A big thank you to PipTheTerrible and butterscotchzeine for inspiring this :'~D Enjoy!

Tiffany didn't want to be here. 

It was a place she feared, more than the dentist and infinitely more than zoos with all those wild animals and reptiles.

This is a place she never envisioned she'd end up in. Memories of her mother's gaunt body and a sad smile painting her cracked lips came screaming back to the surface of Tiffany's mind. She'd conveniently let those images from the past fade away into nothingness for the longest time, only to be taunted by their fatal irony now. 

She'd grown up beautiful and spoiled till the Universe had finally decided it was time for an overdue reality check. Angry, belligerent tears escaped her eyes while she thought about how unfair Life was. Her rancour was made all the more pungent when the nurses and doctors seemed to offer only kind smiles that scorched her bones like acid. How dare they pity her? She didn't want their baseless concern and optimism about 'remission' and 'leading a normal life'.

She didn't want a normal life. She wanted her old life back where she hadn't developed cancer and Death was an ever-present acquaintance. 

A male nurse named Baekhyun came towards her with a bright, sincere smile on his handsome face. Tiffany already knew that she wasn't going to like him.

"Morning, Tiffany! How are you feeling today?" 

Tiffany said nothing, staring witheringly at the nurse's misguided attempts to cheer her up. 

"That good, huh?" Baekhyun joked, which made Tiffany click her tongue derisively in response. "So Nurse Miryo asked me to fill you in on what we’re going to do. You’ll be doing 3 waves of chemotherapy for the next month with 3 different drugs. Today, we’ll start you off with all three doses and hydration in-between while you’re connected to an IV drip. Then we’ll alternate with varying doses of chemo in the coming weeks. You’ll do it for a few hours a day and then head back to your private room for the rest of the time. There’s free wifi in here, so you can bring your electronic devices along. Unfortunately, you can’t eat while you’re in here, but you’re welcome to grab a hot or cold beverage. I know you’re not exactly at a spa, but try your best to enjoy yourself.”

Baekhyun threw Tiffany a wry smile and turned away to check on another chemo patient. Tiffany watched him go and sank back into the cushy confines of her recliner. It was one of the few perks that she appreciated about the chemotherapy suite in the hospital. You could sit quietly and drift off into nothingness. And nothingness was exactly what she needed in order to survive her new personal definition of hell.

Tiffany closed her eyes and tried to imagine a happier place in her mind. Naturally, her self-imposed meditation was interrupted when Baekhyun’s nasally voice broke through her calm exterior while chatting to another chemo patient sitting near her.

“How are you feeling today, Yuri?”

“Urgh, crap as usual, Bacon. But my mom’s bringing me buffalo wings later when I go back to my room, which is awesome.”

Tiffany opened her eyes and glanced in their direction. As Baekhyun bent over the medical trolley to retrieve a clean syringe, she caught sight of the woman named Yuri.

The first thing Tiffany noticed about her was her long, voluminous hair which fell past her shoulders in velvety curtains. It was so striking, Tiffany felt tempted to run her fingers through those lovely locks of hair. How could a cancer patient have such a healthy head of hair?

Yuri caught foreign eyes staring at her and she smiled at the stranger. Tiffany got her second jolt of the day that had nothing to do with taking medication when that happened. There was something so honest and alluring about the woman’s smile, like feeling the warm rays of the sun on your skin.

“Hi! You must be new here, unlike me. I’m Yuri.”

Tiffany gulped nervously and turned away, anxious to put some distance between her and the beautiful stranger.

Instead of feeling rebuffed, that only egged Yuri on further to make polite conversation with this cute, brooding girl with the permanent scowl on her face. “I’ve spent close to 3 years of my life in the chemo suite, so I can tell you it’s not so bad. The nurses and doctors in this hospital are really great. It’s like my second home, minus the good food.” Yuri joked lightly.

“Testify, girl.” Baekhyun agreed. “I can’t even use the avocado spread served with the chicken fillet for a facial.”

Yuri leant forward in her recliner so that Tiffany could see her supple and sun-kissed shoulder blade peeking out from her crop top. The air conditioning was freezing in the chemo suite – how could she not be cold?

“Then again, it’s totally cool if you hate hospitals,” Yuri whispered in a conspiratorial tone. “It’s not exactly the Ritz, but at least the wifi’s fast. I’ve managed to get through 3 seasons of Scandal in the last month.”

She smiled again and it made Tiffany very uncomfortable. This woman was too open with her goodwill and amicability. Tiffany would need to stay far away from her as long as she was at the hospital.

“Leave me alone,” she mumbled and used her iPad to put up a barrier between her and the beautiful woman with her demeanour of natural warmth.

She missed the momentary looks of surprise and hurt that flitted across Yuri’s face as she logged onto her web browser and checked what was happening on Instagram.

Tiffany passed two whole weeks by herself in the chemo suite. She talked to the nurses and doctors who attended to her when they asked her questions and she only had to answer in monosyllables. Yuri sat close to her in a matching recliner under the fluorescent lights, always staring and trying to engage her in conversation. But Tiffany ignored her, keeping her Dr. Dre Beats planted firmly over her ears while blaring out punk music from her iTunes library. And when she wasn’t tuning out the world with angry rock songs, she was watching Kerry Washington’s antics with the President in Scandal. It was the only tip of Yuri’s that she actually adhered to during that lonely period.

