Third Pov

Chaeyoung woke up with the sound of a bird and the sun warming up her face. She slightly opens her eyes and stares at the ceiling like she always does every morning. She felt a hand wrapping around her waist when she was about to get up.

"Chaeyoung, you are awake. Are you feeling better now?" Mina said while her eyes were still closed. Chaeyoung smiled because seeing Mina's face when she woke up completed her day.

"I'm okay. If something happened last night, I'm sorry. And sorry again, I didn't tell that-"before she could finish her word, Mina shush her. "shh, come here." She pulled Chaeyoung. "hug time." Chaeyoung quickly lays beside Mina.

"you don't need to be sorry, Chaeng. I understand." 

"Are you still going to sleep? I'm hungry." Chaeyoung asked while rubbing Mina's back.

"Yeah, I need to sleep at least 2 hours. Go eat your breakfast and wake me up after 2 hours, okay?"

"Okay." 

Chaeyoung lazily gets up and goes down to the kitchen. She's rubbing her eyes, and her body is still heavy to move. She grabs a glass of water and sits on the table, but she is surprised when Nayeon is there preparing breakfast when she opens her eyes.

"Unnie? What are you doing here?" Chaeyoung said with a curious face.

"Why are you drinking water with half-closed eyes? Are you still sleepy? Go back to sleep then." Nayeon turns off the stove then walks closer to Chaeyoung. She checked Chaeyoung's forehead to check her temperature. "Your temperature is back to normal. Here." Nayeon put a plate with a waffle with a strawberry on the top of it. "go eat and drink your med."

"you still not answering me, Unnie." Chaeyoung pouts.

"Mina called me last night. She was panicking, so instead she called an ambulance, she called me." She said while busy flipping the waffle.

"did you tell her about my episode?" the cub asked and started to dig her food.

"Yeah. Mina deserves to know Chaeyoung."

"Hmmm," Chaeyoung noticed that her Unnie was cooking too much food.

"Why are you cooking a lot? Are you going to..."

"Goodmorning, my dear best friend!" the pale girl walks to the cub and hugs her.

"what the ?!"

"language Chaeyoung." The tall girl said. "Goodmorning, Unnie."

"wah.. seriously, guys? Why are you guys here?" Chaeyoung looks at them with a serious face.

"I told them to come here last night." Her Unnie said.

"yah Unnie! Don't tell me-"

"Goodmorning, babies!" Jihyo with her loud voice followed by Sana, Momo, and Jeongyeon.

"Are you feeling better now, bro?" the Blonde hair asked her.

"I'm okay now. Thank you, guys. Excuse me" She then stood up and go to the balcony.

Chaeyoung walks away because she feels embarrassed. After eight years in America, she promised herself that she would never show her weak side to anyone when returning to Korea, even if it was Mina. She doesn't like to show this vulnerable side because she feels a burden inside. She feels like they are worried about her forever. She just wants to show her other side to them, not the Chaeyoung when she's having an episode. She's vulnerable and weak at that state, so she chooses to hide it even to her Unnie, but she can't handle it alone. She feels like a massive burden to them.

"You need to get your together, Chaeyoung," she said to herself.

She leans to the bar, closes her eyes, and feels the cold breeze on her face. 

"They say that God gives the toughest battles to the stronger soldiers, but God, you must have much faith in me because sometimes I don't even know how to keep going. Sometimes I just want to give up and let life have its way with me and destroy me. Please make me stronger. For them"

Suddenly, she feels a pair of hands wrapping around her waist, hugging her.

"Whatever you are thinking right now, Chaeyoung, it's valid. But please know that we are here for you. We will never leave you no matter what, so please don't think that you are a burden to us because you're not okay?" Jihyo is trying to comfort and convince Chaeyoung with her words.

"Thank you, Jihyo Unnie."

Little did they know, their friends were eavesdropping on them. 

"Come on, and it's cold here. Let's go back inside."

They start eating breakfast, and like the old times, they talk a lot about their lives, teasing each other and eating a lot. Momo and Jeaongyeon, the big eater of the circle, always ask Nayeon for more food, and Nayeon feels irritated because of the loud voice coming from Jihyo and Sana. On the other side, the three youngest are busy eating their food and calmly talking to each other.

