The rest of the year went by with Jeongyeon and Sana trying to befriend the group, Jihyo had told them that it was alright, but the girls refused to, trully, allow the two in completely. Understandable, but they still hung out together and talked, Jihyo continued with her routine, but her friends made sure she was eating and resting, as much as they could. Whilst the new duo was glad to make new friends, not really noticing the clear wall that separated them.
Summer vacation came by, and the girls demanded Jihyo would take some days off and come visit for a few days, each. The first one was Nayeon, not much change on how far they were from the Parks' residence, but, for Jihyo, it was a completely different world. The Ims were a very warm family, though both parents worked, they made sure Nayeon was well cared for and knew they were sorry they had to work late from time to time. Mr and mrs Im greeted Jihyo with warm smiles and even warmer hugs in the sunday morning she arrived.
It was the first weekend after classes were dismissed, Nayeon declared Jihyo was coming over, even going to the lengths to go to Jihyo's work and tell the girl's manager she was taking Jihyo for a few days. Mrs Choi (the manager) was more than delighted to allow the days off, saying she was overjoyed that the girl was, finally, resting and that she was starting to worry, even. Jihyo already had enough extra hours to have the whole month off.
Next saturday night would have been Tzuyu's turn, but things took a turn on friday, and everyone's turn came, then. Tzuyu had an older sister, the girl was in another school, and seemed to have left for a exchange program overseas a few months prior, nevertheless, they still seemed very close. Mina was the one to call them all, Tzuyu had showed up at her house crying and incoherent, Chaeyoung was there within minutes, and the others arrived when they could.
Once Jihyo arrived (the last one to), Tzuyu had already calmed down, but was still not talking. Jihyo hugged everyone (she had been doing that lately) and saw Tzuyu, the youngest was looking at nothing and not reacting to anything, so Jihyo just sat in front of her and waited. That seemed to do the trick, as Tzuyu looked at her and threw herself in Jihyo's arms. The others were a bit surprised and relieved by it, at least it was a reaction.
They just stayed like that for a good while, nobody really minded nor worried about checking how long, they were just happy to, finally, have a reaction that wasn't crying. Chaeyoung was careful approaching, and tried to talk to Tzuyu on the calmest and sweetest voice any of them ever heard.
"Yu, honey, do you think you could talk to us?"
"Yes." Tzuyu answered in a very small voice, from her place in Jihyo's arms.
"Yu, we all love you so much. You don't have to do anything you don't want to." Mina adds, also in a very loving tone.
"No, it's alright. I also wanted to talk to Jihyo." Tzuyu answers with a small shake of her head.
"Well, I'm all ears." Jihyo responds and tightens her hold on the girl a bit more.
"You know I have an older sister, right?" They all just nod. "So, she had a very close friend, it was her soulmate, but they decided to not date yet, since my sister was going abroad."
"That's very mature of them." Mina tries, taking one of Tzuyu's hands in hers, Chaeyoung does the same.
"Yeah, my sister has been away for a year now, and her soulmate still visits us very often. This morning my sister called us crying, she was going to come home next week, but was begging my mother to take us all to her, instead. When she, finally, calmed down a little, she said her flower had withered during the night.
Mom and dad talked and decided we would go on monday, and then told me what was happening. They are also in a bad shape, and I didn't want to burden them anymore, so I came here. I think I just needed to let things out, sorry if I worried you guys."
Nayeon was the first one up, she just strut to Tzuyu and snatched the girl in a tight hug, Momo just chuckled and followed suit. Mina and Chaeyoung just made their way into the hug and Jihyo decided to get them some water, she came back with some bottles and entered the hug as well. They broke off, and Momo and Nayeon asked Mina if they could go make something to eat, it was almost past dinner time, getting a nod they were off.
Jihyo just handed them the water and made sure Tzuyu drank, then went off to call her manager and tell she wouldn't come to work the next day. Her parents never really cared, they were just satisfied to not have her around the house for once, so no point in bothering with them. Then headed to the kitchen, giving the trio some time for themselves. Momo and Nayeon were making dinner, meaning it would be half Mina's fridge worth of food prepared, which was not a bad idea, taking that Mina's parents had called sometime earlier telling they would be home a bit later, and saving them the trouble of making dinner should help a little.
By the time the Myoui parents got home, Tzuyu was much better, mr and mrs Myoui noticed the girl was very sad, but figured the other girls had gathered to cheer her up, so they didn't bring it up. After dinner, mr Myoui told the girls he would take care of the dishes, as they had already made dinner and mrs Myoui chased them out of the kitchen. When they made it to Mina's room, they sat in a circle, the couples were cuddling, but Momo made sure she was holding Jihyo's hand so the girl wouldn't feel left out.
Tzuyu got Jihyo's other hand, her girlfriends embracing her on each side, and sat up to (finally) talk about what had been bugging her all day. Mina and Chaeyoung gave their girl a kiss on her cheeks, Momo just held Jihyo's hand a bit tighter, got a kiss from Nayeon, who was resting her chin against her shoulder, and waited for Tzuyu to start talking again.
"Jihyo, I know it's not the same, but, how did you handle not having your soulmates by your side after meeting them?"
"I don't know if you remember well, but I didn't handle anything at all. I still don't. It hurts me just that bit more everytime I see them together, laughing at each other, looking at each other just like you guys all do."
"But you are doing better. At least, I thought you were doing better." Nayeon interjects.
"I learned that I could love other people too. You guys are always insistent on making sure to remind me you are all here, that I might not have them, but I'm still not left behind." Jihyo answers with a warm smile, Momo gives her hand a squeeze again.
"But you never talk about how it is for you. I mean, we all try to be there for you, but that doesn't change the fact that we have our soulmates and you don't." Mina asks carefully.
"Honestly? I'm happy to have you all, but there is still that part of me that calls for them. Jeongyeon and Sana are my soulmates, but they never seemed to have noticed that. Maybe it's because they have each other, maybe it's because they hang out with us and I'd be around anyways, but they don't show any signs that they ever thought about me beyond the gloomy girl."
"But does it still bother you, does it hurt you or anything?" Tzuyu has very curious eyes, no malice behind them.
"Like I said, it hurts everytime I see them. I just learned to accept it, there's not much else I could do anyways."
"You could tell them about you." Chaeyoung interjects, always one to speak the harsh truths.
"I could. But what good would that do? It's clear they are satisfied with each other. What would I really get by telling them? Some sympathy hugs and an apology because they don't see me like that?"
"Maybe they would take you in as well?" Chaeyoung questions again.
"You guys see them more than I do, and even I can tell that's never going to happen. Look, it feels like a part of me died when I heard them disregard my flowers on them, like they were right in front of me, but in a pretty glass display that I could only look at. But I'm not going to just mope around and watch them, if they don't think they need anyone else, I'll just walk away and that's that."
"Well, Ji, you do know you are not getting rid of us, though?!" Mina declares with a chuckle, and the atmosphere gets lighter.
"I know, Minguin. But it's different. Tzu, I might not know how your sister might be feeling, but I can tell you that she will appreciate having her family around. Having people around to just pull you up after you fall is enough. In time, she will do alright." Jihyo finishes, not knowing how much truth her words hold at the time.
They spend the rest of the night talking, the others taking turns to cuddle Jihyo throughout the process. The next day, they decide to take Tzuyu out to the dog park and then lunch, trying to cheer the girl up before they head to the Chous and help her pack. It truly works, and by the time they all leave to go back to their own houses, Tzuyu is left with a light heart and a strong resolve to do her best and be the best younger sibling she could be.