, but rather needed some time to gather their thoughts and figure out their next steps. shuhua jumped on the bed and lay down. soyeon pulled out her phone and saw the message notification from minnie in their old group chat. "oh, minnie unnie texted," she said, making shuhua look at her phone too. minnie was getting in the car then, on her way to have a lunch outside the office.
 

shuhua sat up, taking a deep breath before dialing the number she had for yuqi's mother. she had known her for a while but they hadn't spoken in a long time, so she wasn't sure if her number was still the same. after a few rings, someone picked up. "hello?" a woman's voice answered.

"hi, is this yuqi's mother?" shuhua asked in mandarin, her heart pounding in her chest.

"yes, who are you?" the woman asked.

"hi, this is shuhua. i'm a friend of yuqi's from korea. we have talked a few before," said shuhua, hoping the woman would remember her.

"ah, shuhua! i remember you! it's so nice to hear from you. how are you?" the woman asked warmly.

"i'm doing well, thank you. hope you're doing well too?"

"yes, yes. i'm all good, thanks."

"um... i'm actually in beijing right now with our friend soyeon. and we were hoping to see yuqi. is she with you?" shuhua asked, getting straight to the point.

"oh, no, yuqi is actually been staying at a temple outside of the city for the past few days. she needed some time to herself," the woman explained.

"a temple? can you give us the address? she's not answering us. we really need to see her," shuhua said urgently, while soyeon was taking out a pen and paper to write it down.

the woman hesitated for a moment before giving them the address. "please take care of her," she said then. shuhua thanked her before hanging up.

they made their way to the temple, hoping to find yuqi there. it was a peaceful place, surrounded by nature. soyeon thought about yuqi trying to find inner peace here. she was walking right behind shuhua, who was looking at around her to observe the area.
 

as they arrived at the temple, they saw a few monks and other visitors, but yuqi was nowhere to be seen. they asked the monks, but they had no information. they decided to take a walk around the temple to clear their minds. as they walked along a path surrounded by trees, they saw a familiar one on a rock who's back was to them. it was yuqi. she was like giving a peace sign to the world. soyeon thought she had a strong posture as if she was ready for the new life ahead of her. however, yuqi herself wasn't sure about that.

"oh my god, yuqi!" soyeon shouted making her scared.

"unnie, we need to be calm." shuhua whispered loud enough for only soyeon to hear.

"sorry, you're right."

yuqi was looking just as surprised to see them. "soyeon? shuhua?" she said, clearly not expecting them there. she got down and came near to them.

"we've been looking for you everywhere," shuhua said, hugging her tightly.

"i'm sorry," yuqi said. "i needed some time to myself."

then it was soyeon's turn to hug. they hugged each other in awkward silent. pulling away, soyeon looked at her with concern. "why didn't you answer any of our calls or texts? we were worried about you."

"yes, and that's why we came all the way here. we wanted to make sure you were okay," shuhua said.

yuqi sighed and looked down. "i'm fine," she said, but her voice was shaky. soyeon and shuhua exchanged a look. they knew that something was not right, but they didn't want to pressure yuqi. they decided to take it slow and asked her if she wanted to talk. yuqi hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. they found a quiet spot under a tree and sat down. yuqi opened up to them about her struggles since the incident, how it had affected her mentally and emotionally, and how she had been seeking solace in meditation. they both listened attentively, offering words of support and encouragement and told her that they were there for her, no matter what, and that they wanted to help her get through this. as they sat there, surrounded by the peaceful atmosphere of the temple, they all felt a sense of calm and unity. however, shuhua couldn't help but get angry that yuqi hid everything from her. she was so sad that she started crying. soyeon knew neither what to do nor what to say. she was secretly getting teary eyed, too. yuqi hugged shuhua.

as shuhua cried in yuqi's embrace, soyeon was feeling a relief that they had finally found her. she had been so worried about her, but now they were together again. she looked at yuqi, who had tears in her eyes as well, and felt a deep sense of empathy. soyeon couldn't imagine how hard it was to go through something like this, and she admired yuqi's strength for dealing with it on her own. after a few moments, shuhua pulled away from the hug and wiped her tears.

"what am i doing? i'm sorry," she said, trying to compose herself. "i just can't believe you didn't tell me."

yuqi looked at her with understanding. "no, i'm sorry. i just didn't want to burden you with my problems," she said. "in fact, i was thinking like 'if it were up to me, i wouldn't tell anyone', but since minnie and soyeon unnie were involved, they inevitably got to know with me. you were in busan when it happened, and later on i just couldn't tell."

soyeon was confused. "but i don't understand why you wouldn't tell anyone if it was possible? did we do something wrong to make you feel that way?"

"no, you did not," yuqi said. "i was just thinking that maybe i would have felt better that way. but now i know the problem was me. i was very distressed. then i came here to handle it myself. i don't know, maybe deep down i wanted to escape from everything."

"but you don't have to handle it alone," shuhua said. "we're here for you, and we'll do whatever it takes to help you through this."

yuqi smiled weakly. "thank you," she said. and then, her eyes met with soyeon's. yuqi was now kinda feeling sorry for leaving them like that. she saw a mixture of worry and relief in her eyes. they were looking at each other so deeply. and when it continued for a while, shuhua noticed it too. she coughed a little to get their attention. "so, i feel a little hungry. should we eat something?"

"ah, okay! follow me," said yuqi, quickly getting up.

they went on a long walk after satisfying their hunger with a meal. they spent the rest of the day at the temple, talking and meditating together. soyeon and shuhua, especially soyeon learned more about spiritual practices and found it to be a peaceful and healing experience. shuhua has been in this kind of experience before, so she was just glad to be in such an environment again and reminisced about old memories. yuqi seemed to relax more as the day went on, and they all felt a renewed hope. as the sun began to set, they decided to leave the temple and head to yuqi's. they made plans to spend the next few days together, traveling around the city. then yuqi made a phone call to minnie to talk with her, too. she said she was sorry, but minnie told her to stop being sorry and that the only thing that matters now is to keep her mind and body healthy.
soyeon, shuhua, minnie and yuqi may have had their share of struggles, but now they knew they could overcome anything as long as they had each other.

when they were heading back to the hotel before going to yuqi's to get shuhua and soyeon's belongings, shuhua received a phone call. upon picking up the phone and hearing the voice say "hello," she jumped in surprise and exclaimed, "oh, soojin!"