On the next day, in the late afternoon, Sowon decided to finally get ready, she looked over her shoulder to her mother sleeping, Sowon walked to her and bent over the older woman to kiss her forehead.

“Honey…?” whispered the woman and Sowon took her hand as her mother opened her eyes.

“How do you feel?” asked Sowon and the woman squeezed her hand gently. 

“More rested.” she just said and Sowon nodded.

“I have dinner with my high school friends.” said Sowon and the woman nodded slowly. “But I can cancel if you rather I stay with you…” said Sowon and her mother shook her head.

“You have to go, you stayed in this room with me all week, go and have fun, the girls will be so happy to see you again…” said the woman in a weak voice.

“You sure?” insisted Sowon and the woman smiled. 

“Of course, go, I will just go back to sleep.” said the woman determined and Sowon kissed her cheek.

“Thank you mom, keep your phone close to you and don’t hesitate to call if there’s anything.” reminded her Sowon as she put her mother’s phone closer to her on the nightstand.

“Go and don’t worry.” said the woman again and Sowon nodded. She watched her mother close her eyes again and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Eunha told her the night before that it would be a simple night, the food would be pizza or any other take out and they would just talk, drink and catch up.

So Sowon decided to go with her black jeans and a green satin shirt, it looked nice but was still quite simple. She added her long grey jacket on top of it as days were colder and colder and snow started to fall.

They were supposed to all meet at Yerin’s house. With her well paid job the girl bought a little house, she was still paying for it and would pay her debt for some more years but it was the only one having her own place. Eunha was still living with her dad, SinB was living in a flat with 2 roommates, and Umji and Yuju were back from their university dorms at their parents house for the vacation.

As Sowon didn’t know the direction, Eunha proposed that Sowon would pick her up and Eunha would guide them. So once Sowon was ready she drove to Eunha’s house.

She parked her car in the street and walked in the alley to ring the door. Eunha’s dad opened and hugged Sowon. 

“How are you?” he asked nicely.

“I’m okay, you?” she asked back and he nodded.

“I’m good, better than I've ever been in the past few years, Eunha told me you want to reopen the factory case.” he said and Sowon noded.

“I’m sure we can clear your name, everyone should know you didn’t make any mistake there.” said Sowon sincerely and he nodded looking at her with tears in his eyes. Sowon saw that the man was touched by what she was doing for him and she couldn’t help but take the man in her arms again. “I will do anything I can, I can’t promise you anything but we will try our best.” she informed him as she pulled away and he nodded again.

“Just knowing someone believes in me and will fight for me is enough to make me feel better.” he said sincerely and Sowon nodded at him. “How’s your mother’s state?” he asked now.

Sowon looked down. “Bad, she doesn’t leave her bed, barely eats, I think she won’t last long, she’s clearly running out of energy, it pain me so much to see her so weak.” said Sowon sadly and the man put his hand on Sowon’s shoulder.

“She fighted for so long, it’s probably better for her to just relax and let go, she deserves to leave this suffering life and find her own peace…” he said and Sowon swallowed hard again as she nodded trying not to cry again at the thought of losing her mother.

Eunha arrived at this moment, she was looking really cute, she was wearing a red short with black tights, a white top and red cardigan.

“So are we ready?” asked Eunha as she squeezed Sowon’s arm gently to reassure her. Sowon looked at her and forced a small smile while nodding. Eunha looked at her and Sowon realized the short girl knew she wasn’t really okay.

Eunha grabbed her coat and Sowon said goodnight to the short girl’s dad. Sowon walked back to the door while Eunha kissed her dad then they left.

As they sat in the car Eunha saw that Sowon was hesitating.

Eunha looked at her, “Everything’s okay… is it because of what my dad said?” asked Eunha unsure and Sowon sighed.

“No, I mean, a bit but it’s not just that…” said Sowon sincerely. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to come to that reunion tonight?”

Eunha smiled. “I’m sure, you already saw SinB and Yerin and they both told you they were happy to see you again, what are you scared about?” asked Eunha and Sowon massaged her temples.

“I… I just wonder what they all think of me after leaving such a long time ago…” explained Sowon as she looked beside her and met eyes with Eunha.

Eunha smiled a bit. “You don’t have to worry, they are our friends, just believe me when I say they really want to see you again.” said Eunha with a reassuring tone and Sowon nodded. “Plus you need some distraction, I know you are worried about your mother but there’s nothing you can do and she would be happy if you could just have fun tonight…” said Eunha and Sowon nodded knowing she was right.

