The long awaited, and at the same time feared, day had arrived and the girls had just handed their copy of the key to the villa to their parents and were finishing loading their luggage in their cars. The rest of their belongings had been taken from their families or shipped.

"I can't believe I had breakfast here for the last time" Sharon was staring at the kitchen window "I will miss living in this house"

Tzuyu kissed her temple "it will be difficult to get used to living without them, but we made a promise and I'm sure no one will break it"

The sound of a trunk being closed with force made everyone turn towards Jeongyeon "this journey has come to an end, but I already know that I will never be able to get rid of you and that is why I am not very sad. I propose to do a group hug before dividing us for the next few months, it seems the right goodbye to me"

They all hugged together, forming a circle. Seen from the outside it could have seemed a ridiculous scene, a stupid game devised by little girls, but in that grip some of them allowed themselves to shed the tears they had been holding back up to that moment. Each of them showed their gratitude through words and gestures, taking longer than expected.

Sana looked at her watch, sighing "we have to go or not even dad's authority will be able to stop the planes from leaving"

Her younger sister nodded and broke away from her best friend's grip "remember our promise, don't let me get a nasty surprise when I come back"

The older smiled amused "no one in the world can replace my best friend, you can sleep peacefully at night"

Dahyun threw herself into the arms of Tzuyu and Sharon "when you need help just call me and I'll take the first flight back to you, okay?"

"We'll be fine" Sharon was holding her with all her strength "if my sister acts like a kick her , you have my permission"

Tzuyu smiled amused even though her eyes were teary "is it possible that you always have to spoil the serious moments?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to cry in front of Sana and Mina. They would have a harder time leaving and I don't want this"

"I will take care of Sana and Mina won't be alone, I hope this will make you calmer" the shorter of the three smiled a little sadly.

There were other hugs and recommendations, but the most emotional moment for all was when the two pairs of twins had parted, looking into each other's eyes.

Momo couldn't hold back the tears "I'm already missing you"

"Come here, crybaby" Sana hugged her again, kissing her head "we'll meet again soon, you won't have time to get used to our absence that you'll have us in your way again"

The two younger sisters joined in close, taking advantage of the little time left before the taxi arrived. The four leaving girls greeted the others until the vehicle disappeared from their sight.

"They left" Sharon finally allowed herself to cry, hugging the first person she saw for some comfort.

Jihyo tenderly her hair, always keeping an eye on her girlfriend "they promised to come back for Christmas and they will, we just have to hold out a few months. We'll all be very busy and we have to be as brave as they are"

"Wise words" Jeongyeon took Nayeon's hand "are you ready? From today the search for our new home begins"

The older one nodded, reciprocating the squeeze "let's go" greeted the two couples, laughed at the blonde's terrible jokes and left.

Tzuyu pointed to Jihyo's car "are we going too?"

The other three girls immediately got into the car and, to everyone's surprise, Momo had climbed on the driver's side "our new life is about to begin and I would like to do it by resuming driving"

Their journey was silent, just like that of all the others.

A month had passed and each of the girls had already adapted to the new lifestyle: Mina and Chaeyoung had started working in their brand new publishing house, Sana and Dahyun were working shoulder to shoulder, Nayeon and Jeongyeon had left for Hawaii to take care of a new hotel chain of the Yoo family.

The ones left in Korea had bought the villa previously offered for sale and were actively participating in the renovation, especially Jihyo and Tzuyu.

"Upstairs there will be the various classes to study, while in this area and in the garden the children will be able to play" Jihyo was explaining all the details to the guys who were taking care of everything.

"The desks have arrived!" Tzuyu was very happy and was helping to unload them from the truck "Jihyo, look how beautiful, they are all different colors!" she ran her left hand through her hair, on which sparkled a silver ring. It was the couple ring she and Sharon had bought a few days earlier.

The older looked at everything with a happy smile "this is definitely Momo's idea, she had mentioned something to me about some colors"

"The after-school idea was brilliant, I can't wait to get started. Come on guys, it's just a little while until the end of the work!" exclaimed the tallest, taking her sister-in-law by the arm "Dahyun phoned this morning, she has adapted to the point of speaking Japanese even with me. Sana has done nothing but brag about her teachings and discuss with Sharon who is the best Japanese teacher"

Jihyo laughed under her breath "luckily Jeongyeon is not the only one who feels the best on every front, it will be fun to see them arguing like spoiled little girls"

"I don't know how Nayeon can handle her, I bet she often ignores her girlfriend" gossiping became their favorite pastime "Mina and Chae are great, a lot of kids have signed up for their courses to become writers"

"And here we are, with a ring on our finger and two girlfriends as fantastic as they are strange. I feel fulfilled and happy, even though I'm still in the middle of preparing for the wedding"

Tzuyu showed the dimple on her cheek "we have so many things to do, but I am so happy to know that we have all found our place in the world and that the villa in which we all lived together is ours again"

"Chae, have you closed your suitcase yet? We have to go or we'll miss our flight!" Mina went upstairs to their cottage, finding her girlfriend sitting on the floor "aren't you feeling well?"

