The rush to the hospital had been so frantic that it drained Sally of all her energy, yet she still managed to keep up with the younger girls until they reached the room where Dahyun was.

"Being a shared room, only three people can enter at a time, I'm very sorry and I hope you can understand the situation" the nurse of that department had intervened as soon as she had seen them rushing towards the door.

Given Sana's presence, the allowed number of people was greater than necessary, so the blonde had stepped aside to allow the group of friends to reunite, going to sit on one of the many chairs placed in that corridor.

Sharon had literally thrown herself against her best friend's bed, her eyes bulging "what the happened? Does that seem like the right way to get attention?"

Even though Dahyun had some wounds on her face she couldn't hold back a small smile, intending to reassure everyone "we didn't hurt ourselves, considering the fall we did"

"You can well say Hyun, even if my bandaged arm doesn't approve that much" Haeun, who had been totally ignored by the three newcomers, had sat up without any effort "they are the friends we talked about yesterday?"

"It's really them, I apologize for the sudden intrusion" she was looking at her kindly.

At that moment a cold shiver had taken possession of Sana's body, and she had immediately become aware of the change in mood of one particular person, so much so that she signaled the danger to her girlfriend.

"Leave her alone" Tzuyu had whispered, her arms folded and her rigid posture "it's not up to us to keep her on a leash"

"And who is this one?" Sharon was pointing at the intruder, her gaze fixed on Dahyun's "don't tell me it's her fault if you're in a hospital bed now"

"It would be petty of me to blame her for what happened"

Haeun was pulling her lips with her fingers "actually that's exactly what happened and, since it's my fault you almost killed yourself, I'll really have to repay you properly" she winked, putting more malice than necessary "you'll just have to wait until my arm is back into place"

"Now I'll intervene" Tzuyu hurried to grab Sharon's shoulders, approaching her ear with caution "try to make a scene of jealousy and you'll get a kick so strong as to anticipate the arrival of your period, clear?"

"I'm already on my period, take a seat"

In front of that skit, which should have been discreet but wasn't at all, there was Sana with a hand pressed on her forehead, Dahyun in a daze and Haeun totally unaware of having unleashed the monster called Sharon.

Latecomer as she was, it had taken Jihyo a long time to reach the hospital, and upon her arrival, she froze on the spot at the sight of the girl waiting at the door of her friend's room.

She had decided to ignore her, intending to enter without even giving her a glance, but she was stopped by a cough.

"There are already three people and the nurse has kindly asked not to take advantage of her absence to do as we please"

The brunette just let out a sigh and sat down a chair away from Sally's "they didn't explain anything to me on the phone.. How is Dahyun?" she had spoken softly, a little fearful of receiving an unsolicited response.

Fortunately it hadn't gone as she feared "she is stable and she got away with a few scratches and bruises, the doctor said they will discharge her today and that it will be enough for her not to make any physical exertion to get back in perfect shape"

"It's a relief"

They remained silent, which was interrupted from time to time by the noise of the biscuit wrapper that the blonde was eating. The situation was quite embarrassing and seemed impossible to make worse, at least until Jihyo's stomach made a rather loud sound.

At that point Sally had turned in her direction, instantly understanding what the problem was "you've lost weight, you shouldn't skip meals"

"I'll eat later, it's not a problem"

The other girl, taken aback by the maternal side that she had developed over the years thanks to her little sister, reached out her arm to hand her the package of biscuits "eat these, there is chocolate"

"You're eating them, I don't think I should take them away from you" she blushed, too embarrassed by the continuous noises produced by her empty stomach.

"I'm not hungry anymore and I hate wasting food, I prefer to give it to you. And then, honestly speaking, seeing you spread on the floor wouldn't be a good show for anyone"

Accepting those biscuits was the best choice Jihyo had made in recent times "they are very good"

"You can find them in any supermarket, you just need to know how to look" she had her eyes closed and she seemed apparently calm, but her hands clenched into fists were a clear sign of her real state of mind "look, I really shouldn't tell you, but I'm going to a psychologist and he strongly advised me to apologize to people I've done something wrong to"

Jihyo found herself coughing because of a crumb that had gone sideways, immediately clinging to the bottle of water that the other girl had given her. Despite the surprise she had chosen not to say anything, waiting patiently for the speech to continue.

"The first person I apologized to is my sister, you are the second" she turned to look at her, intent on making things right "what I'm about to tell you doesn't mean that I want to be your friend and I hope this stays with you. I'm sorry for what I said and for meddling in your business, I had no right"

"Am I dreaming or are you seriously apologizing to me?" she had the corners of dirty with chocolate and she looked like a little girl with big, bright eyes.

"You're not dreaming and you really should clean your mouth, you're embarrass.. No Sally, you don't need any more reproaches from your bald-headed psychologist" instead of continuing with the insults she had taken the handkerchiefs she used to keep in her purse "wipe your mouth or I won't be able to focus on anything but your chocolate smeared lips"

The brunette blushed profusely, causing a chain reaction of embarrassment and prompting Sally to repeat over and over again that flirting with her was not in her plans. After recovering from that bizarre moment it was Jihyo who spoke "I accept your apologies, even if you intervened I don't think you changed the epilogue of the story"

"Nayeon is obtuse, I have to agree with you, but sooner or later she will realize the situation you two are in"

"Honestly, I'm losing hope"

Sally had sighed, looking at the wall in front of them "I assure you she cares a lot about you, you should have seen her insulting me" she felt like laughing, even though deep inside she was still hurt by the truth of those words "if I had to choose her next girlfriend, even if I'd rather hold her in my arms, I think I'd choose you"

That moment of sincerity had made Jihyo's heartbeat accelerate "may I ask why?"