"Good morning," Mina said with a serious tone and sat beside Chaeyoung. "I told you to wake me up. Thank God, I set up my alarm."

"Sorry." Chaeyoung scratches her nape.

"Mina, your pajamas are too short. I don't know where to look at." Jihyo shakes her head.

"I love it. Wear it more for me, Mina." The bunny said while drinking her coffee.

"erts." Chaeyoung scoffs.

"I envy you, Chaeyoung." 

"Yeah, me too." her Unnies are teasing her.

"stop, guys. She's jealous," Mina adds.

"You guys are annoying." The cub rolled her eyes and was about to stand up, but Mina pulled her to sit down. 

"I'm kidding, okay." she chuckled.

"Okay, guys, so what's our plan for tonight?" Jeongyeon interrupted them.

"Do you guys want to go to Chaeyoung's house?" Nayeon asked them and her friends looked at her with a shocked face.

"Chaeyoung had a house? When did she buy that? And where?" the tall girl said.

"She bought that-"Chaeyoung cut off her Unnie by saying, "It's a long story, guys. So you guys want to see my house? It's near to the beach. We can build a tent in the sand. And it's a newly renovated last year."

"Okay, so who's in charge of buying a grocery?" the blonde girl asked and eyeing them.

"Probably me and Momo," Sana said.

"I'll join the two of you," Jihyo said while drinking her coffee.

"Okay, so we are done here." 

"wait, Mina, what about Katarina?" her Unnie asked.

"I'll drop her off at my parents later. It's been a while since we have a bonding like this, so yeah."

"Okay then."

Momo, Sana, and Jihyo are busy buying some foods and beverages for later. They are splitting so they can be finished in time.

"Sana, how's Tzuyu and you? Is everything okay? it seems like you guys are not talking." Momo asked while putting the meat on the paper bag.

"well, yeah? I guess." Sana looks away.

"I noticed it too when you guys were not coming together last night. Did you guys fight?" Jihyo asked and grabbed the paper bag.

"She's not talking with me for the whole week. I fought with her because I miss her." she sighs. "yeah, I know I'm so dumb that I did that, but I just miss her, that's it." 

"LQ," Momo teased. They are now walking to the parking lot.

"Maybe she was hurt, don't you think? She was busy with her work and finding a way to have time with you, and in return, you will get mad at her? I see her how hard for Tzuyu to make time both work and you." Jihyo then opened the car. 

"I'll talk to her later."

"Good. Come on, let's go. They are waiting." Jihyo put on her seatbelt and started the engine.

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Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu are talking in the living room. They are busy talking about Tzuyu and Sana.

"So, are you really going to propose to her?" Nayeon said while holding her waist.

"When is the wedding?" Mina asked.

"Yeah, Unnie, it was my plan a long time ago. I even ignored her for one week so that I could be prepared." The tall girl chuckled. "Maybe this month Mina Unnie. You guys will help, right?"

"Wow, congratulation Tzuyu. You have really grown up." Jeonyeon said while patting her head.

"I'm happy for you, Tzuyu. I really am." Chaeyoung said while wiping her imaginary tears.

"Well, I have nothing to say but Congrats my best friend, Yoda." Dahyun comfortably sits to Chaeyoung. "I thought Chaeyoung would get married first, but I'm wrong."

"I thought so too." Tzuyu sigh.

Mina and Chaeyoung caught their eyes and quickly looked away from each other.

"You are still young for me, Tzuyu eottoke." Nayeon turned her body to face the wall. Suddenly they hear Nayeon snots.

"Yah, Unnie! Are you not happy? I'm getting married." Tzuyu then got up and hugged her Unnie.

"I'm happy that's why I'm crying because you, Chaeyoung, and Dahyun grow up so fast. Imagine you are 34 already, same with Chaeyoung and Dahyun is 35." Nayeon turned to face them and look at her babies one by one. "see? Your face is still the same as when I first met all of you. Tzuyu was brought by Chaeyoung, who can't speak Korean. The three of you are really like my babies since we were in college." She was choking with her own tears. "I'm just so proud of what you guys have become." Tzuyu, Chaeyoung, and Dahyun hugged her Unnies. They know how Nayeon is taking care of them back in college until now. 