Her rancour was made all the worse when she sat alone in the chemo suite day after day and watched as every other patient had visitors who sat with them for hours while copious amounts of chemotherapy drugs filled their veins with cathartic poison. She watched as a timid yet amicable older man named Lee Soo Man was surrounded by his devotedly brash wife and their three adult children. She sat with a gaping mouth as she watched Kang Ho Dong, an unabashed womaniser (she knew this because he hit on her at least 20 times a day), receive wildly inappropriate kisses from a woman who looked to be half his age.

And lastly, she watched with barely disguised envy as Kwon Yuri’s boisterous parents, siblings and extended family visited her, adding to her days with enough love and laughter to fill the entire room.

Mrs. Kwon, Yuri’s mother, unpacked home-cooked meal after meal from a massive cooler bag she’d previously had slung over her shoulder and dropped them unceremoniously into her daughter’s lap.

“Mom,” Yuri whined, even though she was secretly pleased by how much her mother clearly loved her. “I keep telling you: you don’t need to bring me so much food while I’m in the hospital.”

Mrs. Kwon snorted contemptuously at this logic and started dishing a plate filled with delicious things just for her daughter. “Nonsense. How else is my baby going to get stronger and stay beautiful if she doesn’t eat nourishing food? Scientific studies show that home-cooked meals are the best remedies for curing patients of their cancer.”

“Uh actually, Mom,” Yuri’s older brother Hyuk Jun jumped in. “Chemotherapy is the best remedy for curing cancer patients. Otherwise this would be called ‘The Home-cooked Meals Suite’.”

“Ignore him,” Yuri advised her mother. “Thank you for bringing me some food.”

“That’s what mothers are for,” Mrs. Kwon remarked, stooping lower to kiss her daughter on the forehead.

A man roughly the same age as Yuri’s mother stepped forward and gave the young tanned woman a hug. When he drew back, Tiffany noticed that he and Yuri had the same smile and the same eyes.

“How are you doing, Pumpkin?”

“I’m good, Dad.”

“You don’t have to play things down for our sake, Yu-Yu. We know it’s been a difficult three years with the cancer being in remission and coming back afterwards.” Mr. Kwon continued, his gruff voice a poor disguise for his anxiety over his only daughter’s health.

“Then maybe you should stop reminding the poor child of that,” Mrs. Kwon put in with an exasperated smile on her face.

Mr. Kwon blushed crimson for several seconds before changing the subject. “Have you been watching any baseball lately? I think the Cardinals are in big trouble.”

“What makes you say that, Pops? They have that new Korean relief pitcher, Oh Seung Hwan. He seems pretty good.” Yuri commented.

It was Mr. Kwon’s turn to snort with derision at this statement made by his daughter. “Oh Seung Hwan? Puh-lease! He should spend a little more time in the practice cages instead of scarfing down cheeseburgers at Wendy’s.”

Yuri’s mouth spluttered with indignant laughter at her father’s crude sense of humour. “Dad, that was really mean! He’s not that fat!”

“Honey, he has the physique of Babe Ruth minus the talent.”

Even Tiffany couldn’t resist laughing at this before she checked herself and went right back to pretending she wasn’t listening to the scintillating conversation going on within Yuri’s group of loved ones.

More and more people shuffled forward to hug Yuri and exchange pleasantries within those allotted minutes. With their similarly tanned faces and raucous laughter, it was easy for Tiffany to guess that they were all Yuri’s family. What wasn’t easy to guess was why they were laughing and joking around like they were at a fun family gathering instead of in a grim hospital, and in the oncology department of all places.

How were they able to be so chipper in this environment?

But even with their amiable disposition, they were making an incredible amount of noise for a hospital setting and Baekhyun was finally forced to intervene.

“Kwon Family,” he began in a faux-stern voice. “I know you’re all really excited to spend time with Yuri, and who could blame you? She’s rocking chemotherapy like Heidi Klum giving birth on a treadmill. But there are probably some ICU patients in long-term comas who can hear you too.” He joked light-heartedly afterwards.

A bulky man whom Yuri had identified as Uncle Gijoon stood up and wrapped a beefy hand around Baekhyun’s skinnier frame. “Aww, come on, Bacon. Aren’t you always saying that cancer patients need to have their loved ones around them to lift their spirits up to help them get through chemo?”

“Sure, but I can’t bend the rules, not even for you, Gijoon-ah.” Baekhyun responded in a bid to be professional, which Tiffany felt was a stretch considering his buoyantly gay personality.

“Not even if I compliment you on your excellent progress with building up your upper body strength recently?” Gijoon asked with a playful grin.

He then tried to punch Baekhyun in the gut, which the sprightly nurse dodged by a few millimetres.

“Hey, nice dodge there, Mohammed Ali!”

“Whoo, you can’t lay out ‘The Champ’, Mister!” Baekhyun emitted an extremely unmanly giggle before skipping away to perform the rest of his duties.

“You really shouldn’t encourage him, Gijoon.” Mr. Kwon said to his younger brother with a frown.

Gijoon chuckled at this. “Meh, what’s the harm? I flirt with him a little and it keeps him from tossing us all out of here.”

“Yeah, but you’re straight, Uncle Gijoon.” Hyuk Jun pointed out. “You are straight, right?”

