till the end of time. ➳ satzu 【COMPLETE】

31

A small memorial sprung up in Momo and Jeongyeon's old room, which both of them had left to move into the master bedroom. Sana, instead, occupied the room, and she took it upon herself to create a small space where she could remember her lost love.

It was simple: a picture of Tzuyu, adorned with flowers and with tassels and braids thrown over the frame. Her diary had been locked up in a safe under Sana's bed—she wanted to read it everyday while still keeping it safe.

The fact that she had gotten her hopes up made her hate herself the most. In her foolish quest to find a replacement for Tzuyu, she'd disturbed the life of an innocent girl who was already scrutinised enough as it was, and for what? A face that looked like another's? It was quite frankly very dumb, and she resented herself for it.

"I finally understand why you would want to cut yourself," she whispered to the photo frame, brandishing Tzuyu's old penknife.

"They think I've gone crazy. To be fair, I have, but they want me to forget you. I cat do that, Tzu!"

The photo just smiled back sadly; the same, frozen smile that Tzuyu wore in life.

"Sana?"

A voice called out, and Sana gasped and stuffed the penknife into the flowers. The other members walked in, silent and sad, seating themselves around the room.

"Do... do you wanna play the mafia game?" Chaeyoung asked shyly from a corner. Sana kept quiet.

"Or do you want to talk it out?" Mina asked in Japanese. The other members looked slightly confused, but no one said anything.

"She was a great person, Sana-chan. She wouldn't want you to be so unhappy. She would tell you to smile because you looked better happy," Momo told her in Japanese, tears evident in her cracking voice.

Sana smiled bitterly. They were right. Tzuyu would have told her to be happy, if not for herself then for her. She recalled, with a pang, Tzuyu in her hospital bed telling Sana to stop crying after she had been moved to ICU.

"So please, stop crying," Jeongyeon said, so gently that she sounded like Tzuyu for a moment.

And then she got hit with realisation. Call it an epiphany, if you will.

That Tzuyu was still there. Living in her heart. Living in the hearts of her members. Always smiling back at her through the eyes of every idol, stranger or dog that she came across. The spirit of a girl who just wanted to be happy, seen easily within the eyes of others.

She had never truly left.

Sana smiled, bittersweetly, as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Yes, Chaeng, I think I do want to play the mafia game."