10- Waiting

It was warm. Like the kind of warm when you’re under tons of blanket on a cold snowy day. She moved to her side and felt something that smells like tangerine hit her face. She groaned and opened her eyes and saw her baby sister’s sleeping face. Even while sleeping, Seulgi’s eyebrows are scrunched and filled with worry. She moved and looked at the ceiling and tried to remember what happened. The last thing she can recall was hearing the twinkle of the bell from Jessica’s bracelet.

Jessica….

“JESSICA!” She shouted, straightening up from the bed and looking around. The figure next to her grumbled before scrunching her eyes and finally looking at her.

“unnie...” Seulgi called out for her but she was too erratic, looking left and right for signs of the girl… Her girl… Her Jessica. She can barely hear the shouts of her name as she was shook out of it. Her wild eyes turned from delirious to a confused state as she saw the worry in her sister’s eyes who was holding onto her like her life depended on it.

“Where’s Jessica?!”

“T-Taeyeon unnie said she left… She went somewhere far away but she wouldn’t say where...” Seulgi paused, gauging what is probably her reaction as her hear thumped wildly in her chest. “She said Sica unnie won’t be back for a long time…. Taeyeon unnie.. she brought you home last night. You were unconscious and she said that you fainted because of crying.”

“Je-jessica...” she mumbled under her breath as she grabbed her phone and quickly dialled Taeyeon.

“Hel-”

“Where’s Jessica?!”

“Yuri… she left. She went back to mother.”

“She can’t! She c-can’t just l-leave--” she broke out into a sob and Seulgi was quick to rub circles on her back as she continued on crying. This hurts more than when she’s going into treatments. Her heart hurts and she feels imperfect. A part of her is missing and she blames herself for being stupid.

A week passed before she calmed herself down, thanks to Taeyeon visiting her everyday and Seulgi not even wanting to leave her side. She came to accept that Jessica left and that Jessica will come back to her like she said that night she turned into stardust.

“Unnie, do you want some ice cream?” Seulgi asked, smiling that bear smile of hers. “We can go to that newly opened one just down the corner~”

“You don’t want to go to our favorite shop?”

“.....Last time I went there, I bumped into Wendy….” Seulgi looked away, “It was kinda awkward…” she looked back at her with a smile though she can tell that it’s  a sad one, “I’ll try to avoid seeing her till I leave.”

“Hmm, okay, if that’s what you want then. Let’s go grab some ice cream!~”

Another week passed and she had to cancel going to that camping trip that they’ve planned since the start of the summer. Reason 1 is Seulgi didn’t want to go due to all her friends being there, but she knows it’s specifically because of one person named Wendy. Reason 2 is because Seulgi had booked her ticket to that specific date just so she wouldn’t be able to go. She shook her head at the way her sister thinks and her insistence on not seeing the girl she’s in love with before smiling at her idiot bear cub.

“Seul, you ready?” she shouted from down the stairs. It’s not that they’re running late, in fact, they’re leaving three hours earlier than required because Seul had requested that they stop by their favorite ice cream shop before going to the airport.

“Yes, unnie! Coming!” Seulgi shouted back, appearing with a big orange luggage by her side. She quickly went up the stairs in panic that her sister might suddenly trip and trample herself with that luggage, knowing how her sister’s slow in every imaginable way possible.

“I’ll carry that for you~”

“But unnie-”

“I’ll  carry it.”

“........okay…...” and with that, she had lifted the luggage and slowly made her way downstairs, huffing after reaching the last step. It took them roughly 15 minutes to get everything in the car and drive off towards the ice cream shop.

Once there, Seulgi had ordered three scoops of her favorite red velvet ice cream and she had looked at her sister blankly.

“I can feel the judgement radiating from you, Yuri unnie.” Seulgi whispered, eyes focused on the lady scooping her ice cream.

“I-I’m not!”

“I’m going away for a long time and who knows how much I have to endure till I get to taste these cold yummies again.”

“...you could just stay...” now her bear cub looked at her with judgy eyes. “Okay! okay! I understand! It wouldn’t hurt to try and see if you changed your mind...geez...”

“Didn’t you already find somewhere there where you’re going to do your vet practice?”

“Hmm, yeah. I’ll need to send the documents soon so that I can go there earlier.” She smiled, taking a bite out of her ice cream.

“You don’t have to do that, you know? Practice there...”

“You’re right but I want to be closer to you. Don’t you want me there?”

“Of course, I do, unnie! But I don’t want you to feel obliged just because I’m your sister.”

“You’re my only sister and I want to be with you and see you everyday while you’re going to uni there. Besides, the practice there will be good for my credentials. I think Tiffany’s also thinking about doing it there and knowing Sooyoung, she’s probably already game if I told her.” Seulgi laughed.

“Sooyoung unnie loves you way too much~”

“Sooyoung is my partner in crime! Sometimes, I’m scared that we’ll end up in jail together or worse, be in an old folks home, our chairs beside each other as we pull pranks on the nurses taking care of us!” Seulgi was crazy laughing now, almost choking on her ice cream. “YAH! I’m serious here!”

