Detention went by smoother than Sakura thought. It seemed like Eunbi had a lot on her mind. Their only task was to write a one-page reflection on the situation. Neither had to give it to each other so Sakura wrote her feelings freely. Eunbi chose to sit in the front row while Sakura, who arrived a little later, grabbed a seat in the way back of the room.

Eunbi would stretch her back from time to time, stealing glances at Sakura who was busy stuffing the paper with words. It looked like the table could swallow her whole at any moment. She bit back a smile and went back to writing on her own paper.

I don’t know why we’ve become strangers.

Yet, I’m willing to start over somehow. 

I’m willing to understand you. If you’ll let me.

I can forget the pain from when you left.

If it means moving forward with you by my side.

Sakura,

Kkura-ya,

I miss you. I miss you a lot.

She folded her paper and stood up. She checked the time and started herself. It was already 4:45. She needed to be somewhere around 4:40. She scratched the back of her head, wondering where to leave the paper.

“H-Hey, do you know where we’re supposed to leave this?” Eunbi rushed putting her pencil case in her bag, making Sakura wonder why she was already packing up. 

“I think you can just throw it away.”

“Oh. Okay. If that’s the case then, you mean we could’ve just skipped this?” Eunbi blurted out, feeling stressed because she was late for her student-led organization.

Sakura stared at her for what seemed like too long. In Sakura’s eyes, she wondered if Eunbi even cared to write anything. She looked at her own reflection and felt like what she had written were words of a naive girl. She didn’t plan to give it to Eunbi, but she didn’t think the detention was supposed to go like this either. Intrusive thoughts came to her… thoughts that Eunbi never cared and still doesn’t care. She bitterly smiled,

“It feels like a waste of time doesn’t it? It’s because we didn’t use our time well. Plus, we have fifteen minutes left.”

“I… Yeah, sorry, but I have to go. I’m willing to do this reconcile thing another time?”

Sakura seemed deep in thought and she just shook her head, feeling worse as time went by. Seeing Eunbi’s concerned face also made her want to look away. She looked down at her own paper filled with writing.

(I was a fool to think that we would ever have the right timing.)

“Just go.”

…

“S-Sakura?!”

Eunbi’s jaw dropped. She was daydreaming about it earlier but didn’t think that the déjà vu occurrence would hit her this quickly. The girls in the room seemed to notice how taken aback she was. One even raised her hand, “Unnie, is she that good?”

Sakura broke the eye contact and smiled at the girl, “I’m not. In fact, I never got in.”

(Why is she here…) 

Eunbi couldn’t stop thinking to herself. She nodded to herself, answering her own thoughts. (Right, she probably had no idea I’m the co-president of the club.)

“I’m here to see Chaewon-ssi. I promised I’d come support.”

“Chaewon? Oh, she’ll be here in any minute. She’s just --”

“Finishing a test. Yep, got it.”

Eunbi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She went over to the speaker and scrolled through her Spotify playlist. She was mindlessly scrolling, but in her head, she was panicking. Awkward is an understatement of her feelings. She wondered if Sakura completely forgot or was just simply amazing at holding everything in. Her thumb slipped and pressed the one song she should’ve avoided.

“My move is unique… Not ordinary… 1, 2, 5, to 7 --”

“…” Eunbi’s back showed immense stress as she kept pausing and unpausing the song. Some of the girls not realizing what this song meant for Eunbi (a huge embarrassment that is), started to freestyle dance along to the song. Sakura just awkwardly stood at the door and tried not to stare at Eunbi.

“Unnie, will we be performing this?”

Before Eunbi could answer, Chaeyeon appeared at the door grinning, “Wah~ We totally should!”

Sakura stepped to the side and bowed slightly as a sign of courtesy. When Chaeyeon noticed her, her comfortable aura evidently shifted into a more cautious one.

“Oh, hi… Are you auditioning?”

Eunbi stayed put at her spot near the speaker, letting the song play. The others were already invested and two more minutes of hell would be tolerable. She sat down and leaned against the mirror, pretending to be busy to the side. Chaeyeon continued to interview Sakura, who had already clearly stated she won’t be auditioning.

“Oh, why not?! You’re gorgeous. If you can dance, I guarantee you’d be able to cover the visual and center members.”

Eunbi couldn’t take it anymore. Hyewon and Yena’s voices rang in her head. 

“If you really care about your friendship, fear of the past is nothing. Why be afraid of the past if you can redeem yourself in the present and future?”

Right. Why should I be afraid? Come on, Eunbi.

Eunbi stood up from her position and made her way to Chaeyeon. She stood next to her, facing Sakura, and ignored the fact that her face was heating up. 

“She’s right, Kkura. I saw you dance before. You’ve got potential.”

The girls silen