Broken

16

The due date was rapidly approaching, Jihyo had already stopped working, her farewell party was held on a saturday morning, she had asked her manager to not mention it to Jeongyeon as the girl would be problematic to handle, and Jihyo expressed her will to leave quietly. As the two never really interacted that much, the manager never saw anything wrong with agreeing. Jihyo also told her coworkers to not mention anything about her leaving.

At school, they had received all the paperwork and sent out all the documents needed for the transference, so they were already very lenient with the girl's attendance, and school activities, ergo, whenever needed, Jihyo would just not go to class and send Nayeon with a note explaining why to the student office. For Jeongyeon and Sana, though, it was getting weirder and weirder. They weren't being told anything, even though they would spend lunch with the girls everyday, or even ask around about it, but most didn't know, and those who knew weren't talking.

There was a feeling of dread on the pit of their stomachs, like something bad was about to happen, but none could really explain what it was, or where it came from. Sana, the expressive person she was, had been unusually quiet and tamed, Jeongyeon, who hated most type of physical contact, had become clingy, as if she needed to be held by Sana to feel calmer. It still irked the girls, but Jihyo had assured them it was all alright, she would be leaving soon and it would all be in the past.

They agreed, it was more important for them to spend Jihyo's last moments happily, not worrying about unnecessary things. And the girl was right, it was just their first year of highschool, nothing was definitive, and nothing was real life, not for her anyways, Jihyo never really had a life fitting for a kid, and was heading out to fend for herself once again. With that thought, nobody really paid much attention to the two people who were desperately trying to understand what was happening.

The last day Jihyo would be around came faster than anyone hoped, everyone was a bit blue about it, but Nayeon was taking it the hardest, you can't blame her, she finally got a little sister just to have go away right after, good thing Momo was holding up pretty well for both of them. The Ims were going with Jihyo to have the girl installed properly and to tour her new school, more to assure themselves their new daughter was going to be okay, and give Nayeon some peace of mind as well.

The Im girls went to school like normal, Nayeon would be absent for the next two days and Jihyo refused to let her miss classes more than needed. The group was a bit down, but they felt really happy about it at the same time. Their parents sent out notes to the school, and called in later on, asking for all to be excused from their classes after lunch. The Myouis were throwing a farewell lunch for Jihyo and demanded all to be present, therefore, none really had much with them nor bothered to run to the cafeteria that day.

Once they were dismissed for lunch period, Nayeon was crying again and clinging to Jihyo (who was begging Momo to take her sister at that point), and a rather thick string of snot was dangerously hanging from the eldest nose, making Momo politely refuse to intervene with the 'sisters bonding moment' as she put it. That sneaky brat. Arriving at the gate, the two youngest were already waiting, and Tzuyu was as deplorable as Nayeon, Chae was having a very hard time trying to control her girlfriend, who clung to Jihyo's other side as soon as she was close enough. Jihyo just gave up and accepted she would get to Mina's covered in snot.

The lunch was a bit tearful, everyone giving their best wishes for Jihyo, telling her she should call as soon as she arrived, and that she should tell them if there was any problem, they would be there on the next flight. It couldn't be stretched too long, though, the Im family had a late night flight to catch. They said their goodbyes, Jihyo promised she would be back for the older group graduation, in three years, and also for the youngest ones in four. Until then, they would have to make do with video calling and messaging, some were already making plans to go visit the girl over vacations.