Meet Me in the Afterglow (Purinz/Chaewon x Yunjin)

Cruel Longing

NOW.

A week after the dress fitting, Yunjin is out for drinks with the others, sitting between Yujin and Minjeong in a corner booth with a watermelon mojito in front of her, when Sakura finally shows up thirty minutes after she texted Yunjin saying leaving now, I'll be there in ten.

"Hey," she says, nudging Yujin in the shoulder with her elbow until she shuffles over to make room in the booth. "Sorry I'm late."

"You haven't missed much yet, except for Aeri trying to give my little sister liver damage," Minjeong says dryly, gesturing at the tray of empty shot glasses in the middle of the table and then glancing at Ningning and Aeri who are giggling together in the very corner of the booth. "Where's Chaewon and Kazuha? I thought the three of you were coming together?"

"Uh," Sakura says, looking uncharacteristically like a deer in the headlights when everybody turns to look at her. "They're not coming. Chaewon, she— um. Minju broke up with her."

Whatever excuse Yunjin was expecting Sakura to bring out, it certainly wasn't that. Over the sound of everyone immediately talking at once, all the incredulous whats and whys and what happeneds and one high-pitched yelp of what the fuck from Ningning, a tiny terrible part of her that she tries not to acknowledge wonders if maybe— if maybe it had something to do with her.

Guilt hits her almost immediately, but it's too late. The thought is already there, burrowing into her brain like a parasite. It's a horrible thing to think. Chaewon gets dumped and Yunjin immediately starts thinking about what ifs.

What if it was because of me? What if Chaewon feels this too? What if Minju picked up on it?

But also, what if it's just temporary? Maybe it was just a really bad fight, and they both said things they didn't mean, and in a few days Minju will call Chaewon up and apologize and say she was maybe a bit too harsh and ask for a second chance. And maybe Chaewon will say yes.

"Is she okay?" Liz's voice brings Yunjin back to the present before she can start fully spiraling.

"She didn't really seem okay, no," Sakura says. "She turned up at our place in tears like half an hour ago, just as we were about to leave, said she'd come straight from Minju's and that they'd just had a huge fight and broken up. I was gonna stay, you know, see if there was anything I could do to help, but I think she just wanted to be left alone with Zuha. And the entire contents of our ice cream drawer. They were onto the second tub of chocolate when I left. She didn't really say that much to me, but she did ask me to tell all of you though. I guess so she doesn't have to repeat it a hundred more times."

"Should we like, do something for her?"

"Like kill Minju?"

"I meant go and see her, but I like the way your brain works."

"Murder can be fun."

"Yujin, no."

"Yujin, yes."

"I think we should just leave her alone for a bit," Minjeong says, casting a mildly concerned sidelong glance at Yujin. "Give her some space, you know. If she didn't want Sakura there then she's definitely not going to want all of us at once, since all of us together can be a little..." Minjeong frowns, clearly trying to figure out how to phrase this delicately. "A little much, and we all know it."

Everyone kind of looks at each other for a few moments as Minjeong's words sink in.

"I still think we should maim her a little," Yujin mutters, even as Sakura deliberately changes the subject by demanding to know who's buying her a drink first.