“Do you want me to punch you in the gut instead?” Gijoon asked in a menacing voice of his nephew, which shut Yuri’s brother up quickly.

Their laughter and animated conversation was making Tiffany more nauseated than the chemo medication coursing from the IV drip and filtering into her veins. The endearing happiness that Yuri seemed to share with her family only served to make Tiffany aware of the loneliness that left a gaping hole in her lovelorn existence.

“Um, excuse me.”

Tiffany glanced up sharply from her issue of Cosmopolitan and stared at the middle-aged woman beaming down at her.

It was Yuri’s mother. She had left her husband and the rest of her family behind to regale more happy stories for Yuri’s amusement while she approached the girl that her daughter hadn’t stopped talking about for the past two weeks.

The sullen but beautiful girl that never smiled and never let anyone get close to her.

There was something about this woman’s eyes that reached down into Tiffany’s soul and seemed to chip away at every vestige of coldness and hostility, replacing it with something strange and unexpectedly warm.

“I’m Kaerin, Yuri’s mom.” The woman introduced herself. “You must be Tiffany.”

“Uh, yes I am.” Tiffany answered. Her first instinct had been to be blatantly rude in a bid for Yuri’s mother to leave her alone. But the woman had a kind, but firm aura that somehow warned Tiffany not to lead with that kind of behaviour.

“Your family and friends aren’t visiting you today?” Kaerin asked, not looking the least bit abashed by her directness.

Again, Tiffany felt the need to match the older woman’s frankness. “No, I don’t have anyone. No one’s coming.”

A lump formed in Tiffany’s throat at her own admission. It made her feel desolate, like an abandoned building no one wanted to live in. She was all alone in the world at a time when she needed someone, anyone, to tell her that things would be alright.

That she was going to live through this.

But it was just as she’d said; there really was no one left to stand by her side.

Kaerin Kwon studied the young girl’s face and her own eyes filled with unshed tears at her obvious pain hidden underneath that façade of disinterest and disdain.

“I’m so sorry, honey. I know I’m a stranger to you, but I am a mother who loves her daughter, just as I’m sure your mother loves you and wishes she was here with you in your time of need. I know things look bleak right now, but look at Yuri. My baby’s still here and she’s still fighting, that’s gotta mean something.”

Tiffany acquiesced and glanced over at Yuri’s side profile while she laughed animatedly at a joke her Uncle Gijoon made. Despite the thinness of her arms and the paleness of her face already taut with ill health and exhaustion, she seemed happy and possibly comforted by the fact that her family was by her side.

For one wistful second, Tiffany half-wished she knew what any of that felt like.

She turned to face Kaerin Kwon once more. “Thank you, Mrs. Kwon. You’re…very kind.”

Kaerin smiled and pushed a plastic container with food in it onto Tiffany’s lap.

“Oh no, I really can’t accept-”

“Of course you can. I know hospital food is terrible to eat when you’re recovering; I remember that from when I was in labour with my two children and after I had my hysterectomy. Have some of it if your stomach is up to it later.”

With that, Yuri’s mother gave Tiffany one final radiant smile before returning to her family. Tiffany opened up the plastic lid on the container and took a subtle whiff of the food inside.

It was bulgogi with a side of spicy kimchi. Tiffany had a faint memory deep within the crevices of happier days long past of her mother once making that exact same dish for her too. And taped underneath the container was a message from the woman who’d made the food which said:

If you ever need someone to talk to while you’re going through chemotherapy, you can give me a call on the number at the bottom. Stay strong, honey <3

Tiffany pocketed the note and shut the container just as quickly, a lone salty tear splashing onto the lid.

The longer Tiffany stayed in the hospital, the more her condition worsened. While targeting and eradicating the cancerous cells, the chemotherapy was also destroying lots of the good cells still left in her body. She felt nauseous almost every day and her appetite was at an all-time low. Then there were the headaches that made her retch during the night and the faint buzzing she constantly heard in her ears that wouldn’t go away.

And just when she thought things couldn’t possibly get worse for her, she woke up one morning and got ready, only to find that large clumps of her hair were falling out. Instead of waiting longer to see the rest of it separate from her scalp, Tiffany promptly called her old hairdresser and asked her to come see her at the hospital.

Lee Soonkyu (or Sunny as her friends called her) had done many a house call in her line of work, whether it was helping a young girl do her hair for Prom or helping a young bride prepare for her wedding. But she never expected that her favourite client would ever ask her to cut her hair in a hospital of all places, much less a place where there were cancer patients everywhere.

After making inquiries at reception, she found Tiffany sitting alone in the chemotherapy suite and came towards her. Despite the dreariness of the environment and Tiffany’s own sullen demeanour, Sunny still put on her most brilliant smile as she sat down in front of her old client.

“Hey, Tiff! Good to see you!”

Tiffany put on her bravest face and fixed Sunny with brown eyes that no longer carried any life in them. “Hey, Sunny. Thank you so much for coming.”

“It’s my pleasure. How’s the chemotherapy going?” Sunny asked in a conversational tone, even though discussions about illnesses in general depressed her to no end.

“Really well. So well in fact that I need to do something about my hair.”