"We will never leave you, Unnie. You are the best." The pale girl said while wiping Nayeon's tears.

Nayeon is the eldest of them. When they were in college, she became a mom because their family lives in the countryside, and their daughter needed to stay in their dorm. She even cooks their breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the three maknae, always checking if they're okay or need someone to talk to. When they were in college, she went to the three maknae's dorm and caught Dahyun crying because she missed her family. Sometimes, Tzuyu will suddenly cry in front of them because she misses her mom's food because of Nayeon. That's the way Nayeon shows her love to them. They are like her real baby sisters to Nayeon because she's the only child. You can't blame her if she's too emotional when it comes to her friends. She loves her friends so much that she can't live without them. Especially to Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung and Nayeon are childhood friends, same with Mina. But She was not close with Mina back then. She started hanging out with Mina when they were in high school. The 9 of them are not just friends but a family. Even though Chaeyoung and Nayeon got separated from them before, that's never a reason to forget them.

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"Okay, we are here." Chaeyoung opens the door of her car and walks to the entrance door. She inserted the key and opened the door, making her friends awe.

"Wow, it's not that big, but it's fancy inside. When did you buy this?" Jeongyeon asked while wandering the area. But Chaeyoung suddenly changes the topic. 

"Okay, so I have a three-room only that we need to share. Two-room upstairs, of course, my room and the other room and one here the guess room. But don't worry, each room have a big King size bed, and I have an extra bed if you want."

"Well, you guys know what to do." They all are looking into each other eyes.

"1 2 3 gawi, bawi, bo!" they said in Unison.

Nayeon, Jihyo, and Dahyun are scissors, and the rest are four rocks and two paper. 

"Yehey!" Jihyo, Dahyun, and Nayeon hugged each other. While the rest of them are sulking. They start playing again, so they know their roommate.

"1 2 3 gawi, bawi, bo!"

Jeonyeon, Tzuyu, Momo are paper, while Sana, Mina, and Chaeyoung are scissors and rock, but they decided they are already the roommates since it's three scissors. 

"Yes! Okay, losers." Jeongyeon said.

"Losers? We just play because of the rooms." Chaeyoung rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Unnie, I'm hungry." The blonde said to the bunny.

"You are always hungry, are you," Nayeon said.

"Me too." Momo raises her hand.

"Okay, guys, while cooking our lunch, fixed your stuff in your own room, and when you guys are done, prepare everything we needed later."

"OKAY, UNNIE," they said.

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While climbing the stairs, Chaeyoung suddenly remembers something, so she quickly goes to her room before Mina and Sana get there.

"What is it, Chaeyoung?" Mina opens the door and roams around. She saw Chaeyoung panting.

"Uh uh nothing." She nervously chuckled. "I just want to get here first because I'm tired."

"Ah, is that so." 

Chaeyoung flops her body and closes her eyes. Sana joins her and makes her hand as a pillow. Mina saw Sana, so she joined them too. She took Chaeyoung's arm and made it also her pillow.

"What am I? a human pillow?" 

Mina and Sana are smiling.

"let's take a nap" they both nod.

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Nayeon is now done cooking their Lunch. She called her friends, but the three of them were missing.

"Where is Samichaeng?" Nayeon ask.

"in their room, I guess?" Jeonyeon said. She's about to dig her for when Nayeon says, "I'll call them. Don't eat without us." The blonde hair drops her spoon.

Nayeon climbs upstairs to tell them that it's time to eat. She knocks first, but no one answers. She turned the knob and opened the door, revealing that the three were sleeping with Chaeyoung in the middle.

"Wah!" Nayeon scoffs.

"This looks like Chaeyoung is a playgirl." She fetched her phone and took a picture of them. When she's done, she goes on the top of Chaeyoung and hugs them.

"Ouch!" Chaeyoung complained and opened her eyes. She sees Nayeon is hugging her, and she can't move because Mina and Sana are using her arms as their pillow.

"AH, REALLY! I CAN'T MOVE, AND I CAN'T BREATHE!" Chaeyoung is trying to move, but she can't.

