||~Maybe I don't know what to do~|| ||~Hurry up, my mind is on the moon~||
"Where are you going?" The leader asked when she saw one of her members was carrying massive luggages.
"It's a long break. I'm gonna spend it with my parents." Said Tzuyu in a rush.
"Back to Taiwan? Be carefuㅡ''
"Bye~" The youngest strode away briskly to the main door, leaving the others behind without any last glance.
"Did she know how to drive?" Momo whispered.
"The real question is, does she have a car?" The oldest joined.
"Wait for a minute, Tzuyu-ah. Let me drive you to the airport." The manager almost stumbled as she ran towards the girl who was already walking past the automatic sliding door.
The other members started catching up to both of them, looking forward to the scene when nobody noticed what happened at their back. Jihyo, who was walking behind everybody, suddenly felt a pale soft hand snaking to her mouth and she was dragged away forcefully. The leader couldn't shout or call the members as the palm covering voice, she ended up inside the public woman restroom.
As Jihyo felt the grip loosened, she waved both her hands in the air chaotically, doing some broken, uneffective Kung fu moves she learned from Tv. Luckily, there was no one around to see the weird embarrassing move and she managed to release herself.
It was Sana.
"Wha- Sana, what the hell was that?!" The leader breathed a sigh of relief.
"Awee I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Sana pouted, opened her arms wide for a hug. Her eyes were half opened, the eyebag was showing. "I saw you looked at me earlier, I thought you- I-… I just, want a kiss."
"Sana, you're acting weird today. What happened to you?"
"Weird? I'm not weird. I'm very normal, like everyday else. Haha. I'm super normal, more than any normal human. Wait, what am I saying?"
"You're wasted." Jihyo glared at her. "Right? Did you drink last night?"
"No, I didn't…"
"Then what?"
"Promise that you won't get angry." Sana grabbed her handbag, and took out a speeding ticket with a due date last November. "Wait, not this one."
This time, she guiltily took out a bottle of pills and handed it to the gasped leader. Like a child scolded by her mother, her gaze went deeps to the white grayish floor, as if the cement would swallow down her entire feet if she didn't take a step further, as she forming tears in shame.
"W- what is this?" She then read the bottle. "Fluoxymesterㅡ Sana, this is steroids. You know that, right?"
"Yea.."
"Then why the hell do you have this thing with you?! What if someone sees you with this?! What do you want to say to the company?!"
The pouting girl then slowly approached one of the sinks, leaning her butt on it. With a tiny voice. "I'm sorry.. I'm just, tired a bit."
As she rested her palms on the sink next to Sana, the leader asked. "How many did you take?"
Sana was quiet for a couple of seconds. "A little bit more this week."
"Sana!"
"I'm sorry, okay?!" She jumped a little. "I really need it. At least, after I took this, everything went back to normal. I'm back being cheerful, and so are people around me. That thing is what keeping me alive. Keeping the environment alive!"
Jihyo breathe out a deep sigh before she continued, at least preventing a reckless unnecessary scene even though they were in the public restroom. "Are you good? I mean, did any symptoms start kicking in? Any effect? Are you sure you're okay right now?"
"Nothing bad ever happen yet, but, right now, my body feels hot and I craves for physical contact."
"So that explains why you're always horny."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"I-"
Suddenly the door opened, Jeongyeon barged into the room. "I've been looking for you, Jihyo. Woah, am I interrupting something?"
Jihyo and Sana looked at each other. "Ye-"
"Nope. Not at all." Sana cutted off her words, she shook her head obnoxiously.
"Sana, may you excuse us for a minute? I have something to discuss with Jihyo. I'm sorry but this is important."
It didn't take much time, as soon as Sana walked out the door, Jeongyeon immediately reached out a small black box containing jewelry from the back of her jeans pocket.
"Dude! I spend my whole money account just for this. What do you think? Is it good?" As soon as Jeongyeon passed the box to Jihyo, she quickly opened it and, to her surprise, it was a ring. A delicately aesthetic diamond on top of the plated shining gold ring, delightfully crafted with small detail yet fancy carve. Something that surely the readers couldn't buy.
"Jisoos chri- this is beautiful! This is.." The leader stared at the gleaming object on her hand ravishingly, as if she's gonna devour it. "Wow, you must be broke right now."
"Hehe you know me too well." She scratched the back of her head foolishly.
