There are many who are loud, so loud that it makes the softer voices go unheard. It’s been like that for centuries, where volume was more important than words. How many pearls of wisdom have gone unnoticed, cries of help gone unnoticed, drowned out by loud noises like crashing waves, or rolling thunder.

It’s even harder to hear one’s heartbeat. Amongst the loud cheers and softly spoken voices, the heart is even harder to hear. Tonight was going to be different, tonight there was no rolling thunder, or crashing waves, tonight was about soft breaths, muffled sobbing and the sounds of wildly racing hearts.

“Let me help” Chorong grabs every piece of clothing she can find that belonged to her, and piled it neatly. “No, no, this won’t do – it’s far too messy, you won’t fit everything in here.”

So she unpacks it slowly, and stares at the suitcase like it’s a puzzle, waiting to be solved.

“I’ve got more boxes unnie, if they don’t fit”

“It’s too much of a hassle to bring up the boxes, I’ll figure this out”

They both understand what’s going on, they were both trying to buy time, but time can’t be bought, and her last night in the house was speeding by faster than either of them would like.

She bites her lip, she can’t cry – she won’t.

*

There’s memories littered around the house. The obvious ones, picture frames, and trophies, gifts from fans, things they’ve collected during their travels overseas. Then there are the more hidden ones. Like indents on the wall, covered up with questionable patch works, that hides colourful stories, filled with humour, sadness, fear and secrets made (secrets to never tell the manager that it was Bomi messing around with nun chucks when that indent on the wall appeared).

“Yookyung-ah, when you leave, you have to take this” Bomi shoves a picture frame of them into her hand, “We took it during our first MT as A-Pink remember?”

“Thanks Bomi unnie” Yookyung smiles, and her eyes curve into crescents and crinkle at the corners, where a slight dimple appears on her cheek.

*

The dinner table never really fit seven of them, they always sat on the floor, no one was higher, or better. When there was food in front of them, it didn’t really matter, they were friends, they were like family, sitting around the dining table, sharing good food and interesting stories.

“I’m going to miss watching you eat noodles dipped in iced water unnie” Yookyung teases

“I’m going to miss your chocolate cake” the other girl replies with her heavy Busan accent.

I’m going to miss your accent too unnie, how funny it is when you get angry at us because your accent just comes out naturally. I’m going to miss how you braid my hair sometimes, and how you’re always there to comfort me. I’m going to miss waking up to your face, and falling asleep to your singing. I’m going to miss the hours spent in the practice room, and late night dinner parties, I’m going to miss our travels overseas and our adventures in foreign lands.

I think I’ll miss you unnie, and Chorong unnie, and Bomi unnie, and Naeunnie, and Namjoo and Hayoung

Yookyung doesn’t say any of this, because the words are all caught up in , drowned by the tears that were threatening to fall.

*

“You’re my best friend” Naeun squeezes her hand

“And you’re mine” Yookyung reassures her

“But you’ll be in college now, you’ll be with new people, you’ll like them, and you’ll forget about us, about me”

“I’ll turn them into A-Pink fans, I’ll turn them into Naeun fans” Yookyung whispers the last part

Yookyung is thankful for technology today, phone conversations and emails, social networking sites too. There’s no way that they’ll be torn apart. Not until their schedules fill up, Naeun’s with acting jobs and promotional cycles, Yookyung with schoolwork and studies.

“Best friends right?” Yookyung asks again

“Yeah - always” Naeun smiles

*

“Unnie, where did you leave my English book last time?” Namjoo peers from outside the door.

Those same old puppy eyes she uses whenever she needs something, or wants something from the older girls.

“I told you I put it on the book shelf again”

“Book shelf!” Namjoo slaps her forehead, laughing at herself for not checking in the most obvious location. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you unnie” Namjoo heaves a sigh and the room goes quiet again.

It’s always quiet without Namjoo around.

*

“Unnie”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to miss you”

“Me too Hayoung-ah”

“A lot”

“Me too Hayoung”

*

Chorong sighs and wipes the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. The boxes are almost packed, the pile slowly building up near the front door as they collectively work to move the boxes. The night was drawing to a close, things were going to change as soon as midnight hit.

“Well it’s done”

They stand, staring at the boxes that were barely taller than them absentmindedly. Eunji is the first to suggest that they retire to bed “We’ve got a long day ahead of us”

No one talks about how long the night would be either.

*

On a mundane Tuesday morning they all wake up at five thirty. It started with Chorong opening the door of her room, the small click was enough of a sign for the other girls to crawl out of bed – each of them looking as if they hadn’t slept all night. It was true; their puffy eyes and the dark rings that surrounded them spoke volumes.

It’s cold and the winter chill still hung onto her skin but they’re sitting in the living room, holding onto warm cups of hot chocolate, wrapped in their blankets waiting for the sun to rise. They’re all whispering to each other, scared that if they spoke in anything but loud whispers it would shatter the air around them.

At about forty seven minutes past five the sun begins to peer over the horizon and it’s quiet all over again. They all sit back and relax, basking in the warmth of the sun’s rays and Yookyung thinks that she’ll never see such a beautiful sunrise again.

At about eight o’clock the girls all line up in the empty hallway. The boxes were already gone, all but the suitcase that Yookyung came here with.

Yookyung wants to think that her moving out meant something big was going to happen. World peace might be too far a stretch, but it doesn’t, her career is ending, the life she had known for the past two years, the one she had trained so long to get to for the previous three. She was going to lose some great friends, and miss out on some great adventures. Yookyung was leaving, stepping into an unknown world, without the support of the six girls she had come to love so dearly.

It was going to be ok though.

“Not a goodbye forever; just a goodbye for now, right?” Yookyung asks hopefully.

Chorong nods, they all do.

“We’ll see you later”

The door closes, and so does a chapter in Yookyung’s life.