“So can we go now? or we will be late.” added Eunha smiling and Sowon started the car before driving away.

After following Eunha’s direction Sowon stopped in front of a nice little house a bit at the periphery of the town.

“Wow.” said Sowon looking at the house.

“You didn’t see the inside yet.” said Eunha as she got out and Sowon followed.

There were other cars parked in front of the house and Sowon guessed all the other girls had probably arrived already, so she started to feel anxious. She wondered how she could explain herself, she knew they would probably ask why she left so suddenly, why she was out of reach, why she never contacted them again…

She felt Eunha’s hand on her arm, she looked by her side and Eunha smiled at her.

“Let’s go.” she said softly as she put her arm into Sowon’s and pulled the girl with her.

They walked to the front door and Eunha let go of Sowon’s arm as she knocked. Yerin arrived and opened the door.

“Ah you are finally here!” she said as she hurried the girls inside, it was getting very cold and the snow did not seem to stop falling since the afternoon.

Yerin took their coats and guided them to the living room. Umji stood up as she saw Sowon and rushed to her. “Sowon!” she exclaimed as she opened her arms and took Sowon in a big hug.

Sowon hugged her back surprised by such a welcoming gesture. It was true that Sowon was quite close to Umji even if the girl was younger, Umji would often say that Sowon was like a big sister to her.

“It’s been such a long time! How are you doing?” asked the youngest girl as she looked at Sowon happily. Yuju stood up too and came closer.

“I’m doing okay.” said Sowon as Yuju smiled at her.

“It’s good to see you.” said Yuju as she also gave Sowon a hug then hugged Eunha. “It’s good to be back home and see you all.” she added and the other girls nodded.

“Are you guys ready for a drink?” asked Yerin and Umji took Sowon to the couch, the girls got comfortable. Yerin arrived with glasses and different drinks. Most girls took their drink and started talking excitedly to share what happened to them recently. Sowon hesitated, she had to drive back and wondered if she should drink alcohol.

Eunha looked at her. “If you drink we can stay over, Yerin has a guest room and the couch transforms into a big bed, we usually all sleep over.” explained Eunha and Sowon looked at her amazed by how the short girl could read into her and understand her without any word spoken.

“It’s just that I’m not sure I want to leave my mom alone all night.” said Sowon, “but at the same time I really want to let go just for one night…” she explained in a whisper so only Eunha would hear.

“I can drive you home if you want, I’m not feeling like drinking.” she explained and Sowon looked at her.

“You okay?” she asked and Eunha smiled.

“Yeah, I just want to enjoy this night without ending up drunk, I always feel terrible on the next day and tomorrow I have to work so I won’t drink, don't worry.” explained Eunha and Sowon nodded at her.

“Thank you.”

Sowon took her drink and focused on her friend's conversation. Umji was telling them about her classes, her friends she made over there, her roommate at her dorm who was annoying as hell and that new guy she developed a crush on but has no idea how to approach him. 

Then Yuju told them about her project. She seemed to finally have an idea about what she wanted to do in the future. She wanted to make documentaries about history. She really loved history and wished more people would have access to it and how making documentaries would help. She already looked at some way to do it and once she finished her studies she would join a video maker company to work with them.

All the girls were proud of her, Yuju was for a long time lost about what she wanted to do and seeing her find what she likes and what to do with her life was making her friends happy.

SinB wasn’t very talkative, she just told them that she got her own truck for emergencies now and that her coworker was really nice and doing a great job. Then she turned to Sowon.

“What about you?” she asked the tall girl who swallowed hard as all eyes her now.

“Me?” she asked back to SinB who nodded.

“Yeah, how’s your studies? You are still studying law right, what year are you in now?” she asked and Sowon looked around at the girls.

Umji looked at Sowon curiously. “We used to ask your mom when we would see her around, trying to fish out some info about you, how you were doing, how your studies were going. But since she’s sick…” she confessed with a guilty look and Sowon smiled, she was touched that her friends would come to her mother to hear from her while she never dared ask her mom about her friends.

“Yeah, well then you probably know that I finished law university after 3 years then entered a law school.” she explained “It’s my second year there, the teachers are great, the classes way more intense than university, I also have a part time job-” then she cut herself. “I had a part time job in a lawyer's office, which helped me pay for my little flat and any other expenses.” she explained. “If everything’s fine, I should have my diploma in a few months.”