“Say no more. I’ve got all my tools right here – we’ll cut that gorgeous hair of yours into a beautiful and chique bob-”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d do more than cut it shorter.” When Sunny continued looking confused, Tiffany finally elaborated. “Sunny, I didn’t call you here to perform your usual services for me. I need you to shave all of my hair off for me.”

Sunny couldn’t have been more shocked if her boss had called her and said that she’d no longer be charging money for her hairdressing services.

“Shave off your beautiful hair?! Tiffany, you can’t ask me to do that for you! Your beautiful hair!” Sunny lamented in genuine agony.

Tiffany felt all of that agony and more, but she needed to be strong and go through with this somehow.

“Besides losing my family and developing cancer, this is the third hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. And I need someone I trust to help me get through this without breaking down. Please do this for me, Sunny.”

Tiffany’s mask of indifference fell away for the barest moment as she spoke, exposing the true anguish beneath. And that’s what finally convinced Sunny to help her.

It took every ounce of self-restraint in her not to wince and squeak with horror as her electric razor shaved off the rest of Tiffany’s stunning hair. But after checking that the end-result was neat, Sunny finished 20 minutes later.

It was with a heavy heart that she held up the mirror to Tiffany’s back to show her the results of her labour, a cruel reversal of the work she felt like she was born to do. And yet, she and Tiffany shared a moment of camaraderie when Tiffany held her hand and they both shed tears of solidarity over the difficult journey they’d taken together.

Later that night, Tiffany was woken up by a violent spasm in her stomach that threatened to make her fall out of bed. She scrambled out of the covers and jogged towards the bathroom, pulling up the toilet lid with a loud clang.

Then she got on her knees and vomited up the contents of her stomach along with some bile that burned like a scorching, inextinguishable fire. Even when she finally stopped and her eyes were no longer watering, it still left Tiffany with an aching feeling of emptiness. Still, she pulled herself up from the floor and moved to the sink to wash her face and brush her teeth.

That in itself was a mistake because she caught sight of the bald spectre gazing forlornly back at her with a misshapen head and hollow eyes that she’d avoided seeing all day.

The sight was enough to make Tiffany erupt into convulsive tears which threatened to up the remaining liquids and moisture left in her body. It was all she could do to hold onto the edge of the bathroom sink and not collapse onto the cold tiles in a wanton state of desolation.

Amidst the sounds of her bitter tears, she failed to hear someone enter her private room and walk into the bathroom where she stood. When she finally noticed, she gave a hiccough of fright at the fact that Kwon Yuri was standing behind her.

At any other moment, she would’ve been curious about her presence in her room and probably enraged by her complete disregard for privacy. But at all those other moments, Tiffany had a full head of hair and her life wasn’t slowly falling apart.

So when Yuri stepped forward with tears rushing down her face and quickly embraced her, Tiffany didn’t try to stop her. In fact, she seemed to cling all the more to the tanned beauty who held her up with surprising and tender strength.

“Ssh, it’s ok, Tiffany,” Yuri cooed in a soothing voice that reached into Tiffany’s insides and thawed the brutality of her rancour.

Her tanned hands didn’t shy away from cupping the back of Tiffany’s smooth scalp. On the contrary, her fingers rubbed and the soft, stubbly skin like she was caressing a new born baby’s head.

And Tiffany’s tears fell all the more when Yuri pulled away slightly just to lay tiny, reaffirming kisses all over her newly shaven head.

“Don’t worry about a thing, your hair will grow back again. You’re still beautiful.”

Yuri kept up that sweet mantra of encouragement as she pressed kisses of the utmost devotion on the sides of Tiffany’s face and even more startling, on top of her bald head. And still Tiffany clung to her like the girl had suddenly become the only thing anchoring her to life and happiness.

It was a strange night that passed between them with Yuri leading Tiffany back to her bed and letting her rest her head in her lap. But it was the most peaceful night’s sleep that Tiffany had ever experienced in her whole life.

After that night, Tiffany and Yuri were inseparable. An unspoken bond of friendship and perhaps something more profound sprang up between them and didn’t go unnoticed by the hospital staff and even Yuri’s family.

Instead of sitting a few feet away, Yuri now sat in the recliner next to Tiffany’s. Sometimes Yuri read a book while Tiffany surfed the internet on her iPad; at other times, Tiffany played games on her smart phone while Yuri watched movies on her laptop.

But one morning, Yuri decided to up the ante just a little.

“Hey,” she began by way of greeting, taking out her earphones to talk to Tiffany.

“Hmm?” Tiffany asked back, totally engrossed in playing Candy Crush. She was wearing a floppy pink beanie on top of her newly shaved head that made her look cute as a button.

“Have you ever watched The Silver Linings Playbook?”

“Nope, it seemed kinda depressing, so I put off watching it. Why do you ask?”

“A friend told me last week that it was pretty good. But if it’s too depressing, I don’t wanna watch it alone.”

“Then just find someone to watch it with. Problem solved.”

“Almost solved. Wanna watch it with me?”

That got Tiffany’s attention and she put her game on pause. “You wanna watch it together?”

“Uh huh.”

“How are we gonna watch it? They’re showing baseball on the communal TV.”

“My friend burnt me a copy and put it on my external hard drive.”

Tiffany smirked at this new tit-bit of information. “Isn’t watching pirated movies illegal, Kwon Yuri?”