"And knowing you too well, I'm sure this isn't something you bought for your own satisfaction. So who's the lucky person?" Jihyo wiggled her eyebrows repeatedly, teasing the non stop smile that carved on her friend's face.
"Ah, I bet you already guessed it right. Do you think she would like it?"
"Woah, I envy Nayeon so much right now. She must be squealing and jumping like crazy when you show her this."
"Really?"
"Of course she is! She's a bunny unnie for a reason."
"Thank you tho! My besto friendo! I will consider your name to be our kid's name." She surprised her with a sudden tight hug, causing her to almost drop the box to the floor. "No, don't break the ring!!"
Jeongyeon and Jihyo then walked out the room, strolling along the path to the outside where the members were waiting.
"Why with the sudden atmosphere there?" Jeongyeon started. "I mean, I saw both of you guys kinda.."
"Kinda??"
"Kinda.. not pleased? with each other??"
"Oh. Actually she was….." she stopped for a sudden thought.
"She was what?"
"Did.. did you notice anything?" As she thought. 'did she know about Sana's condition?'
"Hrmm, I don't know. She looked like a normal Sana to me." Jeongyeon's answer assured Jihyo that Sana didn't share this problem to the others, except for the leader. She nodded unconsciously. "Why, something happen to her?"
"Oh no no, I don't know either." She shrugged. y'kno, like a liar ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
They both arrived and the first thing Jihyo laid her eyes on was Sana. The girl was back hugging Nayeon, resting her head on her unnie's back as Nayeon didn't mind Sana and continued scrolling her phone. The others were there too.
Sana threw a glare on the leader, mouthing at her "jealous, yet?"
"Sana, your boobs are pushing me." Nayeon's eyes never left the screen.
"Yah! I need hugs!" Said Sana, still clinging to her unnie.
"Jihyo-yah." Momo called out. "Dahyun and I were planning to go shopping and Mina and Chaengie wanna tag along. Wanna come?"
"Shopping? Lemme join!" Cheered Nayeon.
"Nabong, did you forget about your plan to go to that famous hair salon this afternoon? You've been bragging about it the whole day yesterday." Jeongyeon said.
"Oh!" She snapped. "Yeah, you're right. I totally forgot."
"May I.., I mean, would you like me to accompany you?" She scrunched her nose in a cute way.
“Wait, you wanna go with me?" Her eyebrows rise up.
"Yeah."
"You mean it? Right? You better not pull any weird pranks on me this time."
"Before I change my mind-" She couldn't finish her word, suddenly Nayeon grabbed her arm aggressively and they both flung away from the scene, leaving Jihyo and the others speechless. They both disappeared within a second.
"Wow, that escalated quickly." Muttered Momo. "So Jihyo? Wanna come with us?"
The leader switched her glance to Sana, the girl's eyes were half opened and merely pouted. Something in her guts uttered to take good care of her member since Sana wasn't in a good state., especially to be left alone.
"I'm sorry but I'm not available for today." The leader swung her arms wide and wrapped upon Sana's neck. Purposely she leaned her head on the latter, stunning the girl with the unpredictable moves. "I have a date."
"Wooo~." Mina and Chaeyoung threw a glare on each other, with a teasing smirk.
"Wha-"
"Aight, it's decided then." Momo nodded softly. "We'll be heading there now. See you soon~"
"Take care~." Jihyo waved her hand. "And don't forget your mask. I know this is not Korea, but we're still dealing with the pandemic. I don't want to see any news about you guys-"
She didn't get the words fully out but Momo already threw an annoying silly face. "Okay mommm~~"
•••
Slurping the coldly ice orange juice within the hot weather of the mid-afternoon, it was a big pleasure as Jihyo felt the cool water running down her throat. "Ah~ delicious."
"Beautiful~" said Sana who was sitting in front of her.
Jihyo turned her gaze to her side, where she could witness the pleasant yet mesmerizing view of the beach. The balmy weather of the late summer gave her a soothing and cozy feeling, as everything felt like heaven. As the sound of waves humping the beach lingering in her ears, she literally could taste the saltiness in the air, based on how close the restaurant was to the sea. She smiled softly. "I agree, it's beautiful."
"I'm talking about you." Jihyo turned back to Sana, not expecting the girl to be staring at her all this time. The wide soft smile disappeared quickly.
