Yoohyeon's POV

A year later

It was summer, finally. I was walking down the streets. I was wearing my black suit, pants and hat. I had my silver-mostly brown now hair, in a low ponytail. I was holding my black bag on my right hand. I looked at my watch on my left hand. It was 1 PM. I was just returning from work. And I was really tired. I looked at the sky while walking. Where are you?

I sighed and shook my head pushing my thoughts away again. And now, I can hear you asking what happened all this year. Well,...many things.

First of all, now that it was summer I was back to work again. And I was planning to work officially there when I was going to finish my third year at college. Taeyeon made me officially the boss on my part of work, which was the technology part-team. And she made me the official vice president of the agency. I was already that. But she made it official. So I was now the vice president with Sunmi. I liked how my life was stable now.

Also, I finished the second year of college with a really good mark and I was now helping out Gahyeon and Yeri for their exams for the college. They wanted to be ready for the next school year and they also wanted to have a great mark at the exams. I offered to help them along with Dami.

Handong was now back to China. She wanted to visit her parents and stay there for a while. She was going to be back the following week. It was already the end of that month, June, and it felt like years to Dami. She really missed Handong. Their relationship was stronger now after a whole year. Dami even moved to her house unofficially.

Bora and Siyeon were the same. They were still living together, they were still so happy together. And Siyeon's dad was more than glad that they were living with him. As for Siyeon's mother... She went to Japan with a lover she had met a few months ago. She knew that her daughters didn't love her or needed her the same as they used to. So she decided to live her life again. And Siyeon was relieved that she left actually. She preferred her dad rather than her mom after she learned the truth.

Gahyeon and Yeri's relationship was still going slow. But they were in love. And that was enough for them. Gahyeon was staying with her dad and the Suayeon couple but she was always complaining about them. She wanted to move to Yeri and her mother's house. But it was still soon for that step. They liked going slow anyway.

Seri was still living with Minji's mom and her brother. She was doing fine. She was a strong girl and we were really close. I wasn't expecting us to be this close actually. She was a good and kind girl actually. She had so much energy almost like Bora's. She was over her crush for Minji now so we were even more closer now. We were such a good friends and we were having really much of a fun. Minji's brother was funny and nice too. I got to know him quickly. And he liked me immediately. Minji's mother was strong too. The strongest woman I know if you ask me. She was working so hard at the hospital and she was managing her house so well too. Seri was helping her a lot too. I was so close with them lately. I was sleeping there sometimes. Minji's mother had requested me many times to move in with them. But I always declined. It felt empty to live there without her.

Minji's father was now out from prison too. But with restrictive measures. He never came to talk to his family. They didn't want him anymore anyway. He was still working on his company as I had heard. But that was it.

And lastly, cause I know you are all craving to know about this,...Ah! Minji! Yes, her. You all wanna know what happened with her right? Well...she was really shocked after what she heard from AleXa that night...

"Your father,...he had called Yoohyeon to his office and told her to break up with you. She didn't want to. And you know why? Cause she loves you. She really does. So much. But he tried to kill her. So she lied to you and broke up with you. To keep both of you safe..." Yeah, exactly after that phrase. She was shocked and mad. Mostly at her father. But she was mad at us too. For not telling her. I tried to explain to her that it was hard for me. He would kill me if I told her. And after we got rid of him,... I didn't want her to be so broken by knowing the truth. She told me that telling the truth might hurts. Sometimes it hurts a lot. But it's the best than living in a lie. She said she will need time to think. Fortunately I was going to leave her house the next morning anyway to leave her alone to think.

As Seri told me she wasn't talking to anyone. She was locked in her room most of the time and she wasn't talking to Seri especially. It hurt. Especially when Minji had promised her that she would help her get over her pain. Well, it took her a few weeks to talk to Seri again and tell her that she forgave her and that she will still try and help her even after that. Meanwhile, she wasn't talking to me too of course. Only if it was necessary. I was feeling so numb, broken and hurt. But I knew she needed her time. She had every right to not talk to me anyway.

