Memories - Purinz

Chapter 9 - Space

Now

It's the middle of May and the sun is beginning to hide itself behind the clouds, painting the streets of Kurashiki a light shade of purple.

Chaewon looks around as she makes her way through the thin crowd of people near the small stone bridge at the center, taking comfort at the sight of the street lamps and weeping willows lining the canals. She's on her way back to the tiny apartment she's called home the time she was away in hiding, a box of cake her boss had given her in her hands and Chaewon's already made plans to give it to Hanako and her grandmother after dinner later that night.

It's been a good day, she thinks to herself as she continues to walk forward. Only a little over a month since she's left Seoul, but she's begun to feel lighter than she ever did the past two years.

The hollowness and sadness born out of missing the people she loved still manages to slip through the cracks of her skin some days but she's learned to deal with it, she doesn't break under its pressure, under its force because for the first time in so long, Chaewon was alone but she wasn't completely lonely — she finds comfort in Sakura's messages telling her about the latest gossip swarming behind the scenes of the celebrity landscape back home, Kazuha's updates on the latest shenanigans their friends have done, Eunchae's sporadic messages featuring videos of cute animals, and Yujin's ability to keep finding ways to tease her 720 kilometers across the sea.

She finds comfort when she talks to Yunjin — not all the time, of course. They agreed to give each other space after all but the absence of constant messages and calls doesn't bother her because Yunjin's voice telling her "I'll be right here" sits in the back of her mind every day and it's more than enough to squash any kind of doubt that's threatening to slither in.

Chaewon knows it is going to be a long way to go before she could fully rebuild herself, before she can heal but she's sleeping better, faring better because the fear and the heartbreak that plagued her for years have finally vanished. She's alright because she knows she's going to go back one day and Yunjin — her best friend, the love her life — would still be there waiting for her with open arms no matter how long it takes her to find the Chaewon hidden underneath all the rubble from the aftermath of everything that ever happened to them.

So the sun sets in Kurashiki and Chaewon enters her apartment with a small smile knowing she's one more day closer to peace.

--

The band finally coerces the record label and the rest of the higher ups to extend their hiatus. After Yujin had come back from her honeymoon, the girl put on her most determined face, hair sleek and pinned to the sides, and decided she's going to stand her ground much firmer this time around.

(The girls had teased her about the honeymoon being too good but they all jumped in to the plan.)

And so she had marched to the office along with the members of the band and negotiated the terms and duration of their break.

By 'negotiated', they actually meant threatening the label that they'll leave if they keep pushing them to their limits.

It was a very shitty exchange but they got out with a victory, with a win that comes in the form of an indefinite hiatus — that way they'd be no pressure or rush for them to come back.

"Think it'll stick?" Sakura asks Yunjin, grinning.

"I sure hope so." Yunjin replies, mirroring her friend's expression.

Yujin gets in between them and slings an arm around both of them.

"And once again, say 'Yujin is the best'."