Rainbows after Rainfalls

2.6

Chaeyoung was able to muster up a sweet smile despite her sadness over leaving behind the precious people who'd been there all her life. Until it was time for her to say her goodbye.

She hugged her parents briefly, her father patting her head and gave her encouragements, her mother planting a small kiss on her cheek after the hug before giving her similar words of encouragements. When she moved to Jimin, she broke down in tears, hugging him tightly and she was sure that her brother's shirt soaked so much when he hugged her back as tight as she did to him.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to miss you," she said through her sobs, whining when Jimin laughed at her teasingly.

Her brother ruffled her hair before smoothing them down, patting her damp cheeks and wiped off her tears. "Come on, now. Stop crying. You don't want to arrive there looking all ugly with puffy red eyes."

"Shut up," she scoffed but laughed when she saw her brother's eye smile.

"Remember," JImin said after a while, "don't entertain any guys. They might just want to take advantage of you."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I'm serious," Jimin narrowed his eyes at her. "If anyone bothers you, tell them to back off or they'll have to face your brother. Get me?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Don't just yeah, yeah me, kid. I won't be there to protect you."

"She's all grown up, Jimin. I'm sure she can handle things on her own," their mother said calmly. "She's no longer a baby you need to protect."

Jimin's face turned even more serious as he muttered. "What do you guys know? You never cared to protect her all this time."

"Hey," Chaeyoung quickly said before any of her parents could hear or retort him. The last thing she wanted was for them to fight because of her. "I'll be fine."

"I know you'll be fine. I just –"

"Yeah, I'll keep you up-to-date with everything," she chuckled. "From the things that I eat to the people that I'm friends with to the list of my possible enemies, I'll tell them all to you, gossiper."

"You brat," Jimin laughed, playfully trying to hit her head but messed her hair instead.

She hugged him one last time before moving to her cousin, Chanyeol. He told her to take great care of herself and be extra careful in a new place and whispered to her that while doing all that, she shouldn't stop herself from getting all the fun since Jimin wouldn't be around to monitor her, and they high-fived after that. She shed her tears again as she hugged her friends, Lisa, Jisoo and Jennie. They made promises to always keep in touch.

Chaeyoung scrunched her face, though, when Lisa told her that she had a secret to tell that she'd wanted to tell to only Chaeyoung but hadn't had the chance until that day. It was simply a secret that she already knew, that Lisa and Hoseok were an item and that they'd made it official with one activity that 'shouldn't be said out loud'.

When she moved on to the next persons, she could only smile sadly at them. Jungkook's mother hugged her long enough that she almost decided to cancel the flight because that motherly hug was something she never got to experience much. The older female rubbed her back lovingly, and Chaeyoung's lips trembled when Jungkook's mother tried to hide her own tears with a small smile. His father gave her a brief hug and a pat on her head, telling her that it was going to be fine and that she'd be happy in a new place. She wished she could argue with him over that.

And finally, when she moved to the next person, the last person standing in line, her teeth chewed on her lip so hard that she thought it would bleed anytime soon.