"Wake up, sleepyheads! It's time to eat!" 

"UNNIE, IT HURTS GET OUT!"

"I don't like." Nayeon tease.

"JIHYO UNNIE! HELP ME! HELP ME!" Chaeyoung shouts, and she's screaming.

Jihyo heard Chaeyoung. She quickly gets up and runs to Chaeyoung's room, followed by her friends.

"w-why Chaeyoung what happened-"Jihyo read the situation and shook her head. "What the hell, Unnie? I thought you were just going to call them?" Jihyo then grabs Nayeon's foot and pulls her. 

"Yah Jihyo-yah!" Nayeon falls on the floor.

"And you. You guys are like in a K-drama. The legal wife and the mistress." She chuckled. "Get up. We are hungry." After she said that, Jihyo left them.

"I'm the legal wife, right Chaeyoung?" Sana asked.

"No, I'm the first and legal," Mina said that making them shut their mouth.

"Shut up, both of you. I want to eat. Now, excuse me." Chaeyoung then gets up and massages her arms. "you guys are so heavy, jeez." She then left them.

"Wow, Mina, that was smooth."

"shut up, Unnie." Mina stood up and left Nayeon and Sana.

"Why is everybody telling me to shut up." 

"Because you are annoying, Unnie."

"SHUT UP, PSSH." Nayeon then left Sana.

WAHH! YAAAHHH! COME BACK HERE GUYS!!!

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They gather at the table while eating their lunch. Nayeon, on the other side, is just looking at them. She is just like a proud and happy mom to her kids. This view will never get old to her. After eating lunch, they started preparing for their party later. They begin building a tent, and the three maknae are in charge of it while Jeongyeon and Jihyo grill the meat. Momo and Sana are chopping the veggies and meat, and Nayeon is in charge of cooking. 

"I think this is the main part." The tall girl said while fixing the tent. "I am tired already."

"Where is the entrance?" Chaeyoung asked, looking for the tent entrance." ah, this must be the floor." 

"ah, like this? Oh, this must be the entrance Chaeyoungah."

"Right, we need to put these.." Chaeyoung moved the tent. "like this. Together."

"wow, you are a genius, Tzuyu" the cub and the tall girl are laughing at each other.

"You guys need some help?" Dahyun notices that her friends are having a hard time building a tent, so she offers help.

"sure, Unnie," Tzuyu said.

"Yedura, there are still many parts of the tent here." Dahyun found a bag of metals.

"Leave it there for now, Unnie," Tzuyu said.

"how come this one's missing," Chaeyoung is losing her patience now. "Ah, this is so annoying!"

"Wait, do we need to stick it?" The tall girl handling the metal. "like this?"

"Maybe this way.." Chaeyoung pulls the metal and stands right next to her. "this? Ahh! I don't know anymore!"

"Yah! Chaeyoungah, are you sure you know how to build a tent?" Tzuyu then drops the metal from her hand.

"I forgot how to build it. The last time built, it is like.." Chaeyoung paused. "5 years ago?"

"Wah! This is so heavy! Someone help me." Dahyun was bringing the foam to them.

"I don't anymore. I'm already tired." Chaeyoung sits on the sand and pout.

Not far from them, Jeongyeon and Jihyo are observing them.

"They messed up," Jeongyeon said while putting the meat on the griller.

"Agree. Based on their face, they really messed up." they both laugh.

Everybody is busy with each work. They stay up for 4 hours to prepare everything they need. It's 8 pm now, and they are all gathering in front of the house. The view is so relaxing because it's near to the beach. 

"Wow, finally, they built a tent properly." Jihyo is eyeing the tent and wandering inside.

"Oh, Unnie, believe me, we almost built it for 3 hours because Chaeyoung and Dahyun Unnie are busy fighting with each other," Tzuyu said then she sat on the sand.

"Shut up, Tzuyu. You're the one who got easily tired by lifting the tent." Chaeyoung walks closer to them, who's already drinking a beer.

"Is everybody here now?" Nayeon asked. "Where is Minari?"

"Oh, there she is," Momo said, bringing the booze to the table.

Mina is wearing a Sleeveless cotton sundress.