Yuri grinned back at Tiffany. “Yes it is. But if we watch it together, then you can’t rat me out.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Because if you narc on me, you’d have to admit you watched a pirated movie too.”

Tiffany shook her head and chuckled at this. “Your logic is sound, Spock.”  

“So are you in?”

“I would be if we could actually sit together,” Tiffany remarked, gesturing between their two recliners. “In case you haven’t noticed, these recliners only seat one person at a time. Unless you’re suggesting that I sit in your lap?”

Yuri blushed crimson at this, but managed to keep the rest of her face stoic. “I’d normally be amenable to that suggestion, but it’s not necessary. We’ll just push our recliners together and I’ll put my laptop between us.”

Tiffany cast a wary eye on Baekhyun and the rest of the nurses working in the chemo suite. “Are you sure it’s allowed?”

“Sure it is,” Yuri said. “Yo, Bacon!” she yelled, startling Tiffany a second later.

Baekhyun looked up from putting a fresh bag of saline solution into another cancer patient’s IV drip. “What’s wrong, Yuri?”

“Tiffany and I want to watch a movie. Can we move this pedestal out of the way and push our recliners together?”

“I really don’t think you should-”

“Thanks for understanding!”

Tiffany giggled at the flabbergasted look on Baekhyun’s face when Yuri got up and did just what she’d proposed before so that hers and Tiffany’s recliners were next to each other. She put the pedestal that had been between them in front of both their chairs to balance her laptop on top.

Then she sifted around for a special earphone adaptor splitter that she kept on hand in her wallet for moments like these. After Tiffany handed over her own earphones, Yuri plugged both headsets into the adapter which connected to her laptop.

Now they could both watch the movie together and hear everything.

As the opening credits began and Tiffany got comfortable in her chair, she marvelled at the pristine video quality of the movie they were watching.

“Whoa, is this 720p?”

“1080p.” Yuri answered, popping some Skittles into before handing the packet over to Tiffany.

Tiffany poured a few of the multi-coloured candies into her hand. She put one in and moaned with pleasure, savouring the sweet and zesty fruit taste. “At least your friend didn’t skimp on the pirated goods,” she murmured in jest.

Despite their initial enthusiasm for watching the movie, Tiffany and Yuri both fell asleep in the middle. It was a pity since Tiffany had been secretly enjoying the trials and triumphs of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence’s burgeoning love story. Her feelings were made all the more poignant by tears that fell from her eyes even while she slept on in her recliner.

Still, it wasn’t a complete loss. And Byun Baekhyun was the first to confirm this when he passed by the two of them during his rounds and smiled knowingly to himself.

Since Yuri and Tiffany had pushed their recliners together, their fingers had become intertwined on instinct and they had fallen asleep holding hands.

Tiffany’s condition began to improve steadily when she finally shed her mask of indifference and started caring about people again, especially Yuri. Still, she wasn’t entirely satisfied with the ambiguous status of hers and Yuri’s relationship. They were friends and Yuri obviously enjoyed spending time with her, that much had been established.

But was there potential for more?

With all the free time given to her to think about her life and what she wanted once she was through with chemo, Tiffany used that time to daydream about Kwon Yuri and the sudden vivacity she’d brought to her bleak and careworn version of Life.

For the first time in a long while, Tiffany wanted to throw caution to the wind and confess her feelings to Yuri. But how to go about it? She deliberated and procrastinated on that question before she finally caved and dialled a number that had been in her mind for days.

The woman on the other end picked up after five rings, sounding out of breath like she’d run a marathon.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs. Kwon. This is Tiffany Hwang calling.”

“Tiffany! This is a nice surprise,” Kaerin replied in earnest, a radiant smile. “How are you doing, sweetie?”

“Better than the last time you saw me. But I have a problem that involves your daughter and I kinda need your help.”

“Tell me what you need – I’m sure we can come up with a good plan.” Kaerin declared without further preamble. She’d always been the sort of woman who believed that action spoke louder than words and was quick to dive head-first into any problem, whether big or small.

Tiffany spent a good 5 minutes explaining how Yuri’s persistence and warmth had wormed their way into her heart and how the thought of wanting anyone else was now virtually impossible. After Kaerin had asked her own questions and gotten some sufficient answers, tears of happiness were rolling down her cheeks at the prospect of her daughter being loved by this sardonic girl with a secret heart of gold.

And she certainly wasn’t going to capsize Tiffany’s confession by telling her that Yuri had spent most of her time in the hospital the past month  calling her and sharing her secret feelings for the sullen girl in the chemo suite.

“I’m so happy for you, Tiffany. You don’t know what it means to a mother to know that her only daughter who’s suffered through so much in recent years is loved by a truly remarkable woman. Now here’s what you should do to get Yuri to go out with you…”

Tiffany listened to some of the wise recommendations and faintly scandalous suggestions that Yuri’s mother gave her. But in the end, it all made sense from what she’d gathered about Yuri’s personality since they became friends and she was eager to make her gratitude for the advice known.

“This is really helpful, Mrs. Kwon. Thank you.”

“Hold on a minute. I think your chances of success with my daughter are pretty much ensured, but before you do or say anything, I think you should wait till the perfect opportunity arises.”

“What do you mean?” Tiffany asked in confusion.