Yerin nodded. “Wow, that's amazing.” she said happy for Sowon. “You always wanted to be a lawyer, I’m happy for you, you worked hard to get what you wanted.” she said and Sowon nodded.

“And what will you do after?” asked Yuju. “Will you stay in that city or go somewhere else, maybe come back home?” she asked and Sowon shook her shoulders.

“I don’t know…” she said sincerely.

Seeing that Sowon was looking down, Eunha took her orange juice glass and lifted it, “Why don’t we celebrate Yerin, as we all know she recently has a promotion, she’s officially at the head of the lab now.” she said happily and all the girls lifted their drinks and cheered for Yerin, congratulating her.

Sowon looked at Eunha in the eyes as they cheered and smiled a bit, glad to have the short girl with her by her side right now.

The rest of the night went well, the girls talked about the past, they laughed as they remembered many good moments they spent together in high school, they ordered food and spent the rest of the night really enjoying themselves.

Sowon was nicely surprised that any of her friends brought back her sudden departure, and asked for her reasons, none of them asked why she disappeared or left like she did. They seemed all happy to just see her again and catch up. Sowon thought again about what Yerin told her some days before, that they never asked Eunha and thought she had her reasons. She was really relieved knowing her friends were so accepting with her decision and were not questioning it. Mostly because she wasn’t able to really explain herself for now.

As they ate, Sowon's dizziness because of the alcohol slowed down but after eating they started drinking some more. They had fun and enjoyed themselves like in the old times. Being around each other was always bringing the best out of each other and they would always have a lot of fun, they could be themselves, or almost.

Sowon wondered how things would be if she had been honest with herself and with her friends. Knowing them it would probably not change anything but this little doubt was what always blocked Sowon.

Umji came sitting beside Sowon, the other girls were trying to do a dance move Eunha saw in a music video recently. It was clear that Yuju drank a lot, SinB too, Yerin was okay she was almost able to do the dance move.

“I missed this.” said Sowon as she turned to Umji and smiled.

“Me too, it wasn’t the same without you…” she said sincerely. “When we get reunited like this we feel complete but without you it wasn’t the same, no one ever said it but a piece was missing all these years.” explained Umji.

Sowon swallowed hard, Umji was right, her heart never felt so full, all this time she was feeling so lonely, this emptiness in her was being filled with her friends laughter and sweetness. Sowon realized she was feeling complete too with the girls.

“You guys are like my family.” said Sowon as she looked at the other girls still dancing and laughing as if they were a mess.

Umji took Sowon’s hand in hers. “No matter what, we will always be a family.” said the younger girl and Sowon looked at her with a questioning look. It was the first time Sowon would see Umji like this, the young girl had red cheeks from drinking too much and her eyes were piercing Sowon’s soul as if she was seeing in her like in an open book. The usually shy and quiet Umji was now quite talkative and speaking her mind.

“All this time, I was hoping you would come back.” she said, taking Sowon’s arm and hugging it. “I felt like I lost my big sister…” she said and Sowon pulled her in her arms.

“I’m here now.” she said and Umji nodded into her. Sowon smiled, Umji would always be a little baby for her. She always felt the urge to protect the girl.

“Don’t leave us again okay?” said Umji and Sowon nodded to her this time. “No matter what, you can count on us, we will be by your side… don’t push us away again, really we can help you with anything, all together we are stronger than anything, our friendship has this huge power that can make us realize everything.” said Umji and Sowon giggled.

Drunk Umji was such a cutie. “The power of friendship?” asked Sowon and Umji nodded excitedly.

“Yes the power of friendship!” said Umji again, louder and gained the attention of the other girls who laughed.

“Let’s drink again in the power of friendship then!” said SinB as she filled everyone’s glass again.  

Sowon drank some more and as time passed she wasn’t sure how many drinks she had, her head was spinning again, everything was turning around her, she would see the girls move around and dance and play, she would drink again every time the girls were lifting their glasses. 

Soon the night was just a blurry picture. Blurry but relaxing. Sowon was seeing the girls around her, having fun, laughing and nothing was better for her ears than the nice sound of happiness coming from the girls.

Sowon wasn’t sure what time it was when SinB got the amazing idea of taking out Yerin’s karaoke stuff but all the girls joined her. 

Sowon just let go, she stopped thinking, and enjoyed the moment, she sang as loud as she could and laughed with the girls. She felt that her head was so light, alcohol was helping her get loose, she felt more relaxed than she ever felt in 5 years. It felt like before, when they were all younger, all innocent, all without any responsibilities. 

