Running away. It was what Seulgi was good at.

When her mother died, she moved out. She left their house and stayed at the dorm provided by the company. She never left there, never went home again.

When she was coping with her mother’s death, she distanced herself from those who tried to comfort her – even her best friend. She didn’t talk to anyone, afraid of breaking down and appearing weak and vulnerable.

When her dream of having her mother watch her perform on stage crashed, she strayed from that dream and made a new one. One that didn’t involve anyone else so that it would be less painful if it wouldn’t come true.

When she knew the truth about her family, she cursed at everyone for lying to her and for making her believed things were as good as those fairy tales. She closed her doors, never opening them except to her mother. And when she passed away, they completely closed.

All Seulgi knew was to run. Run away and never look back. She figured she could deal with the pain and ignore everything else. She believed time will heal all wounds – emotional, spiritual, and even physical.

Maybe that was why she didn’t do anything when her best friend confessed to her. She let her go in hopes in the future they would be okay again.  But she was lost and didn’t know what to do. She was afraid of confrontations and opening up. She only knew how to cry.

So she cried.

She cried when her mother died.

She cried when her dreams shattered.

She cried when she learned she had been living in a lie.

She cried when her best friend left because she was incapable of fixing them.

She cried again and again – only this time, she cried to the arms of the person who was starting to open those doors which were shut for years.

Seulgi took a deep breath. Summer was officially starting as she could feel her tears starting to dry from the moist of the summer air. Here she was at 12 midnight on the rooftop of their company. She was running away again. 

And this time, she wasn’t sure it would be the right thing to do anymore. Not when there’s something pulling her back, asking her to fight, and for once be brave enough to fix everything she had broken in the past years.

And not when she knew the reason behind the pull was Bae Joohyun.

---

The loud voices of the MCs from her tv didn’t serve as a distraction. Joohyun was still staring at the Doraemon plushie seated on one of side chairs in her living room. It was the one Seulgi brought for her. The one she got from her best friend was safely placed in her study desk since it was smaller than the one she was glaring at. The dumb guitarist got her a size which could be hugged.

“Got you something big so you can hug it when you’re missing me.” A messy but cute handwriting was on a note attached on the paper bag.

She got home a little late that night and only saw Seulgi in less than five minutes. She was sitting down on the hallway just outside her apartment door, a huge pink paper bag beside her. Seulgi stood up when she saw Joohyun walked out from the elevator, albeit shaking as the older girl walked to her. She wanted to give her a hug but Seulgi beat her into it.

Joohyun was wrapped in a tight embrace, a different one from all the hugs Seulgi gave her. It didn’t say I MISS YOU or anything but it screamed I’M SORRY and GOODBYE.

A kiss was placed on her forehead and a whisper followed after. “Can’t stay. Have to go.”

It was the last thing Joohyun heard from her. She never expected watching Seulgi’s back was also the last thing she would see from the younger girl.

She took another glance at the stuffed toy before groaning and hitting the OFF button on her remote a little harder than intended. Any show wouldn’t help her, who was she kidding? She let an exasperated sigh as she blew away her fringes. It had been two weeks since she last saw I SCREAM’s lead guitarist. Two full weeks of no show and no communication. At first Joohyun thought the younger girl was busy with promotions but the last time she talked to Wendy, they didn’t seem that busy. So what went wrong?

No one asked her to but every damn night she waited for that knock on her door. Sometimes she forced her body to stay awake, afraid of missing Seulgi on her front door. She would feel sleepy and tired in the university the next day if she pulled an all-nighter. She was just lucky it was the final week of school and there wasn’t much to do.

Joohyun took a throw pillow and hugged it instead, eyes still on that damn blue thing opposite to her.

---

“It’s such a great feeling to have my two lovely daughters here today.” Mrs. Jung smiled to Jessica who was sitting beside her and to Krystal who was across the table from them. “I miss having this family luncheon.”

“We should do this more often after Soojung’s promotions.” Jessica smiled back.

“Can’t.” Krystal didn’t return the smile, she focused on cutting her steak instead. “Have to go to Japan for the tour.”

“Ah! I remembered those days when Sooyeon had to tour around Asia.” Mrs. Jung continued to chat happily. “I remembered when Miyoung would treat us to dinner after a concert. How is your lovely fiancée by the way Sooyeon?”

Krystal stopped cutting her steak. The topic slowly interested her but partly wished it wasn’t brought up.

“She’s fine Mom.” Jessica said after chewing her food. “She’s just been busy like me. We haven’t talked much lately.”

Mrs. Jung hummed in understanding before turning to Krystal. “Do well with your promotions and don’t give Miyoung a headache. I need her to be fully functional and stress-free for your sister’s wedding.”

Krystal only snorted as she resumed cutting her steak. Her plate was already full of slices but she continued to cut them again and again, never taking a piece to . This conversation wasn’t making her hungry.

“Do you have the final list of your guests Sooyeon-ah?”

“Yes. Tiffany sent me an email of it last night.” Jessica took out her phone, opening Tiffany’s email before she handed it to her mother.

Mrs. Jung furrowed her eyebrows as she went through the list.  “No Seulgi?”

Krystal stopped cutting again.

“Tiffany thinks Seulgi will not attend so why waste ink on a name.” Jessica said nonchalantly.

“I understand.” Mrs. Jung checked the list again. “Hmmm. Sunny. Seohyun. Hmmmm. No Taeyeon?”

Krystal looked up just in time to witness Jessica’s stiffed posture.

“Mom, we haven’t heard of Taeyeon after we disbanded.”

“I see. Well, I was hoping to see your short ex-leader again. I missed her weird laugh.” She grinned at the memories as she returned Jessica’s phone. “Remember those times she would laugh at even the weirdest joke? Miyoung called it the ahjumma laugh. She would say it’s funnier than the joke itself.”

Krystal saw how tight Jessica’s grip on her fork was. She saw jealousy seeping in her sister. Unlike their mother, Krystal knew the real reason why Taeyeon’s name wasn’t there.

“Too bad Tiffany’s not going to hear it again.”

Mrs. Jung missed the annoyance in Jessica’s voice but Krystal didn’t.

Just on cue, Mrs. Jung’s phone went off. “Excuse me, I have to take this.” She went out from the restaurant to find a place to take her call.

“You didn’t have to snap at mom like that. She doesn’t know.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just stressed out with this whole wedding thing.” Jessica placed her knife and fork down, appetite already gone.

“Is that really the reason?”

“What are you talking about Krys?”

Krystal was trying to form something using the pieces of steak on her plate. The extra cuts went to , finally. She thought good food mustn’t get wasted.

“There!