Minji helped Seri move on, she helped her with her pain. She also helped her mother and brother a lot. And soon, after Christmas, she left. She went to America. To her aunt. Her aunt hated her, yes. But she needed to get out of here. She needed her time for herself after helping everyone. From what Seri was telling me, Minji and her aunt were now at good terms. Everyone loved Minji after all. She was a really sweet and lovely person. You couldn't just not love her. Her aunt hated her for silly reasons. Such as because she wasn't a boy. Her aunt wanted the first kid of the family to be a boy. It was luck. At least that's what Minji's grandparents believed and made their children believe it too. Of course Minji's mother, Minji and Minho didn't believe at that thing. But her father did. Maybe that was the reason he was so cold with her and didn't care about her and her happiness that much. Maybe that was why he had such a favouritism over Minho.

Anyway! So practically, Minji was still there. She never told Seri when she was going to return back here and she never told her if she forgave me. She hadn't told me if she did and she left just like that. Without even saying a goodbye. But as I was saying, I understood her. Completely and blindly.

I stopped by at the cemetery. I went inside and sat at the corner of my parent's grave. I smiled at them. I knew they were happy. They were both up there, finally together and resting in peace. I hoped I would meet them sometime soon. Well, not that soon. I knew they needed me and I needed them but I also needed my friends here and they also needed me too. Now, I had a reason for staying alive and trying to live actually. And one of those reasons was for Minji to forgive me. I prayed for my parents to rest in peace and then I checked my phone. Nothing from Seri. She hadn't texted me. She was barely texting me lately. And I was so busy at work to go to their house. She was always texting me any news she had from Minji. But she had a few days now that she wasn't telling me much. I was starting to worry. But she told me not to. That Minji was fine and that she was just busy to text me too. And I understood and respected that. Aish..., at least Minji was fine. Wherever she was.

Ah! I almost forgot! Seri let us call her by her name. She liked how AleXa sounded. It was a really cool name. So we were calling her that too, sometimes. But we mostly called her by her real name. It felt more natural to call her that. Maybe because it was her Korean name after all. She said the same. She liked the cool aura she had with the name AleXa. And she liked it when the others called her that. But she wanted her friends and family to call her by her real name.

(Honestly I don't know if she really has a Korean name or if the company gave her that name. If anyone knows please tell me)

And also, it took Bora sometime to let Seri call her Bora too. She was being a pain in the ass to Seri. But she didn't like her. That's why. She didn't like it that we had to suffer because of her. Of course I talked to her and told her that Seri had regretted it and even said sorry to both me and Minji. I also explained to Bora that Seri wasn't a bad girl. She was just heartbroken so that's why she was acting like that. So, Bora slowly slowly gave her a chance. But if you ask me why was I the only one calling Dami, by her real name, which was Yubin, then... that was another story. Let's just say that she liked Dami better. And that Yubin was just a name with many painful memories. But also many good ones. So, me and her mom were the ones calling her that. And I was calling her that only when something really serious had happened. Otherwise she was getting mad or hurt. Not even Handong was calling her that. And she didn't mind it though. She was just respecting her girlfriend after all.

As I was sitting there looking at my parents' grave and talking to them I heard someone from behind me.

"I knew I would find you here." It was Dami. I turned to look at her smiling.

"How though?" She knew me so well. But I asked her nonetheless.

"You weren't answering your phone till an hour now. And you also spend a lot of time here lately." She said and showed me her phone. She was right. It was already 2 PM. I hadn't even realized it how fast time passed by.

"Let's go have some lunch. I'm hungry." She said. She was spending so much time with me lately. Of course cause Handong was missing. I mean, we always spend time together. But when you have a lover it's different. And it actually felt like the good old days lately. We were just the two of us most of the time. It was good. It felt good. But of course I loved all of my friends the same.

"Yeah. Let's go. We have tutoring with the kids later." I said smiling goofily. Dami laughed.