Sowon was just happy, the happiest she had ever been, surrounded by people she liked, by Eunha. She felt safe here with them all. Thinking about how much she missed her friends all this time, she felt emotional.

Alcohol had this power on her, it was always making her more emotional, and in the middle of the 9th song, or maybe was it more?! Sowon started sobbing loudly.

The girls stopped singing and Yuju fell from the couch as she was passably drunk too and didn’t understand why everyone froze. From the floor she looked up and saw Sowon in tears.

Eunha patted Sowon’s shoulder then helped Yuju get up and sat back on the couch. “She drank too much…” she said as she looked at Sowon crying even more now knowing better than anyone how alcohol was working on her best friend. “I will take her home, you guys should go to sleep too..” she said and Yerin nodded, she drank a bit less than the other girls and was handling alcohol better than her friends.

“I will take them to bed, go.” said Yerin to Eunha who nodded and hugged her. “Message me once you are home safe.” added Yerin.

“I didn’t drink anything, I will be fine.” said Eunha.

Yerin nodded. “I know but I will feel better and sleep more peacefully if you do it.” she said and Eunha nodded too.

“Okay, want some help to clean before we go?” she asked and Yerin shook her head. 

“I will make them clean tomorrow.” she said with a smirk as the other girls were totally wasted. “Want some help to take her to the car?” she asked as she looked at Sowon but Eunha shook her head.

“I should be fine, it’s not the first time I need to handle an emotional drunk giraffe.” she said and Yerin laughed before standing up, taking Yuju’s arm and lifting her up.

“Time to go to sleep.” she said and she pulled Yuju to the corridor while SinB and Umji giggled and took the mics again to sing some more totally ignoring the fact that the party was over or that it was almost 2 in the morning now.

Eunha smiled at her friends then she got closer to Sowon again.

She kneeled in front of Sowon, “Hey…” she whispered as Sowon was still sobbing sitting on the floor.

“Eunha….” sobbed Sowon as she looked up at the short girl and pulled her in her arms. Eunha swallowed hard and tried to get away from Sowon’s arm. She looked around and saw that the youngests were singing out loud to a song they all liked, but in their state, the song was just sounding terrible…

“We have to go home…” said Eunha as she tried to help Sowon get up, taking Sowon’s hands in hers and standing up.

“Come on Sowon, I need to take you home…” insisted Eunha.

But Sowon wasn’t moving, she looked at her hands in Eunha’s as the short girl was trying hard to pull her up. “You are my home…” said Sowon and Eunha froze.

“Sowon please… get up, we need to leave.” she begged ignoring what Sowon just said as she knew the tall girl was just drunk. Sowon had more tears coming to her eyes but she nodded and stood up. She almost lost her balance but Eunha circled her waist with her arm and pulled her closer to help her stand up and keep her balance.

Yerin walked back and turned off the tv while Umji and SinB complained begging for one more song as they barely were standing up themselves.

“No more songs, time to bed.” said Yerin with an authoritarian tone and both Umji and SinB walked out to go into the guest room.

Yerin followed Eunha and opened the door for her, she took their coats and gave them to Eunha who thanked her and took Sowon’s car keys before throwing the vests on the backseat after helping Sowon get in the car. Eunha hugged Yerin again then went in the car too, she checked Sowon’s seat belt again and they started the engine. Yerin waved at her as Eunha started to drive away and Eunha waved back at Yerin.

It didn’t take long for Eunha to drive through the town, it was really late and the streets were empty. Sowon was silent beside her, she was still crying, silently, Eunha could see her brush away some tears from time to time as she was looking at the window with a sleepy expression.

They stayed silent all the way to Sowon’s house, when they arrived Eunha parked the car and Sowon unfastened her seat belt, opened the door and got out. She was still feeling dizzy and with tears in her eyes her vision was blurry. She walked away and Eunha quickly got out, locked the car and followed Sowon.

“I’m home you can go.” said Sowon suddenly as she felt Eunha’s hands on her waist helping her.

Eunha looked down then around, she came here with Sowon’s mom's car and didn’t feel like walking home at this time. “Sowon I can’t go home…” she said and Sowon looked at her then looked at her mother’s car.

“Of course…” she said more calmly. “I’m sorry…” she added as she looked into her pocket for her keys but couldn’t find them. “My keys…” she whispered and Eunha nodded, she walked back to the car and picked up Sowon’s coat, she looked into her pockets and found the keys. She put back the coat in the car and walked back to Sowon standing at the door.