"I'm afraid of going back, I'm afraid of not feeling in my place anymore. It's been five months since we left and it's really a long time"

The older crouched down in front of her, placing her hands on her knees "we are returning to our family to celebrate Christmas and I assure you that you will feel at home. We have been in close contact with the others and it doesn't seem that our bond is weakened, isn't it?"

"You're right, I don't know why I'm feeling this way. Come on, I can't wait to see those idiots again and brag about my perfect English"

Mina smiled amused "are you aware of the fact that they all know how to speak it? It is a very popular language in every job we do"

The younger pouted "I hate it when you enjoy destroying my sand castles, you should be on my side"

"It's not my fault if you like to fool yourself, hurry up and take your luggage down or I'll leave you here" she gave her a light spanking before exiting the room, heading downstairs.

"That's a low blow, now I want you!" she didn't receive any answer so she decided to make the voice of a child "Minari, we don't even have ten minutes? The flight will be quite long!"

Mina smiled amused "you won't get anything from me, hurry up!"

It was hot in Hawaii despite being December and Nayeon still couldn't get over it. Her girlfriend was very tanned and, as yet another proof of her inferiority, she had remained pale as a sheet.

She was the only one who couldn't stand in the sun without burning her skin and Jeongyeon never missed an opportunity to point it out. She wanted to get a tan too, but she had put a stone on top of that idea and the few times she went to the beach she covered her body in sunscreen and stayed under the umbrella.

Living alone with Jeongyeon meant doing the cleaning in two, using every spare moment to polish even the exteriors of their home. They hadn't yet decided whether to return to live in Korea or stay there and had agreed to decide during the holidays with the other girls.

The older wanted to go back to the place she considered home, even though doing so would have involved traveling frequently for work "Jeong, I'm ready"

Jeongyeon beamed at her "we can go, I have to show my tan to everyone"

"Stop being vain and give me a hand with the suitcase" she gave her a quick kiss before taking the last things "I'm really excited, we've been here for a long time"

"I am too and I also know that the desire to stay there will be stronger than ever" she hugged her, kissing her forehead "let's go home, we've done enough here"

Nayeon's face seemed to light up "let's go!"

As soon as Dahyun stepped out of the airport she spread her arms up "home sweet home"

"Passers-by are staring at you, stop it" Sana pinched her hand.

"I'm too happy to be back, we haven't done it often and as much as I like living in Japan, I feel more comfortable here" they were patiently waiting for the taxi they requested. They arrived early and wanted to surprise the girls left in Korea "we have to go to Momo and Jihyo's house, right?"

The older nodded "mom sent me the location of their villa, so we won't have any problems finding them. She also told me it's impossible not to see their hous since it's very big"

The car ride was silent and demanding for both: Dahyun was finishing reading a document and, without someone to help her with the translation, she needed more time to understand everything; Sana was on a phone call to give her employees the latest information.

As soon as they got out of the taxi they heard Tzuyu's laughter and weren't surprised to see her running with Momo and Jihyo's dogs. They stopped to look at her, both moved by that scene so unusual for them.

"Kim Dahyun is back!" Sharon yelled from the gazebo located a few meters away before running and jumping on both of them "you arrived early and you haven't warned, scoundrels"

Sana laughed and hugged her sister with all her strength "what a nice welcome, not to mention that you only shouted the name of my girlfriend"

"You're my sister, it's less exciting to see you again" she made her tongue out, returning the hug "joke, I'm really happy to see you"

Tzuyu had stopped running and had approached them, joining their umpteenth group hug "let's go in, the others are inside" she pulled her best friend, telling her the latest stories about the school.

"How many more times will you need to be told not to put all your coats in the hall? There's no room for even one of mine!" Jihyo was complaining to her girlfriend "help me put them away or I'll use them to make a bonfire"

"If you like fire go ahead, I'll buy some more" the brunette shrugged, intent on reading the documents she had brought from the office.

The younger crossed her arms over her chest "okay, then I won't marry you"

"I'll fix everything!" Momo took all the coats and ran upstairs to put them away "she always threatens me" she was pouting.