"Are they our kids now? I thought we were all Bora and Minji's." Dami said between her chuckles. She then looked at me trying to see if I was ok after the mention of Minji's name. Minji wasn't a topic that we talked about a lot. But all of my friends knew how she was. She wasn't talking to all of them at first. She was talking only to Seri. And that lasted for a long while. But lately, this month to be spacific, she was talking to all of them. She started with Bora. Then Handong cause she was in China. Then Siyeon and then Dami and the maknaes. I was the only one that she hadn't talked yet. I was sure she hated me. She was still hating me. But I understood her nonetheless.

"They are our kids when we are the teachers. Not all the time. The rest of it we are all Bora and Minji's children." I said smiling. I was fine talking about Minji. Yes it hurt me. But I was fine. I loved her and I wanted to know everything about her. And talk about her too. Cause she was a part of my life. And she was also part of the group. I knew that what the girls or Seri told me about her were the news Minji told them or allowed them to tell me. And I was fine with it. That Minji wanted me to know at least a few things about her even if she didn't want to talk to me herself. I was fine with just that.

We were eating at my apartment. Dami was staying here sometimes. She felt lonely living at Handon's without her.

"Sometimes I can't even understand how you manage to live here alone. It's so lonely. Or I'm just too used to live with Handong." She said while washing the dishes.

"Well, I won't lie. It's lonely. Especially when I have so many memories with all of you guys in here. And especially with Minji. She was practically living here. But I can say that I'm used to it. I also have Pie to keep me company. And you too guys. I can't even feel alone. I have you to come to my house or I can go to yours. So I can't feel lonely. So, I can say that you are probably too used on living with Dongie."

"Yeah right. We have Bora and Siyeon that are really loud and clingy to their friends." Dami said laughing.

"I'm glad that it's not just us anymore. I mean, I missed us hanging out alone. So I'm happy that we now have some time for us. But I'm also happy that our family grew bigger. That we have many friends now. To care for us." Dami nodded at my words. We had suffered enough already. So it was good to have a really big family like them now. Even if life was tough. I had them. So I wasn't alone anymore.

___

Later on the maknaes came to my apartment and we spent all the afternoon teaching them and helping them out. As the time passed by, and after every tutorial they were getting better and better. And I was so proud of them. They were getting ready for college. And I was glad that they were fast learners. I didn't want to tutor them for all the summer. They needed holidays and I needed holidays too.

___

It was night time and Seri had texted me to come to her house. She said that Minji's mother wanted me to eat with them and sleep there. After a while of trying to convince me I gave up and went. I didn't even understood why Seri told me to dress myself nicely. Maybe they were planning to go out to eat. I did as I was told nevertheless. I went to their house and knocked on the door. I had to come to their house since two weeks ago. I didn't know why it was that long. Most of the time they called me over their place at least twice a week. Guess they were really busy lately.

I knocked on the door again when I saw that no one was opening. Most of the time Minho was running so fast to open to me. He was really excited to see me. I loved that kid and his big energy. And as I was about to knock on the door for the third time or call Seri that I was there, the door opened revealing a person I was never expecting to meet...

"M-Minji?"

___

Author's note:
Happy Birthday to Yeojin and I! We both have our Birthdays together! Isn't it amazing?😍 I love her so much btw! Here, a present from me!😅

Hehe, not exactly a present. I thought that I could have uploaded two chapters instead of one as a present but I haven't finished editing the next one and since I've been really busy lately I couldn't edit it today. Offf sorry that I couldn't give you a bigger present. Anyway enjoy this chapter! I hope you did at least 😅

Honstely, a chapter without Minji or JiYoo moments might feel empty to you. But I just love this chapter. I love how Yoohyeon is taking a lot more care of herself and how she is having her job and all, like a mature, responsible adult. She isn't a helpless college student with no friends. She has a whole family now.  I love how things have changed in her life. That's a really magical thing about life. Falling down, having difficulties and problems to face, even being depressed but that's just a period of time. A period that it will pass and then you'll be fine. I also love this chapter because it prepares you for the following events of the next one. Which is my favourite btw!

Anyway! Remember that English is not my first language so there might be mistakes. I hope you all liked it! Don't forget to like the chapter, and comment, if you want. It helps me A Lot. Bye!  See you on Friday! Dream of Dreamcatcher!