Kaerin Kwon smiled while twirling the phone cord around her index finger. “When it comes to conquering the heart in love’s great battlefield, always advance when your love’s defences are down.” She offered with a wicked grin.

Tiffany took Kaerin’s advice to heart and waited for her moment to tell Yuri everything. And as the mother of her love predicted, Yuri’s defences were well and truly down when Tiffany walked into her hospital room one night and found her hugging the toilet bowl, looking sickly and worn out.

“Oh, Yuri,” she murmured sympathetically, dropping down on her haunches in front of the tanned woman.

Yuri’s intense nausea had made her lurch towards the toilet, but nothing had actually come out. It was just like her pathetic excuse of a body to torment her even when she had nothing else left to give, not even the contents of her own stomach. Despite her obvious pain and discomfort, Yuri still managed to smile, even though it looked more like an agonised grimace to Tiffany.

“Hey, Fany. What are you doing up so late?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“How come?”

Tiffany smiled at the fact that Yuri could still be so caring and selfless in the midst of her own suffering. It just made her love that strangely endearing girl even more.

“I was too busy thinking of you, I couldn’t rest.”

Now it was Yuri’s turn to be surprised by the frank honesty of Tiffany’s words. That once sullen stranger who wouldn’t have even given Mother Teresa the time of day, was now saying such incredibly sweet things to her.

Given their circumstances and the toll that chemotherapy was taking on both their ravaged bodies, Yuri hardly dared to believe that this was really happening or that she could feel so happy amongst all the bald-faced misery constantly surrounding her.

Yuri winced as she struggled to get back on her feet. And once again, she was rendered dumbfounded when Tiffany placed her hand under her armpit to steady her and help her up. Such an innocently miniscule action and yet, it was a potent example of true love that would finally be brought to life.

“I’m sorry you gave up your sleep for me,” Yuri croaked as Tiffany helped her to sit on top of her hospital bed with a rumbling effort.

She gasped when Tiffany leant forward and cupped her cheek with such tender deliberation. Her heart felt like it was jumping rope in her chest with the silvery moon peeking through the hospital room window and reflecting off of Tiffany’s sensual brown orbs.

“Don’t be sorry, I’m not.” Tiffany whispered with sudden intensity. “Are you feeling ok?” she asked, her hand staying on Yuri’s cheek as she spoke.

“I’ve never felt better in my entire life.” Yuri whispered back in earnest, bumping her shoulder playfully against Tiffany’s.

“Good, because I’m about to do something totally crazy that might make me the happiest I’ve ever felt.”

Yuri frowned at Tiffany’s cryptic words and stared more intently at her. Tiffany sighed and dropped her hand from Yuri’s cheek so she could try to steady herself, both physically and emotionally.

“I’m sorry I was so cold to you when we first met.”

Yuri smiled empathetically, not expecting Tiffany to talk about that fateful day of their first meeting. It was water under the bridge for her, especially since that sullen woman had left quite the impression on her, even as she transformed into a lovelier and kinder person she enjoyed getting to know.

“That’s ok, you were going through chemo for the first time. Chemo turns people into the worst version of themselves.”

“You haven’t changed because of chemo and you’ve done it three times already.”

Yuri shrugged at the compliment. “I’ve had pretty ty days ever since I was first diagnosed with cancer. The only reason I was able to push on was because I have an amazing family that never let me give up, even when I would’ve preferred to die than endure another day of this agonising pain.”

Tiffany nodded at this and pressed on with what she wanted to say. “That may be true about your family and they’re really amazing, but you were also the reason you didn’t give up. You were the one who let the nurses insert those IV drips into your arms every time; you were the one who gritted your teeth and closed your eyes every time the pain was too intense without complaining once. You have an incredible spirit; I envy and admire you.”

“Thanks, Fany. It helped that I had you with me this time around. It made the ty days a lot more tolerable. And sweeter.”

Tiffany moved excruciatingly closer to Yuri and the tanned woman gulped down breath trapped in , staring at that previously-sullen girl’s long and thick eyelashes that framed her brown orbs like a lush curtain.

“You made me a whole lot sweeter too. I owe you so much,” Tiffany murmured, her eyes lowering for the briefest second to gaze at Yuri’s lips.

Yuri shook her head, even though her heart was pounding just as hard as Tiffany’s in that moment. “You don’t owe me anything, Tiffany. And even if you did, it isn’t something I’d want you to repay me for.”

“If I can’t repay you, how about a fair exchange instead?” Tiffany questioned, her lips curling into a seductive smile.

“What did you have in mind?” Yuri asked, intrigue and curiosity lacing every syllable in her reply.

“How about your heart? Because you’re the first person I’ve wanted to give mine to in a long time.”

And before Yuri could protest or stop her, Tiffany leant forward all the way and melded their lips together with a strength of determination she didn’t realise she’d still had all along. Her hands in kind swept over Yuri’s bronzed cheeks, forming invisible patterns over her skin to convey every emotion burning through her senses. Before this, she’d given up on everything, even on finding someone that could make her heart flutter like winged moths. But here she was, sitting on a hospital bed with a woman who’d managed to break down her walls and expose a heart that desperately wanted another chance to love again.

As for Yuri, she’d only had her tawdry fantasies to help her imagine what it would be like to kiss Tiffany Hwang. And so far, her imagination was letting her down, because the reality was far more intense and wonderful than she could’ve possibly fathomed. This was the best she’d felt in 3 years that didn’t involve injecting morphine into her veins.