"You really care about Nayeon and that's enough for me, I know you wouldn't disrespect her like I did and even a person like me can see the way your eyes sparkle when you look at her"

They stood up as soon as they saw the three girls leave the room, pretending they hadn't just interrupted an important speech: Sharon was terrifying and emitting a negative aura, Tzuyu was annoyed and Sana looked tired. However they had stopped at the sight of that duo.

"Did my silly big sister annoy you in any way?" asked the youngest of the group, already on a war footing.

Jihyo shook her head, giving her a short smile "she behaved well, you don't have to worry"

"I even gave her something to drink and eat, it gets better than that" Sally was stretching "who should I take home?"

"I'm staying here with Jih, you can go" Sana was her girlfriend's hair "see you later"

Having said their goodbyes the two sisters, plus Sharon, were leaving, stopping after hearing Jihyo's shrill voice. She had thanked Sally, albeit with embarrassment, and then disappeared into the room where Dahyun was.

The blonde was acting tough, but doing some good deeds was making her feel a little better about herself. Since friendship between them was next to impossible, a little respite would do them both good.

After spending the day in the hospital and at the mall, the two friends had holed up in a bar for a drink together. Sana was often lost in thoughts, not going unnoticed and intriguing the older.

"Is there something worrying you? All you do is sigh and marvel at a fixed point"

"I don't know what to do with my life and the weight I feel on my shoulders increases every day. That's also why I asked you to drink together" she swallowed her drink in a few seconds, immediately ordering another one like it "I really want to turn off the brain for a few hours"

"Take it easy, you've never gotten drunk and I don't think there's any point in doing it" despite her wisdom she was already on her fourth drink and her cheeks were flushed "we have to stay clear-headed and try to understand each other, only in this way will we be able to.. What I was saying?" she had stopped with her finger in the air and a confused look "what were we talking about?"

Sana hadn't listened to a single word, too busy sending backhanded messages to her girlfriend. That game had seemed fun even to Jihyo and she, taken by the courage she didn't know she had, had imitated her friend in what must have been an attempt to be seductive and mysterious.

The text she had sent had potential, so much so that she received an instant phone call. The problem? It wasn't Nayeon who called her, but Katarina.

"Jih, why did you write me those unchaste things? I'm flattered, but I think you send the text in the wrong chat"

"Huh?" the brunette pulled the cell phone from her ear to check, immediately bursting into tears "I'm such an idiot, that's why Nayeon doesn't want me"

Jeongyeon's voice had taken the place of her girlfriend's "tell me where you are, I'll come get you. Park Jihyo, turn on your brain and let me at least understand where you are"

While the two lovers were trying to get their friend's whereabouts explained, Sana was approached by a rather annoyed Tzuyu "what do the messages you sent me mean?"

"You are already here!" the redhead had lunged at her, almost purring "my beautiful and very intelligent woman"

"My house is across the street, I didn't have to go far" she was making an effort not to be moved by that unusual version of her girlfriend "now could you give me an explanation?"

Sana had pouted "it means I'm envious of you, I thought I expressed myself well" she seemed hysterical and undecided about which emotion to let leak "everything you do is perfect, you have clear ideas about your future and, in case you should change your mind, you would still have a fantastic job thanks to your sister. I'm jealous and I would like to be in your place"

"These things are true, but let me remind you that my life isn't all rosy either and knowing what to do doesn't make all the problems go away" she was holding her face in her hands, deeply sorry for her words "I'm not perfect and my days are even less so, you should know very well"

"That doesn't mean that you don't have an advantage in many things compared to me and that you don't want to slow down to let me catch up with you" she was crying, wetting her girlfriend's hands with tears "being with someone better than me is making me feel even more a failure"

Tzuyu didn't answer, not even showing the pain she was feeling, and she waited for Jeongyeon to arrive before taking Sana away. She had alerted her mother to tell her about an impromptu fake sleepover and she had Sally helping her.

The blonde was holding the young girl's hair, her back as she threw up "she's in pretty bad shape"

"Apparently I'm her problem" her eyes were blank, devoid of any emotion.

Sally was looking at her, still taking care of Sana "why do you think that?"

"It's not me who thinks that, she told me. My future plan makes her feel inferior to me and I feel guilty for not realizing it, I could have avoided throwing every single thing in her face and given her a hand, but I didn't"

"Little monster, we don't have to put out the flame of enthusiasm just because the people we love are still gathering wood for their bonfire, it's wrong. When she's better, talk about it calmly because I'm sure Sana didn't want to hurt you, she just wanted to let you know of her worries"

Tzuyu, after putting the drunk girl to bed, had taken refuge in the arms of her sister "I like the person you're becoming, I'm proud of you"