Sana was laughing, having seen the whole scene "you had to go through threats to keep her at bay, she will never change" she kissed her sister-in-law's cheeks, looking around as the girl greeted Dahyun.

"She's a child, it will be a problem when the threats no longer work" she was smiling, exasperated "come and sit down, you arrived in time for lunch. The others will arrive in the late afternoon"

Momo literally threw herself on her twin, staying in her arms until the others complained to be able to start eating.

Mina had insisted on waiting for Nayeon and Jeongyeon to arrive before joining the others at her older sister's house so that they could all take the taxi together. Due to their constant commitments, she and her best friend had never been able to see each other except through video calls and couldn't wait to hug each other again.

When she saw the two girls in the distance Mina's smile widened and her composure vanished as she left her luggage next to Chaeyoung to run.

Nayeon paused to spread her arms wide, ready to welcome her best friend in the best possible way. What she didn't expect was the fall that followed their sudden embrace, such was the force with which the younger had launched herself at her.

"I missed you so much" Mina murmured without letting go and ignoring the gazes of passers-by.

"You too, it seems like a lifetime since we last saw each other" she was her hair, oblivious to being squeezed between her and the floor.

Jeongyeon smiled amused "not even I can crush my girlfriend against the floor, should I maybe get jealous?"

"Mina is her weak point, even the walls know it by now" Chaeyoung had reached them together with the heavy suitcases "I'm afraid it will be difficult to divide them, even if we haven't met the others yet"

"Right, my sisters and poor sisters-in-law are missing" Mina stood up taking Nayeon with her, who greeted Chaeyoung with a warm hug.

The younger was a bit surprised "you never hugged me like this"

Nayeon showed her even more affection than her usual by giving her a kiss on the cheek "you have to thank the path I'm taking with my psychologist. I'm still afraid of people, but you are part of my family and I can be close to you without problems"

"I'm really happy, I can see that you feel better" she felt proud.

Jeongyeon took both their arms and winked at Mina "now we have to go, I'm anxious to fight with Sana and Sharon and show them who's in charge in this family"

"Oh no, here we go again" the other three said at the same time.

As the last four arrived there was a long series of shouts and hugs, comments about Jeongyeon's tan and Chaeyoung's short hair and the mess caused by shoes and coats left at the entrance.

Momo and Jeongyeon took care of arranging the suitcases in the guest rooms, as they would all be staying there "can you explain to me why you look like chocolate and Nayeon look like mozzarella? Don't you live in Hawaii together?"

"My splendid girlfriend can't get a tan and she just burns herself, while I can stay for hours under the sun without any problems" she smiled proudly "I love making her weigh it, she always takes offense"

"You haven't changed a bit, you're the usual mischievous" they went down the stairs and joined the others in the living room.

Sharon, Mina and Nayeon were sitting in front of the fireplace, in a hug that seemed anything but comfortable, Dahyun was talking to Tzuyu and Chaeyoung, Jihyo and Sana were busy taking selfies.

"Now I feel at home" Momo was smiling at all "girls, we need to take a nice group photo before dinner, so none of us will have clothes stained from the food"

"The one who always spills something on herself is you, we are able to eat properly" Sharon immediately received the middle finger as an answer "what a rude sister"

Tzuyu was commissioned to take the photo, being the tallest "Chae, move in front or we won't be able to find you in the photo" she said with a smirk.

"Wait, I'll lift you" Jeongyeon squeezed her from behind and lifted her off the ground "what does it feel like to breathe the same air as a tall person?"

"I hate you all" muttered the short-haired girl after hearing them all laugh.

"Three two one!" they all smiled and Tzuyu took the picture. Chaeyoung had hugged Jeongyeon, Sana and Dahyun had formed a heart with their hands, Jihyo and Momo had placed cheek to cheek, Nayeon and Mina had made the victory sign and Sharon was next to her girlfriend.

It had been two years since those Christmas holidays, and the photo they had taken after first getting together was so beautiful and precious to them that they hung it in each of their homes.

The promise of being all together during the holidays had never been broken by any of them in that long period of time, doing everything possible to leave no one behind and organizing each time a different couple's house to facilitate the work needs of each.

Their bond had strengthened and the weight of distance was rarely felt, enabling them to move on with their life, work, and the relationship they were in.

It wasn't always all plain sailing: at times they had run into arguments, had had problems with their businesses and had gotten to the point of wanting to drop everything and disappear from circulation, but being a united family was enough to help each other not to collapse .

A lot had happened in those two years..