For the first time in a long time­­­­­­, they were both letting go of their hardships and mutual uncertainties about the future. All Tiffany wanted to hold onto was the feel of Yuri wrapping her arms around her neck and the imprint of every breathy moan that escaped her lips when they parted for crucial gasps of air.

“Yuri,” Tiffany murmured in ecstasy when the tanned beauty hugged her tightly and pressed loving kisses along the arched curves of her neck. “I want you.”

To prove her point, she cupped Yuri’s cheeks more forcefully and enveloped her lips with five more hot and unhurried kisses.

When they broke apart, it only so that Yuri could emit a perplexed chuckle at these turn of events as she rested her forehead against Tiffany’s.

“I want you too, Tiffany.” Yuri said, staring deep into Tiffany’s eyes. To her consternation, tears filled Tiffany’s eyes and streamed down her cheeks. They fell all the more when Yuri leant forward and tried her best to kiss every single one of them away. “Don’t cry, Fany,” Yuri whispered, pushing stray tendrils of hair out of Tiffany’s eyes. “I don’t want you to be sad tonight.”

This time, Tiffany laughed as she gripped Yuri’s hand tightly in hers and entwined their fingers. “I’m not sad at all. These are tears of happiness, and it’s all because of you.”

To that effect, Yuri gently lifted Tiffany’s beanie off her head and kissed her bare scalp. “I’m just as happy right now. You gave me something to be genuinely happy about for the first time in 3 years.”

Tiffany smiled all the wider at this and melded their lips together with chaste and loving kisses that set Yuri’s senses alight. A realm of possibilities opened up before Tiffany’s eyes as she kissed Yuri’s closed eyelids in succession afterwards. Shimmering sunlit mornings and starry nights of lying next to this gorgeous woman appeared in her mind’s eye and her heart leapt at the sudden euphoria which consumed her inside and out.

Tiffany left one final lingering kiss on Yuri’s forehead before cupping her cheek with pulsing tenderness. “If you’ll let me, I’d like to be part of that happiness for a really long time.”  

Yuri’s face turned serious at those heartfelt words. Soon she was pulling Tiffany back in for more frenzied kisses that would last throughout the night and long into the first of many sunlit mornings they were destined to spend together.

Tiffany stared out at the waves crashing on top of one another in the distance. The air was briny and strangely sweet, the shrieking caws of seagulls bursting through her eardrums at regular intervals.

It was 4 years later and she still stubbornly kept her favourite pink beanie firmly planted on top of her head to protect it from the crisp breeze wafting across her equally pink cheeks. She had spent several mornings just like this, taking in the overwhelming beauty of Nature converging on her in its own sweet symphony.

It wasn’t long before a pair of strong and slender arms encircled her from behind and a warm chin rested on her shoulder. She grinned at the close contact and turned around in the arms of her wife.

“Hi, Baby,” she whispered, running her fingertips over smooth, tanned skin that she’d left her mark on numerous times in moments just like these.

Yuri smiled back at her and leant closer, leaving a butterfly kiss behind her ear as she hugged her tightly. “Morning. You left me in bed with a cold vacant spot beside me,” she accused playfully.

Tiffany chuckled and kissed the love of her life on her cheek. “I’m sorry, Yul. I just couldn’t resist getting up to watch the sunrise again.”

“You could’ve woken me up and I would’ve happily joined you.”

“I know you would’ve, and that’s why I didn’t wake you.”

“I’m officially lost.”

Tiffany shook her head at Yuri’s adorable bewilderment. “If you recall, you were up pretty late last night. I wanted you to have a lie-in this morning and rest your body.”

Yuri’s fingers made deep indentations in Tiffany’s hip bones as she considered her words while holding her close. “And as I recall, you were up late last night too for the exact same reason. So you really should’ve been resting in bed with me,” she purred sensually, leaving more kisses along Tiffany’s collarbone.

Tiffany closed her eyes and drew Yuri’s head closer to her heated skin as they sank deeper into one another for a few more blissful seconds. “You know I love spending time in bed with you, darling. But I felt like I needed to get up this morning and bond with Nature. Everything’s so beautiful here, I wanted a private moment to reflect and be thankful for everything I have in my life.”

“A Tiffany Hwang bursting with gratitude for everything she has? Now that’s a sight for sore eyes,” Yuri teased playfully, happiness dancing in her brown eyes. “I also have something I’m extremely grateful for. But first, you need to take off your beanie.”

Tiffany frowned at this and inched away from her wife. “Baby, don’t be mean.” She whined.

“I want to see all of you, love,” Yuri insisted. “Please let me see you,” she begged in a gentle whisper.

“I don’t look very good.”

“You look insanely good all the time. Now let’s see it.”

Tiffany rolled her eyes and reluctantly took off her beanie. And out of those woollen confines spilled the most luxuriously long black hair that any woman before this and now dreamt of having. It swished and spun like silk as it fell down Tiffany’s thin shoulders and it was all that Yuri could do not to dive straight into those luscious locks.

“Happy now?” Tiffany demanded with petulance.

“Ecstatic. Why are you still hiding your head under a beanie? Your hair grew back six months after you did chemo four years ago.” Yuri pointed out with a coy smile.