"Wow, Mina is so hot." Nayeon smirk.

Chaeyoung looks behind to see Mina. "walking like a penguin but still beautiful in that dress." she thought.

"Chaeyoung is eye ing Mina." Dahyun teased Chaeyoung. Then Chaeyoung turned to face them and clear .

"Can we eat now? I'm hungry." She changes the topic.

"Can I sit here?" Mina asks who's behind her.

"No. I don't like-" she didn't finish her words when Mina sat on her lap.

"Mina, get up. You are heavy!" Chaeyoung said while pushing Mina, but Mina is too strong. Mina then pushed her, which made her lay on the sand. She closes the gap between them and says something to Chaeyoung. 

"Stop eye-ing me, Chaeng." Then she got up and left Chaeyoung to sit beside Nayeon.

"That was hot, Mina." Nayeon shakes her head while clapping her hand.

"She makes Chaeyoung shut ," Tzuyu said, and that words make them laugh.

Chaeyoung defeatedly sighs and sits again. She looks at Mina and scoffs.

They started to eat and drink while chitchatting about their life, Sharing about their life and work. They decided to share what was going on in their life one by one. But when it's Chaeyoung's turn, they focus on her because they want to know what Chaeyoung will say. Chaeyoung is the kind of person she doesn't like to open up even if she needs someone. 

"So Chaeyoung.." Jeongyeon looks at Chaeyoung. "we know that you want to say something to us. Or share something with us. You can tell us now."

Chaeyoung sips her beer and looks down. "Hmm, to be honest, I don't know how to start." She chuckled." But okay, I'll try to start.. what really happened to me." She sips her beer again. 

"You guys already know that I got depressed back then, right?" She paused and looked at the bonfire.

"I have many regrets in life. Regrets for leaving you guys here because we grew apart. I.. and Unnie.. we've been away for eight years. In that eight years, there are no days that I'm not missing all of you." Suddenly, a warm liquid rolled down to her cheeks." I regret leaving all of you behind. The truth is, I needed you guys, but I was stubborn to believe that I needed to be alone and I could handle it alone. I saw how you guys were stressing out when my family died. You guys can't even focus on your own life, so I decided to be away from all of you." She wipes her tears. "But I was so lonely that time and I know Naeyon Unnie misses you guys too, but she chose to stay with me." 

Dahyun sits closer to her and rubs her back.

"Aren't you guys curious why I'm back after eight years?" Chaeyoung looks at them.

"It's because I make sure that all of you already have a stable job. Jeongyeon and Jihyo Unnie have their own firm.. Dahyun has her own company. Tzuyu is a successful architect. Sana and Momo Unnie are directors of their hospitals."

"Chaeyoung-"Jihyo wanted to speak, but she saw Chaeyoung signaling her to stop.

"Please don't, Unnie. I know you guys will tell me that 'you don't need to be alone,' but I need to, Unnie. I saw you guys how distracted we were when I was in a messy state. Tzuyu almost got fired when she's not going to work because she was busy taking care of my parent's funeral." She looked down and cried harder. "I know how much you guys love me, but I can't bear to look at each of you failing in life because of me. But believe me, in that eight years, I was looking at and watching our video on my phone so that I could sleep in peace. It somehow eases my sadness."

They can't handle it anymore. They hugged Chaeyoung and cried.

"Stupid. You are not a burden to us, and you will never be." Tzuyu hugs her in the back.

"Sorry, guys. I will never leave again. I promise." They cried even harder.

They know how Chaeyoung suffered, but when Chaeyoung opens up this feeling, they are all shocked because all they know is that, Chaeyoung wants to leave because she wants to forget about her pain. They understand how Chaeyoung wants to distance herself from Mina, but they are all wrong. Maybe yes, it's one of the reasons, and the main reason is to forget about the pain and Mina, but they didn't think about how Chaeyoung cares for them.

"Okay, guys, enough with the drama." Jihyo wipes her tears. She raises her hand with a bottle of beer.

"To our friendship." They saw Jihyo and grabbed their drinks.

"Our friendship will never die." Nayeon also raises her beer.

"Cheers!"

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Something will never get old. And that's their friendship.