Invisible String || PURINZ

19 • one year

The girls had two more performances awaiting them. They had landed in America a little less than a week ago, and were in the large, empty arena for rehearsals.

Chaewon had managed to pass her breakdown off as a 'stomach bug' that had made her feel really sick. Their manager didn't think to question it, knowing that further questions would only lead to answers he didn't want to hear.

And Chaewon made peace with the fact that the girls were acting like she would drop dead any second now. During each of their songs, they kept glancing in her direction as if she was a ticking time bomb.

Everyone except Yunjin.

She'd been awfully quiet about everything ever since their conversation in Japan. Chaewon couldn't blame her, having seen the sadness in her eyes. It was a hard topic for both of them, and yet she still helped her through it all.

"Chae? We're done, you don't have to stay here." Eunchae chuckled, wrapping her fingers around Chaewon's wrists.

The other looked up, snapping out of her thoughts. The venue in front of them was dark and empty. Only the stage was lit up brightly, allowing easy access to the backstage area.

She didn't quite know how long she'd been standing there, seeing as Eunchae and her were the only ones left. Her eyes darted over the young girl's face, a small smile creeping up on her lips. "Sorry, I just–",

"I know. Don't worry about it," Eunchae hummed. She pecked Chaewon's cheek, looking so proud and cute that it almost made every bad feeling in Chaewon's body disappear.

Exhaling a chuckle, the older girl wrapped her arm around the other's middle. She patted her hip as she guided her towards the backstage, humming a tune.

She had to be strong for her members.

Even though she felt like she was losing more of herself every day.

—x—

Yunjin crossed her arms as she tapped her toe on the floor. She had gotten changed with everyone except Chaewon and Eunchae, and she wasn't sure what was holding them up.

They stood by the artist's entrance and exit; Kazuha was trying to braid Sakura's hair whilst Yunjin was 'moping around', as Sakura had told her.

"Do you guys think they're okay?" Yunjin asked. She started nervously walking around in circles, playing with the skin on her arms.

Kazuha let out a sigh. "Stop worrying about it, Yun. They're fine, Chaewon told us it was just a one time thing in Japan. You need to let it go," She said.

"Ow, go easy!" Sakura yelped, rubbing her head.

"Sorry," The other apologetically smiled.

Yunjin glanced at them. She knew they didn't know better, and she was very aware of what Chaewon had told their manager and the members. But she was also not on board with it; she wished her girlfriend had just been truthful.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that Chaewon was doing this because of what she said. She shouldn't have been so selfish.

'What about me?'

Yunjin wanted to rip her own brain out at the thought. What possessed her to say that? Then, of all times?

Her head snapped towards the hallway as she heard steps going down the hall. 1, 2, 3, 4... Two people. A slight squeak in the sole told Yunjin everything she needed to know: it was Chaewon and Eunchae.

Yunjin straightened her back and fixed her wide jeans as if she was preparing to see her highschool crush (which technically was the case once upon a time).