“Because…” Tiffany stammered, a tendril of hair with a scowl. “I haven’t washed or brushed it yet this morning,” she complained.

Yuri laughed raucously at this and dared to run her hands through her wife’s gorgeous hair. “You really are very silly when it comes to your hair, sweetheart. I loved you when you had no hair and I love you even more now with dirty ‘bed hair’.”

“Yah!” Tiffany scolded, trying to swat at Yuri’s arm. “Take that back right now or I’ll-”

“Or you’ll what?”

Tiffany stopped mid-scolding and lost her train of thought at the smouldering look Yuri was giving her. They’d been married for two years and she was still just as attracted to that tanned beauty as the day they first met while doing chemotherapy. When they’d both been cleared of cancer four years ago and had subsequently stayed in remission ever since, they’d moved in together shortly after their hospital stay and begun their arduous campaign of falling madly in love with each other.

It wasn’t to say that they’d had good days every day since then. But Tiffany had never experienced such happiness and security as she did when she laid in Yuri’s arms and heard her whisper how much she loved her.

They were perfect together.

Tiffany smirked coyly at Yuri and the action made the tanned woman’s breath catch painfully with scalding desire in .

“Or I’ll kiss you senseless.”

Before Yuri could protest or defend herself, Tiffany wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her with complete abandon. To her, there was nothing sweeter than Yuri’s lips which she spent copious amounts of time imprinting on her brain when she went without their delectable taste for too long. In that moment, nothing and no one else mattered more to her.

That was, until Kaerin walked towards them from the beach house where they were enjoying a family holiday, carrying a tiny bundle in her hands.

“I hate to break you two lovebirds up, but this little honey was aching to see you both.” Yuri’s mom announced with a radiant smile on her face.

Both Tiffany and Yuri’s eyes lit up when they caught sight of their 3-month old daughter wriggling in her grandmother’s arms, making the cutest gurgling noises as she tried desperately to get closer to her mommies.

“Hello, bright angel,” Yuri cooed, her eyes shining like moon crescents as she took their daughter into her arms and lifted her high into the air.

“Yuri, she’s not a sack of potatoes, please be careful with her.” Kaerin warned in spite of herself.

“Oh leave me be, old woman. She came out of me, so I can do whatever I want,” Yuri scolded playfully, making googley eyes at little baby Joy Kwon as she held her tight.

After trying several times, Yuri did an artificial insemination and became pregnant with an anonymous donor and one of hers and Tiffany’s eggs successfully merged into one. And the product of that love and determination was a healthy baby girl who already had Yuri’s cute dimples and Tiffany’s lovely eye-smile.

“You may not have to listen to your mother, but you still have to listen to me. I made a third of Joy’s DNA.” Tiffany reminded, pulling funny faces at her daughter while reprimanding her wife.

“Okaaaay,” Yuri relented as she took to swinging Joy gently from side to side instead.

Kaerin smiled at the young couple and her first grandchild, happy tears swimming in her eyes. “I’ll give you three some privacy. Breakfast is almost done; try to get your food soon before your father, Hyuk Jun and Uncle Gijoon eat it all.”  

“Yes, Mom,” Yuri murmured in a placating voice, shooting her mother a heartfelt smile.

Kaerin kissed her daughter, daughter-in-law and granddaughter on the cheeks before going back inside.

Tiffany took that moment to rest her hands on Yuri’s shoulders while leaning over and kissing Joy on her smooth forehead while her wife held their little darling. “I never imagined I could ever be this happy and fulfilled. And it’s all because I have the two loves of my life right here with me. I love you so much,” she whispered in earnest.

Yuri looked up from cooing at Joy and smiled radiantly at her wife. “I love you both more. Promise me we’ll grow old together somehow.” She whispered back, her voice tempered with sudden sadness.

For a split second, Tiffany’s heart split asunder when she reflected on the fact that she and Yuri might not always be healthy and that their daughter wouldn’t have them in her life. But she threw that uncharitable thought away just as quickly when she stared deep into Yuri’s eyes and saw nothing but future happiness and eternal love shining back at her.

“I promise, my darling. Heaven’s going to have to wait a long time for me.”

Yuri’s heart leapt at those words and she hastened to fuse their lips together as they stood holding their baby and overlooking the glorious shoreline which stretched out as far as the blissful lives they were sure to have and share together.

In case anyone's wondering why I've written two stories about cancer, I do not have a terminal illness. Just wanted to put the crazy rumours to an end ;~P Yuri's uncle Gijoon is a famous Korean actor named Song Gijoon. And yes, I did put Kang Ho Dong in for old times sake just to troll Tiffany, hee hee. I'm not sure how Baekhyun became so terribly 'camp' (gay in layman terms) in his characterisation, just happened there. He makes it incredibly easy by being so perky constantly, haha. I hope the beginning parts weren't too sad for all of you, hopefully Yuri riding in on her proverbial white horse cheered you all up :~D I'll put up a pdf of this sometime over the weekend if I have half a mind to do it. Ok, kids, Mommy's gotta prepare for Educatering School (so not a real word, lmfao) in a few weeks time, so I'll be around with more whacky ideas for stories floating around in my head. Coming soon hopefully: a new Seulrene oneshot where Seulgi's a mermaid :~O Pip pip cheerio!

Save me a kiss for later, bae <3