Sowon took a step away from the door to let Eunha open, then she followed her, she walked on her mother’s shoes and almost fell but Eunha caught her by the waist and steadied her. Eunha hoped that the ride home and the fresh air of the night would help the tall girl but she was clearly still drunk, barely able to walk.

Eunha walked slowly to Sowon’s room and pulled the blanket open, she found Sowon’s pajamas. “Get changed, I will check on your mother.” she said softly and Sowon nodded, she walked to the bed and sat down. Eunha walked away, she quickly messaged Yerin letting her know they were at Sowons house safe and sound. Yerin quickly replied with a good night.

Eunha silently went into the other room on the other side of the corridor and entered slowly. She saw the old woman sleeping so she walked in to turn the light in the nightstand off but she heard the woman speak.

“Honey…?” asked the woman.

“No, it’s me… Eunha.” whispered the short girl. “I took Sowon’s home, we will go to sleep, I just wanted to make sure you were fine.” explained Eunha.

“You are too sweet Eunha…” said the woman before turning around and groaning in pain.

Eunha waited a bit then as the woman was going back to sleep, she turned the lights off and walked out. She went back to Sowon’s room. “You’re done?” she asked as she opened the door slowly. She looked in, Sowon was lying on the bed, on her back, her legs out of the bed. Almost in the same position Eunha left her and still fully dressed.

Eunha sighed. She walked to her. “Sowon…” she whispered. But the girl groaned without opening her eyes. Eunha hesitated but then got closer and ed Sowon’s shirt slowly. She knew the girl couldn’t sleep like this. She opened the shirt and tried hard not to look as Sowon’s bra was exposed. Eunha swallowed hard and pushed Sowon on her side to remove the shirt completely but the girl wasn’t helping at all, she moved around and hid her face in her blanket.

“Sowon.” said Eunha annoyed now. “Come back here.” she said as she pulled Sowon around, the tall girl turned around on her back again opening her eyes and looking at the short girl. 

Eunha avoided looking back at Sowon and ed her jeans now. She stood beside the bed and pulled the jeans down. It was a tight pants and Eunha pulled so hard that Sowon slid down and almost fell down off the bed.

Eunha let go of the pants and caught Sowon in her arms pushing her up as strongly as she could but Sowon was quite tall and heavy and Eunha’s feet got caught in the girl’s pants almost fully removed and Eunha fell down on top of an almost nacked Sowon. 

“Sorry…” said Eunha embarrassed, her face facing Sowon, they looked briefly at each other then Eunha quickly moved away looking anywhere but at Sowon who sat down now only dressed in her underwear.

Eunha kneeled and pulled the bottom of the pants away from Sowon’s feet for good. Once the pants were completely removed, Eunha grabbed the pajamas and sighed. She took only the top that was a tshirt and gave it to Sowon without looking at her. Sowon shyly put it on and lay down on the bed covering herself with her blanket.

Sowon was clearly exhausted and still drunk. Eunha sighed in relief once Sowon was laying on the bed and fully covered. As she was about to leave, Sowon grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Stay…” she whispered, her eyes still closed.

“I’m staying, I will take the couch.” said Eunha calmly.

“Stay with me…” said Sowon again. “Stay here…” she said, pulling Eunha closer to her as she looked at her in the eyes. “Don’t leave me again….” she said tears in her eyes again and Eunha bit her lips.

“You are the one who left me Sowon, not me…” she said but Sowon didn’t let go of her and looked straight in her eyes with a begging look. “You are drunk and don’t know what you say, just go to sleep.” she said but Sowon pulled her again, sitting up and taking Eunha in her arms.

Eunha was surprised by the sudden hug. “Just for this night…” begged Sowon and Eunha pulled away from Sowon, she looked at her.

“Why do you always do that…?” she asked sadly. “Why do you have to be the one who-” Eunha stopped herself when Sowon took her hands in hers. Eunha looked at the tall girl and shook her head. “You are so annoying Kim Sowon…” she whispered as she let go of Sowon’s hands and ed her shorts, she dropped it on the floor and took off her cardigan then she walked around the bed and went under the blanket. She lay on her back and felt Sowon move on her side.

Eunha turned her head and looked at Sowon who smiled a bit. “You are so beautiful…I want to kiss you…” mumbled Sowon while curling up closer to Eunha who rolled her eyes.

“Sleep.” she just said as she finally turned the light off. “You won’t even remember this tomorrow.”