“I know, unnie! That’s why it’s so funny!” Seulgi laughed some more and she can’t help but laugh with her. Happy to see her sister smiling before leaving her to go to a school abroad. They chatted some more and finished their ice creams before heading over to the airport.

“I’ll wait till it’s boarding time.”

“No, unnie~ It’s okay. You should go~ I’ll call you when I’m about to depart and when I land, okay?”

“But--”

“No more but’s unnie~ I don’t want to see you cry here.”

“I-I’m n-no--” she choked back a sob and Seulgi smiled at her before giving her a tight farewell hug.

“It’s okay, unnie. I’ll see you soon, right? We’ll skype!~”

“O-okay~” Seulgi lets her go before going forward to check-in her things, waving goodbye to her. She waved back, tears already pouring out before going back to her car and driving back home. She walked inside and was met with darkness.

“When the nothing shines upon, then you show your little li-ght..” her voice broke at the last part “i miss you, Sica. Come back soon.”

Five years passed.

Certificates and pictures of different events decorated the walls and tables in her office. Her dogs, Hani and Dooe are peacefully sleeping in the dog bed she had placed by the corner of her clinic.

“Yes, I know Soo!-- NO YOU DONT DO THAT TO A GOAT-- I KNOW YOU CAN STILL EAT THEM-- SOOYOUNG YOU BETTER BURY THAT GOAT PEACEFULLY I SWEAR -- CHOI SOOYOUNG I WILL DRIVE TO YOUR OFFICE AND SLAP YOUR FAC-- DONT YOU USE THAT TONE ON ME-- I WILL--- alright, i’ll make sure I bring the shovel. See you later~ Yes, I’ll bring dinner. YES, SOOYOUNG STOP NAGGING ME OR I WONT BUY YOU FOOD!” She sighed as she ended the call from her demanding bestfriend. “Up until now I can’t believe she found a boyfriend that can take all her craziness.” She whispered to herself, shaking her head at the thought of the lovestruck fool, Kyung Ho. She dialled up one more number before ending her lunch break.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Taeng~ we still up for later?”

“Yes~ Should We just meet up in your clinic?”

“Nah, I can pick you up in your apartment~”

“Are you sure? I can just go there..”

“I’m sure~ Is Joy going too?”

“No, I don’t think so… She’s hanging out with Yeri now, I think they’ll go together~”

“Okay~ I’ll see you at four, then?”

“Yes~ Thank you, Yul~”

“No problem, Taeng~” she clicked the end button and beeped her assistant.

“You can start sending patients in now, Sejeong~”

“Arasso, Doc~” she can feel the salute in her assistant’s voice and she smiled as she readied herself for a busy afternoon, she isn’t one of the top vets for nothing! Her clinic had always been packed with animals and owners needing her care and thoughts ever since she opened just a few months ago. She was one of the doctors who had successfully operated a ten year old goldfish and has been known to have a healing hand when it comes to animals.

Patients after patients, she thoroughly examined each one, not caring about the time it will take, because for her, the lives of the animals are more important than quick income from hasty diagnosis. She had just finished giving a vitamin shot for a sick bunny when she looked at the time and beeping her assistant quickly after the owner and bunny left.

“Hi, Sejeong~ Are there more patients?”

“There’s only one left, Doc~”

“Alright, send them in and that’ll be the last one I’ll accept for today. I have to leave early~”

“Okay, Doc Yul unnie~ I’ll close up here after your patient so don’t worry~ say hi to Seulgi for me, okay?”

“Will do!~”

“The patient is on her way now~”

“Alright, thanks, Sejeong~” she placed down the phone before arranging the things on her desk. She's been feeling great the past year and today just seemed like one of those I’m on top of the World day. She’s feeling ecstatic, her heart feels like it’s blooming flower from inside her, her stomach’s doing some sort of happy flip. She hummed as she placed the papers and records on her filing cabinet and barely heard the door to her office open and close.

“Just a minute~” she mumbled, placing the file in the correct alphabetical order it belonged to. She heard a familiar jingle and something from inside of her exploded as she quickly turned around and was met with warm brown orbs and the smile that could start fires from inside of her. The girl in front of her smiled, tucking a stray hair from behind her ear, the stars and the bell on the bracelet she’s wearing twinkled and jingled along with the movements. Blue and purple layers of cloth swayed in the air and swirled in her vision. She can’t stray her eyes away.

“Hello, Yuri~ Did you wait long?” The girl asked, looking as radiant as the last time she saw her. Her heart clenched and unclenched before she was enveloped in sereneness. She smiled and looked at the girl lovingly, walking forward and pulling the brown haired girl into an embrace.

“I’ll wait a million lightyears for you, Jessica” she whispered and Jessica sighed into her embrace, staying like that for the longest time because Yuri will never let go of Jessica because Jessica finally came back to her. Her childhood friend, her love, her soulmate, came back to her and that’s the only thing that matters in her universe.

--
This is the epilogue for Children of the Moon.
I'll be posting Book 2  in the next few days/weeks, so look out for that~
It was really pleasant writing this ff~

I'll answer any questions you may still have, so just ask away~~

See you, around~