Faking a cough, the leader then asked. "So, how are you feeling now? Any better?"
"Slightly, but I still feel hot." She scratched the back of her head.
"You still looked troubled by something now." She crossed her arms, leaning back to her seat. "Hey, whatever you need, just tell me. I'm here to help."
"It must be odd for you, but this will sort out everything, once and for all. I'm tired of waiting anymore. So, can you consider to accept my request?"
"Yeah, sure. Just tell me about it-"
"I love you." The girl didn't stutter this time, her words full of firm and confidence. The word effectively stunning the leader in the most unpredicted way. As if her tongue were stuck inside her move, it felt so tight just to reply to the simple word.
"Y-yeah. I love you too. I love every members-"
"No! What I mean is, I really fell in love with you." She confessed, but this time it was true. Her eyes like a wild tiger, staring down tightly towards her targeted prey, full of bold and assuredness.
"Sana, what are you saying?" She frowned with a panicked smile.
"I said it already. I love you. I wanna build a relationship between us."
"No, that's not.. I-.." Jihyo was lost in words. She took a long and deep breath, closing her eyes before she replied. "Sana, you can't do that. We can't. We're both girls. It's against the law."
"Why not? Yesterday at the concert, I saw our fans. There were two guys, waving their hands at me before both of them kissed each other on the mouths. They're the cutest partners I've ever seen even though they're both males. If they could, why wouldn't I?"
"Sana…. I don't know. The company will be completely mad. We will receive a lot of backlash and fans will be against us-"
"Look." She sighed, averted her eyes to somewhere else. "I'm already determined with my choice. If you're afraid to ruin your fame, just reject the offer. It's not a big deal. I'm just gonna move on-"
"I can't." Jihyo took a big gulp, looking down to the ground.
"What?"
"I can't say no."
"That's weird. Just say yes then."
"No, I don't wanna."
"Then, you're the odd one." She stood up, pushing the chair harshly. The wrecking sound from the chair was loud enough to make a scene every eyes were already on them.
"I'm just asking whether to reject me or accept my feelings toward you. As if that was easy enough for you." Said Sana before she swung her handbag to her shoulder and walked out from the restaurant, leaving Jihyo alone at the table.
•••
Scrolling towards social media, nothing could distract her. All the news was dull, or not in her intentions to care about.
'A Strange Phenomenon That Turned Swallows Into A Stone Yesterday.'
Meh..
'TWICE's Member TZUYU Spotted At The Airport Alone.'
Meh..
'Infamous Japanese Rapist Escapes From Prison.'
Meh..
But the next one really disappointed her. The title revealed 'TWICE's Member MOMO Caught By Security Guard Inside The Shopping Mall For Not Wearing a Mask' and her fingers already massaging her twitching forehead before she putted off her phone and continue her walk. She didn't have to read the rest of it. Pabo..
Jihyo was now walking at the long strip of land lying along the edge of the ocean, it was not near the evening yet. The soothing sound of sea waves rippled gently when the salt water repeatedly tickled her feet, but her mind was beyond this world. Or even this universe.
What have I done? The words never left her head. She gazed upon the wide blue sky as a bunch of seagulls flying freely in her orbs, nothing is in her intention yet. Sana was mad at me.
It's not like I didn't want you, I've been hiding my feelings toward you for more than years now. Upon a crowd of people around the beach within her, astonishing toward bird statues they collected nearby, the leader was still feeling alone. As her deep thoughts took over her chaotic mind, everything surrounding was like an empty box. I love you too but I can't have my mouth to say it out loud.
Jihyo arrived on top of one gigantic rock laying in the middle of the beach. Climb to the front and stand at the edge, as if she was standing at the edge of the world and nothing below her would dare to catch the falling angel if she ever chose to jump. What if everyone turns against me after I come out with another relationship, just like what happened before. I don't think I can handle it again.
Her head was a mess, nothing was right or wrong for now.
The sun suddenly glowed, brighter than it should. The light of green appeared out of nowhere and flashing the entire earth, wrapping around the entire surface. Jihyo was half-eyes close, the beam was too bright to be handled.
She started to see her lover's face, as if her entire life was flashing in her eyes. The weird green light gave a bit of a tingling sensation on her skin, something she never felt before and she thought it was Sana's arm wrapping around her. Am I gonna die?
Wait, why can't I move my body?