Invisible String || PURINZ

08 • worth the ruin

"... So, your break starts now. Schedules are back on in a week and Leniverse will be delayed one week."

Yunjin blinked. "Say what?" She asked, not registering anything.

"Your break, it starts–"

The tall girl shot up from the couch and punched the air, jumping for joy. They worked day and night the past few weeks: sleep was hard to get as an idol, but she hadn't slept a wink in at least two weeks. "Oh, thank you!" She cried.

The others joined in on her celebration; especially Kazuha, who had spent an ungodly amount of hours in the practice rooms and her spare time in the gym. They hadn't walked around outside freely in a month. Usually they'd visit nearby villages– or sometimes even far away ones. Connect with nature, as Eunchae liked to say.

"That means we can go on a trip, right?" The youngest excitedly asked. Their manager nodded.

Sakura beamed as she shook Eunchae. "Trip! Where should we go?" She wondered.

"Oh, remember that one place with that beautiful park? We didn't get to see it last time." Kazuha suggested, enthusiastically clapping her hands.

"I'd love to go there! I do want to visit my parents, so I'll go to America by the end of our break." Yunjin hummed, lovingly patting Eunchae's head.

Sakura nodded. "Me and Kazuha were planning on going to Japan as well. So that works out." She agreed.

Eunchae hugged Yunjin's arm, heaving a small sigh. "I wonder if my brother will even recognise me," She dramatically said.

"You called him last week." Kazuha reminded her.

Whilst the two started an argument, Yunjin settled her eyes on Chaewon. She hadn't said anything at all; she had blended herself into the background, hoping no one would notice her. She'd been doing it a lot lately: if there wasn't a camera, the girl would just hide away.

It had been plaguing Yunjin's mind. She hadn't gotten a chance to ask about it, since they had no time for themselves these past weeks. The only time off they had was when they slept, which was only for a few hours at a time. This led to all of them falling asleep whenever they had an hour or two-long break. No matter how much she tried, there was a camera stalking them down every corner.

The girl's eyes travelled to the exit. "Let's have dinner to celebrate," She suggested.

—x—

They ended up at their favourite restaurant, just like always. It was a tiny, worn-down place that looked suspicious at best. Yunjin discovered it one day after walking through the outskirts of Seoul: she could only describe it as heaven in your mouth. The dishes they had here were perfect, and there was no one to hound them or film them. Usually during the day it was just the five of them and the owner, who cooked everything on the menu by himself.

The street outside was just as shabby as the shop: all the stones were loose, and Yunjin had to watch her step in order not to fall into one of many holes. But they arrived safe and sound. The sign outside was even waving them inside with the help of the wind.

Inside the shop was much cooler than the scorching heat from outside. It may be small and shabby, but at least the AC worked. Eunchae wiped the sweat off her forehead with a crumpled up tissue as she sat down, and Sakura leaned forward on the table while fanning the menu over her face.

Yunjin made quick work of hogging the seat next to Chaewon. The two of them sat on one side of the table, and the other three were opposite them. Step one of Operation Purinz was successful.

"Yunjin, how aren't you sweating?" Kazuha groaned, enjoying the gust of air that Sakura was now fanning towards her as well.

The girl chuckled in response as she stared at all the items on the menu. "I think all those layers of foundation from the shoot this morning have made me sweat-proof. They never should've tried covering up my eyebags."